Tuwati and Wasusarma: Imitating the behaviour of Assyria

This essay reviews the evidence concerning the Tabalian king Wasusarma and his father Tuwati, who appear in Neo-Assyrian and Urartian annals. The context for the removal of Wasusarma (Uassurme) from power by the Assyrian king is assumed to have lain in the events depicted in the large inscription of TOPADA. The historical and geographical import of this inscription is explored through a close reading of its historical portion, concluding that its background is set in a local struggle for power over north-western Cappadocia

The New Local Revenue Roller Coaster: Growth and Stability Implications for Increasing Local Sales Tax Reliance in Georgia

This report examines the relative growth and stability of the property tax and local sales tax bases across counties in Georgia

From Branch Ministries to Selma: Why the Internal Revenue Service Should Strictly Enforce the Section 501(C)(3) Prohibition Against Church Electioneering

On Sunday, March 4, 2007, congregations in African American churches in Selma, Alabama, commemorated the forty-second anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the 1965 Selma voting-rights march. Celebrating with them were Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, both candidates in the 2008 presidential election. Despite federal regulations prohibiting §501(3) nonprofit religious organizations from engaging in partisan political activities, Senators Clinton and Obama each made a campaign stop at prominent African American churches, delivering sermon-like speeches during Sunday services

Affirmations: How to Inspire Students to Revise

A product of creative thinking, inspiration is a sudden moment of clarity. Many students lack clarity when asked to write in school–particularly those whose color, gender and economic class place them on the outside looking into the classroom. Language differences are primary concerns, and I don’t mean just English as a Second Language. Those who grow up female, poor, or nonwhite may find their ways with words at odds with expectations on how to write in school. They need affirmations to inspire them to sweat over a draft, not to mention face the fear of writing in school. Think about it. If you were a student who struggled to write, regardless of the reason, all through school, what would help you to write and want to do it? Positive feedback is my guess.University Writing Cente

Laying the Foundation: An Analytical Tool for Assessing Legal and Institutional Readiness for PES

This booklet has been created as an initial resource for public sector officials interested in fostering an environment in which PES transactions can occur. While PES legal and policy readiness is likely to look very different from one country to another -- depending on legal frameworks, as well as historical and current circumstances and pressures -- understanding policy options for getting ready for PES transactions is an important first step towards assessing readiness within a specific national and subnational context.This booklet offers an analytical framework for assessing legal and institutional readiness for PES transactions. It is divided into three sections based on timing and the order of addressing issues, with an eye to what will be most important to investors and buyers in payment for ecosystem services agreements. Specifically, the first level of preparing for PES agreements should be ensuring that fundamental or threshold conditions are in place for buyers to feel that there is sufficient stability in place to consider entering in these business arrangements. The second level of preparedness, while important for well-functioning PES, may be developed adaptively as needs and options become clearer via PES experience on the ground. Finally, level three includes non-urgent aspects that may be important to streamline or scale up PES, depending on the particular circumstances