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Nektar Therapeutics seeks to create less addictive opioid painkiller
Biz & Tech // Business
Catherine Ho Feb. 20, 2018 Updated: Feb. 26, 2018 3:13 p.m.
Nektar Therapeutics seeks to create less addictive opioid...
1of2Medicinal chemist Michael Ren works at Nektar Therapeutics, a San Francisco firm trying to develop a less-addictive opioid pill.Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle
2of2Steve Doberstein (left), head of research and development, and Jonathan Zalevsky, chief scientific officer, near the labs at the headquarters of Nektar Therapeutics in San Francisco.Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle
Time and time again, as they conducted hundreds of lab experiments and clinical trials over the last seven years, scientists testing a prescription opioid developed by the San Francisco biopharmaceutical firm Nektar Therapeutics kept returning to one question: Does it make you high?
In human clinical testing, 2,100 patients across every U.S. state — including about 100 who self-identified as recreational drug users — tried various doses of the pill under strict supervision of outside doctors who eventually concluded the medicine was less likely to be abused, and caused less severe withdrawal symptoms, than conventional opioids like oxycodone.
“We’re fairly certain it’s going to control pain really well, we had to be absolutely sure to have a low likability,” said Nektar’s chief scientific officer Stephen Doberstein, referring to the term for whether a drug makes people want to abuse it to get high. “If we just make another opioid with the same characteristics as oxycodone, we haven’t done anything. We made the problem worse.”
Nektar, a drug development company in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, is betting big that its yet-to-be-approved pill, called NKTR-181, could help solve the nation’s opioid epidemic.
Making progress in opioid addiction would be another feat, on top of the $1.85 billion deal Nektar announced last week with Bristol-Myers Squibb for a cancer drug — one of the biggest up-front payments for an oncology drug in the pharmaceutical industry. The twin tracks of drug development helped Nektar become the best-performing stock among Bay Area companies last year, as well as thus far in 2018, according to a Bloomberg index.
Nektar’s twice-a-day opioid pill seeks to achieve a feat that is deceptively simple: separate the pain-relief function of a painkiller from the feeling of euphoria, or high, it creates for the user. NKTR-181 is designed to enter the brain relatively slowly, thus avoiding the immediate, pleasurable rush that follows the administration of more rapidly acting opioids like oxycodone — a side effect that has fueled a national public health emergency. Drug overdoses, including from prescription painkillers, heroin and the synthetic opioid fentanyl, are now the leading cause of death for Americans younger than 50.
Nektar’s work on NKTR-181 — a temporary name that will be changed if it is licensed out and marketed by a pharmaceutical company — began years before the devastating scale of the opioid crisis came into full view. But the emergence of the epidemic adds a layer of urgency to the company’s work.
“Even I have been shocked at the scale of what’s happened,” Doberstein said. “None of us can ignore it.”
Company officials are preparing to submit a new drug application for NKTR-181 to the Food and Drug Administration by June. This step will kick off a formal regulatory review of the drug, one of the final hurdles to clear before it can be sold to consumers. In an unusual move, the FDA will allow Nektar to submit the application after having completed just one successful phase 3 trial; drug companies typically have to complete two. The news, which executives announced in an earnings report in November, led to a spike in Nektar’s stock.
“This is uncharted territory,” said Andy Hsieh, a senior biotech analyst at William Blair, of the move by the FDA. “The goal post has been moving toward a more lenient regulatory pathway.”
The push to create a pain relief drug marks a pivot for Nektar, which in its 28-year history has transformed from a small startup specializing in inhaled medicines to cancer, chronic pain and autoimmune diseases.
Founded in 1990 in San Carlos, Nektar originally went by Inhale Therapeutic Systems and primarily developed inhaled insulin and antibiotics. One of its biggest stumbles came in 2008 when its inhaled insulin product, Exubera — which the company had partnered with Pfizer to market — was pulled from shelves after months of disappointing sales. Research also found that use of the product correlated to increased cases of lung cancer among former smokers. Nektar’s stock fell 25 percent.
The commercial flop prompted Nektar CEO Howard Robin to spearhead the sale of the company’s inhalable therapeutics portfolio to Novartis for $115 million — which shrank Nektar’s workforce from 1,200 to 450 employees — and focus on Nektar’s remaining business centered around a technology that enables a drug molecule to be chemically altered to cause a specific type of reaction, or a reaction at a specific rate in the body — the key behind the opioid NKTR-181.
The NKTR-181 molecule cannot be ground up or mixed with other substances for snorting or injecting because its structure is entirely different from traditional opioid painkillers.
Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle
Obtaining the technology, called pegylation, was not without hiccups. But in hindsight it was prescient, analysts said. Thinking pegylation could help them develop a more advanced inhaled insulin, Nektar in 2001 acquired a drug delivery startup, Shearwater, founded by a chemistry professor at the University of Alabama-Huntsville who had developed proprietary technology around pegylation. Nektar was later sued by the university’s trustees, who alleged the professor did not have the right to take the patent with him to Nektar; the company settled the matter by paying $25 million to the university to dismiss the suit.
The acquisition “was the masterstroke,” said biotech analyst David Steinberg of Jefferies & Co.
Indeed, Nektar used the same technology to create the cancer drug, NKTR-214, which made headlines last week. The deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb, analysts said, could bode well for other drugs in Nektar’s pipeline, including the opioid pill and several other oncology and autoimmune drugs, by boosting the company’s cash reserves without diluting its stock.
Nektar is not the first or only biopharmaceutical company vying to introduce a less addictive opioid. Several drugs classified as “abuse deterrent formulations” exist on the market and in various stages of clinical trials including a morphine tablet, opioid capsule and intravenous opioid.
More on Nektar Therapeutics
By Catherine Ho
Nektar signs $1.85B deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb for cancer...
By Kathleen Pender
Nektar, Restoration Hardware led Bay Area stocks in 2017
The difference between NKTR-181 and the others is subtle but important, experts said. NKTR-181 cannot be ground up or mixed with other substances to snort or shoot up because its molecules are entirely different from those of hydrocodone, morphine and other traditional opioids, they said. In other words, experts believe tampering with it will not get you high.
“I think it’s innovative and interesting,” said Brian Shoichet, a professor at UCSF School of Pharmacy who has researched pain and addiction and does not have a financial stake in Nektar. “It’s like taking a dog and putting a 30-foot tail on it. It’s still recognizably a dog, it still walks and barks like a dog, but the 30-foot tail keeps it out of the brain, basically, or really reduces its rate (of entry) into the brain.”
The primary market for its opioid pill is those who live with chronic pain, in particular chronic lower-back pain, but not acute pain. It is meant for people who have never taken prescription opioids before, as well as those who are already on opioid therapies. The market for chronic pain medication is lucrative, between $3 billion and $10 billion a year, analysts estimate.
“Because of the opioid crisis, you could imagine companies are working on less abusable forms of chronic pain drugs,” said Steinberg, the analyst. “The holy grail is a chronic pain drug that works as well as an opioid that has no addictive properties.”
Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho
Catherine Ho
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Catherine Ho covers health care and medical technology for the business desk at the San Francisco Chronicle. Before joining the paper in 2017, she worked at The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the legal trade paper the Daily Journal.
Juul escalates fight against e-cigarette bans
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Kaiser mental health workers in SF picketing again to protest patient wait times
SF office space is expensive. A ballot proposal will make it worse, critics say
Daily Briefing, July 18
Peter Thiel wants the government to investigate Google. Careful where that leads
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History Mission
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Since 1904, teamwork has been the Sheehan key to successful partnership and satisfied residents. The Sheehan Companies are committed to working closely with customers offering unparalleled expertise in all aspects of development, construction and property management in order to maximize the value of your real estate investment while achieving the highest level of quality in the building industry. In turn, we are dedicated to providing an outstanding living experience for tenants and a smartly designed, productive homebase for commercial clients.
Sheehan's History
From the start Sheehan Construction Company was formed as a family business with a dare to dream and a focus on the future. More than one hundred years ago, Gene and Jack Sheehan walked into the office of the Indiana Secretary of State to incorporate their new venture, Sheehan Construction Company. On March 10, 1904 the brothers formed their sanitary sewer business and went to work designing and installing hundreds of miles of sewer lines. Some of Sheehan's earliest jobs were downtown Indianapolis and Camp Atterbury, a military installation located in southern Indiana.
Sheehan's Beginnings
The company prospered in sewers for some time but struggled during the Depression and experienced the ultimate set back when the Sheehan brothers passed away. Coping with the loss of its founders, their nephew, James Earl Curtis stepped in to fill the void and the Sheehan tradition continued. As one of the first companies with the knowledge and capability to assemble sewers, James E., grandfather of the present owners, helped write industry laws mandating that installers be compensated with land if customers neglected to pay their service fees. As the sewer business became more competitive, Sheehan evolved into developing and building single family residences starting with the land the company had acquired from delinquent sewer customers. This shift in gears put Sheehan on the map as a leading innovator in the construction industry, building state of the art track homes offering all the latest features available in the 1940's.
Sheehan's Growth
Sheehan's Growth As the company grew, so did the need for cash. Every project was 100% financed and Sheehan was dependent on the bank's lines of credit. A reputation for making solid financial decisions and paying on time allowed Sheehan to build strong relationships with lenders and opened the door to numerous construction opportunities
In early 1960, James E. passed away, leaving the company in the able hands of his wife Cora. Together with her son, James J. Curtis, Sheehan Construction continued to pave the way inventing new methods of developing and financing projects with the changing times while meeting the needs of customers and residents.
Sheehan's involvement in rehabilitation projects proved to be especially challenging. As a pioneer in the construction of multi-family public housing, the company felt the pain of working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development while experiencing the gain as the need for lowincome apartments escalated. In the late 1970s, Sheehan got serious about apartments and HUD work. By this time, virtually all their work had evolved into multi-family product.
Sheehan's growing financial strength and outstanding reputation allowed the company to forge ahead into other residential markets. The company began building condominiums as well as conventional apartment communities. Sheehan is known for its tenacious ability to locate and develop parcels that prove to be ideal for a particular project, whether it be low-income or luxury housing. One of Sheehan's first condominium developments was built in the middle of nowhere along Keystone Avenue and 82nd Street in Indianapolis. Today, the area is thriving with businesses, offices, hotels, restaurants and the popular upscale Fashion Mall at Keystone at the Crossing.
Naturally, Sheehan diversified further into the development of subdivisions, custom homes, office space, retail strip centers and mixed use developments. Even so, Sheehan's earlier transition into the residential multi-family markets has proved critical to the company's success and its ability to focus on the future.
Cora maintained her role with Sheehan Construction as Chairman of the Board until her death at the age of 94. Today, James J. Curtis, the current chairman, is an active participant in the company and has three of his five children continuing the family tradition. His eldest son James J. Curtis, Jr. is President, J. Robert Curtis is Vice President and project superintendent and Kelli Adams is Secretary of the Sheehan Companies.
Columbus Apartments
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NEW! Broad Ripple
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6930 Atrium Boardwalk South,
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Welcome to Shoosmiths > Client resources > Legal updates > Teachers: Regulator and regulation changes
Teachers: Regulator and regulation changes
Author: Charlotte Ellis
As of 31 March 2012, as a result of a change in the law, teachers in England are no longer regulated by the General Teaching Council (GTC).
The Education Act 2011 (The 2011 Act) abolished the GTC for England. Teachers are now regulated by the Secretary of State. The Teaching Agency (TA) regulates teachers in England on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Along with a change of regulator, there is a parallel change to teachers' regulations. The Regulations (Teachers' Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012) set out the procedure to be followed when a teacher's conduct is called into question. The most striking change to the law is that there is now only one sanction available to the regulator if a teacher's actions are found to amount to serious misconduct; the Prohibition Order.
Importantly, the regulations now only apply to cases of serious misconduct. The TA, as the regulator, should only be involved in the most serious cases of misconduct. The TA is therefore not concerned with issues of incompetence, underperformance or less serious misconduct.
When a teacher has been dismissed for misconduct by their employer, the employer must consider whether to refer the case to the TA. This referral may result in the imposition of a Prohibition Order.
Such referrals can also be made by a member of the public if they believe that an allegation of serious misconduct has not been adequately dealt with once local procedures have been followed by the teacher's employer or employing agency. Further, the police, the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) or other regulators may also refer cases to the TA.
Prohibition Orders
Previous law permitted the GTC to impose a number of sanctions, including reprimand, conditional registration, suspension (including conditions), or prohibition. These orders have been abolished by the 2011 Act and replaced by a single Prohibition Order.
The Prohibition Order applies to anyone who is teaching, as defined in The Teachers' Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012.
Prohibition Orders adopt two forms:
Interim Prohibition Orders
The Secretary of State has the power to make Prohibition Orders and Interim Prohibition Orders. The legislation is clear in that no other sanctions can be applied to teachers who are guilty of serious misconduct.
The aim of the Prohibition Order is to protect pupils and maintain public confidence in the profession. The imposition of the Prohibition Order must be proportionate to the misconduct alleged but not punitive.
Any teacher subject to a Prohibition Order is prohibited from undertaking unsupervised teaching in a school or other setting as defined in the Regulations (Teachers' Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012).
Once a teacher is subject to a Prohibition Order, the resultant ban is for life. It can, however, be reviewed after a specified period of time, but not before the expiry of a two year period under Section 8 of the 2012 Regulations.
There are certain offences which should never have a review capability. These include offences which have aspects of violence or serious sexual misconduct.
Once the minimum time frame has elapsed, the teacher may apply to the Secretary of State to have the Prohibition Order set aside and the Secretary of State will convene a Professional Conduct Panel (PCP) to consider setting aside the Prohibition Order.
The ISA will continue to safeguard children for issues which include harm to a child and the TA must liaise with the ISA to determine the appropriate course of action when investigating such incidents.
The PCP is not involved in the making of Interim Prohibition Orders. This is a decision taken by the Secretary of State only.
Interim Prohibition Orders are imposed to prevent a teacher from teaching until their case has been heard at the PCP.
The Secretary of State will make an Interim Prohibition Order if it appears that:
Reliable evidence that an allegation of misconduct is well founded
The imposition is necessary for the protection of children, parents, other school staff
It is necessary in the public interest
An Interim Prohibition Order can be imposed at any time during the investigation process. The teacher will be informed that consideration is being given to the imposition of an Interim Prohibition Order and seven days' notice will be given to provide additional evidence that may be considered at the PCP hearing.
When an Interim Prohibition Order is imposed, the teacher is informed in writing that the Interim Prohibition Order will apply immediately.
If employed, the employer will also be informed in writing about the imposition of an Interim Prohibition Order. The employer must take necessary action to ensure that the teacher is prevented from continuing in their position of employment whilst the Interim Prohibition Order is in force.
Should an Interim Prohibition Order be imposed, the teacher will appear on the 'Prohibited List' and they cannot apply to the High Court to appeal the imposition of such an order.
Professional Conduct Panel (PCP)
Decisions upon the imposition of Prohibition Orders are made by the PCP of the TA.
After considering the evidence in front of it, the PCP must consider three questions in the following order:
Is the PCP satisfied that the facts of the case have been proved
Has there been "unacceptable professional conduct", "conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute" or a "conviction, at any time, of a relevant offence"
Is the Prohibition Order appropriate
In order to impose a Prohibition Order, the PCP must be able to answer each of these questions in the affirmative.
Taking each question in turn:
Is the PCP satisfied that the facts of the case have been proved?
The facts must be proved on the balance of probabilities. Information from the police or previous hearings may be considered in evidence. If this question can be answered positively, then the PCP can move on to question number two.
Has there been "unacceptable professional conduct", "conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute" or "conviction, at any time, of a relevant offence"?
Unacceptable professional conduct is concerned with misconduct of a serious nature, falling significantly below that behaviour expected of a teacher and should be judged by the latest standards published by the TA. Conduct outside of teaching will only be unacceptable professional conduct if it affects teaching or exposes pupils to harm.
Conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute is concerned with allegations outside of the school environment which, if it is directly related to teaching and serious in nature, may bring the profession into disrepute.
The conviction, at any time, of a relevant offence considers any conviction, at any time, relevant to a person's fitness to teach. This can be either a British conviction or one that would be a conviction if committed in England and Wales but the offence must be a 'relevant offence'.
An offence will be relevant if it occurred outside the course of teaching and:
It is contrary to the standards of that expected of a teacher, with reference to the latest standards published by the Secretary of State
It is relevant to teaching, in that it included working with children in an education system
It is likely to have an impact on safety or security of pupils, public or public confidence in the profession
It led to a term of imprisonment
Finally, if questions one and two above are answered in the affirmative, the PCP must consider the following question:
Is the Prohibition Order appropriate?
If the PCP finds that the individual is guilty of unacceptable professional conduct, conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute or a conviction, at any time, of a relevant offence, it must decide whether to impose a Prohibition Order.
The PCP has a core duty to maintain public confidence in the profession and in doing so, it must consider the interests of all those affected. The panel should consider whether the imposition of a Prohibition Order will maintain the public interest and must apply the principle of proportionality when making its decision. This means that it must balance the interests of the public with those of the teacher.
Even when the PCP feels that the evidence in the investigation tips the scales in favour of a Prohibition Order, mitigating circumstances must also be taken into account.
If any relevant mitigating criteria are apparent then a Prohibition Order may not be deemed appropriate.
When the PCP determines a Prohibition Order is necessary, the Secretary of State will confirm whether the Prohibition Order is necessary and whether the Prohibition Order should be subject to review.
The PCP's decision will be publicised.
The teacher may appeal against the decision to impose a Prohibition Order within 28 days of the date of the service of the Prohibition Order.
If you are a teacher facing an investigation by the Teaching Agency, or if you require clarification on the new legislation contact, please contact us on 03700 865722 or via the email addresses below
Michael Swanick
Regulatory Executive
M 07803630135
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Berger shoots 62 to take lead after 3 rounds at Travelers
Daniel Berger watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the final round of the U.S. Open golf championship at Oakmont Country Club on Sunday, June 19, 2016, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Gene J. Puskar
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) Daniel Berger shot an 8-under par 62 on Saturday, two strokes off the course record, to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Travelers Championship.
The 23-year-old Floridian made nine birdies, including seven on his final 10 holes Saturday, to finish with a 15-under par 195 after 54 holes.
Russell Knox, who opened his round with three straight birdies, shot a 64 and was tied with Russell Henley and Tyrone Van Aswegen for second place at 12-under par.
Berger, who is coming off a shoulder injury, is looking for his second career title on the PGA Tour. He won two months ago in Memphis at the St. Jude Classic.
The golfers went out early in trios Saturday off the first and 10th tees to avoid thunderstorms predicted for the area.
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Lakers guard Kobe Bryant considering taking time off to rest body
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said that he might take a few games off to rest his body.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said that he might take a few games off to rest his body.
Bryant played a team-high 38 minutes in a 108-101 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday. He is averaging 35.4 minutes a game this season and his 957 total minutes played this season are the 10th most in the NBA.
"I don't have much of a choice if the body is feeling the way it's feeling right now," Bryant said to Yahoo Sports. "You got to be smart. You got to make sure you get enough return on your investment. With the amount of work that I do and put into my body and to get my body ready, for it to be sore as it is right now, sometimes you do have to consider sitting down."
The Lakers play the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, the Chicago Bulls on Christmas Day and the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
• NBA Tank Rankings
"You got to look at the body," Bryant said. "You make the call tomorrow and see how my body feels and go from there. I'm still trying to figure it out. This is uncharted territory."
Lakers coach Byron Scott said he planned to sit down with Bryant and discuss the situation and try to come up with a solution on how to handle this week’s games.
Bryant is fourth in the NBA in scoring this season, averaging 24.6 points a game. He also averages 5.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists on 37 percent shooting for Los Angeles (8-19).
- Scooby Axson
kobe bryant lakers
Kobe Bryant rest
kobe bryant los angeles lakers
los angeles lakers kobe bryant
kobe rest
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The LDS Church won’t stand in the way of a tougher hate-crimes law in Utah, and it says no groups, including LGBT, should be left off the list
(Rick Egan | Tribune file photo) Mixsa Kafi and Andrew Izatt wave flags as they watch the Utah Pride Parade, in Salt Lake City, Sunday, June 3, 2018.
By Bethany Rodgers
· Published: January 23
The LDS Church is breaking its silence on attempts to strengthen Utah’s hate-crimes law, potentially breathing life into a measure that has previously run aground in the Legislature.
The chief lobbyist for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Wednesday night he wanted to speak on the issue because of the perception that the Utah-based faith has derailed the bill in past sessions.
“Continually, we’re being blamed as the ones holding this up, and so we wanted to let people know that since 2016, we have not taken a position on hate crimes, and we are not opposed to a hate-crimes piece of legislation,” the church’s lobbyist, Marty Stephens, said.
Stephens, who formerly served as Utah House speaker, said the church probably won’t comment on any specific proposal.
Some lawmakers and advocates have said the hate-crimes bill has faltered in the past over the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people on the list of protected groups. However, Stephens said a hate-crimes bill that covers specific groups should not omit anyone typically included in such legislation.
“We don’t think anyone should be excluded that’s typically targeted,” he said.
Utah’s existing hate-crimes law is toothless and unenforceable, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill has said. In its two decades of existence, the statute has never been used to convict anyone of a hate-based crime.
Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, has said he will reintroduce a bill this session that would enable judges to impose enhanced penalties for someone convicted of targeting a person based on ancestry, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, national origin, race, religion or sexual orientation. The list is based on groups that are protected under federal law, he said.
While Thatcher watched his proposals die in 2017 and 2018, he says the church’s statement on hate crimes could help change the bill’s fortunes in the Utah Legislature, where nine of every 10 seats are filled by Latter-day Saints.
Added momentum could come from the national media spotlight that fell on Utah’s law after a brutal attack on a Latino father and son — Jose Lopez and Luis Gustavo Lopez — late last year. A 50-year-old man was accused of carrying out the beating while yelling about how he wanted to kill a Mexican, but prosecutors were unable to add hate-crime enhancements.
“Between the high-profile Lopez case ... and this new clarification, I think we’re in a stronger position than we’ve ever been before,” Thatcher said. “I think we’re likely to get a hearing this year. I think the bill will pass overwhelmingly in committee. It will be a challenge on the floor, but I believe at the end of the day, this will be the year we get it passed.”
Gov. Gary Herbert on Thursday said he’s open to talking about beefing up Utah’s hate crimes law.
“The fact that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints evidently has weighed in on this and said they’re not opposed to it can’t hurt the possibilities. I don’t know that it changes everybody’s mind, but I think it’s certainly a discussion we ought to have,” Herbert said.
When asked about LGBTQ protections, Herbert said he wants gay people to feel safe and “anything we can do to enhance that, we ought to do.”
Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah, noted that legislators back in the 1990s resisted naming protected groups in state hate-crimes law because of opposition to LGBTQ protections.
Wednesday’s statement from Utah’s predominant faith represents an opportunity for the state to come together around a workable bill, he said.
“Hate doesn’t discriminate. Both LGBTQ people and Latter-day Saints have a history of being victims of hate and violence,” Williams said. “So with this new clarification, we hope lawmakers alongside other faiths and ethnic communities will unite in support of this legislation.”
This year will mark the fourth recent effort to add teeth to Utah’s hate-crimes law.
In 2016, then-Sen. Steve Urquhart said the LDS Church’s opposition dealt a fatal blow to his hate-crimes bill. At the time, the church had voiced the desire to maintain a balance struck the previous year, when the Legislature passed a landmark LGBT anti-discrimination law with the faith’s blessing.
Stephens acknowledges that the church requested a one-year moratorium after the anti-discrimination law passed but said it stayed neutral on the hate-crimes bills of 2017 and 2018. However, some lawmakers interpreted the church’s silence as opposition, Thatcher has said.
When asked why the church hadn’t previously clarified its stance, Stephens explained that the faith is in “an unusual position."
“We’re criticized when we do comment on legislation," Stephens said, “and in this particular case, we’re criticized when we don’t comment on legislation.”
brodgers@sltrib.com
twitter Follow @BethRodgersSLT
By Hannah Denham | The Washington Post • 5h ago
How is Utah celebrating Pioneer Day? With parades, fireworks and music — and, for some, pie and beer
By Sean P. Means • 8h ago
‘Utah Booze News:’ Utah’s polygamy-themed beer is rejected and consumer group wants high-alcohol beer on tap
By Kathy Stephenson • 8h ago
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Jeff Pheffer's calling in life is to deliver justice to Californians injured by the negligence of others.
Are some self-driving cars safer than others?
On behalf of Pheffer Law posted in auto accidents on Tuesday, January 15, 2019.
While self-driving cars are taking slow, steady steps toward prominence on California roadways, not everyone believes that widespread adoption of the technology is in the public's best interest. According to Forbes, drivers in San Francisco have sometimes reacted violently to the presence of autonomous cars on their city streets, and even those who are able to curb their road rage still express some hesitation. A nationwide study indicates that a slim majority of Americans, only 52 percent, feel confident that safety advances in self-driving technology may one day lead them to consider an autonomous vehicle as a replacement for a conventional one.
As of right now, self-driving vehicles are still in the testing stages, and California law requires companies currently testing driverless cars to file a report with the proper authorities whenever a test vehicle becomes involved in an accident, meaning any contact with people or property. A tech website has compiled and analyzed data from the state's Department of Motor Vehicles and determined which models of autonomous cars have had the most accidents.
GM has been testing its autonomous Cruise model on the streets of San Francisco, and 52 of its test models have had accidents out of 61 self-driving car accidents altogether, which may partly account for the apparent animosity toward the new technology among drivers in that city. Those 52 vehicles account for 30 percent of GM's fleet of self-driving test cars. Forty-one percent of Google's self-driving Waymo test fleet in the Mountain View area have had accidents. Nine Waymo crashes, out of 32 total, occurred on the El Camino Real, a six-lane freeway bisecting the region.
It is important to note that the companies testing autonomous cars must always file a report in the event of a test vehicle having an accident, regardless of whether the vehicle was in self-driving mode or who was at fault. Therefore, vehicle models involved in the highest number of crashes may not necessarily be more dangerous, as other factors than self-driving capability may have been at play. The fact that most self-driving car accidents happen at low speeds may also be significant.
The information in this article is not intended as legal advice but provided for educational purposes only.
Tags: Auto Accidents
Related Posts: Evolving child safety seat guidelines, Teen drivers and negligent entrustment, Distracted driving features in modern vehicles, At what speeds can whiplash occur?
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“Mr. Pheffer has handled two cases for me. He did an absolutely fantastic job. Not only is Mr. Pheffer professional; he is kind and compassionate...” Read All Reviews
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Solving baseball’s service time…
Solving baseball’s service time manipulation problem might only treat the symptoms
Toronto Blue Jays executives cited the defensive skills of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as reasons to delay his major league debut, but delaying the beginning of top prospects’ major-league service time remains an issue with players and their agents. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
By J.P. Hoornstra | jhoornstra@scng.com | Daily News
PUBLISHED: September 19, 2018 at 4:31 pm | UPDATED: September 19, 2018 at 4:54 pm
Baseball’s peculiar problem with winning has a face now. Actually, it has a few faces.
Toronto Blue Jays prospect Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. is still a minor leaguer despite having no minor league games left to play in 2018. So is Chicago White Sox uber-prospect Eloy Jimenez. So is Byron Buxton, a veteran of 306 major league games, whose absence from the Minnesota Twins’ roster is a perverse punishment for the “crime” of not having enough service time to qualify for free agency.
Service time might be the two most underrated words in baseball. The number of years and days a player spends on a major league roster form his ability to qualify for salary arbitration, and free agency, and pension benefits. Fans don’t always want to be reminded that professional baseball is big business; concepts like “service time” shatter the illusion of sports as mere pastime. But sometimes a reminder is necessary.
Guerrero, 19, batted .381 across four minor-league levels in the Blue Jays’ system this year. Fans of the Jays, who will not see playoff baseball for the 23rd time in 25 seasons since their team last won the World Series, would love to see such a talented player in Toronto.
Jimenez, a 21-year-old outfielder, is being heralded as one of the faces of the White Sox’s future. For now, he is the face of the Charlotte Knights, a Triple-A team for whom Jimenez batted .355. The Knights’ season ended Sept. 3, while the White Sox still have more than a week left in their season.
Executives for the Blue Jays and White Sox cited the defensive skills of Guerrero and Jimenez, respectively, as reasons to delay their major league debuts. Buxton won a Gold Glove Award last year. His general manager, Thad Levine, publicly cited service time as a reason to keep Buxton in Triple-A. It was a rare moment of honesty.
By keeping each player in the minor leagues while the major league team is out of contention, executives can delay the players’ ability to reach free agency without spoiling their chances of winning a championship. The Blue Jays, White Sox and Twins are effectively trying to extend their “team control” over their prospects by another year. Most executives would rather not admit this on the record. Feeding fans excuses for not fielding your best roster is a bad look.
This is not a new phenomenon. It happened to the Braves’ Ronald Acuña in April, and to the Cubs’ Kris Bryant in April 2015. It will happen again – unless baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement changes and the value of winning outweighs the value of suppressing service time. “It’s a service-based system,” one player agent told me this week.
I recently scratched out what seemed like a palatable solution to the problem, something that would benefit front offices at marginal cost to the players. I ran it by a few players who serve as their team’s player representative to the MLBPA.
The idea goes like this: for the small handful of teenagers each year with the ability to play in the major leagues, each day on an MLB roster counts as a quarter-day of service time. When they turn 20, that quarter-day becomes a half-day. For players who signed as international free agents (like Guerrero and Jimenez), they begin to accrue full days at age 22. A former high school draft pick (such as Buxton) begins to accrue full days at 24. For collegiate players such as Bryant, the full day kicks in at 25.
Only a small percentage of players would be affected by these changes. You can count on one hand the number of teenage players in MLB in any given year. High school and college draftees rarely spend a full year in the majors before age 24 or 25, respectively. Most players would still accrue full days of service time, while teams would have more incentive to bring up an MLB-ready player who isn’t gaining a full day toward free agency.
In the case of Guerrero and Jimenez, each player could have been recalled a quarter of the way through the 2018 season and still hit free agency at age 27 – the same age they will become free agents if they are brought up roughly a month into the 2019 season, as is expected. In theory, Bryant and Acuña would not have lost the first month of their rookie years under my proposal.
Some players would never go for such a system. Bryce Harper, the rare college draft pick who reached the majors at 19, would have lost up to three years off his free agent clock. But I figured most players would see the upshot: Players who deserve to earn major-league money and benefits get major league money and benefits.
“That’s a horrible idea,” said one player.
“Teams are going to do anything they can to win if they’re winning,” he said. “The real problem is teams that tank. I’m not so worried about service-time manipulation. I’m worried about teams being incentivized to lose games.”
His point was this: the Braves suppressed Acuña’s service time by about a month, but it was only a month. The same was true for Bryant. Their teams were trying to make the playoffs. The Blue Jays, with a 69-82 record through Tuesday, are closer to the No. 1 overall draft pick than a postseason berth. They have arguably more incentive to lose than win. The same logic applies to the White Sox at 59-91. Eliminate the incentive to lose, and the best players will be in the major leagues.
“I think it would greatly resolve the problem,” he said.
In other words, my solution treated the symptom and not the disease.
Another player was loathe to accept any idea that ate into his potential service time, saying the long-term benefits of reaching salary arbitration, free agency and a full pension outweighed the benefits of earning the minimum major league salary a year earlier. Any plan that would prevent anyone from reaching free agency before age 27 would not be popular within the union.
“I don’t think fans understand the value of service time,” he said.
In a service-based system, service time isn’t a bullet point the players seem willing to concede. Is there a simple fix, or is this conflict the substance of a potential work stoppage?
One player offered what seemed like a simple solution. It was less complicated than mine and it treated the disease: Reverse the order of the first 20 picks in the amateur draft. Playoff teams still draft in chronological order of elimination, from 21 to 30, but the team with the worst regular-season record drafts 20th. The team with the next-worst record drafts 19th.
“So you’re incentivized to win all the way up to the end,” he said. “If you’re the 11th-best team, you get the first pick. And if you have the worst record, the lowest you can pick is 20th.” The race to the bottom would not be a race at all.
If any sport could radically restructure its amateur draft, it’s baseball. Unlike hockey, basketball and sometimes football, the first overall pick is never expected to make an immediate impact. The draft itself is not a ratings machine for the league. It is less sacred and therefore, maybe, more negotiable.
Ultimately, this is a debate for 2021, when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires. Maybe this is one step toward a solution.
Eloy Jimenez, a Chicago White Sox outfield prospect, stands in the dugout before throwing out a ceremonial first pitch before a game between the White Sox and the Cleveland Indians last September in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
los-angeles-angels
J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. Hoornstra covers Major League Baseball and is the author of 'The 50 Greatest Dodger Games Of All Time.' He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.
Follow J.P. Hoornstra @jphoornstra
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The Confucius Institue
Confucius Institute for Scotland at the University of Edinburgh Distinguished Lecture Series - David Shambaugh
Mark your diary now for the second lecture in our 2015 Distinguished Lecture Series from Prof David Shambaugh of George Washington University, which will take place on Monday 9 March from 5.30pm-7pm.
China at the Crossroads: Major Reform Challenges
After thirty-five years of successful reforms first launched by Deng Xiaoping and his colleagues at the famous Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee in December 1978, many China watchers (and many Chinese inside China) judge that the nation is at a crossroads and has reached a series of critical junctures in its economic, social, political, environmental, intellectual, foreign policy and other areas. This lecture will explore a number the major challenges confronting the Xi Jinping leadership, and will assess the progress being made.
Professor Shambaugh has been Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and founding Director of the China Policy Program in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University since 1996. Before joining the faculty at George Washington, he was successively Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Reader in Chinese Politics at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (1987-1996), where he also served as Editor of The China Quarterly (1991-96). He also directed the Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (1987-1988), and served as an analyst in the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Intelligence and Research (1976-77) and the U.S. National Security Council staff (1977-78)
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SciFind
Science Fiction | Horror | Fantasy | WTF | Tabletop Games
Tag: Hawkeye
New MARVEL Exhibition in London
Our friends at Marvel have recently announced a new interactive experience where fans of the popular movie franchise can “become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe storyline”.
S.TA.T.I.O.N. is an acronym for ‘Science Training And Tactical Intelligence Operative Network’. This offers the opportunity for Marvel fans of all ages to explore the workings and backstory of every original Avenger as they train to be an agent at S.T.A.T.I.O.N. The training allows the fans to have the opportunity to connect with and interact with props and characters from the films. Some of the highlights include:
Step inside the Thor observatory – dedicated to Thor Odinson, King of Asgard and son of Odin. Test your worthiness by attempting to lift Thor’s hammer, view Thor’s outfits, Mjolnir and study the universe and its current parameters using NASA’S eye on the exoplanets program.
Check out Captain America’s personnel file and explore the cutting-edge science that made Steve Rogers into Captain America.
Iron Man Engineering Bay – trainee agents have the chance to not only get up close and personal with Iron Man’s iconic suits of armour but also experience what simulated flight inside the suit would be like.
Ever wondered what Bruce Banners Lab looks like? Explore the Bio Lab transformation of Dr Banners superior brain as he morphs into The Hulk.
Honestly, having a go at flying one of Tony Stark’s suits? Count me in.
This London experience also includes never before seen displays on Black Panther, The Wasp and Thanos.
Booking/attendance information:
-You must arrive a couple of minutes ahead of your chosen timeslot.
-The booked timeslot is a 30 minutes window in which the experience will start and groups will enter every 10 minutes.
-The full main experience lasts around 70 minutes once you have entered. It is advised you allow 2 hours for your full experience.
-Location: This will all be located at the ExCeL in London, between the months of December 2018 and March 2019.
Full details are on the www.avengersstation.co.uk website…
Will we see you there?
MARVEL Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. Video
(All images from www.avengersstation.co.uk)
Scifi Review of 2012 – Comics, Movies, TV and Books
Amelia Cole and the Unknown World
Three titles really stood out for me this year. Amelia Cole and the Unknown World, one of the launch range from Monkeybrain Comics, is the story of a female mage trapped in an alternate dimension, the fight she faces there to protect magic and magic users and that universe’s very odd version of superheroes. Oh and her side kick is an industrial Golem called Lemmy. It’s brilliant, endlessly inventive and witty and one of the best fantasy titles in years. Also, it being a Monkeybrain book, it’s insanely good value. Seriously, their entire range is brilliant but this is a real standout. Go, spend not very much money, be amazed by how many great comics you get.
Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and David Aja also worked miracles this year. Bravely choosing to swim upstream from the mournful, serious archer we saw Jeremy Renner do so well as in Avengers Assemble, they recast Clint as a perpetually battered, down on his luck, man of the people. He’s scruffy and charming and completely without any luck at all, and also a profoundly decent human being. The first issue is tied for the best single comic I read this year, as we see Clint explain how he ended up owning his apartment building and gaining a dog in a sequence that honestly got me teary. Just fun, smart storytelling of the first order.
It’s competition for best single issue I read this year is Captain Marvel issue 1 written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and with art by Dexter Soy. Kelly Sue and Matt are married, and the sheer level of comic writing talent in that house may be enough to bend space and time. Or at the very least ensure they have the best collection of action figures on the block. Finally graduating Carol Danvers from the dismal ‘Ann Coulter in high end dominatrix gear costume’ character that she’s been for so long, Kelly Sue simultaneously grounds Carol Danvers with a series of smart, naturalistic friendships and lets her fly. She’s a pilot, a woman who has dreamed of flying her whole life and the first issue, and first storyline, both focus on Carol dealing with the death of her mentor, a female pilot with a charmingly dubious past. The entire story is great, taking in time travel, rogue alien technology and a group of female pilots in World War II but the first issue is the one that hit me right between the eyes. I lost a family member, who I only got close to this year, in 2012 and her relationship with my girlfriend was very similar to Carol’s friendship with Helen here. The funeral, and the moment where Carol not only decides what to do but takes her friend’s ashes on one last flight hit me where I live. It’s a great series, featuring a character finally living up to her potential and I’m delighted it’s proving a success.
Honorable mentions: The entire Monkeybrain comics line up. Seriously it’s that damn good. Also Mass Effect: Homeworlds for its highly impressive use of established continuity to tell new, personal stories about four of the series’ best characters. The Garrus issue alone is worth the price of admission. Finally, Doctor Who: The Child of Time, coelcting the first chunk of 11th Doctor stories from Doctor Who Magazine, can stand not only as one of the best Who comic stories, but as one of the best Who stories of recent years.
Marvel Avengers Assemble
Avengers Assemble literally did seven impossible things before breakfast, managing to give everyone a moment in the sun whilst telling a coherent, fun story and changing the grammar of the modern action movie forever. Don’t believe me? Name a single movie that dealt with that scale of action, and that amount of characters, in that disparate number of locations, a tenth as well prior to to its release. You can’t, because no one has done this before. Seriously, watch for action movies in 2013 to seriously step their game up because Whedon, a man who has one theatrical movie to his name, and a commercial flop at that (No one but you saw it, Browncoats. NO ONE. Doesn’t mean the movie isn’t great, because it is, just means it was a commercial flop) has run rings around every major action director, his second time out of the gate. Awesome work. Also, Coulson lives.
The Dark Knight Rises also proved massively impressive this year. . The conclusion to Nolan’s trilogy absolutely nailed it for me, making a cinematic Catwoman interesting again, redeeming Bane forever from the catastrophe he was in Batman and Robin and delivering a story that felt like all the consequences of the previous movies coming home to roost. There’s a palpable sense of danger to the movie and, as someone who watches movies professionally, it got me over and over, especially the glorious reveal in the closing minutes. Yes, at least one element of the ending is predictable but it doesn’t matter. In the end, this is a story about stories, about the space Batman creates and leaves behind him, I loved it.
And to complete the trifecta of predictability, The Cabin in the Woods. Horror cinema hasn’t had a Doctor Strangelove moment since Scream and it’s been more than overdue one. Whedon and Drew Goddard delivered in absolute spades, and the film manages to work in three separate genres at once; it’s a great ‘teens have sex in the woods and die’ horror movie, a better parody and commentary on ‘teens have sex in the woods and die’ horror movies. It’s third genre is dependent on the viewer but for me, this is one of the best Lovecraftian mythos movies ever made. Savagely funny, brutally clever and framed by staggeringly great performances by Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford, this is a horror movie that doesn’t change the game, it ends it. Like Avengers Assemble, I’ll be fascinated to see how people respond to it.
Honorable Mentions: Chronicle combined found footage with superheroic angst to fiercely great effect, whilst Skyfall managed to return Bond to his roots whilst still pointing him at the future. The sequence at the Commons Select Committee, with the kill team en route to M and back up far too far away, is stunning, as is the wonderfully nasty closing fight.
Fringe has been fun for years but it’s final season is extraordinary. With the Observers in full control of Earth and Walter’s decades-long plan as scattered as Walter’s memory, the show has gone all in for it’s final season. There’s a palpable sense of tragedy to much of it as characters we’ve known and loved are reintroduced and, frequently, killed, and the world itself feels run down, shabby and utterly real. The Observers may be in control, but it’s a soft apocalypse for most people and that makes it all the more horrifying, the collaborators proving to be a far more unsettling and disturbing idea than even the Observers themselves. Simultaneously old fashioned, recalling John Carpenter at his best, and entirely new, it’s a magnificent season that looks set to round out a magnificent run.
I am one of the six people on the planet who loved Last Resort and I don’t care. A pseudo-dystopian thriller about a US nuclear submarine ordered to fire on Pakistan and refusing to do so, it’s a fascinating look not only at the perception of the military mindset, but the sort of polite, passive aggressive coup that’s so common in UK spy-fi (I am going to hell for that word I just know it) and so derided in the US. Endlessly grim, inventive and smart and with the likes of Andre Braugher and Robert Patrick front and centre it’s a wild-eyed, very smart and utterly cynical TV show. The US hated it. It’s one of the best things I’ve seen in years.
Finally, on this side of the pond, The Secret of Crickley Hall proved two things; firstly that the BBC still have a dismal amount of genre fiction output, with literally nothing on the table once you step outside the Doctor Who and secondly that if you put a good writer and director and a good cast on a good source novel, strangely, you get good TV. It’s a tightly plotted, smart three hours that unfolds across two time periods at once and is crammed full of neat twists on old ghost story tropes. It’s also crammed full of brilliant performances, especially Suranne Jones and Tom Ellis as the bereaved central couple. It’s an intensely traditional story but it’s so well done, and so moving, especially in the last ten minutes, that it really doesn’t matter. Just a beautifully crafted story, told very well.
Honorable Mentions: Being Human and Misfits both fought through complete cast overhauls and emerged stronger for it, especially Being Human. Elementary also proved to be several dozen times more fun than it had any right to be whilst Arrow, so far, has been two shows; a fascinating Nolan-esque take on being a vigilante and a lumpen-paced, guest-star laden WASP soap. I hope the first wins, it’s much more interesting.
Redshirts
John Scalzi’s Redshirts is brilliant, there’s no other word that covers it. Initially a very funny parody of old-school Star Trek, with a group of characters realizing that they’re the disposable crew members it soon becomes something far deeper. It’s a fantastic comedy, don’t get me wrong, but the closing third of the book is one of the sweetest things you’ll read all year. It’s a story about stories, and why when it comes down to it, they’re magical. I loved it.
The Strugatksy Brothers’ Roadside Picnic was reissued in a new translation this year and again I loved it. It’s the novel that inspired both the Tarkovsky movie and the Stalker series of computer games, and is unrelentingly bleak. Following Red, a Stalker or smuggler who breaks into areas where aliens visited Earth to extract alien tech for money, it’s difficult, bleak and absolutely essential reading.
Honorable Mentions: 2012 has been a great year for small press, with Anachron Press turning out fantastic novels, especially The Red Knight by KT Davies, and Fox Spirit launching with two fantastic anthologies, Tales from the Nun and Dragon and Weird Noir.
Monkeybrain Comixology: http://www.comixology.com/Monkeybrain/comics-publisher/93-0
Amelia Cole Comixology: http://www.comixology.com/Amelia-Cole-and-the-Unknown-World/comics-series/8518
Kelly Sue Deconnick: http://kellysue.com/
Matt Fraction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Fraction
John Scalzi: http://whatever.scalzi.com/
Roadside Picnic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadside_Picnic
Anachron Press: http://www.anachronpress.com/
Fox Spirit: http://www.foxspirit.co.uk/
Avengers Assemble Blu Ray / DVD Preorders Breaking Records
Marvel Avengers Assemble - Click Blu Ray Pack shot for other format options
The biggest film of the year will take retailers by storm on 17th September 2012 when Marvel Avengers Assemble is released on Blu-ray and DVD. As well as giving fans the chance to enjoy the exhilarating action and the movie?s visually stunning special effects over and over again, Blu-ray audiences will also be treated to a host of behind-the-scenes insights and all new footage.
Coupled with box office takings that exceeded $1 billion globally after just 19 days ? making it the third biggest movie of all time globally ? Marvel Avengers Assemble is unquestionably a must own Blu-ray and DVD. Pre-order sales for the film?s Blu-ray and DVD release underline how hotly anticipated this release is, racking up enough sales in three days of pre-orders to put it on track to be the second biggest week one in pre-order sales ever in the UK.
Exclusive to the Blu-ray edition is the highly anticipated all-new short ? Marvel One Shot: ?ITEM 47.? The Avengers won the battle, but a few items were left behind…is the stark warning underlining this side story in which New York City is in ruins following the epic climax to Marvel?s Avengers Assemble. Certain alien technology has been left behind. S.H.I.E.L.D. recovered all but one?a Chitauri weapon, aka ?ITEM 47.? Fans will only be able to find out what happens after Benny (Jesse Bradford) and Claire (Lizzy Caplan), stumble across the elusive weapon by watching the thrilling short exclusively on Blu-ray.
Also, for the first time, Marvel shares scenes that never made it into the cinematic version of the movie and invites viewers to the very early stages of pre-production on the film ?Marvel Avengers Assemble?. Included in the 90 minute documentary ?Building A Dream: Assembling the Avengers? is never before seen footage from ?Iron Man? as well as fascinating insight from director Joss Whedon and producer Kevin Feige on how they began creating the Marvel Cinematic Universe for what has been described as ?the smartest, wittiest, & most unapologetically entertaining comic-book adaptation of the modern era? (Kevin Maher ? The Times) and become one of the most anticipated and talked about movie events in the world.
Marvel Avengers Assemble brings together some of Marvel?s most loved and iconic superhero characters in the biggest superhero movie in history. Directed by Joss Whedon, the film stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsg?rd and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, from a story by Zak Penn and Joss Whedon with screenplay by Joss Whedon, Marvel Avengers Assemble is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series ?The Avengers,? first published in 1963 and a comic institution ever since.
Iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow answer the call to action when Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., initiates a daring, globe-spanning recruitment effort to assemble The Avengers team to defeat an unexpected enemy threatening global safety and security. Despite pulling together the ultimate dream team, Nick Fury and longtime confidant Agent Coulson must find a way to convince the Super Heroes to work with, not against each other, when the powerful and dangerous Loki gains access to the Cosmic Cube and its unlimited power.
The appetite for Marvel Avengers Assemble is seemingly insatiable. In addition to smashing box office records Marvel?s official Facebook site is liked by over 4 million people, and the new Facebook game ?Marvel: Avengers Alliance? attracts over 1.2 million daily users. Sales of all consumer products ranging from action figure toys to adult apparel have exploded since the launch of the movie and is set to continue with with new additions to the range of existing products available and a new animated series of ?The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes? set to premier this summer on Disney XD. Filming has just begun on Iron Man 3, which will be released in 2013.
Marvel Avengers Assemble is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures. The film is produced by Marvel Studios? President Kevin Feige and executive produced by Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Jon Favreau, Louis D?Esposito, Patricia Whitcher, Victoria Alonso and Jeremy Latcham.
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School Board cuts math, reading specialist
Aaron Davis
NEWMARKET — The School Board approved a 1.15 percent increase in the 2012 budget. The proposed budget totals $14,626,324.
"There are some things on here that we would rather not see," said Superintendent James Hayes. "We realize the pinch the School Board and community is in, and we tried as best we can to really control operating costs, both from the tax standpoint and recognizing that hopefully we will be moving forward to a new high school."
The major decrease was in the area of health insurance, which was originally budgeted as a 14 percent increase, but came in as a 4.77 percent increase. There was $88,000 in savings at the Newmarket Elementary School and $81,000 at the Newmarket Junior/Senior High School.
"We aren't replacing 20 cafeteria tables and we are not creating office space for the Music Department," said Business Administrator Joan Liporto. "The last cut was the new proposed position of a K-6 reading and math coach, which saves $58,360."
Hayes said losing this reading/math coach will be a painful pill to swallow. "We desperately need to make real progress on raising student achievement throughout and we thought this would be a good help."
The administration had looked at eliminating the position of school district data manager, but believed eliminating technology support for the school would be a step back.
"It is my understanding that the Town Council is aiming at a zero or less increase over last year," said School Board Chairman Cliff Chase. "I don't know how the pain is there and I know we are providing a lot of program per dollar, but what would we lose if we cut deeper? We are talking about removing some (information technology) support."
The superintendent argued that the data management position is crucial because technology is an area of deficiency.
"We are very deficient. It is getting to the point where it will turn people off," Hayes said. "I want students supported through the transition. I don't want to cut them short so it falls, I don't want to take a meat cleaver to this."
One area of possible cuts was pointed out by School Board member Meg Louney-Moore as $10,000 for painting and $8,000 for carpets at the Junior/Senior High School.
"Is the paint peeling off the walls?" Moore asked. "I understand the effect of a nice looking classroom for kids, but if we are going to be tearing down the building..."
The spending was defended as showing a pattern to the state of maintaining school facilities in light of purchasing a new school.
"They want us to portray that we are doing the best we can," Hayes said.
There was a silver lining Liporto added to the discussion. Last year the school over-budgeted for fire and life safety repairs, and with $15,000 saved on fixing the roof and more than $300,000 coming back from the budgeted sprinkler system, it will offset the tax rate a little.
"Also, for the roof on the Junior/Senior High School we set up a five-year schedule to replace 15 different roof surfaces," Chase said. "The roof section we least need will be last and if we start making real steps ... maybe we can not do and in other areas we can get away with patching."
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WARP DRIVE? – Russian Physicists ‘Come Closer’ to Plasma Engine for Superfast Space Travel
Leave a Comment / Drip Disclosure, Secret Space Program / By Shem
Source: Sputnik News
Image: National Research Nuclear University MEPhI
Scientists from Russia and around the world see plasma rocket technology as a crucial possible ingredient for speedy missions to Mars and beyond.
Physicists from the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk are preparing another round of experiments aimed at successfully harnessing the power of thermonuclear plasma for use in a rocket engine, institute deputy director Alexander Ivanov has told journalists.
The experiments, which will begin later this month, will follow up on earlier successful tests which confirmed the feasibility of confining plasma in an experimental setup using parameters suitable for a rocket engine, Ivanov said.
© COURTESY OF THE EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY
sPHENIX Project: How Scientists Study “Soup” That Gave Rise to Universe
In late 2018, the institute began operation of a unique installation, known as the SMOLA, the Russian acronym for “Spiral-based Magnetic Open Trap”, with the setup serving as the first step forward toward the creation of a fusion reactor. The “plasma trap” allowed scientists to work on confining plasma in a linear magnetic system, which, it is hoped, can eventually help lead to the creation of prototype plasma engine suitable for space travel.
“The first experiments showed that the effect exists. The space engine works, and the means to reducing plasma losses as well. Presently, standard equipment is installed. We are preparing to start experiments on it in January 2019 which should fully demonstrate its capabilities,” Ivanov said.
According to the physicist, the current setup serves as a technology demonstrator, with scientists achieving a temperature of 100,000 degrees to form the plasma, and reaching a sufficient density to provide them with data suitable for further work on the creation of a plasma-based rocket engine.
In October, Energomash, a Russian power engineering company involved in the production of rocket engines, announced plans to build a high-powered electrode-less plasma rocket engine. Russia’s Kurchatov Institute and the Chemical Automatics Design Bureau first reported that they were working on a plasma-based engine for space travel in 2016.
Continue reading at: SputnikNews.com
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Sister Rita A. Engel
Sister Rita Ann (Laurina) Engel, Sister of Christian Charity, entered eternal life on Sept. 10, 2018, following a long illness at Mallinckrodt Convent, Mendham, N.J. Sister was 84 years of age.
Born in Williamsport, Feb. 22, 1934, Sister Rita Ann was the daughter of Beatrice (Mushena) and Lawrence Engel. Sister entered the Sisters of Christian Charity on Aug. 30, 1959, and professed her final vows on Aug. 15, 1968.
Her years of ministry were in the field of Catholic education, having served as an elementary and secondary teacher in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. In addition, she performed clerical work in the education department of Holy Spirit Hospital, Camp Hill, Pa., and worked as a billing clerk with Susquehanna Physicians Services at Divine Providence Hospital in Williamsport.
Following her years of apostolic service, Sister assumed the duties of general help at Holy Family Convent in Danville and then transferred to the new Motherhouse in Mendham, N.J., in May, 2018.
Sister is survived by her sister, Mary Urbano, other relatives and the Sisters of Christian Charity.
Viewing will be Thursday, Sept. 13, from 2 to 4 p.m. with evening prayer at 7 p.m. in the Chapel of Mary Immaculate, Motherhouse, Mendham, N.J.
Liturgy of Christian Burial will take place on Friday, Sept. 14 at 11 a.m. at the Motherhouse with burial at Holy Cross Cemetery on the Motherhouse property.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Sister Rita Ann can be made to the Sisters of Christian Charity.
Bailey Funeral Home in Mendham is handling the arrangements.
www.baileyfuneral.com
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Responding to the North South divide highlighted in Ofsted’s Annual Report today, Sir Peter Lampl, Chairman of the Sutton Trust and the Education Endowment Foundation, said:
“Sir Michael Wilshaw is absolutely right to highlight England’s North South divide. Today’s report confirms our own research which has consistently shown that your chances of getting good GCSEs, attending a good university and accessing a professional job aren’t just a matter of ability, but are linked to where you live.
“The fact that students in the North and the Midlands, particularly those from low-income homes, are much less likely to attend an outstanding or good school than those in London and the South East, tells us that we urgently need a national drive to reduce educational inequalities and improve social mobility. All young people, regardless of where they live or their family background, should have access to great teaching as well as the chance to go to the best schools.”
Sir Kevan Collins, Chief Executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, said today:
“As today’s report shows, inconsistency between similar schools in different parts of the country is one of the biggest challenges we face in our drive to improve standards. Not only are educational outcomes linked to family income, but they’re also linked to where you live too.
“If young people are all to have the same chance of doing well regardless of where they live, schools need to make better use of what we know about what works and view evidence as a crucial tool to help them decide on the ‘best bets’ for spending limited resources.
“We need to see greater collaboration between schools too and a concerted effort to reach those in the ‘cold spots’ that today’s report identifies. At the Education Endowment Foundation, we have launched two campaigns – in Yorkshire and in the North East – to improve attainment for disadvantaged pupils. We’ll spend £15m over the next 5 years to build the evidence and apply what we know to improve outcomes for young people living in these areas.”
The Sutton Trust is a foundation set up in 1997, dedicated to improving social mobility through education. It has published over 160 research studies and funded and evaluated programmes that have helped hundreds of thousands of young people of all ages, from early years through to access to the professions.
The Education Endowment Foundation, was set up in 2011 as lead foundation in partnership with Impetus Trust, with a Department for Education grant of £125m. It is dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement. Since its launch the EEF has awarded £65 million to 115 projects working with over 718,944 pupils in over 6,040 schools across England to find evidence for the best ways of raising attainment.
The Social Mobility Index ranks all 533 parliamentary constituencies in England according to five measures of social mobility through education. Looking at outcomes from the early years through to professional life, the data shows how well each constituency is doing in improving prospects for their most disadvantaged young people.
Grace Veenman2017-06-28T14:20:04+01:00December 1st, 2015|Categories: Press releases|
Teachers in the most deprived state schools are less likely to report that their school department was well-staffed with qualified teachers, according to new research by Professor Becky Allen and Laura McInerney for the Sutton Trust.
75 British state school students from across the UK have been offered places to study at top US universities through the Sutton Trust US Programme, it was announced today.
Britain’s most powerful people 5 times more likely to go to private school
Elitist Britain 2019, a new report by the Sutton Trust and the Social Mobility Commission, which maps the educational backgrounds of leading figures across nine broad areas.
Sutton Trust responds to the Post-18 Education and Funding review, led by Dr Philip Augar.
If you are a journalist and wish to find out more about the work of the Trust please email [email protected] or call Hilary, our Media and Communications Manager on 020 7802 1660. If you are not a journalist, please use [email protected] for any other queries. Please include full contact details – telephone number and full email address – in any email.
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Windows End Of Life
Welcome to the TEAMLOGIC IT® website available at www.teamlogicit.com and at other uniform resource locators and the related or linked web pages of our TeamLogic IT® Businesses. In this Privacy Policy, You are referred to as "You" "Your(s)" “Yourself” or "User."
It is the policy of TeamLogic IT to respect and protect the privacy of the users of the Sites (collectively, the "Site"). Through this Privacy Policy, we want to reassure users of the Site that we will not sell, share, or rent user information to others in a manner different than as set forth in this Privacy Policy.
TeamLogic IT collects personally identifiable information from the users of the Site only if you voluntarily provide it to us and you have the option not to provide any personally identifiable information to us. For example, we collect your name, email, telephone number and other information when you subscribe to receive news and offers or access interactive features such as our whitepapers, e-newsletter or our blog. If you request franchise information, we collect your name, address, telephone number, email and other information you may wish to share about yourself. If we have trouble processing a request, this contact information will be used by TeamLogic IT to contact the user.
Gathering and Sharing of Information, Links to External and Co-Branded Websites
We may monitor traffic patterns on the Site and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use to analyze trends and administer the Site in order to improve its layout and design and to permit Site personalization and streamlining to create the best Site experience we can for our users. In order to perform analysis permitting such personalization and improvement of site design and user experience, we may employ suitable third parties with whom we share the information necessary to accomplish these objectives. These statistics include no personally identifying information.
Where appropriate, we share aggregated statistical information with our business partners. These statistics include no personally identifying information.
We may provide personal identifying and account information in special cases such as enforcement of our Website Terms and Conditions of Use (“Terms of Use”), or as required by law or legal process to protect and defend the rights and safety of our Site and its users. This includes exchanging information with other companies for purposes of fraud and credit risk reduction.
Our Site may also contains links to external Internet sites as well as co-branded sites, which may be operated by an external party and they may have privacy practices that differ from those here at www.teamlogicit.com. A co-branded site is a website, usually operated by a third-party, and displaying that third-party's name along with the TeamLogic IT name and logo. When you click on links that take you to such external or co-branded sites, you will be subject to their privacy policies, and we encourage you to become familiar with that party's privacy policies as these may differ from those utilized on our Site. Please note that this privacy statement applies solely to information collected by TeamLogic IT on our Site and, while we strongly support the protection of privacy on the Internet, we cannot be responsible for the privacy practices of other websites, uses of the information collected by other websites, or the content of those other websites.
By using our Site, the user agrees to the terms and conditions set forth in this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use INCLUDING ALL LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS PROVISIONS which are an integral part hereof and the user consents to the collection and use of this information by TeamLogic IT as disclosed in this Privacy Policy. We may revise this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Use at any time by updating these postings. By using this Site you agree to be bound by any such revisions in effect at the time of use and should therefore periodically visit this page and the Terms of Use page to determine the then current policies applicable to users of the Site.
Strong precautions are taken to protect the information of the users of our Site. When users submit sensitive information via the Site, that Information is protected both online and off-line. Only those of our employees who need the information to perform a specific function are granted access to personally identifiable information. Furthermore, our employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. If you have any questions about the security at our Site, you can send an e-mail to help@teamlogicit.com.
You may have heard of the term "cookies." Cookies are routinely used by most, if not all, e-commerce merchants, including TeamLogic IT. A cookie is a piece of data stored on a user's hard drive through the Web browser program containing information about the user which enables us to track and personalize the Site to enhance your experience. If you have any questions about our use of cookies, please contact us at help@teamlogicit.com.
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From time-to-time we may request information from the users of the Site via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary, and the users of the Site have a choice whether or not to disclose this information. Information requested may include contact information (such as your name, email, telephone number and shipping address) and demographic information (such as ZIP code, age level, etc.). We use such information to notify contest winners, award prizes, and for analyzing the Site traffic to improve the user's experience on the Site.
CHILDREN’S ON-LINE PRIVACY
TeamLogic IT recognizes the particular importance of protecting the privacy of children. Consistent with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and the California Online Privacy Protection Act, we will not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. If a child has provided www.teamlogicit.com with personally identifiable information, we ask that a parent or guardian contact us immediately and we will delete the information pertaining to the child from our records.
SPECIAL OFFERS, ACCOUNT UPDATES AND OPTING OUT
TeamLogic IT occasionally sends our customers and the users of the Site announcements and updates, which contain important information about the Site and service offerings, which we believe to be of value to our users. In order to do this, we may enhance or merge the information we collect on the Site with data from third parties for purposes of marketing products or services to users.
We may communicate with the users of the Site via e-mail, telephone, mail, or fax in order to provide requested services, content, product information, or notification of special offers., The users of the Site are always given the opportunity to 'opt-out' of having their online information used for purposes not directly related to the Site at the point at which we ask for the information or when they receive an online requested promotional communication.
For example, our e-mail messages have an "unsubscribe" feature for users of the Site. Users can simply "Reply" back to the e-mail message and type "unsubscribe" in the subject field. Upon receipt of the reply, we will remove that e-mail address from our e-mail list. If you have more than one e-mail address, you should include the other addresses as well to ensure proper updating of your account information.
You can always review, change, or request the deletion of your contact information by e-mailing us at help@teamlogicit.com, calling us at 949-582-6300, or
Writing to us at:
Attn: Webmaster – Privacy Policy
TeamLogic, Inc.
26722 Plaza
To the extent that your contact and personally identifiable information is also stored in other databases, we cannot always ensure that such corrections or deletions will immediately reach the other databases. Some information may be retained for longer periods as required by law.
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Everything you need to know about Gamescom 2018, from announcements to...
Games Feature
Gamescom 2018: Announcements, livestreams and exhibitors
Gamescom 2018 is here! Here's all you need to know, from press conference information to the biggest game announcements.
Gamescom 2018 is almost here! Here's all you need to know, from press conference information to what to expect at the event
By Lewis Painter | 21 Aug 2018
Gamescom is one of the biggest gaming events in Europe, pulling in over 300,000 visitors in 2017, and 2018 is expected to be even bigger. Featuring highly anticipated games and hardware from the likes of Nintendo, Ubisoft, Activision, Microsoft and more, it gives gamers a chance to play games that aren’t out for a matter of months, or in some cases, even years.
Here’s everything you need to know about Gamescom 2018, from press conference information to what to expect from the big publishers at this year’s event.
Gamescom 2018 press conferences
While there were several big press conferences at Gamescom 2017, that’s not the case in 2018. Many of the biggest announcements were made at E3 2018, and for the majority of publishers, this will be a chance to let fans play the games announced two months prior.
There is a handful going ahead though, with Microsoft and Nvidia hosting events at this year's show.
Microsoft Gamescom 2018 livestream details
While it’s not an official press conference, Microsoft is set to host a special Inside Xbox livestream from the Xbox stand at the show, and is due to take place on the first day of the show, 21 August 2018, at 3:30pm BST for those of us in the UK.
We’ve got a feeling that it’ll feature great indie game trailers from the company’s [email protected] Program, alongside new gameplay trailers from the likes of Forza Horizon 4, Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2 and possibly even a hardware announcement. While we’re still some time away from the Xbox Two, sources claim that Microsoft is gearing up to reveal the Xbox Elite 2 controller during the show.
If that sounds like your cup of tea, you can find out how to watch the Xbox Gamescom 2018 live stream here.
Nvidia Gamescom 2018 livestream details
While the event is now over, Nvidia took to the stage at Gamescom on 20 August 2018 and revealed the latest line of graphics cards, the RTX 20 series. The company claims it's the biggest revolution in GPUs for years, and it's not hard to see why; even the RTX 2070, the least powerful option, is several times more powerful than the GTX 1080Ti.
The main highlight of the new graphics cards is real-time ray tracing, allowing for more accurate simulations of lighting and shading. In terms of games, they should look more realistic than ever before - especially dark, gloomy games.
What to expect at Gamescom 2018
Ahead of release later this year, the main focus for Microsoft at E3 2018 will be on Forza Horizon 4. While we got to take a look at the game at E3 2018, the demo was fairly limited, and we hope that a more substantial demo of the game will be available to play at the European show.
We’re also hoping to see something new from Crackdown 3, whether it be a trailer during the Inside Xbox livestream or a new demo at the Xbox booth. Crackdown 3 was available to play at Gamescom last year, but the demo was incredibly limited. With the final release date set (we hope), it’d be good to see some of Crackdown’s crazy gunplay and destruction in action.
Oh, and we’re fairly sure that Microsoft will showcase the next major piece of DLC for Sea of Thieves – Forsaken Shores – ahead of release later this year, along with a new game mode coming to State of Decay 2.
Sony hasn’t really had much of a presence at Gamescom in recent years, and it doesn’t look like 2018 will be any different. While there will be a Sony stand at the show run by PlayStation Germany, there won’t be any huge announcements from Sony during the show. The company tends to save those for Paris Games Week in October instead.
We expect to see demos of Marvel’s Spider-Man available at the show, especially considering it has gone gold and is due to be released the week after the show. We’re also hopeful of a new Days Gone trailer, though we’re not holding our breath for anything The Last of Us: Part II-related.
Ubisoft showcased an impressive array of games during E3 2018, and we imagine that it’ll also be the case at Gamescom, though most will likely be behind-closed-doors appointments for press.
In terms of public access, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey will be available to play on the show floor ahead of release later this year, just as Origins was in 2017. We also imagine that the public will finally get to spend some time with Ubi’s new toys-to-life IP, Starlink, along with new content from Rainbow Six Siege.
We’re hopeful that Ubisoft will provide demos for Skull & Bones and The Division 2, but this is unconfirmed for now.
Unlike other publishers at Gamescom 2018, the majority of Activision’s titles are due for release this year, and thus, should offer more advanced demos than what you may find on offer for the likes of Skull & Bones.
Let’s start with the big one; Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. It’s the main focus for Activision at Gamescom 2018 ahead of the November release, and we expect it to be playable on the show floor. It’d be the perfect time to showcase the game’s upcoming Blackout Battle Royale mode ahead of the September beta, too.
We’re also confident that the new Destiny 2 DLC will be available. Destiny 2: Forsaken features a new campaign, a new Raid and a brand-new team multiplayer mode called Gambit.
Last, but by no means least, we expect Activision to present the highly anticipated Spyro remaster to the public for the first time, though this is yet to be confirmed.
While many were hoping for Fallout 76 to be playable at Gamescom 2018 in some shape or form, that’s sadly not the case. That’s not to say Bethesda isn’t at the show in a big way this year though; the company has confirmed that you’ll be able to play several upcoming games at its stand in a few weeks’ time.
The main title on display at Bethesda’s stand is Rage 2, the post-apocalyptic FPS due for release in Spring 2019, alongside VR title Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot. The VR game takes place twenty years after the events of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and see’s players step into the shoes of a French Resistance hacker, hacking Nazi robots and causing chaos.
You’ll also be able to get your hands on The Elder Scrolls: Blades for the first time anywhere in Europe ahead of release on iOS and Android later this year.
Visitors at the show will be able to play Super Mario Party alongside the recently-revealed Diablo III Eternal Collection and a range of upcoming titles at the Nintendo stand, though if it's anything like the Super Mario Odyssey queue in 2017, you may be waiting for literally hours!
In other Gamescom news, Nintendo revealed brand new gameplay footage from Super Smash Bros Ultimate, showcasing King K. Rool gameplay and Dark Samus & Chrom gameplay. The company also revealed DAEMON X MACHINA, a new title set to come to the Nintendo Switch at some point in 2019. You can take a look at the teaser now, before a more in-depth look later this week.
Unlike with E3, EA usually has a massive presence at Gamescom, and it’s much the same in 2018. With highly anticipated EA games like Battlefield V and Anthem coming out soon, it’d be a good time for EA to get the hype train rolling.
We expect EA’s focus to be on FIFA 19, with Europe being one of the biggest markets for the annual football game. It’s likely that Battlefield V will be playable in some shape or form given that it’s due for release in a matter of months, and while it hasn’t been confirmed, we’re hopeful of a new Anthem demo following huge demand at E3 2018.
Gamescom 2018 Exhibitor List
While we’ve mentioned the biggest names at Gamescom 2018 above, there will be hundreds of companies showcasing their software and hardware during the game-focused event. While there are too many to list, here are a few to look out for:
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Another spammer convicted
By Justin Fielding in Data Center , in Security on November 3, 2007, 10:56 PM PST
Todd Moeller, a 28 year old man from New Jersey was jailed for over 2 years on Friday for the part he played in a spamming operation that delivered millions of unsolicited bulk e-mails.The New York judge sentenced Moeller to a 27-month jail term and issued a fine of $180,000 after he pleaded guilty. Moeller's co-defendant Adam Vitale also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on the 13th November.
The pair were caught during a sting operation after agreeing to send millions of junk mails to AOL customers advertising an unspecified product. They boasted that they could deliver the e-mails in such a way that the source would be unknown.
I'm glad to see that at least some of the spammers who fill our inboxes and overload our mail servers are at last being brought to justice. This is not the first successful prosecution of a spammer; last year a group of spammers in Texas were ordered to pay fines of up to $7.5 million while in 2005 Jeremy Jaynes was sentenced to nine years in prison for his hugely profitable SPAM campaign.
Security Software CXO Hardware Mobility Data Centers Cloud Security on ZDNet
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Temple Bright advises on £14m loan for residential care provider Bradbury House
Bristol and London law firm Temple Bright has advised on a loan facility that makes £14m available to residential care provider Bradbury House as it continues its expansion across the South West.
Bradbury House Organisation has become an established, high quality care provider for adults with learning disabilities following its launch in 1992 by Nick Bradbury.
The Stanton Drew based firm now has 10 residential homes offering 94 beds in and around Bristol, Wells, Cheddar and Weston-super-Mare, offering high quality residential and day-care provision for adults with a range of learning disabilities including autism, mental health needs, associated behavioural difficulties and forensic histories.
The new senior facility will be used primarily to fund continued expansion through the acquisition of new sites to complement its portfolio, which also includes a purpose-built day care centre on its own farm near Wells.
This 250 acre farm has been specifically designed to offer a range of outdoor activities and educational courses, primarily concerning horticulture, agriculture and animal care.
Temple Bright advised the lender, a longstanding client of its corporate partner Stuart Hutson who worked on the deal.
The Temple Bright team also included David Sanson (real estate). Bristol-headquartered firm Burges Salmon advised Bradbury House.
Stuart Hutson said: “We are delighted to see this new facility put in place and we look forward to working alongside Bradbury House as it continues its exciting expansion.”
Temple Bright was founded in 2010 and has 51 partners spread across offices in Bristol and London. The firm operates a streamlined, tech-enabled business model in which clients are advised exclusively by senior lawyers, often working opposite City and large regional firms operating the traditional delegation-based approach.
This article appeared in the Bristol Business Newsletter on 16 December 2016.
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TCC > Advocacy
For the past 100 years, TCC has been shaping Federal Indian Policy and Tribal-State relations through powerful joint advocacy. This site is to provide up to date information on current advocacy issues which will empower Alaska Native tribes and tribal members. Only unified together, are we able to craft the laws and policies which impact our people.
Our Senior Managers, Executive Board, Staff, and Legal Counsel stay current on events and are happy to speak with interested individuals.
TCC advocates for the improvement and expansion of health and wellness services to its shareholders through partnerships with various state and federal agencies. Legislation in this area can be cumbersome. However, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in making an impact in the wellness of our community.
“We the Indian People must be governed by principles in a democratic manner with the right to choose our way of life. Since our Indian culture is threatened by the presumption of being absorbed by the American society we believe we have the responsibility of preserving our precious heritage. We believe that Indians must provide the adjustment and thus freely advance with dignity to a better life.” excerpt from The Declaration of Indian Purpose.
Despite this call to arms to protect our way of life, one in three eligible Native voters in Alaska remains unregistered. If all Native people voted during a normal turnout year, approximately 25% of the electorate at the polls would be Native. This voting bloc could be more powerful than the Republican, Democratic and non-partisan vote. What are we waiting for?
Our lands, waters, animals and fish are at the heart of our cultural and spiritual well-being. Every year legislation at all levels of government is introduced that can affect the strength of our Native voice. Meaningful participation in Federal and State regulatory and agency processes will help to ensure adequate protection for Alaska Native Natural Resources.
Those powers lawfully vested in a tribe are not, in general, delegated powers granted by Congress, but rather inherent powers of a limited sovereignty which has never been extinguished. Through our own tribal government resolutions and being a diligent watchdog of the governments that have responsibilities to us, TCC seeks to protect and expand both inherent and delegated tribal authority.
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Jordyn's journey continues
age 13 | blood cancer
Jordyn Then and Now
Jordyn finished treatment in 2017 and still visits St. Jude for checkups — and even now, her family never receives a bill from St. Jude, thanks to supporters like you.
Jordyn dreams of being a world-class gymnast. Before being diagnosed with cancer in December 2014, she spent at least 20 hours a week in the gym, perfecting her sport. She has over 90 medals and has been a state champion four consecutive years, in all areas of the sport. “She loves gymnastics,” her mom, Chastity, said. “It’s what she did, her life was school and gymnastics.”
But then, suddenly, Jordyn’s dreams were put on hold.
St. Jude Patient Jordyn, age 9
Jordyn started to complain about a multitude of aches and pain. The doctor thought her discomfort was related to a sports injury. But soon Jordyn developed a fever, her appetite waned and her aches and pains remained. During the weekend of Thanksgiving 2014, Jordyn was in tears because she felt so bad. Her parents took her to a local emergency room.
“I thought, okay, we are not leaving here. There is something really wrong,” said Chastity. Tests revealed Jordyn suffered from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Within a week, Jordyn was at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. “We knew that when families go to St. Jude, they have no worries, they’re going to be taken care of,” Chastity said. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
We knew St. Jude was the best place for children with cancer, and we’re grateful Jordyn is back to doing what she loves most.
Chastity, Jordyn's mom
At St. Jude, Jordyn’s treatment included two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy. While treatment was at times difficult, Jordyn persevered. A year into her treatment, she received the all clear from her doctors to return to the gym and begin training again. And even in the midst of cancer treatment, Jordyn earned straight As in school. “When you saw Jordyn during treatment, she always had a smile,” Chastity said. “She didn’t want anyone to feel bad for her. She didn’t want a pity party.”
Jordyn finished treatment in July 2017, and by that November, she was competing once again. At her first competition back, Jordyn earned three gold medals for all around, bars and beam.
Help our families focus on their sick child, not medical bills.
When you donate, your gift means families, like Jordyn's, never recieve a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
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Africa: Terror Territory
Alexander Mezyaev
Until the late 1990s, Africa was a terror-free zone. Terror raged in various places throughout the world, but the African continent was unfamiliar with this phenomenon. The situation changed in 1998 after large-scale simultaneous terrorist attacks in Kenya and Tanzania, when the U.S. embassies in both Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were attacked. The embassy buildings were destroyed, over two hundred people were killed, and over four thousand were injured. (1) Out of these, only twelve were Americans.
Today Africa has become the main arena for international terrorism. Currently, dozens of large international terrorist organizations are active there: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad and Ansar Dine in the Sahel region; Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (Boko Haram) in Nigeria; Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen in Somalia; Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya in Egypt; the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda; pirate terrorism in the Gulfs of Aden and Guinea… Today the African continent is firmly in the grip of an entire network of terrorist organizations.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is an Islamist organization which aims to overthrow the Algerian government and establish an Islamic state. The organization's members are mainly Algerians, Tuaregs and Moroccans. AQIM was the main force behind the seizure of northern Mali and an attack on Bamako in January 2013. AQIM first announced its creation in January 2007, when it emerged from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat. As a result of its illegal activities, international organizations (the UN and the EU) and several countries (the U.S., Great Britain, France and Spain) have added it to their lists of terrorist organizations. AQIM's main goals are spreading the ideology of global jihad and uniting all the extremist groups of North Africa to overthrow existing regimes and establish Islamic states. AQIM's fighters organize and carry out armed attacks and terrorist acts against authorities and government agencies, energy infrastructure sites, and representatives of national and foreign companies. AQIM's activities have affected Russia as well. For example, in March 2007 in the Algerian province of Ain Defla, a Russian citizen and three local residents were killed when AQIM blew up a bus belonging to the Russian company Stroytransgaz. In December 2007 in the province of Medea, another vehicle in which Russian specialists were traveling was blown up.
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (GI) is an Egyptian Sunnite Islamist movement which aims to overthrow the Egyptian government and create an Islamic state. Over the course of five years, around 800 police and military personnel have become the victims of GI fighters. After the so-called «revolution» of 2011, GI was transformed into a political party which received 13 seats in the country's parliament. In Russia, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya is officially deemed a terrorist organization.
Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen, better known as Al-Shabaab, is a Somali militant group which controls a significant territory in southern Somalia. A strict form of sharia law is enforced on this territory. Al-Shabaab's official goal is jihad against the «enemies of Islam». However, in reality the organization is fighting with African Union troops in Somalia.
Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, better known by its Hausa name Boko Haram (BH), officially protests secular laws and the «westernization» of society. BH was created in 1991 and aims to establish sharia law throughout the territory of Nigeria. However, there are serious reasons to believe that the official aims are not BH's main goal. For example, in northern Nigeria, where the main part of BH is based, sharia law has long been the official law of the states, although it only applies to Muslims. Trying to apply sharia law to Christians is pure terrorism and has no relation to Islam. The sultan of Sokoto State, Sa'adu Abubakar, who is the spiritual leader of Nigeria's Muslims, has called BH an «anti-Islamic sect» and a «disgrace to Islam». According to some figures, around ten thousand people have fallen victim to BH since 2001. In addition to Christians, who are the main victims of BH's terror, they kill Muslims as well, including clergymen who dare to criticize the sect.
The list of organizations recognized by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation as terrorist organizations contains several based in Africa. These are mostly Egyptian organizations: Holy War (al-Jihad or Egyptian Islamic Jihad), the Islamic Group (al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya) and the Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun). (2) As for al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the Supreme Court of Russia recognized it as a terrorist organization in November 2008. (3) In this regard, the decision of the Supreme Court of the RF states: «…The materials examined at the court session…testify to the fact that terrorists linked with the organization in question participated in illegal paramilitary groups (article 208, Crim. Code of the RF) operating on the territory of the Northern Caucasus»…
The beginning of 2013 was marked by an increase in the activity of terrorist groups in Africa. Recent weeks have brought news of more and more new terrorist attacks… In April a UN special rapporteur on human rights and fighting terrorism called for urgent assistance to Burkina Faso in dealing with the critical situation it is facing in connection with terrorist attacks. In early May, Boko Haram executed a new simultaneous attack in three places at once (an army barracks, a police station and a prison) in Bama, Nigeria. In late May a double attack took place in Niger at the uranium mines in the city of Arlit. The scale of the attacks and the number of people killed caused the government to declare a three-day mourning period. The radical Islamist group Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa took responsibility for the attack. (4)
A peculiarity of the activities of terrorist organizations in Africa is their great mobility, which in turn is connected with the state of African borders; they are practically transparent, especially in the Sahel. For example, the successful suppression of terrorism in Algeria in the late 1990s was in fact to a great degree due to the migration of terrorists from Algeria to northern Mali across the completely transparent borders in the Sahara.
Terrorist organizations in Africa are more and more often presenting a united front. For example, during the movement of Nigerian troops to the territory of Mali, Boko Haram fighters engaged with them, attempting to prevent them from entering Mali. At the most recent session of the UN Security Council on terrorism, the Republic of Togo, which had encountered the threat of the new African terror first-hand, reported that individual terrorist groups are beginning to form a «terrorist international» by putting down roots in several countries at once; as a result, it is now difficult to differentiate international terrorism from local terrorism. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the activities of such terrorist groups create a serious threat to the efforts of the international community toward keeping the peace. (5)
Several peculiarities of the activities of terrorist organizations in Africa may be pointed out. First, as was already mentioned, terrorist groups hinder the work of UN and African Union peacekeeping missions. Second, the terrorist threat in Africa is the product of a merger between political and religious extremism and organized crime. Africa could turn into a pool for the recruitment, training and financing of terrorists outside the Black Continent as well. Finally, terrorists could seize control of such strategic resources as oil, uranium, diamonds, etc. The activities of terrorist organizations in Africa are now being discussed in the UN Security Council (Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine and the Lord's Resistance Army) and the International Criminal Court (the Lord's Resistance Army and Boko Haram), but there have been no results. For example, despite the fact that the government of Uganda, the International Criminal Court and the UN Security Council are all fighting against the Lord's Resistance Army, they still have not been able to arrest a single one of the organization's leaders, for whom international arrest warrants have been issued.
It is impossible not to notice that practically all major terrorist attacks have served as a basis for the West's interference in the affairs of African states. The attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 led to the American bombing of Sudan. The Lockerbie bombing became the basis for air strikes against Libya. Terrorism in Mali was the basis for an invasion by France. It is also apparent that African terrorist organizations, which officially are each fighting for their own cause, also have a common goal: fighting against the peacekeeping operations conducted by the African Union. Thus one can infer that the spread of terror is someone's way of not allowing Africans to take the resolution of conflicts on the Black Continent into their own hands.
(1) Cf. UN Security Council Resolution 1189, passed August 13, 1998 in connection with these terrorist attacks.
(2) Federal list of organizations recognized as terrorist organizations on the official site of the National Antiterrorist Committee of the RF: http://nac.gov.ru /document /832/ edinyi-federalnyi –spisok –organizatsii –priznannykh –terroristicheskimi –verkhovnym -sudom-r.html
(3) Decision GKPI 08-1956 of the Supreme Court of the RF dated November 13, 2008 states: «The international organization 'Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb' is recognized as a terrorist organization and its operation is prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation». (The full text of this decision may be found at: http://nac.gov.ru/content/3936.html).
(4) Cf. the commentary of the Department of Information and Press of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the double terrorist attack in Niger on the official site of the MFA RF: http://www.mid.ru/ brp_4.nsf/newsline/ 9B00B 034004 E85F0 44257 B7800 54FBF D.
(5) The concept note of the Permanent Representative of Togo to the UN for a briefing at the UN Security Council on the issue of fighting terrorism in Africa in the context of supporting international peace and security, dated May 13, 2013. UN document S/2013/264.
Africa Al Qaeda Boco Haram Mali Niger Nigeria Somalia UN
June 13, 2013 | World
Professor, Head of the Department of International Law, University of Management TISBI, Russia
South Africa: New Plans for a Radical Transformation of Society
Why is South Africa Being Stirred Up
A Diplomatic War over Western Sahara
The Venice Commission Against Russia
Five Years on: the Destruction of Libya Continues
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Europe Turning Into Hotbed: US Boosts Military Presence
Andrei Akulov
The US Marine Corps shipped four Abrams main battle tanks, three howitzer artillery cannons and six light armored reconnaissance vehicles to the Combined Arms Company on Sunday, August 16, said Capt. Richard Ulsh, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Europe.
The vehicles and weapons were first transported to Bremerhaven, Germany, from North Carolina. The heavy equipment was then loaded onto trains and sent about 1,100 miles to the Novo Selo Training Area in Bulgaria, where about 160 US Marines are deployed on six-month rotations. They fall under the Romania-based Black Sea Rotational Force, a semi-annual rotation of Marines and Sailors able to respond to a broad range of military operations in the US European Command area of responsibility. The Force is based at the Mihail Koglinceanu Air Base in Romania.
While Marines visit Novo Selo every year to work with their NATO allies, the new Combined Arms Company will be stationed there on a semi-permanent basis. Marines can now expect to rotate through regular deployments to the facility.
The new contingent will increase the overall size of the existing task force by around 150 percent. As of February 2015, there were some 260 Marines with the Black Sea Rotational Force in Romania. Two months later, the Marine Corps sent another 200 troops from its Africa-focused unit in Spain to help out.
While deployed, the Marines will train alongside Romanian and Bulgarian troops. There are also plans in the works for the company to train with forces from the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Georgia, among others. The US Army stood up similar company-sized rotations in the Baltic states and Poland.
This June the Pentagon came up with the plans to deploy heavy military equipment enough for 5,000 American military in several Baltic and Eastern European states allegedly «to deter» Russia. A company’s worth of equipment — enough for about 150 soldiers – are to be stored in each of the three Baltic nations: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Enough for a company or possibly a battalion — about 750 soldiers — will be located in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and, possibly, Hungary.
In September, an exercise called Operation Brave Warrior will demonstrate mobility from Germany across the Danube river into Hungary. It will be followed by Trident Juncture, one of the Alliance’s largest exercises in recent history, with over 25,000 troops from more than 30 nations. The training event will take place from 3 October until 6 November 2015. It will culminate with the certification of the Headquarters Staff from Joint Force Command Brunssum to lead the NATO Response Force (NRF), if activated, throughout 2016. The NRF is a high readiness and technologically advanced force comprising of land, air, maritime and special forces units capable of being deployed quickly on operations wherever needed.
Since the beginning of Ukrainian crisis NATO uses it as a pretext to increase consistently its military presence close to the Russian borders.
Up to 30 military aircrafts from NATO member states, no less than 300 armored vehicles and more than 1500 servicemen of the US land forces and marines are currently stationed in Eastern European states on the so-called «persistent rotational» (in fact permanent) basis. NATO navy groups permanently patrol the Baltic (First Standing Mine Counter-Measures Group) and the Mediterranean (First Standing Naval Force). The intensity of reconnaissance flights by the US Air Force and Alliance members over the territory of the Baltic countries, the Baltic and Barents Seas, has risen remarkably accounting for up to 8-12 sorties per week. Strategic reconnaissance flights by the US Air Force RC-135 are conducted almost on a daily basis. Since January 2015 regular flights of US reconnaissance Global Hawk drones have been routine in this area.
The 5000-strong spearhead Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (with land, air and sea components) is to become fully operational in 2016 as an element of NRF. It springs to mind that initially the NRF mainly targeted terrorist organizations. Now its prime mission has become to counter the «aggression of an eastern neighbor» implying Russia.
NATO is establishing a network of six advanced command centers in the Baltic countries, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania to coordinate the deployment of troops in the vicinity of Russian borders.
In addition, a Host Nation Support agreement was signed with Finland and Sweden, which in fact legitimizes the possibility of NATO troops to stay on the territories of these countries and to use their infrastructure to support the lift of coalition forces to the north of Europe.
All these facts testify to an unprecedented increase in the activities of NATO near the borders of the Russian Federation.
The NATO deployment started on August 16 is in violation of 1997 agreement (the Founding Act) between NATO and Russia which bans any substantial permanent deployment.
When NATO and Russia signed a historic cooperation deal in 1997, officials hailed the accord as a «victory of reason», a «definitive» end to the Cold War, and the dawn of collaboration in «a new Europe of unlimited opportunity». In that agreement, NATO pledged that, «in the current and foreseeable security environment», it would not seek «additional permanent stationing of substantial ground combat forces» in the nations closer to Russia.
Nearly two decades later, that agreement, appears to be mired in mistrust amid Ukraine fallout. The document of paramount importance is on the verge of being tossed onto the scrap heap.
On June 15, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a warning against deployment of heavy weapons on its western border. «The emergence of such information confirms that the U.S., in cooperation with its allies, apparently has serious sights on ultimately undermining key provisions in the ‘NATO Russia Founding Act’ of 1997, in which the alliance pledged not to deploy substantial combat forces on the territory of the countries mentioned in the permanent basis», the Ministry’s statement reads.
«We hope, however, that reason will prevail and that the situation in Europe will be able to keep from sliding to a new military confrontation that could have dangerous consequences», the statement stressed. Looks like this hope has failed to materialize.
I believe it expedient to mention another relevant fact here which reflects Russia’s approach to European security problems.
In June 2008 Russia made another effort to get rid of the legacy of the Cold War. It came up with the draft European Security Treaty intended to build a common security space in the Euro-Atlantic area. The document was based on the principle that no state can strengthen its security at the expense of others. The draft document was sent to the heads of states and international organizations, including NATO and the EU. Unfortunately, this initiative was simply swept under the rag.
In order to strengthen one of the pillars of the European security Russia submitted for consideration the Draft Agreement on Principles of Relations between NATO and Russia in December 2009. This initiative also met no response.
The ongoing reinforcement of the NATO «Eastern flank» fuels additional tensions and undermines military security in Europe. Moreover, an increased military activity raises risks of unintended dangerous incidents. Many years of hard work and solid results achieved to enhance European security appear to go down the drain as US tanks are being moved to Bulgaria.
Bulgaria Eastern Europe NATO Pentagon Romania US
August 19, 2015 | World
Colonel, retired, Moscow-based expert on international security issues
Assessing Legacy of Late President George H. W. Bush: View from Russia
US Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Kill Prospects for Arms Control
More Details on Reasons Behind US Decision to Leave INF Treaty
Russia’s Missile and Artillery Forces Make Strides Toward Enhancing Their Combat Capabilities
Russia Accused of Disrupting NATO Drills: Just Another Unfounded Allegation
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Chris Young's mom finds inspiration in family's financial struggle to dance for Safe Haven
Becky Harris is one of the Nashville notables who will participate in the 10th Dancing for Safe Haven event that benefits Safe Haven Family Shelter.
Chris Young's mom finds inspiration in family's financial struggle to dance for Safe Haven Becky Harris is one of the Nashville notables who will participate in the 10th Dancing for Safe Haven event that benefits Safe Haven Family Shelter. Check out this story on Tennessean.com: https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/03/22/chris-young-mom-becky-harris-dance-safe-haven-homeless-nashville/3225106002/
Cindy Watts, Nashville Tennessean Published 3:24 p.m. CT March 22, 2019
Chris Young is the 2019 presenting sponsor of Dancing for Safe Haven, a charity event to raise money for Safe Haven Family Shelter. Submitted, Nashville Tennessean
When Becky Harris’ children were young, she says the family lived one paycheck away from being homeless.
Today Harris, a partner at Huskins-Harris Business Management, is a successful businesswoman. Her daughter Dorothy Leonhardt is also a partner at Huskins-Harris, and her son Chris Young is a multiplatinum-selling country singer. But when Harris' children were 5 and 6 years old, Harris and their father got a divorce. With a salary of about $12,000 a year to support the three of them, she lived in fear of what one unexpected car repair or doctor’s bill would do to her tenuous budget.
Nashville businesswoman Becky Harris and her professional dance partner, Christopher Wayne, rehearse for their performance at charity event Dancing for Safe Haven. (Photo: photo by Cindy Watts)
When Harris toured Nashville’s Safe Haven Family Shelter in recent months, she easily remembered how close her family was to needing such a place about 25 years prior.
She wanted to help — and Saturday she will. Harris is one of the Nashville notables who will participate in the 10th annual Dancing for Safe Haven event, which benefits Safe Haven Family Shelter. The shelter serves whole families experiencing homelessness in Middle Tennessee. Harris — along with other prominent Nashvillians including Scott Breece, Community Health Systems; Mignon Francois, The Cupcake Collection; Brad Peterson, Regions Bank; Hayley Hovious, Nashville Health Care Council; and George Rowe, PARKS Realty — has been paired with a professional dance instructor from Nashville Ballroom & Company and will compete in front of a panel of judges for the titles of fundraising favorite, audience favorite and judges' favorite.
Chris Young headlines a show Sept. 22, 2018, at Bridgestone Arena. (Photo: Henry Taylor / tennessean.com)
Young, Harris’ son, is the event’s presenting sponsor.
“I’ve got family, but I was too proud to tell anybody that I was one paycheck away from homelessness all the time,” Harris recalled of her family's rough patch so many years ago.
There’s a particular week, Harris remembers, that she thought every morsel of food in the house was spoken for. After dinner one night, her children were still hungry. She had food, but if she gave it to them, it meant they would miss a meal the next day. Rummaging through her cabinet, she could find only half a bag of stale marshmallows. She turned them into a meal and a memory.
“Chris still talks about it,” she said. “They thought it was the coolest thing ever. They roasted the marshmallows over a candle on toothpicks. They thought it was awesome.”
She said she had a college degree, just like some members of Nashville’s homeless community. And, like many of them, it wasn’t that she was afraid of hard work that put her family in a financial crisis.
“Sometimes it’s a set of unfortunate events that happen on top of each other, and they can’t dig out of that hole by themselves,” Harris said. “Safe Haven gives them a chance to get started. And they’ve got people who have been through the program who have been very successful.”
Safe Haven Family Shelter helps to provide families with sustainable employment, affordable housing, financial planning and counseling. As families regain their balance, they are slowly taken off support services.
“As someone who has called Middle Tennessee home for 33 years, I’m honored to help Safe Haven address and prevent family homelessness in our community,” said Young, who has had hit songs including "Gettin' You Home (the Black Dress Song)" and his current "Raised on Country."
Harris and her professional partner, Christopher Wayne, have been practicing their combination tango, cha-cha since December. While she wants to help Safe Haven, Harris is competitive and also wants to win. Participating dancers are given 10 free classes to prepare for the event. Harris took those, bought 45 more and gave her husband, Michael Harris, ballroom dancing lessons for Christmas.
Wayne has participated in the charity event every year since its inception and said the dance he choreographed for himself and Harris is the most complicated to date.
“I kept adding things, and she kept doing them,” he said. “I think you’ve done an awesome job.”
Harris has enjoyed her time on the dance floor so much that she plans to continue classes after Saturday’s event.
“Every one of these hour-and-a-half lessons is like doing a yoga class and Pilates back to back,” she said. “It makes me understand how hard it is on 'Dancing with the Stars' and how (season 16 winner) Kellie Pickler got that body."
Dancing for Safe Haven is 6 p.m. Saturday at Hilton Nashville Downtown. For more information on Safe Haven Family Shelter, to donate to the organization or vote for your favorite dancer, visit safehaven.org.
Read or Share this story: https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/03/22/chris-young-mom-becky-harris-dance-safe-haven-homeless-nashville/3225106002/
Chris Young, MTSU reveal Chris Young Cafe
'Old Town Road' now among 10 biggest songs in Billboard chart history
The Rock shares his love for outlaw country
Garth Brooks reveals 'Dive Bar Tour' of dive bars
John Fogerty weighs in on Taylor Swift battle
Brandi Carlile announces 3 concerts at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium
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EU States Vote to Ban Neonicotinoids
The pesticides, which studies show are harmful to bees, will be prohibited in open fields by the end of 2018.
Diana Kwon
PIXABAY, 4YOURFITNESS
A majority of European Union (EU) member states voted today (April 27) to ban the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides, imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam, due to their harm to bees.
“There is abundant evidence from lab and field studies that neonicotinoids are harmful to bees, and a growing body of evidence linking them to declines of butterflies, aquatic insects and insect-eating birds,” Dave Goulson, a biology professor at the University of Sussex, tells The Associated Press. “The EU decision is a logical one.”
This new ban extends restrictions the E.U. put in place in 2013, which limited the use of neonicotinoids on certain crops, such as maize, wheat, and oats. Under the new regulations, farmers will no longer be allowed to use the pesticides in open fields. The use of these chemicals in greenhouses, however, will be permitted.
See “Field Studies Confirm Neonicotinoids’ Harm to Bees”
The E.U.’s decision was influenced in part by a report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), published this February, which concluded that neonicotinoids were harmful to both wild bees and honey bees. The European Commission had recommended these measures months ago, “on the basis of the scientific advice from EFSA,” Vytenis Andriukaitis, European commissioner for Health and Food Safety, tells The Guardian. “Bee health remains of paramount importance for me since it concerns biodiversity, food production and the environment.”
The proposed neonicotinoid ban had gained widespread public support. A petition by the campaign group Avaaz has gained almost 5 million signatures, and protestors rallied outside the E.U.’s Brussels headquarters ahead of the vote.
Not everyone is happy with the EU’s decision, however. According to The BBC, many farmers do not believe the increased restrictions on neonicotinoid use are warranted, citing the lack of noticeable benefits from the partial ban. "The Commission hasn’t been able to find that these restrictions have delivered any measurable benefits for bees," Chris Hartfield from the National Farmers’ Union in the U.K., tells The BBC.
The ban will come into effect by the end of the year.
See “A Political Battle Over Pesticides”
EPA Cancels Registrations for 12 Neonicotinoid Pesticides
California Seeks to Ban Chlorpyrifos-Containing Pesticides
National Academy of Sciences Votes To Change Its Bylaws
Table: Personalized Cancer Vaccine Trials in the United States
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Carson Mchone + Support
Venue:Carson Mchone + Sarah Shiels + Little Blue Thula
£8 +bf Buy Now
UNDER THE INFLUENCE PRESENTS
Carson Mchone + Sarah Shiels + Little Blue Thula
Tuesday 5th February 2019
Doors 8.00pm. £8 adv
https://www.seetickets.com/event/carson-mchone/adelphi/1293000
Rolling Stone named Carson McHone‘s Carousel as one of the Best Country & Americana Albums of 2018. The album gets its European release on 25 January via Loose Music. Carson will be playing at The New Adelphi Club in Hull on the 5th February as part of her UK Tour.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Carousel sees Carson McHone swinging out of her corner of the Texas honky-tonks with the most exciting country record since Margo Price’s Midwest Farmer’s Daughter.”
“Carson McHone nods to her honky-tonk past — and pushes beyond it… It’s a coming-of-age album produced by Mike McCarthy, the same man who oversaw more than half of Spoon’s catalog. The result is an LP that ignores the rules of traditional country music… Filled with self-aware lyrics about McHone’s history of heartbreak, this is the sound of an artist making peace with her own unrest.”
“A purveyor of no-cheese, no-bullshit honky tonk”
COUNTRY MUSIC PEOPLE MAGAZINE
“Her voice aches, there’s plenty of steel guitar and fiddle and she can pen a proper honky-tonk song sing as well as a lovelorn ballad or a driving rug-cutter like ‘Good Time Daddy Blues’. But her music is also as contemporary as you could wish for.”
“Carousel is as good and album of country music as you’re likely to hear this year”
RNR MAGAZINE
“She dives into the idea of sad songs and the false notion that they’re simply written to further someone’s state of misery. She embraces that quivering sorrow. It shapes her vocal tone and cries. She’s smoke billowing into a room. Sadness plays the part of a femme fatale. She’s creeping around the corner waiting to strike.” – 25 Best Country and Americana Songs of 2018
WIDE OPEN COUNTRY
Carson McHone, a songwriter from Austin, Texas, “writes songs like her life depends on it” (Ray Wylie Hubbard), bringing an intelligence to alt-country that is both immediate and lyrical. Her new album Carousel was recorded in Nashville with Producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Heartless Bastards, Patty Griffin).
Dark, driving and evocative, Carousel shines a light not only on McHone’s honky-tonk roots, but on her development as a modern, alt-country storyteller, pushing traditional sounds and themes into a modern context. It’s a latter-day record inspired by diverse sources like Dylan, the Velvet Underground, and American novelist Thomas Wolfe, unconcerned with flying the flag of old-school country. It wears its eclecticism proudly, with McHone singing each song in a voice that is worldly-wise and woozily gorgeous.
SARAH SHIELS
www.sarahshiels.com
www.facebook.com/sarahshiels.uk/
Bio:
Known as an authentic musician with rich blues vocals, over the past 5 years Sarah Shiels has been making a name for herself. She has gigged extensively across the UK and Internationally, initially playing locally around Yorkshire with her first band ‘The Velvet Dolls’, before going on to play around England with ‘Jackson D’ and ‘Rivers Johansson and The Deemed Unrighteous’, as well as the likes of Seattle, Spain and Germany with ex blues-punk band ‘Ming City Rockers’. Last year she embarked upon a project of psychedelic folk and blues with a new band, debuting at Beverley Folk Festival. They went on to support the likes of ‘Curtis Eller’s American Circus’ at the renown New Adelphi Club in Hull, as well as the acclaimed ‘Jeffrey Lewis’. More recently, she played with garage rock and roll outfit ‘The Black Delta Movement’, and throughout 2018, toured the UK and Europe.
Sarah also performs solo, combining folk and blues alongside her poetry. She has supported ‘Rod Clements’ (Lindisfarne), ‘Tom Hingley’ (Inspiral Carpets), ‘Wreckless Eric’, ‘Ted Key’ (The Housemartins), ‘SUSTO’, ‘Greg Russell’, ‘Anthony D’Amato’ and ‘Jesca Hoop’ to name a few.
“Sarah Shiels truly made her mark at this year’s festival. Along with her incredibly talented band, she mesmerised the audience with powerful riffs alongside her distinctive rich, bluesy vocals.”
“A number of people commented on how great it was to see something completely unique at the festival, especially from an up and coming talent like Sarah, performing with her band on a main stage at our festival.”
-Beverley Folk Festival
‘It turns out Sarah Shiels has a voice like honey poured over diamonds.’
-FolkBlues
Little Blue Thula are an alt-folk duo described by critics as “passionate with wholesome melodies which are doused in warm Americana elements”. Forming in late 2017, playing over 100 shows (of which some include supporting signed artists) and a full length album recorded, it’s fair to say they are fast becoming one of the most productive bands on the circuit.
Link to EP On Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/album/760zS8uKxvXukM2NGl05bY?si=aJCvlr8ERMO7ywmojQrI0g
Link to New Video/Review – https://peanutmixtape.com/2018/10/12/little-blue-thulas-reflective-new-ep/
Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/littlebluethula/
Live Session on BBC Introducing – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCHukBBFSTc
Soundcloud –
https://soundcloud.com/user-752556832/sets/live-session-ep
http://www.carsonmchonemusic.com/
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When Scientists Are Sexually Harassed in the Field
“It could be traumatizing to even look at the data” from a research expedition.
Marina Koren
Natacha Pisarenk / AP
Last week, a day after The New York Times reported many years’ worth of sexual-harassment allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, another alarming report appeared, this one in Science magazine. The setting was different—Antarctic research expeditions, not Hollywood—but the narrative was the same. A man, well aware of his position of power, had preyed on women in his field, and his behavior had gone unchecked for years.
According to Science, Boston University is investigating sexual-harassment allegations against David Marchant, an Antarctic geologist and now department chair at the school, brought by two women, his former graduate students. The women say Marchant verbally and physically harassed them during research expeditions in Antarctica two decades ago. Science writer Meredith Wadman reported that documents related to the case suggest Marchant denies the allegations.
For young scientists, research expeditions are important experiences and career builders. They are, in some ways, workplaces like any other in a male-dominated industry, which means they are not immune to sexual harassment. In a 2014 survey of field scientists, 64 percent of respondents said they had personally experienced sexual harassment during their work, and 20 percent reported they were sexually assaulted. But the nature of field work can amplify the damaging effects of sexual harassment, particularly at very remote sites, where there’s little to no communication to the outside world. The distance from reality can become both physical and emotional. The feeling of helplessness that comes with abuse is magnified. In the moment, victims may, quite literally, have nowhere to turn.
One set of allegations against Marchant came from a small expedition in Antarctica’s Beacon Valley, where people slept in unheated tents, traversed rugged terrain, and received supplies by helicopter, Science reported. For weeks, their only contact with others was a radio connection to a base station. Jane Willenbring, now an associate professor at the University of California, San Diego, alleges that during this trip Marchant, then her thesis adviser, called her a “slut” and a “whore” and urged her to have sex with his brother, who was with them. Willenbring said Marchant told her each day, “Today I’m going to make you cry.”
Another woman, whom Science does not name, alleges that during a different expedition in Antarctica, Marchant belittled her and called her a “bitch” repeatedly. “I began to believe the things he told me,” she wrote in a formal complaint.
In some cases, Marchant’s harassment was violent, Willenbring said. She alleges Marchant shoved her, threw rocks at her when she urinated in the field, and:
In another instance, Willenbring alleges in the complaint, Marchant declared it was “training time.” Excited that he might be about to teach her something, Willenbring allowed him to pour volcanic ash, which includes tiny shards of glass, into her hand. She had been troubled by ice blindness, caused by excessive ultraviolet light exposure, which sensitizes the eyes. She says she leaned in to observe, and Marchant blew the ash into her eyes. “He knew that glass shards hitting my already sensitive eyes would be really painful—and it was,” she writes.
The details of these allegations are shocking in their vulgarity. But the fact that they exist isn’t surprising at all, said Julienne Rutherford, a biological anthropologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago and one of the authors of the 2014 survey. Rutherford said the accounts of sexual harassment, in both the Weinstein and Marchant reports, read like a script, carefully constructed from similar stories over the years. She described it from the perspective of the alleged perpetrator.
“You identify the target as wanting something you control. You break them down to the point that they don’t trust themselves. You break them down to the point where their work suffers. And you isolate them to the point that they either don’t report, or when they do report, they’re told, wouldn’t it be better if you kept this to yourself?” Rutherford said. “It’s the same story over and over again, and it’s devastating every time.”
On a remote research expedition, there may be no option to report the harassment immediately. The person in charge might be the abuser. Witnesses to the abuse may feel powerless in the moment, perhaps fearful of making themselves targets.
The trauma of the harassment follows victims from the field to their homes and institutions. Avoiding their harassers may be difficult. According to a followup report from Rutherford and her 2014 coauthors on victims, published online Wednesday, “these interactions occurred on their university campuses, at conferences, or online, and a few targets of harassment received love letters even after repeatedly rebuffing the advances of their colleagues.”
Some victims fear career-ending retribution if they report the abuse. The anonymous woman in Science alleges Marchant threatened to keep her from getting research funding. Willenbring said she waited to file her complaint against Marchant until after she received tenure last year, fearing reprisal for describing the events of the field work. “It could be traumatizing to even look at the data” from a trip, said Robin Nelson, a biological anthropologist at Santa Clara University and Rutherford’s coauthor. Entire careers can be abandoned.
Then there are the fears of not being believed. “There still seems to be a fair amount of questioning of these victims, unless the cases are really egregious,” said Meredith Hastings, an associate professor at Brown University who is part of a national project to prevent sexual harassment in earth-sciences fields.
Reports of sexual harassment by male scientists, well-known and respected in their fields, have emerged in recent years in several areas of research, from astronomy to infectious disease, with many instances going unchecked for decades. The bad behavior is discussed quietly and discreetly in a whisper network, where women trade anecdotes and warnings about male advisers or professors or researchers. They exchange stories, advising their colleagues about who’s inappropriate, who’s handsy, and who should be avoided at all costs.
The recent spate of sexual-harassment stories will not be the last, in science and in Hollywood. Similar abuses have happened before, whether in a hotel room or a research camp, and they will happen again. The ones yet to come will prompt outrage, as these have, but they shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“This is common. This is not isolated behavior,” Rutherford said. “These are not a few bad apples. These are examples of systematic campaigns of abuse against junior people.”
Marina Koren is a staff writer at The Atlantic.
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Image copyright dospaz
The History of School Desks
Fiona Miller
In these modern times, most of us fondly (or not so fondly) remember sitting in a wooden or plastic school desk as our lessons were delivered to us. Some of us listened with the utmost attention, while others doodled our crushes' names in the lower corner while the instructor droned on like Charlie Brown's teacher. Whatever our experience in school, the desk was certainly a large part of it. In this article, we'll look at a brief history of school desks and how they've evolved over time.
The Before Times
School desks were not invented until 1880. Before that time, few children went to school, as there were no laws mandating that they attend school. Many worked in factories or for their parents. The lucky ones who received education were tutored at home where they studied at adult-sized desks. If they did go to an actual school, they either studied on long tables in lecture halls, or, in poorer areas, sat on benches where they studied without a desk and struggled to write on their laps.
The First Model
The first school desk was made in 1880 by John D. Loughlin in Sidney, Ohio. The desk, known as "The Fashion Desk," proved to be extremely popular across the country. The practicality of the desks allowed for many to be put together in a one room schoolhouse, and the fashion aspect of it was aesthetically pleasing to those in the education industry. Loughlin's marketing campaign also helped to sell these desks, which would eventually sweep the nation. The "Fashion Desks" were desks attached to one another and were big enough to seat two or three children. Usually, there was an inkwell so that the student could replenish his pen's supply.
Victorian Boarding Schools
Purposes of Windmills in the 1800s
School Uniforms in the 1980s
About Colonial Family Life
Loughlin's desk model became popular and remained so for many years. As time went on and the need for students to store papers and homework increased, desks were designed to accommodate these changing needs. Desks were manufactured with "cubbyholes" underneath where students could place their books. Some desks were designed with surfaces that lifted up so students could put supplies inside of the desk. Most of these models were made out of wood. Eventually desks that folded up were designed; these could easily be put away if necessary. These new desks also helped pave the way for school becoming compulsory for all children under 16, making some schools significantly overcrowded.
As time went on, the idea of saving wood became in fashion. In the 1960s and 1970s, many desks were made fully out of metal, but these were mostly used for high school students. Some of these desks were attached to folding chairs, while some were fixed. Most school desks had storage space underneath the chairs. Still made in the design of Loughlin's brainchild, most of the desks contained a chair with writing tablet attached to it, although differing to accommodate materials and space saving.
Some of the earlier desks, which lift up to allow storage, are still used in primary schools. However, there have been significant safety concerns about these desks. Children have frequently opened them and accidentally closed them on their arms causing broken bones. In addition, many of the cubbies now cause cheating concerns as students can put their cell phone under their desk and text to one another. But despite these concerns, desks remain a fixed symbol in our minds representing either our beloved or loathed days in school.
Writing since 2008, Fiona Miller has taught English in Eastern Europe and also teaches kids in New York schools about the Holocaust. Her work can be found on Overstock.com, ConnectED and various other Web sites. Miller holds a B.A. in French from Chapman University and an M.A. in educational theater from New York University.
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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during a campaign stop at town hall in Peterborough, N.H., Monday, July 8, 2019.
Charles Krupa
Senator Elizabeth Warren, at a presidential candidates forum with Latino activists in Milwaukee, was asked about President Trump's decision not to seek a citizenship question on the census. She replied "Wow. He's going to follow the law?"
Democratic presidential candidates promised major changes to U.S. immigration law Thursday, contrasting their ideas to the hardline policies of President Donald Trump during a forum with Latino political activists in Milwaukee.
2020 Democrats paint contrast with Trump on immigration
By ELANA SCHOR and IVAN MORENO Associated Press
Jul 12, 2019 Updated Jul 12, 2019
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Democratic presidential candidates promised major changes to U.S. immigration law, contrasting their ideas to the hardline policies of President Donald Trump during a forum with Latino political activists in Milwaukee.
The White House hopefuls gathered Thursday as Trump's detention policies have sparked fierce Democratic pushback and intense public debate. They uniformly panned Trump's approach to immigration on a day when the president abandoned his contentious effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren drew one of the biggest audience reactions of the night when asked about the issue.
"Wow, he's going to follow the law?" Warren said to laughter and applause. "This is not about trying to find real information about citizenship and noncitizenship in America. This is just about trying to stir up some more hate."
The other candidates at the forum hosted by the League of United Latin American Citizens included former Housing Secretary Julián Castro, former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Castro promised his administration would not put families in detention centers for crossing the U.S. border illegally.
"I will not stand by it. I'm not going to do it," he said. He said children who are being crowded in pens, away from their parents "are going to be traumatized for the rest of their lives."
Castro said his immigration plan would also address veterans who have been deported after serving in the military.
"One of the things I call for is to immediately ensure that veterans who have been deported can come back to the United States and pursue citizenship in the United States because they served our country honorably," he said. "They did their duty for our country. We owe them a debt of gratitude and the last thing we should do is see them deported away from their families."
Sanders sounded a rare personal note during his remarks by recalling that his father, Eli, was an immigrant who came to the United States from Poland as a 17-year-old "without a nickel in his pocket and could not speak one word of English." His father, Sanders added, is "the kind of person" Trump is seeking to prevent from emigrating today.
On immigration, Sanders offered a sweeping vision.
"We will end the hatred, we will the end the xenophobia that currently exists in this country," he said. "We will provide immediate legal status to the 1.8 million young people eligible for the DACA program." That program — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — protects about 700,000 people, known as dreamers, who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children or came with families that overstayed visas.
Sanders continued: "We will move to comprehensive immigration reform and a path for citizenship for all 11 million undocumented. And we will develop a humane policy at the border, not one that criminalizes desperate people for having traveled a thousand miles."
The day began with Warren releasing a far-reaching immigration agenda that includes the remodeling of immigration enforcement agencies "from top to bottom" and new limits on the detention of migrants who enter the country.
Warren's plan would not go so far as to "abolish" U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a progressive effort last year that failed to reach critical mass even with Democratic voters and drew harsh criticism from Trump and the GOP. But she called for a wholesale reorientation at both ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, which enforces immigration laws at the border.
Schor reported from Washington.
Hispanics
THE STELLA HOTEL
DOWNTOWN UNCORKED
PALMISANO'S MARTIAL ARTS
When Apollo 11 landed on the moon, Major League Baseball stood still
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Watch Lorde perform Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”
Don’t you wanna dance?
During the Australian portion of her Melodrama world tour, Lorde performed a song that wasn't from her own repertoire. "Hey, congratulations on that same-sex marriage bill," says Lorde, before launching into a rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
Lorde was referring to the legislation passed last week in Australia, allowing same-sex couples to get married. Watch her perform Whitney Houston's dance hit as a tribute to the progressive policy.
Whitney Houston lorde
lorde, Pop, Whitney Houston
Here are the best new rap songs of the week featuring Teejayx6, Yung Baby Tate, J. Cole & Young Nudy, YungManny, Fat Dave, and more.
Watch Popcaan’s new video for “Body So Good”
The first single from Popcaan's last album Forever gets a vivid new visual.
Tyler, The Creator confirms Jack White makes an uncredited appearance on IGOR
Tyler The Creator talks about working with Solange, Frank Ocean, La Roux and Solange on IGOR, as well as his plans to record with Billie Eilish.
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2 States Become First To Require Mental Health Education In Schools
Mental health advocates believe early intervention is key to lowering the suicide rate and effectively addressing mental health.
Mental health education is now required in two U.S. states, New York and Virginia, from as young as the elementary school level. The respective laws were enacted on Sunday, July 1.
The goal is to counter the growing suicide rate and give support to young people who may be vulnerable to mental illness early on. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 15-24, according to the CDC.
Since 1999, the suicide rate has increased by 30% in the United States, the agency reported in June.
Mental health advocates believe that early intervention is key to lowering the suicide rate and effectively addressing mental health. The New York law states that “90% of youth who die by suicide suffer from depression or another diagnosable and treatable mental illness at the time of their death.”
Lack of mental health support can result in fatal consequences. Virginia state Senator Creigh Deeds saw this for himself, with the suicide death of his 24-year-old son Austin “Gus” Deeds in 2013.
In the aftermath, Deeds said “the system failed my son” when it could not provide a psychiatric bed less than 24 hours before his son's death.
Deeds created the Virginia law with the help of Albemarle County high school students who had presented a proposal to address mental health issues in schools to the state senator in 2017.
“I was impressed by their thoughtfulness, because a lot of these young people had seen bullying. They had seen depression,” said Deeds, according to CNN. “They had seen classmates that had died by suicide. It’s part of tearing down the stigma and providing some equality with those that struggle with mental health.”
Virginia’s law adds mental health education to the physical education and health curriculum for 9th and 10th graders.
In New York, mental health is now included in the health curriculum in elementary, middle, and high schools. “[Mental health] is an integral part of our overall health and should be an integral part of health education in New York schools,” the law states.
Half of lifetime mental health issues develop before age 14, but on average, most will wait 10 years before seeking help, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
classroom mandates
NY Gov. Cuomo Signs Law Mandating Mental Health Education In Middle And High Schools
Mental Health Education Now Required In New York Schools
celebs & mental health
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Generation Z’s Pursuit of Perfectionism Could Affect Their Mental Health
new initiative
Oregon Tries To Break Cycle Of Jailing People With Mental Health Issues
decriminalization
Hawaii Decriminalizes Marijuana
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Britain’s death toll from asbestos at crisis level, figures reveal
Deaths from ‘industrial disease’ reaching peak after widespread use between 1950s and 70s
Frances Perraudin
@fperraudin
Sun 7 Jul 2019 10.03 EDT Last modified on Wed 10 Jul 2019 11.55 EDT
Mavis Nye was diagnosed with cancer 50 years after exposure to her husband’s overalls: ‘He used to come home with it all in his hair and on his clothes. It was just dust to me.’ Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian
The death toll from asbestos exposure has reached crisis levels in Britain, the Guardian has learned, as people pay the price for “criminal failings by industry and government” made decades ago.
Asbestos-related cancers can occur as many as 50 years after exposure and deaths are now thought to be reaching their peak, years after the widespread industrial use of the carcinogen between the 1950s and 70s.
According to figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) released this week, in 2017 there were 2,523 deaths from mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the organs caused almost exclusively by the inhalation of asbestos fibres. This is a similar number to the previous five years.
Rates of mesothelioma, which is almost always fatal, nearly doubled between 1995, when there were 1,317 cases, and 2017. More than half of deaths from mesothelioma were people over 75 and 82% were men.
It is estimated that a similar number of people die from asbestos-related lung cancers, but this cannot be so accurately measured as establishing a cause for lung cancer is more difficult.
The HSE predicts that annual numbers will continue at current levels for the rest of this decade before starting to decline, though it has previously anticipated earlier falls.
Asbestos, a naturally occurring fibrous mineral, was widely used in the UK as insulation and a fire retardant. The import and use of blue and brown asbestos was banned in 1985, while white asbestos, which is thought to be less dangerous, was banned in 1999.
700 English schools reported over asbestos safety concerns
Deaths from mesothelioma are high among people who worked in the shipbuilding and construction industries – especially carpenters, plumbers and electricians – as well as those who worked in factories that produced asbestos products.
Roger Maddocks, a partner with the law firm Irwin Mitchell LLP who specialises in workplace injuries and illness, said: “In many cases people are now paying the price for criminal failings by industry and the government, who were responsible for the lack of action on the part of the Factory Inspectorate [the precursor to the HSE].”
What is asbestos and why is it dangerous?
Asbestos is a term for a group of minerals made of microscopic fibres. It was used in building construction for insulation, for flooring and roofing, and was sprayed on ceilings and walls. It is banned in the UK but can be found in buildings built or refurbished before 2000.
When materials that contain asbestos are disturbed or damaged, fibres are released into the air. When these fibres are inhaled they can cause serious diseases including:
Mesothelioma – a cancer that affects the lining of the lungs.
Asbestos-related lung cancer.
Asbestosis – a serious scarring of the lung that occurs after heavy exposure to asbestos over many years. It can cause shortness of breath, and in severe cases can be fatal.
Pleural thickening – the lining of the lung thickens and swells. The lung itself can be squeezed, causing shortness of breath and discomfort in the chest.
The Health and Safety Executive estimates that about 5,000 people die every year in the UK from asbestos-caused cancers, which can develop decades after exposure. About 20 tradespeople die each week as a result of past exposure.
Maddocks said the Factory Inspectorate knew by the end of the 19th century that heavy exposure to asbestos carried the risk of life-threatening respiratory disease and that by the 1960s it was public knowledge that exposure to small amounts of the substance carried the risk of mesothelioma.
“Despite that people continued to be exposed, and in many cases heavily exposed, for years if not decades after the mid-60s,” he said.
An HSE spokesperson said that while controls on the use of blue asbestos were introduced by 1970, the dangers of brown asbestos were not appreciated until well into that decade. The heavy use of brown asbestos is a key reason why the UK, along with Australia, has the highest mesothelioma rates in the world.
“With the benefit of hindsight it is now obvious that it should have been banned earlier but the specific evidence about brown asbestos was slower to emerge and at the time it would have been more difficult to see this,” they said.
Analysis of data shared with the Guardian by the Royal College of Physicians found that NHS trusts in former industrial areas had diagnosed the highest numbers of mesothelioma cases in 2014 to 2016.
Northumbria Healthcare NHS foundation trust and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS trust diagnosed 118 each in that period. Leeds and Portsmouth diagnosed 107 and 106 respectively.
Guardian analysis of coroners’ figures found evidence of the huge toll that Britain’s industrial past has taken on the health of people across the country.
In Nottinghamshire, North Northumberland and Sunderland, one in four deaths examined by coroners were found to be caused by “industrial disease”. A large proportion of these deaths are thought to be asbestos-related, though they will also include conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and silicosis.
There were 2,709 “deaths by industrial disease” recorded by coroners in England and Wales in 2018, a 44% rise on the 1,878 recorded in 1995, the earliest available figure. Nine percent of all deaths recorded by coroners in 2018 were caused by industrial disease.
Jo Ritson, from the asbestos victims’ support group that covers South Yorkshire and north Nottinghamshire, said demand for its services was going up, yet every year it struggled to get funding. It saw 117 clients in 2011-12, and 298 in 2017-18. It saw 192 people up to May this year.
Ritson said the reactions of her clients to the news that they had mesothelioma varied. “For some people it hits them like a bolt out of the blue and they find it really difficult to understand that what they did as a young man in their 20s or while doing their apprenticeships is now ruining the retirement that they worked towards all their lives,” she said.
“But others tend to know it’s coming because they’ve seen a lot of their colleagues die from asbestos-related disease. For a lot of them it’s like a ticking clock and they don’t know whether it’s going to hit them or not.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “Since the dangers of asbestos became clear, governments have, over many years, brought in regulations and legislation. Asbestos is banned in construction and the risks of exposure today are extremely low.”
It added that it took its responsibility to compensate people with mesothelioma very seriously, automatically awarding the maximum rate of industrial injuries disablement benefit and awarding lump sum compensation of up to £92,000, depending on a person’s age.
‘Just because it is banned doesn’t mean it’s gone’
Mavis Nye, 78, was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, more than 50 years after being exposed to asbestos dust on her husband’s overalls from his work as an apprentice at Chatham dockyard in Kent.
“He used to come home with it all in his hair and on his clothes,” she said. “It was just dust to me. So you’d shake it off and you put it in the washing machine and that’s it.”
Nye is one of thousands of people every year to be diagnosed with mesothelioma.
“When they first tell you you have mesothelioma you can’t even say the word so it doesn’t register,” said Nye. Writing on the website for the charity Mesothelioma UK, Nye’s husband, Ray, said: “How do I feel about the fact that it was me who has given her this sentence? Gutted, destroyed, sick and, yes, guilty.”
‘Pain is part and parcel of everyday life for me’
John Chapman at home in Darlington, County Durham. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
In 2015, John Chapman was preparing for the Mallorca 312, the longest amateur cycling event in Europe. He had been cycling about 6,000 miles a year and so put the fatigue he’d been starting to experience down to too much exercise and not enough recovery time.
During an appointment with a lung specialist, he was asked if he had had any past exposure to asbestos. “I said I had. In my early days I’d spent 10 years working in a foundry,” said Chapman.
He was diagnosed with mesothelioma when he was 54. Now, aged 57, he has outlived many expectations. “It’s like being committed to a death row sentence in that you know there is going to be a point in time after which you are not going to get past, based on statistics and life expectancies,” he said. “That’s the nature of the beast.”
He now has only a fifth of his lung capacity in his left lung and a bone tumour the size of an Easter egg. “Pain is unfortunately part and parcel of everyday life for me,” he said. “I have a Macmillan nurse who comes out and sees me and we are constantly adjusting and amending pain medications to try and offset the pain you get.”
While Chapman and Nye are angry that they were exposed to the substance when there was already evidence it was dangerous, both are primarily concerned with the fact that asbestos is still all around us.
“Just because it is banned doesn’t mean it’s gone,” says Nye. “It hasn’t. It’s everywhere. It’s in buildings that are forever being pulled down and refurbished, which can make it airborne … We need to educate the young because they think it’s a problem of the past.”
Concerns Health and Safety Executive will struggle to carry out inspections needed
Published: 4 Jul 2019
'I wash all my food like crazy': scientists voice concern about nanoparticles
US foods are increasingly full of nano-scale additives, even as scientists raise alarm bells about their safety
We cannot compromise safety in schools. Asbestos must be removed
Lola Okolosie
If the government is serious about learning lessons from Grenfell, then it needs to rid schools of asbestos. Otherwise its toxic effects could prove a health timebomb
‘You do think: why me?’ The shocking rise of lung cancer in non-smokers
The ‘smoker’s disease’ is affecting more and more people who have never lit up in their lives – and it is a particular problem among women. What do experts think is going on?
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Asbestos has haunted Scotland for decades – our children are still at risk
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Johnson & Johnson shares slip after talc asbestos claims
Science Weekly Why is asbestos still killing people? – Science Weekly podcast
Why is asbestos still killing people? – Science Weekly podcast
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Marium Chaudhry
The PTI’s Shahbaz Sharif
There is only one requirement for Imran Khan’s pick for the chief minister of Punjab: s/he has to be better than Shahbaz Sharif.
Better administration, better optics, and better at getting things done. Whether Shahbaz did all of this is debatable, but the comparison between the next CM and the image that is Shahbaz Sharif will start from the day the future CM is named.
So what’s stopping Imran Khan? His options, which have been greatly discussed in the media, have dwindled down to Sibtain Khan, Raja Yasir and Fawad Chaudhry, with new names coming forth every day. Punjab isn’t as easy as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was for Khan. The PTI chief had to choose between Pervez Khattak and Atif Khan – and has settled on the young former education minister, who was widely accepted by the media. Khattak’s desperate desire to be a second-time CM, and rumours of blackmailing Khan for the position, didn’t go down well with the media. So what’s stopping Khan from following his gut for CM Punjab? There are a lot of factors; the one in focus here is the pressure he will face, and is facing, from the media.
The PTI can be called Pakistan’s most ‘media-sensitive’ party. They have a strong system of analysing and monitoring the media and then briefing Khan on the finer details. It is said that Khan’s main media diet doesn’t come from the electronic media; he relies more on social media to be briefed about what people’s perception of him and his party’ is at the end of the day. And not just any Twitterati: Khan is more partial to listening to the views of social media influencers who are partial to him and his politics. He doesn’t have time for critics.
Does Khan really care that much about what the media thinks and says? Probably more than others do. A case in point is the induction of Aamir Liaquat. Initially, the fake doctor had declared on social media that he was to be a part of the PTI and that Imran Khan would be announcing his membership. But after a major outcry on social media, the decision was taken back. PTI members say it was due to media pressure. Liaquat’s hurried inclusion at a later stage drew some criticism but was lost in the flurry of other news – lucky for Khan but perhaps not so lucky for Liaquat. These days, Liaquat is busy deleting politically incorrect tweets within minutes of posting them. He is probably also being closely monitored.
And it is the close monitoring of criticism by the media that makes the Punjab CM decision a difficult one. Khan’s top contender, Aleem Khan, has faced the brunt of it already. Reportedly, Aleem’s future as CM Punjab was dashed when the media started questioning how someone who was being questioned by NAB could be the top contender for the post. Aleem recently came out and criticised the media for leading a premature and misleading trial against him.
But Khan also had another contender in mind who was a shoo-in for the job – except Shah Mehmood Qureshi lost the provincial seat he needed to become the most logical choice. An experienced stalwart, he had the stature and the political acumen to take on the recent memory of Shahbaz Sharif. There is a chance that Qureshi could still be CM: appointing someone who is popular with the public but doesn’t have much administrative skill, like Yasmin Rashid, to the CM post and replacing her with Qureshi once – and if – he wins the by-election. That, though, will not be good optics. The media narrative that will be built is that Imran Khan doesn’t have anyone good enough to be CM and therefore, needs to get someone who lost a seat to win again and then appoint him to the top post in the province. The optics probably do, and should, worry Khan.
No one likes dark horses they don’t get the chance to know. It’s too late in the game now for Khan to introduce someone new, like Raja Yasir, Sibtain Khan and Rai Murtaza Iqbal, who are mostly unknown faces for electronic and social media. They might have the credentials he is looking for, but will they be able to ward off the juggernaut perception of Shahbaz Sharif? Seems unlikely, unless Khan makes a concerted effort to launch his horse effectively and smoothly in public. And the two groups in his party – the Jehangir Tareen team and the Shah Mehmood group – are trying to do just that.
The names being leaked to the media are being sized up, dissected, criticised and judged by anchors, analysts and tweets. By leaking names to the media, the party can easily decipher who is a more popular and acceptable candidate to the public. All the new names are relatively unknown and have not garnered any major interest. The interest mostly is in who is backing whom to figure out whose puppet CM they will be – a man disqualified by the Supreme Court or one who didn’t manage to win a seat to be CM himself. Terrible optics.
Unlike other provinces, the CM of Punjab is a post that is of interest to the general public. So what can Khan do?
It’s a simple formula. No one wants a Sajrani when they’re used to a Rabbani. If Khan wants to effectively battle the hold of the PML-N in Punjab, he will need a face in the CM seat – one strong enough to hold his or her own. We will probably have to wait a few more days until this person is found. In this age of swift media judgment, we probably wont have to wait long until the future CM is sized up by the media as a pass or a fail. Khan’s choices are limited and filling this position is a big test of his decision-making skills. If he fails, the blowback will be a big win for the metro-making, dengue-fighting, rain-boot wearing Sharif.
The writer is a senior executive producer at Geo News. Twitter: @mariumch
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Harvest not so peachy
https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/Madison-County-treasurer-to-expedite-payments-to-12575972.php
Madison County treasurer to expedite payments to help local schools
Published 12:21 pm CDT, Monday, August 14, 2017
EDWARDSVILLE – With an override of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto of Senate Bill 1 having gained passage in the Illinois Senate but still awaiting approval in the House, Madison County Treasurer Chris Slusser on Monday announced that his office will be expediting property tax distributions in September to help some local school districts at least temporarily avoid a funding crisis.
Slusser said that his office will now make two distributions next month, the first on Sept. 12 and the second on Sept. 26.
The September property tax distribution was originally scheduled for Sept. 20. However, during a recent meeting with Bethalto School District Superintendent Jill Griffin and Business Manager Barrett Diest, Slusser was informed that the district was in jeopardy of not making payroll in September due to the state funding crisis.
With the new school funding bill held up in the legislature, the schools have not received their General State Aid payments in August. Bethalto was supposed to receive an aid payment of $407,430.91 on Aug. 10 and then a second payment on Aug. 20.
Those payments are not expected to be made until the school funding bill is passed. Even then, it’s not been made clear as to when the payments will be caught up.
“The legislature can’t seem to get its act together, and unfortunately, we can’t control what they’re planning to do or when they’re planning to do it. In the meantime, schools are held hostage and some are in jeopardy of closing their doors,” said Slusser. “What we can control is when we distribute our local tax dollars that we’ve collected, so this was an easy decision for me. “
Griffin expressed appreciation for the decision.
“As school districts and students across Illinois continue to face mounting uncertainty, as a result of the political wrangling in Springfield, our county government officials are stepping up to support us through this difficult time,” said Griffin. “The Bethalto School District is very grateful to Madison County Treasurer Chris Slusser for agreeing to expedite local property tax distributions to our school district. These local property tax dollars will help us stay afloat, as our state is currently not sending the most basic funding necessary for our school doors to stay open, our General State Aid payments, which for Bethalto is about $814,000 a month and $9 million annually.”
State law requires that the treasurer distributes property tax dollars at least once every 30 days during the tax cycle.
“There’s nothing in the law that says we can’t distribute dollars more than once every 30 days, so we decided to move up the regularly scheduled September distribution allowing schools to meet their mid-month payroll obligations, and we’ll do a second distribution later in the month to assist in their end-of-month payroll,” said Slusser.
“We appreciate Chris inviting us to meet with him, so we could share our predicament during these unprecedented times in public education,” said Griffin. “He, and his office team, were welcoming, empathetic, and truly interested to hear the story of our school district and the negative impact the impasse in Springfield is causing. He has worked diligently to understand the issues that our school district is facing and has taken action to help. We genuinely appreciate his time and effort on behalf of our district and his ongoing commitment to all school districts across the county, during this very challenging time.”
Slusser said that after his meeting with Griffin and Diest, he spoke with other school superintendents around the county who also expressed relief with the news of the expedited payments.
Alton School District Superintendent Mark Cappel, who penned an op-ed in Sunday’s edition of The Telegraph regarding SB1, was thrilled with the news.
“We’ve been crunching numbers to find a way to stay afloat while the state makes a final decision,” Cappel said. “We’re very appreciative of Chris Slusser’s willingness to look out for us and give us a little more breathing room. This will allow us to make our September payroll obligations and keep our doors open.”
Slusser said the schools won’t be the only ones benefiting from the early and additional distribution next month.
“All taxing districts in the county will be receiving two distributions in September,” he said. “The school funding crisis triggered this decision, however, we felt it made sense to go ahead and distribute funds to all taxing districts at the same time.”
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Men’s Tennis Remains Hopeful Despite Tough Start
John Cavanagh, Staff Writer
The St. John’s Red Storm tennis team came into this season with a new coach and new hope. Head Coach Craig Schwartz was hired by the University in December of last year after being an assistant coach for the Appalachian State men’s and women’s programs. While there, the teams earned numerous...
Tags: St. John's Men's Tennis
Double Duty: Leo Leads Two Tennis Teams
When St. John’s tennis Coach Lauren Leo arrives on campus, there is little time to rest. Upon checking in, her day begins with checking on the women’s strength and conditioning schedule, some paper work in the office and stringing rackets … all before going to practice. “[I’m] just managing everything so ever...
Tags: Lauren Leo, SJU Men's Tennis, SJU Women's Tennis
Red Storm Roundup: Baseball, softball roll to weekend sweeps
John Cavanagh, Contributing Writer
Men’s Tennis Wins First Big East Matchup of the Season St. John’s men’s tennis beat the Georgetown Hoyas 4-0 Friday morning at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. It was a big win for the Red Storm, snapping a four game losing streak coming into this pivotal Big East matchup....
Tags: SJU Athletics, SJU Baseball, SJUBase, SJULAX, SJUSoftball, SJUTennis, st. john's baseball, St. John's lacrosse, St. John's Softball
Roberto Livi making his mark at St. John’s
Kaylee Herndon, Staff Writer
Men’s tennis standout senior Roberto Livi recently made consolation finals at the Oracles/ITA Masters tournament, a prestigious 32-player tournament held at the Malibu Racquet Club in Malibu, Calif. “To compete against the best players in the country, [I am] very honored...I got some great victories...
Tags: Men's Tennis, sports
Red Storm Roundup: Big wins at home for men’s, women’s soccer
Nick McCreven, Staff Writer
NCAA Men's Soccer (10/15): St. John's 2, Butler 1 The Red Storm men’s soccer team took on No. 11/14 Butler on Saturday at Belson Stadium and came away with a 2-1 victory. Alistair Johnston scored St. John’s first goal in the 37th minute assisted by Mauricio Rivas. Butler fired back in the 64th minute with a...
Tags: sju men's soccer, sju volleyball, sju women's soccer, SJUMSOC, SJUVB, sjuwsoc, SJUXC, St. John's Cross Country, St. John's men's soccer, St. John's soccer, St. John's Tennis, St. John's Volleyball, St. John's women's soccer
No shortage of spirit for SJU Senior
Troy Mauriello and Carmine Carcieri
If you told Brendan Eugene three years ago that he’d be running the official student fan group of St. John’s University, RedZone, he himself wouldn’t have believed you. Eugene, a 20-year-old senior from Bay Shore, NY, was a self-described shy freshman as he began school at St. John’s in 20...
Tags: RedZone, SGI, SJU, SJUBB, SJUWBB, st. john's, St. John's Athletics, St. John's Basketball, St. John's University, St. John's women's basketball, Student Government, Student of St. John's
SJU tennis back in action at Princeton
The St. John’s men’s tennis team opened up their 2016 season with notable singles and doubles performances at the Ivy-Plus Invitational, hosted by Princeton University over this past weekend. “Overall we had a good weekend against a lot of high-level competition. I feel our results were good...
Tags: Men's Tennis, sports, st. john's
St. John’s Men’s Tennis Sweeps Doubleheader on Saturday Night
William Harris, Staff Writer
St. John’s men’s tennis improved to an impressive 14-4 record (8-0 at home) with a doubleheader sweep on Sunday. They defeated Army 4-1 and shut out St. Francis Brooklyn 7-0. St. John’s didn’t get off to a great start, and were forced to rally in the first match Army took two of the three...
Tags: Army, Doubleheader, St. Francis, St. John's Men's Tennis, St. John's Tennis, The Torch, torch sports, Torch Sports online
Tennis: Women beat Georgetown, Men upset Harvard
Sydney Johnson, Staff Writer
Friday was a very good day for St. John’s tennis as both teams earned road wins. The women went to Washington D.C. and beat the Georgetown Hoyas 5-2. The men upset Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts 4-3. The men began the day by sweeping the Crimson in doubles play. Lucas Hejhal and Dusan Vukice...
Tags: Georgetown, harvard, St. John's Men's Tennis, St. John's Tennis, St. John's women's tennis, The Torch, torch sports, Torch Sports online
Men’s Tennis competes at tournament hosted by Princeton
Reza Moreno, Staff Writer
St. John’s men’s tennis traveled to Princeton University this past weekend for the first ever IVY Plus Tournament. The tournament hosted twenty-one teams including 7 ivy leagues. The IVY Plus Tournament already gained a reputation since there were 17 players on the ITA preseason singles rankings ...
Men’s tennis wins second straight Big East Tourney title
Carmine Carcieri, Staff Writer
The St. John’s men and women’s tennis teams both finished out their regular seasons with impressive three game winning streaks that helped them gain momentum for a huge event in Indianapolis this past weekend: the Big East Tournament. Head coach Eric Rebhuhn’s teams kept their confidence going...
Tags: Men's Tennis, red storm, St. John's Men's Tennis, St. John's Tennis, St. John's women's tennis, Tennis, The Torch, torch sports, women's tennis
Tennis coach has taken on challenging, but familiar role
Wilson Sy, Staff Writer
The St. John’s tennis program was in need of a women’s tennis coach before the season. Instead of looking outside for a new head coach, they looked within. When the season started, Eric Rebhuhn was the head coach of the men’s tennis team. Rebhuhn spent four seasons as head coach of both the...
Tags: Men's Tennis, red storm, St. John's Men's Tennis, St. John's Tennis, Tennis, The Torch, torch sports
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Culture: Kanye West's Sunday Service
Beginning on the first Sunday of 2019, Kanye West launched a “Sunday Service.”
Is he promoting a new album? Starting a church? Is it Christian, or not?
Who is Kanye West? He’s an American musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, fashion designer, producer, and entrepreneur. He’s also known for being the husband of the very wealthy (net worth of $350 million) and very famous for being famous Kim Kardashian West.
Kanye West has also sold over 135 million records and won 21 Grammys. He also made headlines for a very bizarre meeting with President Donald Trump.
He’s a significant cultural figure. So when Kim Kardashian began promoting Sunday Service to her sixty million Twitter followers and posting videos previewing the event on Instagram the idea garnered attention while raising countless questions. Was Kanye searching for religion? Or was this something else.
Answers have begun to emerge. The gatherings are invite only. Attendees sign non-disclosure agreements, but it appears that broadcasting portions of the event in Instagram stories is permitted. Kardashian has said that there is no praying, only music, and that the service is more about a feeling. There is no preaching. Kourtney Kardashian, another member of the Kardashian clan, has said the gatherings are Christian.
Rick Rubin, Tyler, the Creator, Courtney Love, and Katy Perry have attended. Celebrities like DMX have been there, as has Chance the Rapper. West’s latest Sunday Service was held on a grassy hillside near the Coachella music festival, which you can read about in this New Yorker column by Jia Tolentino. Tolentino is also quoted in this National Public Radio segment from “All Things Considered.”
This column in Elle by Nerisha Penrose links to several Instagram videos revealing what Kanye is up to.
Kanye’s Sunday Service looks a lot like self-promotion, another piece of exploratory performance art. But it is also representative of spiritual longing and a breaking away from traditional, institutionalized Christianity. Kanye West’s erratic behavior has caused many public commentators to worry about his mental health, and he has been criticized for controversial statements he has made on social media about slavery.
Some worry that Kanye’s Sunday Service is but another example of West (and, by association, Kardashian) are seeking to grow the cult Kanye. Hailed as an artistic and musical genius, Kanye may see religion as but one more conduit for the expansion of his empire.
Gen Zers and Millennials know Kanye and pay attention to what he is saying, doing, and creating, and his music, particularly the song “Jesus Walks,” has inspired discussion of faith. It isn’t clear what Kanye is up to. But emerging generations will be among the first to know.
Millennial newsBen Simpson May 27, 2019 Kanye West, Sunday Service, Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, WorshipComment
Gallup: U.S. Church Membership Down over Past Two Decades
Church LifeBen Simpson June 14, 2019 Church Membership, Church Attendance, Millennial Ministry
Are Millennials Returning to Church, or Not?
Millennial LifeBen Simpson May 24, 2019 Religion, Gen Z, Church, Church Attendance
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Brazil – land of sensational experiences
One of the world’s most captivating places, Brazil is a country of powdery white-sand beaches, verdant rainforests and wild, rhythm-filled metropolises. Brazil’s attractions extend from frozen-in-time colonial towns to otherworldly landscapes of red-rock canyons, thundering waterfalls and coral-fringed tropical islands.
Brazil’s biodiversity is also expansive with diverse ecosystems boasting a grand collection of plant and animal species. Festas (festivals) happen throughout the year, and provide a window into Brazil’s incredible diversity. Here are the top places to experience in Brazil.
Rio de Janeiro: Often called the Cidade Marvilhosa, the city is host to some of the greatest landmarks in the world: the Corcovado mountain supporting the great statue of Christ the Redeemer; the rounded incline of the Sugar Loaf mountain, standing at the entrance to the bay; and the famous sweeps of Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, probably the most notable lengths of sand on the planet.
Between an azure sea and forest-clad mountains, the city’s streets and buildings have been molded around the foothills of the mountain range that provides its backdrop, while out in the bay there are many rocky islands fringed with white sand.
Rio also has remarkable architectural heritage, some of the country’s best museums and galleries, superb restaurants and a vibrant nightlife. Its setting is enhanced annually by the frenetic sensuality of Carnaval, an explosive celebration.
Minas Gerais: Separated from the Atlantic by the small state of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais attracts visitors to its beautiful colonial-era towns, to its spa resorts created in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and to Belo Horizonte, its thriving capital. The state’s pre-eminent administrative, industrial and cultural metropolis, Belo Horizonte lies in the center of the rich mining and agricultural hinterland that has made the state one of the economic powerhouses of Brazil, running from the coffee estates of western Minas to the mines and cattle pastures of the valley of the Rio Doce, in the east.
Minas Gerais’ cidades históricas, ‘the historic cities’, represent some of the finest examples of Portuguese colonial architecture, and are repositories of a great flowering of eighteenth-century Baroque religious art; arte sacra mineira was the finest work of its time in the Americas, and also resides here the greatest figure in Brazilian cultural history – the mulatto leper sculptor, Aleijadinho, whose magnificent work is scattered throughout the state’s wonderfully preserved historic cities.
Bahia: With over 1000km of coconut-fringed beaches and the most agreeable climate in the region – hot and sunny. At its heart are the Chapada Diamantina Mountains, offering breathtaking trekking and climbing opportunities, while just north of there, the massive São Francisco Lakes are popular for canoeing and watersports. The countryside changes to the south of the state capital, Salvador (site of the first Portuguese landings in 1500), with mangrove swamps and fast-developing island resorts around the town of Valença, before reverting to a spectacular coastline.
A string of colonial towns, including Santo Amaro and Cachoeira, also lie within striking distance of Salvador. Carnaval reaches a frenzied peak in Salvador every February, when the city heaves with two million people enjoying traditional tunes, from the popular and loud Barra seaside suburb to the more arty Pelhourinho.
The Amazon: A true wonder of the natural world, the river commands more water than the next seven largest rivers combined, and pours into the Atlantic. The region is home to pink dolphins, giant air-breathing fish and endemic species such as uakaris, better known as ‘english monkeys’ for their shaggy white fur and beetroot-red faces. There are also a myriad of birds, including parrots and toucans, as well as caiman, piranha, and dolphins. Monkeys and sloths are common in protected areas, but it is unlikely that you will see animals such as jaguars or anaconda The same goes for the ‘untouched’ indigenous tribes.
Mato Grosso: The region is essentially an enormous plain, home to the sprawling Pantanal swamp – the best place in Brazil for seeing wildlife, and one of the world’s largest wetlands – and rippled by a handful of small mountain ranges. To the west of Mato Grosso do Sul are Bolivian swamps and forest; the mighty rivers Araguaia and Paraná (one flowing north, the other south) form a natural rim to the east, while the Rio Paraguai and the country named after it complete the picture to the south.
Another noteworthy tourist attraction is the Pantanal, the world’s largest contiguous wetland or swamp, renowned for its wildlife. This spectacular region is also known for its array of birdlife, with over 464 identified species (though none of them endemic), and its endless supply of fish, with 325 species – including a great many piranha, which are used in an excellent local soup.
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Ethiopian wins the prestigious ‘African Champion of the Year’ Award
A wonder called Indonesia
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At least 17 dead in New Delhi hotel fire
At least 17 people died in a fire that ripped through a budget hotel in the Indian capital New Delhi early Tuesday, police said.
The blaze broke out in the Hotel Arpit Palace, in the central Karol Bagh area, about 4:30am local time.
Among the dead were a woman and a child who jumped off a hotel terrace.Virendra Singh, Delhi's deputy fire chief, said 35 people were rescued by firefighters, with 19 taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and other injuries.
About 30 fire engines were dispatched to the scene. The blaze was under control by 8:00 am.
Officials have not yet been able to determine the cause of the fire.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his condolences on Tuesday.
"Deeply saddened by the loss of lives due to a fire at Karol Bagh in Delhi," he said. "I convey my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. May the injured recover soon."
New Karol Bagh is close to popular tourist areas such as the business and financial hub Connaught Place.
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NAB: Main Studio Rule Must Go
Organization one of many calling for elimination of the rule, though voices of dissent remain
WASHINGTON--Big voices continue to call for elimination of the main studio rule, among them the National Association of Broadcasters.
In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission on whether stations must maintain a main studio near its community of license, the NAB said the rules were unwarranted in relation to the way we communicate today, limit broadcaster’s ability to deploy resources elsewhere and do little to ensure that a station will remain connected to its community of license.
The NAB’s voice is riding a wave of big broadcaster sentiment against the main studio rule, among them National Public Radio, Univision and Cumulus Media.
Rather than assuming that a physical location will ensure licensee involvement, it should be left to marketplace conditions to push stations to engage regularly with their local communities, the NAB said.
The NAB is one of several organizations and large broadcasting groups to point out that the main studio rules were put into place 80 years ago; today, the NAB said, widespread use of electronic communications means that communities can communicate effectively with their stations without the need for a physical presence of a studio.
The NAB hauled out examples: It quoted one general manager who reported that in 39 years, only one person has come to see the public file at one group of stations’ main studio. When one adds that to the fact that stations no longer need to keep a public correspondence file at the main studio, the NAB said that elimination of the main studio rule will have no impact on stations’ connection to their local communities.
“Stations will continue to have strong incentives to know and understand the needs and interests of their communities of license, and the public will continue to interact with their local stations in ways that are not dependent upon the existence of a studio — using social media, telephone, email, letters and websites maintained by both stations and the FCC,” the NAB said in its filing.
Eliminating the main studio rule will also allow broadcasters to determine the most efficient way to operate their stations — whether that is maintaining their current studio or making changes such as deploying staff differently.
Directly addressing those commenters who said elimination of the main studio rule would negatively impact their ability to deliver local programming and services, the NAB said it would instead allow broadcasters to reallocate funds and staff to improve community engagement and coverage of local news and events.
The NAB also believes that a telephone staffing requirement is not necessary and would be unduly burdensome, particularly for smaller stations. Instead, the NAB said, stations should be required to maintain a local or toll-free number.
But other organizations, from REC Networks to individual listeners, have expressed the exact opposite, saying that elimination of the rule would be the final nail in the coffin for anything that resembles real local radio service.
“I have been in small market broadcasting full time for over 40 years, and time and time again I have seen small towns lose their radio stations to corporate interests who move control to nearby regional centers,” said one listeners from Minnesota. “Oh, they say they'll continue use to serve the needs of the community but it doesn't happen.
“Radio's very existence depends on stations serving their local communities, offering programming they can't get anywhere else,” he said. “Moving the studio completely out of a community certainly does not help to achieve that goal.”
Reply comments are still being accepted on the main studio issue through July 17. Commenters should go into the ECFS database using MB Docket No. 17-106.
NABFCCMain Studio Rule
Why the Main Studio Rule Must Go
For more than 50 years, the Federal Communications Commission has required radio and television stations to maintain a “main studio” within or near their communities of license.
MMTC: It’s Time to Axe the Main Studio Rule
As the Federal Communications Commission prepares to decide the fate of the main studio requirement, the MMTC has added its voice to a growing number of organizations calling for the eradication of the 78-year-old rule.
Main Studio Rule Elimination Takes Effect Jan. 8, 2018
The new FCC rule eliminating a nearly 80-year old requirement that each AM, FM and TV station maintain a main studio in its community of license will take effect Jan. 8, 2018.
FCC Eliminates Main Studio Rule
A move that has been much debated in recent months has been made official, as a 3-2 vote by the FCC has eliminated the broadcast main studio rule.
Perspectives Range Widely on Main Studio Rule
One in a series of stories about public comments filed with the FCC about whether U.S. broadcasters should still be required to maintain a local main studio.
FCC Proposes to Nix Main Studio Rule
It’s an idea that could bring major change to the way that broadcast businesses manage their facilities, staff and content distribution.
Main Studio Debate Gets Heated
When it comes to the impact that the removal of the main studio rule could have on the broadcast industry, comments run the gamut.
FCC to Discuss Eliminating Main Studio Rule in Oct. Meeting
The fate of the Main Studio Rule could be determined by the end of the month, as the FCC has revealed that a discussion on eliminating the rule is on the agenda for its October Open Commission Meeting.
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Catalyst Fall 2018
Time to Reinvigorate Our Democracy
By Ken Kimmell, president of UCS
Photo: jorgeantonia/iStockphoto
Photo: Richard Howard
As Catalyst goes to press, Americans are about to head to the polls for what is surely one of the most important midterm elections in our history. As the leader of a nonprofit organization with tax-exempt status, I can’t tell you to vote for any particular candidate. But I can remind you of what’s at stake for our democracy.
Only by engaging in our political system can we create communities that have clean water, good schools, and protections for public health and the environment. As UCS Kendall Fellow Michael Latner shows, political districts with the most environmental degradation also tend to have restrictive voting laws. Voting is how we start to create a government that works for us, not for corporations or billionaires.
Of course, we need to engage in other ways too. One of the truly inspiring things about serving as president of UCS at such a difficult political moment is that I’ve seen firsthand how UCS members and supporters have risen to the challenge. For example, the UCS Science Network has grown roughly 50 percent in the past two years and has played a critical role in standing up for science and pushing back against governmental abuses and unfit nominees. Our many Science Champions from diverse backgrounds have also dramatically stepped up their engagement.
With your support and that of our many partners, UCS has fought hard in this political climate and won some important victories. Now is the time to cast our ballots. Regardless of the outcome, I can promise you this: UCS will continue to fight for clean energy and a stable climate, an agriculture system that produces healthy food for all, a world safer from nuclear weapons, and a strong role for science in public decisionmaking. By working actively together, we can reinvigorate the founders’ original ideal of a government of, by, and for the people.
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Eric Clapton Takes Bob Marley To The World
The Clapton cover was a big factor in introducing the reggae star to an international audience.
Paul Sexton
Eric Clapton has always been his own man when it comes to his highly individual talent, but he’s also been happy to shine a light on other great musicians. Just as J.J. Cale benefited hugely from having E.C. cover his songs and talk him up in the media, Eric’s cover of Bob Marley & the Wailers’ ‘I Shot The Sheriff’ was a huge factor in taking the Jamaican star from his reggae audience to the world.
The US charts for the week of 14 September 1974 may have shown Clapton’s 461 Ocean Boulevard album ceding the No. 1 berth to Stevie Wonder’s Fulfillingness’ First Finale. But on the corresponding Hot 100 singles chart, Eric’s cover of was America’s new favourite.
Paul Anka, the long-running hitmaker and songwriter who rather incongruously sang backing vocals on a track on Stevie’s Fulfillingness, had been at No. 1 with his ballad ‘(You’re) Having My Baby,’ which was nudged down a place as Clapton moved up. Andy Kim climbed 4-3 with ‘Rock Me Gently,’ Donny and Marie Osmond 5-4 with ‘I’m Leaving It All Up To You’ and Barry White was also up a place at No. 5 with ‘Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love.’ A week later, White took a turn at No. 1, as did Kim a week on from that.
Clapton’s ‘Sheriff’ cover remains the only US No. 1 single of his long career. Marley’s original had only been released a few months before Eric covered it, appearing on the Wailers’ 1973 album Burnin’. The Slowhand interpretation, featuring Yvonne Elliman on backing vocals, was a huge single on pop radio both in the US and around the world, but also got quite a bit of airplay on soul stations in the US, rising to No. 33 on the Billboard R&B chart.
Eric Clapton’s ‘I Shot The Sheriff’ is on 461 Ocean Boulevard, which can be bought here.
Follow the official Eric Clapton Best Of playlist.
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Tip: Rebalancing Schedule. When to rebalance? There is no set rule. Some rebalance when their portfolio’s allocation is off by a specific percentage — say 5%. Others may be comfortable setting the target higher or lower.
Everyone loves a winner. If an investment is successful, most people naturally want to stick with it. But is that the best approach?
It may sound counter intuitive, but it may be possible to have too much of a good thing. Over time, the performance of different investments can shift a portfolio’s intent — and its risk profile. It’s a phenomenon sometimes referred to as “risk creep,” and it happens when a portfolio has its risk profile shift over time.
When deciding how to allocate investments, many start by taking into account their time horizon, risk tolerance, and specific goals. Next, individual investments are selected that pursue the overall objective. If all the investments selected had the same return, that balance — that allocation — would remain steady for a period of time. But if the investments have varying returns, over time, the portfolio may bear little resemblance to its original allocation.
How Rebalancing Works
Rebalancing is the process of restoring a portfolio to its original risk profile.
There are two ways to rebalance a portfolio.
The first is to use new money. When adding money to a portfolio, allocate these new funds to those assets or asset classes that have fallen. For example, if bonds have fallen from 40% of a portfolio to 30%, consider purchasing enough bonds to return them to their original 40% allocation. Diversification is an investment principle designed to manage risk. However, diversification does not guarantee against a loss.
Fast Fact: Expert Insight. “The four most expensive words in the English language are, ‘This time it’s different.’”
–Sir John Templeton,
Renowned Investor
The second way of rebalancing is to sell enough of the “winners” to buy more underperforming assets. Ironically, this type of rebalancing actually forces you to buy low and sell high.
Periodically rebalancing your portfolio to match your desired risk tolerance is a sound practice regardless of the market conditions. One approach is to set a specific time each year to schedule an appointment to review your portfolio and determine if adjustments are appropriate.
Shifting Allocation
Over time, market conditions can change the risk profile of an investment portfolio. For example, imagine that on January 1, 1997, an investor created a portfolio containing a mix of 50% bonds and 50% stocks. By the end of 2017, the mix would have changed to 44% bonds and 56% stocks.
Source: Thomson Reuters, 2018. For the period December 31, 1996, to December 31, 2017. Stocks are represented by the S&P 500 Composite index (total return), an unmanaged index that is generally considered representative of the U.S. stock market. Bonds are represented by the Citigroup Corporate Bond Composite Index, an unmanaged index that is generally considered representative of the U.S. bond market. Index performance is not indicative of the past performance of a particular investment. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Individuals cannot invest directly in an index. When sold, an investment's shares may be worth more or less than their original cost. Bonds that are redeemed prior to maturity may be worth more or less than their original stated value. The rate of return on investments will vary over time, particularly for longer-term investments. Investments that offer the potential for high returns also carry a high degree of risk. Actual returns will fluctuate. The types of securities and strategies illustrated may not be suitable for everyone.
Tulips were the first, but they won’t be the last. What forms a “bubble” and what causes them to burst?
China owns a portion of the total outstanding debt of the U.S. Government. What does it mean?
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Follow #TSYSngenuity
ngenuity Payments Journal
In 2017, Challenges and Opportunities in Fintech
Sean Banks
Sean Banks joined TTV in 2002 as a summer associate and returned to TTV in 2005. He currently serves as a principal and has more than seven years of venture capital experience.
2017-01-31 09:00:00.0 by Sean Banks
The digital delivery of financial services has been a focal point for investors over the past several years. While the macro-economic and political dynamics are changing in 2017, we believe the fintech industry remains ripe for continued innovation this year.
So what are the challenges faced by the fintech industry?
Challenges in 2017
INVESTMENT SHAKE-UPS – Everyone loves fintech now, and that's a good thing indeed. But it means there are more investors interested in the opportunity than ever before. Many new investors, even within established venture capital firms, lack an understanding of how the industry works. Their actions are creating noise and interference in the marketplace.
However, there has been one area where we’ve observed a demonstrable slowdown in the investment pace: early-stage companies. While capital across the board has seemingly dried up in the sector, the VCs that have been longtime investors in this space continue to invest at an aggressive pace. We believe many successful companies will continue to find funding despite the broader slowdown.
REGULATION – There's also an abundance of regulation. Governments at all levels have taken an increasing interest in the financial services industry, post the global financial crisis. Old and new policies will have a significant effect on the success and failure of new companies.
Following the U.S. presidential election, there is a widespread belief that the incoming administration may rein in existing regulations in the banking and financial services industry. A regulatory retreat will be positive for the early-stage fintech entrepreneurs as the burdens they face to launch their businesses will wane.
TECHNOLOGY WOES – Then there's cannibalization. The financial services industry is largely automated on old technologies. New technologies present the opportunity to have superior products and services, but it can be challenging to get industry participants (banks, merchants and consumers) to give up old and dated solutions. It is important to understand this dynamic when rolling out a new product to make sure there is a plan in place to address. This is a blind spot for many of the new fintech investors.
Business cycles can take a long time. Often fintech companies try and build revenue streams on a 'per use' basis. As they wait for concentric circles of buyers and sellers to overlap, creating transactions they can be paid on, many do not survive.
But enough about challenges. Here are seven key opportunities to look out for during the rest of this year.
Opportunities in 2017
A JUMBO-SIZED MARKET – Financial services is a very large market ($25 trillion annually globally). Technology is deeply embedded in the industry, making the industry comfortable with deploying technology. However, that technology is, for the most part, antiquated and ripe for disruption.
THE DIGITAL AGE – The digitalization of financial products removes the physical constraints associated with legacy financial institutions. Therefore, financial products can be designed today with modern technologies that allow them to be more convenient and portable globally.
HYBRID MODELS – Given the portability of digital financial products, finding new, optimized, cross-industry/hybrid business models opens up new frontiers for remixing people skills, institutional distribution channels and proprietary customer sets. The result is an entirely new market for financial products.
MORE ACCESS – Access to technologies (mobile, cloud, networks, analytics) is rapidly making financial products and services more available to all consumers and businesses.
AN ONGOING NEED - The need and demand for financial services and products is as robust as ever. It is a critical industry that provides a core function in the lives of every consumer and business in the world.
VOLATILITY – With the recent market turbulence, the 'unicorn' mania is beginning to subside, and valuation expectations of entrepreneurs have shifted down substantially.
WILLING INCUMBENTS – The major participants in financial services are actively seeking new technology solutions to remain relevant and gain competitive advantages. Their willingness to adopt new technology provides tailwinds to startups looking to engage the industry.
The number of new fintech businesses being created is at an all-time high. This year will undoubtedly be a watershed one for new entrants, new technologies and new dynamics in the fintech and payments sector.
The statements and opinions of the writer do not necessarily reflect those of TSYS.
Other Articles by Sean
Sean Banks joined TTV in 2002 as a summer associate and returned to TTV in 2005. He currently serves as a principal and has more than seven years of venture capital experience. Prior to joining TTV, Sean served as the Vice President of Finance and General Counsel for an Atlanta-based technology start-up company. He is currently a member of the Technology Association of Georgia's Executive Steering Committee for its Fintech initiative and he heads up the Fin Tech Innovation Institute for that group. He earned his M.B.A. from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University where he was one of five Woodruff Fellows.
Sean is currently a member of the Georgia Bar Association, having earned his J.D. at the University of San Diego in 2001. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, where he earned a B.S. degree in economics.
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VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action (Switch) Review
by Laura LockwoodMay 1, 2019
Visual novels live and die by the quality of their writing, and if you’re looking for an unforgettable game with a stellar script, look no further than VA-11 HALL-A.
Originally released for PC in 2016, VA-11 HALL-A is a sleek, stylish journey into a cyberpunk future, with your view set behind the counter of the dingy Valhalla bar as you mix drinks and conversation. You play as Jill the bartender, who just wants to get on with her life while you, the player, are busy trying to figure out what’s going on in Glitch City.
“Shouldn’t” doesn’t mean you can’t kick people, right?
VA-11 HALL-A is a bit different from other visual novels in that you don’t make choices through selecting dialogue. Instead, your main form of interacting with the world of Glitch City is through what drinks you serve to Jill’s customers at Valhalla. It reminds me a lot of the Steins;Gate series in that when you make a choice, you’re not necessarily aware that it’s a choice. If you can correctly serve what a customer wants (even if they only give you vague hints), you’re rewarded through some extended dialogue or people revealing things they wouldn’t have if you’d served them the wrong thing. That being said, what the customer asks for isn’t always the “right choice”, and sometimes you just have to experiment – Jill herself will sometimes give you a hint before you start making a drink. You could argue that player interaction with the world is a little limited, but I would argue that the drink-mixing is much more than you get to do in other visual novels, and it makes for a nice change of pace. For those interested, Gamasutra ran a piece in 2016 about how the drinks system works from a technical standpoint (beware spoilers).
The little rectangles next to each ingredient show how much of it you’ve added to the drink you’re making.
That being said, I did find the tutorial a little lacking, and I found myself needing to look up some hints on how exactly to make drinks – I would’ve been stuck for a long time if this was a brand-new game. All of the menus in the game are navigated using the directional buttons, and the only time you’ll be using your left joystick is to select drink ingredients, of which there are five. The game shows you which ingredient you have selected pretty clearly, and you select with A how much of that ingredient you want to add to the drink.
You’ve got a recipe book which tells you how many parts of what you’ll need to make something, but the tutorial isn’t clear on mixing versus blending a drink, and how “big” drinks work, so I’ll lay that out here: To “mix” a drink, you just let the shaker do its thing before it starts shaking really quickly – once it starts shaking faster, you’re blending it. It doesn’t matter if you’ve mixed a drink for two seconds or five seconds, if it’s still shaking slowly you’ve mixed it, not shaken it. A drink can have a maximum of twenty ingredients, and any drink with over ten ingredients already is considered “big”. You can make a big version of any drink with ten ingredients or less by just doubling the ingredients. If a drink needs ice or to be “aged”, you do that before mixing or shaking it. I wish the tutorial was a bit clearer, but once I had it figured out, I never felt unsure about how I was meant to go about making drinks.
I would’ve included a picture of the corgis, but you really have to see it for yourself.
The other main way you interact with the game is through Jill’s smartphone, which you can use to save your game and navigate different apps at the start of each day. More apps are unlocked as the game progresses, but I found it interesting to read the news articles and forums before each shift to get a better picture of the world Jill lives in. You can also buy items at JC Elton’s, and purchasing items to keep Jill from getting distracted at work gives a boost to your pay at the end of that day’s shift. You also need to manage Jill’s money to pay her bills, so while it’s tempting to buy every poster and decoration straight away, you run the risk of not having enough money to cover Jill’s expenses.
Fore is Jill’s cat! Isn’t he wonderful?
There are hints at just a little more going on than meets the eye in VA-11 HALL-A, and every person you interact with at the bar usually has something to say about the wider world outside your little window into it. In short, the writing is stellar, and each new character, whether I loved them or loathed them, left me wanting more. There’s some LGBT+ characters and some interesting social commentary here, too. While the game was first released in 2016, one character’s comments about not being able to make one mistake without being “crucified” remind me a lot of the current “cancel culture” in online spaces. There’s mystery and danger around every corner in Glitch City, and every conversation at the bar gives you another peep behind the curtain. There are characters who are usually vulgar every time they visit, but I didn’t find it over the top or too much to handle; the MA15+ rating is there for a reason and there’s no profanity filter if you’re not a fan of swearing.
There’s quite a few openly LGBT+ characters who visit Valhalla, which is great to see.
I find that visual novels can fall into a trap of over-the-top exposition, but VA-11 HALL-A sets you along to play and allows you to put the pieces together for yourself, whether that’s through your conversations at the bar or the apps on your phone before a shift. I appreciate that the game does this, because trying to discern the truth about something feels like solving a mystery and if you’re interested enough, it’s worthwhile to remember small details and pay attention.
Synth beats are the ambient for your bartending adventure and my goodness, the soundtrack is superb. I adore the jukebox feature, which allows you to choose 12 tracks twice in each shift to play the game to. Not only can you repeat the same song should you find an absolute banger (of which there is no shortage), but you can skip around the tracks while you’re in the middle of a conversation, which is great if you’ve chosen a song you don’t like as much.
I do try and pick a lot of different songs, but Every Day Is Night is still my favourite.
The Switch version also includes the remastered prologue and demo, which I would recommend waiting to play until after you’ve completed a few days of the main game. The main reason I say this is that neither include a tutorial, but the prologue is worth playing to flesh out the narrative a little bit. Fair warning, you might not have seen everything you need to give the prologue context until the end of day four of the main game.
Ultimately, Jill is just trying her best to live her life, pay her bills, and look out for the people she cares about and isn’t that true for all of us? Sure, maybe you and I don’t live in cities rife with corruption (at least I certainly hope not) or in a cyberpunk future, but what connects us is just wanting to survive and be happy. There are some really hard-hitting and beautiful moments in this game, as well as a lot of funny ones, and the more I learned about Jill the more I liked her. The world and all of the characters of VA-11 HALL-A are so damn interesting, and I found myself eager to return to the game after every play session. If you’re a fan of visual novels, this is a must play.
Score: 5/5
+ Strong narrative and characters
+ Great sense of humour
+ Killer soundtrack
+ Mixing drinks is fun!
- Mixing tutorial is a little unclear
There are some really hard-hitting and beautiful moments in this game, as well as a lot of funny ones, and the more I learned about Jill the more I liked her. The world and all of the characters of VA-11 HALL-A are so damn interesting, and I found myself eager to return to the game after every play session. If you’re a fan of visual novels, this is a must play.
Oh wow!
Disappointing!
Nintendo Switch, Reviews, VA-11 HALL-A
Laura Lockwood
RPG fanatic but willing to try most games. Usually obsessing over cats or Dungeons & Dragons.
Nintendo SwitchReviewsSwitch
Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring The Legend of Zelda (Switch eShop) Review
Markthulhu
Wow, need to check this game out ASAP. This is such a professional, well-written review – nice work!
All the Latest
Whats on the eShop This Week
Splatoon 2 Final Splatfest T-Shirts now on sale
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD coming to Switch on October 29th
Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 lumber onto the Switch on October 29th
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Rankings and Reputation
With our sixth consecutive climb in the QS World University Rankings*, we are ranked 266= in the world. Our global reputation reflects the exceptional research of our talented academics and the impact it's having on our world now and in the future, locally and internationally.
Our university stands proudly on the world stage as a provider of future-focused, international education and an active player in global research. Our rankings reflect these strengths.
* QS World University Rankings 2020
QS World University Rankings 2020
Ranked at 266= (a climb of 135 places in six years)
Ranked 72 in the world for research quality and impact (citations per faculty) - this places us in the top 5% of all globally ranked institutions
QS Stars Five Star Rating
In July 2016 we were awarded a five star rating by QS Stars, confirming the University of Waikato's status as a world-class university with a high reputation for employment, cutting-edge facilities, internationally renowned research, and outstanding teaching and student satisfaction.
Five stars have been awarded in the categories of:
Social Sciences and Management.
The QS Stars rating system evaluates the University across a broader range of criteria than traditional academic rankings, assessing the full university offering including student experience, satisfaction and employment outcomes.
QS Subject Rankings
Subject areas ranked in the top 300 include:
Education (Top 150)
Business and Management Studies
Hospitality & Leisure Management
Sports related subjects
Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2018
The latest THE World University Rankings places us in the 401-500 band.
The rankings are based on teaching, research, citations, industry outcomes, innovation and international outlook.
THE Subject Rankings 2019
Ranked in the global top 250: Arts and Humanities
Ranked in the global top 300: Social Sciences, Business & Economics and Education.
Academic Rankings of World Universities
We have been ranked 16th in the world for hospitality and tourism management in the Academic Rankings of World Universities - Subjects rankings 2017.
International student satisfaction
The 2017 International Student Barometer surveyed over 160,000 international students studying all over the world.
More than 90% of the students surveyed who studied at the University of Waikato were satisfied with their experience.
Engineering New Zealand Accredited
At Waikato, our eligible engineering programmes are fully accredited by Engineering New Zealand. This means that our Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) students benefit from a qualification that is benchmarked to international standards and recognised internationally.
iSchools Member
Our Faculty of Computing & Mathematical Sciences is the first and only New Zealand member of the international group of iSchools - a partnership of the world's leading information schools. Membership reflects the international standing of our research into the relationships between information, people and technology; ranging from cyber-security and data mining to graphic design.
Triple Crown status
Waikato Management School is a member of an elite group of business schools worldwide that have earned "Triple Crown" status - an international acknowledgement of excellence in business education. We are accredited to AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA - only 1% of the world's business schools have met the strict standards of all three accreditation bodies.
In 2017, our Centre for Corporate and Executive Education received re-accreditation for its MBA** programme from AMBA for five years, the maximum length of accreditation available. Its full-time MBM*** programme also received the highly regarded AMBA accreditation, the first MBM in New Zealand to receive this honour.
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The outdated rules that forced Petraeus to resign
The David Petraeus scandal: Cast of characters
A scandal that began with the relationship between retired Gen. David Petraeus, the director of the CIA, and his biographer, Paula Broadwell, has mushroomed. Here’s a look at the people mentioned in the case.
A scandal that began with the relationship between retired Gen. David Petraeus, the director of the CIA, and his biographer, Paula Broadwell, had mushroomed. Here’s a look at the people mentioned in the case.
David Petraeus The CIA director quit Nov. 9 after acknowledging an extramarital affair. Involved: Paula Broadwell, a former Army officer, fellow West Point graduate and the co-writer of "All In: The Education of David Petraeus.'' Cliff Owen/AP
By John Prados
Because of an affair that had already ended, the nation this month lost the services of a highly skilled public servant. The hysterical reaction to the news of then-CIA Director David Petraeus’s liaison with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, has done more to harm national security than the affair itself.
Since early summer, the FBI had been, appropriately, investigating the harassing e-mails that Broadwell sent to another woman about Petraeus. Though the bureau eventually uncovered the affair, it found no reason to believe that the general had compromised anything related to security. Yet after the FBI informed the director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper — mistakenly, in my opinion, because no evident crime had been committed — Petraeus resigned ahead of the inevitable wave of public controversy.
That was a judgment call.
Petraeus’s downfall should prompt the intelligence community to make its own judgment call — to end the arbitrary and outdated rules that govern U.S. intelligence employees. These rules have damaged U.S. interests in the guise of protecting our security. On many occasions, they have resulted in the loss of the services, and even the loyalty, of experienced, highly trained people.
Two of the most egregious rules have been the CIA’s insistence on investigating foreigners engaged to agency employees and its own version of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” under which intelligence officers found to be gay lost their clearances or even their jobs. The latter policy was, fortunately, revoked in 1998 by executive order — not by the agency.
The security mavens will say that such rules have protected intelligence officers from blackmail. Since the passage of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949, the agencies’ security units have had the legal authority to enforce such proscriptions. But the thought that a prospective spouse would have to pass a security check must have led many valuable intelligence officers to quit. And the thought that sexual preferences could cost someone her or his job must have led to other departures — or to officers not working to the fullest extent of their capacities, keeping their heads down to avoid attracting attention.
It is impossible to determine how much talent has been lost because of such regulations. There is only anecdotal evidence.
Eric H. Biddle, a skilled operations officer who worked for eight years against the Soviets, resigned from the CIA in 1960 because he wanted to marry his Greek girlfriend. The Soviet Union was our main intelligence target at the time. In another damaging incident that year, National Security Agency officers William H. Martin and Bernon Mitchell defected to Moscow. Officials blamed it on their alleged homosexuality, although evidence was scant, and both went on to marry Soviet women. Nevertheless, the case resulted in dramatic changes in hiring practices, and other agents suspected of being gay were purged from the agency.
Fast-forward a couple of decades, and one has to wonder about the impact on Aldrich Ames, the notorious Soviet spy within the CIA, of the agency’s vetting of his Colombian wife.
Intelligence officers often characterize the late Philip Agee, a spook who resigned to rail against his former colleagues, as the man most destructive to agency operations in the 1970s and ’80s. Agee’s revelations of the names of CIA officers and operatives forced the termination of a host of agency projects, even ones not related to his direct targets. U.S. policies disillusioned Agee, but the catalyst for his crusade was the CIA’s demand to investigate his Mexican girlfriend.
Compounding the effect of such regulations is the double standard often applied to senior officials vs. junior officers. The rules forced Agee out of the agency, but Petraeus stayed on, even as an investigation of his affair was underway. Later he was able to submit a “voluntary” resignation.
In the 1960s, CIA officer Hans Tofte was fired after he was found to have taken classified documents home to work on them. In the 1990s, CIA Director John Deutch, caught with classified material on his home computer, emerged unscathed.
A collection from Outlook’s popular Five Myths series.
"[New Apple CEO Tim] Cook hasn’t stood still," writes Darrell Etherington in "Five Myths about Apple." "Apple’s iPad mini, for instance, is risky because it may have lower-than-average gross margins, and it could end up stealing sales from the highly popular iPad, but it certainly shows a determination not to remain rooted in what has worked before." KIMIHIRO HOSHINO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Mary Margaret Graham, the agency’s counterintelligence chief, was driven out of the CIA in 2005 by Director Porter Goss after she put evidence of the bad behavior of Kyle D. Foggo, Goss’s preferred candidate for executive director, before his aides. Several years later, Foggo would be convicted of fraud in a tremendous embarrassment to the agency. This was a case of failure to enforce regulations because they involved a senior officer. Foggo was protected from allegations that would have ended the career of a lower-level employee.
The factors that contribute to a strong national security are not just the power and sophistication of military forces, or the reach of U.S. intelligence operations, but the morale and skill of the people who work for the system.
The core value is the U.S. national interest. And that interest is not served by security regulations that drive away talent. Redundant protections for secret information are important, but the system also relies on rules that are artifacts of the Cold War era and the social and political mores of that time.
The ostensible concern about the Petraeus affair was the potential for blackmail. Yet it is far-fetched today to think that a foreign government would contrive an operation to ensnare a CIA employee through an affair, a foreign-spy spouse or an allegation of homosexuality. Our enemies are unlikely to bother with such complicated schemes. Instead, they buy information — the method that has remained tried and true — or attempt to hack it from the data-rich computer networks that the government is spending billions to defend.
The agencies actually invite entrapment by maintaining archaic strictures that punish behaviors that may be considered objectionable but are in no way criminal. Doing away with double standards in enforcement is also vitally necessary.
Whatever the fallout from the Petraeus affair may be, it offers us the opportunity to revisit and revise the codes of conduct that pose dilemmas for our talented and irreplaceable intelligence officers.
nsarchiv@gwu.edu
John Prados, a senior research fellow at the National Security Archive, is the author of the e-book “Rethinking National Security” and the book “Islands of Destiny: The Solomons Campaign and the Eclipse of the Rising Sun.”He is working on a book about the CIA “Family Jewels.”
Read more from Outlook, friend us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.
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VOA’s midwest correspondent wins three awards from Chicago Chapter of Society of Professional Journalists
Washington, D.C. — On Friday, May 10, Voice of America’s Midwest correspondent, Kane Farabaugh, picked up three Peter Lisagor awards from the Chicago Headline Club, the Chicago chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists — the oldest chapter of this national organization. The ceremony took place at the Union League Club of Chicago.
Farabaugh won the top prize in the Best News Specialty/Business/Consumer News – Feature or Series category for his TV series Between Trade Agreements and Tariffs; in the Best News Specialty/Religious category for his TV piece Tahera’s American Hijab; and in the Best Video Journalist category for his work throughout the year.
“Covering America’s heartland and bringing its stories to the world is an important part of VOA’s mission,” said VOA Director Amanda Bennett. “I’m so pleased that this body of work has been recognized by our peers in the region.”
The Peter Lisagor Awards are an annual celebration of the best journalism produced throughout the Midwest, spanning all mediums including print, radio, television and digital. As the Chicago Daily News Washington bureau chief from 1959 to 1976, Peter Lisagor was one of the nation’s most respected and well-known journalists.
The Chicago Headline Club established the Lisagor Awards in 1977 to inspire Chicago-area journalists to follow his example and to recognize truly superior contributions to journalism.
Voice of America reaches a global weekly audience of more than 275.2 million people in 46 languages. VOA programs are delivered on satellite, cable, shortwave, FM, medium wave, streaming audio and video and more than 2,350 media outlets worldwide. It is funded by the U.S. Congress through USAGM.
Contact Bridget Serchak
Director of Public Relations, Office of Public Relations
publicrelations@voanews.com
Kane Farabaugh
Between Trade Agreements and Tariffs
Tahera's American Hijab
Amanda Bennett
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Central Midwest Water Science Center+
Central Midwest Water Science Center
USGS Publications Warehouse
Access USGS Publications
These publications are written or co-authored by Central Midwest Water Science Center personnel in conjuction with their work at the USGS and other government agencies. They include USGS reports, journal articles, conference proceedings, and published abstracts that are available in the USGS Publications Warehouse.
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Phytoforensics—Using trees to find contamination
The water we drink, air we breathe, and soil we come into contact with have the potential to adversely affect our health because of contaminants in the environment. Environmental samples can characterize the extent of potential contamination, but traditional methods for collecting water, air, and soil samples below the ground (for example, well...
Wilson, Jordan L.
Attribution: , Central Midwest Water Science Center, Water Resources
Wilson, J.L., 2017, Phytoforensics—Using trees to find contamination: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2017–3076, 2 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20173076.
Bathymetric and velocimetric surveys at highway bridges crossing the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers near St. Louis, Missouri, May 23–27, 2016
Bathymetric and velocimetric data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, near 13 bridges at 8 highway crossings of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers in the greater St. Louis, Missouri, area from May 23 to 27, 2016. A multibeam echosounder mapping system was used to obtain...
Huizinga, Richard J.
Attribution: Central Midwest Water Science Center, , Water Resources, Missouri, United States of America
Huizinga, R.J., 2017, Bathymetric and velocimetric surveys at highway bridges crossing the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers near St. Louis, Missouri, May 23–27, 2016: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5076, 102 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175076.
Effects of tow transit on the efficacy of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Electric Dispersal Barrier System
In 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertook a field study in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Romeoville, Illinois to determine the influence of tow transit on the efficacy of the Electric Dispersal Barrier System (EDBS) in preventing the passage of juvenile fish (total...
Davis, Jeremiah J.; LeRoy, Jessica Z.; Shanks, Matthew R.; Jackson, Patrick Ryan; Engel, Frank L.; Murphy, Elizabeth A.; Baxter, Carey L.; McInerney, Michael K.; Barkowski, Nicholas A.
Davis, J.J., LeRoy, J.Z., Shanks, M.R., Jackson, P.R., Engel, F.L., Murphy, E.A., Baxter, C.L, Trovillion, J.C., McInerney, M.K., Barkowski, N.A., Effects of tow transit on the efficacy of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Electric Dispersal Barrier System, J. Great Lakes Res. (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2017.08.013
Methods for estimating annual exceedance-probability streamflows for streams in Kansas based on data through water year 2015
A study was done by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Transportation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop regression models to estimate peak streamflows of annual exceedance probabilities of 50, 20, 10, 4, 2, 1, 0.5, and 0.2 percent at ungaged locations in Kansas. Peak streamflow frequency...
Painter, Colin C.; Heimann, David C.; Lanning-Rush, Jennifer L.
Attribution: Water, Central Midwest Water Science Center, Kansas Water Science Center, Water Resources, Kansas, Missouri, United States of America
Painter, C.C., Heimann, D.C., and Lanning-Rush, J.L., 2017, Methods for estimating annual exceedance-probability streamflows for streams in Kansas based on data through water year 2015 (ver. 1.1, September 2017): U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5063, 20 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175063.
Temporal changes in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations with comparisons to conservation practices and agricultural activities in the Lower Grand River, Missouri and Iowa, and selected watersheds, 1969–2015
This report presents the results of a cooperative study by the U.S. Geological Survey and Missouri Department of Natural Resources to estimate total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations at monitoring sites within and near the Lower Grand River hydrological unit. The primary objectives of the study were to quantify temporal...
Krempa, Heather M.; Flickinger, Allison K.
Krempa, H.M., and Flickinger, A.K., 2017, Temporal changes in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations with comparisons to conservation practices and agricultural activities in the Lower Grand River, Missouri and Iowa, and selected watersheds, 1969–2015: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5067, 28 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175067.
Geology and mining history of the Southeast Missouri Barite District and the Valles Mines, Washington, Jefferson, and St. Francois Counties, Missouri
The Southeast Missouri Barite District and the Valles Mines are located in Washington, Jefferson, and St. Francois Counties, Missouri, where barite and lead ore are present together in surficial and near-surface deposits. Lead mining in the area began in the early 1700’s and extended into the early 1900’s. Hand mining of lead in the residuum...
Mugel, Douglas N.
Mugel, D.N., 2017, Geology and mining history of the Southeast Missouri Barite District and the Valles Mines, Washington, Jefferson, and St. Francois Counties, Missouri: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5173, 61 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20165173.
Nationwide reconnaissance of contaminants of emerging concern in source and treated drinking waters of the United States
When chemical or microbial contaminants are assessed for potential effect or possible regulation in ambient and drinking waters, a critical first step is determining if the contaminants occur and if they are at concentrations that may cause human or ecological health concerns. To this end, source and treated drinking water samples from 29 drinking...
Glassmeyer, Susan T.; Furlong, Edward T.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Batt, Angela L.; Benson, Robert; Boone, J. Scott; Conerly, Octavia D.; Donohue, Maura J.; King, Dawn N.; Kostich, Mitchell S.; Mash, Heath E.; Pfaller, Stacy; Schenck, Kathleen M.; Simmons, Jane Ellen; Varughese, Eunice A.; Vesper, Stephen J.; Villegas, Eric N.; Wilson, Vickie S.
Attribution: , , Central Midwest Water Science Center, Water Resources
Glassmeyer, S.T., Furlong, E.T., Kolpin, D.W., Batt, A.L., Benson, R., Boone, J.S., Conerly, O., Donohue, M.J., King, D.N., Kostich, M.S., Mash, H.E., Pfaller, S.L., Schenck, K.M., Simmons, J.E., Varughese, E.A., Vesper, S.J., Villegas, E.N., Wilson, V.S. 2017. Nationwide reconnaissance of contaminants of emerging concern in source and treated drinking waters of the Unites States. Sci. Total Environ. v.581-582, p. 909-922.(http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.004).
Aquatic concentrations of chemical analytes compared to ecotoxicity estimates
We describe screening level estimates of potential aquatic toxicity posed by 227 chemical analytes that were measured in 25 ambient water samples collected as part of a joint USGS/USEPA drinking water plant study. Measured concentrations were compared to biological effect concentration (EC) estimates, including USEPA aquatic life criteria,...
Kostich, Mitchell S.; Flick, Robert W. ; Angela L. Batt; Mash, Heath E.; Boone, J. Scott; Furlong, Edward T.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Glassmeyer, Susan T.
Kostich, M.S., Flick, R.W., Batt, A.L., Mash, H.E., Boone, J.S., Furlong, E.T., Kolpin, D.W., Glassmeyer, S.T. 2017. Aquatic concentrations of chemical analytes compared to ecotoxicity estimates. Sci. Total Environ. v. 579, p. 1649-1657. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.06.234).
Water-quality sampling plan for evaluating the distribution of bigheaded carps in the Illinois Waterway
The two nonnative invasive bigheaded carp species (bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and silver carp H. molitrix) that were accidentally released in the 1970s have spread widely into the rivers and waterways of the Mississippi River Basin. First detected in the lower reaches of the Illinois Waterway (IWW, the combined Illinois River-Des...
Duncker, James J.; Terrio, Paul J.
Duncker, J.J., and Terrio, P.J., 2017, Water-quality sampling plan for evaluating the distribution of bigheaded carps in the Illinois Waterway: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2017–1019, 9 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171019.
Human health screening and public health significance of contaminants of emerging concern detected in public water supplies
The source water and treated drinking water from twenty five drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) across the United States were sampled in 2010–2012. Samples were analyzed for 247 contaminants using 15 chemical and microbiological methods. Most of these contaminants are not regulated currently either in drinking water or in discharges to...
Benson, Robert; Conerly, Octavia D.; Sander, William; Batt, Angela L.; Boone, J. Scott; Furlong, Edward T.; Glassmeyer, Susan T.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Mash, Heath
Benson, R., Conerly, O.D., Sander, W., Batt, A.L., Boone, S., Furlong, E.T., Glassmeyer, S.T., Kolpin, D.W., Mash, H.E., Schenck, K.M., Simmons, J.E. 2017. Human health screening and public health significance of contaminants of emerging concern detected in public water supplies. Sci. Total Environ. v. 579, p. 1643-1648. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.146).
Development and evaluation of a reservoir model for the Chain of Lakes in Illinois
Forecasts of flows entering and leaving the Chain of Lakes reservoir on the Fox River in northeastern Illinois are critical information to water-resource managers who determine the optimal operation of the dam at McHenry, Illinois, to help minimize damages to property and loss of life because of flooding on the Fox River. In 2014, the U.S....
Domanski, Marian M.
Domanski, M.M., 2017, Development and evaluation of a reservoir model for the Chain of Lakes in Illinois: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5155, 21 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20165155.
Evaluation of modeled bacteria loads along an impaired stream reach receiving discharge from a municipal separate storm sewer system in Independence, Mo.
The Little Blue River in Jackson County, Missouri, was listed as impaired in 2012 due to Escherichia coli (E. coli) from urban runoff and storm sewers. A study was initiated to characterize E. coli concentrations and loads to aid in the development of a total maximum daily load implementation plan. Longitudinal sampling along...
Flickinger, Allison; Christensen, Eric D.
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Air Ball
Obama Makes Air Force One Wait to Finish Watching Game 7
Tina Nguyen
How ISIS Became the World’s Deadliest Tech Start-Up
Nick Bilton
Donald Trump Might Not Have Paid Income Taxes For Two Years in the 1990s
Mahita Gajanan
Apple Pulls Its Support for the G.O.P. Convention Over Trump
No MacBooks, iPhones, or funding for the impending convention as Apple dumps Trump.
Maya Kosoff
By Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy.
One of the world’s most valuable tech companies is drawing the line. In contrast to its peers Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, Apple won’t support or fund the 2016 G.O.P convention in Cleveland next month, Politico reports. Not surprisingly, the company told Republican leaders that it has something to do with presumptive G.O.P. presidential candidate Donald Trump and his irrepressible habit of making incendiary comments about minorities and immigrants.
Apple and other large tech companies like Google have, in the past, tried to support both parties equally during election season, in spite of Silicon Valley’s own liberal-leaning politics (although in 2012, Apple didn’t support either party financially). This year, the Republican convention won’t have access to Apple’s technology or money at the event. In lieu of having its own political action committee, Apple C.E.O. Tim Cook has even gone out of his way to court lawmakers from both parties—he’s met with attorney general Eric Holder and last year, he had dinner with a group of House Republicans. Other tech companies and their leaders, including Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook’s annual F8 developer conference, have criticized Trump’s comments about building a wall dividing the U.S. and Mexico, but Microsoft and Facebook alike still plan to support the G.O.P. convention.
Trump, however, apparently pushed Apple over the edge. The bombastic businessman has made Apple a target of his brusque and misinformed criticism—in January, for instance, Trump demanded Apple start manufacturing its technology in the United States. “I was saying make America great again, and I actually think we can say now, and I really believe this, we’re gonna get things coming . . . we’re gonna get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country, instead of in other countries,” he said at the time, disregarding both the fact that a tech product made in the United States would likely be unaffordable to much of Apple’s user base due to increased production costs as well as the fact that at least one Apple product—the Mac Pro—is already manufactured in Austin, Texas. Earlier in 2016, Trump also called for a boycott of Apple’s products after the tech giant refused to unlock the iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters.
Trump: Fed Chief Could Be an Unpaid Intern Before the Week Is Out
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Open Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
Open Thoracic Aneurysm Repair
Mediastinoscopy
Tunneled Catheter/Port Placement
Femoral Popliteal Bypass
Aortobifemoral Bypass
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement
Thoracic Endovascular Aneurysm Repair
Endovascular AAA Repair
Outreach Clinics
All West Texas Heart Surgery physicians are fully trained, highly skilled, and board certified through the American Board of Medical Specialties.
Dr. Ralph F Paone
M.D., FACS, FACCP, FACC
Ralph F. Paone, M.D. has practiced as a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon with Lubbock Heart Surgery since 2001. However, Dr. Paone began practicing as a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon with El Paso Southwestern Cardiovascular Associates in El Paso, Texas from 1993 to 1996. He then practiced with New Mexico Cardiovascular Associates in Las Cruces, New Mexico from 1996 to 2000 serving as Chief of Staff of Memorial Medical Center from 1999 to 2000. Just prior to joining Lubbock Heart Surgery Dr. Paone practiced with Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons in San Angelo, Texas. He is originally from Annapolis, Maryland.
Dr. Paone attended medical school at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas followed by a Surgery residency at Texas Tech University Regional Academic Health Science Center in El Paso, Texas where he was Chief Resident in Surgery from 1990 to 1991. He then completed a fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at University of New Mexico Hospitals Veterans Administration Medical Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is board certified in Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery through the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
Dr. Paone is a member of the Texas Medical Association, the Lubbock-Crosby-Garza Medical Society, and the Southwest Medical Independent Physicians Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Cardiology, and Southwest Surgical Congress. He is also an active member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Dr. Paone was honored as a distinguished student at Texas A&M University where he completed his undergraduate education and graduated Cum Laude. He has participated in numerous research projects, publications, abstracts, and presentations.
Dr. Benjamin Hirsch
Benjamin A. Hirsch MD is a Lubbock native practicing cardiac and thoracic surgery with Lubbock Heart Surgery since 2015. He attended Texas Tech University for undergraduate education, graduating summa cum laude from the Honor's College. He went on to complete medical school in Lubbock at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, graduating valedictorian. He was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and he was awarded the Gold Headed Cane Award from the School of Medicine upon graduation in 2008. He remained in Lubbock at TTUHSC for his residency in general surgery from 2008-2013, and he was chief resident in general surgery from 2012-2013. He completed fellowship training in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Virginia, and was chief resident from 2014-2015. He is board certified in general surgery through the American Board of Surgery since 2013, and he is board eligible in cardiothoracic surgery through the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
Dr. Hirsch is a devoted Lubbock resident who is happy to be practicing medicine in his home town, and he looks forward to many long years in partnership with Lubbock Heart Surgery and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. He is a member of the Texas Medical Association as well as the Lubbock-Crosby-Garza County Medical Society.
Cullen Campbell
Cullen Campbell was born and raised in Brownfield, Texas. In 1985, he began working at Methodist Hospital in Lubbock, Texas as a scrub tech in the operating room on the Open Heart Team. In 1993, Cullen attended PA/SA school in Cleveland, Ohio and trained at the Cleveland Clinic. He specialized in surgery while achieving the Dean and President’s list. He was licensed by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners in 1994 as a Licensed Surgeons Assistant. Cullen has been employed with Lubbock Heart Surgery since 1994. Cullen enjoys fishing, sports, vacationing, and spending time with his wife and three children.
Ross Flathouse
PA-C
Ross Flathouse MPAS, PA-C is a graduate of Texas Tech Health Science Center, School of Allied Health, Physician Assistant Program in Midland, Texas. After graduation, he began his training in internal medicine, geriatric medicine, hospital medicine and critical care. In 2003, Ross was recruited by a local Internist to primarily work at University Medical Center as a hospitalist. In addition to his hospitalist duties, he trained multiple Physician Assistant students as a regional preceptor for the TTUHSC Physician Assistant Program during this time. He continued to work in a hospital setting until 2012. Then in 2012, Ross began working for Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology where he provided non-surgical patient care to those with otolaryngology needs. In 2015, he returned to UMC & Physician Network Services to work with Lubbock Heart Surgery. Ross currently performs duties as a surgical first assist and midlevel provider for the cardiovascular surgical group.
In 2010, Mr. Flathouse received Preceptor of the Year from TTUHSC PA Program for his role in training Physician Assistant students in this region. Also in 2011, Ross was named Midlevel Provider of the Year at University Medical Center by the hospital staff.
In his spare time, Mr. Flathouse enjoys photography, snowboarding, running, reading, outdoor activities, mechanics and woodworking. Ross is married to the beautiful, intelligent, unflappable Emily Flathouse, FNP whom also works for UMC Physicians as a Family Nurse Practitioner.
Kory Mitchel
ACNP
Kory Mitchell is a West Texas Native receiving his undergraduate degree at West Texas A&M University in 1999. He moved to Lubbock and furthered his education at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center where he was a member of Sigma Theta Tau and the National Honor Society of Nursing. Here he received a Master of Science in Nursing in 2006 graduating Summa Cum Laude. He joined Lubbock Heart Surgery in the role of Acute Care Nurse Practioner in 2008. When he is not assisting in surgery or rounding on critically ill patients in the hospital he enjoys the great outdoors especially boating and snow skiing.
Medical Office Plaza
2nd Floor, Suite #260
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Kansas boy very lucky to survive knife impaling his face
15-year-old boy survives knife impaling his face
June 18, 2019 at 6:09 AM EDT - Updated June 18 at 6:09 AM
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 15-year-old Kansas boy got a large knife to the face, and doctors say he’s extremely lucky.
Jimmy Russell said her son, Eli Gregg, was playing Thursday evening outside of their home in Redfield, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Kansas City, when she heard him scream. She found him with a 10-inch knife jutting from just below his eye and called 911.
"It looked pretty grim, it was scary," Russell said in a video released by the University of Kansas Health System, where he was treated.
The knife was embedded in his skull and extended to just under his brain. The blade's tip, meanwhile, was pushing against his carotid artery, which supplies the brain with blood.
"It could not have had a pound more force on it and him survive that event," said Dr. Koji Ebersole, who oversaw the extraction. "I don't think he would have survived it."
A team of surgeons put together an intricate plan to remove the blade Friday morning. They were prepared for possible bleeding into the brain, but the operation went without a hitch and the artery remained intact.
Within 24 hours of the surgery, Eli was able to talk and make light of the situation. He was due to be discharged on Monday.
"He says he is going to stay away from sharp objects," Russell said. "That is very understandable."
She said Eli is doing great and should make a full recovery.
"It is almost a miracle," Russell said. "It is really, really amazing."
The boy is fortunate he ended up in Ebersole’s hands, as it was Ebersole who removed a meat skewer from the skull of a 10-year-old Missouri boy last year in an accident that provided equally shocking X-rays. That boy was attacked by yellow jackets in a tree house in Harrisonville, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Kansas City, and fell onto the skewer.
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WFUV at SXSW 2019
WFUV SXSW 2019
Team FUV wouldn't miss our annual trek to the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, TX every year. We try to mix things up each time and bring you the best new music we can find, wherever it pops up.
This year we spent a full day at the South by San José gathering (SXSJ, of course) on South Congress Street, next to our base at the Hotel San José, where an unassuming parking lot gets magically transformed into a wonderland of music, beverages, food and funky shopping every year. We broadcast four bands from Wednesday night, here are some highlights:
Mountain Man [Videos: "Baby Where You Are," "Moon"]
E.B. the Younger [Videos: "On an Island," "Used to Be"]
Robert Ellis [Videos: "Topo Chico," "When You're Away"]
Black Pumas [Videos: "Fire," "Black Moon Rising"]
PLUS of course we invited a few artists to meet us on the grounds of Hotel San José to show you their stuff in video form, as we do each year. (Remember an early Hozier in 2014? Superorganism in the pool last year?) This year we welcomed:
Field Medic
Dig deeper with Team FUV's festival highlights on Instagram (@wfuv) and Twitter (#FUVSXSW). Happy music discovery!
More about the Artists:
The three voices in Mountain Man have traveled in different directions since their 2010 debut, but fortunately the trio's musical paths have once again aligned. Harmonies (and humor) result when that happens, so for this performance at SXSJ, FUV was not only treated to songs from the trio's latest album, Magic Ship, but also the pure chemistry that continues to bring Molly Sarlé, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Meath together.
E.B. the Younger
Eric Brandon Pulido has visited FUV before with his bands Midlake and BNQT, but now the Texas native is stretching out, not only solo, but under a new name: E.B. the Younger. Rather than hiding behind his alias, it provides him with even more musical freedom. The result is his brand new solo album, To Each His Own.
We've met Robert Ellis before, as a solo artist and as part of Traveller, but he's now emerged as the Texas Piano Man. Although the album brings a new sound and style, it also feels like Ellis is sounding more like himself than ever, embracing his Texas roots and redefining them. And all in a white tuxedo. The energy on the album is only a taste of what he brings to the stage, even in the Austin sun at SXSJ.
Black Pumas won "Best New Band" honors at the 2019 Austin Music Awards, so FUV wanted to make sure you got to hear these hometown faves while we were in Austin too. At the core is the collaboration of producer/guitarist Adrian Quesada and singer-songwriter Eric Burton. Add horns and grooves, and this is a modern soul sound from a band to watch. Catch 'em from SXSJ and then look for the band's debut album out this spring.
The Brooklyn-based Barrie has been together for a relatively short period of time, but the band has created a good amount of buzz with their dream-pop sound. While singer Barrie Lindsay is at the forefront of the group, he's brought together members from all over the world (London, New York, Brazil and Baltimore), and has made the band's debut album, Happy to Be Here, a real collaborative effort.
Kevin Patrick has been making music for a few years under the moniker Field Medic and is set to release his new album, Fade Into the Dawn, on April 19. With a lo-fi output and DIY spirit, his music is filled with clever, poignant lyrics that stick with you.
This seven-piece band of twentysomethings is a total throwback. Hailing from North Carolina, The Nude Party has released a self-titled debut album full of groove and swagger, conjuring up comparisons to some of your favorite classic rock acts. Fun is the name of the game here.
Production support for WFUV's live music broadcasts is provided in part by the Howard Gilman Foundation.
South by Southwest SXSW 2019
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Inside Out Blog
Russell Peters Offers Global Insight with a Hilarious Twist
Global comedy superstar Russell Peters is returning to Atlanta, Georgia in 2018 as part of his Deported World Tour. Russell will be performing a one-night-only show at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on September 20, bringing his own brand of humor to Atlanta once again.
This show will feature all new material including plenty of Russell's own signature interactions with the audience. Of his shows, Peters says, "I love getting to know my audience. It's collaboration between us. I've been building the new act in clubs across the States over the past year and I'm very happy with it."
Peters has also appeared in the yet to be released films, The Clapper with Ed Helms, Amanda Seyfried and Tracy Morgan as well as Supercon with Ryan Kwanten and John Malkovich, and Public Schooled with Judy Greer.
The Deported World Tour will take Peters around the world with shows well into 2019. The tour will also feature one of David Letterman’s favorite comics, the legendary raconteur of weird stories, comedian Jake Johannsen. Considering that Russell’s last tour travelled to over 26 countries with over 200 performances and more than 300,000 fans in attendance, comedy lovers will not want to miss what promises to be a sold-out event. Get your tickets online today!
Even though Windward Place Apartments in Alpharetta, Georgia provides you with all of the comfort, convenience, and entertainment you could possibly desire, we encourage our residents to venture outside of our apartment community and explore all that the city has to offer!
Event Time/Date:
Thursday, September 20, 2018—8:00 PM
Event Venue Location:
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway
Alpharetta Comedy
Link to rss feeds
Jennifer Lopez Is Not...
Challenge Yourself to Find...
If You Love Comic Books,...
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Swimming Pool w/ Resort-Style Sun Deck
Tennis Courts w/ Pavilion, & Seating
Mon - Sun 9:00am - 9:00pm
Windward Place Apartments
3080 Market Place
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Nature Doesn't Look Like This
Author: Jason Spingarn-KoffJason Spingarn-Koff
Have you ever wanted to dive into cyberspace?
Now's your chance.
Char Davies' immersive art installations, now on view at SFMOMA's "010101: Art in Technological Times", transport users into a magical world – and elicit some very strange responses.
One time, said Davies, a woman donned the virtual reality gear and burst into tears. The technical assistants thought there was something wrong. When they asked the woman why she cried, she responded: "Because I am so happy. I feel really happy to be alive."
Davies, 46, was trained as a painter and filmmaker in the United States and Canada. In the 1980s she turned to computer graphics and became one of the founders of the software company Softimage. She left the company in 1998, after it went public and was acquired by Microsoft.
Teams at Softimage worked with her on both pieces in the show, "Osmose" (1995) and "Ephémère" (1998), as research into new technologies.
What's more impressive than the gear, however, is the artist's vision. Instead of the hard-edged realism found in most computer graphics, her works draw from nature and could be best described as biological hallucinations.
Picture a rather abstract world, filled with flowing currents of molecules, lights that pulsate as you look at them, and seeds that grow into giant plants, then wither. All of this is accompanied by a shifting, atmospheric soundscape.
The journey begins in an almost pitch-black room. Visitors then round a corner to find the installation. Projected onto a wall are images of the user "inside" the artwork. On one screen is a silhouette of his or her body, while on another screen is what he or she is seeing.
If you're among the lucky few to try it for yourself, technicians will lead you behind the wall and give you a bulky helmet (to provide sound and 3-D images) and a special vest reminiscent of scuba gear.
You don't use a joystick or "dataglove" to move around. Instead, your breathing and chest motions (detected by the vest and a motion tracker above) allow you to almost effortlessly float through the virtual environment. Breathe in to float up, lean to the side to make a turn.
The whole experience was inspired by scuba diving, Davies said. But there's one major difference: Here you can't see your own body.
This peaceful, disembodied experience often produces a sense of astonishment, Davies said. For the first minute or two after taking off the helmet, some people can't even speak, she said. And on several occasions, people have told her they cried.
But at the "010101" press preview Thursday, not everyone was bursting with emotion.
"On the whole, I think, it made more sense to sit outside and watch it on a screen than get strapped into all the gear and look at it through fuzzy goggles, even if you were led to believe you had something to do with creating what you saw," said The Wall Street Journal art critic David Littlejohn. "Most 'interactive' stuff I've fiddled with so far seems pretty transparent in its maker-designed manipulation."
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is the grainy resolution of the head-mounted display. It's nowhere near as good as the image projected onto the public screen and it can feel like you're sticking your eyes against a television set.
"It's an old helmet, from 1994," said Davies, and a better one would cost $100,000.
Poor visual resolution is a major reason why virtual reality never really took off, said curator Jon Ippolito of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, who organized the 1993 exhibition "Virtual Reality: An Emerging Medium."
"No matter how advanced the software," said Ippolito, "VR headsets were just too blurry to convey the illusion of another world."
To make up for this, some immersive artists now use a "CAVE" – a room covered in video screens that several users can enter at the same time, wearing lightweight glasses for the 3D effect.
French artists Maurice Benayoun and Jean-Baptiste Barriere demonstrated it, to great acclaim at the 1998 Ars Electronica Festival, with their prize-winning "World Skin."
But Davies said the real problem with most virtual reality isn't the technology.
"All of the content was crap," she said of early experiments, such as games and architectural walk-throughs. "I wasn't going to wait. I decided to make this work even if the technology wasn't ready."
Davies said she's currently assembling a team for a new project, which she said would take about two years.
And what's her dream?
"What I would wish to do most of all," she said in a recent roundtable of "010101" artists, "would be to enter such a heightened reality" – without the encumbrances of machines – "to effectively close the 'doors of perception' and never come back."
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2019 Coach Rob Invite
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2016-17 2015-16 2014-15 2013-14 2012-13 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 2003-04 2002-03 2001-02 2000-01 1999-00
Wittenberg Track & Field Wraps Up 2019 Season From NCAC Championships
Guyer Represents Tigers at NCAC Outdoor Decathlon
Two Wittenberg University athletes made the trip up to Oberlin College over the weekend for the first scoring events of the 2019 NCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the men’s decathlon and the women’s heptathlon.
Tigers Get In One Last Competition Before NCAC Championships
Both Tiger Squads Place 3rd at Annual Coach Rob Invitational
Highlighted by three first-place finishes, both the men’s and women’s outdoor track & field squads finished third out of five teams on Good Friday at Wittenberg’s Annual “Coach Rob Invitational” in Springfield.
Four Tigers Take NCAC Athlete Of The Week Honors
Women Finish 8th; Men 16th at 2019 All-Ohio Championships
The Wittenberg University Outdoor Track & Field squads faced a tough test on Saturday at the 2019 All-Ohio Outdoor Championships, held inside historic Selby Stadium on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University.
Plikerd Places 4th; Guyer 6th at All-Ohio Multi-Event Championships
The Wittenberg University Track & Field team was represented by a pair of athletes over the weekend at the 2019 All-Ohio Multi-Events Championships, hosted at Muskingum University in New Concord.
Women Place 6th; Men 10th At Tiffelberg Open
The Wittenberg University Track & Field teams were in action on Saturday afternoon at the Tiffelberg Open in northwest Ohio, a meet co-hosted by NCAA Div. II member Tiffin University and Div. III member Heidelberg University.
Both Wittenberg T&F Squads Finish 7th At Yellow Jacket Open
On a rainy and windy day in southwest Ohio, the Wittenberg University Men’s & Women’s Outdoor Track & Field teams each posted seventh-place finishes on Saturday at the Yellow Jacket Collegiate Outdoor Open on the campus of Cedarville University.
Wittenberg T&F Finds Success At Emory Invitational
The Wittenberg University Men’s & Women’s Outdoor Track & Field teams made the trek down south over the weekend for the annual Emory Invitational, held at the Woodruff P.E. Center Track on the campus of Emory University.
Trio of Tigers Earns NCAC Athlete of the Week Honors
Tigers Open Outdoor Season At Muskie Duals
The Wittenberg University Men’s & Women’s Track & Field Teams kicked off the outdoor season on Saturday (3/16) with an impressive showing at the annual Muskingum University Muskie Duals as the two squads combined to post 26 top-three finishes over the course of the cold and windy day along I-70.
Wittenberg Men Finish 8th at NCAC Indoor Championships
Fueled by two individual event titles and one relay title, the Wittenberg University Indoor Track & Field teams closed out the winter season on Saturday at the NCAC Indoor Championships, held at The College of Wooster.
Guyer Finishes 10th Overall At NCAC Heptathlon
Three Wittenberg University track & field athletes were in action over the weekend in the first scoring events of the 2019 NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, the men’s heptathlon and the women’s pentathlon, at Kenyon’s College’s Toan Indoor Track.
Both Tiger Squads Finish in Top Half at DePauw Indoor Classic
The Wittenberg University Men’s & Women’s Indoor Track & Field squads combined for 32 total top-eight finishes, including one individual event title, as both teams finished in the top half of their respective standings on Saturday (2/16) at the DePauw University Indoor Classic in Indiana.
Wittenberg Track & Field Competes At All-Ohio Championships
Indoor T&F Has Strong Showing At Cedarville Invitational
One individual event title and one relay crown paced the Wittenberg University Indoor Track & Field squads on Friday at the Cedarville University Invitational inside the Doden Fieldhouse. In the final team standings, the men’s team finished third out of six teams with 97.50 points, while the women’s team finished fourth out of eight squads with 51 points. Cedarville won the team title on both sides, accumulating 181 points in the men’s competition and 198 points on the women’s side.
Wittenberg Announces Staff Structure Changes In XC/T&F
Wittenberg University Vice President and Athletic Director, Dr. Gary Williams, has announced a staffing structure change for the cross country and track & field programs, effective February 1, 2019.
Tigers Bring Home Runner-Up Finishes At Wooster
Highlighted by five total individual event titles, the Wittenberg men’s and women’s indoor track & field teams opened the 2019 portion of their schedule with a pair of runner-up finishes at the College of Wooster’s Fighting Scots Invitational. The women’s team finished just three points behind host Wooster to finish second overall with 128.5 points, while the men’s team finishes with 111 team points, trailing only Wooster’s leading total of 166.
Wittenberg T&F Opens Season At UMU’s Toy Drive Invite
The Wittenberg University men’s and women’s track & field squads kicked off the 2018-19 season on Saturday at the annual University of Mount Union Toy Drive Invite. While the season-opening meet was a non-scoring team event, the Tigers still opened up some eyes with numerous top-five finishes across the board.
Wittenberg Track and Field Recruitment Day
The Wittenberg University Cross Country and Track & Field would like to invite you to our recruiting day visit.
Mayes, Walker Named NCAC Athletes of the Week
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Jennifer Ng
Rupali Jain, Electrical Engineer, P. Eng., S&C Electric Canada Ltd.
Born and raised in western India, Rupali’s passion for mathematics and science began at a young age. In school, she excelled in mathematics and biology, and initially wanted to pursue an education in medicine; but by the time she reached the end of her high school career, Rupali realized a passion that was drawing her to mathematics and pursued a university career in electrical engineering.
Her engineering studies exposed her to electrical power systems, power system analysis, and electricity transmission and distribution concepts. Rupali was more interested in the distribution element of electricity, which bridges the gap between the sometimes-obscure technological world of large-scale transmission, to the day-to-day lives of utility customers whose daily lives rely on crucial energy systems. She continued to excel in her academics, and by the end of her undergrad, Rupali found a job in a power consulting firm in western India, but wasn’t destined to stay there for long. After an 8-year application process, Rupali and her family were accepted for permanent residency in Canada, and Rupali was both excited and nervous about taking the next step in her career in a totally different country and culture.
A New Career in a New Country
When Rupali arrived in Canada, she decided to pursue a Master of Engineering. She applied to University of Waterloo, was accepted in 2010, and began her studies on power systems analysis, distributed generation, and power system protection and control. Her interest in smart microgrids and research and development in power system design led her to a Master of Applied Science (MASc), where she worked with two of the finest professors in the power system industry. She then turned her focused to distributed renewable generation at the local-level, studying average household electricity use, the relationship between electricity and geography, and how devices inside the house (e.g. smart devices) could help people actively manage their power and increase their energy cost savings.
She had the opportunity to present some of her findings at the 2012 Canadian National Committee of the International Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRE) Canada Conference; she found that people were very encouraging, and actively engaged her on her research and ideas. One of these people included the CEO of METSCO Energy Solutions (METSCO), who was so interested in her research that he asked Rupali to contact him on the completion of her studies; she finished in 2012 and was offered a new job right away. During her time with METSCO, she worked on a variety of projects focused on distribution analysis, studies for utilities, and connection impact assessments to examine how distributed generation relates to and impacts electricity systems. One of these projects was developing protection logic with S&C, where she had the opportunity to work with technicians in the field in Kitimat, a small town near Vancouver. While she was the only woman on the project, she was confident with her knowledge and experience, and found the technicians friendly and focused on teamwork. Rupali continued her work with the S&C team for over a year; she worked with different teams including engineering and field service, and by the end of the project, S&C was so impressed with her work and dedication that they offered her a job.
Career Development and S&C Electric Canada Ltd.
Receiving a job offer the middle of another career, Rupali was unsure what to do. She was pleasantly surprised to find that her own manager with METSCO was encouraging and supportive of her career goals; Rupali notes, “I knew this was a great opportunity, but I was wrestling with the uncertainty that comes with a career diversion. Having an honest conversation with METSCO and S&C made me confident that it was the right jump to make.”. In November 2014, she decided to take the leap, and joined the S&C team. Her role has changed quite a bit since then – she moved from smaller projects to large-scale system-level projects, which require planning, design and engineering, and testing and commissioning on site. She even had the opportunity to work on a project with the Department of National Defense, to integrate distributed generation to improve resilience and flexibility to their facilities.
One of the most exciting aspects for Rupali is seeing her designs on paper come to life. At S&C, she was expected to engage both technical and “non-technical” aspects of her work. For example, S&C emphasizes the importance of quality, so Rupali explicitly inquired about what that expectation meant. Rupali has always understood the importance of continuing to learn, and actively looking for ways to improve her knowledge. From her conversation about quality, Rupali put together a presentation outlining the importance of engineering work quality and what it means, and would share this presentation with other engineers, especially those who were new to her team. She even had the opportunity to present it at the Electricity Distribution Association (EDA) Conference in 2016, where she was thrilled to be able to help other young engineers.
Throughout her time at S&C, Rupali has felt encouraged and supported, both in the technical/non-technical field. Rupali explained: “whenever I experience doubt or concerns, I speak to people with more experience, and won’t shy away from asking for advice,” something she encourages all young people to do. There are many experienced people throughout the industry who are happy and willing to support young professionals with a word of advice, or some general insight/wisdom about the industry as a whole.
Case Study: Distributed Generation
Since her university days, Rupali’s research and interests have always revolved around distributed generation, which grows increasingly important with the continued growth of the renewable distributed grid. We asked Rupali to talk a little about how the electricity system landscape is changing from the perspective of distributed generation, and she explained: “traditional models of generation, transmission and distribution have been largely centralized and unidirectional: large-scale power producers distribute their electricity through the transmission system, and customers use and pay for power. But the landscape is evolving, with the introduction of consumer-scale generation such as solar panels and even storage systems,”; these technologies are propelling change, and utilities are actively looking to answer the question as to how these new unprecedented generation models will potentially impact their systems. Historically, power systems have been largely inflexible, and utilities have to start thinking about power flowing “two-ways” as customers start producing and selling their electricity back to the grid in a safe and reliable way.
In Rupali’s own work, for example, she’s worked with distributed energy resources that are sensitive electronic devices, which can be damaged by even small fluctuations; system planners and engineers have to account for the fact that reversing power flows can damage equipment and reduce its overall lifespan. Rupali comments that there will be increasing loads on transmission lines, which means potential larger system costs and a greater focus on balancing equipment. There are a number of technical challenges to consider before connecting distributed generation, which are slated to grow in the coming years.
Rupali, having herself worked on complex system impact assessments, sees an opportunity here to address a very large system-wide challenge – a number of stakeholders will have to come together to establish the groundwork for tomorrow’s grid, including regulators, local utilities, and customers (both generators and loads). Historically, these systems have been designed top-down, but that isn’t a feasible way to move forward with an increasing amount of distributed generation. In Rupali’s opinion, better long-term planning can help ensure that costs are considered and distributed fairly, and that the procedures and rules are established in a robust way to reduce islanding, where loads may disconnect from the grid entirely, then reconnect on their own. This will become more salient with the increasing installation of energy storage facilities (e.g. batteries); industrial customers that disconnect and reconnect to the grid by their own schedules can wear down or damage equipment, and have larger system planning implications, so regulators will have to support utilities to help them meet the challenge of balancing their systems in the long-term. Rupali, along with the S&C team, are excited for what the future will bring in the electricity grid of tomorrow.
Newer PostEryn Stewart, Project Director at Lumos Energy
Older PostMegan Lund, Planner, Transmission Integration, Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO)
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Mother of girl who died after school fight says she'd complained of bullying in the past
Raniya Wright's mother says she told the school that her 10-year-old daughter was being bullied before the fight that resulted in her death. Officials say the child died of natural causes.
Posted By: By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
The mother of Raniya Wright, the Walterboro, South Carolina, girl who died after a classroom fight, says Raniya's friends told her that a bully had been baiting the 10-year-old into a fight and caused her to hit her head on a bookshelf before she died.
Speaking to "Good Morning America" on Monday, Ashley Wright said she had complained to Forest Hills Elementary School in the past about the girl involved in the altercation.
Raniya's classmates to wear pink and purple
"I notified the school and I also spoke with her teacher at the time about this same person," she told the morning show. "She would just always come home saying this one girl picking on her."
Wright told the teacher she was "leaving it in her hands to do something about it," but when Raniya got home, she said her teacher hadn't raised the issue. The mother further told "GMA" she had been complaining about the girl since Raniya was in the fourth grade, and Raniya's grandmother, who gets the kids ready for school while Wright is working, said Raniya had been asking to stay home from school the last couple of weeks, ABC reported.
"My frustration is really towards the school system because I sent my child to school feeling like she can be protected while she's not in my care anymore," Wright said, according to ABC.
Though school officials have released sparse details about the circumstances leading to Raniya's death, Ashley Wright said that her daughter's classmates told her the bully had been "bothering Niya all day, wanting to fight her."
"They were in the class," the mother said. "The girl came up behind her and was hitting her all in the head. How long, I don't know. She pushed her or rammed her head or something into the bookshelf."
Raniya had no prior health issues, Wright said. School officials said there were no weapons involved in the March 25 fight.
The school nurse called the mother around lunchtime, Wright told "GMA," and told her that Raniya had "been in an accident, a fight." She was OK, the nurse told her, but she was complaining about dizziness and having a headache, Wright recalled.
She didn't get a call back when Raniya's condition worsened, she said. Wright arrived at the hospital to find her daughter unresponsive and hooked up to machines, she said.
"I had to sleep by my baby the night before she passed, and that was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life," she said. "It's just hard."
Officials said they stopped the fight, and Raniya was taken to the school nurse's station. She was unconscious when paramedics arrived, and they took her to a nearby hospital, according to a sheriff's office report. She was later airlifted to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where she died two days after the fight.
From the state Senate podium last week, Sen. Margie Bright Matthews of Walterboro said she's spoken to officials -- including the substitute teacher in charge -- and wanted to correct rumors surrounding Raniya's death.
"I've heard a lot of people say, 'Oh, they were kicking her. They ganged her.' None of that. That's so far from the truth -- not even the banging of (her) head. The head was not even an issue," she said.
Mark Peper, an attorney for the girl's father, responded, "We are still awaiting official disclosures from the school district, police department and all other public entities, none of whom have provided our client with any pertinent information to date. If the events alleged by the senator (Tuesday) turn out to be factual, so be it, but our client deserves to know what happened to his daughter in a timely fashion."
A law firm representing Wright said, "We are disappointed that Sen. Matthews would use the South Carolina Senate as the backdrop for her statements less than 24 hours before Raniya Wright is laid to rest."
Sean Gruber, a spokesman for the Colleton County School District, has declined to provide details, saying the district will not comment until police investigators release their findings.
"We realize and appreciate that people want to know exactly what happened in this incident. However, it is important for us as a school district to make sure that the Colleton County Sheriff's Office's thorough investigation, relying on all of the facts available, is concluded before we comment publicly."
A student was suspended, but it's unclear if the student was involved in the fight.
Dozens of mourners stood outside a South Carolina church as the horse-drawn carriage with Raniya's casket arrived Wednesday for a celebration of life at Walterboro's Saints Center Ministries.
"Your wings were ready, but our hearts were not," said a message on the carriage's windows.
Comey: I'm ashamed of past bullying
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Mother faces felony charge after using recorder to thwart school bullies
School throws softball punishment at star athlete accused of bullying, mother says
Classmate: Turpin child was bullied in school
Spectators complain of long lines, MARTA issues for big game
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521 West Yakima Avenue
Yakima, WA, 98901
stephanie@yamamusic.org
YAMA Orchestras
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Student Reflection
April 21, 2017 YAMA Program
In June of 2016, three of our leadership students were flown to Aspen, CO, to participate in the regional National Take A Stand Festival, an initiative of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Bard College, and the Longy School of Music. All accepted students passed a rigorous audition and application process. Once in Colorado, they worked with some of the best teachers in the US and met students from around the country. Here is one student's reflection of her experience.
Enerida Mendoza, Daniela Vazquez, and Nataly Mendoza as they prepare to leave on their adventure.
My name is Daniela. Going to Aspen was an amazing experience for me. I had the opportunity to get an idea of what it could be when I grow up and keep playing the cello. At first it was scary because I didn't know anyone but then I got to know them and they were really nice. The first thing we did when we got there was to eat and then move in. My roommates and I started talking and it wasn't so bad. There names were Gabriela and Samantha. Gabriela plays the cello and Samantha plays the bass. The next day when we started playing and went to the Aspen Music School they said that some of the rooms we were going to be working in were new. Hearing that some of the rooms were new felt cool because we were going to be the first ones to use them. Playing was a little hard because it was going faster than what we expected it to be. But it was still really fun. By the time for that concert I could play it a little better because it was still going really fast I got to learn a lot of new techniques like when you audition for programs like that you have to practice really fast and really slow because you don't know how fast or slow it's going. So it can be hard to catch up to speed. I also learned that if you want to speed up you play it slow and short so that then you can just remove the gaps and play it faster.
Other than the really fast parts it was really fun making new friend from all over and getting to play with them and know them more was really fun. And knowing that out of many people you were chosen was special. And at the end I didn't want to leave.
Taking in the natural beauty of Colorado
Our Program Values
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Illuminati Defector Details Pervasive Conspiracy
Posted by zaidpub in Alarming Reports, Freemasonry, Jews, Satanism
Assassin Training, Carnegie, China, CIA, England, FBI, France, Freemasonry, Germany, Hapsburgs, Israel, Mellon, military takeover, Real Illuminati, Rockefellers, Rothschild, Russia, Supreme World Council, Svali, UN, Weishaupt
EDITOR’S NOTE: These “Illumines” are ancient and stem from the Luciferian Cult of Medes and Jews who corrupted Zoroastrianism in Babylon and can be traced to European Black Nobility, Latin Rome and the Jesuits. They are Children of Cain and reprobate descendants of Adam who reorganized several breakaway factions in the 18th Century, took over Freemasonry, the Church and Jewry using Adam Weishaupt and Jacob Frank as gofers. What you are about to read ties loose ends and explains the present East-West tension … it’s not a good outcome. I saw this coming years ago and left Amerikun Schmucks behind (including Jews). – oz
(Listen to interview with “Mary Anne” here.) She is not Svali. Merely confirms Svali.
Posted By Henry Makow Ph.D.
“Svali” is the pseudonym of a woman, age 45, who was a mind “programmer” for the cult until 1996. She was the sixth head trainer in the San Diego branch and had 30 trainers reporting to her. She has risked her life to warn humanity of the Illuminati’s covert power and agenda.
She describes a sadistic Satanic cult led by the richest and most powerful people in the world. It is largely homosexual and pedophile, practises animal sacrifice and ritual murder. It works “hand in glove” with the CIA and Freemasonry. It is Aryan supremacist (German is spoken at the top) but welcomes Jewish apostates. It controls
Svali’s courageous testimony explains why our children are no longer taught civic
In March 2000, Svali began writing a monthly column for survivors of Illuminati ritual abuse at Suite101.com. In December 2000, H.J. Springer, the editor of CentrExNews,com contacted Svali and conducted an extended 18-part interview with her by email, which is reproduced on line and is copyrighted.
“I am convinced she is the real McCoy,” Springer wrote to me. “I have personally relayed numerous email messages to her from other members — ritually abused, brainwashed, raped, sexually abused people & you name it — some of them confirming to me her story. So I have absolutely no doubt that Svali has been part of the Illuminati since childhood.”
I also trust Svali’s testimony because it confirms my intuition and intensive research. Everything fits: from the dead hand that seems to suppress humanity to why Clinton gave secret technology to the Chinese, to persistent reports of concentration camps in the US. It explains why people I know behave in a conspiratorial way. I thank Svali for giving me a frightening but incredible key to understanding the world.
A friend urged me to beware of a hoax and offered to help confirm Svali’s personal story. I accepted. I invite you to read her entire testimony and make up your own mind. Read “Part One” to “Part 18” first, starting at the middle of the list and working up.
With their permission, here are some highlights of Svali’s correspondence with CentrExnews.com’s H.J. Springer. I have also included material from her article “Are the Illuminati Taking Over the World?”
Pervasive Presence
Svali: “The Illuminati are present in every major metropolitan centre in the United States. The Illuminati believe in controlling an area through its: banks and financial institutions (guess how many sit on banking boards? You’d be surprised) Local government: guess how many get elected to local city councils? Law: children are encouraged to go to law school and medical school. Media: others are encouraged to go to journalism school, and members help fund local papers.
Svali: “The Illuminati is a group that practices a form of faith known as “enlightenment”. It is Luciferian, and they teach their followers that their roots go back to the ancient mystery religions of Babylon, Egypt, and Celtic druidism. They have taken what they consider the “best” of each, the foundational practices, and joined them together into a strongly occult discipline. Many groups at the local level worship ancient deities such as “El”, “Baal”, and “Ashtarte”, as well as “Isis and Osiris” and “Set”…. I do know that these people teach and practice evil.”
Svali: “Weishaupt did not create the Illuminati, they chose him as a figurehead and told him what to write about. The financiers, dating back to the bankers during the times of the Templar Knights who financed the early kings in Europe, created the Illuminati. Weishaupt was their “go fer”, who did their bidding.”
Military Takeover
Svali: “Briefly, each region of the United States has “nerve centres” or power bases for regional activity. The United States has been divided up into seven major geographical regions. Each region has localities within it that contain military compounds and bases that are hidden in remote, isolated areas or on large private estates.
These bases are used intermittently to teach and train generational Illuminati in military techniques, hand- to- hand combat, crowd control, use of arms, and all aspects of military warfare. Why? Because the Illuminists believe that our government, as we know it, as well as the governments of most nations around the world, are destined to collapse. These will be planned collapses, and they will occur in the following ways:
The Illuminati has planned first for a financial collapse that will make the great depression look like a picnic. This will occur through the manoeuvring of the great banks and financial institutions of the world, through stock manipulation, and interest rate changes. Most people will be indebted to the federal government through bank and credit card debt, etc. The governments will recall all debts immediately, but most people will be unable to pay and will be bankrupted. This will cause generalized financial panic, which will occur simultaneously worldwide, as the Illuminists firmly believe in controlling people through finances.
Doesn’t sound pleasant, does it? I don’t know the exact time frame for all of this, and wouldn’t want to even guess. The good news is that if a person is debt-free, owes nothing to the government or credit debt, and can live self sufficiently, they may do better than others. I would invest in gold, not stocks, if I had the income. Gold will once again be the world standard, and dollars will be pretty useless (remember after the Civil War? Our money will be worth about what confederate money was after the collapse).
Next there will be a military takeover, region by region, as the government declares a state of emergency and martial law. People will have panicked, there will be an anarchical state in most localities, and the government will justify its move as being necessary to control panicked citizens. The cult trained military leaders and people under their direction will use arms as well as crowd control techniques to implement this new state of affairs. …Military bases will be set up, in each locality (actually, they are already here, but are covert). In the next few years, they will go above ground and be revealed. Each locality will have regional bases and leaders to which they are accountable. The hierarchy will closely reflect the current covert hierarchy.
About five years ago, when I left the Illuminati, approximately 1% of the US population was either part of the Illuminati, sympathetic to it, or a victim of Mind Control (and therefore considered useable). While this may not sound like many, imagine 1% of the population highly trained in the use of armaments, crowd control, psychological and behavioral techniques, armed with weapons and linked to paramilitary groups.”
Svali: “The national council [consists of] influential bankers with OLD money such as: The Rockefellers, the Mellon family, the Carnegie family, the Rothschild family etc. I know I shouldn’t name names, but I will.
The “Supreme World Council” is already set up as a prototype of the one that will rule when the NWO comes into being. It meets on a regular basis to discuss finances, direction, policy, etc. and to problem-solve difficulties that come up. Once again, these leaders are heads in the financial world, OLD banking money. The Rothschild family in England, and in France, have ruling seats. A descendant of the Hapsburg dynasty has a generational seat. A descendant of the ruling families of England and France have a generational seat. The Rockefeller family in the US holds a seat.
This is one reason that the Illuminati have been pretty “untouchable” over the years. The ruling members are very, very, very wealthy and powerful. I hope this information is helpful. How do I know this? I was on a local leadership council (a head trainer), but I talked to those on regional. Also, every Illuminati child is taught who their “leaders” are, and told to take an oath of allegiance to them and the “New Order to come”.”
Svali: “The Illuminati leadership state that they are descended from royal bloodlines, as well as unbroken occult heritage.
See, there were two definitions of “royalty” used. Open royalty that is currently seen now, and “hidden royalty” of royal lineage and extreme occult power. Sometimes the two were concurrent, such as with the Prince of Wales.
I never thought of which country/line held the most power, since I was just a peon busily doing my job. But my understanding was: The Hanoverian / Hapsburg descendants rule in Germany over the Bruderheist. They are considered one of the strongest lines for occult as well. The British line is just under them, with the royal family. Definitely, they rule the UK branch under the Rothschilds in the occult realm, even though parliament rules the country openly.
In France, again, descendants of the royal families are also in power in the occult realm, but the French Rothschilds hold the reigns over all of them.”
Rank of the US
Svali: “The U.S. is considered lower, and younger, than the European branches. …Germany, France, and the UK form a triumvirate that rules in the European cult. The USSR is considered important, and has the strongest military groups. The USSR has been promised fourth position in the New World Order, BEFORE the role the U.S. would have, because the USSR has been more helpful and cooperative over the years with furthering the agenda.
The descendants of the former ruling families there are also involved in the occult leadership, along with the newer ones. There is no Marxism in the cult. China will be ranked after the USSR, then the U.S. But a lot of the current U.S. leadership will be in Europe when the change occurs, and many have homes there. They will be “changing nationalities” overnight, as it were. This is the little that I do remember. Wish I had been a better student of this stuff, but I was too busy trying to stay alive when I was in it.
Russia will be the military base and powerhouse of the group, since their military commanders (Illuminist) are considered the best in the world, and very, very disciplined. China, because of its roots in oriental occultism, and its large population, will also be considered a higher power than the US. But again, the real power will reside in Europe, according to what I was taught when part of the group.
Svali: “The UN was created early in this century in order to help overcome one of the biggest barriers to a one-world government …That barrier is the one of nationalism, or pride in one’s country. This is why it was NOT a popular concept when first introduced, it took years of country bashing in the media and the destruction of any sense of national pride by a (not so subtle) media campaign over the years.
The UN is a preparation, but it is not the real power in the world, and will be relatively unimportant when the NWO comes into being. The real councils will then step forward. But as a means of getting the general public to accept the idea of a “global community” and the “one world community” the UN is a stepping stone in their working towards the NWO.”
Svali: “The conflict in the Middle East is only to the advantage of the Illuminists. They HATE Israel, and hope one day to see it destroyed, and are biding their time. One of the olive branches offered by the UN when it takes over is that they will prevent war in the Middle East, and this will be greeted with joy by many.
At the same time, the Illuminati covertly supply guns and funds to BOTH sides to keep the conflict fuelled. They are very duplicitous people. They used to funnel guns through the USSR to Palestine, for example, in the name of promoting “friendliness” between the USSR and this state and other Arab nations. Then, the US Illuminists would help funnel guns to Israel, for the same reason.
These people love the game of chess, and see warfare between nations as creating an order out of chaos. The USSR is going to get stronger again. It has too strong a military both openly, and covertly (ALL Illuminati military trainers have visited Russia to learn from them) to sit quietly and quiesciently to the side. In the NWO, they will be stronger than us.”
Is the Illuminati a JEWISH conspiracy?
Svali: “Absolutely not. In fact, Hitler and his people (especially Himmler and Goebbels) were top Illuminists. The Illuminati are racist in the extreme, and as a child, I was forced to play “concentration camp” both on my farm in Virginia, and also in Europe in isolated camps in Germany.
The Jews historically fought against the occult (see Deuteronomy and the Old Testament for how God through the Jewish people tried to cleanse the land of the occult groups that were operating there, such as those who worshipped Baal, Ashtarte, and other Canaanite and Babylonian gods.
(from an email to Henry Makow) Yes, there are some very powerful Jewish people in this group. For instance, the Rothschild family literally runs the financial empire in Europe (and indirectly the States), and are a well-known Jewish family. I have also known people whose parents were Jewish diamond merchants in the group, and at every level. But to rise to power in the Illuminati, a Jewish person at night would be forced to renounce their faith, and to give their first allegiance to Lucifer and the beliefs of the Illuminati. In return for this betrayal, they believe that power (financial) and rewards come; and in one sense they do, but at too high a price (losing their eternal soul).
The nazi/concentration camp mentality is very strong, though, and I was told that Hitler, Himmler, Goebel, and others were high-ranking German members of the group (Himmler was higher than the other two), and Mengele their paid puppet as well, who later worked as a high trainer of the American branch between his periods of hiding in South America. They honestly believed that they were acting as agents of their ‘gods’ to exterminate the Jewish race, and I am so, so sorry that this group has enacted so many horrors on the earth (and so, so glad that I left it).
I hope this helps you. I have always wondered this, though, why some of the highest ranking financial families in the group (baron Rothschild of France is one of the 13 European lords, or “kings” that run the group in Europe, and sits on the World Council) are Jewish, yet the group espouses hatred of their own race.”
ARE THEY RACIST?
Svali: “Lots of Illuminists have Fourth Reich programming inside. The Illuminati are racist, and have a very “Aryan” outlook. They believe strongly in the rule of the “pure” and “intelligent” by their definitions, and in their ceremonies, there will occasionally be minorities killed in ceremonies.
They are trying to breed a “genetically superior” race to rule, with their children and descendants. They are also followers of Plato’s Republic, and believe that they will be the ones to usher in this “Utopian” rule with the NWO in their opinion. In their Utopia, the intelligentsia will rule, and the sheep like masses will follow their leaders (that is their view of the world; that the occult leaders are “enlightened’ and intelligent, while the average person is a “sheep” to be led by the nose).”
Svali: “The Freemasons and the Illuminati are hand in glove. I don’t care if this steps on any toes, it’s a fact. The Masonic temple at Alexandria, Virginia (the city itself was named after Alexandria, Egypt, and is a hotbed of Illuminati activity) is a centre in the Washington, DC area for Illuminati scholarship and teaching. I was taken there at intervals for testing, to step up a level, for scholarship, and high ceremonies. The leaders in this Masonic group were also Illuminists.
This has been true of every large city I have lived in. The top Freemasons were also top Illuminists. My maternal grandparents were both high ranking Masons in the city of Pittsburgh, Pa. (president of the Eastern Star and 33rd degree Mason) and they both were also leaders in the Illuminati in that area.
Are all Masons Illuminati? No, especially at the lower levels, I believe they know nothing of the practices that occur in the middle of the night in the larger temples. Many are probably fine businessmen and Christians. But I have never known a 32 degree or above who wasn’t Illuminati, and the group helped create Freemasonry as a “front” for their activities.”
CIA FBI are all infiltrated. So are Mormons etc.
Svali: “Many of the administrators and directors at the FBI are also Illuminists. The CIA helped bring over German scientists after WWII. Many of these were also Illuminati leaders in their own country, and they were welcomed with open arms by the U.S. group. They also funnelled all information they were learning to the Illuminati.
The Mormons affiliated years ago in a meeting with Illuminati leadership in the 1950s. The same with the Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
The Cold War
Svali:”Russia was never really a threat to us. Marxism was funded by the Illuminati, and espoused as a counterbalance to capitalism. The Illluminati believe strongly in balancing opposing forces, in the pull between opposites. They see history as a complex chess game, and they will fund one side, then another, while ultimately out of the chaos and division …, they are laughing because they are ultimately beyond political parties. A top western financier will secretly meet with an eastern or Russian “adversary” during those years, and have a good laugh at how the “sheep” were being deluded. I am sharing here what I was taught, and also observed.
They are truly an international group, and the group’s agenda supersedes any nationalistic feelings. There is also a lot of trading back and forth of members in these groups. A Russian trainer might come to the US for awhile, complete a job, then go back, or vice-versa.”
Assassin Training
Svali: “Here is how it is done (how it was done to me): [1] When the child is 2 years old, place them in a metal cage with electrodes attached. Shock the child severely.
[2] Take the child out, and place a kitten in its hands. Tell the child to wring the kitten’s neck. The child will cry and refuse.
[3] Put the child into the cage, and shock them until they are dazed and cannot scream any more.
[4] Take the child out, and tell them again to wring the kitten’s neck. This time the child will shake all over, cry, but do it, afraid of the torture. The child will then go into the corner and vomit afterwards, while the adult praises them for “doing such a good job”.
This is the first step. The animals get bigger over time, as the child gets older. They will be forced to kill an infant at some point, either a set up or VR, or in reality. They will be taught by age 9 to put together a gun, to aim, and fire on target and on command. They will then practice on realistic manikins. They will then practice on animals. They will then practice on “expendables” or in VR. They will be highly praised if they do well, and tortured if they don’t comply.
The older the child or teen, the more advanced the training. By age 15, most children will also be forced to do hand to hand combat in front of spectators (high people who come to watch the “games” much as the ancient gladiators performed). These matches are rarely done to the death, usually until one child goes down. They use every type of weapon imaginable, and learn to fight for their lives. If a child loses a fight, they are heavily punished by their trainer, who loses “face”. If they win, they are again praised for being “strong’ and adept with weapons. By the time they are 21, they are well trained combat/killing machines with command codes to kill and they have been tested over and over to prove that they WILL obey on command. This is how children in the German Illuminati are brought up, I went through it myself.”
Trust in Family
Svali: “They tell their children as they are torturing them, “I am doing this because I love you.” To them, the greatest love is to make a child strong, and fit to lead or to move higher in the group, by whatever means it takes.
If a leader sees a child, and wants it as a prostitute, the loving parents will give it away, happy that their child will rise in status. Also, again, they view betrayal as the greatest good. They will do set up after set up to teach their children to never openly trust others.
I remember hundreds of agonizing set ups and betrayals, and hearing when I was betrayed or wounded, “And such is the heart of man.” Those doing this to me thought they were teaching me something of value, that would help me. And because of the vicious and political nature of the group, in one sense they were right; the naive get stepped on and wounded. I have known parents who tried to spare their children some of this out of love, but often they were overruled by other family members, who viewed these parents as “weak” and “unfit” to teach their child.”
Svali: “Most of them are wounded, abused victims, who don’t realize that it is possible to leave the group. There is a lot of discontent in the ranks, and there would be a mass exodus if the members believed it were really possible to get out (and live). Many of the trainers I knew (I know, wicked, torturing pedophiles) were NOT happy with what they did. They would whisper quietly, or give a look, to show that they disagreed with what they had to do. They would resignedly do their jobs, in the hope of advancement.
Know what one of the biggest carrots offered to those who advance up in the group is? That you don’t have to hurt people anymore, and that you can’t be abused (it’s true: only those higher than you in the group can abuse you, so everyone wants to move up, where the pool of candidates becomes smaller). Of course, people can choose to abuse anyone beneath them, and that motivates.
The Illuminati are a very political and back stabbing group, a “dog eat dog” mentality; everyone wants to move up. These are NOT nice people and they use and manipulate others viciously. They cut their eyeteeth on status, power, and money.
They never openly disclose their agenda, or their cult activities, as often they are amnesic to them. These are well-respected, “Christian” appearing business leaders in the community. The image in the community is all-important to an Illuminist; they will do anything to maintain a normal, respected facade, and DESPISE exposure. ….
None of the Illuminists that I have known, had unkind, or evil appearing, persona in their daytime lives, although some were dysfunctional, such as being alcoholics. The dissociation that drives the Illuminists is their greatest cover … Many, if not most, of these people are completely unaware of the great evil that they are involved in, during the night.”
Also, remember those studies that stated that “TV violence doesn’t affect children’s behaviour” years ago? Guess who funded them? They are a bunch of bullcrud. What a person watches DOES influence them, and this is well known by the behaviourists in the group. In fact, they know that TV is a tool that they purposely use to influence “the masses”. It cannot create a total personality change in the average citizen, but it can desensitize us increasingly to violence, pornography and the occult, and influence the perceptions of young children.
I believe that Brittany Spears, Eminem, and others are being used by them to sing lyrics they like (ever notice that he wears a Neo-Nazi look and sings hate lyrics? This is NOT by chance). In fact, many of the top pop singers come from an internship with the “Mickey Mouse club” (yep, good old Walt the Illuminist’s Empire) and I believe they are offered stardom in exchange for allegiance or mind control.
How many lyrics advocate suicide, violence, despair, or New Age spirituality in pop/rock today? Or just get a copy of the words and read (but be aware that many are possibly triggering to survivors of mind control).
Illuminati Weaknesses
Svali: “1. Their arrogance (I think I mentioned this before) is their weakness. These people think they are untouchable, and this could make them careless.
2. If by a miracle, enough people took this SERIOUSLY and started organizing in some way to stop the Illuminati take over, with prayer and God’s guidance, perhaps they could be stopped. I hope so, with all of my heart.
3. Stopping pornography and child prostitution and drug smuggling and gun running would take out a huge chunk of their profits. Maybe they would slow down. But honestly, stopping the above would be as difficult as stopping the group.”
Public’s Denial Mechanism
Svali: The evidence is there, but in my opinion, the average person does NOT want to know, and even when confronted with it, will look the other way.
The Franklin case is a point. How much evidence has come out? Or the MK-Ultra documents that have been declassified, shown as real, and people ignore it.
Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox. But I believe that the media that downplays ritual abuse is feeding into a deep need in the average person to NOT know the reality. In fact, how can a person face the fact of great evil in mankind, unless they have either a strong faith in God, or are faced with insurmountable evidence? We as human beings want to believe the BEST of our race, not the worst, IMHO.
I really don’t believe people will do anything about the Illuminati even if they know. Sorry for the cynicism, but it is based on a lifetime of experience.
The Illuminists don’t care who prints this stuff, or if they are “exposed” because they are counting on the majority not believing it, having done a pretty good job with a media blitz campaign (seen any articles in Newsweek or Time lately that addresses this other than as a laughable conspiracy theory? Guess who owns Time-Warner?).
I have heard them laughing about this very thing in leadership meetings five years ago, and I doubt their attitude has changed much since then. If people DID believe this, if action could be taken, then I would be very surprised and quite happy.”
“Svali” is a registered nurse and freelance writer living in Texas.
2 thoughts on “Illuminati Defector Details Pervasive Conspiracy”
Buddy said:
THE GODS ARE IMPOTENT OR INDIFFERENT!
Have you THEISTS ever stopped to think for on second, that maybe the “gods” are raving psychopaths and don’t give a shit about humanity?
THE AMERICAN HOLOCAUST.
What is the total number of legal abortions since 1973?
50 MILLION INNOCENT VICTIMS SLAUGHTERED IN AMERICA, SINCE 1973
Since the legalization of abortion in 1973, there have been approximately 50 million abortions performed in the United States.
Source: Guttmacher Institute, 2011, August. Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States.
How many abortions are performed in the United States each year?
According to the Guttmacher Institute, there were 1.21 million abortions performed in the United States in 2008, the most recent year for which data is available. This amounts to 3,322 abortions per day.
Source: Jones, Rachel K. and Kathryn Kooistra. “Abortion Incidence and Access to Services in the United States, 2008.” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 43, no. 1 (2011, March): 41-50.
Dr. Martin Haskell giving a presentation at the 16th Annual Meeting of the National Abortion Federation Conference in 1992 in San Diego. It was a gathering of abortionists — men and women who make their living by killing babies. Haskell was describing to his audience how to do a partial-birth abortion. Listen to his words about how this procedure takes place:
“The surgeon then introduces large grasping forceps … through the vaginal and cervical canal … He moves the tip of the instrument carefully towards the fetal lower extremities — and pulls the extremity into the vagina …The surgeon then uses his fingers to deliver the opposite lower extremity, then the torso, the shoulders, and the upper extremities. The skull lodges in the internal os. The fetus is oriented … spine up … The surgeon then takes a pair of blunt curved Metzenbaum scissors in the right hand. … the surgeon then forces the scissors into the base of the skull–spreads the scissors to enlarge the opening. The surgeon–surgeon then introduces a suction catheter into this hole and evacuates the skull contents.”
Haskell, having described these brutal details, shows his audience a video of himself doing one of these procedures. And at the end of the video, after the sound of the suction machine taking the brains out of the baby’s head, the audience applauds.
WHAT IS A D&E ABORTION?
The D&E method, used on unborn children 14 weeks or older, involves using a long steel tool to grasp and tear off, by brute force, the arms and legs of the developing human—after which the skull is crushed.
Dr. Anthony Levatino, an obstetrician-gynecologist who has performed many D&E abortions, describes the procedure: “Picture yourself reaching in with the Sopher clamp and grasping anything you can…Once you have grasped something inside, squeeze on the clamp to set the jaws and pull hard – really hard. You feel something let go and out pops a fully formed leg about six inches long. Reach in again and grasp whatever you can. Set the jaw and pull really hard once again and out pops an arm about the same length. Reach in again and again with that clamp and tear out the spine, intestines, heart and lungs.”
93% OF JEWS ARE PRO-ABORTION
BLACK LIVES MATTER?????????????????????????????
DENIAL IS NOT A RIVER IN EGYPT:
70% of Blacks born are bastards – sired but not fathered! 50% of all murders in America are committed by the 13.2% Black community! Blacks are the leading serial killers in America today! Since 1973, 55,000,000 babies were aborted in America; 33,000,000 were Black. There is a BLACK problem in America!
WHO PUT THE BLACK BABY INTO THE DUMPSTER!
“Several years ago, when 17,000 aborted babies were found in a dumpster outside a pathology laboratory in Los, Angeles, California, some 12–15,000 were observed to be black.” — Erma Clardy Craven (deceased) Social Worker and Civil Rights Leader Countdown to Extinction
BLACKS & ABORTION
APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF BLACK AMERICAN DEATHS SINCE 1973
AIDS =203,695
VIOLENT CRIMES=306,313
ACCIDENTS=370,723
CANCER=1, 638,350
HEART DISEASE=2, 266,789
ABORTION=33,000,000
All figures are based on cumulative statistics provided by the U.S. Center for Disease Control
30,000,000? That’s 30 Million Michael Browns
Minority women constitute only about 13% of the female population (age 15–44) in the United States, but they underwent approximately 36% of the abortions. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, black women are more than 5 times as likely as white women to have an abortion.
On average, 1,876 Black babies are aborted every day in the United States. This incidence of abortion has resulted in a tremendous loss of life. It has been estimated that since 1973 Black women have had over 33 million abortions.
Abortion has swept through the Black community like a scythe, cutting down every fourth member.” A highly significant 1993 Howard University study showed that African American women over age 50 were 4.7 times more likely to get breast cancer if they had had any abortions compared to women who had not had any abortions.
Luis said:
I’ve read Svali’s testimony before. It’s a half-truth. The real truth is all roads lead to Rome. The Vatican and the Jesuits are the real driving force of evil on this planet… topped only by Satan and his fallen angels.
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Outline of energy Energy Units Conservation of energy Energetics Energy transformation Energy condition Energy transition Energy level Energy system Mass Negative mass Mass–energy equivalence Power Thermodynamics Quantum thermodynamics Laws of thermodynamics Thermodynamic system Thermodynamic state Thermodynamic potential Thermodynamic free energy Irreversible process Thermal reservoir Heat transfer Heat capacity Volume (thermodynamics) Thermodynamic equilibrium Thermal equilibrium Thermodynamic temperature Isolated system Entropy Free entropy Entropic force Negentropy Work Exergy Enthalpy
Prior to the development of coal in the mid 19th century, nearly all energy used was renewable. Almost without a doubt the oldest known use of renewable energy, in the form of traditional biomass to fuel fires, dates from 790,000 years ago. Use of biomass for fire did not become commonplace until many hundreds of thousands of years later, sometime between 200,000 and 400,000 years ago.[31] Probably the second oldest usage of renewable energy is harnessing the wind in order to drive ships over water. This practice can be traced back some 7000 years, to ships in the Persian Gulf[32] and on the Nile.[33] Moving into the time of recorded history, the primary sources of traditional renewable energy were human labor, animal power, water power, wind, in grain crushing windmills,[32] and firewood, a traditional biomass. A graph of energy use in the United States up until 1900 shows oil and natural gas with about the same importance in 1900 as wind and solar played in 2010.
Jump up ^ Schröder, K.-P.; Smith, R.C. (2008). "Distant future of the Sun and Earth revisited". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 386 (1): 155–163. arXiv:0801.4031. Bibcode:2008MNRAS.386..155S. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13022.x. See also Palmer, J. (2008). "Hope dims that Earth will survive Sun's death". New Scientist. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
Several groups in various sectors are conducting research on Jatropha curcas, a poisonous shrub-like tree that produces seeds considered by many to be a viable source of biofuels feedstock oil.[117] Much of this research focuses on improving the overall per acre oil yield of Jatropha through advancements in genetics, soil science, and horticultural practices. SG Biofuels, a San Diego-based Jatropha developer, has used molecular breeding and biotechnology to produce elite hybrid seeds of Jatropha that show significant yield improvements over first generation varieties.[118] The Center for Sustainable Energy Farming (CfSEF) is a Los Angeles-based non-profit research organization dedicated to Jatropha research in the areas of plant science, agronomy, and horticulture. Successful exploration of these disciplines is projected to increase Jatropha farm production yields by 200-300% in the next ten years.[119]
Over the past fifty years, people have adapted their houses with solar collectors to utilise the incoming solar radiation to heat water and living space. You may have seen homes with solar panels on their roofs. Making use of this energy source can account for up to 40% of your electricity bill, so you can see why some people opt for solar collectors. These collectors can heat water for things such as swimming pools, for general water use or to heat the air inside your house.
“As Trump’s Tariffs Raise the Cost of Solar Installations, Elon Musk and Tesla Cut Their Prices” • Tesla, unmoved by tariffs, is reducing prices on its solar systems 10–20% in recognition of the progress it has made streamlining its solar sales process by integrating Tesla Energy products into its existing high-traffic storefronts. [Red, Green, and Blue]
In an electricity system without grid energy storage, generation from stored fuels (coal, biomass, natural gas, nuclear) must be go up and down in reaction to the rise and fall of solar electricity (see load following power plant). While hydroelectric and natural gas plants can quickly follow solar being intermittent due to the weather, coal, biomass and nuclear plants usually take considerable time to respond to load and can only be scheduled to follow the predictable variation. Depending on local circumstances, beyond about 20–40% of total generation, grid-connected intermittent sources like solar tend to require investment in some combination of grid interconnections, energy storage or demand side management. Integrating large amounts of solar power with existing generation equipment has caused issues in some cases. For example, in Germany, California and Hawaii, electricity prices have been known to go negative when solar is generating a lot of power, displacing existing baseload generation contracts.[107][108]
Most current solar power plants are made from an array of similar units where each unit is continuously adjusted, e.g., with some step motors, so that the light converter stays in focus of the sun light. The cost of focusing light on converters such as high-power solar panels, Stirling engine, etc. can be dramatically decreased with a simple and efficient rope mechanics.[55] In this technique many units are connected with a network of ropes so that pulling two or three ropes is sufficient to keep all light converters simultaneously in focus as the direction of the sun changes.
In 2016, the city bought its way out of a contract providing energy derived from fossil fuels and arranged to get its power from a 97-unit windfarm in Adrian, Texas, about 500 miles away in the Texas Panhandle. Georgetown doesn’t own the farm, but its agreement allowed the owners to get the financing to build it. This spring, Georgetown is adding power from a 154-megawatt solar farm being built by NRG Energy in Fort Stockton, 340 miles to the west of the city.
The political purpose of incentive policies for PV is to facilitate an initial small-scale deployment to begin to grow the industry, even where the cost of PV is significantly above grid parity, to allow the industry to achieve the economies of scale necessary to reach grid parity. The policies are implemented to promote national energy independence, high tech job creation and reduction of CO2 emissions. Three incentive mechanisms are often used in combination as investment subsidies: the authorities refund part of the cost of installation of the system, the electricity utility buys PV electricity from the producer under a multiyear contract at a guaranteed rate, and Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs)
With Georgetown emerging as a brave new model for a renewable city, it makes sense to ask if others can achieve the same magical balance of more power, less pollution and lower costs. In fact, cities ranging from Orlando to St. Louis to San Francisco to Portland, Oregon, have pledged to run entirely on renewable energy. Those places are much larger than Georgetown, of course, and no one would expect misty Portland to power a light bulb for long with solar energy, which is crucial to Georgetown’s success. But beyond its modest size, abundant sunshine and archetype-busting mayor, Georgetown has another edge, one that’s connected to a cherished Lone Star ideal: freedom.
Even with plans to grow as much as 80 percent over the next five years, the city expects to have plenty of energy from these renewable sources. (To be sure, about 2 percent of the time, the Georgetown utility draws electricity derived from fossil fuels. Ross says the city more than compensates at other times by selling excess renewable energy back to the grid—at a profit.)
He was able to begin installation sooner than promised. The finished product looks great. The exterior industrial grade electrical work they did looks stylish. The workers kept a clean job site and fully cleaned up, leaving my place neater than before they began. The workers were knowledgeable and helpful. Other than wishing that it was free, I don't know what they could have done better. I give them my highest recommendation because of a job superbly done.... read more
According to a 2011 projection by the International Energy Agency, solar power generators may produce most of the world's electricity within 50 years, reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases that harm the environment. Cedric Philibert, senior analyst in the renewable energy division at the IEA said: "Photovoltaic and solar-thermal plants may meet most of the world's demand for electricity by 2060 – and half of all energy needs – with wind, hydropower and biomass plants supplying much of the remaining generation". "Photovoltaic and concentrated solar power together can become the major source of electricity", Philibert said.[25]
Equipped with a 3-phase External Rectifier pigtail. This small black connector on the back of the unit allows you to run less costly 3-conductor wire to your battery location instead of large heavy battery cables in addition to lessening the voltage loss you get with DC power. Once at the battery location the 3-phase power is fed into the included Charge Controller and is converted to DC for connection to the battery.
It all started in Vermont in 1997. Our passion for protecting the environment led us to our mission: to use the power of consumer choice to change the way power is made. Today, as the longest-serving renewable energy retailer, we remain committed to sustainability every step of the way. By offering only products with an environmental benefit and operating with a zero-carbon footprint, we’re living our promise to the planet, inside and out.
High Temperature Geothermal energy is from thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of minerals (in currently uncertain[56] but possibly roughly equal[57] proportions). The geothermal gradient, which is the difference in temperature between the core of the planet and its surface, drives a continuous conduction of thermal energy in the form of heat from the core to the surface. The adjective geothermal originates from the Greek roots geo, meaning earth, and thermos, meaning heat.
Many industrialized nations have installed significant solar power capacity into their grids to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources while an increasing number of less developed nations have turned to solar to reduce dependence on expensive imported fuels (see solar power by country). Long distance transmission allows remote renewable energy resources to displace fossil fuel consumption. Solar power plants use one of two technologies:
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What is Ballista?
Anyone who has read my blog on and off over the years (and remembers) could explain it away in different ways. I had to look myself and talks about Ballista goes back to 2011. So many things have happened in this gaming landscape in that time period. It was... at first a periodical. Then, as I worked on creating content for the first issue of that periodical, I stumbled upon something really cool. The idea became the Ballista Rules Companion and I scrapped the periodical and decided to just re-purpose some the material for this. Then I proceeded to build up... tear down... and build up a system and framework.
Before all of that... I had a different idea. The idea was basic enough and it was FAR from an original concept. I had already produced a couple of adventure modules for Castles & Crusades and was looking at converting some of these to Swords & Wizardry. Given the similar roots that these systems shared with so many other like them thanks to the OGL and the SRD, I mused that a condensed set of rules could be included in just a few pages at the back of the module eliminating the absolute NEED for a rule book. So... I essentially went back to that idea and build from there. So...
Ballista is a new line of adventures and gaming material published by Arcana Creations. The books in this series is all about providing a basic, rules-light, gaming experience making it easy to get into and start playing.
What it is not.
Ballista is not a new game. Instead it uses a distillation of elements found in the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game whose roots stretch back to 1974. The material is simplified and streamlined in order to maintain compatibilities with many other rule systems that share the same familiar gaming heritage.
What rules do I need?
Very little. Each adventure module has some basic rules written on the inside cover of the booklet and others also have pre-generated characters. If you are familiar with any old school fantasy role playing game or newer games that derive from them, you can refer to those rules. Two excellent games to consider are Castles & Crusades published by Troll Lord Games as well as Swords & Wizardry published by Frog God Games. Both companies offer free versions of their games in electronic format.
However, as long as you have characters in hand, the rules summary and suggestions provided in a Ballista book are all you really need to play.
At this point... we have three titles ready to go with another two on the way. Since this is a NEW line, I wanted to have a small selection to start with as opposed to just one or two. As such, the first three titles have been previously published for a different system though there have been some changes beyond a simple 'conversion'. In the next few days, I will showcase each of these titles as well as to illustrate what ties it all together as a new line. A Kickstarter to launch the line will be starting in less than a couple of weeks.
Ballista: Two Never-Before-Published Titles
Ballista: A Trick on the Tain
Ballista: How the Base Rules Work
Ballista: Layout & Stat Blocks
Ballista: The Ruins of Ramat
Ballista: The Secret of Ronan Skerry
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Contact Artefacts
please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.
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WAGNER, Werner
SACA:
Reg No: 591
Year registered: 1935
Was born in Berlin-Neukölln in Germany, and educated at the Staatliche Baugewerkschule in Neukölln, a technical college for the building trade and architecture. He received a certificate as a qualified bricklayer amongst his other skills. His father, Emil, was a well-known mosaicist who travelled internationally to carry out mosaic work. Wagner first worked for OR Slavisberg, a Swiss architect who lived and worked in Berlin. But the German post-war economy was not encouraging and Wagner had a desire to travel. In 1928 Hermann KALLENBACH arrived in Berlin to find staff for his office in Johannesburg, wanting two Germans and two Scotsman (according to Wagner) to carry out the extensive new bioscope programme for Kinemas, a rival to African Theatres, buildings which Herbert (1975) noted as being in the forefront of modern architecture in South Africa. Wagner travelled to Cape Town from London and joined KALLENBACH, KENNEDY & FURNER in Johannesburg in October 1928: 'Kallenbach was the head and saw work came in, Kennedy was the technical man and Furner was the architect' (Wagner 1990.)
A short time after his arrival in Johannesburg he met Rex MARTIENSSEN (probably in about 1929 when Martienssen worked briefly in Kallenbach's office) who invited him to speak on modern German architecture at the School of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand, a talk attended by Professor GE PEARSE. The first works he designed were the Plaza Cinemas in Pretoria and Johannesburg and Cape Town. The rise of Hitler in Germany caused Kallenbach's attitude to Wagner to change, according to Wagner, and in 1932, when his contract with the firm had expired, he found himself jobless. But with AS Furner being abroad on a visit (1932), there was no-one left in the office to execute sketch plans. Wagner was re-employed.
In 1934 he married and spent five months in Europe, returning to South Africa to write his professional practice examinations later in the year. Gordon LEITH invited Wagner to join his office and in 1935 he did so, being made a junior partner in GORDON LEITH & PARTNERS in 1936. His first work for Leith included the working drawings for the Johannesburg General Hospital (1935) and the Chamber of Mines Hospital in Cottesloe, the latter he recalled as a pleasant job since no expense was spared and the project was started from scratch. He designed the extension to the Johannesburg Technical College adjacent to Park Station and remained with Leith until 1939.
With the outbreak of war and realising that his presence as a German in the office might prejudice incoming work and his ability to give directions on site, he left the office voluntarily. For three years he lived on farms near Standerton. He did odd building jobs before being appointed foreman on a municipal housing scheme in Standerton. This job ended in an unfortunate way but after the war the municipality apologised and gave him work to carry out as an independent architect in private practice. Work in Standerton hardly paid and the practice survived on work from the PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, such as post offices, hospitals and alterations to the local revenue office, and work from the Transvaal Provincial Administration (schools and hostels). He designed the Hotel Toristo and Toristo Motors in Standerton before 1955, as well as the Dutch Reformed Church building (Weskerk) in Charl Cilliers St, Standerton (1955) and a number of churches for the Methodists in Standerton and Volksrust and for the Lutherans in Nelspruit and Ermelo. Buildings for Barclays and the Standard Bank throughout the Eastern Transvaal also became his responsibility. Among his later works were the post office and telephone exchange at Volksrust (1966).
In 1978 Wagner's wife died but Wagner continued to practice until about 1985 from his offices in his house in Standerton where he retired.
ISAA 1935; TPIA. (ISAA mem list; UWA [Leith]; Wagner 1990)
All truncated references not fully cited in 'References' are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon.
Books citing WAGNER
Herbert, Gilbert. 1975. Martienssen & the international style: The modern movement in South African architecture. Cape Town - Rotterdam: AA Balkema. pp 48
ISAA. 1959. The Yearbook of the Institute of South African Architects and Chapter of SA Quantity Surveyors 1958-1959 : Die Jaarboek van die Instituut van Suid-Afrikaanse Argitekte en Tak van Suid-Afrikaanse Bourekenaars 1958-1959. Johannesburg: ISAA. pp 99, 193
Johnson, Brian Andrew. 1987. Domestic architecture at the Cape, 1892-1912 : Herbert Baker, his associates and his contemporaries. Cape Town: Unpublished Thesis UNISA. pp 103, 136
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The natives are revolting - 14th May 2014
Whilst watching the highlights of Smokin' Joe's first budget I couldn't help but think about the French Revolution. I'm not sure how much Tony Abbot and Joe Hockey know about history and a little known event around 1789 where it didn't end well for the "government" of the day when the poor decided to revolt against their lot in life while the rich enjoyed the spoils.
Sound familiar? Not much has changed since hey?
Mean spirited. Missed opportunities. Disappointing. Bereft of ideas. More words that came to mind while watching a government floundering with an ideological pursuit of reducing a deficit that in all honesty was growing out of control. But targeting the poor, the sick, the frail? Aren't we supposed to look after these people in our community? I just do not get it.
Think about these examples. A mother has just had her Family Tax Benefit Part B slashed under the new income rules. She decides to go back to work but faces a cost of about $95 per day in child care costs. She also faces an increased cost in getting to and from work with petrol price increases. Petrol price increases every six months. The first thing she is going to ask for is a pay rise which will probably get her sacked and on the dole queue. If she's under 30 she'll have to wait six months to get Government income support but if she's over 50 all of a sudden she'll be more valuable to employ as her new employer will get a Government handout.
The $7 co payment will hit the poor and sick hard. And something really needs to be done about those pesky repeat scripts that clog up waiting rooms just for a piece of paper that will now cost to get.
If all Australians are being asked to share the budget burden why did big business dodge a bullet? Why not ease back the fuel rebate they receive once their turnover reaches a certain level $50m? $100m? The Government took $486m out of the mining sector and whilst that sounds like a big number, in the context of abolishing the Mining Tax and the Carbon Tax, it's not.
And don't get me started on the multinationals that set up their headquarters in the Cayman Islands, suck all the profits they make in Australia and the rest of the world back to a tax free environment. Hit these guys with a turnover tax, they will pass it on but at least we collect taxes on Australian sourced revenue.
Where are the measures for the environment? Seriously nothing? Why not start by exempting from fringe benefits tax Australian made hybrid cars? The flow on effects could actually boost the local car economy, perish the thought.
And they have not addressed the tricky area of tax free superannuation for the rich. The millions of tax free income sheltered from tax, year in year out.
Mean spirited. Missed opportunities. Disappointing. Bereft of ideas. If you really wanted to address a growing budget deficit, there are so many areas that could be reviewed, and it would not cause the pain to ordinary Australians on shrinking incomes.
As one comedian once said "The natives are revolting...".
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The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms
Lord Eddard Stark reads The Lineages and Histories © Fantasy Flight Games
© Fantasy Flight Games
Depiction in the TV series
The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms, With Descriptions of Many High Lords and Noble Ladies and Their Children is a book written by Maester Malleon. It describes the lineages of the major houses in the Seven Kingdoms.[1]
It is a massive book[2] and over a century old[1].
The version of the book used in the television series Game of Thrones includes non-canon members of House Umber, including Harkon Umber, Mycah Umber, Lucan Umber, Gareth Umber, Joseth Umber, Regan Umber, and Corin Umber,
Lord Eddard Stark uses the book as an aid to discover the truth behind the parentage of King Robert I Baratheon's children, Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen.[1]
↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 27, Eddard VI.
↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 45, Eddard XII, p 482.
Retrieved from "https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?title=The_Lineages_and_Histories_of_the_Great_Houses_of_the_Seven_Kingdoms&oldid=244109"
Books and scrolls
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The Great Disruption: From Brawn to Brain (excerpt)
During 2016 and beyond, I will continue to investigate a new long-term theme: “The Great Disruption.” It is increasingly obvious that technology is disrupting business models. That’s what it has always done. It just seems to be doing it faster and in more industries than ever before. For example, previously I discussed how technological innovations are increasingly disrupting the energy and finance industries.
In the past, technology disrupted animal and manual labor. It speeded up activities that were too slow when done by horses, like pulling a plow or a stagecoach. It automated activities that required lots of workers. Assembly lines required fewer workers, and increased their productivity. The focus was on brawn. The Great Disruption is increasingly about technology doing what the brain can do. Today, I extend the analysis of The Great Disruption to the implications of the rise and proliferation of smart machines.
Smart Machines I: LOL or COL? Robots with artificial intelligence are coming. Should we laugh out loud--happy that they will do lots of our dirty work? Or should we cry out loud--fearing that they will take away all of our jobs? Perhaps the most significant disruptive force at the forefront of technological innovation is the meeting of machines and hyper-connected systems, according to a March Wired article. “Smart machines” are the birth child of this powerful combination. There isn’t a single agreed-upon definition for them yet. That’s probably because they are undergoing major development for a multitude of applications. In essence, smart machines are computing systems that are capable of making autonomous decisions, like robots and self-driving cars.
Like smartphones, smart machines are about to penetrate the world in a major way. In 2014, industrial robot sales increased by 29% to the highest level recorded for one year, according to the International Federation of Robotics. We humans can laugh about it or cry about it. Either way, the robot revolution is going to disrupt the way we work. Here are a few compelling reasons why the coming of robots is so important:
(1) Cost of a bot. At least two different types of manufacturing robots can currently be purchased for the cost of about a low-salaried employee. Baxter, the world’s first dual-arm collaborative robot for manufacturing, has a current base price of just $25,000, as listed on the Rethink Robotics website. Foxbots, also used to perform routine manufacturing jobs, cost about $20,000 per year, according to the December 2014 Harvard Business Review (HBR). Still, the fully loaded cost of purchasing and operating a robot varies widely across applications.
Several industries are on the verge of reaching, or have already reached, the point where it’s cheaper to employ robots than humans, according to a BCG note. For example: “A human welder today earns around $25 per hour (including benefits), while the equivalent operating cost per hour for a robot is around $8 when installation, maintenance, and the operating costs of all hardware, software, and peripherals are amortized over a five-year depreciation period. In 15 years, that gap will widen even more dramatically,” the analysts calculate.
(2) Ideal vs. idle workers. “Automation is inevitable. It’s a tool to produce abundance for little effort. We need to start thinking now about what to do when large sections of the population are unemployable through no fault of their own. What to do in a future where, for most jobs, humans need not apply,” said a C.G.P. Grey YouTube video as quoted in a 9/5 Barron’s thought piece. In the same regard, HBR warned that “we will soon be looking at hordes of citizens of zero economic value. Figuring out how to deal with the impacts of this development will be the greatest challenge facing free market economies in this century.”
Robots ultimately may make better employees than humans in a lot of ways. They don’t need to take bio breaks, eat lunch, go home to see their families, or sleep. And you won’t find them making trips to the water cooler, getting involved in office politics, or otherwise losing focus from assigned tasks. They can work anywhere and won’t hesitate to relocate. They can operate in dangerous environments without requiring employers to worry about lawsuits. They won’t care, complain, or get frustrated unless they’re programmed to do so--or learn to on their own.
Seriously, though, companies are sure to reap productivity boosts and labor cost savings from the use of robots and other smart machines, especially as they become smarter and more affordable. On its Q3 earnings call, Amazon executives touted the benefits of using robots over the cost: “[The] capital intensity [of our fulfillment centers using robots] is offset by their density and throughput. So it’s a bit of an investment that has implications for a lot of elements to your cost structure, but … pairing our associates with … robots to do some of the hauling of products within the warehouse has been a great innovation for us. We think it makes the warehouse jobs better and … our warehouses more productive.”
It’s not easy to estimate just how many human jobs will be replaced by robots. A 2014 Gartner presentation indicated that one in three jobs will be taken by smart machines by 2025. According to a lengthy 2013 Oxford paper, around 47% of total US employment is at high risk of automation over the next decade or two. Two high-tech industry pundits writing in HBR recently forecasted that nearly 30% of today’s workforce will be of no economic value by 2025. Forrester’s less extreme projection is that “16% of jobs will disappear due to automation technologies between now and 2025, but … jobs equivalent to 9% of today’s jobs will be created.”
Net, net, lots of jobs will be automated, but new kinds of jobs will be created too. Indeed, an engineering degree may be required for humans to remain competitive in the workforce. Of course, humans are still required to create and enhance robots as well as attend to their ongoing maintenance. Further, creative humans with soft skills unlikely to be matched in the robot world will certainly be more likely to be employable than low-skilled laborers. Before we know it, most humans at least will be required to work alongside robots.
Smart Machines II: They’re Here! As smart machine technology becomes more affordable and more widely adapted, it’s unlikely that any industry or occupation will remain untouched by its transformation. Robot labor has already had a transformational impact on goods-producing industries. More slowly adapting to the use of robot workers are service-related industries. However, many service-oriented fields are on the cusp of rapid transformation based on recent advances in robotic engineering. Let’s take a look at some examples by field.
(1) Manufacturing. Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer, initially installed 10,000 robots in 2011 and is now doing so at a pace of 30,000 per year. The robots are used to perform routine manufacturing tasks including spraying, welding, and assembly. During the summer of 2013, Foxconn’s CEO said at the company’s annual meeting: “We have over one million [human] workers. In the future we will add one million robotic workers.” (For more on this, see the prior-mentioned HBR article.)
(2) Apparel. Another production example, SoftWear Automation, an Atlanta-based start-up, is changing the way apparel is produced, as discussed in an 11/23 WSJ article. So far, SoftWear’s SewBots can do basic sewing tasks with a few human workers attending to them. Their engineers are working on getting the bots by next year to produce garments from start to finish.
(3) Logistics. In March 2012, Amazon announced its acquisition of Kiva Systems for $775 million. “Amazon has long used automation in its fulfillment centers, and Kiva’s technology is another way to improve productivity by bringing the products directly to employees to pick, pack and stow,” according to the press release. Fast-forward to the online retailer’s Q3 earnings call, when Amazon executives said that 30,000 bots were being used in 13 fulfillment centers. That’s double the 15,000 they had in 10 warehouses at the end of 2014. And their intent is to use robots more widely.
(4) Transportation. Previously, we discussed the proliferation of self-driving cars in detail. Recently hitting the roadways of Germany was a test of a semi-autonomous truck. Oh, and, let’s not forget the drones! We have heard a lot about Amazon’s testing of drones for end-to-end product delivery. (By the way, drones have many other applications outside of logistics. See Internet analyst and venture capitalist Mary Meeker’s slide #81-86 and 187-190 for more.)
(5) Restaurants. In a video of a recent Tokyo expo showcase, robots can be seen chopping carrots, mixing ingredients, icing a cake, and wrapping sushi rolls. The clip is titled: “Japan’s chef of the future is a robot.” In the US, the CEO of Panera Bread, a casual dining chain, said on the company’s Q3 earnings call: “Labor is going to go down … as digital utilization goes up, and--like the sun comes up in the morning--it is going to continue to go up … much as you are seeing it happen in Panera today.”
(6) Medicine. The Da Vinci robot is just what the doctor ordered. The four-armed surgeon-operated robot has already transformed the way patients are operated on in a UK hospital, as described in a 5/8 Guardian article. “You can rotate the instruments 360 degrees, so they are more dexterous than the human hand,” said the hospital’s robot coordinator. “We are going into places now that we couldn’t get into before.”
(7) Entertainment. The 12/14 Bloomberg showed a picture of a very creepy-looking robotic baccarat dealer named “Min” at a demonstration in the headquarters of a Chinese entertainment company. Currently, Min can only deal cards, but she’s in the shop to be programmed for interacting with customers. In the near future, robots like Min are expected to be introduced in US casinos.
Smart Machines III: Your New BFF. Indeed, there are certainly many other examples where robots can and will be utilized in the near future. Additionally, lots of new technologies that don’t require physical bots per se are automating jobs in service-related fields like journalism and finance. The point is: The robot revolution isn’t coming, it’s already here--and it’s everywhere! Today’s most impressive humanoid robots possess a variety of soft skills that can be leveraged in a multitude of ways across industries. Here are a few intriguing examples:
(1) Best frenemy. Japan’s Softbank’s cute-young-boy-like robot named “Pepper” demonstrated the ability to identify human emotions on stage at the WSJDLive 2015 conference. Like many of today’s smart machines, Pepper is also able to integrate various developers’ software applications to enhance “his” growing list of useful skills, like taking a selfie, as seen in a 2/15 Japan Times YouTube video.
Not all robots are cute, though. “Russia and China are building highly autonomous killer robots” was the title of a 12/15 Business Insider article. While a robot army may sound like a concept in your favorite science fiction movie, it may soon become a reality. A Russian defense contractor has said it will show prototypes of combat robots within two years, noted the article.
(2) Back to pre-school. Machines are learning the way toddlers do at Berkeley’s technology research hall. There, robots can be found playing with Legos, wooden spoons, model planes, and a set of square and round pegs, recounted Bloomberg in a 9/2 special feature. BRETT, a child-like robot, even takes pauses to think as he discovers the world!
(3) Winning games. Google’s DeepMind AI team has invented a computer that can learn to play and beat humans at video games, as they presented in a 2/26 Nature science journal letter. So robots now are capable of engaging in reinforcement learning, i.e., using cognitive functions to determine how to act in specific environments. In other words, they can program and train themselves.
(4) Walk in the woods. Google’s Boston Dynamics has a robot named “Atlas” that’s mastered the balance and other abilities required to take a stroll through the woods. Though not perfectly nimble yet, Atlas is undergoing training similar to military boot camp. “Researchers kick the robot, throw weights at it or make it walk over rock beds to observe how well it adapts to challenges,” reported the 8/18 NYT.
(5) Hazardous work. The earlier-mentioned Baxter robot has undergone testing in a simulation as lab assistant for Ebola workers, thereby reducing the risk of contagion. PackBots were utilized to search for victims in places where humans couldn’t go at the 9/11 disaster zone. Just last week, the WSJ reported that new robots have been deployed at the scene of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear meltdown to aid in the decontamination process.
Posted by Dr. Ed Yardeni at 12:12 PM No comments: Links to this post
The Great Disruption: From Brawn to Brain (excerpt...
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Historical Firsts for Women in BC Politics without an Honourable Mention being made of those in close support
Only in British Columbia, you say? Last updated April 2010
Women Members of the Legislature of British Columbia (1991)
Historical Firsts
1 First woman MLA in BC Mary Ellen Smith Jan. 24, 1918 (B)
2 First woman Independent MLA in BC Mary Ellen Smith (Bio Aug, 16, 2013) Jan. 24, 1918 (B)
3 First woman to be elected Liberal MLA in BC Mary Ellen Smith Dec. 1, 1920
4 First woman cabinet minister Mary Ellen Smith Mar. 24, 1921 without portfolio in the British Empire
5 First woman to act as Speaker in BC Mary Ellen Smith Feb. 22, 1928
6 First general election no women were elected July 18, 1928. since franchise extended to women in 1917
7 First woman CCF MLA in BC Dorothy Gretchen Steeves July 14, 1934 (B)
8 First woman Conservative MLA in BC Tilly Jean Rolston Oct. 21, 1941
9 First woman BC MLA to run federally Dorothy Gretchen Steeves June 27, 1949
10 First woman elected Speaker in Commonwealth Nancy Hodges Feb. 14, 1950
11 First woman MLA to cross the floor in BC Tilly Jean Rolston Mar. 29, 1951 (Mary Ellen Smith, who had been elected in 1918 as an Independent, ran as a Liberal in 1920, but did not apparently "cross the floor")
12 First woman Social Credit MLA in BC Tilly Jean Rolston May 2, 1952 (Joined the Social Credit Party) June 12, 1952 (Elected as a Social Credit member)
13 First woman cabinet minister with portfolio Tilly Jean Rolston Aug. 1, 1952 in Canada
14 First woman BC MLA to die in office Tilly Jean Rolston Oct. 12, 1953 (She had lost the 1953 election but was still in the Cabinet.) Buda Hosmer Brown Aug. 12, 1962 (She was sitting as an elected Member and Cabinet Minister.)
15 First woman BC MLA to become a Canadian Nancy Hodges Nov. 5, 1953 Senator
16 First woman NDP MLA in BC Margaret Frances Hobbs Sep. 4, 1962 (B) (The name of the CCF 8 party was changed in 1960 to "New Party" and in 1961 to New Democratic Party. Some candidates ran as New Democratic Party-CCF to ensure that voters knew who they were.)
17 First woman BC MLA to run federally and win Winona Grace MacInnis Nov. 8, 1965
18 First black woman elected to a provincial Rosemary Brown Aug. 30, 1972 legislature in Canada
19 First woman to be acting President of the Eileen Elizabeth Dailly Sep. 26, 1972 Executive Council in BC
20 First woman to be appointed Deputy Premier Grace Mary McCarthy Dec. 22, 1975 in BC
21 First woman BC MLA to become a federal Kim Campbell Jan. 30, 1989 cabinet minister for Canada (Minister of State) (Minister of Justice) Feb. 24, 1990 (Minister of Defence) Jan. 4, 1993
22 First woman Premier in Canada Rita Margaret Johnston Apr. 2, 1991
23 First woman MLA of East Indian-Canadian descent Judeline Kim Mary Tyabji Oct. 17, 1991
24 First MLA to give birth while in office in Judeline Kim Mary Tyabji Mar. 14, 1992 British Columbia
25 First woman BC MLA to become Prime Minister Kim Campbell June 13, 1993
26 First women MLAs of Chinese-Canadian descent Ida Chong May 28, 1996 Jenny Wai Ching Kwan May 28, 1996
27 First woman MLA subject to Recall petition Evelyn Marie Gillespie Feb. 12, 1998 (petition failed)
28 First BC Cabinet Minister to give birth Christy Clark Aug. 26, 2001 while in office
29 First woman Democratic Reform B.C. MLA in BC Brenzinger, Elayne Jan. 27, 2005
30 First openly lesbian BC MLA McGinn, Jenn Oct. 29, 2008 (B)
31 First woman MLA with a disability Cadieux, Stephanie May 12, 2009
- Author: Janet Frost - Reference Librarian for the BC Legislative Library
With the links attached to each name, readers can now gain more insight into the politicians of yore. For example, Mary Ellen Smith's husband was the Liberal Government's Finance Minister:
Mary Ellen Smith was the first woman elected to the B.C. legislature, winning a by election following the death of her husband Ralph Smith, the Liberal government’s finance minister. The daughter of a copper miner, Smith won re-election in 1920 and 1924, becoming the first female cabinet minister in the British Empire in 1921 (minister without portfolio) and the first female Speaker of a legislature in the British Empire in 1928. Snip - Vancouver Sun "This day in history: January 24, 1918" Research by The Sun’s news library
Ralph Smith served as Minister of Finance in the government of Premier Harlan Carey Brewster, and died in office on February 17, 1917. His wife, Mary Ellen Smith, succeeded him in the subsequent by-election (held January 1918) as an Independent Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). She subsequently became the first female cabinet minister in the British Empire. Ralph Smith was a supporter of women's suffrage, which was enacted in the province shortly after the Liberals came to power after ten previous attempts over the years had failed. wikipedia
Posted by North Van's Grumps at 12:51 PM
Labels: 1918, 1918 1928 1934 1941 1950 1951 Women in BC Politics, 1928, 1934, 1941, 1950, 1951, Historical, Mary Ellen Smith, Women Firsts
No password Required, just a Library card to take ...
Oil tankers, and if there is a spill, who will pay...
All those rules regarding FOIs to the BC Governmen...
Historical Firsts for Women in BC Politics without...
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What is Box Lacrosse?
· Box lacrosse is a full contact, indoor version of lacrosse, played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada, where it is the most popular version of the game played in contrast to the traditional field lacrosse game. It is played between two teams of six players each, and is traditionally played on an ice hockey rink once the ice has been removed or covered. The playing area is called a box, in contrast to the open playing field of field lacrosse. The object of the game is to use a long handled racket, known as a lacrosse stick, to catch, carry, and pass the ball in an effort to score by ultimately hurling a solid rubber lacrosse ball into an opponent's goal.
· While box lacrosse is similar to hockey, it is far more closely related to basketball. The offense involves full team strategy utilizing all 5 runners and there are no defensemen. The offensive players are setup as two creasemen, two shooters or cornermen and one pointman (top). The goalie sits inside his ‘crease’ which offensive players are not allowed to enter. If an offensive player enters the crease, the shot is nullified and possession is rewarded to the opposing team.
· Like basketball, there is no offside or icing, but for novice kids and older, there is a 30 second shot clock. This keeps the pace of the game moving very quickly. Many penalties are similar to hockey, but lacrosse has many ‘possession’ calls instead of penalties, which keeps the play moving quickly.
· Lacrosse is a fast physical game encompassing specific skills, agility, team work, physical conditioning, discipline, trust and respect. Contact is introduced at the earliest levels of play and considering the physical nature of the game and high pace, it remains one of the top sports with the least amount of youth injuries, ranking far behind hockey, football and basketball.
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CCCU Newsletter Sept. 2017 2.14 MB
CCCU Newsletter June 2017 3.87 MB
CCCU Newsletter March 2017 876.03 KB
Newsletter Dec 2016 2.73 MB
CCCU Newsletter March 2016 1.40 MB
CCCU Gallery
The CCCU Convention 2017
Visit to WOCCU Headquarters, Madison, Wisconsin February 27th to discuss strategic objectives
World Credit Union Conference BAHAMAS
CCCU Annual Report 2017
Fraud Prevention Workshop – January 30 – 31,2018
RiskCALM4™ Solution Benefits for Each Credit Union
Mr. Leopoldo Romero
Mr. Leopoldo Romero was born in Southern Belize where he schooled and farmed at a very young age. He began his career as a Teacher and obtained a degree from UWI in Primary Education. He later migrated to the North of the Country where he joined the Credit Union movement as a Director and later…
Mrs. Carol A. Fraser
MRS CAROL ANGELA FRASER Trained professional and Deputy Superintendent developed for over 28 years and holds appointments within Guyana private and public sphere. Her career traverses the discipline of police officer, social worker, and educator where she continues to showcase and transfer her knowledge in education, training and leadership. She has competencies in Management, Domestic…
Mr. Winston Fletcher
Trained professional, with proven leadership and managerial competence, developed from over twenty five (25) years of senior management appointments within the Jamaican private and public sectors. Contemporary thinker and astute professional, whose career traverses the disciplines of engineering, operations management, and education and training, where he continues to distinguish himself in educational leadership. He has…
Mr Lennox A. Bowman
Lennox Bowman is a chartered banker who holds professional qualifications in “Banking and Finance” and “Accounting”. He has considerable experience in many areas of finance including offshore, development, merchant, commercial and retail banking. He also has experience in the Insurance Industry and has spent the last 20 years working in the Credit Union Movement.
Mr Andre Goindoo
Mr. Andre Goindoo is the Managing Director and CEO of CUNA Caribbean Insurance Society Limited; its wholly owned subsidiary in the Caribbean. CUNA Mutual Group is the principal provider of group insurance and other financial services to the credit unions and affinity group in North America, Europe and the Caribbean.
Mr Joseph Remy
Born in South Trinidad in 1957, Joseph Remy got involved in the Credit Union Movement from the inception of his employment in the then Telephone Company of Trinidad and Tobago, TELCO in 1977 when he enlisted as a member of the Telephone Workers’ Credit Union Cooperative Society Limited, TWCU, which was based in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
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Post Tagged with: "Add new tag"
Future of Construction: A glance at the faces of Mason construction
Lifestyle September 7, 2010 at 5:09 pm Comments are Disabled
It’s become a familiar sight for students: bulldozers moving dirt, workers in hardhats leaning over blueprints and even the occasional parking lot conversion. For the past decade, George Mason University’s campus has been a place of drastic change. At the forefront of this change is Mason’s Facilities Management department. Led by Bob Endebrock, the department oversees the logistical aspects of new buildings on Mason’s three campuses in Fairfax, Arlington and Prince William. According to Endebrock, 10 new facilities have opened since April on Mason’s three locations. Helping Endebrock oversee these projects are two Mason alumni, Project Engineer Hieu Tran and Project Inspector Chris Ellis. Both interned at Facilities Management during their time at Mason and were offered jobs after graduation. Now, Tran oversees building projects and renovations while Ellis works to ensure the new work is properly installed and complies with city ordinances. As students know, the building process can be a long one. According to Endebrock, getting a building from its planning stages to completion can take as many as eight years, as was the case with the Arlington campus. Departments in need of a new building submit their plans to Endebrock and his team, who then work with […]
Sodexo denies foul play: An employee retaliates against the accusations that the corporation faces
Editorials September 7, 2010 at 5:03 pm Comments are Disabled
Has everyone gone stupid? The accusations against Sodexo are ridiculous.
Environmental Action Group educates community
From everyone here in the GMU Environmental Action Group (EAG), we welcome you to campus. The EAG is honored to continue writing our weekly column, the Mason Ecosphere in Broadside this semester. In addition to having more of our usual hikes, movie nights and famous dance parties, the EAG is running three big campaigns this fall: ending mountaintop removal coal mining, advocating for more sustainable foods on campus and passing the Patriot Green Fund. The EAG has worked on ending mountaintop removal for the past two years and will continue to work on the issue until this social and environmental devastation stops. Mountaintop removal is a form of surface mining where coal companies clearcut forests on mountains, blow up the mountaintops with explosives and dump the waste containing heavy metals in valleys and streams. This practice is destroying mountains, watersheds and communities throughout Appalachia. The EAG is organizing a screening of the documentary film Coal Country and a panel of experts on mountaintop removal. Then the EAG will be taking action with thousands of other concerned citizens involved in the struggle by participating in Appalachia Rising, a mass mobilization in the District of Colombia on Sept. 25. Sustainable foods is […]
Regarding advice dispensed to freshmen by Michatalie One encountered a column with advice for the newly inducted women to
George Mason in last week’s issue of Broadside. It advocated partying and gave advice regarding the
same. It was akin to the ten commandments: a list of dos and don’ts.
However it was filled with advice that makes a five thousand+ year old
religion look good. The advice was dispensed by those who portray
themselves as people who like to party and have fun. The following is
a mere echo of the light that was this article. And if their advice
given is a light then perhaps an intense light can burn?
Partying or even living life ought not to end up
destroying you or your loved ones or the society you dwell in. Instead
people who love ought to ensure that they have the resources and the
wealth to recuperate after making love. This is because the act of
love making and/or partying is a selfless act involving giving up
your bodily fluids and energy (at the minimum).
One will now attempt to provide alternatives to the advice they have
dispensed in this column by first quoting their advice and then
attempting to forward a possible alternative.
They advised: “Be sure to dance and […]
Southside hits a sweet note with patrons
Almost everyone who lives on campus has been to Southside, the restaurant that offers a buffet to students in return for one meal plan ($8.75 for breakfast and lunch, $9.50 for dinner), and I can guarantee that anyone who went to Southside last year can also remember the music. The food at Southside has always been great, but last year, all I can remember is the awful music that they played. Acoustic songs and acoustic covers, all the time, nonstop. True, there were a few exceptions. For instance, once Southside had live music, which they should definitely try to do again. However, the majority of the time I would be greeted with an acoustic cover of a random Bob Marley song, or something similar. I honestly can’t understand what the reasoning behind the music was. I understand that they were going for a calming effect, but I simply found it to be too dull. Not to disrespect acoustic musicians or people who like acoustic music, the music is just fine. I really don’t mind hearing one or two acoustic songs, but imagine being bombarded by draggy, dreary music for as long as you eat your food. It’s auditory torture. I […]
The anguish of the everyday drive: The downsides of commuting to Mason
Over three-fourths of the students attending George Mason University are commuters. Unfortunately, living off campus and driving to class is not as simple as it sounds. When you factor in the traffic, the drive around Patriot Circle dodging pedestrians, and of course, that tortuous hunt for a parking spot, suddenly the daily routine of a commuter begins to reveal its true, ugly self. Granted, there are certain conditions of commuting that cannot be changed. There are, however, some issues of commuting that could easily be solved. For purposes of this article, today, you are a commuter. You are driving down the road and you seem to be making good time until a minivan on Braddock pulls in front of you in the left lane and goes no faster than the speed limit. You would go around them but the car in the right lane is going the speed limit as well. We have reached Commuter Issue Number One: People who do not use the passing lane correctly. For those of you who find yourselves frequently being tailgated in the left lane, it is not because Virginia is full of aggressive drivers who are out to get you. It is most […]
Don’t build mosque on ground zero
On Sept. 11, 2001, just a few miles away from George Mason University, the pentagon was attacked by radical Islamists. In New York City, the World Trade Center fell after planes hijacked by the same al Qaeda terrorists struck the twin towers. Anyone who attended Mason, or lived in and around Washington, D.C. and New York City at the time was especially affected by this tragic event. Now, a debate is raging on whether to allow a mosque to be built near ground zero. The liberals argue this project is about religious freedom. However, the debate is not about freedom of religion, but about the sensitivities to those who died in the attacks. Let’s examine this issue by first taking a closer look at the ground zero mosque developers. The Park51 project, formerly known as the Cordoba House, is being organized by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, a man described in the New York Post by his tenants as a “slumlord.” Rauf, a self-described “moderate,” once claimed that “the United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened” on Sept. 11. He also refuses to denounce Sharia law, which condones the stoning of women and other equally disturbing practices. […]
sodexo story
News1 September 3, 2010 at 11:19 am Comments are Disabled
New student group to Merten: Fire Sodexo By Matt Snyder A new student group who says they back the campus dining services workers employed by dining contractor Sodexo hand-delivered a message Thursday to university Pres. Alan Merten asking for the administration to fire Sodexo. They call on Merten to hire a new company who will provide a living wage and better conditions. The GMU Students for Workers Rights joined some workers in accusations that employees work in unsafe conditions and alleged cuts, burns, and back injuries as a result. Merten was not in and the students’ letter was received instead by presidential operations manager Sharon Cullen. She had no comment. Sporting signs and stickers like “No justice/ No pizza,” “Our Workers Deserve Fair Wages,” and “Shame on Sodexo,” about 15 student protestors and five workers walked the letter to Mason Hall and then another petition to Sodexo management at Southside. The petition from workers included pictures of alleged work-related injuries, including a deep cut to one finger and a worker wearing a back brace. The petition and photos were received by Sodexo Resident District Manager Denise Ammaccapane, who promised to forward it to corporate management. Most of the student protestors […]
Student hit by car moved to rehabilitation center: Michelle Dawson undergoing speech and brain therapy
News1 May 3, 2010 at 12:47 pm Comments are Disabled
By Emily Sharrer, Editor-in-Chief The road to recovery for Michelle Dawson, the student who was hit by a car while in a crosswalk on Patriot Circle on March 29, is going to be a long one say family of the junior marketing major. Dawson, who was recently moved from INOVA Fairfax to a local rehabilitation center, is currently undergoing speech, brain and occupational therapy according to Danielle Dawson, Michelle’s older sister and a senior art and visual technology major. “She’s gonna be in a wheelchair for a long time, there’s just no definite answer right now,” said Danielle Dawson, who has been at Michelle’s side almost everyday since the accident. “She’s a fighter and she’s doing everything the doctors are telling her to do with the various rehab that she’s going through,” said Michelle’s dad, Dave Dawson. “It’s like a waiting game and everyday we get a new little piece of the puzzle. [Michelle and Danielle] were like inseparable. [Danielle’s] basically taken off her semester to help rehabilitate Michelle, which is sweet of her and we all appreciate that. Thank god Danielle’s there with her everyday and night,” he said. The driver of the car that hit Michelle Dawson, Jeffrey […]
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Foreign Internal Defense (Indigenous Forces)
Thread: Foreign Internal Defense (Indigenous Forces)
In-between cities
Originally Posted by ganulv
As someone who is particular with semantics, I myself consider statements to the effect that FID lead to such events during the Salvadoran Civil War to be poorly informed.
I take the criticism.
This was presented to me by a (B.A.) university teacher I knew as biased. Further light Internet research led me to two WikiLeaks pieces which are available over here and here (the manual is a great read).
I nonetheless wanted to get an idea of how FIDs are perceived within the U.S. and U.S. military and Small Wars Journal seemed the best place to get some general information, as your post proved it.
Thank you for the links by the way...
Last edited by White Rabbit; 12-07-2011 at 09:19 PM. Reason: Grammar
ganulv
Berkshire County, Mass.
Originally Posted by White Rabbit
No need to. It wasn’t a criticism of anything I necessarily took to be your own personal opinion. I was weighing in on the type of portrayal you mention.
To you, as well. Happily I am not dreaming of employment with the State Department so I am free to peruse.
If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. – Mark Twain (attributed)
Dayuhan
Latitude 17° 5' 11N, Longitude 120° 54' 24E, altitude 1499m. Right where I want to be.
In the 70s and 80s there was certainly a broad perception that US FID and military training condoned human rights abuses or didn't do enough to stop them. There may be some substance to that. In the post-Vietnam environment a lot of Americans still felt that we lost because we had to fight with one hand tied behind our backs, and respect for human rights was still widely (and bizarrely) seen as a disadvantage in the war against communism.
Still I think that the trend is generally overstated. The people we were working with needed no instruction or assistance to abuse their people; they'd been doing it for years on their own... and it's not likely that anything the US would say or do was going to stop them.
Today of course this is largely ancient history, except to the Chomsky-wing left and others like them. In the Philippines the US has attained a fair degree of popularity in areas where we're doing field FID, and that's less because of development work than because of a perception that the Philippine military behave better when Americans are around. Can't speak from direct experience of other areas currently, but I'd be curious to hear of any recent claims that US FID is aiding and abetting abuse. No real point in warming over the old stuff yet again.
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary”
Bill Moore
Seems like we may be confusing CT, COIN and FID. Foreign internal defense (FID) is the participation by civilian and military agencies of a government in any of the action programs taken by another government or other designated organization, to free and protect its society from subversion, lawlessness, insurgency, terrorism, and other threats to their security. The focus of US FID efforts is to support the host nation’s (HN’s) internal defense and development (IDAD), which can be described as the full range of measures taken by a nation to promote its growth and protect itself from the security threats described above.
I agree that the French and Brits both influenced our COIN doctrine in the 70s and 80s, even if they didn't get credit for the influence. And yes, rougher methods were generally more accepted during the Cold War as the cost of doing business. Perhaps not a stated policy, but in practice we did follow the he may be a bastard, but he's our bastard rule. Our objective was to contain communism, and the ends were generally more important than the means. However, as Dayuhan pointed out no one needed to teach these guys how to torture or abuse anyone, they were abusing their people and prisoners long before they met any American advisors.
Did the U.S. teach these methods? I can only speak from my experience in the 80s (we cleaned up our act in the 90s). The short answer is no, but I accept there "may" have even some U.S. persons involved who promoted these methods based on their personal views, but I'm not aware of doctrine that promoted these abuses. I'm referring to the military only, the three letter agency folks can speak for themselves. I recall seeing a few abuses over the years in more than one developing nation, and during that time frame we had no mandate to intervene like we do now. None the less, I did intervene in two separate incidents in two separate countries to stop (at least for the moment) foreign troops from abusing their own people (such as beating up a local civilian to get information, when he wasn't even a suspect, it was just normal practice). We would attempt to mentor them later on why that behavior was counterproductive, but we had no mandate to stop it or disengage with them if they did, like we do now. My general impression was no one in the USG was supportive of this, and worked patiently to change this behavior. What the CIA may have done the 70s in Latin America is another story, but like most of us on SWJ, we only know what we read, and suspect a great deal of that is inaccurate.
The bottom line is these were cultural norms, and since in FID we were advising and assisting we didn't make the rules, but mentored and in some cases instructed. We were teaching the importance of a proper relationship with the populace long before population centric COIN became vogue in 2006 or so. The focus wasn't the population, but defeating the insurgency, but realizing you couldn't do that effectively if you alienated the population.
All that said I'm not opposed to a tough interrogation run by a true professional. Intelligence is critical, and the best intelligence for these types of conflicts is human intelligence, especially in those days. A tough interrogation conducted by a professional is not torture.
Finally, the brutal tactics employed by the French worked, so it would be naive to dismiss them as ineffective, but that isn't point, it simply isn't the way we fight based on our national morals, which are for the most part codified into law.
Dayuhan, Bill, thank you for sharing your experiences.
Without going too much into the philosophical, they confirm one of the rare facts of life as far as I am concerned: nothing is black and white, everything is grey.
Originally Posted by Bill Moore
If the reference is to Algeria, I have never understood the reasoning behind the assertion that what the French did there was effective. I know that had politics not taken the turn they did that the FLN would likely have been soon reduced to a non-factor, but the conflict in Algeria helped generate the political context that brought de Gaulle to power.
But there’s some overlap, no?
Seems like we may be confusing CT, COIN and FID.
As someone with no background of military service my intuition regarding the three would be something along the lines of the following. During my Reagan Era childhood, Delta/1st SFOD-D/CAG was described as a/the counter-terrorism unit, so in my head I associate hostage rescue, snatch and grab, and assassination with CT. Having first learned of the concept of counterinsurgency as a 20–year–old living in Guatemala in the early ‘90s my reflexive thought when I read or hear discussion of COIN is in line with W. George Lovell’s statement that “[k]illing Maya Indians and laying their communities to waste does not solve the problem of reluctant native labor. But it has served effectively to traumatize survivors into submission.” I sort of take the adoption of the abbreviation to be a rebranding while having a vague notion that what used to be a bludgeon is now more like a stick and that some substantial carrots have been added into the mix. As for FID, I happen to have known a fellow who was with the Special Forces in Vietnam (he walked away from a football scholarship at Marshall en route—some guys have all the luck! ) so when I see reference to that term I think of some version of my friend out in the bush/hills/jungle running drills with some version of the Montagnards. So I did a quick search for the doctrinal definitions to see if I was anywhere in the neighborhood and I turned up the following:
CT Operations that include the offensive measures taken to prevent, deter, preempt, and respond to terrorism. (JP 1–02)
COIN Counterinsurgency is military, paramilitary, political, economic, psychological, and civic actions taken by a government to defeat insurgency. (JP 1–02)
FID FID programs encompass the total political, economic, informational, and military support provided to another nation to assist its fight against subversion and insurgency. (JP 3–07)
Am I accurate here? I kind of hope I am not, because given the amount of overlap amongst them it is almost as if the definitions were created to engender confusion…
Last edited by ganulv; 12-08-2011 at 05:10 PM. Reason: added a link
Ken White
Warfare is massive overlap in all directions...
You're accurate and so are the definitions.
Warfare is not only overlap, it is confusion writ large. That is not really a problem except for those who don't cope well or who wish to make it one...
But clear directions are always better. To a point…
In my dealings with others I take as received wisdom something my mother once told me—“Matthew, some people are only good for following directions.” Pro: Such people are much more likely to do as they are told than are other folks. Con: This may include driving into the building the GPS does not know is there.
Originally Posted by Ken White
And what employee of a large bureaucracy would ever want to make anything a problem?
Your Mother was right...
And those are the folks that don't cope well and / or who wish to make most everything a problem (occasionally so that only they can offer a solution...) and who relish or hide behind the bureaucratic approach.
Coping with complexity requires minimal direction, a major problem with "clear directions" is that, as with GPS, one can develop target fixation to a dangerous extent...
(Not to mention that one conditioned to GPS has great difficulty coping when the system is down... )
Posted by Ganulv
To point out that is complicated is an understatement and a statement of the obvious. I'm not going to debate the morality or the strategy at the national level, because there are many sides to each that can be rationally argued to no real end. On the other hand the tactics the French employed did militarily defeat the armed wing of the insurgency.
The insurgents/rebels were just as cruel as the French, so there were no good guys. Neither side effectively rallied a majority of the populace to its side, so the decisive factor on the battle field was intelligence and fighting ability (mobility, fire power, tactics, etc.).
Strategically the French were defeated for a lot of reasons, most of them had to do with politics on the home front.
I have no issues with your definitions of CT, COIN and FID, and yes the lines between the three are often blurred, and while can involved more providing advise and assistance, FID is generally viewed as such, while COIN and CT are largely doing (of course that isn't accurate, but that is the general assumption). My point is if the HN is torturing people while conducting COIN and CT, that doesn't mean we advised them to do so while conducting FID.
Last edited by Bill Moore; 12-09-2011 at 08:05 AM.
Taking it one step further... what's the best policy in engaging an allied military force that wants and needs help, but that has a record of human rights abuse. Do you refuse to have anything to do with them, or work with them in an effort to improve things?
Obviously that depends on our assessment of the problem and the likelihood of it improving, and on political evaluations of just how important the alliance in question is. The questions remain, though: how bad do they have to be before we refuse to have anything to do with them? Is a refusal to engage going to make any difference? Is it possible for intervention to produce lasting changes?
Not that there's a universal answer, but it's a question worth considering, as in practice many of the governments and militaries we work in FID roles with have and will continue to have less than spotless records.
Posted by Bill Moore
A note on history...
Bill, your post made me remember that many of the French officers in Algeria--which I think includes Trinquier although I have to double-check that--often were resistant during the Second World War. Accordingly, some of them were tortured.
While not justifying the use of torture, it might explain their use of it. If they saw it as a technique which worked on them, it is likely that they came to the conclusion that it will work on others.
If I remember correctly in the Army of Shadows, Jean-Pierre Melville--who was himself a resistant--even depicts the use of torture by resistant on fellow resistant.
Last edited by White Rabbit; 12-09-2011 at 12:50 PM. Reason: Added "A note on history..."
Posted by Dayuhan
The questions I ask myself are:
. what are the benefits of engaging in FID within those countries?
. what are the risks of engaging in FID within those countries?
And ultimately:
. to what extend are the U.S. ready to take the risk of loosing their legitimacy at the international level (which, in my view, already has eroded to an extend that was unimaginable a few years ago)?
jmm99
Trinquier
He served in China (as a French officer) for the duration of WWII. His knowledge of WWII resistance in France was second-hand from what I've read. He did later write favorably of the courage of the resisters.
Trinquier's view of terrorist interrogation has a quasi-religious theme, which saw one end result of the terrorist's confession to be redemptive. From Modern Warfare (online at CGSC):
The terrorist should not be considered an ordinary criminal. Actually, he fights within the framework of his organization,. without personal interest, for a cause he considers noble and for a respectable ideal, the same as the soldiers in the armies confronting him. On the command of his superiors, he kills without hatred individuals unknown to him, with the same indifference as the soldier on the battlefield. His victims are often women and children, almost always defenseless individuals taken by surprise. But during a period of history when the bombing of open cities is permitted, and when two Japanese cities were razed to hasten the end of the war in the Pacific, one cannot with good cause reproach him.[*]
[*] Yassef Saadi, chief of the Autonomous Zone of Algiers (Z.A.A.), said after his arrest: "I had my bombs planted in the city because I didn't have the aircraft to transport them. But they caused fewer victims than the artillery and air bombardments of our mountain villages. I'm in a war, you cannot blame me."
The terrorist has become a soldier, like the aviator or the infantryman.
But the aviator flying over a city knows that antiaircraft shells can kill or maim him. The infantryman wounded on the battlefield accepts physical suffering, often for long hours, when he falls between the lines and it is impossible to rescue him. It never occurs to him to complain and to ask, for example, that his enemy renounce the use of the rifle, the shell, or the bomb. If he can, he goes back to a hospital knowing this to be his lot. The soldier, therefore, admits the possibility of physical suffering as part of the job. The risks he runs on the battlefield and the suffering he endures are the price of the glory he receives.
The terrorist claims the same honors while rejecting the same obligations. His kind of organization permits him to escape from the police, his victims cannot defend themselves, and the army cannot use the power of its weapons against him because he hides himself permanently within the midst of a population going about its peaceful pursuits.
But he must be made to realize that, when he is captured, he cannot be treated as an ordinary criminal, nor like a prisoner taken on the battlefield. What the forces of order who have arrested him are seeking is not to punish a crime, for which he is otherwise not personally responsible, but, as in any war, the destruction of the enemy army or its surrender. Therefore he is not asked details about himself or about attacks that he may or may not have committed and that are not of immediate interest, but rather for precise information about his organization. In particular, each man has a superior whom he knows; he will first have to give the name of this person, along with his address, so that it will be possible to proceed with the arrest without delay.
No lawyer is present for such an interrogation. If the prisoner gives the information requested, the examination is quickly terminated; if not, specialists must force his secret from him. Then, as a soldier, he must face the suffering, and perhaps the death, he has heretofore managed to avoid. The terrorist must accept this as a condition inherent in his trade and in the methods of warfare that, with full knowledge, his superiors and he himself have chosen.[*]
[*] In France during the Nazi occupation, members of the Resistance violated the rules of warfare. They knew they could not hide behind them, and they were perfectly aware of the risks to which they were exposing themselves. Their glory is to have calmly faced those risks with full knowledge of the consequences.
Once the interrogation is finished, however, the terrorist can take his place among soldiers. From then on, he is a prisoner of war like any other, kept from resuming hostilities until the end of the conflict.
It would be as useless and unjust to charge him with the attacks he was able to carry out, as to hold responsible the infantryman or the airman for the deaths caused by the weapons they use. According to Clausewitz:
War . . . is an act of violence intended to compel an opponent to fulfill our Will.... Self-imposed restrictions, almost imperceptible and hardly worth mentioning, termed usages of International Law, accompany it without impairing its power. Violence . . . is therefore the means; the compulsory submission of the enemy to our will is the ultimate object. . . . In such dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst. As the use of physical power to the utmost extent by no means excludes the cooperation of the intelligence, it follows that he who uses force unsparingly, without reference to the bloodshed involved, must obtain a superiority if his adversary uses less vigor in its application. . . .To introduce into the philosophy of war itself a principle of moderation would be an absurdity.
These basic principles of traditional warfare retain all of their validity in modern warfare.
This is a long quote, but it is necessary to show from whence this very complex man came.
A good comment on Trinquier by Tom Odom is here (from 2008).
Last edited by jmm99; 12-09-2011 at 07:38 PM. Reason: add link
Posted by White Rabbit,
I suspect many of the paras were WWII vets of sort (resistance or otherwise) and coming from a nation that was recently occupied by the Nazis for years which must have strongly shaped their views on what is acceptable in combat. Additionally a proud nation that lost face when the Germans defeated them was once again facing another humiliation by losing another colony. Different cultures have different values (pardon another statement of the obvious), and in many torture is an acceptable way of acquiring information, or simply terrorizing their opponents (an attempt at deterrence). It really doesn't matter if we're shocked by the behavior.
What we have been trying to encourage/enforce in recent years (two or more decades) are internationally accepted (by many, not all nations) laws and human rights, but we have no ability to force others to abide by these rules.
Regarding the questions on whether we should or shouldn't engage with those who practice torture, the real question in my view is can we afford not to? What is the risk of not engaging?
As Dayuhan stated it is very hard to shape others behavior when you're not engaged. We also leave an opportunity for others to displace our influence.
I think size of the force doesnt matter, the type of force or agency doesnt matter also. for FID to work the agency or force needs to improve and build relations, if one cant change the populations loyalty, one cant win .
Does FID prevent conflict? Or is it suppression?
I was a participant in a class today going over ARSOF 2022 and the Strategic Landpower Task Force white paper when the discussion shifted towards FID itself. The argument was made that currently and in the future SOF is/will be engaged in preventing conflict around the globe through FID deployments.
I do not believe this to be the case. In my view, a FID deployment only exists when the host nation cannot serve the needs of some segment of its populace and that segment is in the process of becoming violent (or has already done so) to achieve its political goals. By definition a nation who serves the needs of its populace and has a functioning LE and judicial system should not need our FID or SFA. To assist a nation in internal defense, it seems obvious that a conflict must already exist. The team doing the FID deployment is not preventing conflict, rather they are teaching the host force how to mitigate that threat. I can see where we could help in containing or ending a conflict, but the military skills taught are used to suppress.
I don't believe the military is the proper source for micro loans, civil governance training, policy solutions to the conflict ect. USAID, the DoS and the Peace Corps seems much more able in preventing a conflict.
Originally Posted by Wyatt
On this I agree with you completely. I didn't realize that these activities are being packaged as part of FID, thought that term was mainly used for purely military activities. I should have known better.
We have to come to grips with the reality that in much of the world, including many places where insurgency thrives, "governance" is in the hands of highly regressive elite factions who are accustomed to using state resources for personal gain and using the coercive power of the state to support their own private interests. We are not going to change this by providing "development" assistance, whether through the military or through AID, DoS, etc, and in most cases we're in no position to compel these elites to change the way they govern. In these cases there's really very little point in trying to "counter" insurgency, by FID or any other means. Sometimes insurgency is a natural and necessary method of development: when those who rule refuse evolution, they get revolution. It has always been thus.
Last edited by Dayuhan; 02-08-2014 at 08:51 AM.
Wyatt,
In many ways the leading voices of Strategic Landpower and to some extent SOF as a whole are viewing the future as a reflection of the past decade, specifically our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. FID has a broad yet specific definition, and generally you're correct it means we're assisting a supported nation develop the capacity to deal with internal threats ranging from terrorism, insurgencies, subversion to criminal activity. It really isn't prevention since the problem exists, but more of effort to manage the problem so it doesn't metastasize, which some will argue is an effort to prevent a larger problem. It is either rehab or prehab, and generally our so-called preventive efforts are very much rehab in response to a specific threat, so while our words imply we're trying to get to the left of bang, too many, SOF included, can't conceive of operations that are not "threat focused" but rather focused on preventing (prehab) conflict by conducting engagements to encourage peace, reduce tensions, and deter potential adversaries by shaping the environment. This includes attempting to prevent the emergence of threats from internal instability, transnational threats, and mitigating tensions between states that could if unaddressed escalate into war. It involves much, much more than FID. In fact, FID may not even be required.
Is FID oppressive? It can be has demonstrated throughout history, especially during the Cold War, but it doesn't have to be. We in the West tend to embrace the nave view that if there are security problems the government has failed because it overly oppressive. In some cases that is true, but in others, the insurgents/criminals etc. are far from liberators, and just as often as not do not represent the majority of the population, so in my opinion the answer is the one everyone hates: it depends.
Quick Navigation FID & Working With Indigenous Forces Top
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St. Catherine of Siena Academy
Saint Catherine of Siena Academy
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To retreat, to “come away with the Lord”, is a necessary and valuable use of time in order to grow in relationship with the Lord. With that in mind, each of the classes has retreats each year.
To celebrate our namesake, St. Catherine of Siena, and to grow in our knowledge of our faith and of the many saints who have gone before us, we will be going on a pilgrimage to Siena, Rome, and Assisi every other year. All students will have two opportunities to pilgrimage to Italy during their tenure at St. Catherine of Siena Academy. A priest will accompany us on the pilgrimage and Mass will be part of the daily itinerary.
Siena/Assisi/Rome Pilgrimage
Celebrate Mass at St. Dominic Basilica to venerate the remains of St. Catherine
Cathedral of Siena
Tour the city of Siena, including the Piazza del Campo and the Palazzo Pubblico
Celebrate Mass at the Basilica of St. Francis
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Santa Maria, Traspontina
the altar of the Tomb of St. Peter, St. Peter’s Basilica
the Basilica of Saint Mary Above Minerva (houses the tomb of St. Catherine of Siena
at the altar of the Chair of St. Peter, St. Peter’s Basilica (Mass in Italian)
Attend the Papal Audience
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Visit St. Sebastian Catacombs
March for Life – Washington, DC
The St. Gianna Molla Society (pro-life club for students) takes part in the annual March for Life in Washington, DC, each year. This pilgrimage for life involves prayer, Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, a visit to the Holocaust Museum, and attendance at the March for Life and the Silent No More March at the Supreme Court.
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“This school has a very strong faith atmosphere! The school is fairly new, but is starting to build a name for itself both spiritually and academically. The faculty and staff rock!”
Student, Class of '19
“As a graduate of this school, I can attest to not only the strong education I received from SCA but also the strong foundation I was given in which I could build my own faith upon. I felt fully prepared for the ‘real world’ both academically and spiritually.”
MaryKatherine
“I was among one of the very first classes SCA ever had. As a pioneer and a student to be a part of the foundation of clubs and classes that continue today, I am beyond proud of how far the school has come. There were many ups and downs during my four years but an amazing experience overall. Today at college I still look back on and cherish my times at SCA, thankful for the connections, education and sisterhood I acquired. I am looking forward to seeing many more young women carry on the traditions my class and recent classes have set for the future.”
Alumna, Class of '14
“This school is not only college prep, it is life prep. I know that my daughter is being educated to go out and make a positive difference in the world. She will graduate with the confidence and courage to lead wherever she goes in life. I love the principal, the teachers, and the families. It is such a blessing to be a part of the SCA Family. I know the friends my daughter has made will be her sisters for life.”
SCA Parent
“An excellent school that brings the girls together more like sisters rather than friends.”
“I LOVE this school. The teachers are excellent. Because the students are so friendly, it’s easy to fit in and make friends even if you have had a tough time at other schools. There is virtually no bullying and it is a very friendly, positive environment. Highly recommended.”
“Karen Ervin is a remarkable principal! She is a good administrator, but even more importantly, she is an excellent role model for the students. She is strong, confident, and a woman of tremendous virtue. She is unafraid and doing everything in her power to raise strong, Catholic women who will go out and ‘set the world ablaze’!”
“This high school experience is like none other you can get anywhere. There is joy and comradery and the girls are happy and excel. They are being supported and encouraged by staff. You can watch a girl come in who had a bad experience elsewhere, bloom here and become a different girl in a short time. Can’t say enough good about it. Thank God the founders had this vision and followed through with it. Well needed and we are very thankful!”
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28200 Napier Road, Wixom, Mi 48393(248)946-4848Sitemap Download the ics/ical
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Jablonski
Laureate of the F. Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1985 as well as numerous top prizes at international piano competitions in Milan, Palm Beach, Monza, Dublin, New York, Calgary as well as Gold Medal at the A. Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv.
For almost 30 years Jablonski is active performing solo, chamber music as well as with orchestras on stages in Europe, Americas, Asia and Israel in prestigious concert halls, including appearances on the Master Concert Series at Berliner Philharmonie. Frequent guest of many orchestras, performed under baton of V. Gergiev, A. Boreyko, K. Penderecki, J. Semkow,
J. Maksymiuk, F. Brueggen, W. Bothe, Y. Tezuka, T. Shimono, A. Wit, J. Krenz and with prominent ensembles such as Orchestra of the 18th Century, Berner Symphonie-Orchester, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Duesseldorfer Symphoniker, Hamburger Symphoniker, Jenaer Philharmonie, Festival Orchestra of the Grand Teton Music Festival, Helsinki Philharmonic, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyushu Symphony Orchestra, Kirishima Festival Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice. As chamber music recitalist he recently performed with Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Arto Noras, Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Teng Li - to name just a few. He is a member of "Warsaw Piano Quintet" which was first founded by W. Szpilman in 1962.
Jablonski’s rather romantic nature was shaping his music taste and interests over years. Beside most popular works Jablonski has in his repertoire, he also plays some less known compositions such as Concertos by F. Riess, H. Litolff, E. Dohnanyi. He was invited to perform for ballet, opera and theatre spectacles as well as for spectacular, multidiscipline projects with multimedia presentations and lights such as Scriabin's "Promethee" with Duesseldorfer Symphoniker, Ballet “Fortepianissimo” choreographed by Lorca Massine at the National Opera in Warsaw, original piano version of the Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande. He was invited to perform during opening of the Wiener Opernball in Vienna together with the Vienna State Opera Ballet choreographed by Giorgio Madia. Jablonski also performed for crowd of thousands with Grant Park Orchestra and K. Urbanski at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park in Chicago.
In February of 2013, Jablonski performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto with Maestro Valery Gergiev and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra during fundraising event “Clean Baltic Sea Concert” in Helsinki. This performance was streamed live over Internet as well as recorded by Finnish Radio and TV.
2013 has brought Jablonski also to Japan where he performed Beethoven's Concerto with Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra following his successful appearances with Kirishima Festival Orchestra in 2012. In 2014 he will be again performing during Kirishima Festival and in 2015, celebrating 30 years of his artistic career, performing Chopin's Concerto No. 1 with Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra - the same Piano Concerto he played during Finals of the F. Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1985 where his international career began.
He has made live recordings for radio and television in many countries as well as numerous CDs in Germany, Japan, and Poland.
Studied with Janina Butor and Prof. Andrzej Jasiński. Worked during master classes with R. Kerer and N. Magaloff. Graduated with honors in 1987 from the Academy of Music in Katowice, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1996. He is a Professor of The F. Chopin University of Music in Warsaw as well as Visiting Artists collaborating with Mount Royal University in Calgary and faculty member of the Morningside Music Bridge Program. In addition to academic responsibilities, he presents master classes, lectures and is a jury member at international piano competitions.
For more information, please visit's artist's website:
www.kjpianist.com
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Tag: Quadrature Mirror
A Practical Application, that calls for A Uniform Phase-Shift: SSB Modulation
A concept that exists in radio-communications, which is derived from amplitude-modulation, and which is further derived from balanced modulation, is single-sideband modulation. And even back in the 1970s, this concept existed. Its earliest implementations required that a low-frequency signal be passed to a balanced modulator, which in turn would have the effect of producing an upper sideband (the USB) as well as an inverted lower sideband (the LSB), but zero carrier-energy. Next, the brute-force approach to achieving SSB entailed, using a radio-frequency filter to separate either the USB or the LSB.
The mere encumbrance of such high-frequency filters, especially if this method is to be used at RF frequencies higher than the frequencies, of the old ‘CB Radio’ sets, sent Engineers looking for a better approach to obtaining SSB modulation and demodulation.
And one approach that existed since the onset of SSB, was actually to operate two balanced modulators, in a scheme where one balanced modulator would modulate the original LF signal. The second balanced modulator would be fed an LF signal which had been phase-delayed 90⁰, as well as a carrier, which had either been given a +90⁰ or a -90⁰ phase-shift, with respect to whatever the first balanced modulator was being fed.
The concept that was being exploited here, is that in the USB, where the frequencies add, the phase-shifts also add, while in the LSB, where the frequencies subtract, the phase-shifts also subtract. Thus, when the outputs of the two modulators were mixed, one side-band would be in-phase, while the other would be 180⁰ out-of-phase. If the carrier had been given a +90⁰ phase-shift, then the LSB would end up 180⁰ out-of-phase – and cancel, while if the carrier had been given a -90⁰ phase-shift, the USB would end up 180⁰ out-of-phase – and cancel.
This idea hinges on one ability: To phase-shift an audio-frequency signal, spanning several octaves, so that a uniform phase-shift results, but also so that the amplitude of the derived signal be consistent over the required frequency-band. The audio signal could be filtered to reduce the number of octaves that need to be phase-shifted, but then it would need to be filtered to achieve a constrained frequency-range, before being used twice.
And so a question can arise, as to how this was achieved historically, given analog filters.
My best guess would be, that a stage which was used, involved a high-pass and a low-pass filter that acted in parallel, and which would have the same corner-frequency, the outputs of which were subtracted – with the high-pass filter negative, for -90⁰ . At the corner-frequency, the phase-shifts would have been +/- 45⁰. This stage would achieve approximately uniform amplitude-response, as well as achieving its ideal phase-shift of -90⁰ at the one center-frequency. However, this would also imply that the stage reaches -180⁰ (full inversion) at higher frequencies, because there, the high-pass component that takes over, is still being subtracted !
( … ? … )
What can in fact be done, is that a multi-band signal can be fed to a bank of 2nd-order band-pass filters, spaced 1 octave apart. The fact that the original signal can be reconstructed from their output, derives partially from the fact that at one center-frequency, an attenuated version is also passed through one-filter-up, with a phase-shift of +90⁰ , and a matching attenuated version of that signal also passed through one-filter-down, with a phase-shift of -90⁰. This means that the two vestigial signals that pass through the adjacent filters are at +/- 180⁰ with respect to each other, and cancel out, at the present center-frequency.
If the output from each band-pass filter was phase-shifted, this would need to take place in a way not frequency-dependent. And so it might seem to make sense to put an integrator at the output of each bp-filter, the time-constant of which is to achieve unit gain, that the center-frequency of that band. But what I also know, is that doing so will deform the actual frequency-response of the amplitudes, coming from the one band. What I do not know, is whether this blends well with the other bands.
If this was even to produce a semi-uniform -45⁰ shift, then the next thing to do, would be to subtract the original input-signal from the combined output.
(Edit 11/30/2017 :
It’s important to note, that the type of filter I’m contemplating does not fully achieve a phase-shift of +/- 90⁰ , at +/- 1 octave. This is just a simplification which I use to help me understand filters. According to my most recent calculation, this type only achieves a phase-shift of +/- 74⁰ , when the signal is +/- 1 octave from its center-frequency. )
Now, my main thought recently has been, if and how this problem could be solved digitally. The application could still exist, that many SSB signals are to be packed into some very high, microwave frequency-band, and that the type of filter which will not work, would be a filter that separates one audible-frequency sideband, out of the range of such high frequencies.
And as my earlier posting might suggest, the main problem I’d see, is that the discretized versions of the low-pass and high-pass filters that are available to digital technology in real-time, become unpredictable both in their frequency-response, and in their phase-shifts, close to the Nyquist Frequency. And hypothetically, the only solution that I could see to that problem would be, that the audio-frequency band would need to be oversampled first, at least 2x, so that the discretized filters become well-behaved enough, to be used in such a context. Then, the corner-frequencies of each, will actually be at 1/2 Nyquist Frequency and lower, where their behavior will start to become acceptable.
The reality of modern technology could well be such, that the need for this technique no longer exists. For example, a Quadrature Mirror Filter could be used instead, to achieve a number of side-bands that is a power of two, the sense with which each side-band would either be inverted or not inverted could be made arbitrary, and instead of achieving 2^n sub-bands at once, the QMF could just as easily be optimized, to target one specific sub-band at a time.
Continue reading A Practical Application, that calls for A Uniform Phase-Shift: SSB Modulation
Posted on November 28, 2017 November 30, 2017 Tags Audacity, Balanced Modulator, CB Radio, DAW, Multi-Band, Multiband, Phase-Shift, QMF, Quadrature Mirror, SSB ModulationLeave a comment on A Practical Application, that calls for A Uniform Phase-Shift: SSB Modulation
An Elaboration on Quadrature Mirror Filter
This was an earlier posting of mine, in which I wrote about a “Quadrature Mirror Filter”. But the above posting may not make it clear to all readers, why a QMF approach will actually result in two streams, each of which has half the sample-rate of the original stream.
A basic premise which gets used, is the Daubechies Wavelet, according to which there exists a Scaling Function that later gets named ‘H1′, and a corresponding Wavelet which gets named ‘H0′. It could also be thought that H1 is a low-pass filter with a corner frequency of 1/2 the Nyquist Frequency, while H0 is a Band-Pass Filter derived from H1. Also, because the upper cutoff frequency of H0 is the Nyquist Frequency, it is not clear to me either, why we would not just call that a High-Pass Filter. But the WiKi page calls that the Band-Pass Filter.
Alright, So we can start with a stream sampled at 44.1 kHz and derive two output streams, one which contains the lower half of frequencies, and the other of which contains the upper half. How do the sample-rates of either get halved?
The answer is that after we have filtered the original stream both ways, we pick out every second sample of each.
This is also what would get done if we were to use a (more expensive) Half-Band Filter based on ‘the Sinc Function’, to down-sample a stream. In contrast, if we are over-sampling a stream to the highest level of accuracy, we first repeat each sample once, and then apply the (better) low-pass filter. (It should be noted however, that a 4-coefficient Daubechies Wavelet would be considered ‘deficient’. Those start to become interesting, at maybe 8 coefficients.)
But when it comes to Quadrature Mirror Filters, when we have down-sampled the stream, we have also halved its Nyquist Frequency – both times. But then in the case of ‘H0′ above, original frequency components above the Nyquist Frequency are subject to the phenomenon I mentioned in another posting, according to which they get mirrored back down, from the new, lower Nyquist Frequency, all the way to zero (DC). Hence, the output of H0 gets inverted in frequencies, when it is subsequently down-sampled.
Continue reading An Elaboration on Quadrature Mirror Filter
Posted on July 31, 2016 August 1, 2016 Tags Daubechies Wavelet, QMF, Quadrature Mirror2 Comments
aptX and Delta-Modulation
I am an old-timer. And one of the tricks which once existed in Computing, to compress the amount of memory that would be needed, just to store digitized sound, was called “Delta Modulation”. At that time, the only ‘normal’ way to digitize sound was what is now called PCM, which often took up too much memory.
And so a scheme was devised very early, by which only the difference between two consecutive samples would actually stored. Today, this is called ‘DPCM‘. And yet, this method has an obvious, severe drawback. If the signal contains substantial amplitudes, associated with frequencies that are half the Nyquist Frequency or higher, this method will clip that content, and produce dull, altered sound.
Well one welcoming fact which I have learned, is that this limitation has essentially been overcome. One commercial domain in which this has been overcome, is with the compression scheme / CODEC named “aptX“. This is a proprietary scheme, owned by Qualcomm, but is frequently used, as the chips manufactured and designed by Qualcomm are installed into many devices and circuits. One important place this gets used, is with the type of Bluetooth headset, that now has high-quality sound.
What happens in aptX, requires that the band of frequencies which start out as a PCM stream, needs to get ‘beaten down’ into 4 sub-bands, using a type of filter known as a “Quadrature Mirror Filter“. This happens in two stages. I know of a kind of Quadrature Mirror Filter which was possible in the old analog days, but have had problems until now, imagining how somebody might implement one using algorithms.
The analog approach required, a local sine-wave, a phase-shifted local sine-wave, a balanced demodulator used twice, and a phase-shifter which was capable of phase-shifting a (wide) band of frequencies, without altering their relative amplitudes. This latter feat is a little difficult to accomplish with simple algorithms, and when accomplished, typically involves high latency. aptX is a CODEC with low latency.
The main thing to understand about a Quadrature Mirror Filter, implemented using algorithms in digital signal processing today, is that the hypothetical example the WiKi article above cites, using a Haar Wavelet for H0 and its complementary series for H1, actually fails to implement a quadrature-split in a pure way, and was offered just as a hypothetical example. The idea that H1( H0(z) ) always equals zero, simply suggested that the frequencies passed by these two filters are mutually exclusive, so that in an abstract way, they pass the requirements. After the signal is passed through H0 and H1 in parallel, the output of each is reduced to half the sampling rate of the input.
What Qualcomm explicitly does, is to define a series H0 and a series H1, such that they apply “64 coefficients”, so that they may achieve a frequency-split accurately. And it is not clear from the article, whether the number of coefficients for each filter is 64, or whether their sum for two filters is 64, or the sum of all six. Either way, this implies a lot of coefficients, which is why dedicated hardware is needed today, to implement aptX, and this dedicated hardware belongs to the kind, which needs to run its own microprogram.
Back in the early days of Computing, programmers would actually use the Haar Wavelet, because of its computational simplicity, even though doing so did not split the spectrum cleanly. And then this wavelet would define the ‘upper sideband’ in a notional way, while its complementary filter would define the notional, ‘lower sideband’, when splitting.
But then the result of this becomes 4 channels in the case of aptX, each of which has 1/4 the sampling rate of the original audio. And then it is possible, in effect, to delta-modulate each of these channels separately. The higher frequencies have then been beaten down to lower frequencies…
But there is a catch. In reality, aptX needs to use ‘ADPCM‘ and not ‘DPCM’, because it can happen in any case, that the amplitudes of upper-frequency bands could be high. ADPCM is a scheme, by which the maximum short-term differential is computed for some time-interval, which is allowed to be a frame of samples, and where a simple division is used to compute a scale factor, by which these differentials are to be quantized.
This is a special situation, in which the sound is quantized in the time-domain, rather than being quantized in the frequency-domain. Quantizing the higher-frequency sub-bands has the effect of adding background – ‘white’ – noise to the decoded signal, thus making the scheme lossy. Yet, because the ADPCM stages are adaptive, the degree of quantization keeps the level of this background noise at a certain fraction, of the amplitude of the intended signal.
And so it would seem, that even old tricks which once existed in Computing, such as delta modulation, have not gone to waste, and have been transformed into something more HQ today.
I think that one observation to add would be, that this approach makes most sense, if the number of output samples of each instance of H0 is half as many, as the number of input samples, and if the same can be said for H1.
And another observation would be, that this approach does not invert the lower sideband, the way real quadrature demodulation would. Instead, it would seem that H0 inverts the upper sideband.
If the intent of down-sampling is to act as a 2:1 low-pass filter, then it remains productive to add successive pairs of samples. Yet, this could just as easily be the definition of H1.
(Edit 06/20/2016 : ) There is an observation to add about wavelets. The Haar Wavelet is the simplest kind:
H0 = [ +1, -1 ]
H1 = [ +1, +1 ]
And this one guarantees that the original signal can be reconstructed from two down-sampled sub-bands. But, if we remove one of the sub-bands completely, this one results in weird spectral results. This can also be a problem if the sub-bands are modified in ways that do not match.
It is possible to define complementary Wavelets, that are also orthogonal, but which again, result in weird spectral results.
The task of defining ones, which are both orthogonal and spectrally neutral, has been solved better by the Daubechies series of Wavelets. However, the series of coefficients used there are non-intuitive, and were also beyond my personal ability to figure out spontaneously.
The idea is that there exists a “scaling function”, which also results in the low-pass filter H1. And then, if we reverse the order of coefficients and negate every second one, we get the high-pass filter H0, which is really a band-pass filter.
To my surprise, the Daubechies Wavelets achieve ‘good results’, even with a low number of coefficients such as maybe 4? But for very good audio results, a longer series of coefficients would still be needed.
One aspect to this which is not mentioned elsewhere, is that while a Daubechies Wavelet-set could be used for encoding, that has a high order of approximation, it could still be that simple appliances will use the Haar Wavelet for decoding. This could be disappointing, but I guess that when decoding, the damage done in this way will be less severe than when encoding.
The most correct thing to do, would be to use the Daubechies Wavelets again for decoding, and the mere time-delays that result from their use, still fall within the customary definitions today, of “low-latency solutions”. If we needed a Sinc Filter, using it may no longer be considered so, and if we needed to find a Fourier Transform of granules of sound, only to invert it again later, it would certainly not be considered low-latency anymore.
And, when the subject is image decomposition or compression, it is a 2-dimensional application, and the reuse of the Haar Wavelet is more common.
Posted on June 15, 2016 June 20, 2016 Tags ADPCM, aptX, Delta-Modulation, Haar Wavelet, Mirror Filter, Quadrature, Quadrature Mirror, Quantization, Sinc Filter, Sound Compression, Time Domain, Wavelets6 Comments
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Cornel West Reflects on 25th Anniversary of Seminal Book ‘Race Matters’
January 21, 2018 | :
by Jamal Watson
An interview with Dr. Cornel West, professor of the practice of public philosophy at Harvard Divinity School, on the 25th anniversary of the publication of Race Matters.
In 1993, Dr. Cornel West released his classic Race Matters, which immediately became a best-seller and situated him as one of the most important Black intellectuals of our time.
The book has now been re-released with a new introduction, 25 years after it made its initial debut. Diverse recently interviewed the Harvard scholar about the book and the current state of race relations.
Diverse: It’s hard to believe that it’s been 25 years since you first published Race Matters.
West: Isn’t that the truth? It’s a blessing to live that long.
Diverse: It was such a transformative text for so many. Why do you think it resonated so much with the public?
West: It’s hard to say. I think it was interdisciplinary. It tried to be honest. It tried to be critical. It tried to wrestle with this vicious legacy of White supremacy. It was at that Rodney King moment and all of the massive rebellions that went along with that moment.
Diverse: Why did you decide to do a new introduction?
West: I didn’t come up with the idea at all. I didn’t think about it. [The publisher] came up with the idea. They just wanted me to write an introduction, and I said, ‘Well, let me write a blazing and sizzling introduction that ‘race matters’in the 21st century that ties so directly into Empire matters and Earth matters and homophobia and transphobia, so to try to accent these crucial class dimensions and imperial dimensions of White supremacy. I think that’s what’s badly needed right now. The last thing we need is to somehow isolate this vicious legacy of White supremacy. We don’t want to be pre-DuBoisian. So much of our discourse remains pre-DuBoisian and in the neo-liberal mode, and I’m trying to push that DuBoisian perspective.
Diverse: Of course, when you wrote the book, most people had never heard of Barack Obama. What has the election of the nation’s first Black president meant for “race matters”? And how worried are you about “race matters” in the era of Donald Trump?
West: Well, it’s like any other ugly neo-fascist era. We have to remain vigilant in terms of connecting White supremacy to the rule of big business, to the rule of big military and the ways in which patriarchal, machismo identity reinforce the ways in which trans and gays and lesbians are demonized, and at the center, of course, is this contempt for Black people. I think in so many ways what happened with our dear Brother Barack Obama was we ended up with so many Black people waving the flag because you had a Black face, a brilliant Black brother, who headed the American Empire. So, it became very difficult to criticize the Empire. There was a protective shield around him. For somebody to cut against that grain, as I tried to do, was a very, very difficult thing. I would do it again, even more intensely, but it was a difficult thing to do, but it was really a question of holding up the standard of the best of the Black freedom movement. It’s very difficult to do that at a moment in which you have unprecedented success at the highest level of the Empire. It’s very difficult because it looks like you’re hating on an individual Black man, as opposed to being critical of an Empire that he is running; critical of a capitalist regime that he is the head of.
Diverse: You offered a biting critique in Race Matters of Black political leadership. How would you assess where we are today?
West: It’s clear we have pretty low quality of Black leadership at the top. We have magnificent Black leadership emerging at the grassroots. When you go to our elite leadership, oh my, it’s low quality. It’s disheartening. When you go to grassroots leadership — not highly visible — it’s emerging with tremendous power and that’s a beautiful thing to be a part of.
Diverse: And what about the role of Black intellectuals?
West: We have a market-driven public sphere in which every critique is viewed as a take-down. Every conversation is reduced to competition. And so every attempt to engage in some kind of critical inquiry is viewed as an act of hatred and so it’s hard to be an intellectual. What happens is the careerism and the opportunism take over because so many Black intellectuals are scared, afraid to engage in any kind of public criticism of somebody who has got a major hold on the market. It undermines their career possibilities. It undermines their professional upward mobility. And so it takes tremendous courage, especially among the younger generation. It’s easier for me, because I’m an old brother.
Diverse: Were you surprised by the response of so many after you recently offered a critique of Ta-Nehisi Coates in The Guardian?
West: Not really, because I just know that things are so dumbed down. That’s why I included in the piece that I want you all to know that this is not an act of hatred. I want you to know this is not a take-down; that Brother Coates is my brother and he is a significant voice and he needs to be taken seriously and you can’t take somebody seriously unless you give them the benefit of being wrong as well as being right.
And that’s just the way it is. When Adolph Reed was critical of me in 1993, I learned from his criticisms. One of the reasons why we work together, march together, lecture together is because we learn from one another, which is not to say that we have full agreement on everything, but we’ve got agreement on significant things.
The same is true with Nation of Islam. They came at me tooth and nail in 1993. And what did I do? I sat down and had a long dialogue with Minister Louis Farrakhan. I had a long dialogue with the Nation. I come out of the legacy of Martin [Luther] King. Y’all come out of the legacy of Elijah Muhammad. Let’s see where we agree, let’s see where we disagree. Same is true with Brother [Al] Sharpton. Same is true with Molefi Asante. He had a blistering critique of me. I sat down with the brother. We had a long public dialogue. We talked together in Jeremiah Wright’s church in Chicago. He was coming from an Afrocentric point of view. I was coming from the legacy of Martin King. That does not mean we don’t work together.
I do learn from Brother Coates and I would hope that he could learn something from me.
Semantic Tags: Barack Obama • Dr. Cornel West • Harvard Divinity School • Race Relations • Ta-Nehisi Coates
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Rush: Are We Being Set Up for Disappointment?
Thread: Rush: Are We Being Set Up for Disappointment?
DLP Member
RUSH: Okay. I'll play devil's advocate. I keep hearing from people in the email, "I'm not buying it, Rush. I'm not buying it. I'm not buying this resume business. We're being set up." I can't tell you the number of emails I am getting. They're not spam. You know, they're not seminar emails. There are people who are telling me, "You better be very careful. They have appointed this guy who's Mr. Impeccable so when he comes back and says, 'There was nothing that went wrong here, that everything was aboveboard,' nobody can question it, Rush.
"So you better just wait. We're talking..." I'm not predicting anything here. All I'm doing is telling you that I think there are some people in Washington to whom this whole thing is way above and beyond what is tolerable. And they're not gonna put up with it. I think Barr's one of these. I think his acknowledgment, under oath, that he thinks the Trump campaign was spied on... There are people that know what went on here.
The question is always gonna come down is: Will they actually want to follow through and do anything about it or (as time passes and passions slip away, passions evaporate) will the temptation be just to kind of let it fade away. Let the fact that there was never any collusion, let the fact there was a totally politicized, weaponized political operation... Just let it all fade away. The path of least resistance is to just do nothing. It's always a danger.
You know, in professional sports... Let's just use baseball, for example. There isn't a person alive out there, I think, who will confirm this. But I used to work for a professional baseball team. I got to know some umpires. I was a fan when I first started like everybody would be. So I asked these guys. I'd talk to 'em before the game, and I'd ask 'em about the job, about the game, history of the game, controversial calls.
In discussing bang-bang plays like at first base on the tail end of a double play or a close play at the plate, there's a philosophy. It's not just in baseball. It's not just professional sports. But the philosophy is that calling somebody out on a bang-bang play instead of calling them safe has the least impact on the end result. It's not that it's a conscious thing that umpires or referees and other sports think of when bang-bang plays happen.
It's just that when there's no way of knowing for sure, even with replay... Of course, replay takes the doubt out of a lot. But it also confuses much. But there just... The least effective, the least impact is to go ahead and say the guy was out or that the touchdown was no good or that the pass was incomplete or whatever. It's much less disruptive than to say the guy was safe. If you don't know. If it's a bang-bang play. Well, here in Washington politics, it could be the same.
We have what has happened here. We know it's an outrage. We know it is one of the greatest political scandals ever in the history of the country, but now it's over. Although it isn't. And there might be some people who say, "You know, let it lie. It's over with. We got the report. Trump's innocent. Trump didn't do anything. If we proceed on this and if we start investigating these people and some of them go to jail, it's gonna have such a bad impact on the country and such a negative impact on the perception of justice."
I think it'd be just the opposite. But I do know that that philosophy exists, to let it go. It's all part of the defining deviance down. It's just easier. It's just easier to call what used to be criminal "normal" than to go after the bad guys. We define deviancy down throughout the country. Homelessness is tolerated. People pooping on the streets of San Francisco is now tolerated. It's just easier than doing something about it -- and I'm not saying that's right.
I'm saying it's tantamount to the degree of laziness that has overtaken much of public enforcement of public morals and law. "It's just easier just to not hassle. It's just so much hassle to try to enforce this stuff. You know, let's just up the budget and clean the poor up every day instead of fighting it, 'cause we're never gonna stop it." It's the same thing here, and I hope that does not overtake this. I hope the rage that got this investigation started maintains itself as they learn more details as they go.
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Robert Jackson's Responses to DFNYC's 2014 Candidate Questionnaire
Category: Candidates-2014
Robert Jackson, former City Councilmember
Candidate for State Senate - Dist. 31 - Uptown & west side of Manhattan
2014 DFNYC State Candidate Questionnaire
1. Money in NY Politics / Fair Elections (McCutcheon v. FEC)
This year, Albany gave us a budget that failed to reform the role of big money in New York politics. The sky-high campaign contribution limits weren't lowered, disclosure of outside special interest spending wasn't strengthened, and public campaign financing was limited to the 2014 comptroller race. Responsibility for administering the public financing "pilot" falls to the state Board of Elections, which is regarded as dysfunctional, ineffective and underfunded.
a. Would you support a change to full public financing of campaigns, similar to the Clean Money Clean Elections programs in Arizona, Connecticut and Maine?
b. What is your opinion of the Supreme Court’s decision of McCutcheon v. FEC and its potential impact on NY campaigns?
It doesn’t really effect the need to set real limits on contributions and closing corporate subsidiary and LLC loopholes.
c. What is your opinion of Governor Cuomo’s actions toward the Moreland Commission?
Responses: It should not have been disbanded.
Only by taking the money out of politics can the people get their government back. My five point plan includes: Establishing a public financing program modeled on the successful NYC program; Setting real limits on contributions and closing corporate subsidiary and LLC loopholes; Restricting fundraising during the legislative session, instituting fixed limits on those doing business with the government; Increasing reporting, transparency and enforcement; Prohibiting the use of campaign funds.
2. Tenant Protection & Cost of Housing / Home Rule (Rent Issue) / Real Estate Development
Do you support rent stabilization and rent control laws? What will you do to crack down on landlords that break the law? Do you support a repeal vacancy decontrol and, more generally, a repeal of the Urstadt Law, so that New York City – and not Albany – can enact its own housing laws?
Response: We must preserve the affordable housing we have, particularly through strengthening rent laws, repealing vacancy decontrol and the Urstadt law, and providing resources and representation to threatened tenants.. We must fix-up existing housing, particularly through better management of NYCHA. And we must build new housing, through inclusionary zoning and innovative approaches like the effort I lead to build the Sugar Hill project.
3. Universal Pre-K & After-School
Generally, we at DFNYC are pleased that Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio were able to come together and compromise on a bill for universal pre-kindergarten. While it calls for $300 million in funding for universal pre-K programs the final budget, many of us feel that the funding stream is not sustainable and the budget was unfair to many towns outside of New York City. Would you support state legislation allowing Mayor de Blasio to change the funding stream by raising marginal income tax on the wealthiest residents of the City in order to ensure the long-term viability of the programs?
Response: I support universal pre-K, worked on the Council to successfully create new Pre-K openings and believe that the City should be able to have a dedicated tax.
4. Teacher Evaluation
New York elected officials--through laws, regulations, and negotiation of union contracts-- have sought to enact meaningful evaluation of public school teachers. What is your opinion of using the following factors in evaluation of public school teachers?
a) Improvement in student test scores b) Professional observations by other teachersc) Student surveysd) Whether the teacher has an advanced degreee) Classroom observations of the teacher by principals or other education professionalsf) Principals’ unannounced observations of teachers.
Response: I support the recent legislative agreement saying teachers rated ineffective based on state Common Core tests this year or next will not face negative consequences. Teacher evaluation should be geared to improving teaching and student outcomes, not based on student test scores alone. We must move away from all these high stakes testing. The best evaluators are fellow teachers who participate in a collaborative process of reviewing student work, improving lessons and fine-tuning instruction. The measures of teacher success are well-educated students. We must have a more broad-based measure of teacher effectiveness.
5. Mayoral Control of NYC Schools
Albany granted former Mayor Bloomberg's request for mayoral control of the schools in 2002. In 2009, Governor David Paterson and the state legislature voted to renew mayoral control until June 30th of 2015 (less than a year from now). The 2009 changes included requiring the DOE to keep parents better informed of what is happening in the schools, as well as more transparency in approval of large contracts. Mayor Bill de Blasio is the first NYC mayor to have mayoral control after Bloomberg and has indicated he will have a Department of Education that is different in many ways than Mayor Bloomberg.
a. When mayoral control of the schools is up for renewal next June, it seems likely that it will be renewed, but with significant changes. Do you favor:
• Letting mayoral control expire and going back to a pre-2002 system,
• Renewing mayoral control as is,
• Changing to a hybrid system, where power would be shared by the mayor and a school board, or
• Renewing it, but with significant changes to the current system.
b. Additionally, one of the current parts of mayoral control that has caused the most controversy is the public hearing process. When the DOE proposes a change to a school or school building (co-location of a charter school, approval of a new school, phase out or "closing" of a school deemed to be failing), there is a joint public hearing (a "JFH") at the school building, where parents, teachers, students and other community members can voice their concerns. But the ultimate vote is later, with the city-wide Panel for Education Policy (the "PEP"), a Board of appointees from the Mayor's Office and the Borough Presidents' Office. Critics say far from being a democratic process, the structure of the PEP and its hearings make it essentially a rubber stamp for whatever the DOE has already decided. Even some supporters of mayoral control have conceded this point and found PEP hearings to be mostly a waste of time for all parties involved. On the one hand, government officials need to plan and make decisions about schools and buildings in a timely, efficient matter. On the other hand, important decisions about schools should have a public hearing process and be made with community input. What are your ideas for balancing these interests, specifically in terms of changing the mayoral control legislation?
Response: I oppose Mayoral control. Under Bloomberg Mayoral Control, parents, teachers and students were shut out of the decision making process and it was more a “do as we say [not as we do]” attitude and system. We need a governance system that respects the people directly impacted and involves them as stakeholders in shaping important educational decisions.
6. Implementation of Common Core Standards.
The NYS Board of Regents recently gave New York public schools five more years to fully implement tougher academic standards known as the Common Core. Supporters have argued that the new high standards – which are internationally benchmarked – will ensure that students in the South Bronx will have the same expectations as students on the Upper East Side, and that all students in New York and across the country are college and career ready at age 18. Critics, however – which include a growing movement of principals, teachers and parents that are on the front lines of education every day - point to problems such as a huge amount of disorganization in the implementation in NY (lack of materials and training), concerns about teaching to the test, and the arbitrariness of using Common Core-based test scores to measure student, school and teacher performance.
a. Do you favor continued support of Common Core standards in New York?
b. Do you support the Common Core curriculum that has been developed in New York?
c. What will you do – or have you done – to assist parents, teachers, and others in the education community that have raised concerns about Common Core?
Responses: While I'm generally in support of common core standards, New York's implementation has been terrible. Before the test go into effect, we must first get teachers the curriculum and materials they need to help their students succeed.
7. Taxes: City Wage Tax, FTT and general principles.
New York City’s budget depends in large part on the city wage tax, which is only paid by residents, not everyone who works in NYC.
a. Would you vote to allow NYC to collect the tax from people from the suburbs who work in NYC and benefit from our services (police, fire, etc.)?
Yes, and was mistake of my opponent to vote to repeal the commuter tax. His vote has cost NYC $9.7 billion paid by commuters that could help fund our schools, the arts and essential services.
b. Would you support efforts to collect the tax from people who actually live in New York City but use a second home (a loophole not available to middle class New Yorkers with just one home) to avoid the city wage tax?
c. Do you support progressive taxation?
d. Would you support a federal financial transaction tax to either raise revenue, reduce the practice of high frequency trading, or both?
8. Minimum Wage / Living Wage
New York State's recent minimum wage increased to $8 an hour, 75 cents above the federal minimum and the old state rate. It's the first of three incremental boosts that were approved by the Legislature and Gov. Cuomo. The minimum for most workers will increase at the end of 2014 to $8.75 an hour and to $9 an hour a year after that. The minimums for workers in the restaurant industry who get tips may remain $5 an hour, with employers able to raise the maximum tip credits to $3 an hour the first year, $3.75 the second and $4 after that. Earlier this year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, and legislative leaders quickly shot down a proposal by Mayor Bill de Blasio to let New York City set its own minimum wage. Advocates for New York’s working poor were disappointed, saying the minimum wage should be $15 an hour and include workers who get tips. We at DFNYC feel no one should ever endure the kind of economic humiliation that comes with working a full-time job and making a less-than-living wage. Do you support State Senator Daniel L. Squadron’s bill to raise the minimum wage for many low-paid workers, calling for a $15-an-hour “fair wage” for employees of McDonald’s and Walmart and other businesses with yearly sales of $50 million or more?
Response: Yes, I support the statewide increase in minimum wage, and giving local municipalities the power to further increase their wages. I support the Squadron bill.
9. Real Estate Development / Reform of Scaffold Law.
a. We live in a city where livability is a major issue for the vast majority of its residents. There has been a major upswing in development of late, particularly in areas such as Brooklyn and now the Bronx. Residents are constantly getting displaced despite pledges to protect them from such treatment. For example, Bruce Ratner did not live up to his promise to provide affordable housing and aid to residents and small businesses displaced by the Barclay’s Center. What would you propose to ensure that big businesses and developers are able to achieve success at the hands of the rest of New Yorkers?
b. Much has been made of Mayor de Blasio’s pledge to build or restore 200,000 additional units of affordable housing in New York City. However, another issue that has not received nearly enough attention has been the lack of sustainability in New York City. What would you propose to ensure more green buildings are built and greater energy efficiency is met in existing structures? Another issue in New York City is a lack of sunlight caused by the amount of tall buildings. Would you support changes to zoning laws for thinner, smaller, greener structures being built?
Response: Manhattan will continue to grow, but it is important that it grows in the right way that protects neighborhoods, promotes diversity and sustainability, ensures more green buildings are built and greater energy efficiency is achieved and protects existing residents. Instead of giving large tax breaks to luxury developments, we should be using that money to create affordable and sustainable housing. Instead of sitting back and letting Albany control our housing decisions, we must fight for Home Rule, repeal of the Urstadt Law and ending vacancy destabilization. Instead of selling off public land wherever he can find it for luxury development, we should be more concerned with the existing residents. And instead of letting developers off the hook when they fail to meet their commitments, we should be going after them to claw back the benefits they received.
c. What is your opinion of NY Labor Law 240, otherwise known as the Scaffold Law? Contractors, property owners and insurers argue that the law is antiquated and prejudicial against contractors and property owners, and essentially absolves employees of responsibility for their own accidents, leading to huge settlements. The payouts, they contend, have in turn led to skyrocketing insurance premiums that are hampering construction and the state’s economic growth. But a counter-lobby of unions, workers’ advocates and trial lawyers argue that the law is essential to ensuring the safety of workers in some of the world’s most dangerous jobs, particularly those employed by shoddy contracting firms that cut corners to save money. The law, they say, holds developers and contractors accountable for keeping job sites safe.
Response: We need the Scaffold Law to help level the playing field and protect workers.
10. Albany Corruption
Albany has been the center of corruption scandals in recent years, during which more than a dozen New York assemblymen and senators have been charged with corruption or convicted. What measures, in your opinion, are necessary to ensure that Albany’s culture of corruption does not continue?
Elected officials must be role models and held to higher standards. We need more transparency and there should be no tolerance for misconduct. Public officials must set a positive example. I'm proud of who I am and what I have done. That's why I always wore a button, so people can come up to me and tell me what is on their mind. And I'm proud that I've built a record of integrity
11. Legalization of Marijuana.
Do you support passing legislation allowing the use of marijuana in New York State for medicinal purposes? Recreational? Both?
12. Police Militarization
Eric Garner, a 40-year old African American man from Staten Island died suspiciously while in N.Y.P.D. custody. Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man, was shot dead by police in Ferguson, Missouri. Entire mosques in New York and New Jersey were labelled as "terrorist" organizations by an N.Y.P.D. special surveillance unit, as reported by the AP in the fall of 2013. (Mayor de Blasio shut down that unit in April.) a. What strategies have you taken, or would you take, to deal with the problems of racism and increased militarization of local police? b. Would you be in favor of using the budget process to ensure that police are peace keepers, as opposed to a quasi-military force (i.e. by limiting local, state and federal budget appropriations for additional weapons)?
Response: As Chair of the Council Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, I took the lead advocating an end to “Stop and Frisk” as it was performed and that the Department’s own numbers showed that hundreds of thousands of law abiding New Yorkers every year were being stopped, and the vast majority are black and Latino.
13. Vision Zero
Are you in agreement with the Mayor that the state legislature should allow the city more control in the administration of traffic safety measures such as speed reduction? Are you in agreement with the three elements at the center of the Mayor de Blasio’s plan - reducing the citywide speed limit and increasing the number of cameras to catch drivers who speed or ignore red lights? The City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission has been exploring initiatives to help further the Mayor’s goal of zero pedestrian deaths, such as installing black box recording devices to record driver behavior in TLC-licensed vehicles, forming an enforcement squad with speed guns to enforce speed limits, installing new technology in cabs that could limit vehicle speeds, warn of an impending crash, sound an alarm if the driver speeds and even reduce the fare or shut the meter if the driver is traveling too fast. However, as studies have shown, the crash rate as a result of taxis and livery cabs is actually lower than those of other vehicles. What do you think is most necessary to ensure vehicle safety on the roads and highways?
Response: Through neighborhood based traffic initiatives, we must make the streets safe for all. It means more enforcement, more education and more cooperation and understanding by pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.
14. Lightening Round:
Please provide a yes or no answer to the following questions. If you can’t provide a simple yes or no, please provide a brief explanation. (25 words total – all 4 questions.)
Abortion - Do you support a women’s right to choose? Yes
Marriage Equality: Do you support same-sex marriage? Do you believe all 50 states should allow marriage equality? Yes. And Yes.
Hobby Lobby: Do you support the "Boss Bill," which would update New York's labor laws to ban an employer from citing religious freedom as a reason to deny women reproductive health care — including access to birth control and infertility treatments? Yes.
Do you believe corporations should have the legal status of personhood? No.
Do you support Net Neutrality, and are you willing to publicly state this position? (For example, in a petition or comment letter to the FCC.) Yes.
These are the responses of former Councilmember Robert Jackson, candidate for state senate in District 31. To read the responses of his opponent, Adriano Espaillat, click here.
Adriano Espaillat's Responses to DFNYC's 2014 Questionnaire
Adriano Espaillat's Responses to our Issue Questionnaire
State Senate - Dist. 31 - Uptown & west side of Manhattan
Yes. I have been an outspoken advocate for campaign finance reform that includes a matching funds system and eliminates the “multiple LLC” loophole that has empowered the real estate industry at tenants’ and the general public’s expense.
The McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission verdict is a major setback for reducing the influence of money in politics; I strongly support measures to undo this perversion of the democratic system.
The 31st Senate District has more rent-stabilized units than any other district in New York City – I am proud to have the endorsement of Tenants PAC and committed safeguarding and expanding the emergency tenant protection act that has ensured affordable more than 2 million New Yorkers. I proudly support the repeal of both vacancy decontrol and the Urstadt Law; after it was revealed that 421-a tax breaks had been awarded to luxury developments targeted towards billionaires, I was the first elected official to call for their repeal.
Select news clips from my record on housing issues:
Espaillat Led the Charge for Repealing Tax Breaks Given to Luxury Housing for Billionaires. “A group of state lawmakers wants to undo legislation passed this year that singled out five luxury housing developments in Manhattan for property tax breaks. “Espaillat and Brad Hoylman, along with 10 other pols, sent Gov. Cuomo a letter Wednesday asking him to help repeal the controversial provision. Writing, “It is critical that we correct this outrageous symbol of waste and special interest privilege.” One of the five projects is One57, a 90-story luxury tower on W. 57th St. that reportedly sold two penthouses for $90 million each. [Daily News, 07/24/2013]
Espaillat Named “Democratic Pointman” to Renew Rent Laws in 2011. “Uptown state Sen. Adriano Espaillat is technically a freshman, but he has become the Democratic pointman in Albany's tug-of-war over rent regulations. The regs, which shelter more than 1 million apartments in the city from full market-rate rents, expire June 14…On the strength of his prior 14 years in the Assembly, Espaillat was tapped as the ranking minority Democrat on the Senate Housing Committee. And he's chief sponsor of the same tenant-friendly omnibus rent regulations bill passed three days ago by the Democratic Assembly.” [Daily News, 04/14/2011]
Espaillat Intervened on Behalf of Tenants Facing Unfair Rent Hikes. “State investigators are probing an uptown real estate mogul for hiking tenants’ rent — by double digits rates — sparking a fierce housing battle in Washington Heights. Residents reported their woes to state Sen. Adriano Espaillat (D-Washington Heights), who then contacted the state agency. ‘I’m excited that the state housing agency will be taking action in the near future,’ said Espaillat, who noted that 19 families were affected by the rent hike.” [NY Daily News, 1/15/14]
Espaillat Stood Up for Foreign-Born Tenants Facing Harassment and Intimidation. “A battle cry to mobilize uptown tenants against a disgusting rat problem has ignited a potential court fight to protect foreign-born residents from what they say are bullying tactics on the part of the landlord. Espaillat and Councilman Mark Levine fired off letters Monday to the state Tenant Protection Unit and federal Department of Housing and Urban Development asking the agencies to probe the allegations. “We cannot allow this discrimination to be tolerated,” the officials said. [Daily News,04/29/2014]
Yes, I strongly supported legislation creating a permanent UPK revenue stream by taxing the wealthiest New Yorkers, and will continue to do so. The $300 million we were able to secure this year was an incredible victory, but we must ensure this funding continues, and also allocate the companion afterschool funding the Mayor called.
a) Improvement in student test scores
b) Professional observations by other teachers
c) Student surveys
d) Whether the teacher has an advanced degree
e) Classroom observations of the teacher by principals or other education professionals
f) Principals’ unannounced observations of teachers.
I have strong reservations over the use of test scores for assessment purposes that do not take into account student composition, including English Language Learners, and student requiring Individual Learning Plans. Doing so encourages schools to game the system, and focus on securing preferred students instead of ensuring all students’ needs are addressed.
In particular, I have continually cited the disproportionally small enrollment ELLs in New York City charter schools as a problem that must be addressed; have stated that until this enrollment gap is closed, their effectiveness cannot be fairly measured.
I support a variety of assessment methods – but I strongly value peer assessment, and the evaluations performed by professional educators. I am proud to have the support of the United Federation of Teachers in this campaign, and I will continue to work with them to fight for appropriate assessment standards that do not penalize teachers for taking on the challenge of providing an urban education in difficult circumstances.
When mayoral control of the schools is up for renewal next June, it seems likely that it will be renewed, but with significant changes.
a. Do you favor:
I am committed to using the Mayoral Control reauthorization process to increase parental and community stakeholder power. This includes expanding the role of district CEC and individual School Leadership Teams, particularly on portfolio planning and zoning issues where parents have struggled to obtain accurate growth projections from DOE.
Common Core’s implementation has been disastrous on many fronts: from poor-quality Spanish language materials, to inadequate community outreach and explanation, to the insufficient training that was provided to teachers and educators. I have supported a moratorium on the use of Common Core assessments unlike our community is satisfied it has been given proper resources for this transition. I have specifically raised the quality of non-English language materials issue with SED.
More broadly, I was a staunch supporter of the successful push to reign in the rising and excessive amount of standardized testing that New York kids are subjected to, which interrupts classroom learning, by banning testing in grades kindergarten through second grade.
Would you vote to allow NYC to collect the tax from people from the suburbs who work in NYC and benefit from our services (police, fire, etc.)? Yes.
Would you support efforts to collect the tax from people who actually live in New York City but use a second home (a loophole not available to middle class New Yorkers with just one home) to avoid the city wage tax? Yes.
Do you support progressive taxation? Yes.
Would you support a federal financial transaction tax to either raise revenue, reduce the practice of high frequency trading, or both? Yes. I am on record as supporting the “Robin Hood Tax” bill proposed by Congressman Keith Ellison. In the 2014 13th Congressional District primary, I was the first candidate to support this proposal, and was heartened that other candidates changed their position in response to my statement of support.
New York State's recent minimum wage increased to $8 an hour, 75 cents above the federal minimum and the old state rate. It's the first of three incremental boosts that were approved by the Legislature and Gov. Cuomo . The minimum for most workers will increase at the end of 2014 to $8.75 an hour and to $9 an hour a year after that. The minimums for workers in the restaurant industry who get tips may remain $5 an hour, with employers able to raise the maximum tip credits to $3 an hour the first year, $3.75 the second and $4 after that. Earlier this year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, and legislative leaders quickly shot down a proposal by Mayor Bill de Blasio to let New York City set its own minimum wage. Advocates for New York’s working poor were disappointed, saying the minimum wage should be $15 an hour and include workers who get tips. We at DFNYC feel no one should ever endure the kind of economic humiliation that comes with working a full-time job and making a less-than-living wage. Do you support State Senator Daniel L. Squadron’s bill to raise the minimum wage for many low-paid workers, calling for a $15-an-hour “fair wage” for employees of McDonald’s and Walmart and other businesses with yearly sales of $50 million or more?
Yes. I have been a leader within the Democratic Conference in the fight for minimum wage, and was the first to introduce legislation permitting New York City to set its own minimum wage. It is essential that this be indexed to inflation, so its purchasing power does not erode over time.
I support the push towards an 80/20 development model; closing a variety of loopholes that developers have used to shirk their responsibilities. This year, I proposed an Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ) reform plan to shift public subsidies away from big box stores and developments like East River Plaza (in East Harlem, a Bruce Ratner project) towards local small businesses and employers paying good wages and benefits.
I opposed the West Side Stadium project in Manhattan. In contrast, my opponent strongly supported it when he was in the City Council.
b. Much has been made of Mayor de Blasio’s pledge to build or restore 200,000 additional units of affordable housing in New York City. However, another issue that has not received nearly enough attention has been the lack of sustainability in New York City. What would you propose to ensure more green buildings are built and greater energy efficiency is met in existing structures?
A critical way to achieve energy efficiency is through transit-oriented development, to ensure that development occurs near public transportation; and expanding transit options in areas within rising population density. I support a concentrated push for this across the state. I have also pushed to maintain and expand weatherization subsidies, particularly for low-income households and neighborhoods.
c. Another issue in New York City is a lack of sunlight caused by the amount of tall buildings.
Would you support changes to zoning laws for thinner, smaller, greener structures being built?
Existing laws regulating “sliver buildings” prevent blighted conditions that existed throughout New York’s history and blocked low-income homes from sufficient light exposure. The limitations against conditions like this are sensible.
d. What is your opinion of NY Labor Law 240, otherwise known as the Scaffold Law? Contractors, property owners and insurers argue that the law is antiquated and prejudicial against contractors and property owners, and essentially absolves employees of responsibility for their own accidents, leading to huge settlements. The payouts, they contend, have in turn led to skyrocketing insurance premiums that are hampering construction and the state’s economic growth. But a counter-lobby of unions, workers’ advocates and trial lawyers argue that the law is essential to ensuring the safety of workers in some of the world’s most dangerous jobs, particularly those employed by shoddy contracting firms that cut corners to save money. The law, they say, holds developers and contractors accountable for keeping job sites safe.
I do not support amending the Scaffold Law; viable support for this issue does not currently exist within the legislature.
Enacting sweeping campaign finance reform is a critical step for eliminating corruption reducing the influence of special interests in Albany. I have also supported making the NYS Legislature a full time job, as I interpret it to be, to eliminate conflicts of interest.
I have supported and voted for medical marijuana legislation this year; I continue to support marijuana decriminalization.
Eric Garner, a 40-year old African American man from Staten Island died suspiciously while in N.Y.P.D. custody. Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man, was shot dead by police in Ferguson, Missouri. Entire mosques in New York and New Jersey were labelled as "terrorist" organizations by an N.Y.P.D. special surveillance unit, as reported by the AP in the fall of 2013. (Mayor de Blasio shut down that unit in April.)
a. What strategies have you taken, or would you take, to deal with the problems of racism and increased militarization of local police?
I have been a persistent critic of counterproductive policing tactics primarily used under the previous mayoral administration, that violated civil liberties, including stop and frisk and the unrestricted surveillance of New York’s Muslim communities. I started my career as a NYPD Precinct Community Council Chair, and I have consistently forged working partnerships between Upper Manhattan communities and the NYPD, through effective collaboration on local issues and sought consensus whenever possible.
b. Would you be in favor of using the budget process to ensure that police are peace keepers, as opposed to a quasi-military force (i.e. by limiting local, state and federal budget appropriations for additional weapons)?
Yes. Our Police Department must be given all the resources it needs to be successful, and ensure the well being of its officers. But this does not require the use decommissioned military equipment; I would support using the legislative and budget process to codify this protection.
Are you in agreement with the Mayor that the state legislature should allow the city more control in the administration of traffic safety measures such as speed reduction?
Yes, and I began sponsoring legislation in 2013 to grant New York City permanent home rule over speed and red light camera governance, so the city does not need state approval for basic lifesaving measures.
I was an early supporter of Vision Zero, and have been endorsed by StreetsPAC in this campaign.
Are you in agreement with the three elements at the center of the Mayor de Blasio’s plan - reducing the citywide speed limit and increasing the number of cameras to catch drivers who speed or ignore red lights?
Yes, I have been a co-sponsor these initiatives, including the 2013 bill creating the speed camera pilot program, and this year’s successful push to reduce the city speed limit.
The City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission has been exploring initiatives to help further the Mayor’s goal of zero pedestrian deaths, such as installing black box recording devices to record driver behavior in TLC-licensed vehicles, forming an enforcement squad with speed guns to enforce speed limits, installing new technology in cabs that could limit vehicle speeds, warn of an impending crash, sound an alarm if the driver speeds and even reduce the fare or shut the meter if the driver is traveling too fast. However, as studies have shown, the crash rate as a result of taxis and livery cabs is actually lower than those of other vehicles. What do you think is most necessary to ensure vehicle safety on the roads and highways?
I support an “all hands on deck” approach to reducing the disproportionately high rates of traffic violence in Upper Manhattan and the West Side. I have proposed and supported slow zones, pedestrian plazas, street redesigns, speed cameras. And I believe that new regulations require enforcement to be successful; ensure the safety of pedestrians and cyclists.
Abortion - Do you support a women’s right to choose? Yes.
Marriage Equality: Do you support same-sex marriage? Do you believe all 50 states should allow marriage equality? Yes, I have consistently voted for marriage equality legislation since its first Assembly floor vote in 2007, and worked to build support within the Latino community in the run-up to the successful 2011 Senate vote.
Do you believe corporations should have the legal status of personhood? No!
Do you support Net Neutrality, and are you willing to publicly state this position? (For example, in a petition or comment letter to the FCC.) I support net neutrality, and will continue to state this publicly.
These are the responses from Adriano Espaillat, incumbent State Senator in the 31st District. To read the responses of his opponent, former City Councilmember Robert Jackson, click here.
Zephyr Teachout's Responses to DFNYC's 2014 Candidate Questionnaire
Zephyr Teachout
Candidate for Governor of New York
Would you support a change to full public financing of campaigns, similar to the Clean Money Clean Elections programs in Arizona, Connecticut and Maine?
Yes. The way to fix the broken system is to provide public financing for all statewide and legislative elections. In New York City and Connecticut, public funding has increased the influence of voters and small donors, diversified who contributes, and enabled a greater variety of candidates to run for office. Already, public funding has empowered middle class families to shape
policy, achieving reforms like paid sick days, and empowered more women and minorities to stand as candidates. Public funding of elections will bring us closer to achieving real democracy.
What is your opinion of the Supreme Court’s decision of McCutcheon v. FEC and its potential impact on NY campaigns?
Contribution limits are crucial to fighting real and perceived corruption. The devastating impact of this case will be to further amplify our State’s problem with money in politics. Barring the passage of publicly financed elections and increased regulations for state party housekeeping accounts New Yorkers’ faith in our elected representatives.
What is your opinion of Governor Cuomo’s actions toward the Moreland Commission?
Governor Cuomo should never have disbanded the Moreland Commission. His decision to close down a public investigation into corruption is deeply disturbing. His justification for it – that negotiations with lawmakers in closed discussions had rendered the Commission obsolete – reveals how little respect the Governor holds for the public and for public accountability. His actions squandered a huge opportunity to bring meaningful change to Albany. Instead, Governor Cuomo has reinforced and replicated existing corruption.
If Governor Cuomo directed or knew about Larry Schwartz’ actions, the Governor should resign. At the very least Schwartz should be fired. It’s hard to believe that Schwartz was not acting with the Governor’s knowledge.
I’m a property law professor. I strongly favor the repeal of the Urstadt law and believe in some degree of local control. The City Council and Mayor should have the authority to set housing laws. I also support rent stabilization and rent control laws.
Yes. We live in an exceptional state in one of the greatest cities in the world. As such, everyone should pay their fair share to enjoy these privileges. I support state legislation allowing Mayor de Blasio to raise marginal income tax on the wealthiest residents of New York City to support this program.
The over reliance on high stakes testing is problematic. Instead, we should be taking steps that keep good teachers in the classroom. There is no evidence to support the idea that basing teacher evaluations on test scores is educationally valid and I have a great deal of concern that this practice will encourage educators to simply teach-to-the-test. The primary objective of teacher evaluations should be to improve the quality of teaching. There is clear evidence that the most effective way to do this is to create a collaborative climate within schools, not a competitive climate between teachers. To facilitate this teacher mentoring programs are key which is why professional observations by other teachers are essential to effective evaluations. Principal observations are important. One positive feedback available from teachers regarding the new evaluation system is that the in depth interaction between principals and teachers is a valuable professional experience. Thorough interactions of this type, both between principals and teachers and between teacher mentors and teachers who are new or struggling are important to improving the quality of teaching and to retaining teachers. Student surveys can also make a valuable contribution to the teacher evaluation process--particularly if the focus is on aiding teachers to improve their craft. The entire issue of teacher evaluations has to be seen in a larger context where blaming teachers for the challenges our schools face is part of a larger political agenda on education reform.
Do you favor:
• Changing to a hybrid system, where power would be shared by the mayor and a school board,
One of the current parts of mayoral control that has caused the most controversy is the public hearing process. When the DOE proposes a change to a school or school building (co-location of a charter school, approval of a new school, phase out or "closing" of a school deemed to be failing), there is a joint public hearing (a "JFH") at the school building, where parents, teachers, students and other community members
can voice their concerns. But the ultimate vote is later, with the city-wide Panel for Education Policy (the "PEP"), a Board of appointees from the Mayor's Office and the Borough Presidents' Office. Critics say far from being a democratic process, the structure of the PEP and its hearings make it essentially a rubber stamp for whatever the DOE has already decided. Even some supporters of mayoral control have conceded this point and found PEP hearings to be mostly a waste of time for all parties involved. On the one hand, government officials need to plan and make decisions about schools and buildings in a timely, efficient matter. On the other hand, important decisions about schools should have a public hearing process and be made with community input. What are your ideas for balancing these interests, specifically in terms of changing the mayoral control legislation?
Under Mayor Bloomberg the PEP was in fact a rubber stamp, it voted with Bloomberg 100% of the time. The process of the PEP votes was essentially a meaningless charade. The only time the PEP was prepared to vote against the Mayor he fired several at will PEP members before the vote in order to secure the outcome he desired. New York City has the most extreme form of Mayoral Control in the country. There are reasons for optimism under Mayor de Blasio in that he has appointed educators and parents to the PEP who have real connections to local communities and he has pledged to let them make independent decisions. However, the PEP should have fixed terms to ensure that no matter who appoints them they can make independent decisions. It is important to remember that while Mayor Bloomberg named this panel as the PEP under state law it is actually the school board for the City of New York and it should have all the powers of a school board. School closings and co-locations should be significantly curtailed compared to what happened under Mayor Bloomberg. School closings should be a course of last resort rather than an educational strategy and co-locations that are hostile to existing schools should not be allowed. The Community Education Councils are the bodies you refer to which are responsible for the Joint Public Hearings along with the DOE. The CECs are currently powerless bodies that are supposed to give parents voice, but do not have any structural power. The CECs should have the power to reject closing and co-locations in schools in their districts. This is the only way to ensure that local parents have an actual voice in decision making. In 2014 there were policy changes that are directly relevant to mayoral control. Specifically the state mandated that in New York City if charter schools request a co-location then the City either must provide that co-location or must pay rent for that charter school in other space. This provision, which does not apply to any other locality in the state, should be repealed as part of the renewal of school governance laws in 2015. School governance is important, however, there have been multiple forms of governance in NYC over time. In fact there was a different form of mayoral control over 100 years ago, there has been a central school board that was not controlled by the mayor and there has been 32 locally elected school boards. Each system had flaws in terms of the education of the students. While I have not fully developed all of my positions on this, I do believe that the 2015 school governance legislation should address key educational strategies which may prove more important than governance itself. I would be interested in requirements that make the NYC DOE address overcrowding and require adequate resource investment and supports in struggling schools for instance. The focus on governance process sometimes overwhelms the need to focus on educational strategies--both are important.
a. Do you favor continued support of Common Core standards in New York? NO
b. Do you support the Common Core curriculum that has been developed in New York? NO
Common Core was a top-down approach to a deeply complex problem; there are no silver bullets in education reform. As a lawyer and activist, I participate in press events and rallies to highlight concerns around Common Core. As Governor, I would take what I have learned from families and concerned citizens at these events to reform Common Core for the betterment of New York State’s children. To do this properly it is essential that classroom educators, school administrators, parents and possibly even students are engaged in the development of standards and curriculum. NYS has placed more focus on raising the difficulty of the tests than on raising the quality of curriculum and instruction. If we are going to provide a higher standard of education, we cannot do that by simply making tests harder and expecting more of educators and students. We need to invest in our schools. New York has one of the greatest gaps in the inequity of school funding in the entire nation. The state is obligated to fulfill the Campaign for Fiscal Equity funding in order to begin closing this gap. Governor Cuomo has made no effort to do so. I would make fair and adequate school funding a top priority so we can get past the rhetoric of higher standards and actually provide a higher quality education particularly in poor communities which have suffered from decades of underfunded schools.
Would you vote to allow NYC to collect the tax from people from the suburbs who work in NYC and benefit from our services (police, fire, etc.)?
I’m not sure. It’s a complicated issue. I would do a comprehensive review of taxation and then carefully think about how to allocate the cost.
Would you support efforts to collect the tax from people who actually live in New York City but use a second home (a loophole not available to middle class New Yorkers with just one home) to avoid the city wage tax? YES
Do you support progressive taxation? YES
Would you support a federal financial transaction tax to either raise revenue, reduce the practice of high frequency trading, or both? YES. I support this both because it will make our markets more fair - by discouraging predatory high frequency trading - and could generate significant revenue in
Yes, I support Senator Squadron’s bill to raise the minimum wage as well as legislation that would give localities control to set the minimum wage above the state level, not below. New York is an extraordinary state, and we should have an economy that matches our capacity. Yet Governor Cuomo’s economy works primarily for a few big businesses, one that enriches the rich and strangles opportunities for the rest of us. Extreme consolidation has enabled a few giants to hike prices, squeeze supply, and unfairly trample competitors. The game is rigged, and the evidence is all around us. We face staggering inequality of wealth and opportunity, at levels unseen since the Gilded Age. Unemployment continues to soar even as corporate profits are booming. I am completely committed to local wage authorization. I strongly support paid sick days and paid family leave insurance, so that no parent has to choose between paying the bills and nursing a sick child. I support making it easier for workers to unionize. If a banker can join his ten friends to form a corporation, why should it be any harder for a factory worker to join his ten buddies to form a union?
This is a huge issue. I would push to eliminate subsidies that incentivize costly high rise buildings at the expense or to the exclusion of affordable housing. One of the best ways to increase affordable housing is to hold on to the affordable housing we have in New York. This means strong laws at the state level that are focused on middle and working class tenants and homeowners, not landlords, real estate developers and banks. I will also work with local officials to bring more resources and a better use of resources to NYCHA so that the problems facing residents can be fixed efficiently and safely.
b. Much has been made of Mayor de Blasio’s pledge to build or restore 200,000 additional units of affordable housing in New York City. However, another issue that has not received nearly enough attention has been the lack of sustainability in New York City.
What would you propose to ensure more green buildings are built and greater energy efficiency is met in existing structures?
I am in support of a public works program that would retrofit existing buildings to make them more energy efficient. We can accomplish this through a combination of mandates, public investments, and incentives should be implemented to ensure our buildings are more energy efficient.
c. Another issue in New York City is a lack of sunlight caused by the amount of tall buildings. Would you support changes to zoning laws for thinner, smaller, greener structures being built
In theory, yes. But I would have to learn more about the issue and existing policy proposals to understand if there might be other costs to these changes in zoning law.
I support the Scaffold law. It protects some of our most vulnerable workers. Everyone deserves the right to a safe and healthy work environment. While we cannot protect construction workers against all accidents we must offer workers the legal protection they deserve by holding those responsible accountable.
First and foremost, New York state should pass a publicly financed elections system modeled after New York City’s. Below is a starting list of policies as Governor I would focus on enacting
Empower the Attorney General to prosecute public corruption cases, especially those involving election law
Webcast all legislative proceedings for both houses
Increase disclosure and itemization of discretionary funds, such as lump sum funds and member items, and require reporting on the funds’ usage
Clarify the definition of coordination between candidates and political committees to ensure proper reporting
Require two periodic campaign finance reports be filed during the session
Close soft money loopholes - transfers from party committees to candidates should be limited to twice the limit that is set for individual contributors
Restrict campaign contributions from those who do business with the state and registered lobbyists
I support the legalization of marijuana. At a minimum, New York State must immediately decriminalize small amounts of marijuana possession, on the path to eventual legalization. This would drastically reduce the number of marijuana arrests, an overwhelming percent of which are just for possession. Worse, these arrests disproportionately target young African-Americans and Latinos.
These arrests cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars annually and needlessly introduce young people to the criminal justice system while saddling them with permanent criminal records. Being stigmatized this way has huge long-term consequences, making it far harder to find a job or get into school. We should be expanding opportunities for young blacks and Latinos rather than foreclosing them. Ending arrests for 15 grams or less of marijuana would help ensure our criminal justice system doesn’t lock up thousands of our young men for petty crimes. We should support legislation that decriminalizes small amounts of marijuana, and should propose a system to regulate and tax marijuana in ways similar to how state law treats alcohol. This new approach would end decades of costly and counterproductive policies that reinforce racially discriminatory outcomes and foreclose promising futures.
I have called for a review by the Superintendent of Police and chairs of the Judiciary committees into what form militarization has taken in NY.
b. Would you be in favor of using the budget process to ensure that police are peace keepers, as opposed to a quasi-military force (i.e. by limiting local, state and federal budget appropriations for additional weapons)? Yes.
Cities should have much more autonomy, and power should be devolved from Albany.
We have not yet done a policy paper on this yet. I would need to learn more about the issue before prescribing a policy.
Abortion - Do you support a women’s right to choose?
Marriage Equality: Do you support same-sex marriage? Do you believe all 50 states should allow marriage equality?
Hobby Lobby: Do you support the "Boss Bill," which would update New York's labor laws to ban an employer from citing religious freedom as a reason to deny women reproductive health care — including access to birth control and infertility treatments?
Do you believe corporations should have the legal status of personhood?
Do you support Net Neutrality, and are you willing to publicly state this position? (For example, in a petition or comment letter to the FCC.)
These are the responses of Zephyr Teachout to our 2014 DFNYC questionnaire. To read the responses of her opponent in the Democratic primary, incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo, click here.
Gov. Cuomo's responses to DFNYC's 2014 Candidate Questionnaire
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Candidate for Re-Election to Governor of New York
Yes. I have supported and continue to support public financing.
The Supreme Court decision speaks for itself. However, my Administration has repeatedly advanced proposals to reform the election system in New York to include a voluntary public funding system for campaigns and robust disclosure of political donors. A small donor matching system for campaigns allows candidates to raise money from ordinary citizens, rather than relying on a few wealthy donors. Further, requiring timely electronic reporting of contributions provides transparency on campaign financing. These reforms that have been advanced by the my Administration would boost accountability, curb corruption, and increase the voice of ordinary citizens in New York elections. I remain committed to exploring ways to improve the system in a new term.
My Administration strongly supports rent stabilization and rent control laws--passing one of the strongest strengthening of rent regulations in four decades. Affordable housing is essential to the fabric of the state, preserving communities and protecting New York’s middle class. The 2011 rent regulations proposed by my Administration and passed by the Legislature give tenants the strongest rent regulations in nearly 40 years and protect more than 1 million New Yorkers from skyrocketing rent. Among the important pro-tenant changes, the measure raises the deregulation rent threshold for the first time since 1993 and raises the income threshold for the first time since 1997. From 1994 to the present day, more than 238,000 apartments were removed from the rent regulation system, leaving middle class New Yorkers with fewer affordable housing options. Without this law, it is estimated that more than 100,000 additional apartments would have been lost to decontrol in the next few years. The regulations ensure that these units will stay in the rent regulation system and remain available for hard-working New Yorkers. The new rent regulations, which will be in effect until 2015, include the following pro-tenant changes: raises the deregulation rent threshold from $2000 to $2,500, raises the income threshold from $175,000 to $200,000, limits landlords to collect only one vacancy bonus per year, reducing the manipulation of leases in order to push units out of the system, and changes how improvements are calculated and verified for individual apartments, which will reduce a landlord’s ability to abuse these renovations as a tool to force units out of regulation. Further, as mentioned above, in 2011, New York passed the greatest strengthening of the state’s rent laws in forty years, and in February, my Administration created a new Tenant Protection Unit at HCR. This new unit is proactively preventing problems and rooting out fraud before it affects the lives of rent-regulated residents. The unit is now enforcing landlord obligations to tenants, and its ability to impose strict penalties for failure to comply with HCR orders and New York’s rent laws has already yielded an enormous increase in compliance, including the number of landlords now properly registering their properties with the state.
My Administration has pushed for increased resources for pre-K programs ranging from legislation that authorizes school districts to provide transportation services to Universal Pre-Kindergarten students to legislation that expands funding for Pre-K program state-wide. My Administration remains open to explore additional ways that he can increase resources for pre-K programs statewide.
a) Improvement in student test scores b) Professional observations by other teachers c) Student surveys d) Whether the teacher has an advanced degree) Classroom observations of the teacher by principals or other education professionals f) Principals’ unannounced observations of teachers.
A hallmark of my Administration has been the creation and implementation of the APPR--teacher evaluation system. The system relies on multiple measures (e.g. classroom observations, student artifacts, surveys, and student growth on assessments) which has been recognized as a fair and balanced approach and was supported by teacher stakeholders including NYSUT and UFT.
When mayoral control of the schools is up for renewal next June, it seems likely that it will be renewed, but with significant changes. Do you favor:
b. One of the current parts of mayoral control that has caused the most controversy is the public hearing process. When the DOE proposes a change to a school or school building (co-location of a charter school, approval of a new school, phase out or "closing" of a school deemed to be failing), there is a joint public hearing (a "JFH") at the school building, where parents, teachers, students and other community members can voice their concerns. But the ultimate vote is later, with the city-wide Panel for Education Policy (the "PEP"), a Board of appointees from the Mayor's Office and the Borough Presidents' Office. Critics say far from being a democratic process, the structure of the PEP and its hearings make it essentially a rubber stamp for whatever the DOE has already decided. Even some supporters of mayoral control have conceded this point and found PEP hearings to be mostly a waste of time for all parties involved. On the one hand, government officials need to plan and make decisions about schools and buildings in a timely, efficient matter. On the other hand, important decisions about schools should have a public hearing process and be made with community input. What are your ideas for balancing these interests, specifically in terms of changing the mayoral control legislation?
My Administration would consider new proposals on mayoral control in a new term. The specific terms of any legislative proposal would have to be reviewed and analyzed.
Do you favor continued support of Common Core standards in New York?
Do you support the Common Core curriculum that has been developed in New York?
What will you do – or have you done – to assist parents, teachers, and others in the education community that have raised concerns about Common Core?
My Administration continues to support Common Core standards in New York. However, my Administration recently advocated for and was successful in passing laws to protect students and teachers from the mishandled roll out of the Common Core.
Would you support efforts to collect the tax from people who actually live in New York City but use a second home (a loophole not available to middle class New Yorkers with just one home) to avoid the city wage tax?
Do you support progressive taxation?
Would you support a federal financial transaction tax to either raise revenue, reduce the practice of high frequency trading, or both?
I have passed income tax reform in New York State to be more progressive and fair. These are all complicated budgetary and policy issues that are more appropriately addressed in the legislative and budgetary context. For example, progressive taxation cannot be appropriately evaluated without understanding the impact (if any) on existing or proposed corporate taxation structure and property tax structure.
I signed legislation updating the state’s minimum wage law to align it with the cost of living in the state. The minimum wage will now be raised from $7.25/hour to $9.00/hour over three years, beginning with $8.00 by the end of 2013, $8.75 by the end of 2014, and $9.00 by the end of 2015. I strongly believe that a reasonable minimum wage increases the standard of living for the most vulnerable members of the workforce, reduces poverty, and encourages fair and more efficient business practices. My Administration remains open to exploring other ways to ensure fair wages for workers.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that as part of the plan to accelerate affordable housing construction at the site, the City’s Housing Development Corporation (HDC) will provide financial support to ensure the delivery of two 100% affordable housing buildings, totaling at least 590 units, and construction will begin by December 2014. The buildings will accommodate a broader range of family incomes—including those with very low incomes—and feature a greater mix of family-sized units that reflect the community’s needs. Consistent with its affordable housing plan’s commitment to maximize the returns on every dollar, the administration secured nearly twice as many units of affordable housing for its investment compared to the first building under construction at the Atlantic Yards site.
A few months ago, my Administration announced a comprehensive plan to accelerate the development of Atlantic Yards, including a fast tracked timeline for delivery of affordable housing. The new plan will shorten the completion timeframe to build 2,250 affordable apartments by ten years, from 2035 to 2025. Additionally, the deal will create a board, the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation, to provide input on development, housing, and community impact throughout the completion of the project.
My Administration announced the launch of the New York Green Bank, which will help to catalyze the private market for clean energy. It is the largest green bank in the nation, with an initial capitalization of $210 million for the $1 billion initiative, using a self-sustaining business model. The Green Bank is seeking to remove market barriers for private financing of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Further, my Administration announced a nearly $1 billion commitment to NY-Sun over the next decade to help the industry grow and reach sustainability. Since launching the NY-Sun program in 2012, Governor Cuomo has quadrupled the amount of customer-sited solar power installed annually in New York. The New York solar market now employs over 5,000 highly skilled jobs across 400 companies statewide. In addition, my Administration has set aggressive targets for energy reductions and efficiencies in public buildings and the first ever state law to promote homeowners to retrofit their homes with the onbill financing program.
c. Another issue in New York City is a lack of sunlight caused by the amount of tall buildings. Would you support changes to zoning laws for thinner, smaller, greener structures being built?
Yes, under appropriate circumstances.
My Administration has and continues to engage with business leaders and the labor community to attempt to address concerns that the Scaffold Law is increasing insurance costs for contractors and owners, which in turn has an impact on small businesses. Achieving a balance has been critical to obtaining legislative support.
As Attorney General and as Governor I have and continue to support comprehensive ethics reform including requiring disclosure of clients doing business with the state that are represented by legislators before the state and disclosure of how much they get paid, requiring the creation of an independent body to provide oversight and enforcement of ethics rules because, as we have seen in the past, self-policing does not work, requiring lobbyists to disclose any business relationship with legislators in excess of $1,000 and stripping pensions from those public officials convicted of a felony related to the abuse of their official duties.
Yes, I signed legislation to establish a medical marijuana program for New York State. The new law includes provisions to ensure medical marijuana is reserved only for patients with serious conditions and is dispensed and administered in a manner that protects public health and safety.
12. Police Militarization.
My Administration has and will continue to explore meaningful ways to address police practices that are racially disparate. For example, I introduced legislation a few years ago to modify the impact of stop and frisk. While stop and frisk can play an important role in the prevention of crime, there are also significant costs, including a deterioration of relationships between community residents and law enforcement, and the reality that stops fall disproportionately on communities of color and, in particular, on the young. Tangential to the stop and frisk problem is the rising number of arrests for marijuana possession. State law makes “open view” possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana a misdemeanor, while possession of the same amount of marijuana in the home is a violation—a non-criminal offense punishable by a fine. Police arrest 100 times more people for this offense and these arrests comprise the single largest category of arrests in New York City, accounting for 15 percent of all NYC arrests and 20 percent of NYC misdemeanors. The effects of those arrests fall almost entirely on Black and Hispanic individuals—82 percent—and largely on the young: 52 percent are under 25 and 69 percent are under 30. I sought to bring parity to the law and decriminalize public view with 15 grams or less.
Yes, I signed a bill authorizing New York City to lower its speed limits from 30 to 25 miles per hour. The law seeks to lower the number of vehicle and pedestrian accidents in New York City and supports the State’s ongoing effort to make roadways safer. The law allows New York City to lower its default speed limit, which is the speed at which drivers should operate their vehicle in areas where the speed limit is not posted within the City.
Marriage Equality: Do you support same-sex marriage? Do you believe all 50 states should allow marriage equality? Yes.
Hobby Lobby: Do you support the "Boss Bill," which would update New York's labor laws to ban an employer from citing religious freedom as a reason to deny women reproductive health care — including access to birth control and infertility treatments? Yes, assuming any legislative proposal can withstand constitutional scrutiny and achieves the balance between 1st and 14th amendment protections as recognized by the Supreme Court.
Do you support Net Neutrality, and are you willing to publicly state this position? (For example, in a petition or comment letter to the FCC.) Yes. This year I authored a law to strengthen state review of cable mergers and acquisitions to protect consumers across the state and will continue to advocate for such consumer protections.
This are the responses of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to our 2014 DFNYC questionnaire. To read the responses of his opponent in the Democratic primary, Zephyr Teachout, click here.
NYS Senate Dist 20 - Brooklyn
NYS Senate - District 20
Former State Senator Eric Adams won his race for Brooklyn Borough President (endorsed by DFNYC!), so there is now an open seat in this central Brooklyn district. The lines were significantly redrawn after the 2010 census, and it is now farther south.
Election Date: September 9, 2014
Neighborhoods: (Brooklyn) Sunset Park, Gowanus, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brownsville (This district changed significantly after 2012 redistricting).
Rubain Dorancy (D)
Jesse Hamilton (D)
Demetrius Lawrence (D) -dropped out
Links & More Info:
Meet the Candidates Vying to Replace Eric Adams, DNA Info, May 2014
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Complete DHS Report for July 9, 2014
• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and North American Electric Reliability Corporation reached a $3.25 million settlement with Arizona Public Service Co., July 7 for their alleged role in a 2011 power outage. – Arizona Republic
2. July 7, Arizona Republic – (International) APS to pay $3.25 million for 2011 outage. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation reached a $3.25 million settlement with Arizona Public Service Co., July 7 to end an investigation into the company’s role in a 2011 power outage that left about 5 million customers in California, Arizona, and in Mexico without power for up to 12 hours. The fine includes civil penalties and system improvements to update reliability. Source: http://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/2014/07/07/aps-pay-million-power-outage/12324533/
• Blue Shield of California announced July 7 that the Social Security numbers and work information of around 18,000 California health-care professionals were mistakenly made public after the health insurance provider failed to mark the information as confidential. – IDG News Service
18. July 7, IDG News Service – (California) Blue Shield discloses 18,000 doctors’ Social Security numbers. Blue Shield of California announced July 7 that the Social Security numbers and work information of around 18,000 California physicians and health-care providers were mistakenly made public after the health insurance provider did not mark rosters containing the information as confidential during required monthly filings sent to the State’s Department of Managed Health Care. The information was released 10 times as a result of public records requests. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2451621/blue-shield-discloses-18000-doctors-social-security-numbers.html
• A tree branch lying across the tracks derailed the Ninja roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, July 7 prompting an evacuation of patrons who were suspended about 40 feet above the ground for about 3 hours. – Los Angeles Times
28. July 8, Los Angeles Times – (California) Six Flags inspects Ninja roller coaster after car derails, injures 4. A tree branch lying across the tracks derailed the first car of the Ninja roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, July 7 prompting an evacuation of patrons who were suspended about 40 feet above the ground for about 3 hours. Four people were injured and the ride remains closed while officials investigate. Source: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-six-flags-roller-coaster-inspection-car-derails-20140708-story.html
• Police arrested 4 individuals and removed 20 others from Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, July 6 after several smoke bombs were set off in the stands and a fight broke out during a soccer match. – Bay News 9
29. July 7, Bay News 9 – (Florida) Four arrested after smoke bombs set off during Rowdies game at Al Lang Stadium. Police arrested 4 individuals and removed 20 others from Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg July 6 after several smoke bombs were set off in the stands and a fight broke out during a soccer match. Firefighters responded to the scene after receiving reports of a fire in the stands. Source: http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2014/7/7/no_injuries_after_sm.html
6. July 8, Krebs on Security – (International) Feds charge carding kingpin in retail hacks. The U.S. Department of Justice announced July 7 that the U.S. Secret Service arrested a Russian national for allegedly working with others to steal and sell payment card details from stores and restaurants throughout the U.S. between 2009 and 2011. The man and his accomplices allegedly planted malware on merchants’ point-of-sale (POS) devices in order to obtain the payment card information and then sold it through underweb forums. Source: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/07/feds-charge-carding-kingpin-in-retail-hacks/
7. July 7, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri – (Missouri) Wentzville man pleads guilty to multiple armed bank robberies and shooting of Missouri State Trooper. A Wentzville man pleaded guilty July 7 to the armed robberies of three Missouri banks between July and September 2013. The man also pleaded guilty to shooting a Missouri State Trooper during his arrest in September 2013. Source: http://www.fbi.gov/stlouis/press-releases/2014/wentzville-man-pleads-guilty-to-multiple-armed-bank-robberies-and-shooting-of-missouri-state-trooper
8. July 7, Easton Express-Times – (New Jersey; Georgia; South Carolina) Flemington man pleads guilty to fraud in vacation home mortgage scheme. A Flemington, New Jersey man pleaded guilty July 7 to working with 10 co-conspirators to identify distressed oceanfront condominiums in New Jersey, Georgia, and South Carolina, recruit straw buyers, furnish them with falsified documents, and then obtain $41 million in fraudulent mortgages. Source: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/hunterdon-county/express-times/index.ssf/2014/07/flemington_man_pleads_guilty_i.html
23. July 8, Softpedia – (International) Rosetta Flash attack mitigated by the new Adobe Flash Player 14.0.0.145. Adobe released an update for its Flash Player that closes a vulnerability identified by a Google researcher that could allow an attacker to abuse JSONP endpoints and cause victims to run arbitrary requests and leak sensitive data. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Rosetta-Flash-Attack-Mitigated-by-the-New-Adobe-Flash-Player-14-0-0-145-449984.shtml
24. July 8, IDG News Service – (International) Vulnerability in AVG security toolbar puts IE users at risk. Researchers with the CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) found that the AVG Secure Search browser toolbar could allow attackers to execute malicious code due to an ActiveX control that exposes sensitive functionality to Web sites. The vulnerability affects AVG Secure Search versions 18.1.6 and earlier. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2451861/vulnerability-in-avg-security-toolbar-puts-ie-users-at-risk.html
25. July 8, Securityweek – (International) NETGEAR switches exposed to attacks from hardcoded credentials. An advisory from the CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) warned users of Netgear GS108PE ProSafe Plus Switches that attackers can log into the switches and execute arbitrary code by using a hardcoded login and password. Source: http://www.securityweek.com/netgear-switches-exposed-attacks-hardcoded-credentials
26. July 7, SC Magazine – (International) Massachusetts man charged in Twitter hack. A Massachusetts man was charged July 2 for allegedly hacking into helpdesk services company Zendesk, disabling a security feature that restricted access to customer information, and exporting Twitter support tickets. The information was then allegedly used to compromise and deface Twitter’s and Zendesk’s Twitter feeds. Source: http://www.scmagazine.com/massachusetts-man-charged-in-twitter-hack/article/359704/
27. July 7, The Register – (International) App permissions? Pah! Rogue Android soft can ‘place phone calls at will’. Researchers with Curesec identified vulnerabilities in the Android mobile operating system that could allow malicious apps to place phone calls and send Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes. One vulnerability affects Android versions 4.1.1 and up, while the second affects older Android 2.3.3 and 2.3.6 versions. Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/07/android_dialer_vulnerabilities/
For another story, see item 6 above in the Financial Services Sector
Posted by BobJ at 5:25 PM No comments:
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Congratulations to the students and their supervisor, Head of the Department of Economics and Management!
The final of the Open Olympiad in the field of world economy was held on December 6 at the Belarusian State University. In total, 74 applications were submitted for participation in the event from student teams of Belarusian and Russian universities. Only 20 teams were selected for onsite qualifying round for getting into the final, including representatives of the Belarusian-Russian University, the Belarusian State University, the Academy of Public Administration under the aegis of the President, the Belarus State Economic University, the Belarusian National Technical University, Brest State Technical University, Vitebsk State Technological University, Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno, Francisk Skorina Gomel State University, Sukhoi State Technical University of Gomel, I.G.Petrovsky Bryansk State University, L.N.Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Lomonosov Moscow State University, St. Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg University of Economics, Pskov State University and P.G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University.
The Belarusian-Russian team members were Vladislav Grigoriev, Natalia Yazubets, Angelina Gribanova, Anastasia Zakharevskaya.
Nine finalists were selected on December 5 following the results of the onsite qualifying round. In the final, the Belarusian-Russian team competed with master’s students of Lomonosov Moscow State University, students of the Faculty of International Relations of the Belarusian State University, St. Petersburg State University, the Academy of Public Administration under the aegis of the President of the Republic of Belarus, the Belarus State Economic University, the Belarusian National Technical University and Yaroslavl State University. The Belarusian-Russian University students demonstrated deep knowledge of the world economy, international economic relations, investments, venture financing, management and marketing, the economy of foreign countries, the organization of financial markets, microeconomics and macroeconomics. As a result the team was awarded the semi-finalist certificate of the International Olympiad!
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Sunday, February 26, 2006 0
Tom O'Neil: Is secret homophobia fueling a possible 'Crash' upset?
Tom O'Neil of the LA Times penned this column which I just read. It's not designed to be directly linked to, so here it is:
"I don't think he's right, but there's some of it. I think Brokeback will win because it's got too many mainstream A-List Hollywood people behind it. But we'll see.
Is secret homophobia fueling a possible 'Crash' upset?
Something weird is going on among Oscar voters — and it's also going unspoken. "Crash" and "Good Night, and Good Luck" have their passionate supporters who gush with their honest love of those best picture nominees, but most non-"Brokeback" votes I hear from Oscar voters are really anti-"Brokeback."
Scads of academy members fume to me when they tattle on how they're inking their ballots, "I'm not voting for 'Brokeback'!" Then they calm down a bit and add, "I'm voting for (fill in the blank)" and give a positive reason to justify their decision for picking an alternative. In most cases I hear contrary votes for "Crash," but there's also surprising strength for "Good Night, and Good Luck." So far I've heard equal numbers of votes for "Brokeback" as "Crash," with "Good Night" not far behind. The best picture race is really thisclose.
It's the fury that voters express when mentioning "Brokeback" that's so odd and suspicious. In some cases I believe they're people who think the film is overrated. Or they're just weary of gay cowboy jokes. But in the majority of cases I suspect it's something else and something bad that they feel they can't utter out loud, so they're holding it in. You can see it on their faces.
Could it be secret homophobia? Perhaps. The academy is comprised mostly of straight white guys with white hair who know it's intolerable to bash gays in lavender-friendly, liberal Hollywood. But I really don't think it's that in any large way. Instead, I think it's the same frustration non-Jews feel when there's a glut of Holocaust films leading the Oscar pack in Jewish-friendly Hollywood. They want to exclaim, "Enough already with the Holocaust films!" This time I suspect many straight Hollywooders — who are totally cool with gay people in general — are fighting the urge to shriek, "Enough already with the gay persecution films!"
This Oscar year there really is a glut of them and, if I'm right in my predictions, we'll see the all-gay Oscars on March 5 with victories in the top categories by "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote" and "Transamerica."
How widespread is this anti-"Brokeback" tide? It's hard to say because it's mostly unspoken, but it's very real and it makes predicting the best picture race a crapshoot. It's quite possible that we could see another one of those best picture/director splits that used to be so rare, but are now commonplace with "Chicago," "Shakespeare in Love" and "Gladiator" winning best picture while the director laurels went to, respectively, Roman Polanski ("The Pianist"), Steven Spielberg ("Saving Private Ryan") and Steven Soderbergh ("Traffic"). Whatever happens this year, it's clear that Ang Lee has the best director trophy in the bag.
In the end, I believe "Brokeback" will win because there's a clear voting pattern in the top category recently: academy members want to be on the winning team. Front-runners tend to win even when there's a growing surge against them. Backlash against "The English Patient" was so widespread that "Seinfeld" did a whole episode about it, but it still won. Even though "A Beautiful Mind" was under attack on all fronts a few years ago, it nonetheless prevailed. "Chicago" pulled off its best picture victory even though late-breaking momentum for "The Pianist" was so strong that it won the top prizes for director, actor and screenplay. That bodes well for the gay cowboys remaining tall in the saddle on Oscar night.
Tom O'Neil: Is secret homophobia fueling a possibl...
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Duck Dynasty Family ‘Can’t Imagine’ Show Without Phil Robertson
Robertsons say they are in discussions with A&E over the future of the show
By Alex Fitzpatrick Dec. 19, 2013
The Robertson family “can’t imagine” Duck Dynasty continuing without Phil Robertson “at the helm,” the family said in a statement Thursday evening. The statement marks the family’s first public comments since network A&E suspended Robertson for his inflammatory comments toward gay people.
The Robertsons’ full statement:
We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support.
The family has spent much time in prayer since learning of A&E’s decision. We want you to know that first and foremost we are a family rooted in our faith in God and our belief that the Bible is His word. While some of Phil’s unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse, his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the Bible. Phil is a Godly man who follows what the Bible says are the greatest commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Phil would never incite or encourage hate. We are disappointed that Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right.
We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of Duck Dynasty.
Again, thank you for your continued support of our family.
Duck Dynasty is a highly successful A&E reality-TV show that follows the lives of the Robertson family, who became rich thanks to the commercial success of Robertson’s “Duck Commander” duck caller and other hunting accessories. Robertson’s comments and subsequent suspension have sparked an ongoing debate over free speech and bigotry.
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200 is just a number, says Mithali Raj on world record
Mithali Raj made her debut way back in 1999 but not much has changed for the Indian skipper even after...
Mithali Raj becomes leading run-scorer in women’s ODI cricket
Indian skipper Mithali Raj has become the first player in the history of women’s ODI cricket to have crossed 6000...
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Rep. “Chip” Conquest, Orange-Caledonia-1
District: Groton, Newbury, Topsham (Map)
409 Bible Hill Rd.
Wells River, VT 05081
cconquest@leg.state.vt.us
conquest@sover.net
Website: www.chipconquest.org
news@caledonian-record.com
Mandatory Paid Family Leave/Payroll Tax (H.107). Passed 92-52 on April 5, 2019. This would put in place a government-mandated Paid Family Leave program paid for with a new payroll tax on income up to $132,900. The program would allow an employee to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for the birth of a child, or 8 weeks for family or personal medical care. Employees would receive 90% of their weekly wages up to the “liveable wage” (currently calculated at $13.34/hr). Wages above that level would covered at 50% of the weekly wage. Wages above $132,900 would not be covered. A maximum cap on the benefit would be set at $1,334 per week. The payroll tax would be initially set at 0.55%, and the estimated total cost would $76 million annually to start. CONQUEST – YES
Double the Tax on Home Heating Fuels (H.439, Ways & Means Committee Amendment). Passed 81-60 on March 26, 2019. This would double the tax on the retail sale of heating oil, propane, kerosene, and other dyed diesel fuel delivered to a residence or business from $0.02 to $0.04 per gallon, and to impose a gross receipts tax of 1% on the retail sale of natural gas and 1.5% on the retail sale of coal. The estimated $4.6 million tax will be used to increase funding for the state’s low-income weatherization program. CONQUEST -YES
Increase State Minimum Wage Annually by 2.25x Inflation (S.23). Passed 90-53 on May 15, 2019. This would increase the state mandated minimum wage each year by 2.25x the rate of inflation. If inflation remains steady at 2%, the next hike would raise the minimum wage from $10.78 to $11.26 in 2020. Again, assuming steady inflation, the state minimum wage would reach $15/hour in 2027. CONQUEST – YES
Increase Capital Gains Tax/Reduces Estate Tax (H.541). In order to address the issue of wealthy taxpayers fleeing Vermont, this bill would increase the estate tax exclusion (raising the point where the tax kicks in) from $2.75 million to $4.25 million in January 2020, and to $5 million in January 2021, resulting in a substantial estate tax cut. However, in order to backfill the lost revenue anticipated from the estate tax cut, the bill would also decrease the exemption for capital gains from 40% to 30% and cap the exemption at $450,000. The former change positively impacts mostly wealthy citizens passing on assets to younger generations, the latter change negatively impacts mostly middle/working Vermonters who rely on a one-time, large dollar sale of a home or business to fund their retirement. CONQUEST -YES
Require 24 Hour Waiting Period for Handgun Purchase (S.169) Passed 82-58 on May 15, 2019. The principal purpose of this bill is to require a 24 hour waiting period after completion of a background check to purchase a handgun. It also includes provisions allowing residents of other states to transport high-capacity magazines into Vermont for the purpose of participating in shooting competitions, and to allow the transfer of legally grandfathered high-capacity magazines from one “immediate relative” to another. CONQUEST – YES
Allow All School Districts to Delay Forced Mergers by One Year (H.39, Scheuermann Amendment). Failed 69-74 on February 6, 2019. February 6, 2019. This would provide all school districts facing forced mergers ordered by the State Board of Education the opportunity to extend the July 1, 2019 merger deadline currently in law to July 1, 2020. CONQUEST – YES
Mandate that Vermonters Purchase Health Insurance (H.524). Passed 92-44 on March 29, 2019. This would mandate that all Vermonters purchase health insurance, restoring at a state level the Obamacare federal mandate repealed by the Trump Administration. However, this state “mandate” comes with no penalty. Instead, the bill would create a database of state income tax filers who do not have health insurance, and commission bureaucrats to encourage these Vermonters to purchase insurance. CONQUEST – YES
Ban Plastic Bags, Styrofoam Food Containers, Straws, Etc. (S.113). Passed 120-24 on May 9, 2019. This would make it illegal for businesses to provide “single use” plastic bags to customers at the point of sale, or to provide polystyrene food or beverage containers, or to provide plastic straws except upon request, and to require businesses to charge at least 10¢ per paper bag (if not given away for free). It would create a “Single-Use Products Working Group” to study the effectiveness of these policies and make recommendations for future regulation. CONQUEST – YES
Raise Tobacco Use/Purchase Age from 18 to 21 (S.86). Passed 124-14 on April 23, 2019. This would raise the legal age to purchase and use tobacco and tobacco related products from 18 to 21 years of age. CONQUEST – YES
Allow Non-Citizen Voting in Montpelier (H.207). Passed 95-46 on April 18, 2019. This would change the charter of the City of Montpelier to allow non-citizens who are legally in the United States and full time residents of the city to vote in city elections, setting a precedent for other towns/cities around the state. CONQUEST – YES
Abolish Columbus Day/Create Indigenous Peoples’ Day (S.68). Passed 113-24 on April 16, 2019. This would abolish Columbus Day as a state holiday and replace it with “Indigenous People’s Day.” CONQUEST – YES
Propose Constitutional Amendment Guaranteeing Abortion from Conception to Birth (Proposition 5). Passed 106-38 on May 7, 2019. This would amend the Vermont Constitution to say that “an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course and shall not be denied or infringed unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.” It would bar any legal restrictions on abortion from conception to the moment of birth. CONQUEST – YES
$5.9 Billion FY19 Budget (H.924). Passed 117-14 on May 12, 2018. The “Big Bill” budget for FY19 totaled $5,861,048,670, an increase of a little over 1% from the FY18 budget. General Fund spending shows a decline of 17.2%, from $1.6 billion to just under $1.3 billion, but this is only because the legislature eliminated the General Fund transfer to the education fund, replacing that money from other sources. The “apples to apples” growth in spending is 2.5%. CONQUEST – YES
House Passes $59 million Income Tax Increase/Property Tax Cut (H.911) Passed 85-54 on March 21, 2018. This was a two-part bill. The first part shifts some responsibility for funding Vermont’s pre-k-12 education system from the property tax to the income tax. The second part negates an unintended $30 million tax increase resulting from changes in the federal tax code. Part 1 includes a $59 million income tax increase, called a “surcharge,” eliminates the current General Fund transfer to the Education Fund, and dedicates 100% of the sales and use tax to the Education Fund. This allows for a cut in homestead property tax rates of 15 cents/$100 of assessed value. Part 2 lowers each of Vermont’s marginal tax rates for personal income taxes by at least 0.2%, expands the earned-income tax credit, and eliminates the tax on Social Security benefits for Vermonters with less than $55,000 in income. Those voting YES are in favor of reducing the reliance on the property tax for the purpose of funding pre-k-12 education spending, and shifting that burden to the income tax, which they believe better reflects ability to pay. Those voting NO note that H.911 does not address education spending, it merely shifts the costs without reducing or curbing the total tax burden. The income tax surcharge will give Vermont the third highest marginal income tax rate in the nation. The income tax is historically a volatile revenues source, and ill-suited for education funding. The shift to income taxes is unfair to renters who end up paying higher income taxes but get no property tax relief. This new funding scheme is unfair to 30,000 non-residents who chose to work in Vermont and will now be paying this new education tax with not compensating property tax decrease. H.911 leaves all the complexity of the current system in place (CLA, per pupil spending, income sensitivity etc.), and adds even more complexity by introducing new income tax surcharge. And, finally, object to the tactic of tying two unrelated ideas together in one bill, holding tax relief hostage to a shift to the income tax to pay for education. CONQUEST – YES
$16 Million Payroll Tax for Paid Family Leave (H.196) Passed 90-53 on May 11, 2018. H.196 would levy a 0.136% ($16.3 million) payroll tax on employees to pay for a state-mandated, government-run family leave insurance program. However, if the demand for the benefit exceeds the amount raised at this rate, the legislature will have to adjust the rate upward to raise enough revenue to cover the cost. Those voting YES supported the program, believing it will make Vermont more “family friendly” and appealing to young workers. Those voting NO see this as another burdensome “mandate from Montpelier” on businesses, that the tax rate has been set artificially low and will have to be raised, and that this bill levies a $16.3 million tax on all working Vermonters, even though only a fraction of them will have occasion or the ability to benefit from the program. CONQUEST – YES
$15 Minimum Wage (S.40). Passed 77-60 on May 8, 2018. S.40 would raise Vermont’s minimum wage from the current $10.50/hr. to $15/hr. by the year 2024.Those voting YES believe this will benefit low income workers and help to close the “income inequality” gap. Those voting NO believe that such a large and rapid increase in the cost of labor will harm Vermont businesses, the overall economy, as well as the workers the bill was meant to help due to cutbacks in hours, lost benefits, and/or lost jobs as employers struggle to maintain budgets. Additionally, a majority of Vermonters living in low income households, especially poor senior citizens, do not report wage income. While their incomes would be unaffected by the minimum wage increase, their cost of living would rise due to higher prices for goods and services due to the artificial wage increase being passed along to consumers. CONQUEST – YES
$6.4 Million Tax Package to Fund Lake Clean Up (S.260). Passed 92-48 on May 4, 2018. S.260 would raise $6.4 million in new revenue, primarily from a $4.55 million increase in the state rooms and meals tax (from 9% to 9.25%). The rest, $1.94 million, would come via the confiscation of revenue from unclaimed bottle/can deposits, which is currently the property of the beverage distributors and used by them to defray the costs of managing recycling programs. These taxes would not take effect until 2020, and only then if the legislature does not find another source of funding. Those voting YES believe higher taxes are necessary to fund water quality improvements. Those voting NO believe that water quality improvements should be funded with existing resources, not tax increases, that they should especially not be funded in a way that discourages tourism, such as increasing the rooms and meals tax, or in a way that punishes industries (tourism and beverage distribution) that do not contribute measurably to water pollution problem and, in the case of the unclaimed deposit money, actually help maintain a clean environment through recycling programs. CONQUEST – YES
Mandate That Vermonters Buy Health Insurance (H.696). Passed 118-16 on May 12, 2018. The primary objective of H.696 is to require individual Vermonters to purchase and maintain “minimum essential [health insurance] coverage” for themselves and any dependent or pay a penalty to the state beginning in the 2020 plan year. However, legislators do not know how this would work or how it would be enforced, so the bill also creates the “Individual Mandate Working Group” to figure it out. Those voting YES support forcing Vermonters to purchase health insurance as doing so will help keep overall insurance premiums lower. Those voting NO do not support a state mandate to purchase health insurance, assert that forcing citizens to purchase a product from a private company is government overreach, and note that the mandate will make Vermont less affordable for young people, who we are supposedly trying to attract. CONQUEST – YES
Gun Control Measures (S.55). Passed 89-54 on March 27, 2018. S.55 raises the age for long gun purchases to 21, mandates background checks for nearly all private firearm sales, bans magazines holding more than fifteen rounds, and bans bump stocks. Those voting YES believe these measures will result in safer communities by reducing gun violence. Those voting NO believe that these measures will have no measurable impact on safety or violence, create excessive burdens on law abiding gun owners, are largely unenforceable, and violate Vermont’s constitutional guarantee of the “right to bear arms for the defence of themselves….” CONQUEST – NO
Legalization of Recreational Marijuana (H.511). Passed 81-63 on January 4, 2018. H.511 legalizes possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for use by people 21 and older and allows possession of four immature and two mature marijuana plants. Those voting YES support the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Those voting NO do not support the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. CONQUEST – CONQUEST
Increase Fee on Telecommunication Bills (H.582). Passed 109-27 on February 16, 2018. S.582 increases the surcharge that appears on Vermonters’ telecommunications bills from 2 to 2.5 percent, which amounts an estimated $6.3 million fee increase. The raise would sunset in four years (2022). The money collected from this increase will be transferred to the Connectivity Fund, which distributes grants to internet service providers that expand networks in underserved areas. Those voting YES believe these additional funds are necessary to connect all Vermonters to the internet. Those voting NO believe that Vermonters cannot afford any more taxes/fees, note that the Connectivity Fund has a history of being raided for other purposes, and that there is no clear plan for how the money would be spent to achieve the stated objective. CONQUEST – YES
Give Taxpayer Funded Legal Counsel to Those Challenging Immigration Status (S.237). Passed on April 10, 2018, by a vote of 97-40. S.237 allows state-paid public defenders, including the Defender General, to provide legal help to immigrants on immigration issues in the federal court system. Those voting YES believe that immigrants and farm workers residing in Vermont should have access to taxpayer funded representation in federal court “in or with respect to a matter arising out of or relating to immigration status.” Those voting NO believe that giving Vermont’s Defender General more responsibilities without increased funding would put a strain on that government office. There is already a backlog of cases, and the Defender General would have to reallocate resources away from other vital government functions in order to provide this service. The federal court system already offers court-appointed legal counsel, and there is no reason for the state to duplicate this service. CONQUEST – YES
Ban More Appliances Via Efficiency Standards (H.410). Passed 137-4 on January 31, 2018. H.410 applies efficiency standards established in 2014 to over a dozen new products, including showerheads, computers and telephones. Those voting YES believe that some consumer goods are too energy-intensive, and that Vermonters should not be allowed to purchase them. Those voting NO believe that Vermonters should be allowed to decide for themselves the costs and benefits of the appliances they purchase. CONQUEST – YES
$5.82 Billion FY18 Budget (H.518). Passed 143-1 on March 30, 2017. H.518 set the total FY18 budget at a $5.82 billion, an overall 1% increase over FY17. State (non-Federal) spending would total $2.5 billion, an increase of about $20 million over FY17. The General Fund would grow by 1.8%. Those voting YES celebrated a budget that did not rely on new taxes or fee increases and grows in line with inflation.The one NO vote explained his vote, ““Even though we haven’t increased [the budget], I think the budget needs to go on a diet.” CONQUEST – YES
Miscellaneous Tax Bill with No New Taxes or Fees (H.516). Passed 138-0 on March 30, 2017. The Miscellaneous Tax Bill for FY18 did not include any new taxes or fees. It does rely on approximately $5 million in new revenue from enhanced compliance with existing taxes. The bill passed unanimously. CONQUEST – YES
Create Statewide Teachers’ Healthcare Contract/$26 Million in Property Tax Savings (H.509, Beck Amendment). Failed 74-74 on May 3, 2017. The Beck Amendment represented Governor Scott’s proposal to create a statewide teachers’ contract for healthcare benefits, which could save property taxpayers an estimated $26,000,000. Those voting YES supported the proposal. Those voting NO opposed it. Speaker Johnson cast the deciding vote, killing the proposal. CONQUEST – NO
Mandate Employees Buy Family Leave Insurance Via New Payroll Tax (H.196). Passed 88-58 on March 3, 2017. H.196 levies a new payroll tax on Vermont employees to create a new “family leave” program that would be administered similarly to unemployment insurance. The language in the bill sets the payroll tax at 0.141% of one’s first $150,000 of income, but acknowledges that if revenue necessary to fund demand the program is not met by that rate, the rate will rise to meet demand. Those voting YES support the program. Those voting NO see it as another tax and administrative burden on Vermont businesses. CONQUEST – YES
Allow Warrantless Confiscation of Firearms In Cases of Alleged Domestic Abuse (H.422). Passed 78-60 on March 22, 2017. H.422 would allow law enforcement to confiscate firearms from a citizen arrested or cited for domestic assault, without a warrant and regardless of whether or not a firearm played a part in the allegation, for a period of up to five days. Those voting YES on this bill believe the measure is necessary to combat domestic abuse. Those voting NO see this as a violation of Article 16 of the Vermont Constitution (the right to defend one’s self), and the Second Amendment (the right to keep and bear arms), Fourth Amendment (unreasonable search and seizure), Fifth Amendment (due process), and Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection under the law) of the U.S. Constitution. CONQUEST – YES
Restrict Private Property/Development Rights (H.233). Passed 85-58 on May 4, 2017. The “Forest Fragmentation” bill makes it much more difficult for property owners to develop subdivide their land by creating a number of regulatory criteria that must be met in regard to preserving “forest blocks,” defined in part as “a contiguous area of forest in any stage of succession and not currently developed for non-forest use.” Those voting YES want to impose additional Act 250 regulation on rural forest land. Those voting NO believe rural forestland additional regulation of forestland is unwarranted, will discourage long term investment in forestland and in forestry, and is a violation of personal property rights. CONQUEST – YES
Mandate “Gender Neutral” Bathrooms (H.333). Passed 123-19 on April 21, 2017. H.333 would make it illegal for a restaurant, gas station, grocery store, etc. to offer customers the service of private men’s and women’s bathrooms, mandating that all single-occupancy bathrooms be open to all genders. Those voting YES believe this is necessary to make transgender citizens feel comfortable. Those voting NO believe this is a gross example of government overreach, and an unnecessary regulation interfering with Vermont businesses. CONQUEST – YES
Legalize Growing/Possessing Marijuana, Sets Stage for Retail Sales/Taxation (S.22). Passed 79-66 on May 10, 2017. S.22 was originally a fentanyl regulation bill repurposed to be a vehicle for passage of marijuana legalization. It would remove all criminal penalties for adults 21 or older who possess up to an ounce of marijuana, and allow growing up to two mature and two immature marijuana plants per household, and would go into effect in 2018. The bill also sets up a commission that will create a framework for taxing and regulating retail sales of marijuana. Those voting YES support legalization of marijuana; those voting NO oppose it. CONQUEST – YES
Bar State Law Enforcement from Gathering Information for a Federal Immigration Registry (S.79). Passed 110-24 on March 14, 2017. This bill was designed to “send a message” regarding President Trump’s policies on immigration, but without doing anything that might classify Vermont as “sanctuary state.” The registry the bill bars Vermont from providing information to does not actually exist. Those voting YES oppose the president’s immigration policies. Those voting NO see the bill as a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, but potentially puts federal funding for Vermont programs at risk. CONQUEST – YES
Pledge Support/Funds for Global/State Climate Change Agenda (H.R.15). Passed 105-31, June 21, 2017. Those voting YES on H.R.15 resolved that Vermont will continue to bear the costs and sacrifices of the global Paris Climate Agreement despite the U.S. withdrawal from the pact, and to affirm support for an aggressive statewide CO2 reduction program. Those voting NO recognized that this resolution, would require significantly higher taxes, economically crippling regulations, and that legislators were voting on this after no debate and no analysis of the potential economic impact. CONQUEST – YES
$5.77 Billion FY17 Budget (H.875). Passed 94-40 on March 24, 2016. Those voting YES on this bill approved a total $5.77 billion state budget for FY17. This represents a total increase of 2.7 percent over FY16 (not accounting for adjustments that will occur in the next legislative session.) The $1.47 billion general fund portion of the budget, however, increases by 4.8 percent, while revenue is projected to grow at just 2.2%. This budget also leaves an estimated $30 million hole for the FY18 budget. Those voting NO argued that continuing the trend of spending taxpayer dollars faster than revenue comes into the treasury is unsustainable and irresponsible. CONQUEST – ABSENT
Adjust 2016 Budget Upward by $91.8 Million (H.611). Passed 90-54 on January 26, 2016. Those voting YES voted in favor of increasing spending for FY16 by a total of $91.8 million (raising the previously accepted state budget to $5.6 billion, a 2.5% increase over FY15), $12.3 million of which is represents increases in General Fund spending (raising total General Fund Spending to $1.48 billion, a 5% increase over FY15). Those voting NO opposed these spending increases on the grounds that the state cannot continue to spend money faster than revenue is coming in, and that continuing to do so is causing a structural deficit. CONQUEST – YES
$37 Million in New Miscellaneous Taxes (H.873) Passed 86-59 on March 23, 2016. Those voting YES approved $37 million worth of new taxes. These include stringent enforcement of the 9% rooms and meals tax on private, short term rentals such as those contracted through AirBnB, raising the assessment on employers who do not offer health insurance to their employees to $151.12 per employee for businesses with 19 or fewer employees, $210.00 for businesses with 20-99 employees, and $249.00 for businesses with over 100 or more employees. The bill also puts a 3.3 percent assessment on ambulance agencies’ annual net patient revenues for services. And increases by 0.25% the fuel gross receipts on heating oil, propane, kerosene, dyed diesel, natural gas and coal to 0.75%. And, a $2.4 million a year increase in the bank franchise tax. Those voting NO opposed these tax increases. CONQUEST – YES
$11 Million Motor Vehicle Fee Increases (H.877). Passed 104-40 on March 30, 2016. Those voting YES on this bill supported $11 million in new or higher motor vehicle related fees. Increased costs include: higher motor vehicle registration fees, higher transfer of ownership fees, higher fees for driver’s licenses, learner’s permits and non-driver ID cards, higher fees for vehicle inspections, an increase the annual motor vehicle emission (“clean air”) fee, and a higher cost for choosing a “vanity” license plate. There is also a new $80 fee for reinstating a suspended registration. Those voting NO opposed these fee increases. CONQUEST – YES
$7.9 Million Property Tax Increase (H.853). Passed 98-45 on March 30, 2016. The primary function of this bill is to set the property tax rates for FY17, as well as to take care of some miscellaneous educational items. Those voting YES supported what amounts to a 0.2¢ increase for residential property tax payers, and in total, a $7.9 million proper tax increase ($4 million coming from residential and $3.9 million from non-residential taxpayers). Those voting NO opposed the tax increase, noting that if the spending thresholds in Act 46 had been left in place Vermont homeowners would have experienced a cut in property taxes. CONQUEST – YES
Raise Education (Act 46) Spending Caps (S.233, House Education Committee Amendment). Passed 94-52 on January 27, 2016. Act 46, the education governance reform law passed in 2015, was billed as a response to Vermonters’ calls for property tax relief. Those voting YES on this amendment supported raising the 2 percent allowable growth percentage in Act 46 by 0.9 percent, reducing the penalty for exceeding the threshold from $1 for every dollar exceeding to 25¢ per dollar exceeding. Those voting NO either objected to the resulting property tax increase, or supported the objective of the underlying bill (S.233) to repeal the spending caps all together. CONQUEST – YES
$24 Million in Fee Hikes (H.872). Passed 98-46 on March 23, 2016. Those voting YES supported increasing the net fees paid in Vermont by $24 million – the highest increase on record. The 2015 fee increases, in comparison, amounted to $2.7 million. Those voting NO opposed not just the fee increases but the precedents set by raising fees to fund general revenue projects. The legal definition of a fee is that it is used to pay the costs of regulating or servicing the entity paying the fee, and no more. CONQUEST – YES
Mandate Paid Sick Leave (H.187). Passed 81-64 on February 3, 2016. Those voting YES supported a de facto tax on mostly small/micro businesses of $14.3 million dollars annually when fully implemented.” The bill would allow an employee to accrue “not less than one hour of earned sick time for every 52 hours worked,” with a maximum number of hours accrued set at 24 hours in a 12-month period from January 1, 2017 until December 31, 2018 and then a maximum of 40 hours in a 12-month period after December 31, 2018. Those voting NO opposed adding another burden to struggling Vermont businesses. CONQUEST – YES
92% Tax on E-Cigarettes (H.879). Passed 83-54 on March 30, 2016. Those voting YES supported putting a 92% on e-cigarettes and related products for a total tax increase of an estimated $500,000. Those voting NO opposed raising the tax, noting that e-cigarettes are not tobacco, but rather a tobacco substitute that many people use as a way to quit smoking. CONQUEST – YES
Strike $1.6 Million Telephone Tax Increase (H.870, Turner Amendment). Failed 48-97 on April 13, 2016. The Turner Amendment sought to strike a $1.6 million tax increase from the telecom bill. Those voting NO wanted to keep the tax increase in place, citing the need to pay for expanding broadband service. Those voting YES wanted to eliminate the tax increase, stating that the money could have and should have been found in the already passed general fund budget, and that Vermonters cannot afford any more taxes. CONQUEST – NO
Raise Smoking Age/$900,000 Tobacco Tax Increase (H.93). Passed 84-61on April 5, 2016. Those voting YES supported raising the smoking age from 18 to 21 over a three year period ending in 2019, and raising the tax on cigarettes by 39¢ (to a total of $3.47) and on other tobacco products by 32¢ — an estimated $900,000 tax increase. Those voting NO opposed the higher age limit and tax increase. CONQUEST – NO
Block Legalization of Marijuana (H.858, Conquest Amendment). Passed 121-28), 2016, May 3, 2016. This amendment killed legislation that would have legalized, regulated and taxed marijuana in Vermont. Those voting YES on this amendment DID NOT support the legalization of marijuana. Those voting NO on this amendment DID support the legalization of marijuana. CONQUEST – YES
$16 Million Property Tax Increase, Mandates for School District Consolidation. (H.361). Passed 88-55, April 1, 2015. Those voting YES on this bill approved a $16 million increase in school property taxes, setting the statewide homestead property tax rate at $0.98 (flat), and raising the nonresidential property tax rate to $1.525. The bill also placed mandates on school districts to consolidate into Pre-K- 12 districts of no fewer than 1100 students and put in place a complicated formula for capping school budgets, which could not be triggered until 2018. Those voting NO on H.361 saw this as a failure to answer the pleas of citizens for meaningful tax relief, while launching a serious assault on local control and the democratic process. CONQUEST – YES
$1.48 Billion General Fund Budget (4.8% Spending Increase) for FY16 (H.490). Passed 96-46, March 26, 2015. Those voting YES on H.490 approved a $1.48 billion general fund budget. This is a $68 million spending increase (4.8%) over the FY15 budget (adopted in 2014) and grows spending at 3 times the average rate of inflation (1.6% in 2014). Those voting NO did so on the grounds that increasing spending by 4.8% while revenue is only projected to grow at 2.4% is unsustainable and irresponsible. They also objected to using $24 million in one-time funds to achieve “balance,” and that this budget sets up a projected budget gap of $50-$70 million for FY17/FY18. CONQUEST – YES
$12 Million In New Taxes on Candy, Sweetened Beverages, Vending Machines & Tobacco(S.139, COMMITTEE OF WAYS & MEANS AMENDMENT). Passed 78-62, April 30, 2015. Those voting YES on this amendment supported extending Vermont’s 6% sales tax to candy (not containing flour) and sweetened beverages (not milk based), applying Vermont’s 9% rooms and meals tax to vending machine purchases, and increasing the tax on cigarettes by 33¢ over two years. The total tax increase on Vermonters amounts to roughly $12 million. Those voting NO opposed these tax increases. CONQUEST – YES
$33.2 Million in Income Tax Increases (H.489). Passed 76-67, March 27, 2015. Analysis: Those voting YES on this bill approved a tax increase on Vermonters of $33.2 million, raised primarily from capping itemized deductions on the state income tax at $15,000 for individuals and $31,000 for couples, and disallowing deductions for state and local income taxes from the previous year. Some of those voting NO argued that Vermont has “a spending problem, not a revenue problem,” and that taxes are already too high in Vermont. Others voting NO believed H.489 did not raise enough revenue. (See H.489, O’Sullivan Amendment Roll Call to cross-reference.) CONQUEST – YES
Additional $12 Million Income Taxes (H.489). Failed 43-98, March 26, 2015. Those voting YES on this amendment supported: “Beginning in tax year 2015 and after, the rates assigned to the individual income tax brackets under 32 V.S.A. § 5822(a), from lowest to highest, shall be 3.55 percent, 6.8percent, 7.8 percent,9.5percent,and 9.55percent,” in the belief that the underlying bill did not raise enough revenue ($33.2 million) on its own. Those voting NO opposed this. CONQUEST – NO
Lake Clean Up With Existing Funds (No New Taxes) (H.35, DICKINSON AMENDMENT). Failed 40-100, April 1, 2015. The underlying bill, H.35, raised $8 million in new taxes for cleaning up Lake Champlain and Vermont’s other waterways. The Dickinson Amendment eliminated the need for new taxes by reallocating roughly $9 million of existing revenue for the same purpose. Those voting YES on the Dickinson Amendment believed that no new taxes were needed to fund the Lake Clean Up policies outlined in H.35, and that the financial obligations could be met by reallocating existing revenues from the property transfer tax. Those voting NO on the Dickinson Amendment supporting raising new taxes ($5.7 million from a 0.2 percent surcharge to the property transfer tax) and various fees ($2.3 million). CONQUEST – NO
$2.8 Million in Fee Increases. (H.184). Passed 88-57, February 12, 2015. Those voting YES on H.188 voted to increase in aggregate the fees Vermonters must pay to engage in a variety of activities — from hunting and fishing, to construction, to operating a business —by $2.8 million. Those voting NO on the bill alleged that the fee increases were too high, and not necessarily tied to the actual cost of running the program for which the fee is ostensibly set. Instead, the fees are being improperly increased for the purpose of raising general revenue. CONQUEST – YES
3% Cap on Fee Increases. (H.184, DAME AMENDMENT). Failed 50-96, February 13, 2015). Those who voted YES on the Dame amendment would have raised fee revenue in the aggregate by over $500k, but limited the increase of any fee to 3%. This would have been more in line with inflation/economic growth than the 50%-135% increases attached to some fees in the underlying bill, which raised fees in the aggregate by $2.8 million. CONQUEST – NO
46% Excise Tax on E-Cigarettes (S.139, JEWETT AMENDMENT) Passed 70-67, May 1, 2015. Those voting YES supported levying a 46% tax on the wholesale price of e-cigarettes. The tax is estimated to raise $240,000. Those voting NO opposed these tax increase. CONQUEST – NO
Mandates 75% of Electric Sales Be From “Renewables” by 2032. (H.40). (Passed 121-24, March 10, 2015. H.40 had many facets to it. It repealed the SPEED program and replaced it with a new RESET program, enabling Vermont utilities’ to continue to sell some Renewable Energy Credits. It also mandated that utilities have 75% of their electricity portfolio come from renewable sources by 2032. This, of course, is a mandate on customers to buy the more expensive renewables, and a requirement that more renewable electricity projects be built (25 megawatts per year). This many wind towers and solar facilities will have a negative impact on Vermont’s scenic landscape. CONQUEST – YES
Mandates on Businesses to Pay $14 Million for Paid Sick Leave (H.187). Passed 76-66, April 22, 2015. Those voting YES approved an unfunded mandate, estimated to be a much as $14 million annually, requiring employers to provide at least three days of paid sick leave to employees. Those voting NO opposed this mandate, citing the fact that most Vermont businesses already provide such benefits voluntarily, and those that don’t can least afford to do so. This unfunded mandate represents another burden on Vermont employers, making Vermont a less competitive place to run a business. CONQUEST – NO
Ban on Teachers Strikes (H.76, LALONDE AMENDMENT) Failed 70-73, April 8, 2015). The LaLonde amendment would have banned both teachers’ ability to strike and school boards’ ability to impose contract terms. It would also have set up a task force to study less disruptive means of resolving contract disputes. Those voting YES favored banning teachers’ strikes and imposed contracts. Those voting NO supported teachers’ strikes. CONQUEST – YES
Prevent Green Mountain Care Board from Controlling Medicare Funding (S.139). Failed 54-85, April 30, 2015. In the 2014 election, the strategic plan enacted in Act 48 of 2011 became a major issue. This amendment would have removed all references to Medicare from Act 48, thus making it clear that the state’s promised single payer health care plan could not incorporate Medicare payments for Vermont seniors. Those voting YES wanted to keep the state’s hands off the Medicare payment stream. Those voting NO reaffirmed their support for having the Green Mountain Care Board gain control over Medicare payments under a single payer or “all payer” plan. CONQUEST – NO
Same Day Voter Registration (S.29) Passed 87-54, May 11, 2015. Those voting YES on S.29 would allow an individual to register to vote and to vote on election day. Those voting NO believed this to be an invitation to voter fraud as there is not adequate opportunity for either the Town Clerk or other election monitors to verify that the persons registering to vote on election day are who they say they are, or are legal residents of where they claim to live. This also creates a logistical challenge for Town Clerks, who will have to both run the elections in their districts and, with this law, register new voters simultaneously. CONQUEST – YES
New Gun Control Regulations on Felons, Mentally Ill (S. 141) Passed 80-62, April 17, 2015. Those voting YES would make it a state crime for many convicted felons to possess firearms (already a crime under federal law). The bill also required the state report to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System any time someone has been found by a court to be mentally ill and a danger to himself or others. Those voting NO believed this is a “solution in search of a problem.” CONQUEST – YES
5.5% STATE SPENDING INCREASE FOR 2015 (H. 885). Passed 91-46, March 27, 2014. Those voting YES on H.885 supported general fund spending for FY2015 of $1.438 billion. This represents a 5.5% increase ($88 million) over the original FY2014 budget of $1.362 billion as passed in 2013, and a 3.8% increase over the FY2014 budget as adjusted (upward) in 2014.The 5.5% spending increase is five times the current rate of inflation (1.1%), and nearly double Vermonters’ average rate of personal income growth (2.88% for 2013). CONQUEST – YES
$12.6 MILLION INCREASE TO 2014 SPENDING (H.655). Passed 110-33, January 24, 2014. The “Budget Adjustment Act,” is designed to “tweak” spending levels passed into law by the legislature in the previous year before in response to changes in fiscal conditions. Those voting YES on this 2014 Budget Adjustment, H.655, voted for a net increase of $12.63 million in new spending to the FY2014 General Fund budget bringing total FY2014 General Fund spending up to $1.37 billion. CONQUEST – YES
$56.2 MILLION PROPERTY TAX INCREASE (H. 889). Passed 89-51, April 4, 2014. Those voting YES on H.889 voted in favor of a $56./2 million property tax increase. Residential property tax rates rise 4¢ (4%) from 94¢ to 98¢ per $100 of assessed value. Nonresidential tax rates rise 7.5¢ (5%) from $1.44 to $1.515 per $100 of value. CONQUEST – YES
$1.2 MILLION MISCELLANEOUS TAX INCREASE (H. 884). Passed 103-42, March 27, 2014. The Miscellaneous Tax bill is an annual adjustment of tax provisions needed to match revenues with spending. Those voting YES on H.884 voted in favor of increasing the tax on tobacco snuff from $2.24 to $2.62, which is projected to raise $700,000, and to implement a 92% wholesale tax on electronic cigarettes, which was projected to raise $500,000. CONQUEST – YES
OVER $800,000 INCREASE IN MISCELANEOUS FEES (H.735). Passed 87-48, May 9, 2014. The “Fee Bill” sets the fees for business and professional licensing and a number of state services. This year’s bill was made controversial by a provision requiring $200 fee for storage of firearms confiscated by law enforcement following domestic disturbances. Those voting YES on H.735 supported over $800,000 in fee increases. CONQUEST – YES
INCREASE MINIMUM WAGE 16% TO $10.10 PER HOUR (H. 552) Passed 87-57, April 8, 2014. Those voting YES supported raising the minimum wage from $8.73 to $10.10 effective January 2015. This is a 16% increase and was estimated to cost Vermont businesses $30 million. State economist Tom Kavet testified that a rise in the minimum wage to $10 would result in the loss of 250 jobs or the equivalent in hours. Vermont already has the third highest minimum wage in the United States. CONQUEST – NO
MANDATORY SCHOOL DISTRICT CONSOLIDATION (H.883). Passed 76-60, April 30, 2014. Those voting YES on the bill supported the mandate, “This bill proposes to require…[that] as of July 1, 2020, supervisory unions shall cease to exist and current school districts shall be realigned into expanded prekindergarten–grade 12 school districts (Expanded Districts) that are responsible for the education of all resident students in prekindergarten–grade 12.” This would eliminate local school boards and erode local control over education. This bill would not reduce the cost of education, and would probably, in the short term, increase costs in order to pay for the transition. CONQUEST – NO
ALLOW CHILDCARE BUSINESSES TO UNIONIZE/COLLECTIVLEY BARGAIN FOR SUBSIDIES (S. 316) Passed 78-59, May 6, 2014. This bill would allow early childcare businesses to form a union to collectively bargain for taxpayer-funded subsidies. The legislature is essentially giving a union taxpayer money to lobby the legislature about something for which the legislature is already aware it is responsible, and forces hundreds of small business people in Vermont to pay “agency fees” (85% of union dues) to a union that they do not want to join. CONQUEST – ABSENT
EXEMPT NON-UNIONIZED CHILDCARE WORKERS FROM PAYING “AGENCY FEES” TO A UNION (BOUCHARD AMENDMENT to S.316). Failed 53-86 on May 6, 2014. The underlying bill (S.316) allows early childcare businesses to form a union to collectively bargain with the state for subsidies. The Bouchard amendment would have exempted those early childcare providers who choose not to join a union from having to pay “agency fees” (85% of union dues) to that union. CONQUEST – ABSENT
MAKE SINGLE-PAYER FINANCING PLAN(S) OPEN TO THE PUBLIC (Browning Amendment to H. 884) Failed 39-102, March 28, 2014. The Browning Amendment to H.884 would have bound committees in the House (Ways & Means) and Senate (Finance) to formally request that the Shumlin Administration submit on or before April 30, 2014 one or more financing proposals for Green Mountain Care (single payer healthcare). If the proposal(s) are not complete by that date, “all drafts, reports and other documents related to financing Green Mountain Care” would be turned over. In the event the Administration did not comply, the committees would be bound to subpoena the Administration for the information. CONQUEST – NO
REPEAL AND REPLACE EDUCATION FINANCING SYSTEM (ACT 60/68 (Scheuermann Amendment to H. 889) Failed 49-83, April 3, 2014. The “Repeal & Replace amendment” proposed to repeal Vermont’s current education funding laws (Act 60/68) effective July 1, 2016 with a replacement to take effect for the 2016-2017 Academic Year. The Scheuermann Amendment comes in the wake of 37 Vermont towns voting down their school budgets. 43 towns lowered school spending, but, under the current financing system, still saw property taxes increase. Those voting NO voted to leave the status quo in place. Those voting YES voted for reform. CONQUEST – NO
IMPOSE STRICTER CENTRAL PLANNING FOR LAND DEVELOPMENT (H. 823). Passed 92-44, March 13, 2014. This bill was designed to funnel development into “approved, designated centers” (urban) and discourage development in other areas (rural) by making allowances for, and in some cases subsidies to, the former, and creating legal barriers to the latter. H.823 places strict regulations on the “conditions and criteria” for obtaining development permits. In the words of House Energy & Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Tony Klein, this bill turns Act 250 into a “living document.” CONQUEST – YES
REQUIRE “MAY CONTAIN GMO” LABEL ON SOME FOOD PRODUCTS (H. 112). Passed 114-30, April 23, 2014. The GMO labeling bill is popular with Vermonters because people quite logically want to know what is in the food they eat. Therefore, superficially this bill makes sense. However, there are two major concerns with H.112 in practice. 1) It opens Vermont taxpayers up to an estimated $1.5 to $8 million in legal liabilities if the law is challenged in court and the state loses – certain and likely scenarios respectively. 2) Given the number of exemptions to the labeling codified within the bill, it really doesn’t achieve the ostensible goal of enlightening consumers as to whether or not they are eating GMOs. CONQUEST – YES
4.7% STATE SPENDING INCREASE (H.530). Passed 91-49, March 29, 2013. Those members voting YES on the “Omnibus Appropriations Bill” voted to increase state spending by 4.7%. This is nearly 2 and a half times the rate of inflation. CONQUEST – YES
$50 MILLION PROPERTY TAX INCREASE (H.265). Passed 96-45, Feb. 19, 2013. Those who voted YES on this bill voted to increase the residential property tax rate by $.05 per $100.00 of assessed value, and $.06 on non-residential property to $.94 and $1.44 respectively. The total tax increase on Vermont property taxpayers as a result of this bill is estimated at over $50 million. CONQUEST – YES
$21.8 MILLION GAS TAX INCREASE (H.510). Passed 105-37, March 20, 2013. Legislators who voted YES on this bill supported a $21.8 million tax increase on gasoline – a roughly 7.5 cent per gallon increase by 2014. This represents the largest gas tax increase in Vermont history. CONQUEST – YES
$27 MILLION MISCELLANEOUS TAX INCREASE (H.528). Passed 85-55, March 27, 2013. Those members voting YES voted to expand the Vermont state sales tax (6%) to bottled water, clothing (including shoes) over $110, candy, soft drinks, and dietary supplements, and to increase the tax on cigarettes and smokeless tobacco by $0.50 (total: $3.12) and $0.88 (total: $3.12) respectively. They voted to increase the Rooms & Meals tax from 9% to 9.5% for 2014, and they voted to apply the Meals tax to food sold out of vending machines. They voted to cap all itemized tax deductions at 2.5 times standard deduction, eliminated Vermont’s 8.8% tax bracket, moving those earning $178,651 and more into the top 8.95% tax bracket, formerly reserved for those earning $388,351 and above. The total estimated cost to Vermont taxpayers: $27 million in 2014 and $32.3 million in 2015. CONQUEST – NO
STOP ‘RAIDS’ ON THE TRANSPORTATION FUND (Koch Amendment to H.510). Failed 49-88, March 21, 2013. Those voting YES on voted to assure that no transportation funds will be appropriated for the support of government other than for true transportation purposes. This would have reduced or negated the need for a gas tax increase. CONQUEST – NO
STATE OVERRIDES LOCAL CONTROL, MANDATES PRE-K (H.270). Passed 95-43, May 1, 2013. Those voting YES on H.270 voted to saddle Vermonters with an estimated $10 million cost/tax increase over the next five years, and to take away local control regarding the decision of whether or not to offer publicly funded pre-kindergarten. When the legislature established publicly funded pre-k in 2007, it did so with the assurance to communities that funding pre-k would remain voluntary. This bill reneges on that deal. CONQUEST – YES
FORCE NON-UNION WORKER TO PAY FEES TO UNIONS (S.14). Passed 85-43, April 26, 2013. Those voting YES on S.14 voted in favor of forcing non-union workers to pay a fee equal to 85% of the dues unionized workers pay to the union, effectively using government power to require citizens to make payments to a private organization that they want nothing to do with. S.14 affects roughly 2,600 education, state and municipal employees, mostly low-wage support staff who can least afford the payment. CONQUEST – ABSENT
LIMIT CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS (S.82). Passed 96-49, May 8, 2013. Those voting YES on S.82 voted in favor of capping donations to independent political committees that do not coordinate with candidates or parties, despite Supreme Court precedents that are pretty clear that this constitutes a violation of the First Amendment. If the bill is challenged in court, which it likely will be, the state would most likely lose, leaving taxpayers on the hook for an estimated $5 million. CONQUEST – NO
SET FIVE YEAR TIME LIMIT FOR WELFARE BENEFITS (Donahue Amendment to H.530) Failed 51-88, March 28, 2013. Those voting YES on this amendment voted to limit Reach Up benefits to 60 cumulative months of financial assistance, excluding child-only grants, per family. This amendment is similar to a proposal from Governor Shumlin, about which he cautioned, “Vermont was the only state left in America where welfare benefits were timeless, not temporary.” CONQUEST – NO
REGULATE WATERFRONT PROPERTY RIGHTS (H.526) Passed 105-42, March 27, 2013. This bill gives the Secretary of Natural resources unprecedented power to regulate the private property of waterfront owners. S.526 dictates that property owners will require a permit from the Secretary to create or expand anything with more than 500 square feet of “impervious surface” (defined as: “those manmade surfaces, including paved and unpaved roads, parking areas, roofs, driveways, and walkways, from which precipitation runs off rather than infiltrates.”), or create more than 500 square feet of “cleared area” (defined as: “an area where existing vegetative cover, soil, or duff is permanently removed or altered.”) in a “protected shoreland area” (defined as: “all land located within 250 feet of the mean water level of a lake that is greater than 10 acres in surface area.”) CONQUEST – YES
EXEMPT “CLOUD” SERVICES FROM SALES TAX (Scheuermann Amendment to H.528) Failed 53-90, March 28, 2013. This amendment would exempt internet-based “Cloud” services from Vermont’s sales tax. Defined as “charges made for the right to remotely access and use prewritten computer software, where possession of the software is maintained by the seller or a third party”, this tax would presume to charge consumers for remotely accessed services, even if they are free. Examples of “cloud” computing include Skype, Google Voice, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, as well as “cloud” storage services (Google Drive) and software production (Google Apps). CONQUEST – NO
ALLOW PRIVATE DOCTOR/PATIENT CONTRACTS (Browning Amendment to H.107) Failed 44-94, March 19, 2013. Those voting YES on this amendment voted to ensure that Vermont residents would maintain the ability to enter into voluntary financial contracts with their health care providers, and prohibit the Green Mountain Care Board from placing restrictions on health care professionals’ practice locations. CONQUEST – NO
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Rep. Robert LaClair, Washington-2
District: Barre Town (Map)
Party: Republican
146 Airport Rd
rlaclair@leg.state.vt.us
robsplow@comcast.net
(802) 476-9668 (Home)
(802) 223-4333 (Work)
news@timesargus.com
thenorthfieldnews@gmail.com
http://www.vt-world.com/letters-to-the-editor
Mandatory Paid Family Leave/Payroll Tax (H.107). Passed 92-52 on April 5, 2019. This would put in place a government-mandated Paid Family Leave program paid for with a new payroll tax on income up to $132,900. The program would allow an employee to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for the birth of a child, or 8 weeks for family or personal medical care. Employees would receive 90% of their weekly wages up to the “liveable wage” (currently calculated at $13.34/hr). Wages above that level would covered at 50% of the weekly wage. Wages above $132,900 would not be covered. A maximum cap on the benefit would be set at $1,334 per week. The payroll tax would be initially set at 0.55%, and the estimated total cost would $76 million annually to start. LACLAIR – NO
Double the Tax on Home Heating Fuels (H.439, Ways & Means Committee Amendment). Passed 81-60 on March 26, 2019. This would double the tax on the retail sale of heating oil, propane, kerosene, and other dyed diesel fuel delivered to a residence or business from $0.02 to $0.04 per gallon, and to impose a gross receipts tax of 1% on the retail sale of natural gas and 1.5% on the retail sale of coal. The estimated $4.6 million tax will be used to increase funding for the state’s low-income weatherization program. LACLAIR – NO
Increase State Minimum Wage Annually by 2.25x Inflation (S.23). Passed 90-53 on May 15, 2019. This would increase the state mandated minimum wage each year by 2.25x the rate of inflation. If inflation remains steady at 2%, the next hike would raise the minimum wage from $10.78 to $11.26 in 2020. Again, assuming steady inflation, the state minimum wage would reach $15/hour in 2027. LACLAIR – NO
Increase Capital Gains Tax/Reduces Estate Tax (H.541). In order to address the issue of wealthy taxpayers fleeing Vermont, this bill would increase the estate tax exclusion (raising the point where the tax kicks in) from $2.75 million to $4.25 million in January 2020, and to $5 million in January 2021, resulting in a substantial estate tax cut. However, in order to backfill the lost revenue anticipated from the estate tax cut, the bill would also decrease the exemption for capital gains from 40% to 30% and cap the exemption at $450,000. The former change positively impacts mostly wealthy citizens passing on assets to younger generations, the latter change negatively impacts mostly middle/working Vermonters who rely on a one-time, large dollar sale of a home or business to fund their retirement. LACLAIR – NO
Require 24 Hour Waiting Period for Handgun Purchase (S.169) Passed 82-58 on May 15, 2019. The principal purpose of this bill is to require a 24 hour waiting period after completion of a background check to purchase a handgun. It also includes provisions allowing residents of other states to transport high-capacity magazines into Vermont for the purpose of participating in shooting competitions, and to allow the transfer of legally grandfathered high-capacity magazines from one “immediate relative” to another. LACLAIR – NO
Allow All School Districts to Delay Forced Mergers by One Year (H.39, Scheuermann Amendment). Failed 69-74 on February 6, 2019. February 6, 2019. This would provide all school districts facing forced mergers ordered by the State Board of Education the opportunity to extend the July 1, 2019 merger deadline currently in law to July 1, 2020. LACLAIR – NO
Mandate that Vermonters Purchase Health Insurance (H.524). Passed 92-44 on March 29, 2019. This would mandate that all Vermonters purchase health insurance, restoring at a state level the Obamacare federal mandate repealed by the Trump Administration. However, this state “mandate” comes with no penalty. Instead, the bill would create a database of state income tax filers who do not have health insurance, and commission bureaucrats to encourage these Vermonters to purchase insurance. LACLAIR – NO
Ban Plastic Bags, Styrofoam Food Containers, Straws, Etc. (S.113). Passed 120-24 on May 9, 2019. This would make it illegal for businesses to provide “single use” plastic bags to customers at the point of sale, or to provide polystyrene food or beverage containers, or to provide plastic straws except upon request, and to require businesses to charge at least 10¢ per paper bag (if not given away for free). It would create a “Single-Use Products Working Group” to study the effectiveness of these policies and make recommendations for future regulation. LACLAIR – YES
Raise Tobacco Use/Purchase Age from 18 to 21 (S.86). Passed 124-14 on April 23, 2019. This would raise the legal age to purchase and use tobacco and tobacco related products from 18 to 21 years of age. LACLAIR – YES
Allow Non-Citizen Voting in Montpelier (H.207). Passed 95-46 on April 18, 2019. This would change the charter of the City of Montpelier to allow non-citizens who are legally in the United States and full time residents of the city to vote in city elections, setting a precedent for other towns/cities around the state. LACLAIR – NO
Abolish Columbus Day/Create Indigenous Peoples’ Day (S.68). Passed 113-24 on April 16, 2019. This would abolish Columbus Day as a state holiday and replace it with “Indigenous People’s Day.” LACLAIR – YES
Propose Constitutional Amendment Guaranteeing Abortion from Conception to Birth (Proposition 5). Passed 106-38 on May 7, 2019. This would amend the Vermont Constitution to say that “an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course and shall not be denied or infringed unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.” It would bar any legal restrictions on abortion from conception to the moment of birth. LACLAIR – NO
$5.9 Billion FY19 Budget (H.924). Passed 117-14 on May 12, 2018. The “Big Bill” budget for FY19 totaled $5,861,048,67, an increase of a little over 1% from the FY18 budget. General Fund spending shows a decline of 17.2%, from $1.6 billion to just under $1.3 billion, but this is only because the legislature eliminated the General Fund transfer to the education fund, replacing that money from other sources. The “apples to apples” growth in spending is 2.5%. LACLAIR – YES
House Passes $59 million Income Tax Increase/Property Tax Cut (H.911) Passed 85-54 on March 21, 2018. This was a two-part bill. The first part shifts some responsibility for funding Vermont’s pre-k-12 education system from the property tax to the income tax. The second part negates an unintended $30 million tax increase resulting from changes in the federal tax code. Part 1 includes a $59 million income tax increase, called a “surcharge,” eliminates the current General Fund transfer to the Education Fund, and dedicates 100% of the sales and use tax to the Education Fund. This allows for a cut in homestead property tax rates of 15 cents/$100 of assessed value. Part 2 lowers each of Vermont’s marginal tax rates for personal income taxes by at least 0.2%, expands the earned-income tax credit, and eliminates the tax on Social Security benefits for Vermonters with less than $55,000 in income. Those voting YES are in favor of reducing the reliance on the property tax for the purpose of funding pre-k-12 education spending, and shifting that burden to the income tax, which they believe better reflects ability to pay. Those voting NO note that H.911 does not address education spending, it merely shifts the costs without reducing or curbing the total tax burden. The income tax surcharge will give Vermont the third highest marginal income tax rate in the nation. The income tax is historically a volatile revenues source, and ill-suited for education funding. The shift to income taxes is unfair to renters who end up paying higher income taxes but get no property tax relief. This new funding scheme is unfair to 30,000 non-residents who chose to work in Vermont and will now be paying this new education tax with not compensating property tax decrease. H.911 leaves all the complexity of the current system in place (CLA, per pupil spending, income sensitivity etc.), and adds even more complexity by introducing new income tax surcharge. And, finally, object to the tactic of tying two unrelated ideas together in one bill, holding tax relief hostage to a shift to the income tax to pay for education. LACLAIR – NO
$16 Million Payroll Tax for Paid Family Leave (H.196) Passed 90-53 on May 11, 2018. H.196 would levy a 0.136% ($16.3 million) payroll tax on employees to pay for a state-mandated, government-run family leave insurance program. However, if the demand for the benefit exceeds the amount raised at this rate, the legislature will have to adjust the rate upward to raise enough revenue to cover the cost. Those voting YES supported the program, believing it will make Vermont more “family friendly” and appealing to young workers. Those voting NO see this as another burdensome “mandate from Montpelier” on businesses, that the tax rate has been set artificially low and will have to be raised, and that this bill levies a $16.3 million tax on all working Vermonters, even though only a fraction of them will have occasion or the ability to benefit from the program. LACLAIR – NO
$15 Minimum Wage (S.40). Passed 77-60 on May 18, 2018. S.40 would raise Vermont’s minimum wage from the current $10.50/hr. to $15/hr. by the year 2024.Those voting YES believe this will benefit low income workers and help to close the “income inequality” gap. Those voting NO believe that such a large and rapid increase in the cost of labor will harm Vermont businesses, the overall economy, as well as the workers the bill was meant to help due to cutbacks in hours, lost benefits, and/or lost jobs as employers struggle to maintain budgets. Additionally, a majority of Vermonters living in low income households, especially poor senior citizens, do not report wage income. While their incomes would be unaffected by the minimum wage increase, their cost of living would rise due to higher prices for goods and services due to the artificial wage increase being passed along to consumers. LACLAIR – NO
$6.4 Million Tax Package to Fund Lake Clean Up (S.260). Passed 92-48 on May 4, 2018. S.260 would raise $6.4 million in new revenue, primarily from a $4.55 million increase in the state rooms and meals tax (from 9% to 9.25%). The rest, $1.94 million, would come via the confiscation of revenue from unclaimed bottle/can deposits, which is currently the property of the beverage distributors and used by them to defray the costs of managing recycling programs. These taxes would not take effect until 2020, and only then if the legislature does not find another source of funding. Those voting YES believe higher taxes are necessary to fund water quality improvements. Those voting NO believe that water quality improvements should be funded with existing resources, not tax increases, that they should especially not be funded in a way that discourages tourism, such as increasing the rooms and meals tax, or in a way that punishes industries (tourism and beverage distribution) that do not contribute measurably to water pollution problem and, in the case of the unclaimed deposit money, actually help maintain a clean environment through recycling programs. LACLAIR – NO
Mandate That Vermonters Buy Health Insurance (H.696). Passed 118-16 on May 12, 2018. The primary objective of H.696 is to require individual Vermonters to purchase and maintain “minimum essential [health insurance] coverage” for themselves and any dependent or pay a penalty to the state beginning in the 2020 plan year. However, legislators do not know how this would work or how it would be enforced, so the bill also creates the “Individual Mandate Working Group” to figure it out. Those voting YES support forcing Vermonters to purchase health insurance as doing so will help keep overall insurance premiums lower. Those voting NO do not support a state mandate to purchase health insurance, assert that forcing citizens to purchase a product from a private company is government overreach, and note that the mandate will make Vermont less affordable for young people, who we are supposedly trying to attract. LACLAIR – YES
Gun Control Measures (S.55). Passed 89-54 on March 27, 2018. S.55 raises the age for long gun purchases to 21, mandates background checks for nearly all private firearm sales, bans magazines holding more than fifteen rounds, and bans bump stocks. Those voting YES believe these measures will result in safer communities by reducing gun violence. Those voting NO believe that these measures will have no measurable impact on safety or violence, create excessive burdens on law abiding gun owners, are largely unenforceable, and violate Vermont’s constitutional guarantee of the “right to bear arms for the defence of themselves….” LACLAIR – NO
Legalization of Recreational Marijuana (H.511). Passed 81-63 on January 4, 2018. H.511 legalizes possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for use by people 21 and older and allows possession of four immature and two mature marijuana plants. Those voting YES support the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Those voting NO do not support the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. LACLAIR – NO
Increase Fee on Telecommunication Bills (H.582). Passed 109-27 on February 16, 2018. S.582 increases the surcharge that appears on Vermonters’ telecommunications bills from 2 to 2.5 percent, which amounts an estimated $6.3 million fee increase. The raise would sunset in four years (2022). The money collected from this increase will be transferred to the Connectivity Fund, which distributes grants to internet service providers that expand networks in underserved areas. Those voting YES believe these additional funds are necessary to connect all Vermonters to the internet. Those voting NO believe that Vermonters cannot afford any more taxes/fees, note that the Connectivity Fund has a history of being raided for other purposes, and that there is no clear plan for how the money would be spent to achieve the stated objective. LACLAIR – NO
Give Taxpayer Funded Legal Counsel to Those Challenging Immigration Status (S.237). Passed on April 10, 2018, by a vote of 97-40. S.237 allows state-paid public defenders, including the Defender General, to provide legal help to immigrants on immigration issues in the federal court system. Those voting YES believe that immigrants and farm workers residing in Vermont should have access to taxpayer funded representation in federal court “in or with respect to a matter arising out of or relating to immigration status.” Those voting NO believe that giving Vermont’s Defender General more responsibilities without increased funding would put a strain on that government office. There is already a backlog of cases, and the Defender General would have to reallocate resources away from other vital government functions in order to provide this service. The federal court system already offers court-appointed legal counsel, and there is no reason for the state to duplicate this service. LACLAIR – NO
Ban More Appliances Via Efficiency Standards (H.410). Passed 137-4 on January 31, 2018. H.410 applies efficiency standards established in 2014 to over a dozen new products, including showerheads, computers and telephones. Those voting YES believe that some consumer goods are too energy-intensive, and that Vermonters should not be allowed to purchase them. Those voting NO believe that Vermonters should be allowed to decide for themselves the costs and benefits of the appliances they purchase. LACLAIR – YES
$5.82 Billion FY18 Budget (H.518). Passed 143-1 on March 30, 2017. H.518 set the total FY18 budget at a $5.82 billion, an overall 1% increase over FY17. State (non-Federal) spending would total $2.5 billion, an increase of about $20 million over FY17. The General Fund would grow by 1.8%. Those voting YES celebrated a budget that did not rely on new taxes or fee increases and grows in line with inflation.The one NO vote explained his vote, ““Even though we haven’t increased [the budget], I think the budget needs to go on a diet.” LACLAIR – YES
Miscellaneous Tax Bill with No New Taxes or Fees (H.516). Passed 138-0 on March 30, 2017. The Miscellaneous Tax Bill for FY18 did not include any new taxes or fees. It does rely on approximately $5 million in new revenue from enhanced compliance with existing taxes. The bill passed unanimously. LACLAIR – YES
Create Statewide Teachers’ Healthcare Contract/$26 Million in Property Tax Savings (H.509, Beck Amendment). Failed 74-74 on May 3, 2017. The Beck Amendment represented Governor Scott’s proposal to create a statewide teachers’ contract for healthcare benefits, which could save property taxpayers an estimated $26,000,000. Those voting YES supported the proposal. Those voting NO opposed it. Speaker Johnson cast the deciding vote, killing the proposal. LACLAIR – YES
Mandate Employees Buy Family Leave Insurance Via New Payroll Tax (H.196). Passed 88-58 on March 3, 2017. H.196 levies a new payroll tax on Vermont employees to create a new “family leave” program that would be administered similarly to unemployment insurance. The language in the bill sets the payroll tax at 0.141% of one’s first $150,000 of income, but acknowledges that if revenue necessary to fund demand the program is not met by that rate, the rate will rise to meet demand. Those voting YES support the program. Those voting NO see it as another tax and administrative burden on Vermont businesses. LACLAIR – NO
Allow Warrantless Confiscation of Firearms In Cases of Alleged Domestic Abuse (H.422). Passed 78-60 on March 22, 2017. H.422 would allow law enforcement to confiscate firearms from a citizen arrested or cited for domestic assault, without a warrant and regardless of whether or not a firearm played a part in the allegation, for a period of up to five days. Those voting YES on this bill believe the measure is necessary to combat domestic abuse. Those voting NO see this as a violation of Article 16 of the Vermont Constitution (the right to defend one’s self), and the Second Amendment (the right to keep and bear arms), Fourth Amendment (unreasonable search and seizure), Fifth Amendment (due process), and Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection under the law) of the U.S. Constitution. LACLAIR – NO
Restrict Private Property/Development Rights (H.233). Passed 85-58 on May 4, 2017. The “Forest Fragmentation” bill makes it much more difficult for property owners to develop subdivide their land by creating a number of regulatory criteria that must be met in regard to preserving “forest blocks,” defined in part as “a contiguous area of forest in any stage of succession and not currently developed for non-forest use.” Those voting YES want to impose additional Act 250 regulation on rural forest land. Those voting NO believe rural forestland additional regulation of forestland is unwarranted, will discourage long term investment in forestland and in forestry, and is a violation of personal property rights. LACLAIR – NO
Mandate “Gender Neutral” Bathrooms (H.333). Passed 123-19 on April 21, 2017. H.333 would make it illegal for a restaurant, gas station, grocery store, etc. to offer customers the service of private men’s and women’s bathrooms, mandating that all single-occupancy bathrooms be open to all genders. Those voting YES believe this is necessary to make transgender citizens feel comfortable. Those voting NO believe this is a gross example of government overreach, and an unnecessary regulation interfering with Vermont businesses. LACLAIR – YES
Legalize Growing/Possessing Marijuana, Sets Stage for Retail Sales/Taxation (S.22). Passed 79-66 on May 10, 2017. S.22 was originally a fentanyl regulation bill repurposed to be a vehicle for passage of marijuana legalization. It would remove all criminal penalties for adults 21 or older who possess up to an ounce of marijuana, and allow growing up to two mature and two immature marijuana plants per household, and would go into effect in 2018. The bill also sets up a commission that will create a framework for taxing and regulating retail sales of marijuana. Those voting YES support legalization of marijuana; those voting NO oppose it. LACLAIR – NO
Bar State Law Enforcement from Gathering Information for a Federal Immigration Registry (S.79). Passed 110-24 on March 14, 2017. This bill was designed to “send a message” regarding President Trump’s policies on immigration, but without doing anything that might classify Vermont as “sanctuary state.” The registry the bill bars Vermont from providing information to does not actually exist. Those voting YES oppose the president’s immigration policies. Those voting NO see the bill as a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, but potentially puts federal funding for Vermont programs at risk. LACLAIR – NO
Pledge Support/Funds for Global/State Climate Change Agenda (H.R.15). Passed 105-31, June 21, 2017. Those voting YES on H.R.15 resolved that Vermont will continue to bear the costs and sacrifices of the global Paris Climate Agreement despite the U.S. withdrawal from the pact, and to affirm support for an aggressive statewide CO2 reduction program. Those voting NO recognized that this resolution, would require significantly higher taxes, economically crippling regulations, and that legislators were voting on this after no debate and no analysis of the potential economic impact. LACLAIR – ABSENT
$5.77 Billion FY17 Budget (H.875). Passed 94-40 on March 24, 2016. Those voting YES on this bill approved a total $5.77 billion state budget for FY17. This represents a total increase of 2.7 percent over FY16 (not accounting for adjustments that will occur in the next legislative session.) The $1.47 billion general fund portion of the budget, however, increases by 4.8 percent, while revenue is projected to grow at just 2.2%. This budget also leaves an estimated $30 million hole for the FY18 budget. Those voting NO argued that continuing the trend of spending taxpayer dollars faster than revenue comes into the treasury is unsustainable and irresponsible. LACLAIR – NO
Adjust 2016 Budget Upward by $91.8 Million (H.611). Passed 90-54 on January 26, 2016. Those voting YES voted in favor of increasing spending for FY16 by a total of $91.8 million (raising the previously accepted state budget to $5.6 billion, a 2.5% increase over FY15), $12.3 million of which is represents increases in General Fund spending (raising total General Fund Spending to $1.48 billion, a 5% increase over FY15). Those voting NO opposed these spending increases on the grounds that the state cannot continue to spend money faster than revenue is coming in, and that continuing to do so is causing a structural deficit. LACLAIR – NO
$37 Million in New Miscellaneous Taxes (H.873) Passed 86-59 on March 23, 2016. Those voting YES approved $37 million worth of new taxes. These include stringent enforcement of the 9% rooms and meals tax on private, short term rentals such as those contracted through AirBnB, raising the assessment on employers who do not offer health insurance to their employees to $151.12 per employee for businesses with 19 or fewer employees, $210.00 for businesses with 20-99 employees, and $249.00 for businesses with over 100 or more employees. The bill also puts a 3.3 percent assessment on ambulance agencies’ annual net patient revenues for services. And increases by 0.25% the fuel gross receipts on heating oil, propane, kerosene, dyed diesel, natural gas and coal to 0.75%. And, a $2.4 million a year increase in the bank franchise tax. Those voting NO opposed these tax increases. LACLAIR – NO
$11 Million Motor Vehicle Fee Increases (H.877). Passed 104-40 on March 30, 2016. Those voting YES on this bill supported $11 million in new or higher motor vehicle related fees. Increased costs include: higher motor vehicle registration fees, higher transfer of ownership fees, higher fees for driver’s licenses, learner’s permits and non-driver ID cards, higher fees for vehicle inspections, an increase the annual motor vehicle emission (“clean air”) fee, and a higher cost for choosing a “vanity” license plate. There is also a new $80 fee for reinstating a suspended registration. Those voting NO opposed these fee increases. LACLAIR – NO
$7.9 Million Property Tax Increase (H.853). Passed 98-45 on March 30, 2016. The primary function of this bill is to set the property tax rates for FY17, as well as to take care of some miscellaneous educational items. Those voting YES supported what amounts to a 0.2¢ increase for residential property tax payers, and in total, a $7.9 million proper tax increase ($4 million coming from residential and $3.9 million from non-residential taxpayers). Those voting NO opposed the tax increase, noting that if the spending thresholds in Act 46 had been left in place Vermont homeowners would have experienced a cut in property taxes. LACLAIR – NO
Raise Education (Act 46) Spending Caps (S.233, House Education Committee Amendment). Passed 94-52 on January 27, 2016. Act 46, the education governance reform law passed in 2015, was billed as a response to Vermonters’ calls for property tax relief. Those voting YES on this amendment supported raising the 2 percent allowable growth percentage in Act 46 by 0.9 percent, reducing the penalty for exceeding the threshold from $1 for every dollar exceeding to 25¢ per dollar exceeding. Those voting NO either objected to the resulting property tax increase, or supported the objective of the underlying bill (S.233) to repeal the spending caps all together. LACLAIR – NO
$24 Million in Fee Hikes (H.872). Passed 98-46 on March 23, 2016. Those voting YES supported increasing the net fees paid in Vermont by $24 million – the highest increase on record. The 2015 fee increases, in comparison, amounted to $2.7 million. Those voting NO opposed not just the fee increases but the precedents set by raising fees to fund general revenue projects. The legal definition of a fee is that it is used to pay the costs of regulating or servicing the entity paying the fee, and no more. LACLAIR – NO
Mandate Paid Sick Leave (H.187). Passed 81-64 on February 3, 2016. Those voting YES supported a de facto tax on mostly small/micro businesses of $14.3 million dollars annually when fully implemented.” The bill would allow an employee to accrue “not less than one hour of earned sick time for every 52 hours worked,” with a maximum number of hours accrued set at 24 hours in a 12-month period from January 1, 2017 until December 31, 2018 and then a maximum of 40 hours in a 12-month period after December 31, 2018. Those voting NO opposed adding another burden to struggling Vermont businesses. LACLAIR – NO
92% Tax on E-Cigarettes (H.879). Passed 83-54 on March 30, 2016. Those voting YES supported putting a 92% on e-cigarettes and related products for a total tax increase of an estimated $500,000. Those voting NO opposed raising the tax, noting that e-cigarettes are not tobacco, but rather a tobacco substitute that many people use as a way to quit smoking. LACLAIR – NO
Strike $1.6 Million Telephone Tax Increase (H.870, Turner Amendment). Failed 48-97 on April 13, 2016. The Turner Amendment sought to strike a $1.6 million tax increase from the telecom bill. Those voting NO wanted to keep the tax increase in place, citing the need to pay for expanding broadband service. Those voting YES wanted to eliminate the tax increase, stating that the money could have and should have been found in the already passed general fund budget, and that Vermonters cannot afford any more taxes. LACLAIR – YES
Raise Smoking Age/$900,000 Tobacco Tax Increase (H.93). Passed 84-61on April 5, 2016. Those voting YES supported raising the smoking age from 18 to 21 over a three year period ending in 2019, and raising the tax on cigarettes by 39¢ (to a total of $3.47) and on other tobacco products by 32¢ — an estimated $900,000 tax increase. Those voting NO opposed the higher age limit and tax increase. LACLAIR – NO
Block Legalization of Marijuana (H.858, Conquest Amendment). Passed 121-28), 2016, May 3, 2016. This amendment killed legislation that would have legalized, regulated and taxed marijuana in Vermont. Those voting YES on this amendment DID NOT support the legalization of marijuana. Those voting NO on this amendment DID support the legalization of marijuana. LACLAIR – YES
$16 Million Property Tax Increase, Mandates for School District Consolidation. (H.361). Passed 88-55, April 1, 2015. Those voting YES on this bill approved a $16 million increase in school property taxes, setting the statewide homestead property tax rate at $0.98 (flat), and raising the nonresidential property tax rate to $1.525. The bill also placed mandates on school districts to consolidate into Pre-K- 12 districts of no fewer than 1100 students and put in place a complicated formula for capping school budgets, which could not be triggered until 2018. Those voting NO on H.361 saw this as a failure to answer the pleas of citizens for meaningful tax relief, while launching a serious assault on local control and the democratic process. LACLAIR – YES
$1.48 Billion General Fund Budget (4.8% Spending Increase) for FY16 (H.490). Passed 96-46, March 26, 2015. Those voting YES on H.490 approved a $1.48 billion general fund budget. This is a $68 million spending increase (4.8%) over the FY15 budget (adopted in 2014) and grows spending at 3 times the average rate of inflation (1.6% in 2014). Those voting NO did so on the grounds that increasing spending by 4.8% while revenue is only projected to grow at 2.4% is unsustainable and irresponsible. They also objected to using $24 million in one-time funds to achieve “balance,” and that this budget sets up a projected budget gap of $50-$70 million for FY17/FY18. LACLAIR – NO
$12 Million In New Taxes on Candy, Sweetened Beverages, Vending Machines & Tobacco (S.139, COMMITTEE OF WAYS & MEANS AMENDMENT). Passed 78-62, April 30, 2015. Those voting YES on this amendment supported extending Vermont’s 6% sales tax to candy (not containing flour) and sweetened beverages (not milk based), applying Vermont’s 9% rooms and meals tax to vending machine purchases, and increasing the tax on cigarettes by 33¢ over two years. The total tax increase on Vermonters amounts to roughly $12 million. Those voting NO opposed these tax increases. LACLAIR – ABSENT
$33.2 Million in Income Tax Increases (H.489). Passed 76-67, March 27, 2015. Analysis: Those voting YES on this bill approved a tax increase on Vermonters of $33.2 million, raised primarily from capping itemized deductions on the state income tax at $15,000 for individuals and $31,000 for couples, and disallowing deductions for state and local income taxes from the previous year. Some of those voting NO argued that Vermont has “a spending problem, not a revenue problem,” and that taxes are already too high in Vermont. Others voting NO believed H.489 did not raise enough revenue. (See H.489, O’Sullivan Amendment Roll Call to cross-reference.) LACLAIR – NO
Additional $12 Million Income Taxes (H.489). Failed 43-98, March 26, 2015. Those voting YES on this amendment supported: “Beginning in tax year 2015 and after, the rates assigned to the individual income tax brackets under 32 V.S.A. § 5822(a), from lowest to highest, shall be 3.55 percent, 6.8percent, 7.8 percent,9.5percent,and 9.55percent,” in the belief that the underlying bill did not raise enough revenue ($33.2 million) on its own. Those voting NO opposed this. LACLAIR – NO
Lake Clean Up With Existing Funds (No New Taxes) (H.35, DICKINSON AMENDMENT). Failed 40-100, April 1, 2015. The underlying bill, H.35, raised $8 million in new taxes for cleaning up Lake Champlain and Vermont’s other waterways. The Dickinson Amendment eliminated the need for new taxes by reallocating roughly $9 million of existing revenue for the same purpose. Those voting YES on the Dickinson Amendment believed that no new taxes were needed to fund the Lake Clean Up policies outlined in H.35, and that the financial obligations could be met by reallocating existing revenues from the property transfer tax. Those voting NO on the Dickinson Amendment supporting raising new taxes ($5.7 million from a 0.2 percent surcharge to the property transfer tax) and various fees ($2.3 million). LACLAIR – YES
$2.8 Million in Fee Increases. (H.184). Passed 88-57, February 12, 2015. Those voting YES on H.188 voted to increase in aggregate the fees Vermonters must pay to engage in a variety of activities — from hunting and fishing, to construction, to operating a business —by $2.8 million. Those voting NO on the bill alleged that the fee increases were too high, and not necessarily tied to the actual cost of running the program for which the fee is ostensibly set. Instead, the fees are being improperly increased for the purpose of raising general revenue. LACLAIR – NO
3% Cap on Fee Increases. (H.184, DAME AMENDMENT). Failed 50-96, February 13, 2015). Those who voted YES on the Dame amendment would have raised fee revenue in the aggregate by over $500k, but limited the increase of any fee to 3%. This would have been more in line with inflation/economic growth than the 50%-135% increases attached to some fees in the underlying bill, which raised fees in the aggregate by $2.8 million. LACLAIR – YES
46% Excise Tax on E-Cigarettes (S.139, JEWETT AMENDMENT) Passed 70-67, May 1, 2015. Those voting YES supported levying a 46% tax on the wholesale price of e-cigarettes. The tax is estimated to raise $240,000. Those voting NO opposed these tax increase. LACLAIR – NO
Mandates 75% of Electric Sales Be From “Renewables” by 2032. (H.40). (Passed 121-24, March 10, 2015. H.40 had many facets to it. It repealed the SPEED program and replaced it with a new RESET program, enabling Vermont utilities’ to continue to sell some Renewable Energy Credits. It also mandated that utilities have 75% of their electricity portfolio come from renewable sources by 2032. This, of course, is a mandate on customers to buy the more expensive renewables, and a requirement that more renewable electricity projects be built (25 megawatts per year). This many wind towers and solar facilities will have a negative impact on Vermont’s scenic landscape. LACLAIR – YES
Mandates on Businesses to Pay $14 Million for Paid Sick Leave (H.187). Passed 76-66, April 22, 2015. Those voting YES approved an unfunded mandate, estimated to be a much as $14 million annually, requiring employers to provide at least three days of paid sick leave to employees. Those voting NO opposed this mandate, citing the fact that most Vermont businesses already provide such benefits voluntarily, and those that don’t can least afford to do so. This unfunded mandate represents another burden on Vermont employers, making Vermont a less competitive place to run a business. LACLAIR – NO
Ban on Teachers Strikes (H.76, LALONDE AMENDMENT) Failed 70-73, April 8, 2015). The LaLonde amendment would have banned both teachers’ ability to strike and school boards’ ability to impose contract terms. It would also have set up a task force to study less disruptive means of resolving contract disputes. Those voting YES favored banning teachers’ strikes and imposed contracts. Those voting NO supported teachers’ strikes. LACLAIR – YES
Prevent Green Mountain Care Board from Controlling Medicare Funding (S.139). Failed 54-85, April 30, 2015. In the 2014 election, the strategic plan enacted in Act 48 of 2011 became a major issue. This amendment would have removed all references to Medicare from Act 48, thus making it clear that the state’s promised single payer health care plan could not incorporate Medicare payments for Vermont seniors. Those voting YES wanted to keep the state’s hands off the Medicare payment stream. Those voting NO reaffirmed their support for having the Green Mountain Care Board gain control over Medicare payments under a single payer or “all payer” plan. LACLAIR – ABSENT
Same Day Voter Registration (S.29) Passed 87-54, May 11, 2015. Those voting YES on S.29 would allow an individual to register to vote and to vote on election day. Those voting NO believed this to be an invitation to voter fraud as there is not adequate opportunity for either the Town Clerk or other election monitors to verify that the persons registering to vote on election day are who they say they are, or are legal residents of where they claim to live. This also creates a logistical challenge for Town Clerks, who will have to both run the elections in their districts and, with this law, register new voters simultaneously. LACLAIR – NO
New Gun Control Regulations on Felons, Mentally Ill (S. 141) Passed 80-62, April 17, 2015. Those voting YES would make it a state crime for many convicted felons to possess firearms (already a crime under federal law). The bill also required the state report to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System any time someone has been found by a court to be mentally ill and a danger to himself or others. Those voting NO believed this is a “solution in search of a problem.” LACLAIR – NO
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Rein in the Corporate Wages of Excess
As Compensation for Executives Tips the Scales, Shareholders Deserve Power to Change the Equation
Last month, the Teamsters cheered a decision by Coca-Cola to belatedly adopt a union suggestion to limit large executive severance packages. Under the policy change, Coca-Cola agreed not to grant severance payments in excess of 2.99 times an executive's annual salary and bonus without getting shareholder permission. Full story here.........http://www.hoffa2006.com/mediacenter/article.php?id=158
Roadway says they will be "re-engineering their operations."
Roadway Express, a trucking company based in Greenville County, says they will be "re-engineering their operations."
This re-engineering will affect about 200 employees who will have the choice to either be re-located to other offices throughout the country or be laid off.
Roadway Express's Senior Director says they will not be closing their Greenville based office and the re-organization is expected to improve their services.
The tentative date for all of this expected to be in mid-March.
Yellow Roadway Becomes YRC Worldwide Inc.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Yellow Roadway Corp. has changed its name to YRC Worldwide Inc., the company announced Tuesday.The name change was meant to reflect the change in the Overland Park-based transportation company's markets and services, said Bill Zollars, chairman and chief executive officer. Yellow acquired Roadway in December 2003 and regional trucker USF Corp. in May 2005. In September, it completed a deal to buy half of the second-largest air freight importer in China, JHJ International Transportation Co.
"Simply put, the breadth and depth of the enterprise is greater than the name Yellow Roadway conveys," Zollars said in a written statement. "We now operate in over 70 countries around the world and our services have expanded to encompass logistics, as well as global, national and regional transportation.As of Wednesday, the company's stock ticker will change to YRCW on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Shares of YRC Worldwide were down 41 cents at $44.20 in trading Tuesday morning on the Nasdaq. It has traded in a 52-week range of $38.81 to $64.47.
Roadway says they will be "re-engineering their op...
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OHIO TEAMSTERS HAIL SB5 DEFEAT AS VICTORY FOR OHIO'S MIDDLE CLASS
Say Ohioans Won’t Get Fooled Again
Ohio Teamsters’ leadership tonight said the defeat of Senate Bill 5 showed that Ohio voters support collective bargaining. SB5 would have stripped more than 350,000 public workers of nearly all their collective bargaining rights.
“On behalf of all Ohio Teamsters and organized labor, the citizens of Ohio sent a message to Gov. Kasich and the Koch brothers, ‘Keep your hands off our rights to collectively bargain’,” said William Lichtenwald, President of Teamsters Local 20 in Cincinnati and the Ohio Conference of Teamsters.
“I hope the politicians in Columbus wake up and start listening to the middle class and looking out for our interests as opposed to corporate interests,” said Randy Verst, president of Teamsters Joint Council 26 in Cincinnati.
“Extreme politicians tried to shift the burden of the economic crisis to the middle class,” said Al Mixon, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 507 in Cleveland and a Teamsters International Vice President. “They tried to destroy our basic right to freedom of speech, the freedom to negotiate, the freedom to have a voice in the workplace. SB5 doesn’t just affect labor, it affects everybody. If they take away our basic rights, then they’ll take away everybody’s. Fortunately, Ohioans have come together to defeat this bad legislation. We won’t get fooled again.”
“This isn’t just a big victory for the Teamster snowplow drivers, corrections officers and nurses who work for the State of Ohio. It’s a big victory for Ohio’s middle-class workers,” said Gary Tiboni, President of Teamsters Local 436 in Valley View; Mr. Tiboni is also, President of Joint Council 41.
Teamsters represent 55,000 workers in Ohio, including about 7,000 police officers, snowplow drivers, nurses and corrections officers.
ABF Launches Global Expedited LCL/LTL Featuring Service up to 40% Faster than Traditional Models
ABF has expanded its portfolio of global solutions to include Ocean LTL: a single-contact, expedited less-than-container-load/less-than-truckload (LCL/LTL) supply chain solution for customers who import from manufacturing centers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“By combining ABF’s innovative Dual-System® Network with top-tier NVOCC shipping, ABF is able to provide reliable global shipping solutions that offer importers unparalleled control and visibility,” said Roy Slagle, ABF senior vice president of sales and marketing, referring to ABF’s status as a non vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC). “Our new Ocean LTL service is a great compliment to our already successful FCL (full-container-load) business, which has been around since 2006.”
A service offered through ABF Global Supply Chain Services division, Ocean LTL features guaranteed weekly departures on a fixed day and schedule, which enables ABF to expedite shipments up to 40% faster than traditional LCL sources. Long-term planning is enhanced by advanced scheduling for consolidation and departures. In transit, virtual warehousing and dynamic rerouting enable on-the-water inventory allocation and order fulfillment directly from the container to the end-user or multiple delivery locations.
Customers experience truly seamless service from end-to-end. While Ocean LTL shipments may originate as LCL shipments overseas and deliver as LTL shipments in the US, customers benefit from one customer service contact trained to assist with end-to-end documentation services, seamless visibility via abf.com, and single-source pricing and invoicing.
“ABF handles everything,” Slagle continued. “We’re a synchronized local, regional and transcontinental motor carrier, a non-vessel operating common carrier, and a global logistics service provider—linked together by a state-of-the-art technology platform that is the envy of the industry.”
OHIO TEAMSTERS HAIL SB5 DEFEAT AS VICTORY FOR OHIO...
ABF Launches Global Expedited LCL/LTL Featuring Se...
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The Survival Of The Polar Bear May Be In Peril
Updated (Sep. 23, 2012): Scary forecasts come true.
NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center announced today that a new record has been set this summer in the Arctic: The sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has shrunk to the smallest size ever observed by humans on August 26th, at about 4.09 million square kilometers (1.58 million square miles). According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, this phenomenon is considered a strong signal of long-term climate warming.
Updated (Sep. 3, 2015): World looks like this if all ice melted.
This summer, about 38,000 square miles of ice have been melting per day since June. And it is expected that the Arctic will lose an additional 60,000 square miles of sea ice every summer – that's about the size of the State of Georgia. Some scientists believe that by 2020, all the ice in the Arctic will be gone in the summer time. This shows that the "alarmists" among the scientific community in the past were totally correct.
~ Will all the ice melt away by 2020?
As less and less white snow and ice exist to reflect the Sun's rays, and at the same time as more and more dark water exists to absorb the sunlight, global warming may become accelerated. This in turn may cause global sea levels to rise as the snow and ice on land also melt and flow into the ocean. But lest we forget that humans are indeed the main cause of Climate Change. According to world-renowned geologist Richard Alley, the direct inverse relationship between the rise of carbon dioxide and the decline of oxygen in our atmosphere is proof that Global Warming is caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
(Click on image to enlarge.) ~ Atmospheric CO2 concentration from 400,000 years ago to now.
~ It's us, humans, who are causing Global Warming.
The World Wildlife Fund points out that this situation in the Arctic has dire consequences for wildlife from shrimps to walruses to polar bears. Polar bears may become stranded in the ocean, unable to find ice to climb onto in order to reach land; and walruses are losing their habitat. In addition, as shipping and exploration become more and more accessible for humans, their presence in the Arctic may cause irreparable damage to a fragile environment that a whole slew of land and marine species rely on to survive.
~ Starving polar bear finally finds ice.
[Updated Insert - May 16, 2013: Study: 97% Agreement On Man-made Global Warming, click here.]
~ Koch brothers funded research proving Global Warming!!
UPDATE: Arctic Ice Drops To New Record Low
(September 25, 2012) Just twenty-one days since the last record was made on August 26, a new record was reach on September 16, 2012. The Arctic sea ice dropped to a historic low of 3.42 million square kilometers or 1.32 million square miles, click here.
~ September 16th the worst day ever.
UPDATE: 2012 Hottest Year Ever In The U.S.
(Jan 10, 2013) On November 29th, 2012, scientists reported that both polar ice caps are melting three times faster than they had thought. And in a report a few days ago, 2012 was the hottest year in the United States on record – and the second most tumultuous in history.
~ Global sea levels will rise.
~ 2012 was the hottest year ever in the U.S.
UPDATE: Polar Bears Are Starving To Death
(August 7, 2013) Due to Climate Change, many polar bears are dying of starvation. This is because polar bears hunt for seals and other prey by waiting on floating sea ice; they would dive into the water from the ice after they spotted their prey beneath the surface. As there are now less and less pieces of floating sea ice, many polar bears are trapped on land, starving to death. And when they do find sea ice on which to hunt from, they might find themselves far adrift from both land and other sea ice; and when they try to go ashore by swimming from sea ice to sea ice, they might find none and become stranded in the ocean and drown. News item: "Polar Bear Starves To Death From Climate Change, Scientists Say," click here.
~ No ice = no food.
Because polar bears are at the top of the food chain, their drop in numbers may have profound effects on the ecosystems of the Arctic. Without the sufficient culling of seals, sea lions, and other marine mammals by polar bears, their populations may explode and their over-consumption of fish, crustaceans, and other lifeforms may destroy the bio-diversity of Arctic waters.
UPDATE: "Global Warming A Total Fraud": GOP Rep.
(August 13, 2013) Read the latest update on the shenanigans in Washington in regard to Global Warming, click here.
UPDATE: Robert Redford Attacks Keystone XL Pipeline
(September 18, 2013) Read the latest update on the Keystone XL pipeline, click here.
UPDATE: Arctic Ice Grew By 30% – Global Cooling?
(September 21, 2013) Read the latest article on the Global Warming debate, click here.
UPDATE: U.N. Climate Report Spells Disaster
(October 6, 2013) Read our article on the 2013 report from the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (I.P.C.C.), click here.
UPDATE: U.N.'s Health Arm Links Pollution To Cancer
(October 18, 2013) Read our latest update about the World Health Organization's new report, click here.
UPDATE: Obama Likely To Approve Keystone XL
(April 14, 2014) Did you know America is poised to be the world's biggest carbon-based fuel producer by 2015? Read our latest article on the Keystone XL pipeline and the Canadian tar sands, click here.
UPDATE: Gov't Report: Climate Change Has Arrived
(May 6, 2014) Read our latest update about the Obama Administration's Third National Climate Assessment. Climate Change is here, click here.
UPDATE: Antarctic Glaciers Irreversibly Melting Away
(May 13, 2014) Read our latest update on how the melting of Antarctica may raise sea levels by 13 feet! Click here.
UPDATE: U.S. To Cut CO2 Emissions By 1/3 In 15 Yrs.
(June 4, 2014) Read our latest article on how the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) will crack down on coal in the U.S. Also, learn about what the People's Republic of China is doing to the world’s environment! Click here.
UPDATE: Oil Crash Could End Fracking & Oil Sands
(December 19, 2014) Read our article on how the drop in oil prices can destroy shale and tar sands oil, click here.
UPDATE: Mini Ice Age Coming In 2030: Scientists
(July 19, 2015) Read our article on how solar activity changes the Earth's climate, click here.
UPDATE: Nuclear Power Is Best For Climate Change
(August 20, 2015) Read our article on why nuclear power is the only realistic way to cut out all carbon, click here.
- Nuclear Power Is Best For Climate Change Click here.
- Mini Ice Age Coming In 2030: Scientists Click here.
- Oil Crash Could End Fracking & Oil Sands Click here.
- U.S. To Cut CO2 Emissions By 1/3 In 15 Yrs. Click here.
- Obama Likely To Approve Keystone XL Click here.
- U.N. Climate Report Spells Disaster Click here.
- Arctic Ice Grew By 30% – Global Cooling? Click here.
- Keystone Pipeline Would Be A Disaster Click here.
- Rick Perry Calls Global Warming A Hoax Click here.
- Climate-Change Deniers Gain In Congress Click here.
- Palin Blames "Greenies" For BP Oil Spill Click here.
Posted by Frog Blog Boy at 9:06 PM 11 comments:
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Donald trump should get the nobel peace prize gas hydrates energy
26.10.2018 Gas service
#gas hydrates#Korean peninsula#North Korea
A year ago, the prospect of President Trump being considered for a Nobel Peace Prize would have sent his critics’ heads spinning. Now, if all goes well in U.S. negotiations with North Korea, Trump should be the odds-on favorite for an award he will have truly earned.
The stunning moves towards peace on the Korean Peninsula have generated the Nobel buzz. Resolving the almost seven-decade division — one of the last major vestiges of the Cold War — would be an epochal international event. South Korea’s former president Kim Dae Jung was awarded the peace prize in 2000 for simply beginning the process of détente with North Korea.
Now, the historic summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un alone has the makings of a peace prize-worthy effort, because it effectively ended a war that had been frozen since the 1950s. But President Moon went out of his way to give credit to Trump for setting the stage for the meeting. "President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. All we need is to bring peace," Moon said, according to the Blue House, Seoul’s equivalent of the White House.
Trump indeed deserves much of the credit for the breakthrough in relations. Trump was the first president to explicitly link U.S. trade policy with China to progress on the Korean Peninsula. Previous presidents had compartmentalized these issues, but Trump knows that the art of the deal is based on leverage. North Korea’s economy (such as it is) depends on China, and China’s well-being depends on trade with the United States. Beijing has much less interest in defending the right of its erratic Pyongyang ally to develop highly destabilizing nuclear-capable ballistic missiles than it does in maintaining its global markets. This reality was no doubt the framework for discussions in March between Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping, when Beijing told Pyongyang that the party was over.
Trump also made clear the potential consequences of not moving towards peace. Last year saw a series of threats and counter-threats as Kim took the measure of our new president, to see whether Trump was as tough as advertised. North Korea conducted several provocative nuclear and missile tests. Pyongyang threatened to launch missiles towards Hawaii or the U.S. mainland, and said it had the right to down American strategic bombers even outside North Korea’s airspace. In response, Trump said that any North Korean acts of war would “be met with fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.” Defense Secretary James Mattis laconically noted that if North Korea fired missiles towards the United States it would be “game on,” with all that implied.
Panicky pundits fretted about the possibility (if not certainty) of open war breaking out with North Korea. But as the Romans said, si vis pacem, para b ellum — if you want peace, prepare for war. A peace through strength strategy only works when the adversary knows you mean business. And Trump had a “bigger button.”
The Nobel buzz also comes in the context of the award given to former president Barack Obama in his 2009 rookie year, with the hope he would make “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” But taking Obama’s foreign policy record as a whole, the Nobel committee made a down payment on a house that was never built. The reputation of the Peace Prize took a blow then, but it can be redeemed by recognizing the achievements of Obama’s successor.
There is much yet to be done, of course. The outcome of the upcoming Trump/Kim summit will determine whether this prospective peace is durable or a mirage. But if all goes well and peace is finally at hand, a Nobel Prize for Trump would be a proper and fitting tribute to his remarkable achievement.
James S. Robbins, a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors and author of This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive , has taught at the National Defense University and the Marine Corps University and served as a special assistant in the office of the secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration. Follow him on Twitter: @James_Robbins
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BMW i8 with 2.0L, turbocharged 4-cylinder, 450HP said to be in works
June 13, 2015 JarvisRidesBMW, ev, hybrid
BMW’s i8, the incredible-looking plug-in hybrid, is believed to be getting a more powerful sibling in the near future, according to Auto Express. While we shouldn’t be expecting anything with the “M” performance badge, the publication’s sources say BMW’s engineers are eager to show what an “i” can really do with its lightweight carbon fiber body. The main changes are said to be a bigger, more powerful engine, ditching the rear passenger seats, and a slightly more sporty design, possibly with a spoiler.
First up, the engine. Replacing the current i8’s 1.5-liter, three-cylinder would be a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder. This would greatly increase the car’s weight beyond the 1,485 kilograms (3,273 pounds) it sits at now, so BMW would try to re-balance things by leaving out the rear seats, as well as not painting any carbon fiber panels. The goal is to see a total of 450 brake horsepower, much more than the current 300 HP.
It’s been made clear that this model will not feature a name like “M8” or “i8M,” as BMW intends to keep their performance and eco-friendly divisions separate. Rumors of a pair of souped-up i8s also surfaced last fall, with one model featuring nearly similar spec improvements as mentioned above, and another, even hotter “i8S” with a 3.0-liter straight-six and roughly 480 HP.
However, it seems that BMW does have plans for something to feature the “M8” name, and it’s likely to be the idea behind that “S” model. There has been other talk that an M8 would resemble the i8’s stylish design on the outside, but on the inside be a gasoline-powered beast.
Oppo Reno 10x Zoom vs. Huawei P30 Pro camera shootout: Zooming in on the action
2020 Honda Insight hybrid returns for its sophomore year largely unchanged
Excited about the Nintendo Switch Pro? It’s definitely not what you’re expecting
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Expect The Unexpected: An interview with comedian Kyle Kinane
Kyle Kinane
By Aaron van Dorn
Kyle Kinane had a big 2012 — he toured the world relentlessly, he became the voice of Comedy Central and his second album, Whiskey Icarus, was voted by the AV Club the number two comedy album of 2012, beating out some heavyweight competition: Louis CK, Paul F. Tompkins and Hannibal Buress among them. His plans for 2013 are a bit more modest.
“I dunno, try and not piss it all away, I guess,” he said. “Write new jokes — hopefully as decent as the ones before. I just don’t want to go backwards — that’s my main focus. Do shows, have fun. Stay alive.”
Going backwards shouldn’t present too much of a problem for Kinane. A stand up comedian for going on fourteen years, Kinane originally hails from suburban Chicago. He attended school at Columbia College Chicago as a creative writing major.
“Yeah, it sounded cool,” Kinane said with a sigh. “It was one of those things where, ‘I guess I have to go to college,’ which now I changed my mind on.”
That creative writing degree wasn’t a waste, though, as a short story writer’s eye for telling details runs throughout Kinane’s humor. He’s a gifted storyteller, able to spin out tales that end up in truly unexpected places by focusing on small situations.
“Sometimes something works that’s funny enough, and then I’ll add a detail to it, and then I’ll add another detail to it,” he said about his process. “If people keep laughing at the details, then I’m going to keep adding them to make a long story. The pancakes [referring to a hilarious, lengthy riff on his latest album], here was a guy with a bag of pancakes like some weirdo. But then people laughed enough at that I thought, ah, maybe I can get more. So I keep adding and keep adding. I was lucky enough where that one worked out. Sometimes things go the other way — some things I ramble on about. Somethings start short and just get more details. Broad stories — big fish stories.”
How does he keep a balance between longer material and his shorter bits? “It depends,” Kinane said. “Sometimes a story is worked out — you know, something happened and a story is already put together or sometimes there’s a minor detail that I think should be greater than it is. I have a failing story right now that I want to keep working at about seeing a metalhead at a gun range. Which nobody wants to laugh at. I don’t know if it’s not funny, or if it’s sensitive material or what. I keep going up with that over and over again and I’ve kind of hit a roadblock.”
But those awkward pieces that aren’t quite there are all part of the process of developing a set. “I get the idea, and I go on stage and try to have some sort of weird, awkward, hopefully humorous one-sided conversation with a group of people,” Kinane explained. “I’m pretty rambly as it is. I take the roundabout way to maybe get to what’s funny. I get up and bullshit for a little while, and then the bullshitting hopefully gets more and more precise over time. My writing process is not writing anything at all, but rambling about it ‘til I think I’ve got all the beats in it to where it’s an efficient piece of comedy.”
A wry sense of self-deprecation is a throughline in all of Kinane’s humor, which ranges from hilariously dark musings on just exactly where the line between good times and cries for help lays (the drive through of a Wendy’s, apparently) and darkly hilarious reflections on living by yourself in your mid-thirties.
“The self-deprecating humor thing I alway think is funny,” Kinane explained. “As far as subject matter I’m qualified to talk about, myself is probably really the only thing I can speak with any authority on. My own life. So that’s why it’s the most funny to me.”
Kinane played in punk bands in his youth in Chicago before discovering comedy, and while his love of music comes through in the track titles on his two albums, he hasn’t kept playing as a sideline.
“I was never good to begin with, so there wasn’t much to salvage in the way of being a musician,” he admitted. “I still try and go see shows. Moreso now, because I realized I was missing out on so much music. Not new music, stuff I missed out on in the last ten years. I was like, ‘Oh, why did I get lazy about that?’ I got reinspired to go see bands. Also, just being away from comedy for a second. I need a break, I need to see other types of creative output.”
Part of that punk spirit carries through into how Kinane’s career. While it’s become a cliche for some comedians to use stand up comedy as a means to an end — we’re not too far away from the comedian-centric sitcom dominated 90s — Kinane directs his energies at his stand up.
“I didn’t even know there was an industry when I started. I just needed something to do ‘cause I wasn’t good at music,” he said. “‘Alright, I guess I’m going to try this comedy thing.’ There was no fame or anything — just, ‘Oh, I found my creative outlet. Cool. I’ve found what I’m going to do at night.’ You start getting encouragement, ‘Oh, it’s kinda going good.’ You’re at comedy festivals. Well, alright. I guess I never had anything else to pursue with any kind of potential, so I may as well go for this. But I didn’t know what to go for. Do you have a sitcom or anything? No, just pay me money to tell jokes. That’s all. So I lived in LA for four years with the same kind of encouragement, but industry-wise, no, I didn’t write a sitcom. I never even asked. Nope, just gonna write. Just gonna write these jokes.”
If you have any interest in the world of comedy, you’ll have noticed that one of the major developments over the last ten years has been the rise of podcasts. You can’t turn around without a comedian or two starting up a new one. Kinane, however, has so far eluded the siren song of podcasting — and like many comedians, he doesn’t really listen to comedy in his spare time.
“I don’t listen to podcasts, I don’t listen to comedy albums,” he said. “You’re doing it every night. I’m seeing a lot of comedy as it is. When it comes to my free time, I will listen to music. Which is funny, because that’s what I hear talking to these bands, meet bands: when they’re in the van on tour, they’re listening to comedy. They’re more familiar with a lot of comedy than I am. That’s what they’re listening to in the van, because every night they’re seeing music. They want something that’s not blaring at them.
“I’m sure if I had an office job, I’d be devouring them,” he said about podcasts. “But as it stands now, the only time I listen to audio is driving the car or on a plane. I’ll listen to them on a plane, but that’s thing: I’m out instantly. I don’t even make it to the guest on WTF.”
But Kinane isn’t unaware of the power of podcasts as a means of connecting with an audience.
“I think they’re following individual comedians because they’re learning about who they are as people,” he said of podcast listeners. “If somebody knows who you are, they’re laughing at setup because they know who you are. Like my best buddy complaining about stuff. I love it, because he knows how to complain and make it humorous, so as soon as he starts, ‘Oh, you’re not even going to believe this shit today,’ I’m already laughing at it. And podcasts, comedy podcasts, allow strangers to do that with comedians. Without having to go up there like, ‘Well, I wonder if this guy is going to be funny?’ You already know the personality, which is part of the setup. You’re already in tune with their voice and point of view. I think it’s beneficial in that way. Also, I had my ass handed to me once — and this was a couple of years back — I smarted off about, ‘Oh gee, another podcast, who makes this shit?’ And somebody said, ‘Well, we found out about you from podcasts.’ Okay, touche. I will eat my shoe now because I smarted off like that. Just because I don’t listen to them doesn’t mean people don’t.” He paused and added, “I do think there’s too many of them.”
(Follow Kinane’s adventures here: http://www.kylekinane .tumblr.com/.)
Tags: Kyle Kinane
Issue 41, featuring High on Fire and Murs Double Cover on Shelves!
Music , Print Magazine July 20, 2015
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New blog post: Expect The Unexpected: An interview with comedian Kyle Kinane http://t.co/wsAT0SEiEg
aaronvandorn
Hey, guys, check out my interview with the hilarious, real-keeping @kylekinane at http://t.co/sI2XKat98n! http://t.co/BI7iv9R5l3
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Home » News & Events » School of Jewish Nonprofit Management: Learning from Leaders
School of Jewish Nonprofit Management: Learning from Leaders
Richard A. Siegel, Director, School of Jewish Nonprofit Management, writes:
This past summer, the focus of the School of Jewish Nonprofit Management’s Lunch & Learn Encounter Seminar was on “Israel in America: Dimensions of Relationship.” Each Tuesday, for the seven weeks of the School of Jewish Nonprofit Management Summer Session, leaders in the Jewish nonprofit and academic communities explored with our students some of the less obvious ways in which Israel interacts with the American Jewish community. Most of the sessions were live-streamed for viewing by alumni and others in the HUC-JIR community.
The series began with Gary Wexler, a marketing expert and founder of Nonprofit Revolution, speaking about “Brand Israel: An Assessment.” Wexler has been involved with efforts of the Israel Office of Foreign Affairs to “rebrand” Israel, emphasizing some of the more attractive dimensions of the state. Wexler's position was that ignoring “the conflict” was a mistake and that the trick was to contextualize and humanize some of the more controversial dimensions of the current political situation. Watch now >
Miri Belsky, the Chief Operating Officer of the Israeli-American Council, spoke about “Israeli-Americans: An Emerging Asset.” Belsky reported on how the Israeli-American Council, in just a few years, has galvanized the large, and formerly hard-to-reach, community of Israeli-Americans and facilitated their involvement with the educational, advocacy and communal goals of the broader American Jewish community. The organization is growing exponentially and is clearly a phenomenon to be watched. Watch now >
The third speaker was Jay Sanderson, President of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, presenting “A Federation’s Perspective: Changing the Rules of Engagement.” Sanderson spoke candidly about the change in the LA Federation’s involvement with Israel, from being a relatively passive contributor to the UIA, to being paired with and focused on the “sister city” of Tel Aviv, to being an active and direct partner with a variety of organizations throughout Israel effecting changes consistent with the Federation’s larger agenda of concern. Watch now >
Taking off on the new phenomenon of social enterprise, Taly Dunevich, US Director of the Israel Venture Network, gave a detailed introduction to “Impact Investing for Social Change.” Dunevitch reported on and gave illuminating examples how venture capital is being invested in enterprises in Israel that generate a double bottom-line… financial and societal. An example is a for-profit café/coffee house that provides career training and then employs individuals with disabilities. Watch now >
Professor David Myers, the Chair of the UCLA History Department, in speaking on “Understanding BDS,” gave a tour-de-force tutorial on Zionist history as a back-drop to the current movement of “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions” against Israel being seen around the world, and particularly on US college campuses. This session was not live-streamed or recorded.
Finally, Daniel Sokatch, the Chief Executive Officer of the New Israel Fund, spoke with the students on “Impact Investment for Social Change.” Sokatch first chronicled the little-known story of the New Israel Fund’s dramatic impact on the development of the Israeli nonprofit sector in response to Israel’s move towards a more capitalistic economic system. He then addressed the increasingly critical role in supporting a democratic vision of the Israeli political and social arenas. Watch now >
With all of these seminars taking place during the Gaza war, the discussions had a heightened sense of urgency and relevance. In total, the students learned from these nonprofit and academic leaders of the multiple ways in which we as Americans can and do have an impact on Israeli civic society far beyond the political and religious controversies that generate so much of the media attention. As the students prepare for the newly named Steven Windmueller School of Jewish Nonprofit Management Israel Seminar later this year, the encounters this summer helped provide context and nuance for what they will be experiencing during their two week intensive exposure to the Israeli nonprofit sector.
For further information about the School of Jewish Nonprofit Management, please click here >
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Princess Elizabeth was born on Sunday, the seventh of September, 1533,
In Greenwich, an estate near London. Her father did not want a daughter he wanted a son to succeed to the throne of England. Anne, Elizabeth?s mom was accused of incest, adultery, and, witchcraft and was arrested a couple years later. Anne was beheaded on Tower Green on May 19, 1536 when Elizabeth was only two years old. In the next six years of her life she had three stepmothers.
Her father King Henry VIII died on January 28,1547 when she was thirteen. After King Henry died Elizabeth?s step brother Edward from Henrys third wife became king. Edward died in 1553 and was replaced by his older half-sister, Mary. Mary wanted to restore Catholicism in England. Elizabeth ?became the focus and beneficiary of plots to overthrow the government and restore Protestantism. Elizabeth was briefly locked up in the Tower of London and just barely missed the fate that happened to her mother (Alice Jagger).? Mary died on the of November 17, 1558.
Elizabeth was now just twenty five years old, and Queen of England. The question every one was asking now
elizabeth, england, years, war, queen, died, spanish, after, time, mary, king, just, going, wanted, tower, throne, sail, restore, religion, queen?s, protestant, plays, old, often, now, netherlands, music, lot, london, jagger, henry, government, go, fleet, father
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THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SAFILO GROUP S.P.A. APPROVES
THE FINANCIAL RESULTS AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2015
Continued strong Free Cash Flow drives further reduction of Net Debt and
financial leverage below 1x
Positive sales momentum in Europe, North America and key new markets,
continued headwinds in Asia
Improving operating leverage in Q3 as the Group executes its 2020 Plan,
not yet offsetting H1 performance
Padua, November 5, 2015, h. 5.55pm – The Board of Directors of Safilo Group S.p.A. – the fully integrated Italian eyewear creator, listed on the Italian stock exchange – has today approved the results of the third quarter and first nine months of 2015.
For the first nine months, Safilo’s net sales grew by 10.6% against the corresponding period last year at current exchange rates and by 1.0% at constant exchange rates. Q3 performance by region closely resembled the sales trends recorded over the second quarter; net sales grew by 9.0% against Q3 2014 at current exchange rates and by 0.9% at constant exchange rates, continuing to reflect robust business in Europe, North America and in the new Middle East region, and weaker performances in the more challenging market environments of Asia and Brazil.
In the first nine months gross profit increased by 6.8% and gross margin reached 60.2% of sales. In the third quarter, gross profit grew by 6.6%, while gross margin decreased to 58.8% of sales, negatively impacted by foreign exchange. In the third quarter, the planned industrial efficiencies and cost savings initiatives more markedly offset the cost inflation increases and obsolescence costs that have impacted the industrial performance in the year to date.
At the operating level, adjusted1 EBITDA was down 10.3% in the first nine months, but the Group reported for the first time in the year an increase for the third quarter, up 1.2% against last year. The adjusted1 EBITDA margin stood at 8.1% and 5.2% of sales respectively in the first nine months and in the third quarter of the year. The latter period showed some improvement in operating leverage compared to the first part of the year as the pace of growth of investments in new advertising and product campaigns started to soften and the benefits of cost efficiency projects became more evident.
Excluding the negative impacts of exchange rates and discontinued licenses in the third quarter, both Gross margin and EBITDA margin improved versus the same period last year.
For the nine months to end September, the Group generated Free Cash Flow of Euro 66.8 million, taking Group Net Debt at the period end below the threshold of Euro 100 million for the first time, at Euro 97.1 million. This reflected the ongoing improvement in net working capital, the proceeds from the sale of shares held in an associate company and, as previously highlighted, the first of the three compensation payments of Euro 30 million from Kering, received in January.
Luisa Delgado, CEO, commented:
“In the third quarter we further continued our comprehensive business reinvention, delivering continued growth in revenues, improving our operating leverage, and generating healthy cash flow through our strong focus on working capital management.
Third quarter constant currency sales growth in our going-forward portfolio was high-single digits, reflecting the continuing and effective rebalancing of our licensed brand portfolio and development of our proprietary brands, with Polaroid and Smith showing good growth and Carrera registering brand health improvements and changing over to the new collection.
Our core markets in Europe and North America and our newly opened markets in the Middle East and Mexico are showing encouraging growth. Our strategic reorientation in Asia, while in a challenging local market environment, is progressing to plan. We are pleased with our customers’ reactions to our new commercial strategy and our Smile category management programme expansion.
We are satisfied with the progress in brand building, commercial and supply network, confirming the opportunities identified in the 2020 Strategic Plan. Our new Product Supply leadership team has assumed global control of logistics, planning, manufacturing and sourcing, and commenced implementation of the first simplifications of the global Distribution Centre footprint and new production flows in the Italian Plants, to make progress in insourcing and deliver early benefits of our cost saving programmes.
Our eyewear collections were also this season among the most loved and editorially featured eyewear worldwide, and included the season’s best selling iconic designs.
We remain committed to the key strategies underpinning our 2020 plan. In this respect, I am pleased with the underlying progress we are making and it is gratifying to see Safilo people across the world embracing the comprehensive need for change and demonstrating their passionate commitment to taking the Group successfully forward.”
Economic and financial highlights
In the first nine months of 2015, Group net sales totalled Euro 959.7 million, up 10.6% compared to Euro 867.5 million recorded in the same period of 2014. At constant exchange rates, revenues increased by 1.0%.
9M 2015 gross profit was Euro 577.4 million, up 6.8% compared to Euro 540.6 million in the first nine months of 2014, while the gross margin moved to 60.2% from 62.3%.
9M 2015 adjusted1 EBITDA was Euro 77.4 million, down 10.3% compared to the adjusted1 EBITDA of Euro 86.3 million recorded in the same period of 2014. Adjusted1 EBITDA margin was 8.1% of net sales in 9M 2015, compared to 9.9% in 9M 2014.
9M 2015 adjusted1 EBIT was Euro 47.6 million, down 20.9% compared to the adjusted1 EBIT of Euro 60.2 million for 9M 2014. Adjusted1 EBIT margin was 5.0% of net sales in 9M 2015, compared to 6.9% in 9M 2014.
Total net financial charges increased to Euro 24.9 million from Euro 6.3 million in 9M 2014 due mainly to the negative impact of exchange rates differences of Euro 13.3 million in the first nine months (negative impact of Euro 1.7 million in 9M 2014), while net interest charges decreased to Euro 6.1 million from Euro 7.3 million in 9M 2014. In the period, the fair value measurement of the option component embedded in the equity-linked bonds had no significant impact (positive for Euro 8.7 million in the first nine months of 2014).
9M 2015 Group adjusted1 net result was a profit of Euro 12.4 million, down 63.5% compared to the adjusted1 net result of Euro 33.9 million recorded in 9M 2014.
In Q3 2015, Safilo reported total net sales of Euro 284.8 million, up 9.0% compared to Euro 261.2 million recorded in the same quarter of 2014, supported by a weaker Euro. At constant exchange rates, net sales increased by 0.9%.
Q3 2015 gross profit was Euro 167.5 million, up 6.6% compared to Euro 157.1 million in the same quarter of 2014. Gross margin moved to 58.8% of net sales from 60.1%.
Q3 2015 EBITDA was Euro 14.7 million, up 1.2% compared to the EBITDA of Euro 14.6 million recorded in the same period of 2014. EBITDA margin was 5.2% of net sales in Q3 2015, compared to 5.6% in Q3 2014.
Q3 2015 EBIT was Euro 4.5 million, down 20.3% compared to the EBIT of Euro 5.7 million registered in Q3 2014. EBIT margin was 1.6% of net sales in Q3 2015, compared to 2.2% in Q3 2014.
Total net financial charges moved to Euro 2.2 million from Euro 1.8 million in Q3 2014. Net interest charges declined by 43.6% to Euro 1.9 million compared to Euro 3.3 million in the third quarter of 2014, while net exchange rates differences were negative Euro 3.4 million in the quarter compared to Euro 5.1 million in Q3 2014. The period was positively affected by the fair value valuation of the option component embedded in the equity-linked bonds of Euro 4.8 million (positive impact of Euro 8.7 million in Q3 2014).
Below the operating line, the quarter benefited from the gain deriving from the sale of the equity shareholding in an associate company.
Q3 2015 Group net result equalled a profit of Euro 2.4 million, substantially in line with the Group net result recorded in Q3 2014.
Key Cash Flow data
In 9M 2015, Free Cash Flow improved to Euro 66.8 million compared to a negative flow of Euro 10.3 million in 9M 2014 and an outflow of Euro 12.4 million for the full year 2014. This result included the first of three compensation payments of Euro 30 million received in January from Kering.
In the third quarter, Free Cash Flow was Euro 15.1 million, compared to a negative flow of Euro 3.9 million in the same period of last year. Net working capital continued to improve in the period, freeing Euro 12.3 million (Euro 3.7 million in Q3 2014) thanks to tight control of the seasonal increase in inventories as well as continuing improvement in the collection of trade receivables.
In the third quarter, Cash Flow for investing activities equalled Euro 4.4 million (Euro 9.7 million in Q3 2014), reflecting an increase in investments to Euro 13 million (Euro 10 million in Q3 2014), counterbalanced by the Euro 8.6 million proceeds from the sale of shares held in an associate company. In the period, the increase in capex is mainly explained by the progressive implementation of Eye-Way, Safilo’s project to modernize, simplify and standardize work processes through the latest and most advanced IT systems.
At the end of September 2015, Group net debt stood at Euro 97.1 million, down 11.8% compared to Euro 110.1 million at the end of June 2015 and 38.9% compared to Euro 158.9 million at the end of September 2014.
9M 2015 sales momentum was driven by Europe, where Safilo’s business continued to perform well in the third quarter thanks to strong results in France and Italy in particular, and continuing robust performance of Germany and Iberian countries. In the first nine months of the year, sales in Europe equalled Euro 378.3 million, an increase of 4.7% (+4.5% at constant exchange rates) compared to Euro 361.3 million in the first nine months of 2014. In the third quarter, sales reached Euro 101.7 million, up 5.6% (+5.4% at constant exchange rates) compared to Euro 96.2 million in the same quarter of 2014.
9M 2015 net sales in North America were Euro 403.6 million compared to Euro 327.8 million in the same period of 2014, growing by 23.1% at current exchange rates and by 2.4% at constant exchange rates. In the third quarter, sales grew to Euro 133.1 million compared to Euro 111.7 million in the third quarter of 2014 (+19.2% at current exchange rates and +1.5% at constant exchange rates). The quarterly performance was characterized by two diverging trends, with a further acceleration of the wholesale business, up 5.8% at constant exchange rates despite the demanding comparison base in Q3 2014, and retail sales at Solstice stores declining by 16.0% at constant exchange rates, driven mainly by the reduced tourism flows and high store exposure to those affected locations.
9M 2015 Latin American sales were Euro 36.4 million compared to Euro 37.5 million in the same period of last year (-2.8% at current exchange rates and +0.8% at constant exchange rates). The Latin American business declined 21.6% over the third quarter, to Euro 10.8 million (-8.1% at constant exchange rates compared to Euro 13.8 million in the third quarter of 2014) due to the unfavourable business environment in Brazil, while sales in Mexico were up double digits.
Sales in Asia were Euro 118.2 million over the first nine months of 2015, declining by 4.1% compared to Euro 123.2 million in the first nine months of last year (-17.3% at constant exchange rates), with the third quarter continuing to be impacted by Safilo’s strategic reorientation in Asia as announced at the end of last year, whose need has been reconfirmed by the changing market conditions that require a locally relevant and capable business model in the region. Third quarter sales were Euro 31.4 million, compared to Euro 33.6 million in the third quarter of 2014 (-6.5% at current exchange rates and -15.5% at constant exchange rates).
Net sales in the rest of the world, comprising mainly the Group’s business in the Middle East and African region, were Euro 23.2 million for the first nine months of 2015, up 31.1% compared to Euro 17.7 million in the same period of 2014 (+30.0% at constant exchange rates), responding positively to Safilo’s investment in the development of white-space markets. In the third quarter, the business reported growth of 32.1% in the rest of the world, to Euro 7.8 million (+32.3% at constant exchange rates compared to Euro 5.9 million in the third quarter of 2014).
1 In the first nine months of 2015, the adjusted economic results do not include non-recurring items related to commercial restructuring costs in the EMEA region for Euro 1.2 million and other non-recurring costs for Euro 1.2 million mainly related to the consolidation of the Group’s North American distribution network into its Denver facility.
In the first nine months of 2014, the adjusted economic results did not include non-recurring expenses for Euro 3.0 million related to the voluntary exit incentives recently signed with employees and trade unions, as the solidarity contracts come to an end, and to some reorganization costs.
Statement by the manager responsible for the preparation of the company’s financial documents
The manager responsible for the preparation of the company’s financial documents, Mr. Gerd Graehsler, hereby declares, in accordance with paragraph 2 article 154 bis of the “Testo Unico della Finanza”, that the accounting information contained in this press release corresponds to the accounting results, registers and records.
This document contains forward-looking statements, relating to future events and operating, economic and financial results for Safilo Group. Such forecasts, due to their nature, imply a component of risk and uncertainty due to the fact that they depend on the occurrence of certain future events and developments. The actual results may therefore vary even significantly to those announced in relation to a multitude of factors
Alternative Performance Indicators
The definitions of the “Alternative Performance Indicators”, not foreseen by the IFRS-EU accounting principles and used in this press release to allow for an improved evaluation of the trend of economic-financial management of the Group, are provided below:
Ebitda (gross operating profit) is calculated by Safilo by adding to the Operating profit, depreciation and amortization;
The net debt is for Safilo the sum of bank borrowings and short, medium and long-term loans, net of cash in hand and at bank;
The net capital employed for Safilo is the sum of current assets and non-current assets net of current liabilities and non-current liabilities, with the exception of the items previously considered in the net debt;
The Free Cash Flow for Safilo is the sum of the cash flow from/(for) operating activities and the cash flow from /(for) investing activities.
Today, at 6.30 pm CET (5.30pm GMT; 12.30pm EDT) a conference call will be held with the financial community during which the results of Q3 and 9M 2015 will be discussed.
It is possible to follow the conference call by calling +39 06 87500876, +44 203 4270503 o +1 646 2543365 (for journalists +39 06 99749000) and entering the access code 7472623.
A recording of the conference call will be available until November 7, 2015 on 39 06 45217196, +44 203 4270598 or +1 347 3669565 (access code: 7472623).
The conference call may be followed via webcast at http://investors-en.safilogroup.com. The presentation is available and may be downloaded from the Company’s website.
Financial statement as of September 30, 2015
Please note that the intermediate report at September 30, 2015 will be made available to the public at the company's registered offices, at the central storage of regulated information and will be published on the company's internet website, at the address http://investors-en.safilogroup.com.
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About Just Fair
About economic and social rights
Tackling Socio-economic Inequalities Locally
The Human Right to Food
Securing the Rights of Disabled People
Protecting the Right to Housing
Bill of Rights Submission
Submission to the CESCR: Parallel Report
Submission to the CESCR: List of Issues
Tackling Socio-economic Inequalities Locally:
Good practices in the implementation of the socio-economic duty by local authorities in England
The extent of wealth and income inequality is of widespread concern in England; yet there is no national policy agenda focused specifically on tackling disadvantage caused by socio-economic inequality, whether by reducing poverty or promoting inclusive growth. Since the Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017, the focus on the national picture has extended to local authorities.
This research explores how a selected number of English local authorities are tackling socio-economic disadvantage. It also examines how a legally enforceable duty in the form of section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 would support this endeavour.
This research involved desktop research and interviews with (among others) 20 individuals in seven local authorities: the Metropolitan Boroughs of Manchester, Newcastle, Oldham and Wigan; the Unitary Authorities of Bristol City and City of York; and the London Borough Council of Islington. Contact was purposefully pursued with authorities that would provide examples across council type, geographical location and political control.
Going Hungry? The Human Right to Food in the UK
This report analyses state action and assesses the UK’s compliance with the duty to secure the human right to adequate food. In terms of structure, we start by outlining the key elements of the human right to food, as defined under international human rights law, before proceeding to examine whether the UK is in compliance with its duties in terms of that right. The final part of the report sets out recommendations which, if implemented, would enhance the State’s compliance with its international obligations in relation to the right to food.
As this report concludes, the UK is in breach of a range of obligations imposed by the international human right to food.
We are extremely grateful to the organisations that provide funding for our vital monitoring and advocacy work: Barrow Cadbury Trust, Clifford Chance Foundation, Henry Tinsley Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Network for Social Change.
See press coverage for the report:
Dignity and Opportunity for All: Securing the rights of disabled people in the austerity era
A report published on 6 July 2014 by Just Fair finds that the UK government is in breach of its legal obligations to respect, protect and fulfill the human rights of disabled people.
The report is the first comprehensive analysis of the extent to which the UK government is meeting its international obligations to realise the rights of disabled people in the austerity era. It examines the rights to independent living, work, social security, social protection and an adequate standard of living.
Combining legal analysis with testimony-based evidence, the report concludes that government policies are compromising disabled people’s enjoyment of these fundamental rights, causing significant hardship.
The report – Dignity and Opportunity for All: Securing the rights of disabled people in the austerity era – analyses the impact on disabled people of public austerity and the reform of social security.
Evidence: Evidence and case studies from disabled people and people with a long term health condition were provided via an online survey or sent directly to Just Fair. Three areas of social security policy were of concern to the greatest number of those who responded: * Employment and Support Allowance (long term sickness benefit) and the Work Capability Assessment, * Personal Independence Payment (for support with disability-related costs), and * The housing benefit size criteria for claimants in social housing (reduced housing support for households with a ‘spare’ bedroom).
Please find the survey results and anonymised case studies below.
Acknowledgments: This report was authored by Jane Young. Aoife Nolan authored Chapter 2 and provided input throughout the report. Neil Crowther provided advice and support. Alice Donald provided editorial and overall support.
Online Survey: Part 1, Part 2, Excel version
Protecting the Right to Housing in England: A Context of Crisis
Just Fair is pleased to publish the third report in a series of reports that will form the basis of the Just Fair Consortium’s Parallel Report to the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights.
England is experiencing a housing crisis. Exceptionally high numbers of people are homeless, or vulnerable to homelessness. The current housing environment is characterised by profound issues of lack of supply, high and further increasing housing costs, lack of security of tenure, and homes of such poor quality that they are unfit for habitation. These issues plague all of England’s main housing tenure types: the owner occupied, the private rental, and the social housing sector. Housing insecurity affects not only people on low incomes, but broad swathes of the English population, who currently live in situations of insecurity and uncertainty.
In this context of crisis, the government is failing to meet its obligations to ensure the right to housing of its population, so that everyone can enjoy a standard of living in homes that are adequate, safe, and secure.
The report focuses in particular on homelessness and conditions in the private rented sector. We are delighted that Dr. Jessie Hohmann, who is a leading academic on the human right to housing, has authored the report in conjunction with those Consortium members with a particular interest in this field.
Submission From Just Fair on a Bill of Rights for the UK
This submission will consist of four parts and focuses on what we believe any future UK Bill of Rights should contain. First, we address the enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) in the UK under the law as it currently stands. Second, we consider a number of common misunderstandings about the impact of enshrining justiciable ESCR. Part three highlights a number of possible approaches to the inclusion of ESCR in a Bill of Rights for the UK. Finally, we outline possible models of justiciable ESCR.
UN to Investigate whether Austerity Breaches International Human Rights
Representatives from Just Fair met with the CESCR on 14 October 2015 to highlight concerns that successive UK government policies have led to violations of the right to food, housing, adequate healthcare for migrants and people with mental health problems, and the economic and social rights of disabled people.
Just Fair has made a new submission to the UN body that monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The submission sets out evidence that the UK is failing to comply with its obligations under the Covenant in respect of, among others, the right to social security and the right to an adequate standard of living, including food and housing. Just Fair also highlights multiple concerns about the economic and social rights of disabled people.
Click below to read Just Fair’s submission to CESCRS List of Issues on the UK and Northern Ireland.
Submission to the 'VNR of UK progress against the SDGs' Inquiry of the Environmental Audit Committee
Joint Submission to the 'Welfare Safety Net' Inquiry of the Work and Pensions Committee
Joint Submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights 'The Human Rights Act 20 years later' Inquiry
Joint Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights
No-fault evictions violate human rights: Section 21 must end
Submission to the Women and Equalities Committee: ‘Enforcing the Equality Act: the law and the role of the EHRC’ Inquiry
Submission to the UN Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights: ‘The impact of economic reform policies on women’s human rights’ inquiry
Submission to the Health Committee's Memorandum of understanding on data-sharing inquiry
Joint Submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights: European Union (Withdrawal) Bill Scrutiny
Joint Submission to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the introduction of the socio-economic duty in Scotland
Why we should take inequality seriously if we care about human rights.
Joint Submission to the House of Lords Select Committee on Citizenship and Civil Engagement (International human rights obligations and the human right to participate actively in society)
Submission to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Consultation on Terms of Reference
Right to Health for All. Why the Home Office should not have access to NHS patients’ data, and why NHS professionals should not be expected to guard our borders
What the manifestos are saying about Just Fair’s Ten priorities to protect and promote economic and social rights
Joint Submission to the Inquiry into Human Rights in Wales by the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee of the National Assembly for Wales
Submission to the ‘Sustainable Development Goals in the UK’ inquiry of the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee
Submission to the 3rd cycle of the UN Universal Periodic Review of the United Kingdom
Submission to the European Commission’ consultation on a European Pillar of Social Rights.
What are economic & social rights and how are they recognised in international law?
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At the launch of the @WomensBudgetGrp report a #HomeOfHerOwn . This report shows that the impacts of the housing crisis are gendered #RightToHousing 1/6
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OpenGlobalRights@OGR_EN·
What is the future of #humanrights if #liberalism were really dead, as #Putin claims?
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Sage Grouse Lek Tours
Host Lakeview BLM
Location Lakeview District Office, 1301 South G Street, in Lakeview, Oregon
Lakeview BLM offering sage grouse lek tours
The Bureau of Land Management is offering a series of guided tours of sage brush steppe areas during the upcoming sage-grouse breeding season. Participants will have the opportunity to learn how the Greater Sage-grouse serves as a barometer for rangeland health while also witnessing their fascinating springtime courtship rituals.
The Bureau of Land Management is committed to keeping public landscapes healthy and productive, in part by managing the sage brush steppe for a variety of uses, including ranching, hunting, mining and energy development.
The sage-grouse breeding season, also known as lekking, takes place for only four to six weeks in early spring at gathering sites called leks. Sage-grouse come to approximately 100 lek sites across Lake County to perform their courtship dance before breeding.
Guided tours will be offered to the public on March 10 and April 7, 2018. Viewing is limited to 20 people per tour in order to minimize the potential for disturbance to the sage-grouse. Reservations are on a first-come, first-serve basis. To reserve a spot, contact Larisa Bogardus at (541)-947-6237 or lbogardus@blm.gov by noon on Friday, March 9, for the March 10 tour or by noon on Friday, April 6 for the April 7 outing.
Viewers will depart at 6 a.m. from the BLM Lakeview District Office, 1301 South G Street, in Lakeview, Oregon. Carpooling is encouraged. Transportation may be provided depending on the number of participants, who should dress appropriately for field conditions. Sturdy, broken-in boots/shoes are encouraged, as participants will encounter rocky, rugged terrain, with sagebrush and rocks. Additionally, tours will require a hike of up to a half mile. There are no amenities and no restrooms. Participants should also plan to bring plenty of water, a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen.
-BLM–
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The agency’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Diverse activities authorized on these lands generated $75 billion in sales of goods and services throughout the American economy in fiscal year 2016—more than any other agency in the Department of the Interior. These activities supported more than 372,000 jobs.
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Supreme Court Upholds ACA, Individual Mandate
On June 28, the United States Supreme Court released its highly-anticipated decision on the challenge to the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). In its 5-4 decision, the Court left the ACA largely intact. In addition, the ruling upholds the controversial individual mandate under Congress’ Constitutional authority to levy taxes; but strikes down provisions of the ACA that impose sanctions on states that decline to expand their Medicaid programs.
Emergency physicians in Ohio and around the nation support several important provisions of the law. The ACA includes emergency services as an essential part of any health benefits package. In addition, the law recognizes the prudent layperson standard, which guarantees health plans base coverage on patients’ symptoms, not their final diagnoses.
However, emergency physicians remain concerned that the Affordable Care Act creates—or does not address—several important problems in the delivery of emergency care. America’s continued shortage of drugs and physicians creates serious mismatches between patient needs and available resources. The law will compound this mismatch by expanding the Medicaid rolls without increasing the number of physicians willing to treat Medicaid recipients. This leaves many Medicaid patients with little choice but to seek care at America’s emergency departments—many of which are already over capacity.
Meanwhile, emergency physicians remain concerned about the nation’s broken medical liability system, which contributes to the high cost of health care and diminishes patients’ access to lifesaving care. Unfortunately, the Affordable Care Act does not meaningfully address this dysfunctional system and continues to leave physicians vulnerable to unreasonable lawsuits.
In addition, the ACA creates the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a fundamentally flawed panel which is unaccountable to Congress, health care providers or the public and will harm Medicare patients’ access to medical care.
Following the release of the high court’s ruling, the American College of Emergency Physicians issued a statement on the implications for emergency medicine in the United States. The statement praises several provisions of the law, including recognition of emergency services as a vital part of any health plan and inclusion of the prudent layperson standard.
However, ACEP President, Dr. David Seaberg, also raised serious concerns about the ACA. He called on the US Senate to join the House in repealing the unaccountable Independent Payment Advisory Board and again voiced his anxieties about the law’s expansion of Medicaid.
“Increasing the number of patients on Medicaid without an equivalent increase in the number of physicians willing to take that insurance will surely increase the flood of patients into our nation’s ERs,” said Dr. Seaberg. “Coverage does not equal access and critical problems facing emergency patients are not going away.”
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Use of Content from the T.M.A.W.G. WebSite
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Polish Olympian With a Heart of Gold Sells Silver Medal to Fund a Child's Cancer Treatment
Polish Olympian Piotr Malachowski, who won a silver medal in the discus throw at the 2016 Rio Games, put his cherished medal up for auction last week to help pay for the treatment of a three-year-old boy with a rare form of eye cancer.
The boy, Olek Szymanski, has a condition called retinoblastoma, a malignant cancer that mostly affects children. Treatment of the cancer is very complex and demands the expertise of surgeons in New York City.
Malachowski hoped to raise $84,000, which is two-thirds of the $126,000 cost of the surgery. A Polish foundation called Siepomaga had pledged to pay one-third of the fee.
On his Facebook page Malachowski wrote, "In Rio, I fought for gold. Today I appeal to everyone. Let’s fight together for something that is even more precious — the health of this fantastic boy.”
On Tuesday of last week, with the bidding at $19,000, Malachowski announced that he was closing the eBay auction.
Malachowski's selfless efforts to assist the little boy had caught the attention of Polish billionaire siblings Dominika and Sebastian Kulczyk, who agreed to buy the silver medal and cover the costs of young Olek's treatment.
"We were able to show that together we can do wonders," the 33-year-old Malachowski wrote. "My silver medal today is worth a lot more than a week ago. It is worth the life and health of a small Olek. It is our great shared success."
According to The Washington Post, Malachowski learned of the child’s illness from the boy’s mother, who wrote to him asking for his help.
The giant man with a heart of gold is a two-time Olympic medalist. In 2008, he won a silver medal in the discus event at the Beijing Games.
Credits: Images via Facebook/Piotr Małachowski.
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Home » Travelling to Russia » Heart of Chechnya! Get to Know About Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque in Grozny
The Republic of Chechnya in Russia has a long and quite bitter history. For once it wanted to be separated from Russia and the rage gave birth to extremists and separatists in Chechnya. Their actions against the government spread terrors across the country and the region was, for quite some time, closed for visitors because of the war. In 1996, Chechnya succeeded at claiming their independence. But during Putin’s presidency, Russia took the region back and it has been part of the country ever since.
Grozny, the capital of The Republic of Chechnya, was once completely destroyed from the war. But today, almost no evidence of the dark days can be seen in the city. It is now sparkling and even dubbed as mini Dubai because of the modern high-end tall buildings, five-star hotels, apartments and more. The capital has been reborn and face-lifted. It is also way friendlier to visitors and tourism is boosting.
Being a true Islamic republic, Chechnya has a mosque as its heart. Located on the Putina Avenue, on the picturesque bank of the Sunzha River, stands a large mosque known as the Heart of Chechnya. Now, we are going to get to know about this iconic mosque which real name is Akhmad Kadyrov. Who is the man the grand mosque is named after? Akhmad Kadyrov was a Chechen Republic rebel mufti who was against the Soviet government also the first president of the republic. He was assassinated in 2004 before the mosque project was even started even though he had taken the commission from the mayor of Konya, Turkey for the construction. The mosque took two years to be completed, from 2006 to 2008 and is now built in his memory. The mosque was officially opened for public on October 17th, 2008 by Ramzan Kadyrov – the President of Chechnya at that time who is also the son of Akhmad Kadyrov.
Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque is one of the biggest mosques in Russia and Europe and can accommodate 10,000 worshippers at one time. The design was based on the classical Ottoman style – also adopting the look of Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, with a huge main dome (16 meters in diameter, and 32 meters in height) surrounded by smaller domes, and four super tall minarets reaching 62 meters in height. These are the highest minarets in southern Russia. The Heart of Chechnya can easily be seen since it is out in the open, right in the middle of a 14 hectares park. It is also a part of an Islamic complex where the other buildings are being the Russian Islamic University, a library, a madrasa, a dormitory and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Republic of Chechnya.
Russia is known to be the home to some of the most beautiful mosques in the world, and Akhmad Kadyrov is one of them. The dome seems to be floating on top of its four pillars. The outer walls are covered with travertine marble, while the inner walls use the white marble from the Marmara Island on the Sea of Marmara, near Balikesir, Turkey. The dome was painted by Turkey artisans and adorned with verses from Sura Al-Ikhlas written in gold. What special about this mosque is its 36 chandeliers. Yes, you read it right, it has thirty six chandeliers! They are modeled to resemble other important mosques in the history of Islam. Twenty seven of them imitate the al-Kubbat Sahra or the Dome of Rock in Jerusalem, the other eight look like the Green Dome of al-Nabawi Mosque in Medina, and the biggest one is about 8 meters in length and width form the shape of the holy Kaaba of Mecca. These chandeliers were made of a few tons of bronze, 2.5 kilograms of the highest quality of gold, and more than a million pieces of Chechen ornaments and Turkey Swarovski crystals. So you can imagine how gorgeous these chandeliers are.
At night, the Heart of Chechnya is lit wonderfully. The lighting of the mosque is separated into three levels; the first one is floodlighting to illuminate the lower part of the building and minarets, the second level is accentual lighting to highlight the architectural features of the mosque, and the last one is festive lighting with colors to make the mosque more alive and beautiful at night. This view is adorned by a fountain right in front of the mosque and grassy paths that ribbon the park making ways to the “heart”.
As the identity and pride of The Republic of Chechnya and Grozny, Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque has become a tourist attraction besides being a worshipping place. It makes beautiful pictures that are worth to be turned into postcards. One of the most important things about this Heart of Chechnya is that it is a symbol of the republic’s freedom – although not in a sense of being an independent republic, but most importantly as a statement for Muslims there to be able to practice their faith in peace after being forbidden to do so for such a long time under the pressure of the Soviet Union government. It is definitely a very important establishment in the whole Chechnya.
Those were the highlights of the Heart of Chechnya that, hopefully, enlighten you about the history of the Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque and why it matters a lot to the people of Grozny in particular and Chechnya in general. Tourists now can put it in their itinerary or join tours that will help you getting around the building while keeping you from dressing falsely or falling out of the expected manner. There are also websites you can access for virtual tours to see the interior of the mosque. Another place you have to visit while you travel to Russia.
Islam in Russia, russian mosque, traveling to Russia, visit chechnya
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Publishers can offer advertisers the ability to reach customizable and narrow market segments for targeted advertising. Online advertising may use geo-targeting to display relevant advertisements to the user's geography. Advertisers can customize each individual ad to a particular user based on the user's previous preferences.[27] Advertisers can also track whether a visitor has already seen a particular ad in order to reduce unwanted repetitious exposures and provide adequate time gaps between exposures.[72]
Your job duties have changed/increased, but the pay hasn’t. Sometimes there’s a good reason for this—but Sutton Fell says it’s usually a sign you should go. “When downsizing has moved your team into double time, but certainly nowhere near double compensation, it may be time to move on,” Taylor says. That’s especially true if the company is performing well, but it’s not reflected in your salary or other rewards.
We work with you to turn your website into the ultimate industry resource on the Web. We also market your website to those places that need to know about your site in order to help searchers find you - so that your website receives the search visibility it deserves. It takes more than just traffic to turn visitors into customers and to maximize your return on investment, that is why we offer services to maximize value from visitors at every stage of the path to conversion.
In 1994, Tobin launched a beta version of PC Flowers & Gifts on the Internet in cooperation with IBM, who owned half of Prodigy.[10] By 1995 PC Flowers & Gifts had launched a commercial version of the website and had 2,600 affiliate marketing partners on the World Wide Web. Tobin applied for a patent on tracking and affiliate marketing on January 22, 1996, and was issued U.S. Patent number 6,141,666 on Oct 31, 2000. Tobin also received Japanese Patent number 4021941 on Oct 5, 2007, and U.S. Patent number 7,505,913 on Mar 17, 2009, for affiliate marketing and tracking.[11] In July 1998 PC Flowers and Gifts merged with Fingerhut and Federated Department Stores.[12]
The products and services you will be promoting to your audience must be relevant and good quality. Make sure you believe in them and know everything about them, because this will be crucial to you delivering the sales pitch to your audience. You need to build trust with your audience so make sure the products and services you choose to promote are trustworthy enough.
At MoreNiche, our commissions are some of the highest found on any affiliate network selling physical products. We actually turn away potential advertisers who we believe don’t offer a fair deal. In fact, none of our advertisers’ commission rates fall below 30% per sale and the most they pay is 80%! That means for every sale you generate with a value of £100, you could potentially earn between £30 and £80 in commission. Not bad, we think you’ll agree!
Web design is a very technical field that requires high literacy in many different kinds of software, including image editing and website architecture programs. A designer should be comfortable with computer “languages” like HTML and stay up to date on new technological developments. The designer is also an artist, so he or she should also have a firm grasp on aesthetics, visual continuity, and image composition.
Years ago, I used to blog a lot about SEO and link building, and I won some cool awards for my blogging. These days, I tend to keep more to myself than to write my thoughts and theories for the world. Though I may not write much for the public these days, I’m still reading all of the news and theories of others in this industry on a daily basis. I still live, sleep, and breathe SEO. Plus, we have Ann Smarty on our team, who blogs and writes enough across the Web to compensate for my not writing. 😊
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PDF of the Article
queen_victorias_constitutional_monarchy.pdf
* When using the term ‘Britain’ I am not referring to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; I am merely referring to the Island of Great Britain, which includes England, Scotland and Wales. In contrast with Britain, Ireland had a growing Republican movement during the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. This was mainly due to Nationalistic sentiments which were the result of years of mistreatment to Ireland’s Catholic population by the pro-English Protestant minority.
[1]“The Queen’s Jubilee.” The Times 20 Jun. 1887. Debrett’s Queen Victoria’s Jubilees 1887 & 1897. Ed. Caroline Chapman, Paul Raben. London: Debrett’s Peerage Ltd., 1977.
[2] Tingsten, Herbert. Victoria and the Victorians. Trans. and Ed. David Grey, Eva Leckström Grey. England: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1972, p. 73
[3] Yonge, Charlotte M. The Victorian Half Century: A Jubilee Book. London: MacMillan and co., 1887, p. 5
[4] Hardie, Frank. The Political Influence of Queen Victoria. London: Oxford University Press, 1935, p. 219
[5] Tingsten. Victoria and the Victorians, p. 71
[6] Ibid., 73
[7] “The Queen’s Jubilee.” Debrett’s Queen Victoria’s Jubilees 1887 & 1897.
[8] Caroline Chapman, Paul Raben, ed. Debrett’s Queen Victoria’s Jubilees 1887 & 1897. London: Debrett’s Peerage Ltd., 1977.
[9] Tingsten. Victoria and the Victorians, p. 71-72
[10] Chapman, Raben. Debrett’s Queen Victoria’s Jubilees 1887 & 1897.
[11] Brooks-Baker, H. B. “Forword.” Debrett’s Queen Victoria’s Jubilees 1887 & 1897. Ed. Caroline Chapman, Paul Raben. London: Debrett’s Peerage Ltd., 1977.
[12] Bullock, Charles, B.D. The Queen’s Resolve: “I will be Good” and her “Doubly Royal” Reign: A Gift for “the Queen’s Year”. London: “Home Words” Publishing Office, 1897, p. 16
[13] Tingsten. Victoria and the Victorians, p. 73
[14] Yonge. The Victorian Half Century: A Jubilee Book, p. 114
[15] Stead, William T. “What Kind of Sovereign is Queen Victoria?” The Cosmopolitan (1900): 207-216. Empire Online. 18 Nov. 2007 <http://www.empire.amdigital.co.uk.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/contents/
document-detail.aspx?sectionid=367>, p. 2
[16] “The Queen’s Jubilee.” Debrett’s Queen Victoria’s Jubilees 1887 & 1897.
[17] Brooks-Baker. “Forword.” Debrett’s Queen Victoria’s Jubilees 1887 & 1897.
[20] “The Diamond Jubilee.” The Times 22 Jun.1897. Debrett’s Queen Victoria’s Jubilees 1887 & 1897. Ed. Caroline Chapman, Paul Raben. London: Debrett’s Peerage Ltd., 1977.
[22] “The Diamond Jubilee.” Debrett’s Queen Victoria’s Jubilees 1887 & 1897.
[23] “The Triumph of Monarchy.” Vanity Fair. 24 Jun.1897. Debrett’s Queen Victoria’s Jubilees 1887 & 1897. Ed. Caroline Chapman, Paul Raben. London: Debrett’s Peerage Ltd., 1977.
[24] Arnstein, Walter L. Queen Victoria. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003, p. 135
[25] Stead. “What Kind of Sovereign is Queen Victoria?” The Cosmopolitan, p. 3
[26] Arnstein. Queen Victoria, p. 204
[29] Tingsten. Victoria and the Victorians, p. 124
[31] Hardie. The Political Influence of Queen Victoria, p. 219-220
[32] Bullock. The Queen’s Resolve: “I will be Good” and her “Doubly Royal” Reign: A Gift for “the Queen’s Year”, p. 175
† This includes His Majesty King Edward VIII. He enjoyed widespread popularity upon his accession to the Throne, but was forced to abdicate less than a year into his reign due to opposition to his proposed marriage to the American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. He abdicated in favour of his brother, His Majesty King George VI, who remained popular throughout his reign.
Arnstein, Walter L. Queen Victoria. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003.
Bullock, Charles, B.D. The Queen’s Resolve: “I will be Good” and her “Doubly Royal”
Reign: A Gift for “the Queen’s Year”. London: “Home Words” Publishing Office, 1897.
Caroline Chapman, Paul Raben, ed. Debrett’s Queen Victoria’s Jubilees 1887 &1897.
London: Debrett’s Peerage Ltd., 1977.
Hardie, Frank. The Political Influence of Queen Victoria. London: Oxford University
Press, 1935.
Stead, William T. “What Kind of Sovereign is Queen Victoria?” The Cosmopolitan
(1900): 207-216. Empire Online. 18 Nov. 2007 <http://
www.empire.amdigital.co.uk.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/contents/document-detail.aspx?
sectionid=367>
Tingsten, Herbert. Victoria and the Victorians. Trans. and Ed. David Grey, Eva Leckström Grey. England: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1972.
Yonge, Charlotte M. The Victorian Half Century: A Jubilee Book. London: MacMillan
and co., 1887
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lies, damn lies and statistics
It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. - Macbeth
Tennessee ranks 15th in foreclosures
Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 2:53 PM CDT
Nashville Business Journal
Tennessee had the 15th highest foreclosure rate in the nation in September, according to data released Thursday by RealtyTrac Inc.
Tennessee had 4,098 properties in foreclosure in September, or one per every 654 households, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based private marketer of foreclosure properties.
Tennessee’s foreclosure rate was up 1.61 percent from September 2007.
Nevada held the top spot for the 21st consecutive month in September. It was followed by Florida, California, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey and Indiana.
Nationwide, foreclosure filings fell 12 percent in September from August to 265,968 properties. That is up 21 percent from September 2007. One in every 475 U.S. households was in foreclosure in September.
“Much of the 12 percent decrease in September can be attributed to changes in state laws that have at least temporarily slowed down the pace at which lenders are moving forward with foreclosures,” James Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, says in a statement.
Six states — California, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Michigan and Nevada — accounted for more than 60 percent of U.S. foreclosure activity in the third quarter, according to RealtyTrac. California alone accounted for more than 27 percent of total filings
Sales Continue Their Downward Trend
Continuing the downward trend the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors reported a 19.8% drop in sales compared to September 2007. (http://www.gnar.org/mlsrelease.htm) Year to date sale are down 27.5% and third quarter sales were down 26.5%.
There were two positive notes. Single Family inventory was down compared to last year for the second straight month, and down nearly 600 homes compared to last month. And the number of pending sale this year verses last year is tightening. This indicates that the percentage decline in sales in October is likely not going to match last months.
Dirty Secret Of The Bailout: Thirty-Two Words That None Dare Utter
From Jason Linkins
jason@huffingtonpost.com
A critical - and radical - component of the bailout package proposed by the Bush administration has thus far failed to garner the serious attention of anyone in the press. Section 8 (which ironically reminds one of the popular name of the portion of the 1937 Housing Act that paved the way for subsidized affordable housing ) of this legislation is just a single sentence of thirty-two words, but it represents a significant consolidation of power and an abdication of oversight authority that's so flat-out astounding that it ought to set one's hair on fire. It reads, in its entirety:
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
In short, the so-called "mother of all bailouts," which will transfer $700 billion taxpayer dollars to purchase the distressed assets of several failed financial institutions, will be conducted in a manner unchallengeable by courts and ungovernable by the People's duly sworn representatives. All decision-making power will be consolidated into the Executive Branch - who, we remind you, will have the incentive to act upon this privilege as quickly as possible, before they leave office. The measure will run up the budget deficit by a significant amount, with no guarantee of recouping the outlay, and no fundamental means of holding those who fail to do so accountable.
The Greater Nashville Association of Realtors released the August 2008 homes sales figures today. Single Family home sales were down 32.3% with median single family home prices dropping 6.4%.
As I indicated last month the inventory of homes has stabilized, and in fact dropped from 15,844 in July to 15,636 which is the lowest it has been since March. We will need to see a continuation of the declining inventory coupled with increase in sales to bring the market back in to balance. The decline in inventory is a good start.
http://www.gnar.org/mlsrelease.htm
It is Joe Biden
I got my text at 2:43 this morning - so despite what MSNBC is reporting that it was not going out until 5:30 Eastern.
I was awake when it arrived because we are leaving to go to Tulane.
Sliver of Hope in the July Home Sales Figures
The Greater Nashville Association of Realtors has released the July 2008 sales figures and sales are down 25.7%. Bad news. Pending sales which are an indication of future sales are down 23.1%. Bad news. Inventory is up 12.6%. Bad news.
So where is the sliver of hope? A significant increase in the inventory is due to a big jump in the number of Farms, Land and Lots. Up nearly 50% to 6,182 vs 4,170 in 2007. The sliver of hope is that Single Family listings are up less that 1,000 compared to 2007 which indicates that the inventory is beginning to stabilize.
So why is the inventory of Farms, Land, and Lots up? In better times many developers do not add their inventory of lots to the MLS, since they marketing them directly to builders. As times get tough they broaden their marketing and place their lot inventories on MLS. It appears that this is why there has been such a year over year increase.
Labels: Nashville Real Estate
John McCain says Barack Obama acts like he's a celebrity. Maybe he should review his own life. Seems like the pot calling the kettle black.
Nashville Business Journal - July 28, 2008
http://nashville.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2008/07/28/daily3.html
Monday, July 28, 2008 - 9:32 AM CDT
Tennessee ranks 13th in foreclosures Nashville Business Journal Tennessee ranks 13th among all states in foreclosure rates, according to second quarter data RealtyTrac Inc. reported Friday. The state of Tennessee had 12,008 foreclosure filings -- default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions -- in the second quarter. That's 105.2 percent more than the second quarter 2007. One out of every 223 Tennessee households got a foreclosure notice in the second quarter. In the U.S., foreclosure filings were reported on 739,714 properties during the second quarter -- a 121 percent increase from the second quarter of 2007. The report also shows that one in every 171 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter. "Although much of the fallout from foreclosures is being driven by rampant activity in a few states, such as Nevada, California, Florida, Ohio, Arizona and Michigan, most areas of the country are seeing at least some increase in foreclosure activity," says James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, in a statement. "48 of 50 states and 95 out of the nation's 100 largest metro areas experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity in the second quarter." Saccacio noted bank repossessions accounted for 30 percent of total foreclosure activity in the second quarter, up from 24 percent of the total in the first quarter. "This shift in the distribution of activity indicates that there is a progression toward purging the problem loans out of the system -- at which point the housing market can regain some sense of normalcy," he says. "Of course, if another surge in defaults occurs, which could well happen later this year, it would refill the foreclosure pipeline and prolong the recovery."
All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.
Nashville, you won't miss your corporate caffine fix.
There are no scheduled Starbuck's closings in Nashville. Murfressboro, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga were not so "lucky." See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/18/starbucks-reveals-closure_n_113593.html for a complete list.
NAR reported that existing home sales increased 2.0% in May
The NAR reported that existing home sales, including single-family, townhomes, condos and co-ops, increased 2.0% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.99 million units. Sales remain 15.9% below the 5.93 million-unit pace in May of last year. The Association believes that better-than-expected sales last month were a result of buyers wading back into the market because of recent price declines and more affordable mortgage products. Regionally, sales rose in all areas by varying degrees except for the South where they declined 0.5%. Stronger sales activity resulted in a slight decline in inventory levels. The inventory of homes on the market fell 1.4% to 4.49 million which represents a 10.8 month-supply at the current sales pace. Prices continued to decline amid rising foreclosures and short sales. The median price for an existing hom e nationwide fell 6.3% over the last year to $208,600 as average prices declined 6.5% to $253,100. The improvement in home sales is welcomed; however, the housing market remains weak as evidenced by sky-high inventories and declining sales prices. Weakness is expected to continue going forward.
Jobless claims were unchanged at a level of 384k for the week ending June 21. Claims remain elevated indicating sluggish labor market conditions at best. Expect the employment report for June, due out next Thursday to probably showing a larger decline in payrolls than in May.
The final revision to Q1 GDP showed the economy grew at a 1.0% rate, as expected. Economy-wide inflation increased slightly to 2.7% from 2.6% in the previous estimates. The data released so far in April and May suggest that Q2 growth will continue to be very soft.
John Cherry
LANDAMERICA VALUATION CORPORATION
Parkview One
925 North Point Parkway, Suite 400
Report Sees Illegal Hiring Practices at Justice Department
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
WASHINGTON -- Justice Department officials over the last six years illegally used “political or ideological” factors to hire new lawyers into an elite recruitment program, tapping law school graduates with conservative credentials over those with liberal-sounding resumes, a new report found Tuesday.
The blistering report, prepared by the Justice Department’s inspector general, is the first in what will be a series of investigations growing out of last year’s scandal over the firings of nine United States attorneys. It appeared to confirm for the first time in an official examination many of the allegations from critics who charged that the Justice Department had become overly politicized during the Bush administration.
“Many qualified candidates” were rejected for the department’s honors program because of what was perceived as a liberal bias, the report found. Those practices, the report concluded, “constituted misconduct and also violated the department’s policies and civil service law that prohibit discrimination in hiring based on political or ideological affiliations.”
The shift began in 2002, when advisers to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft restructured the honors program in response to what some officials saw as a liberal tilt in recruiting young lawyers from elite law schools like Harvard and Yale. While the recruitment was once controlled largely by career officials in each section who would review applications, political officials in the department began to assume more control, rejecting candidates with liberal or Democratic affiliations “at a significantly higher rate” than those with Republican or conservative credentials, the report said.
The shift appeared to accelerate in 2006, under then-Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, with two aides on the screening committee — Michael Elston and Esther Slater McDonald — singled out for particular criticism. The blocking of applicants with liberal credentials appeared to be a particular problem in the Justice Department’s civil rights division, which has seen an exodus of career employees in recent years as the department has pursued a more conservative agenda in deciding what types of cases to bring.
Applications that contained what were seen as “leftist commentary” or “buzz words” like environmental and social justice were often grounds for rejecting applicants, according to e-mails reviewed by the inspector general’s office. Membership in liberal organizations like the American Constitution Society, Greenpeace, or the Poverty and Race Research Action Council were also seen as negative marks.
Affiliation with the Federalist Society, a prominent conservative group, was viewed positively.
Representative John Conyers Jr., the Michigan Democrat who heads the House Judiciary Committee, saw the report as affirmation that the Justice Department had crossed the line in “putting politics where it doesn’t belong.”
“When it comes to the hiring of nonpartisan career attorneys,” Mr. Conyers said, “our system of justice should not be corrupted by partisan politics. It appears the politicization at Justice was so pervasive that even interns had to pass a partisan litmus test. ‘’
The inspector general is still investigating other issues related to alleged politicization of the Justice Department, including the central question of why nine United States attorneys were fired in late 2006. Those findings have not been made public.
Worst Office Meltdown Ever
Home foreclosures set record in first quarter - Mortgage Mess- msnbc.com
Economists expect defaults to keep rising as housing crisis deepens
updated 3:46 p.m. CT, Thurs., June. 5, 2008
WASHINGTON - Home foreclosures and late payments set records over the first three months of the year and are expected to keep rising, stark signs of the housing crisis' mounting damage to homeowners and the economy.
The latest snapshot of the mortgage market showed that the proportion of mortgages that fell into foreclosure soared to 0.99 percent in the January-through-March period. That surpassed the previous high of 0.83 percent over the last three months in 2007.
The report by the Mortgage Bankers Association also found that more homeowners slipped behind on their monthly payments.
The delinquency rate jumped to 6.35 percent in the first quarter, compared with 5.82 percent for the three months earlier. Payments are considered delinquent if they are 30 or more days past due.
Both the rate of new foreclosures and late payments were the highest on record going back to 1979.
Jay Brinkmann, the association's vice president of research and economics, told The Associated Press that the slump in house prices was the biggest factor for rising foreclosures and late payments.
With prices expected to keep dropping, foreclosures and late payments "are going to continue to go up" in the months ahead, he said.
Homeowners with tarnished credit who have subprime adjustable-rate loans took the hardest hits. Foreclosures and late payments for these borrowers also swelled to all-time highs in the first quarter.
The percentage of subprime adjustable-rate mortgages that started the foreclosure process climbed to 6.35 percent. The rate was 5.29 percent in fourth quarter, the previous high.
Late payments rose to 22.07 percent from 20.02 percent, the previous high.
The association's survey covers just over 45 million home loans.
More problems also cropped up with loans to more creditworthy borrowers.
The percentage of such loans falling into foreclosure was 0.54 percent, compared with 0.41 percent at the end of last year. Late payment rose to 3.71 percent, compared with 3.24 percent.
The numbers were higher for prime borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages. The proportion of those loans falling into foreclosures jumped to 1.55 percent from 1.06 percent. The delinquency rate rose to 6.78 percent, compared with 5.51 percent.
"The number one problem is the drop in home prices," Brinkmann said. Declining prices, especially in newer built areas, "are hurting people's ability to recover when they run into trouble — a divorce or loss of job," he said. "In other days, you could sell the home. But because home prices have fallen so much, in many of those cases, the homes are going into foreclosure."
California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona accounted for 89 percent of the total increase in new home foreclosures, he said. Those are places where prices have fallen sharply and there was a lot of home building, creating too much supply, Brinkmann said.
The housing crisis is at the center of the country's economic troubles.
After a five-year boom, the market fell into a deep slump two years ago. That dragged down sales, and prices with it. As the value of homes plummeted, many newer homeowners found themselves owing more on their mortgages than their homes were worth.
Homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages were clobbered when their initially low rates reset to much higher ones. That made it difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with monthly mortgage payments.
As foreclosures and late payments climbed, financial companies took multibillion losses when their investments in mortgage-backed securities soured. A credit crisis erupted and spread, crimping other types of financing. The fallout plunged Wall Street in turmoil, disrupting the normal functioning of markets.
All those troubles have pushed the economy to the brink of a recession, if the country isn't already in one. Consumers and business have tightened their spending. Employers have cut more than a quarter-million jobs in the first four months of this year.
To bolster the economy, the Federal Reserve made aggressive interest rate cuts. That has helped homeowners facing rate resets on their adjustable-rate mortgages. But with inflation on the rise, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke this week sent his strongest signal yet that the central bank's rate-cutting campaign started that started in September is coming to an end.
The Bush administration has taken steps to help distressed homeowners. It has urged lenders to freeze rates for some homeowners and encouraged lenders to rework mortgage terms so troubled borrowers can stay in their homes.
Congress is considering giving government-backed mortgages to thousands of strapped borrowers. The White House has expressed some concerns.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24985540/
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Rising Prices, Falling Dollar Stoke Memories of the '70s
By Neil Irwin
Wednesday, June 4, 2008; A01
Prices have been soaring long enough and fast enough, economists say, that the nation is at risk of a self-reinforcing cycle of inflation like that experienced in the 1970s.
It is a risk Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke highlighted in a speech yesterday, saying that the falling value of the dollar can feed into inflation expectations, and that rapid price escalation, if sustained, "might lead the public to expect higher long-term inflation rates, an expectation that ultimately could become self-confirming."
For some businesses that already is the reality. Many companies making long-term investments are assuming that prices will rise at a pace well above that of the past 20 years, as they pencil in larger price increases for the supplies they buy and the prices they charge. Consumers are coming to take rapidly escalating food and energy prices for granted. And labor unions are starting to push harder for across-the-board wage increases, though overall wages are still climbing slowly.
U.S. consumers expect prices to rise 7.7 percent in the coming year, according to the Conference Board, a research company. Investors expect inflation over the coming decade to average 3.4 percent based on bond market data analyzed by the Cleveland Fed. That is well above the Fed's unofficial target of about 2 percent.
When the price of food or gasoline goes up, economists generally think of it as a one-time bump. For the past four years, it hasn't been. The last time there were sharp and sustained increases in those prices, in the 1970s, a wage and price spiral developed that was so severe that the Fed had to engineer the deepest downturn since the Great Depression to end it.
"We're at the edge of the cliff right now," said Scott Anderson, senior economist at Wells Fargo. "It's still at an embryonic stage, like where we were in 1973 or 1974, not as bad as things were in 1979. But it could move in that direction if the Fed isn't aggressive."
Ordinary businesspeople, especially those in industries in which energy costs figure heavily, are responding as if that is the direction the economy is heading.
"We are assuming that prices will continue to go up, not that they're going to level off anytime soon," said John Benko, president of Manko Delivery Systems, a Tampa company that offers ground freight, logistics and other services. His company has been able to pass on about three-quarters of the higher fuel costs to customers in the form of higher prices, with the rest cutting into his firm's profit.
Ryder System has reduced the maximum speed on its fleet of trucks from 65 to 63 miles per hour, and many of its clients are making fewer shipments of goods with fuller trucks.
But these decisions are a logical response to higher fuel prices -- not necessarily signs that expectations for future inflation are coming unhinged. The best way to get a sense of those long-term expectations is through what executives assume as they make longer-term choices.
If a manufacturer expects energy prices to keep rising, it would be more inclined to pay extra for a more efficient machine, or choose to set up many small warehouses close to customers rather than one massive one that is far away.
That's what's happening, said Thomas L. Jones, a general manager for Ryder. "People are assuming prices have got nowhere to go but up," he said.
"Almost unilaterally our customers are expecting prices to continue rising," said Bob Strle, a vice president of Countermind, a Colorado firm that sells technology to help shipping firms plan their routes more efficiently -- an investment that offers a higher payoff when gasoline prices rise.
The big question is whether those expectations of higher fuel prices feed into a wage and price spiral like that of the 1970s, in which workers demanded -- and received -- double-digit wage increases to keep up with higher prices, which then fueled further inflation.
There are huge differences between now and the 1970s. In the past year, the average weekly wage for private sector non-managerial workers rose only 1.9 percent. A soft U.S. economy could continue to leave workers little leverage with which to demand pay hikes to match higher prices.
Moreover, fewer workers are unionized, fewer of those have automatic cost-of-living adjustments, and unions have less clout with which to negotiate wage increases. Finally, many of the most heavily unionized industries, such as the automakers, are in such dire financial straits that raises of any sort are unlikely.
"There is no evidence that wages have started to spiral up," Janet L. Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said in a recent speech.
But there are signs that higher prices are changing the dynamic of labor negotiations, at least in certain sectors. For most of the past 20 years, wage negotiations have centered on various pay-for-performance schemes. With higher inflation, unions in a position to do so are now pushing for higher across-the-board raises, said David B. Lipsky, a professor at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
"The pendulum had swung away from across-the-board wage increases, now we're seeing it swing back the other way," said Lipsky, citing recent contracts among public-sector workers and some in the hotel and casino businesses.
In a four-year contract for 40,000 janitors agreed to at the end of last year, for example, the Service Employees International Union managed to get annual raises of 4 percent, not the 3 percent during the time when inflation was lower (the raises were even higher in more recently organized cities, including Washington).
"The high inflation has adjusted our thinking of what kind of dollars we would ask for at the bargaining table," said Mike Fishman, president of SEIU Local 32BJ, who said the union worked from the assumption that inflation in the years ahead will continue at a similar pace as it has recently.
Bernanke, in his speech yesterday delivered by satellite to a group of central bankers in Barcelona, also made clear that the dropping value of the dollar creates a risk of heightened inflation expectations.
Bernanke, Harvard Class of '75, will have a chance to address whether he sees any similarities between the current situation and those when he was a college senior in a speech today for the university's graduation exercises. Its title is "Economic Challenges: 1975 and Now."
He graduated from a Williamson County School
No. of state real estate test-takers drops by 57% - Nashville Business Journal:
The number of people taking state exams to be real estate agents has dropped 57 percent and Nashville area real estate schools are seeing enrollments cut in half.
Those signing up to use the Middle Tennessee Multiple Listing Service has also declined, down 43 percent from last year to 477 from 843 in the first quarter, according to Real Tracs.
Fewer are getting into the industry and there's been an increase in Realtors getting out, says Harold Crye, CEO of Nashville's largest real estate company Crye-Leike Realtors Inc.
Jason Murphy, administrative manager with Crye-Leike, says the romance is over.
London Home Sells for $230,000,000
A MANSION in London is set to sell for £117million - making it the world's costliest home. The palatial residence, on a street dubbed Billionaires' Row, is believed to have been bought by Britain's richest man, steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal.
He is believed to be close to exchanging contracts with owner Noam Gottesman, 47, a US-born financier.
The home in Kensington Palace Gardens, West London, Princess Diana's former street, is being sold furnished and with an art collection. It works out at an astonishing £8,000 per square foot.
Mr Mittal, 57, who denies being the buyer, has been looking to splurge some of his £27.7billion fortune on a home for son Aditya, 32. Mr Mittal moved into the half-mile, tree-lined private avenue four years ago after paying £67million for a 12-bedroom home.
Home price index posts largest-ever decline - Mortgage Mess- msnbc.com
Home price index posts largest-ever decline - Mortgage Mess- msnbc.com: "WASHINGTON - U.S. home prices posted their sharpest first-quarter decline since the government began tracking the data 17 years ago.
The Washington-based Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said Thursday that home prices fell 3.1 percent in the first quarter compared with last year. The index also fell 1.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2008, the largest quarterly price drop on record.
'The large overhang of real estate inventory awaiting sale continues to force price declines in many areas, but particularly in places that had seen very sharp appreciation,' Patrick Lawler, the agency's chief economist, said in a prepared statement."
Prices fell in 43 states, with California and Nevada showing the biggest declines. Home prices dropped by more than 8 percent in those states.
The government index is calculated by tracking mortgage loans of $417,000 or less that are bought or backed by the government-sponsored mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Legislation enacted in February temporarily raised the limit to as much as $729,750 in high-cost areas.
The government index focuses on less expensive properties and includes fewer houses bought with risky home loans that have gone sour over the past year.
Martin Luther King and Hume Fogg rank 23rd and 24th in the Nation
Martin Luther King and Hume Fogg rank 23rd and 24th in the Nation in the new Newsweek rating of the the top 1300 best Public High Schools.
The next highest Tennessee schools - Brentwood at #187, Hillsboro at #390, and Ravenwood in Brentwood at #465, plus 10 more ranked in the survey.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380?GT1=43002
NASHVILLE HOME SALES DECREASE; PRICES RISE IN APRIL
HOME SALES DECREASE; PRICES RISE IN APRIL; CONDO SALES AND PRICES DOWN
There were 2,135 home closings reported for the month of April, according to figures provided by the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors®. This represents a decrease of 28.5 percent from the 2,989 closings reported for the same period last year.
Year-to-date closings are down compared to last year with 7,898. That is a 28 percent decrease compared to the 10,979 closings reported through April 2007.
"While home sales are down, the decrease is running on par with previous months. That means the Greater Nashville market is performing with some consistency, even in these time of change. That can work to the advantage of buyers and sellers because they can adapt to the changes, and with the help of a real estate professional, make educated decisions," said Mandy Wachtler, 2008 President of the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors. "At this time, Nashville area home sales are comparable to 2001, which is much better than some markets around the country which are experiencing home sales and prices comparable to what they had 15 or 20 years ago."
There were 2,342 sales pending at the end of April, compared with 3,339 sales that were pending at the same time last year. The median residential price during April was $180,000 and for a condominium it was $162,000. That compares with median residential and condominium prices at this time last year of $177,900 and $163,900 respectively. The average number of days on the market for a single-family residence was 80 days.
Inventory at the end of April was 24,670. That compares with an inventory of 20,129 at the end of April 2007.
Sunday was the 38th Anniversary of Kent State
White Haired Ladies from Nashville for Obama
Existing home sales fell 2 percent in March - Real estate- msnbc.com
WASHINGTON - Sales of existing homes fell in March as a severe slump in housing showed no signs of abating. The median price of a home fell compared with the price a year ago.
The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums dropped by 2 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.93 million units.
The median price of a home sold last month was $200,700, a decline of 7.7 percent from the median price a year ago. That was the second-biggest year-over-year price decline following a record 8.4 percent drop in February. The records go back to 1999.
Foreclosures in Nashville Up 6.9% Quarter to Quarter.
While the report below from Southeast Title of Tennessee, Inc. reports a 20.6% increase in foreclosures for the Nashville MSA, the numbers for Davidson County show an increase of 6.9%. It is my opinion that this is showing that Nashville is weathering the sub-prime crisis much better that the balance of the country.
Foreclosure Index
Subject: Foreclosure Sales – Nashville/Davidson County Metropolitan Statistical Area
For the 1st quarter of ’08, actual foreclosure sales in the Nashville MSA increased 20.6% year over year to 743 compared to 616 in 2007. Wilson County led the pack with a whopping 166% increase. Surprisingly affluent Williamson County was right behind with a 150% increase. Davidson County increased only 6.9 % for the same period while foreclosure sales in Cheatham County actually decreased by 13.3%.
The County by County breakdown is as follows:
1q ‘08
Cheatham
The preceeding information has been compiled by Southeast Title of Tennessee, Inc., Brentwood, Tennessee and is based on the actual recordings of foreclosure deeds in the register of deeds offices for the 7 counties encompassing the Nashville/Davidson County Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Tax Day Thought
I noticed today if you put THE in front of IRS you get a clear understanding of how they see your money.
HOME SALES DECREASE IN FEBRUARY
Greater Nashville Association of Realtors - "There were 1,892 home closings reported for February, which is a decrease of 26.5 percent from the 2,575 closings reported for the same period last year. The number of pending sales is 2,183, which is the first time since last October that there have been more than 2,000 pending sales. The median price for single-family homes remained stable, while the median price for condominiums decreased by 5 percent. Click here for a copy of the news release with additional details on home sales for February. And, you can click here for more information on history and trends of home sales in recent years."
The number of pending sale on 2008 compared to 2007 is down 24%. This is an indicator that March sales should continue the trend of be down year over year. Median single family prices sliped $1,900 or 1.1%. I believe that this is the first decline in at least the past five years. Inventory is up 26%.
Tennessee Economy Ranks 5th Best
Report: Tennessee economy ranks 5th
Tennessee has the country's 5th best economy, according to a state economic competitiveness ranking released by the American Legislative Exchange Council.
The report from ALEC, which bills itself as the nation's largest nonpartisan individual membership organization of state legislators, ranks the economic competitiveness of each state.
The state's top marginal personal income tax, a low state minimum wage and its right-to-work status helped place the state high in those rankings.
Tennessee ranked 1st in those three of the 16 categories examined.
According to the authors, Tennessee ranks below 20 other states in seven other categories, including top marginal corporate income tax, low property tax burden, debt service as a percentage of total tax revenue and state tort liability system.
Areas that needed improvement include lowering sales taxes and workers' compensation costs, according to ALEC.
Utah's economy was ranked the best followed by Arizona and South Dakota. Vermont was last.
The report's official title is Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index.
Rob Briley Will Not Run
State representative decides not to run for office in order to work on his health and new law office
By Ken Whitehouse
03-04-2008 2:30 PM — State Rep. Rob Briley (D-Nashville) said today that he will not seek re-election to the state legislature in order to continue working on his health, his very public battle with alcoholism, and to devote more time to his newly opened law office. He has served in the Tennessee House of Representatives since 1999.
Last Sept. 8, Briley, 41, was arrested in Wilson County for driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident. The arrest, which was caught on video from the dashboard camera of the police patrol car, quickly put him on the national news and made him fodder for late-night talk show hosts.
Asked about the incident today, Briley said, "You know, my worst day ever is on tape. I'd like to say that really wasn't me, or I was just really out of sorts, but I know that I was the guy on the film and I don't want be that person again. I have been working very hard to rebuild my life, continuing with counseling and recovery programs. Alcoholism is only one small part of the many issues I am dealing with and in order to fully commit to recovery it is time to step down from the legislature by not standing for re-election."
Many people have told him that the legislature exacerbated his troubles, but he disputes that notion. Briley said, "The people up here, both Democrats and Republicans, are here for the right reasons. While we don't always agree, we all care about each other and the people we serve. When my problems became public, I was embraced by members of both parties, many of whom I battled with tooth and nail on legislative issues that at times became personal. At first, I concentrated on a few members who seemed to take satisfaction in my disgrace, but that didn't last long... Too many people from all factions of the legislature have come forward and showed me the meaning of the word 'statesman.'"
When asked if he would consider a political comeback in the future, Briley said that for now he simply wants to finish off his work in the legislature and concentrate on his health.
"I feel a need to finish what the people of my district elected me to do," said Briley. "That is to serve out this term. I know I let them down and I feel if I walk away before then I would be doing it again. They have been there for me and have overwhelmingly supported me throughout, even more so after my troubles became public. They have meant more to me than they know, and for that I am eternally grateful."
Packers QB Favre to retire
Three-time MVP calling it quits following 17 seasons
Quarterback Brett Favre has started every Packers game since Sept. 27, 1992.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Brett Favre has decided to retire from the NFL after 17 seasons.
"He has had one of the greatest careers in the history of the National Football League, and he is able to walk away from the game on his own terms -- not many players are able to do that," Packers general manager Ted Thompson said Tuesday.
Favre's agent Bus Cook said the 38-year-old quarterback told him of his decision Monday night.
"Nobody pushed Bret Favre out the door, but then nobody encouraged him not to go out that door, either," Cook said by phone from his Hattiesburg, Miss., office.
FOX Sports first reported Tuesday that the Green Bay Packers quarterback informed the team in the last few days. ESPN.com said that according to Favre's agent the quarterback told coach Mike McCarthy of his decision.
The news was a surprise to at least one of Favre's teammates. Most players expected Favre to return after a successful 2007 season.
"I just saw it come across the TV," Packers wide receiver Koren Robinson said, when reached on his cell phone by The Associated Press.
The 38-year-old Favre, a three-time NFL MVP and one of the NFL's grittiest players, has made his annual flirtation with retirement a winter tradition in Wisconsin. He has taken weeks and even months to make his decision after recent seasons, with Cheeseheads hanging on his every word.
But unlike the final game of the 2006 season -- when Favre provided a cliffhanger by getting choked up in a television interview as he walked off the field in Chicago, only to return once again -- nearly everyone assumed he would be back this time. They were wrong.
Only two years removed from perhaps his worst season, Favre had a resurgence in 2007. He broke several career records. Among them was Dan Marino's career mark for career touchdown passes. He powered the Packers to an NFC North title and a 13-3 regular-season record and earned his ninth Pro Bowl spot.
Surrounded by an underrated group of wide receivers who proved hard to tackle after the catch, Favre had a career-high completion percentage of 66.5. He threw for 4,155 yards, 28 touchdowns and only 15 interceptions.
It was a remarkable turnaround from 2005, Favre's final season under former head coach Mike Sherman, when he threw a career-worst 29 interceptions as the Packers went 4-12.
Given Favre's career resurgence, it was widely assumed that he was leaning toward returning for the 2008 season.
He even said as much just before the Packers' Jan. 12 divisional playoff game against Seattle, telling his hometown newspaper that he wasn't approaching the game as if it would be his last and was more optimistic than in years past about returning.
"For the first time in three years, I haven't thought this could be my last game," Favre told the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun Herald. "I would like to continue longer."
Those comments sent premature shock waves across the state -- all the way up to the governor's office, where the political version of a false start was committed.
"Like all Packer fans, I am thrilled that Brett Favre will return to action next year for the green and gold," Gov. Jim Doyle said in a statement. "Brett Favre's tremendous work ethic and willingness to go out and play hard every day represent the true spirit of Wisconsin. I am hopeful that with this announcement behind us, Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers can focus on the task at hand: defeating the Seattle Seahawks."
The governor's office later amended the statement to say Doyle was "excited to hear Brett Favre talking about returning to action next year."
It was another example of the state's fascination with the future of its favorite quarterback.
Favre then finished the season on a sour note, suddenly showing his age in the Packers' 23-20 overtime loss to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game.
Favre struggled in subzero temperatures, throwing an interception on the Packers' second play from scrimmage in overtime to set up the Giants' game-winning field goal.
After that game, Favre was noncommittal on his future. McCarthy said he wanted Favre to take a step back from the season before making a decision. But it was widely assumed he would be back.
"I think he's going to come back," Packers receiver Donald Driver said in early January. "I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back. He's having a great year, so it'd be great to see him come back if he decides to."
Retiring Packers chairman Bob Harlan figured Favre would be back, too.
"Yeah, I think he'll be back," Harlan said, on his final official day as the Packers' top executive. "And I felt that way the last couple years, when we've had these long debates about it. I just think he's such a competitor that as long as he feels he can compete, he's going to keep coming back."
Still, in the week leading to the playoff game against Seattle, Favre said his injuries were starting to linger.
"I'm not getting any younger," Favre said. "I wake up some days and think I can't even touch my toes. I think about that. I think, well, next year is not going to be like some refreshing, awakening season where all of a sudden you're going to feel great. That's not going to happen.
"I carry some of these things with me that maybe you wouldn't see. I tend to dwell on them, at least internally, more than I used to. I don't write them off as quickly as I used to."
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Annual U.S. Home Prices Fall for First Time Since Depression
U.S. home prices fell in 2007 for the first time since the Great Depression, according to a release from the National Association of Realtors. That made it more difficult for homeowners to sell or refinance properties encumbered by mortgages higher than the value of the houses themselves. Additionally, sales of existing homes fell in January to the lowest in at least nine years, NAR said.
Since January 2007, the median price of an existing home fell 4.6 percent to $201,100. The median price for a single-family home dropped 5.1 percent to $198,700, and condominium and co-op prices fell 1 percent to $220,400.
Mortgage companies including Fannie Mae and HSBC Finance have joined a U.S. Treasury Department-led effort to offer 30-day foreclosure freezes to give delinquent borrowers more time to arrange payment plans. Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., Washington Mutual Inc. and Countrywide Financial Corp. have initially agreed to participate in the effort.
In a February 26 release, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said that while pockets of strength remain, the coasts and the Midwest showed the biggest declines.
OFHEO’s research confirmed NAR’s findings. U.S. home prices fell in the fourth quarter of 2007 according to OFHEO’s seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index. The index, which is based on data from home sales, was 1.3 percent lower on a seasonally-adjusted basis in the fourth quarter than in the third quarter of 2007. This decline was substantially greater than the 0.3 percent price decline between the second and third quarters. Over the past year, prices fell 0.3 percent, as the fourth quarter decline erased earlier price gains.
However, OFHEO’s all-transactions House Price Index, which includes data from home sales and appraisals for refinancings, showed less weakness than the purchase-only index. The all-transactions HPI rose 0.1 percent over the latest quarter and 0.8 percent over the latest year.
OFHEO Director James B. Lockhart said, “Although prices for home purchases in the [fourth] quarter fell in every state except Maine, only 16 states plus the District of Columbia showed price declines for the full year 2007.”
“The year 2007 showed the first four-quarter decline in the purchase-only index since its earliest data in 1991,” Lockhart added. “However, both OFHEO’s purchase-only index and the all-transactions index show relatively greater house price stability than do other nationwide house price indexes. That may reflect, in part, the greater stability in the prime, conforming mortgage market served by the Enterprises than in other segments of the mortgage market,” said Lockhart.
“Given the recent turmoil in housing markets we thought it would be helpful to provide a greater amount of information about price trends,” Lockhart said.
“While the declines are significant and quite large in some areas, the market still needs to work through its overhang of unsold inventory,” said OFHEO Chief Economist Patrick Lawler. “How much further down that inventory will ultimately push prices will depend on a number of factors, including what happens to interest rates and the overall health of the U.S. economy,” Lawler said.
OFHEO’s purchase-only and all-transactions house price indexes track average house price changes in repeat sales or refinancings of the same single-family properties. The purchase-only index is based on more than five million repeat sales transactions, while the all-transactions index includes more than 34 million repeat transactions. Both indexes are based on data obtained from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for mortgages originated over the past 32 years.
The full report is available at www.ofheo.gov/media/pdf/4q07hpi.pdf.
A Message from Bob
As some of you know, I have decided to run for the US Senate against Lamar Alexander.
I will bring the energy, focus, purpose and determination of a Marine to this campaign and to my service in the United States Senate.
I am not so much offering myself as a candidate as I again am answering a call to service. America is in crisis. Our economy is in trouble, our schools are struggling to excel, our health care system leaves millions uncovered, and there are parts of Tennessee where the good paying jobs of the future are just a mirage. And in too many places, the cold wind of hunger and poverty whistle through open doors of despair.
Perhaps most critically, we find ourselves in two wars, with enemies lying in wait at home and abroad. Veterans return from war to heal their bodies and their minds only to find a broken system that leaves them without care. I fought in Vietnam as a Marine officer, and I cared for my Marines. I understand the rigors of war and the responsibility of our government to wage it properly and to care for those who fight it and for their families.
My wife Susan and I have built our lives in Tennessee and have been married for nearly 39 years. We raised our children Andrew (27) and Sarah (24) in the traditions of faith, service to country and belief in the ideals of the Democratic Party.
I hope you will support me in this effort as you supported me when I was your Party Chairman.
Thank you and Semper Fi,
Bob Tuke
Tuke for Tennessee
222 Fourth Ave. No.
rtuke@tntlaw.net
2007 Foreclosure Map
Tennessee is clearly the worst in the South after Florida.
The River Flows Through
Housing Starts Lowest Level Since May 1991.
The contraction in new residential construction activity continued in December. Housing starts tumbled 14.2% last month to an annual rate of 1.01 million units compared to expectations for a more modest decline to a rate of 1.15 million. This was the lowest level of housing starts since May 1991. For all of 2007, 1.344 million housing units were started, 25.8% below the 2006 total and the lowest since 1995 when 1.361 million units were started. Weakness persisted in the single-family sector, with starts falling 2.9% on the month, 36.0% on the year to end at a rate of 794k. Multifamily starts, a highly volatile series, dropped over 40% in December to an annualized pace of 210k. Building permits, often used as an indicator of future building activity decreased 8.1% in December to an annual pace of 1.068 million. The pace of permit issuance suggests builders will continue to slash new starts as they try to work off high inventory levels amid sluggish new home sales. New residential starts are expected to weaken further from here and detract substantially from Q4 and Q1 economic growth.
Jobless claims fell 21k to 301k for the week that ended January 12. The large drop to such a low level is off trend for jobless claims in the past several weeks. Continuing claims for the prior week surged 66k suggests the pace of hiring remains weak and is contrary to the latest jobless claims reading. More weeks of initial claims data will be needed to understand if this week’s drop establishes a new lower trend.
Titans fire offensive coordinator Chow
By JIM WYATTStaff Writer
The Titans have fired offensive coordinator Norm Chow after three seasons.
The Titans finished 21st in the NFL in total offense last season under Chow, who said Coach Jeff Fisher delivered the news by phone.
“I’m as shocked as the next guy,’’ Chow said Tuesday. “He said he wanted to go in a different direction."
Coach Jeff Fisher released a statement:
“Over the last week, we have done a lot of self-evaluation and I think we still have work ahead of us to reach our ultimate goal. I have informed Norm that he will not be retained as our offensive coordinator. I appreciate all of the hard work and contributions he made to the organization during his time here, but I have decided to go in a different direction and will start the process of finding a new offensive coordinator. We wish Norm and his family the best in their future endeavors.”
Chow, who had recently signed a two-year contract extension with the Titans, left town last week and has spent the last few days with his family in California. He was scheduled to return to Nashville before heading with the Titans coaching staff to Mobile, Ala., for Senior Bowl practices.
The 61-year-old coach said he’s unsure what he’ll do now. His name has been mentioned as a possibility for the offensive coordinator’s position at UCLA, where he earlier interviewed for the head coaching job that went to Rick Neuheisel.
“I don’t know what I am going to do,’’ Chow said. “I’m disappointed. I didn’t see this coming. No one had said a word about any of this until all of a sudden … I made a lot of good friends there.’’
Asked if he thought the next offensive coaching staff could make things work with quarterback Vince Young, who threw nine touchdowns and 17 interceptions last season, Chow replied: “Obviously Jeff didn’t think that I could. I thought I was. That’s the thing. I don’t know… but it’s going to take some patience.’’
The Titans had the NFL's 27th-ranked passing offense this season, one year after Young was the league's offensive rookie of the year.
Young was blindsided by the news of Chow's firing, according to a representative.“He was shocked,’’ said Mike Mu, Young's marketing agent.
“I broke the news to him. He thought I was kidding him and didn’t believe it.’’
Edmund Hillary, First Atop Everest, Dies - World on The Huffington Post
Edmund Hillary, First Atop Everest, Dies: "WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, has died, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced Friday. He was 88.
The gangling New Zealander devoted much of his life to aiding the mountain people of Nepal and took his fame in stride, preferring to be called 'Ed' and considering himself just an ordinary beekeeper.
'Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity,' Clark said in a statement.
'The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived,' she said."
Countrywide denies bankruptcy, but stock plunges
Tue Jan 8, 2008 3:38pm EST
(Recasts first paragraph, adds analyst comment and byline)
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday denied market speculation it might seek bankruptcy protection, but its shares suffered their biggest decline since the 1987 stock market crash on growing concern the largest U.S. mortgage lender's problems will deepen.
In late afternoon trading, Countrywide shares were down $2.03, or 26.5 percent, at $5.61 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Shares of other mortgage-related companies also slid, including lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc (IMB.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and bond insurers MBIA Inc (MBI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Ambac Financial Group Inc (ABK.N: Quote, Profile, Research).
After traders reported rumors of a possible Countrywide bankruptcy, the company issued a statement that "there is no substance to the rumor that Countrywide is planning to file for bankruptcy, and we are not aware of any basis for the rumor that any of the major rating agencies are contemplating negative action relative to the company."
In the Land of Many Ifs - New York Times
In the Land of Many Ifs - New York Times:
By PETER S. GOODMAN and VIKAS BAJAJ
"For months, the American economy has been assailed by a wave of troubling news, from plunging housing prices to the soaring cost of oil, provoking gloomy talk of a possible recession. Yet so far the economy has found a way to shrug it all off and keep growing.
How much longer can the expansion carry on? As a new year unfolds, analysts expect a verdict soon: Either the negatives finally metastasize and drag the economy down, or a fresh source of growth emerges, helping to sustain consumer spending despite the ongoing worries about housing and tight credit.
“There are even odds of a recession,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “It literally could go either way.”
The year that just ended was not for the faint of heart. As mortgage debt became synonymous with toxic waste, banks got spooked and tightfisted. Job growth slowed. Inflation fears grew. Still, consumers kept spending, and unemployment stayed flat. American companies found enough sales abroad to compensate for weakness at home.
The bursting housing bubble remains a locus of concern. An era of free-flowing credit and speculation has led to a far-flung empire of vacant, unsold homes — 2.1 million, or about 2.6 percent of the nation’s housing stock, Mr. Zandi said. Even in the worst years of recessions in the early 1980s and 1990s, the share of vacant homes did not exceed 1.9 percent."
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