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__label__wiki	0.640199	0.640199	European hostages set free in Mali Fourteen European hostages kidnapped from the Algerian Sahara desert and being held in Mali have been released by their captors on Sunday. The captors kept the hostages in the region's vast deserts Authorities in the Mali town of Gao said the captors belonging to an Islamist group released the hostages in the northeastern region of Kidal. The release brought to end a painfully long ordeal, that repeatedly hit global headlines. The 14 hostages were the last of the 32 European tourists abducted in February and March by suspected members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) as they travelled through Algeria's Sahara deserts. The GSPC is said to have links with the al-Qaeda. Seventeen of the hostages were freed by Algerian commandos in May while a German woman died of heatstroke. The latest release came after strenous negotiations with the hostage takers. Earlier reports suggested the captors were demanding a ransom of some $5.5 million for each person. It was also speculated that Amar Saifi, an Algerian army renegade was the leader of the abductors. Despite best attempts, the authorities had found it difficult to free the hostages. Straddling several countries, the Sahara spans more than 800,000 square miles and policing it is a near impossible task.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27024
__label__wiki	0.926286	0.926286	Saddam's general killed during Rumsfeld trip A former secret police general who had been in charge of western Baghdad under Saddam Hussein, has been shot and killed at his home in the Iraqi capital. The hawk has landed: Rumsfeld is the main architect of the Iraq war General Khalaf Alussi died under a hail of bullets fired by four men, said Wissam Idan, a building worker at the house in Baghdad's al-Yarmuk area. The general, who died on the spot, headed the feared secret police in the al-Kharkh district on the west bank of the river Tigris. The attack came as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Baghdad and the northern oil centre of Kirkuk for talks with field commanders on counter-insurgency efforts. A number of violent incidents coincided with the visit. A member of the paramilitary Iraqi civil defence corps (ICDC) was wounded in a rocket attack north of Baghdad as US troops launched a major operation against insurgent bombers west of the capital. "At 9:30 am (0630 GMT) a rocket hit our camp where dozens of IDC personnel are based and Sabbah Salem Jassem was wounded in the arms and legs," said the corps commander. Rumsfeld drops in Rumsfeld's unannounced visit, his third since the US-led invasion of Iraq, came after the US military launched counter-insurgency operations around the capital and in north-central Iraq to root out those responsible for carrying out resistance attacks against American troops and their allies. Rumsfeld flew directly to a military base on the southern outskirts of Baghdad in a swarm of Black Hawk helicopters, avoiding the capital's international airport, which has been targeted by resistance missile fire. At a base of the 82nd Airborne Division, he inspected the training of the new Iraqi Civil Defence Corps that US commanders hope will play a bigger role in Iraq's security as Washington restructures its forces and sends some of its troops home. Kirkuk visit Security was extraordinarily tight everywhere Rumsfeld went. In the northern city of Kirkuk, a 50-minute meeting with Iraqi officials, which had been due to take place in the governor's office, was switched to a safe house in the city for security reasons. Rumsfeld drove to the safe house in Kiruk in a convoy of mud spattered Humvees. Troops sealed off the streets surrounding the mansion. US army says resistance attacks are down to 22 incidents a day Resistance attacks The US defence secretary was also briefed on counter-insurgency efforts by Major General Raymond Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, which patrols the flashpoint areas of north-central Iraq. "We are now down to 22 incidents a day," he said, adding that US forces were now finding up to 70% of roadside bombs before they were detonated. Odierno said intelligence tips from Iraqis had been pouring in since the US army launched two major counter-insurgency operations north of Baghdad and around the capital in mid-November. He added that about 20 of the 32,000 troops in his division had been killed since President George Bush declared an end to hostilities on 1 May. A total of 40 had been killed since the start of the six-week spring invasion. "Every one of them is tragic, everyone of them is a great human being," said Odierno. But he added that the combat deaths accounted for only one tenth of one percent of his forces.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27025
__label__wiki	0.603616	0.603616	Bin Laden driver's trial begins Former driver for al-Qaeda leader pleads not guilty at Guantanamo Bay tribunal. Hamdan has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002 [EPA] The prosecution alleges Hamdan was affiliated with the al-Qaeda network's inner circle and claims he was captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 - shortly after the US-led invasion of the country - with two surface-to-air missiles in his car. However Hamdan's lawyers say he was only a driver and mechanic in bin Laden's extended circle and needed the $200 monthly salary he was given. Court challenges In June this year the US Supreme Court ruled that detainees held in Guantanamo Bay could challenge their detention in civilian courts. However, a federal judge last week rejected a request from Hamdan's lawyers to delay his trial so he could challenge his detention. The trial is expected to take from three to four weeks, with testimony from around two dozen Pentagon witnesses. The jury will be selected from a pool of 13 US military officers flown in from around the world and will have at least five members. Ahead of the trial, Keith Allred, the presiding judge, threw out some statements made by Hamdan to interrogators at the US air base in Bagram, Afghanistan and in Panjsher valley, also in Afghanistan. Hamdan has been held at the facility since 2002, mostly in isolation. Defence lawyers working for many of the roughly 260 detainees still being held at Guantanamo Bay say many of their clients' statements to interrogators were coerced. Earlier this month five men, including alleged September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, were charged with crimes relating to the 2001 attacks, which killed almost 3,000 people. Lawyers for Hamdan plan to call Mohammed and a second of those charged, Walid bin Attash, as witnesses in his trial to support his contention that he was not a member of al-Qaeda.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27026
__label__wiki	0.983417	0.983417	Malaysia PM to step down March date comes in wake of party dissent following polls setback and opposition threats. Abdullah, right, has nominated his deputy, Najib, to succeed him [EPA] Racial tensions are also running high and the country is suffering massive inflation and bracing itself for the impact of a global economic meltdown. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Abdullah said he would not defend his post as president of Umno when party elections are held in March. Najib Razak: Abdullah's successor The move is widely seen as an attempt to avert an open rebellion from party members who have been calling for his resignation since the 13-party ruling Barisan Nasional coalition put on a dismal performance in the March 8 general elections. Abdullah, who admitted that he was leaving earlier than planned to prevent a split in the party, has nominated his deputy, Najib Abdul Razak, to assume his party and government duties once the transition of power is complete. By convention, the leader of Umno becomes the country's prime minister and chairman of BN, which has been in power since Malaysia gained independence from British rule in 1957. 'It's time' "I know that I was not doing well enough during the [March] election so it's time for someone else to take over," Abdullah, 68, said when asked whether he was forced out of office. "In all my years of service, I have always been guided by my conscience ... and I do not want a divided party and governing coalition, but one that is united and harmonious." "I wish to hand to my successor a country that is capable of confronting any global economic challenges" Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysian PM Abdullah, however, said he would enact laws to clean up judicial appointments and deal with corruption in his remaining six months in office. Abdullah, who took office in 2003, initially refused to resign before agreeing to go early in 2010 and then finally settling on the March 2009 date when the earlier plan failed to placate dissidents. Abdullah secured an overwhelming victory in a 2004 general election after succeeding Mahathir Mohamad in 2003. But his popularity waned amid claims that he had failed to tackle cronyism and corruption, issues on which he had campaigned. Abdullah, who was also finance minister until recently handing over the post to his deputy, Najib, said he had "no regrets" that his reform programme had made little headway during his years in office. "I wish to hand to my successor a country that is capable of confronting any global economic challenges," he said. Analysts say Abdullah's successor, Najib, 55, would have a hard time trying to unite the BN coalition and thwart the opposition's bid to take power. "Najib lacks the imagination and the drive to make Umno a 'sexy' party," Ooi Kee Beng, a Malaysia expert at the Institute of South East Asian Studies in Singapore, said. "The same goes for most Umno leaders today. None is convincing as a force for the future."	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27027
__label__cc	0.670002	0.329998	ªIntermodal APL Spain 6Ports of calls APL Spain - a leading worldwide shipping agency APL Spain was established in 2003. As a global ocean carrier, APL has an extensive network of offices around the world including two offices, in the city of Barcelona and Valencia and agency relationships in Bilbao, Gijon and Vigo. Today, APL Spain covers the whole of Spain, from North to South, playing a vital role in supporting global trade & commerce in this country. With our growing presence and our local expertise, APL Spain enables customers to capitalize on the growing number of opportunities in and around this region. Services from both major Spanish coastlines: the Mediterranean area and the North of Spain Good connections with Asia and the Americas for a smooth and fast transit A strong and dedicated Customer Support department that can assist the customer in every part of the booking process to smoothen the overall transportation of cargo to and from the Spanish mainland Expertise in dry, refrigerated and project cargoes. State-of-the-art Reefer equipment to preserve the commodities and deliver the produce fresh at destination. Global Presence with Local Mentality	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27030
__label__wiki	0.796784	0.796784	Resources Reviews The Near West: Medieval North Africa, Latin Europe and the Mediterranean in the Second Axial Age The Near West: Medieval North Africa, Latin Europe and the Mediterranean in the Second Axial Age By Allen James Fromherz 2016, Edinburgh UP, 978-0-7486-4294-6, $120 hb. Reviewed by Robert W. Lebling on September 15, 2018 The author argues that North Africa played a key role in the religio-cultural transformation of the Mediterranean region that peaked in the 12th century CE, making the medieval period a pivotal or “axial” era comparable to the mid-first millennium BCE. Fromherz takes a fresh look at a variety of sources, finding—rather than a period of sometimes violent hostility—a fascinating mixing of cultures in art and architecture, music, poetry, medicine and commerce. He builds his case around four cities—Bèjaïa (today’s Bougie, Algeria), Rome, Tunis and Marrakech—and describes North Africa as “a dynamic republic of letters, words and ideas.” In the form of the Berber Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, North Africa was a dominant player in the history of the western Mediterranean, as the strict conservatism of the initial rulers gave way to a more tolerant, cosmopolitan worldview. Egyptian Belly Dance in Transition: The Raqṣ Sharqī Revolution, 1890–1930 By Heather D. Ward The Salukis in My Life: Here, There and Everywhere from the Arab World to China By Sir Terence Clark	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27031
__label__wiki	0.882857	0.882857	Class Notes Extra Bill Ahlhauser Life is all about the possibility of doing good, whatever one's circumstance. Banthoon Lamsam If his father is watching over him, he is likely to feel proud. Susan McIntosh When you have been given a talent, you are obligated to use that talent to help others. After building a home with the help of a spreadsheet and a telephone, he wrote a book. Kate Steichen Life is like sailingyou rarely go in a straight line. One of the joys of reading the Bulletin's Class Notes is that you never know who you'll find. Of course, there are regular cast members, those faithful classmates who touch base at least once a year with news of the kids, a job change, or exciting vacation exploits. Their summaries enrich the continuing narrative of the Class Notes — Harvard Business School's own version of an epic tale — from issue to issue, year to year. But as with many long-running stories, it is often the episodes that take place off the beaten track that most capture the imagination. Some classmates may check in only once or twice in their careers, while other reports might appear only because a class secretary made a chance, late-night phone call to an almost forgotten sectionmate. Following are brief updates on some of the more far-flung members of the Class of 1977. Whether their life journeys have led them to distant parts of the globe, down untraditional career paths, or on quests for inner knowledge, their stories are worthy of note. Humanity and Harmony Growing up in late-1960s Milwaukee, Bill Ahlhauser was a self-described young radical, a teenager who took part in civil rights marches and who dropped out of his Catholic private school in order to start up an independent high school. So how did he find his way to HBS? I thought it would be the best place to learn how to organize and think clearly, and thus be able to generate change, he explains. After graduating, Ahlhauser worked in finance, auditing, and consulting roles for several national firms before hanging out his shingle on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee, a state to which he had moved for an earlier job. As a financial consultant, he assisted start-ups and performers such as Seals & Crofts, ZZ Top, and Larry Gatlin. In 1991, he and a partner founded a market research firm — the business is now called Research.Net, Inc. — focused on using cutting-edge software for interviewing and tracking subscribers and customers on behalf of clients in publishing and other industries. He lives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with his wife and three children. Since his college days at the University of Massachusetts, Ahlhauser has been a follower of the Baha'i faith, whose central belief is that humanity is meant to live in unity and harmony. As a leader of his local Spiritual Assembly, he conducts interfaith and intercultural (especially with Chinese) discussion groups and has continued to promote social justice and to work against racism. Says Ahlhauser, Life is all about the possibility of doing good, whatever one's circumstance. Banthoon and family Despite his distance from HBS, Banthoon Lamsam has issued fairly regular reports on his many activities and challenges as president of the Thai Farmers Bank, where he has brought myriad Western management techniques to the bank his grandfather founded. In the process, he has gained international attention and praise. Cultural differences between U.S. and Thai organizations, Banthoon explains, run deep. In Thailand, he says, it is unacceptable to come down hard on performance management or to openly discuss and critique a peer's actions. In working to close the gap between East and West, Banthoon appointed two Americans to top-level positions — EVP of HR and EVP of retail business. The idea, admits Banthoon, whom Business Week describes as iconoclastic, was an unprecedented phenomenon for Thai banks, but the response has been overwhelmingly favorable. While Banthoon's first desire was to study medicine, his father sent him to Exeter, Princeton, and HBS; he returned the favor by joining the family business after two years in the military and a three-month stint as a Buddhist monk. Thai Farmers Bank has changed since his father passed away a decade ago, with most of the bank now held by the public at large and institutional investors. My father never saw the Asian financial crisis and the struggle and changes the bank has gone through, notes Banthoon, who is working hard to keep the bank competitive. Himself a father of three (whom he insists will not enter the family business), Banthoon imagines that if his father is watching over him, he is likely to feel proud. Susan McIntosh believes, When you have been given a talent, you are obligated to use that talent to help others. During a hiatus from full-time employment to raise three children, she has utilized her talents to help save the lives of enough Russian children to fill four elementary schools. In 1996, at a friend's invitation, McIntosh traveled to St. Petersburg with Heart to Heart, a group of California doctors who volunteer their time to perform heart surgery on Russian infants and children. When they began their work in 1991, she reports, the situation was so dire that there were hundreds of people in line outside the hospital with desperately ill babies. There was almost a riot. After observing her first successful open-heart surgery and the emotional post-operative meeting between the doctor and the baby's grateful parents, McIntosh, who speaks Russian and has a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins, was stirred to action. She now travels to Russia three times a year in conjunction with her work for the Russian Medical Fund (www.russmed.com), a nonprofit foundation she launched to finance the purchase of medical equipment and supplies for the hospital in St. Petersburg as well as training for Russian heart surgeons. With the enthusiastic support of her husband and HBS classmate, Michael D'Amato, she runs the fund from her home to keep expenses low. (I'm Scottish, after all, she quips.) Her organization has raised over $2 million to date — enough to provide a new heart-lung machine, build a seven-bed cardiac ICU, and restore a five-room operating suite, considerable feats given the complexities of business and finance in postSoviet Russia. She is now looking to expand the group's fundraising reach and hopes someday to help with other medical problems in the former Soviet Union. Owner, Builder, Farmer The Bulletin hadn't heard from Mark Smith for several years, but when his section secretary finally tracked him down, the news was all good. Those who know the New Jersey native may remember he joined IBM in Denver after graduation and eventually was recruited by CompuServe in Columbus, Ohio. After a divorce and relocation to Provo, Utah, he met and married a fellow BYU graduate, Elaine, and launched his own high-tech marketing consulting firm. Business, however, was slow, so in 1996 Smith decided the best financial move he could make was to build a home. Using a spreadsheet and a telephone, the Smiths managed to construct a modest home and saved about $140,000 by overseeing the project themselves. Halfway through the process, he reports, I realized, ŒI've got to write this down.' The results were The Owner-Builder Book: How You Can Save More than $100,000 in the Construction of Your Custom Home and a Web site (www.ownerbuilderbook.com) for owner-builders. After losing money for four years and just breaking even in the fifth, Smith jokes that this year, there may not be a way to avoid it — we might just turn a profit. But building isn't Smith's only interest: On October 1, he and Elaine will head to the West Indies on a two-year mission with the Mormon Church, leaving their business in the hands of a partner and their 3,000-square-foot organic garden (with its baseball batsized zucchini) to lie fallow until they return. Following the Wind Kate Steichen admits she hasn't been a regular contributor to Class Notes, but the Crestone, Colorado, resident is more than willing to catch up over the phone. She speaks candidly about acting as her ailing mother's primary-care manager and the path from Parker Brothers marketing executive to self-employed life coach and corporate mediator. Life is like sailing, Steichen laughs. You rarely go in a straight line — you respond to the wind, tacking back and forth. Business school, for example, was not the most likely destination for a painter and printmaker, but when Steichen became director of the DeCordova Museum School in Lincoln, Massachusetts, she found herself the manager of sixty faculty and staff. Suddenly, I was creating with people, rather than with paints and pencils. I wanted to learn more about that process, she says. HBS taught me to see through massive amounts of information to get to a position of clarity, notes Steichen, who has also devoted much of the past twenty years to weaving together what she has learned from various spiritual and psychological disciplines. The equivalent in inner work is to arrive at a state prior to the mind, to be at the source. That skill is essential to her work as an intuitive facilitator for individuals and corporations. It also played a significant role in negotiations when the Colorado Air National Guard moved to expand its military training in the skies over Crestone in 1991. For Steichen, who founded the Open Space Alliance with a group of concerned citizens who objected to the noise associated with increased air traffic, the situation was less about confrontation than education. The director of environmental PR at the Pentagon and his wife came out on a vacation and camped on my land, says Steichen. They considered me a friend, even though I was very clear about my purpose — and in the end, the Guard dropped its proposal!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27033
__label__cc	0.702029	0.297971	Cash for Homes: Policy Implications of an Investor-Led Housing Recovery By Sarah Edelman Posted on September 5, 2013, 9:18 am Endnotes and citations are available in the PDF and Scribd versions. Across the country, investors are taking advantage of the nation’s foreclosure crisis to purchase homes at bargain prices, often beating out potential homeowners who remain sidelined. In July, cash-on-hand investors bought about 55 percent of the homes sold in Las Vegas and numerous properties in other major metropolitan areas such as Miami, Phoenix, and Prince George’s County, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Investors can play a key role in a housing recovery. By absorbing excess inventory, they establish a floor for home prices and jumpstart appreciation. Responsible investors can also offer quality, affordable rental opportunities to families who may be locked out of homeownership due to foreclosure or lost wealth from the recession. But while they can support communities, irresponsible investors can also destroy them by allowing properties to sit empty, declining to bring rental properties up to code, and neglecting tenants’ needs in instances where the home is occupied. Additionally, investors that buy large quantities of properties in a single area can cause prices to overheat and increase market volatility. Conversely, if institutional investors following a set business plan sell numerous properties in the same time frame, prices in those neighborhoods could decline again. Given investors’ powerful impact on the housing market, it’s important that policymakers monitor investor activities to limit their possible negative impacts. As the nation faces a new, larger, wealthier, and more sophisticated generation of investors, the need for oversight has never been greater. For the first time, institutional investors are entering the housing market in an organized and significant way, purchasing tens of thousands of homes across the country as part of a new scattered-site, single-family-rental asset class. Institutional and individual investors alike are moving away from rehabilitating and flipping properties quickly. Instead, they are increasingly pursuing a buy-and-hold strategy in which they rent the property for a number of years in order for it to appreciate and then sell it. Although this sector is relatively small, analysts expect that the new class of rentals will grow into a $100 billion industry in the coming years. Indeed, The Wall Street Journal reports that Deutsche Bank may soon begin selling securities backed by rental payments from properties owned by institutional investors. Such an innovation will propel this industry’s growth even more. To ensure that investment activity in the housing market is socially and economically productive, we must examine investment trends and their possible impacts on communities and the economy. It is also important to consider the implications of a housing recovery built primarily on investor-owned properties as opposed to homeowners. Investors alone—even if they act responsibly—cannot build a robust, long-lasting housing recovery. As research firm CoreLogic said in a market report last month, “Going forward, continued U.S. housing market recovery depends on trade-up and first-time homebuyers replacing cash buyers.” Our nation urgently needs housing finance reform to get the mortgage market working again for qualified borrowers. Profile of investors: The who, where, and how It is not unusual for investors to buy inexpensive properties after a housing downturn. In fact, investors are often the first buyers to return to the housing market. This time around, however, we see a heavy volume of investment and a broader range of investors seizing on low home prices. In addition to the so-called mom-and-pop investor—an individual who may own a handful or even dozens of properties—institutional investors such as hedge funds; private equity firms; real-estate investment trusts, or REITs; and other corporate entities are flocking to the market. These groups are funded primarily by private investors and are also increasingly accessing cheap capital from banks to fund their purchases. Institutional investors may buy distressed properties at any point along the foreclosure pipeline. They buy real-estate-owned or bank-owned properties that have completed the foreclosure process, and they also purchase homes at foreclosure auctions and trustee sales. They buy properties through short-sales—which take place when a lender allows a homeowner to sell his or her home for less than the amount of the mortgage owed—and by purchasing portfolios of distressed notes from servicers. Now, investors appear to be broadening their footprint by also buying nondistressed homes, according to new research from CoreLogic. Institutional investors such as the Blackstone Group L.P. are also working with financial institutions to create new securities based on rental payments from investor-owned homes. If the market for these securities grows, institutional investors will be able to access more capital and buy more properties to convert to rental homes, which would fuel demand for investor-owned homes and may make it more lucrative for a mortgage holder to sell or foreclose on homeowners rather than keep them in their homes. These transactions would occur outside the reach of a regulatory structure that oversees mortgages, not cash purchases. While relatively small compared to the $18.5 trillion housing market, institutional investors have spent more than $17 billion in recent years. Even as rising home prices are apparently cooling interest among some leading institutional investors, policymakers should continue to pay attention. Their purchases, which have been targeted in specific metropolitan areas, could make a significant impact on local markets and neighborhoods. Depending on the type of investor and the market conditions within the city and region of the purchase, investor purchases of distressed homes look wildly different. Institutional investor at a glance Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp. A real-estate investment trust Headquarters: Minnesota Leadership: The CEO is David Miller, former U.S. Treasury Department official and Goldman Sachs executive. Mission: The company acquires distressed single-family properties, manages their renovation and maintenance, and leases the homes for rental income and long-term capital appreciation. It became a publicly owned company in December 2012, when it raised $245 million at its initial public offering, which it used to buy more homes. Method: Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp., or SBRT, acquires properties through foreclosure auctions, online auctions, and brokers. Status: SBRT has acquired more than 75 percent of its portfolio since March 2012. By December 2012, it held 2,540 single-family properties. As of May 2013, it held 5,370 homes. Property management: In-house and subcontracted management Investor geography For the most part, institutional investors have been drawn to the cities that were hit the hardest by the foreclosure crisis but are best positioned to recover, such as Miami, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Atlanta. Blackstone has already invested $4.5 billion in purchases already—the firm’s rental arm, Invitation Homes, scooped up 1,380 homes in Atlanta in one day this April, according to a CNBC report. However, despite news headlines, every investor is not armed with millions of dollars in capital. Individual investors buying fewer than 10 properties are still driving the majority of investor purchases in many areas. In investor-saturated Miami-Dade County, Florida, for instance, small and individual investors purchasing fewer than 10 properties made about two-thirds of real-estate-owned, or REO, investor purchases, according to the New York University Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. Also, researchers say that smaller investors, rather than institutional investors, are playing a more prominent role in local markets such as Fulton County, Georgia; Cuyahoga County, Ohio; and San Diego and Oakland, California. In recent years, investors of all kinds have shown interest in harder-hit counties or neighborhoods within strong metropolitan areas. For instance, investors purchased 42 percent of all foreclosed properties in Oakland between 2007 and 2011, according to a study by the Urban Strategies Council. Approximately one-third of home purchases in Prince George’s County, Maryland, last year were made in cash, presumably by investors, according to The Washington Post. Investing in these areas offers investors an opportunity to buy at low prices, attract renters who want to live in these metropolitan areas, and sell when prices rise. However, investment is not limited to the Sun Belt and thriving metropolitan areas. Individual investors are also picking up properties in distressed, primarily low-income neighborhoods in Rust Belt cities such as Detroit and Cleveland. Investor strategies Just as there are many different kinds of investors, strategies for managing these investments also vary depending on local market conditions and investors’ strategies. Investors may adapt their behavior depending on the existing opportunities and limitations within a given market. If home prices are rising quickly enough for investors to earn a profit by reselling the property in the short term, investors may be more likely to sell quickly. If home prices are stunted but the rental market is strong, the investor may choose to rent until prices recover. The amount of profit they can earn on a property may also determine how much they will invest in maintenance and upkeep. Alan Mallach, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, has conducted extensive research on private investor behavior and has created a typology to classify the most common investor strategies within the two general buy-to-sell and buy-to-hold camps. This section draws on Mallach’s framework to characterize investment patterns across the country. ‘Buy to sell’ According to Mallach, most prominent investors in the buy-to-sell camp “flip” a home—that is, buy and quickly sell it for a higher price without ever renting it. In the mid-2000s, as the housing bubble grew, flipping was a common investment strategy. Although far less common today, flipping has not disappeared. The number of houses bought and sold within six months increased by 12 percent in 2011 and continued to increase slightly in 2012, with investors earning $37,375 in profit on average on each transaction. In Oakland, Community Fund LLC, a company purchasing bank-owned homes, earned an average gross gain of $70,721 on the 120 properties it flipped in 2011. In California, flipping has returned to the levels not seen since the housing-market bubble of the early 2000s. If an investor rehabilitates a property well and does not unduly inflate prices, flipping can be an important part of revitalizing distressed housing stock. On the other hand, flippers that drive up prices by reselling dilapidated properties without making any substantive changes or repairs can contribute to the further deterioration of the housing stock. ‘Buy to hold’ In today’s housing market, many investors are taking a buy-to-hold approach. With this strategy, an investor buys single-family homes at low prices and converts them to rentals with the plan of renting them until the market improves or for a specified period of time, such as three or five years. Morgan Stanley expects this market to grow from $17 billion to $100 billion in the coming years. Market conditions often affect how well investors maintain these rental units. Investors that do not believe they can earn enough through the rental payments or resale to cover maintenance and rehabilitation costs, for instance, may be less likely to take good care of their properties. And in some markets, there are easy, low-cost alternative paths to profit. In Detroit, for instance, an investor can turn a profit in just a few years by buying low, renting the property with little maintenance, and dodging taxes—as is common. Most of the institutional investors that actively purchase single-family homes today plan to rent them for several years. With more access to capital, these investors may be better equipped to handle property management than mom-and-pop investors. Yet the extent to which investors renovate or maintain a property may hinge on whether they believe they can recoup the cost through the rental payments and eventual resale. Dumping underperforming properties Even investors that initially buy a property to hold may abandon a property if they realize that it will not be profitable. While data are not available on the frequency of property abandonment by investors, research suggests that the practice may be fairly common. When an investor buys properties in bulk, the investor may discard the less economical properties. In these cases, the property once again becomes vacant, further delaying the neighborhood’s recovery. Potential adverse consequences for the housing market and neighborhood stabilization The influx of investors into the housing market over the past two years has helped buoy the housing market, aid underwater homeowners, and allow some neighborhoods to begin moving forward. Policymakers must pay close attention, however, to the ways in which this investment may impact the housing market and the neighborhoods most affected by new property owners. Are sharp increases in home prices sustainable? While home prices increased 12 percent nationally over the past year, home prices have increased by more than 20 percent in San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Atlanta and hovered around 15 percent in other key metropolitan areas—raising fears about unsustainable price increases in some parts of the country. Fitch Ratings sounded the alarm over the rapid price increases, reporting that “recent home price gains recorded in several residential markets are outpacing improvements in fundamentals.” Furthermore, analysts at Fitch believe that “the growth is being propelled by institutional money.” In Phoenix and Las Vegas, which are among the metropolitan areas with the highest price increases last year, investors helped fuel the growth. In Phoenix, about 45 percent of the homes purchased in July 2013 were bought with cash, which is a proxy for measuring investor activity. In Las Vegas, the figure was close to a stunning 55 percent. In some places, however, the earliest investors, such as Carrington Holding Company and Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, are already leaving the market and looking to sell their portfolios after disappointing initial returns. Colony Capital LLC, another leading investor, has filled just more than half of the 9,931 homes it purchased. If investor activity is contributing to possible home-price inflation, these local markets are susceptible to sudden price declines when investors exit. A sudden departure by investors would not only hurt housing prices but also deal a second blow to already-fragile neighborhoods. Will investors be good landlords? While investor-owned properties may lead to a greater availability of rental units, particularly in neighborhoods with sparse rental options, families and neighborhoods will not reap the benefits of these new options unless the homes are maintained. As described earlier, individual investors have a mixed record as landlords that varies with local market characteristics. “[O]wner occupancy rates on REO are falling. Communities have justifiable concerns about that. There is a clear institutionalized preference for investor transactions—they are easier to do and easier to leverage to dispose of REO.”– Brian Hurley, former president of New Vista Asset Management While we can speculate, we do not know how well institutional investors will fare as landlords and neighbors. According to The Wall Street Journal, “investors and analysts have raised concerns about how quickly firms have purchased thousands of homes, and whether they have the management track record and expertise to oversee the maintenance of properties across the country.” Managing scattered-site rental is likely to be more costly and more challenging than managing a typical multifamily apartment building. Scattered-site rental units are more geographically dispersed and may require greater staffing to secure the properties, maintain them, and market them when they become vacant. There may also be multiple layers of property-management subcontractors between the investors that own the property and the tenant who lives in the property. This distance could make it harder for an investor to ensure quality property management and for a tenant to hold an investor accountable for property conditions. Or the investor may leave the property management to the tenants, raising other concerns. In Tampa, Florida, for example, a management company that serves homeowner associations told The Tampa Tribune that investors “seem to be relying on their tenants to care for the homes once they move in, and tenants, unfortunately, aren’t complying enough.” Some homeowners associations in the Tampa area are now contemplating new limits on renters. This lack of quality property management may further negative assumptions about renters. Are investors crowding out too many potential homeowners? Community advocates and realtors complain that investor cash purchases often crowd out potential owner-occupant buyers who require financing. In some cases, owner-occupants have trouble accessing credit, or investors flush with cash are simply willing to bid higher. In other cases, sellers who wish to avoid the appraisal process prefer cash buyers. Pushing out potential homeowners who will live and take root in a neighborhood can hinder neighborhoods struggling to recover from the foreclosure crisis by preventing these communities from reclaiming lost wealth. According to the Pew Research Center, African American and Latino families lost 53 percent and 66 percent of their wealth, respectively, from 2005 to 2009 due to predatory lending and the subsequent recession. If neighborhood residents were to purchase homes at new, lower prices and stay in the neighborhood, the equity would contribute to that family’s assets and likely be deployed close to home. The firms and individuals buying distressed properties, however, are typically not located in the communities where they invest, so when investors eventually resell these properties, it is likely that they will take their wealth with them. What’s more, it is not clear that those who invest in houses will show an equal commitment to the surrounding neighborhoods. Owner-occupants, for example, have a vested interest in neighborhood amenities such as good schools, parks, and playgrounds. As a result, owner-occupants tend to be more civically engaged than renters. While investors may recognize that amenities will improve their property’s value, they may not be as engaged in the future of the neighborhood. Tom Deyo, NeighborWorks America deputy director for national initiatives, reflected these concerns in an interview with Mother Jones last year, saying, “These investments in rental homes need to be seen as investments in communities, not just as data points on some spreadsheet.” Community spotlight: Prince George’s County, Maryland The recession and housing crisis hit Prince George’s County especially hard. In 2011, 38 percent of Maryland homes in the foreclosure pipeline were located in Prince George’s County. More than half of homeowners in the county still owe more on their homes than they are worth. Prior to the housing crisis, Prince George’s County had a reputation as an affordable area for families and was known as one of the country’s most prominent middle-class, majority-African American communities. Part of its success was built on higher-than-average homeownership rates. But after predatory lenders heavily targeted the county, it has suffered mightily during the foreclosure crisis. Foreclosure rates in Prince George’s County have persistently been among the highest in the Washington, D.C., region. Yet as a region bordering Washington, D.C., the county is also close to a thriving metropolitan center and a strong rental market, making it ripe for investment. In many parts of Prince George’s County, investors can buy low, confident that they will be able to rent out the property until they sell it for a higher price down the road. Last year, investors made about one-third of home purchases in Prince George’s County. Home prices have also increased by 20 percent over the past year—a larger increase than almost anywhere else in the region. As fewer families build wealth through homeownership in the county and wealth instead transfers to investors, Prince George’s County may look very different in the coming years. Looking forward: How to build a sustainable housing recovery Investors can certainly play a role in the U.S. housing recovery. Indeed, in some local housing markets they have already helped halt and even reverse rapid price declines. Policymakers must monitor and manage investors to ensure that they are acting responsibly and playing a stabilizing role in communities. But investor purchases alone cannot sustain a long-term housing recovery. In order for a housing recovery to last, it must be built on homeowners who are more likely to remain even if investors exit the market in search of more aggressive returns. With that in mind, the Center for American Progress suggests the following strategies for insuring a lasting housing recovery that strengthens the national economy while creating affordable homeownership opportunities for qualified buyers. Step 1: Help homeowners stay in their homes The housing recovery remains an abstraction for the more than 2 million households still at risk of foreclosure in the United States. When possible, preventing these foreclosures is the first step toward a strong housing recovery. Allowing more of these families to lower their monthly mortgage payments through refinancing or principal reduction could help millions of families avoid foreclosure and likely save money for the U.S. government and lenders. CAP commends the Obama administration for renewing the Home Affordable Refinance Program and Home Affordable Modification Program, which are critical foreclosure-prevention tools. CAP also urges the Federal Housing Finance Agency to allow homeowners with government-backed mortgages to secure more-affordable monthly payments through principal forgiveness. Step 2: Level the playing field for owner-occupants and mission-driven organizations Households and community groups that are unable to access credit are struggling to compete with cash investors to buy homes. With a more level playing field, buyers who are more rooted in the community than the average investor would be better positioned to own properties in their neighborhoods. Encouraging more local buyers may be a less risky neighborhood stabilization strategy than relying on outside investors that are less likely to stay. Some of the tools designed to help families and community groups compete with investors for bank-owned homes—such as “first look” programs—are less useful now that fewer distressed homes are making it all the way through the foreclosure process. Instead, banks are unloading underperforming properties either by selling the underlying mortgage or selling the home via a short sale, or trustee sale. It is harder for owner-occupants to compete in these venues, which require a lot of capital. Similarly, many institutional investors are buying large portfolios of distressed mortgages directly from financial institutions or through federal sales of nonperforming assets. Owner-occupants do not have access to these sales and it is very challenging for community groups to compete in these arenas. In the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s first REO bulk sale last year, community groups failed to win in a single pool. In future bulk sales of nonperforming assets, governmental agencies should give substantial preference to mission-driven organizations that will work to keep existing homeowners in their homes or resell the property to an owner-occupant at an affordable price. Federal banking regulators should also provide closer scrutiny to the bulk sales of distressed mortgages carried out by private financial institutions to make sure the entities purchasing these assets are well qualified to service the portfolio. Additionally, the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, could help nonprofit affordable-housing and community-development groups meet financing challenges by expanding their access to rehabilitation mortgage insurance. The FHA’s rehabilitation mortgage insurance, known as its 203(k) program, allows homebuyers to include renovation and repair costs in their mortgage. In recent years, however, this critical financing has been largely unavailable to nonprofits because of administrative hurdles, including unclear underwriting criteria. The FHA should work together with lenders and the affordable-housing community to use the existing 203(k) program and make program improvements so that responsible, well-capitalized nonprofits can use this financing to help rebuild neighborhoods. Step 3: Monitor and manage investors Ensuring that investors take care of their properties is key to leveraging investment for the benefit of the community rather than to its detriment. In 2010, researchers at PolicyLink and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, or LISC, took an inventory of approaches at the state and local levels to hold investor-owners accountable and shared proactive strategies for strengthening local code enforcement and improving investor behavior. These approaches include rental registration and licensing programs that help cities better track investor owners and their properties because, through regular inspections of licensed properties, local governments can quickly detect problem landlords. These strategies for tracking and managing investor-owned properties deserve attention. As communities continue to experience high rates of investor ownership—and especially as relatively untested institutional investors enter communities—local governments must closely monitor investor behavior. The federal government should also publish assessments of investors that have purchased properties through distressed-asset sales. In 2012, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, or FHFA, sold bulk pools of REO properties that comprised about 1,750 homes to investors in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and parts of Florida. So far, the agency has not released any reporting on the performance of the investors and these pools. Similarly, the FHA has held multiple auctions to sell distressed FHA mortgages—selling more than 45,000 loans since September 2012—but has not posted follow-up performance data. It is crucial for the FHA and the FHFA to carefully monitor these pools for compliance with the terms of the sale and assess the impact of institutional investors on neighborhoods. The agencies should then release that information to the public to increase transparency and hold investors accountable. Some of the investors that purchased properties through the FHFA auctions, such as institutional investor Colony Capital LLC, have a large national presence that extends beyond the FHFA pilot program. Moving forward, the FHFA should share more of the lessons learned from the pilot program to help state and federal policymakers better anticipate challenges that may arise in the broader REO market. Step 4: Get the mortgage market working again for America’s families Ultimately, a robust and lasting housing-market recovery will require a resurgence of owner-occupant homebuyers. Yet the ability to secure a mortgage for a home has become elusive to many Americans. Right now, the typical borrower approved for a conventional mortgage has a FICO score of 755 and makes a 20 percent down payment on a home. Given that nearly two-thirds of Americans have credit scores below 750 and that it takes the average family 20 years to save for a 10 percent down payment, the ability to buy a home is increasingly limited to the wealthiest of America’s families. The secondary mortgage market in which investors buy mortgages, package them into securities, and sell them to other investors plays a significant role in whether credit is accessible and affordable to families. Lenders are less likely to make a mortgage loan if they are not confident that they can sell it on the secondary market. Right now, the secondary market is supported in large part by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which were taken over by the government and remain in conservatorship. The confusing objectives of the conservatorship and investor uncertainty have kept credit very tight, especially for first-time homebuyers. In the first quarter of 2013, 76 percent of all mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were made to homeowners who refinanced their existing mortgages, as opposed to financing renters to purchase their homes. The nation urgently needs housing finance reform to make sure that we have a well-functioning secondary market that can serve all communities. Investors can and should be part of our nation’s housing recovery, but there are serious risks associated with leaving neighborhood recovery in the hands of private investors. In order to make sure neighborhoods reap the benefits of this new investment, we must make sure investors are well monitored and managed at the local level. As bigger, relatively untested institutional investors enter the market, local officials should pay particular attention to how well they care for their properties. Federal regulators must also pay attention to the activities of institutional investors, particularly if a new market develops for securities backed by these investor-owned properties. We must also redouble efforts to build a robust housing recovery that will allow communities and families the opportunity to rebuild. The housing market will not fully recover until we fully address the foreclosure crisis and fix the mortgage market so that creditworthy families can once again buy homes. Sarah Edelman is a Policy Analyst with the Housing team at the Center for American Progress. Thanks to Jessica Kaushal for her research assistance. Get the Latest on the Economy Ryan Collins ‮gro.ssergorpnacirema&commat;snillocr‭	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27036
__label__wiki	0.785955	0.785955	Mandatory Opposition We need to separate the good and bad arguments against mandating an HPV vaccine. By Sam Berger Posted on March 12, 2007, 9:00 am States across the country have been waging a heated debate about whether a new vaccine for human papillomavirus, one of the primary causes of cervical cancer, should be made mandatory for school children. There are certainly legitimate concerns about doing so, including the rapid pace at which legislation is moving forward, the lack of education for parents on the issue, the undue influence of pharmaceutical giant Merck on state legislators, and the tremendous cost of the vaccine. Yet, there has been little effort to distinguish these concerns from ill-supported arguments put forward by ideologues who oppose the vaccine for political reasons that have nothing to do with ensuring the most successful health intervention. Cervical cancer affects over 11,000 women annually in the U.S., resulting in 3,700 deaths. The new HPV vaccines could significantly reduce the prevalence of cervical cancer. Merck and GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccines have so far proven 100 percent effective in preventing strains of HPV that are responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancer cases. Yet, despite these tremendous benefits, Merck’s announcement of an HPV vaccine immediately created controversy. Social conservatives have used HPV—primarily transmitted through sexual contact—as a major argument against condom safety since the infection can be passed along even with proper condom use, although at a drastically lower rate. Many conservative advocates therefore decried the vaccine, although public criticism caused them to backpedal and eventually only argue against making the vaccination mandatory. These conservative opponents have largely argued that mandating the vaccine will encourage sexual promiscuity and subvert parental authority. They have been joined in their opposition by anti-vaccine activists, who have raised their usual concerns about unknown risk factors and government conspiracies. None of these arguments carry much weight. There is no evidence to support the claim that vaccinating young people against HPV will increase sexual promiscuity. A tetanus shot does not make children more likely to play near rusty metal, nor does it suggest that society condones such behavior. Many states already require infants to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B, a disease primarily transmitted through sexual contact and drug use, and there has been no evidence that this has increased promiscuity. And since public knowledge of HPV is notoriously low, particularly among young people, it is unlikely that vaccination would impact their decisions in a meaningful way. Concerns about the negative health effects of the vaccine have also been overblown. The HPV vaccines have shown no dangerous side effects. Yet, anti-vaccine activists, who have been making erroneous claims about the connection between vaccines and autism for years, are more than happy to argue against any mandatory vaccination to decrease public confidence in vaccines in general. The argument that mandating this vaccine will undermine parental authority is also shaky. Similar arguments could be made for making any vaccine mandatory, but social conservatives are not opposing mandatory chickenpox vaccinations. Also, almost all of the proposed state laws allow parents to opt their child out of mandatory HPV vaccination at their discretion. Vaccines are made mandatory in order to protect public health, ensuring that enough people will get the vaccination to provide community immunity. Mandating vaccination is also the most effective means to provide public subsidies so low-income children and their parents can afford the vaccine, helping to reduce economic, ethnic, and racial health disparities. But there are real questions about the benefits of mandating this vaccine so quickly. Few parents know much about HPV or its connection to cervical cancer. Yet, once they understand the potential benefits of the vaccine, they are very likely to support it. A recent study found that targeted educational interventions increased parental support for the vaccine from 55 percent to 75 percent. Focusing on public education rather than quickly mandating the vaccine—a model used with previous vaccines—could greatly improve public acceptance. Public trust has been weakened, however, by revelations that Merck, the maker of the only FDA approved HPV vaccine, put heavy pressure on state legislators to quickly pass mandatory vaccination laws before a competitor vaccine was approved as well. The pharmaceutical company has since said it will cease its lobbying campaign, but many parents are concerned that Merck’s bottom line, not children’s health, is dictating decisions about the HPV vaccine. Public concern roused by Merck’s behavior has also forced lawmakers to include strong opt-out clauses for parents who do not want their child vaccinated. Excessive use of these clauses could undermine parental acceptance and confidence in other vaccines as well. But the cost of the vaccine is perhaps its most controversial feature. The three shot series costs $360, which makes it the most expensive on the market, and there is no proof that booster shots will not be needed in the future. Cervical cancer disproportionately affects low-income and minority women, so in order to effectively reduce the disease burden, the vaccine would have to be heavily subsidized so those most at risk could afford it. Cervical cancer is a terrible disease, yet the U.S. has largely been able to control it through regular screening and pap smears. The disproportionate effects of the cancer are largely due to inequalities in healthcare access; half of all women with cervical cancer have never had a pap smear. Improving access to inexpensive screening measures could greatly reduce the disease burden for far less cost than the vaccine. There are also valid concerns about the effects of subsidizing the cost of the vaccine on strained public health resources, particularly the worry that this could drain funding for more needed vaccinations. States should not be so quick to mandate the vaccine without first trying to negotiate lower prices with Merck or waiting for a competitor vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline, expected to be approved soon, to enter the market and drive down prices. Certain questions about how to fund the HPV vaccine and how to best introduce it to the public require serious discussion. Yet, that debate should not provide an avenue for extremists to push forward their own poorly supported arguments about increased promiscuity, dangerous side effects, and usurped parental authority. We need to be engaging in a thoughtful debate about the most equitable, safe, and cost-effective means of advancing this particular public health intervention, rather than using it as a means of advancing extremist agendas. Get the Latest on Women's Issues Lia Parada ‮gro.ssergorpnacirema&commat;adarapl‭	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27037
__label__wiki	0.653682	0.653682	U.S. College Recruitment Player Development and Mentoring Talent Identification Program Professional Athlete Representation Mentor Speaks Our Team delivers on passion, commitment. Got what it takes? Junior/ Associate Consultant Locations: Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Mumbai, Gurugram AddedSport is looking for Associate Consultants and Junior Consultants with the ability to connect and communicate, motivate and encourage student athletes. We are looking for passionate and driven individuals who have the ability to contribute to and benefit from the company’s long-term vision and success in the Sports Management Industry Main Duties & Responsibilities: Work closely with other AddedSport consultants to provide support for client requirements and priorities. These include: College career planning for clients in collaboration with other AddedSport consultants, Communication with US university/college coaches To coordinate with partners / vendors to ensure all dependencies to or from AddedSport are being met Establish strong relationships across client-facing teams and an understanding of client needs, the consumer experience, marketing strategy and operational capabilities Provide active support for the frontline team with social media planning and campaigns Digital Marketing Associate Locations: Gurugram AddedSport is looking for Digital Marketing Associate with the ability to connect and communicate, motivate and encourage student athletes. Conceptualize, Create and execute a social media strategy Develop and manage digital marketing campaigns Write and optimize content for the website and social networking accounts such as Facebook and Instagram Website Management and Analytics Manage and maintain the organisation’s website(s) Fix any errors or bugs in online content Track and analyse website traffic flow and provide regular internal reports Continually work on the Search Engine Optimization of the website(s) Edit and post videos, podcasts and audio content to online sites Arrange webinars and webcasts as required by the business Email Marketing Campaigns Write copy for email marketing campaigns Identify new trends in digital marketing, evaluate new technologies and ensure the brand is at the forefront of industry developments, particularly developments in mobile marketing Work on printed material to supplement and support online products Events Associate Locations: Manila and Gurugram AddedSport is looking for an Events Associate with the ability to connect, communicate, motivate and encourage athletes to take part in standout AddedSport events. Ideate and create new events opportunities for AddedSport in-line with the vision of our company Managing the financial model of the events that have been conceptualized and ensuring strong growth trajectory starting from “Proof-of-concept” phase. Building high-quality experiences for the events so that our customer base continues to grow Digital media and social media strategy and activation for events Sales-Focused and Successful Execution Developing a strategic sales initiative for client acquisition Work closely with other AddedSport consultants in various geographies to provide support for client requirements and Logistics implementation and support throughout the event Do you have what it takes ? Bachelor’s degree; preferred background in communications, public relations, sports management, business or marketing 1- 2 years Prior work experience in the consulting or event management industry. Experience in playing sports at a competitive level is a plus Understands business operations with ability to juggle multiple projects with deadlines Strong organizational skills with great attention to detail Strong communication skills and work ethic and passionate about working in a global team Proficient in Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat What you will get from us, in return is: Higher than the average market compensation for the sports management industry and for management consulting firms A highly collaborative environment that pushes you to think beyond your boundaries A diverse workload, keeping you continually stimulated An open forum for expression of ideas Diverse opportunities to grow wings for your entrepreneurial ideas Having a start-up mindset will allow you to get your hands wet into a multitude of things If you are a highly motivated, engaging, and enthusiastic individual who wants to work and excel in the exciting sports management industry, we invite you to join us. Please email your resume and cover letter (telling us why you are the best person we could hire) to careers@addedsport.com #DreamBig We want to help Asian athletes. One step at a time. Get insights from us to find out more. ©2019 AddedSport Home \| About Us \| Services \| Contact Treta Bhattacharyya (Junior Consultant) Treta was a top 10 Junior Tennis player and No. 6 Women’s Doubles player in India with multiple National and International wins. She has represented her State numerous times in U14, U16, U18 & Women’s categories and was also a part of the Commonwealth Games probable team for India in 2009-2010. With over 15 years of professional tennis experience and a Master’s Degree in Sports Management from Griffith University, Australia, she joined AddedSport with the vision of being able to help young athletes in Asia pursue their dreams. JP Oracion JP finished a degree in Communications Technology Management in Ateneo de Manila University. He was the goalkeeper of the football team from high school up until college and became a coach for the high school team. He believes that sports is one of the best ways to develop young kids to be the best versions of themselves. Shaun Andrady (Consultant) With more than 5 years of management consulting experience from Grant Thornton, Shaun has completed his MBA from IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. He also played DII soccer at McKendree University where he had a scholarship and graduated with a major in Business Administration and a minor in sports psychology. He also played at a U19 Division II team in Oslo, Norway. His hobbies include traveling and playing different sports. Shaun is here to mentor and guide young kids from his experiences of being a professional soccer player and management consultant. Bayu Herfianto Bayu represented the Indonesian Water Polo Team and participated in several international events, including the 2017 SEA Games and the 2016 Asian Beach Games : Indonesia won the Silver Medal at both of these. Bayu graduated with an International Business degree from Lindenwood University, Missouri and helped the Lindenwood Team win their first Collegiate Water Polo Association Men’s Division I Club Championship title. Bayu wants to empower junior athletes to pursue their athletic and academic careers simultaneously, and also to encourage them to never stop dreaming and believing in themselves. Camille Lu Camille finished a degree in Development Studies in Ateneo de Manila University. An athlete through her school and college, she decided to become a team manager for her university’s pep squad for four years. Her experience as a manager has deepened her appreciation for all types of sports. At AddedSport, her goal is to continue helping young athletes achieve their dreams both on and off the field. Abhinav Nath (Associate Consultant) Abhinav is a former NCAA DII soccer player. He attended University of Charleston and made it to the NCAA Final Four on three consecutive occasions. He was awarded the Elite 90 Award at the NCAA Championship in 2016. He graduated summa cum laude with a double major in Sports Administration and Business Administration. His hobbies include playing soccer, golf, long distance running, and adventure sports. Abhinav is here to mentor young athletes and show them opportunities they never thought existed. Sanya Madan I got my degree in Philosophy Honours from St Stephens College, Delhi University. I was a National Level Tennis player and was ranked 16 in the womens category.Also I was a part of the collegiate tennis team representing St Stephens at Inter College and Inter – Universities.Some of my hobbies include music, shopping, reading and traveling.I am dedicated to grow on a personal level, through that help young athletes raise their potential and not only make them top athletes but also successful people. Kelvin Lam Kelvin Lam graduated from Harvard University in 2016 with an AB in Economics, as a recruited NCAA Division 1 Tennis Player. Prior to Harvard, he was ranked no.1 in each of the age groups in Hong Kong and reached top-200 in ITF World Junior Ranking. Kelvin made Davis Cup singles debut in 2010 and last represented Hong Kong at the event in 2015. During his time at Harvard, he captured one Ivy League title and was awarded the ITA Scholar-Athletes Award. He also represented Hong Kong in two editions of the World University Games and reached Round of 32 in Men’s Singles on both occasions. Throughout his playing career, he has played against the likes of Nick Kyrgios, Marco Cecchinato, Daniel Taro, Andrey Kuznetsov and Nishioka Yoshihito. Kelvin is passionate about sharing his life-changing college athletic experience with the younger generation of athletes and helping them follow his footsteps into the best education institutions in the United States via athletics. Jessica Lydia I recently got my bachelors degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. I was a part of the Indonesian National Team when I signed to play Division 1 golf with the University of Tulsa. After my freshman year, I transferred to another Division 1 institution, University of Richmond, where I was made team-captain and was a nominee for “Athlete of the Year Award” in my Senior year. I led the Richmond Spiders winning their first Conference title in the Women’s Golf program’s history of 14 years, taking them to NCAA Regional. I played professional golf not long after I graduated, travelling to Philippines and Taiwan, before I had to forgo my career due to injury. My hobbies include tennis, pool, travelling and playing puzzle games. I want to help young athletes develop to reach their maximum potential as an athlete and as a person, also educating them that you could do so much with sport. Niquie Angelo With a professional tennis player as a dad, Niquie was exposed to the world of sports at a very early age. She has joined several varsity programs in various schools such as soccer, volleyball, and tennis and is continuously learning about other sports during her free time. She was a tennis varsity and graduated with a degree in Psychology from the Ateneo de Manila University. In recent years, she devoted herself to an NGO providing houses to poor Filipino communities and a few tech start up companies where she went out of her comfort zone to learn about bitcoin and e-commerce. She is always on the lookout for new learnings, and also opportunities to be able to create impact in the lives of others. She is a believer that our youth today will become great world leaders and just need to be constantly pushed to dream big. Shourjya Nag Shourjya joined AddedSport with a background in Consulting, Key Account Management and Business Development in the Financial Services industry across Mu Sigma,Goldman Sachs and Michael Page. He is an economics undergrad with an MBA in Finance. He was part of the IFA (Indian Football Association) Youth program in school through 2006-10. He believes Asian sport is on the cusp of an inflexion point and is very driven about helping budding student athletes make the most of their potential. He plays football, table tennis and badminton and is a die hard fan of Chelsea FC. Ashilla Safiya Ashilla graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering. She is a baseball and softball athlete and has competed as a part of the Indonesian National Teams in the Junior World Baseball Championships as well as SEA Games and Asian Games for softball. Ashilla says, “Through AddedSport, I would like to help athletes grow in the sports they love while pursuing their academics since I have learned first-hand that keeping up with sport has made my life far better than I ever imagined.” Joshua Shou Joshua is a current member of the Singapore National Golf team, and has been a part of the team since 2006. Has represented Singapore in numerous junior and amateur tournaments around the world, including the 2010 Asian Games, the 2010 World Amateur Team Championship, as well as three Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. Graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in International Studies: Asian Specialization. He currently resides in Singapore and is a Golf Mentor for AddedSport. Joshua is passionate about the development of junior golf in Asia and wants to help as many junior golfers maximize their potential in the game and transition to U.S. college golf and the professional ranks. Aditi Maliwal Aditi Maliwal was born India but has spent most of her life growing up in Singapore prior to attending Stanford University for collegiate squash. Her brother, Akshay Maliwal, founded AddedSports to help upcoming athletes in Asia with their college athletic aspirations. She believes that squash players in this region deserve the same opportunity she had, and is a mentor for many of them through the college application process. Having played squash at national level in Asia and then being recruited by Stanford, the No. 6 team in college squash, Aditi is very experienced about the ins and outs of this process. She graduated from Stanford University in 2012, with a degree in Pyschology and Economics. Shortly after, she joined Wall Street and works at a prestigious investment bank in San Francisco, covering technology companies. She currently resides in USA, and oversees AddedSport’s international operations. Mic Baguisa Junior Consultant Mic graduated from the University of the Philippines, Diliman with a bachelors degree in Political Science. He captained the Throwing Team for 2 consecutive years and was himself a two-time UAAP Discuss throw Gold medallist. He was unfortunately prevented from representing the Philippines due to injuries. His dream is now to help young athletes get in to their dream school and guide them through their career pathway Nina Gonzalez Nina grew up in Portland, Oregon, and Richmond, Virginia. She was one of the first students to be part of the LPGA junior program and the First Tee. She was a year-round swimmer with several appearances in Nationals. In high school she was a multi-sport athlete and captained the girls’ cross country team, swim team and golf team. Nina attended Seton Hill University as a full scholarship student-athlete and completed her postgraduate studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong on a full academic scholarship. She carries a passion for writing having won several essay-writing scholarships and worked in admissions reviewing applications and working with international applicants. At AddedSport Nina is keen to help student-athletes discover advancement opportunities both on and off the field. Cris Sarmiento Cris worked at a Legal 500 Asia Pacific intellectual property law firm in Japan before joining AddedSport as an Associate Consultant. She assisted in the prosecution of patent and trademark cases for big name clients, including Fortune500 companies and leading research universities in the U.S. With her immense passion for sports, Cris is committed to bringing her expertise in compliance, research, and client management to grow AddedSport’s presence in the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia. She graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines, and can sit on the couch for hours watching tennis. Choon Fah Chang (Academic Adviser) Everyone can write, but tailoring it to your audience is key to effective message delivery. Having graduated with a Cum Laude in Business Management (Marketing) from Singapore Management University, Choon Fah is well aware of the importance of writing meaningful, tailored essays to provide applicants with a holistic personal brand. He believes that one’s talent should never be shortchanged by their ability to communicate and wants to help individuals fulfil their potential by taking the big step forward towards getting into their desired college. On the sidelines, he is a huge soccer fan and spends his free time immersing himself into the emotional nuances of music listening. Kyle Dandan Kyle earned a 100% scholarship to compete for the Santa Clara University’s varsity tennis team. He posted a career high ITF ranking of #74, and won 3 ITF Singles titles and 2 Doubles titles. He was the #1 Singles player on the Santa Clara University Tennis Team for 3 consecutive years (2010-2012) and graduated with an Economics degree, before pursuing a professional career in Tennis. Kyle loved his college tennis experience, and his passion lies in helping as many Filipino junior tennis players pursue their college tennis dreams. Tushar Liberhan Tushar Liberhan is a former professional tennis player from India who has represented the country across all the four major grand slams making it to the semifinals stage at the French Open (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open). With a national award for exceptional achievement in Lawn tennis from the Vice President under his belt, he was ranked 29 internationally (Under 18) and 11 in the Men’s Category in India. He has represented India and won several international men’s and under 18 tournaments across Europe, Asia and Australia, US and Russia. Tushar was part of the collegiate tennis team at St Stephens, Delhi University and gained marketing and brand building experience through his stint at Anheuser Busch InBev for over two years before going back to the sporting world. He completed his Masters in Sports Business from New York University and worked at the US Open (marketing and sales) and John McEnroe Tennis Academies (mentoring young players) over the last 1.5 years. Tushar recently moved back to India to pursue his passion of promoting sport and building avenues for young players. He brings his firsthand experience as a top tennis player to the fore, coupled with his brand building and mentoring capabilities, and aims to share his knowledge with our young clients at AddedSport to enable them to hone their skills. Kanika Minocha Kanika Minocha, born and raised in Chandigarh, was a member of the Division I golf team at San Jose State University. Prior to being a scholarship collegiate athlete in America, Kanika was the #2 ranked Junior and #9 ranked Amateur in India. After earning a BA in Psychology, she secured an academic scholarship at Columbia University where she got a MA and M.Ed in Counseling Psychology. In the last few years, Kanika has been a Career Counselor for high school students in India as well as college students at reputed institutions such as New York University and Fordham University. She has extensive experience in providing guidance to students and helping them make appropriate career and life decisions. At AddedSport, Kanika is excited to bridge her two passions (sports and counseling) to help young athletes in India reach the pinnacle of their capabilities. She strives to empower athletes with knowledge and awareness and assist them in developing into all-rounded individuals. Jo Ee Kok Jo Ee is a current member of the Singapore National Golf team, and was a top 3 ranked Singapore junior golfer when she was recruited as a scholarship athlete to play college golf for the UC Berkeley Cal Women’s Golf team. She earned a degree in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business and was a WGCA All-American Scholar at Berkeley. Jo Ee finished top 10 in multiple international tournaments, won over 10 tournaments in Singapore and competed in 2 World Amateur Team Championships. She currently resides in Singapore and heads AddedSport’s mentoring and development endeavors in South-East Asia Akshay Maliwal (FOUNDER/CEO) Akshay Maliwal was born and brought up in Asia (Singapore and India), and felt it was important to establish himself back in Asia post-graduation. Akshay spent 3 years in the junior and amateur golf circuits in Asia, and was a top 25 ranked amateur in Asia before receiving a letter to play collegiate golf at UC Berkeley (rank No. 1). Immediately after graduating from Berkeley, he spent 7 months in investment banking at a bulge bracket firm. He left this lucrative career to focus on his passions on working in education. Akshay formed AddedSport, which assists high school athletes in the recruitment process and prepares them for the transition from junior level to college level athletics. The core focus is to help each athlete reach his or her full potential and to find a college that best fits their needs.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27040
__label__wiki	0.948699	0.948699	John Berger Artist, Critic And Booker Prize Winner Dies Age 90 2 January 2017 / Art Categories Art News / Art Tags artist, critic, Dies, John Berger, Obituary 2017, ways of seeing / / / / / The artist, critic, poet, and Booker prize-winning author John Berger has died age 90. Best known in art circles for his essay on art criticism, ‘Ways of Seeing’, it accompanied a popular BBC series and is still used as a university text. Berger was a novelist, painter, and poet. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize. Born in Hackney, London, England to Stanley and Miriam Berger, Berger was educated at St Edward’s School, Oxford. His father, a Hungarian émigré from Trieste, had been an infantry officer on the Western Front during the First World War and was awarded the Military Cross and an OBE. Berger served in the British Army from 1944 to 1946; he then enrolled in the Chelsea School of Art and the Central School of Art in London. Berger born (5 November 1926) began his career as a painter and exhibited work at a number of London galleries in the late 1940s.His art has been exhibited at the Wildenstein, Redfern and Leicester Galleries in London. Berger has continued to paint throughout his career. While teaching drawing (from 1948 to 1955), Berger also became an art critic, publishing many essays and reviews in the New Statesman. His Marxist humanism and his strongly-stated opinions on modern art combined to make him a controversial figure early in his career. He titled an early collection of essays Permanent Red, as part as a statement of political commitment, and later wrote that before the Soviet Union achieved nuclear parity with the United States he had felt constrained not to criticise the former’s policies; afterward his attitude toward the Soviet state became considerably more critical. When accepting the Booker, Berger pointedly donated half his cash prize to the Black Panther Party in Britain In 1958, Berger published his first novel, A Painter of Our Time, which tells the story of the disappearance of Janos Lavin, a fictional exiled Hungarian painter, and his diary’s discovery by an art critic friend called John. The book’s political currency and detailed description of an artist’s working process led to some readers mistaking it for a true story. After being available for a month, the work was withdrawn by the publisher, under pressure from the Congress for Cultural Freedom. The novels immediately succeeding A Painter of Our Time were The Foot of Clive and Corker’s Freedom; both presented an urban English life of alienation and melancholy. Berger moved to France in 1962 due to his distaste for life in Britain. In 1972, the BBC broadcast his television series Ways of Seeing (directed by Mike Dibb) and published its companion text, an introduction to the study of images. The work was in part derived from Walter Benjamin’s essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Berger’s novel G., a picaresque romance set in Europe in 1898, won both the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Booker Prize in 1972. When accepting the Booker, Berger pointedly donated half his cash prize to the Black Panther Party in Britain and retained half to support his work on the study of migrant workers that became A Seventh Man, insisting on both as necessary parts of his political struggle. Many of his texts, from sociological studies to fiction and poetry, deal with experience. Berger’s sociological writings include A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor (1967) and A Seventh Man: Migrant Workers in Europe (1975). His research for A Seventh Man led to an interest in the world which migrant workers had left behind: isolated rural communities. It was his work on this theme that led him to settle in Quincy, a small village in the Haute-Savoie, where he has lived and farmed since the mid-1970s. Berger and photographer Jean Mohr, his frequent collaborator, seek to document and to understand intimately the lived experiences of their peasant subjects. Their subsequent book Another Way of Telling discusses and illustrates their documentary technique and treats the theory of photography both through Berger’s essays and Mohr’s photographs. His studies of single artists include most prominently The Success and Failure of Picasso (1965), a survey of that modernist’s career; and Art and Revolution: Ernst Neizvestny, Endurance, and the Role of the Artist, on the Soviet dissident sculptor’s aesthetic and political contributions. In the 1970s, Berger collaborated with the Swiss director Alain Tanner on several films; he wrote or co-wrote La Salamandre (1971), The Middle of the World (1974) and Jonah who will be 25 in the year 2000 (1976).[6] His major fictional work of the 1980s, the trilogy Into Their Labours (made up of the novels Pig Earth, Once in Europa, and Lilac and Flag), treats the European peasant experience from its farming roots into contemporary economic and political displacement and urban poverty. In 1974, Berger co-founded the “Writers & Readers Publishing Cooperative Ltd” in London with Arnold Wesker, Lisa Appignanesi, Richard Appignanesi, Chris Searle, Glenn Thompson and others.[7] The cooperative was active until the mid-1980s. In recent essays Berger has written about photography, art, politics, and memory; he published in The Shape of a Pocket a correspondence with Subcomandante Marcos, and has written short stories appearing in the Threepenny Review and The New Yorker. His sole volume of poetry is Pages of the Wound, though other volumes such as the theoretical essay And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos contain poetry as well as prose. His recent novels include To the Wedding, a love story dealing with the AIDS crisis, and King: A Street Story, a novel on homeless and shantytown life told from the perspective of a street dog. Initially, Berger insisted that his name is kept off the cover and title page of King, wanting the novel to be received on its own merits. Berger resided in France for over 50 years. Read More John Peter Berger (5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27045
__label__cc	0.592662	0.407338	Putting Forward Our Best Resources U.S. Navy helicopters transport water and supplies from the airport to areas around Port-au-Prince. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Barker) Caroline Roan Following the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, the world mobilized to provide needed resources to support relief and recovery efforts. The outpouring of support was inspiring and moving, and reminds us of the interconnected nature of our world today. Multinational companies also stepped up to provide support. Most corporations, in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, follow a set of steps to insure employees’ safety and the security of their sites. While the company’s security team or local office often lead these efforts, the teams responsible for corporate giving are less known and recognized, but important partners in insuring a swift and appropriate financial and in-kind response to disasters. Most multinational corporations have boots on the ground across the globe and are frequently well positioned to leverage their local knowledge and communication networks to move products quickly to reputable NGO and governmental partners through existing supply chains. We have contacts in local governments, NGOs, and at other companies, and, as a result, can communicate efficiently and effectively to assess the needs and coordinate the appropriate responses. It is our responsibility to help, especially when our local communities are affected. At Pfizer, when a natural disaster occurs, our response team works closely with the local markets to determine an appropriate response. We believe this is part of the company’s commitment to addressing global public health issues. We also engage and consult with organizations like the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations to ensure coordination and collaboration where appropriate. Here’s how it works. Our local offices provide the initial assessment following a disaster, which includes an analysis of which on-the-ground institutions are best equipped to deliver needed supplies. A plan of action—focusing on cash grants and critical supplies, as well as human capital—is then developed in collaboration with local and main office employees. Events such as the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile warrant a response that directly addresses the needs that local officials have expressed for help. In the cases of Haiti and Chile, for example, Pfizer Latin America colleagues spoke directly with embassy and ministry of health officials, respectively, in the days immediately following the earthquakes to determine the governments’ primary relief partners as well as which Pfizer products were needed. By working in collaboration, multinationals such as Pfizer can help to address the acute health impact and the significant loss of life and destruction. As a healthcare company, product donations are a way to provide much needed assistance. We attempt to source these donations locally and we comply with World Health Organization guidelines that seek to ensure that donated medicines are appropriate for both the recipient country and the patients. Colleagues at headquarters help to centralize communications internally so that employees across the globe understand their role in facilitating a quick response. Following the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, donations came from Pfizer sites in at least five countries. In the case of large-scale disasters such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami or Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and in Haiti recently, Pfizer worked with local partners to identify the medicines and other in-kind product donations that were most needed and could be delivered quickly. A total of nearly $5 million in cash, products, employee contributions, and employee contributions matches was donated to support Haiti relief efforts. Products requested by the government and NGOs that were donated included Diflucan, Zithromax, and Advil, among others. Based on locally identified needs, we also deploy expertise by sending our colleagues into countries to help rebuild after disaster strikes, through a program called the Global Health Fellows. We sent supply chain teams to Asia after the Tsunami to help rebuild the devastated distribution systems and are currently working with NGO partners to place fellows in Haiti. This is a model for how corporations should respond during times of crisis—local collaboration and quick delivery. Centralization of disaster relief responses internally and externally allows a company to put its best resources forward quickly and efficiently. One step in the recovery process. Caroline Roan is Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Pfizer Inc and President of Pfizer Foundation. Related: Haiti, Chile, Infrastructure Development \| More In: Viewpoints Americas Issues/ Infrastructure Development Fracking in Colombia: For Real This Time? Colombia’s oil reserves are dwindling. President Duque sees fracking as a possible solution. Countries/ ArgentinaBrazilChile A Century Later, Latin America's Futboleras Are (Still) Fighting for Recognition A new book traces the struggle for equality on the soccer pitch and beyond.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27046
__label__wiki	0.960576	0.960576	How to write a letter to get your ex husband back How to write a one page article critique rubric Reflection by christina aguilera song Do you agree or disagree with what they're saying? Between clips of the wedding, Aguilera crooned the romantic ballad with a lone guitar accompanist, while donning a very "back to basics" look — minimal makeup, long layered locks, flared denim, and a modest, light-grey sweater. After eliciting charged reactions from his fans, Durst stated: Have students write letters to a news outlet or talk show such as Oprah, Today Show, etc. What is the stereotype "perfect male body"? The future chart-topper lost to Christopher Eason, and it seems that Aguilera hasn't forgotten the first boy to break her heart. An accompanying music video for the song was included on the DVD release of Mulan. Alanis Morissette has admitted that she has struggled with anorexia. Critically though, the song did not receive immediate success, with critics calling it "predictable" and criticizing the lyrics. She has also dedicated much of her time as a philanthropist for charities, human rights and world issues. My son is healthy and happy, so that's all that matters to me. Problems listening to this file? What is "the truth" that Janis Ian refers to? Have students explore other media for expressing positive messages about self image by: For little Christina Aguilera, that somewhere just happened to be national television. I recorded the Mulan soundtrack first and then a few months later I was out in L. Due to the success around the recording of "Reflection", RCA wished for Aguilera to record and release an album by September to maintain the "hype" surrounding her at that time. Despite growing increasingly exhausted during the recording sessions, when she heard that a piece orchestra would be arriving to record the instrumental she begged to stay and witness the event. Pass out the song lyrics and play the song again, asking students to follow along. Critically though, the song did not receive immediate success, with critics calling it "predictable" and criticizing the lyrics. Silverchair's lead singer Daniel Johns, who wrote this song, has admitted to a history with eating disorders. She was put on this earth to sing, and I've worked with a lot of singers Suggested questions on "Ana's Story": What is "the game" that she sings about? The song's music video had the same effect, showing Aguilera writhing about on top of a convertible with some impressive bellydancing skills. Quintessential 90s girl with a gigantic voice Everyone gets their start somewhere. A Decade of Hits was the first greatest hits album by Christina Aguilera. The "Genie in a Bottle" songstress has never been one to remain all bottled up, however — constantly expressing her evolving interests, musical tastes, and ideals through both her creative works and her outward appearance. Play one of the songs and ask students to just listen to it, taking note of how it makes them feel. In a Newsweek interview, Aguilera reminisced on her "fluffy" debut album, saying, "It was made for that pop time when there was no real substance behind the music. Suggested questions on "Perfect": She flew to Los Angeles and spent a week recording the album.Christina Aguilera lyrics - song lyrics sorted by album, including "Hurt", "Lady Marmalade", "Beautiful". "Reflection" - Christina Aguilera (from Christina Aguilera album) Song lyric sheets: Have students explore other media for expressing positive messages about self image by: writing a poem or. Christina Aguilera Songs List. Including music videos and song lyrics. Aguilera starred in Burlesque in so she hasn’t taken the material on the road. “Bound To You” is a beautiful love song from the cult-classic. Singer-songwriter Sia even earned an Emmy. Christina Aguilera new songs, albums, biography, chart history, photos, videos, news, and more on Billboard, the go-to source for what's hot in music. "Reflection" is a song on the soundtrack of the animated film Mulan. It was recorded by Christina Aguilera, whose pop version was released as an airplay-single only in Init was included in her self-titled debut album. Ebay case study Robbert peel Persuasive essay about smoking in public places Bad stepparents effects on children Destination bayfront corpus christi Christmas break writing activity for second How to write a sermon with ease How to write in apa format examples Mexico history political structure biography included essay	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27048
__label__cc	0.549428	0.450572	This bibliography is a quick reference of abstracts on ways to improve women’s career paths within organisations. We have referenced 117 items, organised them into seven topic areas, and provided a brief summary of each item. Articles covering more than one topic have been included in each relevant area. Building on the research used on Realising the opportunity, we have included other papers which contained significant data or analysis. We have also added in reports which contain concrete proposals for action or recommendations, and information on New Zealand. We hope Inspiring Action will make it easier for human resources practitioners and managers, Chief Executive Officers and leadership teams, to identify practical steps to take to improve women’s career pathways in organisations. To find articles, use the search function below or download the full report. - Any -ActionBusiness CaseCareer BreakData StoryFlexible WorkingLeadershipNew ZealandUnconscious Bias -Year20192018201720162015201420132012201120102009200820072006200520042003200220012000199919981997199619951994 Defend your research: What makes a team smarter? More women Area of focus: The authors discuss their recent research, in which subjects performed collaborative intellectual exercises. Based on their performance, teams were given collective intelligence scores.High IQ scores among team members were found to have only marginal correlation with collective intelligence, while the gender of members was found to be a much more significant factor. Teams with more women members were found to be more effective (or "more intelligent") than teams with fewer women. Woolley and Malone hypothesise that social sensitivity, a trait which women demonstrate to a higher level than men, could be the underlying cause of this result. The authors speculate that measures of collective intelligence could be used to examine and improve the functioning of groups at the organisational and societal levels. The gender dividend: Making the business case for investing in women This report from a major professional services firm makes the case for gender diversity in terms of a "Gender Dividend" companies will reap from moving women into senior management. It makes this case at a government and business level, and describes the advantages of gender diversity (and risks associated with its absence) in terms of talent recruitment and retention, customer engagement, decision making and earnings.To implement effective change companies must ask and answer questions about the expected impact of increased diversity in their workforce. Examples of such self-assessment questions are provided for development of a company's own business case. It is argued that promoting women into leadership needs to be analysed and weighted as any other significant business project would be. Subsequent programmes and initiatives are then required at every level of the organisation, and gender diversity needs to be embedded into the core of decision-making process. Profiles are presented of the recently-appointed US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, of Deloitte's own internal initiative for women leadership, and of a key male leader within this initiative. The Eversheds board report: Measuring the impact of board composition on company performance This report summarises research into corporate governance conducted by an international law firm. Share price information for 241 major companies during the 2007-2009 period was compared with data on the composition of the companies' boards. Dimensions examined included size, diversity, independence, the mix of skills and experience of members and their longevity of service. The study found that smaller boards tended to perform better, and that a higher number of female and independent directors was beneficial.The authors present a model of "optimal board composition", in terms of executive, non-executive and independent directors, which specifies that an optimal board should have two or more women as members. The report concludes with a list of the emerging challenges directors have identified in the present business climate. Only skin deep? Re-examining the business case for diversity Business Case, Flexible Working This paper re-states the business case for diversity in terms of a re-definition of diversity which moves beyond visible differences and discrimination, instead framing the issue in terms of diversity of thought within the workplace. It advances the argument that women's inclusion in the workforce yields business results not because of special attributes the women themselves possess, but because diversity is an indicator of an organisation's willingness to access their entire talent pool and manifest a culture of openness and merit.The paper argues that workplace flexibility has been found to yield higher productivity for both men and women, regardless of country or culture, and as such it should be re-framed from a women's issue to a universal and genuine offer made to all employees. For diverse teams to work, organisations must have supportive cultures and inclusive leadership with specialised skills. Action points are provided at the paper's conclusion for organisations wishing to enhance diversity and inclusion in their workforce. Women in senior management: Where are they? This report examines the progression of women into senior management roles in Canada over a 22 year period, finding that little or no significant progress has occurred. It provides statistics for gender diversity at senior and middle management in the public and private sector over the period, and the results from a 2006 survey of subjects of study chosen by tertiary students of both genders, towards a prediction of future workforce demographics.The report presents the business case for diversity in terms of meeting future workforce shortages, especially in male-dominated professions, and in terms of higher return on personnel investment. It provides a summary of reasons why women are under-represented, including discussion of the "labyrinth" and "glass cliff" concepts, as well as stereotypes, bias, and the effects of company culture. Case studies are presented of three major companies from various sectors, and facing different challenges, which have achieved success in increasing representation through differing strategies. The report concludes by describing nine best practices companies are currently using to increase their proportions of female managers. Gender diversity among leaders of US corporations This academic paper presents a review of the literature on the business case for gender balance. The review covers expected workforce shortages following recovery from the current recession, the demonstrated benefits of women's participation in the workforce and of female leadership, and rising female control over consumer expenditure.The paper also presents original research data on female representation in the senior management of 956 American companies. It finds that women occupy only 9.94 percent of the top five executive roles in the companies studied, varying from 2.62 percent representation in the top executive (Chief Executive equivalent) role to 19.34 percent in the fifth-ranked role. Results are further tabulated by industry sector. Women in senior management: Still not enough This report summary presents the relevant findings from Grant Thornton International Ltd.'s 2012 International Business Report. It briefly outlines the business benefits of women's representation at the board level as being improved performance, better audit and risk practices, and a reduced likelihood of the company failing.It presents detailed statistical data of female representation in senior management from various countries around the world, finding that women occupied 21 percent of senior management roles globally in 2012, compared with 19 percent in 2004. The report details some initiatives for addressing the gap, including quotas for board membership. It also examines the issue of flexible working hours, but finds no significant correlation between availability of flexible hours and women's representation in senior management. Gender diversity and corporate performance This report, produced by the research division of a major investment bank, examines the effect that gender diversity in corporate governance has on corporate performance. Data was collected on over 2,300 companies from around the world, and analysis found that over the six year period from 2005-2011 companies with at least one woman on their board outperformed, on average, those with no women. Statistics are presented for average market cap in a variety of sectors, showing a linear increase trend by number of women on companies' boards in most sectors.The authors hypothesise that companies with higher numbers of female directors are relatively defensive in nature, which matches the challenges of the current economic climate. Seven key reasons are provided why gender diversity may correlate with performance, from a better mix of leadership skills, increased effort being put into governance, improved standards of governance and increased risk aversion. A feature interview is provided with Professor Katherine Phillips of Columbia Business School, that offers insights on the benefits of diverse teams and the challenges they face.The paper concludes with a discussion of gender diversity policies which have been set in place in various nations, and of the barriers to change which have been identified to date. Maximising women's contribution to future economic growth This in-depth report to the UK government, prepared by an independent working group, provides recommendations to increase female participation in the workforce. It presents the business case, emphasising that £70 billion is contributed to the British economy annually by woman-led Small-Medium Enterprises, and that 10 percent could be added to the economy by 2030 by equalising workforce participation. Analysis is provided of women's working lives at the schooling, career break and "third phase" stages, as well as for female entrepreneurs.A wide range of practical actions are considered, including: proposals to improve school career guidance and encourage girls to enter a wider range of professions; assistance for mothers returning to work; adoption of flexible working hours; retailoring contracts to fit job requirements rather than defined work hours or locations; provision of assistive technology for carers, to enable them to remain in the workforce; and promotion of female entrepreneurialism at the government and financial services levels. The report contains numerous case studies of how similar actions have been implemented across a range of British industries. One key to gender balance: 20-First century leadership This flip book from an international gender consultancy presents the case for gender balance in the workplace in a novel and readable format. It uses the gender composition of a company's senior executive as an "easy measure" of a company's success on this issue, with 25 percent women seen as "critical mass" and 40 percent seen as "balance".Women are argued to be the largest emerging market world-wide. The authors believe that companies need to reframe the issue away from "helping women" or as a "diversity issue", as women now constitute a majority of trained talent. A five-step approach to achieving balance in companies is briefly outlined.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27051
__label__wiki	0.944055	0.944055	Music fans bombarded with 'buzz overload' Ann PowersThe Baltimore Sun Tapes 'n Tapes. Beirut. TV on the Radio. Cold War Kids. Lupe Fiasco. Lily Allen. Birdmonster. Grizzly Bear. Sufjan Stevens. The Knife. Clipse. Destroyer. The Hold Steady. Joanna Newsom. These were, by a certain measure, the most important new musicians of 2006. Heard half of them? If you're a casual or even moderately engaged pop fan, possibly not; your ears are busy with commercial radio, ring tones and music television. If you're involved in the music industry, you know the names and might have heard some music. But if you're one of those people creating that rare and ever-present commodity, "buzz," you not only know these artists - you might have touted one as "the only band that matters." In 1979, the Clash's record label, Epic, coined that phrase to describe England's brainiest punks to American record buyers. Similar excitement has greeted the greats of pop, including the Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Tupac Shakur and Kurt Cobain. When these stars touched down, the world hummed with excitement. The buzz felt real. Today, it's hard to know when buzz is more than just noise. In an age of accelerated connection, the buzz around every art form has intensified, but nowhere as much as in music. The growing ease of music making and distribution resulted in 60,000 releases (that's in the U.S. alone) last year. Downloadable music multiplies that number. And pop's historical embrace of novelty and amateurism means that few heavy gates stop the flow. The only criterion for buzz today often seems like buzz itself. "To me, 'buzz' was always about, something really great is happening, don't you want to check it out?" said Jay Babcock, editor of the Los Angeles-based magazine Arthur. "That's different than what I hear now, which is, this is going to be big, don't you want to check it out? That kind of industry-think has degraded the experience." Babcock calls what's happening "buzz overload," but the feeling might better be dubbed "buzz vertigo": a balance disorder that makes it hard to proceed confidently through pop's ever-expanding archipelago of Web sites, blogs, magazines, podcasts and other outlets. Professional rainmakers flood the mailboxes - now inboxes - of media folks, hoping something sticks. The honchos at record labels still claim that the music comes first, though sometimes they call it "the brand." Artists still crave coverage in major media outlets but sometimes feel better served by tiny user groups and Web sites. Fans still show loyalty to what they like. And a handful of obsessives still dominate the public conversation, though now their words extend beyond the ink of alternative weeklies and fanzines to reach worldwide. What is in flux is that imaginary portal where an artist makes the leap into public consciousness. There, where perception and reality don't quite match, time and space themselves are being messed with. In some cases, the very ground where music once emerged has been abandoned. "You don't have to go to a record store or go out on a Tuesday night to see an opening band to get in on things," said Scott Plagenhoef, managing editor of Chicago-based Pitchforkmedia.com, the indie-rock-leaning site that's often cited as a source of today's groundswells. "And we're not part of the music industry. The industry knows a couple of months in advance what print magazines will put on the cover. I don't think anybody knows what we're making our lead review the next day." Digital media marketing firms focus on serving the Web. Bloggers need content and often enjoy the recognition. "Bands such as Birdmonster, Cold War Kids and Sound Team are relentlessly marketed to bloggers, just this never-ending stream of e-mails from flacks," wrote New York-based writer Matthew Perpetua, who pioneered the MP3 blog with his Fluxblog, in an e-mail. "It's depressing that all you need to catch on among the newer MP3 blogs is to barrage them with PR e-mails." Old vices of the buzz business - skilled seduction and possibly even bribery - may be penetrating the supposedly free space of the Web. "Some bloggers genuinely write about what interests them, because they're crate-diggers," said Glenn Peoples, who runs the music business blog Coolfer.com from his home in Nashville, Tenn. "But bloggers don't always mention the extent to which they are comped and courted." Andy Slater, president of Capitol Records, a label that has signed several "blog buzz" artists, including OK Go and Lily Allen, said he doesn't think much has changed in 30 years. "Somebody you think is cool is telling you something's cool," he said, "and you're going somewhere to check it out." The best strategy for breaking a musician, said Slater, is to make sure the offering is solid. "Lily has all of the elements of a star," he said. "She's smart, she's talented, she has a great voice. She has a mission statement that's clear: She is saying something for women under 25." Local scenes still matter, but instant access across all boundaries leaves little time for a reputation to percolate. "Labels turn into research companies that sign independent acts who look like they're blowing up in certain areas," said Ethiopia Habtemariam, vice president for publishing for Universal Records. "But by the time they sign these acts, it's over." Habtemariam, whose clients include producer Polow Da Don and R&B; darling Ciara, criticizes record labels for not developing the artists they sign. In truth, many buzz acts aren't novices; half on the list that begins this article are on their second, third or fourth album. Even an MTV sensation such as Ciara, Habtemariam says, must pay dues. "Ciara toured with her last album for two years," Habtemariam said. "She was Gwen Stefani's opening act, then went out with 50 Cent and Lil Jon, and then with Bow Wow and Omarion. She was able to tour in different arenas. And now, her fan base really is that wide." Ann Powers writes for the Los Angeles Times.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27057
__label__wiki	0.907425	0.907425	ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.barrons.com/articles/dell-cfo-doing-what-we-said-we-would-despite-headwinds-1481225360\nDell CFO: ‘Doing What We Said We Would,’ Despite Headwinds\nTiernan Ray\nUpdated Dec. 8, 2016 2:29 pm ET / Original Dec. 8, 2016 2:27 pm ET\nPrivately held this morning reported results, and was kind enough to talk with me by phone following the report.\nDell delivered $16.2 billion in revenue in the three months ended in October, or $16.8 billon, of one excludes that the company had to record as a one-time, non-cash charge, following its acquisition of storage giant , as well as the latter's controlling interest in virtualization software vendor (VMW).\nThe jump in revenue, year over year, amounts to 28%, but the quarter includes 52 days of revenue from EMC and VMware.\nI asked if there was any way to gauge the performance of \"core\" Dell, before the merger, or the pro-forma year-over-year change in the combined companies, but Sweet said \"your numbers are going to be pretty distorted,\" given the different lines of business.\nHe noted that the business, along with , was down 8%, at $2.9 billion, with areas such as sales to \"hyper-scale\" data center operators proving \"lumpy\" given the nature of the sales cycle for that business.\nSales of were up 3%, at $9.19 billion, which he characterized as \"very good.\"\nIn general, said Sweet, \"We are doing what we said we would do,\" which includes completing integration of EMC and VMware, and . Dell has $47.28 billion in long-term debt, and repaid $7 billion in the quarter, and $5.8 billion since the EMC deal closed.\nThe so-called market for equipment, where functions like networking and storage and servers are crammed together in a single product, is \"fast-growing and high-profit for us,\" said Sweet, without providing details.\nGiven that Dell has an arrangement to sell gear from hyper-converged star (NTNX), and given that some analysts have been worried about Nutanix's reliance on Dell, I asked Sweet how he felt about that arrangement.\n\"Nutanix has been a good partner for us,\" said Sweet, but he also added that \"We try to offer our customers choice,\" and so, \"We also provide VXrail and VXrax,\" home-grown Dell products.\nGiven recent reports from (CSCO) and (HPE), I was curious whether he felt Dell is in the same basket as competitors.\n\"You see with HP Enterprise, it looks pretty similar in terms of the velocity vectors we are seeing, where there are some headwinds,\" he said. \"I get the sense they want to manage for profitable growth, though I can't speak for them.\"\nContinuing, he said that \"there's some things happening in infrastructure, in terms of hyper-converged, and all-flash [storage arrays] that create in stand-alone servers and networks,\" and other \"legacy\" products.\nGiven that, I asked Sweet if Dell can simply exit parts of the server or storage market that are not growing as quickly as the new stuff, such as hyper-converged.\nSaid Sweet, \"Hey, look, it may not be growing very fast, but it generates great cash flow,\" meaning the older parts of Dell's portfolio.\n\"Yeah, we are after growth,\" he continued, \"but if I have older products that are still generating cash flow, that's fine. \"It's all about how do we re-allocate resourced to those things that are a priority going forward.\""	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27060
__label__cc	0.710993	0.289007	Unlimited: Zechariah 1:18-2:13 A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen 18 [a] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns! 19 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me,“These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.” A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line 2 [b] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! 2 Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” 3 And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4 and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. 5 And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’” 6 Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I havespread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord.7 Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me[c] to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye:9 “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. 10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lordof hosts has sent me to you. 12 And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27062
__label__cc	0.585747	0.414253	, the popular producer signed on to be part of this project due to his passion for science, technology and space exploration. His song debuts today on the Red Planet, and will also be heard at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasedena, CA, via the Curiosity Rover. Will.i.am is not the first musician to interact with NASA and the space machine. Earlier in the month, pop star Britney Spears tweeted, "So @MarsCuriosity… does Mars look the same as it did in 2000?" along with a link to her red planet set for the "Oops!...I Did It Again" video. The official Twitter account responded, "Hey Brit Brit. Mars is still looking good. Maybe someday an astronaut will bring me a gift, too. Drill bits crossed ;)" Perhaps, she will be the next star to team up with NASA like Will.i.am. The rapper's event will be live streamed today on his i.am.angel Foundation website, as well as NASA TV, at 1 p.m. PT (4 p.m. ET). (Photo: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images) Written by Arielle Loren	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27063
__label__wiki	0.916529	0.916529	August 25, 1966 (age 52) Lawrence, New York Michael Cohen Biography Lawyer (1966–) Michael Cohen is a former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump. The revelation that Cohen engineered a financial payout to Stephanie Clifford, an adult film star who alleged she had an affair with Trump, led to a federal investigation and Cohen's plea deal on charges of tax evasion and illegal campaign contributions. Who Is Michael Cohen? A New York native, Michael Cohen was born in 1966. He began his career as a private injury lawyer in 1992, but his business interests quickly expanded as he built a large real estate portfolio and a business that specialized in the New York City taxicab trade. In the 2000s, Cohen began working for future President Donald Trump, where he earned a reputation for loyalty and ferocity. His work on behalf of Trump during the 2016 campaign, including the payment of $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels, along with his possible involvement in attempts to cover-up purported collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, landed Cohen in the crossfires of the investigation being led by special counsel Robert Mueller. In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion and bank fraud, while also claiming that he made illegal campaign contributions under the direction of Trump. (Photo: Drew Angerer_Getty Images) Wife and Family In 1994 Cohen married Laura Shusterman, a native of Ukraine, and the couple have two children. Early Life and Law School Michael Dean Cohen was born on August 25, 1966, in Lawrence, New York, a Nassau County suburb of New York City. Cohen’s surgeon father Maurice escaped Nazi persecution before emigrating to the United States, and Cohen’s mother Sondra was a nurse. Cohen attended American University and received his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School, one of the lowest-ranked law schools in the nation. Early Legal and Business Career Cohen began his career as a personal injury lawyer in 1992, eventually opening his own practice. A self-proclaimed entrepreneur from an early age (he claimed to have run a business importing automobiles while in college), he and his family purchased dozens of then-lucrative taxicab “medallions” that allowed them to operate a fleet of taxis in both New York and Chicago. Although Cohen would later argue that he did not handle the day-to-day management of this business, in 2017 he and his wife were sued by the NY State Department of Taxation for nearly $40,000 in back taxes. In the spring of 2018, Cohen’s purported partner in the business agreed to cooperate with prosecutors regarding his own legal troubles. Cohen has also focused on the New York City real estate market, where he has bought and sold a number of properties. Prior to his work for Trump, Cohen also invested in a casino cruise ship business, a series of medical clinics and billing companies and also held a small stake in a family-run club in Brooklyn. The club has been accused of being a base of operation for several Russian-American gangsters, and in the 1980s, Cohen’s uncle (the primary owner) was accused of providing medical advice to members of the notorious Lucchese crime family. Cohen briefly flirted with politics, losing a lopsided race for a New York City Council seat in 2003, and launching a short-lived campaign for the state senate in 2010. Relationship with Donald Trump His association with Trump began in 2006, when Cohen (who had already purchased several apartments in Trump-owned buildings) assisted Trump in an ongoing battle with a condominium board at a Trump property near the United Nations. An impressed Trump offered Cohen a position within the Trump Organization, and he eventually rose to the role of special counsel and Executive Vice President. He also served on the board of the Eric Trump Foundation and was co-president of the company that managed Trump’s Atlantic City, New Jersey, casinos. Cohen’s work was not limited to a legal and real estate portfolio, as he also became an adviser willing to do whatever Trump required. As Cohen told ABC News in 2011, when Trump was mulling a run for president (he opted out), “If somebody does something Mr. Trump doesn’t like, I do everything in my power to resolve it to Mr. Trump’s benefit.” He went on to describe his tactics, saying” If you do something wrong, I’m going to come at you, grab you by the neck, and I’m not going to let you go until I’m finished.” Cohen also earned a reputation for going after perceived media slights against Trump, threatening to sue a satirical news site in 2013 for what he called a defamatory article and in 2015 attacking a reporter investigating allegations of abuse (later retracted) by Trump’s first wife, Ivana. Role in Trump’s Presidential Campaign and Stormy Daniels Affair Cohen and others repeatedly urged Trump to run for election prior to 2016, and when Trump did enter the 2016 race, Cohen became a key surrogate, appearing on numerous talk shows to defend Trump. Following Trump’s election, he was named the Republican National Committee’s deputy national finance chair, responsible for much of the group’s fundraising. He also left his position at the Trump Organization but continued to serve as Trump’s personal lawyer for several months. Steele Dossier and Wikileaks Cohen was named in the Steele dossier, a controversial document compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, which alleges a conspiracy between the Russian government and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. Among its claims are that Cohen traveled to Prague in the summer of 2016 to facilitate a cover-up (including cash payments) of illicit operations. Cohen denied any involvement and stated that he did not travel to the region during the campaign. However, in April 2018, reports emerged that Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russia’s involvement, possibly had evidence placing Cohen in the Czech Republic at the time of the purported meetings. That same month, Cohen dropped a defamation lawsuit against the news site BuzzFeed and Fusion GPS, the research and intelligence company that commissioned the dossier. Stormy Daniels Case and Essential Consultants LLC In early 2018, it was revealed that Cohen paid Stephanie Clifford, also known by her adult film name Stormy Daniels, $130,000 in the fall of 2016. The payment was made with regards to Daniels’ claim of a 2006 affair with Trump. Cohen initially claimed to have made the payment out of his own funds, and that Trump was not involved in the matter. It later emerged that Trump had directly reimbursed Cohen, and President Trump admitted that Cohen had represented him in the matter (although he continued to deny any affair). Cohen sued Daniels for breaking the terms of a non-disclosure agreement related to the payment, and Daniels countersued, alleging the NDA was invalid because it had never been signed by Trump. In May 2018, reports emerged regarding Essential Consultants LLC, the limited liability company Cohen set up to facilitate the Daniels payment. Records show that Cohen and Essential Consulting received more than $4.4 million in funds from a variety of foreign and domestic businesses, including AT&T, Swiss healthcare giant Novartis, Korean Aerospace Industries and Columbus Nova, an American-run investment firm with ties to a Russian oligarch who has been sanctioned by the U.S. government. Each of the firms stated that they hired Cohen following President Trump’s election to provide consulting and adviser services. FBI Raid and Criminal Investigation On April 9, 2018, Cohen’s office, home and hotel room were raided by the FBI, as part of an investigation being conducted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. The case was referred to the U.S. Attorney by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, and investigators seized emails, phone records, tax and bank statements and other materials relating to both Cohen’s work on behalf of Trump and other clients. In June, it was announced that Cohen was parting ways with the legal team that had advised him up to that point in the criminal investigation. It was later revealed that he had hired Guy Petrillo, a former chief of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, as well as Lanny Davis, a longtime associate of Bill Clinton's. Turning on Trump In July, Cohen sat down with ABC's George Stephanopoulos for his first in-depth interview since the FBI seized his files in April. While declining to discuss specific issues related to the investigation, Cohen said he believed that Mueller would find no evidence of improper dealings with Russian agents on his part. He also delivered some eye-opening comments about his former boss, including criticism of Trump's demonization of the FBI and willingness to accept Vladimir Putin's denials of tampering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Cohen emphasized that "My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will," adding fuel to the rumor that he would offer up knowledge damaging to the president to secure a better deal from prosecutors. As for how he would respond if Trump attempted to discredit him, he insisted he would stand up for himself. "I will not be a punching bag as part of anyone's defense strategy," he said. "I am not a villain of this story, and I will not allow others to try to depict me that way." A few weeks later, Cohen released a two-year-old secret recording of a conversation with Trump about plans to buy the story rights of another woman, Playboy model Karen McDougal, who went on record around the same time as Stormy Daniels about an alleged affair with the president. Amid the occasionally muffled audio, Cohen is heard discussing the need to set up a company to arrange the payment, though it is unclear what directions followed. The president subsequently lashed out at Cohen on Twitter, saying it was "so sad" that a lawyer would tape his client, while new Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani insisted that the recording provided no evidence of wrongdoing on his client's part. Continuing down that path, Cohen reportedly leaked word that he was prepared to share with Mueller his account of how the then-presidential candidate gave the go-ahead for the July 2016 Trump Tower meeting between key campaign members, including Donald Trump Jr. and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Russian agents who promised damaging information on opponent Hillary Clinton. Later, Cohen's lawyer, Davis, copped to being the one who had informed the media about Trump's supposed knowledge of the meeting, though he admitted that "the only person who could confirm that information is my client." Plea Deal After accepting a deal with prosecutors, Cohen appeared in a Manhattan federal court on August 21, 2018, to plead guilty to charges of tax evasion, bank fraud and illegal campaign contributions. He told the judge that the illegal contributions—payments to Clifford and McDougal to keep quiet about their alleged affairs with Trump—were "in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office," implicating the president in a federal crime. Cohen, who faced up to 65 years in prison for the charges, was expected to receive a sentence ranging from 46 to 63 months. The agreement also left open the possibility that he could cooperate with Mueller's investigation into Russian election tampering and receive a recommendation for an even lighter sentence. On December 12, 2018, Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison. He was scheduled to begin his sentence on May 6, 2019. The troubled lawyer returned to the news in January 2019, when BuzzFeed reported that President Trump had directed Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to law enforcement officials involved. Cohen had previously claimed that such negotiations were over by the beginning of 2016, before admitting that they continued well into the year. Cohen was scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee shortly after that, but he postponed his appearance over what he described as ongoing threats against his family. In February, it was announced that the New York state Supreme Court had disbarred Cohen due to his federal conviction for making false statements to Congress. House Testimony In late February 2019, Cohen appeared before Congress for three days of testimony. With two days of questioning held behind closed doors, the must-see event was the televised hearing before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on February 27. Saying he was "here to tell the truth about Mr. Trump," Cohen testified that Trump was aware in advance of both the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians to get information on Hillary Clinton and the WikiLeaks dump of DNC emails around that time; that the candidate was continuing to pursue a deal on the construction of a Trump Tower in Moscow well into the 2016 campaign; and that the president had orchestrated the plan to pay hush money to Stormy Daniels, offering copies of checks as evidence. Cohen also described how Trump often understated his net worth for tax purposes and instructed him to threaten someone to prevent the release of potentially damaging information. His statements were met with significant pushback from the president's supporters, who sought to discredit him as a liar and convicted felon. During one contentious back-and-forth with Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, who accused Cohen of denying the federal charges against him, Cohen replied, "Shame on you, Mr. Jordan. That's not what I said. Shame on you." https://www.biography.com/law-figure/michael-cohen Bravo TV host and executive producer Andy Cohen is synonymous with his late night show 'Watch What Happens Live' and the 'Real Housewives' franchise. Legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen was known for his poetic lyrics, iconic songs and baritone voice. Michael Kors is an American fashion designer best known for serving as a judge on the popular television show Project Runway. He's also known for designing Michelle Obama's dress for her first official portrait. Michael Jordan is a former American basketball player who led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships and won the Most Valuable Player Award five times. Michael Jackson was a multi-talented musical entertainer who enjoyed a chart-topping career both with the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist. He released the best-selling album in history, 'Thriller,' in 1982. Michael Douglas is an American actor best known for his roles on TV's 'Streets of San Francisco' and in the films 'Wall Street,' 'Fatal Attraction' and 'Wonder Boys.' Michael Keaton is an American actor known for his roles in the comedy Mr. Mom and as Batman in the Tim Burton-directed installments of the series. Michael Bloomberg will write a $4.5 million check to cover the 2018 U.S. financial commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement after President Trump pulled out last year. The former NYC mayor and billionaire said he hopes Trump will have changed his mind by next year.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27068
__label__wiki	0.981273	0.981273	March 26, 1973 (age 46) Stanford University, University of Michigan Who Is Larry Page? Early Life and Career Google Begins Evolving Conglomerate Larry Page Biography Engineer (1973–) Internet entrepreneur and computer scientist Larry Page teamed up with grad school buddy Sergey Brin to launch the search engine Google in 1998. Born in Michigan in 1973, Larry Page's parents were both computer experts, so it was no surprise that he studied computer engineering at Stanford University. That's where he met Sergey Brin. Together, Page and Brin developed a search engine that listed results according to the popularity of the pages, calling it "Google." Since launching Google in 1998, the company has become the world's most popular search engine. Larry Page was born Lawrence Page on March 26, 1973, in East Lansing, Michigan. His father, Carl Page, was a pioneer in computer science and artificial intelligence, and his mother taught computer programming. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the University of Michigan, Page decided to concentrate on computer engineering at Stanford University, where he met Sergey Brin. As a research project at Stanford University, Page and Brin created a search engine that listed results according to the popularity of the pages, after concluding that the most popular result would often be the most useful. They called the search engine "Google" after the mathematical term "googol," which refers to the No. 1 followed by 100 zeros, to reflect their mission to organize the immense amount of information available on the web. After raising $1 million from family, friends and other investors, the pair launched the company in 1998. Google has since become the world's most popular search engine, receiving an average of 5.9 billion searches per day in 2013. Headquartered in the heart of California's Silicon Valley, Google held its initial public offering in August 2004, making Page and Brin billionaires. In 2006, Google purchased the most popular website for user-submitted streaming videos, YouTube, for $1.65 billion in stock. In September 2013, Page was ranked No. 13 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America. That October, he was ranked No. 17 on Forbes' 2013 "Most Powerful People" list. As Google's CEO, Page shared responsibility for the company's day-to-day operations with Brin, who served as director of special projects for Google, and Eric Schmidt, the company's executive chairman. On August 10, 2015, Page and Brin announced the creation of a new parent company called Alphabet to oversee Google and other subsidiaries. Page and Brin were set to serve as the new company's CEO and president, respectively, with Sundar Pichai stepping in as Google's top executive. Autonomous Air Taxi In March 2018, it was announced that a company personally funded by Page, called Kitty Hawk, had reached an agreement with officials in New Zealand to begin the certification process on a fully electric, self-piloting flying taxi. Kitty Hawk had been testing its aircraft, nicknamed Cora, over New Zealand since the previous October. With Boeing, Airbus and Uber among the companies looking to break ground in the burgeoning air taxi industry, Kitty Hawk was aiming to have a commercial network of vehicles up and running by 2021. https://www.biography.com/scientist/larry-page Sergey Brin created Google with Larry Page, the two becoming billionaires as Google developed into the world's most popular search engine and a media giant. Steve Wozniak is an American computer scientist best known as one of the founders of Apple and as the inventor of the Apple II computer. South African entrepreneur Elon Musk is known for founding Tesla Motors and SpaceX, which launched a landmark commercial spacecraft in 2012. Mark Dean Computer scientist and engineer Mark Dean is credited with helping develop a number of landmark technologies, including the color PC monitor, the Industry Standard Architecture system bus and the first gigahertz chip. Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computers with Steve Wozniak. Under Jobs' guidance, the company pioneered a series of revolutionary technologies, including the iPhone and iPad. Lonnie G. Johnson Lonnie G. Johnson is a former Air Force and NASA engineer who invented the massively popular Super Soaker water gun. Mark Zuckerberg is co-founder and CEO of the social-networking website Facebook, as well as one of the world's youngest billionaires. Karl Benz German mechanical engineer Karl Benz designed and built the first practical automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27069
__label__wiki	0.535428	0.535428	Shaping the Future of Agriculture Currenta Our Contribution to a Better Life Smart Fields Allergies a Common Disorder For the Heart Fit in Old Age Defying the Weather Shrinking Farmland Living with Dengue The Future of Agriculture and Food German Sites Procurement at Bayer Sustainability in Procurement Monsanto Acquisition Supplier Day Transfers of Value to Healthcare Professionals Collaboration with Healthcare Professionals Facts on Disclosure Data Disclosure Information & IT Security Data Privacy Information For Specific Processing Activities Duties and Activities of the Board of Management Disclosure of Managers‘ Transactions Number of Women in Management Positions 2013 – 150 Years of Bayer The Bayer Cross The Corporate Archives Offices Held at Other Companies Quota for Women in Senior Management Bayer is targeting better gender balance in management. To achieve this, the company has set voluntary goals in addition to the statutory quotas and is resolutely pursuing both. At the end of 2018, the ratio of women to men worldwide at the management levels at Bayer was 40 percent to 60 percent. Under the Law on Equal Participation of Women and Men in Leadership Positions in the Private and Public Sector, certain companies in the Bayer Group are obligated to set targets for the proportion of women on the Supervisory Board, on the Board of Management or at executive level, and at the next two levels of management. On September 30, 2015, we for the first time formulated target ratios for the affected companies of the Bayer Group in the corporate structure valid at the time, and set ourself the goal of achieving said ratios by June 30, 2017. After reaching this deadline, we assessed these targets and extended them through June 30, 2022, for the companies of the now reorganized Bayer Group. Women on the Supervisory Board The Supervisory Board of Bayer AG is subject to a mandatory quota for women of at least 30 percent of new appointments from 2016 on. Our Supervisory Board consists of 20 members, including six women since April 28, 2017, the date of the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting 2017. We thus met the statutory quota of a 30 percent ratio of female Supervisory Board members. Women on the Board of Management We will continue to intensively pursue our target of having one woman on the Board of Management by our deadline of June 30, 2022, or beforehand if at all possible. The goal of adequate representation of different age groups, while also taking into account the experience required for Board of Management positions, was achieved. The ages of the members of the Board of Management were relatively evenly spread across a range of 49 to 62 years as of December 31, 2018. Three of the seven members of the Board of Management are citizens of a country other than Germany. All members of the Board of Management have amassed many years of career experience outside Germany. The members of the Board of Management also have diverse educational and professional backgrounds: Some have completed various business-related courses of study or training, while others have studied in various scientific fields including medicine. Women at the First and Second Management Levels below the Board of Management The Act set the first quota for the number of women at the first management level of Bayer AG below the Group Board of Management at 20 percent by mid-2017. For the second management level, the first target established in 2015 was 28 percent. On June 30, 2017, the statutory deadline for the initial quotas, the ratio of women at the first management level of Bayer AG was 17 percent. As of June 30, 2017, the ratio of women at the second management level was 21 percent. However, neither the number of employees nor the organizational structure of Bayer AG are the same as when the targets were formulated in 2015 due to the transfers of undertaking as part of the reorganization of the Bayer Group. On the date when the target was set, Bayer AG had some 700 employees in Germany; since the Group reorganization took effect on January 1, 2017, the company has had about 20,000 employees due to the transfer of the differently composed workforces of several operating companies. Due to these changes, the originally formulated targets were not able to be achieved. Besides Bayer AG, nine of the Group’s other companies based in Germany were bound by this legislation when the first targets were formulated on September 30, 2015. These were the operating companies Bayer Pharma AG and Bayer CropScience AG, the two service companies Bayer Business Services GmbH and Bayer Technology GmbH, and four smaller companies specializing in certain services. In these Group companies, the proportion of women at the first two levels of management below the Board of Management or executive level corresponded with the targets set for September 30, 2015. This left targets of between zero and 23 percent for these companies by June 30, 2017. The respective target attainment for the remaining Group companies is given in the following table. Within these companies as well, there have been in some cases considerable changes in the organizational structure and size of the workforce since the targets were first formulated due to the reorganization; the newly established operating divisions within Bayer AG are not absolutely identical with the previous subgroups. New Targets for June 30, 2022 As a result of the reorganization of the Bayer Group following the carve-out of Covestro AG (formerly Bayer MaterialScience AG) in 2015, all employees of Bayer Pharma AG, Bayer CropScience AG and Bayer Technology Services GmbH transferred to Bayer AG, in moves effective January 1, 2017 (Bayer Pharma AG and Bayer CropScience AG) and July 1, 2016 (Bayer Technology Services GmbH), respectively. It is no longer possible to maintain the target ratios for these companies. The remaining Group companies bound by the legislation have set new targets for the ratio of female employees at the first and second management levels below the Board of Management that they will aim to meet by June 30, 2022. In the now much larger Group parent company Bayer AG, the ratio of women at the first management level below the Board of Management is targeted to be 20 percent in mid-2022. For the second management level below the Board of Management, a ratio of 25 percent female employees is targeted by that date. Due to the significantly higher number of corresponding positions as a result of the transfers of undertaking to Bayer AG, it is not reasonably possible to compare the new target ratios with those that applied until mid-2017. For the next largest Group company, Bayer Business Services GmbH, it is planned to substantially increase the target ratio of female employees at the first management level below the executive level from 9 to 21 percent. For the second management level, the targeted ratio of female employees will double from 14 percent by 2017 to 28 percent by mid-2022. Bayer Vital GmbH, which markets drug products of the Consumer Health and Pharmaceuticals divisions and veterinary pharmaceuticals of the Animal Health business unit in Germany, has set a target of 20 percent for the ratio of women at the first management level below the executive level by mid-2022. At the second management level, Bayer Vital aims to increase the ratio of female employees from currently 20 to 22 percent. Bayer Gastronomie GmbH is maintaining its target ratio of 20 percent for the first management level below the executive level, but aims to raise the ratio of female employees at the second management level from currently 15 to 25 percent by mid-2022. The maintenance company Tectrion GmbH is setting targets for the ratio of female employees of 8 percent for the first management level and 13 percent for the second management level below the executive level by mid-2022. The logistics services supplier Chemion GmbH is renewing its target ratios of 18 and 8 percent, respectively, for the two management levels below the executive level by mid-2022. Successful Voluntary Efforts for Increased Balance in Management Worldwide Beyond these statutorily prescribed targets for the ratio of women in management positions at German companies, Bayer for many years has voluntarily endeavored to achieve more balance in management at the Group level. Already in 2010, Bayer set itself the target of raising the proportion of women at the five highest management grade levels throughout the Group toward 30 percent by the end of 2015. At the end of 2016, the ratio of women employed in this management segment worldwide was more than 31 percent. We thus met the goal we had set for the Bayer Group – and by 2020 we would like to further increase this ratio to 35 percent (excluding Covestro in each case). The Group will continue to pursue this extremely successful strategy for achieving a better gender balance in the future. Bayer will also carry on basing its strategy on its own definition of management levels because these correspond precisely with the structure of the Group and cover a far broader spectrum of management than is defined in national legislation. Thus Bayer will continue to publish the results of its own Group-wide undertakings in its reporting in addition to references to the targets set in German law. Targets for the Ratio of Women in the Affected Bayer Group Companies Target female proportion July-2017 in percent Effective female proportion July-2017 in percent Bayer Vital Bayer Services BayGast Currenta GF Chemion Tectrion one female one female member 1st management level 2nd management level * statutory quota Bayer’s Board of Management Bayer’s Supervisory Board Bayer’s Employees Career at Bayer	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27073
__label__wiki	0.912946	0.912946	2018 ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennell Prize Winner Announced Jules Pegram Wins $5000 Frederick Fennell Prize in Competition for Young Composers of Concert Band Music NEW YORK, Jan. 3, 2019: Cia Toscanini, Vice President of Concert Music of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and Richard Clary, President of CBDNA (College Band Directors National Association), today jointly announced the ninth bi-annual ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennell Prize winner. The $5,000 Prize for a wind ensemble work has been awarded to Jules Pegram, age 27, for “Concerto for Alto Saxophone & Wind Ensemble.” The award-winning work will be performed by a prominent ensemble in 2019. The competition, named for Frederick Fennell, ASCAP member and past President of CBDNA, was established to encourage gifted American composers who create new works for Concert Band. The winning work was selected via a juried national competition, which attracted submissions from eligible composers between the ages of 18 and 30 from across the United States. Richard Clary said, "CBDNA is proud to partner with ASCAP in the effort to recognize and celebrate young creators and promote excellent repertory for concert bands and wind ensembles.” Cia Toscanini said, “We honor the remarkable legacy of Frederick Fennell, by continuing to recognize talented young composers like Jules, whose works were selected in his name.” Jules Pegram (b. 1991) strives to write music elegant in its construction and meticulously well-crafted, full of shimmering colors, boundless energy, and an unbridled lyricism that makes it refreshingly direct. His orchestral music has been performed by the New World Symphony, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, Symphony in C, the Naples Philharmonic, and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, among others, and has been recorded by the Hollywood Studio Symphony—conducted by the composer—at Warner Bros. Studios and 20th Century Fox Studios. Recent works include HIGHER GROUND, a sixty-minute opera in one act with a libretto by NC-based writer Jim Whiteside that Pegram composed, conducted, and produced in April 2018. Pegram is a recipient of The ASCAP Foundation’s 2017 Morton Gould Young Composer Award for CRUSH for Eight Cellos. He was selected to attend the 2017 Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music’s Conductors/Composers Workshop in Santa Cruz, California. In 2016, Pegram was selected to participate in both the inaugural Los Angeles Film Conducting Intensive and the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop, culminating in the conducting and recording of two new cues for orchestra at Warner Brothers Studios’ Clint Eastwood Scoring Stage and at 20th Century Fox Studios’ Newman Scoring Stage, respectively. For his work, Pegram received the 2016 ASCAP Foundation Harold Arlen Film & TV Award, presented each summer to an outstanding writer who has participated in the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop in Los Angeles. Other honors include: selection for the Underwood New Music Readings and for both the Indianapolis Symphony’s Marilyn K. Glick and Symphony in C’s Young Composers competitions; the Presser Foundation’s Undergraduate Scholar Award; the University of Southern California’s Discovery Scholars prize; the Sadye J. Moss Endowed Music Composition Prize; Honorable Mention designation in the 2017 Art Song Composition Award competition hosted by the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS); and awards in the Green Dot Journey and Indiana State University’s Music Now competitions. Pegram has been recognized as an Outstanding Graduate of the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music’s Department of Composition. Aside from composing, Pegram plays piano, conducts, and has served as pianist for the University of Michigan Symphony Band and Contemporary Directions Ensemble. He has served as a Graduate Student Instructor at the University of Michigan, where he taught Music Theory and Aural Skills for both the undergraduate classical curriculum and for the Department of Musical Theatre. Pegram received the Doctor of Musical Arts and the Master of Music in Composition from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Evan Chambers, Michael Daugherty, Kristin Kuster, Paul Schoenfeld, and Bright Sheng. He received the Bachelor of Music in Composition summa cum laude from the University of Southern California, where he studied with Oscar nominee Bruce Broughton, Donald Crockett, Stephen Hartke, Morten Lauridsen, Erica Muhl, Frank Ticheli, and USC Trojan Marching Band arranger Tony Fox. He has studied conducting with Michael Haithcock, Jerry Blackstone, David Newman, Mark Norman, and Angel Velez, among others, classical piano with Alin Melik-Adamyan, Jeanette Fang, and Louis Nagel, and jazz piano with Ellen Rowe and Yellowjackets keyboardist Russell Ferrante. Pegram resides in Los Angeles. For more information, please visit www.julespegram.com In addition, the ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennell prize jury selected Patrick Lenz’s 7-minute work for wind ensemble “Pillar of Fire” for Special Distinction. Their scores will be circulated to ensembles performing at the national and regional CBDNA conferences, and during the CBDNA Forum at the Mid-West Clinic. The jurors for the 2018 competition were: ASCAP composers Kenneth Fuchs and Carman Moore; conductor Richard Clary (Florida State University); and conductor Damon S. Talley (Louisiana State University). About CBDNA College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) members are devoted to the study, teaching, and performance of music, with a particular focus on music created for the numerous kinds of wind bands found throughout today's musical landscape. www.cbdna.org About ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business - from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With more than 680,000 members representing more than 11.5 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at www.ascap.com, on Twitter and Instagram @ASCAP and on Facebook. Cathy Nevins ASCAP cnevins@ascap.com Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (2018) By Jules Pegram Piccolo, 4 Flutes, 2 Oboes, English Horn, 3 Bb Clarinets, Bb Bass Clarinet, Bb Contrabass Clarinet, 2 Bassoons, 3 Bb Trumpets, 4 F Horns, 2 Tenor Trombones, Bass Trombone, Euphonium, 2 Tubas, Solo Eb Alto Saxophone, Timpani, 4 Percussion, Contrabass PROGRAM NOTE Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (2018) was commissioned jointly by the Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble and the Mt. San Antonio College Wind Ensemble (Dr. Gregory Xavier Whitmore, conductor). The world premiere will be given by the Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Gregory Xavier Whitmore, with Andrew Harrison, solo alto saxophone, at Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, California on March 10, 2019. In the first movement, the saxophone bolts forward with brilliance and energy. An equally virtuosic ensemble counterpart constantly amps up the tension, making for a lightning-fast musical repartee. The second movement demonstrates the lyric capacity and sonic richness of the saxophone. In setting this dark middle movement, I strove to write sweeping lines and lush, film noir-inspired textures. The music here is lonesome and pensive, creating a warm atmosphere of haunting pathos. The final movement is a jaunty escapade based on a lyrical, sweet melody. The tune meanders through a series of developments and variations, all the while showing off the saxophone’s extensive range, bright timbral possibilities, and extraordinary agility.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27076
__label__wiki	0.815988	0.815988	Exploring the Forgotten Art Deco Artifacts of the New Yorker Hotel by Luke Spencer January 06, 2016 Couples dance in the Terrace Room of the New Yorker Hotel, from a 1930s hotel brochure. (All historical photographs: Courtesy of the Hotel New Yorker Archives) New York is famous for its historic, glamorous hotels. But often overlooked, yet perhaps the most storied hotel of them all, is the one with the most iconic name: the New Yorker. Its giant red sign dominates West 34th Street, and is often photographed as a city landmark, mostly on account of its name, yet the history of the New Yorker is largely unknown. Operating in the mid-level tier of hotels, it was never intended to be as upscale as the glitzier hotels of midtown like the Waldorf-Astoria, the Ritz Carlton or the St. Regis. The New Yorker was the hotel of the traveling salesmen, pilots and aircrew on short layovers, tourists and GIs being shipped to the European Front. In other words, if the Waldorf-Astoria were a well-dressed woman in an elegantly feathered hat, the New Yorker would be a salesman in a crumpled suit, drinking a whiskey and soda. A 1930s postcard of Hotel New Yorker. Despite its slightly more humble nature, the New Yorker hotel is filled with untold secrets and forgotten stories—a beautiful Art Deco tunnel that ran from the lobby to Penn Station, still hidden underneath 34th Street; a vast private power plant that could have powered a small city; a gleaming forgotten bank vault underneath the lobby; an old dining room that came complete with a retractable ice floor, where diners could sip cocktails while watching a twirling glamorous dance show; and one of the world’s greatest inventors, Nikola Tesla, who died a virtual recluse after living alone in the hotel for over a decade. Once New York’s largest hotel, its fortunes dipped with the neighborhood’s decline in the 1970s. It has been abandoned, was nearly used as a hospital and a homeless shelter, and actually used as a church. We will be looking at the fascinating, untold story of the New Yorker hotel, through the efforts of one of its longest serving employees, a man who has steadily collected an astonishing archive of some 4,000 artifacts. These old cocktail lists, dinner menus, hotel blueprints, photographs from the hotel’s own in-house magazine and printing press, and recordings from its private radio station all tell of the golden age of one of New York’s most photographed and iconic buildings. A photo showing Abe Lyman and his California Orchestra . A promotion for the “Tiger Stretch”, an “invigorating morning ‘workout,’” 1941. My contact at the New Yorker is Joseph Kinney, who for decades has worked as the hotel’s Senior Project Engineer, although his unpaid job as unofficial historian has been just as consuming. When we met in the lobby of the hotel, he explained how the character of the establishment was always going to be defined by its location. Situated on a city block of Eighth Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets, adjacent to Penn Station, it was designed as a hotel for the travelers and workers coming into Manhattan from the station, from the Port Authority bus terminal a few blocks north, and from the west side docks. When the New Yorker opened on January 2, 1930, it was designed as one of the largest, most sophisticated and technically advanced hotels in the world. Kinney showed me in the archives the original 1930s brochure, describing the new hotel as a “Vertical Village”, laying out why this was the queen of modern hotel living. Its 43 stories resembled a self-contained town with 2,500 rooms. The kitchens were staffed by 135 chefs, 23 elevators raced upwards at 800 feet per minute, its own switchboard was manned by 95 phone operators, while nearly 80 feet underground, its own power plant, the largest in the United States, was big enough to generate power for a city of approximately 35,000 people. The New Yorker had a 50-chair barber salon. It proudly boasted not only a radio in every room, but a private radio station. In addition to providing in-room entertainment, the radio station broadcast big-band music from the Terrace Room live across America. The Terrace Room in the 1930s. By 1948, the New Yorker had more televisions under one roof than any other building in the world. The food was held in such high regard that the hotel was commissioned to operate the dining services out at LaGuardia Airport, in the charmingly-named Kitty Hawk Bar and Grill, and the Aviation Terrace. During the war, the hotel thronged with service men who were given a few days’ stay as guests before boarding the steam liners for Europe. So beloved was the New Yorker hotel to soldiers that many photographs exist from the Western Front with dugouts daubed “Hotel New Yorker” on the entrance. A WWII dugout named Hotel New Yorker. But for all its state-of-the-art, futuristic facilities, the New Yorker was doomed almost from the beginning. As soon as it opened, the hotel was immediately confronted with the harsh realities of the Great Depression, and a lack of paying guests. Trying to weather the fallout from the Wall Street crash just months before, the hotel was already a relic of the bygone roaring ‘20s. The hotel’s first general manager, Ralph Hiltz, in an effort to make the place seem alive and well, would order all the room lights on at night. But it was a thin ruse. “The hotel really struggled. It never really got over it,” says Kinney. By 1966, the New Yorker had filed for bankruptcy. A woman waits in the mezzanine lobby in the 1930s. Another brochure photo from the 1930s, showing two women taking tea. In a city known for its glamorous thoroughfares, Eighth Avenue today has retained the slightly seedy air of old New York. The stretch between the new Penn Station and the Port Authority is still littered with peep shows, methadone clinics, and low-rent retail stores, that resemble the grittiness of 1970s Times Square, and rising above it all, the Art Deco beauty of the New Yorker. Having worked in the neighborhood for 10 years or so, I’d often noticed on the New Yorker’s exterior, a beautiful, highly ornate brass door, next to the always-closed Tick Tock Diner. Labeled with the name “Manufacturers Trust Company,” the elaborate Art Deco styling wouldn’t have looked out of place on the Chrysler Building. Kinney explained how a bank had been built as part of the original building but had long since shuttered. The blueprints in his collection show the stunning original bank doorway as well as the vault still sitting underneath us. The grand north lobby. Walking through the lobby, Kinney tells of how, in the New Yorker’s original heyday, one of the first things visitors would have encountered was a bellhop, who attained advertising immortality. It turns out that this bellhop, Johnny Roventini from Brooklyn, was also shilling Phillip Morris. He would walk through the lobby loudly issuing a “call for Phillip Morris.” Interviewed by the New York Times, Roventini recalled how the odd phrasing sounded: “I went around the lobby yelling my head off but Philip Morris didn’t answer my call.” The campaign proved a huge success, and the bellhop’s call became a successful ad campaign. We passed through the lobby to a small staircase to the left of the reception desk. At the foot of the stairwell was a wrought iron fence marked “MTC” and the giant vault. This is what remains of the old Manufacturing Trust Bank, Kinney explains. Inside the vast safe was a long wall, containing the original safety deposit boxes—thanks to the bank’s terrible timing, launching during the Great Depression, these were rarely filled. Plans are underway to turn the old bank vault into a bar, similar to the vault bar underneath the Trinity Building in lower Manhattan. Underneath the lobby lie the original bank safety deposit boxes. (Photo: Luke Spencer) Around the corner from the bank door, on the 34th Street side, is the home for Al-Jazeera television. Another ornate, gleaming, revolving brass door leads onto the studios. But this was once one of the most glamorous night spots in the whole city: the Terrace Room. Named for its terrace floors, the original hotel brochures describe how “World-famous orchestras interpret the syncopated rhythms of today nightly through the dinner hour and during supper in the Terrace Restaurant.” Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman and Bob Crosby all played here. The concerts were broadcast four nights a week to millions of homes across the United States by CBS radio, and across the European and Japanese theaters of war by the American Forces Network. Advertising for Benny Goodman and the Ice Show. Incredibly, we can listen in to the original sounds of the Terrace Room, for saved in the archives are the recordings, on glass discs, stamped with their own record label, the Hotel New Yorker. “Good evening ladies and gentleman,” a velvet voice croons, “this is Bob Russell from the Radio Control Room of the Hotel New Yorker.” The crackling swing music takes us back to the golden age of New York hotel supper clubs, and the tinkle of cocktail glasses. Drinks such as the New Yorker Special (peach, Italian vermouth, dry gin, curaçao, orange peel, tokay grape) once cost a mere 35 cents. Even more remarkably, the terraced floors led down to an actual ice rink. The focal point of the Terrace Room was a retractable ice floor, where diners could enjoy the Hotel New Yorker Ice Follies’ ”gorgeous girls and foremost stars of the flashing blades” while dining on such delicacies as “baked filet of sole Waleaska with lobster ($1.15)” or “breaded veal cutlet Holstein, fried egg and sauté potatoes ($1.30)”, although, the menu noted, “because of rationing, we can only serve one cup of coffee with any meal”. Spectators watch the ice show at the New Yorker Hotel. This rink was constructed in sections of refrigerated flooring 20 feet long and four feet wide that retracted and automatically stacked underneath the band stand at the North End of the room. The ice show in full swing, in 1947. Today, thousands of tourists and New Yorkers walk by the bustling corner of Eighth Avenue and 34 Street not knowing that here their predecessors enjoyed one of the most glamorous evenings on the planet, dancing to Benny Goodman while watching a spectacular ice show. The extensive Manhattan room cocktail list. The menu from May 23, 1941. A card advertising astrologer Ronda, who promises an “entertaining personality reading”. But underneath the old dance floor lies something even more remarkable and secret, as Kinney and I head deeper underground. One old brochure in the archives was headlined “So Convenient!” along with a map of midtown Manhattan, which proudly noted that one of the leading amenities of the hotel is a “private tunnel linking the New Yorker to Penn Station.” Drawn on the map was a depiction of an underground pass leading from the hotel to not just Penn Station, but as far as the Empire State Building. A brochure for the New Yorker, including a map showing the hotel’s private tunnel to Penn Station. The tunnel in the basement of the New Yorker, which led to subway lines and Penn Station. I asked Kinney about the brochure, and whether this mysterious tunnel was ever actually built. “Sure”, he says, “Would you like to take a look?” We go into the basement, to a sealed door, and beyond into the tunnel itself, which is filled with excess old hotel fittings, chairs, carpets, and beautiful Art Deco tiling. Walking into the tunnel, Kinney explains that we were now directly underneath 34th Street. In a zig-zag shape, at the far end was the same brass door of the photograph, that would lead today onto the platform near the E line. The MTA blocked the other side off sometime in the 1960s, so this was as far as we could get coming from the hotel. The secret New Yorker tunnel underneath 34th Street. This once led directly into Penn Station. (Photo: Luke Spencer) The beautifully tiled Art Deco tunnel hidden underneath 34th street. (Photo: Luke Spencer) Couples on the balcony in the 1930s. The Art Deco interior of the hotel’s beauty shop. Wending back through staircases far out of the reach of the hotel guests, we ended up at around 80 feet below the sidewalk, at the remnants of the New Yorker’s private power plant. A vast undertaking, the DC generating plant was the largest private one of its kind when it was built in 1929. It was powerful enough to provide electricity for a city of 35,000 people. The motors were controlled by a 60-foot switchboard. This power plant was so remarkable that the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designated the New Yorker Hotel as a “Milestone in Electrical Engineering”, on par with the Niagara Falls hydroelectric plant. You can still see the operating switches for the skating rink, “north ballroom parlors A, B & C” and coffee shop lights, ghostly reminders of the hotel’s glamorous past. The old power plant in the basement could generate enough electricity for a small town. (Photo: Luke Spencer) One of the most famous men of the 20th century once worked in this subterranean world. In 1933, Nikola Tesla moved into the New Yorker hotel, occupying rooms 3327 and 3328 until his death in 1943. Kinney speculates that Tesla chose the hotel because it was the most technically sophisticated of its time. While a guest there, he would go downstairs to spend time with the generator’s engineers, and Kinney speculates, tinker with the plant. The hotel’s barber shop. Beulah Gage washing the windows of the hotel. The New Yorker’s in-house weather reporter, Emerald O’Day. New Yorker staff with the hotel Christmas tree, 1944. A music request card. Our next stop was to the rooftop of the hotel, where we got a close-up look at the iconic red sign. Twenty feet high, it is one of the largest signs in the United States. This landmark, though, almost disappeared along with the hotel. As the fortunes of the Eighth Avenue neighborhood plummeted in the 1970s, the hotel finally closed in April 1972. Plans to turn the Art Deco gem into a hospital faltered and by 1975, it was finally abandoned. The original hotel recordings from the Terrace Room where some of the biggest names in Big Band music once played. (Photo: Luke Spencer) This overlooked Art Deco door, long since closed, once led to the bank in the hotel lobby. (Photo: Luke Spencer) The hotel was saved by an unlikely source: the Unification Church who bought the hotel in 1976 to use as their world mission center. In 1994, the New Yorker reopened as a functioning hotel. It is now operated by the Wyndham group, with over 1,000 rooms open. From 1939, photographs of the hotel’s big band. Part of the New Yorker’s revitalization has been its embrace and celebration of its Art Deco heritage. Artifacts from Kinney’s meticulously collected archive are on display in the lobby and in a small adjacent museum, where visitors can experience the golden era of the hotel, while listening to the big bands who once graced its ballrooms. The 44 Most Wondrous Places to Visit in 2016 new york cityphotographyhotelshistory Step Into a Midcentury Map of New York, Packed With Weird Local Lore Dragons, flea circuses, mermaids, and more wonders of the city. Jessica Leigh Hester April 17, 2019 For Sale: Striking Photos of the San Francisco Earthquake This trove of images captures the 1906 geological event that brought the city to its knees. Images of Old Russia, From a Color Photography Pioneer A revolution in the use of filters, way before Instagram. Evan Nicole Brown March 28, 2019 For Sale: Legendary Photographic 'Proof' of Fairies and Gnomes In 1917, two young girls with a camera pranked the world. Jessica Leigh Hester September 28, 2018 These Adventurous Women Photographed the California Desert in the 1920s We almost lost their work forever.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27079
__label__wiki	0.885286	0.885286	Home In Other Worlds Audio & Radio Radio 4 to Celebrate a Century of Pertwee Sean Pertwee comes face to face with the curious likenesses of the Third Doctor and his companions in the 1974 Doctor Who Annual (c) BBC Radio Audio & Radio Radio 4 to Celebrate a Century of Pertwee Peter Nolan BBC Radio will mark the centenary of Jon Pertwee’s birth with a unique programme, hosted by his son Sean. Featuring rare audio of the Doctor Who star, The Jon Pertwee Files is presented by his son Sean Pertwee. Broadcast this coming weekend, it marks a fitting celebration of Jon Pertwee’s birth on the 7th of July, 1919. In the programme, Sean traces his father’s entire career in broadcasting, including his iconic five-year stint as the Doctor. Through rare fan recordings made behind-the-scenes at television studios and at the first ever Doctor Who Appreciation Society Convention, we hear previously unbroadcast stories and a very personal insight into the world’s longest running science fiction show. But the programme also uses other long lost and rare recordings to look at his wider career – beginning with Pertwee being expelled from several schools and then even being asked to leave Rada. In rediscovered interviews, Pertwee reminisces about the time he worked at the circus riding the wall of death with a pet lion, before eventually securing his first contract with the BBC at the age of 18. Pertwee devised some very memorable characters through his ability to show vast vocal range. Many successful years in radio comedy included a lengthy stint in The Navy Lark, which secured his status as a household name. The documentary also features the last time Pertwee performed as Worzel Gummidge alongside Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally. This recording was left untouched for over 25 years and was located during the making of the celebration. There are also rediscovered recordings of Pertwee undergoing the complicated make-up process during the making of the series, and visiting a local radio station to take phone calls from enthusiastic children wanting to speak to Worzel. Presenting the special, Sean Pertwee is not just Jon Pertwee’s son but a highly regarded actor his own right with roles in the likes of Gotham and Dog Soldiers. Of The Jon Pertwee Files, he says, “I think my father would like to be remembered not just for his cult TV programmes, but for his whole body of work. And most of all, he’d like to be remembered as an extraordinary man, which he was.” As beloved as ever, a century on The Jon Pertwee Files is just one of several celebrations of what would have been the actor’s hundredth birthday. This month’s Doctor Who Magazine, on sale now, devotes an epic thirty pages to his life and career, including an interview with Sean Pertwee. While Monday the 8th of July sees the release of Doctor Who: The Collection – The Complete Season 10. The Jon Pertwee Files The Jon Pertwee Files is on BBC Radio 4 Extra, and BBC Sounds on Saturday the 6th July at 0800, repeated at 1500 and again on Sunday the 7th of July at 0300. It will also be broadcast at 1600 on BBC Radio Solent Sunday 7th July. (Jon Pertwee was a pupil at Sherborne School in Dorset, and later based at Portsmouth Naval Barracks during WWII) The show will also be available on BBC Sounds for 30 days after transmission. It can be streamed free, anywhere in the world, here (going live shortly after the first broadcast) Products from Amazon.co.uk Doctor Who - The Collection - Season 10 [Blu-ray] [2019] Sean Pertwee Previous articleVideo of the Day – Doctor Who: Insider: Behind-the-Scenes, 2011 Next articleGood Omens – Episode Six: “The Very Last Day of the Rest of their Lives” https://www.facebook.com/NuallainCosplay/ Peter is a regular contributor to Blogtor Who and has also written for Doctor Who Magazine's Cosplay feature. His art was published in BBC Books' Doctor Who: 100 Illustrated Adventures, while a number of his essays appear in the You and Who series of books. He lives in Ireland with a wife who's remarkably understanding of being dragged across to the UK to take photos of him outside police boxes and a son who was plonked down in front of "Rose" at eight months old and hasn't looked back since. Video of the Day- Doctor Who: The Bells of Saint John,... GALLERY – Doctor Who – The Eaters of Light – The... PREVIEW: Revisitations 3 – Tomb of the Cybermen	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27082
__label__cc	0.685178	0.314822	Studying whether barriers would be effective is an important first step before spending millions of dollars on adding barriers, Wild said. "The idea of going in and assuming a barrier system is going to solve all the problems is kind of the reason we're pursuing this security assessment process," Wild said. "Instead of just jumping in and assuming barriers are the solution." The $400,000 study is just one part of a larger chunk of money intended for MetroLink improvements. The council, along with Bi-State Development Agency, has allocated $3.6 million toward the efforts. Bi-State owns and operates the MetroLink and Metro Transit. Federal dollars will make up 80 percent of the overall cost of the study and improvements, and Bi-State and local governments would fund the remainder, Wild said. East-West Gateway Council of Governments is a regional council led by local elected leaders. The council provides a mechanism for local governments in the St. Louis region to coordinate funding for projects that cross jurisdictional boundaries. WSP USA Inc. has consulted with the cities of New York and Los Angeles to expand their transit systems, according to the company's website. A MetroLink train stops for passengers at a station in Southern Illinois. BND file photo Meet the 2019 Miss O’Fallon Pageant candidates	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27083
__label__wiki	0.986805	0.986805	U.S. newsrooms to Trump: We're not enemies of the people David Bauder, The Associated Press This Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 file photo shows the New York Times building in New York. , AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File NEW YORK -- Newspapers from Maine to Hawaii pushed back against President Donald Trump's attacks on "fake news" Thursday with a co-ordinated series of editorials speaking up for a free and vigorous press. The Boston Globe, which set the campaign in motion by urging the unified voice, had estimated that some 350 newspapers would participate. They did across the breadth of the country. The Portland, Maine Press-Herald said a free and independent press is the best defence against tyranny, while the Honolulu, Hawaii Star-Advertiser emphasized democracy's need for a free press. "The true enemies of the people -- and democracy -- are those who try to suffocate truth by vilifying and demonizing the messenger," wrote the Des Moines Register in Iowa. In St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch called journalists "the truest of patriots." The Chicago Sun-Times said it believed most Americans know that Trump is talking nonsense. The Fayetteville, N.C. Observer said it hoped Trump would stop, "but we're not holding our breath." "Rather, we hope all the president's supporters will recognize what he's doing -- manipulating reality to get what he wants," the North Carolina newspaper said. he Morning News of Savannah, Georgia, said it was a confidant, not an enemy, to the people. "Like any true friend, we don't always tell you want you want to hear," the Georgia newspaper said. "Our news team presents the happenings and issues in this community through the lens of objectivity. And like any true friend, we refuse to mislead you. Our reporters and editors strive for fairness." Some newspapers used history lessons to state their case. The Elizabethtown Advocate in Elizabethtown, Penn., for instance, compared free press in the United States to such rights promised but not delivered in the former Soviet Union. The New York Times added a pitch. "If you haven't already, please subscribe to your local papers," said the Times, whose opinion section also summarized other editorials across the country. "Praise them when you think they've done a good job and criticize them when you think they could do better. We're all in this together." That last sentiment made some journalists skittish. Some newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote editorials explaining why they weren't joining the Globe's effort. The Chronicle wrote that one of its most important values is independence, and going along with the crowd went against that. Both the Chronicle and Baltimore Sun said that it plays into the hands of Trump and his supporters who think the media is out to get him. Nolan Finley, columnist and editorial page editor of The Detroit News, spoke up for the press but added a scolding. He said too many journalists are slipping opinion into their news reports, adding commentary and calling it context. "Donald Trump is not responsible for the eroding trust in the media," Finley wrote. "He lacks the credibility to pull that off. The damage to our standing is self-inflicted." The Radio Television Digital News Association, which represents more than 1,200 broadcasters and websites, is also asking its members to point out that journalists are friends and neighbours doing important work holding government accountable. "I want to make sure that it is positive," said Dan Shelley, the group's executive director. "We're shooting ourselves in the foot if we make this about attacking the president or attacking his supporters." It remains unclear how much sway the effort will have. Newspaper editorial boards overwhelmingly opposed Trump's election in 2016. Polls show Republicans have grown more negative toward the news media in recent years: Pew Research Center said 85 per cent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said in June 2017 that the news media has a negative effect on the country, up from 68 per cent in 2010. Associated Press correspondents Hannah Fingerhut, Skip Foreman, Amanda Kell, Jack Jones, Herb McCann, David Runk and Juliet Williams contributed to this report. Facebook finds ongoing evidence of election interference Trump's candidate clings to narrow lead in ominous race for GOP	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27084
__label__cc	0.721933	0.278067	Home > News > Update on Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules Update on Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules - Key Points: The court can take into account non-Part 36 offers under its general costs discretion but it cannot impose the Part 36 costs consequences - If you want the costs consequences of Part 36 you must comply with it. The minimum 21 day “relevant period” runs from the date of receipt of the offer not the date it is sent. A Part 36 offer cannot be time limited. More than one Part 36 offer may be available for acceptance at any one time. A Part 36 offer must be formally withdrawn if it is to be no longer available for acceptance. An offer that has been withdrawn will not have the costs consequences under Part 36. The concept behind Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules will be familiar to most legal advisers. However, recent case law suggests that interpretation of the rule is still causing difficulties for practitioners and mistakes are still being made in drafting and dealing with offers. A number of amendments have been made to the rule in the last few years and it is vital that those making offers understand the requirements of making and withdrawing offers. Making an offer which inadvertently fails to comply with the principles of Part 36 can have potentially enormous costs consequences and can generate unnecessary satellite litigation. This update therefore provides a brief reminder of some of the key principles and how they have been clarified by recent case law. To be a valid offer in accordance with Part 36, rule 36.2(2) provides that it must: Be in writing State on its face it is intended to have the consequences of Section I of Part 36 Specify a period of not less than 21 days within which the defendant will be liable for the claimant’s costs in accordance with CPR 36.10 if the offer is accepted. This is defined in later parts of the rule as the “relevant period” State whether it relates to the whole or part of the claim or to an issue Whether it takes into account any counterclaim Rule 36.9 provides that a Part 36 offer may be accepted at any time (whether or not the offeree has made a different offer) unless the offeror serves notice of withdrawal on the offeree. Once an offer has been withdrawn, the offeror can no longer rely on it to obtain the costs and interest protection of Part 36 (although the court may still consider the offer using its general discretion under Part 44.3). In Gibbon v Manchester City Council [2010] the court heard two appeals together which concerned issues arising out of the interpretation of Part 36. Moore-Bick LJ emphasised that Part 36 is a self contained code. He went on to say that it did not follow that: “Part 36 should be understood as incorporating all the rules of law governing the formation of contracts, some of which are quite technical in nature…[Part 36] is to be read and understood according to its terms without importing other rules derived from the general law, save where that was clearly intended”. Gibbon considered whether an offer remained open for acceptance even though it had previously been rejected. The court found that an offer could only be withdrawn in accordance with Part 36.9 (referred to above). A Part 36 offer therefore does not lapse on rejection in the same way as an offer made in accordance with common law principles. Furthermore there was no room within Part 36 for the concept of implied withdrawal. Provided that an offer has not been withdrawn or varied it therefore remains open for acceptance notwithstanding that it may have previously been rejected. In the second appeal, LG Blower Specialist Bricklayer Ltd v Reeves, Moore-Bick LJ considered the question of whether later offers superseded an earlier offer. In his view there was nothing in Part 36 which meant that only one offer could be open for acceptance at any one time. As a result a later offer will not supersede an earlier offer unless the earlier offer is expressly withdrawn or varied in accordance with the provisions of Part 36. What about time limiting your offer so it is automatically withdrawn after 21 days? This used to be standard practice but the wording to Part 36 has now changed. The court considered this question in C v D [2010] AllER (D) 176 (Nov). The letter in issue stated, “the offer will be open for 21 days from the date of this letter”. Warren J was of the view that “If the words used cannot fit with Part 36, then the result is simply that Part 36 does not apply whatever may have been intended”. He determined that a time limited offer is not capable of being a Part 36 offer. An offer must be capable of acceptance unless and until withdrawn by service of a notice in accordance with 36.9(2) (although an offer may also be varied). Parties therefore need to keep Part 36 offers under review, particularly at key stages in the claim such as disclosure and exchange of witness statements. A damaging expert report for example may drastically alter the assessment of the quantum of the claim. Whilst withdrawal of an offer may result in the loss of potentially valuable costs and interest consequences, a failure to withdraw following a change in circumstances may result in an offer being accepted on terms which are no longer as favourable as they were at the time of the offer. Parties can therefore no longer leave Part 36 offers open for acceptance for a period of only 21 days and then forget about them until costs are dealt with post-trial. For more information about the issues in this article to find out more about how the Dispute Resolution team can help you please contact Rowan Turrall on 0118 952 7206 or email [email protected].	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27088
__label__cc	0.74625	0.25375	Alright Chief Suburbia, County Dublin Alright Chief is comprised of Steve Synnott, Martina Leonard, Rob Rogers, Ken McAllister and Allen Monaghan. Brought together by an ever intertwining social circle and a desire to "just keep busy" the five pals poured heart and soul into various unrelated activities pausing to make music whenever something good wasn't on the tv or anyone had any prior unavoidable commitments like resolving a hangover, getting pissed or whatever mundane task life had prepared for them on any given day. Steve Synnott had been writing tunes all by his lonesome for many a year. Squirrelling away in cloudy rooms amassing a giant back-catalogue of tunes unheard. The advent of myspace gave a lethargic outlet for his tunes which garnered a small audience (of mainly friends - actual, not myspace) whom expressed a desire to form a band around them. Martina, Allen and Ken being chief amongst these. With their encouragement the music gradually made its way out of the clouds and into the real world. Where it goes from there is anybody's guess. 8Ball, Aim, Aimee Mann, Air, Andrew Bird, Animal Collective, Arctic Monkeys, Badly Drawn Boy, Band of Horses, Beck, Bic Runga, Bjork, Black Rebel Motorcycle club, Blur, Boards Of Canada, Bob Dylan, Bobby Conn, Bonnie Prince Billy, Br. Danielson, Broken Social Scene, Buffalo Springfield, CSS, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, DJ Hype, DJ Kam, DJ Kormac, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, DJ Vadim, Daft Punk, Dan The Automator, De La Soul, Death Cab For Cutie, Dee-Lite, Deltron, Devo, Dirty Pretty Things, Doves, Dr. Octogon, ELO, Elliot Smith, FROU FROU, Faze Action, Feist, Flaming Lips, Four Tet, Frank Sinatra, Franz Ferdinand, Goldfrapp, Gomez, Gorrilaz, Happy Mondays, Henry Mancini, IDirty Bastard, Iron & Wine, Joan Baez, Joanna Newsom, Orbital, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Plus Others..., Primal Scream, RJD2, Radiohead, Regina Spektor, Rick James, Sabres Of Paradise, Sebastien Tellier, Shugo Tokumaru, Sigur Ros, Sonic Youth, Sparklehorse, Starland Vocal Band, Steve Reich, Stina Nordenstam, Sufjan Stevens, Takako Minekawa, The Arcade Fire, The Avalanches, The Band, The Beatles, The Beta Band, The Charlatans, The Chemical Brothers, The Cinematic Orchestra, The Dandy Warhols, The Detroit Cobras, The Go! Team, The Polyphonic Spree, The Postal Service, The Redneck Manifesto, The Rolling Stones, The Roots, The Russian Futurists, The Shins, The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Who, Ukelele Orchestra Of Great Britain, eels, elbow, godspeed you black emperor, jackson browne, led Zepplin, m From Barcelona, Iggy & The Stooges, James Brown, Jay-Z, Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins, Jim Noir, Joe Esposito, Jon Brion, John Lennon, John Lydon, Jose Gonzalez, Jurassic 5, Kanye West, Kasabian, Kid Loco, Kings Of Leon, The Kinks, The Knife, Laura Vei, ray charles, simple kid, spiritualised, the brian jonestown massacre, the gossip, tom vek	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27090
__label__wiki	0.780153	0.780153	House to Hold Hearing on Slavery Reparations Earl Gibson III/Getty Images Tony Lee A House Judiciary subcommittee will hold hearings on reparations next Wednesday, marking the first time in more than a decade that the House will discuss potentially compensating the descendants of slaves. “The Case for Reparations” author Ta-Nehisi Coates and actor Danny Glover are reportedly set to testify before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and the hearing’s stated purpose will be “to examine, through open and constructive discourse, the legacy of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, its continuing impact on the community and the path to restorative justice,” according to a Thursday Associated Press report. The June 19 hearing also “coincides with Juneteenth, a cultural holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved blacks in America.” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), who sits on the subcommittee, again introduced H.R. 40 earlier this year to create a reparations commission. Jackson Lee said her bill would create a commission “to study the impact of slavery and continuing discrimination against African-Americans, resulting directly and indirectly from slavery to segregation to the desegregation process and the present day.” She added in January that the “commission would also make recommendations concerning any form of apology and compensation to begin the long delayed process of atonement for slavery.” “The impact of slavery and its vestiges continues to effect African Americans and indeed all Americans in communities throughout our nation,” Jackson Lee said. “This legislation is intended to examine the institution of slavery in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present, and further recommend appropriate remedies. Since the initial introduction of this legislation, its proponents have made substantial progress in elevating the discussion of reparations and reparatory justice at the national level and joining the mainstream international debate on the issues. Though some have tried to deflect the importance of these conversations by focusing on individual monetary compensation, the real issue is whether and how this nation can come to grips with the legacy of slavery that still infects current society. Through legislation, resolutions, news, and litigation, we are moving closer to making more strides in the movement toward reparations.” Jackson Lee argued that despite the progress of African-Americans in the private sector, education, and the government in addition to “the election of the first American President of African descent, the legacy of slavery lingers heavily in this nation.” “While we have focused on the social effects of slavery and segregation, its continuing economic implications remain largely ignored by mainstream analysis,” she continued. “These economic issues are the root cause of many critical issues in the African-American community today, such as education, healthcare and criminal justice policy, including policing practices. The call for reparations represents a commitment to entering a constructive dialogue on the role of slavery and racism in shaping present-day conditions in our community and American society.” In the Senate, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), a 2020 presidential candidate, introduced the companion legislation, saying creating a reparations committee “is a way of addressing head-on the persistence of racism, white supremacy, and implicit racial bias in our country.” “It will bring together the best minds to study the issue and propose solutions that will finally begin to right the economic scales of past harms and make sure we are a country where all dignity and humanity is affirmed,” Booker said in April. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in addition to nearly every Democrat running for president, has endorsed Jackson Lee’s bill. And though Coates praised Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-CA) this week on the reparations issue, Warren, like nearly every other 2020 Democrat with the exception of former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, has squirrelly dodged questions about whether the United States government should make cash payments to the descendants of slaves. 2020 ElectionPoliticsCory BookerDanny GloverElizabeth WarrenJulian CastroreparationsSheila Jackson-LeeTa-Nehisi Coates	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27091
__label__cc	0.524264	0.475736	Home News Iranian comma... Iranian commander warns US aircraft carrier is a ‘target’ not a threat, as US firepower pours onto its doorstep Ryan Pickrell, Business Insider US The US has sent a lot of firepower – a carrier strike group, B-52 bombers, air-and-missile defense systems, and more – to the Middle East to counter Iran. US military and civilian leaders have said that they have intelligence indicating that Iran is planning an attack on US interests. As US military assets started making their way into the region, Iranian military leaders began threatening them, taunting the US ships and aircraft as “targets.” Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more stories. As US troops and weaponry pour into the Middle East to counter Iran with threats of “unrelenting force,” Iran warns that US forces are “targets,” not threats. A little over a week ago, the White House, following approval from the Pentagon, announced that the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and a bomber task force composed of B-52 Stratofortress heavy, long-range bombers were being immediately deployed to US Central Command as a warning to Iran, which the US believed might be planning an attack on US interests. Read more: The US is sending a ton of firepower to take on Iran – here’s everything headed its way The Pentagon announced Friday that additional assets, including an amphibious assault vessel and an air-and-missile defense battery, were also being sent into the region. The US has said that it will respond to any Iranian attack with “unrelenting force.” A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress aircraft assigned to the 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron taxis for takeoff on a runway at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, May 12, 2019. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ashley Gardner Read more: The US is doubling down on its show of force to Iran with even more weapons Iranian military leadership pushed back over the weekend. On Saturday, Yadollah Javani, the deputy head of political affairs of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said that the US “wouldn’t dare to launch military action against us.” His comments came shortly after Ayatollah Tabatabai-Nejad, a high-ranking cleric in the Iranian government, warned that US forces will face “dozens of missiles.” Another IRGC commander followed suit Sunday. “An aircraft carrier that has at least 40 to 50 planes on it and 6,000 forces gathered within it was a serious threat for us in the past,” Amirali Hajizadeh said. “But, now it is a target.” “If (the Americans) make a move, we will hit them in the head,” he added. Iran’s state media released an animated video back in February showing one of Iran’s Ghadir-class submarines sinking an American aircraft carrier. Such an aggressive act, the success of which is far from guaranteed, would be a bold and dangerous move for Iran. Read more: Iran releases video of its submarine sinking a US aircraft carrier by exploiting a key weakness “The decision to go after an aircraft carrier, short of the deployment of nuclear weapons, is the decision that a foreign power would take with the most reticence,” Bryan McGrath, an influential naval consultant, previously told Business Insider. “The other guy knows that if that is their target, the wrath of God will come down on them.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27094
__label__wiki	0.931378	0.931378	CROWN SELLS MORE MELCO SHARES Written on the 16 December 2016 CROWN has sold an additional $300 million of its holding in Melco, bringing net proceeds from its exit from the Macau casino business to $1.9 billion. The company announced a change of strategic direction yesterday by effectively pulling out of Macau and also cancelling its plans for the Alon project in Las Vegas. Today it announced a further sale of Melco shares, and Crown will now hold an 11.2 per cent shareholding in the company after it entered into an underwriting agreement for the sale of 40.9 million shares at US$5.33 each. Crown has also entered a series of cash-settled equity swaps for around 81.9 million Melco shares to provide a price hedge set at US$5.33 per share. Of the extra money, $100 million will go to shareholders ($600 million in total) and $200 million to a share buyback ($500 million in total). Crown remains in a trading halt today.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27095
__label__wiki	0.887724	0.887724	Charlotte-Lee-Collier Business Observer Friday, Oct. 3, 2003 15 years ago Southwest Florida's Growth Engine Commercial property makes up less than 10% of Cape Coral's ad valorem tax base. Can the growing city become a thriving business center? By William R. Waites LEE COUNTY - For five years, Cape Coral wooed new businesses by emphasizing the city's quality of life. As characterized by the positioning line, "You'll like the attitude in Paradise," the city was attempting to capitalize on its previous positioning of "It's just Paradise," while adding reference to its pro-business attitude at city hall. The approach enticed more residents than businesses. In 2000, Cape Coral passed the 100,000-resident mark and today it is pushing 125,000. That growth makes it the ninth-fastest growing city over 100,000 in the United States and the fastest growing in Florida. The next closest Florida city is Pembroke Pines at 22nd nationally. Mike Jackson, the city's Economic Development Department executive director, says that of all the reasons to move a business to Cape Coral, surging growth is the most attractive. The city's new strategy promotes the advantages of a rapidly growing population, using the new positioning line, "The Growth Engine of Southwest Florida." "There are a lot of places in Florida with nice tropical lifestyles," Jackson says. "But a business needs to know that there is more." He lists four elements necessary for Cape Coral's economic development plan to attract businesses. First, create awareness. Many people don't know where Cape Coral is, let alone what it offers. Second is sales, including work with prospective companies. "The decision to move is different for each company," Jackson says. But all companies want to be where action and growth are considered good. Third, product development. "Investors must be encouraged to develop the facilities new companies need," he says. "Investors have appetites. We must serve those." Jackson says the city plays an especially important role. "We can bring in the customers and employees by encouraging development of areas in the Cape that are available for residential neighborhoods. We are working to bring in other businesses that support and supply the new companies." Jackson contends the closer companies are to customers, employees and vendors, the more successful they are likely to be. That's an incentive for investors to put money into the commercial and retail buildings that new businesses will fill. Fourth is a pro-business environment. That means working with the city to foster a receptive attitude toward business. One compelling need for that pro-business attitude in Cape Coral is dramatized by the sources of ad valorem taxes. Only 9% comes from commercial properties. Homeowners pay the remaining 91%. Jackson is working on a model to show that continued growth on that trajectory limits services that can be delivered without large residential tax increases. "I intend to show that moving the contribution of commercial tax to 20% or 25% will make life much better for everyone here," he says. As part of its committed approach to recruiting new business, the city has separated tourism development from efforts to convince key business sectors they should relocate to Cape Coral. The city has decided to focus on industries based on emerging clusters of existing businesses or appropriate existing infrastructure. Jackson lists microbiology, marine manufacturing and service, businesses providing creative services, residential/commercial construction, and government/military contractors. One defense contractor is already based there. Those industries have chosen Cape Coral for its friendly labor environment with 4% unemployment, existing infrastructure and the reassurance of being among companies with similar needs and growth patterns, he says. Officials must cultivate existing businesses and make the city their source for support. As an implementation of its new "growth engine" strategy, the Economic Development Department is developing new materials to identify zones where investment is aggressively encouraged. One is the Pine Island Road Corridor that extends from Pine Island to U.S. 41, with a connection to Interstate 75. Carl Schwing, Cape Coral's director of community development, says the Pine Island project will be market-driven. Two other key investment zones are around the new city hall called City Centrum, which will include offices of professional services and vendors that will serve the city, and the Downtown Community Redevelopment Area, one of the first retail areas developed in Cape Coral. Chet Hunt, executive director of the Cape Coral Community Redevelopment Agency, says the city encourages the revitalization of service establishments, restaurants and retail stores in the area, through grants for storefront and facade improvements. Condominium development is also in the plan to generate downtown residents who will patronize retail facilities. Zoning changes will invite investors to construct buildings up to six stories tall with retail shops on the ground floor, offices on the second floor and condominium residences on the upper floors. The Owner's Role Real Estate Briefs (Sara/Mana edition)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27096
__label__wiki	0.936537	0.936537	Is Defunding Planned Parenthood Against The Law? These States Better Watch Out By Lauren Barbato Andrew Burton/Getty Images News/Getty Images In the weeks following the release of "sting" videos targeting Planned Parenthood's fetal-tissue donation program, several states have gone ahead defunding the national family-planning organization, cutting off affiliated clinics from Medicaid funds that subsidize health services unrelated to abortion. So far, Alabama, New Hampshire and Louisiana have eliminated Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, with the latter's governor, 2016 GOP presidential candidate Bobby Jindal, flaunting his decision on the campaign trail. "It has become clear that this is not an organization that is worthy of receiving public assistance from the state," Jindal said of his decision in a statement last week. But as much as conservative leaders want to control funding to Planned Parenthood, one thing stands in their way — the federal government. On Wednesday, the U.S. government warned states that defunding Planned Parenthood may be a federal violation that comes some with some mighty consequences. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Department of Health and Human Services contacted officials in Alabama and Louisiana over the loss of Medicaid funding, noting that canceling their state contracts with Planned Parenthood is a major federal violation. New Hampshire's decision to strip funding from Planned Parenthood is excused from federal oversight, because its newly passed measure only blocks state funding and doesn't affect Medicaid grants, The Wall Street Journal reported. An HHS spokesperson also confirmed to Reuters that officials in Alabama and Louisiana were contacted through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The spokesperson said these two states — and others who are currently thinking about eliminating funding to the family-planning organization — would be restricting access to much-needed health services provided under Medicaid. Scott Olson/Getty Images News/Getty Images Planned Parenthood confirmed this news on Wednesday, praising it as a reproductive health victory. The organization's executive vice president, Dawn Laguens, said it was "good to hear that HHS has clarified what we already know" — that restricting Medicaid funds for family-planning services is against the law. "Politicians in Arizona, Indiana, and elsewhere have tried — and failed — to do the same thing," Laguens said Wednesday in a statement sent to Bustle. "This political grandstanding could have real and devastating consequences for women who rely on Planned Parenthood for birth control, cancer screenings, STD tests, and other lifesaving care." Laguens added that Planned Parenthood "will do everything in our power to protect women's access to health care in all fifty states." Currently, Planned Parenthood clinics comprise just 10 percent of the roughly 4,100 publicly funded family-planning clinics in America, according to research from the Guttmacher Institute. When looking solely at clinics receiving Title X grants, Planned Parenthood centers account for 13 percent. Olivier Douliery/Getty Images News/Getty Images Still, Planned Parenthood clinics continue to be leaders when it comes to providing family-planning services, whether for residents of urban neighborhoods or rural areas. According to Guttmacher, Planned Parenthood serves an overall 36 percent of patients who receive family-planning services through a publicly funded health center. And when it comes to Medicaid patients, Planned Parenthood is also the overwhelming provider for low-income patients. Women over the age of 15 are also more likely than men to use Medicaid services. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 33 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries with full benefits are women, while only 20 percent are men (children make up the largest share, at 47 percent). Kaiser research also found that 70 percent of those women receiving full Medicaid benefits are of reproductive age. It's important to note that, under the Hyde Amendment, these Medicaid funds don't provide abortions except in cases of rape, incest or mother's health and life. Planned Parenthood says these federal grants subsidize services such as contraception, STI testing, cancer screenings and other preventative measures. In fact, subsidizing these preventative measures may save Medicaid money in the long run. HHS cites research showing that nearly $4 was saved on every public dollar spent on contraception services in 2008. This money would have gone to Medicaid expenses for pregnancy and childbirth. Stephen Brashear/Getty Images News/Getty Images While New Hampshire may be off the hook (for now), there are several other states, most of whom are notorious battlegrounds for abortion rights, that need to proceed with caution in the following weeks. Politicians in Georgia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio have made it clear in recent weeks that they would seek to block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood centers in their states. If states do go ahead and eliminate Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, they would need to hold a federal hearing, which may not bode well for Planned Parenthood foes. As Laguens previously mentioned, federal courts have sided with the Obama administration in the past in the cases of Arizona and Indiana, which both failed to strip total funding from Planned Parenthood centers.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27097
__label__wiki	0.761942	0.761942	Stop Saying "Holocaust" In Politics Because There's No Place For The Fear-Mongering Word In Your Agenda By Hope Racine Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images When the United States signed a nuclear treaty with Iran, there were few who were more outspoken against the deal than former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The Republican drew national ire when he compared the Iran deal to the Holocaust. It's been over a month since Huckabee claimed that Obama and the deal would "take Israelis and march them to the door of the oven," and his comparison is still being echoed by other Republican candidates, which is why the word "Holocaust" has no place in politics. From the get-go, Donald Trump was against the Iran deal, believing it would lead to further "nuclear proliferation." And on Wednesday, Trump reaffirmed his statement during an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, but instead the Iran deal would result in a "nuclear holocaust." It would be one thing if Holocaust rhetoric was used specifically to describe the Iran deal and emphasize Israel's concern regarding a tangible threat from a country that has open hostilities toward it. Huckabee's comment, though unnecessarily graphic, could be seen as valid in describing his concern. But the comparisons are not confined to just the Iran deal. The rhetoric is used rampantly in political circles, which is why even something as innocuous as Trump's use of the term "nuclear holocaust" leaves me feeling uneasy. Considering Huckabee's history of Holocaust comments, and the veracity with which he defended his statement, it's not illogical to think he might make similar comments in the future. In 2014, Huckabee compared abortion to the Holocaust while touring Europe, even insinuating that it is worse. If you felt something incredibly powerful at Auschwitz and Birkenau over the 11 million killed worldwide and the 1.5 million killed on those grounds, cannot we feel something extraordinary about 55 million murdered in our own country in the wombs of their mothers? In 2008 and 2009, many politicians compared newly elected President Obama to Adolf Hitler, and repeatedly used Nazi allusions to describe his presidency. Rush Limbaugh repeatedly compared Obama's platforms to Nazi policies. To many, the Nazi party is considered synonymous with the Holocaust in many people's minds. Which is why it is concerning that politicians and political pundits reach for such a severe allusion to describe an event or platform that would not result in the death of millions. To give Trump fair credit, the term "nuclear holocaust" is accurate for describing a wide-spread, disastrous event. The word "holocaust" literally means a destructive event caused by fire, which is a correct way of describing the aftermath of a nuclear attack. But "nuclear holocaust" was a term born out of Cold War propaganda to describe a world-wide apocalyptic event. It came into common vernacular during the 1950s, a time when America and the rest of the world were only beginning to fully comprehend the realities and horrors of the Jewish Holocaust during WWII. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images News/Getty Images The root of the issue is that while the word has a precise meaning, the cultural definition is something very different. I'm personally not sure it's possible to use the word without invoking the memory of Nazi concentration camps and the loss of Jewish life. But modern politics uses it so cavalierly, as a way to cause alarm and instill panic. It's a fear-mongering term, and using holocaust rhetoric to drive home a point undermines the reality of the situation. If a word reminds people about the death of approximately 6 million Jews and 5 million other individuals, then it is not an allusion to be used lightly. Huckabee and Trump are clear examples of politicians capitalizing on the loss of human life and using fear to gain support for their platform. Whether a politician is drawing on direct allusions or is referencing the end of the world, neither tactic is effective for creating realistic, informed dialogue. This rhetoric not only devalues the actual event, but it's disingenuous, capitalizing on fear to vilify something politicians don't agree with. And it needs to stop.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27098
__label__cc	0.5494	0.4506	Washington Journal, Spotlight on Immigration 2016-06-01T11:20:14-04:00https://images.c-span.org/Files/298/20160601112820001_hd.jpgBreitbart’s Brandon Darby, immigration lawyer Nelly Vielma and Dallas Morning News Mexico City Bureau Chief Alfredo Corchado joined from Bridge 1 in Laredo, Texas, to discuss immigration and drug smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border. Breitbart’s Brandon Darby, immigration lawyer Nelly Vielma and Dallas Morning News Mexico City Bureau Chief Alfredo Corchado joined from Bridge 1 in Laredo, Texas, to discuss immigration and drug smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border. Transcript type Text Graphical Timeline Washington Journal Spotlight on Immigration Open Phones Brandon Darby on U.S.-Mexico Border and Immigration Nelly Vielma on Immigration Law Alfredo Corchado on Drug Trafficking, Cartels and Violence Jun 01, 2016 \| 11:20am EDT \| C-SPAN 1 See all on Immigration Brandon Darby talked about legal and illegal immigration to the U.S.-Mexico border town of Laredo, Texas. Mr. Darby participated… Nelly Vielma talked about her experiences practicing immigration law in Laredo, Texas, specializing in citizenship, deportation,… Alfredo Corchado talked about his reporting for the Dallas Morning News on Mexican drug cartels, the business of drug and human… Travel to U.S.-Mexico Border A Cuban national who traveled for four straight days to reach the U.S.-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas, talked about his… Attempt Port Runners	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27100
__label__cc	0.597943	0.402057	The Community Foundation was established in 1967 as an engine for positive change in Charlottesville and the surrounding counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson and Orange. We work with local residents, non-profits, as well as public and private organizations to facilitate philanthropy and improve the quality of life in our area. To learn more about the state of our community and the Foundation’s work, please see our Annual Report, Audited Financial Statements: 2016 and 2017, and Form 990: 2015, 2016, and 2017. Foundation staff members bring unique expertise in philanthropy and charitable giving and an abiding commitment to serving our donors and our local community. Brennan Gould serves as President and Chief Executive Officer. She is responsible for directing Foundation strategy and operations, and for ensuring that the Foundation’s mission is fulfilled through expanding relationships with the community. She serves as an ex-officio member of the Foundation’s Governing Board, to which she reports. Jan Dorman is Director of Finance and leads on all aspects of Foundation asset, financial and fund management and reporting. To advance our donors’ financial and investment goals, Jan develops and manages the Foundation’s relationships with tax, legal and investment professionals and institutional partners. Nareen Scott is our Administration Manager. She oversees the smooth running of the Foundation office and information and data management systems. She manages the Foundation’s staff support and development programs. Erik Henderson is our Accounting Manager, with primary responsibility for the Foundation’s accounting and book-keeping. He is responsible for processing and recording donor contributions and distributions, grant and scholarship awards, and vendor payments. Erik also helps ensure that the Foundation complies with relevant accounting and audit regulations and practice standards. Sara Sweeney is our Programs Manager. Sara manages all of the Foundation’s small grant-making programs and maintains program data and records. She processes grants applications and reports, and she helps grant seekers apply for Foundation grant opportunities. Andi Senatro is our Administrative and Accounting Assistant. She assists with donor contributions and distributions, grant and scholarship awards, and vendor payments. She supports the day-to-day activities of staff, maintains office records, and supports the Governing Board and Standing Committees. She provides primary support for CACF events and communications. KATIE KLING is our Donor Engagement Manager. Katie is the primary contact for our donor-advised, committee-advised and scholarship funds. She is here to provide advice and assistance to fund holders, and she ensures that all aspects of fund operations run smoothly for them. Eboni Bugg is our Director of Programs. Eboni provides organizational leadership, working in partnership with others, to effectively direct grant and other resources so that nonprofit activities, program outcomes and/or wider community development goals are accomplished. Aiyana Marcus is our Programs Manager, overseeing the Community Foundation's large grant work, including the Strengthening Systems and Shaping Futures grant tracks. Latibe Seidou is our Executive Assistant, interacting daily with Foundation stakeholders and handling a wide range of administrative, scheduling and event-planning responsibilities. Entrusted to guide the Community Foundation, our Governing Board members actively seek a wide range of community perspectives that strengthen our decision-making and complement our individual expertise. Jay Kessler is Chair of the Governing Board. A past President of Piedmont Virginia Companies, Inc., Jay is currently a construction consultant and he works as a grateful patient at the University of Virginia Medical Center. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Charlottesville Albemarle Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Sorensen Institute’s Central Virginia Regional Board. Andrea Roberts is Chair, Grants Committee. Andrea is an associate professor of accounting at UVA’s McIntire School; a CPA. She specializes in nonprofit financial reporting, including how and why nonprofits report financial information and how this impacts their stakeholders. Andrea is a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Not-for-Profit Project Resource Group and she is the immediate past president of the AAA’s Diversity Section. Andrea is a member of the American Accounting Association and the Ph.D. Project Accounting Doctoral Students Association. Helene Downs is Chair, Audit Committee, Helene joined Hantzmon Wiebel in 2001 and was named a partner in 2014. Her expertise includes tax planning and preparation, estate planning and estate and trust taxation. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants (VSCPA), as well as the Central Virginia Estate Planning Council. She serves on the board of the Village School and on the Foundation’s Audit Committee. is former Chair of the Governing Board and the Executive Committee. He is a Principal at Signature Financial and serves on the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Central Virginia. Whit Broome is past Secretary, a past member of the Investment Committee, and a past member and chair of the Audit Committee. Whit is Kaulback Professor Emeritus of Commerce at UVA, where he served as Interim Dean and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and also as Professor of Law. Whit chaired the Virginia Board of Accountancy and was a member of the national CPA Board of Examiners. He was also Executive Director of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts. He serves on UVA’s Gift Planning Council and the PVCC Educational Foundation Board. Heather Carlton is Vice Chair of the Governing Board. Heather is an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, where she prosecutes a wide-array of federal crimes ranging from bank fraud to human trafficking. Previously, she was an associate with McGuireWoods LLP in Charlottesville and an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Jim Haden is former Chair of the Board Development Committee. Mr. Haden was president and CEO of Martha Jefferson Health Services from 1993 to 2015, and he served as a board member on the Federal Reserve Board of Richmond from 1998 to 2003. He currently serves on the board of The Women’s Initiative, and he previously served on the boards of the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area, the Piedmont Virginia Community College Foundation and Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce. Pamela M. Sutton-Wallace joined the UVA Medical Center in July 2014, overseeing strategic direction and operations of inpatient and ambulatory services. Prior to arriving at UVA, Sutton-Wallace served as SVP of hospital operations at Duke University Hospital from 2011-2014. She has a diverse health care background with experience in the pharmaceutical, insurance and research industries. Sutton-Wallace is married to Maurice Wallace, and they have two daughters, Sage and Amaya. Rick Richmond, Jr. is of counsel with McCallum & Kudravetz, where he specializes in trusts and estates, as well as real estate law. Rick is a former President of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Bar Association and a member of the Virginia State Bar Council. He serves on the Board of Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge Foundation and on the Jefferson Area Board for the Aging. Glenn Rust is Secretary of the Governing Board and Chair of both the Finance and Board Development Committees. Glenn is the president and CEO and a Director of Virginia National Bank and Virginia National Bankshares, a billion dollar, publicly traded company. He has more than 46 years of banking, technology, and consulting experience and has worked for both large and small domestic and international companies. He is an advocate for many not-for-profits and serves on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Central Virginia. Kristina Koutrakos has been an investor in the asset management industry for almost 20 years. She recently founded Kyria Capital Management to develop research and deploy capital to women-run alternative investment firms. Kristina is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association charter holder and holds a BA in Economics from UVA and an MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. Leonard Sandridge joined the internal audit staff of the University of Virginia in 1967. He retired as the University’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in 2011, and then acted as Special Advisor to the University President until 2014. He is currently on the Board of Directors at the University of Richmond, Spider Management Company and the Miller Center Foundation Bruce Woodzell retired in 2008 as the County Assessor for Albemarle County, after 29 years of public service. Bruce remains active in the Virginia Association of Assessing Officers and the International Association of Assessing Officers, serving as President of both organizations. Bruce is a past President of The Blue Ridge Rotary Club and the Albemarle County Credit Union. Libby Edwards-Allbaugh is President of the Tax Ladies and an instructor for PVCC Workforce Services. She is a past President of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Junior Chamber of Commerce, State Coordinator of the Virginia Jaycees, Piedmont CASA volunteer, administrator of the Fluvanna Soccer Association, and is active with the Chamber Diversity Council and Women’s Round Table. She is a native of Charlottesville and mother of three boys. is Senior VP of Development and Public Affairs for the University's advancement initiatives. He restructured UVA's development effort and philanthropic cash flow increased fourfold in 10 years, from $50 million to $200 million. Prior to UVA, he was Associate Vice Chancellor of Development and director of the $320 million Bicentennial Campaign at UNC Chapel Hill. Mr. Sweeney is married to Lili Powell, a professor with appointments in the Darden School of Business and the UVA School of Nursing.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27101
__label__wiki	0.852434	0.852434	{ "293527": { "url": "/event/Iran-Iraq-War", "shareUrl": "https://www.britannica.com/event/Iran-Iraq-War", "title": "Iran-Iraq War" ,"gaExtraDimensions": {"3":"false"} } } Alternative Title: Iraq-Iran War Iran-Iraq War, (1980–88), prolonged military conflict between Iran and Iraq during the 1980s. Open warfare began on September 22, 1980, when Iraqi armed forces invaded western Iran along the countries’ joint border, though Iraq claimed that the war had begun earlier that month, on September 4, when Iran shelled a number of border posts. Fighting was ended by a 1988 cease-fire, though the resumption of normal diplomatic relations and the withdrawal of troops did not take place until the signing of a formal peace agreement on August 16, 1990. Iraq: The Iran-Iraq War Relations with Iran had grown increasingly strained after the shah was overthrown in 1979. Iraq recognized Iran’s new Shīʿite Islamic government,… The roots of the war lay in a number of territorial and political disputes between Iraq and Iran. Iraq wanted to seize control of the rich oil-producing Iranian border region of Khūzestān, a territory inhabited largely by ethnic Arabs over which Iraq sought to extend some form of suzerainty. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein wanted to reassert his country’s sovereignty over both banks of the Shaṭṭ al-ʿArab, a river formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that was historically the border between the two countries. Saddam was also concerned over attempts by Iran’s Islamic revolutionary government to incite rebellion among Iraq’s Shīʿite majority. By attacking when it did, Iraq took advantage of the apparent disorder and isolation of Iran’s new government—then at loggerheads with the United States over the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehrān by Iranian militants—and of the demoralization and dissolution of Iran’s regular armed forces. In September 1980 the Iraqi army carefully advanced along a broad front into Khūzestān, taking Iran by surprise. Iraq’s troops captured the city of Khorramshahr but failed to take the important oil-refining centre of Ābādān, and by December 1980 the Iraqi offensive had bogged down about 50–75 miles (80–120 km) inside Iran after meeting unexpectedly strong Iranian resistance. Iran’s counterattacks using the revolutionary militia (Revolutionary Guards) to bolster its regular armed forces began to compel the Iraqis to give ground in 1981. The Iranians first pushed the Iraqis back across Iran’s Kārūn River and then recaptured Khorramshahr in 1982. Later that year Iraq voluntarily withdrew its forces from all captured Iranian territory and began seeking a peace agreement with Iran. But under the leadership of Ruhollah Khomeini, who bore a strong personal animosity toward Saddam, Iran remained intransigent and continued the war in an effort to overthrow the Iraqi leader. Iraq’s defenses solidified once its troops were defending their own soil, and the war settled down into a stalemate with a static, entrenched front running just inside and along Iraq’s border. Iran repeatedly launched fruitless infantry attacks, using human assault waves composed partly of untrained and unarmed conscripts (often young boys snatched from the streets), which were repelled by the superior firepower and air power of the Iraqis. Both nations engaged in sporadic air and missile attacks against each other’s cities and military and oil installations. They also attacked each other’s oil-tanker shipping in the Persian Gulf, and Iran’s attacks on Kuwait’s and other Gulf states’ tankers prompted the United States and several western European nations to station warships in the Persian Gulf to ensure the flow of oil to the rest of the world. The oil-exporting capacity of both nations was severely reduced at various times owing to air strikes and to pipeline shutoffs, and the consequent reduction in their income and foreign-currency earnings brought the countries’ economic-development programs to a near standstill. Iraq’s war effort was openly financed by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other neighbouring Arab states and was tacitly supported by the United States and the Soviet Union, while Iran’s only major allies were Syria and Libya. Iraq continued to sue for peace in the mid-1980s, but its international reputation was damaged by reports that it had made use of lethal chemical weapons against Iranian troops as well as against Iraqi-Kurdish civilians, whom the Iraqi government thought to be sympathetic to Iran. (One such attack, in and around the Kurdish village of Ḥalabjah in March 1988, killed as many as 5,000 civilians.) In the mid-1980s the military stalemate continued, but in August 1988 Iran’s deteriorating economy and recent Iraqi gains on the battlefield compelled Iran to accept a United Nations-mediated cease-fire that it had previously resisted. Like what you’re reading? Start your free trial today for unlimited access to Britannica. The total number of combatants on both sides is unclear; but both countries were fully mobilized, and most men of military age were under arms. The number of casualties was enormous but equally uncertain. Estimates of total casualties range from 1,000,000 to twice that number. The number killed on both sides was perhaps 500,000, with Iran suffering the greatest losses. It is estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000 Kurds were killed by Iraqi forces during the series of campaigns code-named Anfāl (Arabic: “Spoils”) that took place in 1988 (see Kurd). In August 1990, while Iraq was preoccupied with its invasion of Kuwait (see Persian Gulf War), Iraq and Iran restored diplomatic relations, and Iraq agreed to Iranian terms for the settlement of the war: the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from occupied Iranian territory, division of sovereignty over the Shaṭṭ al-ʿArab waterway, and a prisoner-of-war exchange. The final exchange of prisoners was not completed until March 2003. Relations with Iran had grown increasingly strained after the shah was overthrown in 1979. Iraq recognized Iran’s new Shīʿite Islamic government, but the Iranian leaders would have nothing to do with the Baʿth regime, which they denounced as secular. Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual… Iran: The Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) The new constitution created a religious government based on Khomeini’s vision of velāyat-e faqīh and gave sweeping powers to the rahbar, or leader; the first rahbar was Khomeini himself. Despite the regime’s political consolidation, several new threats manifested themselves. The most significant… Kuwait: Iran-Iraq War The Iran-Iraq War of 1980–88 represented a serious threat to Kuwait’s security. Kuwait, fearing Iranian hegemony in the region, saw no alternative to providing Iraq with substantial financial support and serving as a vital conduit for military supplies. Iran attacked a Kuwaiti refinery… September 22, 1980 - 1990 Ruhollah Khomeini Jewish Virtual Library - Iran-Iraq War Wilson Center Digital Archive - Iran-Iraq War Military History Encyclopedia on the Web - Iran-Iraq War Iran-Iraq War - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11) Iran-Iraq War - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27103
__label__wiki	0.992547	0.992547	{ "1350617": { "url": "/topic/Law-and-Order", "shareUrl": "https://www.britannica.com/topic/Law-and-Order", "title": "Law & Order" ,"gaExtraDimensions": {"3":"false"} } } Law & Order, longest-running law-enforcement series in American television. The show aired on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) network from 1990 to 2010 and enjoyed strong ratings throughout its run. It won the 1997 Emmy Award for best drama series. Law & OrderChris Noth (left) and Jerry Orbach on the television series Law & Order. Universal/Wolf Film/Kobal/Shutterstock.com The hour-long Law & Order was set in New York City, where it was also shot, and approached its crime and law-enforcement narratives in a novel way, depicting the case at the centre of each episode from two perspectives, that of the police and that of prosecutors. The first half of each episode typically followed the regular cast of police officers as they investigated a crime, with their efforts resulting in the arrest of a suspect. In the second half of the episode, the plot and perspective shifted to the Manhattan district attorney’s office as the prosecutors prepared their case and went to trial. Most of the show’s cases were inspired by actual crimes or trials “ripped from headlines,” but the events in the show were purely fictional. Law & Order’s split structure relied on high-stakes and complex cases that posed myriad problems for both the investigators and the prosecutors. During the series’ long run, there were many cast changes. Major characters included Detective Lennie Briscoe (played by Jerry Orbach, 1992–2004), District Attorney Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston, 1994–2010), Detective Mike Logan (Chris Noth, 1990–95), Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy, 1993–96), Detective Reynaldo Curtis (Benjamin Bratt, 1995–99), District Attorney Arthur Branch (Fred Thompson, 2002–07), and Lieut. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson, 1993–2010). The series regularly featured high-profile guest stars, such as Julia Roberts and Samuel L. Jackson. To add realism, the show also included New York City politicians, such as Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, playing themselves. Law & Order became a network franchise and engendered several spin-offs, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999– ), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001–11), Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005–06), Conviction (2006), and Law & Order: Los Angeles (2010–11). Get unlimited access to all of Britannica’s trusted content. Start Your Free Trial Today In 2010 NBC canceled Law & Order, and the last episode aired on May 24. The show tied Gunsmoke as the longest-running prime-time drama in the United States; both were on the air for 20 years. Arthur Penn: Films of the 1980s and later work much-acclaimed television crime-and-punishment franchise Law & Order. From 1992 to 2000 he served as Actors Studio president. During that period he also directed the television film The Portrait (1993), an adaptation of Tina Howe’s play Painting Churches that starred Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall. Penn’s final film, Inside (1996),… …seasons (2000–02) of the series Law & Order (1990–2010) and won a second Emmy Award (2008) for her role as a retired psychotherapist in In Treatment (2008–10). In addition, she was a cast member of the series Life in Pieces (2015– ).… Fred Thompson, American actor and politician, who served as a member of the U.S. Senate (1994–2003) and who sought the Republican nomination for president in 2008. Thompson was raised in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. He received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and political science from Memphis State…	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27104
__label__wiki	0.657915	0.657915	IP Update, Vol. 13, No. 6 Editor: Marc S. Weiner, Esq. New Update on Subject Matter Eligibility The July 30, 2015 Federal Register issued a statement that after receiving over sixty (60) comments from the public on on the 2014 Interim Patent Eligibility Guidance, the USPTO has produced a July 2015 Update: Subject Matter Eligibility. The comments include the following six (6) major themes: requests for additional examples, particularly for claims directed to abstract ideas and laws of nature; further explanation of the markedly different characteristics analysis; further information regarding how examiners identify abstract ideas; discussion of the prima facie case and the role of evidence with respect to eligibility rejections; information regarding application of the 2014 Interim Patent Eligibility Guidance in the Patent Examining Corps; and explanation of the role of preemption in the eligibility analysis, including a discussion of the streamlined analysis. The update will contain three (3) appendices: Appendix 1: provides new examples that are illustrative of major themes from the comments. Appendix 2: is a comprehensive index of examples for use with the 2014 Interim Patent Eligibility Guidance, including new and previously issued examples. Appendix 3: lists and discusses selected eligibility cases from the Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The update is intended to assist examiners in applying the 2014 Interim Patent Eligibility Guidance during the patent examination process. The July 2015 Update, which includes the appendices, is available to the public here. The USPTO is now seeking public comment on the July 2015 Update: Subject Matter Eligibility. Comment Deadline Date: Written comments must be received on or before October 28, 2015. Addresses: Comments must be sent by electronic mail over the Internet addressed to 2014_interim_guidance@uspto.gov. The comments will be available for viewing via the Office’s Internet Web site (http://www.uspto.gov). Because comments will be made available for public inspection, information that the submitter does not desire to make public, such as an address or phone number, should not be included in the comments. Summary provided by BSKB’s IP Training Department. CAFC Affirms ‘Patent Dance’ is Optional for Biosimilar Applicant On July 21, 2015, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued their decision for Amgen Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc. (App. No. 15-1499). The divided panel considered two important issues regarding the interpretation of provisions of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (“BPCIA”). The first issue addressed the question of whether an applicant filing an abbreviated biologics license application (“aBLA” or “subsection (k) application”) for a biosimilar product is required to engage in what has come to be referred to as the “patent dance” under 42 U.S.C. § 262(l). The patent dance states that the aBLA applicant Not later than 20 days after the Secretary notifies the subsection (k) applicant that the application has been accepted for review, the subsection (k) applicant shall provide to the reference product sponsor a copy of the application submitted to the Secretary under subsection (k), and such other in-formation that describes the process or processes used to manufacture the biological product that is the subject of such application . . . . 42 U.S.C. § 262(l)(2)(A) (emphasis added) This action by the aBLA applicant initiates the “patent dance”, which is an exchange of information regarding the product and manufacturing process used for the aBLA and patents, which the Reference Product Sponsor (“RPS”) believes may be infringed by the aBLA product and processes. Sandoz filed an aBLA, for approval of a biosimilar filgrastim product, for which Neupogen is the reference product and Amgen the RPS. On July 7, 2014, Sandoz received notification from the FDA that its aBLA had been accepted. However, rather than forwarding a copy of the aBLA to Amgen, Sandoz instead notified Amgen it had “‘opted not to provide Amgen with Sandoz’s biosimilar application within 20 days of the FDA’s notification of acceptance’ and that Amgen was entitled to sue Sandoz under 262(l)(9)(C). J.A. 1495-96” On October 14, 2014, Amgen sued Sandoz alleging, among other things, that Sandoz had violated the requirements of the BPCIA by failing to provide the required information under §262 (l)(2)(A), i.e. by failing to engage in the patent dance. Sandoz argued in response that despite the language in the statute that “the subsection (k) applicant shall provide to the reference product sponsor a copy of the application” the patent dance was an optional action by the aBLA applicant. The court very aptly observed that “Winston Churchill once described Russia as ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.’ Winston Churchill, The Russian Enigma (BBC radio broadcast Oct. 1, 1939), available at http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/RusnEnig.html. That is this statute. In these opinions, we do our best to unravel the riddle, solve the mystery, and comprehend the enigma.” In interpreting 42 U.S.C. § 262(l)(2)(A), the court noted that if read in isolation it may appear that that aBLA applicant is required to engage in the patent dance. However, the court stated that 42 U.S.C. § 262(l)(2)(A) cannot be read in isolation but must be interpreted with the remaining sections of 42 U.S.C. § 262(l), in particular § 262(l)(9)(C), which states that “If a subsection (k) applicant fails to provide the application and information required under para-graph (2)(A), the reference product sponsor, but not the subsection (k) applicant, may bring an action under section 2201 of Title 28, for a declaration of infringement, validity, or enforceability of any patent that claims the biological product or a use of the biological product.” Similarly, 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(2)(C)(ii), as amended by the BPCIA, states, “It shall be an act of infringement to submit . . . if the applicant for the application fails to provide the application and information required under section 351(l)(2)(A) of such Act, an application seeking approval of a biological product for a patent that could be identified pursuant to section 351(l)(3)(A)(i) of such Act . . .” (Section 351(l)(2)(A) of the Public Health Act corresponds to 42 U.S.C. § 262(l)(2)(A).) The court found that engaging in the patent dance by the aBLA applicant is, thus, an optional action because the statute also provides for remedies for the RPS under 42 U.S.C. § 262(l)(9)(C) and 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(2)(C)(ii), if the aBLA applicant chooses not to disclose the required information of §262(l)(2)(A). The court stated in support of their decision that “mandating compliance with paragraph (l)(2)(A) in all circumstances would render paragraph (l)(9)(C) and 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(2)(C)(ii) superfluous, and statutes are to be interpreted if possible to avoid rendering any provision superfluous.” Importantly, the court also held that the only remedies for the RPS if the aBLA opts out of the patent dance are patent remedies as provided for in 42 U.S.C. §262(l)(9)(C) and 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(2)(C)(ii). In this regard, the court stated, “35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(4) provides ‘the only remedies which may be granted by a court for an act of infringement described in paragraph (2)’ (emphasis added). Under § 271(e)(2)(C)(ii), filing a subsection (k) application and failing to provide the required information under paragraph (l)(2)(A) is such an act of infringement. Here, Amgen alleged that Sandoz violated the BPCIA, but the alleged violation is precisely an act of infringement under § 271(e)(2)(C)(ii), for which § 271(e)(4) provides the ‘only remedies.'” The second issue considered by the court pertains to the 180-day commercial marketing notice required by the BPCIA. 42 U.S.C. § 262(l)(8)(A) requires that the aBLA applicant “shall provide notice to the reference product sponsor not later than 180 days before the date of the first commercial marketing of the biological product licensed under subsection (k).” (emphasis added) In this case, Sandoz first provided notice to Amgen on July 8, 2014, that Sandoz had filed aBLA, for which approval was expected in “Q1/2 of 2015” and that a product would be launched upon approval. The FDA approved the aBLA of Sandoz on March 6, 2015, upon which Sandoz gave a second notice of commercial marketing to Amgen. At dispute is whether the 180-day marketing notice is optional or required under the BPCIA and the effective date upon which Sandoz complied with this requirement. With regard to the question of timing, Sandoz argued that the first notice provided on July 8, 2014, complied with the 180-day marketing notice. Amgen countered that the notice cannot be provided until the product is approved because the statute requires that notice be given with regard to “the biological product licensed under subsection (k). The court agreed with the interpretation asserted by Amgen. The court noted that the statute consistently refers to the “biological product” generally in other section, but in paragraph (l)(8)(A), which discusses the 180-day notice requirement the statute specifically refers to the “biological product licensed“. Thus, until the product has received license approval no notice can be provided. The court further noted that at the time of the application filing what the ultimate licensed product may be is not known and When a sub-section (k) applicant files its aBLA, it likely does not know for certain when, or if, it will obtain FDA licensure. The FDA could request changes to the product during the review process, or it could approve some but not all sought-for uses. Giving notice after FDA licensure, once the scope of the approved license is known and the marketing of the proposed biosimilar product is imminent, allows the RPS to effectively determine whether, and on which patents, to seek a preliminary injunction from the court. Requiring that a product be licensed before notice of commercial marketing ensures the existence of a fully crystallized controversy regarding the need for injunctive relief. Thus, Sandoz was found to have only complied with the 180-day notice requirement with the second notice to Amgen, which was sent upon approval of the aBLA. Sandoz also argued that permitting the 180-day notice only after approval of the aBLA would effectively provide the RPS with an additional six months of exclusivity. However, the court responded that, Furthermore, requiring FDA licensure before notice of commercial marketing does not necessarily conflict with the twelve-year exclusivity period of § 262(k)(7)(A). It is true that in this case, as we decide infra, Amgen will have an additional 180 days of market exclusion after Sandoz’s effective notice date; that is because Sandoz only filed its aBLA 23 years after Amgen obtained FDA approval of its Neupogen product. Amgen had more than an “extra” 180 days, but that is apparently the way the law, business, and the science evolved. That extra 180 days will not likely be the usual case, as aBLAs will often be filed during the 12-year exclusivity period for other products. A statute must be interpreted as it is enacted, not especially in light of particular, untypical facts of a given case. Finally, it is counterintuitive to provide that notice of commercial marketing be given at a time before one knows when, or if, the product will be approved, or licensed. With regard to the question as to whether the 180-day notice requirement is optional or required, the court found that unlike the disclosure requirement of the patent dance under 42 U.S.C.§262(l)(2)(A), the notice requirement is required. The court distinguished the finding of “shall” in §262(l)(2)(A) as being optional from the finding that “shall” in §262(l)(8)(A) as being mandatory on the basis that the statute provides explicit remedies for failure to comply with the disclosure requirements of §262(l)(2)(A), whereas there are no corresponding remedies for failure to comply with the 180-day notice requirement under §262(l)(8)(A). Sandoz argued that §262(l)(9)(B) provides a remedy for failing to comply with the 180-day notice requirement. Paragraph (l)(9)(B) states, “If a subsection (k) applicant fails to complete an action required of the subsection (k) applicant under paragraph (3)(B)(ii), paragraph (5), paragraph (6)(C)(i), paragraph (7), or paragraph (8)(A), the reference product sponsor, but not the subsection (k) applicant, may bring an action under section 2201 of Title 28, for a declaration of infringement, validity, or enforceability of any patent included in the list described in paragraph (3)(A), including as provided under paragraph (7). ” However, the court found that §262 (l)(9)(B) provides a remedy in the form of a declaratory judgment action brought by the RPS only based on “any patent included in the list described in paragraph (3)(A), including as provided under paragraph (7)”, i.e. a patent listed in the patent dance. The court stated that “because Sandoz did not provide the required information to Amgen under paragraph (l)(2)(A), Amgen was unable to compile a patent list as described in paragraph (l)(3)(A) or paragraph (l)(7). We therefore conclude that, where, as here, a subsection (k) applicant completely fails to provide its aBLA and the required manufacturing information to the RPS by the statutory deadline, the requirement of paragraph (l)(8)(A) is mandatory. Sandoz therefore may not market Zarxio before 180 days from March 6, 2015, i.e., September 2, 2015.” It is worth noting that following the reasoning of the court, because the statue provides for remedies for failure to comply with the disclosure requirements under paragraph (l)(2)(A) (i.e. the patent dance), the disclosure is not, in fact, required. However, because the statute does not provide for a remedy for failure to comply with the 180-day notice requirement, the notice is required. This then leaves the question, as to what would be the remedy for the RPS if no notice is given, noting that Sandoz did comply with the notice requirement with the second notice? Could the RPS request an injunction against marketing by the aBLA applicant until proper notice is received? Summary provided by MaryAnne Armstrong, Ph.D. National Stage Applications – Filing an RCE There is a category with the USPTO called “walking corpses” (a patent that everybody thought was a normal patent and it turns out that there is some defect that means it was never actually a patent at all) for the USPTO. For many years, there has been a requirement under 35 USC § 132 that states if you are going to file an RCE in a case that is the US National Phase of a PCT application, you need to have filed the Declaration prior to the day that you file the RCE. However, the USPTO has not been enforcing this requirement. The USPTO issued Final Rules on the Hague Agreement on April 2, 2015, which also included revisions to § 1.114(e)(3) that state the following: “…the request for continued examination practice set forth in § 1.114 added in section 4403 of the AIPA does not apply to an international application until the international application complies with 35 U.S.C. 371 (which requires the filing of the inventor’s oath or declaration in the international application, as well as, for example, the basic national fee and an English language translation of the international application if filed in another language).” The above revision has created a new category for the “walking corpses”. The new category works like this: An applicant enters the US National Phase from a PCT Application. Taking advantage of the rule changes effective September 16, 2012, that permit submitting the Declaration late, Applicant plans on submitting the Declaration shortly before paying the Issue Fee. During pendency of the application, an RCE was filed. If you did not file the Declaration until after you filed the RCE, you have an RCE application that is a “walking corpse”. The USPTO has recently decided to start checking for this issue in any National Phase Application (based on an international application filed on or after September 16, 2012) and is now issuing deficiency notices. USPTO & KIPO Pilot Program The Federal Register announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) are initiating a joint Work Sharing Pilot Program to study whether the exchange of search reports between offices for corresponding counterpart applications improves patent quality and facilitates the examination of patent applications in both offices. Effective September 1, 2015 Petitions will be accepted for two (2) years. Each office will be limited to granting 400 petitions. The office may extend the program. Both offices reserve the right to terminate the program. In the pilot program: Each office will concurrently conduct a prior art search for its corresponding counterpart application. The search report from each office will then be exchanged between offices before either office issues a communication concerning patentability to the applicant. As a result of the exchange, the Examiners may have a more comprehensive set of references before them when making an initial patentability determination. Each office will accord special status to its counterpart application to first action. First Action Interview pilot program procedures will be applied during the examination of the U.S. application and make the Korean search report of record concurrently with the issuance of a Pre-Interview Communication. Overview of Structure: An application must meet all of the requirements to be accepted in the pilot program (see below Requirements). New patent applications are normally taken up for examination in the order of their U.S. filing date. Applications accepted into the program will receive expedited processing by being granted special status and taken out of turn until issuance of a Pre-Interview Communication, or first action allowance, but will not maintain special status thereafter. While KIPO and USPTO will be sharing search reports, the possibility exists that there may be differences in the listing of references made of record by the USPTO versus those made of record in the corresponding KIPO counterpart application. Participants in the program should review the references cited in each respective office’s search reports. If any KIPO communication to an applicant cites references that are not already of record in the USPTO application and the applicant wants the examiner to consider the references, the applicant should promptly file an IDS that includes: a copy of the KIPO communication; and copies of the newly cited. The application must be a non-reissue, non-provisional utility application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a), or an international application that has entered the national stage in compliance with 35 U.S.C. 371(c), with an effective filing date of no earlier than March 16, 2013. a. The U.S. application and the corresponding KIPO counterpart application must have a common earliest priority date that is no earlier than March 16, 2013. A completed petition form PTO/SB/437KR must be filed in the application via EFS-Web. No governmental fee is required. The petition submission must include an express written consent under 35 U.S.C. 122(c) for the USPTO to accept and consider prior art references and comments from KIPO, during the examination of the U.S. application participating in the pilot program. a. The petition also must provide written authorization for the USPTO to provide KIPO access to the participating U.S. application’s bibliographic data and search reports in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 122(a) and 37 CFR 1.14(c). b. Form PTO/SB/437KR includes language compliant with the consent requirements for this pilot program. The petition must be filed at least one day before a first Office action on the merits of the application appears in the PAIR system. a. Applicant should check the status of the application in PAIR prior to submitting the petition to ensure that this requirement is met. The petition for participation filed in the corresponding KIPO counterpart application for the program must grant or have been granted by KIPO. a. The KIPO and the USPTO petitions should be filed within fifteen days of each other. b. Both the KIPO and the USPTO petitions must be granted for the applications to be treated under the program. c. The requirements of each office’s pilot program may differ. Applicants should review the requirements for both pilot programs when considering participation, ensuring that the respective corresponding counterpart applications comply with both office’s requirements. The petition submission must include a claims correspondence table that notes which claims between the pending U.S. and KIPO applications have a substantially corresponding scope to each other. a. Applicants may file a preliminary amendment to amend the claims of the corresponding U.S. counterpart application to satisfy this requirement when attempting to make the U.S. application eligible for the program. The application must: a. Contain three or fewer independent claims b. Contain twenty or fewer total claims c. Not contain any multiple dependent claims. The claims must be directed to a single invention. a. If the Office determines that the claims are directed to multiple inventions (e.g., in a restriction requirement), the applicant must make a telephonic election without traverse. b. An applicant is responsible for ensuring that the same invention is elected in both the U.S. and KIPO corresponding counterpart applications for concurrent treatment in the program. All submissions for the participating application while being treated under the program’s procedure must be filed via EFS. The petition must include a statement that the applicant agrees not to file a request for a refund of the search fee and any excess claim fees paid in the application after the mailing or notification date of the Pre-Interview Communication. See form PTO/SB/413C (Request for First Action Interview). a. Any petition for express abandonment under 37 CFR 1.138(d) to obtain a refund of the search fee and excess claim fee filed after the mailing or notification date of a Pre-Interview Communication will not be granted. USPTO & JPO Pilot Program The Federal Register announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Japanese Patent Office (JPO) are initiating a joint Work Sharing Pilot Program to study whether the exchange of search reports between offices for corresponding counterpart applications improve patent quality and facilitates the examination of patent applications in both offices. There may be applications eligible to participate in both the JPO and KIPO Pilot Programs, however, such applications will not not be permitted to participate in both programs. The main difference between the KIPO and JPO programs is that to qualify for the JPO program, the U.S. Application must be published. Each office will be limited to granting 400 petitions: 200 granted petitions where USPTO performs the first search and JPO performs the second search, and 200 granted petitions where JPO performs the first search and USPTO performs the second search. First Action Interview pilot program procedures will be applied during the examination of the U.S. application and make the Japanese search report of record concurrently with the issuance of a Pre-Interview Communication. The offices will search the corresponding counterpart applications participating in the pilot program sequentially. The office of first search will be set based upon which participating counterpart application, the JPO or the U.S. application, has the earlier filing date. In the event that the corresponding counterpart applications were filed on the same day, then the office of first search will be determined as agreed to by the offices. While JPO and USPTO will be sharing search reports, the possibility exists that there may be differences in the listing of references made of record by the USPTO versus those made of record in the corresponding JPO counterpart application. If any JPO communication to an applicant cites references that are not already of record in the USPTO application and the applicant wants the examiner to consider the references, the applicant should promptly file an IDS that includes: a copy of the JPO communication; and The application must be a published non-reissue, non-provisional utility application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a), or an international application that has entered the national stage in compliance with 35 U.S.C. 371(c), with an effective filing date of no earlier than March 16, 2013. a. The U.S. application and the corresponding JPO counterpart application must have a common earliest priority date that is no earlier than March 16, 2013. A completed petition form PTO/SB/437JP must be filed in the application via EFS-Web after the U.S. application has published. No governmental fee is required. a. Applicant may request early publication to expedite the filing of the petition. The petition submission must include an express written consent under 35 U.S.C. 122(c) for the USPTO to accept and consider prior art references and comments from JPO, that will be considered during the examination of the U.S. application participating in the pilot program. a. Form PTO/SB/437JP includes language compliant with the consent requirements for this pilot program. The petition for participation filed in the corresponding JPO counterpart application for the program must be granted or have been granted by JPO. a. The JPO and the USPTO petitions should be filed within fifteen days of each other. b. Both the JPO and the USPTO petitions must be granted before either application can be treated under the program. c. The requirements for each pilot program may differ. Applicants should review the requirements for both pilot programs when considering participation, ensuring that the respective corresponding counterpart applications comply with both office’s requirements. The petition submission must include a claims correspondence table that notes which claims between the pending U.S. and JPO applications have a substantially corresponding scope to each other. a. Contain three or fewer independent claims. b. Contain twenty or fewer total claims. b. An applicant is responsible for ensuring that the same invention is elected in both the U.S. and JPO corresponding counterpart applications for concurrent treatment in the program. The U.S. and Brazil: Joint Statement on Patent Work Sharing The USPTO Director issued a statement regarding the following on July 21, 2015: Under the U.S.-Brazil Commercial Dialogue IPR working group, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) have been working together to exchange best practices aimed at trying to reduce each country’s patent backlogs. On June 30, a Joint Statement on Patent Work Sharing was signed. This agreement is part of broader government-wide efforts to expand trade and investment with Brazil and is something the private sector has been urging both governments to adopt for some time. The Joint Statement emphasizes the importance and value of work sharing to improve efficiency in the patent application process-a benefit to patent applicants as well as patent offices. For applicants work sharing: Facilitates the granting of patent rights; and Reduces the cost of obtaining patent protection in multiple jurisdictions. For patent office’s work sharing: Mechanisms are effective in grappling with increased workload demands, leading to improved efficiencies in patent examination practice. More broadly, patent work sharing will help boost the economic growth and development of both the United States and Brazil. President Obama and Brazilian President Rousseff issued a Joint Communique which specifically referenced the Joint Statement, and recognized each country’s work sharing potential. The Joint Communique is an important milestone for the USPTO. It emphasizes the importance of intellectual property in bilateral discussions with partner nations, while highlighting the central role OPIA serves in providing expert IP advice to the various branches of the U.S. government, as well as the patent offices of foreign governments. Pursuant to the goals outlined in the Joint Statement, OPIA is now working closely with counterpart officials in the Brazilian patent office — the National Institute of Intellectual Property (INPI) — to establish a technical framework for a future patent work-sharing program between the two offices. The agreement on the work-sharing program is expected to be finalized by the end of summer. Expedited Patent Appeal Program – Further Updates Further to the Expedited Patent Appeal Program announcement from IP Update Vol 13, No. 5, the USPTO has announced that they are working on other initiatives to reduce the ex parte backlog, which they will release in the near future. The PTAB continues to hire: Administrative patent judges, Patent attorneys, and Paralegals. In addition, they are starting a law clerk fellowship pilot program to identify further ways to provide more support to the judges to increase efficiency.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27107
__label__cc	0.537004	0.462996	Home Articles Grants and Research Carroll University Receives Largest Federal Grant in University History Carroll University Receives Largest Federal Grant in University History Categories: Athletic Training Exercise Physiology - Clinical Exercise Science Grants and Research Occupational Therapy Physical Therapy Physician Assistant Studies Public Health University News Carroll University has received a five-year, $2,893,722 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to develop the National Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) Academy. The HCOP Academy will create support systems and development opportunities for high school students in underrepresented populations, which will prepare them for acceptance into collegiate allied health programs. The goal is to increase the number of individuals serving in integrated health care professions in medically-underserved communities. In partnership with the United Community Center and the School District of Waukesha, Carroll will identify, recruit and prepare high school juniors and seniors for pre-allied health programs such as physical therapy, physician assistant studies, occupational therapy, exercise physiology, exercise science, athletic training and public health. As part of the HCOP Academy, these students will receive individualized academic support, as well as personal and professional development services and training. This holistic, integrated approach mirrors the structure of Carroll University’s allied health programs. These programs prioritize the preparation of healthcare professionals familiar with patient care delivered through a collaborative team environment. “The focus of the HCOP Academy aligns with the innovative, student-centered approach Carroll is taking with educationally and economically disadvantaged students. We are leveraging relationships and partnerships with our community to develop pipeline programs to train health care providers who will serve in medically-underserved communities,” said Jane Hopp, associate vice president for partnerships and innovation. “Our commitment to providing individualized support to first generation students and underrepresented populations in our programs is something we’re passionate about as we look to the important matter of diversification of the workforce.” The HCOP Academy will assist Carroll in expanding its development of healthcare professionals skilled in holistic and culturally-sensitive care. It will also complement existing programs, such as PASOS and SALUD, designed to address changing demographics that include the need for more bilingual healthcare providers to serve the growing Hispanic population. The HCOP Academy aligns with Carroll’s new strategic plan initiative to diversify the campus community through programming and funding support, including the new Opportunity Scholarship Fund created by President Cindy Gnadinger in 2018. This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $2,811,222 with seven percent financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov. Read more Grants News	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27112
__label__wiki	0.710377	0.710377	Innocenzo di Pietro Francucci da Imola Italian painter ; b. at Imola, c. 1494; d. at Bologna, c. 1550. When but twelve years of age he arrived at the latter city to study painting as a bursar of his native town, which, by an ordinance dated 17 March, 1506, had voted him an annual subsidy of ten baskets of grain. He entered Francia's atelier, as is proved by this extract from the master's register, given by Malvasia: "1508. On the 7 May I took into my school Nocentio Francuccio of Imola, on the recommendation of Felesini and Gombruti." It is probable that Innocenzo went to Florence and that he studied for some time under the direction of Mariotto Albertinelli. Soon he was invited by Count Giovanni Battista Bentivoglio to take up his residence at Bologna. Here Innocenzo passed the remainder of his life, and here are still to be found the greater number of his works. But a sovereign influence, that of Raphael, had already taken possession of the artist and effaced in him all the influences which had preceded it; or rather, he found in the work of Raphael the finished expression of that quality which had charmed him in Francia and Mariotto, as in Andrea del Sarto and Fra Bartolommeo. It is doubtful, however, whether he ever knew Raphael, who had left Florence in 1508 and returned only for a few months in 1517, when Innocenzo was busy at Bologna in the famous convent of S. Michele in Bosco. It is almost certain that he never was at Rome, and, consequently that he was not acquainted — unless by engraving — with the great decorations of the Stanze and the Farnesina; for him Raphael is still the painter of the Madonnas. On the other hand, we know that Francia had friendly relations with the Urbinese master. We know, too, that one of the first pieces of work executed by Innocenzo for Bentivoglio "was a copy of the "Virgin with the Fish," now at Madrid, a picture then already famous and in the possession of a nobleman. Such copies, no doubt, were scattered throughout Italy, popularizing the genius of Rafael. Thus did the master's influence radiate quite beyond the limits of his school, and artists like Garofalo and Bagnacavallo were to be seen establishing at a distance from that school — at Ferrara and at Bologna — veritable foci of Raphaelesque imitation. Innocenzo is one of the striking examples of this influence. With him it was not, as it was with Bagnacavallo, a form of servility impelling him to travesty now the "Transfiguration," now the "Healing of the Paralytic"; but through a kind of natural sympathy the ideas of the master were caught up and re-echoed in the kindred soul of the disciple. The force of Innocenzo's love was such as to give those ideas a new life in himself. His art is only a reflected art, and yet it keeps a certain spontaneity. With forms which are nearly all borrowed, the feeling remains ingenuous and at times charming. For the most part, however, Innocenzo's works are only anthologies of Rafael, like the "Holy Family with his patrons" or the "St. Michael with the saints " in the Bologna museum, formed by the fusion of the "Virgin of Foligno " with the "St. Michael" of the Louvre. Other works, on the other hand, are freely created in the spirit of Raphael, such as the "Marriage of St. Catherine" in S. Giacomo Maggiore, one of this master's largest pictures, and perhaps his best, with a solidity of execution very remarkable in a work of that date (1536). The predellas with which he loved to embellish his work are almost invariably charming works in themselves, the predella often better than the picture. In general, Innocenzo painted little besides altar pieces. Still, he did his part in the decoration of the Palazzino della Viola, where Cardinal d'Ivrea entrusted him with the painting of a loggia. Lastly, his frescoes in S. Michele in Bosco are not to be despised, demonstrating his love of large and simple subjects. His work is interesting precisely because it maintained in some measure the suavity of the old religious art, avoiding the pompous and violent subjects which were beginning to seduce the minds of his contemporaries. His was a delicate poetic talent, with little originality, and the old themes offered it sufficient scope, and, in an age that was already abandoning those themes, this very spirit of tradition constituted a sort of originality. His life was that of a simple hard-working artist, wholly given to the art which he respected and for which he won respect. Affable and modest, shunning the licentious society of his fellow artists, he possessed the charm of a gentle and kindly disposition. Carried off, at the age of fifty-six, by a malignant fever, he left at Bologna the memory of an upright artist and an exemplary man. 6mm Crystal Swarovski, Austrian Tin Cut Aurora Borealis 14Kt Gold Rosary Bracelet Tin Cut Clear Czech Crystal Amethyst Sterling Rosary Single Decade 12mm Rosary @ $323.97 Sterling Silver 5mm Light Sapphire Swarovski Rosary @ $192.99 St. Paul (Middle School) Explore the Bible - Noah's Ark saint anne St. Stephen Sterling Silver Round Medal St. Christopher Sterling Silver Hockey Medal	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27114
__label__cc	0.641922	0.358078	California To Stage Massive Earthquake Drill October 15, 2009 / 6:08 AM / AP Millions of people throughout California have signed up to take part in a statewide earthquake disaster drill billed as the largest such exercise in U.S. history. Many schools and businesses on Thursday will practice "drop, cover and hold on" _ the minimum requirement for participation. Some hospitals and fire departments will stage more elaborate simulations complete with search-and-rescue missions and people posing as faux quake victims. Some 6.7 million people have pledged to take part, according to organizers. Last year, the state held its first large-scale quake preparedness drill, focusing on Southern California. Some 5.5 million around the region participated, from school children ducking under their desks to firefighters doing medical triage. After last year's drill, organized decided to hold one every year. This year's exercise occurs during the same week as the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake that killed 63 people, collapsed a major freeway, and caused nearly $6 billion in damage around San Francisco Bay. The magnitude-6.9 temblor struck before the start of the third game of the 1989 World Series. California, one of the most seismically active states in the country, faces a 46 percent chance of being hit by a 7.5 or larger earthquake in the next 30 years, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The last temblor to cause significant damage in California was the 1994 Northridge disaster. The drill is sponsored by the Earthquake Country Alliance, made of up USGS, state Emergency Management Agency, American Red Cross and others. On the Net: http://www.shakeout.org/ First published on October 15, 2009 / 6:08 AM	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27115
__label__wiki	0.72183	0.72183	Pieties and Pitfalls Voting Integrity Internet Voting and the DOD Internet Voting in Colorado Mail Ballots Electronic Voting Machines Organizational Websites Voting News “C” is for Coloradans “VI” is for Voting Integrity Why CFVI? A Recent Action Internet Voting and the Dept. of Defense Back in 1876 in the language of the day, our state Constitution espoused integrity in elections. This requirement still stands. Article VII, Section 11 states: “Purity of elections. The general assembly shall pass laws to secure the purity of elections, and guard against abuses of the elective franchise.” As if to provide a failsafe should the state legislature neglect its assigned duty, C.R.S. 1-1-107(5) reiterates the words of the Constitution. After specifying duties of the secretary of state, the law states, “The provisions of this section are enacted…to secure the purity of elections and to guard against the abuses of the elective franchise.” Currently, Colorado has four different means of voting: All-mail ballot elections, whereby every eligible elector is mailed a blank ballot. Electronic voting, whereby electors vote using Direct Record Electronic voting machines (DREs) Paper ballots, whereby electors vote using paper ballots counted on electronic scanners. Internet voting, which has been encouraged by the Department of Defense’s Federal Voter Assistance Program (FVAP) for use by military and overseas voters. All-mail ballot elections, the use of DREs, and Internet voting all have significant election integrity limitations. Voting Integrity Components As of 1947, to protect the “purity of elections,” our state Constitution specifically requires the “secret ballot” to avoid vote coercion, vote buying or vote stealing. (See “Article VII, Section 8. Elections by ballot or voting machine. All elections by the people shall be by ballot, and in case paper ballots are required to be used, no ballots shall be marked in any way whereby the ballot can be identified as the ballot of the person casting it… Nothing in this section, however, shall be construed to prevent the use of any machine or mechanical contrivance for the purpose of receiving and registering the votes cast in any election, provided that secrecy in voting is preserved.”) Other components of voting integrity include: Elections must be fair, with all eligible electors having an equal opportunity to vote. Elections must be accurate, so that only eligible voted ballots are counted, and counted as their electors intended. Election processes must be transparent to allow public oversight of the election-related actions of public employees and private contractors. All election products must be kept secure from illegal tampering, until there is no more possibility of election challenges. In their 2012 book, Broken Ballots: Will Your Vote Count?, Douglas W. Jones and Barbara Simons, two election integrity experts knowledgeable about computers and election administration, give this list of bottom line characteristics of good elections in their recent book: auditability, accessibility, accuracy, security, reliability, and usability; they add that these goals are not mutually exclusive, but complement each other. On its “About” page, the organization Verified Voting defines election integrity as including “accuracy, transparency and verifiability of elections,” along with “the reliability and security of voting systems,” and stresses the necessity “that each vote be counted as cast.” Even though computer experts have tried to get the word out that use of our present Internet for voting endangers the integrity of elections, over thirty states in U.S., including Colorado, allow some use of electronic returns of voted ballots for counting, especially for military and overseas citizens. An excellent source of reliable science-based information on the dangers of Internet voting is verifiedvoting.org. We quote from its introduction on Internet voting: “Proposals to conduct voting pilots using real elections continue to reappear both in the U.S. and elsewhere, seemingly independent of warnings from computer security experts. While the appeal of Internet voting is obvious, the risks, unfortunately, are not, at least to many decision makers. While very few votes have ever been cast in American elections directly through a web interface, many states already allow military and overseas ballots to be returned via fax and email. Yet voted ballots sent via [the] Internet simply cannot be made secure and make easy and inviting targets for attackers ranging from lone hackers to foreign governments seeking to undermine US elections. “Despite that, as states provide electronic delivery of blank ballots, some are using the Internet for return of voted ballots via email attachments. Vendors of online election software, with a vested interest in selling their products, of course downplay the inherent risks and promise the oxymoronic “Internet security[.]” But experts in computer security maintain that nothing sent over the Internet is secure. [A] Voter’s personal computers, from which emails are sent, are easily and constantly attacked by viruses, worms, Trojan Horses and spyware. “Once a voted ballot is emailed, it moves between many different servers located all over the planet, and is subject to compromise by anyone with access to any of those machines. And the election official on the receiving end has no way to know if the voted ballot she received matches the one the voter originally sent, no matter how well secured their county computer services may be, and no matter how much has been spent licensing software and upgrading their systems. “There is no way to guarantee that the security, privacy, and transparency requirements for elections can all be met with any practical technology in the foreseeable future. Anyone from a disaffected misfit individual to a national intelligence agency can remotely attack an online election, modifying or filtering ballots in ways that are undetectable and uncorrectable, or just disrupting the election and creating havoc. There are a host of such attacks that can be used singly or in combination. In the cyber security world today almost all of the advantages are with attackers, and any of these attacks can result in the wrong persons being elected, or initiatives wrongly passed or rejected.” With scientists discouraging use of the Internet for voting, why have so many states used it anyway? Surely the Department of Defense’s Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) must bear some responsibility for this. For years, the FVAP has promoted Internet voting. In 2004, scientists hired by the Department of Defense (DoD) exposed the insecurities of a DoD Internet voting program, and it was cancelled. However, the FVAP efforts to bring about Internet voting continued, to the consternation of interested scientists. Also, over a number of years, the FVAP used its position as administrator of a federal Act meant to help military and overseas citizens to press for adoption of Internet voting through its program of “Legislative Initiatives.” Every Secretary of State or the equivalent were sent annual customized letters crusading for states to adopt a number of initiatives, among them Internet voting. This was ostensibly to help raise the number of eligible military and overseas citizens able to receive and return their ballots by election day. But, given the scientific realities of internet voting, one might wonder if the goals of this initiative were truly benign. In October 2009, the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act was passed with provisions to help make it easier for military and overseas citizens to vote successfully. The law required local U.S. election officials to mail absentee ballots for federal elections to military and overseas voters 45 days before an election; the law also permitted electronic transmission of blank ballots to voters. But, significantly, the law made no mention of allowing electronic returns of voted ballots. FVAP showed no such restraint. In its annual letters to Secretaries of State dated November 2009 (a month after the MOVE Act was passed), FVAP got behind the MOVE Act’s new measures, but then went its own way. We quote from a copy of the letter sent to Colorado’s then Secretary of State Buescher: “The enclosed initiatives focus on sending ballots to voters at least 45 days before the election. FVAP also recommends the expanded use of email and online transmission for all election materials throughout the entire absentee voting process [italics added], replacing fax and postal mail where possible. Until secure programs for the electronic transmission of voted ballots are established, we recommend that States allow voters to return static copies of voted ballots through available electronic means. However, the decision to send a voted ballot by unsecure [sic] electronic means must rest with the individual voter with their full understanding they necessarily relinquish their right to a secret ballot.” This wording is deceptive. No mention is made, as it is with warnings from computer scientists, that anything but a loss of individual privacy is at stake with electronic return of voted ballots via email. The secret ballot was originally established as a way to lessen control by others over individuals’ votes with bribes or intimidation. Email return of voted ballots risks election integrity in ways never even hinted at by FVAP. There is another way the FVAP appears to be supporting the adoption of Internet voting. The Electronic Information Privacy Center has recently filed a lawsuit against the FVAP for refusing to release results of tests performed on the online ballot marker, a device used in Internet voting. Internet Voting in Colorado: The UMOVA Bill The 2009 FVAP letter to Colorado not only urged online voting; it also encouraged participation in the drafting of a model bill initiated by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) that was intended for adoption by all states; it would be called the “Military Services and Overseas Civilian Absentee Voting Act.” Colorado’s Secretary of State Buescher sent State Representative Clair Levy to be on the Drafting Committee for this bill. ULC model bills allow “observers,” also referred to as “stakeholders,” to attend and participate in meetings alongside committee members. One observer of note was a representative of Scytl, one of the two main vendors of Internet voting systems. Another was Bob Carey, Director of the FVAP, who submitted the 2009 FVAP Legislative Initiatives for the Committee’s record. Was the final language of the model bill (known as “UMOVA” and passed in July, 2010) influenced by the observers from the FVAP and the Internet voting vendor Scytl? No word-for-word transcriptions of meetings are available on the ULC website. However, the March 17, 2009 report of the American Bar Association (ABA) Advisors to the Drafting Committee discussed provisions of the federal MOVE Act, saying, “It does not authorize, for security reasons, electronic transmission over the Internet of voted ballots from the voter.” (Italics added.) The Prefatory Note of the UMOVA bill has a different emphasis regarding internet voting, saying, “The act… does not require the use of electronic means for transmitting voted ballots. This is because no consensus yet exists on the question of whether and how electronic voting can occur securely and privately.” The ABA Advisor’s comment on security probably referred to a consensus as well — that within the scientific community, Internet transmissions are too insecure for sending voted ballots. Although the major justification for the model bill was to create uniformity of state laws, when the UMOVA bill came before a Colorado legislative committee, two out-of-town lobbyists showed up to testify: one was from the FVAP and the other from the Uniform Law Commission. Both stated that it was acceptable if existing state law was at variance with model bill language. One of the lobbyists specifically mentioned allowance of electronic return of voted ballots as acceptable. Colorado law has allowed electronic return of voted ballots by email or fax, but only if there is no more secure method such as mail available or feasible. With the MOVE Act increasing the likelihood of timely voting for military and overseas citizens without the use of electronic return of voted ballots, the insecure electronic option could have been used infrequently, if ever. However, the Colorado Department of State has steadfastly neglected to reinforce the conditional aspect of the Colorado Revised Statutes in Rules. Ignoring the statutory exceptional use of electronic returns puts military and overseas voters’ ballots unnecessarily at risk. The Colorado legislature passed a law to allow the development of “an Internet-based voting pilot program…commencing with the general election held in 2012.” The statute promised an amazing array of protections for votes in this program, including (2)(c): “Verify that the votes of the electors transmitted to the election officials via the internet are private and secure and have not been viewed or altered by sites that lie between the voting location and the vote-counting destination.” While the pilot project to create “an Internet-based voting pilot project” is described in the statute as funded from the state’s funds, in 2012, Colorado received an FVAP grant of $1,200,000. The Terms and Conditions of the grant state in (a) that these funds are not to be used for the electronic transmission of voted ballots, including by email or fax. In (b), the “Grant prohibits the integration of separate electronic voted ballot system developed at the Recipient’s expense into this funded research project.” From 2009 to 2013, the FVAP spent 85 million Congress-appropriated dollars for research grants to the states, according to an article by Greg Gordon and posted by McClatchy. The article says, the “office of Pentagon Inspector General John Rymer is taking a hard look at systems like Nevada’s to see whether they’re violating a prohibition on the use of Defense Department grant dollars to create online voting systems… The prohibition was spurred by concerns that those systems are vulnerable to hackers.” Everyone Counts (E1C), another main internet voting vendor besides Scytl, has contracted with the Colorado Department of State to provide services statewide beginning with the June 2012 Primary Election through fiscal year 2016-17. These services include a ballot-on-demand system and an online ballot-marking device. The online ballot-marking device can be coupled with a return of voted ballots by email or fax, especially since the Secretary of Defense isn’t enforcing the law that a non-electronic mail option of return trumps an electronic one. We wonder what Pentagon Inspector General Rymer will make of Colorado’s distribution of funds to support a program making unnecessarily risky use of email ballot returns? Mail ballots, once an option only for voters who were absent from their home county on Election Day, have become widely used in some states. A gradual increase in the general use of mail ballots in Colorado has finally resulted in all-mail ballot elections, but with an option for electors to vote their ballots in person at one of the new Voter Service and Polling Centers (as opposed to the traditional precinct polling locations). A few years ago, a lobbyist for the Vote By Mail Project frequented the halls of the state Capitol, urging general use of mail ballots. In 2008, the director of the advocacy arm of the Vote By Mail Project told a CFVI member that the organization was a program of the League of Rural Voters, and that its support came mainly from the union SEIU, the postal unions NALC and APWU, and the Gill Action Fund based in Colorado. The Vote By Mail Project is apparently defunct; its goal seems to have been incorporated into America Votes, which has a broader mission. American Votes calls itself “progressive,” includes a wide group of supporting organizations, and is Democratic in leaning. Although it no longer reveals its funding sources, it gets considerable funds from unions. Purities and Impurities Back in 1876 in the language of the day, our state Constitution made integrity in elections the duty of the legislature. This requirement still stands. Article VII, Section 11 states: “Purity of elections. The general assembly shall pass laws to secure the purity of elections, and guard against abuses of the elective franchise.” As if to provide a failsafe should the state legislature neglect its assigned responsibility, C.R.S. 1-1-107(5) reiterates the words of the Constitution. After specifying duties of the secretary of state, the law states, “The provisions of this section are enacted…to secure the purity of elections and to guard against the abuses of the elective franchise.” Mail ballots are undoubtedly more vulnerable to violations of this Constitutional requirement of a secret ballot than paper ballots cast at a polling place. When an elector votes in a polling place, his or her identity is determined at a physical distance from where he or she marks a ballot and drops it into a ballot box. In Colorado, regulations for voting in person are supposed to afford voters privacy in marking a ballot unless a voter requests assistance. Mail ballots do not afford this level of privacy. In Colorado, assuming a mail ballot arrives intact at a clerk’s office to be counted, it returns in an envelope with a voter’s name, address and signature. Inside, the paper pocket known as a “secrecy sleeve” contains the voted ballot. This is the only physical separation of a ballot and its voter’s identity. For a valuable discussion of mail ballot violations of the secret ballot relative to precinct polling place elections, as well as a broader discussion of mail ballots, see a 2013 newsletter titled “Mail Ballots and Elections — What We Have Lost” by Charles Corry, PhD, noted expert on both electronic voting and mail ballots. Third Party Delivery of Ballots Regrettably, Colorado law allows a practice encouraging violation of the state Constitutional requirement of a secret ballot, and any semblance of “purity of elections.” This is because Colorado voters are specifically permitted to give their ballots to individuals (in addition to those employed by the US Postal Service, or election officials retrieving ballots from institutional settings) for delivery to a voter service and polling center (VSPC). Without the relative protection of polling place in-person voting, electors can be coerced into handing over their ballots by employers or unions. It is easy to see how third party ballot collectors can violate ballot secrecy or worse; such collecting could result in non-delivery, ballot tampering, and vote buying. For several years, Colorado has allowed one person to deliver up to ten ballots for others per election, up from a previous limit of five ballots (C.R.S. 1-7.5-107(4)(b)(B)). However, at least at the county level, no enforcement mechanisms limit the number a person can deliver. One person can get away with delivering any number of ballots for others with impunity. In the video, MAIL BALLOTS AND DIRTY TRICKS: Citizens vs Monied Interests in a Colorado Town, lawyer Alison Maynard is interviewed about her pro-bono representation of citizens in two municipal elections in Castle Rock, Colorado in 1998 and 1999. The video shows how absentee ballots and third party deliveries were used by unscrupulous operatives hired by real estate developers to help defeat two citizen initiatives, the first to put a six-month moratorium on building permits, and the second to replace the six of seven town council members who were pro-development. Voting by mail has often been touted as a “convenience.” But is it equally convenient for all citizens? Project Vote’s report of June, 2010 would say not: “What some groups may overlook in their enthusiasm about voting by mail is that it does not always serve underrepresented or vulnerable populations as well as traditional polls.…studies show that voting by mail has not been a magnificent success among low-income communities of color (in inner cities and rural areas), because of higher mobility rates and poorer mail service among these populations, among other factors.” The report concludes: “The most challenging or mobile populations have always been the hardest to serve, but it is government’s job to reach them, not to sweep them aside in a rush for ‘progress’.” The recent re-vamping of polling locations in Colorado, which are now called “Voter Service and Polling Centers, (VSPCs) coincided with all-mail ballot elections. For those wishing to vote in person, the number of polling places has been drastically reduced. There were 288 VSPCs statewide for the 2014 election, as opposed to 2192 precincts, formerly used for in-person voting. Surely, this further inconveniences those without a car or convenient public transportation, in addition to less reliable access to mail ballots. The video “Mail Ballots and Dirty Tricks…” suggests that mail ballots may prove the greatest convenience to deep-pocketed special interests that can hire operatives to collect voters’ ballots and employ dirty tricks. But the video documented elections in 1998 and 1999. What about today? Do monied special interests have an advantage in use of mail ballots over the less fortunate now as well? To consider this question, we read media reports about the special municipal election of June, 2014 held in Loveland, CO, where an initiative supported by the citizen group Protect Our Loveland (POL) placed a two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing within the city limits. Just as in Castle Rock, there was an opposition group operating locally, known as Loveland Energy Action Project (LEAP). It was financed by natural gas proponents. There was at least one similarity between the use of mail ballots in the Castle Rock elections and the Loveland election. In both elections, there were third party efforts to collect voted ballots. But more striking were the multiple reports of ballot collection efforts by persons falsely claiming to be city officials; one report said they wore badges. They knocked on residential doors and asked to collect voted ballots to return for counting. The identical scam was used in Castle Rock sixteen years earlier. In Castle Rock it was clearer that the sham officials were working for the special interest (developers), not the citizens. In the case of the Loveland election, both sides denied that the men were associated with their organization. To assign blame to one side or another would take research beyond media reports. Possible parallels in the behavior of the opposition in both the Castle Rock and Loveland elections include: The opposition challenged legitimate petition signatures already approved by the town clerk, which helped stall finalization of an election date. The election date was moved because of opposition pressure, to a special election run by the town clerk. The majority of the city council members were against the initiative. The citizens were vastly outspent by the special interest. The initiative was defeated. Even just the media-published evidence of impersonation of city employees to collect voted ballots for the Loveland election, whether the phony employees were sent out by monied special interests or citizens, suggests that unregulated numbers of 3rd party voted ballot collection comes with dirty tricks and illegal behavior. Third-party delivery of others’ voted ballots should be limited by statute to one or two ballots given by relatives or close friends, with some proof of the voter’s consent. After the 2000 Presidential election, in 2002 Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which included an allocation of funds for states to buy electronic voting machines to replace punchcard and lever machines. One of the options which HAVA allowed was direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines — a very bad choice in terms of election integrity. Alarmed by the serious inadequacies of DREs for voting, Stanford professor David Dill initiated a Resolution on Electronic Voting which was circulated among fellow computer scientists and others. The Resolution articulated the need for voting machines to produce a voter-verified paper ballot suitable for audit. It also mentioned that there were safer options than unauditable DREs available for purchase, including “Touch screen machines that print paper ballots” that, like the DREs, have the advantage of “potentially improved accessibility for voters with disabilities.” Here are excerpts from the Resolution: “Computerized voting equipment is inherently subject to programming error, equipment malfunction, and malicious tampering. It is therefore crucial that voting equipment provide a voter-verifiable audit trail, by which we mean a permanent record of each vote that can be checked for accuracy by the voter before the vote is submitted, and is difficult or impossible to alter after it has been checked… “In response to the need to upgrade outdated election systems, many states and communities are considering acquiring “Direct Recording Electronic” (DRE) voting machines (such as “touch-screen voting machines” mentioned frequently in the press). Some have already acquired them. Unfortunately, there is insufficient awareness that these machines pose an unacceptable risk that errors or deliberate election-rigging will go undetected, since they do not provide a way for the voters to verify independently that the machine correctly records and counts the votes they have cast. Moreover, if problems are detected after an election, there is no way to determine the correct outcome of the election short of a revote. Deployment of new voting machines that do not provide a voter-verifiable audit trail should be halted, and existing machines should be replaced or modified to produce ballots that can be checked independently by the voter before being submitted, and cannot be altered after submission. These ballots would count as the actual votes, taking precedence over any electronic counts… Available Alternatives to DRE Machines “…At this time, the only tried-and-true technology for providing a voter-verified audit trail is a paper ballot, where the votes recorded can be easily read and checked by the voter. With appropriate election administration policies (for example, ensuring the physical security of ballots), voters can be reasonably confident of the integrity of election results. Two specific alternatives that are available now are: Precinct-based optical scan ballots. The CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project found them to be the most accurate at recording the voter’s intent and not significantly more expensive per vote than touch-screen machines. Touch screen machines that print paper ballots. Such systems would have many of the advantages of DRE machines, including potentially improved accessibility for voters with disabilities. There is at least one such machine that is certified in several states.” It was an uphill battle for computer scientists to be heard on the unacceptability of DREs, as DRE vendors exerted their influence on a number of fronts. Colorado was one of many states that spent HAVA money on DRE voting machines. HAVA required that accessibility for the disabled could be met by having at least one DRE “or other voting system equipped for individuals with disabilities” per polling place. Yet those of us working for verifiable elections in Colorado remember Secretary of State Davidson and multiple county clerks publically mentioning only the DRE option for purchase with HAVA funds, and not the AutoMark, a touch screen machine printing paper ballots. DREs were vigorously promoted over more a more secure alternative. One major effort to exclusively promote DREs was the disinformation campaign waged by part of the disabled community. Funded by vendors of DREs, the National Federation of the Blind, and the American Association of People with Disabilities specifically touted DRE machines as a solution to allow the disabled to vote without assistance. (If truth be told, according to computer experts Doug Jones and Barbara Simons, DREs are not actually accessible for severely deaf-blind voters!) In chapter 9 of their excellent book, Jones and Simons give a compelling account of the role these disabled organizations played in steering election officials to purchase DREs rather than the ballot-marking AutoMark, which could be made accessible to disabled voters and which produced a paper ballot suitable for auditing. On the third page of chapter 9, the authors describe how preeminent apologist for DREs Jim Dickson, accompanied by a group of disabled persons in wheelchairs, stormed a meeting of verified voting election activists and experts in Denver. The meeting was ably run by Al Kolwicz, a Coloradan long concerned with election integrity. Also in attendance were both of the authors, as well as a current CFVI member. Despite his disruptive arrival, Dickson was treated so cordially that at the meeting’s end, he promised to look into the experts’ criticisms of DREs. However, witnessing Dickson speak at several subsequent gatherings of election experts, the CFVI attendee noticed no modifying of his public crusade for DREs. The focus on the quest for disabled independence in voting was just one strategy to sell the DRE Trojan horse. For a while, computer scientists concerned about the unauditability of DREs campaigned for the attachment of a printer to the DREs so that voters could check their machine vote for accuracy. Unfortunately, many voters never bothered to look at the paper copy to either confirm or correct their vote. The resulting incomplete paper records could not be used to accurately audit the machine votes. Election activists in Boulder County succeeded in convincing their clerk and recorder to purchase scanners to count votes entered on paper ballots, but this informed lobbying did not occur often. And since the Colorado Department of State never pursued certification of the AutoMark, there was still the HAVA requirement of one “accessible” DRE voting machine per polling place. This HAVA requirement is still operative in Colorado, although machines purchased with HAVA funds are now over a decade old and wearing out. Colorado, having recently gone to all-mail ballot elections, has also severely cut the number of polling places in a county. The state is currently considering the selection of machines for new voting systems. We shall lobby that the new voting systems serve democratic elections better than the last. It is discouraging to note that after elections with equipment funded by HAVA, the insecurities of our unverifiable voting methods go unmentioned in post-election analyses. It seems that pundits and media do not know or care to mention the extent to which our elections can potentially be hijacked surreptitiously. We election integrity advocates have hard work ahead of us. Designed by _GHO	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27117
__label__wiki	0.74072	0.74072	Prince William Affair: Did Kate Middleton and Rose Hanbury Cross Paths Recently Nella Vann Kate Middleton and Prince William have had to deal with rumors of the latter’s alleged infidelity for the past several months. The media has been relentless in pushing the rumor that Prince William had an affair with his wife’s closest friend: Rose Hanbury. Just when it looked like the rumors were beginning to fade, the state banquet and a certain guest brought the alleged affair back in the limelight. The Duchess of Cambridge and Hanbury were both photographed at the dinner, which begs to question: Did Kate Middleton and Rose Hanbury see each other at the State Banquet? Who is Rose Hanbury? Just spotted this in @voguemagazine … Me and Amanda Seyfried @mingey for @miumiu styled by @kegrand, photographed by @alasdairmclellan #miumiu A post shared by Houghton Hall and Gardens (@houghton_hall) on Aug 4, 2016 at 1:40am PDT The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been friends with Hanbury and her husband, David Rocksavage, for several years. Hanbury has long been known as Middleton’s closest friend. Rocksavage is the Marquess of Cholmondeley. He also holds the title of Lord Great Chamberlain. Rocksavage’s position is a ceremonial one and as such he has an active role in various royal functions. Though the two couples had known each other for several years, it is believed that they became close in 2014 when The Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley began living full-time at their home in Houghton Hall, just down the road from Prince William and Middleton’s home at Anmer Hall. The two couples have been seen out together on several occasions. Before marrying Rocksavage, Hanbury was a fashion model. She married Rocksavage, who is 23 years her senior, in 2009 after a relatively short engagement. Why do some people believe that Prince William had an affair? In Anglesey The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met up with the Menai Bridge @Scouts to explore Newborough Beach's wildlife habitat, and hear more about the importance of the nesting bird colonies on neighbouring Llanddwyn Island. The Duchess previously volunteered with the Scouts during her time in Anglesey, and during the visit heard how the Scouts are working closely with local organisations and schools to protect the region’s natural habitat. The Duke and Duchess then joined pupils from local primary schools for a beach clean, organised by the Isle of Anglesey County Council and marine conservation group @SurfersAgainstSewage. Anglesey became the first county in the UK to be awarded Plastic Free Communities status by the group, in recognition of its fantastic work to reduce the impact of single-use plastic on the environment through its the ‘Plastic Free Anglesey’ campaign. PA / Kensington Palace A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on May 8, 2019 at 9:29am PDT There really has been nothing to substantiate the allegations of an affair between Prince William and Hanbury. The rumors of an affair began when Middleton and Hanbury had an alleged falling out. Though the falling out has never been confirmed, media sites have speculated that the women no longer speak to each other because of an affair between Hanbury and Prince William. While the royal family is frequently the target of baseless rumors, this particular rumor likely was given extra life because of Prince William’s family history. Prince Charles notoriously had a longtime affair with now-Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles while he was still married to Prince William’s mother, Princess Diana. The rumors regarding Prince William have persisted for the past several months, but the royal family has chosen to ignore them. In fact, it has been reported that both families have considered taking legal action regarding the slanderous claims. A source told US Weekly that the rumors about the affair has strengthened the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s relationship. Both Prince William and Middleton are secure in their relationship and realize that these rumors are just that, rumors. The source revealed that facing these rumors have made the couple realize that they need to take more time to get together and analyze their relationship. Did Kate Middleton and Rose Hanbury cross paths at the state banquet? The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron of Action on Addiction, attended the first annual gala dinner in recognition of Addiction Awareness Week. Before the dinner, The Duchess of Cambridge met former Action on Addiction clients Jay Otty and Melanie Bennett, who worked to prepare food for the gala dinner. Jay is a key member of the ‘front of house’ staff at @Brink_Liverpool – Action on Addiction’s ‘dry bar’ in the city. He has worked in the hospitality industry for seven years, having now been clean and sober for nine years. Melanie says that Action on Addiction’s Self-Help Addiction Recovery Programme, which taught her coping mechanisms and new behaviours, and started the grieving process for her father which she had been blocking for ten years, helped saved her life. Speaking at the dinner, The Duchess said: "What’s remarkable about Action on Addiction is that it goes beyond helping those who are suffering on the courageous journey into recovery – it also lends direct support to the children and families affected by addiction – for as long as it takes." Action on Addiction is the only UK addictions charity that works across all the areas of research, treatment, family support and professional education. The aim of Addiction Awareness Week is to provide a platform for focused conversations about the many different facets of addiction, to enable a wide range of organisations to engage with people and families who may be affected by addiction, and to raise public awareness of the far-reaching and negative effects of addiction. The ultimate aim is that as honest but inspirational stories are shared, those affected by addiction will then feel more able to take the necessary steps to access help, hope and freedom from their addiction. @ActionOnAddiction #AddictionAwarenessWeek A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Jun 12, 2019 at 1:22pm PDT It is not unusual for Hanbury to attend the state banquet, as she has done it on several occasions before this year. What is unusual is that Hanbury reportedly attended the event without her wedding ring. Though it could be argued that Hanbury’s attendance made for an awkward affair, the fact that her invited was not rescinded seems to indicate that the Duchess of Cambridge finds no merit in the ongoing rumors. There is no clear indication that Middleton and Hanbury crossed paths at the State Dinner. The two were not photographed together, nor did either party comment about Hanbury’s attendance. But if the two did come across each other, it was likely without incident.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27121
__label__cc	0.658037	0.341963	Northgate Public Services Software outsourcing and IT services Acquired date Dec 2014 Realised date Jan 2018 Sector TMT Northgate Public Services (‘NPS'), was a provider of software, outsourcing and IT services to local government and public sector organisations. Founded in 1969, NPS was headquartered in Hertfordshire, UK, and employed approximately 1,300 people in the UK and more than 750 people internationally. NPS provided software and related services to UK public sector markets including local government, government agencies, public safety, housing and healthcare. Its software and services were used by over 400 UK local authorities, UK police forces, social housing providers in the UK and internationally, and the NHS. Its IT projects supported the sharing of information for criminal intelligence and investigations across UK police forces and the management of health screening records in the UK and Ireland. Date Northgate Public Services press releases 09 January 2018 Cinven to sell Northgate Public Services Limited to NEC Corporation 19 October 2016 Isle of Man gets CONNECTed to revolutionary policing platform 22 December 2014 Cinven completes acquisition of Northgate Public Services Visit www.northgateps.com/	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27123
__label__cc	0.545056	0.454944	Home News International Leading Orthodox rabbi in Australia apologizes for covering up abuse Leading Orthodox rabbi in Australia apologizes for covering up abuse SYDNEY – The president of the Orthodox rabbinate in Australia issued an unequivocal apology to the victims of child sex abuse and urged perpetrators to turn themselves in to police. On the eve of Yom Kippur, Rabbi Moshe Gutnick, president of the Organization of Rabbis of Australasia, said the “culture of cover-up” in Australia is wrong. “An issue of child sexual abuse must be reported to the police immediately and perpetrators must be brought to justice,” he wrote in a letter issued to all Orthodox synagogues across the region to be read during Yom Kippur services. “It makes no difference whether the crime took place ten years ago or ten days ago. There can be no exceptions and no excuses,” Gutnick’s letter read. He then begged forgiveness from the victims. “On this holiest of days I sincerely beg your forgiveness on behalf of all of us who did not hear your voice. We will do our utmost not to repeat the mistakes of the past.” To the perpetrators, he added: “You have done a most heinous crime and you will never find atonement with Hashem or peace within yourselves until you do the right thing. Turn yourselves in. Admit to the wrong you have done so that you may begin the path to atonement and allow your victims to find healing and peace.” Manny Waks, a spokesperson for Jewish victims, hailed the statement as an “incredible milestone.” “This may very well be a world first and I am particularly proud that an Australian rabbi and the peak Orthodox organization in Australia, have demonstrated such courageous leadership,” Waks said.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27125
__label__wiki	0.62945	0.62945	Huawei CFO arrested, facing extradition to the US Vancouver [Canada], Dec 6 (ANI): Huawei's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Meng Wanzhou is facing extradition to the United States following her arrest in Canada. Also known as Sabrina Meng and Cathy Meng, Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver on December 1, CNN reported citing Canadian Justice Department spokesperson Ian McLeod. Wanzhou, who is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, also serves as the deputy chairperson of the tech giants' board. A statement from McLeod stated that Wanzhou "is sought for extradition by the United States, and a bail hearing has been set for Friday". The spokesperson further stated that the Canadian Justice Department cannot divulge any information related to the case as a judge granted Wanzhou a publication ban. The judge prohibited both the police and prosecutors from revealing information about the case. However, a spokesperson for Huawei said Wanzhou was held by Canadian authorities at the behest of the United States while transferring flights, adding that the company is unaware of any "wrongdoing" on Wanzhou's behalf. "The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng. The company believes the Canadian and US legal systems will ultimately reach a just conclusion. Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations where it operates, including applicable export control and sanction laws and regulations of the UN, US and EU," the spokesperson said. In April, the Wall Street Journal had reported that the US Justice Department was probing Huawei for possible violations of US sanctions on Iran. The Chinese tech company, which primarily sells smartphones and telecommunication equipment, has been under pressure in a number of countries, including the US, with officials issuing warnings of possible national security risks from Huawei products. The US suspects the Chinese government of spying on Americans using Huawei's technology. In May, the Pentagon had directed stores close to a military base not to sell smartphones made by Huawei and their rivals ZTE, with top officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigatoion (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA) and the Defence Intelligence Agency telling a Senate committee in February that smartphones from those firms were a security threat to Americans. However, last month, Huawei had responded to those allegations by saying that their products are trusted in 170 countries and by 46 of the world's 50 biggest telecommunication firms. "If a government's behavior extends beyond its jurisdiction, such activity should not be encouraged. Huawei firmly believes that our partners and customers will make the right choice based on their own judgment and experience of working with Huawei," the tech giant had said. (ANI)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27130
__label__cc	0.654456	0.345544	Canadian Cancer Society-funded researchers discovering ways to personalize cancer treatments You are here: About us / News / National / 2010 / Canadian Cancer Society-funded researchers discovering ways to personalize cancer treatments September 2010 – Researchers funded by the Canadian Cancer Society are identifying ways to refine treatments for some of the most difficult cancers and improve the quality of life of patients living with these cancers. In the Sept. 7 edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, research findings point to potential new personalized treatments for medulloblastoma, a malignant form of childhood brain cancer, and lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in Canada for both men and women. “These findings are very promising because they could lead to cancer therapies that are tailored precisely to the genetic make-up of a specific tumour in a specific patient,” says Dr Christine Williams, director of research, Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute. “Ultimately, this type of research is crucial in helping us to identify the right treatment at the right time for the right person.” Researchers discover new types of childhood brain cancer A study led by Dr Michael Taylor has discovered that medulloblastoma, the most common malignant form of childhood brain cancer is not one but four different diseases, each with its own molecular composition and clinical characteristics. These findings could lead to more personalized, targeted treatments for children. Dr Taylor, a pediatric brain surgeon at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, led a team of international researchers who studied more than 100 medulloblastoma tumour samples and identified four different sub-types of the disease, some more severe than others. In their study, the researchers used the combined power of new genomic (the study of the collective genetic material in an organism) and bioinformatics (the use of computer science to solve a biological problem) techniques. The improved understanding of medulloblastoma could lead to more precise treatments and prevent over-treatment with radiation, which can lead to long-lasting side effects, including damage to brain structure. Previously, medulloblastoma was thought of as one disease and patients were treated as such. Dr Taylor’s findings could lead to more personalized, targeted treatments and would ensure that the best treatment is given for each form of the disease. Study zeroes in on those who can benefit most from lung cancer treatment A research team led by Dr Ming-Sound Tsao has, for the first time, identified a set of genes that can predict whether patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) will benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy (additional treatment after surgery to prevent disease recurrence). Not all patients benefit from chemotherapy, and not all patients require chemotherapy after surgery. Knowing that a patient may have a more aggressive cancer and that their chance of cure may be improved with adjuvant chemotherapy gives patients and their doctors a clearer picture of the need for treatment after surgery. The study is a follow-up analysis from an earlier lung cancer clinical trial led by the NCIC Clinical Trials Group. Dr Tsao, a researcher at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital, led a research team that used tumour samples from 133 patients who participated in the study. They first identified a characteristic 15-gene expression pattern in patients who had not received adjuvant chemotherapy and used this information to accurately predict which patients would have a high or low risk of cancer recurrence. They also found that the patients predicted to be at high risk of lung cancer recurrence experienced the most benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. These patients were 67% less likely to die from lung cancer than those high-risk patients who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. In contrast, they showed that lung cancer patients with a low risk of recurrence did not benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy, and could potentially be spared unnecessary treatment side-effects. With this prognostic genetic test, clinicians will be able to classify individual patients, and provide them with the treatment most appropriate and effective for their disease. The original clinical trial upon which this study was based found that a brief course of chemotherapy after surgery increased survival of patients with NSCLC by 15% after 5 years. Prior to this finding, surgery was the only treatment available to these patients and the tumour often recurred outside the lung within a few years. The finding was named one of the top advances in cancer research in 2005 by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The NCIC Clinical Trials Group receives core funding from the Canadian Cancer Society.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27133
__label__cc	0.607937	0.392063	A financial transformation – a letter from our CEO You are here: About us / News / National / 2018 / July / A financial transformation – a letter from our CEO Every day I hear a story about someone who has been affected by cancer. With 1 in 2 Canadians diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime, every story is important and unique. And each story reminds me of the need for us to work together and take innovative and courageous action on cancer in Canada. Without a doubt, 2017 was a historic year for the Canadian Cancer Society – marked by bold steps to address challenges, build on successes and innovate for the future. Most notably, in February 2017, we joined forces with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, bringing together two of the largest national health charities in an unprecedented merger. While these steps weren’t easy, they were critically important to ensure we were using donor dollars to have the greatest impact on all those affected by cancer. Here we are one year later. Our incredible 28% year-over-year reduction in fundraising and administration expenses is evidence of our collective hard work on behalf of all those we serve. You may have seen that our success was featured in a news story by the Canadian Press which ran in a wide range of media outlets a few weeks ago. Despite a challenging year, we remained committed to funding groundbreaking cancer research and maintained all our core programs and services for people affected by cancer. These include lodges and transportation for people who have to travel far from home for treatment, peer support programs and a Cancer Information Service that provides trusted information to Canadians across the country. We are unique among the many cancer charities in Canada because we are the only organization in the country that funds cancer research and helps people affected by more than 100 types of cancer through our support and information programs. Though we’ve made some solid strides this year, we’re not prepared to rest on our laurels and know there’s more work to be done. Thank you for all your support. We believe in a world where no Canadian fears cancer and together, we are taking meaningful steps forward to make that vision a reality. Lynne Hudson President & CEO, Canadian Cancer Society	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27134
__label__wiki	0.979127	0.979127	Bengals recall draft memories CINCINNATI – The area code said 513, and Carlos Dunlap did not know where that was. This was the 2010 NFL Draft, and... Bengals recall draft memories CINCINNATI – The area code said 513, and Carlos Dunlap did not know where that was. This was the 2010 NFL Draft, and... Check out this story on chillicothegazette.com: http://ohne.ws/1qdNIUj Tom Groeschen, tgroeschen@enquirer.com Published 8:23 a.m. ET May 7, 2014 Cincinnati receiver A.J. Green (18) catches a pass against Baltimore cornerback Jimmy Smith on Dec. 29 in Cincinnati. (Photo: AP Photo ) CINCINNATI – The area code said 513, and Carlos Dunlap did not know where that was. This was the 2010 NFL Draft, and the Bengals were calling to tell Dunlap that he was their second-round draftee. “I was looking at the area code like, where is this?” Dunlap said. “I don’t know where 513 is. My sister or somebody Googled and said, ‘Cincy.’ I was like, ‘Where is Cincy?’ And here we are now.” Dunlap is a defensive end from the University of Florida, and his hometown is North Charleston, South Carolina. He has produced 27 ½ career sacks since relocating in Cincinnati. In fact, Dunlap joked Monday about not knowing where Ohio was. “I was a Southern boy,” Dunlap said. “We didn’t get out of the city too much.” Dunlap said he has never forgotten that every other NFL team passed on drafting him, at least for one round. “I still feel a grudge toward those teams, especially if they drafted a D-lineman in front of me,” Dunlap said. Pro Bowl wideout A.J. Green, another Southern man (Summerville, S.C.) who played at Georgia, did not have to wait on a draft night call. Green was at Radio City Music Hall in New York when chosen No. 1 by the Bengals (No. 4 overall) in 2011. “I was very blessed to get to go to New York and get picked,” Green said. “I didn’t have to wait that long.” Green, dressed sharply in a suit, donned his Bengals hat and No. 1 Bengals jersey and smiled broadly for the cameras that night. “All they told me was that I wasn’t going to make it out of the top five,” Green said. “I didn’t know if it was going to be Buffalo or the Panthers.” Carolina took QB Cam Newton No. 1, Denver took LB Von Miller No. 2, and Buffalo took DE Marcell Dareus No. 3 before the Bengals took Green at No. 4. Green is secure in his job but still monitors the draft. “You work you whole life to get to that point, and when you hear your name called it’s an unbelievable feeling that you can’t describe,” Green said. Some NFL players watch the draft to see who might be competing for their jobs. Others see it as a positive, as to who will be coming to help the club. Veteran cornerback Leon Hall said he once watched the draft, but not anymore. “I used to when I first got here, not just to see if they got cornerbacks,” Hall said. “I just liked to watch. Now, I don’t know, it’s just so long. It’s kind of like a spectacle. I’m kind of over it.” With Hall in his eighth NFL season and returning from an Achilles injury, does he look closer at which cornerbacks may arrive? “I try not to make things too difficult. If they bring in five corners they’re going to bring in five corners. It’s not going to make any difference to me.” Dunlap said he tries to get an overall glimpse of what the newcomers may offer. “It’s more of seeing who your team picked,” Dunlap said. “I try to see what positions that we drafted and see what they did in college, what we’re getting on our team.” Defensive end Margus Hunt, the Bengals’ second-round draftee in 2013, said would-be draftees all have a body of work that speaks for itself. “There’s no need to stress about something like that, because you cannot control what’s happening over seven rounds,” Hunt said. “Whatever you put on the film, whatever you do at the combine and the Senior Bowl and whatnot, everything else is going to sort itself out.” tgroeschen@enquirer.com Read or Share this story: http://ohne.ws/1qdNIUj	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27137
__label__wiki	0.617587	0.617587	Zwift adds Giro d’Italia prologue route New course is the beginning of a partnership with Giro organisers RCS Sport Online training game Zwift will add the 8.2km prologue course of the 102nd Giro d’Italia when the race begins in Bologna on 11 May. The new course, the beginning of a new partnership with Giro organiser RCS Sport, features a 6km run in but finishes atop a biting 2.1km climb with an average gradient of 9.7% and a maximum gradient that tops out at 16%. “The Giro d’Italia has a long history of innovation,” says Paolo Bellino, CEO of RCS Sport. “It’s always an exciting race and we’ve never been afraid to experiment with new ways to deliver excitement. This year, we are excited to be able to bring a new technological advancement to the race. Not only does this give fans around the world a chance to get closer to the race by experiencing a stage, but it also gives the competing riders a new way to prepare for the start of the race.” The course will be launched publicly on Saturday 11 May in conjunction with a series of time trial races, held on Zwift for the duration of the Giro d’Italia. Zwifters who take part in an event on the Bologna course within the first three days of launch will be entered into a prize draw for the opportunity to win a Maglia Rosa, signed by the winner of the 2019 Giro d’Italia. “This is a fantastic opportunity for us to help encourage global participation around the Giro d’Italia,’ says Eric Min, Zwift CEO and Co-Founder. “By engaging a large global community of cyclists, Zwift has the power to increase the exposure of Bologna as a host start town. The Bologna course will live on long beyond the start on Saturday 11 May and allow many more people around the world to experience a small part of this historic city.” In addition to the course launch, Zwift and the Giro d’Italia will be hosting a special exhibition event on Thursday 9 May from the race village in Bologna. Four of the competing Professional Continental Teams, Nippo Fantini, Bardiani, Androni Giocattoli and Israel Cycling Academy, will take to the Zwift Bologna Course in two separate races. Former Giro d’Italia Winner, Ivan Basso will make a brief return to the race on the Zwift course to test his legs. Zwifters will then be able to see how they compare to the times set by these professionals when the course launches on Saturday 11 May. With 14 million miles pledged you really are helping us to Get Britain Riding! Now you can own Sir Bradley Wiggins’ Motorhome! Watch Guy Martin Clean his bike… Vélo South 100-mile closed road sportive coming to southern England in September	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27147
__label__wiki	0.981506	0.981506	District Judge Dean set to step down from the bench District Judge John Dean Jr. is stepping down from the bench after 16 years of service. District Judge Dean set to step down from the bench District Judge John Dean Jr. is stepping down from the bench after 16 years of service. Check out this story on Daily-Times.com: http://www.daily-times.com/story/news/local/aztec/2019/02/11/district-judge-john-dean-set-step-down-bench-resign-eleventh-judicial/2818064002/ Joshua Kellogg, Farmington Daily Times Published 8:00 a.m. MT Feb. 11, 2019 Judge served for 16 years on the bench Dean was a Domestic Violence Hearing Officer for the Eleventh Judicial District Court for six years. During his 16 years, he served as Chief District Judge for six years and was a member of the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission. To handle Dean's vacancy, District Judge Daylene Marsh will relocate to the Aztec District Court building to help Townsend handle felony cases.. District Judge John Dean Jr. (Photo: Eleventh Judicial District Court.) FARMINGTON — District Judge John Dean Jr. is stepping down from the bench after serving for 16 years. Members of the local law community said his expertise and experience will be missed. Dean told The Daily Times he is not retiring but resigning and referenced a quote from Ernest Hemingway, stating retirement is the ugliest word in the English language. "I appreciate the opportunity to serve as a judge and serve the community" Dean said. Dean briefly practiced law in Albuquerque before returning to Farmington and practiced law with fellow attorney Scott Curtis for 22 years, according to a biography provided by the Eleventh Judicial District Court. He was also elected to the San Juan County Commission in 1992 and has served as president of organizations including the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments and the New Mexico Association of Counties. Dean was a Domestic Violence Hearing Officer for the Eleventh Judicial District Court for six years before taking the bench in February 2003. He has primarily held a criminal case docket. Curtis said Dean decided to become a judge to give back to his community after practicing law for about 25 to 26 years. "We were lucky he did, he was a good judge," Curtis said. For Dean, he saw being a judge as an extension of his legal career. During his 16 years, he served as Chief District Judge for six years and was a member of the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission from 2015 to this month. "Judge Dean was one of those people who was not afraid to make the tough calls," Chief District Judge Karen Townsend told The Daily Times. "That's usually the hardest job, to stay true to what is right and what is fair." Townsend described Dean as a great mentor and friend who the courts are going to miss. She highlighted his work to form the annual, juried Art Show to host artwork by local artists in the Aztec and Farmington district court houses. San Juan County Commission Chairman and local attorney Jack Fortner said he liked Dean's demeanor and decisions on the bench, adding Dean was a judge who listened and was fair. "When he rules against you, you know he was always fair," Fortner said. Dean has selected Feb. 19 as the last day to keep his license to practice law, 100 years after his grandfather became a lawyer on Feb. 19, 1919. For the future, Dean plans on volunteering around the area, including at the Sherman Dugan Museum of Geology housed in the School of Energy building at San Juan College. He still serves on the board for the San Juan County Partnership. To handle Dean's vacancy, District Judge Daylene Marsh will relocate to the Aztec District Court building to help Townsend handle felony cases. District Judge Bradford Dalley will move to the Farmington District Court building. The Eleventh Judicial District Judicial Nominating Commission is expected to meet in the future and interview applicants to fill Dean's vacancy. Joshua Kellogg covers crime, courts and social issues for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627 or via email at jkellogg@daily-times.com. Read or Share this story: http://www.daily-times.com/story/news/local/aztec/2019/02/11/district-judge-john-dean-set-step-down-bench-resign-eleventh-judicial/2818064002/ PESCO hosts Earn While You Learn bootcamp	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27149
__label__wiki	0.799473	0.799473	CCM president says hot tech jobs are fueling college expansion "We're not interest in people taking classes and getting degrees that go nowhere," Anthony Iacono said. CCM president says hot tech jobs are fueling college expansion "We're not interest in people taking classes and getting degrees that go nowhere," Anthony Iacono said. Check out this story on dailyrecord.com: https://dailyre.co/2NA0dYl William Westhoven, Morristown Daily Record Published 6:21 p.m. ET Aug. 31, 2018 \| Updated 9:20 p.m. ET Sept. 2, 2018 Corn mazes, pick-your-own apples and pumpkins, and more fun activities coming this fall to New Jersey's agri-tourism farms. William Westhoven, @WWesthoven A rendering of the new 31,000-square-foot regional Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Center at County College of Morris. Groundbreaking is scheduled for October.(Photo: County College of Morris) RANDOLPH — As a booming job market demands more and more workers with technology training, County College of Morris President Anthony Iacono is moving quickly to help students claim their niche in the modern economy. "We like to say we have a living curriculum," Iacono said during an exclusive interview with the Daily Record and USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey as he prepared for the fall semester, which began on Friday. "We're not interested in people taking classes and getting degrees that go nowhere. We are continuously reviewing which courses and programs remain viable." Right now, that means investing in infrastructure to expand technology programs, including manufacturing, where thriving industry is hungry for skilled employees on every level. Long-term needs are being addressed by a new regional Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Center that will include electronic labs, prototyping labs, computer labs, a 3D-printing room, an analysis lab, an automation and controls-robotics-emerging-technologies lab, a measuring and materials testing lab, a welding lab, maker space, conference rooms, classrooms and offices. Groundbreaking for the 31,500-square-foot facility likely will take place in October, with an intended fall 2019 completion date. The new building also will allow for the expansion of health care programs, a staple of the college since it opened in 1968. Health care currently shares facility space with the hot manufacturing programs that need to expand. '[Manufacturing] is one of the hottest ones," said Iacono, who succeeded Edward Yaw in 2016. "It started before I arrived, but we are seeing really nice growth in it." Dr. Anthony J. Iacono gives the Presidents address during his inauguration as the third president of the County College of Morris. October 6, 2017. Randolph, New Jersey (Photo: Bob Karp/Staff Photographer) Iacono explained that potential new fields of study are researched by examining state and national data on the jobs that are currently vacant, and what the projections are for the future. "[Manufacturing] is a very hot field, an insatiable field, that's highly sustainable as well," he said. "Think about it: Whether you are a mom-and-pop business, a global corporation or a government agency, they are hiring. For us, it's everything from supplying good employees to good local companies, to a major global company like Siemans." Manufacturing and other tech-oriented industries, of course, have need for higher-degree holders, but Iacono said lucrative career opportunities also exist for people with the kind of two-year degrees and certifications available on the community college level. "Right now, our students can go through the manufacturing program and, with a two-year degree, the starting salaries are $60,000 to $80,000, which is far more than a lot of four-year degrees," Iacono said. From left, Brownie Emilee Sajban of Vernon, Dr. Bette Simmons of County College of Morris (CCM), Brownie Cecilia Sajban of Vernon, CCM Trustee Chair Paul Licitra, Daisy Zulmarie Briceno of Dover, CCM President Anthony J. Iacono, Assemblyman Anthony M. Bucco, Girl Scout of Northern New Jersey Chief Program Officer Charisse Taylor and Brownie Campbell Burns of Newton cut the cake at the reception announcing the launch of new national badges by the Girl Scouts. (Photo: County College of Morris) Similarly, CCM students who graduate with an associate's degree in informational systems can find starrting salaries of up to $45,000, particularly if they opt to pick up a certification through the school's groundbreaking cybersecurity certificate program. One of the first of its kind in the United States, CCM's cybersecurity program is the only such New Jersey community college program to hold designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security. A scan of recent headlines, Iacono said, points to the need for cybersecurity professionals in several industry sectors. "Home Depot was one of the big boxes that got hacked last year," he said. "You read about elections, the Russians, and whatever is going on there." For these and other programs, Iacono said, the school evaluates their viability by assessing two important factors. "One of the criteria is: Is it transferable? Will it transfer to a bachelor's degree?" he explained. "If it doesn't, does it allow for immediate employment?" Manufacturing and cybersecurity meet both of those criteria, he said. Some students will go on to related four-year programs at schools like the New Jersey Institute of Technology, while others may jump directly into the job sector and immediately begin to accumulate job experience. "The way any tech field works is, like others, typically the more you learn, the more you will earn," Iacono said "But the other side is that learning can be in the form of experience. It's not always just about another degree, because technology is always evolving, and you have to have the skills to stay on top of it. And it's not just about degrees in those fields. It's about the certificates. Certificates are currency." Health care priorities Iacono is equally excited about opening up space for CCM students focused on health care, and the school's integral role in supplying health care professionals to the community it serves. "This is our 50th anniversary, we've graduated more than 50,000 graduates, and 5,000 of them are nurses," Iacono said. "We have provided over half the nurses working in the county, and 90 percent of the radiographers and respiratory therapists. These are hot fields, and we're looking at what other health fields we need to bring in. We're having some good conversations with Atlantic Health and others about that." Steering the ship With undergraduate enrollment of 7,509 undergraduate students and 45 available degree programs, CCM is a huge entity. But Iacono feels community colleges are better structured for more flexibility than large universities with long-embedded academic departments. "Community colleges, I think, as a nature are much more nimble," he said. "We're able to turn a battleship around pretty darn fast. I think that can be a greater challenge for four-year universities to do that. We have to take our cues from the economy." The school's success in meeting the needs of students, and the community, can even be quantified. A recent study by Emsi, a provider of economic-impact reports, shows that CCM's annual contribution to the Morris County economy equates to more than $484 million, including new job creation, student spending and the contribution of alumni, largely related to the higher earnings of graduates as a result of obtaining a college degree. The Emsi study also showed that the college generates more in tax revenue than it receives, providing a 17 percent return on investment. In fiscal year 2015-16, the college added about $220.1 million in tax revenue, stemming from graduates’ higher earnings and the increased output of businesses as a result of college purchases. “Most residents know that as an educational institution, CCM is a significant supplier of trained individuals who possess the knowledge and skills to contribute to society on multiple levels,” Iacono said. "Not as many, however, realize the extent of the economic impact the college, its students and graduates have on the county. As this study shows, Morris County residents have multiple reasons to be proud of their community college.” Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; wwesthoven@Dailyrecord.com. Download our apps and get alerts for local news, weather, traffic and more. Search "Daily Record NJ" in your app store or use these links: iPhone app \| iPad app \| Android app \| Print Edition for iPhone, iPad \| Print Edition for Android \| Find us on social media: Twitter \| Sports Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram \| Pinterest \| Thank you for visiting DailyRecord.com. Contact us here \| Subscribe here Read or Share this story: https://dailyre.co/2NA0dYl Rash of thefts, burglaries prompts police warning Morris County officers find missing man county park Rockaway Twp. meeting canceled after controversy Fireworks in garbage ignite; damage East Hanover home Reward jumps to $5,000 for missing Seeing Eye puppy St. Hubert's merger forms multistate animal welfare group	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27150
__label__wiki	0.700223	0.700223	without photo Mid-East Daily Sabah > Life > Palestinian man opens health center upon his daughter's death ANADOLU AGENCY Published 06.01.2016 23:16 Updated 06.01.2016 23:19 As Turkuvaz, we are processing your personal data, and at the same time, using our best efforts to protect your data by taking the technical and administrative measures prescribed by laws. You may find the informative text in respect of your personal data processed, by visiting the data policy page. Bessam al-Batta, a Palestinian man who lost his 18-month-old baby girl in Gaza who died after being diagnosed with cerebral palsy and not given access to treatment, is now providing support and treatment opportunities to children suffering from the same illness in the medical clinic he established in memory of his daughter. Seca al-Batta was taken to the hospital after coming down with a high fever, which was diagnosed as tonsillitis at first; however, it was later discovered that the little girl was suffering from meningitis, which led to cerebral palsy and eventually her death. Seca is only one of the children who lost their lives due to medical malpractice in Gaza. Al-Batta said the sorrow of his daughter's death encourage him to research cases of cerebral palsy, especially in small children. "I forget my sadness by putting a smile on the faces of small children who suffer from the same pains that Seca endured," he said. Al-Batta says that the majority of hospitals and medical clinics cannot meet the demands of the families of children who suffer from cerebral palsy, so the employees of his clinic are working as volunteers in return for symbolic fees. He stressed that the Seca Center plans to collaborate with the state and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to facilitate early diagnosis of the disease in children. He added that his biggest concern is seeing the medical center be closed due to the lack of financial resources, an outcome which would deprive hundreds of children from the health services that the Seca Center provides. Previous in Health Speaking after the general assembly of the parliament, the Minister... Next in Health If you are having trouble getting behind the wheel of a car, know... DAILY SABAH RECOMMENDS Heart attack main cause of death in Europe, study reveals WHO says Ebola outbreak in DRC global emergency New technique knocks out disease-carrying mosquitoes İslamophobia	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27151
__label__wiki	0.975897	0.975897	Joe Jackson's rehab plea to Michael JOE JACKSON was so desperate to help his tragic son MICHAEL beat his drug addiction, he pleaded with the King of Pop to enter a rehabilitation centre. Published 19th July 2009 The Thriller hitmaker passed away on 25 June (09) after suffering a cardiac arrest, and rumours about his substance abuse have swirled in the wake of his death. The singer had signed up for a 50-date comeback residency at Britain's O2 arena and was in rehearsals for the show, but his reclusive lifestyle alarmed his family. His father Joe staged a last-minute intervention in a bid to get his son back to full health in time for the gigs and a planned family reunion show next year (10). And during an emotional phone call, the Jackson family patriarch pleaded with the 50 year old to kick his demons by entering a stint in rehab. Pal Terry Harvey tells Britain's News of the World, "Joe Jackson has made no secret of his efforts to step in to get Michael to rehab while he prepared for his London shows. "Joe wanted to get his son cleaned up as he was so keen to do the family show deal for 2010. "He knew he wasn't ready for these summer shows in London. Joe called him on the phone and said to Michael, 'Let's get it together. Let us help you and clean the house.' "Michael said 'Okay' to appease his dad but he didn't even take his words in. By that stage he was an addict. "He still thought he was the biggest star in the world. He did what he wanted. He felt he wasn't ready to go. Joe went to the house at least three times to intervene, but couldn't get through to his son. "We had suspicions who was getting him prescription pills, but it was important to stop it first and deal with them later."	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27152
__label__wiki	0.625471	0.625471	Antitrust status conference on tap for Microsoft Microsoft and antitrust regulators are meeting this week for a status conference on the company's ongoing compliance with the consent decree. Dawn Kawamoto September 23, 2008 9:50 AM PDT Microsoft and antitrust regulators will be back in federal court on Thursday, for a regularly scheduled status conference on the software giant's compliance with the final judgment order stemming from its historic consent decree. In preparation for the upcoming hearing, which will be held in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Microsoft, the Department of Justice, and state antitrust regulators filed a joint status report late last week. The parties will again address improving the technical documents that Microsoft provides to third-party licensees, which are meant to aid them in making their software interoperable with the Redmond giant's operating system. Antitrust regulators and the technical committee expressed concerns at the last joint status hearing back in June that Microsoft's overview documents were not sufficient. Microsoft, as a result, drafted additional "system" documents that aimed to provide more details on the interaction between the protocols in various complex scenarios. But after reviewing the templates, regulators and a court-appointed technical committee found they needed revisions. Once the templates are finalized, Microsoft plans to publish all 19 system document drafts by the end of March, with the final version expected by the end of June. Meanwhile, Microsoft recently informed the technical committee that the next version of Windows, Windows 7, will have a number of protocol changes and, as a result, will have a number of new and modified technical documents. The technical committee expects to see these documents later this year, according to the joint status report. During the hearing, the parties may also touch on a complaint made prior to November last year, which the states and the DOJ are investigating. Microsoft declined to comment on the investigation. Discuss: Antitrust status conference on tap for Microsoft	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27153
__label__cc	0.728778	0.271222	Grace Bourne Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 24, 2019, at Cedar Grove Baptist Church for Mrs. Grace Bourne, 75, of Columbia, who died on Friday, April 19 in Hattiesburg. Interment followed in Cedar Grove Baptist Church Cemetery. Bro. Todd Sumrall officiated at the services. Visitation was held from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23 at Hathorn Funeral Home and from 10 a.m. until the time of the services on Wednesday, April 24 at Cedar Grove Baptist Church. As a lifelong resident of Marion County, she was a retired postal worker. She was a rural carrier for the United States Postal Service for 23 years, and she was an alumni of Pearl River Community College. She was a faithful member of Cedar Grove Baptist Church and she will always be remembered as a dedicated wife, mother and grandmother. She was preceded in death by her parents, Clifford and Weita Fortenberry, and one brother, Fletcher Fortenberry. Survivors include her husband of 56 years, Jack B. "Chick" Bourne of Columbia; three daughters, Emily Bourne (Mark Passmore) and April McDaniel (Scotty), both of Hattiesburg, and Sara Davis (Mike) of Columbia; one sister, Gail Pittman (Ralph) of Columbia; one brother-in-law, Robert Bourne (Betty) of Columbia; and six grandchildren, Barry Davis (Sara Randall) and Reagan Davis, both of Columbia, Catherine McDaniel, Mac McDaniel and Lauren McDaniel, all of Hattiesburg, and Sydney Passmore of Ocean Springs. Pallbearers were Mike Bass, Garath Fortenberry, Barry Davis, Mitch Bass, Orren Vasilion and Reagan Davis. Honorary pallbearer was Mac McDaniel. Hathorn Funeral Home in Columbia is in charge of the arrangements. No easy fix to border woes Mystery soldier’s flag discovered in attic Miss Hospitality honored by city Bridge repairs coming 7u eliminated early	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27158
__label__wiki	0.657324	0.657324	The More You Know, The More You Know You Don't Know I remember a study a while back that talked about this, but recently I came across the Dunning–Kruger effect: "In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as greater than it is." (Wikipedia) It is a cautionary tale for all of us because it says that at the worst end of ignorance one doesn't even know there is a problem. As a programmer, it tells me that assumptions are bad and a bit of research is always warranted. As a human being, it reminds me to be humble. Of course, M.r Deming (quoted above) isn't the only one to have observed this, reminding us that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it: Confucius (551–479 BC), who said, "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance". The philosopher Socrates (470–399 BC), who interpreted a prophecy from the Delphic oracle, said that he was wise despite feeling that he did not fully understand anything, as the wisdom of being aware that he knew nothing. Playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616), who said, "The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool" (As You Like It, V. i.) The poet Alexander Pope (1688–1744), who wrote in An Essay on Criticism, 1709: "A little learning is a dangerous thing" Henry Fielding (1707–1754), who, in the novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, wrote: "For men of true learning, and almost universal knowledge, always compassionate [pity] the ignorance of others; but fellows who excel in some little, low, contemptible art, are always certain to despise those who are unacquainted with that art." The naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882), who said, "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), who wrote in Human, All Too Human (aphorism 483), "The Enemies of Truth. — Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies." W. B. Yeats (1865–1939), who, in the poem The Second Coming, said: "The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity." The philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), who said, "One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision." A quip attributed to Mark Twain (1835–1910), though possibly apocryphal: "When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." Posted by Dan Gruhn at 2:31 PM No comments: I was reading a blog about augmented (rather than autonomous) driving (https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1334557) and it reminded me that as designers and engineers, we have a responsibility both for safety and for realistic expectations. We tend to lament how marketing hypes what we're doing, but we also need to ensure that we're not doing the same thing. Personally, I can hardly wait for my own autonomous flying car, but I surely don't want one if it won't get me safely to my destination! Posted by Dan Gruhn at 9:09 AM No comments: Something to Ponder The United States has become a place where entertainers and professional athletes are mistaken for people of importance. I have Needed a Doctor I have Needed a Teacher I NEED farmers every day I have NEEDED an auto mechanic, a plumber, a carpenter, a grocer, and a lot of other everyday people. But I have NEVER, not even once, NEEDED a pro athlete, a media personality, or a Hollywood entertainer for ANYTHING! Murphy's Laws of Combat Thankfully, most of us will not be in a combat situation. However, with a little thought, many of these can be applied to various life situations. If the enemy is in range, so are you. Incoming fire has the right of way. The enemy invariably attacks on two occasions: When you're ready for them. When you're not ready for them. There is always a way. The easy way is always mined. Try to look unimportant, they may be low on ammo. Professionals are predictable, it's the amateurs that are dangerous. Don't look conspicuous, it draws fire. Teamwork is essential, it gives them someone else to shoot at. If you can't remember, the Claymore is pointed at you. The enemy diversion you have been ignoring will be the main attack. A "sucking chest wound" is natures way of telling you to slow down. If your attack is going well, you have walked into an ambush. Never draw fire, it irritates everyone around you. Anything you do can get you shot, including nothing. Make it tough enough for the enemy to get in and you won't be able to get out. Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than yourself. If you are short of everything but the enemy, you are in a combat zone. When you have secured an area, don't forget to tell the enemy. Never forget that your weapon is made by the lowest bidder. Friendly Fire Isn't Choosing the Right Path On average it takes a photon 40,000 years to travel from the core of the sun to its surface, but only 8 minutes to travel the rest of the way to Earth. As each photon travels, it is briefly absorbed and released by atoms, which scatters it in a new, random direction. To travel from the sun’s core to the Sun’s surface (696,000 km) so it can escape into space, a photon needs to make a huge number of jumps. The calculation is tricky, but the conclusion is that a photon takes many thousands (and sometimes many millions) of years to wander through the dense matter inside the Sun to the surface. Theoretically, some of the light that reaches us today is energy produced millions of years ago. Choosing the right path in life is can be just as tricky. If you want to get to your goals it is best to work on direct paths rather than bouncing from place to place. That Was Then, This is Now I and my family recently watched Avengers: Infinity War and the special effects were great. As a comic book fan, seeing super heroes doing their thing seemingly realistically on the silver screen is still thrilling. Considering the state of things these days, it is funny to remember that in the beginning of the computers era in 1982, The Motion Picture Academy refused to nominate Tron for a special-effects award. The reason they gave was “The Academy thought we cheated by using computers”. My how times change! Posted by Dan Gruhn at 11:36 AM No comments: 2018 Interesting Movies These are from io9.com, but is a more compact form: Insidious: The Last Key (Jan. 5) The Insidious franchise is back and this time, Elise (Lin Shaye) will have to deal with the demons not just from the Further, but her past too. We’ve seen it and it’s very different from what you’re expecting—in a good way. Paddington 2 (Jan. 12) The first Paddington was a very solid, entertaining, and ultimately underrated piece of family entertainment. Warner Bros. purchased the rights to the sequel, which is a very good sign. Mary and the Witch’s Flower (Jan. 19) If you ever wondered, “What would a Harry Potter movie look like if it was made by Studio Ghibli?” then you are going to need to check out Mary and the Witch’s Flower. It’s a delightful, bright animated film about a young girl who mysteriously finds herself in a world of magic. Maze Runner: The Death Cure (Jan. 26) After a major delay due to star Dylan O’Brien’s on-set injury, the final film in The Maze Runner trilogy is finally coming out. Some may dismiss the franchise as a Hunger Games ripoff, but the mix of mythology, action, and great young cast really have made this one of the most solid YA film series out there. We’re hoping it goes out with a bang. Untitled Cloverfield Movie (Feb. 2) As of press time, Paramount hasn’t yet announced the title to this film, though it was once rumored to be called God Particle. And like 2016's 10 Cloverfield Lane, it won’t be directly connected to that original monster movie (we think). The rumored plot revolves around a group of astronauts who watch the world vanish beneath them. Winchester (Feb. 2) Loosely based on a true story, Helen Mirren stars as the heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune who has been retrofitting her mansion non-stop for years. Turns out, though, she keeps building sections to the house to keep the ghosts hidden away. Bilal: A New Breed Of Hero. (Feb. 2) An inspirational animated film featuring the voices of Ian McShane and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Bilal is a young boy with a dream to become a warrior. However, he’s kidnapped and enslaved, forcing him to struggle first for his freedom, then his dreams, then his people. Originally released in 2015 internationally, it won numerous awards at various film festivals and is just now getting a U.S. release Peter Rabbit (Feb. 9) James Corden provides the voice of the title character in this blend of CG and live-action. Peter will compete with a human, played by Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux himself) for the affections of an animal-loving woman, played by Rose Byrne. It sounds cheesy but the trailer isn’t half-bad, plus Daisy Ridley and Margot Robbie provide voices. Black Panther (Feb. 16) Holy shit are we ready for this one. Ryan Coogler’s take on the famous Marvel superhero looks amazing, with a cast that’s even better. We’ve been waiting forever to see Wakanda on the big screen and as the last Marvel film before the release of Infinity War, the stakes couldn’t be any higher. Early Man (Feb. 16) The company behind Wallace and Gromit is back with this animated family comedy about a caveman (Eddie Redmayne) who teams up with a friend to defend their tribe against an evil Lord, voiced by Tom Hiddleston. Aardman, the company in question, is one of the best at making top-flight stop-motion animation for all ages, so Early Man is worth keeping an eye on. Annihilation (Feb. 23) Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, and Jennifer Jason Leigh play a team of scientists who go into an alien landscape here on Earth that no one has ever come back from. Oscar Isaac co-stars and it’s directed by Alex Garland, the mind behind Ex Machina. It’s easily one of our most anticipated films of 2018. Every Day (Feb. 23) Based on a best-seller by David Levithan, Every Day is about a 16-year-old girl who falls in love. Awww. But the next day, the person she fell in love with isn’t the same. Turns out she’s falling in love with a spirit that changes bodies every single day, which raises some problems—and some issues. Alpha (March 2) Set during the Ice Age, a young boy is left for dead after a violent hunt. To survive, he befriends a wolf and the two set off an epic adventure across a rough road home. While the story sounds like something might have watched as a kid in the ‘80s, the visuals in the film look incredibly impressive. This one has our curiosity. Red Sparrow (March 2) Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence plays an exceptional woman who loses everything but picks herself back up to become a Russian super-spy. Reuniting with her Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence, the other Lawrence going for her James Bond is obviously intriguing. Plus, the scope and style of the film looks legit. A Wrinkle In Time (March 9) Ava DuVernay’s family adventure is based on the Madeleine L’Engle book everyone read growing up, about a young girl who goes on an epic adventure through time and space to find her lost father. Featuring Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and others, A Wrinkle In Time has the cross-generational appeal that could make it a classic. Strangers: Prey at Night (March 9) A sequel to the cult 2008 film The Strangers, Strangers: Prey at Night follows the same bad guys from the first film, but on a larger scale. That time they just terrorized a family in a house. Now they are terrorizing them on a road trip. Christina Hendricks of Mad Men fame is the film’s biggest star and while the whole thing doesn’t sound particularly exciting to people who haven’t seen the original, if you’ve seen the original, this is cool. Tomb Raider (March 16) It’s been 15 years since the last Tomb Raider movie, but now Lara Croft is back and played by Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander in a story that’s rumored to dive a little bit deeper into the character’s origins. Trailers haven’t exactly been mind-blowing but anyone who has ever played the recent (and excellent) Tomb Raider video game knows the potential here. Pacific Rim Uprising (March 23) John Boyega stars in the sequel to the 2013 film about humanity building giant robots to fight giant monsters. Daredevil’s Steven S. DeKnight is at the helm and if the trailers are any indication, the massive action audiences saw in the first film will be nothing compared to this. The biggest question, though, is will U.S. audiences who didn’t fully embrace the original get on board for the sequel? Sherlock Gnomes (March 23) A sequel to 2011's Gnomeo and Juliet, the couple head to London and are forced to call none other than Sherlock Gnomes to help solve a case. Which, we know, sounds so dumb, but the voice cast is wild: There’s James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Stephen Merchant, Mary J. Blige, and more. Isle of Dogs (March 23) New Wes Anderson Movie alert! And better yet, if you’re a fan of Fantastic Mr. Fox, New Wes Anderson Stop-Motion Animated Movie alert! With a voice cast that beats Sherlock Gnomes (Bryan Cranston, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Yoko Ono, Ken Watanabe, and so many more) one of this generation’s best filmmakers tackles a story about a boy on an island of dogs trying to find his pup. Anything Anderson does is worth watching and this will likely be no exception. Ready Player One (March 30) The GOAT, Steven Spielberg, directs an adaptation of the popular, but divisive, pop culture novel by Ernie Cline. Ready Player One is about a future where people spend their lives in virtual reality. However, when the creator of that world dies, a generation competes to solve the mysteries he left behind that are worth billions—mysteries only solved by an encyclopedic knowledge of ‘80s pop culture... including Spielberg’s own movies. Balancing the high-tech visuals and overload of nostalgia with character and story will be difficult but, if anyone can do it, it’s Spielberg. Here’s hoping he can fix the story’s other problems, too. The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales (March TBD) The creators of the Oscar-nominated short Ernest & Celestine have made a feature about three interlocking stories on a farm that blends slapstick humor with important messages. Or so we’ve read. We don’t know much about this one but anytime animation strives to be more than simple family fodder, it’s nice. A Quiet Place (April 6) John Krasinski directs and co-stars with his wife Emily Blunt in this eerie-looking thriller about a world where, if you make noise, something will come and kill you. What is it? No clue, but we’re definitely interested in finding out. The New Mutants (April 13) Another delightfully unique film set in the X-Men movie universe, director Josh Boone places a bunch of young mutants in a mental hospital. It looks more like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest than a superhero movie, and that’s exactly what we love about it. The Witch’s Anya Taylor-Joy, Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton and Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams co-star. Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (April 13) The true story of a dog who walked off the street during World War I and, somehow, became a hero. It’s a charming story to make a movie out of and if you’re a pet lover, the trailer will kind of melt your heart. But in a year of major animated films, it feels like Sgt. Stubby is going to get overlooked. Rampage (April 20) Hey, kids from the ‘80s—remember that arcade game where you and your friends took control of an ape, a lizard, and a werewolf and used them to destroy buildings as fast as you could? Well that’s now a movie starring Dwayne Johnson. The trailer looks like it has way too much story and not nearly enough smashy but it’s a Rock movie, so we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt for now. Avengers: Infinity War (May 4) This is it. The film everything every Marvel movie since 2008 has been leading towards. All of the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and more come together to battle Thanos, who’s on the hunt to complete his Infinity Gauntlet. It actually gives us a headache to think about how big this movie could be but we couldn’t be more excited. How to Talk to Girls at Parties (May 11 UK) Based on a story by Neil Gaiman and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, How to Talk to Girls at Parties in a story about British boys who meet some strange girls at a party, who turn out to be aliens. Unfortunately, buzz on the film off the festival circuit hasn’t been great and it doesn’t yet have a U.S. release date, but we’re still curious. Slender Man (May 18) The creepy internet myth that resulted in some kids actually committing murder is being given its very own (fiction) movie. Whether the film goes the literal route, with Slender Man gaining notoriety online, or more mythological, with him just being an ancient terror, we don’t know. Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25) Yes, a new Star Wars movie may currently be in theaters, but another one is coming in a few short months. The second “Star Wars Story” will tell the tale of a young Han Solo, played by Alden Ehrenreich, and how he became the beloved smuggler. Donald Glover plays Lando Calrissian, Woody Harrelson is in it, Thandie Newton is in it, Paul Bettany’s there, the list goes on and on. Now, if only we could see a trailer... Untitled Deadpool Sequel (June 1) That’s not the final title, at least we don’t think. Knowing Deadpool, it could end up that way, though. Either way, Ryan Reynolds returns as the Merc with the Mouth and this time he’s brought along Domino (Zazie Beetz), Cable (Josh Brolin), and God knows what else. Expect a lot of jokes about sequels and plenty of ridiculous shit, as you can see from one of the most unconventional teasers in film history. The Incredibles 2 (June 15) Picking up where the 2004 masterpiece left off, Incredibles 2 continues the adventure of everyone’s favorite family of superheroes. Brad Bird is back directing and though we don’t know much about the plot just yet, we know part of it will revolve around the youngest Incredible, Jack Jack, figuring out just what powers he has. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (June 22) When last we left our favorite previously extinct species, they were once again set free to roam a suddenly defunct theme park. In this sequel, though, the former employees of that park must now travel back to save the dinosaurs from a volcano that could wipe them out for good. Again. Why that’s a bad thing when they are obviously so dangerous? We’ll have to wait and see. But Jeff Goldblum is back, so it can’t be all bad. The Purge: The Island (July 4) The fourth film in the Purge franchise won’t go forwards, it’s going backwards—it’s about the first Purge, which was isolated only to Staten Island as a test. Obviously, we know from the three sequels that the test went pretty well, so hopefully there’s more to it. Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6) Little is known about the story Ant-Man and the Wasp is going to tell, especially since it’s coming after Infinity War. We do know that Evangeline Lilly takes a starring role as the Wasp and Michelle Pfeiffer joins the cast as her mother Janet van Dyne, long thought lost to the Quantum Realm. The first film was all right but this one will end up better. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (July 13) What if monsters who owned a hotel went on their own vacation? Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, that’s what. For the sequel, the monster family with the famous voices (Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Mel Brooks) sets off on a cruise to get away from their worries but, wouldn’t you know it? Things don’t go according to plan for the Drac Pack. The Nun (July 13) The Nun is the latest film in the Conjuring Cinematic Universe. Demian Bichir and Taissa Farmiga play a priest and a soon-to-be nun sent to Romania to investigate the case of a nun who killed herself. There they find themselves tangled up with the terrifying spirit audiences saw in The Conjuring 2. Horror in the summer usually works, so The Nun could be a sleeper hit. Alita: Battle Angel (July 20) Director Robert Rodriguez and producer James Cameron team up to bring the popular manga to life. A cyborg, seemingly thought to be trash, soon realizes that she’s much more important and deadly than she ever thought. Rosa Salazar is the assassin cyborg, Alita, and she’s joined by Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, and Jackie Earle Haley. Yes the eyes are unnaturally big, but so is the potential—hopefully. Mission: Impossible 6 (July 27) Director Christopher McQuarrie becomes the first Mission: Impossibledirector to do two films in a row as he brings back Tom Cruise and the rest of the team for another big-time action blockbuster. New additions to the case include Henry Cavill as well as Henry Cavill’s mustache, which caused so many problems for Justice League. Teen Titans Go! to the Movies (July 27) In a meta twist on the popular show, the Teen Titans head to Hollywood to get a movie made, because every other superhero is getting a movie made. However, their plan is derailed by a supervillain trying to take over the world. Oh, and there’s musical numbers. The Predator (Aug. 3) Shane Black, who helped write and co-starred in the original Predator, is now in control of a brand new chapter of the storied franchise. This time, the alien hunter is rumored to be terrorizing a more suburban setting. How, or if, this film fits in with the original series we don’t quite know, but Black’s return alone is enough to get us pumped. Untitled Christopher Robin Project (Aug. 3) Ewan McGregor plays the boy who used to be Winnie the Pooh’s best friend, now all grown up. However, years later, he has to go back to the Hundred-Acre Wood to see Pooh, Piglet, and the gang. Hayley Atwell plays his wife and Marc Forester (Finding Neverland) directs. The Meg (Aug. 10) Jason Statham vs. a 75-foot megalodon. What more do you need to know? Okay, well, a submarine has been trapped underwater after an encounter with the largest, fiercest, shark imaginable. The clock is ticking so, in order to save them, a deep-sea rescue expert (Statham, obviously) is recruited to take the mega-shark down. Captive State (Aug. 17) John Goodman and Vera Farmiga star in the latest film from Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) where aliens have taken up residence in future Chicago. The film explores how that impacts the lives on humans and aliens alike. Not much is known about it beyond that but it’s obviously a ripe premise. The Happytime Murders (Aug. 17) Brian Henson, son of the late, great Jim Henson, is back where he belongs, making puppet movies. This one is an R-rated caper starring Melissa McCarthy, a cop who, along with her puppet partner, must solve a series of murders tied to a famed ‘80s puppet TV family. So, imagine if like the cast of The Brady Bunch started getting killed, but they were puppets. That’s this movie. Cadaver (Aug. 24) Cadaver is about a young cop who is forced to work in a morgue, where things start to go very bad when a mysterious new corpse is brought in. The problem here is that the film was supposed to be released last August. So, a one-year delay probably means it’s either bad, really bad, or so good they wanted to finish it right and give it a prime release date. Kin (Aug. 31) Two brothers are on the run from a vicious criminal. Their only protection? A mysterious, possibly alien, weapon. Based on a 2015 short film, Kin stars James Franco as the villain, Jack Reynor is one of the brothers, Dennis Quaid as the father, and Zoë Kravitz as the woman who ends up on the run with them. It’s a very cool premise with a very cool cast but it’s too soon to know much more than that. The Darkest Minds (Sept. 14) Based on the YA novel by Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds sounds like a kind of post-apocalyptic, Maze Runner-esque version of the X-Men where a disease has killed most of the kids on Earth. Some of the ones who survived, however, have developed mysterious powers. Most of the stars are younger but Gwendoline “Captain Phasma” Christie plays a bounty hunter. The House With a Clock In Its Walls (Sept. 21) Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Kyle McLachlan, and others star in this Eli Roth-directed adaptation of a gothic fantasy young adult novel by John Bellairs. It’s set in a world with witches, warlocks, magic and more, much of which hinges on a mysterious clock. Which is indeed in the walls of a house. Robin Hood (Sept. 21) Yup. A new Robin Hood movie. But before you skip and scroll down, though, listen to this cast. Kingman’s Taron Edgerton as Robin. Jamie Foxx as Little John. Jamie Dornan as Will Scarlett. Ben Mendelsohn as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Right?! The Kid Who Would Be King (Sept. 28) Attack the Block director Joe Cornish finally helms another film, this one a family adventure about a group of kids fighting some kind of medieval threat. Little is know about the film but rumor has it it might be about a young boy discovering Excalibur and then being forced to save the world. But really all we need to know is “The follow-up to Attack the Block.” Smallfoot (Sept. 28) What would a Bigfoot call a human? Smallfoot, of course, at least in this animated film that flips the Bigfoot legend on its head. Channing Tatum is the lead voice and he’s joined by Zendaya, Lebron James, Danny DeVito, and others. Venom (Oct. 5) The first film in Sony’s Spider-Man-less, Spider-Man Movie Universe stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, a man who is infected by an alien symbiote to become the supervillain Venom. The cast for this Marvel offshoot is impressive (Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams, Woody Harrelson, etc.) but we’re still confused how Venom can exist without Spider-Man. Halloween (Oct. 19) John Carpenter’s iconic horror franchise returns to the big screen with Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her role as Laurie Strode, would-be sister to ultra-killer Michael Myers. The film is rumored to take place after the first and maybe second Halloween films to try and smooth out the timeline, but also act as a reboot. There’s no way the original could be topped but, if this even comes close, it’ll be excellent. Mowgli (Oct. 19) Two years ago, Disney had a huge hit with their digital remake of The Jungle Book, but at the same time Andy Serkis was directing a different take on the Rudyard Kipling story. Employing performance capture over fully digital creations, Serkis has assembled an insane cast to play the animals, including Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Naomie Harris, Eddie Marsan and, of course, Serkis himself. Overlord (Oct. 26) This J.J. Abrams-produced period horror film is about two American soldiers shot down behind enemy lines in World War II. But they don’t just have to worry about Nazis, they have to worry about Nazis who are zombies. Wyatt Russell is one of the soldiers and Julius Avery directs. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (Nov. 2) The classic holiday tale gets a “dark” retelling that looks pretty vibrant if we do say so ourselves. Lasse Hallström directs Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, Keira Knightley, and others in a new adaptation that takes the story—and the ballet— to a new level. X-Men: Dark Phoenix (Nov. 2) Producer and writer Simon Kinberg makes his directorial debut with the latest main story X-Men film. Professor X, Magneto, and Mystique are back along with the younger versions of Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Jean Grey—the last of whom will become the ultra-powerful destroyer of worlds called the Dark Phoenix. Not only is it based on one of the most famous and most loved comic storylines of all time, it’s the movie promising to finally take the X-Men into space. The Grinch (Nov. 9) A new spin on the classic Dr. Seuss story, Benedict Cumberbatch provides the voice of the Grinch in this computer-animated film. Though we don’t know exactly how it’s going to adapt the near-perfect holiday classic, it seems that part of it will explain how the Grinch grew up and got so damn mean. Holmes & Watson (Nov. 9) Will Ferrell is Sherlock Holmes. John C. Reilly is John Watson. Really, not much more needs to be said than that. It’s two of the funniest men in the world, working together again, in a mystery comedy setting that’s sure to get completely weird and bananas. We can’t wait. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Nov. 16) Newt Scamander is back, but this time he’s teaming up with a young Albus Dumbeldore to tangle with the great dark wizard, Grindelwald. Or, something like that. All the original cast is back, including Johnny Depp as the title villain (sigh), and Jude Law as Dumbledore. The first movie was fine but forgettable, but maybe J.K. Rowling can keep the Harry Pottermagic alive. Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (Nov. 21) The sequel to Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph finds Ralph and Vanelope on the search for a part to fix the game Sugar Rush, when they get sucked into the wild, infinite world of the internet. Expect cameos galore from all of Disney’s franchises, every tech company you can imagine, and goodness knows what else. Mortal Engines (Dec. 14) Peter Jackson and his team are great at building worlds, and they’re going to have a build a bunch for Mortal Engines. That’s because it’s literally about building worlds. Well, cities at least. Cities that travel around the world and suck up smaller settlements. The fact that there’s a teaser trailer a year from release bodes well for the studio’s confidence in the film and we trust in Jackson’s ability to pick and help facilitate great stories. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Dec. 14) While Peter Parker is fighting an Infinity War, Miles Morales is entering the Spider-Verse. This big-screen animated Spider-Man film, produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, will finally bring Morales to life on the big-screen, and tell a story where he, and others, all have spider-based abilities. It’s a new spin on the story, pun intended, but the teaser trailer looks amazing. Aquaman (Dec. 21) The next film in the DC universe will tell us the story of Arthur Curry, a.k.a. Aquaman, who was one of the most fun elements in 2017's Justice League. Now we’ll get to visit his underwater world as he struggles with being the half-human, rightful prince of Atlantis. Director James Wan assembled a great cast, and though DC has struggled, hopefully this solo superhero film will be more Wonder Woman and Justice League. Bumblebee (Dec. 21) For the first time, a Transformers movie opens in the winter instead of summer, maybe in hopes of enjoying a non-Star Wars-dominated holiday season. However, not all the Transformers are taking the trip. Just Bumblebee, now as lovable VW Bug. And Michael Bay isn’t directing; instead, it’s Travis Knight who made Kubo and the Two Strings. That alone has us ultra-curious about this one, and a more focused story couldn’t hurt either. Mary Poppins Returns (Dec. 25) Both a sequel to, and a reboot of, the iconic 1964 film. Emily Blunt takes on the title role as Mary returns, obviously, to help the kids of the kids of the first movie. Early glimpses at the D23 Expo looked excellent and having Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda along for the ride as the new chimney sweep can only help with the film’s nigh-impossible to live-up-to-legacy. Mute (Netflix) Moon and Warcraft director Duncan Jones finally gets to make his dream film, which stars Alexander Skarsgård as a mute bartender in futuristic Berlin who has to find his missing girlfriend. Paul Rudd co-stars and, somehow, this links to Moon. All you needed to tell us was “Duncan Jones scifi” though, and we were going there anyway. The Christmas/New Years holidays are upon us. Remember that too much of a good thing can be very bad for you! Posted by Dan Gruhn at 10:02 AM 1 comment: A Beautiful Day It is a beautiful day. I think I'll skip my meds and stir things up a bit! Dental Visit My dentist told me I needed a crown. I'm like, "I know, right?" This year for Christmas I would like a fat bank account and a slim body. Please don't mix them up like last year. Finding the answer to a problem can be especially tricky if you don't really know what's going on. However, once you understand, all the pieces fit together in an "Ah ha!" moment that feels great. Apparently, finding the answer is much easier when you know the right question. Sometimes the answer is useless if you don't know the right question, à la 42. The moral of the story? Learn to ask the right questions. Make sure that your initial question is broad enough to encompass the right answer without being so broad it is useless. This takes practice, and learning from past experience. Sounds Like... English, you have to love it. So many ways to say the same thing. So many was to make the same sounds. So many ways to confuse people. This graphic, originally from Redit, is a great illustration. Some would say this is bad. I think it is rich and full. You need to make up your own mind. At least we can have spelling bees in English, which is more than many languages can say. Solar Power and the Eclipse If you haven't been under a rock recently, you know that a full solar eclipse will occur in the United States from Oregon to South Carolina on Aug. 21. For the wow and cool factors, this is great. However, from the solar power factor we now have a downside. Bloomberg has calculated that the U.S. will lose about 9 GWatts of power during that time. While this effect also comes from a storm moving over the same area, it is interesting that power companies now have to compensate for solar eclipses. Hopefully battery technology will continue to improve so that the vagaries of the wind blowing and the sun shining can be smoothed out. Must be an interesting time in the power generation business. 4 TB per Day 4 TB is the amount of data that Intel projects will be generated by an autonomous motor vehicle. Considering the number of vehicles on the road, this represents a staggering amount of data. How will data centers keep up? The first experimental version of Ethernet networking ran at 2.94 megabits per second (Mbps) in 1973. By the time it became an industry standard in 1982, its speed had increased to 10 Mbps. Fast Ethernet was introduced starting in the mid-1990 and ran at a rate of 100 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet offered 1 Gbps in the late 1990s, but it took many years for wide adoption because of the increased expense. 10 Gbps Ethernet was produced starting in the mid-2000s, but it is expensive and used mostly in specialized environments. Finally, 40 Gbps Ethernet has been under development for years. The Googles and Facebooks of the world are hoping that it will help to alleviate the bottlenecks they are feeling in their data centers. Data, data everywhere and now our cars are looking to add to the pile. What a time we're having! A man is driving along a highway and sees a rabbit jump out across the middle of the road. He swerves to avoid hitting it, but unfortunately the rabbit jumps right in front of the car. The driver, a sensitive man as well as an animal lover, pulls over and gets out to see what has become of the rabbit. Much to his dismay, the rabbit is the Easter Bunny, and he is DEAD. The driver feels so awful that he begins to cry. A beautiful blonde woman driving down the highway sees a man crying on the side of the road and pulls over. She steps out of the car and asks the man what's wrong. "I feel terrible," he explains, "I accidentally hit the Easter Bunny with my car and KILLED HIM." The blonde says,"Don't worry." She runs to her car and pulls out a spray can. She walks over to the limp, dead Easter Bunny, bends down, and sprays the contents onto him. The Easter Bunny jumps up, waves its paw at the two of them and hops off down the road. Ten feet away he stops, turns around and waves again, he hops down the road another 10 feet, turns and waves, hops another ten feet, turns and waves, and repeats this again and again and again and again, until he hops out of sight. The man is astonished. He runs over to the woman and demands,"What is in that can? What did you spray on the Easter Bunny?" The woman turns the can around so that the man can read the label. It says.. Restores life to dead hair and adds permanent wave Happy Easter!!! I stop at a 7-Eleven some mornings for a hot dog and Big Gulp™ breakfast. I've gotten to know a fellow that works there named John. He says he'd like to read this blog and today is definitely, for sure the day. So, okay John. Let me know when you read this! (The picture of the puppy and kitten is just because it looks cute) Posted by Dan Gruhn at 12:07 PM No comments: By mutual agreement, we have banned the use of the phrase "well actually" in my work group. Anyone who uses it is subject to gentle ribbing as a way of reminder of this rule. Why? Because we're nerds. Any one of us can nitpick at the simplest of statements because spoken language (particularly English) is fraught with ambiguity. The point of the rule is to remind ourselves that we are all doing our best to express our thoughts and ideas and it is up to the hearer to do their best to understand correctly what is meant, if not always in the best of wording. This rules is our way of trying to rise above the petty and trivial, and to do better with the social graces. I can heartily recommend it. Labels: kindness, semantics High Tech or Low Tech? One of the reasons I do what I do is because I love high tech. Give me more and faster CPUs, more memory, faster storage, etc. I love it all and am in the job that suits me best. Could I be happy in a low tech job? Perhaps someday, but not now. I am happy were I am. How about you? Are you in the job that suits you? Hopefully you are. If not, are you working to get to that job? If you are I wish you the best of luck. Labels: high tech	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27160
__label__cc	0.577954	0.422046	Japanese Whiskey? Japanese Scotch? Getting Your Terms Right Japanese Whiskey, Japanese Whisky, Whisky News You’re eager and excited, and we understand that you can’t wait to get started on your very own adventure into the wonderful world of Japanese whisky, or is it Japanese whiskey? Perhaps its single malt whisky, blended whisky, grain whisky, bourbon, or rye whiskey? Yep, there are quite a few terms in the whisky world and before you venture out, glass in hand, ready to taste the golden Japanese wonders, it’s best you familiarize yourself with them. After all, the last thing you want is to get caught off guard during a conversation with an all-knowing whisky expert and need to chug your dram to avoid talking. While the list of whisky terms isn’t small, there are a few rules and pointers that will make the process of learning much easier. Instead of throwing explanations at you, it’s better to explain each term and make it stick. Here we go. Correct – Japanese Whisky Let’s make it clear from the get-go, it’s Japanese whisky. Not Japanese whiskey or bourbon. It was and always has been whisky, and there’s a good reason behind the term. When it first kicked off, just over a century ago, Japanese whisky was greatly influenced by the much older, more established Scotch whisky industry in Scotland. The father of Japanese whisky and founder of Nikka, Masataka Taketsuru, actually spent years in Scotland studying the art of distillation. He even married a Scottish lady. Shinjiro Torii, founder of Suntory, spent his life trying to create a unique product for the Japanese population, which would surpass the ever-popular Scotch whisky. Most of what happened in the world of Japanese whisky was influenced by Scotch, from the creation of blended whisky to quality Japanese single malts. The spelling in Scotland is whisky, so Japan adopted the same term. Incorrect – Japanese Whiskey, Japanese Scotch, Japanese Bourbon To some, these terms may sound strange. “Who says Japanese whiskey? Or Japanese Scotch?” Well, in fact, the vast majority of the world’s population uses one of the above terms. It’s important to understand that the boom of Japanese whisky is fairly new, and many expressions aren’t readily available worldwide. Therefore, it’s natural that terms from the long-established Scotch, whiskey, and bourbon industries were adopted to describe Japan’s whisky. It’s normal to hear a term being thrown around and assume it’s correct, but always remember that many whisky lovers aren’t always clued up on terms and history. Here is a little list to guide you through the whisky lingo. World Terms Scotch Whisky – The spelling of “whisky” derives from the ancient Gaelic term uisge beatha. The term is translated as the water of life. During the 12th century, the term was shortened and became the whisky we know today. Irish Whiskey – During the nineteenth century Scotch whisky had a reputation of being of low-quality and bad taste. At the time, the Irish were also making whisky but wanted to differentiate their products from Scotch and its inferior image. So, they threw in an “e” and marketed their products as whiskey. American Whiskey – In the U.S. the influx of Irish people and exports from Ireland made Irish whiskey very accessible and so, the term was also adopted there. To this day America continues to use the “e”. Rest of The World – Today, the spelling of “whisky” is used by law, and production under this name comes with many rules and regulations. As a rule of thumb, the large industries of Canadian whisky, Japanese whisky, as well as England, Australia, and most other countries omit the “e”. Whiskey is mostly used for Ireland and the U.S. However, note that some distilleries in countries without strict regulations may choose a different spelling. Bourbon Whiskey – It’s called whiskey as it hails from the United States. The bourbon term originates from Bourbon County in Kentucky, where bourbon is said to have been first produced. Many believe a bourbon can only be named so if it is produced in Kentucky, but that is incorrect. It applies to all of the U.S, if the spirit checks certain production requirements. There you go, now you’re ready to start enjoying all the Japanese whisky, Scotch, and American whiskey the world has to offer, safe in the knowledge that your whisk(e)y terminology is up to speed. Spread the good word, and convert the Japanese whiskey lovers, into whisky lovers! Posted on 14th October 2017 by George Koutsakis Japanese Whisky Highball Machines Reach The U.S Interview with Dave Broom, Author of “The Way of Whisky – A Journey Around Japanese Whisky”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27162
__label__cc	0.576029	0.423971	Powerball jackpot stands at $750 million for Wednesday's drawing The Powerball drawing on Wednesday will be for $750 million: That's the fourth largest U.S. lottery jackpot in history. Powerball jackpot stands at $750 million for Wednesday's drawing The Powerball drawing on Wednesday will be for $750 million: That's the fourth largest U.S. lottery jackpot in history. Check out this story on delawareonline.com: https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/lottery/2019/03/27/powerball-jackpot-drawing-wednesday-750-million/3287596002/ Andrew Sharp, Delaware News Journal Published 11:30 a.m. ET March 27, 2019 \| Updated 12:14 p.m. ET March 27, 2019 Hoping to win the Powerball jackpot? Here are 13 things more likely to happen than becoming an instant millionaire. Kaitlyn Kanzler, Wochit The drawing for the huge $750 million Powerball jackpot ($465.5 million cash option) is set for Wednesday night. It's the fourth largest U.S. lottery jackpot in history. Powerball's website touted the prize's historic size on Sunday after the 25th drawing in a row without a jackpot winner. Powerball interest, like the jackpot, is on the rise. A cool $750 million is up for grabs Wednesday night, March 27. (Photo: Hillard Grossman/FLORIDA TODAY) The winning numbers Saturday night were 24-25-52-60-66, Powerball 5, Power Play 3X. Eight tickets did win $1 million. Two were sold in New York, and one each in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Tickets sold in Florida and Wisconsin included the Power Play option for $2 million. Odds of winning Wednesday's jackpot prize are 1 in 292,201,338. In Delaware, lottery players can buy Powerball tickets until 9:45 p.m. on the day of the drawing. Powerball jackpot: Read these tips before joining that workplace lottery pool More than $2 million in bets made in Delaware during the first full week of March Madness Read or Share this story: https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/lottery/2019/03/27/powerball-jackpot-drawing-wednesday-750-million/3287596002/ Tammy Lawrence-Daley sues Dominican Republic resort for $3 million Two men shot inside Wilmington-area restaurant, police say Traffic on Del. 1 over canal bridge slowed by tractor-trailer crash Wednesday	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27163
__label__wiki	0.988945	0.988945	'Cancer moves fast and we need to move faster’: Huntsman Cancer Institute receives $30 million donation By Lauren Bennett @laurmarben Spenser Heaps, Deseret News Karen Huntsman, wife of the late Jon M. Huntsman Sr., and son Peter Huntsman, CEO of the Huntsman Foundation and chairman and CEO of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, embrace as University of Utah President Ruth V. Watkins, second from right, chats with Christena Huntsman Durham after a press conference at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. The Huntsmans announced a $30 million donation that, along with $40 million raised by the cancer foundation, will be used to fund expansion of the institute's campus. Huntsman Cancer Institute breaks ground on sophisticated radiation facility named for Sen. Hatch Huntsman Cancer Institute to study how best to reach patients who could use genetic counseling SALT LAKE CITY — As Karen Huntsman, wife of the late Jon M. Huntsman Sr., was recently going through her husband's old belongings, she found a piece of paper he had written on in 1995 — the year the Huntsman Cancer Institute was founded. It read: “The sole purpose of HCI is to serve the patient." In honor of that vision, the Huntsman Foundation that she chairs announced Friday morning a $30 million donation to the cancer institute that bears the name of the industrialist/philanthropist who died almost a year ago. The gift will fund the institute's recently announced Kathryn F. Kirk Center for Comprehensive Cancer Care and Women's Cancers building. The center, first announced in September, is estimated to cost $129 million and is the fifth phase in the institute's expansion plan. Huntsman Cancer Institute CEO Mary Beckerle said the new project is centered around Jon Huntsman Sr.'s legacy. “It's about continuing our founder's mission and advancing our mission in a really significant way,” Beckerle said. The $30 million builds on $40 million contributed last fall by Huntsman Cancer Foundation, the Spencer and Kristen Kirt family, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, doTerra International and other anonymous donors. The new money will allow the building's size to increase from its originally proposed 100,000 square feet to 200,000 square feet and will double the number of floors from four to eight. As for the remaining $59 million needed to complete the project, $19 million will come from supplemental funds available to the institute and $40 million from a proposed revenue bond, which is pending approval by the Utah Legislature. The announcement was made by Peter Huntsman, chairman and CEO of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation and CEO of the Huntsman Foundation, who was joined by University of Utah President Ruth V. Watkins, Beckerle, and his mother Karen Huntsman. At Friday's news conference, Peter Huntsman said there are two things more important than the money and the added space — hope and commitment. "We're not just here for the next year or two, we're here for hopefully the next generation or two," he said. While not all the programs the new building will offer are finalized, Beckerle said there are a few definite services that will expand into the center, including programs dealing with breast, ovarian, cervical and uterine cancers. "We're going to have a real renewed focus on women's cancers and we're going to expand our women's cancers program, but at the same time, we're going to have a comprehensive set of offerings in that building," Beckerle said. The new building will be located between the children's center and the cancer hospital. "It's perfect because it is going to be fully integrated with the rest of the cancer hospital and with the whole cancer campus," Beckerle said. Beckerle said Jon Huntsman Sr. had a saying: "Cancer moves fast and we need to move faster." Advancing his vision is what the expansion is all about, she noted. "I just know he would be so so pleased that it's happening," Beckerle said, adding that Jon Huntsman Sr. was involved in the planning of this project before his death Feb. 2, 2018. The building is still in the planning stages but construction is scheduled to begin in December with an expected opening in September 2022. Susan Sheehan, Huntsman Cancer Foundation president, said in a news release that “the Huntsman family has once again extended immense generosity and kindness to help our community in an area of critical need." "As it has done since HCI’s founding in 1993, the family is looking toward the future and anticipating ways they can offer hope and optimism in the face of this dreaded disease,” she said. Lauren Bennett Lauren Bennett is a news division intern for the Deseret News. @laurmarben laurenbennett@deseretnews.com Utah 1 hour ago Utah Rep. Rob Bishop now says he may run again Utah 1 hour ago Jon Stewart slams Mike Lee as Utah senator explains why he held up 9/11 victims fund Utah 4 hours ago Democrat Ben McAdams, rest of Utah delegation, vote against $15 federal minimum wage Utah 12 minutes ago Reward offered for information about fire in Latter-day Saint church	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27164
__label__wiki	0.801486	0.801486	AUDUBON, John James (1785-1851) American Sparrow Hawk. From "The Birds of America" (Amsterdam Edition) [Pl. 142] Amsterdam and New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation and Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1971-72. Colour-printed lithograph, on fine hand-made paper. Excellent condition. Image size (including text): 24 1/4 x 20 inches. Sheet size: 26 3/4 x 39 7/8 inches (approx). In October 1971, employing the most faithful printing method available, the best materials and the ablest craftsmen of their age, the Amsterdam firm of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Ltd., in conjunction with the Johnson Reprint Corporation of New York, set out to produce the finest possible limited edition facsimile of the greatest bird book ever printed: the Havell edition of John James Audubon's well-loved "Birds of America". The Curators of the Teyler's Museum in Haarlem, Holland made their copy of the original work available for use as a model. The Museum, founded in 1778, bought their copy through Audubon's son as part of the original subscription in 1839. After long deliberation, the extremely complex but highly accurate process of colour photo-lithography was chosen as the appropriate printing method. The best exponents of this art were the renowned Dutch printing firm of NV Fotolitho Inrichting Drommel at Zandvoort who were willing to undertake the task of printing each plate in up to eight different colours. The original Havell edition was published on hand-made rag paper and the publishers were determined that the paper of their edition should match the original. Unhappy with the commercially available papers, they turned to the traditional paper manufacturers G. Schut & Zonen (founded in 1625), who, using 100% unbleached cotton rags, were able to produce a wove paper of the highest quality, with each sheet bearing a watermark unique to the edition: G. Schut & Zonen [JR monogram] Audubon [OT monogram]. The publishers and their dedicated team completed their task late in 1972 and the results of these labours were affectionately known as the "Amsterdam Audubon." 250 copies were published and sold by subscription, with the plates available bound or unbound. Given all this careful preparation, it is not surprising that the prints have the look and feel of the original Havell edition. John James Audubon was born in Les Cayes, Haiti on 26 April 1785. From 1788 to 1803 he lived in France until he was sent to the United States to manage an estate that his father had bought in Pennsylvania. He returned to France in 1805, but his fascination with the United States had taken root and he returned again in May 1806. He married Lucy Bakewell in 1808 and together they embarked on a difficult period financially that was only to be resolved, through Audubon's unshakable and justified belief in his own abilities, with the publication of his masterpiece in 1827-1838. "The Birds of America" is the single greatest ornithological work ever produced and is the realization of Audubon's dream of traveling throughout the United States recording, natural size, every native bird then known. The 435 double-elephant folio sized plates, printed by the Havells of London, depict some 1,065 different species, the majority drawn from specimens that Audubon himself had captured. The Havell edition was expensive at the time of publication and this has not changed. Possibly the last complete copy which will ever appear on the market sold for a staggering $8,802,500 in a sale in New York in March 2000. Currently, the increasingly rare individual plates from this edition, when they do appear, generally sell for between $5,000 and $175,000 depending on the image. The quality of the Amsterdam Audubon plates is apparent to any discerning collector and it is becoming ever clearer that they offer the most attractive alternative to the Havell edition plates, given the latter's spiraling prices. Cf. Zimmer, p. 22; cf. Bennett, p. 5; cf. Fries, Appendix A; cf. Wood, p. 208; cf. Nissen IVB 51; cf. Sabin 2364; cf. Ripley 13; cf. Tyler, Audubon's Great National Work , 1993, Appendix I. See all items in Ornithology See all items by John James AUDUBON	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27166
__label__cc	0.732143	0.267857	Second and fourth Wednesday of the month Conference Room D The commission consists of seven members. The Conservation Commission conducts research into the utilization and possible utilization of land areas of the municipality and may coordinate the activities of unofficial bodies organized for similar purposes, and may advertise, prepare and distribute books, maps, charts, plans and pamphlets as necessary for its purposes. It keeps an index of all open areas, publicly or privately owned, including open marshland, swamps, and other wetlands, for the purpose of obtaining information on the proper use of such areas, and may, from time to time, recommend to the Planning Commission plans and programs for the development and use of such areas which may include the acquisition of conservation easements. It may acquire land in the name of the municipality for any of its purposes as set out in this section. Open Space Bonding Presentation 8/28/2014 Mill Brook Greenway Proposed Trails CT DEEP Black Bear Information	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27167
__label__wiki	0.966923	0.966923	After a winding path of injury and illness, moguls skier Casey Andringa earns Olympic berth PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics \| January 27, 2018 Ben Ramsey The Park Record Casey Andringa celebrates after crossing the finish line of the mogul course on Champion run at Deer Valley Resort during the men's finals of the Visa FIS Freestyle World Cup Moguls event Thursday evening, January 11, 2018. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record) Tanzi Propst \| Casey Andringa is growing a mustache for good luck. Sitting in the Deer Valley Resort’s Bald Eagle Room at Snow Park Lodge on Tuesday, his long hair swept back, he said it may not be the most full and luxurious mustache a man could have – “Some people have called it the creeper stache,” he said — but it’s certainly doing the job. At 22, Andringa is easily having his best season yet as a moguls racer. He has had his first outright win at the U.S. Selections in Winter Park, Colorado, which meant he got his first nomination to the U.S. Ski Team. That win also meant he got to ski in his first World Cup competition, where he took seventh, then broke into the super finals (top six) for the first time at the Deer Valley World Cup. That result helped cement his place as one of the top three moguls racers on the U.S. Team, and led to his selection to the Olympic Team. Hunter Bailey, Andringa’s friend and teammate on the Vail Ski and Snowboard Club, said from an outside perspective, it’s easy to call Andringa’s nomination to the Olympic Team a wild and unpredictable turn of fate — a fluke. But Bailey has seen Andringa’s rise firsthand, and said it’s just as crazy that he has never made it this far before. “It’s one of those things where skills-wise, it’s not that crazy — he’s that good,” Bailey said in a recent phone interview. “I knew if he had the chance he would get it. There was no question in my mind. But he’s had the chance taken away from him so many times, I think everyone was starting to think it had passed him by.” Born in Wisconsin, Andringa’s parents moved to Colorado when he was 3 and he promptly started skiing. At age 7, he saw Jonny Moseley drop the dinner roll and change the course of moguls skiing. Andringa joined the Winter Park freestyle team at 8. Ten years later, he was close to making the U.S. National Team, but tore his meniscus a week before the Freestyle World Junior Championships. In the following year, he joined the Vail Ski and Snowboard Club and began learning his new team’s process while performing physical therapy and nursing the persistent pain from his knee injury. “I had this little pill bottle of anti-inflammatories that they called ‘the magic bullet’ because, if I wanted to ski that day, I had to take one, otherwise I was in too much pain,” he said. That year he also went to Switzerland with Vail for his first training camp abroad, which he thought for a while would be his last. “It was a pretty scary situation,” he said. “I basically had orbital cellulites. No one’s ever heard of it, I’d never heard of it. It’s one of those things when you ask a doctor about it they say, ‘Ah, that never happens,’ because it’s so rare, but then it was turning into meningitis.” Bailey remembers Andringa complaining of a terrible headache, but he didn’t know him well at the time, and didn’t know how normal this was for Andringa. “One day we were heading up the tram and he started freaking out,” Bailey recalled. Andringa said he couldn’t see because his head hurt so badly, and Bailey condoned a trip to the doctor. Bailey said he had been to the same clinic in Zermatt and said he was not impressed with the level of care available. “I got down and came back (to the hotel), and he was walking around with an IV hanging out of his vein. Just hanging out,” Bailey said. “They said it was fine because they might have to do it again.” After a few hours, the situation took a dire turn. While sitting on the couch, Bailey noticed his new teammate’s face was swelling wildly. “I thought they were joking around with me because everyone gives each other (crap) all the time, but I looked in the mirror and the whole left side of my face was puffy and drooping,” Andringa said. Soon, his left eye had swollen shut. “I had to sprint to the doctor’s office because it was about to close and they were vacuuming up — all the lights were off and it was locked,” Andringa said. “I knocked on the window and the doctor took one look at me and said, ‘You need to get to the hospital, because there’s none in Zermatt.’” He was taken to a clinic in Visp, Switzerland, by ambulance — an hour’s drive from the training camp. “They did a CT scan, put me on a ton of antibiotics, and then for the next four days I literally didn’t fall asleep.” He later revised that statement to an estimated four hours of sleep over four nights. With no Wi-Fi and no book, Andringa lay awake counting the dimples in the ceiling. “Then, finally on the fourth day I woke up with a 105.6-degree fever,” he said. Andringa’s grandfather, a doctor, told him by phone to not get on another ambulance until they had given him a certain antibiotic. They did, and he was driven to Bern, Switzerland, another hour away. In Bern, Andringa was isolated from his teammates. “It was so weird,” Bailey said. “We kept hearing little snippets. … In the afternoon they would say, ‘Oh he’s fine,’ then the next morning he’s got a 106-degree fever.” Andringa was also frustrated. His headache had not subsided, and he was struggling to glean information from the largely German-speaking staff. “I was trying to speak with these neurosurgeons and they were debating doing emergency brain surgery, and the whole time I can’t even open my eyes in a bright room because my head hurt so badly,” he said. “At one point, I straight up asked a neurosurgeon, because I was so fed up with it and no one was telling me anything, ‘Am I going to die?’ And he told me that they didn’t know. Which I feel like you shouldn’t do that.” The infection that had started in his eye had not relented, and doctors were worried that, because of a 7-inch skull fracture he sustained at age 14 while skateboarding, it could slip through his skull and into his brain. “So they waited to see if I needed emergency brain surgery, but because of that switched antibiotic, I started getting better and then was released like four days later,” Andringa said. He was left largely intact, but his illness had compromised his fitness for that season. Ironically, he said the healthy lifestyle he had adopted to overcome his knee injury might have saved him from meningitis. The next season, he worked back to fitness but blew out the meniscus on his other leg. He worked back to health yet again. In the 2016-2017 season, he finished second in the U.S. Selections event and missed out on the team again. “It would be like if we had Michael Jordan and he was still Michael Jordan but he couldn’t make it into the NBA,” Bailey said. “And I’m not saying Casey is as good as Michael Jordan, but everyone that saw him competing in the lower ranks was like, ‘What is happening here?’ It was such a weird thing to see.” In that season, he finished on the podium at every North American Cup competition but one. Andringa spent last summer and fall in a in a pop-up camper in Routt National Forest outside Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to avoid paying rent money while training, then he finally finished first in the U.S. Selections event and made the U.S. Team. He then took on the World Cup circuit and earned his first top-six result in his second ever competition. “After I was at Deer Valley and got to experience that whole thing, I sat down and felt like it could all be over right now, and I would just be so happy with how this all went,” he said on Tuesday, He finished 24th in the Tremblant World Cup in Canada on Jan. 20, but had built up enough points to maintain his position on the team and earn an Olympic berth. “It’s all happened so fast,” Andringa said. “Literally a month ago I was skiing U.S. Selections — which I have skied tons of times — not knowing whether or not I was going to ski World Cups or go to college. That ended Dec. 21. Now it feels like it’s been a year since then, but it’s been like 32 days.” Bailey said after all his friend had been through, he had a hard time processing that Andringa was finally going to the Olympics, and Andringa himself could hardly believe it. Every once in a while, Andringa said he still looks around, takes in his situation and his mind balks. He considered his trip to the Olympics like winning the lottery. “It was just so hypothetical,” he said. “It just doesn’t work out like that very often, so I’m just so honored to be a part of this team.” Sitting at Deer Valley Resort, he said he hadn’t yet planned a bucket list for the Games. He would lay out some competitive and personal priorities that night, but at that point, it was already more than he could have asked for.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27169
__label__cc	0.604921	0.395079	Home » Crime Library » Forensic Investigation » Radium On September 12, 1922 Amelia Magia died at the age of 25. An immigrant woman dying young in the 1920s was not uncommon, but what was unusual was the number of women that died with the same symptoms around the same time. Like many women in 1917, Amelia worked as a dial painter and painted watch faces with a special paint that glowed in the dark. This was a popular job for women during World War I, as soldiers in the military needed watches they could read at night but not be seen by the enemy. This paint contained radium, a radioactive element that gave the watches a subtle glow. The watch faces only required less than a millionth of a gram of radium to glow. When radium was discovered in 1898, it was thought only to give positive health benefits, and was used in everything from medical treatments to candy for children. Like so many other women, Amelia would use the radium-containing paint as a novelty on her hair, nails, and face. While the radium company denied radium had anything to do with Amelia’s death, and the deaths of several other dial painters, New Jersey’s local Medical Examiner, Harrison Martland, thought otherwise. Martland contacted New York’s Chief Medical Examiner, Charles Norris, and toxicologist Alexander Gettler, for assistance with Amelia’s case in 1927. Amelia’s body was exhumed, and her remains were sent to Norris and Gettler. To check the bones for radium, Gettler cleaned the bones, placed them on covered sheets of X-ray paper, and left them in a dark room for several days. Upon returning, he removed the X-ray sheets and could see exactly where the bones had been placed. They contained so much radium that even five years after her death her bones were still radioactive! For some dial painters, it took months, or even years, to experience symptoms such as weight loss, achy joints, anemia, ulcers, tumors, and decaying bones due to the radium exposure. Radium kills slowly because the body mistakes it for calcium. Radium and calcium are alkaline earth metals, meaning they share many of the same chemical properties due to both of their atom’s outer shells containing two valence electrons. Although radium is radioactive and calcium is not, the body cannot distinguish between these two elements that appear to behave the same way. The women would put the paintbrush tip between their lips to make a fine point, and as a result, the paint was absorbed into their bloodstream and delivered to their bones as if it were calcium. The radium, however, damaged their DNA, led to very fragile bones, and eventually killed them. The discovery of the dangers within radium and the deaths of over 100 dial painters destroyed the positive view society had on radium. The high demand for radium dwindled to nothing in the market after this first encounter with the new poison thanks to the work of determined medical examiners.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27170
__label__wiki	0.957555	0.957555	About ecoi.net COI Resources COI Forum COI Thesaurus My ecoi.net Enable JavaScript to get all ecoi.net features! Document #2012547 Fatal frontline shootings heighten tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan Armenia accused Azerbaijan of faking its officer’s death, and an Azerbaijani MP called for Armenia’s leader to be assassinated. In recent days one Armenian and one Azerbaijani soldier were killed on the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact, a rare outburst of deadly violence since the two sides began a new round of negotiations over ending their decades-long conflict. The Azerbaijan Ministry of Defense announced on May 30 that an officer, Major Agil Omarov, was killed by sniper fire in the Aghdam district. On June 2 members of his family, including two young sons, were awarded medals for valor at a ceremony in his home village of Lelepasha. A statement from the Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the killing took place during a visit to the region by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, the group of diplomats mediating the talks between the two sides, and called it “yet another provocation and serves the purpose of disrupting the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict.” The armed forces of the Armenia-backed, de facto Nagorno-Karabakh government denied that they had killed Omarov, saying in a statement that the Azerbaijani claim had “nothing to do with the reality.” The statement called on Azerbaijan to “refrain from nonsense steps aimed at artificially escalating the situation with provocative disinformation.” The Armenian Foreign Ministry also connected the incident to the visit by the OSCE co-chairs but backed the Karabakh authorities’ claims that it was disinformation on Azerbaijan’s part. “This is an attempt to undermine the negotiation process,” said Anna Naghdalyan, the MFA spokesperson. “Thus Baku attempts to shift the blame for its counterproductive stance on the other negotiating parties – Armenia and Artsakh,” Naghdalyan added. (Artsakh is the Armenian word for Nagorno-Karabakh.) A Western diplomat in Baku who had been briefed on the incident said there was no reason to question the Azerbaijan MoD’s version of events. Omarov’s killing “is not fake news but real, I do not doubt the Azerbaijani account,” the diplomat told Eurasianet on condition of anonymity. A spokesperson for the de facto Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nagorno-Karabakh declined to elaborate to Eurasianet on the allegations of disinformation. Omarov’s death came on the day that the OSCE co-chairs met with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. Earlier the co-chairs – senior diplomats from the United States, France, and Russia – also traveled to Yerevan and Stepanakert. In Azerbaijan, they also met with representatives of internally displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh, angering some officials in Nagorno-Karabakh. Two days after Omarov’s shooting, an Armenian conscript, 19-year-old Sipan Melkonyan, was killed by Azerbaijani fire. The de facto government awarded him with a “For Service in Battle” honor. Before these two deaths, only two soldiers – one on each side – had been killed by enemy fire in 2019. The relative peace along the front lines had come as the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan have revitalized talks aimed at resolving the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but which has been controlled by Armenian forces since the two sides signed a ceasefire in 1994. But the deaths and the recriminations that followed threaten to set back the tentative progress that had been made in the talks, and by the two sides’ promise to “prepare [their respective] populations for peace.” On May 31, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, Aydin Mirzazade, called on his country’s armed forces to assassinate Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. "I ask our snipers, please shoot Pashinyan. Armenia can find a new prime minister. If their minister of defense steps on occupied Azerbaijani lands, please shoot him too. Don't let our officer's blood dry." Mirzazade later claimed his words were “distorted” by journalists. News stories that had reported his original comments were deleted, suggesting a high-level interest in tamping down anti-Armenian rhetoric. A former de facto minister of foreign affairs for Nagorno-Karabakh, Arman Melikyan, said that the return to negotiations in which the return of Armenian-held territories appears to be on the table has emboldened Azerbaijan, leading to the death of the young conscript. “Baku has already gotten what it wanted at the negotiating table and now its hands are untied,” he said in an interview with the news site 1in.am. Nevertheless, the negotiation process continues. In the OSCE co-chairs’ statement, they noted that “as requested” they had “provided proposals for concrete next steps in the settlement process, including on humanitarian and security measures.” And the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet “soon,” the statement said. Originally published by EurasiaNet.org. Copyright (c) Open Society Institute. Reprinted with the permission of the Open Society Institute, 400 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019 USA, www.EurasiaNet.org or www.soros.org. ecoi.net summary: Nagorno-Karabakh: One Armenian and one Azerbaijani soldier killed in shootings at the line of contact Armenia, Azerbaijan Original link: https://eurasianet.org/fatal-frontline-shootings-heighten-tensions-between-armenia-and-azerbaijan Austrian Red Cross ecoi.net is run by the Austrian Red Cross (department ACCORD) in cooperation with Informationsverbund Asyl & Migration. ecoi.net is funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Austrian Ministry of the Interior and Caritas Austria. ecoi.net is supported by ECRE & UNHCR.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27174
__label__wiki	0.921648	0.921648	Science Camp: Just for the Girls Sixteen-year-old Amanda Kline, center, and Manisha Tiwari, 15, cheer as they successfully propel their rubberband-powered car across the table. The students took part in a summer science camp for girls sponsored by the University of North Texas, one of a growing number of such camps across the country geared specifically to their gender. Christopher Powers/Education Week Academic camps are on the rise across the country, including ones to get adolescent girls excited about the exploration of science. By Sean Cavanagh Two teenage girls amble to the front of the room and unveil their creation: a miniature tower, built with wooden sticks and duct tape, bare hands and imagination. It’s the moment of truth. They’ve spent the better part of an afternoon constructing an 18-inch-tall model of a high-rise. In a few seconds, the same camp director who challenged them to build it will switch on a fan to see if he can blow it down. For Marcia Thomas and Alexandra Cooks, like the other young women here, it’s the sort of challenge they relish. They have gathered on a campus of the University of North Texas for a summer science camp set up specifically for girls, one of a growing number of such camps around the country. Many of the camps are being promoted by universities like UNT and organizations that are trying to encourage female students to develop an interest in science and mathematics, despite pressures that, like wind pushing against a makeshift tower, threaten to topple their enthusiasm. “People think the ideal girl is a cosmetologist or a designer,” said Ms. Thomas, 14, during a break from camp activities. “They think that a girl can’t be a scientist or an engineer. I always wanted to be a scientist. I’ve always liked it, ever since I was little.” (Requires Macromedia Flash Player.) Educators and political leaders nationwide are keenly interested in encouraging more girls to show similar resolve, in the hope that they will eventually pursue advanced studies and careers in science- and math-related fields. It’s not easy. Research shows that girls tend to lose interest in science and math as they move through the education pipeline—a retreat that often begins during middle school. Summer science camps can be part of reversing that trend, some say. The American Camp Association, a nonprofit accrediting organization in Indiana, estimates that the number of academic camps for girls has risen by about 140 percent, to 58, since 1998. Overall, the number of academic camps is growing. Still, they represent only a small proportion, or 10 percent of the roughly 2,500 camps accredited nationwide by the association, which estimates that it works with about one-quarter of the camps around the country. Officials at UNT, which is based in the north Dallas suburb of Denton, staged their first science camp for girls two years ago, organizing it around robotics, a topic they believe research suggests can attract new female students to science and engineering. This summer UNT officials added a three-day camp called “Eng-inuity!” devoted to design and engineering, which Ms. Thomas and Ms. Cooks attended. The camp was held July 18-20 on the university’s campus in south Dallas, a mostly working-class area. UNT sought to recruit campers from the surrounding community, including minority girls from neighborhoods in that part of the city. David M. Keathly, a lecturer and adviser in UNT’s computer science and engineering department who helps run the camps, believes that science and math, when made fun through relevant activities and projects, can appeal to young women—a belief shared by many experts and advocates. “What engages girls is the hands-on aspect of learning,” Mr. Keathly said, “some kind of action, something tangible that they see in everyday life.” The activities at UNT’s camps, he added, often result in creating “a product, something they can show other people.” The decision to limit UNT’S camps to girls was based on Mr. Keathly and other university officials’ observations while hosting a competition for BEST, the Dallas-based nonprofit officially known as Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology, on their campus in 2005. UNT officials noticed that among the participating teams of students, girls were often relegated to marketing and promoting their groups’ creations, while boys performed the “get-your-hands dirty” activities, Mr. Keathly recalled. UNT faculty wondered whether girls might respond differently to science when boys were out of the picture. That strategy tends to pay off for many reasons, said Kate L. Pickle, a program manager who oversees math- and science-related topics for the Girls Scouts of the USA. Boys tend to be more vocal in group science settings, she noted, causing some girls to lose confidence in their abilities. Other girls don’t want to appear to be smarter than their male counterparts, she added. The Girl Scouts, which stage summer camps and other activities, have a strong interest in promoting math and science. About 40 percent of the recognitions, or badges, the 2.7 million-member organization makes available to its participants are related to math or science, Ms. Pickle estimates, and interest in those areas is increasing. “We know that girls learn best through cooperative learning and hands-on learning,” Ms. Pickle said. “We found that when we get them into an all-girl setting, they thrive.” Research has shown that boys and girls have similar proficiency in math and science at early ages, but that girls tend to fall behind in science by around middle school. Some studies have also shown that girls’ interest and confidence in math and science wanes as they near the end of high school, in contrast to boys’. Many experts believe that teachers, counselors, and parents subtly, or even directly, discourage girls from taking math and science subjects seriously, while boys receive the opposite message. Others say girls are put off by the competitiveness of boys in classes. “My friends and I believe guys try to rule everything,” said Danielle Puente, a 15-year-old at the UNT camp. That behavior, she added, won’t discourage her. “I love being challenged physically and mentally—especially mentally,” she said. “It shows I’m smart. I like to prove it.” Several of the girls attending the camp say the pressure to avoid math and science more often comes from their female classmates. “Girls say, ‘Why are you taking that?’ ” Ms. Thomas, working at a table on a camp project, said of challenging math and science classes. “They would say, ‘Oh, all you want to do is learn. You don’t have a social life.’ ” Jessica Hayden, 22, remembers hearing similar remarks. The UNT graduating senior, who was working as a camp counselor, remembers getting teased by boys during science classes until early in high school. But as she moved into more-demanding courses, she noticed that much of the teasing stopped. “If you can stand up to that peer pressure, you can get through,” said Ms. Hayden, who will work as a computer applications developer for Neiman Marcus after graduating this month. Camp leaders purposely chose women to work as camp counselors, in the hope of presenting them as role models, Mr. Keathly said. The directors of UNT summer camps, who also include Robert Akl, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the university, typically do not dwell on gender stereotypes in science and math during their camps, Mr. Keathly said. They do, however, discuss what makes careers in those fields exciting, he added. As it now stands, many girls are put off by the false perception that science careers require hours of boring, isolated work, with little opportunity for interacting with others, camp officials say. “It’s not every girl’s dream job,” said Mitra Mahdavian, 22, another counselor and UNT student. “It doesn’t fit [girls’] definition of how they will live their lives when they’re older—sitting behind a computer, or in a lab, or wearing a builder’s hat.” UNT officials try to demystify those careers by explaining science and engineering work in plain language. “What’s design?” Mr. Keathly asks the campers at the beginning of one session. Gradually, he evokes a response: It’s an idea that you or someone else came up with, which can later be tested. Scientists follow a process, says the teacher, who worked for 20 years in research and development for military contractors and other industries. They brainstorm ideas, design projects, build them, test them, redesign them, and share solutions. And another thing, he says: They fail. “In failure, we learn,” Mr. Keathly says. “We tinker, we fail, we learn, we improve.” Working as a pair, Ms. Thomas and Ms. Cooks cope with setbacks. Their first assignment is to build a miniature car out of cardboard, wooden sticks, and other simple materials, powered by the tension of rubber bands. But the wheels produce too much friction, and they spent most of the first day trying to fix it. The biggest challenge of the first day, however, is building the stationary high-rise. The structure, Mr. Keathly tells all the groups, needs to be strong enough to remain standing and support a tennis ball propped atop as the fan blows against it. Ms. Thomas and Ms. Cooks have built a tall, conical tower supported by wooden sticks. On the top, they have stacked folded paper baskets they call “dream catchers” to reach the required, 18-inch height. The tennis ball sits inside the top dream catcher. Mr. Keathly, who has propped the fan on the table, turns it on low, and it begins to hum at low power—what he calls “wimpy Aggie thunderstorm” level. The girls’ tower stands firm. He turns the fan’s switch to medium, or “full Texas thunderstorm” power, as he calls it. It doesn’t budge. Finally, he sets the fan on high power—“full-force hurricane.” Ms. Thomas and Ms. Cooks watch and shift nervously on their feet, but the tower stays in place. Other groups are not so lucky. One tower makes it through two levels, then crashes on the table. Another makes it to the same point, then begins to slide horizontally, undone by a weak foundation. Some of the girls have design questions. Weren’t they supposed to all make their towers with only paper, rather than heavier sticks and cardboard, one asks? Mr. Keathly, though, isn’t fixated on those details at this point. What he wants is for the girls to enjoy the process, and be enthusiastic about their designs. “All the famous architects defied conventional wisdom,” Mr. Keathly tells the girls with a smile. “They were rebels.” Coverage of mathematics, science, and technology education is supported by a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Vol. 26, Issue 45, Pages 26-28 Published in Print: August 15, 2007, as Science Camp: Just for the Girls “Federal Organizations Use Web to Attract Girls to Science,” February 21, 2007. “TalkBack: The Gender Gap in Math and Science,” May 4, 2005. “Spellings Convenes Girls' Math, Science 'Summit',” May 24, 2006. “Educators Revisit Girls’ Loss of Math, Science Interest,” May 4, 2005. For more stories on this topic see Curriculum and Learning. Partner Engagement Manager AVID Center, Southern California	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27176
__label__cc	0.677134	0.322866	EJMO. 2017; 1(3): 164-167 \| DOI: 10.14744/ejmo.2017.65375 Takayasu’s Arteritis Presenting with Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Associated with Intracranial Aneurysm and Necrotizing Lesion on the Dorsal Surface of the Foot Gulcin Gungor Olcum1, Ali Erhan Kayalar2, Fidan Canan Celik Yagan3, Sema Basat1 1Department of Internal Medicine, University of Health Sciences Umraniye Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey, 2Department of Neurosurgery, University of Health Sciences Umraniye Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey, 3Department of Family Medicine, University of Health Sciences Umraniye Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey Takayasu’s arteritis (TA) is an inflammatory vasculitis typically involving the aorta and great branches, the pulmonary artery, and the coronary arteries. The vascular inflammation can cause arterial stenosis, occlusion, thrombosis, and aneurysms. Early recognition of the disease is key to reducing morbidity and mortality. Presently described is the case of a 59-year-old female patient who presented complaining of headache, nausea, vomiting, and uneasiness. Imaging studies revealed a subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by an intracranial aneurysm. The patient underwent embolization therapy, but 1 month after being discharged from the hospital, she was re-admitted due to a necrotizing lesion on the dorsal surface of the foot. The results of magnetic resonance angiography imaging were consistent with TA. TA can be recognized with a careful and structured clinical examination. Gungor Olcum G, Kayalar A, Celik Yagan F, Basat S. Takayasu’s Arteritis Presenting with Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Associated with Intracranial Aneurysm and Necrotizing Lesion on the Dorsal Surface of the Foot. EJMO. 2017; 1(3): 164-167 Corresponding Author: Gungor Olcum G. TOOLS Full Text PDF (English) Print Download citation RIS EndNote BibTex Medlars Procite Reference Manager Share with email Share Send email to authorSimilar articles PubMed Google Scholar	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27179
__label__wiki	0.559068	0.559068	Related Bios Zach Marshall '18 Spencer Lange Title: Head Coach Email: slange@endicott.edu Office: Post 206U Head Coach at Endicott (2015-present) CCC Cross Country Sports Chair Best CCC Finish - 2nd (2016, 2017) Best NCAA New England Regionals Finish - 21st (2015) Coached eight CCC All-Conference selections, including two Rookie of the Years (2015, 2016) Coached 11 CCC All-Academic selections Coached two USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams (2016, 2018) Head Women's Track and Field Coach at Endicott (2016-present) First year of varsity competition starts in 2017 Assistant Coach at Endicott (2013-14) Best CCC Finish - 6th (2013 & 2014) Best ECAC Finish - 41st (2014) Best NCAA New England Regionals Finish - 39th (2014) Coached one CCC All-Conference selection, including the Rookie of the Year (2013) Coached nine CCC All-Academic selections Ran Cross Country and Track & Field at Coastal Carolina (2009-13) Bachelor of Science, Economics When looking for prospective student-athletes, Lange says, “I like to look for men and women that have really positive outlooks on their training and goals. We want people who are passionate about the sport and enjoy showing up every day.” Lange also likes that positive perspective to be included in his own coaching style, “I try to stay positive and put everything into perspective for them since some have more experience than others in the sport. I prepare them for the unexpected because there’s always going to be things that come up, like challenges and injuries. So as long as they are mentally and physically prepared as well as they can be, I just hope they are ready for any situation.” As a former student-athlete, Lange feels that helps him relate to his athletes, “Knowing what they are going through and relating to certain situations, I am able to help them realize that it’s okay if they are struggling. I remind them to take it day-by-day and to stay motivated.” Now in his third season as the head coach of both men’s and women’s cross country programs, and the first season with the newly created women’s track team, Lange has worked with the student-athletes to create a great team culture. “The first few years here were definitely a foundation and trying to establish the team culture. Now that we are a couple years in, the juniors and seniors have experienced it. They feed off of each other, are proud of what they have accomplished, and try to translate that to the newcomers.” The coaching staff encourages team members to get involved in other areas of the Endicott community such as student government, clubs, and committees as well. Spencer Lange completed his sixth season overall and fourth season as the head coach of the Endicott men's and women's cross country programs in 2018-19. From 2013-14, Lange served as an assistant coach with both programs. Last season, Lange guided Endicott to its best finish in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) program history (tied) with a second-place showing at the conference meet behind two All-Conference performances. Lange's team went on to capitalize on that momentum at New England Regionals with a 27th place finish, marking the first time in program history the squad had finished inside the top-30 for three straight seasons. In 2015, Lange took the program from 39th at the NCAA Division III Regional Championships in 2014 to 21st in 2015, marking an 18-spot improvement which ranked highest among all 50-plus competing teams from 2014 to 2015. Throughout his career at Endicott with the men's program, Lange has coached three CCC Rookie of the Years, and eight All-CCC selections. Academically, Lange has also guided 20 student-athletes to CCC Academic All-Conference laurels and one squad to USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors (2016). Prior to Endicott, Lange was a four-year member of both the cross country and track & field teams at NCAA Division I Coastal Carolina. While with the Chanticleers, Lange received USTFCCCA All-Academic Team accolades, and helped the outdoor track & field to team to four-straight runner-up finishes at the Big South Conference championships. Lange's personal bests include a 17:00.89 time in the 5k, 27:22.08 in the 8k, 35:24.59 in the 10k, and 10:00.13 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Lange graduated from Coastal Carolina in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. (Updated as of 11/29/18)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27184
__label__cc	0.657656	0.342344	Instant Replay Could Have a Bigger Impact in the NFL The NFL wants to give more power to instant replay officials, proposing a new rule to eject players. It feels like there is no such thing as the offseason in the NFL, as the league continues to dominate the headlines all year round. Whether it be free agency and huge contracts, mock drafts or player scandals, the NFL season really never stops. Ultimately, this also includes rule changes, or proposed rule changes, and while officials and players are still (somehow) trying to figure out what an actual catch is, a new controversial instant replay law has been proposed. If introduced, the rule would give instant replay officials the power to eject players from the game, despite the fact that they are sitting in the comfort of the NFL offices in New York City. While instant replay is often used to determine whether a touchdown should stand, if a catch is really a catch and which team recovered a fumble, it appears that the NFL is leaning towards giving more authority to its instant replay team. Despite fans, players, coaches and commentators expressing their frustration with the confusion that instant replay often causes, the NFL insists that the proposed new rule will only be used to eject players for “obvious, non-football acts”. So what constitutes a “non-football” act? A common example that has been called out is New England Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski’s late hit on Tre'Davious White of the Buffalo Bills last season: Despite the severity and lateness of the hit, the league suspended ‘Gronk’ for just one game. Would an instant replay official be able to make the right call, or should this be left to the officiating matchday crew who are actually at the game?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27185
__label__cc	0.747649	0.252351	Guest blog: answers to 15 extra questions from our beneficial ownership webinar July 19, 2017 / Keith Furst Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on the Bureau Van Dijk blog on July 18, 2017. Last month I was delighted to join Bill Hauserman as a panellist on Bureau van Dijk's webinar, Beneficial ownership – have you got it right? Bill and I discussed smarter ways to integrate beneficial ownership information into our viewers' compliance processes, so they could start focusing on higher-level decision-making and spend less time on data discovery, and the webinar is now free to watch on-demand. During the broadcast we received dozens of open-ended questions from our worldwide audience of compliance professionals. We only had a chance to address a few of them on the day. But we couldn't let the rest go to waste, so I offered to answer some in this guest blog. Bill will tackle some of the others in a follow-up blog. So, in no particular order – and noting that these are my personal views – here they are. You're welcome to contact me for clarification at info@dataderivatives.com. 1. "You can't know what you don't know, so if you initially find limited information about an entity, what are the best practices for ensuring that continued monitoring efforts aren't missing vital information about that entity?" Actively monitoring sanctions, politically exposed persons (PEPs) and negative news lists is a good way to provide coverage even with somewhat limited information. However, the more data that a company has on an entity the better the matching algorithms can perform, so limited identifying information could lead to more false positives alerts. Hence, getting as much accurate data on the entity upfront will reduce operational costs of screening entities on an ongoing basis. Beneficial ownership adds another layer of coverage to this framework by revealing more persons or entities to screen against sanctions, PEPs and negative news lists. Ultimately, it comes down to an institution's regulatory requirements and applying a risk-based approach which could be based on its business model, geographic footprint and risk appetite. 2. "How should a financial institution determine when and for whom to gather information on ownership exceeding 10%?" In the United States, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has defined the 25% beneficial ownership threshold as the minimum amount in order to meet basic customer due diligence (CDD) standards, but it is not intended to undermine stricter internal CDD practices. Financial institutions can take the initiative to go below the 25% threshold, but it is not required is the US currently. Generally, financial institutions conduct enhanced due diligence (EDD) on customers they perceive to pose greater money laundering and terrorist financing risk, which can include factors such as industries, sectors, products used and associated jurisdictions. EDD procedures are based on the financial institution's policies, but this is one area where the 25% beneficial ownership threshold can potentially be lowered to apply a risk-based approach. 3. "What should a company do if beneficial owners are not disclosable to be screened?" There are instances where no beneficial owners with 25% or more equity interests will exist. In this case, FinCEN requires financial institutions to collect information on at least one individual with significant responsibility to control, manage, or direct a legal entity customer. This is another area of risk, because customers have some discretion on how to identify an individual that fits that criteria. At the very least, the individual that the legal entity customer identifies can be screened against sanctions, PEPs and negative news lists. 4. "What about subsidiaries of the large Chinese corporations that are almost all led by CCP appointees, which makes them a PEP? This leads to over-population of high-risk entities." There are many definitions of a politically exposed person (PEP), but generally a legal entity would not be considered a PEP. However, you may be finding that many Chinese companies have individuals in leadership positions who would meet the definition of a PEP, based on your jurisdiction's requirements, because of their association with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). There could be ways to assign risk levels to PEPs based on their influence, status and position held. For example, a PEP who holds a local position may have less influence than one at the national and international level. Also, a high concentration of PEPs controlling Chinese companies does not automatically imply that all Chinese companies with PEP associations are high-risk, but this would be based on the company's policy. Creating a policy that outlines the company's definition of a PEP based on regulatory requirements, but also defines a methodology to determine criteria for high- and low-risk PEPs is one possible way to apply a more risk based approach. 5. "Since there is now a requirement for the beneficial ownership form, do you know if there is a specific regulation number that is referenced for this and when are all institutions supposed to comply?" FinCEN's customer due diligence final rule (PDF) requires financial institutions to have a certification form completed by an individual opening the account on behalf of the entity. The individual will be required to sign the form and certify that the information is complete and correct. The CDD final rule issued became effective 11th July 2016 and financial institutions covered by the rule must comply with these rules by 11th May 2018. 6. "Regarding the 314(a) list, does the bank also need to include the beneficial owners information in the database list?" As per FinCEN guidance (page 9 [PDF]), "[t]he regulation implementing section 314(a) does not require the reporting of beneficial ownership information associated with an account or transaction matching a named subject in a 314(a) request." There has been some debate over the limits of using the 314(b) request between financial institutions. Section 314(b) allows financial institutions to share information with one another under the 'safe harbor' that offers protection from liability to help better identify and report potential money laundering and terrorist financing. However, some financial institutions appear to be applying a broad interpretation of what potential money laundering and terrorist financing can encompass and use the 314(b) to try and validate beneficial ownership. 7. "Most of the databases with beneficial ownership information only contain information on listed companies. How do you identify beneficial owners of privately held companies?" In the United States, some states may or may not require entities to disclose beneficial ownership. Also, even if states do require beneficial ownership today, that might not have been the case historically and companies formed many years ago may still be missing beneficial ownership information. Ultimately, the responsibility of providing beneficial ownership information in the United States is not on the state registries or financial institutions, but on the clients themselves. This highlights the need for an automated approach, because leveraging databases such as Orbis, which Bureau Van Dijk has built, could reveal beneficial owners of complex corporate structures from jurisdictions which require its disclosure. In other words, by monitoring all jurisdictions in an automated way you have the best chance of identifying the ultimate beneficial owners without having to rely on a representative from the entity of a customer or third party, who may have limited knowledge of the organisation’s actual corporate structure and ownership. 8. "Can enhanced due diligence (EDD) be used as a procedure to conduct beneficial ownership investigation?" For financial institutions, collecting beneficial ownership information is now required as part of the CDD final rule in the United States. Enhanced due diligence (EDD) is generally conducted on high-risk customers that pose additional money laundering and terrorist financing risks. For organisations that may collect beneficial ownership, but are not considered regulated institutions under the CDD final rule, the EDD process may be a place where beneficial ownership can be collected. This would depend on the organisation's policy and regulatory requirements. 9. "In terms of identifying the individual in the 'control prong', what specific officers should be identified? One that is a set list for all customers?" According to FinCEN the control prong is defined as "a single individual with significant responsibility to control, manage, or direct a legal entity customer, including an executive officer or senior manager (e.g., a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Managing Member, General Partner, President, Vice President, or Treasurer); or any other individual who regularly performs similar functions (i.e., the control prong)." FinCEN goes on to state that the list is not all inclusive and there could be significant differences in how legal entities are structured. 10. "Identifying beneficial owners is very important but various agencies have a threshold level of ownership that triggers a rule (e.g. the OFAC '50% Rule'). Is there a 'rule of thumb' for level of control that should be of concern, e.g., a sanctioned individual who owns only 20-30% verses 5-10%?" The FinCEN CDD final requires covered financial institutions to collect beneficial ownership information for individuals, if any, that directly or indirectly own 25% or more of a legal entity customer. There is no rule of thumb, but financial institutions have been known to lower the beneficial ownership threshold for high-risk customers, which is generally triggered by an EDD process. 11. "Why is there no agreed standard on translation of, e.g., Cyrillic?" Leonard Shaefer, PhD, principal of Onomastic Resources LLC, opined on why there is not an agreed upon standard on the romanisation of Cyrillic, i.e., converting the Russian alphabet into the alphabet used in English. Dr Shaefer stated: "Same reason as the one behind differing standards for TV signals, data encoding, weights and measures, temperature measurement, etc. Standards are not like the speed of sound, but more like peace or trade treaties which are best-guess arrangements that depend on fastidious human commitment and co-operation, both of which tend to erode over time. And then a new standard/treaty is devised, to fix everything that was wrong with the last one. And, as with the old one, some people play by the rules and some don't." 12. "How can we validate what our member is putting on the business account form as far as who the beneficial owner is?" Third-party data sources can be used to corroborate the beneficial ownership information provided by the account opener. For legal entities with complex global corporate structures this can become a very labour-intensive and time-consuming validation exercise. Also, the more you start to look at the complexities of identifying beneficial ownership, the more it becomes apparent that a holistic, automated and risk-based approach is needed. Some of you may have read headlines from major publications that proclaim that 'data is the new oil'. There is some validity to this claim, but let's focus on beneficial ownership for a moment. One way to think about Bureau Van Dijk's Orbis database, which contains beneficial ownership data among other things, is to think about the infrastructure and effort needed to extract oil. Bureau Van Dijk has built up the global infrastructure and network of relationships to collect, mine and refine corporate information which can be used for a number of purposes, but clearly this has tremendous value to the compliance industry. Verifying beneficial ownership information provided on an account form is one of many use cases for Orbis data because it can be leveraged to help validate the information on a form is accurate. 13. "I would like to know whether we must perform a drill-down into the beneficial ownership of a listed company whose CEO is a PEP. Or does it depend only on our RBA?" Generally, from a financial institution's perspective a publicly traded company's anti-money laundering (AML) risk would be lower than a private company. However, there could be two scenarios where the CEO of a listed company could be identified as a PEP. In the first scenario, the CEO may also be a beneficial owner with 25% or greater equity interests in the legal entity customer or identified as an individual with significant responsibility to control, manage, or direct the legal entity customer. If the institution screens all of the beneficial owners, including ownership and control prongs, against sanctions, PEPs and negative news lists, the CEO's current or former PEP status could be identified. In the second scenario, the CEO may not meet the criteria of a beneficial owner, but the financial institution may become aware, during its normal CDD process, that the CEO is a PEP. Rita Gemayel, CAMS, a financial crimes specialist, stated that 'if a financial institution becomes aware that beneficial owners below the 25% ownership threshold are PEPs or associated with negative news then it's industry practice to include this in the documentation and act accordingly.' Analysts can come across this information by following their standard procedures and using various database tools including Google searches or during the EDD process, which may lower the ownership threshold requirement based on the institution's internal policy. 14. "Do you know if the US rule contradicts any European beneficial ownership requirements or regulations?" At a high level the US and EU beneficial ownership requirements are very similar. There is a push in the EU to move towards central registries that report beneficial owners and share that data, but the US has not made any commitments regarding a central registry. This could be due to the legislative framework and the division of federal and state laws. There are proposals by the EU to lower the threshold to 10% for high-risk entities as well. It would be beyond the scope of this article to give an in-depth comparative analysis of the two regulatory frameworks. 15. "Do the following 'entity' types count as an entity under the new CDD rule: Formal Club accounts (e.g. Girl Scouts), memorial/benefit accounts, UTMA, conservatorship/guardianship accounts, estate accounts and/or informal club accounts (e.g. volley ball league account? What are some triggering events? How do you as a financial institution define what is a triggering event?" Formal and informal club accounts do not fall under the legal entity definition. As per FinCEN, the CDD final rule (PDF) "defines a legal entity customer as a corporation, limited liability company, other entity created by the filing of a public document with a Secretary of State or similar office, a general partnership, and any similar entity formed under the laws of a foreign jurisdiction that opens an account. The definition also includes limited partnerships, business trusts that are created by a filing with a state office, and any other entity created in this manner. A legal entity customer does not include sole proprietorships, unincorporated associations, or natural persons opening accounts on their own behalf. Similarly, trusts do not fall under the legal entity definition." FinCEN also explains that "the definition of legal entity customers only includes statutory trusts created by a filing with the Secretary of State or similar office. Otherwise, it does not include trusts. This is because a trust is a contractual arrangement between the person who provides the funds or other assets and specifies the terms (i.e., the grantor/settlor) and the person with control over the assets (i.e., the trustee), for the benefit of those named in the trust deed (i.e., the beneficiaries). Formation of a trust does not generally require any action by the state." Triggering events may include filing of a suspicious activity report (SAR), currency transaction report (CTR), a 314(a) request, unusual account activity, an increase in wire transactions, a change in customer's account information, such as a change to a foreign address, a change in signers, and changes in beneficial owners. That's it... for now Look out for Bill's follow-up and do let me know if I can answer any more of your questions on beneficial ownership specifically or fin- and reg-tech more generally. Here are my contact details again. Recording of last month's webinar This is available for free to view for the next 12 months. July 19, 2017 / Keith Furst/ Comment /Source beneficial ownership, FinCEN, OFAC, sanctions, Bureau Van Dijk, Compliance, PEP, negative news, customer due diligence, Enhanced due diligence, CDD Final Rule, SAR, CTR, 314(a), 314(b) Data reusability: The next step in ... 10 things I learned at the Future ...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27188
__label__wiki	0.995782	0.995782	Barcelona grab Griezmann after triggering buyout clause France forward Antoine Griezmann has signed a five-year contract with the LaLiga champions France forward Antoine Griezmann will join Barcelona from Atletico Madrid after the Catalan club announced they had paid his 120 million euro (£107.6m) buyout fee. The 28-year-old will sign a five-year contract which ties him to Barca until June 30, 2024. Griezmann’s new contract contains a buyout clause of 800m euros (£733m), the Spanish champions added in a statement. You were waiting for this. pic.twitter.com/vVR0Prmy0b — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 12, 2019 “With his arrival at FC Barcelona, the Frenchman takes another step forward in his career with the goal of consolidating his place as one of the best players in the world,” the Spanish league champions said in a statement. Griezmann had announced in May he would be leaving Atletico Madrid after spending five seasons in the Spanish capital. (PA Graphic) Barcelona have long been linked with a move for the 2018 World Cup winner. Last month Atletico Madrid chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin revealed he had known about the impending transfer since March. Griezmann moved to Atleti from Real Sociedad in 2014 and helped the club win the Europa League in 2018, scoring twice in the final against Marseille. He joined Sociedad at the age of 14 and made his debut for the San Sebastian side aged 18. Comunicado oficial sobre la rescisión unilateral del contrato que vincula a Antoine Griezmann con nuestro club https://t.co/FvqvTMH55j — Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) July 12, 2019 As well as his World Cup success with France, he is also a Champions League and European Championship runner-up after Atletico and France fell at the final hurdle in those respective competitions in 2016. Atleti later released a statement in which they said the sum received for Griezmann was “insufficient”, arguing that the deal had effectively been done before the player’s buyout clause dropped from 200m euros to 120m on July 1. The Madrid club added they had “started procedures” to ensure they receive the amount they feel is owed to them.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27192
__label__wiki	0.6467	0.6467	Syria: Rights groups condemn extrajudicial execution of human rights defender and software engineer Bassel Khartabil 2 August 2017 2 August 2017 - by English PEN staff - Leave a Comment The family of Bassel Khartabil, a Syrian-Palestinian software engineer and free speech activist, confirmed that he had been subjected to an extrajudicial execution in October 2015. The undersigned human rights organisations condemn the extrajudicial execution of Khartabil and call for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death. On 1 August 2017, Noura Ghazi Safadi, Khartabil’s wife, announced on Facebook that her husband has been killed. Words are difficult to come by while I am about to announce, on behalf of Bassel’s family and mine, the confirmation of the death sentence and execution of my husband Bassel Khartabil Safadi. He was executed just days after he was taken from Adra prison in October 2015. This is the end that suits a hero like him. On 15 March 2012, Military Intelligence arrested Bassel Khartabil and held incommunicado for eight months before moving him to Adra prison in Damascus in December 2012. During this time he was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment. He remained in Adra prison until 3 October 2015, when he managed to inform his family that he was being transferred to an undisclosed location. That was the last time his family heard from him. His family subsequently received unconfirmed information that he may have been transferred to the military-run field court inside the Military Police base in Qaboun in Damascus. These courts are notorious for conducting closed-door proceedings that do not meet minimum international standards for a fair trial. Before his arrest, Bassel Khartabil used his technical expertise to help advance freedom of speech and access to information via the internet. He has won many awards, including the 2013 Index on Censorship Digital Freedom Award for using technology to promote an open and free internet, and was named one of Foreign Policy magazine’s Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2012 ‘for insisting, against all odds, on a peaceful Syrian revolution.’ Since his detention, human rights groups at a national, regional and international level campaigned for his immediate and unconditional release. On 21 April 2015, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared his detention a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and called for his release, yet the Syrian authorities still refused to free him. The signatory organisations express the deepest sorrow at the death of Bassel Khartabil and believe that his arrest and subsequent execution are a direct result of his human rights work and his efforts to promote freedom of speech and access to information. We urge the Syrian authorities to: · Immediately disclose the circumstances of the execution of Bassel Khartabil; · End extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearance, arbitrary arrests, and torture and other ill-treatment; · Release all detainees in Syria held for peacefully exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression and association. 1. Access Now 2. Amnesty International (AI) 3. Arab Digital Expression Foundation (ADEF) 4. Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) 5. Article 19 6. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) 7. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation 8. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) 9. English PEN 10. Euromed Rights 11. Front Line Defenders (FLD) 12. FIDH, within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of 13. Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) 14. Hivos International 15. Index on Censorship 16. Iraqi Network for Social Media (INSM) 17. Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) 18. Maharat Foundation 19. Metro Centre to Defend Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan 20. Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) 21. PAX for Peace 22. PEN International 23. Reporters Without Borders 24. Sisters’ Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF) 25. SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom 26. Social Media Exchange (SMEX) 27. Syrian Centre for Democracy and Civil Rights 28. Syrian Center For Legal Studies and Researches 29. Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) 30. Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) 31. Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) 32. Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State 33. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders TaggedactivistBassel KhartabildigitalexecutionextrajudicialNoura Ghazi SafadipalestinianSyria Previous Article China: mounting concerns for poet and artist Liu Xia Next Article BAHRAIN: FCO Silence on Nabeel Rajab ‘Appalling’, Say 17 Rights Groups and MPs Ahead Of His Trial	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27193
__label__cc	0.603019	0.396981	Home The Edit Travel Lifestyle Cars Our Story Contact HomeThe EditTravelLifestyleCars Our StoryContact Gender pay gap has halved in the last 20 years The current gender pay gap is only half of what it was 20 years ago. That is according to an analysis of salary data by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. According to a 1999 study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the gender pay gap for that year was 19%. Although this figure sounds high compared to today’s standards, at the time it was celebrated as a major improvement, as women’s pay was just 63% of men’s in 1970, when the national minimum wage was introduced. Two decades later, however, the current gender pay gap is still a major issue and has decreased just less than 50%. The data collected from this year’s reporting, which is mandatory for companies with more than 250 employees, revealed that the current gender pay gap is 9.6%. ONS, however, found that almost a third of companies are still way below the national average, with a gap more akin to the figure recorded in 1999 (17.9%). Commenting on the analysis, Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo, said: “Since the introduction of gender pay reporting, the gap is continuing to close, which is fantastic. However, we still have a long way to go until there is true parity. To begin seeing significant change, businesses must prioritise creating diversity in their teams and promote opportunities for women at all levels, so that their talent pipelines do not leak female talent.” “Over the past 20 years I have witnessed growing discourse on the subject, and have seen companies from traditionally male-dominated sectors boost initiatives to encourage female participation, such as returnships. However, this alone is not enough to create equal pay.” “The recruitment profession has not only a social responsibility, but also a real opportunity, to create an even playing field through encouraging firms to boost diversity and inclusion, and to help create solutions for an equal workplace for all. We must be advocates for fair recruitment practices to achieve workforce diversity across all sectors, and ensure female professionals have every opportunity to fulfil their full potential.” FinanceSian Barrett June 28, 2019 Gender Pay Gap Companies need to refer to their past if they want a successful future Catrin Cosier July 16, 2019 Cyber resilience in uncertain times: 5 steps for SMEs to survive and thrive CyberSian Barrett June 28, 2019 Cyber Resilience, Cyber Enterprise Magazine Belgrove Street, London, England, WC1H 8AA, 0203 8764268 hello@enterprisemagazine.co.uk SubscribeContact & LocationTerms & Conditions Enterprise Magazine is Owned & Published by Pear UK East Ltd	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27195
__label__wiki	0.782364	0.782364	Sting cancels two concerts due to illness Sting has cancelled two European concerts due to illness. The former Police front man’s official Twitter account shared a statement announcing Thursday’s performance in Stuttgart, Germany, and Friday’s appearance in the Czech Republic will no longer go ahead. According to the tweet, Sting, 67, is “under the weather” and cancelled the shows on “doctor’s orders”. Ticket refund information can be found at https://t.co/lIZBYa3KNx. pic.twitter.com/yWcdKpMNGF — Sting (@OfficialSting) July 10, 2019 It added: “Sting sincerely regrets disappointing or causing any inconvenience to the fans.” No details on the illness were given. Sting, whose real name is Gordon Sumner, had earlier this week been forced to cancel performances in Belgium and Germany due to illness. According to his website, Sting’s next tour date will be on Sunday July 14 in Weers, Netherlands. Sting pulled out of a string of shows in October 2018, later explaining: “I got a very bad cold which then became a sinus infection. “The worst thing is disappointing the fans.” Sting rose to fame with new wave rock band The Police in the late 1970s and early 80s before embarking on a successful solo career.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27197
__label__cc	0.587405	0.412595	Farm Bureau Gives Agricultural Trade Outlook for 2019 American Farm Bureau Federation policy experts gave an overview of the issues expected to affect farmers and ranchers in 2019 in a workshop at the organization’s 100th Annual Convention. David Salmonsen, senior director of congressional relations for AFBF, said the diverse impacts of tariffs, the outcomes of free trade agreement negotiations and the future of relations with China are all critical for the future of ag exports and the growth of American agriculture Salmonsen discussed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and outlined the process for ratification. “It could be quick or it could be slow, but there is a timeline that has to be followed,” Salmonsen said. If USMCA is implemented, it will increase quota access for U.S. dairy products into Canada and end Canada’s Class 7 pricing. It will also keep agricultural tariffs between the U.S. and Mexico at zero. Salmonsen said that the U.S. has also begun trade negotiations with Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom, although the start of U.K. negotiations depends on when the U.K. completes the process of leaving the EU. He added that in any agreement, there is political bargaining that will go on over several months. With an update on China, Salmonsen said a U.S. delegation went to China to negotiate last week, United States Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Trade Ted McKinney and United States Trade Representative Chief Agricultural Negotiator Greg Doud. There have been no formal announcements yet from the administration, and talks are continuing. “All of these negotiations are with major trading partners,” Salmonsen said. “These are substantive and important negotiations that we will be following very closely throughout the coming year.” Salmonsen was joined by AFBF director of congressional relations Veronica Nigh, who discussed the economic impacts of the trade issues and tariffs, noting that exports will continue to be important to U.S. agriculture. “Ninety-five percent of the world population is outside the U.S., so export markets will always be our opportunity for growth.” Overall, 20 percent of U.S. agricultural production is exported. Discussing the potential impact of USMCA, Nigh said that while it is positive that the U.S. will be exporting more dairy to Canada, it isn’t going to be a major mover of the market as Canada’s total population is 36 million people and the country has a strong domestic dairy industry. But it is a positive sign for U.S. agriculture. Nigh noted that if the U.S. were to withdraw from North American Free Trade Agreement, there would be great cause for concern as old tariffs we have not seen in 20 years could return. Citing the impact of Chinese tariffs, Nigh said that ag exports to China were down by $2 billion in 2018, and USDA forecasts exports to decline by an additional $7 billion in 2019. China was ranked as our second-largest trading partner for several years but is projected to be fifth in 2019. Currently 99 percent of all U.S. ag products exported to China are subject to tariffs. Summing up the impact of the China trade disputes, Nigh said that the biggest concern is that many countries grow soy and corn, and now there’s room in China’s markets for these commodities. “We could lose the market even if the tariffs eventually go away, and it would take time to restore these markets.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27200
__label__cc	0.574091	0.425909	Firm Wins in New York’s Highest Court, Which Establishes New Rule for Individuals Injured by Uncontrolled Livestock in the Road. In a case that has changed the law in New York, New York State's highest court, the Court of Appeals held that owners of farm animals, and landowners who are responsible for keeping them contained, can be sued for negligence if the uncontrolled livestock cause an accident. Matthew H. McArdle, partner at Fischer, Bessette, Muldowney & McArdle, LLP , successfully briefed and argued this landmark case. In September 2007, Karen Hastings was driving at night on County Route 53 in North Bangor, when she struck a black cow in the roadway. The animal had escaped from a pasture with a severely dilapidated fence. Lower courts had rejected claims by Mrs. Hasting's suit against the property owner and the owner of the cow, applying the strict liability standard for domestic animals that cause injuries. The Court of Appeals reversed the lower courts and held that the simple negligence standard applied. Under this standard, it would have to be proven that the owner or landowner was negligent in keeping the cow off the road. In a statement, Mr. McArdle said, "I am extremely pleased with the Decision of the Court of Appeals. This Decision will have wide effect State-wide, and is one of the most significant decisions in this area of the law over the last decade." The Court of Appeals hears a limited number of cases annually, and considers only those cases with the greatest State-wide legal significance. Read more about this decision in articles published in the Wall Street Journal and Plattsburgh Press Republican. Bicycle and Pedestrian Accidents Dog Bites and Vicious Animal Attacks Dangerous and Defective Products Slip, Trip and Fall Accidents Qualification and Benefits New York Workers' Compensation Claims/FAQ Do I Qualify for SSDI? Filing Claims and Appealing Denied Claims 43 Golf Course Road Malone, NY 12953 Tupper Lake, NY 12986 Saranac Lake Office 126 Kiwassa Road Saranac Lake, NY 12983 Fischer, Bessette, Muldowney & McArdle, LLP , serves clients throughout New York's Franklin, St. Lawrence, Clinton, Essex, Jefferson and other northern counties, including residents of Malone, Tupper Lake, Massena, Potsdam, Canton, Plattsburgh, Saranac Lake, Lake Placid and Ogdensburg. © 2019 by Fischer, Bessette, Muldowney & McArdle, LLP. All rights reserved. Disclaimer \| Site Map	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27201
__label__wiki	0.637214	0.637214	Learn about the resources available to help support your child's education. In FCPS we recognize that when families are engaged in their children’s education, students achieve higher grades, attend school regularly, have better social skills, and go on to postsecondary education. We offer programs, services, and resources that engage families, schools and the community in support of student success. Find out more below about programs and supports offered in FCPS to build stronger family-school partnerships and better engage families. Bilingual community liaisons support families during the student registration process. They also help determine if parents have needs beyond registering their child for school. The Early Literacy Program is a free interactive, parent and child program. Helping parents become active partners in their child's education. Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) Program HIPPY is a free program for parents of preschoolers aged 2-4 who want to instruct their children at home. The Family Reunification Program offers assistance in finding educational, financial, and emotional support. Ensuring that all students have the resources necessary to obtain a successful education. Parent Information Lines FCPS offers telephone support to parents who do not speak English as their first language. Parent liaisons serve as a link between families and schools. Family and School Partnerships offers fee-based classes in English and Spanish for parents and guardians of infants through teens. The Parent Resource Center offers a welcoming and engaging environment for parents, educators, and community members to find supports that promote the success of all students, including those with learning challenges, special needs and disabilities. Helping Children Learn Newsletter English and Spanish newsletters in four versions: Early Childhood, Elementary School, Middle School and High School with school success ideas for parents, tailored to the ages of their children! Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in partnership with other Fairfax County departments and agencies offers services and programs for grandparents and other family members raising children in the place of a parent. Learn more about the resources that FCPS provides to help students research, study, and learn. Learn about School Board committees and their responsibilities Welcome! Find more information on the admissions process to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Contact Family and School Partnerships: https://twitter.com/FSP_FCPS https://www.facebook.com/FCPSFSP/ Community Resources for Families Disclaimer: The following resources are provided as a service to parents and should not be viewed as an endorsement by Family and School Partnerships or Fairfax County Public Schools. Fairfax County Department of Family Services Helping Your Child \| (En Español) Series of publications in English and Spanish from the U.S. Department of Education on reading, math, science, history, homework, preschoolers, and early adolescence. SCAN Parent Resource Center (Stop Child Abuse Now) Alexandria, VA \| (En Español) Online articles in English and Spanish on many topics, including communication, discipline, divorce, nutrition, play, stress, and trauma. Elementary School Success Ideas for Parents (Ideas para los padres) Secondary School Success Ideas for Parents (Ideas para los padres) Quick Tips on parenting and school-related topics (English and Spanish)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27202
__label__cc	0.749698	0.250302	Home > Auctions from A to Z For over four centuries, the French tradition of publicly auctioning personal property has provided unique guarantees of professionalism and secure transactions. The auctions are called public because they are open to all: anybody may attend as a spectator, place bids and acquire lots. An auction therefore allows a "fair price" to be established for an object, thanks to a transparent and public confrontation of offer and demand. It is also a unique opportunity to discover the art market and learn how to appreciate the works. What are the different types of auctions and what is the role of an auctioneer? The law of 10 July 2000 makes the distinction between two types of sales of personal property at public auctions, and they are subject to different legal regulations. Voluntary sales come through the independent decision of a person to sell all or part of their property. A voluntary sale is led by a auction house, whose activities are submitted to the law of 20 July 2011. They must meet the qualification and integrity conditions guaranteed by the Conseil des Ventes Volontaires (French Auction Market Authority). Judicial sales, which result from a court decision or are prescribed by law, are conducted by a judicial auctioneer. He is a law officer appointed by order of the Minister of Justice (Keeper of the Seals) who reports to the Chambre Nationale des Commissaires-Priseurs Judiciaires(National Chamber of Judicial Auctioneers). Judicial auctioneers can appraise and list estates in the event of inheritance, apportionment, and guardianship, etc. as well as make appraisals for insurance purposes. Public auctions, might they be voluntary or judicial, benefit from a very high level of security and transparency in their transactions, courtesy of the training required to lead these auctions, the five-year liability guarantee from the auction house, and the five-year authenticity guarantee attached to the object that has been sold. How to value your property? You may contact one of Drouot’s auction houses in order to get an estimate. The auctioneers officiating at Drouot offer comprehensive and impartial advice, while respecting complete confidentiality. They are authorised to appraise objects and set their estimates. They can also take an advisory role regarding the management of property. L’inventaire dressé par le commissaire-priseur constitue un répertoire du patrimoine mobilier, comprenant la description, des informations sur l’époque, la provenance, la technique, les références bibliographiques et l’évaluation des biensThe valuation drawn up by the auctioneer is a list of the property. It includes the lots’ description, information on the era, its provenance, the technique, bibliographical references, and the estimate. An initial opinion can be obtained free of charge by sending an email or a letter with photographs of the objects. An authorised auctioneer can then arrange an appointment to conduct a valuation in-situ. How to sell an item at drouot? Once an estimate has been set, the auctioneer informs the consignor whether it is a good time to sell with regard to the market and informs them of the terms. The consignment agreement This is a contract through which the consignor instructs the auction house to sell one or several lots on their behalf. This written agreement is confidential and made in transparent conditions. The consignment agreement details the name of the consignor, the date of the auction in which the property will be included, the possible, reserve price the commission and taxes that will be deducted from the sale proceeds. The commission, deducted from the proceeds of the sale, is set by mutual agreement between the auction house and the consignor. The commission includes the service rendered and potentially various expenses such as expertise, photography, advertising, etc. How to acquire an item at drouot? The Hôtel Drouot hosts nearly 1,200 auctions each year, most of which are presented in a catalogue. The auction catalogue includes key information about an item: its description, its stylistic characteristics, its date, its condition, its provenance and its estimate. The catalogue also sets out the general conditions of sale; it is recommended to read it before bidding. The catalogues are available at the Hôtel Drouot, on the auction calendar at drouot.com and on the websites of the respective auction houses. The public exhibition Each auction at Drouot is preceded by a public exhibition, so interested parties can assess the condition of the items on offer. The viewing takes place the day before the auction from 11am to 6pm and on the morning of the sale, between 11am and 12pm. The auctioneers and their colleagues are available to answer any question asked about the lots, their provenance, condition or estimate. A virtual tour of Drouot’s auction rooms can be accessed as soon as the presale exhibition starts. The auction There are four ways to bid during an auction. In the room: No prior registration is necessary. To place a bid, you can get the auctioneer's attention with a hand gesture. In this case, the amount of the bid is left to their judgement. To offer a specific amount, we recommend that you say it out loud. By absentee bid: an absentee bid may be submitted to the auctioneer or their colleagues during the exhibition. It authorises the auctioneer to bid on behalf of anyone who is not physically present in the auction room. The absentee bid specifies the maximum amount that the bidder wishes to spend. it is possible, upon request, to be called by a representative of the auction house in order to bid live on one or several lots. On the Internet: catalogued and listed auctions taking place at Drouot are broadcasted live on Drouot Digital. You can easily place bids wherever you are by creating an account on this secure platform. The striking of the "sold" hammer signifies the transfer of ownership of the item to the last bidder. In the room, the crier gives the buyer a ticket, allowing them to take possession of their purchase, after payment has been made to the auction house. Successful bidders, who have made their purchases by absentee bid, over the phone or on the Internet, are contacted by the auction house regarding payment and the collection of their lot. In a voluntary sale, the final price includes the hammer price plus the buyer's premium, which is freely set by the auction house. The buyer’s premium is detailed in the catalogue and announced at the beginning of the auction; they may be decreasing according to the price. At a judicial auction, the buyer’s premium is fixed at 14.40 % incl. tax. Payment can be made in cash, by cheque, or by card. At the time of payment, the successful bidder is given an invoice that, together with the ticket, enables them to collect the object. Payment in cash is allowed for sums of up to €1,000 for private buyers or professionals residing in France and professionals residing abroad. Cash payments cannot exceed €15,000 for private buyers not residing in France, upon presentation of written proof. In the case of payment by cheque, the purchase cannot be collected until after the cheque has been cashed.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27205
__label__cc	0.523892	0.476108	Trade 'distortion': impact on developing economies 27-Aug-2003 - Last updated on 18-Jul-2008 at 15:59 GMT Related tags: European union Balancing liberalisation with a better deal for developing countries must be a priority for the World Trade Organisation as figures from a new report released yesterday show that protectionism and subsidies by industrialised nations cost developing countries about $24 billion (€22bn) annually in lost agricultural and agro-industrial income. Balancing liberalisation with a better deal for developing countries must be a priority for the World Trade Organisation as figures from a new report released yesterday show that protectionism and subsidies by industrialised nations cost developing countries about US$24 billion (€22bn) annually in lost agricultural and agro-industrial income. Published by the US-based think-tank the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the report highlights the urgency for the upcoming WTO trade talks in Cancun, Mexico, next month to come up with rules to create a level playing field for trade in food. According to the report, Latin America and the Caribbean lose about $8.3 billion in annual income from agriculture, Asia loses some $6.6 billion, and sub-Saharan Africa close to $2 billion. "The trade policies of the industrialised countries cause great harm to the economies of many developing nations which depend heavily upon agriculture," said Eugenio Diaz-Bonilla, IFPRI senior research fellow. The report points the finger at the European Union as the greatest culprit of 'trade-distorting measures' that displace agricultural exports from developing countries. More than half of the displaced exports are caused by the policies from the EU, less than a third are due to US policies, with Japan and other high-income Asian countries responsible for another 10 per cent. The IFPRI estimates that such measures displace more than $40 billion of net agricultural exports per year from developing countries. "One more kilogram of subsidised sugar in the European Union could very well mean one less kilogram produced in Kenya or Guatemala. Or another ton of subsidised rice in Japan can have the same displacement effect in Vietnam," noted Diaz-Bonilla. As a result of regional trade relationships, continues the report, EU policies have a greater impact on Africa. In fact, if 'trade-distorting' policies were eliminated worldwide, the value of sub-Saharan imports would rise, but almost 70 per cent of that increase would come from liberalisation in the European Union. For Latin America and the Caribbean, the greatest expansion of exports would come from changes in EU policies (more than 50 per cent), followed by the United States (about 35 per cent). However, for some Latin American countries, such as Colombia and Mexico, more than half of their increase in agricultural exports would be due to liberalising US and Canadian agriculture. For the developing countries of Asia, liberalisation in Japan and Korea would represent one-third of the total value of expanded trade from the elimination of subsidies and protectionism. But developing countries must also shoulder the responsibility for change. "While the wealthy nations need to make the biggest changes, developing countries have to take a look at their own policies, as well." said David Orden, senior research fellow at IFPRI. "Developing countries need to reduce their protectionist measures on agriculture, as these policies increase the cost of food for poor consumers," he continued. "The upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún provides an opportunity for world governments to agree on a plan to make agricultural trade more fair," said Diaz-Bonilla. "For the sake of low-income farmers and consumers across the globe, negotiators from the industrialised countries should move beyond rhetoric and gestures. It is time to remove the trade-distorting measures that hurt poor people in developing countries." Related topics: Suppliers	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27207
__label__wiki	0.960186	0.960186	Dilip Tirkey spreads message of hockey in India's 'Red Corridor' with 1500-team tournament Sports Sundeep Misra Dec 17, 2016 15:55:50 IST No one knows what Dilip Tirkey really felt as a boy growing up. But he did have a fear of crowds. “I preferred empty spaces and somehow a hockey field was big enough to hide and play at the same time,” says Dilip. But on 10 December in Rourkela, a steel township built by the Germans, Tirkey stood in front of a packed Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium and addressed a young enthusiastic bunch of more than 20,000 hockey players. The idea was to create the 1st Rural Hockey Championships of more than 1,500 participating teams. Not 1,500 athletes but 1,500 teams! The Biju Patnaik Rural Hockey Championships that began on 14 December will be played over three months, with the grand finale on 5 March, 2017. File photo of Dilip Tirkey. AFP As he stood on the podium, watched by India’s Vice President Hamid Ansari and Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Tirkey spoke at length about giving back to the sport which apart from enabling him to captain India at the 2004 Olympic Games, also sees him debating in the Rajya Sabha as a MP representing the Biju Janata Dal party (BJD) at present. “I have played hockey in almost every major city in India and the world. But today when I see each of you assembled here to play a sport that has given all of us so much, I realise that the soul of hockey is alive here,” said Tirkey. Being organized under the aegis of the Dilip Tirkey Sports Research and Development Foundation, 1,500 teams will play across Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Odisha – all distinctly tribal. Towards, the end of his speech, Dilip said, “We do have a problem in our midst and that is a few our young friends have strayed from the path of righteousness. I also ask them to come back and pick up a hockey stick, instead of a gun.” Dilip was referring to the youth of the three states who had somehow strayed over to the side of the Maoists. That tribal belt linking the three states of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand to parts of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telengana and West Bengal is known as the Red Corridor. Apart from over-population, illiteracy, unemployment and poverty characterize these very areas with the Maoists exploiting the youth, pushing them to be renegades. “This is the only chance we have of establishing what I call the ‘Hockey Order’ so that we can organize the youth towards an activity which gives them a chance to get jobs in various sectors,” he said. Just before winding up his speech, Dilip asked the assembled teams to check the list of the players who have played state, national and international hockey and said ‘if you do it with utmost devotion, there are jobs waiting for you.” “It’s also about self-respect,” he said later in the evening. “Trying to discipline the youngsters cannot just be the job of educationists. Somewhere sport has to play a part. What would I have been, if I hadn’t picked up a hockey stick?” Dilip grew up in these parts. Sundergarh was the capital of the princely state of Gangpur and later became a district headquarters after Independence in 1947. Nothing much has changed even though the area is rich in iron-ore, limestone and manganese. Dilip Tirkey grew up in the village of Sounamora, around 40 kms from Sundergarh. The only past-time was hockey apart from long treks in the forests which surround the district of Sundergarh. In fact, in the city, football was the main sport and in the rural areas, it was hockey. Everything changed on 14 November, 1991 when Bhawani Shankar High School beat Sports College Lucknow to clinch the Nehru Cup Hockey final in Delhi. Sundergarh now embraced hockey. Today, if you walk through the city, you would see posters of Dilip on almost every important roundabout. It’s also here that in 2014, after being nominated for the Rajya Sabha by the BJD, Dilip decided to run for the Lok Sabha and lost the elections by a narrow margin of 9,000 votes. His opponents were Jual Oram (BJP) and the former Odisha CM, Hemananda Biswal (Congress). Many say Dilip is once again laying the foundation for a crack at the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for 2019. “I don’t see anything wrong in that,” says long-time friend and a Santosh Trophy footballer, Shakti Singh. “If he is empowering the youth, why criticize that? Today, he has brought forward hockey as an instrument for change. I think we should appreciate it.” Oram, who beat Tirkey in a three-way contest in 2014, was also on stage as a guest during the opening of the Biju Patnaik Rural Hockey Championships. “I beat Dilip bhai during the elections, though I know he can easily beat me on a hockey ground,” he said to the gathering. The significance of that wasn’t lost on anyone. Indirectly, Oram pointed out a touch of politics in what is a pure sporting event. Santosh Samal is a former OAS officer who left service to fight for the MLA’s post and didn’t win. He is from the BJP, but does publicly say that he is a dear friend of Tirkey. “We all here do believe that Tirkey has done a lot for Sundergarh as a hockey player and if today people know the district, it’s because of him,” he says. Asked about the possible political overtones to the world’s largest hockey gathering over the next three months, the former Indian Olympic captain says, “I am clear that this is a hockey event and there is nothing political about it,” he said. “If I called the Indian vice-president, it was because he is a sports lover. And since the tournament is named after Biju Patnaik, his son Naveen Babu is the right man to be present here to also bless it.” The vice-president, in fact, told the gathering, “Dilip said that the soul of hockey is present here. But I believe even the water and wind of this area has the soul of hockey in it. I have so many times asked ‘how do you people play such good hockey and what is the secret’ but he never divulges it.” Shakti believes linking the tournament to Dilip’s future political goals is not right. “He is a man who can today call a gathering of 50,000 people and they will come. This place (Sundergarh) loves him. Yes, I can also say that in the next elections of 2019, nobody can beat him.” Tileikani, Jamupali, Sounamora and Lukudhi may be just names for a lot of people in India. But these are villages where virtually every winter almost 500-600 teams play hockey – all in a radius of not more than 20 kms. To that is added the Biju Patnaik Rural Hockey Tournament with its professional approach of team listings, scorer’s charts and keeping an eye out for talent which might go on and represent India. “When we used to play, there were 5-6 players in the national team. And that is not seen now as only Birendra Lakra is there. Yes, it is true that more kids should be involved. When we were young, there was a craze for hockey, even today it is there. But, what it used to be, it isn’t there and has gone down, so, this is to generate the craze back among the youth,” explains Dilip. Former Indian hockey captain and the man who scored the match-winner in the 1975 World Cup triumph against Pakistan, Ashok Kumar said finding such a tournament in the world is very difficult. “So many players in Odisha under one belt. We need to encourage them and support them. It is to be noted that if the government, sponsors or corporations do not help us, a player will not move forward," said Ashok. "But now, we are feeling that a good atmosphere has been created. I congratulate Dilip Tirkey for this work. He has created this atmosphere in the entire country.” Former Indian Olympic and the 1998 Asian Games gold medal winning goalkeeper AB Subbiah was elated with the response to the tournament. “This is a very good initiative by Dilip and its good that the Odisha government is supporting in a full way. This is rural hockey and in such a huge way. It is going to benefit youth of Odisha who is going to participate in this tournament.” In the 1997 Junior World Cup at Milton Keynes, India lost a touch-and-go final to Australia 2-3. A British journalist, impressed by Dilip’s defending through the tournament asked him that since he played the 1996 Olympics before wearing a Junior World Cup jersey, where he eventually saw his career heading. Dilip not comfortable with interviews (he still isn’t) understood the question but replied in Hindi, “Aage badhte rehna hai (I need to keep moving forward; which was translated by the then coach V Bhaskaran). Nineteen years later, Dilip Tirkey is doing exactly that. Updated Date: Dec 17, 2016 15:55:50 IST Tags : Biju Janata Dal, Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium, Biju Patnaik Rural Hockey Championships, Dilip Tirkey, Hockey, Indian Hockey Team, Naxalites, Red Corridor, Sundergarh Indian hockey team's PR Sreejesh says exclusive camp will help goalkeepers in all-important Olympic qualifiers Australia's Fergus Kavanagh to conduct camp for India women's hockey team ahead of Olympic qualifiers Indian Hockey Men's Coach Graham Reid says players will have crucial three months as preparations for Olympics Qualifiers begin Tokyo Olympics 2020: Indian Hockey captain Manpreet Singh says next three matches crucial for men's team to seal spot in mega event 1Dilip Tirkey spreads message of hockey in India's 'Red Corridor' with 1500-team tournament 2Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel calls time on international career with Nigeria after Africa Cup of Nations 3Tour de France 2019: Britain's Simon Yates wins stage 12 as Geraint Thomas, Julian Alaphilippe finish together 4Pro Kabaddi 2019: Faith in youngsters, proper game management key to Dabang Delhi's title chances, says veteran Vishal Mane 5ISSF Junior World Cup: Sarabjot Singh bags gold in men's 10m air pistol as India maintain stranglehold on top of medal standings	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27210
__label__cc	0.632252	0.367748	What are the Flood Insurance Options in Knoxville, TN? Today we're talking about, what are the flood insurance options in Knoxville, Tennessee? Do you have more than one option? What are the resources out there? Well, today we're going to talk a little bit about that. When you're out there getting quotes for flood insurance, you want to make sure you're working with a flood insurance expert. Maybe someone who has an educational background in it, like The Flood Insurance Guru, especially if you're searching for flood insurance in Knoxville, Tennessee, or surrounding areas. You have several different options when it comes to flood insurance. The first one we're going to talk about is, really, just your traditional policy through The National Flood Insurance Program. Now, you have a couple options here, depending on when your house was built. Let's just say your house was built before 1978, or before the first flood map in Knoxville, Tennessee was put into place, then your property is what's called a Pre-FIRM Property. What this means is, an elevation certificate is not going to be required unless more than 50% of the building was improved within a given year. Now, an elevation certificate might significantly help your rate, it might completely eliminate it, but it would not be required. Now, let's say your house was built after 1978, or after the first flood map was put in place in Knoxville, Tennessee, then if you're in, what's called a, flood zone AE which is 100 year flood zone, it is going to be required that you have an elevation certificate, if you're going through the National Flood Insurance Program. However, if you're just in a regular zone A, which is a 500 year, flood zone, you may not be required. It depends if there's a base flood elevation or not. Because if there's not a base flood elevation, or one hasn't been determined, then an elevation certificate could be a complete waste of your money. So, these are just some things you'll want to be cautious about when searching for flood insurance in Knoxville, Tennessee. Now, that's just the traditional policy for the National Flood Insurance Program. You still have a few different options there. Let's just say that, your purchasing a home, and someone there already has a policy on the property. Then you have the options of doing what's called a policy transfer, where you transfer the policy from one homeowner to the next. The only catch is, flood insurance premium is paid in full, whether it be by the mortgage company, or the homeowner. So, if you're going to do a policy transfer, that seller has to be willing to walk away from the premium they've already paid. Now, many people will do this because they want to sell their home. However, that's just something you must understand. The benefit for the buyer of that house, though, is they don't have to pay anything on flood insurance until renewal. Now, your next option is, other than doing a traditional policy through the National Flood Insurance Program, or a policy transfer is, let's say that your house was built to date of compliance, and you have an elevation certificate dated back to 1990, when the house was built. It shows that, then you can grandfather that property back to 1990s flood map. Now, the National Flood Insurance Program is slowly doing away with grandfathering. The reason is they're giving you a much better rate compared to the actual risk that is there currently. So, what it's doing is creating some additional exposure. So, when it comes to flood insurance, you've got grandfathering, you've got a possible policy transfer, which is still all part of the National Flood Insurance Program, then depending on your loan type, who have an option called the private market. Now, the private market's a little bit different than FEMA. FEMA, or National Flood Insurance Program, is mandated and funded by the federal government. Private insurance company, generally, when it comes to private flood insurance, most of that is funded by a company called Lloyd's of London, which the group of different companies. There are some admitted and non-admitted companies. What is an admited company? This is a company that must follow state guidelines. If your non-admitted, it's called a surplus company, and you may not have to follow by state guidelines. What happens is, you also take the risk of this company possibly moving out-of-state without your claim being paid out. So, it's something you really want to think about when you're thinking private. Now, there are some tremendous benefits that going through private compared to the National Flood Insurance Program. For example, the National Flood Insurance Program in Knoxville, Tennessee maxes out at $250,000 on residential properties when it comes to building coverage, and $100,000 on contents. And, generally, you don't have replacement in these things. Things that also aren't available, or additional living expenses. So, if your house floods, FEMA's generally not going to pay for, maybe, a hotel or for you to rent a place while yours is being fixed, a private flood policy would. Private flood's also going to provide replacement costs on a lot of things. They're going to be able to go up the $10 million in coverage if you want it to. So, those are some things to think about when you look in the private market. The other thing is, if you have something high-risk. So, your house is more than 4 feet below base flood elevation, you're probably not going be able to find a good option in the private market. The reason for that is, private flood insurance can pick and choose what they want. FEMA kind of has to accept things the way they are, because it's a government program. Now, they might give you a different kind of rate, but they're not going to turn you down because of it, and they can't, because it's a federal program. So, one last option that you may have, depending on some scenarios where your house is, is what's called a Letter of Map Amendment or Letter of Zone Change, which we do do here at The Flood Insurance Guru. Llet's say you get an elevation certificate, and your base flood elevation is 100 feet, but your lowest adjacent grade is 101 feet, and it hasn't had any flood losses. Then what we could do is take that information to FEMA, submit it to them, and say, "Hey, we are above the base flood elevation here. We shouldn't be in a high-risk zone." And many times they will say, yes, you're correct. We're going to issue a Letter of Map Amendment., which usually takes 30 to 60 days. Then what we do is, we go through the process of getting this back from FEMA, submitting this to the mortgage company, having the mortgage company's requirement taken away that you have to carry flood insurance. This does two positive things for you. Now, it can help increase your property values, now that flood insurance is no longer required, and it allows you to take out a preferred policy with the National Flood Insurance Program, or even private flood, where you can get a preferred policy for about $450 year. It's going to give you that $250,000 in coverage, or 100,000 a year contents, or maybe more through the private market. So, if you've got questions about what exactly your flood insurance options are in Knoxville, Tennessee, please reach out to us, floodinsuranceguru.com. You can go to our Facebook or YouTube channels, The Flood Insurance Guru. You can even fill the form out below, and we'll be happy to get in touch with you, with what exactly each one of these options may mean for you. Find Flood Insurance in Knoxville Find Flood Insurance Options Knoxville TN	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27212
__label__wiki	0.727292	0.727292	How Jared Lorenzen inspired so many, including me Jared Lorenzen dies at 38 (3:11) Jeremy Schaap reflects on the life and legacy of former Kentucky and NFL quarterback Jared Lorenzen, who has died at the age of 38. (3:11) Tommy Tomlinson \| Special to ESPN We never got to be friends, exactly. We were more like soldiers who had fought in the same war. We talked in shorthand. I didn't have to explain eating a box of Girl Scout cookies in one sitting. He didn't have to explain trying to find a pair of pants that fit his waist and his thighs at the same time. In a lot of the important ways, we had lived each other's lives. Record-setting Kentucky QB Lorenzen dies at 38 Inside Jared Lorenzen's lifelong weight battle In other ways, we hadn't. Jared Lorenzen had been a star quarterback at Kentucky and won a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants. I'd had desk jobs my whole life, stringing together words for a living. That's why I was writing about him, instead of the other way around. But when we talked -- and we talked a lot, that spring and summer of 2014 -- I felt like I was talking to a mirror. I'm just now realizing that we never ate a meal together. That would have been fraught for both of us. I wanted to write about Jared because I was afraid to write my own story. Jared was known as the biggest quarterback anyone had ever seen; he often played at more than 300 pounds, and by the time I met him, he was somewhere about 400. But he wasn't as big as me. That year, I was closing in on a high of 460, and I had this weird two-sided life: I loved my work and loved my wife and loved my friends, but I often hated myself because I couldn't control my weight and I knew one day it would kill me. For years, I had been hauling around the idea that I should write about all that -- that I should share the most important story of my life. But I was afraid to reveal the darkest parts of myself. And I was terrified of the damage it might do to the people I loved. So I stuffed all that back inside and kept writing about other people. Telling Jared's story was a substitute for telling mine. I went to his office. I went to the radio station where he worked part time. I watched him play Wiffle ball with comedian Jay Mohr. I hung out at the apartment he had just moved into, strewn with boxes and clothes and toys belonging to his two kids. The one thing he had managed to do was hook up the TV. On one of my interview tapes, you can hear golf announcers in the background, calling the British Open. I talked to his mom and his ex-wife and his old agent and a bunch of his coaches. They all loved him and cared about him. None of them knew how to help him. I try to keep myself out of stories I write about other people. But as I wrote Jared's story, it became clear I had to put myself in. My struggle was the whole reason I was writing about his. I started the story this way: Jared Lorenzen and I are in love with the same woman. Her name is Little Debbie, and she makes delicious snack cakes. The story on Jared ran that August and became one of ESPN's most-read stories that year. I got hundreds of emails and messages from readers who had their own weight issues and saw something in Jared's story that made them want to change. I forwarded a bunch of those emails to Jared. He was hearing from a lot of people too. His story moved so many. One of the people Jared inspired was me. As I listened to him being so open and honest about his weight, I started to think that my story might be worth telling too. I wrote a book proposal for a memoir, and we found a publisher. That book, "The Elephant in the Room," came out this past January. Since then, I've heard from hundreds of more readers who were motivated to change because of the book or who used it as a way to connect with someone they know with a weight problem. The book would not exist if not for Jared showing me the way. I sent him a copy when it came out. We had kept in touch off and on over the years. He didn't say much except that he was doing OK. But every once in a while, I saw photos of him online. As I was getting smaller, he was getting bigger. Jared Lorenzen, a record-setting quarterback for Kentucky, died Wednesday after a battle with cardiac and renal issues. He was 38. Andy Lyons/Getty Images Jared died on Wednesday. He had gone into the hospital last week with an infection and heart and kidney issues. I don't know for a fact that they were related to his weight, but it seems likely. He was only 38. After the story came out, he started a company called Throwboy Tees; one of his nicknames as a player was the Pillsbury Throwboy. He worked on the radio team at Kentucky football games. He always had a business idea or two in his head. But I don't know that he ever found anything with the clarity and purpose that football gave him. A couple of years after the story, he finally went to the doctor and stepped on a scale for the first time in years. He weighed 560 pounds. For a while, he did a video series called "The Jared Lorenzen Project" about his fight to get back in shape. When ESPN's show, E:60, did a piece on him last year, he had dropped down to 477. This past February, he was the subject of an online documentary series, also called "The Jared Lorenzen Project." The last clip on the series' Facebook page is from two months ago. He looks tired and stressed. Jared had told the E:60 crew that he was willing to be the face of obesity, to be the one to stand up and say, "I'm fat," and then to show people what it took to get better. He had a desire to change people with the force of his personality, the way I always hope to change people with my words. Wednesday night, on Twitter, a reader named Noble Brown told a story about reading my story on Jared. At the time, Noble was about to turn 40 and weighed more than 300 pounds. He read the story and stared at the unopened can of Dr Pepper on his desk. He resolved to never drink it. He started eating better and exercising. Now he lifts weights five times a week, and 5K races are a breeze. His whole thread reads like poetry, and it ends this way: As strange as it sounds In some small way Jared Lorenzen saved my life I am deeply saddened to hear of his passing He was younger than I was when I turned my life around Perhaps in a few years, he might have done the same I'm honored and humbled that the story on Jared has made a difference for so many. I wish my words had been strong enough to make the difference for Jared. His courage made so much of a difference for me.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27215
__label__cc	0.511928	0.488072	Europos gyvenimo ir darbo sąlygų gerinimo fondas Trišalė ES agentūra teikia žinias, siekdama padėti rengti geresnę socialinę, užimtumo ir su darbu susijusią politiką Kas mes esame Direktoratas Informacinės ir ryšių technologijos Informavimas ir ryšiai Išteklių skyrius Tyrimų skyriai Veiklos parama Suinteresuotosios šalys ir partneriai Mūsų veikla Metinės ataskaitos Darbo programos Finansinė informacija 2019 m. komunikacijos kalendorius Viešųjų pirkimų galimybės Kvietimas išorės ekspertams Informacija apie stažuotes Informacija darbo ieškantiems asmenims Pasirinkti metus Naujausias leidinys Duomenys ir ištekliai Apie Eurofound tyrimus Kokybės užtikrinimas Duomenų prieinamumas Europos įmonių tyrimas (ECS) Klausimynas Europos gyvenimo kokybės tyrimas (EQLS) Išvados Papildomos analizės Analitinės ataskaitos Europos darbo sąlygų tyrimas (EWCS) Mokslinių tyrimų ataskaitos Stebėjimo tarnybos Europos gyvenimo kokybės stebėjimo tarnyba - EurLIFE Apie EurLIFE Europos pokyčių stebėsenos centras (EMCC) Apie EMCC Europos restruktūrizacijos stebėjimo centras (ERM) Duomenų suvestinė Pagalbinės restruktūrizavimo priemonės Restruktūrizavimo teisės aktai Atvejų tyrimų pertvarkymas MVĮ restruktūrizacija ERM ketvirčio ataskaitos Europos darbo vietų stebėjimo centras Darbo rinkos tyrimai Lyginamoji informacija Atvejų tyrimai ES pramonės žalinimas Europos profesinio gyvenimo stebėjimo tarnyba (EurWORK) Apie EurWORK Reprezentatyvumo tyrimai Europos darbo santykių žodynas Patraukli darbo vieta visiems Senėjanti darbo jėga Darbuotojai, turintys globos įsipareigojimų Living and working in Portugal 18 Spalis 2017 Population: 10.3 million (2017) Real GDP growth: 1.5% (2016) Unemployment rate: 11.2% (2016) Data source: Eurostat Eurofound provides research, data and analysis on a wide range of social and work-related topics. This information is largely comparative, but also offers country-specific information for each of the 28 EU Member States. Most information is available in English but some has been translated to facilitate access at national level. Eurofound strives to strengthen the ongoing link between its own work and national policy debates and priorities related to quality of life and work. Increasingly important in this context is the Europe 2020 growth and jobs strategy launched in 2010, which has five headline targets, covering employment through to social inclusion and poverty reduction. The strategy is implemented in the context of the European Semester process – the EU's annual cycle of economic policy guidance and surveillance – which ensures that Member States keep their budgetary and economic policies in line with their EU commitments through, in part, National Reform Programmes. These programmes form the basis for the European Commission's proposals for country-specific recommendations (CSRs) for each Member State. European Commission: The European Semester European Commission: The European Semester - EU country-specific recommendations European Commission: European Semester documents for Portugal 2015 Eurofound EWCS survey results in Portugal: 87% of people think their safety is not at risk because of their work The country page gives access to Eurofound's most recent survey data and news, directly related to Portugal: Living in Portugal - country-level data from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) Working life in Portugal - key characteristic of working life across a range of parameters. Read the highlights for 2018 for working life in Portugal eqls-value-same.png Life satisfaction Data source: 2016 EQLS survey ewcs-portugal.png Ability to choose or change methods of work Data source: 2015 EWCS survey ecs-portugal.png Possibility to accumulate overtime for days off Data source: 2013 ECS survey Portugal: Latest developments in working life Q1 2019 23 Gegužė 2019 Portugal: Latest working life developments Q4 2018 11 Kovas 2019 04 Gruodis 2018 19 Rugsėjis 2018 Portugal: Latest working life developments – Q1 2018 09 Vasaris 2018 Eurofound contacts in Portugal Correspondents in Portugal Correspondents report on topics related to developments in the countries working life and inform Eurofound’s pan-European comparative analysis. Read more Consortium Study Centre for Social Intervention (CESIS) / Centre for Socioeconomic and Territorial Studies (ISCTE-IUL) Eurofound governing board members form Portugal Eurofound's Governing Board represents the social partners and national governments of all Member States, as well as the European Commission. Read more Nelson Ferreira Ministry of Labour and Solidarity - Authority for Working Conditions Marcelino Pena Costa Confederation of Trade and Services of Portugal - CCP Carlos Manuel dos Anjos Alves General Workers’ Union (UGT) More resources on Portugal Undeclared work European Jobs Monitor Other country-specific information may be available in certain areas on demand. Please feel free to contact your country contact at Eurofound for this or any other information at information@eurofound.europa.eu Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) shows that both life satisfaction and happiness have increased in Portugal during the years of observation. Average life satisfaction increased from 6.0 in 2003 to 6.9 in 2016, but still slightly lower than the EU28 average of 7.1 (on a scale of 1–10). Similarly, happiness increased from 6.9 in 2003 to 7.5 in 2016, which was slightly above the EU28 average of 7.4. Respondents in Portugal are less optimistic than people on average in the EU: 54% of respondents were optimistic about their own future in 2016, in comparison to 64% on average in the EU. Similarly, 54% of respondents were optimistic about their children’s or grandchildren’s future in 2016, again lower than the EU average of 57%. Life satisfaction Mean (1-10) 6.0 6.2 6.8 6.9 Taking all things together on a scale of 1 to 10, how happy would you say you are? Mean (1-10) 6.9 6.9 7.2 7.5 Optimism about own future Agree & strongly agree - - - 54% Optimism about children’s or grandchildren’s future Agree & strongly agree - - - 54% Take part in sports or physical exercise At least once a week - - 25% 39% In general, how is your health? Very good - 11% 16% 19% WHO-5 mental wellbeing index Mean (1-100) - 60 66 66 Making ends meet With some difficulty, difficulty, and great difficulty 41% 33% 41% 37% I feel I am free to decide how to live my life Strongly agree - - 29% 19% I find it difficult to deal with important problems that come up in my life Agree & strongly agree - - - 18% When things go wrong in my life, it generally takes me a long time to get back to normal Agree & strongly agree - - - 19% The frequency of work–life balance problems in Portugal is close to the average EU level. For instance, 53% of respondents were too tired from work to do household jobs at least several times a month in 2016, compared with the EU28 average of 59%. Additionally, 36% of respondents in Portugal had difficulties to fulfil family responsibilities because of work at least several times a month, just slightly lower than the EU28 average of 38%.The least common work–life balance problem was having difficulties to concentrate at work because of family responsibilities, reported by 22% of respondents in Portugal in 2016, which was slightly above the corresponding EU28 average of 19%. (At least several times a month) I have come home from work too tired to do some of the household jobs which need to be done Total 55% 46% 49% 53% Men 49% 42% 43% 51% Women 64% 51% 56% 55% It has been difficult for me to fulfil my family responsibilities because of the amount of time I spend on the job Total 38% 29% 27% 36% I have found it difficult to concentrate at work because of my family responsibilities Total 23% 15% 17% 22% Quality of society Perceived tensions between poor and rich people have decreased in Portugal, from 25% of respondents reporting a lot of tension in 2003 to 11% in 2016. This is also significantly below the EU28 average of 29% in 2016. Perceived tensions between different racial and ethnic groups have also decreased, from 37% of respondents reporting a lot of this type of tension in 2003 to 21% in 2016. This share is low compared with the EU28 average of 41%. Only 5% of respondents in Portugal reported their involvement in unpaid voluntary work at least once a month in 2016, half the EU28 average of 10%. Social exclusion index Mean (1-5) - 2.2 2.1 2.1 Trust in people Mean (1-10) 5.0 4.3 4.3 4.7 Involvement in unpaid voluntary work % 'at least once a month' - - 7% 5% Tension between poor and rich people % reporting 'a lot of tension' 25% 23% 21% 11% Tension between different racial and ethnic groups % reporting 'a lot of tension' 37% 22% 21% 21% I feel safe when I walk alone after dark Strongly agree - - - 29% Quality of public services Quality ratings for seven public services Note: scale of 1-10, Source: EQLS 2016. The perceived quality of health services has increased in Portugal, from 4.9 in 2003 to 6.3 in 2016, advancing towards the EU28 average of 6.7 (on a scale of 1–10). Similar positive patterns can also be observed in the perceived quality of the education system and childcare services. However, the perceived quality of long-term care services has decreased in Portugal, from 5.4 in 2011 to 5.0 in 2016. The perceived quality of the state pension system deteriorated between 2003 and 2007, from 5.1 to 3.3, but has since improved slightly to 4.2 in 2016. All of the quality ratings for public services in Portugal are below their respective EU28 averages. Health services Mean (1-10) 4.9 4.9 5.5 6.3 Education system Mean (1-10) 5.4 5.4 5.8 6.5 Public transport Mean (1-10) 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.8 Childcare services Mean (1-10) - 5.6 6.0 6.2 Long-term care services Mean (1-10) - - 5.4 5.0 Social housing Mean (1-10) - - 5.4 5.3 State pension system Mean (1-10) 5.1 3.3 4.0 4.2 Working life in Portugal Autorius: Heloísa Perista, Maria da Paz Campos Lima and Paula Carrilho Institution: CESIS Published on: Penktadienis, Rugpjūtis 3, 2018 This profile describes the key characteristics of working life in Portugal. It aims to complement other EurWORK research by providing the relevant background information on the structures, institutions and relevant regulations regarding working life. This includes indicators, data and regulatory systems on the following aspects: actors and institutions, collective and individual employment relations, health and well-being, pay, working time, skills and training, and equality and non-discrimination at work. The profiles are updated annually. Highlights – Working life in 2018 Authors: Maria da Paz Campos Lima and Paula Carrilho, CESIS Updated on: 13 March 2019 Working paper: Portugal: Developments in working life 2018 In Portugal, 2018 – the third year of Socialist Party (PS) government’s mandate – was very positive from the perspective of various indicators. These included economic growth, employment creation and reduction in the unemployment rate – which was down to 6.6% – and a slight decrease in poverty and inequality levels. As in previous years, expectations surrounding post-austerity recovery were of critical concern to public sector employees, who generated a wave of strikes in the last quarter of 2018, including a general strike focused on wages and careers. This certainly presented a challenge, in view of the strict conditions imposed on public expenses in accordance with EU constraints. Legislative changes that were implemented included reinforcing gender equality rights on the grounds of equal pay for performing equal work or work of equal value; reinforcing social rights for the self-employed in relation to sickness, child cash support and unemployment benefits; creating better conditions for the self-employed in order to secure the continuity of their contributory careers and give employers increased responsibility for social security contributions for the self-employed; reducing penalties on early retirement for employees with long working careers. June 2018 saw the signing of the tripartite agreement on combating precarious work, labour market segmentation and promoting greater dynamism in collective bargaining. It included some of the measures negotiated between the leftist parties as a condition of their support for the PS government and also measures responding to the concerns of employer confederations. The trade union confederations were divided at the Standing Committee for Social Concertation (CPCS), with the General Union of Workers (UGT) signing the agreement and the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) clearly opposing it. The legislative package to implement this agreement was generally approved, with the PS voting in favour, the centre-right parties abstaining and the leftist parties voting against it. Due to some contentious issues, detailed discussion and the final vote were postponed until 2019. In relation to collective bargaining, the CGTP considered that the measures were very limited as they did not fully reinstate the principle of most favourable treatment and kept in place the possibility of termination of collective agreements by unilateral decision of one of the signatory parties. Moreover, the CGTP expressed concerns over the proposal within the tripartite agreement to replace individual employer–employee negotiations of ‘working time accounts’ with company referendums organised by the employers, a measure that CGTP viewed as a new threat to collective bargaining. The CGTP also warned that the supervision of such referendums would be almost impossible, due to lack of trade union resources and the limited presence of worker representative structures in the workplace. While these matters remained open pending the parliament’s final decision, the Ministry of Labour came forward at the end of the year with a new package, the 3 em Linha programme – with a focus on work–life balance and gender equality. The plan, which was ambitious in terms of implementation, would involve tripartite consultations and collective bargaining, and one of the issues addressed in connection with work–life balance and gender equality is precisely working time flexibility and new rights in relation to working time accounts. The debate with social partners was expected to take place in 2019. Comparative figures on working life in Portugal % (point) change Unemployment rate – total Unemployment rate – women Unemployment rate – men Unemployment rate – youth Employment rate – total Employment rate – women Employment rate – men Employment rate – youth Source: Eurostat - Real GDP per capita (chain linked volumes [2010], in EUR) and percentage change 2012-2017 (both based on tsdec100). Unemployment rate by sex and age - annual average, % [une_rt_a]; Employment rate by sex and age - annual average, % [lfsi _emp_a]. Economic and labour market context Between 2012 and 2017, Portugal’s GDP grew by 8.1%, slightly higher than the EU average of 7.4% for the same period. During this time, there was a decrease in unemployment, which stood at 9.5% in 2017. The EU average for the same year was 7.6%. Female employment rate increased slightly from 2012 and stood at 71.6% in 2017, higher than the EU average of 67.9%. Total employment rate in 2017 was 74.7, slightly higher that the EU average for the same year, 73.4%. More information on: European Commission: EURES - living and working in Portugal European Industrial Relations Dictionary: Undeclared work Data - Tackling undeclared work in Europe Legal context The main legislation covering the employment relationship and industrial relations in force are the Labour Code (Código de Trabalho) that regulates the private sector and the General Labour Law in Public Functions (Lei Geral do Trabalho em Funções Públicas) that regulates the public sector. The 2009 Labour Code was subject to seven amendments between 2011 and 2014, during the centre right government PSD/CDS, mostly to comply with the requirements of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Troika institutions – the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These amendments introduced regulations to increase labour market flexibility and decentralise collective bargaining (Law 23/2012), to allow the suspension of collective agreements in companies in crisis and to shorten the periods of validity and survival of collective agreements (Law 55/2014). The rules on the extension of collective agreements were modified by Resolution 90/2012 which introduced criteria based on employers’ associations representativeness (to employ more than 50% of all employees in the industry concerned); and later by Resolution 43/2014 that added new alternative criteria, i.e., that the number of members of the employers’ association consist at least of 30% of micro, small and medium enterprises. The amendments to the Labour Code introduced in 2015 aimed at improving gender equality at work and parental rights. The amendments introduced in 2016, in the new political cycle of the government of the Socialist Party supported by left parties, re-established four civil and religious holidays (Law 8/2016) that had been suppressed in 2012; and introduced new rules to combat modern forms of forced labour (Law 28/2016), considering not only the criminal responsibility of subcontractors and temporary staffing agencies, but also the responsibility of company users. Also Law 73/2017 reinforcing the legal framework regulating harassment at work in the private and public sectors, amended the Labour Code, the Labour Procedure Code and the General Labour Law in Public Functions. In the public sector, the most important changes were the reversal of nominal wages cuts that had been in place since 2011 and the re-establishment of the 35 hour week in the public sector, through the second amendment (Law 18/2016) to the General Labour Law in Public Functions. Industrial relations context In Portugal, industrial relations democratic institutions emerged in the context of the revolutionary transition to democracy post 1974. After almost half a century of dictatorship and the longest authoritarian corporatism in Europe (Wiarda, 1977; Schmitter, 1982, 1999), the new democratic state played a major role in the 1970s to improve labour standards and in the configuration of the system of industrial relations. The political influence of trade union and employer confederations was encouraged by the institutionalisation of tripartite concertation, a process that started in 1984 and gained increasing relevancy (Campos Lima and Naumann, 2011). In the late 1980s and in the 1990s, tripartite social pacts played a central role in conditioning collective bargaining towards wage moderation, although CGTP – the most representative trade union confederation – did not sign them. In contrast, UGT signed all those social pacts. The Labour Code 2003, a centre–right government initiative, reversed the principle of favor laboratoris and introduced mechanisms to speed up the termination of collective agreements and reduce their period of validity after expiring. Collective bargaining entered into crisis in 2004, with a sharp decline of the level of renewals of collective agreements and respective coverage (only 600,000 workers). A recovery of collective bargaining was facilitated by the medium-term tripartite agreement in 2006 on the trajectory of the minimum wage signed by all social partners. By the year 2008, when the international financial crisis occurred, around 1,800,000 workers were covered by collective agreement renewals, representing around 65% of total employees (excluding public administration). The 2009 Labour Code, a socialist government initiative, introduced new rules: re-establishing partially the favor laboratoris principle; further facilitating the unilateral ‘caducity’ of collective agreements and reducing their survival period; and introducing the possibility of non-union negotiations at firm level, based on trade union mandate (Campos Lima and Abrantes 2016; Campos Lima, 2017). The 2003 Labour Code had opened the way for employers to withdraw unilaterally from existing collective agreements, but due to loopholes in the law, this did not apply to some very important agreements (mainly in manufacturing). The revision of the Labour Code in 2009 removed all obstacles for the withdrawal from agreements. The measures and legislation imposed in the period 2011-2014, during the centre–right coalition, in line with MoU requirements (and beyond), reduced even more drastically the bargaining power of trade unions. Legislation gave more room for non-union representatives to negotiate at firm level. The period of survival of collective agreements was even more reduced, encouraging employers to withdraw unilaterally from existing agreements. Stricter conditions (based on representativeness of employer organisations) were required for the extension of collective agreements. It became possible to proceed to the suspension (derogation) of collective agreements for companies in crisis. All these changes combined with the economic crisis led to a dramatic decline in the level of collective agreement renewals and workers covered, which reached the lowest historical levels in 2012, 2013 and 2014 (Campos Lima, 2017). The increase of the minimum wage in 2015 and 2016 (in connection with tripartite agreements) and the milder exigencies introduced by the 2014 rules on the extension, contributed to some recovery of collective bargaining, but there is still a long way to go. This is one of the challenges of the present socialist government. The left parties that support the government and CGTP have been asking for an in-depth revision of the legal framework of collective bargaining in order to fully re-establish the principle of favor laboratoris and to allow collective agreements to expire only following a joint decision of the parties. The debate on the minimum wage increase for 2017, and on labour market reforms and collective bargaining at the CPCS, initiated in the last quarter of 2016, culminated in the signature of the Tripartite Commitment for a Mid-term Concertation Agreement in January 2017 and the signature of the Amendment to the Tripartite Commitment in February 2017 (see section Tripartite and bipartite bodies and concertation). In line with the debate at the CPCS in 2017, the government revised the criteria for the extension of collective agreements (see extension mechanisms) and a bipartite agreement between employer confederations and trade union confederations suspended temporarily for 18 months any unilateral initiatives demanding the expire of agreements (see expiry of collective agreements). Trade unions, employers’ organisations and public institutions play a key role in the governance of the employment relationship, working conditions and industrial relations structures. They are interlocking parts in a multilevel system of governance that includes European, national, sectoral, regional (provincial or local) and company levels. This section looks into the main actors and institutions and their role in Portugal. Public authorities involved in regulating working life In Portugal, the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity, and Social Security (Ministério do Trabalho, Solidariedade e Segurança Social, MTSS) approves and implements policies related to employment, vocational and qualification training, labour market and industrial relations through the Directorate-General for Employment and Labour Relations (Direção-Geral do Emprego e das Relações de Trabalho, DGERT) and the Working Conditions Authority (Autoridade para as Condições do Trabalho, ACT). DGERT is responsible for supporting the development of policies, legislation and regulations on employment and vocational training and on industrial relations, including working conditions and health, safety and well-being at work. ACT is responsible for promoting improved working conditions by ensuring compliance with labour regulations and for promoting occupational risk prevention policies in public administration departments and bodies, and in all sectors of activity. Two other bodies are able to pursue inquiries in cases of occupational disease or other damage to health that occurred during work or are related to work. The Social Security Institute (Instituto da Segurança Social, ISS), through the Protection against Occupational Risks Department (Departamento de Proteção Contra os Riscos Profissionais), is responsible for managing the treatment and recovery from illness or disability arising from occupational hazards. The Directorate-General of Health (Direção-Geral da Saúde, DGS) is one of the main stakeholders in the definition, promotion and enforcement of occupational health policy, through its Environmental and Occupational Health Division (Divisão de Saúde Ambiental e Ocupacional). The DGS is responsible for promoting the assessment of the relationships between work and health/ill health and evaluating the impact of work on health (disability and death). It is also responsible for supporting the development of policies, legislation, regulations, guidelines, etc. on health surveillance. Representativeness Portuguese legislation does not provide rules regarding criteria and mechanisms to access the representativeness of trade unions and employer associations and regarding the implications of representativeness in social dialogue institutions and collective bargaining. All officially registered unions or employer associations are entitled to engage in collective bargaining. What counts is mutual recognition. The MoU required that the extension of collective agreements should be based on representativeness, both of trade unions and employer associations. The legal changes in 2012 and in 2014 referred only to employer representativeness/representation. In the 2012 version, they had to represent 50% of employment in the sector, in many sectors an impossible target. In the 2014 version their membership had to include 30% of micro, small and medium enterprises, to be allowed to extend the collective agreements. These rules were withdrawn in 2017 for a number of reasons: the negative impact in collective bargaining, by reducing the number of extensions and the number of updated collective agreements and their coverage; the weakness of employers’ associations as highlighted by the Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016, with only 19% of companies in Portugal in 2014 claiming to be affiliated to employer associations; and the fact that both employer confederations and trade union confederations were opposed or reticent to criteria of the extension based on representativeness/representation. In May 2017 Resolution 82/2017 (PDF) replaced the criteria of representativeness/representation of employer associations by new criteria for the extension of collective agreements: the effect on the wage bill and economic impacts; the level of the wage increase; the impact on the wage scale and on the reduction of inequality; the percentage of workers to be covered (in total and by gender); and the proportion of women that will benefit. More information on representativeness of the main social partner organisations can be found in Eurofound’s representativeness study of the cross-industry social partners or in Eurofound’s sectoral representativeness studies. Publication: Representativeness of the social partners in the European cross-industry social dialogue About trade union representation The right to organise in a trade union (liberdade sindical) is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and by the Labour Code. Very few groups are excluded from this right, namely members of the armed forces and militarised security forces. Measuring trade union membership in Portugal is a particularly difficult task because most unions do not provide updated and accurate information. Since 2010, the annual mandatory survey (Relatório Único/Ordinance 55/2010) for all companies in the market sector (Relatório Único/Ordinance 55/2010) includes a question to employers about the number of employees affiliated to trade unions. As highlighted in the Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016, the percentage of companies that indicate unionised workers is less than 4% and the data on unionised workers points to a union density between 11% and 9% in the period of 2010-2014. Furthermore, these data do not include the public sector where trade union density is always much higher. Published data (Visser, ICTWSS 5.1., 2016) show a remarkable stability of union density in Portugal until 2011. It would be necessary to do further in-depth research in order to check whether this picture reflects the real trends. The latest published data (Visser, ICTWSS 5.1, 2016) reported that CGTP comprised around 460,000 members in 2011 and UGT around 193,000 in the same year and that independent unions comprised around 19,000 members. There is some discrepancy between this data and the own assessment by trade union confederations, in particular by UGT. According to the CGTP report (13th congress of CGTP /February 2016), this confederation has lost almost 64,000 members in the last four years, one-tenth of the 614,000 members it had in 2012. UGT reported (Expresso, 20 April 2016) they had lost 80,000 members in those four years, estimating they have at present around 420,000 members. Union density is particularly high in public administration and in large state-owned companies, and it is above the average in transport and manufacturing. Trade union membership and trade union density Trade union density in terms of active employees (Visser ICTWSS 5.1, 2016) Trade union membership in 1,000s Main trade union confederations and federations There are two trade union confederations (CGTP and UGT) that have access to tripartite social concertation at macro level (Standing Committee for Social Concertation, CPCS). Involved in collective bargaining General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses – Intersindical Nacional) CGTP-IN In 2011, approximately 460,000 Source: ICTWSS Database 5.1 September 2016 in XLSX, J. Visser, (AIAS), University of Amsterdam No, not directly (only via its member organisations) General Union of Workers (União Geral de Trabalhadores) Source: ICTWSS Database 5.1 September 2016 in XLSX, Jelle Visser, (AIAS), University of Amsterdam Union Federation of Financial Sector (Federação Nacional do Sector Financeiro) FEBASE (UGT) At present, approximately 79,000 (large share of retired workers) Source: Data based on results of internal elections at the three unions in the banking sector and authors’ estimates of membership of the two unions in the insurance industry Federation of unions of Metal Chemical, Electric, Pharmaceutical, Paper, Printing, Energy and Mining industries (Federação Intersindical das Indústrias Metalúrgicas, Químicas, Eléctricas, Farmacêutica, Celulose, Papel, Gráfica, Imprensa, Energia e Minas) FIEQUIMETAL (CGTP-IN) Due to a broad and complex process of mergers carried out by FIEQUIMETAL during the past few years, it is difficult to estimate the membership numbers of this federation, but FIEQUIMETAL probably has between 70,000 and 90,000 members National Federation of Teachers (Federação Nacional dos Professores) FENPROF (CGTP-IN) Source: Data based on results of internal elections at the member unions National Federation of Public Sector Trade Unions (Federação Nacional dos Sindicatos da Função Pública) FNSFP (CGTP-IN) Between 50,000 and 65,000 Federation of unions of Textile, Wool, Clothing, Footwear and Leather workers (Federação dos Sindicatos dos Trabalhadores Têxteis, Lanifícios, Vestuário, Calçado e Peles de Portugal) FESETE (CGTP-IN) During the past 15 years, the most comprehensive and profound restructuring among Portuguese unions was carried out by FIEQUIMETAL. The process began in 1999 with the merger of CGTP’s metal and chemical and chemical workers’ federations and was continued in 2007 with the integration of the electrical workers’ federation. In 2010, eight of FIEQUIMETAL’s member unions merged into four newly created regional unions covering several branches of manufacturing. In the same year, the national Union of Paper and Printing Workers integrated itself into these four new organisations. FIEQUIMETAL now covers the following sectors: metal, chemical, electrical, pharmaceutical, paper and pulp, graphical, press, energy and mining. Another important structuring process occurred in 2007 when UGT’s three banking and two insurance unions created the National Federation of the Finance Sector (FEBASE). During the same year, CGTP’s transport and communication unions founded FECTRANS. In contrast to FIEQUIMETAL, the creation of FEBASE and FECTRANS did not result in restructuring the member organisations. Employers’ organisations About employers’ representation The Constitution guarantees the right to organise voluntarily and protects against any coercion to affiliate in an association, and the Labour Code specifies this right for employers’ organisations. As regards the legal status of interest associations, there is an important distinction between the employers’ organisations that are recognised as social partners on the one hand and pure trade associations on the other. The main employers’ organisations that are represented in the most important cross-sectoral, national institution for social dialogue, the Permanent Commission of Social Concertation (Comissão Permanente de Concertação Social, CPCS) are: the Entrepreneurial Confederation of Portugal (Confederação Empresarial de Portugal, CIP), the Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal (Confederação do Comércio e Serviços de Portugal, CCP), the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (Confederação dos Agricultores de Portugal, CAP), and the Confederation of Portuguese Tourism (Confederação do Turismo Português, CTP). The Entrepreneurial Confederation of Portugal was founded in 2010 as a result of the merger of the Confederation of Portuguese Industry (CIP) with the two large national entrepreneurial associations, AIP and AEP. With this merger, CIP consolidated its leading role in the employers’ camp. There are no published membership data regarding employers’ organisations. However the annual mandatory survey to all companies in the market sector (Relatório Único) includes a question to employers about their affiliation in employers’ associations and their number of employees, which allows to estimate the overall employers’organisations density in terms of the percentage of companies that are affiliated (19% in 2014) and in terms of active employees (39% in 2014), as reported in the Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016. Employers’ organisations – membership and density Employers’ organisation density in terms of active employees ECS 2013 survey question: ‘Is your company a member of any employers’ organisation which participates in collective bargaining?’ National Source: Relatório Único/ Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016 Employers’ organisation density in private sector establishments* European Company Survey 2013 National Source: Relatório Único/Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016 * Percentage of employees working in an establishment that is a member of any employers’ organisation that is involved in collective bargaining. Main employers’ organisations There are two main employers’ confederations (CIP and CCP) covering more than one sector that have access to the body of tripartite social concertation at macro level (Standing Committee for Social Concertation, CPCS). Main employers’ organisations and confederations Entrepreneurial Confederation of Portugal (Confederação Empresarial de Portugal) Approximately 820,000 (without members of Chambers of Industry and Commerce) Source: Authors’ calculations based on data provided by CIP No, only via its members Confederation of Trade and Services of Portugal (Confederação do Comércio e Serviços de Portugal) Tripartite and bipartite bodies and concertation The tripartite body for social concertation at macro level is the Standing Committee for Social Concertation (Comissão Permanente de Concertação Social – CPCS). It was created in 1984 and produced several agreements on income policies, setting reference values for the wage increases in collective bargaining. In 1990 and 1996, broad pacts covering a wide range of areas were signed. These agreements were only signed by one trade union confederation, UGT; CGTP-IN did not sign any of them. In 1991, the first specific agreements were signed at the CPCS: one on health and safety at the workplace and the other on vocational education and training. After the last broad agreement signed in 1996 (which was also the last agreement with guidelines for wage bargaining), this new type of specific agreement became the dominant means of social concertation until 2008. CGTP-IN signed several agreements of this type. The areas covered by these specific agreements were health and safety (1991, 2000, 2006), occupational training (1991, 2000, 2007), public pension schemes (2001, 2006), and the minimum wage mid-term agreement (2006). The tripartite agreements of 2008 and 2012 encompassed again a large number of issues including the revision of labour legislation, both against the opposition of CGTP. Analysis of social dialogue under the shadow of Troika and of tripartite agreement 2012 suggest that mostly the government combined unilateral decision with subordinating social dialogue to MoU demands and that no significant trade-off was really achieved (Campos Lima and Abrantes, 2016; Almeida et al, 2016). Since the last quarter of 2014, tripartite concertation with a focus on the minimum wage regained importance with the signature of a tripartite agreement. In the new political cycle, under the government of the Socialist Party supported by the left parties, another tripartite agreement was signed with a focus on the implementation of the minimum wage update for 2016. Moreover, the debate on the minimum wage increase for 2017 and on labour market reforms and collective bargaining at the CPCS initiated in the last quarter of 2016 culminated in the signature of the Tripartite Commitment for a Mid-term Concertation Agreement in January 2017 and the signature of the Amendment to the Tripartite Commitment in February 2017. This Tripartite Commitment comprised the 2017 minimum wage update and a fiscal measure benefiting SMES and also the compromise to promote joint actions to improve collective bargaining and modernise the labour market, including: the bipartite commitment between trade union and employer confederations (extended also to the state as an employer) to commit their constituencies (unions, employer associations, single employers) not to require unilaterally the expiry of collective agreements during a period of 18 months (starting January 2017); the tripartite debate based on the Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016 in relation to the following issues: measures to combat labour market segmentation; revision of the regime of wage guarantee fund; and discussion of a proposal regarding the framework and legal deadlines for the extension of collective agreements. Main tripartite and bipartite bodies Issues covered Standing Committee for Social Concertation (Comissão Permanente de Concertação Social, CPCS) Tripartite All issues related to work relations, employment, economic and social affairs; agreements may refer to political strategies and/or to specific measures Workplace-level employee representation The rights of works councils (comissões de trabalhadores) and trade union organisation at the company level are guaranteed by the Constitution and regulated by the Labour Code. The competences of works councils are largely limited to information and consultation. The legal possibility of unions to delegate their ability to sign collective agreements to works councils created in 2009 and extended in 2012 did not have any effect in practice. Unions have the exclusive right to sign legally binding collective agreements and to call for strikes. Union structures at company level (delegates or committees) are involved in collective bargaining if the trade union board wants to be. It is the board who makes the decisions in relation to the negotiations. Data from the ECS confirm the findings of a survey in the 1990s: the trade union delegates are the most numerous bodies (in terms of establishments and employees covered). Regulation, composition and competences of the bodies Competences of the body Involved in company level collective bargaining? Thresholds/rules when they need to be/can be set up Workers’ Commission (Comissão de Trabalhadores, CT) Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and Labour Code Workers elected by all employees of the company No, but since 2009 (and extended in 2012), the Labour Code allows unions to delegate their right to collective bargaining to representative bodies at company level. This includes CTs. (The central competence of CTs is information and consultation.) CTs can be created in all companies. There is no threshold. Trade union delegate (Delegado Sindical) Delegate elected by the members of the respective union employed in the company Involved via their trade union. The signing party of collective agreements is always the union. Union delegates may be elected in all companies. There is no threshold. Union Committee (Comissão Sindical, CS) or Inter-union Committee (Comissão Intersindical, CIS) Constituted by Union Delegates of one (CS) or several (CIS) unions Involved via their trade union(s). The signing party of collective agreements is always the union. Union Committees and Inter-Union committees may be elected in all companies. There is no threshold. Employee representation at establishment level In the figure, we see a comparison between Portugal and European Union for the people with 'Establishment size : All' when asked 'Official structure of employee representation present at establishment'. For the 'Yes' answer, Portugal's score is lower than the European Union score. For the 'No' answer, Portugal's score is higher than the European Union score. The National comparisons visualisation presents a comparative overview for the values of all answers between two selected countries. The central concern of employment relations is the collective governance of work and employment. This section looks into collective bargaining in Portugal. Bargaining system Collective agreements are published in the Ministry of Labour’s official bulletin and are legally binding. There are no collective agreements on wages in public administration. The economic and social crisis in 2011–2013 combined with the introduction of stricter criteria to extend the agreements (2012 and 2014) implemented under the Memorandum of Understanding resulted in a collapse of collective bargaining at all levels – but with more impact in sector multi-employer bargaining – while the intended decentralisation did not take place. Although the number of company agreements as a percentage of total agreements increased, this was more the result of the fall in sector-level agreements than of an increase of company bargaining. In 2016, the 58 company agreements signed represented 39.6% of all collective agreements, and represented only around of 5.0% of the workers covered by collective bargaining (DGERT, 2017). Wage bargaining coverage Following the implementation of legal changes in the collective bargaining legal framework required by the Troika, there has been a dramatic decline of the level of renewals of collective agreements, with their coverage dropping in 2011 from 1, 242, 141 workers (around 53. 2% of total employees in the private sector) to unprecedented historic levels of 18. 9% in 2012 and around 11% in 2013 and 2014. Since 2015, a slow process of recovery started with the increase of the share of workers covered by collective agreements that were reviewed or newly published: 568,900 employees (around 25.3%) in 2015; and 749, 348 (around 32. 4%) in 2016. In 2017, the number of workers covered by updated collective agreements increased by 9.5%, reaching 820, 883 workers. It seems there is still a long way to go to reach the level of 2011 and in particular the levels before the 2008 international crisis. Considering the most recent edition (2016), the government survey Quadros de Pessoal registered an 87.5% total coverage of all legally existing agreements in the private sector. This ‘accumulated coverage rate’ includes a number of agreements that have not been reviewed for many years and have therefore lost a large part of their regulatory capacity. (Campos Lima, 2017; DERT/DGERT, 2016; DERT/DGERT, 2017; DERT/DGERT, 2018). Collective wage bargaining coverage of employees at different levels 2010 – SES 2011 - Quadros de Pessoal 2011, DGERT/Relatório sobre Regulamentação Coletiva de Trabalho 2017; Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016. 2013 – ECS 2016 – DGERT/Relatório sobre Regulamentação Coletiva de Trabalho 2017. Sources: Eurofound, European Company Survey 2013 (ECS), private sector companies with establishments >10 employees (NACE B–S) – multiple answers possible; Eurostat, Structure of Earnings Survey, companies >10 employees (NACE B–S), single answer: more than 50% of employees covered by such an agreement. For more information on the methodology: Quadros de Pessoal/DGERT/Relatórios sobre a Regulamentação Coletiva de Trabalho (2010-2018). Collective bargaining coverage – national data Potential bargaining coverage of agreements revised in the respective year (in the private sector) DGERT/Relatório sobre Regulamentação Coletiva de Trabalho 2017. Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016. Bargaining coverage of all legally existing agreements (in the private sector) Bargaining levels Since the creation of the Portuguese collective bargaining system in the 1970s–1980s, the most important level by far has always been the sector or branch. The agreements at this level referred to more than 90% of the total workforce potentially covered by all levels of collective bargaining. There are no collective agreements at cross-sector level. Bargaining at company level is important in some sectors (such as in public utilities). In practice, there is no decentralisation in collective bargaining in Portugal. Levels of collective bargaining, 2016 National level (intersectoral) Sectoral level Company level Principal or dominant level Important but not dominant level Existing level Up to 2009, company agreements could only be signed by trade unions. Since 2009, company bargaining can be also conducted by non-union bodies in companies above 500 employees; and since 2012 in companies above 150 employees – but still under the delegation of trade unions (Article 491 No. 3 of the Labour Code, with the changes introduced by Law No. 23/2012). However, agreements of this particular type have not been signed since the creation of that possibility, as documented in the Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016 (GEP/MTSSS, 2017). Moreover, there is no significant articulation between bargaining levels, insofar as company agreements are not subordinated to the framework of sector collective agreements. For instance, it is possible that the trade union that signs a given company agreement is not the same trade union that signed the sector agreement in force. Competition between unions (affiliated to CGTP, UGT or independent) and expiry of sector collective agreements contribute to that possibility. On the other hand, Law No. 23/2012 made it possible for collective agreements to include clauses of articulation between levels, but very few agreements signed since then have included such a type of clause (CRL/MTSSS, 2016). Timing of the bargaining rounds The period between the signature of an agreement and its publication in the Official Bulletin of the Ministry of Labour (BTE) may vary between a few weeks to a few months. There are large variations in the duration of bargaining rounds between sectors and years. This is a second difficulty in determining the part of the year when bargaining rounds usually take place. The present crisis in bargaining and the resulting low numbers of agreements do not allow significant patterns of timing to be identified, as it was possible to do before the crisis. In general, bargaining rounds take place on a yearly basis, in connection with wage bargaining. Trade union confederations follow up on sector bargaining and provide some guidance but it is at the sector or federation level that coordination with lower-level units takes place. High-level employers implicitly coordinate changes among their lower-level affiliates. During the first decade of tripartite concertation at macro level (1987–1997), wage bargaining coordination took the form of tripartite macro agreements on income policies (Campos Lima and Naumann, 2011). Non-binding tripartite agreements on the increase of the national minimum wage may have an influence on collective bargaining outcomes because they put pressure on the lower wages of the existing wage tables. This occurred during 2008–2010, and more recently since 2015, because the national minimum wage after the increases exceeded the level of the lowest wage groups of many collective agreements, Extension mechanisms Collective agreements can be extended by a decree issued by the Ministry of Labour. Until the crisis, this was a pervasive practice in many sectors. The 2011 MoU required that the extension of collective agreements should be based on representativeness, both of trade unions and employer associations. The legal changes in 2012 and in 2014 referred only to employer representativeness/representation. In the 2012 version, they had to represent 50% of employment in the sector, in many sectors an impossible target. In the 2014 version, their membership had to include 30% of micro, small and medium enterprises, to be allowed to extend the collective agreements. These rules were withdrawn in 2017 for a number of reasons: the negative impact on collective bargaining, by reducing the number of extensions and the number of updated collective agreements and their coverage; the weakness of employers’ associations as highlighted in the Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016, with only 19% of the companies in Portugal in 2014 claiming to be affiliated to employer associations; and the fact that both employer confederations and trade union confederations were opposed or reticent to the criteria of extension based on representativeness/representation. In May 2017, Resolution 82/2017 replaced the criteria of representativeness/representation of employer associations by new criteria for the extension of collective agreements: the effect on the wage bill and economic impacts; the level of the wage increase; the impact on the wage scale and on the reduction of inequality; the percentage of workers to be covered (in total and by gender); and the proportion of women that will benefit. Derogation mechanisms Law 23/2012, established the possibility of ‘open clauses’ by allowing collective agreements to specify that rules on geographical mobility, working time and wages can be set by agreements on another level (as required by the Troika MoU). However no cases were reported of agreements including this type of clauses (CRL/MTSSS, 2016; GEP/MTSSS, 2017). Derogations in a strict sense were not possible until recently, but this changed in August 2014. The seventh revision of the Labour Code introduced the possibility to temporarily suspend collective agreements in the case of a severe crisis that ‘gravely effects the normal activity of the company’. The suspension is only possible if the respective employers’ organisation(s) and trade union(s) sign a written agreement for that purpose. Expiry of collective agreements The 2003 Labour Code introduced mechanisms to speed up the termination of collective agreements and reduce their period of validity after expiring and the 2009 Labour Code facilitated unilateral ‘caducity’ of collective agreements and reduced their survival period. In line with Troika MoU requirements, legislation in 2014 (see the section Legal context) further reduced the period of validity and survival period. Expiration becomes effective if one of the signing parties officially ‘denounces’ the agreement, thus triggering the process of caducity. This process takes at least 14 months (starting on the date of denunciation) for the agreement to be effectively cancelled. The employees who were covered by the agreement before its caducity individually keep a set of rights stipulated in the agreement, such as their remuneration, their category/function, working time and social protection. The employer associations and companies have been the protagonists of the unilateral requirements for the caducity of agreements. The legal measures had undermined union power and the quality and balance collective bargaining in a number of sectors. The Tripartite Commitment for a Mid-term Concertation Agreement signed in January 2017 comprised a bipartite agreement between employer confederations and trade union confederations to suspend any requests of caducity during 18 months. While this initiative might facilitate the recovery of collective bargaining, it does not respond to the problem insofar as the measure is temporary. Trade union confederation CGTP has been calling for revision of the legal framework in order to re-establish the principle that a collective agreement only expires when both signatory parties agree to do so, a principle that has been entrenched in the collective bargaining system until 2003. Peace clauses Peace clauses exist in collective agreements but they are not common. Other aspects of working life addressed in collective agreements Collective agreements encompass a large number of issues but in the few last years collective bargaining prioritised wage bargaining and working time flexibility. Regulations on working time accounts and other forms of working time flexibility have been addressed in a number of collective agreements (CRL/MTSSS, 2016, 2017; GEP/MTSSS, 2017). Industrial action and disputes In Portugal, strikes are the most widely used form of industrial action by far. Other forms of industrial dispute, such as sit-ins and other disruptive actions, were relevant during the revolutionary period (1974–1975) and its aftermath, but they do not occur any longer. An exception may be when workers at a factory that is closing try to stop the withdrawal of equipment and material from the establishment in order to avoid their sale before the company has paid its debt to the dismissed workforce. Incidence of different forms of industrial action between 2010 and 2013 Work-to-rule or refusal to do overtime Work stoppage or strike for less than a day Strike of a day or more Blockade or occupation Note: Percentage of private sector establishments reporting any form of industrial action during the indicated period. Source: European Company Survey 2013 Industrial action developments, 2012–2015 Working days lost per 1,000 employees Number of strikes Top four reasons Wages (26.9%) Working conditions (19.5%) Statute of the company (8.5%) Employment and training (6%) Statute of company (17.1%) Employment and training (12.5%) Statute of company (8.1%) Employment and training (6.3%) Collective regulation procedures (7.2%) Source: GEE, 2014a, 2014b; GEP, 2016, 2017. Dispute resolution mechanisms Collective dispute resolution mechanisms The Labour Code regulates the following collective dispute resolution mechanisms: Conciliation and Mediation (Labour Code, Articles 523–528) : Conciliation may be initiated at the request of one or both parties of the conflict. The process is normally carried out at the responsible service of the Ministry of Labour. The parties are obliged to attend the conciliation meetings, but the success of the process depends entirely on their will. If the conciliation fails, it may be transformed into mediation. Mediation may be initiated at the request of one or both parties of the conflict. The mediator is appointed by the Ministry of Labour. He or she presents a compromise for the resolution of the conflict. The parties are obliged to attend the mediation meetings, but the success of the process depends entirely on their will. Voluntary arbitration (Labour Code, Articles 506–507): The parties involved in the negotiation of a collective agreement may initiate a process of voluntary arbitration at any time during the conflict. The arbitrating body is comprised of one representative from each side of the conflict (employers and trade unions) and a third member who is chosen by the two representatives. The involved parties are obliged to inform the Ministry of Labour about the beginning and the conclusion of the process. Mandatory arbitration (Labour Code, Articles 508–509): Mandatory arbitration may take place if all previous steps of negotiation and conciliation in relation to a collective agreement (conciliation, mediation and voluntary arbitration) have failed and if the majority of social partners represented at the CPCS recommend it. In case of risks to life, health or security of citizens, the Ministry of Labour may unilaterally initiate the mandatory arbitration (after consultation with the CPCS). In the case of the negotiation of a completely new agreement, one of the parties may request mandatory arbitration if the other one has brought all previous steps of negotiation and conciliation to failure. The Ministry of Labour decides on the execution of a mandatory arbitration, taking into consideration (a) the number of workers affected by the conflict, (b) the relevance of social protection of the covered workers, (c) the social and economic impact of the conflict, and (d) the position of the involved parties regarding the object of the arbitration. After consultation of the involved parties and the regulating or supervising body of the respective sector, the Ministry of Labour unilaterally determines the decision regarding the arbitration. Necessary arbitration (Labour Code, Articles 510–511): If a collective agreement expires and is not substituted by another agreement during the 12 months (covering at least 50% of the respective workforce), the Ministry of Labour may initiate the process of a necessary arbitration (which is regulated by a specific decree-law). This type of arbitration is designed to be triggered in the course of the expiration of a collective agreement. In the case of a strike in a sector or institution that provides indispensable services for the population, the respective trade union is obliged to present in its prior notice of the strike submitted at the Ministry of Labour a proposal for ‘minimum services’. If the involved parties do not come to a common solution, an arbitration takes place at the Economic and Social Council (Conselho Económico e Social, CES) (Labour Code, Articles 534, 537–538). Individual dispute resolution mechanisms The Labour Code (Article 492-2 f) stipulates that collective agreements shall regulate conflicts regarding employment contracts, ‘namely by conciliation, mediation and arbitration’. It seems that the most important collective agreements revised since 2009 (textile, clothing, shoe, metal, construction, commerce) do not make use of this legal possibility to regulate the resolution of individual conflicts. In the case of disciplinary measures against an individual worker and in case of dismissal, the respective works council and trade union organisations must be informed (Labour Code, Articles 353, 356–357). In the case of the dismissal of a worker resulting from the extinction of the workplace or because of ‘inadaptation’ of the worker to the demands of his or her job, the respective works council and trade union organisations must be informed and consulted (Labour Code, Articles 370, 375, 377–378). The Labour Code (Article 387) states that the legality and admissibility of a dismissal can only be judged by a legal court. The most common forms of collective dispute resolution in Portugal in relation to collective bargaining are conciliation and mediation. Arbitration is less common. The Annual Report on Collective Bargaining 2015 (CRL/MTSSS, 2016) examined the trends observed in the period 2005–2015, concluding that the most common and most successful form of dispute resolution has been conciliation. However, between, 2010 and 2014, the cases of conciliation that failed outnumbered the successful ones. Mediation has been less frequent and with more limited results. Between 2005 and 2015, only one decision based on voluntary arbitration was published; and three processes of compulsory arbitration were concluded. As to the necessary arbitration, there was not a single case in the last decade. Individual employment relations are the relationship between the individual worker and their employer. This relationship is shaped by legal regulation and by the outcomes of social partner negotiations over the terms and conditions governing the employment relationship. This section looks into the start and termination of the employment relationship and entitlements and obligations in Portugal. Start and termination of the employment relationship Requirements regarding an employment contract According to the Labour Code (Law 7/2009 of 12 February, Article 68-2), the minimum working age is 16 years. A person aged less than 16 who has completed compulsory education may be hired for soft jobs with adequate tasks (Article 68-3), or in a family company a person aged less than 16 may work under the direct supervision of an adult family member (Article 68-4). In any case, the employer must inform the inspecting authority about the hiring of a person aged less than 16 within eight days (Article 68-5). In Portugal, employment contracts are not subject to specific formalities. However, the Portuguese Labour Code requires that employment contracts in a written form should include information regarding: the identification of the employer and the employee; the workplace; the daily and weekly working hours; the date of the contract and the date of its entry into force; functions to be performed by the employee; the amount of the basic wage and other remuneration; a definition of the notice period in case of termination of the contract. There is no timeframe for signing the contract. The Labour Code protects workers who do not have clear contractual situations. A worker who does not have a written and signed contract may be considered as an effective worker. Dismissal and termination procedures According to the Portuguese Labour Code (Law 7/2009 of 12 February), an employment contract may be terminated due to: expiration; revocation; dismissal for a cause attributable to the employee; collective dismissal; dismissal due to elimination of the job; dismissal for inability to adapt; unilateral termination of the contract by the employee without just cause; unilateral termination of the contract by the employee with just cause. Dismissal of the employee without just cause or for political or ideological reasons is forbidden. The employer must inform the employee of the notice period for termination of the employment contract. Entitlements and obligations Parental, maternity and paternity leave Portuguese legislation regulates parental leave, not maternity or paternity leave. Nonetheless, it contains an incentive that favours those cases where both parents use the paternity leave. Statutory leave arrangements In Portugal there are no specific arrangements regarding maternity leave. Who pays? Initial parental leave is 120 or 150 consecutive days of leave. It is obligatory for the mother to take 42 days (six weeks) following the birth; the remaining period may be shared between the father and the mother by mutual agreement. The duration of the leave is extended by 30 days in the case of shared leave; each parent takes a leave of 30 consecutive days or two periods of 15 consecutive days. Mothers have the option to take up to 30 days of initial parental leave before birth. It is obligatory for the father to take 15 working days’ exclusive parental leave, of which five days must be taken consecutively immediately after birth and 10 days during the subsequent 30 days. Initial parental benefit is extended by 30 days per child in the case of multiple births. In the case of multiple births, an extra two days for each child (besides the first one) are added to the compulsory parental leave exclusive of the father. There is an extended parental leave. This may be granted to one or to both parents (alternately), up to a maximum period of three months (for each parent) provided that it takes places immediately after the Initial Parental Benefit or after the Extended Parental Benefit from the other parent. The parental leave benefit varies according to the option of the parental leave: - 120 and 150 days’ initial parental leave corresponds to a daily allowance of 100% and 80% of the average daily wage, respectively. - In the case of shared leave between the father and the mother of 150 or 180 days, the benefit corresponds to a daily allowance of 100% or 83% of the average daily wage, respectively. When the level of earnings is very low, the law provides a minimum amount of €11.44 per day, equal to 80% of the 1/30 Index of Social Support (€428.90 in 2018). For the extended parental leave of three months the benefit corresponds to a daily allowance of 25% of the average daily wage. When the level of earnings is very low, the law provides a minimum amount of €5.72 per day, equal to 40% of the 1/30 Index of Social Support (€428.90 in 2018). The public social security system is responsible for the payment of these leaves. Decree law 91/2009 of 9 April, amended by Decree-Law 70/2010 of 16 June, Decree-Law 133/2012 of 27 June and Law 120/2015 of 1 September . Law 7/2009 of 12 February (Labour Code) – updated version Paternity leave In Portugal, there are no specific arrangements regarding paternity leave. In Portugal, the right to paid sick leave is granted by law (Decree-Law 28/2004 of 4 February, with the changes introduced by Decree-Law 146/2005 of 26 August, Decree-Law 302/2009 of 22 October, Law 28/2011 of 16 June and Decree-Law 133/2012 of 27 June) to employees working under a labour contract (the worker should have made contributions to the social security system for at least six months, consecutive or not) and, optionally, to independent workers too. Additionally, beneficiaries must have registered earnings for at least twelve days of work in the four months immediately before the month preceding the onset of incapacity. However, this condition does not apply to self-employed workers or to seafarers covered by the voluntary social security scheme (these workers must have paid their social security contributions up to the end of the third month preceding the onset of incapacity). The benefit is payable from the fourth day of incapacity for work onwards (there is an unpaid three-day waiting period) in the case of employees or from the 31st day of incapacity for work onwards (unpaid 30-day waiting period) in the case of self-employed workers or beneficiaries covered by the voluntary social security scheme. No waiting period is applicable in case of: i) tuberculosis, ii) hospitalisation or outpatient surgery treatment in a duly authorised establishment, iii) sickness initiated during the entitlement period to the parental benefit and extending beyond this period. This payment is granted by the state through social security. The amount of this allowance is calculated as a percentage of the worker’s salary (this salary is determined by taking into account the average salary of the previous six months before the sickness, Christmas and Holiday allowances excluded), but this percentage varies according to the duration of the leave and to the nature of the sickness. The amount of the average daily pay covered by sickness allowance varies according to the duration of the incapacity to work: 55% for up to 30 days; 60% for 31–90 days; 70% for 91–365 days; and 75% if it is more than 365 days. The minimum rate of benefits payable is set at 30% of the daily amount of Index of Social Support (€428.90 in 2018). Where the person's reference income is lower than the Index of Social Support, the sickness benefit will be equal to the reference income. The benefits cannot exceed the reference income. The employment relationship may be terminated while the employee is on sick leave (Law 7/2009 of 12 February (Labour Code). Ordinance 99/2017 of 7 March established that the normal age of entitlement to old age pension in 2018 is 66 years and 4 months. Early retirement can be claimed if the insured person has both a minimum age of 60 and 40 years of contributory career. Early retirement is penalised according to the established by Decree-Law 187/2007: 0.5% per month of anticipation reduced by 12 months for every period of three years for those with more than 30 years of insurance record. There is also a sustainability factor to be included in the formula applied for the calculation of early retirement pensions, which takes into account the average life expectancy and is currently set at 13.88 percent. However, Ordinance 126-B/2017, of 6 October set changes to the early retirement regime. It covers workers with a record of contributions of 48 years and workers aged 60 or more with a record of contributions of 46 years who started their working life up to the age of 14. These workers, both from private sector and civil servants, will not suffer any early retirement penalty, including no application of the sustainability factor. This is deemed to cover around 15 thousand people in the first year. There is a special pathway to retirement for long-term unemployed older workers. If unemployment occurs after the completion of 57 years, retirement is allowed, without penalties, at the age of 62. If unemployment occurs between the ages of 52 and 56, retirement is allowed, with penalties, at the age of 57. In this latter case, the qualifying period is increased from 15 to 22 years of insurance. There are special retirement conditions for people with arduous jobs, such as miners, seafarers in fisheries, maritime workers of merchant navy, coastal navigation and coastal fishery, air traffic controllers, professional classical and contemporary dancers and embroiderers from Madeira Island. These professionals may request early retirement within the specific conditions set up for each activity as regards age and contributory records, but they always have to comply with the 15-year (successive or not) record of contributions for Social Security or for any other social protection scheme which entitles them to a retirement pension. Pay: For workers, the reward for work and main source of income; for employers, a cost of production and focus of bargaining and legislation. This section looks into minimum wage setting in Portugal and guides the reader to further material on collective wage bargaining. The statutory minimum wage was created during the democratic revolution of 1974. It is set by the government after consultation with the social partners. There are no fixed rules or permanent expert committees. Until 2011, the increases usually took place at the start of every year. In 2006, a tripartite agreement was signed at the CPCS (by the government and all union and employers’ confederations), stipulating that the minimum wage would be increased until 2011 at a pace that was foreseeably faster than the increase of collectively agreed wages. The aim was to reach €500 per month in 2011, but the escalation of the crisis and Troika MoU requirements stopped the process at €485 (2011). The government imposed a freeze of the minimum wage during three years. No other agreements were made until 2014, when a tripartite agreement was signed at the CPCS to increase the minimum wage for 2015 to €505. In the new political cycle, two tripartite agreements were signed regarding the conditions of implementation of the minimum wage update to €530 for 2016 and to €557 for 2017. It is relevant to note that a trajectory of the minimum wage increase to reach €600 in 2019 is part of the parliamentary deals with the left parties and one of the conditions they put forward to support the government of the Socialist Party (See the section Tripartite and bipartite bodies and concertation.) The minimum wage increase for 2018 to €580 had into consideration this trajectory. For more information regarding the level and development of minimum wages, please see: Publication - Statutory minimum wages in the EU 2018 Eurostat: Minimum wage statistics Collectively agreed pay outcomes For more detailed information on the most recent outcomes in terms of collectively agreed pay, please see: Topic: Collective bargaining Publication – Developments in collectively agreed pay Working time: ‘Any period during which the worker is working, at the employer’s disposal and carrying out his activities or duties, in accordance with national laws and/or practice’ (Directive 2003/88/EC). This section briefly summarises regulation and issues regarding working time, overtime, part-time work as well as working time flexibility in Portugal. Working time regulation Working time is regulated by the Labour Code, by collective bargaining and by employers at company level. The Labour Code sets the general framework by defining basic notions, by setting certain limits, such as for regular weekly working time and possible deviations from it, which may result from regulations regarding flexibility (working time accounts), and by regulating different types of flexible working time arrangements. Collective agreements at branch, professional or company level may regulate the working time in the respective areas within the stipulations of the Labour Code. There is no articulation between the different levels of collective bargaining. Employers regulate working time in their companies within the stipulations of the Labour Code and of the respective collective agreement (if there is one). The Labour Code 2009 introduced regulations regarding working time accounts (banco de horas) for the first time, making their introduction in the companies dependent on their regulation by collective agreement. The amendments to the Labour Code in 2012 introduced the concept of individual working time accounts (banco de horas individual) to be negotiated between the employer and the individual employee, without the interference of the unions or of worker representatives. For more detailed information on working time (including annual leave, statutory and collectively agreed working time), please consult: Publication - Working time developments in the 21st century: Work duration and its regulation in the EU Overtime regulation Overtime is regulated by the Labour Code, by collective bargaining and by employers at company level. The Labour Code sets the general framework by defining basic notions and by setting certain limits, for example to the maximum number of overtime hours per year and per day. Collective agreements at branch, professional or company level may regulate overtime in the respective areas within the stipulations of the Labour Code. There is no articulation between the different levels of collective bargaining. Employers regulate overtime in their companies within the stipulations of the Labour Code and of the respective collective agreement (if there is one). The amendments to the 2012 Labour Code reduced by half overtime time payment and suspended for two years collective bargaining provisions more favourable to the workers. According to the Portuguese Labour Code (Law 7/2009 of 12 February), a part-time worker is an employed person whose normal working hours are lower than the normal working hours prevailing in the enterprise/institution, for the respective professional category or in the respective occupation. In 2017, 8.6% of the Portuguese workforce had a part-time job, slightly less than half of the EU28 average. Part-time work is more evident among Portuguese female workers. Although the difference has been decreasing over the years, the percentage of female workers working part time is still considerably higher than that of male workers. Persons employed part-time in Portugal and EU28 (% of total employment) Total (EU 28) Total (Portugal) Women (EU 28) Women (Portugal) Men (EU 28) Men (Portugal) Source: Eurostat Labour Force Survey [lfsi_pt_a] – Persons employed part-time (20 to 64 years of age) – total and by sex. Involuntary part-time Involuntary part-time workers can be defined as those working part time because they could not find a full-time job. Persons employed in involuntary part-time in Portugal and EU28 (% of total part-time employment) Source: Eurostat Labour Force Survey [lfsa_eppgai]- involuntary part-time employment as a percentage of the total part-time employment, by sex and age (20 to 64 years of age) Night work According to the Portuguese Labour Code (article 223), night work means a period with a minimum duration of seven hours and a maximum duration of eleven hours, including the time range between midnight and 05.00, comprised in the period between 22.00 of one day and 07.00 of the next day unless provided otherwise by collective agreement instrument. Nearly 8% of all workers, more men than women (9.8% and 5.7%, respectively), report being engaged in night work (between 22:00 and 05:00) (Perista, 2017) Shift work (article 220 of the Portuguese Labour Code) means that the work is performed in daily and successive, continuous or discontinuous periods and the workers change periodically and regularly from one working schedule to the subsequent one, according to a pre-established scale. According to the results from the 2015 Working Conditions Survey in Mainland Portugal, over one-quarter (26.8%) of workers worked shifts ( Perista, 2017) Weekend work The Portuguese Labour Code makes no reference to weekend work. Results from the 2015 Working Conditions Survey in Mainland Portugal show that almost one-third (32.1%) worked on Saturdays (at least once a month) and about 15% worked on Sundays (at least once a month) ( Perista, 2017) Rest and breaks The Labour Code establishes in its articles 214 and 232 the right of the worker to a daily rest of at least eleven consecutive hours between two consecutive periods of daily work; and the right to at least one day of rest per week. A period of complementary weekly rest, continuous or discontinuous, in all or in some weeks of the year, may be imposed by collective agreement instrument or by employment contract. Working time flexibility Law 7/2009 of 12 February and Law 23/2012 of 25 June introduced significant changes in working time regulations in Portugal. While the standard working time continued to be 40 hours a week and 8 hours per day, new forms of working time flexibility and new regulations on overtime were introduced. Law 7/2009 of 12 February introduced the regime of working time adaptability, with the possibility of working 60 hours a week and 12 hours per day, to be set up by collective agreements, with the condition that it would not exceed 50 hours on average for a period of two months. It also introduced a regime of individual adaptability whereby employer and employee can have an individual agreement defining periods of normal working time of 10 hours per day and 50 hours per week. Furthermore, it introduced regulations regarding working time accounts ( banco de horas), which allowed 4 hours of additional work per day or up to 60 hours a week, up to a maximum of 200 hours a year, making their introduction in the companies dependent on their regulation by collective agreement. The Law 23/2012 introduced the concept of individual working time accounts (banco de horas individual) to be negotiated between the employer and the individual employee, without the interference of the unions or of worker representatives, a measure that weakened collective bargaining and the bargaining power of the unions. The possibility to adapt the start and end of their working day to facilitate personal and parental needs is commonly understood as flexible working hours in Portugal. However, this possibility is not specifically regulated as such by law. Do you have fixed start and finishing time in your work? In the figure, we see a comparison between Portugal and European Union for the workers with 'Age : All' when asked 'Do you have fixed starting and finishing times in your work?'. For the 'No' answer, Portugal's score is higher than the European Union score. For the 'Yes' answer, Portugal's score is lower than the European Union score. Data is based on question 39d from the sixth European Working Conditions Survey (2015). The National comparisons visualisation presents a comparative overview for the values of all answers between two selected countries. Maintaining health and well-being should be a high priority for workers and employers alike. Health is an asset closely associated with a person’s quality of life and longevity, as well as their ability to work. A healthy economy depends on a healthy workforce: organisations can experience loss of productivity through the ill-health of their workers. This section looks into psychosocial risks and health and safety in Portugal. The table below shows that the number of accidents at work has been decreasing over time, with some fluctuations. However, between 2013 and 2014, there were more 4,048 accidents, representing an increase of 3.8%. Accidents at work, with four days’ absence or more working days lost All accidents Percent change on previous year Per 1,000 employees Source: Eurostat Men are more vulnerable to accidents at work, both fatal and non-fatal. The number of accidents involving an absence of four or more days from work increased in 2015: in 2015, there were 134,378 accidents with more than three days’ absence, representing an increase of 3.2 compared to 2014. Accidents at work, fatal and non-fatal, by sex, age and number of working days lost Non-fatal Up to 34 years Accidents with four days’ absence or more Source: Occupational Accidents (2011 and 2012 and 2016) and Statistics synthesis- Occupational accidents 2015 – Ministry of Labour, Solidarity, and Social Security / Office for Strategy and Planning (Acidentes de trabalho – Ministério do Trabalho, Solidariedade e Segurança Social, MTSS /GEP) Psychosocial risks Law 102/2009 of 10 September, Article 15, specifies that besides chemical, physical and biological risks, the employer must ensure that exposure to psychosocial risks is limited and that the safety and health of workers is not at risk. Law 73/2017 of 16 August reinforces the legal framework that regulates harassment at work in the private and public sectors, amending the Portuguese Labour Code, the Labour Procedure Code and the General Labour Law in Public Functions. Companies with seven or more employees are required to adopt codes of good conduct aimed at preventing and combating harassment at work. Noncompliance constitutes a very serious administrative infringement, triggering penalties of variable amounts, depending on the company’s annual turnover and the employer’s degree of responsibility. Starting on February 2017 and until January 2019, the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers – National Trades Union (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses – Intersindical Nacional – CGTP-IN) develops information, awareness-raising and training campaigns on harassment in the workplace. Some campaigns about psychosocial risks in the workplace have been implemented in Portugal. Those campaigns are led by the Working Conditions Authority (Autoridade para as Condições do Trabalho, ACT), which is the public body responsible for promoting improved working conditions by ensuring compliance with labour regulations and for promoting occupational risk prevention policies, in close coordination with social partners. Work intensity: Do you have enough time to get the job done? In the figure, we see a comparison between Portugal and European Union for the workers with 'Age: All' when asked 'Do you have enough time to get the job done?'. For the 'Always or most of the time' answer, Portugal's score is higher than the European Union score. For the 'Rarely or never' answer, Portugal's score is lower than the European Union score. For the 'Sometimes' answer, Portugal's score is lower than the European Union score. Data is based on question 61g from the sixth European Working Conditions Survey (2015). The national comparisons visualisation presents a comparative overview for the values of all answers between two selected countries. Skills are the passport to employment; the better skilled an individual, the more employable they are. Good skills also tend to secure better-quality jobs and better earnings. This section briefly summarises the Portuguese system for ensuring skills and employability and looks into the extent of training. National system for ensuring skills and employability The Qualifica centres are responsible for the educational and occupational Recognition, Validation and Certification of Competences (RVCC) processes for adults; collaborating in the definition of criteria for structuring a network of educational and training opportunities appropriate to local qualification needs, improving contact between schools and companies’ training centres; monitoring the young people’s and adult’s paths referred for different qualification solutions to benchmark the fulfilment or deviation of the trajectories defined; and collecting information regarding the interaction between the learning outcomes of young people and adults and the labour market in order to improve the quality of education and training system. The Recognition, Validation and Certification of Competences System (Sistema de Reconhecimento, Validação e Certificação de Competências, RVCC) allows accreditation for skills and competencies that have been acquired in different learning contexts, including personal, professional and social life. RVCC includes three stages: recognition (of knowledge, know-how and skills of each applicant), validation (of skills through a standard assessment) and certification of skills (which is formalised by issuing a certificate of basic education at level 1, 2 or 3 or a secondary education diploma, depending on the case). The Qualifica programme comprises a set of lifelong learning measures that had been implemented within the ‘New Opportunities’ initiative and was subsequently discontinued. This programme focuses on adult education and training, complementing a process of certification with training. Its main objective is to contribute to the improvement of the levels of qualification among the population and the improvement of individuals’ employability. Qualifica centres, where adults can validate their competences, are key structures in the implementation of this programme. The Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional, IEFP) is responsible for managing public employment services, job centres and vocational training centres. IEFP aims to promote employment and combat unemployment through the implementation of active employment policies, including vocational training. Training: Have you had any on the job training in the past year? In the figure, we see a comparison between Portugal and European Union for the workers with 'Age : All' when asked 'Have you had on-the-job training in the last 12 months?'. For the 'No' answer, Portugal's score is higher than the European Union score. For the 'Yes' answer, Portugal's score is lower than the European Union score. Data is based on question 65c from the sixth "European Working Conditions Survey (2015). The National comparisons visualisation presents a comparative overview for the values of all answers between two selected countries. Work organisation underpins economic and business development and has important consequences for productivity, innovation and working conditions. Eurofound research finds that some types of work organisation are associated with a better quality of work and employment. Therefore, developing or introducing different forms of work organisation are of particular interest because of the expected effects on productivity, efficiency and competitiveness of companies, as well as on workers’ working conditions. Ongoing research by Eurofound, based on EurWORK, the European Working Conditions Survey and the European Company Survey, monitors developments in work organisation. Survey: European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2015 Survey: European Company Survey (ECS) 2013 For Portugal, the European Company Survey 2013 shows that between 2010 and 2013, 57% of establishments with 10 or more employees reported changes in the use of technology, 43% introduced changes in ways to coordinate and allocate the work to workers and another 20% saw changes in their working time arrangements. Work organisation: Are you able to choose or change your methods of work? In the figure, we see a comparison between Portugal and European Union for the workers with 'Age : All' when asked 'Are you able to choose or change your methods of work?'. For the 'No' answer, Portugal's score is higher than the European Union score. For the 'Yes' answer, Portugal's score is lower than the European Union score. Data is based on question 54b from the sixth "European Working Conditions Survey (2015). The National comparisons visualisation presents a comparative overview for the values of all answers between two selected countries. Source: Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey 2015 More detailed figures are available from Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey. Equality and non-discrimination at work Equality between men and women is enshrined in the Portuguese Constitution, namely in the employment field. Furthermore, specific legal provisions ensure equality and non-discrimination at work: Law 105/97 of 13 September aims to ensure the effectiveness of the right of both sexes to equal treatment at work and employment. The Labour Code (Law 7/2009 of 12 February) includes a subsection on Equality and Non-discrimination, which includes provisions regarding the prohibition of discrimination based on sex as well as sanctions in case there is a breach of the law. Decree-Law 133/2013 of 3 October establishes that public companies must implement goals of social and environmental responsibility, namely the promotion of equality and non-discrimination, and adopt equality plans in order to achieve effective equal treatment and opportunities between men and women, to eliminate discrimination and to promote the reconciliation of professional, family and personal life. Law 35/2014 of 20 June approves the General Labour Law in Public Functions, applying the provisions of the Labour Code, namely regarding equality and non-discrimination and parenting. Law 120/2015 of 1 September proceeds to the ninth amendment to the Labour Code reinforcing the rights of maternity and paternity, as well as including several measures to promote a better work–family reconciliation. Law 28/2015 of 14 April prohibits discriminatory practices based on ‘gender identity’. Law 93/2017 of 23 August establishes the legal regime for the prevention, prohibition and fight against discrimination on the grounds of race/ethnic origin, nationality, ancestry and territory of origin. The national mechanism for the promotion of equality and non-discrimination between men and women in labour and employment is the Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment (Comissão para a Igualdade no Trabalho e no Emprego, CITE). Its main responsibilities are to promote equality and non-discrimination between women and men in labour, in employment and in vocational training; protection of parentality (maternity, paternity and adoption); and reconciliation of professional, personal and family life. Although the promotion of equality and non-discrimination between men and women in labour and employment is not its main mission, the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (Comissão para a Cidadania e a Igualdade de Género, CIG) also has competences at this level. Equal pay and gender pay gap As provided for in Article 31 of the Labour Code, approved by Law 7/2009 of 12 February, women are entitled to receive equal pay for equal work or work of the same value as that performed by men. Nevertheless, a gender pay gap persists regarding both wages and earnings. The gender pay gap (average monthly remuneration) has being decreasing – from 18% in 2010 to 16.7% in 2015, representing a decrease of 7.2%. The gender pay gap has been addressed by several legislative support measures: The Resolution of Council of Ministers 13/2013 of 8 March approved a set of measures ensuring and promoting equal opportunities and outcomes for women and men in the labour market. The main objective of these measures is the elimination of the gender wage gap; the promotion of balance between work and personal and family life; the encouragement of corporate social responsibility; and the elimination of occupational segregation and other differences that still exist. The Assembly Resolution 45/2013 of 4 April recommends that the government implements the necessary mechanisms to combat direct and indirect wage discrimination by prioritising inspective and punitive action. It also develops a national plan against direct and indirect wage discrimination. More recently, the Resolution of Council of Ministers 18/2014 of 7 March has adopted several measures for the promotion of equal pay between men and women and the elimination of wage discrimination based on sex, namely: the discussion about wage differences will be promoted among the social partners; every three years, state-owned companies should produce a report on male and female wages in order to take concrete measures to be included in the respective plans for gender equality; following this report, state-owned companies should take concrete measures to eliminate the situations of wage inequality between women and men that were identified; to provide an electronic tool to companies to evaluate the gender pay gap and identify concrete situations of wage differences between women and men which cannot be explained by objective factors; it is recommended that private companies with more than 25 employees develop a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the pay gap between women and men. These companies should consequently develop a strategy to address the unjustified differences in those remunerations. The Resolution of the Council of Ministers 11-A/2015 of 6 March 2015 provides for a mechanism to support companies in the identification and analysis of the gender pay gap as a tool to promote equal pay. Quota regulations There is no legal obligation for specific quotas regarding private companies (except for those which are listed). However, there is a legal basis for encouraging the participation of women in management bodies: The Resolution of Council of Ministers 19/2012 of 23 February aims to increase the participation of women in management bodies of companies in the public and private sectors. Public companies must adopt plans for equality and identical procedures are recommended for the private sector. The Decree-Law 133/2013 of 3 October laid down the principles and rules applicable to public sector companies. This Decree-Law establishes that the administration and supervision bodies of state-owned enterprises must pursue the objective of a plural presence of men and women in their composition. The Resolution of the Council of Ministers 11-A/2015 of 6 March 2015 marks the commitment with listed companies aiming at a more balanced representation of women and men in their boards, with a target of 30% of the underrepresented sex until the end of 2018. Law 62/2017 of 1 August establishes a minimum representation of women on executive company boards and surveillance boards in public companies and private listed companies. For public companies, the required minimum of female board members will be 33.3% as of 1 January 2018. For private listed companies, the set minimum be 20% from 1 January 2018, but increasing to 33.3% from 1 January 2020. Working life links AECOPS - Construction and public works employers AIP - Association of Portuguese Industry CAP- Confederation of Portuguese Farmers CCP - Commerce and services employers CIP - Confederation of Portuguese Industry (Confederação da Indústria Portuguesa) CTP - Confederation of Portuguese Tourism (Confederação do Turismo Português) Trade Unions CGTP and Affiliates CGTP - General Confederation of Portuguese Workers FESHOT - Hotel and Tourism Workers' Unions FENPROF - Federation of Teachers' Unions FNSFP - Federation of Public Service Unions SEP - Nurses' Union SIND-HOT-NORTE - northern Hotel And Restaurant Workers' Union SPGL - Lisbon Teachers' Union SPN - Northern Teachers' Union SPRC - Central Region Teachers' Union STAL - Local Authority Workers' Union STCDE - Union For Workers In Consulates And Diplomatic Missions STFPN - union Of Northern Public Service Workers STFPSA - Union Of Southern Public Service Workers USS - Federation of Unions in Setubal UGT and affiliates UGT - General Workers' Confederation (En) FNE - Education Workers' Federation SBSI - Southern And Islands Bank Workers' Union SEN - Southern Nurses' Union SINDEFER - Rail Workers' Union SINDEL - Energy Workers' union SINDETELCO - Posts And Telecommunications Workers' Union SINDITE - medical Technicians' Union SINTAP - public Administration Workers' Union SITESE - Commerce, Hotels And Services Workers' Union SMAV - Audiovisual Workers' Union SPZC - Central Area Teachers' Union SPZN - Northern Area Teachers' Union STE - Technical Civil Servants' Union Confederacao Quadros and affiliates Confederação Quadros - Managerial And Professional Union Confederation FNAM - Doctors' Federation SINTTAV - Telecommunications And Audiovisual Workers' Union SNTCT - Posts And Telecommunications Workers' Union STFPC - Union Of Central Region Public Service Workers Other Union Organisations Snesup - Higher Education Workers' Union Directorate-General Employment and Work Relations (Labour Ministry) Minister Of Labour, Solidarity, And Social Security, Office for Statistics and Planning (Labour Ministry) CES - Economic and Social Council IDICT - Institute for the Improvement and Inspection of Working Conditions IEFP - Institute of Employment and Vocational Training INE - Statistics Portugal (En) Institute Ruben Rolo for social innovation SCADPlus guide to employment conditions in Portugal (En) Almeida, J.R., Silva, M.C., Ferreira, A. and Costa, H. (2016), ‘Concertação Social: A atividade da CPCS de 2009 a 2015 – ecos das políticas europeias’, Cadernos do Observatório sobre Crises e Alternativas 9, 1-54. Banco de Portugal (2015), Boletim económico – Dezembro 2014 [Economic Bulletin – December 2014], Lisbon. Campos Lima, M. P. and Abrantes, M. (2016), Country report: Portugal, DIADSE – Dialogue for advancing Social Europe. Campos Lima, M. P. (2016) 'O desmantelamento do regime de negociação coletiva em Portugal, os desafios e as alternativas', Cadernos do Observatório sobre Crises e Alternativas, 8, 1-54. Campos Lima, M., and Naumann, R. (2011), ‘Portugal: From broad strategic pacts to policy-specific agreements’, in Avdagic, S., Rhodes, M. and Visser, J. (eds.), Social pacts in Europe: Emergence, evolution and institutionalization, Oxford University Press. Dray, G (coord.) (2017), Livro verde sobre as Relações Laborais, [Green Paper on Labour Market and Industrial Relations] Gabinete de Estratégia e Planeamento. CITE (2015), Relatório sobre o progresso da igualdade entre mulheres e homens no trabalho, no emprego e na formação profissional – 2014 [Progress report of equal opportunities for women and men at work, employment and vocational training – 2014]. DERT/DGERT (2016), Relatório sobre regulamentação coletiva publicada no ano de 2015. Divisão de Estudos de Rendimentos do Trabalho/Direção-Geral do Emprego e das Relações de Trabalho, Ministério da Solidariedade, Emprego e Segurança Social. GEE (2014a), Greves 2012 [Strikes 2012], February 2014. GEE (2014b), Greves 2013 [Strikes 2013], December 2014. GEP (2016), Greves 2015 [Strikes 2015], December 2016. GEE (2014c), Employment Statistics Bulletin, January 2014. GEE (2015), Employment Statistics Bulletin, January 2015. Lacomblez, M., Ferreira, I., Castelhano, J. and Nogueira, S. (2014), Género, trabalho e saúde em Portugal [Gender, employment and health in Portugal], Centro de Psicologia da Universidade do Porto/European Trade Union Centre – ETUI, Lisbon. Martins, P. F. and Agapito P. (2016) Relatório anual sobre a evolução da negociação coletiva em 2015. Centro de Relações Laborais. Naumann, R. (with the collaboration of Rego, R. and Pontes, A.C.) (2012), ‘Collectively agreed wage increases in Portugal (1995–2010)’, contribution to the European project ‘CAWIE: Collectively agreed wages in Europe – Improving existing data and indicators to support social dialogue and economic governance in the EU’, coordinated by the University of Leuven and financed by the European Commission. Priberam (2012), Código do Trabalho [Labour Code], Lisbon. Silva, I., Prata, J. and Ferreira, I. (2014), ‘Horários de trabalho por turnos: Da avaliação dos efeitos às possibilidades de intervenção’ [Shift work schedules: From effect’s evaluation to intervention possibilities], International Journal on Working Conditions, No. 7, Rede de Investigação sobre Condições de Trabalho – RICOT, Oporto. Visser, J. (2016), ‘ICTWSS database: Database on institutional characteristics of trade unions, wage setting, state intervention and social pacts in 34 countries between 1960 and 2014’, Institute for Advanced Labour Studies, AIAS, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam. http://www.uva-aias.net/207 Saugoti Sparčiosios nuorodos Daugiakalbystė Eurofound ataskaitų šablonas Žemėlapis – kaip atvykti į Eurofound Eurofound dokumentų rengimo vadovas Naršyti pagal temą Svetainės turinys Rasti mus „Facebook“ tinkle Sekti mūsų naujienas „Twitter“ tinkle Sekti mūsų naujienas „Linkedin“ tinkle Prenumeruoti mūsų naujienas „YouTube“ kanalu Prenumeruoti mūsų sklaidos kanalo naujienas Kreipkitės Eurofound yra Europos Sąjungos agentūra Informacijos laisvė Finansiniai dokumentai Informacinis centras	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27217
__label__cc	0.554898	0.445102	Explore Freedom » Daily Articles » TGIF: Rothbard’s The Ethics of Liberty: Still Worthy after All These Years TGIF: Rothbard’s The Ethics of Liberty: Still Worthy after All These Years by Sheldon Richman May 9, 2014 In 1982 Murray Rothbard published his magnum opus in political philosophy, The Ethics of Liberty. It is a tour de force, a remarkable presentation of the moral case for political freedom. What a complement to Man, Economy, and State and Power and Market, Rothbard’s towering contributions to our understanding of free markets! The first striking feature of Ethics is that the opening five chapters, which comprise part 1, seek to establish the validity of natural law, an approach to moral inquiry based on the distinctive nature, faculties, and tendencies of the human being; this approach began with the ancient Greek philosophers and developed through the thought of Catholic and Protestant thinkers, such as St. Thomas Aquinas and Hugo Grotius. (For these religious philosophers, natural law was discoverable through reason, and was separable from theological questions.) One can judge Rothbard’s deep interest in this subject by his first four chapter titles: “Natural Law and Reason,” “Natural Law as ‘Science,’” “Natural Law versus Positive Law,” and “Natural Law and Natural Rights.” Rothbard wanted us to read this material before moving on to such topics as property, enforceable rights, voluntary exchange, aggression, and self-defense. Why? Because natural law gives meaning to and thus is indispensable to understanding those concepts. It provides the context. He approvingly quoted the natural-law philosopher John Wild: “The philosophy of natural law defends the rational dignity of the human individual.” He praised the English natural-law liberals (such as John Locke and the Levellers), “who transformed classical natural law into a theory grounded on methodological and hence political individualism.” And he identified the “great failing” of “classical” natural-law thinkers from Plato to Leo Strauss: they were “profoundly statist rather than individualist.” Rothbard’s conviction that individual rights are derived from something more fundamental can be seen in this statement: “The myriad of post-Locke and post-Leveller natural-rights theorists made clear their view that these rights stem from the nature of man and of the world around him.” For Rothbard, individual rights boil down to the right to be free from aggression. (Thus complete freedom in society is possible and realistic.) This is what he wished to derive from the natural law. The principle is not self-evident (though it surely has intuitive appeal). It is no free-floating iceberg. Rather, it follows from earlier findings that reason discloses about human nature (“the primordial natural fact[s] of freedom” and self-ownership), human action, the nature of the world around us, and the conditions under which we may flourish. The book does not discuss the nature of aggression until the third chapter of part 2: “A Theory of Liberty” (chapter 8 in the book). Readers who are eager to get on to Rothbard’s discussion of the Nonaggression Principle — which I think is better expressed as the Nonaggression Obligation — may be tempted to skip part 1. To them I have three words of sage advice: Don’t do it! You will deny yourself the full benefit of this marvelous book. Read and enjoy the discussion of natural law. For Rothbard, natural law concerns the discovery of objective values and objective ethics. He writes, In the Thomistic tradition, natural law is ethical as well as physical law; and the instrument by which man apprehends such law is his reason — not faith, or intuition, or grace, revelation, or anything else. In the contemporary atmosphere of sharp dichotomy between natural law and reason — and especially amid the irrationalist sentiments of “conservative” thought — this cannot be underscored too often. With obvious approval he quoted William J. Kenealy, a Jesuit priest, who wrote, This philosophy maintains that there is in fact an objective moral order within the range of human intelligence, to which human societies are bound in conscience to conform and upon which the peace and happiness of personal, national and international life depend. [Emphasis added.] Rothbard then asked a question posed by another natural-law philosopher, John Wild: “Why are such principles felt to be binding on me?” And he supplied Wild’s answer: The factual needs which underlie the whole procedure are common to man. The values founded on them are universal. Hence, if I made no mistake in my tendential analysis of human nature, and if I understand myself, I must exemplify the tendency and must feel it subjectively as an imperative urge to action. Or, Rothbard adds, as 19th-century American Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing put it, “All men have the same rational nature and the same power of conscience, and all are equally made for indefinite improvement of these divine faculties and for the happiness to be found in their virtuous use.” Much modern philosophy dismisses natural law as old-fashioned and unscientific, but Rothbard endorsed Étienne Gilson’s observation, “The natural law always buries its undertakers.” Now here is a puzzle. On the one hand, Rothbard emphasized that natural-law philosophy seeks to identify that which is objectively good for all human beings. He writes, Aquinas, then, realized that men always act purposively, but also went beyond this to argue that ends can also be apprehended by reason as either objectively good or bad for man. Moral conduct is therefore conduct in accord with right reason. If, then, the natural law is discovered by reason from [quoting Edwin W. Patterson] “the basic inclinations of human nature … absolute, immutable, and of universal validity for all times and places,” it follows that the natural law provides an objective set of ethical norms by which to gauge human actions at any time or place. And, finally, “The natural law, then, elucidates what is best for man — what ends man should pursue that are most harmonious with, and best tend to fulfill, his nature.” But on the other hand, Rothbard was an economist in the Austrian tradition, which holds that value is subjective. Can this paradox be resolved? Rather easily, it turns out. He wrote, The natural law, then, elucidates what is best for man — what ends man should pursue that are most harmonious with, and best tend to fulfill, his nature. In a significant sense, then, natural law provides man with a “science of happiness,” with the paths which will lead to his real happiness. In contrast, praxeology or economics, as well as the utilitarian philosophy with which this science has been closely allied, treat “happiness” in the purely formal sense as the fulfillment of those ends which people happen — for whatever reason — to place high on their scales of value. Satisfaction of those ends yields to man his “utility” or “satisfaction” or “happiness.” Value in the sense of valuation or utility is purely subjective, and decided by each individual. This procedure is perfectly proper for the formal science of praxeology, or economic theory, but not necessarily elsewhere. For in natural-law ethics, ends are demonstrated to be good or bad for man in varying degrees; value here is objective — determined by the natural law of man’s being, and here “happiness” for man is considered in the commonsensical, contextual sense. Many of these quotations indicate that Rothbard believed that under natural law, binding moral constraints can be rationally identified. Respect for other people and their just possession is one such binding constraint; it does not require explicit or implicit consent. I wish he had developed this point further because it seems crucial to the libertarian case. Why do we owe other people nonaggression? What is the nature of that obligation? (I discuss this question in “What Social Animals Owe to Each Other.”) Instead, Rothbard, in part 2, seemed to shift ground and offer other reasons for respecting people’s rights. He wrote that any proposed political ethic that permits some to rule others fails the test of universalizability; an objective moral code must be applicable to everyone. (This sounds like one of Kant’s formulations of the categorical imperative.) He also wrote that living parasitically off of other people conflicts with the exploiter’s own self-interest because it reduces the volume of goods produced while violating his nature: Coercive exploitation or parasitism injure the processes of production for everyone in the society. Any way that it may be considered, parasitic predation and robbery violate not only the nature of the victim whose self and product are violated, but also the nature of the aggressor himself, who abandons the natural way of production — of using his mind to transform nature and exchange with other producers — for the way of parasitic expropriation of the work and product of others. In the deepest sense, the aggressor injures himself as well as his unfortunate victim. True enough, but why ought one, first, act only in accord with a universal ethic and, second, not exploit others if one were to calculate that in a great society the reduction in the volume of goods would be only marginal? Why exactly is an exploiter harmed because he loots rather than produces? Or, what exactly is the price to be paid for not living in harmony with one’s nature as a human being? In fairness to Rothbard, he did not set out to formulate a complete ethical philosophy, just the subset of ethics dealing with aggression. He likely believed that a complete ethics had already been formulated by others. (He cited several Aristotelian and Thomist thinkers and was influenced by the Aristotelian novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand, although he did not cite her.) So why reinvent the wheel? My questions aside, The Ethics of Liberty is a great book that deserves the attention of anyone interested in the good society and human flourishing. Categories: Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman's TGIF This post was written by: Sheldon Richman Sheldon Richman is former vice president and editor at The Future of Freedom Foundation and editor of FFF's monthly journal, Future of Freedom. For 15 years he was editor of The Freeman, published by the Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington, New York. He is the author of FFF's award-winning book Separating School & State: How to Liberate America's Families; Your Money or Your Life: Why We Must Abolish the Income Tax; and Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State. Calling for the abolition, not the reform, of public schooling. Separating School & State has become a landmark book in both libertarian and educational circles. In his column in the Financial Times, Michael Prowse wrote: "I recommend a subversive tract, Separating School & State by Sheldon Richman of the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank... . I also think that Mr. Richman is right to fear that state education undermines personal responsibility..." Sheldon's articles on economic policy, education, civil liberties, American history, foreign policy, and the Middle East have appeared in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, American Scholar, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Washington Times, The American Conservative, Insight, Cato Policy Report, Journal of Economic Development, The Freeman, The World & I, Reason, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Middle East Policy, Liberty magazine, and other publications. He is a contributor to the The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. A former newspaper reporter and senior editor at the Cato Institute and the Institute for Humane Studies, Sheldon is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia. He blogs at Free Association. Send him e-mail. Why Germans Supported Hitler, Part 1 by Jacob G. Hornberger Does the First Amendment Protect the Freedom of Association? by Laurence M. Vance	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27218
__label__wiki	0.805256	0.805256	St Andrews alumni return to town for a Night at the Opera St Andrews alumni Laurie Slavin, tenor, and Caroline Taylor, soprano. Kevin McRoberts University of St Andrews alumni and award-winning performers Laurie Slavin, tenor, and Caroline Taylor, soprano, return to town this Saturday, May 4, for an early evening concert in St Salvator’s Chapel, accompanied by renowned Scottish pianist Walter Blair. Featuring much-loved scenes from Puccini’s La Bohème, Bernstein’s West Side Story and Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, the concert is raising funds for continued study in the specialised field of opera, with a portion of proceeds being donated to the National Deaf Children’s Society. Since graduating in 2014 and 2015, Laurie and Caroline have completed Masters of Music and Performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Northern College of Music respectively. During their time at St Andrews, the pair performed over 15 roles in productions with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Byre Opera (formerly St Andrews Opera) and the Just So Society; and both received the prestigious Cedric Thorpe Davie Memorial Scholarship and Prize in their final year. “We are thrilled to return to our alma mater for this concert, which will not only allow us to raise funds for career development and to help children in need, but will be an occasion to celebrate where our singing careers began,” said Laurie. “We feel so lucky to have studied at one of the top institutions in the UK and to have also received a wealth of musical opportunity. For us, it really was the ‘Singing University’!” Laurie, who graduated from St Andrews with a First in Modern History in 2014, is now preparing to apply for opera schools throughout the UK and USA whilst studying privately with John Evans. He was a 2016/2017 Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera, covering the role of Albazar in Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia, and a soloist for several seasons with the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company. He has worked extensively with British Youth Opera and joins them again this year for their summer season. Caroline is applying for opera schools in the UK and Europe. She read for an MA (Hons) in French, Italian and Spanish, spending a year at Paris IV-Sorbonne as the recipient of a Stevenson Scholarship. The 2018 winner of the RNCM Joyce and Michael Kennedy Strauss Award, her operatic roles have included Lauretta in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Sara in the world premiere of Kaye and Gorb’s The Path to Heaven. This summer, she returns to Byre Opera as She in the European premiere of Madeleine Dring’s Cupboard Love. ‘A Night at the Opera’ is at St Salvator’s Chapel, St Andrews, on Saturday, May 4. Join in the fun in a galaxy far, far away at Aberdour Festival Admission is free, with donations welcome. Doors open at 5.45pm for a 6pm start. Serious road crash closes road in Fife Body found on Kirkcaldy beach Man fights for life after falling from flats window Care worker dragged dementia patient across the floor Two pedestrians killed on Glenrothes road More from Fife Today	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27219
__label__cc	0.569412	0.430588	Cengage Learning is a publishing company located in Stamford, Connecticut. They currently publish digital and print information for schools and universities, as well as learning material for other professional marketplaces. The company has around 6,000 employees actively working out of more than 30 countries. Cengage Learning publishes educational material at the high school, University, and graduate-level. Cengage Learning is known for specializing in digital content publishing these days it seems. Along with publishing print and digital educational material for students, the company develops and distributes print and digital content for government agencies, corporations, libraries, and teachers. Cengage Learning is also one of the five higher-education textbook publishers behind the increasingly-popular CourseSmart company. The Cengage Learning company started in October of 2006. Thomson Learning at the time was an important division of the Thomson Corporation, worth an estimated 5 billion dollars. It was offered for sale and was bought by two private equity firms for 7.75 billion dollars. The company name was officially changed to Cengage Learning in July of 2007. Since changing their name, the company has grown through numerous business acquisitions. All of their business acquisitions had obviously been operating within the extremely competitive textbook publishing industry. In May of 2008, the company bought PAL Publications, a popular series of professional reference materials. In June of 2008, Cengage Learning acquired the Houghton Mifflin College Division. This business acquisition was an important asset for the company, as the Houghton Mifflin College Division was an extremely large and popular textbook publisher for both two and four year colleges. In July of the same year, the company bought Gatlin Educational Services. With this purchase, Cengage Learning began focusing on their web-based training services for other learning providers. To end a very productive year for the company, in December of 2008 they acquired HighBeam Research. The following year, in 2009, Publishers Weekly ranked Cengage Learning eleventh out of fifty total global publishers, based upon yearly revenues. The company reportedly brought in close to 2 billion dollars during this year. The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Cengage Learning company is Ronald G. Dunn. The company has a foundation rooted in five core values. These values are: integrity, respect, commitment, collaboration, and accountability. The Cengage Learning company has several globally-recognized publishing brands. Their Brooks/Cole brand focuses on publishing content on the subjects of mathematics and physical sciences. Their Course Technology brand focuses on publishing content in the information technology field. Their Delmar brand focuses on publishing content on the subjects of healthcare, technology, and career education. Their Gale brand focuses on publishing various subjects in the K-12 educational market. Their Heinle brand focuses on publishing English-language programs. Their South-Western brand primarily focuses on publishing content on the subjects of business and economics. And finally, their Wadsworth brand focuses on publishing content for the humanities, and the behavioral and social sciences. Cengage Learning is also the company behind the increasingly-popular www.CengageBrain.com. This website gives University students several options when it comes to buying their required educational materials. One option available to students on Cengage Brain is a textbook rental. Students can usually rent their required textbook for around 50% off the suggested retail price. Students also have the option to purchase eTextbooks and individual eChapters from the website as well. Cengage Learning uses this site to distribute their huge variety of homework and study tools too. They also offer free content and special discounts for students that choose to use their services. Visit The Cengage Learning Website Free Online Textbooks \| Free College Textbooks \| Online Textbooks Method #1 – EASY \| The Free Online Textbooks Guide	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27222
__label__wiki	0.883603	0.883603	Blu-ray Review: Hacksaw Ridge By eelyajekiM \| @ \| Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017 at 2:00 pm Blu-ray l DVD l 4K Ultra HD Director: Mel Gibson Screenwriter: Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan Cast: Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths, Vince Vaughn Distributor: Summit Entertainment Rated PG \| 104 Minutes I’m not one for the over-dramatized, based on a true story kind of movie. But for most of them, there is something special and inspirational that makes me want to know more about the subject’s story. Case in point, Hacksaw Ridge. Now I didn’t know anything about Desmond Doss’ harrowing story of how he refused to take up arms during World War II, but ended up saving multiple lives during the Battle of Okinawa. But to see it on the big screen was something else. The fact that it was also directed by Mel Gibson did add some concern to it, given his outrageous behavior and reputation. Still, the film managed to meet my expectations. Check out my review below. The biography is pretty simple. Andrew Garfield is Desmond Doss, an Army soldier who took a life of pacifism after nearly killing his younger brother. He would stay committed to that vow throughout the Battle of Okinawa. That’s the story. While it is straightforward, it’s the rousing execution that has you hooked. Gibson can tell a well-crafted story of a man who refused to discharge a weapon amidst the chaotic battle where lives are being lost and gunfire spreads like an inferno. After falling in love and marrying his wife Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer), Doss becomes interested in her work and soon becomes a medic. When his neighborhood starts to enlist in the army, Doss follows suit. But as a conscious objector, he is assigned as a medic. This does not bode well for him as he is put through grueling labor and his superior officers brand him as a coward because of his faith as a Seventh Day Adventist. But his faith never waivers, even when he arrested for insubordination for his refusal to carry a firearm. But his biggest test comes when he sent to the Pacific theater to participate in the Battle of Okinawa. There, infantrymen literally face an uphill climb when they tasked with climbing the cliff face of the Maeda Escarpment, nicknamed “Hacksaw Ridge,” in order to face the opposing Japanese forces. When it comes down to it, this is more about Gibson’s direction and ability to tell a story, as well as Garfield’s performance. While the other pieces are vital, they don’t carry as much weight as those two. Which makes it more of a character piece than an ensemble one. And for the most part, it works. Sure there is a slight slant with Doss’ devotion to his religion. But it never feels like religious propaganda, but more of how his faith made him into the soldier that we see in the film. Of course, there was a chance that his story could get lost due in part to how a majority of audiences aren’t as accepting to films with a religious slant, but for Hacksaw Ridge, it is the kind of inspirational film that you can watch without feeling like you are having religion shoved down your throat. The battle sequences are intense and subversive, with smoke and dirt clouding one’s vision as we see Doss carry the injured through a hail of gunfire. All of that is intensified when it goes through the cliched slo-mo sequences. So even though it has been done before, it still makes for a great scene. There isn’t much to the bonus features. After all, the movie is a pretty straightforward dramatization of the events that inspired the film. However, if you are interested in them, check out “The Soul of War,” a documentary feature that details the making of the film including the real life people and story, casting, filming, special effects, and stunts with interviews from Mel Gibson, Andrew Garfield, and more. There’s also a Veterans Day greeting from Mel Gibson himself. Deleted scenes are also a part of the bonus features. Topics: Blu-ray, Blu-ray Review, Reviews Tags: Andrew Garfield, Andrew Knight, Hacksaw Ridge, Hugo Weaving, Luke Bracey, Mel Gibson, Rachel Griffiths, Robert Schenkkan, Sam Worthington, Summit Entertainment, Teresa Palmer, Vince Vaughn TV Review: Taboo 1.7 “Episode 7” New ‘Rick and Morty’ Song Released While We Wait For Season 3 • Edie Falco Joins ‘Avatar’ Sequels As Mysterious Human Character • ‘Mortal Engines’ Extended Look Video: How To Destroy London On Wheels • Blu-ray Review: Twilight 4K Ultra HD (Extended Edition) • ‘Mortal Engines’ Trailer: Peter Jackson Takes Large-Scale YA Epic Adaptation On The Road • ‘Mortal Engines’: Official Trailer For Movie Adaptation Of Philip Reeve’s Book Series Released	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27225
__label__cc	0.599544	0.400456	The Geo-Institute (G-I) is a membership organization focused on geoprofessionals and the geo-industry. It was created by the American Society of Civil Engineers in October 1996 as one of ASCE's specialty Institutes. The G-I is led by a Board of Governors guided by its Long-Term Strategic Plan, and thrives on the support of numerous member volunteers like you at the technical and administrative levels. Our Members, Your Colleagues The G-I membership consists of more than 11,500+ individual members and 65 organizational members, including engineers, scientists, technologists, students, and organizations who share a mutual interest in protecting the public by enhancing understanding of—and expertise in—the engineering behavior of earth materials. Our geoprofessionals work to improve the built environment; prevent the loss of life from natural and man-made hazards; and construct sound and reliable engineered facilities and structures. Join the Geo-Institute Geoprofessional Career Development The G-I combines the talents and perspectives of its members to enhance their career development through: scientific journals and practice-oriented publications like GEOSTRATA committees and task forces networking and coalition-building leadership on emerging issues ... offering our members numerous opportunities to learn, grow, give back, and be recognized for their contributions to the geotechnical engineering profession both in the United States and around the world. GEOSTRATA Magazine The G-I is home of GEOSTRATA Magazine, the official bi-monthly magazine of the Geo-Institute. It is a free membership benefit, featuring articles written by and for geoprofessionals. The G-I will help you expand your understanding of—and access to—the geo-industry through its many allied organizations, both domestic and international. You can contact a specific member of the G-I Staff, or you can reach all of us at geo-institute@asce.org.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27227
__label__cc	0.714777	0.285223	One Good Book Leads to Another Simon Winchester books are always rewarding. One of them even helped enlighten me about family history. He’s on tour right now for his latest book, “Pacific.” I’ve been a fan since we met as reporters following the Irish prime minister around New York, oh, a few years back. I mentioned to our son that I had met Winchester a long time ago, so David bought me a copy of Winchester’s 2013 book, “The Men Who United the States,” about the travelers and builders and visionaries who tied the huge country together with roads, trains and electricity. That book made me realize, all over again, how little I know about American history. I’ve been on hills and rivers in Appalachia that George Washington had explored as a surveyor and soldier and president. I had never read much about Lewis and Clark, how they explored the west – sometimes even splitting up into two parties and meeting further west, all without the help of a GPS, kids. But there was one footnote that really intrigued me. There it is, bottom of Page 19. Before Lewis, before Clark, a “Connecticut opportunist” named John Ledyard had dreamed of walking North America – from west to east, starting in Russia, for goodness’ sakes. I had never heard of Ledyard, but I do know the name. The maternal branch of my wife’s family has long roots in Ledyard, Conn., where a Quaker offshoot, the Rogerenes, settled in the 17th Century. We sometimes stop off in Ledyard, on runs to Boston or Providence, to visit the old Quakertown cemetery (on Col. Ledyard Highway) and pay our respects to Grandpa and Grandma Grundy, and cousin Faith, who put up a good fight but died way too young. Turns out, the town is named after John’s uncle, William Ledyard, who became an officer in the Revolution and in 1781 was murdered by an English officer after handing over his sword. John Ledyard, ever the maverick, maintained his British loyalties, and eventually joined the British navy and served on the second Pacific voyage of Captain Cook. I was hooked, so I ordered up a copy of “Ledyard: In Search of the First American Explorer,” by Bill Gifford. What a life. Ledyard was a Dartmouth student who defied authority, hyperactive or bipolar or whatever the modern term is, but also smart and handsome and randy. Bored in college, he got in a canoe and paddled downriver on the Housatonic, essentially never stopping. Years later he charmed Thomas Jefferson, the ambassador to Paris, into subsidizing his dreamed exploration of the American continent. He mooched off everybody and he walked, often by himself, being known by the description of “traveler.” He never made it to Alaska although he got close, until Catherine, empress of Russia, decided he was a spy, and ordered him expelled – to Poland. He died in Cairo, quite likely from excesses. It’s not the first time Winchester (now an American citizen) has expanded my horizons. Before I went to Seoul for the 1988 Olympics, I read his book, Korea: A Walk Through the Land of Miracles, about his hiking through the mountains. I loved South Korea and its people and their passion for hiking before I ever got there. I’ll catch up with “Pacific” – including the footnotes. Just when I'm finally getting caught up on things before my winter coaching begins on December 2, your hit me with with a bunch of interesting books. I have not read any of his books since Atlantic several years ago. Among other things, he described his voyage to the U.S. Shortly after Sandi and were married in December 19671, we lived for a time in Norwich CT, just a few miles above Ledyard. Since I've been interested in history since I began listening to folk music of the British Isles at age eight. I started researching the many stories told in the songs and have been reading all aspects of history ever since. I've enjoyed learning about the so called "secondary characters" that truly give one a sense of amazement about what has shaped our world. Unfortunately, most politicians are students of history.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27228
__label__wiki	0.50354	0.50354	Brexit and Trade If trade policy has always been important to the UK, it is now more so than ever before. In this snapshot, FTI brings perspective to just what the UK will have to do to try to maintain its status as a global trade leader as it moves forward apart from the European Union. If you think divorce proceedings are tough – try negotiating a modern, deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (not an old-fashioned tariff-only deal). It can be a long, very long, drawn-out process to get it right. If you want to understand the true meaning of ‘patience’ then become a trade negotiator – and you would be in luck since the UK is apparently on the lookout for several hundred. The UK government has admitted it lacks skilled trade negotiators since the European Commission’s trade department has undertaken trade negotiations on behalf of all the EU member states for the past several decades. Make no mistake about it – trade negotiations are complicated. The EU-Canada trade deal (CETA) took some five years to negotiate and is more than 1500 pages long. If the deal is ever fully ratified and put into action remains to be seen – but the full process from a first scoping exercise to agree on the focus of future talks to launching actual negotiations to implementation will likely take just shy of a decade. On that basis – and given that Brexit is still some years away – it is hard to see the UK being able to strike any significant trade deals before about 2025 at the earliest. Louise Harvey Non-Exec Chairman, Strategic Communications Brussels John Clancy Article: Brexit: What Happens Next? FTI Journal Article: The Brexit Effect: Worried Investors Advised to Stay Nimble & Informed	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27229
__label__wiki	0.986956	0.986956	Two seriously injured in Wednesday wreck on Browns Bridge Road Falcons' Turner didn't expect such a reduced role Paul Newberry FLOWERY BRANCH — Michael Turner used to be Mr. Reliable for the Atlanta Falcons. Hand off the ball and watch him churn out the yards. But the big back's production is way down this season, a change of direction that was planned from the start but has been more pronounced than anyone expected. Even Turner conceded Wednesday he didn't expect his carries to be reduced so significantly. "It's a mental challenge" he said. "But there's not anything I can do about it. Just go out there and play my role, do whatever it takes to help this team win." To his credit, Turner hasn't complained at all about having a lesser role in the offense, at least not publicly. But, at age 30, he scoffs at those who say he's all washed up. "I don't feel any older," he insisted. "I still feel fresh. I probably feel fresher that last year, actually." Even so, there's no denying that Turner is no longer regarded as one of the NFL's elite running backs. He's on pace to gain about 900 yards, far off the what he did his first four seasons in Atlanta. Turner rushed for a career-best 1,699 yards in 2008, and more than 1,300 yards each of the last two seasons. The only time he was held to less than 1,000 yards in Atlanta was 2009, when he missed five games and parts of two others with injuries. Coach Mike Smith made it clear at the beginning of the year he wanted to reduce Turner's workload, especially with a new offensive coordinator, Dirk Koetter, coming on board. The Falcons knew they had to do a better job taking advantage of their myriad weapons in the passing game: quarterback Matt Ryan, receivers Roddy White and Julio Jones, not to mention Hall of Famer-to-be Tony Gonzalez at tight end. In addition, Atlanta wanted to expand the role of second-year back Jacquizz Rodgers, who at 5-foot-6 and 188 pounds is more of a darting, breakaway threat than the plodding Turner. Still, Turner has admittedly been caught off guard to some degree. He's averaging just over 14 carries a game, down from nearly 19 a year ago and far off the pace he set during his Atlanta debut in '08, when he carried the ball a staggering 23.5 times per contest. Asked if he knew what was coming, Turner chose his words carefully. "Uhh, maybe not as much," he said. "But it's been talked about for months. It's not like this is a total surprise or they caught me off guard with it. I've just to deal with it. Plus, we've got a good weapon in Jacquizz. They want to get him on the field as much as possible." Rodgers has rushed for 295 yards, averaging 4.1 per carry, and he's more of a threat as a receiver (43 catches, 327 yards). Turner has rushed for 689 yards, but his yards per carry are down to 3.7 — and, more troubling, he's averaged less than 3 yards in six games. There are times when the 247-pound back looks downright glacial getting to the hole, which has exposed the weaknesses of the guys up front, a group that has never been ranked among the NFL's top lines. Turner always felt he was at his best when he ran the ball at least 20 times. Last week, he got it seven times for 14 yards in a 30-20 loss to Carolina. "I think I get more of a rhythm" with more carries, Turner said. "Not just me, but the offensive line and the fullbacks, too." Despite Turner's drop-off, the Falcons (11-2) have already clinched the NFC South and hope to move a step closer to home-field advantage when they host the New York Giants (8-5) on Sunday. The success of the team has made his disappointing season — which also included a DUI arrest — a little easier to take. "I've just got to go out there and grind," Turner said. "One team, one goal. The main thing is winning a Super Bowl. This is the way the coaches feel is the best chance for us to win the Super Bowl." With only one year left on his contract, Turner's tenure in Atlanta could be winding down. It's certainly not farfetched to envision the Falcons going after another running back — perhaps in the draft — to pair with Rodgers. But Ryan, for one, believes that Turner still has some effective days ahead of him. "Mike has been a great player here for a long time," Ryan said. "He's still had some unbelievable runs this year. He's just not done it as routinely as he's done it in the past. That can be for a lot of different reasons." Smith agreed, stressing that Atlanta's troubles running the ball — especially in short-yardage situations — aren't entirely the fault of Turner. The Falcons rank a dismal 28th in rushing, averaging just under 87 yards per outing. "I don't think there's a marketable difference in terms of what Mike has been able to do," the coach said. "We've just been very inconsistent running the football. When we've had to run it, we've been able to run the football. But we've been inconsistent in blocking and in executing the run game. I think that's one of the reasons our numbers are down." For now, there's no going back to the way things used to be. "We're in transition right now," Turner said. "People are used to the way we did things in the old days here. But it's new now. Everybody needs to adjust. Not just me. Everybody." Notes: S William Moore missed another day of practice. He has been sidelined since injuring a hamstring in the home win over New Orleans on Nov. 29. ... CB Asante Samuel, who dressed but didn't play in Carolina because of a right lingering shoulder injury, took part in practice on a limited basis. ... Also sitting out practice were DT Jonathan Babineaux (ribs) and WR Roddy White (knee), but both are expected to play against the Giants. QB Ryan, starters shine despite Atlanta Falcons' 17-13 preseason loss to Steelers Georgias Quincy Mauger among Atlanta Falcons 21 undrafted free agents Super Bowl against Patriots dream game for Atlanta Falcons general manager Dimitroff Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan follows father to the Super Bowl	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27230
__label__cc	0.628559	0.371441	GROOMING THE NEXT GENERATION More than fifty years ago, a movement of young people changed the world. Thanks to these committed idealistic reformers and the institutions that supported them, basic civil rights were realized in voting rights, education, and employment. But our work is not finished. The greatest civil and human rights abuses of our time continue in the American Criminal Justice system. Now is the time for law schools to join Gideon’s Promise, before another generation watches the right to counsel become an even more distant aspiration. What Law Schools Can Do In 2013, we launched the Law School Partnership Program to help us build partnerships between Gideon’s Promise, our partner public defender offices and law schools committed to justice. We are asking law schools to support their graduates for up to one year. In return, Gideon’s Promise will place the graduate in a Gideon’s Promise partner public defender office and provide three years of training through the Core 101 Program. The partner public defender office will guarantee that within the first year, the graduate will be moved into a full time position. Therefore, by providing support up front, law schools can help their graduates secure permanent employment, acquire the training and support they need, and join a transformative movement as important as any in the legal profession. PRINT BROCHURESClick here to find out more information about our law school partnership program and how to apply. STUDENT APPLICATIONApplications accepted until October 20, 2018. Download a PDF copy of the application here to review. Submitting two letters of recommendation are required for a complete application. Letters of recommendation should either be uploaded with your application or emailed to [email protected]. PARTNER OFFICESClick here to see a list of participating partner offices for the 2018-2019 year LAW SCHOOL PARTNER INTEREST FORMLaw schools interested in participating with our LSPP program can submit an application in February 2019. PARTNER SCHOOLSClick here to see a list of participating law schools. Use this list to determine that the offices you select are available to students from your law school. If you do not see your law school on this list please email [email protected]. If you have any questions about the Law School Partnership Program, or want to learn more about how to become a Partner Office or a Partner Law School, please contact Elizabeth Jones, Training & Recruitment Director at [email protected] On March 18, 1963, the Supreme Court decision in the landmark cause, Gideon v. Wainwright, held that under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution, legal counsel is to be provided in criminal cases for defendants who are unable to afford their attorneys. Students should only apply if your school has fellowship funding available. “I did not know what this program would mean to me before starting; but, I had a feeling it would be important. In the first two weeks at Gideon's Promise I gained friends, mentors, and colleagues that I am proud to fight beside. We shared stories, laughter, tears, and massive amounts of information and trial skills. As I stand on the precipice of my career, I now realize the importance of my Gideon's Promise family and I am so excited for our future!” -Maisie Osteen, Washington & Lee University Columbia, SC	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27234
__label__wiki	0.78203	0.78203	Twin Rivers Paper Company Announces Leadership Transition Twin Rivers Paper Company LLC announced today that Ken Winterhalter, who currently serves as the Companys President, has been named Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Winterhalter, who joined the company in 2013, succeeds Robert (Bob) Snyder, who has been named Chairman of the Board. These new roles are part of a long-term growth and succession plan established by Twin Rivers management. Mr. Winterhalter has served as Twin Rivers President since 2013. His decades of experience prior to joining the company include serving as President & CEO of National Envelope and President of Unisource. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved at Twin Rivers these past six years thanks to our exceptional team, world-class suppliers and loyal customers, said Winterhalter. I am extremely grateful to Bob for his friendship and counsel and look forward to continuing our partnership together in his role as our Board Chair. In recent years, thanks to strategic planning and excellent execution by a superb team across the organization, Twin Rivers has grown from primarily serving the commodities space to becoming an industry leader in technical specialties, lightweight packaging, and products within the label industry, said Snyder. With Ken transitioning to his new role as our CEO, I am confident that we will continue to grow and expand in the months and years to come. Twin Rivers first opened its doors in the early 1900s with only one dimension lumber mill in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick. In 2013, the company was purchased by Atlas Holdings and Blue Wolf Capital Partners. While several paper companies across Maine “ and throughout the country “ have struggled to meet new challenges and evolve, Twin Rivers continues not only to survive but thrive. Today, Twin Rivers employs over 1,000 associates, owning and operating six paper mills, two pulp mills, a sawmill, and a co-generation plant in the U.S. and Canada. Under Bob and Ken, with the support of an extraordinary team of leaders and associates, Twin Rivers has become one of North Americas most nimble, high-quality producers of innovative solutions for premium niche markets in the forest products sector, said Tim Fazio, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Atlas Holdings. A typical Atlas-style investment, Twin Rivers has stayed true to its roots, focusing on product quality, workplace safety, strategic growth and community stewardship. Were thrilled to congratulate both Bob and Ken as they transition to these new positions. The transition of Ken to CEO and Bob to Chairman reflects the successful implementation of a long-term value creation plan put in place by the talented team at Twin Rivers, said Adam Blumenthal, Managing Partner of Blue Wolf Capital Partners. Bob and Ken have done terrific work together growing the business and we are grateful to have both on board as we write the next chapter of the Twin Rivers story. About Twin Rivers Paper Company Twin Rivers Paper Company, headquartered in Madawaska, Maine, is an integrated specialty paper company that produces specialty packaging, label, publishing, and technical specialty papers as well as dimensional lumber. Targeting its manufacturing capabilities to specific market segments, Twin Rivers creates competitive advantages through nimble innovation and product development, service excellence and an unfailing commitment to quality. The companys brands include Acadia packaging products, Alliance label products, and Pharmopaque pharmaceutical papers. Twin Rivers is owned jointly by Atlas Holdings LLC and Blue Wolf Capital. For more information, visit www.twinriverspaper.com. About Blue Wolf Capital Partners Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC is a private equity firm that specializes in control investments in middle market companies. Leading by experience, and with a commitment to excellence, Blue Wolf transforms companies strategically, operationally and collaboratively. Blue Wolf manages challenging situations and complex relationships between business, customers, employees, unions, and regulators to build value for stakeholders. For additional information, please visit www.bluewolfcapital.com. About Atlas Holdings Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut and founded in 2002, Atlas and its affiliates own and operate 18 platform companies which employ more than 17,000 associates at more than 150 facilities worldwide. Atlas operates in sectors such as aluminum processing, automotive, building materials, capital equipment, construction services, paper and packaging, power generation, pulp, supply chain management and wood products. Atlas companies together generate more than $5 billion dollars in revenues annually. For additional information, please visit www.atlasholdingsllc.com. David Deger	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27235
__label__wiki	0.702312	0.702312	Home > World Regions > Africa > IMF chief has “great hope” for Kenya after visit IMF chief has “great hope” for Kenya after visit Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, on her recent trip to Kenya. IMF Photograph/Stephen Jaffe The economic outlook for Kenya looks positive, with ongoing fiscal and policy reforms set to drive growth and spread prosperity more widely in the country. That’s the view of Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, who visited the country earlier in the year. Lagarde writes on her blog that Kenya is one of the “frontier economies” in sub-Saharan Africa – a region that as a whole is enjoying robust growth. Kenya has benefited from this trend, and Lagarde says it is on the cusp of achieving middle-income status. The growth has been led by foreign investment and a flourishing private sector, enabling the country to position itself as an economic hub for the whole region. In a meeting with senior Kenyan officials, Lagarde reports that she was “struck by their deep commitment to…policies that can ensure the country’s recent achievements form the foundation for future success.” For example, she states that ongoing economic reform will help to keep inflation low, and create job opportunities for young people. This is all part of maintaining Kenya’s positive momentum, which Lagarde believes can be further achieved by following three clear steps. First, she says Kenya must complete its current fiscal devolution, ensuring all parts of Kenya have access to resources and that the fruits of growth are shared more widely among the population. Second, Lagarde believes the country must continue to invest in infrastructure to support the growing economy. This will also help encourage investment in the country, and create jobs. Third, she recommends that Kenya continues to play an active part in regional integration, cooperating with other East African nations such as Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda wherever possible. A key step in this is the move towards a shared currency – a process that was initiated at the end of last year. With a clear focus by its government on maintaining growth, Lagarde says she has “great hope for Kenya’s future.” She praises the Kenyan people for their “fortitude and courage” in the midst of recent challenges, including the Westgate Mall attack last September, and concludes by saying: “They stand on the threshold of a new future for their country, and for Africa.” In related news, the IMF and the Government of Mozambique are convening a conference on 29 – 30 May to analyse Africa’s recent economic performance. The conference will be held in Maputo, and will bring together policy makers from across the continent, and more widely, to share insights and best practice with a view to encouraging ongoing sustainable growth in the region. AfricaChristine LagardeGrowth & EmploymentIMFKenyaMozambiquePolicy & Governance Kenya creates Africa’s first national digital ID scheme	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27236
__label__wiki	0.890782	0.890782	Home > Sections > AI > UK civil service chief exec calls for officials to focus on the ‘how’, not the ‘what’ UK civil service chief exec calls for officials to focus on the ‘how’, not the ‘what’ By Liz Heron on 01/02/2018 John Manzoni speaking at the London School of Economics (Image courtesy: Cabinet Office). With civil servants under fire in the policy maelstrom of Brexit, John Manzoni wants officials to step away and concentrate on building delivery skills. Liz Heron hears his take on civil service reform John Manzoni was in playful mood as he settled into a Q& A session at the London School of Economics, after a 30-minute sprint through one of the most wide-ranging reform programmes to the UK civil service in decades. Asked by Tony Travers, director of the LSE’s Institute of Public Affairs, how ministers are responding to the changes, the chief executive of the civil service elicited a peal of laughter as he quipped that the first answer “at the flippant end, is that they seem to change quite a lot”. Indeed, the Cabinet Office has had five lead ministers in less than three years, as election setbacks and reshuffles have returned the department to the endless ministerial churn seen under the Labour administration that ended in 2010. “But underneath that is a more serious point,” said Manzoni. “The civil service is building things that will last a lifetime but, quite frankly, ministers come and go. It is there to serve the ministers but actually… civil servants do need to be looking to a longer time frame than the next five years.” ‘Beaten up’ Manzoni was appointed to the new role of civil service chief executive in October 2014 by then-prime minister David Cameron to lead the government’s drive for efficiency savings and strengthen leadership in the specialist professional ‘functions’, as part of a wider transformation programme. He explained his agenda to Global Government Forum two years ago in an extensive interview. After delivering a landmark speech on the programme last week, the former oil industry executive said he’s struck by the “stunning” sense of public service among civil servants – but also noted that their primary focus on policy has left the service feeling “a bit beaten up”. “If what the civil service does is policy and only policy, over time and in subtle ways it changes the dynamic between politicians and the civil service to a way that I think is detrimental to this country in the long term,” he said, adding that policy is always the agenda of the politicians. Over recent months the civil service has been caught up in internal Conservative Party tussles over the UK’s future relationship with the EU, with officials repeatedly accused by Brexit supporters of being negative about the UK’s economic prospects and international influence once outside the union. Days after Manzoni’s speech, a fresh spat blew up over an economic analysis forecasting significant economic damage from three potential outcomes of EU talks. Take the long view Politicians’ ownership of policy “is actually the deep, deep reason that I want to rebuild the civil service in the ‘how’,” Manzoni argued. “If all you do is the ‘what’, it is never ours. What we really need is a civil service which deeply understands through experience how to do what the politicians want us to do.” Manzoni, who is also permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office, said that he wants the civil service to “remember” that it is permanent and regain “control of our own destiny”. The confidence that comes with permanence “is not hubris,” he added. “It’s a self-confidence and an experience that allows it to look through the political cycles.” Over the past three years, Manzoni has led a battery of reforms that span implementing the latest digital technology, moving government offices, promoting “smart” working practices, and launching new skills training programmes and career paths focused on service delivery and acquiring practical experience. Reforms check-list “We’ve made significant progress in adopting new technology,” he said. “We’re plugging in digital government from back-office to frontline services. We’re making fundamental changes through innovative services such as Universal Credit and the Personal Tax Account, where the end-to-end process of delivery is being transformed, as well as the interface with the customer.” Manzoni explained that nearly 100 government services are expected to be available digitally by 2020, while applications of the latest technologies, such as robotic process automation (RPA), are being energetically pursued to improve the delivery of services. “Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is at the forefront of the RPA revolution,” he said. “It has already automated its system for registering new employers. And we have set up a Centre of Excellence to accelerate the take-up of RPA across government.” Tony Travers asking the questions at the LSE Q&A with John Manzoni Data and training The handling and use of government data was another key focus, exemplified in the recent announcement of a new Geospatial Commission to exploit the government’s huge reserves of data on geography and location – currently held by more than 70 separate bodies. “It will establish a set of common standards to make the data easier to find, access and link up with other data sets – fuelling new insights and innovations,” said Manzoni. “Making this information more easily available and usable is potentially worth more than £10bn [US$14bn] per annum – boosting the UK economy and generating new jobs.” New training initiatives that are underway to make the most of the opportunities – raising skills levels across the civil service – include The Digital Academy, which trains up to 3,000 civil servants a year in data, technology and digital skills; and a Data Science Campus, in Newport, which will eventually produce up to 500 qualified data analysts. Delivering delivery skills “The second area of major change we are undertaking is in the shape of the workforce,” said Manzoni. “The civil service is brilliant at policy – the best in the world, according to the first International Civil Service Effectiveness Index. “This is a vital strength. It has served the civil service well for at least a decade. But to meet the challenges ahead, we need something more, and that is deeper experience in delivery – in particular commercial, technical and project execution skills. This is increasingly clear as we tackle the challenge of exiting the EU, for which we must design new UK policies and institutions, and build new systems to execute them.” Implementing this change involves breaking the mould of the traditional civil service career, which is geared towards nurturing policy experts, he said, arguing for the creation of career paths that allow civil servants to gain promotion and skills in a single role than hopping from job to job. “In a few years’ time, my vision is that the leadership of the civil service will have a blend of skills and experiences, supplementing the predominant policy or economics background of today with delivery experience gained within the organisation,” he said. “This is perfectly achievable: we can offer fabulous experience to delivery-orientated young people across a vast range of challenging projects.” All government functions are already building their own career paths, Manzoni explained, while the graduate Fast Stream offers opportunities for new and existing civil servants in 15 different schemes ranging from Digital, Data & Technology to Project Delivery and Commercial. Leading the way on leadership A new Civil Service Leadership Academy, launched in October, aims to develop leadership ability in people from a wide range of backgrounds, he said. It will initially provide training to senior civil servants, but later offer programmes open to all grades. “It is setting out to do this in quite a new way, combining what is known about leadership and learning with practical insight from first-hand experience,” said Manzoni. “With a ‘leaders teaching leaders’ approach, we will use immersive case studies to learn from real projects and examples of governance, both good and bad, from the very people who were involved in them. And to produce leaders who ‘connect’, the academy will teach the human and emotional lessons – as well as the operational ones – of what’s worked and what hasn’t. “We need leaders with empathy, who can manage their teams through transformation and encourage continuous improvement; leaders with broader experience, who are effective in a complex, multidisciplinary world, who lead with their hearts and their guts, as well as their heads; who see the big picture.” The plan is to build a training institution at the heart of the civil service that “embodies and promotes our deeply-held values” and serves as a place where “knowledge is held and experience shared” and that becomes “the benchmark for leadership development”, he added. BrexitCabinet Officechief executiveCivil serviceCivil Service Leadership Academydata analyticsDeliveryEconomyEuropeJohn Manzonileadership academyLondon School of EconomicsLSEPolicy & GovernanceReform About Liz Heron Liz Heron is a journalist based in London, who specialises in international news. She worked on daily newspapers for 16 years, reporting extensively on both general news and education. She was Education Editor of the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and has contributed to a wide range of British media including The Independent, The Guardian and the BBC. Jag Patel The performance and work output of the UK Civil Service, including deeper experience in delivery – in particular commercial, technical and project execution skills – would be much improved if senior Civil Servants gave up their habit of relying on presentation and spin to get across the Government’s message. Most informed observers have always known that the political class has evolved innovative methods of communication which estranges its members from the voters they are supposed to represent. In a well-functioning democracy, the Government has a moral duty to be open and honest with citizens about its policy positions. However, in an age of media-driven Government, tensions have become acute between the governing elite’s need to get their message across to citizens, and the Civil Service’s obligation to compile factually-based Government pronouncements. However, it is nigh on impossible to separate out the true facts from such policy pronouncements because they are framed in language which propagates half-truths and sometimes, downright lies – with the deliberate intention of deceiving. Even more worryingly, press releases which are the primary source of information for the press and media about what Government is doing are crafted in such a way as to, in effect, say ‘look here, not there’ thereby focusing their attention exactly where Government wants them to, away from areas it would rather not defend in public. One of the reasons for this modus operandi is that Government is preoccupied with presentation, manipulation of words and the dark art of spinning – instead of working on its programme of reform to deliver public services efficiently, to satisfy the wants, needs and expectations of the electorate. The political imperative of needing to put a positive slant on everything the Government does or will do, irrespective of whether it is true or not, is the reason why spin has become the centrepiece of this Government’s communications strategy. And because Government has got a monopoly on inside information (enabling it to maintain extremely tight control), it uses spin to divert attention away from the key issues that really matter to citizens and consequently, succeeds in suppressing alternative views and criticism from those on the outside, including Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. Conventional wisdom has it that Ministers shape high-level policy and select from policy options developed by special advisers and mandarins, whilst it is the job of senior Civil Servants to define lower-level policy detail underneath, so that it can be used by the rest of the Civil Service to implement the policy of the Government. However, the eagerness with which senior Civil Servants have complied with their political masters’ desire to see policy announcements framed around presentation and spin, at the expense of substance, would explain why their skills set has been narrowed down to this single, dark art. It would also explain why the Civil Service has failed to deliver against promises made by the governing elite, in their election manifestos. This failure has been brought about by the erosion and downgrading of traditional specialist disciplines in the Civil Service like technical, commercial and project management – skills which are absolutely essential to the delivery of public services in today’s world. What’s more, this intense focus of attention on presentation alone has resulted in a massive gap opening up between the leadership and lower ranks of the Civil Service, who have to deal with the reality of delivering public services on the ground, on a day-to-day basis, which has in itself led to alienation and disaffection. @JagPatel3 Machine Learning on your Street: Bringing AI to your neighborhood Benjamin Franklin, the sagacious American Founding Father from Philadelphia, remarked that “Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” You might think that there’s little room for innovation in the taxation arena. Wake County, North Carolina will prove you wrong! It has embraced artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to reinvent the […]	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27237
__label__wiki	0.590335	0.590335	To provide you with the best experience, Gojim Casa Rural uses its own and third-party cookies on its website for technical, analytical and marketing purposes. By continuing to browse our site, you're agreeing to our use of cookies. Please consult our Cookie Notice for more information. Property Rooms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 All Rooms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27240
__label__wiki	0.90631	0.90631	Ron SirakDecember 12, 2012 The PGA's choice of Tom Watson as the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain should help bring back a winning attitude for the Americans Ron Sirak Watson was officially announced the next U.S. captain Thursday on the "Today" show. The last time Tom Watson was captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team was the last time the Yanks traveled across the Atlantic and actually came home with the Cup. That was 1993 and the Americans won 15-13 at the Belfry. Seems a lot longer ago than that, doesn't it? Losing has a way of making time pass slowly. Tiger Woods was still in high school and Rory McIroy was four years old when the Yanks won its last Ryder Cup road game. More importantly, when the U.S. won in England in 1993, it appeared as if the competitive pendulum of the Cup had swung back toward this side of the pond and away from Europe. The Euros ended what was nearly an O-for-the-20th-century drought with victories in 1985 and '87, then retained the Cup with a tie in 1989. But the Americans set things right by winning the "War by the Shore" at Kiawah in 1991 followed by the triumph at the Belfry. But not so fast, Sparky. Since that victory in 1993, the United States has won only twice, both on home soil -- in 1999 at Brookline and in 2008 at Valhalla. During that stretch since Watson won as captain, Europe has packed the Cup up and taken it home seven times, including five of the last six. Suddenly, the Yanks have become for Team Europe what the Washington Generals were for the Harlem Globetrotters -- friendly foils good for a laugh and a loss. Related: How recent U.S. Ryder Cup captains fared "I think it's important for the people to understand that the PGA of America has an obligation to try to pick and find the captain that we feel is going to put our team in the best position to win," PGA of America president Ted Bishop said Thursday in making the announcement. "And quite frankly, I know I speak for a lot of people when I say, we are just really tired of losing The Ryder Cup," Bishop said. The announcement was made on the "Today" show , which shockingly is on NBC, the network that broadcasts the Ryder Cup. Funny how that works. And Watson was introduced to the media at the Empire State Building, which hadn't hosted someone facing such a monumental task since King Kong climbed it with Fay Wray in his hand. So is picking a guy who will be 65 years old when the competition is held at Gleneagles in Scotland in 2014 going to help? Well, it couldn't hurt. What Watson knows about golf, and winning, he hasn't forgotten. What he doesn't know about the current players, he can learn. He's a smart guy. Give the PGA of America -- and Bishop -- credit for this: They are trying something different. Clearly, picking a player to be captain who was looking for something to do while biding time between the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour was not working. Look for Watson to be loaded with bold innovations and a dynamic managing style. Look for a radical new approach to how the U.S. side treats the Ryder Cup. "Well, I really haven't thought much about changing the approach," Watson said when asked what he would do differently. "I'm going to probably do the same things, try to make it easy for the players. The PGA of America does that." OK, let's hold that innovation thought for now. One thing we do know is that Watson will spend the next 20 months until the Ryder Cup being asked how things are going with Tiger Woods, whom Watson tweaked a bit post scandal by saying he needed to show more respect for the game. "Well, I hope Tiger, first of all, is on my team," Watson said Thursday. "My relationship with Tiger is fine," Watson said, adding that if Woods did not qualify for the squad in 2014 "you can bet that he's going to be No. 1 on my pick list." Might not be a good idea to make that commitment this early. The last time Watson was the Ryder Cup captain he created a bit of a stir by not allowing his players to sign autographs at the pre-event gala dinner, even blowing off members of the European team. Watson later apologized, but it does show the competitive fire he will bring to the U.S. team room. "The most important thing is that we are going to pull out all the stops to beat you guys," Watson said to a member of the European media. "The bottom line is to win. That's the most important thing. I will do it in style and the grace in which we play the game." Watson is adored in Scotland, in part because he's won the British Open five times and in part because of the classy and competitive way he handles both winning and losing. His fire will be appreciated by fans of the other side, and that might help the Americans. "We're tired of losing," Watson said, in what amounted to his closing arguments for his selection. "I always said that early in my career, I learned to win by hating to lose. It's about time to start winning again for our team. That's the attitude that I hope that my players have, and it's time to stop losing." Related: How the U.S. lost the Ryder Cup at Medinah That's pretty much what the PGA of America had in mind when they decided on Watson as Ryder Cup captain. Watson doesn't need to do anything new to change the fortunes of Team USA, he needs to do something old -- bring back the expectation that the Americans should win. They've seemed to be shackled by fear in recent years. I can't think of anyone who can bring back that winning attitude better than Tom Watson. Now, how about making Jack Nicklaus an assistant captain? Talk about bringing a winning attitude into the team room.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27243
__label__wiki	0.948367	0.948367	Home This Day In History Good News in History, October 22 Good News in History, October 22 Happy 80th Birthday to beloved actor Christopher Lloyd, who played zany characters like Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown in the Back to the Future film series, and the “Reverend” on the sitcom Taxi. His acting and distinctive voice has earned him multiple Emmy Awards and Lloyd takes to the stage again this month in a new play at The Lion Theatre in New York—portraying one of the mainstays of modernism, the troubling literary figure Ezra Pound. WATCH as Actors Michael J. Fox and Doc Brown reunite on the TODAY show 30 years into the future. (1938) –Photo by Gage Skidmore, 2015 CC More Good News on this Date: The Metropolitan Opera House opened in New York City featuring Faust (1883) Toastmasters was founded to teach people how to speak in public (1924) Laos gained independence from France (1953) A Canadian Parliamentary Committee selected the design which became the new official Flag of Canada (1964) The Supremes became the first female music group to attain a No. 1 selling album, “The Supremes A’ Go-Go”, a Motown LP that included “You Can’t Hurry Love” (1966) Red Dye No. 4 was banned by the US Food and Drug Administration after it is discovered that it causes tumors in the bladders of dogs (1976) The high speed TGV railway service from Paris to Lyon was inaugurated (1981) India launched its first unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 (2008) On this day 220 years ago, Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute jump from 3,200 feet (1000m) above Paris. Garnerin’s early design was based on an umbrella-shaped device that would be lifted by a balloon and then descend with a gondola attached to a silk parachute. (1797)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27245
__label__wiki	0.53827	0.53827	Australian non-bank Pepper eyes NZ Aussie non-bank giant Pepper is plotting a move into the New Zealand market, joining a growing list of alternative lenders. Tuesday, April 2nd 2019, 9:00AM Pepper, one of Australia's biggest non-bank lenders, is quietly ramping up preparations to launch in New Zealand, according to industry sources. The Aussie company has a book of 200,000 customers across the Tasman, and is making plans to build on that number in the NZ market. Industry sources say Pepper executives have travelled to New Zealand in recent weeks, and the lender is expected to begin hiring for a New Zealand launch soon. Pepper would not comment on the details, but said in a statement: "New Zealand is a market that Pepper is actively considering." Pepper, led by CEO Mike Culhane, (pictured), is expected to launch in New Zealand this year. It is understood the company is working on documentation and regulatory approvals. Pepper has been registered as a Financial Services Provider in New Zealand since 2011 and has a presence in the country, having acquired a A$5 billion book of loans from GE. Like most of its non-bank rivals, Pepper's customer base includes the self-employed, customers with changing personal circumstances, those with an impaired credit history, and investors. Aside from home loans, Pepper offers personal finance, car loans in the Australian market. The firm is expected to support the broker channel as it does in Australia. Pepper has no shortage of firepower for expansion into New Zealand. Since 2017 the finance company has been owned by private equity giant KKR, one of America's most powerful investors. Pepper's presence as a major player in the non-bank space would add to a growing list of alternative lenders in New Zealand. This week, Australian firm Prospa, led in NZ by former Resimac NZ boss Adrienne Church, signalled its intention to grow a mortgage book in this country. Over the past few years, a host of other non-banks have made a play for the New Zealand market, including Bluestone, whose Asia-Pacific division is owned by US private equity firm Cerberus. Bluestone returned to New Zealand in February after a 10 year absense. Other notable recent developments include Australian group Resimac's continued growth. The interest in the non-bank lending space comes as traditional lenders tighten credit conditions due to regulatory pressure on both sides of the Tasman. Non-banks posted a 22% increase in net profit last year, according to advisory firm KPMG. Tags: non-bank lenders RESIMAC « Bank targets criticised Economists change their mind on next OCR movement »	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line27246

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