Do you dread mopping your floor everyday? Trying to get rid of those stubborn stains and dust on the floor can be really knackering. You can scrub all you want but often the stain just doesn’t go away.

I was in your position previously. I’m going to help my wife to mop the floor everyday and it appears that after I finish cleaning the floor, I will be able to end up without any energy left. The dipping, rinsing and the left to right mopping action also took its toll on my back.

I could not stand it and I know there’s a better solution out there somewhere. I started doing some research and ask some of my friends on the mop that they use and how they clean their floors. Many of them recommended the Bissell 1867 Steam Mop Bare Floor Steam Cleaner.

I right away acquired the Bissell 1867 the next day.

I put it to work and was actually impressed with the way that the machine works. It disposes of stains, mud and dirt that is on your floor extremely fast – roughly in about thirty seconds. It doesn’t use any detergents or chemicals to clean the floor. Instead the Bissell 1867 Steam Mop Bare Floor Steam Cleaner draws power from tap water or distilled water. The water will then be modified into hot steam to clear the mud on the floor.

The Bissell Floor Steam Cleaner is also straightforward to use and set up and has a fast warming time which means that you don’t have to wait long to start cleaning your floor. One full tank of water can last you about fifteen minutes after which you will have to top it up.

I was also very happy with the mop head. It is simple to maneuver and I can reach below the cabinets and shelves. The Bissell Steam Mop comes with an one year warranty should any issue with the machine arise.

Overall I was totally happy with the Bissell 1867 Steam Mop Bare Floor Steam Cleaner. It helps me cut down three-quarter of the time taken to clean my floor and also now I haven’t got any backaches any more!

bissell steam cleaner

Busta and M.O.P. aren’t human:

<div align=’center’><a href=’http://kontraband.com/videos/20545/Yip-Yips-Ante-Up’>Yip Yips / Ante Up</a><br><div align=’center’><embed height=”380″ width=”480″ flashvars=”file=http://208.116.9.205/10/content/20545/450.flv&amp;height=380&amp;width=480&amp;displayheight=360&amp;displaywidth=480&amp;frontcolor=0xffffff&amp;backcolor=0×000000&amp;lightcolor=0xffffff&amp;plugins=/show/plugins/kb/kbsocial.swf&amp;shuffle=false&amp;overstretch=false&amp;autostart=true&amp;repeat=list&amp;javascriptid=kbvideo&amp;enablejs=true&amp;customKb=true&amp;kb_engagement_url=http://kontraband.com/videos/20545/Yip-Yips-Ante-Up&amp;kb_engagement_title=Yip Yips / Ante Up&amp;kb_contentid=20545″ allowscriptaccess=”always” usefullscreen=”true” allowfullscreen=”true” quality=”high” name=”kbvideo” id=”kbvideo” src=”http://www.kontraband.com/show/4.5.swf” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash”/>

All recommended books, e-books and journals can be located by using the Link2Lists database.

You can search the Link2Lists database by keyword e.g. Project Finance or by course code e.g. MACE 60041.

Currently the following books are available as e-books for MOP students:

MACE 60058
Lewis, H (2003) Bids, Tenders and Proposals: Winning Business Through Best Practice, Kogan Page

MACE 60061

Kerzner Harold (2009) Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, 10th Edition, John Wiley & sons

MACE 60050

Bell, J. (2000). Doing Your Research Project. Open University Press, 3rd Edition.

MACE 60065
Ward, J and Peppard, J (2002) Strategic Planning for Information Systems, 3rd edition, Wiley

Cadle, J and Yeates, D (2004) Project Management for Information Systems, FT Prentice Hall

MACE 60085

Merna, T & Al-Thani, F (2005), Corporate Risk Management an organisational perspective, Wiley, London

Smith, N.J (2005), Managing Risks in Construction Projects, Second Edition, Blackwell Science, London

Boussabaine, A.H. and Kirkham, R.J. (2004) Whole life-cycle costing: risk and risk responses, Blackwell Wiley

MACE 60023

Project Finance: Theory and Practice by Stefano Gatti ISBN 978-0123736994. Available as an e-book in Joule Library

MACE 60095

Cadle, J and Yeates, D (2004) Project Management for Information Systems, FT Prentice Hall.

Ward, J and Peppard, J (2002) Strategic Planning for Information Systems, 3rd edition, Wiley.

The following books are also on order and should be available with the next 5 days as e-books.

MACE 60061
Kerzner Harold and Saladis Frank P. (2009) Value-Driven Project Management, John Wiley & sons

MACE 60023
Financing Infrastructure Projects by Tony Merna

MACE 60085
Smith, N. J (2003), Appraisal, Risk and Uncertainty, Thomas Telford, London

MACE 60095
Checkland, P & Holwell, S (1997) Information, Systems & Information Systems, Wiley.

MACE 60067
Smith, N J (2002), Engineering Project Management, 2nd edition, Blackwell Science

Dave Hirst
Faculty Team Librarian.

Vezi:Saigon/Lil` Fame (Of M.O.P.) .

Via: Boo Boo Tv .

I could have quit when Miss Q declared she wasn’t going swimming; she wanted to go to the airport and have blueberry bagels with cream cheese and hot chocolate – um, have we done that too many times?

I could have quit when my bathing suit didn’t fit – dang polyester live-forever suit and 3-month postpartum bod.

And, I could have quit when Miss Q ran ahead of me, up the stairs, slamming the top door so hard that the mop popped off its hook; falling straight at me in the dark.  Thankfully I have lightning-fast Jedi reflexes.

But I kept pushing.

Two hours later, we were at the pool.  Two hours, for a thirty-minute activity.

Working in aquatics for 16 years, I’ve taken for granted the families who’ve come through the doors.  How much time do they spend getting ready for swims?  How on earth can they think it’s worth it?

When it was just me, I could be ready in 5-minutes flat.  One bathing-suit, one towel, dog downstairs, out the door.

When it was me and Miss Q, it took about an hour.  Two bathing-suits, three towels (one for me, two for her), diapers, wipes, extra clothes, dog downstairs, out the door.

Now, it’s me, Miss Q and Miss S, it takes two hours; one for each child.  Two bathing suits (Miss S is still too young for swimming); two towels (one for me, one for Miss Q); snacks for Miss Q; water for me and Miss Q; shampoo for me and Miss Q; diapers, wipes, extra clothes for Miss S and Miss Q; ‘top up’ Miss S; has Miss Q peed?; dog downstairs; out the door.

Once at the pool, the madness doesn’t stop.  We have to get from the minivan to the building in the rain.  I feel like a pack-horse with my two bags, and two girls.

Only after leaving Miss S with her daddy and the diaper bag, I breathe.

There is one thing I haven’t taken for granted in 16 years: the water.  There’s something about floating, splashing and submerging that whisks away stress, pregnancy symptoms, and hang-overs… though the latter comes from long-ago memories.

Miss Q and I frolicked for only forty-minutes – probably our shortest swim ever.  She put her face fully in the water for the first time today, and relaxed when doing a back float.  She chased after a purple ball and played with rubber chickens.

We laughed.  We sang.  We explored three of the six pools.  And you know what?  In the end, two-hours of prep-time was miniscule compared to the joy we experienced.  We can’t wait for Miss S to join us.

Don’t get it twisted rap people: Roger Feder owns

B.E.S.T. Contemporary Art Prize For Painting

MOP
the art life
Tom Polo

So most of you probably don’t know that there is a utility closet full of goodies just for you to use as an owner. Use, put it back, and take care of it and we will all get along just fine.

I expect to see that grill be a little dirtier then it is currently. So… start grilling!!! Have a great day and I hope you continue to enjoy your Personal Warehouse!

Nick Smoot
GT Texas
Your Personal Warehouse Provider
281.658.7500

Submitted by: Pietro and Ruggero via Submit a Kludge!

Favorite Comment: Fixer dono1 says, “Mmmm! RagGoo sauce!”

HHHTime is near,

If you’ve been following the updates at all, then chances are you’ve been following the webisodes from the amazing BlakRoc project that’s due out in a matter of weeks.  And on a day where I have less than 15 minutes to get a new piece up, how bout I get you caught up on all the videos and we call it even.  Deal?  Word up.

#5 Feat. NIKKI WRAY & JIM JONES

#6 Feat. NOE

#7 Feat. Q-TIP! (Q-Tip can knock you out too?!?)

#8 Feat. BILLY DANZE (FFFIIIIIREEEE!)

And I guess this wouldn’t be a true HHHT post without at least one treat.  A new unreleased track from a man who supposedly will also be featured on the BlakRoc album, there’ll never be another like him….

OL’ DIRTY BASTARD – SAY NO

Back soon!

P’s

Triple.
www.ppfhouse.com

¿Es conveniente la fusión MOP-ATTT? (II)

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My dear friends, and fellow Americans,

We have come to a time in our Nation’s history that an insidious problem, that plagues many of our citizens, must be addressed for the greater good.

The challenge I speak of today is disorganization, or clutter bug syndrome.  Millions of Americans find themselves in the midst of disorder and clutter.  For some it is only a “junk drawer”, but for far too many this affliction spills over into their garage, spare room, and even into their living space.  Those who suffer from chronic clutter disorders, find themselves apologising to their friends and associates, and are frequently the subjects of ridicule, and prejudice.  Clearly this prejudice is unjust.  Clutter bugs lack the genetic makeup for organization, or were denied the social, and educational systems that would have allowed them to succeed.  Regardless of the individual cause of clutter buggery, the problem has been swept under the rug, for far too long.

That is why I am pleased to announce the following legislative outline;

The American Reorganization & Cleanliness Act.

Under the ARCA, we will usher in a new era of order and cleanliness.  While this will not be easy, many of the structures and systems required are time-tested, and sound in their application.

We will first need to evaluate and establish individual levels of clutter dysfunction, therefore a new agency, modeled after the IRS will be established.  The Clutter Review Service will monitor clutter levels through yearly mandatory fillings.  A progressive scale will measure individuals and assign a score from messy slob at the most disenfranchised end of the scale, to uptight rigid anal retentive (URAR) at the top end of the scale.

Based on your individual scoring by the CRS, redistribution will be assigned, to each, according to their needs, from each, according to their abilities.

The time is far past, that those who would selfishly clean and organize their own lives, should be required, to share in the advantages that have come so easily to them, with those who are less fortunate.  It is time to level the playing field, the clean freaks will finally be mandated to divert their self-absorbed attention to tidying up, to the dishevelled, who really need it.  So grab a mop, and let’s get busy.

Under my program the URAR will be formed into Community Organization Squads, this will be a mandatory volunteer program, of service, that will follow the same guide lines as the Community Reinvestment Act, however with the distinction of working from the bottom up.  Those who have been identified as a messy slob, or clutter challenged, will be assigned a squad leader to assist them, who will then, hand out assignments to the appropriate URAR under their command.  URAR shall give a portion of their day, to the cleaning of anothers mess, this portion shall be no less than 25% with no cap on the term of daily service.  This, ever straightening, hand sanitizing, crowd needs to be saddled with the filth of society.  No longer will this class of neat freaks, be able to look down on the unclean, and unkempt.

I look forward to a day, when all people can be judged by the content of their newly cleaned and organized drawers and shelves.  And while some of my detractors will argue that usurping the efforts of the organized will create disincentives to being organized.  I say, Hallelujah, for then we will live in a world where no man or woman will have to suffer from the debilitating embarrassment of being slovenly, because when no man or woman can show a clean house, only then will we be truly equal in our squalor.

Professor Noam Chomsky on Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize at a time when the U.S. is drumming up false threats posed by Iran and escalating the war in Afghanistan.

5 Nov 09 | In These Times

The hopes and prospects for peace aren’t well aligned—not even close. The task is to bring them nearer. Presumably that was the intent of the Nobel Peace Prize committee in choosing President Barack Obama.

The prize “seemed a kind of prayer and encouragement by the Nobel committee for future endeavor and more consensual American leadership”, Steven Erlanger and Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote in The New York Times.

The nature of the Bush-Obama transition bears directly on the likelihood that the prayers and encouragement might lead to progress.

The Nobel committee’s concerns were valid. They singled out Obama’s rhetoric on reducing nuclear weapons.

Right now Iran’s nuclear ambitions dominate the headlines. The warnings are that Iran may be concealing something from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and violating U.N. Security Council Resolution 1887, passed last month and hailed as a victory for Obama’s efforts to contain Iran.

Meanwhile, a debate continues on whether Obama’s recent decision to reconfigure missile-defense systems in Europe is a capitulation to the Russians or a pragmatic step to defend the West from Iranian nuclear attack.

Silence is often more eloquent than loud clamor, so let us attend to what is unspoken.

Amid the furor over Iranian duplicity, the IAEA passed a resolution calling on Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (N.P.T.) and open its nuclear facilities to inspection.

The United States and Europe tried to block the IAEA resolution, but it passed anyway. The media virtually ignored the event.

The United States assured Israel that it would support Israel’s rejection of the resolution—reaffirming a secret understanding that has allowed Israel to maintain a nuclear arsenal closed to international inspections, according to officials familiar with the arrangements. Again, the media were silent.

Indian officials greeted U.N. Resolution 1887 by announcing that India “can now build nuclear weapons with the same destructive power as those in the arsenals of the world’s major nuclear powers”, the Financial Times reported.

Both India and Pakistan are expanding their nuclear weapons programs. They have twice come dangerously close to nuclear war, and the problems that almost ignited this catastrophe are very much alive.

Obama greeted Resolution 1887 differently. The day before he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his inspiring commitment to peace, the Pentagon announced it was accelerating delivery of the most lethal non-nuclear weapons in the arsenal: 13-ton bombs for B-2 and B-52 stealth bombers, designed to destroy deeply hidden bunkers shielded by 10,000 pounds of reinforced concrete.

It’s no secret the bunker busters could be deployed against Iran.

Planning for these “massive ordnance penetrators” began in the Bush years but languished until Obama called for developing them rapidly when he came into office.

Passed unanimously, Resolution 1887 calls for the end of threats of force and for all countries to join the N.P.T., as Iran did long ago. N.P.T. non-signers are India, Israel and Pakistan, all of which developed nuclear weapons with U.S. help, in violation of the N.P.T.

Iran hasn’t invaded another country for hundreds of years—unlike the United States, Israel and India (which occupies Kashmir, brutally).

The threat from Iran is minuscule. If Iran had nuclear weapons and delivery systems and prepared to use them, the country would be vaporized.

To believe Iran would use nuclear weapons to attack Israel, or anyone, “amounts to assuming that Iran’s leaders are insane” and that they look forward to being reduced to “radioactive dust,” strategic analyst Leonard Weiss observes, adding that Israel’s missile-carrying submarines are “virtually impervious to preemptive military attack,” not to speak of the immense U.S. arsenal.

In naval maneuvers in July, Israel sent its Dolphin class subs, capable of carrying nuclear missiles, through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea, sometimes accompanied by warships, to a position from which they could attack Iran—as they have a “sovereign right” to do, according to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

Not for the first time, what is veiled in silence would receive front-page headlines in societies that valued their freedom and were concerned with the fate of the world.

The Iranian regime is harsh and repressive, and no humane person wants Iran—or anyone else—to have nuclear weapons. But a little honesty would not hurt in addressing these problems.

The Nobel Peace Prize, of course, is not concerned solely with reducing the threat of terminal nuclear war, but rather with war generally, and the preparation for war. In this regard, the selection of Obama raised eyebrows, not least in Iran, surrounded by U.S. occupying armies.

On Iran’s borders in Afghanistan and in Pakistan, Obama has escalated Bush’s war and is likely to proceed on that course, perhaps sharply.

Obama has made clear that the United States intends to retain a long-term major presence in the region. That much is signaled by the huge city-within-a city called “the Baghdad Embassy,” unlike any embassy in the world.

Obama has announced the construction of mega-embassies in Islamabad and Kabul, and huge consulates in Peshawar and elsewhere.

Nonpartisan budget and security monitors report in Government Executive that the “administration’s request for $538 billion for the Defense Department in fiscal 2010 and its stated intention to maintain a high level of funding in the coming years put the president on track to spend more on defense, in real dollars, than any other president has in one term of office since World War II. And that’s not counting the additional $130 billion the administration is requesting to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan next year, with even more war spending slated for future years.”

The Nobel Peace Prize committee might well have made truly worthy choices, prominent among them the remarkable Afghan activist Malalai Joya.

This brave woman survived the Russians, and then the radical Islamists whose brutality was so extreme that the population welcomed the Taliban. Joya has withstood the Taliban and now the return of the warlords under the Karzai government.

Throughout, Joya worked effectively for human rights, particularly for women; she was elected to parliament and then expelled when she continued to denounce warlord atrocities. She now lives underground under heavy protection, but she continues the struggle, in word and deed. By such actions, repeated everywhere as best we can, the prospects for peace edge closer to hopes.

Noam Chomsky is a libertarian socialist Institute Professor of Linguistics (Emeritus) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, known as the ‘father of modern lingustics’, cognitive scientist, political activist, most cited living author of over 100 books on linguistics, political science and media, one of the world’s leading intellectuals and of an elite few in the history of the world to be at the top of two fields: linguistics and political science.

The Toxic Avenger Part II: 5 years after the original, Melvin’s still sweeping up crime with his mop – from NJ to Japan. You know it’s going to be good when, 2 minutes in, a blind pensioner gets shot out of her wheelchair. Unfortunately most versions of the T.A. series have been very heavily edited, with most gore cut out and the gratuitous nudity blurred. Films like this were never meant to be taken seriously: the camp script, silly slapstick gags and playing on stereotypes make it really enjoyable, even fun, to watch. The stunts, special effects and explosions are all great and it has a feel somewhere between Cannibal the Musical and the original Power Rangers. People slate this and compare it to the first film, although twenty years later this is still one of the most entertaining B-movies around. Great example of independent film, that’s well worth watching if you can track it down! Radioactive Fun.

Score: 6/10

Ever since I co-wrote my inaugural submission to MSNBC’s First Read blog, “The Secret Life of WH Bees” (see next post), I’ve gone on to write for the blog many other times.  It’s one of the rare outlets I’ve had in my career with NBC News to do some actual reporting.  You can take a look at my contributions below:

“At CPAC, Coulter takes her shots”
<http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/03/01/1815365.aspx>

“June 3 First Thoughts” (co-wrote with Senate producer Ken Strickland)
>> scroll down to Sotomayor on “Latina” and “abortion.”
<http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/firstread/archive/2009/06/03/1951436.aspx>

“House Energy GOP questions Sebelius on health care”
<http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/06/24/1976177.aspx>

“LaHood says ‘Clunkers’ has the cash”
<http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/08/19/2037933.aspx>

“Admin. warns of swine flu in schools”
<http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/08/24/2043672.aspx>

“DNC to the RNC: ‘Get your mop on!’”
<http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/19/2103164.aspx>

“Administration weighs housing credit”
<http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/20/2104169.aspx>

¿Es conveniente la fusión MOP-ATTT?

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El Proyecto de Ley por medio del cual se aspira a crear el Ministerio de Infraestructura Vial, Tránsito y Transporte Terrestre, a su vez del que se desprenden dos (2) Viceministerios, el de Infraestructura Vial y el de Tránsito y Transporte Terrestre, merece que se le hagan las siguientes observaciones.

Si bien es un intento de concentrar en un solo ente público funciones que por ahora vienen siendo ejercidas por instituciones separadas, esto es, el Ministerio de Obras Públicas (MOP) y la Autoridad del Tránsito y Transporte Terrestre (ATTT), las corrientes actuales sobre formas de organización administrativa, para prestar mejores servicios públicos a la población, con la cobertura, calidad, y especialidad de los entes y funcionarios estatales, recomiendan la descentralización administrativa por funciones o técnica, debido a la especialidad requerida y la complejidad de la materia, y no la simple desconcentración, que es lo que ahora se propone y pretende con la fusión MOP-ATTT.

Queda a medio camino el conato de autonomía de la ATTT mediante Ley 14 de 1993 y la 34 de 1999, y se vuelve a una centralización no sólo del tema de la vialidad, el trazado o marcación de las calles y señalización horizontal y vertical, campañas de prevención, así como ser el ente regulador del tránsito y transporte en general, sino a la gestión para la construcción de nuevas carreteras, reparación de las calles y avenidas de todo el país.

La descentralización que para mí de las dos fórmulas de organización es la mejor, supone no sólo el traslado de competencias o funciones, sino que el ente descentralizado adquiere personalidad jurídica propia, patrimonio y capacidad de dictar sus regulaciones, que responde a las políticas públicas generales que éste, en conjunto con el ejecutivo, tracen para el mejor servicio público; mientras que la desconcentración implica, de todas maneras, una subordinación directa al ejecutivo, porque el desconcentrado es parte de ese órgano del Estado. En este sentido, puede decirse que el proyecto no consulta el poco avance que, por lo menos en ciertos niveles de autonomía, estaba en pos de ganar la antigua ATTT (sólo hay que perfeccionarla o enfatizarla con una acentuada capacidad y profesionalismo de todos sus funcionarios, partiendo del Director).

El tema de los recursos es importante porque ahora, según el Proyecto, los presupuestos y bienes patrimoniales del MOP y la ATTT pasarán a la caja común del nuevo Ministerio de IVTyTT, sin garantías de distribución equitativa para la construcción de las carreteras que requiere el progreso del país y el surgimiento de nuevas comunidades; así como el trazado y la preservación de la señalización o campañas preventivas; qué no decir del nuevo propósito que pretende cambiar el sistema vigente de buses, que no logra cubrir la demanda de los asociados y que se convierte en un dolor de cabeza para el transporte y seguridad ciudadana en las áreas metropolitanas, y en gran parte del territorio nacional.

Se aprecia que el Proyecto es una especie de Ley marco o básica, porque establece las líneas generales de actuación de los dos viceministerios, como dejando a la discreción del Presidente su desarrollo por vía reglamentaria, a través del Ministro de IVTyTT.

Esta forma de regular el servicio público, es muy abstracta y puede dar lugar a una actividad reglamentaria sin control, en detrimento del principio de legalidad y derechos de los ciudadanos, conforme al cual los funcionarios públicos sólo pueden hacer lo que la Ley le ordena o permite.

Esto no deja de ser peligroso. Se recalca: este Proyecto, prácticamente, libra al Decreto, la forma de regular en detalle aspectos importantes que la “Ley” no contempla.

Se mantiene incluso la llamada duplicidad de funciones porque en vez de crear un ente que domine todo lo referente al tema del tránsito y transporte público y su vigilancia, transfiere (Art. 10) a la Dirección de Operaciones del Tránsito de la Policía Nacional (DOT) las funciones que realiza el Departamento de Vigilancia y Seguridad de Transporte.

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<>
Publicado el 1 de noviembre de 2009 en el diario El Panamá América, a  quien damos, lo mismo que al autor, todo el crédito que le corresponde

If Bert & Ernie could do it, Yip Yip Martians could do it: