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Randolph Electricity Rates
Commercial Electricity in Randolph
^ The average commercial electricity rate in Randolph, MO is 8.55¢/kWh.[1]
Residential Electricity in Randolph
^ The average residential electricity rate in Randolph, MO is 10.93¢/kWh.[1]
Industrial Electricity in Randolph
^ The average industrial electricity rate in Randolph, MO is 6.43¢/kWh.[1]
Randolph, MO Electricity Statistics
Commercial electricity rates in Randolph
The average commercial electricity rate in Randolph is 8.55¢/kWh.[1]
This average (commercial) electricity rate in Randolph is 4.27% greater than the Missouri average rate of 8.2¢/kWh.[2]
The average (commercial) electricity rate in Randolph is 15.26% less than the national average rate of 10.09¢/kWh. Commercial rates in the U.S. range from 6.86¢/kWh to 34.88¢/kWh.[2]
Residential electricity rates in Randolph
The average residential electricity rate in Randolph is 10.93¢/kWh.[1]
This average (residential) electricity rate in Randolph is 7.47% greater than the Missouri average rate of 10.17¢/kWh.[2]
The average (residential) electricity rate in Randolph is 8% less than the national average rate of 11.88¢/kWh. Residential rates in the U.S. range from 8.37¢/kWh to 37.34¢/kWh.[2]
Industrial electricity rates in Randolph
The average industrial electricity rate in Randolph is 6.43¢/kWh.[1]
This average (industrial) electricity rate in Randolph is 9.17% greater than the Missouri average rate of 5.89¢/kWh.[2]
The average (industrial) electricity rate in Randolph is 3.6% less than the national average rate of 6.67¢/kWh. Industrial rates in the U.S. range from 4.13¢/kWh to 30.82¢/kWh.[2]
Missouri Electricity Rates & Consumption
Commercial electricity in Missouri
Commercial electricity rates in MO [3]
The average commercial electricity rate in Missouri is 8.2¢/kWh, which ranks 39th in the nation and is 18.73% less than the national average rate of 10.09¢/kWh.[3]
Commercial electricity consumption in MO [3]
Commercial electricity consumption in Missouri averages 6,810 kWh/month, which ranks 13th in the nation and is 9.17% greater than the national average of 6,238 kWh/month.
Commercial electricity bills in MO [3]
The average monthly commercial electricity bill in Missouri is $558, which ranks 23rd in the nation and is 11.29% less than the national average of $629.
Learn more about commercial electricity in Missouri
Residential electricity in Missouri
Residential electricity rates in Missouri [3]
The average residential electricity rate in Missouri is 10.17¢/kWh, which ranks 36th in the nation and is 14.39% less than the national average rate of 11.88¢/kWh.
Residential electricity consumption in MO [3]
Residential electricity consumption in Missouri averages 1,060 kWh/month, which ranks 17th in the nation and is 17.39% greater than the national average of 903 kWh/month.
Residential electricity bills in MO [3]
The average monthly residential electricity bill in Missouri is $108, which ranks 18th in the nation and is 0.93% greater than the national average of $107 per month.
Learn more about residential electricity in Missouri
Industrial electricity in Missouri
Industrial electricity rates in Missouri [3]
The average industrial electricity rate in Missouri is 5.89¢/kWh, which ranks 37th in the nation and is 11.69% less than the national average rate of 6.67¢/kWh.
Industrial electricity consumption in MO [3]
Industrial electricity consumption in Missouri averages 164,723 kWh/month, which ranks 20th in the nation and is 46.87% greater than the national average of 112,158 kWh/month.
Industrial electricity bills in MO [3]
The average monthly industrial electricity bill in Missouri is $9,707, which ranks 22nd in the nation and is 29.72% greater than the national average of $7,483.
Learn more about industrial electricity in Missouri
Household Income in Randolph, MO
Randolph, MO Income Breakdown [4]
Income Summary for Randolph, MO
Electric bills: The average residential electricity bill in Missouri is about $108/month, ranking 18th in the U.S. and 0.93% greater than the national average of $107.[5]
Income: Randolph vs. Nation [4]
Additional information about Randolph
About Randolph
Randolph is a village located in Clay County in the state of Missouri, and has a population of approximately 52.[6]
More about Randolph utilities
For more information about Randolph electricity, or for additional resources regarding electricity & utilities in your state, visit the Energy Information Administration.
Benjamin Franklin researched electricity extensively in the 18th century. The lightning rod was among his inventions.
Additional Cities in MO
Lake Tekakwitha
Local Electricity Rates in Randolph, MO
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Eric Knight Inventor. Entrepreneur. Author. Futurist. Business & Internet Pioneer.
Shirt-sleeve Earth-like planet discovered: Kepler-22b
NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has discovered an Earth-like planet with balmy 70-degree temperatures: “Kepler-22b”. The plant is 2.4 times the diameter of Earth, and orbits its sun in 290 days.
But we won’t be visiting anytime soon, as the planet is 600 light years away. How far is 600 light years? Well, consider that light travels 186,287 miles each second. Now multiply 186,287 miles times the number of seconds in 600 years. Whew!
Scientists have pointed the 42 dish antennas that comprise California’s Allen Telescope Array on Kepler-22b to see if it can detect any radio waves — to perhaps catch a Keplerian broadcast of “Dancing with the Stars” (sorry — couldn’t resist that).
Something to think about: If scientists on Kepler-22b were scanning Earth for radio or TV broadcasts, they wouldn’t hear anything. Radio waves travel at the speed of light. So, they’d be examining Earth as it was 600 years ago — and radio was invented here less than 150 years ago.
For additional details about this planetary discovery, including a video of the mission managers discussing their find, check out the following article in the San Jose Mercury News: http://bit.ly/smOSZF
Artist’s conception courtesy of NASA / Ames/ JPL-Caltech
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Major archeological discovery in the jungles of Guatemala: Tens of thousands of structures built by the Maya over a millennium ago
10:35 pm, February 4, 2018
Ridiculously cool: Elon Musk will launch his Tesla into space — and the car will be blaring David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” at liftoff
11:46 am, December 2, 2017
Don’t miss the year’s biggest “Supermoon” on Sunday night. The Moon will appear 7% brighter and 16% larger than usual.
NASA is rebooting decades-old nuclear-propulsion technology, designed to cut flight time to Mars in half
Real-time language translation now a reality with Google’s Pixel Buds
9:40 pm, October 4, 2017
Elon Musk’s audacious mission is achievable: Humans on Mars in seven years
You’re essentially looking over my shoulder as I write, think, create, invent, and — in general — ponder the world around us. Feel free to peruse my writings and chime in as you’re so inspired.
Everything I type feeds parallel simultaneous streams to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more. It’s a global tightrope without a net.
Lots of new features are coming online. They’re all in various stages of development. You’ll soon see innovative things I’m working on — such as a live, streaming, two-way “TV channel” of sorts where you’ll be able to interact with me (audio, video, text) in real time as I type here in front of my computer.
This is my platform to push the boundaries of technology in every dimension.
Hang on tight. We may achieve orbit. Or we may sail off a cliff. But the ride will be exhilarating.
— Eric
© 2011 Eric Knight and Remarkable Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Elizabethtown Area School District Honors 23 Local Veterans
November 11, 2019- Elizabethtown Area School District saluted 23 local veterans during its twelfth annual Veterans Day Ceremony on Monday, Nov.11. The program afforded school officials and high school students an opportunity to salute local veterans for their service to the country. It was also an opportunity for students to learn about the contributions that veterans have made and learn about the meaning of the day.
Elizabethtown Area School District board president Terry Seiders and Elizabethtown Borough Mayor Chuck Mummert joined superintendent of schools Dr. Michele Balliet in thanking the veterans who had gathered for the program in the high school auditorium. All five branches of the military - Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy - were represented among the veterans who gathered for the ceremony.
“Our Veterans Day celebration not only allows us to say thank you, but also allows our students to appreciate the many individuals in their own community who served this great nation,” said Balliet. “To some of our students the honorees are their parents; to others their neighbor, friend, or teacher; and yet to others simply a new face. But make no mistake about it, we all owe a great deal of gratitude and thanks to each and every one of these honorees for their sacrifice for the betterment of our country and our world.”
High school seniors Abigail Dehmey, Alexander Hartman, Joseph Sikora, Andrew Telenko, and Winsto Williams also took part in the program along with the high school marching band. Sikora delivered the invocation followed by Dehmey presenting the history of TAPS. At the conclusion of Dehmey’s remarks, Williams played Taps. Telenko read a brief history of Veterans Day and Anderson read a tribute poem to the Veterans. The marching band performed the national anthem.
During her remarks, Balliet challenged the more than 150 high school students in attendance to never forget the sacrifices of our veterans both past and present.
“As superintendent of the Elizabethtown Area School District, I am honored to once again be a part of this event. At each of our Veterans Day programs, I am reminded that Americans live in freedom because of our veterans’ courage, dedication to duty, and love of country,” Balliet concluded.
The honorees were as follows:
United States Air Force -
Richard Adams, John Bolen, Donald Feiler, James Hanley, Dan Helm, William Moir, and W. Fred Orth
United States Army –
Clyde Barnhart, Ronald Flory, Mark Klepping, Suzanne Smith, Wayne Stoeffler, and William Vogelsong
United States Coast Guard –
Ann Edwards
United States Marine Corps –
Jacob Kadilak, Bob Kane, Robert Murphy, Jason Potts, and James Read
United States Navy –
Kenneth Burke, Daniel Serfass and Thomas Wood
United States Marines/Air Force/ Air National Guard –
Jess Durham
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You are here: Home → topics → European Parliament → Stories of the Week → This Week's Top Stories from the European Parliament - 9-12 December 2019
This Week's Top Stories from the European Parliament - 9-12 December 2019
— filed under: European Parliament
Article - MEPs have modest expectations for crucial EU budget summit
Ahead of today's EU summit to decide how best to invest to meet people's expectations, Parliament's negotiators are warning not to expect substantial progress from it.
Press release - Green deal for Europe: First reactions from MEPs
MEPs convened in a plenary session to discuss with Ursula von der Leyen and Frans Timmermans the roadmap to a climate-neutral continent.
Article - Quiz: how much do you know about human rights in the EU?
Respect for human rights is key to the EU. How much do you know about them? Find out in our quiz!
Article - Sakharov Walk of Freedom
Marking International Human Rights Day on 10 December, European Parliament President David Sassoli and Sakharov Prize laureate Lorent Saleh inaugurated the Sakharov Walk of Freedom.
Press release - MFF: Commission's plan "impossible to implement" with Finnish proposal
For Parliament's negotiating team, the preliminary proposal by Finland's presidency of the Council for the next long-term budget of the EU would "condemn the European Union to failure".
Committee on Budgets
Press release - Eurobarometer: protecting human rights tops citizens' list of EU values
This Eurobarometer survey, published on Tuesday, asked citizens, among several topics, which political issue the Parliament should deal with as a matter of priority.
Press release - EuroLat plenary in Panama: control of trade talks and fight against crime
The scrutiny role of parliaments in trade talks and EU-Latin American cooperation against organised crime will be debated this week in Panama.
Press release - MEPs push for high ambitions at the COP25 in Madrid
A delegation from the European Parliament arrives in Madrid today to participate in the COP25, where they will meet with key stakeholders in the negotiations.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Article - Accessibility: making products and services in the EU easier to use
The European Accessibility Act aims to ensure more products and services are accessible for elderly people and people living with a disability. Check out our video.
Article - In Parliament this week: special climate session, future of Europe, Sakharov Prize
MEPs discuss new measures to tackle the climate emergency at an extraordinary plenary session, as well as honour human rights activists and prepare for a conference on the future of Europe.
Article - The Parliament's fight for gender equality in the EU
Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP
Press release - Towards a Conference on the Future of Europe
The Constitutional Affairs Committee will vote on Monday on its suggestions to Parliament's leaders for the upcoming Conference on the Future of Europe.
Committee on Constitutional Affairs
Article - Propaganda: "The weapons used against us are continuously evolving" (interview)
Hostile propaganda that seeks to undermine the EU could influence the upcoming European elections. We talked to MEP Anna Fotyga about how to counteract it.
Article - Emissions from planes and ships: facts and figures (infographic)
Greenhouse gas emissions from international aviation have more than doubled over the past two decades, while those from shipping have also increased. Check out our infographics.
Article - Globalisation: how the EU's trade policy helps to promote human rights
Globalisation and international trade can affect human rights, so the EU's trade policy include tools to protect them. Find out how.
Press release - Malta: MEPs conclude fact-finding visit to assess Caruana Galizia murder inquiry
Following recent developments in the investigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017, MEPs visited Malta between 3-4 December to take stock of the situation on the ground.
Press release - 8th Euronest Assembly: the future of relations with Eastern partners
Energy security, EU-Eastern relations and geopolitical challenges are set to be among the focus points of the 8th session of the joint parliamentary assembly.
Article - What's behind the decline in bees and other pollinators? (infographic)
Find out what pollinators are, why they are important and why they are declining.
Press release - MEPs call for a reduction in pesticides to protect bees
Further reducing use of pesticides, more funds for research and better monitoring are urgently needed to save the EU's bees, says the Environment Committee.
Press release - Biodiversity: MEPs call for legally binding targets, as for climate change
Next year's UN biodiversity conference, the COP15, should be the biodiversity equivalent of the Paris agreement on climate change, says the Environment Committee.
EP News
EP green light for EU-Vietnam free trade deal 22-01-2020
MEPs back transport package to improve conditions for drivers 21-01-2020
MEPs call for end to lead in recycled PVC 21-01-2020
MEPs call for legally binding targets on biodiversity 16-01-2020
MEPs voice concern over citizens' rights post-Brexit 15-01-2020
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This Week's Top Stories from the European Parliament - 13-17 January 2020
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Talking Heads Elektor Business Menlo Microsystems
by C.J. Abate
on General
Q&A with Russ Garcia: The Reinvented Electromechanical Switch and Bringing New Tech to Market
Russ Garcia (CEO, Menlo Microsystems) has 30 years of experience in the electronic systems and semiconductor industries. He recently told us about Menlo’s innovative Digital-Micro-Switch (DMS) platform and shared his thoughts on how the company’s solution can improve a wide variety of technologies ranging from communications networks to electric vehicles.
Russ Garcia (CEO, Menlo Microsystems) has 30 years of experience in the electronic systems and semiconductor industries. He recently told us about Irvine, CA-based Menlo Micro’s innovative Digital-Micro-Switch (DMS) platform and shared his thoughts on how the company’s solution can improve a wide variety of technologies ranging from communications networks to electric vehicles.
Russ Garcia (CEO)
C. J. Abate: Menlo Microsystems launched in 2016 as a spin-out from General Electric. What is Digital-Micro-Switch technology?
Russ Garcia: Menlo Micro’s Digital-Micro-Switch platform is the reinvention of the most basic electronic function, the switch. It is a game changer for those who design electronic systems with a market opportunity of more than $20 billion. It has the potential to serve multiple industries, including: next-generation 5G mobile networks, industrial IoT markets, battery management, energy management, enterprise building management, home automation, electric vehicles, and medical instrumentation.
The electromechanical switch hasn’t experienced much change in the past 150 years, and many of the applications we are revolutionizing have seen little innovation in the last 25 years. Menlo Micro’s innovations have come to market by developing unique materials, designs and processing techniques to build an enhanced electronic switch that can handle high-temperature, high-stress conditions for products that require decades of useful life. The new switch operates up to 1000× faster than a typical mechanical switch with 1000× longer lifetime. It can handle hundreds of watts of power and is built in a structure smaller than a human hair.
C. J.: How do Menlo devices compare to traditional electromechanical relays? What are the advantages of the Digital-Micro-Switch platform?
Russ: Driven by the extreme operating conditions required by General Electric's industrial businesses, the GE Global Research team was led to look at the micro-mechanical switch from an entirely different perspective. That different approach led to a deep understanding of failure modes, and in turn, the development of a unique set of patented metal alloys and processing techniques that enable reliable operation and extremely good electrical performance — primarily resulting in very low contact resistance.
With the core technology development completed and qualified for production in GE systems, the Menlo Micro team is bringing high-performance switch products to multiple end markets, with a goal of revolutionizing the way electronic systems are designed. Some of the key attributes of the Menlo Micro switch technology include size, speed, power handling, power efficiency, and reliability.
Size: Board space and weight are at a premium in many applications. Traditional mechanical switches take up lots of space, have limited number of channels, and in some cases need to be manually assembled. Menlo Micro switching elements are smaller than the width of a human hair and are architected to be scalable, depending on the power ratings required. All switches are manufactured using automated wafer-level processes and tools. They are so small we can fit hundreds of them in a space smaller than 10 mm2.
Speed: Making mechanical structures small also means you can make them move fast. A typical mechanical switch might operate in a few milliseconds, whereas Menlo Micro switches can operate 1000× faster, in only a few microseconds. This can have enormous implications on systems that were previously limited in performance by how fast they could reconfigure, or open and close critical circuits.
Power Handling: This is an area where Menlo Micro completely throws conventional wisdom out the window. When faced with the prospect of handling higher power levels, most people think bigger. More mass, more metal, larger air gaps between conductors. We took a different approach. We make everything smaller and move the electrical contacts closer and closer together. Our miniaturized switches and scalable architecture allows us to handle hundreds of volts and tens of amps without arcing.
Power Efficiency: In an increasing number of systems, power is getting more and more expensive. When you're working off a battery, every 0.1 dB and every microamp counts. Both RF and AC/DC losses need to be balanced with amplification and in some cases with extra power supplies. This is where the Menlo Micro technology really shines. We can scale our switches to have ultra-low losses, from 1 Ω down to a few milliohms. And not only that, but our electrostatic-driven actuator means that a single switch only needs a few picoamperes (pA) to function.
Reliability: When you are developing products to meet the needs of businesses that serve markets like healthcare, aviation, and other mission-critical industrial applications, reliability is not an afterthought; it's the primary design criteria. In the end, that's why we are here. Our mechanical switching device has lifetimes more than 1000× longer than traditional mechanical switches; not millions of cycles, but tens of billions of cycles without degrading performance. Even more important than the performance demonstrated to date, is the deep understanding in material science, reliability, and failure analysis that enables us to model and predict failures so we can push the technology even further.
C. J.: Tell us a bit about each of the products in your portfolio: HV switch products, RF switching products, RF tuning products, and power relay products.
Figure 1: The M7100
high-voltage SPST DMS
Russ: The MM7100 is a high-voltage SPST switch (Figure 1). The MM7100 was the first Menlo Microsystems product in production. It has been shipping into GE’s MRI applications and over 100,000 of these switches have been shipped to date.
The MM7100 provides ultra-low on-state resistance and high off-state isolation, with greater than 3 billion switching cycles guaranteed at +85°C. Because of its long lifetime, extremely low current consumption, and small form factor, the MM7100 is an ideal solution for replacing electromechanical relays, as well as pin diode switches where size, weight, power, and thermal management are critical system-level design parameters.
Figure 2: The MM5120 DC
12 GHz SP4T DMS
The MM5120 is a high-power RF/microwave switch. Our DMS technology enables 25 W or more of RF power switching in a very small SMT package (Figure 2). The MM5120 provides ultra-low insertion loss and superior linearity from 12 GHz down to DC, with greater than 3 billion switching cycles guaranteed at elevated +85°C temperatures. An integrated analog gate controller allows the user the option to provide the required high-voltage gate signal externally or to generate it internally. The MM5120 is an ideal solution for replacing bulky and less reliable RF electromechanical relays, as well as RF/microwave solid-state switches where linearity and insertion loss are critical parameters.
Figure 3: The MM3100
six-channel SPST DMS
The MM3100 device is a high power six-channel SPST for DC and wideband RF/microwave switch applications (Figure 3). The MM3100 is capable of switching greater than 25 W of RF power. It has six switch channels — each providing ultra-low on-state insertion loss and high off-state isolation from DC to 3 GHz with greater than 3 billion switching cycles at elevated +85°C temperatures. Each channel is individually controlled by a standard Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) synchronous bus. An external +5 VDC logic supply and high voltage +77 VDC bias source is required for operation of the internal switch driver.
The MM1200 device is a six-channel SPST Micro Relay. It is intended for power and signal switching applications in both DC and AC circuits. This device has very low on-state contact resistance, is capable of up to 1.0 A of current handling per channel and high off-state isolation with greater than 3 billion switching cycles at elevated +85°C temperatures. Each switch is normally open (NO) and individually controlled by a serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus. An external +5 VDC logic supply and high voltage +77 VDC bias source is required for operation of the internal switch driver.
C. J.: How are your switches currently being used?
Russ: Our Digital-Micro-Switch products are highly versatile and can be used in different configurations for multiple applications. Initially, our MM7100 and MM3100 products are being used to replace high-voltage PIN diodes in end products such as MRI machines and military radios. Our MM1200 is being used to replace reed relays electromechanical relays in test and measurement equipment. In almost all cases, our customers are trying to reduce the overall size, weight, and power consumption of the system they are designing, so the extremely low power and ultra-small form factors that we are providing with the DMS technology are very attractive in those situations. These devices scale like semiconductor devices but have electrical performance characteristics of high-performance ohmic contact switches. Subsequently, they address high-power, high-frequency, high-reliability applications, while also scaling to enable high-frequency performance at lower powers for more cost-sensitive applications.
C. J.: What’s your business model? Do you license your technology?
Russ: We primarily design and manufacture both standard and custom switches and relays for numerous vertical markets and applications. We do have a licensing model for various fields of use for which we do not intend to participate with products directly. One example of that is the consumer mobile handset market where the DMS technology enables millimeter Wave performance at cost structures rivaling SoI switch technology that is used in those applications today.
Figure 4: The DMS Power
Relay evaluation board
C. J.: What are the technical specifications for the Smart Power Relay evaluation board?
Russ: Menlo Microsystems has developed a Power Relay Prototype Platform that uses digital micro switches in a scalable, parallel configuration to handle larger currents. The positive temperature coefficient of the DMS technology enables paralleling devices with stable current sharing between devices (Figure 4).
The rest of this interview will appear in Elektor Business Edition issue 4/2018, which will be published in July 2018.
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Motorists beware: heavy fog expected again
Picture used for illustrative purposes only. Motorists drive with care. (Erik Arazas)
Published Sunday, April 03, 2011
The National Center of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) in the UAE this morning put out a low-visibility warning for motorists.
In those driving to or from Abu Dhabi were told to watch out for heavy fog again, especially around the area where a massive car-pile-up took place on Saturday morning.
One person died, 61 were injured of them nine critical.
More than a dozen vehicles were burnt and traffic stalled for over five hours.
Drivers were asked to go slow this morning, and use lights in the fog.
The NCMS also said that visibility would be low in Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain as well, so motorists heading in from those areas to Dubai need to be careful as well.
Sandstorm aftermath:
low visibility and
strong winds
At least 1 dead, 61
injured in highway's
127-car pile-up
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About: Ska Keller
Future EU 23-07-2019
The balance of powers in the new European Parliament
With majorities in the European Parliament becoming more unstable, votes are becoming more unpredictable. The power structure has shifted considerably as a result of the European elections. While the liberal group Renew Europe will likely be decisive, German MEPs are set to be the most influential. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Greens set conditions to approve nominee von der Leyen
The European Greens have set tough conditions for giving their approval to designated European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who started her charm offensive among political parties in Brussels on Monday (7 July), ahead of next week's vote in the European Parliament.
EU Parliament re-schedules election of its president
The election of the European Parliament's president was scheduled to take place during the inaugural session in Strasbourg. But the deadlock between EU leaders over the European Commission presidency has put that on hold. EURACTIV France reports.
Politics 20-06-2019
Keller: ‘It’s not possible that we never had a female Commission president’
Ska Keller is a German Green MEP and co-president of the Greens and European Free Alliance (EFA). The Greens’ unexpected success in the EU elections, combined with the continued decline of the Socialists and Conservatives, means they might emerge as kingmakers.
Special ReportInterview
Energy & Environment 23-05-2019
Bas Eickhout: EU carbon market needs alignment with 2050 goal
The next European Commission will have to reopen the Emissions Trading Scheme directive if it is serious about reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, argues Bas Eickhout, warning the next Commission chief will need to find a broader majority in the European Parliament than his predecessor.
EU elections: Will 2019 be the year of climate action?
Climate change is now a top priority for EU voters, so where do the parities stand when it comes to climate action? Elisa Giannelli, explores.
EU Elections 2019 03-05-2019
Pro-European candidates for EU election identify Council as the ‘common enemy’
An oddly uncontroversial debate between the lead candidates of the four major pro-European political families at this month's EU elections took place in Florence on Thursday (2 May).
European Greens set conditions on EPP candidate Manfred Weber
The European Greens launched their electoral campaign on Wednesday (6 March) and set conditions for the European People’s Party (EPP) top candidate Manfred Weber, saying they would not be willing to talk to him "if he prefers leaning to the right".
Over a Coffee with Ska Keller and Bas Eickhout, lead candidates for the Greens
Ska Keller and Bas Eickhout, lead candidates in the European Elections for the Greens meet with EURACTIV’s Brian Maguire over a coffee to talk about the upcoming EU elections.
‘Progressive alliance’ moves a step closer ahead of EU elections
The leaders of the Social Democrats (S&D), Greens and leftist group (GUE/NGL) sat for the first time at the same table to discuss the possibility of a common strategy ahead of the EU elections in May to face down the rise of far-right and neoliberal forces.
Greens to push industrial and social agenda for EU elections
Social justice and a fair transition towards a low-carbon economy will stand in equal focus during the Greens' upcoming EU electoral campaign, the group's newly elected lead candidates Ska Keller and Bas Eickhout told EURACTIV in an interview.
European Greens Spitzenkandidaten: Ska Keller
The European Greens will pick their two Spitzenkandidaten in Berlin on 23-25 November, hoping to build on the Green's unexpected surge in Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium. Here is a portrait of one of the three contenders, Ska Keller, a fiery German who grew up organising rallies against neo-Nazis.
European Greens Spitzenkandidaten: Bas Eickhout
Delegates from the European Greens will pick their two Spitzenkandidaten in Berlin on 23-25 November, following the Green parties’ unexpected surge in Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium. EURACTIV.com has spoken to all three contenders and here is the portrait of one of them, Bas Eickhout.
Syriza in quest to unite progressive forces ahead of EU elections
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his close ally, senior Syriza MEP Dimitris Papadimoulis, are launching a number of initiatives to build bridges among Europe's fragmented progressive political forces and create a broad alliance ahead of the EU elections.
Timmermans, the right-hand of Juncker, eyes EU throne
Frans Timmermans confirmed on Wednesday (10 October) that he wants to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission next year, dismissing concerns that he has made too many enemies to stand a fighting chance of succeeding his current boss.
MEPs kick off electoral campaign after Juncker’s State of the Union speech
Jean-Claude Juncker's last State of the Union speech before the next European elections turned into a stocktaking of his mandate and a platform for political groups to set up their priorities for the electoral campaign.
Commission’s budget proposal draws praise from MEPs
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and his Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger received a largely positive reception from MEPs to their proposal for the next long-term EU budget from 2021-2027.
Freedom of thought 16-02-2018
Borissov gets preview of the perfect storm
In just one day, Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, has embroiled himself in a spat with the country's president, been offered Russian citizenship and seen some of his pet projects crumble before his eyes.
Ska Keller’s extraordinary Bulgarian experience reverberates in Brussels
The presidents of the European Commission and Parliament have personally expressed support to Ska Keller, co-president of the GREEN/EFA group in the European Parliament, following her extraordinary and unpleasant experience in Bulgaria, the country that holds the rotating EU Presidency.
Bulgarian nationalists go ballistic over ‘green Jihadist Ska Keller’
Since her flight touched down in Sofia on 8 February, Ska Keller, co-President of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, became the target of Bulgarian nationalists.
Justice & Home Affairs 08-02-2018
MEPs grill Romania’s government in absentia
Procedural problems prevented Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader from addressing the European Parliament's plenary session on Wednesday (7 February) and explaining the government’s current judiciary reforms, which many MEPs see as a threat to the rule of law.
Climate change 25-01-2018
Bulgarian environment minister under MEP fire over his views on climate change
Bulgaria’s environment minister was under fire on Wednesday (24 January) in the Environment Committee of the European Parliament over his positions on climate change and his support for a recent decision to allow construction of tourist facilities in the Pirin national park.
Over A Coffee with Ska Keller MEP, Co-Chair of the Greens
Ska Keller, Co-Chair of the Greens in the European Parliament, joins EURACTIV Reporter, Brian Maguire, Over A Coffee.
Parliament strengthens 2030 climate and energy package
MEPs on Wednesday (14 June) voted to strengthen a draft EU regulation that fixes binding national targets for cuts to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from sectors not covered by quotas. EURACTIV’s partner Journal de l’Environnement reports.
RSS - Ska Keller
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Mystery of heat loss from the Earth's crust has been solved
National Oceanography Centre, UK
IMAGE: Vent chimneys at the Von Damm Vent site. view more
Credit: The National Oceanography Centre
The first discovery of a new type of hydrothermal vent system in a decade helps explain the long observed disconnect between the theoretical rate at which the Earth's crust is cooling at seafloor spreading ridge flanks, and actual observations. It could also help scientists interpret the evidence for past global climates more accurately.
This discovery has been made by scientists at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and the University of Southampton using a combination of robot-subs and remotely operated vehicles operated by the NOC.
Dr Bramley Murton, who co-supervised this research, published today in Nature Communications, said "This will really improve our understanding of how the Earth's interior cools. Theory has long predicted that there must be more cooling in certain locations on the Earth's crust than we could account for using the known mechanisms....and this new class of hydrothermal vent system may account for that difference."
What makes these hydrothermal vent systems different is that the source of heat driving them comes from hot rock pushed towards the seabed by low angle faults, called tectonic spreading centres, rather than volcanic heat from magma chambers. Dr Murton has been involved in research that discovered tectonic seafloor spreading centres at a number of sites across the ocean floor.
"We expect this new type of vent system can be found in tectonic seafloor spreading sites across the globe. However, since they are almost invisible to the traditional ways of searching for hydrothermal vents, and the process driving them was not understood, they remained unaccounted for in scientific models of how heat and chemistry is transferred from inside the Earth's crust. Our discovery was only made possible using the world-leading marine technology at the NOC" continued Dr Murton, who supervised this research by Matthew Hodgkinson, a PhD student from the University of Southampton.
This new class of venting was discovered at the Von Damm Vent Field in the Caribbean during an expedition on board the NOC maintained Royal Research Ship, James Cook. The team used sonar on the autonomous-sub, Autosub6000, to map the vent field before sending down a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to collect samples of hydrothermal fluids and minerals. Multi-beam sonar on this ROV was also used to produce a map with a resolution so high it could pick out individual pebbles on the sea floor.
The investigation revealed that minerals and chemistry at the Von Damm Vent site are very different to those from any other known vents. As a result of the unusual chemistry of the vent fluids, the fifty metre tall mounds and chimneys are formed largely of a magnesium-rich mineral, talc, rather than the more usual iron and copper sulphides. In addition, the vents release over a one thousand kilograms per second of fluid at 215°C, which carries hundreds of megawatts of heat out of the crust. Accounting for such a major flux of heat and chemicals from this new class of vent system has important implications for the balance of magnesium and calcium in seawater, which plays a significant role in past climatic conditions. This research will mean that ocean models of magnesium and calcium budgets will need to be updated and could lead to more accurate insights into Earth's past climate.
This research forms part of the NOC's ongoing research in marine geology and was funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council.
Holly Peacock
holly.peacock@noc.ac.uk
@NOCnews
http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk
Natural Environmental Research Council
GEOLOGY/SOIL
TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT PHENOMENA
Vent Chimneys at the Von Damm Vent Site (IMAGE)
The Global Distribution of Hydrothermal Vents (IMAGE)
Remotely Operated Vehicle Samples a Hydrothermal Vent (IMAGE)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomm10150
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Europe Breaking News
Breaking News Stories from Europe and Around the World
You are here: Home / Corrie’s Antony Cotton reveals how he saved suicidal soldier from motorway bridge
Corrie’s Antony Cotton reveals how he saved suicidal soldier from motorway bridge
· December 14, 2019 ·
Coronation Street’s Antony Cotton has told how he responded to a desperate call about a suicidal soldier.
It was 11.30pm but the Corrie star did not hesitate and rushed to the struggling man.
He said: “I drove to a motorway bridge, to a soldier I’d never met who was suicidal and then drove him back to my house.”
That was five ago and Antony, 44, lost contact with him until Christmas Eve last year.
Antony said: “I saw him in a supermarket, walking towards me with a pram with his wife and two babies.
“There was Christmas music playing and I stepped round my trolley and hugged him.
“We were both close to tears and he just said: ‘thank you’. It made my Christmas and that’s why I do what I do.”
Antony, a passionate supporter of the armed forces, has been making other people’s Christmases this year.
He teamed up with the Sunday People to visit the residents of Greater Manchester’s Broughton House, a retirement home for ex-soldiers, to hand out presents.
But the modest star brushes aside any praise and insists he is fortunate to be able to laugh and joke with the residents.
He said: “I’m the lucky one. I genuinely feel like the honour is all mine.
“Meeting these amazing people makes my life all the richer. I feel privileged to be entrusted with their stories and invited into their world.
“It keeps my feet on the ground, which I think is really important in my business, which is all about frippery.”
Antony loves playing barman Sean Tully and all that he represents but wants his work with military charities to be his legacy.
He said: “I do it with such pride and pleasure and if somebody took it away from me, I’d be devastated.”
He has made dozens of close friends in the forces in the past ten years and word has spread he is always happy to lend an ear when someone is battling mental health issues.
He always keeps his phone on. Since opening in 1916 to care for First World War soldiers Broughton House has looked after more than 8,000 veterans.
Today it has 30 residents, both women and men, aged 74-95. In 2021 they will move into the new Broughton House Veteran Care Village for the North West, with up to 30 independent living apartments for younger veterans, as well as a new 64-bed nursing and residential home.
Among the residents who met Antony was George Simms, 95, who proudly wore his war medals, including one marking his participation in the D-Day landings 75 years ago.
Manchester-born George, who also worked in the fire service for 25 years, said: “It was really nice to meet Antony and it’s lovely that he’s so interested in what we’ve done.”
Another resident enjoying Antony’s festive visit was Jack Pilkington, 85, a veteran of Britain’s 1958 nuclear weapons tests on Christmas Island and Broughton resident for seven years.
Joan Jones, 94, who served with the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force in the Second World War, is one of three women living at Broughton.
She said: “My father was a naval man and always talked about me going in the Navy, but I said I’d join the RAF as they’d got nice uniforms.”
Joan was a teleprinter operator sending messages between stations.
She said: “It was a huge machine and it was so noisy. That’s why I’m deaf.
Showbiz editor’s picks
Antony generously provided decorations, the gifts of jumpers and shirts were kindly donated by Marks & Spencer’s Veterans Network, which brings together and supports M&S colleagues who have served in the armed forces.
He said: “The people who live here are not lonely or isolated, because they’ve experienced the same things and they’re talking the same language.
“Sometimes the word ‘home’ has a negative connotation – it suggests you’re old and expired and no good to anybody, but Broughton House reclaims the word for what it’s meant to be.”
Antony plans to hunker down on Christmas Day with family and partner Peter Eccleston, lock the doors and watch telly.
But his door will always be open and his phone on for members of the armed forces needing his help.
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Pokhara Valley Tour
Pokhara is a glaciated valley situated 200 km (125 miles) west of Kathmandu and is nestled in the lap of mighty Annapurna and Machhapuchhre mountains. The city has several beautiful lakes and offers...
From N/A
Chitwan National Park is in the sub-tropical lowlands of south-central Nepal. Formerly a hunting reserve for the Rana rulers and their foreign guests, Chitwan National Park is the first protected...
You are already in India or Tibet or Bhutan and have only a few days to spare and want to get the feel of Nepal quickly? Then this is the trip for you. Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, is only...
Kathmandu Valley and Nagarkot
In this trip, we visit the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Kathmandu valley, that includes Hindu temples, Buddhist monasteries, and the durbar squares of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Patan. We stroll...
Kathmandu Valley and Chitwan National Park
Three nights Kathmandu and two nights Chitwan National Park! Visit the UNESCO recognized world heritage sites of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Patan that includes the Durbar Squares, Hindu temples, and...
Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara
Three nights in Kathmandu and two nights in Pokhara! If Kathmandu is the political and administrative capital of Nepal, Pokhara is the capital of nature! Nestled in the lap of Annapurna mountains,...
Kathmandu, Chitwan National Park and Pokhara
Three nights in Kathmandu, two nights in Chitwan National Park and two nights in Pokhara! We spend the first two days in Kathmandu exploring its UNESCO World Heritage sites that includes the Durbar...
Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan and Lumbini
Kathmandu three nights, Pokhara and Chitwan National Park two nights each and Lumbini one night. In this trip, we visit the most popular destinations in Nepal. The tour begins in Kathmandu - the...
Highlights of Nepal Himalaya
This trip is a non-trekking trip with options of short day hiking and some mild adventures such as jungle safari, dugout canoe trip, boating, etc. The journey begins with a cultural exploration of...
Nepal Himalaya Cultural Delights
Kathmandu 3 nights, Bandipur 1 night, Pokhara 2 nights, Chitwan National Park 2 nights and Lumbini 1 night. It's a cultural trip with some mild adventures such as jungle safari excursions, short...
Nepal Adventures
Nepal Classic Tours
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Growing Soil
Our farmer friend, Keith brought his monster tractor to help us get our beds started
The living portion of soil is made up of plant roots, and of the numerous microbes and other living organisms that improve soil structure by breaking down organic material.
The recently dead components include deceased soil organisms, green plant material and fresh manures. They decompose readily, and release nutrients quickly.
The very dead portion is humus, the final residue of organic matter breakdown that’s important for soil structure and disease suppression. For fertile soil, all three forms of organic matter should be present at all times. It's easy to get started to build, restore and grow soil!
In the simplest tradition of organic and natural methods, add a little mulch or compost, and you’re well on your way to make good soil for your homegrown vegetables. In the long run, success in your garden depends on making healthy garden soil. The more you can do to keep your soil healthy, the more productive your garden will be and the higher the quality of your crops…. or so they say, and we are about to find out on our one-acre farm… with the development of our very own crop farm! Some people start with a layer of newspaper or cardboard over a mowed area as a weed barrier.
Good soil care methods imitate natural soil communities. Here we include protecting soil structure, feeding the soil with nutrients from natural and local sources, and increasing the diversity and numbers of the microbes and other organisms that live in the soil.
How so we achieve these goals? Although there are many ways to do this, they all revolve around two basic concepts:
For more fertile soil, you need to increase organic matter and mineral availability
Whenever possible, you should avoid tilling the soil and leave its structure undisturbed
Add Organic Matter for the best soil, sources of organic matter should be as diverse as possible.
Some people use layers with manure to build topsoil
1. Add manures for nitrogen. All livestock manures can be valuable additions to soil — their nutrients are readily available to soil organisms and plants. In fact, manures make a greater contribution to soil aggregation than composts, which have already mostly decomposed.
You should apply manure with care. Although pathogens are less likely to be found in manures from homesteads and small farms than those from large confinement livestock operations, you should allow three months between application and harvest of root crops or leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach to guard against contamination. (Tall crops such as corn and trellised tomatoes shouldn’t be prone to contamination.)
The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) wants to see more farmers recycle manure instead of buy commercial fertilizer products, and the agency has launched a manure resource page to encourage using the natural plant food. Local farmers have welcomed the new resource the MDA refers to as “Manure Happens.”
2. Try compost. Compost is a means of recycling almost any organic wastes. It reduces the bulk of organic materials, stabilizes their more volatile and soluble nutrients, and speeds up the formation of soil humus. Regular applications of modest amounts of compost — one-quarter inch per season — will provide slow-release nutrients, which will dramatically improve your soil’s water retention and help suppress disease. We recommend using only vegetable matter if you decide to try building a compost heap yourself.
3. "Mine” soil nutrients with deep rooted plants. When you first start gardening, it may be necessary to use rock dust, bio-char (ashes from a wood stove) and other slow-release sources of minerals, to correct mineral deficiencies in the soil. In the long run, however, you can supply minerals without purchasing inputs. The organic materials we add to our soil supply most of the minerals healthy crops need. In addition, we can plant “fertility patches” to grow a lot of our own mineral supplements.
Fertility patches include plants that function as “dynamic accumulators.” That is, their roots grow deep, and “mine” mineral reserves from the deeper layers of subsoil, where it has weathered out of the parent rock. The roots of comfrey, for instance, can grow 8 to 10 feet into the subsoil. Stinging nettle is another extremely useful dynamic accumulator. Both nettle and comfrey, in addition to high mineral content, are high in nitrogen. They make excellent additions to a compost heap or can be used as mulches.
Seeding rows in new beds of compost
Farmer Gigi's red Russian kale intensively planted with straw placed on the beds after seeding and in the aisles between rows to promote water retention and reduce runoff.
4. Plant cover crops. Growing cover crops is perhaps the most valuable strategy we can adopt to feed our soil, build up its fertility and improve its structure with each passing season. Freshly killed cover crops provide readily available nutrients for our soil microbe friends and hence for food crop plants. Additionally, the channels opened up by the decaying roots of cover crops permit oxygen and water to penetrate the soil.
Legumes (clovers, alfalfa, beans and peas) are especially valuable cover crops, because they fix nitrogen from the atmosphere into forms available to crop plants. Mixes of different cover crops are often beneficial. For example, in mixes of grasses and clovers, the grasses add a large amount of biomass and improve soil structure because of the size and complexity of their root systems, and the legumes add nitrogen to help break down the relatively carbon-rich grass roots quickly.
Here, on a large tractor farm, the new corn crop is no-till seeded into the mowed down cover crop residue; as the old crop will continue to compost and nurture the new
5. Cover the soil with mulch. An obvious way to keep the soil covered is to use organic mulches. Some people advise against using high-carbon materials such as straw or leaves, since soil microbes “rob” available nitrogen from the soil in order to break down the excess amounts of carbon. This is only true, however, if we incorporate these high-carbon sources into the soil. Farmers and gardeners have found that if they mix some coarse compost that contains large amounts of oak leaves not yet fully decomposed, that crops grew quite poorly for the entire season.
However, if high-carbon materials are laid down on top of soil as mulches, there won’t be any problem. The mulch retains soil moisture and protects against temperature extremes. Microbes, earthworms and other forms of soil life can “nibble” at the mulch, and slowly incorporate their residues into the topsoil. Actually, high-carbon mulches are preferable for weed control to materials that decompose readily, since they persist longer before being incorporated into the soil food web.
Our teen volunteers harvest Hakurei turnips.
6. Use permanent beds and paths. A key strategy for protecting soil structure is to grow in wide permanent beds and restrict foot traffic to the pathways — thus avoiding compaction in the growing areas — and to plant as closely as possible in the beds. Close planting shades the soil surface, which benefits both soil life and plants by conserving moisture and moderating temperature extremes.
You also can use paths to grow your mulches, or mulch the paths and take advantage of foot traffic to help shred or grind materials such as straw or leaves. From time to time, this finely shredded material can be transferred to the beds, where it will break down much more readily than in its coarser forms.
7. Try low-tech tillage. There are almost always better alternatives to tillage, especially power tillage, which inverts and mixes the different layers in the soil profile, disrupts the soil food web and breaks down the “crumb” structure we have worked so hard to achieve. Even in the case of cover crops, which must give way to the planting of a harvest crop, it is not necessary to turn them into the soil, as usually recommended. Instead, consider these alternatives.
You can bury the cover crop under a heavy mulch to kill it. If the soil is in loose, friable condition, it is easy to pull the cover plants up by the roots and lay them on the bed as mulch. Certain plants such as rye and vetch are difficult to kill without tillage, but cutting them immediately above the crowns after seed stalks or flowers form will kill them. Use the upper ends of the plants as a mulch to help break down the roots more rapidly.
The only time to do massive tillage in the garden is when transplanting a sapling or digging root crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes and burdock. With such crops, dig deep and thoroughly with the spading fork — the goal, however, is to make such intensive disruptions the rare exception rather than the rule. That way, the intact soil life communities in surrounding beds soon help rebuild the soil food web in the disturbed areas.
One of my Youtube mentors, Richard Perkins
Soil Power! The Dirty Way to a Green Planet
I've been wanting to share the information in this article and this is the perfect time! Reprinted from the New York Times Sunday Review December 2, 2017
By Jacques Leslie
The last great hope of avoiding catastrophic climate change may lie in a substance so commonplace that we typically ignore it or else walk all over it: the soil beneath our feet.
The earth possesses five major pools of carbon. Of those pools, the atmosphere is already overloaded with the stuff; the oceans are turning acidic as they become saturated with it; the forests are diminishing; and underground fossil fuel reserves are being emptied. That leaves soil as the most likely repository for immense quantities of carbon.
Now scientists are documenting how sequestering carbon in soil can produce a double dividend: It reduces climate change by extracting carbon from the atmosphere, and it restores the health of degraded soil and increases agricultural yields. Many scientists and farmers believe the emerging understanding of soil’s role in climate stability and agricultural productivity will prompt a paradigm shift in agriculture, triggering the abandonment of conventional practices like tillage, crop residue removal, mono-cropping, excessive grazing and blanket use of chemical fertilizer and pesticide. Even cattle, usually considered climate change culprits because they belch at least 25 gallons of methane a day, are being studied as a potential part of the climate change solution because of their role in naturally fertilizing soil and cycling nutrients.
The climate change crisis is so far advanced that even drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions won’t prevent a convulsive future by itself — the amount of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere ensures dire trouble ahead. The most plausible way out is to combine emission cuts with “negative-emission” or “drawdown” technologies, which pull greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere and into the other pools. Most of these proposed technologies are forms of geoengineering, dubious bets on huge climate manipulations with a high likelihood of disastrous unintended consequences.
On the other hand, carbon sequestration in soil and vegetation is an effective way to pull carbon from the atmosphere that in some ways is the opposite of geoengineering. Instead of overcoming nature, it reinforces it, promoting the propagation of plant life to return carbon to the soil that was there in the first place — until destructive agricultural practices prompted its release into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. That process started with the advent of agriculture about 10,000 years ago and accelerated over the last century as industrial farming and ranching rapidly expanded.
Among the advocates of so-called regenerative agriculture is the climate scientist and activist James Hansen, lead author of a paper published this past July 2017 that calls for the adoption of “steps to improve soil fertility and increase its carbon content” to ward off “deleterious climate impacts.”
Rattan Lal, the director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at Ohio State, estimates that soil has the potential to sequester carbon at a rate of between 0.9 and 2.6 gigatons per year. That’s a small part of the 10 gigatons a year of current carbon emissions, but it’s still significant. Somewhat reassuringly, some scientists believe the estimate is low.
“Putting the carbon back in soil is not only mitigating climate change, but also improving human health, productivity, food security, nutrition security, water quality, air quality — everything,” Mr. Lal told me over the phone. “It’s a win-win-win option.”
The techniques that regenerative farmers use vary with soil, climate and crop. They start from the understanding that healthy soil teems with more than a billion microorganisms per teaspoon and the behavior of those organisms facilitates hardy plant life. To fertilize their fields, regenerative farmers use nutrient-rich manure or compost, avoiding as much as possible chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which can kill huge quantities of organic matter and reduce plants’ resilience. They don’t like to till the soil, since tillage increases carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Some farmers combine livestock, cover crops and row crops sequentially on the same field, or plant perennials, shrubs and even trees along with row crops. Leaving soil bare during off-seasons is taboo, since barren soil easily erodes, depleting more carbon from the soil; regenerative farmers instead plant cover crops to capture more carbon and nitrogen from the atmosphere.
Until the advent of synthetics in the late 1800s, fertilizer consisted chiefly of carbon-rich manure or compost. But synthetic fertilizers contain no carbon, and as their use spread along with tillage practices to incorporate them, soil carbon content declined. The process accelerated after World War II, when America’s nitrogen-based munition plants were converted into nitrogen-based fertilizer factories. Most agricultural colleges still teach soil fertility chiefly as an exercise in applying inorganic chemical fertilizer, while overlooking soil’s biological role (and its carbon content). Despite soil’s connection to climate change, carbon sequestration in soil was never mentioned in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which set down broad greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for the world’s nations.
California began an initiative in 2015 to incorporate soil health into the state’s farm and ranch operations. Some of the pioneering studies showing regenerative agriculture’s benefits have been carried out at the Marin Carbon Project, on a self-proclaimed carbon-farming ranch in the pastoral reaches of Marin County 30 miles northwest of San Francisco. A four-year study there showed that a one-time application of compost caused an increase in plant productivity that has continued ever since, and that the soil’s carbon content grew year after year, at a rate equivalent to the removal from the atmosphere of 1.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide per acre annually.
Whendee Silver, an ecosystem ecologist at the University of California at Berkeley who is the project’s lead scientist, calculated along with a colleague that if as little as 5 percent of California’s grangelands was coated with one-quarter to one-half inch of compost, the resulting carbon sequestration would be the equivalent of the annual greenhouse emissions of nine million cars. The diversion of green waste from the state’s overcrowded landfills would also prevent it from generating methane, another potent greenhouse gas.
Some scientists remain skeptical of regenerative agriculture, arguing that its impact will be small or will work only with certain soils. It also faces significant obstacles, such as a scarcity of research funding and the requirements of federal crop insurance, which frequently disqualifies farmers who plant cover crops. But fears that the Trump administration would squelch government support for it so far have proved unfounded.
Consider the experience of Willie Durham, a soil health specialist at the federal Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Temple, Tex. What led Mr. Durham to regenerative agriculture was his discovery while a Texas state agronomist of the “pesticide treadmill”: “People I’d known for a long, long time would ask me, ‘If nothing is changed in our agricultural system, why are we using two to three times as much fertilizer to accomplish the same thing?’ It got to where we spent so much on inputs that we didn’t make any profit.”
Now Mr. Durham teaches regenerative agriculture to farmers in Texas and Oklahoma. The farmers he inspires are predominantly young, not yet habituated to conventional agriculture — he estimates that about 10 percent of his students use the information, and the percentage is increasing. In a region where rainfall is usually precious, some conventional soil has become so lifeless that it absorbs as little as half an inch of water per hour, Mr. Durham said, while regenerative fields can absorb more than eight inches an hour.
Mr. Durham’s farmers are learning a lesson that resonates throughout human interactions with the natural world: People reap more benefit from nature when they give up trying to vanquish it and instead see it clearly, as a demanding but indispensable ally. Because of carbon’s climate change connection, we’ve been conditioned to think of it as the enemy, when in fact it’s as vital to life as water. The way to make amends is to put it back in the soil, where it belongs.
Jacques Leslie (@jacqules) is a Los Angeles Times contributing opinion writer and the author of “Deep Water: The Epic Struggle Over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment.”
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You are here: Home > Town Council > Town Councillors 2019/23 > Cllr Paula Dunsmore
Cllr Paula Dunsmore
Find out more about Cllr Paula Dunsmore.
About Cllr Paula Dunsmore
I feel that I have been connected to Farnham since I first visited the town to meet up with school friends at the age of 12. I attended All Hallows School but when my parents moved from Aldershot to Seale I changed schools to complete my O’levels at Weydon Secondary School.
At 16 I went to Guildford Technical College in the hope of a career in the building industry. When I left college, I worked in telesales for a year and in 1986, I saw an advert in the Farnham Herald for a Draughtsman at local estate agents, Wellar Eggar. I applied and was offered a job as a Trainee Architectural Technician. I then became a Building Surveyor and am now an Associate Director for a small office in Camberley.
I moved to Wrecclesham in 2001 and my son attended Rowledge Primary School before following in my footsteps to Weydon. In 2013, I moved with my mum – our main criterion was to remain in Wrecclesham as we both agreed we enjoy being an active part of the community.
I have been instrumental in the return of Wrecclesham Village Fete and I have been Club Secretary to the Wrecclesham Sports & Social Club as well as sitting on the Wrecclesham Recreational Ground Committee. The return of the village fete has been the most rewarding achievement. Our main objective was to provide a forum for local groups and clubs to raise their profile and membership etc.
As a Town Councillor I look to support both Rowledge and Wrecclesham communities to ensure they remain great places to live. My objective is to see more sport and recreational facilities in Wrecclesham and continue with the good work of my predecessors and co-council members.
See Cllr Paula Dunsmore’s Declaration of Interests.
Representative on which outside bodies 2018/19
Wrecclesham Recreation Ground Committee
Last Updated:16th May, 2018, 9:52 AM
N: Cllr Paula Dunsmore
E: paula.dunsmore@farnham.gov.uk
No address available
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Privacy Act of 1974, System of Records
A Notice by the Postal Service on 04/29/2005
Any interested party may submit written comments about this proposed action. Sections B through E will become effective without further notice June 8, 2005, unless comments received on or before that date result in a contrary determination.
22516-22560 (45 pages)
Section A. Explanation
I. Changes Impacting All General Systems of Records
II. Changes to Specific Systems of Records
General Systems of Records
Customer Systems of Records
III. Explanation of New System of Records for Emergency Management
IV. Changes to Routine Uses
Standard Routine Uses
Elimination of Special Routine Uses in General Systems
V. Table of Deleted Systems
Section B. Privacy Act Protections
Section C. Index of Systems of Records
Part I. General Systems
Part II. Customer Systems
Section D. Authorized Disclosures and Routine Uses
D.1. Disclosures Authorized by the Privacy Act
D.2. Standard Routine Uses
Section E. Complete Text of Systems of Records
USPS 100.000
SYSTEM NAME:
SYSTEM LOCATION:
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
PURPOSE(S):
ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
RETRIEVABILITY:
SAFEGUARDS:
RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
SYSTEMS EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT:
SYSTEM LOCATIONS:
ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
Start Preamble Start Printed Page 22516
Postal Service.
Notice of new and deleted systems of records.
The United States Postal Service® (USPS®) is publishing this notice in accordance with subsection (e)(4) of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), which requires an agency to issue notice of the existence and character of its systems of records upon establishment or revision. In this notice, the USPS is revising and publishing its Privacy Act systems of records in their entirety. The revised systems of records are better organized and are written with clarity as a goal. The systems of records incorporate Privacy Act and USPS privacy policies, and reflect USPS emphasis on industry best practices to protect privacy. Routine uses have been revised to more clearly communicate circumstances under which personal information might be disclosed.
Please address your comments to the Privacy Office, United States Postal Service, 475 L' Enfant Plaza, SW., Room 10433, Washington, DC 20260-2200. Copies of all written comments will be available at this address for public inspection and photocopying between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Privacy Office, United States Postal Service, Room 10433, Washington, DC 20260-2200, Telephone: 202-268-5959.
For over two centuries, the USPS has valued privacy and built a brand that customers trust. Part of the USPS privacy framework is compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974, when the USPS maintains information about customers, employees, and other individuals in a system of records. A system of records is a file, database, or program from which personal information is retrieved by name or other personal identifier.
In this notice, the USPS is publishing and revising the complete set of its Privacy Act systems of records. The USPS systems of records is divided into two categories: general systems and customer systems. General systems cover all employee systems, as well as those related to finance, contractors, property, investigations, litigation, and administration. Customer systems relate to customers who register for and use postal products and services, or are otherwise covered by the Privacy Act.
The complete text of all USPS systems was last published on October 26, 1989 (54 FR 43652-43715). The general systems were last systematically evaluated and revised on February 23, 1999 (64 FR 8876-8892). Customer systems were overhauled and published in their entirety in the Federal Register on December 16, 2002 (67 FR 77086-77104). Individual systems have also been created and amended over time as appropriate.
As a general rule, most revisions described in this notice concern USPS general systems of records. The revisions have been made to reflect current management and storage of personal information. In undertaking this effort, the USPS used a methodology similar to that employed to reorganize customer systems of records on December 16, 2002 (67 FR 77086-77104). General systems have been reorganized and reduced in number from 73 to 28. The systems are organized around major employee and other activities, where activities are logically grouped and practices have been standardized. This provides for more consistent practices and ease of use for covered individuals and Postal ServiceTM personnel with compliance responsibilities. A new system for emergency management records has also been added.
In addition, revisions have been made to the existing 17 customer systems. These revisions involve updates that have occurred since the 2002 Federal Register notice. The revisions also reflect updates needed to present USPS systems of records, both general and customer systems, as an integrated and comprehensive package. Examples of these updates include renumbering systems and integrating routine uses. A commercial database has been added as a records source to four customer systems in order to support USPS call center operations.
A single set of standard routine uses for general and customer systems has been created. The standard routine uses show which apply to general systems and which apply to customer systems. The standard routine uses have also been integrated to show where a routine use is the same for both general and customer systems. Unnecessary or redundant routine uses have been eliminated.
The revised systems of records provide a more concise, accurate, and understandable picture to employees and to the public of the personal information collected and maintained. The improved organization of records will also assist USPS staff in the performance of records cataloging and searches. The ultimate effect is an improvement in the privacy of individuals covered by USPS systems of records.
This notice publishes the following:
Explanation (Section A)
Privacy Act protections (Section B)
Index of systems of records (Section C)
Authorized disclosures and routine uses (Section D)
Complete text of systems of records (Section E)
Described below are (I) changes impacting all general systems of records; (II) changes to specific systems of records (both general and customer systems); (III) explanation of the new system for emergency management records; (IV) changes to routine uses; and (V) table of deleted systems and the revised systems into which records have been incorporated. The revised systems of records then follow in their entirety.
All general systems of records have been revised and reorganized from 73 to 28 systems. General systems contain all non-customer records covered by the Privacy Act, including records relating to employees, finance, contractors, property, investigations, litigation, and other administrative matters. The reorganization culminating in this notice used methods similar to those employed earlier to reorganize customer records which were published in the Federal Register on December 16, 2002 (67 FR 77086-77104).
Existing general systems contained many outdated features. These systems have been corrected to reflect current practices. The titles of general systems are now more indicative of their content and scope, and will be more readily apparent to the reader. Management practices and system language has been updated and standardized. This includes all aspects of records systems, such as regarding covered individuals, records categories, records sources, safeguards, retention, routine uses, disposal, and exemptions to disclosure. Standardized terminology has been used to describe safeguards, retention, and disposal methods. Outdated facility nomenclature has been corrected under system location. Outdated system manager designations have been corrected to reflect current Start Printed Page 22517responsibility. The USPS has replaced employees' Social Security Number (SSN) as the employee identifier with a new nine-digit Employee Identification Number (EIN). The EIN has been incorporated in all relevant employee systems of records.
The following describes substantive changes that have been made to specific general and customer systems of records.
USPS 100.000 General Personnel Records, which includes the employee official personnel folder (OPF) as a records category, was corrected to comply with a union agreement promulgated since the system was last revised regarding the maintenance of bargaining unit employees' discipline and adverse action records.
USPS 100.100 Recruiting, Examining, and Placement Records was revised to clearly distinguish as separate records categories the preemployment investigative records compiled directly by USPS and investigative records compiled by the Office of Personnel Management at the request of USPS.
USPS 100.700 Medical Records was made compatible with USPS management instructions by aligning the description of records categories, including alcohol/drug testing records. The system was revised to correctly describe records collected by the Headquarters Health and Fitness Center as being USPS records.
USPS 100.800 Employee Accident Reports was corrected to comply with a union agreement promulgated since the system of records was last revised regarding disclosures.
USPS 100.950 Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Records was updated to indicate that EAP records, with the exception of two USPS facilities still operating internal EAP offices, are now under the control of the Federal Occupational Health Service and as such are not records under the control of USPS.
USPS 700.300 Inspector General Investigative Records has been amended to limit disclosures to other Federal offices of Inspectors General or to the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency. Records originating from any other USPS system, which might be duplicated in or incorporated into this system, must first be redacted of all personally identifiable information.
USPS 840.000 Customer Mailing and Delivery Instructions. This system has been amended to include name and address records related to rural route customers that are maintained on Postal Service (PS) Form 4232-A. These records had been addressed in the general system USPS 010.080, Rural Carrier Route Records. Because these records relate to customers, it is more appropriate for them to be covered by a customer system.
850.000 Auction Files. References to online auctions have been eliminated to reflect current USPS auction practices.
860.000 Financial Transactions. This system has been corrected to link the exemptions paragraph to the appropriate system. When last published on December 31, 2002 (67 FR 79858-79858), the exemption improperly referenced an obsolete system name and number.
880.000 Post Office and Retail Services. The special routine uses were amended to more clearly describe the limitations on information that may be disclosed from PS Form 1093, Application for Post Office Box or Caller Service, depending on the category of requester.
USPS 800.000 Address Change, Mail Forwarding, and Related Services; USPS 810.300 Offline Registration, Payment, and Fulfillment; USPS 820.200 Mail Management and Tracking Activity; and USPS 830.000 Customer Service and Correspondence. The record sources for these four systems have been amended to include commercially available source(s) of names, addresses, and telephone numbers for use by USPS call centers. The USPS is at the forefront of providing customer services and transactions via all channels, including by phone. As a consequence, the USPS performs Privacy Act-covered transactions in a call center environment. As an example, a customer may request by telephone that his or her mail be held at the local Post OfficeTM for a certain period of time. The USPS has built systems of records, and has also developed and implemented a methodology to provide a Privacy Act notice, for these transactions. The USPS now plans to use commercial source(s) to reflect industry standard practices in call center operations to improve speed and accuracy of customer service.
The USPS has carefully considered and incorporated privacy features regarding use of commercial source(s) for call centers as follows. The USPS has limited the type and amount of data acquired from the commercial source(s) to include only telephone numbers, names, and addresses. Strict limitations have also been placed around use of the data by USPS call center operations, as well as how data is shared with the commercial source(s).
When customers call 1-800-ASK-USPS or other USPS call center numbers for a transaction or inquiry covered by the Privacy Act, they will be informed their information is Privacy Act-protected. They will be offered the opportunity to hear the USPS privacy statement prior to the automated system or call center operator requesting their telephone number. Customers will be told that their phone number is requested to help locate their street address. They may decline to provide their number and still be able to access the desired service. When customers provide their phone number, USPS uses the commercial source(s) to return a name and address, in the proper USPS format, associated with the phone number. The automated system or operator will ask the customers to confirm that the address is correct. If confirmed, the system or operator will use the address to complete the transaction, rather than asking customers to provide it and entering it into the USPS system. This allows the transaction to be faster, avoids keying errors, and increases the rate of properly formatted addresses. If the name and/or address returned by the commercial source(s) are/is not those/that of the customer, the correct information is obtained from the customer via the current practice without use of commercial source(s).
After the transaction is complete, the USPS may retain the name and address provided by the commercial source(s). The information will be managed in accordance with the applicable system of records. The commercial source(s) will not obtain any new information about the customer from the USPS. It already possessed the phone number, and any corrections or other information supplied by the customer will not be shared with the commercial source(s).
A new system of records, USPS 500.300 Emergency Management Records, is being established in support of a USPS emergency management program. This system includes records generated as a result of USPS obligations to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, or recover from any natural disaster, man-made hazard, or other emergency event. The system includes records relating to emergency management personnel, as well as Start Printed Page 22518records relating to emergency evacuees and unaccounted for individuals in the event of a disaster, hazard, or event.
The USPS divides its routine uses into standard routine uses and special routine uses. Standard routine uses, listed in Section D, apply to multiple systems of records. Each system of records described in Section E will indicate which standard routine uses apply, along with applicable special routine use(s), if any. Described below are changes made to standard and special routine uses.
Previously, USPS maintained separate sets of standard routine uses for general and customer systems. This notice integrates the two sets into a single set of 11 standard routine uses:
Disclosure Incident to Legal Proceedings
Disclosure for Law Enforcement Purposes
Disclosure to Congressional Office
Disclosure to Agents or Contractors
Disclosure to Auditors
Disclosure to Labor Organizations
Disclosure to Government Agencies
Disclosure to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Disclosure to Merit Systems Protection Board or Office of the Special Counsel
Disclosure to Agencies and Entities for Financial Matters
Disclosure for Customer Service Purposes
Following is a description of the 11 revised standard routine uses, and the two standard routine uses that have been eliminated.
Disclosure Incident to Legal Proceedings. This routine use was formerly titled Disclosure Incident to Litigation as it applied to general systems and Disclosure Incident to Legal Proceedings as it applied to customer systems. The two routine uses have been integrated into one routine use applicable to both systems. Disclosure of records to former USPS employees or contractors has been added to conform to a litigation routine use recommended by the Department of Justice. Disclosure to a bar association or similar authority has also been removed from certain systems as a special routine use and added as part of this standard routine use, since the disclosure is related to litigation and may be applicable to all systems.
Disclosure for Law Enforcement Purposes. This routine use has been revised to place all standard law enforcement disclosures together for ease of reference. The routine use differentiates the conditions of such disclosures applicable to general and customer systems.
Disclosure to Congressional Office. This routine use had been two separate routine uses for customers and general systems which were almost identical. This has been made an integrated routine use applicable to both systems, with minor editorial changes to existing language.
Disclosure to Agents or Contractors. This routine use integrates disclosures applicable to customer and general systems. The word ‘partners’ which had been included in the title of the customer routine use has been eliminated because it is considered redundant. The new form of this routine use has been supplemented to include the potential for disclosing records to an agent or contractor relating to investigations or performance of their employee(s).
Disclosure to Auditors. This routine use existed in slightly different forms for customer and general systems. These routine uses have been integrated into one, preserving the customer system version to account for disclosures related to audits by government agencies and other entities, instead of solely by certified public accountants.
Disclosure to Labor Organizations. This routine use is revised to cover legally required disclosures made pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement enforced through the Postal Reorganization Act and not solely through the National Labor Relations Act.
Disclosure to Government Agencies. This routine use was formerly two standard routine uses for general systems, which were named Disclosure Incident to Requesting Information and Disclosure to Requesting Agency. In its notice of December 16, 2002 (67 FR 77086-77104), the USPS merged these two routine uses as they related to customer systems into one routine use to account for disclosures to and from other agencies. The combined form now applies to all systems.
Disclosure to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This routine use has been preserved as is.
Disclosure to the Merit Systems Protection Board or Office of the Special Counsel. This routine use has been preserved as is.
Disclosure to Agencies and Entities for Financial Matters. This routine use is slightly re-titled and expanded to cover disclosures to the Judicial Officer in response to Debt Collection Act petitions by employees.
Disclosure for Customer Service Purposes. This routine use is preserved with minor edits to improve clarity.
Storage. This routine use existed previously as a routine use applicable to general systems. It is deleted because OMB guidance provides that the regular transfer of records to a Federal records center for safekeeping or storage is not deemed a disclosure outside the agency.
Disclosure to Office of Management and Budget. This routine use is deleted because USPS does not experience a demand for this disclosure within the context of private relief legislation.
Unnecessary or redundant special routine uses were eliminated in general systems. This reduces the number and type of disclosures. It also makes the description of potential disclosures more understandable for individuals whose information is protected by the Privacy Act, as well as Postal Service personnel responsible for disclosing records in compliance with the Act. The prior 73 general systems contained a total of 225 special routine uses. The 28 general systems now contain a total of only 36 special routine uses. Special routine uses were eliminated for several reasons, including improvements made in this notice to the standard routine uses; the special use described a disclosure already permissible by statute or implementing agency rules; or the special use had been made obsolete by changes in law or agency practice. As a general principle, USPS eliminated special routine uses from a system where the records in question could have derived from other USPS systems (a practice known as data recompilation). These disclosures belong more properly as a standard routine use, since applicable to more than one system. Furthermore, this approach ensures that an individual is advised of the disclosure in the Privacy Act notice when data is collected, which data recompilation could circumvent. Special routine uses have only been retained to describe a unique kind of disclosure that applies to that particular system.
Records from deleted systems of records are incorporated in systems as follows:
020.010 Biographical Summaries of Management Personnel for Press Release; 100.050 Localized Employee Administration Records; 120.036 Discipline, Grievance, and Appeals Records for Nonbargaining Unit Employees; 120.040 Employee Job Bidding Records; 120.070 General Personnel Folders (Official Personnel Folders and Records Related Thereto); Start Printed Page 22519and 120.190 Supervisors' Personnel Record are incorporated into 100.000 General Personnel Records.
120.110 Preemployment Investigation Records; 120.130 Postmaster Selection Program Records; and 120.151 Recruiting, Examining, and Appointment Records are incorporated into 100.100 Recruiting, Examining, and Placement Records.
120.100 Performance Awards System Records; 120.153 Individual Performance Evaluation/Measurement; 120.154 Employee Survey Process System Records; and 120.170 Safe Driver Awards Records are incorporated into 100.200 Employee Performance Records.
120.152 Career Development and Training Records and 120.180 Skills Bank are incorporated into 100.300 Employee Development and Training Records.
050.020 Payroll System; 050.040 Uniform Allowance Program; 120.050 Employee Ideas Program Records; 120.099 Injury Compensation Payment Validation Records; 120.240 Garnishment Case Files; and 200.020 Monetary Claims for Personal Property Loss or Damage Involving Present or Former Employees are incorporated into 100.400 Personnel Compensation and Payroll Records.
170.010 Operations Data Collection System-Workload/Productivity Management Records and 170.020 Resource Management/Productivity Records-Resource Management Database are incorporated into 100.500 Personnel Resource Management Records.
120.120 Personnel Research and Test Validation Records and 120.121 Applicant Race, Sex, National Origin, and Disability Status are incorporated into 100.600 Personnel Research Records.
120.020 Blood Donor Records System; 120.090 Medical Records; and 120.091 Vehicle Operators Controlled Substance and Alcohol Testing are incorporated into 100.700 Medical Records.
120.035 Employee Accident Records is amended and renumbered as 100.800 Employee Accident Records.
120.098 Office of Workers' Compensation Program (OWCP) Record Copies is amended and renumbered as 100.850 Office of Workers' Compensation Program (OWCP) Record Copies.
070.040 Employee Inquiry, Complaint, and Investigative Records is amended and renumbered as 100.900 Employee Inquiry, Complaint, and Investigative Records.
120.140 Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Records is amended and renumbered as 100.950 Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Records.
030.010 EEO Discrimination Complaint Files; 030.020 EEO Staff Selection Records; 030.040 Roster of Alternative Dispute Resolution Providers; and 120.220 Personnel Records-Arbitration Case Files are incorporated into 200.000 Labor Relations Records.
050.005 Accounts Receivable Files and 050.060 Accounts Payable Files are incorporated into 300.000 Finance Records.
200.010 Relocation Assistance Claims; 210.010 Architect-Engineers Selection Records; 210.020 Driver Screening System Assignment Records; 210.030 Contractor Employee Fingerprint Records; and 210.040 Supplier and Contractor Records are incorporated into 400.000 Supplier and Tenant Records.
100.010 Carpool Coordination/Parking Services Records; 110.010 Accountable Property Records; and 150.030 Computer Access Records are incorporated into 500.000 Property Management Records.
010.030 Carrier Drive-Out Agreements; 010.040 City Carrier Route Records; 010.080 Rural Carrier Route Records; and 120.210 Vehicle Maintenance Personnel and Operator Records are incorporated into 500.100 Carrier and Vehicle Operator Records.
070.010 Correspondence Files of the Postmaster General; 070.020 Government Officials' Inquiry System; 150.010 Information Disclosure Accounting Records (Freedom of Information Act); and 150.020 Information Disclosure Accounting Records (Privacy Act) are incorporated into 500.200 Controlled Correspondence, FOIA, and Privacy Act Disclosure Records.
500.300 Emergency Management Records is established as a new system of records.
060.010 Consumer Protection Records-Fraud, False Representation, Lottery, and Nonmailability Case Record; 060.020 Consumer Protection Records-Pandering Act Prohibitory Orders; 060.030 Consumer Protection Records-Appeals Involving Mail Withheld from Delivery; and 060.040 Consumer Protection Records-Appeals from Termination of Post Office Box or Caller Service are incorporated into 600.000 Legal Records Related to Mail.
110.020 Possible Infringement of Postal Service Intellectual Property Rights; 190.010 Litigation Records-Miscellaneous Civil Action and Administrative Proceeding Case Files; 190.020 Litigation Records-National Labor Relations Board Administrative Litigation Case Files; 190.030 Litigation Records-Employee and Labor Relations Court Litigation Case Files; and 200.030 Nonmail Monetary Claims-Tort Claims Records are incorporated into 600.100 General Legal Records.
150.015 Freedom of Information Act Appeals and Litigation Records and 150.025 Privacy Act Appeals and Litigation Records are incorporated into 600.200 Privacy Act and FOIA Appeal and Litigation Records.
120.060 Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports and 120.061 Public Financial Disclosure Reports for Executive Branch Personnel are incorporated into 600.300 Public and Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports.
030.030 Equal Employment Opportunity-EEO Administrative Litigation Case File and 120.230 Personnel Records-Adverse Action Appeals (Administrative Litigation Case Files) are incorporated into 600.400 Administrative Litigation Records. 080.010 Inspection Requirements-Investigative File System is amended and renumbered as 700.000 Inspection Service Investigative File System.
080.020 Mail Cover Program Records is amended and renumbered as 700.100 Mail Cover Program Records.
080.030 Vehicular Violations Records System is amended and renumbered as 700.200 Vehicular Violations Records System.
300.010 Office of Inspector General-Investigative File System is amended and renumbered as 700.300 Inspector General Investigative Records.
The following systems are renumbered and amended with respect to their routine uses and to correct minor errors.
500.000 Address Change, Mail Forwarding, and Related Services is amended and renumbered as 800.000 Address Change, Mail Forwarding, and Related Services.
500.100 Address Matching for Mail Processing is amended and renumbered as 800.100 Address Matching for Mail Processing.
510.100 www.usps.com Registration is amended and renumbered as 810.100 www.usps.com Registration.
510.200 www.usps.com Ordering, Payment, and Fulfillment is amended and renumbered as 810.200 www.usps.com Ordering, Payment, and Fulfillment.
510.300 Offline Registration, Payment, and Fulfillment is amended and renumbered as 810.300 Offline Registration, Payment, and Fulfillment.
520.100 Mailer Services-Applications and Approvals is amended Start Printed Page 22520and renumbered as 820.100 Mailer Services-Applications and Approvals.
520.200 Mail Management and Tracking Activity is amended and renumbered as 820.200 Mail Management and Tracking Activity.
530.000 Customer Service and Correspondence is amended and renumbered as 830.000 Customer Service and Correspondence.
540.000 Customer Mailing and Delivery Instructions is amended and renumbered as 840.000 Customer Mailing and Delivery Instructions.
550.000 Auction Files is amended and renumbered as 850.000 Auction Files.
560.000 Financial Transactions is amended and renumbered as 860.000 Financial Transactions.
570.100 Trust Funds and Transaction Records is amended and renumbered as 870.100 Trust Funds and Transaction Records.
570.200 Meter Postage and PC Postage Customer Data and Transaction Records is amended and renumbered as 870.200 Meter Postage and PC Postage Customer Data and Transaction Records.
580.000 Post Office and Retail Services is amended and renumbered as 880.000 Post Office and Retail Services.
590.000 Sales, Marketing, Events, and Publications is amended and renumbered as 890.000 Sales, Marketing, Events, and Publications.
600.000 International Services is amended and renumbered as 900.000 International Services.
610.000 Identity and Document Verification Services is amended and renumbered as 910.000 Identity and Document Verification Services.
The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, applies to Federal agencies, including the Postal Service. The Privacy Act provides protections for personal information that an agency maintains in a system of records. A system of records describes a file, database, or program from which information is retrieved about an individual by name or other personal identifier.
The Privacy Act establishes recordkeeping, access, and nondisclosure requirements for information maintained in a system of records. The Privacy Act requires agencies to publish a description of each system of records to provide full information on how personal information within the system of records is treated. This description includes how information is collected, used, disclosed, stored, and disposed of. It also includes how individuals can obtain access to, correct, and amend information about them that is included in the system of records.
The Privacy Act places limitations and requirements on how information from within a system of records can be disclosed, as described in Section D.
100.000 General Personnel Records
100.100 Recruiting, Examining, and Placement Records
100.200 Employee Performance Records
100.300 Employee Development and Training Records
100.400 Personnel Compensation and Payroll Records
100.500 Personnel Resource Management Records
100.600 Personnel Research Records
100.700 Medical Records
100.800 Employee Accident Records
100.850 Office of Workers' Compensation Program (OWCP) Record Copies
100.900 Employee Inquiry, Complaint, and Investigative Records
100.950 Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Records
200.000 Labor Relations Records
300.000 Finance Records
400.000 Supplier and Tenant Records
500.000 Property Management Records
500.100 Carrier and Vehicle Operator Records
500.200 Controlled Correspondence, FOIA, and Privacy Act Disclosure Records
500.300 Emergency Management Records
600.000 Legal Records Related to Mail
600.100 General Legal Records
600.200 Privacy Act and FOIA Appeal and Litigation Records
600.300 Public and Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports
600.400 Administrative Litigation Records
700.000 Inspection Service Investigative File System
700.100 Mail Cover Program Records
700.200 Vehicular Violations Records Systems
700.300 Inspector General Investigative Records
800.000 Address Change, Mail Forwarding, and Related Services
800.100 Address Matching for Mail Processing
810.100 www.usps.com Registration
810.200 www.usps.com Ordering, Payment, and Fulfillment
810.300 Offline Registration, Payment, and Fulfillment
820.100 Mailer Services—Applications and Approvals
820.200 Mail Management and Tracking Activity
830.000 Customer Service and Correspondence
840.000 Customer Mailing and Delivery Instructions
850.000 Auction Files
860.000 Financial Transactions
870.100 Trust Funds and Transaction Records
870.200 Meter Postage and PC Postage Customer Data and Transaction Records
880.000 Post Office and Retail Services
890.000 Sales, Marketing, Events, and Publications
900.000 International Services
910.000 Identity and Document Verification Services
Under the Privacy Act, information can only be disclosed from a system of records, internally or externally, under one of two conditions:
The individual has authorized the disclosure in writing.
The disclosure fits within one of twelve specified categories.
The following is a description of disclosures, including those authorized by the Privacy Act and USPS regulations and routine uses.
The Privacy Act authorizes disclosures in the following twelve circumstances:
1. To agency employees who need the information to perform their job.
2. As required by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
3. For routine uses for which the agency has provided proper notice.
4. To the Bureau of the Census for purposes related to census and survey activities.
5. To a recipient who provides advance written assurance that the information will only be used for statistical research or reporting, and the information provided does not identify individuals.
6. To the National Archives and Records Administration for historic preservation purposes.
7. To other domestic government agencies for a civil or criminal law enforcement activity if the activity is authorized by law. In such cases, the agency head must specify in writing both the law enforcement activity and the particular information needed.
8. To a person upon a showing of compelling circumstances affecting an Start Printed Page 22521individual's health or safety. The agency must send notice of the disclosure to the individual's last known address.
9. To Congress, or to the extent the matter is within their jurisdiction, to any of its committees or subcommittees.
10. To the Comptroller General in the performance of duties of the Government Accountability Office.
11. Pursuant to the order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
12. To a consumer reporting agency in order to collect claims owed to the Government.
The Privacy Act allows agencies to disclose information from a system of records if they establish a routine use describing the disclosure (see #3 above). Under the Privacy Act, routine uses are defined as disclosures that are compatible with the purpose for which the information was collected—in other words, disclosures that are appropriate and necessary for the efficient conduct of government business. Routine uses for each system of records are established by publishing them in a Federal Register notice that describes the system. They must also be disclosed in a notice given to an individual when information is collected directly from the individual. The Privacy Act also allows disclosures required by the Freedom of Information Act (see #2 above). USPS regulations implementing the Privacy Act and FOIA are contained in 39 CFR Parts 261-268.
The following standard routine uses apply to USPS systems of records. In general, standard routine uses 1 through 9 apply to general systems—systems relating to employees, finance, investigations, litigation, and other systems not primarily related to USPS customers. General systems are listed in Section C, Part I. In general, standard routine uses 1 through 7, 10, and 11 apply to customer systems of records. These systems, which contain information related to USPS customers, are listed in Section C, Part II. The specific standard routine uses applicable to each system of records, as well as any special routine uses, are described in each system of records in Section E.
1. Disclosure Incident to Legal Proceedings. When the Postal Service is a party to or has an interest in litigation or other legal proceedings before a Federal, state, local, or foreign adjudicative or administrative body or before an arbitrator, arguably relevant records may be disclosed before that body, and/or to the Department of Justice or other legal counsel representing the Postal Service or its employees, and to actual or potential parties or their representatives in connection with settlement discussions or discovery. Arguably relevant records may also be disclosed to former Postal Service employees or suppliers when reasonably necessary to elicit information related to actual or potential litigation. Arguably relevant records may be disclosed to a bar association or similar Federal, state, or local licensing or regulatory authority that relate to possible disciplinary action.
2. Disclosure for Law Enforcement Purposes. For information derived from general systems, when the Postal Service becomes aware of a violation or potential violation of law, whether civil, criminal, or regulatory in nature, or in response to the appropriate agency's request on a reasonable belief that a violation has occurred, records may be referred to the appropriate agency, whether Federal, state, local, or foreign, charged with enforcing or implementing the statute, rule, regulation, or relevant order. For records derived from customer systems, records may be disclosed to appropriate law enforcement agencies to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding suspected illegal activities against the Postal Service; and such customer records may only otherwise be disclosed to law enforcement agencies as required by law.
3. Disclosure to Congressional Office. Records about an individual may be disclosed to a congressional office in response to an inquiry from the congressional office made at the prompting of that individual.
4. Disclosure to Agents or Contractors. Records may be disclosed to entities or individuals under contract or agreement with the Postal Service when necessary to fulfill a Postal Service function, to provide Postal Service products or services to customers, or to provide the contractor with investigative or performance records about the contractor's employees.
5. Disclosure to Auditors. Records may be disclosed to government agencies and other entities authorized to perform audits, including financial and other audits, of the Postal Service and Postal Service activities.
6. Disclosure to Labor Organizations. As required by applicable law, records may be furnished to a labor organization when needed by that organization to perform its duties as the collective bargaining representative of Postal Service employees in an appropriate bargaining unit.
7. Disclosure to Government Agencies. Records may be disclosed to a Federal, state, local, or foreign government agency when necessary in connection with decisions by the requesting agency or by the Postal Service regarding personnel matters, issuance of security clearances, letting of contracts, or decisions to issue licenses, grants, or other benefits. With respect to employee records, such matters include provision of parent locator services; enforcement of child support, tax, and debt obligations; and claims, investigations, and inspections related to occupational safety, injuries, illnesses, and accidents.
8. Disclosure to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Records may be disclosed to an authorized investigator, administrative judge, or complaints examiner appointed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission when requested in connection with the investigation of a formal complaint of discrimination filed against the Postal Service under 29 CFR Part 1614.
9. Disclosure to Merit Systems Protection Board or Office of the Special Counsel. Records may be disclosed to the Merit Systems Protection Board or Office of the Special Counsel for the purpose of litigation, including administrative proceedings, appeals, special studies, investigations of alleged or possible prohibited personnel practices, and such other functions as may be authorized by law.
10. Disclosure to Agencies and Entities for Financial Matters. Records may be disclosed to credit bureaus, government agencies, and service providers that perform identity verification and credit risk assessment services; to financial institutions or payees to facilitate or resolve issues with payment services; or to government or collection agencies for the purposes of debt collection or responding to challenges to such collection.
11. Disclosure for Customer Service Purposes. Records may be disclosed to entities if the disclosure is part of the service to the customer. This includes disclosures to addressees of mail to process inquiries and claims; entities to which the customer wants to provide identity verification; the State Department for passport processing; international posts or agents to facilitate or process international services, claims, or inquiries; and mailers of sexually-oriented advertisements to provide a list of customers who do not want to receive them. Start Printed Page 22522
General Personnel Records.
All USPS facilities and personnel offices; National Personnel Records Center; Human Resources Information Systems, Headquarters; Computer Operations Service Centers; National Test Administration Center; and contractor sites.
Current and former USPS employees, their family members, and former spouses who apply and qualify for federal employee benefits under public law.
1. Employee and family member information: Name(s), Social Security Number(s), Employee Identification Number, date(s) of birth, place(s) of birth, marital status, postal assignment information, work contact information, home address(es) and phone number(s), finance number(s), duty location, and pay location.
2. Official Personnel Folder (OPF): Records related to pre-employment, prior employment, postal employment, supervisor's letters, notifications of personnel action, benefits, compensation, and monetary awards and other forms of recognition.
3. Automated employee information: Information corresponding to records in OPFs, such as notifications of personnel actions; OPF location; anniversary dates; and tax, retirement, and salary information.
4. Reference copies of all discipline or adverse actions: Letters of warning; notices of removal, suspension, reduction in grade or pay; and letters of decisions; and documents relating to these actions. These are used only to refute inaccurate statements by witnesses before a judicial or administrative body. They may not be maintained in the employee's OPF but must be maintained in a separate file by Labor Relations.
5. Nonbargaining unit employee discipline, grievance, and appeals records.
6. Job bidding records: Records related to the employee's bid for a preferred assignment.
7. Biographical summaries. Records and photographs used for public relations purposes.
39 U.S.C. 401, 410, 1001, 1005, and 1206.
1. To perform routine personnel functions.
2. To have a source of readily available information on employees for local administrative purposes.
3. To administer the grievance and appeal procedure for nonbargaining unit employees.
4. To match a vacant position to the most qualified candidate in bids for preferred assignment.
5. To provide public relations information on USPS management personnel.
Standard routine uses 1 through 9 apply. In addition:
a. Job bidding records may be disclosed on official bulletin boards in Postal Service facilities and to supervisory and other managerial organizations recognized by USPS.
b. Records pertaining to financial institutions and to nonfederal insurance carriers and benefits providers elected by an employee may be disclosed for the purposes of salary payment or allotments, eligibility determination, claims, and payment of benefits.
Automated database, computer storage media, and paper. Duplicates of records in the OPF and automated employee data may be maintained for localized employee administration or supervision. Records may be filed at offices other than where the OPF is, or may be duplicated at a site closer to where the employee works.
By name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, or duty or pay location.
Paper records, computers, and computer storage media are located in controlled-access areas under supervision of program personnel. Access to these areas is limited to authorized personnel, who must be identified with a badge. Nonbargaining unit employee discipline, grievance, and appeals records maintained outside the OPF are kept in locked filing cabinets or secured record storage rooms; and related automated records are protected with password security. Computers are protected by mechanical locks, card key systems, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and transaction logging, and file management software.
1. OPF records maintained on the right side of the folder are permanently retained. Temporary OPF records maintained on the left side of the folder are retained 2 years, upon separation, or upon transfer of the employee (if the temporary record is not relevant to the gaining USPS facility), whichever is sooner.
2. Original or copies of discipline or adverse actions are maintained on the left side of the OPF up to 2 years, or, if an additional or more recent disciplinary action has been taken, for a longer period. After 2 years, or lesser time specified in the decision, the employee may request the disciplinary record be purged from the OPF provided no subsequent discipline was issued. Records that support a PS Form 50, Notification of Personnel Action, e.g. the separation of an employee for cause or the resignation of an employee pending charges, are considered permanent records and may not be purged at the request of an employee.
3. Reference copies of discipline or adverse actions. These records are kept for historical purposes and are not to be used for decisions about the employee. The retention of these records may not exceed ten years beyond the employee's separation date. The records are maintained longer if the employee is rehired during the 10-year period. They may not be maintained in the employee's OPF but must be maintained in a separate file by Labor Relations.
4. Grievance and appeal records of nonbargaining unit employees are retained 7 years.
5. Job bidding records are retained 2 years.
6. Biographical summaries are retained for the duration of employment.
Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Vice President, Employee Resource Management, United States Postal Start Printed Page 22523Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Vice President, Labor Relations, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Employees wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system must address inquiries to the facility head where currently or last employed. Headquarters employees must submit inquiries to Corporate Personnel Management, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Room 1831, Washington, DC 20260. Inquiries must include full name, Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number, name and address of facility where last employed, and the dates of USPS employment.
Former Post Office Department employees (prior to July 1971) having no USPS employment must submit the inquiry to: Assistant Director for Workforce Information, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20415-6000.
Requests for access must be made in accordance with the Notification Procedure above and USPS Privacy Act regulations regarding access to records and verification of identity under 39 CFR 266.6.
See Notification and Record Access Procedures above.
Employees; employees' supervisors; USPS customers; law enforcement agencies; individuals who are personal references; former employers; and other systems of records.
Records in this system that have been compiled in reasonable anticipation of a civil action or proceeding are exempt from individual access as permitted by 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(5). The USPS has also claimed exemption from certain provisions of the Act for several of its other systems of records at 39 CFR 266.9. To the extent that copies of exempted records from those other systems are incorporated into this system, the exemptions applicable to the original primary system continue to apply to the incorporated records.
Recruiting, Examining, and Placement Records.
Preemployment investigation records are located at USPS personnel offices and contractor locations, except for drug screening and medical examination records, which are maintained in USPS medical facilities and designee offices.
Recruiting, examining, and placement records are located at USPS personnel offices, National Test Administration Center, Computer Operations Service Centers, and contractor locations.
Current and former USPS employees and applicants for employment.
1. Applicant and employee information: Name(s), Social Security Number(s), Employee Identification Number, date(s) of birth, place(s) of birth, postal assignment information, work contact information, home address(es) and phone number(s), finance number(s), duty location, and pay location.
2. Pre-employment investigation information: Records compiled by USPS from character references; former employers; police, military, and driving records; drug screening and medical examinations; and postal inspectors' investigative reports.
3. National Agency Check and Inquiry (NACI): Investigative records requested by USPS and compiled by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
4. Recruiting, examining, and placement information: Records related to applications, test scores, and registers.
1. To determine suitability for employment.
2. To provide managers, personnel officials, and medical officers with information for recruiting and recommending appointment of qualified individuals.
Standard routine uses 1 through 9 apply.
Automated database, computer storage media, and paper.
By applicant or employee name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, duty or pay location, or location where application was made.
Paper records, computers, and computer storage media are located in controlled-access areas under supervision of program personnel. Access to these areas is limited to authorized personnel, who must be identified with a badge. Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access. Contractors and licensees are subject to contract controls and unannounced on-site audits and inspections. Computers are protected by mechanical locks, card key systems, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and transaction logging, and file management software.
1. Preemployment investigation records are retained 10 years from the date the individual is initially found suitable for employment, or 10 years from the date action was taken to deny or terminate employment.
2. Employment applications are disposed of on expiration of eligibility, unless extended for an additional year at the request of the eligible individual. Employment registers are retained 10 years. Certain forms related to a successful applicant are filed in the Official Personnel Folder as permanent records; and remaining records are retained 6 months. Applications for master instructor positions are retained 3 years after date of selection. Postmaster selection records are retained 2 years.
3. Paper examining answer sheets are retained 6 months; and computer media copies are retained 30 years. Scanned Maintenance Selection System forms are retained 20 years; and related hiring worksheets are retained 5 years.
Vice President, Employee Resource Management, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260. Start Printed Page 22524
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system must address inquiries to the facility head where currently or last employed, or where job application was made. Headquarters employees must submit inquiries to Corporate Personnel Management, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Room 1831, Washington, DC 20260. Inquiries must include full name, Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number, name and address of facility where last employed, and dates of USPS employment or date of application.
For investigative records compiled by OPM, individuals must apply as instructed by OPM.
Applicants; OPM; police, driving, and military records; former employers and named references; medical service providers; school officials; other federal agencies; and state divisions of vocational rehabilitation counselors.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(j) and (k), USPS has established regulations at 39 CFR 266.9 that exempt records in this system depending on their purpose.
Employee Performance Records.
USPS facilities where employee performance is evaluated or measured.
Current and former USPS employees, including supervisors and managers who are rated under an employee survey process or are responsible for a rated work location.
1. Employee information: Name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, postal assignment information, work contact information, finance number(s), duty location, and pay location.
2. Employee performance information: Records related to individual performance evaluation and measurement; reports about supervisors and managers who are rated under an employee survey process or are responsible for a rated work location; employee recognition; and safe driver awards.
1. To provide managers and supervisors with decision-making information for training needs, promotion, assignment considerations, or other job-related actions.
2. To administer achievement award programs and pay for performance.
3. To improve relations and communication between managers and employees by soliciting employee feedback, and to improve management and supervisor leadership skills.
a. When records about the receipt of an award by an employee, including driver safety records, are of news interest and consistent with the public's right to know, the records may be disclosed to the news media or the National Safety Council.
By employee name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, or duty or pay location.
1. Merit performance evaluation records are retained 5 years. Individual performance evaluation and measurement records are retained 10 years or upon separation of the employee, whichever comes first.
2. Incentive award records are retained 4 years. Length of service award records are retained 1 year. Non-USPS awards are retained 2 years. Letters of commendation and appreciation (excluding permanent copies filed on the right side of the OPF) are retained 2 years.
3. Employee survey process records are retained 20 years.
4. Safe Driver Award records are retained 4 years from date of separation, expiration of license, rescission of authorization, transfer of driver into a nondriving status, or other transfer, whichever comes first.
Vice President, Employee Resource Management, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system must address inquiries to the facility head where currently or last employed. Headquarters employees must submit inquiries to Corporate Personnel Management, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Room 1831, Washington, DC 20260. Inquiries must include full name, Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number, name and address of facility where last employed, and dates of USPS employment.
See Notification and Record Access Procedures above. Start Printed Page 22525
Employees and employees' supervisor or manager.
Employee Development and Training Records.
Management training centers and other USPS facilities where career development and training, skills bank, and curriculum evaluation activities are performed.
Current and former USPS employees.
1. Employee information: Name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, sex, postal assignment information, work contact information, finance number(s), duty location, and pay location.
2. Employee development and training information: Records related to career development, skills bank participation, USPS and non-USPS training, examinations, evaluations of training, and USPS lodging when a discrepancy report is filed against the student about unauthorized activities while occupying the room.
1. To provide managers, supervisors, and training and development professionals with decisionmaking information for employee career development, training, and assignment.
2. To make and track employee job assignments, to place employees in new positions, and to assist in career planning and training in general.
3. To provide statistics for personnel and workload management.
By employee name, Social Security Number, or Employee Identification Number.
1. Training records are retained 5 years. Training-related travel records are retained 1 year.
2. Records of nomination for executive leadership are retained 1 year.
3. Examination records are retained 1 year after employee separation.
4. Skills bank records are retained up to 2 years.
Employees wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the facility head where currently, or last, employed. Headquarters employees must submit inquiries to Corporate Personnel Management, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Room 1831, Washington, DC 20260. Inquiries must include full name, Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number, name and address of facility where last employed, and dates of USPS employment.
Employees; employees' supervisor or manager; and other systems of records.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(j) and (k), USPS has established regulations at 39 CFR 266.9 that exempt records in this system depending on their purpose. The USPS has also claimed exemption from certain provisions of the Act for several of its other systems of records at 39 CFR 266.9. To the extent that copies of exempted records from those other systems are incorporated into this system, the exemptions applicable to the original primary system continue to apply to the incorporated records.
Personnel Compensation and Payroll Records.
USPS personnel offices, Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers (IBSSC), Computer Operations Services Centers, Accounting Services Centers, area and district facilities, Headquarters, contractor sites, and all organizational units.
1. Current and former USPS employees and postmaster relief/replacement employees.
2. Current and former employees' family members, beneficiaries, and former spouses who apply and qualify for benefits.
3. An agent or survivor of an employee who makes a claim for loss or damage to personal property.
1. Employee and family member information: Name(s), Social Security Number(s), Employee Identification Number, date(s) of birth, postal assignment information, work contact information, home address(es) and phone number(s), finance number(s), duty location, and pay location.
2. Compensation and payroll information: Records related to payroll, payments, deductions, compensation, and benefits; uniform items purchased; proposals and decisions under monetary awards and suggestion programs; injury compensation; monetary claims for personal property loss or damage; and garnishment of wages. Start Printed Page 22526
39 U.S.C. 401, 409, 410, 1001, 1003, 1004, 1005, and 1206; and 29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.
1. To support all necessary compensation and payroll activities and related management functions.
2. To generate lists of employee information for home mailings, dues membership, and other personnel support functions.
3. To generate retirement eligibility information and analysis of employees in various salary ranges.
4. To administer the purchase of uniforms.
5. To administer monetary awards programs.
6. To detect improper payment related to injury compensation claims.
7. To adjudicate employee claims for loss or damage to their personal property in connection with or incident to their postal duties.
8. To process garnishment of employee wages.
a. Records pertaining to financial institutions and to nonfederal insurance carriers and benefits providers elected by an employee may be disclosed for the purposes of salary payment or allotments, eligibility determination, claims, and payment of benefits.
b. Records pertaining to supervisors and postmasters may be disclosed to supervisory and other managerial organizations recognized by USPS.
c. Records pertaining to recipients of monetary awards may be disclosed to the news media when the information is of news interest and consistent with the public's right to know.
d. Disclosure of records about current or former Postal Service employees may be made to requesting states under an approved computer matching program to determine employee participation in, and eligibility under, unemployment insurance programs administered by the states (and by those states to local governments), to improve program integrity, and to collect debts and overpayments owed to those governments and their components.
e. Disclosure of records about current or former Postal Service employees may be made to requesting federal agencies or nonfederal entities under approved computer matching programs to make a determination of employee participation in, and eligibility under, particular benefit programs administered by those agencies or entities or by USPS; to improve program integrity; to collect debts and overpayments owed under those programs and to provide employees with due process rights prior to initiating any salary offset; and to identify those employees who are absent parents owing child support obligations and to collect debts owed as a result.
f. Disclosure of records about current or former Postal Service employees may be made, upon request, to the Department of Defense (DoD) under approved computer matching programs to identify Postal Service employees who are ready reservists for the purposes of updating DoD's listings of ready reservists and to report reserve status information to USPS and the Congress; and to identify retired military employees who are subject to restrictions under the Dual Compensation Act and to take subsequent actions to reduce military retired pay or collect debts and overpayments.
g. Disclosure of records about current and former employees may be made to the Selective Service System under an approved computer matching program to identify individuals eligible for registration under the Military Selective Service Act, to determine whether those individuals have complied with registration requirements and to enforce compliance when necessary.
h. Disclosure of records about current or recently terminated Postal Service employees who live or work in Colorado may be made to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation under an approved computer matching program to identify currently or recently terminated employees who have been arrested for violations of law that relate to postal offenses and/or suitability for continued employment, or who are fugitives, and to assist state or local agents to apprehend fugitives.
i. Disclosure of records may be made to the Internal Revenue Service under approved computer matching programs to identify current or former Postal Service employees who owe delinquent federal taxes or returns and to collect the unpaid taxes by levy on the salary of those individuals pursuant to Internal Revenue Code; and to make a determination as to the proper reporting of income tax purposes of an employee's wages, expenses, compensation, reimbursement, and taxes withheld and to take corrective action as warranted.
j. Disclosure of the records about current or recently terminated Postal Service employees may be made to the Department of Transportation (DOT) under an approved computer matching program to identify individuals who appear in DOT's National Driver Register Problem Driver Pointer System. The matching results are used only to determine as a general matter whether commercial license suspension information within the pointer system would be beneficial in making selections of USPS motor vehicle and tractor-trailer operator personnel and will not be used for actual selection decisions.
k. Disclosure of records about current or former Postal Service employees may be made to the Department of Health and Human Services under an approved computer matching program for further release to state child support enforcement agencies when needed to locate noncustodial parents, to establish and/or enforce child support obligations, and to locate parents who may be involved in parental kidnapping or child custody cases.
l. Disclosure of records about current or former Postal Service employees may be made to the Department of the Treasury under Treasury Offset Program computer matching to establish the identity of the employee as an individual owing a delinquent debt to another federal agency and to offset the salary of the employee to repay that debt.
Paper records, computers, and computer storage media are located in controlled-access areas under supervision of program personnel. Access to these areas is limited to authorized personnel, who must be identified with a badge. Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access. Contractors and licensees are subject to contract controls and unannounced on-site audits and inspections. Computers are protected by mechanical locks, card key systems, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and transaction logging, and file management software. Start Printed Page 22527
1. Leave application and unauthorized overtime records are retained 3 years. Time and attendance records (other than payroll) and local payroll records are retained 3 years. Automated payroll records are retained 10 years.
2. Uniform allowance case files are retained 3 years; and automated records are retained 6 years.
3. Records of approved monetary awards are retained 4 years. Records of proposals not adopted are retained 2 years.
4. Injury compensation records are retained 5 years. Records resulting in affirmative identifications become part of a research case file, which if research determines applicability, become either part of an investigative case record or a remuneration case record that is retained 2 years beyond the determination.
5. Monetary claims records are retained 3 years.
6. Automated records of garnishment cases are retained 6 months. Records located at a Post Office are retained 3 years.
Vice President, Finance (Controller), United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Employees; employees' supervisor or manager; other systems of records; claimants or their survivors or agents who make monetary claims; witnesses; investigative sources; courts; and insurance companies.
Records in this system relating to injury compensation that have been compiled in reasonable anticipation of a civil action or proceeding are exempt from individual access as permitted by 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(5). The USPS has also claimed exemption from certain provisions of the Act for several of its other systems of records at 39 CFR 266.9. To the extent that copies of exempted records from those other systems are incorporated into this system, the exemptions applicable to the original primary system continue to apply to the incorporated records.
Personnel Resource Management Records.
Post Offices; area and district facilities; Human Resources and Operations, Headquarters; and Computer Operations Service Centers.
1. Employee information: Name, Social Security Number, employee identification number(s), postal assignment information, work contact information, finance number(s), duty location, and pay location.
2. Employee resource management information: Records related to workload, productivity, scheduling, availability, and absences, including family medical leave absences.
39 U.S.C. 401, 404, 1001, 1003, and 1005; and 29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.
1. To administer leave, attendance, and attendance-related awards; and to identify potential attendance problems.
2. To provide operations management with information about employee work schedules, mail volume, and productivity.
By employee name, Social Security Number, employee identification number(s), route number, duty or pay location, or pay period.
Paper records, computers, and computer storage media are located in controlled-access areas under supervision of program personnel. Access to these areas is limited to authorized personnel, who must be identified with a badge. Restricted medical information is maintained in a separate locked cabinet under control of the FMLA Coordinator. Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access. Contractors and licensees are subject to contract controls and unannounced on-site audits and inspections. Computers are protected by mechanical locks, card key systems, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and transaction logging, and file management software.
Resource management records related to leave application and time and attendance are retained 3 years. Other categories of resource management records are retained 1 year. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Senior Vice President, Operations, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Employees wanting to know if information about them is maintained in Start Printed Page 22528this system must address inquiries to the facility head where currently or last employed. Headquarters employees must submit inquiries to Corporate Personnel Management, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Room 1831, Washington, DC 20260. Inquiries must include full name, Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number, name and address of facility where last employed, and the dates of USPS employment.
Personnel Research Records.
USPS Headquarters; National Test Administration Center; Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers (IBSSC); and contractor sites.
Applicants for USPS employment, USPS employee applicants for reassignment and/or promotion, and employees whose work records or solicited responses are used in research projects.
1. Applicant and employee information: Name, Social Security Number or respondent identification code, date of birth, place of birth, postal assignment information, work contact information, home address and phone number(s), finance number(s), duty location, and pay location.
2. Personnel research information: Records related to race, sex, national origin, disability status (only if volunteered by the individual); research project identifiers; and other information pertinent to personnel research.
39 U.S.C. 401, 410, 1001, and 1005.
1. To support research and development efforts on personnel assessment instruments, workforce analysis, and evaluation of personnel management practices.
2. To assess the impact of selection decisions on applicants in race, sex, national origin, and disability categories.
a. Disclosure of records about applicants for employment with USPS may be made to the Selective Service System under an approved computer matching program to identify individuals eligible for registration under the Military Selective Service Act, to determine whether those individuals have complied with registration requirements, and to enforce compliance when necessary.
By individual name, Social Security Number or respondent identification code, research project identifiers, duty or pay location, or location where test or survey was administered.
Retention depends on the type of research project, but does not exceed 30 years. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Vice President, Employee Resource Management, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the head of the examination center that administered the test. Headquarters employees must submit inquiries to Corporate Personnel Management, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Room 1831, Washington, DC 20260. In cases of studies involving information not collected through an examination, individuals must address inquiries to the system manager. Inquiries must contain full name, Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number, and date and location of their participation.
USPS employees and applicants who provide information to personnel research programs; and other systems of records.
USPS medical facilities and designee offices; USPS personnel offices; USPS Headquarters Corporate Health and Start Printed Page 22529Fitness Center; National Personnel Records Center.
1. Current and former USPS employees.
2. Individuals who have been offered employment but failed the medical examination before being placed on the rolls, or who declined the offer.
3. Headquarters employees who participate in the Corporate Health and Fitness Program.
4. Employees who volunteer to join the USPS Blood Donor Program.
5. Current and former USPS employees who are or were required to have a commercial driver's license (CDL) or are otherwise subject to controlled substance and alcohol testing.
1. Employee or applicant information: Name, Social Security Number, date of birth, postal assignment information, work contact information, finance number(s), duty location, and pay location.
2. Employee Medical Folder: Restricted medical records, administrative medical records, and OWCP-related medical records.
3. Headquarters Corporate Health and Fitness Program: Records volunteered about lifestyle and health.
4. Voluntary blood donation information: Blood type and date of each donation.
5. Controlled substance and alcohol testing information: Records related to alcohol and controlled substance test results, refusals, medical review officer's evaluations, employee statements, and substance abuse professionals' evaluations and referrals.
1. To provide all employees with necessary health care and to determine fitness for duty.
2. To provide for a Headquarters health promotion program.
3. To provide the USPS Blood Donation Program with a record of donations.
4. To implement a controlled substance and alcohol testing program for employees in safety-sensitive positions.
5. To provide for the uniform collection and compilation of controlled substance and alcohol test results.
a. Medical records may be disclosed to an employee's private treating physician and to medical personnel retained by USPS to provide medical examinations or treatment for an employee's health or physical condition related to employment.
b. Blood donor records may be disclosed to the American Red Cross in response to an inquiry for available donors having a particular blood type.
By employee or applicant name, Social Security Number, or duty or pay location.
1. The Employee Medical Folder is retained by USPS until the employee is separated from USPS. On an annual basis, records of all employees separated during the prior year are transferred to the National Personnel Records Center and retained for 30 years.
2. Candidate medical information of failed eligible candidates (and those who were determined to be eligible but ultimately declined the offer) is retained 2 years. Computer data are archived from the active database to a history database after 3 years, and retained in the history database 30 years.
3. Corporate Health and Fitness Center records are retained 5 years beyond the membership termination date.
4. Blood donor records are retained 5 years after termination of employment.
5. Alcohol test results indicating a breath alcohol concentration of 0.02 or greater, verified positive controlled substance test results, refusals, medical review officer's evaluations, employee statements, and substance abuse professionals' evaluations and referrals are retained 5 years. Alcohol test results indicating a breath alcohol concentration of less than 0.02, and negative and canceled controlled substance test results, are retained 1 year.
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system must address inquiries to the facility head where currently or last employed, or where job application was made. Headquarters employees must submit inquiries to the National Medical Director, Health and Resources, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Room 2641, Washington, DC 20260. Inquiries must include full name, Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number, name and address of facility where last employed, and dates of USPS employment or date of application.
Employees; applicants for employment; USPS and Department of Veterans Affairs medical staff; USPS designee testing facilities; substance abuse professionals; and designated contractors.
Employee Accident Records. Start Printed Page 22530
Safety offices at USPS facilities.
USPS employees who sustain an on-the-job accident or an occupational injury or illness.
1. Employee information: Name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, sex, age, postal assignment information, work contact information, finance number(s), duty location, and pay location.
2. Accident information: Records related to accidents and injuries such as circumstances and factors of accident or injury, statements of employee and witnesses, investigative documents, and compensation claims.
1. To administer a program to collect and analyze occupational safety and health statistics.
2. To permit evaluation and correction of occupational safety and health hazards.
Records are retained 5 years following the end of the calendar year of their creation. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Employees; employees' supervisor or manager; witnesses; physicians; USPS accident reports; and other systems of records.
Office of Workers' Compensation Program (OWCP) Record Copies.
USPS personnel offices.
USPS employees who file for injury compensation.
1. Employee information: Name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, date of birth, postal assignment information, work contact information, finance number(s), duty location, and pay location.
2. Claim information: Records and supporting information related to the claim, including copies of Department of Labor forms, postal forms and correspondence, and automated payment and accounting records.
To provide injury compensation to qualifying employees, and to support USPS management decisions and requirements.
Paper records, computers, and computer storage media are located in controlled-access areas under supervision of program personnel. Access to these areas is limited to authorized personnel, who must be identified with a badge. Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access. Contractors and licensees are subject to contract controls and unannounced on-site audits and inspections. Computers are protected by mechanical locks, card key systems, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer Start Printed Page 22531systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and transaction logging, and file management software.
Records are retained 5 years beyond the end of the calendar year in which the employee's compensation is terminated. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
For records maintained by the Department of Labor, individuals must apply as instructed by the Department of Labor.
For records maintained by the Department of Labor, individuals must contest records as instructed by the Department of Labor.
Employees; employees' supervisor or manager; witnesses; physicians; other systems of records, and Department of Labor.
Employee Inquiry, Complaint, and Investigative Records.
USPS personnel offices; area and district facilities; Post Offices; and contractor sites.
USPS employees who contact USPS with an inquiry or complaint, and employees who are subjects of management inquiries or investigations of workplace issues.
2. Inquiry, complaint, and investigative information: Records related to the subject category of inquiry or complaint, assigned case number, background, and description of inquiry, complaint, or investigation.
1. To enable review and response to employee inquiries and complaints.
2. To enable management to initiate, review, process, track, and resolve inquiries, complaints, or concerns about the workplace.
3. To support administrative or court litigation and arbitration proceedings.
By employee name, subject category, or case number.
Records are retained 4 years after response to inquiry, resolution of complaint, or conclusion of investigation. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Employees, supervisors and managers, and witnesses.
Records in this system that have been compiled in reasonable anticipation of a civil action or proceeding are exempt from individual access as permitted by 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(5). The USPS has also claimed exemption from certain provisions of the Act for several of its other systems of records at 39 CFR Start Printed Page 22532266.9. To the extent that copies of exempted records from those other systems are incorporated into this system, the exemptions applicable to the original primary system continue to apply to the incorporated records.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Records.
EAP Offices at Philadelphia and Los Angeles USPS facilities. This system does not include records maintained by the Federal Occupational Health Service (FOHS) under an interagency agreement with USPS.
USPS employees and immediate family members who volunteer for or are referred to an internal EAP office at a USPS facility.
2. Assistance information: Case number and other personal information acquired during the period of participation.
39 U.S.C. 401.
To provide EAP counselors with information needed to maintain program operations and to assist EAP participants.
By name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, or participant case number.
Records are retained 3 years from the date of the participant's last activity. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Employees wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the facility head where currently, or last, employed. Inquiries must include full name, Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number, and dates of USPS employment.
For records maintained by the Federal Occupational Health Service (FOHS) under an interagency agreement with USPS, individuals must inquire as instructed by FOHS.
Participating employee, other family members, and EAP counselors.
Labor Relations Records.
Labor Relations and Law Department, USPS Headquarters; EEO Compliance and Appeals Processing Centers; area and district facilities; and contractor sites.
1. Current and former USPS employees, applicants for employment, third-party complainants, and mediators (USPS employees, other federal agency employees, or contract employees) involved in EEO discrimination complaints.
2. USPS employees involved in labor arbitration.
3. USPS employees who are candidates considered by promotion boards for an EEO staff position.
4. Individuals and organizations interested in providing alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services to all disputes, except those arising under USPS collective bargaining agreements.
1. EEO discrimination complaint case information: Individuals' names, Social Security Numbers, Employee Identification Numbers, postal assignment information, work contact information, finance number(s), duty location(s), pay location(s), case number, and other complaint, counseling, investigation, hearing, and appeal information describing the case.
2. Labor arbitration information: Records related to labor arbitration proceedings in which USPS is a party.
3. EEO staff position information: Records related to candidates for EEO staff positions, including name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, date of birth, postal assignment information, work contact information, finance number(s), duty location, and pay location.
4. ADR provider information: Records related to ADR providers including name of individual or entity, contact information, capabilities, and performance.
39 U.S.C. 401, 409, 410, 1001, 1005, and 1206.
1. To adjudicate complaints of alleged discrimination, and to evaluate USPS EEO program effectiveness.
2. To provide advice and representation to USPS in labor arbitration cases.
3. To accomplish EEO staff selection.
4. To determine ADR service provider qualifications. Start Printed Page 22533
EEO discrimination complaint case records are retrieved by case number, complainant's name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, or the location where the complaint was made. EEO staff selection records are retrieved by applicant name or pay location. Other records categories are retrieved by name of subject individual.
Paper records, computers, and computer storage media are located in secure file cabinets within locked rooms or within locked filing cabinets. Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access. Contractors and licensees are subject to contract controls and unannounced on-site audits and inspections. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and transaction logging, and file management software.
1. EEO discrimination complaint case records: Precomplaint records are retained 1 year after submission of a final report. Formal complaint records of closed cases are removed from the system of records quarterly, and retained as follows: Official files are retained 4 years. Copies of official files are retained 1 year. Background documents not in official files are retained 2 years. Records of closed cases on computer storage media are removed 3 years after the closure date and moved to an inactive file for future comparative analyses.
2. Labor arbitration records: Field-level disciplinary and contract application cases are retained 5 years from the date of final decision. National-level contract interpretation cases and court actions are retained 15 years from the date of expiration of the agreement.
3. EEO staff selection records: Staff selection records are retained 3 years from the date the position became vacant.
4. ADR provider records: Records of active providers are retained 1 year beyond the date the provider is removed from or voluntarily withdraws from the program or is otherwise notified of their decertification. Records of prospective providers who are rejected are retained 1 year beyond the year in which their survey was received.
For EEO discrimination complaint case records, labor arbitration records, EEO staff selection records, and REDRESS ADR staff providers: Vice President, Labor Relations, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
For records of non-REDRESS ADR staff providers: Senior Vice President, General Counsel, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Inquiries about EEO discrimination complaint case records must be submitted to the EEO officer at the district, area, or Headquarters level, and must include complainant name, complainant Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number, location, and case number and year. Inquiries about labor arbitration records and ADR provider records must be submitted to the system manager. Inquiries about EEO staff selection records must be addressed to the head of the facility where application was made.
For EEO discrimination complaint case information: complainants, witnesses, investigators, and respondents. For labor arbitration records: employees and other individuals involved in arbitration; counsel or other representatives for parties involved in a case; and arbitrators. For EEO staff position records: employee applicant and other systems of records. For ADR provider records, the provider.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(j) and (k), USPS has established regulations at 39 CFR 266.9 that exempt EEO discrimination complaint case records. Records in this system that have been compiled in reasonable anticipation of a civil action or proceeding are exempt from individual access as permitted by 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(5). The USPS has also claimed exemption from certain provisions of the Act for several of its other systems of records at 39 CFR 266.9. To the extent that copies of exempted records from those other systems are incorporated into this system, the exemptions applicable to the original primary system continue to apply to the incorporated records.
Finance Records.
Computer Operations Service Centers, Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers, Accounting Service Centers, area and district facilities, personnel offices, Headquarters, Post Offices, and contractor sites.
1. Debtors of USPS, including suppliers, customers, payees of money orders, and current and former employees.
2. Individuals or entities to whom USPS makes payments for materials and services received or expenses incurred in conjunction with official USPS business.
1. Accounts receivable information: Debtor's name, contact information; Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number; invoice number, other invoice or claim information, and records obtained from or disclosed to consumer reporting or credit reporting agencies.
2. Accounts payable information: Creditors' name, contact information; vendor identification number, tax identification number, Social Security Number, or Employee Identification Number; and other transaction details such as account, credit card, or financial institution numbers, dates, amounts, and batch numbers.
39 U.S.C. 401, 404, 410, 1001, 1005, 1206, and 2008. Start Printed Page 22534
1. To facilitate debt collection by USPS.
2. To support payments to creditors of USPS.
Standard routine uses 1 through 10 apply. In addition:
a. Disclosure of records about USPS customers who write insufficient funds checks for USPS services may be made to the permit holder or presenter of a mailing being made on the customer's behalf. Disclosure is limited to the identity of the customer, the date of the mailing, and the date and amount of the check.
b. Disclosure of records about individuals indebted to USPS may be made to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) under an approved computer matching program, but limited to those data elements considered relevant to determine whether the indebted individual has retirement funds available for setoff, collecting debts when funds are available for setoff, and writing off debts determined to be uncollectible.
c. Disclosure of records about individuals indebted to USPS may be made to the Defense Manpower Data Center of the Department of Defense under an approved computer matching program to identify and locate such individuals in order to initiate collection of the debts through salary and/or administrative offset procedures.
d. Disclosure of records about individuals indebted to USPS may be made to the Internal Revenue Service under an approved computer matching program to obtain the mailing address of a taxpayer in order to locate the taxpayer to collect a debt owed to USPS.
e. Disclosure of records may be made to the Department of the Treasury under Treasury Offset Program computer matching to establish the identity of a current or former Postal Service Employee as an individual owing a delinquent debt to another federal agency and to offset the salary of or payments to the employee to repay that debt.
Accounts receivable records are retrieved by debtor name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, or invoice number. Accounts payable records are retrieved by creditor name, creditor identification number, credit card number, financial institution account number, transaction date, or batch number.
Accounts receivable records are retained 3 years after the claim is paid. Accounts payable records are retained 3 years beyond the end of the fiscal year in which payment was made. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Inquiries about accounts receivable records must be submitted to the pertinent USPS facility. Inquiries about accounts payable records must be submitted to the system manager. Inquiries must include the individual's full name and tax identification number or Social Security Number.
Debtors and creditors; other systems of records; government travel card vendor; employee-designated financial institutions; and other federal agencies to which creditors have delinquent debts.
Supplier and Tenant Records.
USPS Headquarters; supply management offices; facilities service offices; and area and district facilities.
Suppliers; prospective suppliers; owners and tenants of real property purchased or leased by USPS.
1. Supplier information: Records related to suppliers, such as supplier name; Social Security Number or tax identification number; business contact information; contract number; and other contract information; fingerprint cards; and experience and qualifications to provide services including principals' names and company descriptions.
2. Real property owner and tenant information: Records related to compensation claims by occupants of property acquired by USPS, including name and address of claimant, address of vacated dwelling, and itemized expenses.
1. To administer contracts.
2. To determine supplier suitability for assignments requiring access to mail.
3. To adjudicate claims by owners and tenants of real property acquired by USPS.
Individual, business, lessor, or claimant name; contract name or Start Printed Page 22535number, Social Security Number, tax identification number, business contact information, or address of leased facility.
1. Unsuccessful proposals and architect/engineering questionnaires are retained 1 year beyond contract award. Contract records are closed at the end of the fiscal year in which they become inactive, and are retained 6 years thereafter.
2. Contractor fingerprint records are retained 2 years beyond contractor termination date.
3. Leased property records are closed at the end of the calendar year in which the lease or rental agreement expires or terminates, and are retained 6 years and 3 months from that date.
4. Real property owner and tenant records are retained 6 years unless required longer for litigation purposes.
For contracting records: Vice President, Supply Management, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
For contractor fingerprint screening records: Chief Postal Inspector, Inspection Service, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
For architecture-engineer selection and real property owner and tenant records: Vice President, Facilities, United States Postal Service, 4301 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22203.
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the appropriate system manager. Inquiries about highway vehicle contracts must be made to the applicable USPS area office. Real property owner and tenant claimants must address inquiries to the same facility to which they submitted the claim. Inquiries must contain full individual or business name, Social Security Number, tax identification number, contract number, date of contract, or other pertinent identifying information.
Contract employees or businesses; previous dwelling owner or tenant claimant; and USPS claims reviewers and adjudicators.
Property Management Records.
All USPS facilities.
1. Individuals who are granted regular access to USPS facilities through the issuance of a building access badge, or who are assigned accountable property.
2. Individuals with authorized access to USPS computers and information resources, including USPS employees, contractors, and other individuals.
3. Individuals who are members of carpools with USPS employees or otherwise regularly use USPS parking facilities.
1. Building access information: Records related to issuance of building access badges, including name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, date of birth, photograph, postal assignment information, work contact information, finance number(s), duty location, and pay location.
2. Property issuance information: Records related to issuance of accountable USPS property, equipment, and controlled documents, including name, Social Security Number, equipment description, equipment serial numbers, and issuance date.
3. Computer access authorization information: Records related to computer users, including logon ID, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, or other assigned identifier, employment status information or contractor status information, and extent of access granted.
4. Carpool and parking information: Records related to membership in carpools with USPS employees or about individuals who otherwise regularly use USPS parking facilities, including name, space number, principal's and others' license numbers, home address, and contact information.
1. To ensure personal and building safety and security by controlling access to USPS facilities.
2. To ensure accountability for property issued to persons.
3. To assign computer logon IDs; to identify USPS computer users to resolve their computer access problems by telephone; and to monitor and audit the use of USPS information resources as necessary to ensure compliance with USPS regulations.
4. To provide parking and carpooling services to individuals who use USPS parking facilities.
1. Records about building access and issuance of accountable property are retrieved by name, Social Security Number, or Employee Identification Number.
2. Records about authorized access to computer and information resources are retrieved by name, logon ID, Employee Identification Number, or other unique identifier of the individual.
3. Records of carpools and parking facilities are retrieved by name, ZIP Code, space number, or parking license number. Start Printed Page 22536
1. Building access and accountable property records are retained until termination of access or accountability.
2. Records of computer access privileges are retained 1 year after all authorizations are cancelled.
3. Records of carpool membership and use of USPS parking facilities are retained 6 years.
For records of accountable property, carpool membership, and use of USPS parking facilities: Vice President, Facilities, United States Postal Service, 4301 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22203.
For records of building access and Postal Inspector computer access authorizations: Chief Postal Inspector, Inspection Service, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
For other records of computer access authorizations: Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Inquiries for records about building access, accountable property, carpool membership, and use of USPS parking facilities must be addressed to the facility head. Inquiries about computer access authorization records must be directed to the Manager, Corporate Information Security, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Suite 2141, Washington, DC 20260. For Inspection Service computer access records, inquiries must be submitted to the Inspector in Charge, Information Technology Division, 2111 Wilson Blvd., Suite 500, Arlington, VA 22201. Inquiries must include full name, Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number, and period of employment or residency at the location.
Employees; contractors; subject individuals; and other systems of records.
Carrier and Vehicle Operator Records.
Headquarters; area and district facilities; processing and distribution centers; bulk mail centers; vehicle maintenance facilities; Post Offices; Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers; Accounting Service Centers; contractor or licensee locations; and facilities employing persons under a highway vehicle contract.
1. City letter carriers.
2. Current and former USPS employees who operate or maintain USPS-owned or leased vehicles.
3. Contract highway vehicle operators.
1. Carrier information: Records related to city letter carriers, including carrier's name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, age, postal assignment information, work contact information, finance number(s), duty location, pay location, route number and work schedule, and effective date of agreement for use of a privately owned vehicle to transport the mail, if applicable.
2. Vehicle operator information: Records of employees' operation or maintenance of USPS-owned or leased vehicles, including employee name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, age, postal assignment information, work contact information, finance number(s), duty location, pay location, work schedule, vehicle operation licensing and driving records, and other records of vehicle operation and maintenance.
3. Highway vehicle contract employee information: Records related to contract employee name, Social Security Number, date and place of birth, address and employment history, driver's license number, and contract assignment information.
39 U.S.C. 401, 403, 404, and 1206.
1. To reimburse carriers who use privately owned vehicles to transport the mail pursuant to a postmaster agreement.
2. To evaluate delivery and collection operations and to administer these functions.
3. To provide local Post Office managers, supervisors, and transportation managers with information to assign routes and vehicles, and to adjust workload, schedules, and type of equipment operated.
4. To determine contract vehicle operator suitability for assignments requiring access to mail.
5. To serve as a basis for vehicle operator corrective action and presentation of safe driving awards.
By name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, pay location, Postal Service facility name, route number, or vehicle number.
Paper records, computers, and computer storage media are located in controlled-access areas under supervision of program personnel. Access to these areas is limited to authorized personnel, who must be identified with a badge. Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access. Contractors and licensees are subject to contract controls and unannounced on-site audits and inspections. Computers Start Printed Page 22537are protected by mechanical locks, card key systems, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and transaction logging, and file management software.
1. Route inspection records and minor adjustment worksheets are retained 2 years where inspections or minor adjustments are made annually or more frequently. Where inspections are made less than annually, records are retained until a new inspection or minor adjustment, and an additional 2 years thereafter.
2. Statistical engineering records are retained 5 years, and may be retained further on a year-to-year basis.
3. Agreements for use of a privately-owned vehicle are retained 2 years. Post office copies of payment authorizations are retained 90 days.
4. Records of employees who operate or maintain USPS vehicles are retained 4 years.
5. Records of highway vehicle contract employees are retained 1 year after contract expiration or contract employee termination.
Current and former employees, and highway vehicle contract employees, wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the facility head where currently or last employed. Requests must include full name, Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number, and, where applicable, the route number and dates of any related agreements or contracts.
Employees; contractors; carrier supervisors; route inspectors; and state motor vehicle departments.
Controlled Correspondence, FOIA, and Privacy Act Disclosure Records.
Postmaster General, Government Relations, and Consumer Advocate offices, Headquarters; Law Department, Headquarters and field offices; records custodian offices at USPS Headquarters and field facilities.
1. Individuals who correspond directly with the Office of the Postmaster General.
2. Individuals who have written to non-USPS government officials; congressmen and other government officials who write USPS on behalf of USPS customers or employees; and individuals to whom USPS announcements or greetings are regularly directed.
3. Individuals who submit inquiries and requests for information, including under FOIA.
4. Individuals who submit an inquiry or request for information, or who contest a record, subject to the provisions of the Privacy Act.
1. Correspondence information: Records related to controlled correspondence including correspondent's name, address, nature of inquiry, and response.
2. FOIA and Privacy Act Inquiries: Records related to individuals who request information under FOIA or the Privacy Act, or who request amendment of a record, including name, Social Security Number, date of birth, nature of inquiry, response, and records from other systems of records compiled in response to the inquiry.
39 U.S.C. 401, 410, and 412.
1. To maintain correspondence files for persons who communicate with the Office of the Postmaster General, and correspondence from other government officials.
2. To respond to FOIA and Privacy Act requests, and to comply with FOIA and Privacy Act disclosure accounting and reporting requirements.
a. Records may be provided to a federal agency, when that agency may maintain records relevant to a Privacy Act or FOIA request, for that agency's disclosure determination, or to obtain its assistance on a USPS disclosure determination.
1. Correspondence records are retrieved by subject category, by the individual's name, or by the name of the official inquiring on his or her behalf.
2. FOIA and Privacy Act disclosure records are retrieved by case number, name of the requester, or the name of the attorney or agent acting on their behalf.
Correspondence records are retained 4 years. FOIA and Privacy Act-related records are cut off at the end of each fiscal or calendar year, respectively, and retained 6 years thereafter. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.Start Printed Page 22538
For Postmaster General correspondence: Office of the Postmaster General, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
For other correspondence in this system: Senior Vice President, Government Relations, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
For FOIA and Privacy Act requests: Vice President and Consumer Advocate, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington DC 20260.
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the system manager. Inquiries about Office of the Postmaster General correspondence must include the full name of the originator, date, and subject of correspondence. Inquiries about other kinds of correspondence must contain the full name of the originator, the name of the government official to whom written, if applicable, and the date of the correspondence. Inquiries about FOIA and Privacy Act disclosure accounting records must contain the individual's name, or that of their agent, and the date of the request.
Individuals who submit correspondence, FOIA, or Privacy Act requests; their counsel or other representative; USPS officials who prepare responses; and other systems of records.
Records in this system related to FOIA and Privacy Act inquiries that have been compiled in reasonable anticipation of a civil action or proceeding are exempt from individual access as permitted by 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(5). The USPS has also claimed exemption from certain provisions of the Act for several of its other systems of records at 39 CFR 266.9. To the extent that copies of exempted records from those other systems are incorporated into this system, the exemptions applicable to the original primary system continue to apply to the incorporated records.
Emergency Management Records.
Headquarters and all field postal facilities.
1. USPS employees and other individuals having emergency management responsibilities officially designated by the Postal Service to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, or recover from any natural disaster or manmade hazard.
2. Individuals who are evacuees from postal facilities or who are unaccounted for in the event of a natural disaster or manmade hazard affecting a postal facility.
1. Emergency management information: Records related to USPS employees and contractors having officially designated emergency management responsibilities, including: name; Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number; date of birth; postal or contract assignment information; home, work, and emergency contact information; duty location, work schedule; and assigned emergency management devices.
2. Medical fitness and surveillance information: Records related to medical tests of designated emergency management personnel, including determinations of fitness to wear protective equipment and surveillance for exposure to hazards.
3. Emergency management training information: Records related to specialized training in emergency management of natural disasters and manmade hazards completed by emergency management personnel.
4. Evacuee information: Records of individuals who are evacuees from postal facilities under emergency circumstances related to a natural disaster or manmade hazard and records of unaccounted for individuals, such as name; postal assignment information (if USPS employee), home, work, and emergency contact information; home and work address; location in facility and activities prior to evacuation; route of exit from facility; rallying point; and emergency medical treatment administered to evacuees.
39 U.S.C. 401 and 410.
1. To permit collaboration among officially designated individuals who are responsible for mitigation of, preparation for, response to, and recovery from any natural disaster or manmade hazard affecting postal facilities.
2. To satisfy federal requirements for the training, fitness testing, and medical surveillance of officially designated emergency management personnel in response to a natural disaster or manmade hazard at a postal facility.
3. To test for the exposure to hazards by officially designated emergency management personnel.
4. To account for the whereabouts of individuals in response to a natural disaster or manmade hazard at a postal facility.
5. To assess the likelihood of an evacuee's exposure to a hazard and to contact the evacuee with important health-related information.
Standard routine uses 1 through 9 apply. In addition: a. Medical records may be disclosed to an individual's private treating physician, to medical personnel retained by USPS, and to public health agencies to provide medical examinations or treatment to individuals covered by this system of records.
By name, Social Security Number, Employee Identification Number, and postal facility name.
Paper records, computers, and computer storage media are located in controlled-access areas under supervision of program personnel. Access to these areas is limited to authorized personnel, who must be identified with a badge. Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access. Contractors and licensees are subject to contract controls and unannounced on-site audits and inspections. Computers are protected by mechanical locks, card key systems, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon Start Printed Page 22539identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and transaction logging, and file management software.
1. Emergency management information and emergency management training information is retained 5 years beyond the end of the period for which the individual is assigned emergency management responsibilities.
2. Medical fitness and medical surveillance information is retained 30 years.
3. Evacuee information is retained 5 years beyond the date of collection.
Vice President, Emergency Preparedness, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Vice President, Employee Resources Management, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Current and former employees and contractors wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the facility head where currently or last employed. Headquarters employees or contractors must submit inquiries to the Vice President, Emergency Preparedness. Requests must include full name, Social Security Number or Employee Identification Number, and employment or contract dates. Individuals from whom evacuee information may have been collected must address inquiries to head of the facility from which they were evacuated.
Employees; contractors; medical staff of the Postal Service, designated contractors, federal public health agencies, emergency response providers, and first responders; and individuals evacuated from a postal facility in the event of a natural disaster or manmade hazard.
Legal Records Related to Mail.
Law Department, USPS Headquarters and field offices; Prohibitory Order Processing Center (POPC).
1. Complainants, respondents, and opposing parties in cases of false representations, lotteries, or nonmailable matter; prohibitory orders; mail withheld from delivery; and denial or termination of Post Office box or caller service.
2. USPS attorneys, attorneys representing parties, subjects of investigations, and postal inspectors involved in such cases.
3. Addressees who request orders prohibiting further mailings to them by mailers of pandering advertisements, and the mailers against whom such orders are issued.
1. False representation, mailability, and lotteries information: Records related to administrative proceedings and litigation involving false representation, mailability, and lotteries, including names of involved individuals.
2. Prohibitory order information: Applications for prohibitory orders, issued orders, applications for order enforcement, complaints issued to alleged violators, and notices of court action, including names of involved individuals.
3. Withholding of mail information: Records related to the withholding of mail from delivery, including names of involved individuals.
4. Denial or termination of Post Office box or caller service information: Records related to the denial or termination of a Post Office box or caller service, including names of involved individuals.
39 U.S.C. 204, 401, 404, and 3001 et seq.; 18 U.S.C. 1301, 1302, 1341, and 1342.
1. To investigate and enforce USPS statutes about false representations, lotteries, and mailability.
2. To process applications for orders prohibiting mailers of pandering advertisements from making further mailings to the applicants, to determine whether violations of such orders have occurred, and to prevent them.
3. To enable representation of USPS in administrative proceedings when customers petition for review of cases in which USPS has withheld mail from delivery or refused or terminated Post Office box or caller service.
By individual name, USPS docket number, or prohibitory order number.
1. Records about false representations, lotteries, or nonmailable matter through the mails are retained 20 years.
2. Records about prohibitory orders against pandering advertisers are retained 5 years following issuance of order or last application for enforcement. Start Printed Page 22540
3. Records about an appeal of withholding of mail are retained 1 year after final disposition of the case.
4. Records about refusal to provide, or involuntary termination of, Post Office box or caller service are retained 1 year after final disposition of the case.
Senior Vice President, General Counsel, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the system manager, and provide the following information: the full name of the subject individual; and, if applicable, the names of respondents, appellants, plaintiffs, attorneys or agents; and dates of appeals, filings, or proceedings.
Subject individuals; their counsel or other representative; postal inspectors; Prohibitory Order Processing Center personnel; members of the Judicial Officer Department; attorneys for USPS; attorneys for mailers; witnesses; and postmasters.
General Legal Records.
Law Department, USPS Headquarters and field offices; area and district facilities; Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers; Tort Claims Center; and Post Offices.
1. Current or former USPS employees who are parties to National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) cases, or on whose behalf NLRB charges are filed by a collective bargaining representative, and other individuals involved in labor or employment litigation.
2. Individuals who claim to be involved in accidents related to USPS operations and who seek money damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
3. Individuals investigated for possible infringement of USPS intellectual property rights, including inventors seeking patents for devices.
4. Individuals involved in other formal administrative proceedings or litigation in which USPS is a party or has an interest in which information or testimony is sought.
Records related to proceedings, including individuals' names, Social Security Numbers, postal assignment information, work contact information, finance number(s), duty location, pay location, assigned case or docket numbers, and other details related to the nature of the litigants and litigation subject matter.
1. To provide legal advice and representation in NLRB cases, labor or employment litigation, and miscellaneous civil actions and litigation.
2. To consider, settle, or defend against tort claims made under the Federal Tort Claims Act; to support program management by accident prevention and safety officers; and to provide pertinent information regarding safety, accidents, and claims to equipment providers and insurers.
3. To protect USPS intellectual property and patents.
a. Tort claims records may be disclosed to members of the American Insurance Association Index System; to insurance companies that have issued policies under which the United States is or may be an (additional) insured; to equipment manufacturers, suppliers, and their insurers for claims considerations and possible improvement of equipment and supplies; and in response to a subpoena or other appropriate court order.
b. A record may be transferred and information from it disclosed to the Patent and Trademark Office or the Library of Congress when relevant in any proceeding involving the registration of Postal Service trademarks or issuance of patents.
By name of subject individual, litigant, claimant, charging party, or individual on whose behalf a charge has been filed; case number, docket number, or topic title.
1. Labor litigation records are retained 5 years.
2. Tort claim files are retained 7 years after final adjudication or other closure. Tort litigation files are retained 5 years after closure.
3. Records of investigations of possible infringement of USPS intellectual property rights are retained 25 years after closure of the case. Start Printed Page 22541
4. Records of miscellaneous civil actions and administrative proceedings are retained 10 years.
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the system manager. Inquiries must include full name of litigant, charging party, or individual on whose behalf a charge has been filed, case number or docket number, if known, and the approximate date the action was instituted.
Subject individuals; their counsel or other representative; external authorities such as the NLRB, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or Merit System Protection Board; customers; police; postal inspectors; witnesses; American Insurance Association Index reports; and other systems of records.
Privacy Act and FOIA Appeal and Litigation Records.
Law Department, USPS Headquarters.
Individuals who submit administrative appeals or bring suit against USPS under the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 and/or FOIA.
Names, Social Security Numbers, dates, case numbers, and other information related to individuals and the subject matter of the appeal and/or litigation.
39 U.S.C. 401, 409, 410, and 412.
To process appeals, assist in litigation, and comply with reporting requirements related to the Privacy Act and FOIA.
By case number, name of requester, or name of their attorney or agent.
Records are retained 10 years. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Senior Vice President, General Counsel, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20260.
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the system manager, and provide the following information: the name of the individual or agent who submitted the appeal, and the year in which the appeal was made, or, if applicable, the name of the plaintiff in the civil action and the year in which the civil action was filed.
Subject individuals; their counsel or other representative; USPS officials; other agencies referring requests to USPS; and other systems of records.
Records in this system that have been compiled in reasonable anticipation of a civil action or proceeding are exempt from individual access as permitted by 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(5). The USPS has also claimed exemption from certain provisions of the Act for several of its other systems of records at 39 CFR 266.9. To the extent that copies of exempted records from those other systems are incorporated into this system, the exemptions applicable to the original primary system continue to apply to the incorporated records. Start Printed Page 22542
Public and Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports.
Law Department, USPS Headquarters and field law offices; other Headquarters offices.
Employees required to file public or confidential financial disclosure reports, including the postmaster general, deputy postmaster general, USPS ethical conduct officer, administrative law judges, the Governors of the Postal Service, and other USPS employees determined by regulation.
1. Public Financial Disclosure Report: Standard Form (SF) 278 and supplemental statements including the individual's name, title, work location, employment status, personal financial records, and reports related thereto.
2. Executive Branch Personnel Confidential Financial Disclosure Report: Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Form 450 and supplemental statements including the individual's name, title, work location, employment status, personal financial records, and reports related thereto.
39 U.S.C. 401, 410; and 5 U.S.C. Appendix 4.
To meet the statutory requirements of the Ethics in Government Act with respect to the filing of public and confidential financial disclosure reports by covered individuals.
Standard routine uses 1 through 9 apply. In addition: a. Records may be disclosed to any source when necessary to obtain information relevant to a conflict-of-interest investigation or determination.
By individual's name.
Records are retained 6 years. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries as follows:
For field OGE 450 filers, to the Managing Counsel of the Area Law Office serving the employee's work location.
For Headquarters OGE 450 filers, to their organization's ethics representative.
For field and Headquarters SF 278 filers, to the system manager.
Requests for access must be made in accordance with the Notification Procedure above and USPS Privacy Act regulations regarding access to records and verification of identity under 39 CFR 266.6. Requests for SF 278 reports must be submitted using OGE Form 201.
Subject individual; their counsel or representative; ethics officials; individuals alleging conflicts of interest; and persons contacted during any investigation of such allegations.
Administrative Litigation Records.
Law Department, USPS Headquarters; area and district facilities; and USPS facilities.
1. Current and former USPS employees involved in MSPB appeals.
2. USPS employees and applicants for employment involved in EEO litigation.
Records related to individuals involved in MSPB appeals or EEO litigation, including names, Social Security Numbers, Employee Identification Numbers, work locations, dates, case number, and other information related to the litigants and the subject matter of the litigation.
To provide advice and representation to USPS in MSPB appeals and EEO litigation.
By name of litigant or case number.
Paper records, computers, and computer storage media are located in controlled-access areas under supervision of program personnel. Access to these areas is limited to authorized personnel, who must be identified with a badge. Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access. Contractors and licensees are subject to contract controls and unannounced on-site audits and inspections. Computers are protected by mechanical locks, card key systems, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, Start Printed Page 22543terminal and transaction logging, and file management software.
MSPB appeals records are retained 7 years from the date of the last administrative or judicial decision. EEO litigation records are retained 4 years from the date of the final decision. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the system manager, and provide full name, case number, if known, and the approximate date the action was instituted.
Subject employees; counsel or other representatives for parties; and other individuals involved in appeal or litigation.
Inspection Service Investigative File System.
Office of the Chief Postal Inspector, USPS Headquarters; Inspection Service Human Resources Service Center, Security Investigation Service Center, and Criminal Investigation Service Center; Inspectors-in-Charge.
1. Subjects of investigations; complainants, informants, witnesses, and other individuals in investigations.
2. Applicants, current and former USPS employees, contractors, and other individuals providing information related to employment suitability checks.
3. Applicants for and appointees to sensitive positions in USPS, and individuals providing information related to security clearance checks on those individuals.
Records related to investigations, including person name(s), Social Security Number(s), case number, addresses, reports of postal inspectors and third parties; physical identifying characteristics (including fingerprints, voiceprints, handwriting samples, polygraph tests, photographs, or other biometrics); and employment and payroll information maintained by USPS.
39 U.S.C. 401 and 404; and 18 U.S.C. 3061.
To support investigations of criminal, civil, or administrative matters, including applicant, employee, and contractor background investigations.
a. A record from this system may be disclosed to the public, news media, trade associations, or organized groups to provide information of interest to the public about the activities and the accomplishments of USPS or its employees.
b. A record relating to a person held in custody pending or during arraignment, trial, sentence, or extradition proceedings or after conviction may be disseminated to a federal, state, local, or foreign prison, probation, parole, or pardon authority or to any other agency or individual involved with the maintenance, transportation, or release of such a person.
c. A record relating to a case or matter may be disseminated to a foreign country, through the United States Department of State or directly to the representative of such country, under an international treaty, convention, or executive agreement; or to the extent necessary to assist such country in apprehending or returning a fugitive to a jurisdiction that seeks that individual's return.
By name or other personal identifier, subject category, or assigned case number.
Records are retained up to 15 years. Exceptions may be granted for longer retention in specific instances. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Chief Postal Inspector, Inspection Service, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260. Start Printed Page 22544
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the system manager and include full name, address, and information sufficient to ascertain the investigation and the individual's involvement.
Subjects, applicants, applicant references, employees, complainants, witnesses, other systems of records, other government agencies, and external public or private sources.
Mail Cover Program Records.
Chief Postal Inspector, USPS Headquarters; Criminal Investigation Service Center; Inspection Service field offices.
Individuals on whom a mail cover has been duly authorized by USPS to obtain information in the interest of (a) protecting the national security; (b) locating a fugitive; and (c) obtaining evidence of the commission or attempted commission of a crime that is punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year.
Records related to names and addresses of individuals on whom a mail cover is authorized; interoffice memoranda and materials; and correspondence with other relevant agencies.
To investigate the commission of, or attempted commission of, acts constituting a crime punishable by law.
By subject individual name.
Chief Postal Inspector, Inspection Service, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the system manager. Inquiries must include full name of subject individual, current address, and other addresses during the previous 5 years.
The requesting authority and postal inspectors.
Vehicular Violations Records System.
Inspection Service, USPS Headquarters; and USPS facilities where postal police officers issue vehicular violations notices.
Vehicle operators.
Vehicle operator's and postal police officers' names; operator's state permit and permit number; state vehicle license number; date, number, and cause of citation; and dates of court appearances.
To regulate traffic and parking on USPS premises.
By the subject individual name or vehicle license number.
Paper records, computers, and computer storage media are located in controlled-access areas under supervision of program personnel. Access to these areas is limited to Start Printed Page 22545authorized personnel, who must be identified with a badge. Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access. Contractors and licensees are subject to contract controls and unannounced on-site audits and inspections. Computers are protected by mechanical locks, card key systems, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and transaction logging, and file management software.
Vehicular violations records are retained 2 years. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Individuals at USPS Headquarters wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to: Inspector-in-Charge for Internal Affairs, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260. Individuals at other facilities must address inquiries to the facility's Inspector-in-Charge.
Vehicle operators; postal police officers; witnesses; state motor vehicle registration bureaus; USPS personnel offices; USPS parking control officers; prosecutive and judicial officials; and other systems of records.
Inspector General Investigative Records.
Office of the Inspector General (OIG), USPS Headquarters; OIG field offices.
1. Present and former USPS employees and applicants for employment, contractors, subcontractors, lessees, licensees, and other persons who are named individuals in investigations conducted by OIG or who are subjects of security checks or suitability determinations.
2. Complainants and subjects of complaints collected through the operation of the OIG Hotline.
3. Other individuals, including witnesses, sources, and members of the general public, who are named individuals in connection with investigations conducted by OIG.
Records related to OIG investigations, including name(s), Social Security Number(s), assigned case number, addresses; reports of OIG investigators and third parties; investigative materials; physical identifying characteristics (including fingerprints, voiceprints, handwriting samples, polygraph tests, photographs, or other biometrics); and employment, payroll, financial, contractual, and property management records maintained by USPS.
39 U.S.C. 404; 18 U.S.C. 3061; and 5 U.S.C. Appendix 3.
To support the conduct of OIG investigations.
d. Records originating exclusively within this system of records may be disclosed to other federal offices of inspector general and/or to the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency for purposes of conducting qualitative assessment reviews of internal safeguards and management procedures employed in investigative operations of the USPS OIG. Records originating from any other USPS systems of records, which may be duplicated in or incorporated into this system, may also be disclosed with all personally identifiable information redacted.
1. Official investigative case files, evidence and custody files, and informant files are retained up to 20 years, or 5 years beyond the sentence of the subject individual, whichever is longer.
2. Information reports, investigative analysis reports, confidential fund files, Start Printed Page 22546and inspection reports are retained 5 years.
3. Proactive project case files and briefing reports are retained 2 years after closeout.
Inspector General, United States Postal Service, 1735 N Lynn Street, Arlington, VA 22209.
Address Change, Mail Forwarding, and Related Services.
USPS National Customer Support Center (NCSC), Computerized Forwarding System (CFS) sites, Post Offices, and contractor sites.
Customers requesting change of address, mail forwarding or other related services either online or offline. Customers who are victims of a natural disaster who request mail forwarding services through the American Red Cross.
1. Customer information: Name, title, signature, customer number, old address, new address, filing date, e-mail address(es), and other contact information.
2. Verification and payment information: Credit and/or debit card number, type, and expiration date; information for identity verification; billing information.
3. Demographic information: designation as individual/family/business.
4. Customer preferences: Permanent or temporary move; mail forwarding instructions; service requests and responses.
5. Customer inquiries and comments: Description of service requests and responses.
6. Records from service providers, including for move-related services, such as name of provider; customer name, number, and contact information; information related to products purchased, billing, and customer service; and records for identity verification.
7. Optional customer information: Information a customer chooses to save to apply to future transactions, such as names, addresses, proof of identification, billing, and other information used to request a service.
8. Protective Orders.
1. To provide mail forwarding and change of address services.
2. To provide address correction services.
3. To provide address information to the American Red Cross about a customer who has been relocated because of disaster.
4. To provide customers the ability to contact providers of move-related services (e.g. moving vans or supplies).
Standard routine uses 1 through 7, 10, and 11 apply. In addition:
a. Disclosure upon request. The new address of a specific business or organization that has filed a permanent change of address order may be furnished to any individual on request. (Note: The new address of an individual or family will not be furnished pursuant to this routine use, but only when authorized by one of the standard routine uses listed above or one of the specific routine uses listed below.)
b. Disclosure for Address Correction. Disclosure of any customer's new permanent address may be made to a mailer, only if the mailer is in possession of the name and old address: from the National Change of Address file if the mailer is seeking corrected addresses for a mailing list; from the Computerized Forwarding System (CFS) if a mailpiece is undeliverable as addressed; or from the Locatable Address Conversion System if an address designation has been changed or assigned. Copies of change of address orders may not be furnished.
c. Disclosure for Voter Registration. Any customer's permanent change of address may be disclosed to a duly formed election board or registration commission using permanent voter registration. Copies of change of address orders may be furnished.
d. Disclosure to Government Agency. Any customer's permanent or temporary change of address information may be disclosed to a federal, state, or local government agency upon prior written certification that the information is required for the performance of its duties. A copy of the change of address order may be furnished. Name and address information may be disclosed to government planning authorities, or firms under contract with those authorities, if an address designation has been changed or assigned.
e. Disclosure to Law Enforcement Agency. Any customer's permanent or temporary change of address information may be disclosed to a law enforcement agency, for oral requests made through the Postal Inspection Service, but only after the Postal Inspection Service has confirmed that the information is needed for a criminal investigation. A copy of the change of address order may be furnished.
f. Disclosure for Service of Process. Any customer's permanent or temporary change of address information may be disclosed to a person empowered by law to serve legal process, or the attorney for a party in whose behalf service will be made, or a party who is acting pro se, upon receipt of written information that meets prescribed certification requirements. Disclosure will be limited to the address of the specifically identified individual (not other family members or individuals whose names may also appear on the change of address order). A copy of the change of address order may not be furnished.
g. Disclosure for Jury Service. Any customer's change of address information may be disclosed to a jury Start Printed Page 22547commission or other court official, such as a judge or court clerk, for purpose of jury service. A copy of the change of address order may be furnished.
h. Disclosure at Customer's Request. If the customer elects, change of address information may be disclosed to government agencies or other entities, and requests for move-related services may be forwarded to the specified service provider.
All routine uses are subject to the following exception: Information concerning an individual who has filed an appropriate protective court order with the postmaster/CFS manager will not be disclosed under any routine use except pursuant to the order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
Change of address orders are maintained on file at the delivery unit. They are filed alphabetically by name and date. Records generated from the source document are recorded on the Forwarding Control System file server and on tapes at CFS units. Electronic change of address records and related service records are also stored on disk and/or magnetic tape in a secured environment. Change of address records are consolidated in a National Change of Address (NCOA) file at the NCSC. Selected extracts of NCOA are provided to a limited number of firms under contract or license agreement with USPS. Records pertaining to move-related services are also transmitted to specific service providers, including government agencies and private companies under contract to USPS.
For those delivery units under Postal Automated Redirection System (PARS), images of the change of address orders are maintained electronically in the Change of Address Reporting System (COARS) database. The physical COA is filed in the CFS unit by the date processed.
Records are retrieved by the following methods:
For paper records: By name, address, date, and ZIP Code.
For electronic records: by name, address, date, ZIP Code, and customer number for electronic change of address and related service records; by name, address, and e-mail address for customer service records; by service provider name or number for service provider records.
Paper records, computers, and computer storage media are located in controlled-access areas under supervision of program personnel. Access to these areas is limited to authorized personnel, who must be identified with a badge.
Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access. Contractors and licensees are subject to contract controls and unannounced on-site audits and inspections.
Computers are protected by mechanical locks, card key systems, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and transaction logging, and file management software.
1. National change of address records are retained 4 years from the effective date.
2. COA records are retained in the delivery unit up to 18 months. For delivery units using the PARS system, the physical change of address order is retained in the CFS unit for 30 days if it was scanned or 18 months if it was manually entered into the national database. The COARS database records are retained 2 years from the effective date.
3. Mail Forwarding records are retained for up to 3 years.
Records existing on paper are destroyed by shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Senior Vice President, Intelligent Mail and Address Quality, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington DC 20260.
Vice President, Delivery and Retail, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington DC 20260.
Customers wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records should address inquiries to their local postmaster. Inquiries should contain full name, address, effective date of change order, route number (if known), and ZIP Code. Customers wanting to know if information about them is also maintained in the NCOA File should address such inquiries to: Manager, NCOA, National Customer Support Center, United States Postal Service, 6060 Primacy Parkway, Memphis, TN 38188.
See Notification Procedure and Record Access Procedures above.
Customers, personnel, service providers, and, for call center operations, commercially available sources of names, addresses, and telephone numbers.
Address Matching for Mail Processing.
Computer Operations Service Center; Engineering; Processing and Distribution Centers; and contractor site(s).
USPS customers, including individual and business customers.
Names and mailing addresses of individuals and businesses.
To improve the speed, accuracy, and certainty of mail delivery.
Standard routine uses 1 through 6 and 11 apply. In addition:
a. A mailpiece containing a barcode that is encoded with the address, but not name, of a customer derived from this system may be disclosed to a mailer if the Postal Service is unable to deliver the mailpiece, and returns it to the mailer as part of a requested return service.
Automated databases, electronic and computer storage media, with names and addresses stored separately.Start Printed Page 22548
Retrieval is accomplished by a computer-based system, using one or more of the following elements: name, ZIP Code(s), street name, primary number, secondary number, delivery point, and/or carrier route identification.
The name and address database is obtained from a commercial vendor under strict contract and security controls. The database is maintained separately from USPS databases. Name data and address data within the commercial database are also stored separate from each other. In field deployment, name and address data are stored in an encrypted fashion. The database is not be commingled with any agency records or databases, and is not to be used to update any agency record or database. No information is provided from the USPS into the commercial database or back to the vendor.
The database only operates on secure systems. Electronic transmissions of records are protected by encryption and access authorization codes. Records are kept on computers in controlled-access areas, with access limited to authorized personnel. Computers are protected by a cipher lock system, card key system, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and use identifications, and file management. Contractors are subject to contract controls regarding security, as well as security compliance reviews.
The database will be maintained until 90 days after termination of the contract or program, and then destroyed. During contract performance, the database is replaced by the vendor in its entirety no less frequently than every 90 days. To destroy the replaced version, the Postal Service employs sanitization procedures that ensure the complete destruction of information as specified by its information security policies.
Senior Vice President for Operations, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Customers wanting to know if information about them is kept in this system of records must address inquiries in writing to the Manager, Image Recognition Processing, 8403 Lee Highway, Merrifield VA 22082.
Requests for access must be made in accordance with the Notification Procedure above and the Postal Service Privacy Act regulations regarding access to records and verification of identity under 39 CFR 266.6.
Commercially available source of names and mailing addresses.
http://www.usps.com Registration.
Computer Operations Service Centers.
Customers who register via the USPS Web site at http://www.usps.com.
1. Customer information: Name; customer ID(s); company name; job title and role; home, business, and billing address; home and business phone and fax number; e-mail; URL; and Automated Clearing House (ACH) information.
2. Identity verification information: Question, answer, username, user ID, and password.
3. Business specific information: Business type and location, business IDs, annual revenue, number of employees, industry, nonprofit rate status, product usage information, annual and/or monthly shipping budget, payment method and information, planned use of product, and age of Web site.
4. Customer preferences: Preferences to receive USPS marketing information, preferences to receive marketing information from USPS partners, preferred means of contact, preferred e-mail format, product and/or service marketing preference.
5. Customer feedback: Method of referral to Web site.
6. Registration information: Date of registration.
1. To provide online registration with single sign on services for customers.
2. To obtain accurate contact information in order to deliver requested products, services, and other material.
3. To authenticate customer logon information for http://www.usps.com.
4. To permit customer feedback in order to improve www.usps.com or USPS products and services.
5. To enhance understanding and fulfillment of customer needs.
Standard routine uses 1 through 7, 10, and 11 apply.
By customer name, customer ID(s), phone number, or mail or e-mail address.
Computers are protected by mechanical locks, card key systems, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and transaction logging, and file management software. Online data transmissions are protected by encryption.
For small business registration, computer storage tapes and disks are maintained in controlled-access areas or under general scrutiny of program personnel. Access is controlled by logon ID and password as authorized by the Marketing organization via secure Web site. Online data transmissions are protected by encryption.
1. ACH records are retained up to 2 years.
2. Records stored in the registration database are retained until the customer cancels the profile record, 3 years after Start Printed Page 22549the customer last accesses records, or until the relationship ends.
3. For small business registration, records are retained 5 years after the relationship ends.
Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Customers wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries in writing to the system manager. Inquiries must contain name, address, and other identifying information.
http://www.usps.com Ordering, Payment, and Fulfillment.
Customers who place orders and/or make payment for USPS products and services through http://www.usps.com.
1. Customer information: Name, customer ID(s), phone and/or fax number, mail address and e-mail address.
2. Payment information: Credit and/or debit card number, type, and expiration date, billing information, ACH information.
3. Shipping and transaction information: Product and/or service ID numbers, descriptions, and prices; name and address(es) of recipients; order number and delivery status; electronic address lists; electronic documents or images; job number.
4. Claims submitted for defective merchandise.
1. To fulfill orders for USPS products and services.
2. To promote increased use of the mail by providing electronic document preparation and mailing services for customers.
3. To provide shipping supplies and services, including return receipts and labels.
4. To provide recurring ordering and payment services for products and services.
Automated databases, computer storage media, and paper.
By customer name, customer ID(s), phone number, mail or e-mail address, or job number.
Online data transmission is protected by encryption, dedicated lines, and authorized access codes. For shipping supplies, data is protected within a stand-alone system within a controlled-access facility.
1. Records related to mailing online and online tracking and/or Confirmation Services supporting a customer order are retained for up to 30 days from completion of fulfillment of the order, unless retained longer by request of the customer.
2. Records related to shipping services and domestic and international labels are retained 90 days.
3. Delivery Confirmation and return receipt records are retained 6 months.
4. Signature Confirmation records are retained 1 year.
6. Other customer records are retained 3 years after the customer relationship ends.
Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Customers wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries in writing to the system manager. Inquiries must contain name, address, customer ID(s), and order number, if known.
Offline Registration, Payment, and Fulfillment.
USPS Marketing Headquarters; Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers; Philatelic Fulfillment Service Center; area and district facilities; Post Offices; and contractor sites. Start Printed Page 22550
Customers who register for USPS programs, place orders and/or make payment for USPS products and services via offline means.
1. Customer information: Name, customer ID(s), company name, job title, home, business, and billing address(es), phone number(s), fax number(s), e-mail, URL, verification question and answer, username, and password.
2. Payment information: Credit and/or debit card number, type, and expiration date; billing name and address; check; money order, ACH information.
3. Shipping information: Product and/or service ID number, name and address of recipient.
4. Customer preferences: Preferences to receive USPS marketing information, preferences to receive marketing information from USPS partners, preferred contact media, preferred e-mail format, product and/or service marketing preference.
5. Customer feedback: Method of referral.
6. Order processing: Inquiries on status of orders; claims submitted for defective merchandise; lists of individuals who have submitted bad checks.
1. To provide offline registration services for customers.
2. To fulfill requests for USPS products, services, and other materials.
3. To authenticate customer information and permit customer feedback.
4. To operate recurring ordering and payment services for products and services.
Automated databases, computer storage media, and paper forms.
By customer name, customer ID(s), phone number, mail or e-mail address, or order number.
2. Other records are retained up to 3 years after the customer relationship ends.
Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20260.
Customers and, for call center operations, commercially available sources of names, addresses, and telephone numbers.
Mailer Services—Applications and Approvals.
USPS Headquarters; Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers; National Customer Support Center (NCSC); district facilities; detached mailing units; and facilities that access USPS computers.
Customers who apply for mail management and tracking products or services.
1. Customer information: Applicant and key contacts name, mail and e-mail address, phone number, fax number, customer ID(s), job title and/or role, employment status, company name, location, industry, monthly shipping budget, annual revenue, payment information, ACH information.
2. Customer or product identification and authentication: User and manager customer ID(s) and/or passwords; customer signature, date, last four digits of Social Security Number (SSN); USPS site; security personnel name, signature, date, telephone number, and last four digits of SSN; USPS location information; D-U-N-S ® Number; postage meter numbers; permit numbers; POSTNET code; mailer ID(s); publication name(s) and ID(s); and name(s) of authorized users.
3. Mail practices and delivery information: Type of mailing equipment and/or containers used, mail preparation information, drop shipment sites and codes, compatibility with mailing automation equipment, presort options and tests, frequency of mailings, mail volume, primary type of mailing, destination information, use of contracted mail services, names and addresses of contractors and advertisers, publication name(s) and ID(s), and appointment times.
4. Technical information: Hardware, software, and equipment names, types, versions, and specifications; media preferences; mail site specifications.
5. Product usage and payment information: Package volumes, package weights, product ordered, quantity ordered, billing information, products Start Printed Page 22551used, ordered date, inventory date, and usage measure dates.
1. To provide application services for mail management and tracking products and services.
2. To authenticate applicant information, assign computer logon IDs, and qualify and assist users.
3. To provide product and/or service updates, service, and support.
4. To collect accurate technical data to ensure the proper operation of electronic data transmission and software.
By customer name, customer ID(s), or logon ID.
1. Logon records are retained 1 year after computer access.
3. Security access records are retained 2 years after computer access privileges are cancelled.
Customers wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries in writing to the system manager. Inquiries should contain name, customer ID(s), if any, and/or logon ID.
Mail Management and Tracking Activity.
USPS Headquarters; Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers; and Mail Transportation Equipment Service Centers.
Customers who use USPS mail management and tracking services.
1. Customer information: Customer or contact name, mail and e-mail address, title or role, and phone number.
2. Identification information: Customer ID(s), last four digits of Social Security Number (SSN), D-U-N-S Number; mailer and mailing ID, advertiser name/ID, username, and password.
3. Data on mailings: Paper and electronic data on mailings, including postage statement data (such as volume, class, rate, postage amount, date and time of delivery, mailpiece count), destination of mailing, delivery status, mailing problems, presort information, reply mailpiece information, container label numbers, package label, Special Services label, article number, and permit numbers.
4. Payment information: Credit and/or debit card number, type, and expiration date; ACH information.
5. Customer preference data: Hold mail begin and end date, redelivery date, delivery options, shipping and pickup preferences, drop ship codes, comments and instructions, mailing frequency, preferred delivery dates.
6. Product usage information: Special Services label and article number.
1. To provide mail acceptance, induction, and scheduling services.
2. To fulfill orders for mail transportation equipment.
3. To provide customers with information about the status of mailings within the USPS network.
4. To help mailers identify performance issues regarding their mail.
5. To provide delivery units with information needed to fulfill requests for mail redelivery and hold mail service at the address and for the dates specified by the customer.
Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access. Contractors and licensees are subject to contract controls and unannounced on-site audits and inspections. Start Printed Page 22552
1. CONFIRM records are retained for up to 30 days.
2. Records related to ePubWatch, Confirmation Services and hold mail services are retained for up to 1 year.
3. Special Services and drop ship records are retained 2 years.
5. Other records are retained 4 years after the relationship ends.
Customer Service and Correspondence.
USPS Consumer Advocate, Headquarters; Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers; the National Customer Support Center (NCSC); districts, Post Offices, contractor sites; and detached mailing units at customer sites.
This system contains records relating to customers who contact customer service by online and offline channels. This includes customers making inquiries via e-mail, 1-800-ASK-USPS, other toll-free contact centers, or the BSN, as well as customers with product-specific service or support issues.
1. Customer information: Customer and key contact name, mail and e-mail address, phone and/or fax number; customer ID(s); title, role, and employment status; company name, location, type and URL; vendor and/or contractor information.
2. Identity verification information: Last four digits of Social Security Number (SSN), username and/or password, D-U-N-S Number, mailer ID number, publisher ID number, security level and clearances, and business customer number.
3. Product and/or service use information: Product and/or service type, product numbers, technology specifications, quantity ordered, logon and product use dates and times, case number, pickup number, article number, and ticket number.
4. Payment information: Credit and/or debit card number, type, and expiration date; billing information; checks, money orders, or other payment method.
5. Customer preferences: Drop ship sites and media preference.
6. Service inquiries and correspondence: Contact history; nature of inquiry, dates and times, comments, status, resolution, and USPS personnel involved.
1. To enable review and response services for customer inquiries and concerns regarding USPS and its products and services.
2. To ensure that customer accounts and needs are attended to in a timely manner.
By customer name, customer ID(s), mail or e-mail address, phone number, customer account number, case number, article number, pickup number, and last four digits of SSN, ZIP Code, or other customer identifier.
1. Customer care records for usps.com products are retained 90 days.
2. Records related to 1-800-ASK-USPS, Delivery Confirmation service, Special Services, and international call centers are retained 1 year.
3. Customer complaint letters are retained 6 months and automated complaint records are retained 3 years.
4. Business Service Network records are retained 5 years.
5. Other records are retained 2 years after resolution of the inquiry.
Vice President and Consumer Advocate, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington DC 20260. Start Printed Page 22553
Customers wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries to the system manager in writing. Inquiries should include name, address, and other identifying information.
Customer Mailing and Delivery Instructions.
USPS Headquarters, Prohibitory Order Processing Center, districts, Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers, and Post Offices.
1. Customers requesting delivery of mail through an agent and the agent to whom the mail is to be delivered.
2. Customers who are visually or physically disabled and unable to use or read conventionally printed materials and who are receiving postage-free matter in their delivery areas.
3. Customers whose mailboxes do not comply with USPS standards and regulations.
4. Customers who elect to have their names and addresses, or the name and address of their children under 19 years of age or a deceased spouse, placed on the list of individuals who do not want mailed to them sexually oriented advertisements (SOAs) or pandering advertisements.
5. Rural route customers.
1. Customer information: Name, address, phone number, customer ID(s), signature, application number, names and birth dates of children under 19; reports of mailbox irregularities and date; postmaster signature.
2. Verification information: Photocopies of IDs, customer name, address, signature, statement from competent authority as being visually or physically impaired from being able to use or read conventional reading matter.
3. Agency information: Agent name, address, signature, and phone number.
1. To provide for efficient and secure mail delivery services.
2. To permit authorized delivery of mail to the addressee's agent.
3. To enable the efficient processing of mail for visually or physically disabled customers.
4. To protect customers from mail fraud and identity theft.
5. To maintain a list of addressees that do not want SOA material mailed to them, available for mailers to comply with statutory requirements; and to maintain records as necessary to provide protections requested by an addressee against individual mailers under the Pandering Advertisement statutes.
6. To assist rural carrier leave replacements who might be unfamiliar with assigned route and box numbers of rural route customers.
a. Information may be disclosed for the purpose of identifying an address as an address of an agent to whom mail is delivered on behalf of other persons. This routine use does not authorize the disclosure of the identities of persons on behalf of whom agents receive mail.
All routine uses are subject to the following exception: Information concerning an individual who has filed an appropriate protective court order with the postmaster will not be disclosed under any of the general routine uses except pursuant to the order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
By customer name, address, and application number, or by customer ID(s).
1. Records related to customer requests not to have mailed to them SOAs or pandering advertisements are retained up to 5 years after request.
2. Other records are retained 1 year from the date the customer relocates, cancels an order, corrects a cited mailbox irregularity, or terminates the special instruction.
For SOA and pandering advertisement prohibitory orders: Vice President, Pricing and Classification, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
For other delivery records: Vice President, Delivery and Retail, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington DC 20260.
Customers wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system pertaining to mail delivery by agents, noncompliant mailboxes, with regard to free matter for the visually disabled, or pertaining to rural routes must address inquiries to their local postmasters. Customers should include name, address, and other identifying information.
Customers wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system pertaining to requests not to have mailed to them SOAs and Start Printed Page 22554pandering advertisements must address inquiries to the system manager. Customers should include name, address, application number, and the date of filing, if applicable.
Customers; cosigners of the request for delivery of mail through an agent; medical personnel or other competent authorities; and USPS personnel.
Auction Files.
USPS Mail Recovery Centers.
Customers who participate in or request information about USPS auctions.
1. Customer information: Name, customer ID(s), mail and e-mail address, and phone number.
2. Payment information: Credit and/or debit card number, type, and expiration date; check; or money order.
3. Customer feedback: Means of referral.
1. To maintain a list of names and addresses of customers participating in or requesting information about auctions.
2. To accurately process delivery and payment.
By customer name, customer ID(s), or other identifier.
Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access.
Records are retained up to 1 year. Records existing on paper are destroyed by burning, pulping, or shredding. Records existing on computer storage media are destroyed according to the applicable USPS media sanitization practice.
Vice President and Consumer Advocate, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington DC 20260.
Customers wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system must address inquiries to the system manager. Inquiries must contain full name, address, and other identifying information.
Financial Transactions.
USPS Headquarters; Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers; Accounting Service Centers; anti-money laundering support group; and contractor sites.
1. Customers who use online payment or funds transfer services.
2. Customers who file claims or make inquiries related to online payment services, funds transfers, money orders, and stored-value cards.
3. Customers who purchase funds transfers or stored-value cards in an amount of $1000 or more per day, or money orders in an amount of $3000 or more per day, or who purchase or redeem any such services in a manner requiring collection of information as potential suspicious activities under anti-money laundering requirements. Recipients of funds transfers and the beneficiaries of funds from money orders totaling $10,000 in one day.
1. Customer information: Name, customer ID(s), mail and e-mail address, telephone number, occupation, type of business, and customer history.
2. Identity verification information: Date of birth, username and/or ID, password, Social Security Number (SSN) or tax ID number, and driver's license number (or other type of ID if driver's license is not available, such as Alien Registration Number, Passport Number, Military ID, Tax ID Number). (Note: For online payment services, SSNs are collected, but not retained, in order to verify ID.)
3. Billers registered for online payment services: Biller name and contact information, bill detail, and bill summaries.
4. Transaction information: Name, address, and phone number of purchaser, payee, and biller; amount, date, and location; credit and/or debit card number, type, and expiration; sales, refunds, and fees; type of service selected and status; sender and recipient bank account and routing number; bill detail and summaries; transaction number, serial number, and/or reference number or other identifying number, pay out agent name and address; type of payment, currency, and exchange rate; Post Office information such as location, phone number, and terminal; employee ID numbers, license number and state, and employee comments.
5. Information to determine credit-worthiness: Period at current residence, previous address, and period of time with same phone number.
6. Information related to claims and inquiries: Name, address, phone number, signature, SSN, location where Start Printed Page 22555product was purchased, date of issue, amount, serial number, and claim number.
39 U.S.C. 401, 403, and 404; 31 U.S.C. 5318, 5325, 5331, and 7701.
1. To provide financial products and services.
2. To respond to inquiries and claims related to financial products and services.
3. To fulfill requirements of anti-money laundering statutes and regulations.
Standard routine uses 1 through 7, 10, and 11 apply. Legally required disclosures to agencies for law enforcement purposes include disclosures of information relating to money orders, funds transfers, and stored-value cards as required by anti-money laundering statutes and regulations.
Automated database, computer storage media, microfiche, and paper.
For online payment and funds transfer services, information is retrieved by customer name, customer ID(s), transaction number, or address.
Claim information is retrieved by name of purchaser or payee, claim number, serial number, transaction number, check number, customer ID(s), or ZIP Code.
Information related to anti-money laundering is retrieved by customer name; SSN; alien registration, passport, or driver's license number; serial number; transaction number; ZIP Code; transaction date; data entry operator number; and employee comments.
1. Summary records, including bill due date, bill amount, biller information, biller representation of account number, and the various status indicators, are retained 2 years from the date of processing.
2. For funds transfers, transaction records are retained 3 years.
3. Records related to claims are retained up to 3 years from date of final action on the claim.
4. Forms related to fulfillment of anti-money laundering requirements are retained 5 years from the end of the calendar quarter in which they were created.
5. Related automated records are retained the same 5-year period and purged from the system quarterly after the date of creation.
6. Enrollment records related to online payment services are retained 7 years after the subscriber's account ceases to be active or the service is cancelled.
7. Account banking records, including payment history, Demand Deposit Account (DDA) number, and routing number, are retained 7 years from the date of processing.
Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington DC 20260.
For online payment services, funds transfers, and stored-value cards, individuals wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system must address inquiries in writing to the Chief Marketing Officer. Inquiries must contain name, address, and other identifying information, as well as the transaction number for funds transfers.
For money order claims and anti-money laundering documentation, inquiries should be addressed to the Chief Financial Officer. Inquiries must include name, address, or other identifying information of the purchaser (such as driver's license, Alien Registration Number, Passport Number, etc), and serial or transaction number. Information collected for anti-money laundering purposes will only be provided in accordance with Federal anti-money laundering laws and regulations.
Customers, recipients, financial institutions, and USPS employees.
USPS has established regulations at 39 CFR 266.9 that exempt information contained in this system of records from various provisions of the Privacy Act in order to conform to the prohibition in the Bank Secrecy Act, 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2), against notification of the individual that a suspicious transaction has been reported.
Trust Funds and Transaction Records.
USPS Headquarters Marketing; Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers; district offices; Post Offices; and detached mailing units.
Customers who are users of trust fund payment accounts.
1. Customer information: Customer and key contact name, mail and e-mail address, phone and fax number(s); D-U-N-S Number; customer ID(s), taxpayer ID number.
2. Transactional information: Permit authorizations and numbers, postage paid, postage class transaction dates, volume, weight, and revenue of mailing, Start Printed Page 22556postage indicium created, estimated annual postage, percent by mailing type, type of user, mailing data files including USPS location where the mail was entered.
3. Information necessary for processing electronic payments: Bank name, contact name, bank address and telephone number, bank account number, bank transit ABA number, voided check, credit and/or debit card number, type, and expiration date; ACH information.
1. To establish and maintain trust fund accounts and process payments.
2. To ensure revenue protection.
3. To provide information and updates to users of these accounts.
By customer name or customer ID(s), account number, and/or address.
2. Other records in this system are retained up to 4 years after the relationship ends.
To access Permit records, customers must make a written request to their local postmaster. Correspondence must include name, address, account number, company name, mailing location, and a clear description of the issue.
To access all other records, customers must make a written request to the system manager. Correspondence must include name, address, account numbers, and other identifying information.
Postage Meter and PC Postage Customer Data and Transaction Records.
USPS Headquarters Marketing, USPS facilities, Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers, and partner locations.
Postage evidencing system users.
1. Customer information: Contact name, address, and telephone number; company name; and change of address information.
2. Identification information: Customer ID(s), date of device installation, device ID number, device model number, and certificate serial number.
3. Transactional information: Post Office where mail is entered; type (credit card, ACH, check, etc.), amount, and date of postage purchases; ascending and descending register values; amount of unused postage refunded; contact telephone number; package identification code, Customized Postage image data; declared value of contents and cost of insurance for insured packages; destination five-digit ZIP Code, date, and rate category of each indicium created; and transaction documents.
4. Financial information: Credit and/or debit card number, type, expiration date, and transaction number; check and electronic fund transfer information; ACH information.
1. To enable responsible administration of postage evidencing system activities.
a. The name and address of an authorized user of a postage meter or PC Postage product (postage evidencing systems), printing a specified indicium will be furnished to any person provided the user is using the postage meter or PC Postage product for business purposes.
By customer name and by numeric file of postage evidencing systems ID number, or by customer ID(s).
Access to records is limited to individuals whose official duties require such access. Contractors and licensees are subject to contract controls and Start Printed Page 22557unannounced on-site audits and inspections.
1. ACH records are retained up to 2 years. Records of payment are retained up to 7 years.
2. Other records in this system are retained up to 4 years after a customer ceases using a postage evidencing system.
Customers wanting to know if information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquires in writing to: Manager, Postage Technology Management, United States Postal Service, 1735 N Lynn St., Arlington, VA 22209.
Inquiries should include the individual's name and customer ID.
Customers; authorized service providers of postage evidencing systems; and USPS personnel.
Post Office and Retail Services.
USPS Headquarters, Consumer Advocate; Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers; Accounting Service Centers; and USPS facilities, including Post Offices (New Jersey, as an exception, does not store passport information in Post Offices), international claims and inquiry offices, and contractor locations.
1. Customers who apply for or purchase products and services at Post Offices or other retail sites. This includes products and services related to passports, Post Office boxes, caller services, and self-service equipment.
2. Senders and recipients of special mail services.
3. Authorized users of Post Office boxes and caller services.
4. Customers with inquiries or claims relating to special mail services.
1. Customer information: Name, customer ID(s), company name, phone number, mail and e-mail address, record of payment, passport applications and a description of passport services rendered, Post Office box and caller service numbers.
2. Identity verification and biometric information: Driver's license; two forms of ID; signature; photographic image via self-service equipment; fingerprints, date of birth, and Social Security Numbers (SSNs) as required for passports by the State Department.
3. Recipient information: Name, address, and signature.
4. Names and addresses of persons authorized to access a Post Office box or caller service.
5. Claim and inquiry information: Mailer and addressee name, mail and e-mail address, and phone number; claimant SSN and signature; claim or inquiry description, number, and status.
6. Payment information: Credit and/or debit card number, type, and expiration date.
7. Product information: Article number.
39 U.S.C. 401, 403, 404, and 411; 22 U.S.C. 214; 31 U.S.C. 7701.
1. To enable customers to apply for and purchase nonfinancial products and services at Post Offices and other retail locations.
2. To ensure accurate mail delivery.
3. To respond to inquiries and claims related to special mail services.
a. Disclosure of boxholder applicant name/address and the names of other persons listed as receiving mail on PS Form 1093, Application for Post Office Box or Caller Service, may be made to a federal, state, or local government agency upon prior written certification that the information is required for the performance of its duties. A copy of PS Form 1093 may be furnished.
b. Disclosure of boxholder applicant name/address may be made to a person empowered to serve legal process, or the attorney for a party in whose behalf service will be made, or a party who is acting pro se, on receipt of written information that meets prescribed certification requirements. A copy of PS Form 1093 will not be furnished.
c. Disclosure of boxholder applicant name/address and the names of other persons listed as receiving mail on PS Form 1093 may be made, on prior written certification from a foreign government agency citing the relevance of the information to an indication of a violation or potential violation of law and its responsibility for investigating or prosecuting such violation, and only if the address is (a) outside the United States and its territories, and (b) within the territorial boundaries of the requesting foreign government. A copy of PS Form 1093 may be furnished.
All routine uses are subject to the following exception: Information concerning an individual who has filed an appropriate protective court order with the postmaster will not be disclosed under any routine use except pursuant to the order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
By name, customer ID(s), ZIP Code, article number, claim number, Post Office box or caller service number, check number, or debit and/or credit card number.
1. Passport applications are mailed on the day of acceptance with fees and documentation. Records related to passports are retained 4 months.
2. Records related to Special Services for domestic and International Express Mail are retained up to 1 year.
3. Domestic and international Special Services records are retained 2 years. Records relating to Post Office boxes and caller services are retained up to 2 years after the customer relationship ends.
4. Records collected via self-service equipment are retained up to 2 years.
5. Records related to credit and/or debit card transactions are retained 2 years.
6. Records related to inquiries and claims are retained up to 3 years from final action on the claim.
7. Records related to retail transactions are retained up to 5 years.
Senior Vice President, Operations, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
For records relating to Post Office boxes, caller services, self-service, and passports, inquiries made in person must be made by the subject individual at the local Post Office. Requestors must identify themselves with a driver's license or military, government, or other form of acceptable identification.
For passports, inquiries are best directed to the Department of State, which maintains the original case file.
For Special Services, information can be obtained from the facility where the service was obtained, or can be accessed on www.usps.com. Inquiries should include name, date of mailing, and article number. For Special Services claims, customers can write a letter, including name, date of claim, and claim number, to the head of the facility where the claim was filed, or can call 888-601-9328.
Sales, Marketing, Events, and Publications.
USPS Headquarters Marketing and Public Policy; Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers; National Customer Service Center; Area and District USPS facilities; Post Offices; and contractor sites.
Customers who interact with USPS sales personnel, respond to direct marketing messages, request publications, respond to contests and surveys, and attend USPS events.
1. Customer information: Customer and key contacts' names, mail and e-mail addresses, phone, fax and pager numbers; job descriptions, titles, and roles; other names and e-mails provided by customers.
2. Identifying information: Customer ID(s), D-U-N-S Numbers, USPS account numbers, meter numbers, and signatures.
3. Business specific information: Firm name, size, and years in business; number of employees; sales and revenue information; business sites and locations; URLs; company age; industrial classification numbers; use of USPS and competitors products and services; types of customers served; customer equipment and services; advertising agency and spending; names of USPS employees serving the firm; and calls made.
4. Information specific to companies that act as suppliers to USPS: Contract start and end dates, contract award number, contract value, products and/or services sold under contract.
5. Information provided by customers as part of a survey or contest.
6. Payment information: Credit and/or debit card number, type, expiration date, and check information; and ACH information.
7. Event information: Name of event; role at event; itinerary; and membership in a PCC.
8. Customer preferences: Preferences for badge name and accommodations.
39 U.S.C. 401, 403, 404.
1. To understand the needs of customers and improve USPS sales and marketing efforts.
2. To provide appropriate materials and publications to customers.
3. To conduct registration for USPS and related events.
For sales, events, and publications, information is retrieved by customer name or customer ID(s), mail or e-mail address, and phone number.
For direct marketing, information is retrieved by Standard Industry Code (SIC) or North American Industry Classification System (NAISC) number, and company name.
Computers are protected by mechanical locks, card key systems, or other physical access control methods. The use of computer systems is regulated with installed security software, computer logon Start Printed Page 22559identifications, and operating system controls including access controls, terminal and transaction logging, and file management software. Online data transmission is protected by encryption.
1. Records relating to organizations and publication mailing lists are retained until the customer ceases to participate.
2. ACH records are retained up to 2 years. Records relating to direct marketing, advertising, and promotions are retained 5 years.
For information pertaining to sales, inquiries should be addressed to: Office of Sales Performance Assessment, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260.
Customers wanting to know if other information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries in writing to the Chief Marketing Officer, and include their name and address.
Customers, USPS personnel, and list providers.
International Services.
USPS Headquarters, Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers, and USPS facilities.
Customers shipping to or from international locations.
1. Customer information: Customer name, customer ID(s), and contact information.
2. Name and address of senders and addressees.
3. Information pertaining to mailings: Contents, order number, volume, destination, weight, origin, and type of mailing.
4. Customer barcode scan data.
5. Company name; contact name, title, and phone and fax number; mail and e-mail address; after-hours contact name and phone number; Tax ID number; Permit account number; and CAPS account number.
1. To provide international mailings and business services.
2. To provide USPS scan data to customers for mail tracking purposes.
3. To support customized mail agreements with international customers.
4. To satisfy reporting requirements for customs purposes.
By customer name, ID number(s).
1. Records related to the Pre-Customs Advisory System are retained 5 years, and then erased according to the requirements of domestic and foreign Customs services.
Vice President, International Business, United States Postal Service, 1735 N. Lynn Street, Suite 6026, Arlington, VA 22209.
Customers wanting to know if other information about them is maintained in this system of records must address inquiries in writing to the system manager, and include their name and address.
Customers and USPS personnel.
Identity and Document Verification Services.
USPS Marketing, Headquarters; Integrated Business Solutions Services Centers; and contractor sites.
Customers who apply for identity and document verification services.
1. Customer information: Name, address, customer ID(s), telephone Start Printed Page 22560number, mail and e-mail address, date of birth, place of birth, company name, title, role, and employment status.
2. Names and contact information of users who are authorized to have access to data.
3. Verification and payment information: Credit and/or debit card information or other account number, government issued ID type and number, verification question and answer, and payment confirmation code. (Note: Social Security Number (SSN) and credit and/or debit card information are collected, but not stored, in order to verify ID.)
4. Biometric information including fingerprint, photograph, height, weight, and iris scans. (Note: Information may be collected, secured, and returned to customer or third parties at the direction of the customer, but not stored.)
5. Digital certificate information: Customer's public key(s), certificate serial numbers, distinguished name, effective dates of authorized certificates, certificate algorithm, date of revocation or expiration of certificate, and USPS-authorized digital signature.
6. Transaction information: Clerk signature; transaction type, date and time, location, source of transaction; product use and inquiries.
7. Electronic information related to encrypted or hashed documents.
1. To provide services related to identity and document verification services.
2. To issue and manage public key certificates, user registration, email addresses, and/or electronic postmarks.
3. To provide secure mailing services.
4. To protect business and personal communications.
5. To enhance personal identity and privacy protections.
By customer name, customer ID(s), distinguished name, certificate serial number, receipt number, and transaction date.
Key pairs are protected against cryptanalysis by encrypting the private key and by using a shared secret algorithm to protect the encryption key, and the certificate authority key is stored in a separate, tamperproof, hardware device. Activities are audited, and archived information is protected from corruption, deletion, and modification.
For authentication services and electronic postmark, electronic data is transmitted via secure socket layer (SSL) encryption to a secured data center. Computer media are stored within a secured, locked room within the facility. Access to the database is limited to the system administrator, database administrator, and designated support personnel. Paper forms are stored within a secured area within locked cabinets.
1. Records related to Pending Public Key Certificate Application Files are added as received to an electronic database, moved to the authorized certificate file when they are updated with the required data, and records not updated within 90 days from the date of receipt are destroyed.
2. Records related to the Public Key Certificate Directory are retained in an electronic database, are consistently updated, and records are destroyed as they are superseded or deleted.
3. Records related to the Authorized Public Key Certificate Master File are retained in an electronic database for the life of the authorized certificate.
4. When the certificate is revoked, it is moved to the certificate revocation file.
5. The Public Key Certificate Revocation List is cut off at the end of each calendar year and records are retained 30 years from the date of cutoff. Records may be retained longer with customer consent or request.
6. Other records in this system are retained 7 years, unless retained longer by request of the customer.
For authentication services, electronic postmarks, and digital certificates, inquiries should be addressed to:
Manager, Business Development and Identity Protection Services, United States Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Room 5806, Washington, DC 20260.
Neva Watson,
Attorney, Legislative.
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Solve: 3 + 6
Jeff Ament's Basses With Buffalo Bills & New Orleans Saints Stickers
Jack White "Blunderbuss" Album Cover Location - Nashville, Tennessee
feelnumb.com EXCLUSIVE: Inside Foo Fighters "The Sky is a Neighborhood" Video Set
Details About The Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour" Tour Bus
Reliving The Chris Cornell vs Trent Reznor Rivalry of 2009
Nick Oliveri Of Queens Of The Stone Age Was Arrested For Playing 2001 Rock In Rio Brazil Show Naked
Noel Gallagher's Gibson J-200 With The Adidas Sticker
Elvis Presley Shows Up At The White House Gates And Gets A Meeting With President Nixon
Crazy!!! Robert Plant Standing In Front Of The "Physical Graffiti" Building in New York
George Harrison's Dark Horse Sticker On His Sunburst Fender Stratocaster
The Woman in the Room with The Who's John Entwistle When He Died in Las Vegas
WOW!!! Lenny Kravitz Has A Really Huge....???
Dave Grohl Not Kurt Cobain Was Thanked On Hole's "Live Through This" Album
Steve Perry Lip Syncing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" At The 2010 World Series
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Sunday July 7 2019
Athletic Bilbao's Mikel Rico joins Huesca
By Feargal Brennan
Mikel Rico has returned to former club Huesca, after ten years away at Granada and Athletic Bilbao.
The 34-year old's contract at San Mames expired at the end of June 2019, and the club informed him they would not be offering him a new deal after six years in the Basque Country.
Huesca have now moved to bring the popular midfielder to the back to the Estadio El Alcoraz, where he played a key role in helping them achieve promotion on loan from Poli Ejido in 2007-08, before signing permanently for the 2008-09 season.
Huseca boss Francisco Rodriguez has been active in the summer transfer market, as he looks to prepare his side for life back in the Segunda Division, following their relegation in May 2019.
The departure of midfielder Gonzalo Melero to La Liga side Levante has freed up some much needed funds, and Rodriguez has already brought in Joaquin Munoz on loan from Atletico Madrid and Alvaro Fernandez from AS Monaco on a permanent deal.
Eder Militao suffers freak injury in Athletic Bilbao draw
Zinedine Zidane looks for positives after Athletic Bilbao draw
Thibaut Courtois: Athletic Bilbao draw leaves a bad taste
Real Madrid end 2019 with Athletic Bilbao draw
LA LIGA LIVE: REAL MADRID V ATHLETIC BILBAO
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MIT Lets Public Control Actor In Halloween Experiment - What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Emma Woollacott Senior Contributor
If you're at a loose end tonight and looking for a suitably spooky pastime for Halloween, you might want to check out what's going on at the MIT Media Lab.
In a project called BeeMe, an actor will give up their free will and allow members of the public to control their every action.
"The event will follow the story of an evil AI by the name of Zookd, who has accidentally been released online," the researchers explain.
"Internet users will have to coordinate at scale and collectively help the actor (also a character in the story) to defeat Zookd. If they fail, the consequences could be disastrous."
The public can suggest what the actor should do next, for example visiting a particular place. Other people can then upvote or downvote these suggestions, with the top-rated command being carried out.
"See what I see. Hear what I hear. Control my actions. Take my will. Be me," the project's slogan reads.
All this sounds like asking for trouble. Who can forget Tay, for example, the AI chatbot released on Twitter by Microsoft eighteen months ago? After being primed by statements made to it by members of the public, it took very little time before it started tweeting racist and inflammatory messages.
However, the MIT team is embracing the risk.
"BeeMe will redefine the way in which we understand social interactions online and in real life," they say. "It will push crowdsourcing and collective intelligence to the extreme to see where it breaks down."
And, they say, the actor won't carry out any commands that are illegal or dangerous, or that compromise his or her dignity or privacy - so at least the game won't descend into a a grubby porn session.
The MIT Media Lab has a tradition of creating spooky projects for Halloween. In 2016, researchers created an AI program called Nightmare Machine, which used crowd-sourced ideas of what makes an image frightening to convert normal photos into into spine-chilling pictures.
Last year, the group followed up with another AI program called Shelley that used similar techniques to create original horror stories.
BeeMe will begin at 11pm local time on Wednesday, 31 October (3am GMT on Thursday, 1 November). To join in, visit beeme.online. The team says that if tonight is a success, they plan to open the platform up for users to create their own stories in future.
Emma Woollacott
I've been writing about technology for most of my adult life, focusing mainly on legal and regulatory issues. I write for a wide range of publications: credits include t...
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Probably One Of The Best Pairs Of True Wireless Earphones For Under $100
Mark Sparrow Contributor
Technology journalist specializing in audio, computing and photography
Stylish and compact: these new true wireless TEVi earphones sound great and they look good too.
When you buy a piece of electronic kit from a major brand, you automatically remove the risk from what you’re buying. Major brands don’t usually release bad products and if they do, the returns policies are usually fairly comprehensive so you can get your money back. However, buying a largely unknown brand is a dive into the unknown. That’s where my job comes in. One of the things I enjoy most about what I do is discovering great products from largely unknown brands and testing them out to see if they are worth recommending.
The latest product to arrive for review is a pair of true-wireless earphones from a company called Lypertek. The company appears to be based in China and seems to export mainly to USA, Korea, and Japan. The company has three products: MEVI, BEVI, and TEVI. I know, it’s a bit strange but what’s in a name? I’m going to be looking at TEVI, the company’s true-wireless earphone offering that, on paper, ticks just about every box you’d want ticking. They have an excellent battery life at 10 hours on one charge, with a further six charges from the battery in the charging case; plus you can refresh the TEVI with a quick 15-minute burst charge for two hours of playing time. There are lots of other great features such as support for AAC and aptX audio codecs, IPX7 waterproof rating, class-leading noise-canceling mic for making clearer phone calls, plus the latest Qualcomm chipset for better Bluetooth performance.
The Lypertek TEVI earphones are light and compact and yet they can play for up to 10 hours on one ... [+] charge.
KS Distribution
The first thing I noticed about the TEVI is how similar the case looks and feels to the superb but more expensive Sennheiser Momentum TW earphones. The case is covered in a close-woven gray fabric and has four small LED charging indicator lights on the front to show how charging is progressing. Around the back of the hinge-top case, there’s a USB-C charging socket, something that always wins my seal of approval. The USB-C standard is incredibly robust and you can put it in any way you like as it’s a symmetrical design, much like Apple’s Lightning cable.
The TEVI earphones come with small, medium, and large ear tips made from silicone, plus a pair of medium-sized tips made from Flexifit foam, or memory foam, if you prefer, The tips fit snuggly in the ear and the raked design of the earpieces guarantee a fit right into the ear canal in a similar way to the excellent Klipsch T5 true wireless earphones I reviewed last month.
A full charge of the TEVIs takes about two hours and then you’re good to go for about a week’s worth of commuting. The IPX7 waterproof rating is perfect for shrugging off sweat or raindrops. I wouldn’t go swimming while wearing them, but most other steamy activities should be fine.
The TEVI true wireless earphones fit comfortably in the ear thanks to a choice of different size ... [+] silicone ear tips. A pair of memory foam tips are also included in the box.
A pair of true wireless earphones are, in effect, a complete music system packed into a tiny space. Each earpiece has to include a receiver for the digital Bluetooth signal, a DAC (digital to analog converter) and an amplifier for making the music loud enough to hear. All this amazing technology is included in one Qualcomm SOC (system on a chip) which offers Bluetooth version 5.0, support for both AAC and aptX audio codecs, the latest 32-bit Kalimba DAC, plus something called TrueWireless Stereo Plus. Most true wireless earphones beam the audio to a master earpiece that then relays the other stereo channel to the slave earpiece. The TrueWireless Stereo Plus the left and the right channel goes directly from the smartphone to both the left and right channels, at least that’s the theory, and it’s why you will see the TEVI listed twice in your list of Bluetooth devices, although they show up in the list as Lypertek.
Making phone calls with good audio quality is an important factor when considering a pair of Bluetooth earphones. One problem with true wireless designs is that the microphone for making calls is a long way from the user’s mouth. To get around this, the TEVI have a Qualcomm cVc 8.0 noise-canceling microphone that helps to suppress background noise so that there’s little or no echo on the call. Calls can be picked up or ended simply by pressing the button on the left earpiece. There are control buttons on each earpiece and depending on how you press them they offer access to music control, volume levels, voice assistants, and phone controls.
The diaphragm of the TEVI's driver assembly is a 6mm graphene-coated design.
The sound from the TEVI earphones is in part created by a high-performance, 6 mm, graphene-coated driver. Graphene is appearing in a lot of earphones lately. This new material, first isolated in 2004, at the University of Manchester, is an allotrope of carbon and about 100 times stronger than steel, yet it’s incredibly light and springy. Graphene’s properties mean it can help to produce a louder sound without distortion, and with delicacy, so every nuance of the music can be better articulated and fidelity preserved. We’re going to be seeing a lot more graphene used in earphones and headphones in the future.
The sound from these lovely little earphones is divine. I’d say it’s well on a par with the superb Klipsch T5 true wireless model I reviewed last month but at half the price. The battery life is just as good and the comfort levels are very similar. The TEVI earphones deliver excellent bass that’s never muddy or fat, but big enough to carry the rhythm of the music. The top end is extremely clear and undistorted, probably due to that graphene-coated driver. The TEVI sounds superb for a single dynamic driver design and I was bowled over by how it performed while I was listening to some Ben Webster saxophone ballads. The warmth and detail produced by the TEVI just works for my ears and made listening to music so enjoyable. I have a lot of earphones to choose from but I kept finding myself drawn back to the TEVI as they hit a sweet spot in terms of sound, battery life, comfort, and reliability.
The charging case houses a rechargeable battery that can hold up to 60 hours of playing time charge. ... [+]
Verdict: If you’re looking for a pair of true wireless earphones for sport or everyday commuting work and you don’t want to remortgage your home to get them, I can heartily recommend the Lypertek TEVI. They’ve got USB-C charging, excellent battery life, superbly well-balanced sound, and they are comfortable to wear even after a couple of hours of listening. The whole package is small enough to slip in a pocket and they connect flawlessly every time. I can’t criticize them at all. For the money, you can’t do much better. If you were thinking of getting a mediocre pair of true wireless earphones costing around the usual $60… think again. Spend a little extra and get a pair that can hold its own with the likes of Klipsch or Sennheiser. You may not recognize the brand, but you’ll certainly recognize the quality when you see and hear it.
Pricing: The Lypertek TEVI true wireless earphones are available from Amazon and cost $89.90 / £99 / €90 Amazon UK and Amazon USA
More info: www.hifiheadphones.co.uk
Driver: High-performance, 6mm, Graphene-coated driver.
Microphone: cVc 8.0 Noise Cancelling, Echo cancellation, noise suppression.
Bluetooth: Version 5.0.
Supported codecs: Qualcomm aptX, AAC, SBC.
Playing time: up to 10 hours (at 50% volume on SBC codec) and up to 70 hours using charging case.
Waterproof Level: IPX7
Controls: Skip track, Play, Pause, Volume, Phone Call, Voice Assistant.
TEVI True Wireless earphones.
Charging case.
S, M, L Silicone tips.
Flexfit Foam Tips (M size).
USB Type-C cable.
Quick-start manual.
Despite its long battery life, the charging case for the TEVI isn't too large and can fit in a ... [+] pocket with ease.
Follow me on LinkedIn.
Mark Sparrow
I’ve been a tech journalist for more than 35 years and I've written for both Mac and PC computing titles as well as spending many years writing about audio, imaging and
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KREIDLER 19 Titles
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BB 321CD
$17.00$14.45 IN STOCK
Thomas Klein, Alexander Paulick, Andreas Reihse, and Detlef Weinrich assembled in Düsseldorf in winter of 2018 for recordings, and then continued with further sessions in Berlin. Starting with around a dozen sketches, the band produced eight pieces, including "Flood I-IV" and "Flood V", an ensemble of five songs that -- in LP terms -- fills the entire second side of the album. But let's start from the beginning. Side One -- still speaking in LP terms -- begins pleasantly enough with the gentle roll and slight murmur of "Eurydike". Borrowed from Greek mythology, the title refers to the pretense of affection as a means of abandonment. The wistful saxophone, the bass notes, the slight trembling in the sound all speak of her awakening from disillusion. "Celeration", the second piece, seems to accelerate. But the pace of "Eurydike" is actually maintained. The tone becomes sharper, the rhythm creaky, the rolling more energetic, the sequence calls for a sacrifice. A shimmy, a scuttle, a quarter step: "Nesindano". The voice you hear is Khoes, alias Nesindano Namises; the language we hear is Khoekhoe/Damara. A gong, a CR-78 joins, a clicking, a flicker, words flutter, a bass booms, the voice rises up to the hook line, an FM synthesizer picks up the pieces and carries them along, percussion rattles. Agit-Pop! "Flood I-IV" is not about modesty or humility. It calls for always demanding the maximum --of oneself and for oneself -- which also means to give, and that each may set their own limits while respecting others, accepting them and helping where help is needed. Ricardo Domeneck takes on "Flood II" while looking out over the sea in Brazil, his feet in the sand for a few minutes, recalling a conversation with a geologist. "Flood I-IV" involves synthesizers, strings, rusty percussion, guitars enter into dialogue, a collaborative negotiation, a swelling and descending, a showering in transparent layers, banging on shore, heads are rolling, liquefying hierarchies not structures. "Flood IV" is a dance that flows into "Flood V", taking with it its instrumentation and mood, and moving it into a state between an easy-elegiac thoughtfulness and a concentrated contemplation. Kreidler, this four-headed hydra of a continental pop music that captures Bach, disco, postpunk, club, and krautrock in varying proportions with an elegant lightness. On Flood the band playfully expands its approach with two renowned voices.
BB 321LP
LP version. Thomas Klein, Alexander Paulick, Andreas Reihse, and Detlef Weinrich assembled in Düsseldorf in winter of 2018 for recordings, and then continued with further sessions in Berlin. Starting with around a dozen sketches, the band produced eight pieces, including "Flood I-IV" and "Flood V", an ensemble of five songs that -- in LP terms -- fills the entire second side of the album. But let's start from the beginning. Side One -- still speaking in LP terms -- begins pleasantly enough with the gentle roll and slight murmur of "Eurydike". Borrowed from Greek mythology, the title refers to the pretense of affection as a means of abandonment. The wistful saxophone, the bass notes, the slight trembling in the sound all speak of her awakening from disillusion. "Celeration", the second piece, seems to accelerate. But the pace of "Eurydike" is actually maintained. The tone becomes sharper, the rhythm creaky, the rolling more energetic, the sequence calls for a sacrifice. A shimmy, a scuttle, a quarter step: "Nesindano". The voice you hear is Khoes, alias Nesindano Namises; the language we hear is Khoekhoe/Damara. A gong, a CR-78 joins, a clicking, a flicker, words flutter, a bass booms, the voice rises up to the hook line, an FM synthesizer picks up the pieces and carries them along, percussion rattles. Agit-Pop! "Flood I-IV" is not about modesty or humility. It calls for always demanding the maximum --of oneself and for oneself -- which also means to give, and that each may set their own limits while respecting others, accepting them and helping where help is needed. Ricardo Domeneck takes on "Flood II" while looking out over the sea in Brazil, his feet in the sand for a few minutes, recalling a conversation with a geologist. "Flood I-IV" involves synthesizers, strings, rusty percussion, guitars enter into dialogue, a collaborative negotiation, a swelling and descending, a showering in transparent layers, banging on shore, heads are rolling, liquefying hierarchies not structures. "Flood IV" is a dance that flows into "Flood V", taking with it its instrumentation and mood, and moving it into a state between an easy-elegiac thoughtfulness and a concentrated contemplation. Kreidler, this four-headed hydra of a continental pop music that captures Bach, disco, postpunk, club, and krautrock in varying proportions with an elegant lightness. On Flood the band playfully expands its approach with two renowned voices.
Mosaik 2014 (10th Anniversary Reissue)
ITA 086RM-LP
Kreidler celebrate the tenth anniversary of their groundbreaking 2009 album, Mosaik 2014, with a remastered edition. Mosaik 2014 -- that's how it is meant to sound. Arrangements that feel right, without it being possible to map everything out, because all of the lines are woven together so intricately, and because the album was recorded mainly in a week of live sessions. Above all, this record has more: more rhythm, drums, percussion; more keyboards, better yet synthesizers that are immediate and cannot be turned away, sounds that demand something and yet retain great mystery; more off-kilter loops and more electrical storms. But it is all there to serve the same purpose: to make this the best Kreidler album of all Kreidler albums. There is a directness, and things come to the point while still leaving enough free space. There is longing, solace, fulfillment. In other words, big emotions. Features an updated track list; printed inner sleeve; 140 gram, white vinyl.
European Song
It was originally intended to be an entirely different album; Kreidler had already completed a new LP prior to recording European Song. Initial sessions in Mexico City in early 2016 evolved into a record that was in many ways, lighter, more minimalist, and certainly more playful than the band's work of recent years. Then came the brutal shock of the US election. It seemed to solidify everything that was going wrong with the world. The times of uncertainty, violence, and xenophobisms had attained a new quality. A cartoon villain, the evil corporate manipulator disguised as a refreshing amateur, a "man of the people", lured the masses with unconditional hate speech and now enters the world-political arena. In their 23 years of existence, Kreidler have often made music that might be described as "dystopian". And faced with the likelihood of these nightmare scenarios becoming excruciatingly real, suddenly, Kreidler's previously intended new album felt wrong for this universe. Kreidler quickly reconvened in order to record a brand new set of tracks. Circumstances provided no lack of inspiration. Fortunately, the group had just completed a short run of concerts and were in top playing form. The songs were captured live in the studio as spontaneous improvisational takes. There wasn't much in the way of overdubs or additional production, just some editing for conciseness. The mixes add cohesion and impact without smoothing off the rough edges of the session. The stringent drumming of Thomas Klein meshes with Detlef Weinrich's edgy electronic sequences, the brutalist opulence of Andreas Reihse's synthetic soundscapes are complemented by Alexander Paulick's restrained flourishes and rhythmic guitar and bass work. As usual, there are no actual "vocals" on European Song. Yet abstract, voice-like sounds often occur, suggesting a terrified crowd or a choir of hooligans. Repetition and modulation are the yin and yang in the band's hybrid of un-kraut, no-tech, dark pop, bunker. The hallmark interplay between man and machine results from a combination of collective experience and blind trust in the moment. It's a group thing, on purpose. Listening to European Song, the validity of Kreidler's approach is apparent from the first bars. There is an immediacy, an alertness, a readiness for action. The album title refers to the history of a continent that has previously surpassed all others in self-destruction. Cover art by Rosemarie Trockel.
LP+CD
LP version. Includes CD. It was originally intended to be an entirely different album; Kreidler had already completed a new LP prior to recording European Song. Initial sessions in Mexico City in early 2016 evolved into a record that was in many ways, lighter, more minimalist, and certainly more playful than the band's work of recent years. Then came the brutal shock of the US election. It seemed to solidify everything that was going wrong with the world. The times of uncertainty, violence, and xenophobisms had attained a new quality. A cartoon villain, the evil corporate manipulator disguised as a refreshing amateur, a "man of the people", lured the masses with unconditional hate speech and now enters the world-political arena. In their 23 years of existence, Kreidler have often made music that might be described as "dystopian". And faced with the likelihood of these nightmare scenarios becoming excruciatingly real, suddenly, Kreidler's previously intended new album felt wrong for this universe. Kreidler quickly reconvened in order to record a brand new set of tracks. Circumstances provided no lack of inspiration. Fortunately, the group had just completed a short run of concerts and were in top playing form. The songs were captured live in the studio as spontaneous improvisational takes. There wasn't much in the way of overdubs or additional production, just some editing for conciseness. The mixes add cohesion and impact without smoothing off the rough edges of the session. The stringent drumming of Thomas Klein meshes with Detlef Weinrich's edgy electronic sequences, the brutalist opulence of Andreas Reihse's synthetic soundscapes are complemented by Alexander Paulick's restrained flourishes and rhythmic guitar and bass work. As usual, there are no actual "vocals" on European Song. Yet abstract, voice-like sounds often occur, suggesting a terrified crowd or a choir of hooligans. Repetition and modulation are the yin and yang in the band's hybrid of un-kraut, no-tech, dark pop, bunker. The hallmark interplay between man and machine results from a combination of collective experience and blind trust in the moment. It's a group thing, on purpose. Listening to European Song, the validity of Kreidler's approach is apparent from the first bars. There is an immediacy, an alertness, a readiness for action. The album title refers to the history of a continent that has previously surpassed all others in self-destruction. Cover art by Rosemarie Trockel.
European Song (Golden Vinyl)
Limited golden LP version. Includes CD. It was originally intended to be an entirely different album; Kreidler had already completed a new LP prior to recording European Song. Initial sessions in Mexico City in early 2016 evolved into a record that was in many ways, lighter, more minimalist, and certainly more playful than the band's work of recent years. Then came the brutal shock of the US election. It seemed to solidify everything that was going wrong with the world. The times of uncertainty, violence, and xenophobisms had attained a new quality. A cartoon villain, the evil corporate manipulator disguised as a refreshing amateur, a "man of the people", lured the masses with unconditional hate speech and now enters the world-political arena. In their 23 years of existence, Kreidler have often made music that might be described as "dystopian". And faced with the likelihood of these nightmare scenarios becoming excruciatingly real, suddenly, Kreidler's previously intended new album felt wrong for this universe. Kreidler quickly reconvened in order to record a brand new set of tracks. Circumstances provided no lack of inspiration. Fortunately, the group had just completed a short run of concerts and were in top playing form. The songs were captured live in the studio as spontaneous improvisational takes. There wasn't much in the way of overdubs or additional production, just some editing for conciseness. The mixes add cohesion and impact without smoothing off the rough edges of the session. The stringent drumming of Thomas Klein meshes with Detlef Weinrich's edgy electronic sequences, the brutalist opulence of Andreas Reihse's synthetic soundscapes are complemented by Alexander Paulick's restrained flourishes and rhythmic guitar and bass work. As usual, there are no actual "vocals" on European Song. Yet abstract, voice-like sounds often occur, suggesting a terrified crowd or a choir of hooligans. Repetition and modulation are the yin and yang in the band's hybrid of un-kraut, no-tech, dark pop, bunker. The hallmark interplay between man and machine results from a combination of collective experience and blind trust in the moment. It's a group thing, on purpose. Listening to European Song, the validity of Kreidler's approach is apparent from the first bars. There is an immediacy, an alertness, a readiness for action. The album title refers to the history of a continent that has previously surpassed all others in self-destruction. Cover art by Rosemarie Trockel.
2014 marks twenty years of Kreidler. The band has outgrown adolescence, but remains juvenile, reckless, impetuous. They recorded their new album ABC in Tbilisi, Georgia. And there will also be a film by Heinz Emigholz, who accompanied the last album Den with film clips. Six tracks characterized by elliptical shifts, where suddenly the bass and drums take over the helm -- or a choir appears. Kreidler worked together with Georgian singers: either hovering freely in the meditative pop piece "Ceramic," or defining a new space within a space, as in "Nino." Nino perhaps most clearly suggests that the album was recorded in Tbilisi, Europe's southeasternmost metropolis, on the former Silk Road at the intersection of East and West. "Nino" opens the album -- a piece made for setting off in a convertible with the top down, moving at the steady pace through the speed-limited traffic zones with the speakers pumping. A female voice takes over for "Alphabet" and the mood rises. It rocks as only Kreidler can rock. Then a short pause with "Destino," which displays a melancholy longing that leads to abstract no wave funk. "Modul" is similar to Nino, yet even more relentless. "Tornado" concludes ABC. A scruffy smoothness unifies the tracks, which rely less on layers or the shifting of variable patterns, and more on riffs. Yes, riffs. But not hashed-out on guitar or bass -- Alex Paulick is more the sequencer, the lead sound, or the cloud. It is the synthesizers of Andreas Reihse and Detlef Weinrich that provide the definitive propulsion. And wasn't it the case with Den that Kreidler even considered making a record without drums? What a peculiar endeavor. Once again, Thomas Klein's distinctive playing was destined to press the songs further forward, onward, ahead. As always with Kreidler, ABC is about the exploration of freedoms within a previously determined framework. It is a formulation of convergences, of possibilities within a procedural movement, based on a notion of democracy, with socialism in mind, where one understands that restraint is not merely a strategy of a conceptually inclined band, but that it serves to strengthen the validity, precision and majestic authority of expression. The cover uses photographic works by Thea Djordjadze. The Georgian artist usually works directly within a space, combining sculpture, painting and found objects into ensembles. Many of her photographic works are comparable, arranging diverse elements in a black (or white) box. Her works reflect art and cultural history, refer to Georgian folk art, or even Soviet modernity.
LP version. Includes a CD copy of the album. 2014 marks twenty years of Kreidler. The band has outgrown adolescence, but remains juvenile, reckless, impetuous. They recorded their new album ABC in Tbilisi, Georgia. And there will also be a film by Heinz Emigholz, who accompanied the last album Den with film clips. Six tracks characterized by elliptical shifts, where suddenly the bass and drums take over the helm -- or a choir appears. Kreidler worked together with Georgian singers: either hovering freely in the meditative pop piece "Ceramic," or defining a new space within a space, as in "Nino." Nino perhaps most clearly suggests that the album was recorded in Tbilisi, Europe's southeasternmost metropolis, on the former Silk Road at the intersection of East and West. "Nino" opens the album -- a piece made for setting off in a convertible with the top down, moving at the steady pace through the speed-limited traffic zones with the speakers pumping. A female voice takes over for "Alphabet" and the mood rises. It rocks as only Kreidler can rock. Then a short pause with "Destino," which displays a melancholy longing that leads to abstract no wave funk. "Modul" is similar to Nino, yet even more relentless. "Tornado" concludes ABC. A scruffy smoothness unifies the tracks, which rely less on layers or the shifting of variable patterns, and more on riffs. Yes, riffs. But not hashed-out on guitar or bass -- Alex Paulick is more the sequencer, the lead sound, or the cloud. It is the synthesizers of Andreas Reihse and Detlef Weinrich that provide the definitive propulsion. And wasn't it the case with Den that Kreidler even considered making a record without drums? What a peculiar endeavor. Once again, Thomas Klein's distinctive playing was destined to press the songs further forward, onward, ahead. As always with Kreidler, ABC is about the exploration of freedoms within a previously determined framework. It is a formulation of convergences, of possibilities within a procedural movement, based on a notion of democracy, with socialism in mind, where one understands that restraint is not merely a strategy of a conceptually inclined band, but that it serves to strengthen the validity, precision and majestic authority of expression. The cover uses photographic works by Thea Djordjadze. The Georgian artist usually works directly within a space, combining sculpture, painting and found objects into ensembles. Many of her photographic works are comparable, arranging diverse elements in a black (or white) box. Her works reflect art and cultural history, refer to Georgian folk art, or even Soviet modernity.
It could be said that Tank (BB 070CD/LP), Kreidler's critically-acclaimed previous album -- is a drum album. Not in the sense of the brute force of a Ginger Baker or a John Bonham, but more in terms of the elastic muscularity of a Budgie, a Robert Görl or a Klaus Dinger. So in the case of Den, if attempting yet another such broad categorization, one might draw attention to the album's viscous musicality. Indeed, for recording and mixing, Kreidler chose to work at LowSwing, a studio renowned for its round sonic character, with the magnificent Guy Sternberg at the controls. The album's opening track displays an inspired beauty that is perhaps reminiscent of Eno during those periods in which he was interested in songwriting. Pan-Asian counter-melodies interplay around the stoic but light architecture of "Deadwringer." And "Rote Wüste" is a mysterious painting, spanning a vast emotional arc between its dark beginnings and the possibility of a conciliatory resolution. The heavily grooving "Cascade" finds an utterly mesmerized Alex Paulick on guitar -- just how many chord changes does Andreas Reihse get through? But one nice aspect of Kreidler is that those kinds of things hardly matter. "Moth Race" is another uninhibited dance number built on Detlef Weinrich's harsh yet supple beat, suggesting New York City as envisioned by Arthur Russell. "Celtic Ghosts" dissolves this impression through ornamentation and leads us out onto the glassy ice. "Winter" is a gliding machine of magnetic, polished chrome. A rhythmic firework commences, devoid of all morality. Thomas Klein's playing is an essential component of the Kreidler sound. And if any reference is missing here, then it might be to Jaki Liebezeit of Can, who cultivates a similarly angular groove. All in all, in addition to the musical subtlety and elegant dialogical interaction which is celebrated on this album, it can be stated with enthusiasm that the band has not taken a single step back from its rhythmic force. Cover art by Enrico David.
180 gram LP version with CD. It could be said that Tank (BB 070CD/LP), Kreidler's critically-acclaimed previous album -- is a drum album. Not in the sense of the brute force of a Ginger Baker or a John Bonham, but more in terms of the elastic muscularity of a Budgie, a Robert Görl or a Klaus Dinger. So in the case of Den, if attempting yet another such broad categorization, one might draw attention to the album's viscous musicality. Indeed, for recording and mixing, Kreidler chose to work at LowSwing, a studio renowned for its round sonic character, with the magnificent Guy Sternberg at the controls. The album's opening track displays an inspired beauty that is perhaps reminiscent of Eno during those periods in which he was interested in songwriting. Pan-Asian counter-melodies interplay around the stoic but light architecture of "Deadwringer." And "Rote Wüste" is a mysterious painting, spanning a vast emotional arc between its dark beginnings and the possibility of a conciliatory resolution. The heavily grooving "Cascade" finds an utterly mesmerized Alex Paulick on guitar -- just how many chord changes does Andreas Reihse get through? But one nice aspect of Kreidler is that those kinds of things hardly matter. "Moth Race" is another uninhibited dance number built on Detlef Weinrich's harsh yet supple beat, suggesting New York City as envisioned by Arthur Russell. "Celtic Ghosts" dissolves this impression through ornamentation and leads us out onto the glassy ice. "Winter" is a gliding machine of magnetic, polished chrome. A rhythmic firework commences, devoid of all morality. Thomas Klein's playing is an essential component of the Kreidler sound. And if any reference is missing here, then it might be to Jaki Liebezeit of Can, who cultivates a similarly angular groove. All in all, in addition to the musical subtlety and elegant dialogical interaction which is celebrated on this album, it can be stated with enthusiasm that the band has not taken a single step back from its rhythmic force. Cover art by Enrico David.
Bureau B presents a new album by Germany's legendary Kreidler. "A simple plan: five days recording, three days mixing. One would hope that after over fifteen years of playing together, we might have acquired a certain degree of dexterity. Even for the last album Mosaik 2014 (Italic, 2009) we shut ourselves into Kreidler's own Shed In The Park studio in Cologne for five days without any warm-up and began recording. The band was geographically divided equally between Berlin (Alex Paulick, Andreas Reihse) and Düsseldorf (Thomas Klein, Detlef Weinrich). The actual recordings took place in September 2010 at Tobias Levin's Electric Avenue Studio in Hamburg. The idea behind the simple plan, of course, is rock'n'roll -- the energy of a live show captured on record. But it must sound good. Especially the drums. And Tobias Levin was the man for the job, a master of miking and a multiplier of the moment. We knew what we wanted: first take, no shake, followed directly by mixing in Kreuzberg with Hannes Bieger, namely analog, on tape. A bit of editing work was needed nevertheless, and in the end the post-production lasted eight days. So what do the pieces mean? Well, the titles may offer a few hints. A dystopia? In some places, perhaps. A positive utopia? In other places, for certain. A description of the present time? Kreidler think in terms of records and in the arithmetic of the great disco albums: NEU! 75, Saint Tropez or Patrick Cowley, examples from the ranks of legendary six-song albums, or the unpolished wildness in Tobias Levin's studio met with the controlled artificiality of Hannes Bieger, all mastered to the appropriate dimensions by Bo Kondren and the unsettling sublimity of Andro Wekua's cover painting. Indeed, Tank does relate to the narrative of Mosaik 2014, but Tank also deals with the break from that narrative. And in some respects, the album recalls our very first effort, Riva from 1994, which may lie in the pace of its development, or the fact that we have tried to keep the structure of the pieces simple and direct, that we used the computer more as a canister, a container or a vessel and less as an operating room. And of course, the fact that Kreidler has once again become a four-piece band, a band with a clear understanding of roles: a drummer, a bassist who can also reach for the guitar, a keyboard player and a man for the electronics." --Kreidler
$25.00 LOW STOCK LEVEL
180 gram LP version with free download code. Bureau B presents a new album by Germany's legendary Kreidler. "A simple plan: five days recording, three days mixing. One would hope that after over fifteen years of playing together, we might have acquired a certain degree of dexterity. Even for the last album Mosaik 2014 (Italic, 2009) we shut ourselves into Kreidler's own Shed In The Park studio in Cologne for five days without any warm-up and began recording. The band was geographically divided equally between Berlin (Alex Paulick, Andreas Reihse) and Düsseldorf (Thomas Klein, Detlef Weinrich). The actual recordings took place in September 2010 at Tobias Levin's Electric Avenue Studio in Hamburg. The idea behind the simple plan, of course, is rock'n'roll -- the energy of a live show captured on record. But it must sound good. Especially the drums. And Tobias Levin was the man for the job, a master of miking and a multiplier of the moment. We knew what we wanted: first take, no shake, followed directly by mixing in Kreuzberg with Hannes Bieger, namely analog, on tape. A bit of editing work was needed nevertheless, and in the end the post-production lasted eight days. So what do the pieces mean? Well, the titles may offer a few hints. A dystopia? In some places, perhaps. A positive utopia? In other places, for certain. A description of the present time? Kreidler think in terms of records and in the arithmetic of the great disco albums: NEU! 75, Saint Tropez or Patrick Cowley, examples from the ranks of legendary six-song albums, or the unpolished wildness in Tobias Levin's studio met with the controlled artificiality of Hannes Bieger, all mastered to the appropriate dimensions by Bo Kondren and the unsettling sublimity of Andro Wekua's cover painting. Indeed, Tank does relate to the narrative of Mosaik 2014, but Tank also deals with the break from that narrative. And in some respects, the album recalls our very first effort, Riva from 1994, which may lie in the pace of its development, or the fact that we have tried to keep the structure of the pieces simple and direct, that we used the computer more as a canister, a container or a vessel and less as an operating room. And of course, the fact that Kreidler has once again become a four-piece band, a band with a clear understanding of roles: a drummer, a bassist who can also reach for the guitar, a keyboard player and a man for the electronics." --Kreidler
Impressions D'Afrique
ITALIC 089EP
"With the release of 'Impressions D'Afrique' -- the first remix 12 inch from their mind-expanding new album Mosaik 2014 -- they will once again raise the awareness of their audience for airy soundscapes far beyond the space-time continuum. Side A features the fantastic new extended long 12" edit of 'Impressions d'Afrique.' Here you can dance to percussive sci-fi music played live to get some outer-space satisfaction. The flip-side features a UNIT 4 (Body Dub, Clone Records) rework. UNIT 4's 'Oro Borum Bonga Baum Chant Remix' is made for a disco party where not only mirror balls turn crazy. For those who like space, kraut, disco and body dub, it's a must."
Eve Future Recall
WON 016CD
"2004 marks ten years of Kreidler. 10 years in the life of one band. Kreidler's biography is incontestably connected to art. One can consider their opus, Eve Future as an art project in its own right, its theme continued in Eve Future Recall. Eve Future sees Kreidler treading the path of chamber music, adopting the language of several periods, leaning towards Baroque, minimalist expression, creating a concerto of electronic music, the identity of which is filled with references beyond temporal classification. In retrospect, the 2002 'mini album' Eve Future now appears to have been a majestic overture to the actual performance. Eve Future Recall is a departure from the formal discipline which was under the surface of its predecessor. If the original work was something of a description of external circumstance, an introduction to the spectacle, a dance governed by rules, then Recall concerns itself with the inner sphere, the state of the soul and the emotional complexity of the figures contained within the theme. Kreidler have set free the musical vocabulary of Eve Future, more vivacious and open in the way that the spoken word sets itself apart from the written. Eve Future Recall zooms in. A face becomes visible. A story is told, a breath is carried on a whisper. A game of looks and love, of daring and possibilities. Experiencing freedom within self imposed boundaries and the confounding of these very restrictions. Allow us to return to the theme. The title Eve Future is taken from the novel of the same name by the French author Auguste Villiers-de L'Isle Adams, published in 1885, 1886. The story tells of the inventor Edison and the 'electro-human creature' he creates as the apparently perfect lover for the British Lord Ewald. However, he proves unable to love her because she is resistant to his refined aesthetic intellect. Hadaly shall be her name. The Eve of tomorrow. Powered by the sun, golden phonographs where her lungs would be, lined with recordings of highly intelligent speech. A mere android, metaphysically brought to life by the sacrifice of a woman. Followed shortly hereafter by a second female sacrifice as she is destroyed in a shipwreck. Kreidler orchestrate this life-given artifice. They play with the doubling, beauty and kitsch of mathematics, rows of numbers and digital form. They portray objectivity, poetry and eroticism. Bach's sense of film behind them and its counterpoint in the disco. The hymn and the song. A love of Cologne's cathedral and Schneider-Esleben's car repair shop in Düsseldorf. Rendering the politically motivated distinction between popular and classical music obsolete. Amplifying thought and sensation. Transgression, enchantment and, time and again, Europe: the modern and modernism."
WON 016LP
LP version.
"It comes as no surprise that on their third LP, Kreidler are more imaginative and multi-faceted than ever before in their celebration of music. Celebration? Hardly any other band organizes sounds and noises with such skill that their music can sound fragmented yet complete at the same time. The songs always -- even if only briefly -- explore that enchanting moment when a sequence of notes and sounds suddenly begins to make sense: the initiation of beauty. At the same time, they have enough respect not to stop halfway; over the course of the album, scattered sounds and short intervals form a swaying, circulating track, with those melodic lines and swinging rhythms that are typically Kreidler. The record repeatedly reminds us of instances when music is perceived not merely as an everyday thing on the radio or the TV, but consciously recognized as an enrichment of a moment. In this way, in their collaboration with Momus -- the last hip-intellectual of pop music -- they have explored how a piece of music or a song can be created from a series of observations in a diary. In 'Mnemorex', Momus and Kreidler describe a sort of departure, made possible by their connection to the past, their own history and their knowledge of the loss of innocence. Here, and in the following songs, they are re-creating themselves, sounding more focused yet at the same time lighter; this is Kreidler's return as renaissance men. Kreidler's most complete and liberated album to date has achieved all this with gallant coolness, a charming sense of humor and that un-dogmatic intelligence which has always led to the most exciting music. The honor of accompanying them on this journey was well worth waiting for."
$11.00$9.35 IN STOCK
WON 002EP
$8.00$6.80 IN STOCK
"Relax on the backseat for a sec. Let the engine run circles for you, and for a moment everything feels alright. And you know this keeps on keeping on. A dance step imported from another time into the present. When you feel responsibility, its only for the quarks. Like the knight as a portrait of independence. Laid back, leaving all the insecurities far behind. Once more you can have beauty as an argument, a modern soul movement. And it all happens in a concrete place with the two resident DJs arguing who spins first. It's the moment where everything is possible, without losing strength and linearity. Finally, Lancelot the knight tells stories of love and freedom. The break marks the in between time. From the R&B influenced 'Circles' to the soulstrumental beauties, from the deep bass re-edit to the fine groove of 'Lanzelot'. Once more, Kreidler shows its international pop sensibility. A statement of modernity in the beautiful musical tradition of Duesseldorf."
KIFF SM
KIFF 013 CD
5-track remix EP, Kreidler's most outlandishly accessible moment, in a synth-electro style that is totally captivating. "'Coldness' is the first track since 1994 on which Kreidler have worked with vocal parts. For the second single of the album they reworked the track completely and arranged it new. An urban declaration of love between neon-lights, cocktail-glasses and new wave romanticism which rather watches the unknown beauty from the distinct than obtrusively approaches her. Frankfurt's Shantel who already supported Kreidler as DJ on their recent tour, pushes 'Coldness' into a completely different direction. The opening remix of this release is contributed by Daniel Miller from Mute Records and Frank Tovey, collectively known better as Fad Gadget or from Daniel's productions with Depeche Mode. Miller and Tovey's 'Sunroof Mix' filters Kreidler's reminiscences and forms there from a perfect piece of 80s synth pop. Retrospective-future music and that's no contradiction."
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Published December 4
Taylor Swift's Netflix documentary 'Miss Americana' will be a 'raw and emotionally revealing look' at her life
By Nate Day | Fox News
Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines for Dec. 4
Fox News Flash top entertainment and celebrity headlines for Dec. 4 are here. Check out what's clicking today in entertainment.
Netflix will be home to an original documentary centered on the world of Taylor Swift.
On Wednesday, the streaming giant announced that the doc, titled "Taylor Swift: Miss Americana," will appear on its platform in early 2020 after opening at the Sundance Film Festival in late January.
Netflix described the documentary as "a raw and emotionally revealing look at one of the most iconic artists of our time during a transformational period in her life as she learns to embrace her role not only as a songwriter and performer but as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice."
TAYLOR SWIFT GRACES BRITISH VOGUE COVER, TALKS PATH TO SUCCESS: 'I WORKED AS HARD AS I COULD'
Emmy-winner Lana Wilson, from "After Tiller," directed the film.
The official announcement comes weeks after Swift, 29, alleged on Twitter that music executives Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta, who own Swift's masters, refused to allow her to use any of her old music in the documentary.
Swift also claimed that the duo was blocking her from performing a medley of her hits on the American Music Awards, where she took home the Artist of the Decade Award.
TAYLOR SWIFT MOONWALKS PAST MICHAEL JACKSON'S RECORD AT AMA AWARDS
She was later cleared to "stream past shows, and rebroadcast (music) on mutually approved platform(s)," allowing Swift to perform her hits on television and release the documentary.
This year has been a big one for Swift -- not only has she been wrapped up in a feud over her masters, but she also released "Lover," her seventh studio album, and will star in "Cats," set to hit theaters at the end of the month.
Gronk's SI girlfriend tells all
'Bach' SHOCKING sex confession
Arnold's love child recreates iconic pic
Elizabeth Hurley doesn't age
Serious allegation against Markle
'Dukes' star: I 'didn't see it coming'
How Elvis bombed at Opry
Pamela Anderson's marriages: A look back
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Top Lists - Music
GBHBL’s Top 20 Albums of 2019 – Part 1
29/12/2019 28/12/2019 Carl 'The Disc' Fisher A Dawn To Fear, A Moment of Clarity Records, Absurdum Ad Nauseam, Alcest, Black Lion Records, Century Media Records, Childrain, Control the Storm, Cult of Luna, Cybernetic Witch Cult, Dark Adversary Productions, Dark Mirror Ov Tragedy, Devin Townsend, Dream Troll, Empath, Ephemeral Visions, Evergreen Refuge, Forevermore, Frostveil, GBHBL, GBHBL's Top 20 Albums of 2019, Graviton Records, HevyDevy Records, Krysthla, Mass Worship, Metal Blade Records, Mist of Misery, Morass of Molasses, Napalm Records, Nuclear Blast, Obey, Officium Triste, PHD, Rotting Christ, Season of Mist, Second to None, Self-Released, Skyward, Sliptrick Records, Spiritual Instinct, Spite, Stay Sick Recordings, Swallow the Sun, The Death of Gaia, The Heretics, The Lord Ov Shadows, The Root of all Evil, The Silver Ghost, The Ties That Bind, Top 20 Albums of 2019, Transcending Obscurity Records, Unalterable, Wasted State Records, Wind Rose, Wintersaga, Worldwide Negative
Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Bang Life brings you part 1 of our Top 20 Albums of 2019. This list consists of both Brendan and Carl’s top 20 to 11 albums of 2019.
Album Review – We Are Not Your Kind by Slipknot (Roadrunner Records)
15/08/2019 15/08/2019 Brendan 'Unholydarklotus' Fisher Devin Townsend, Duality, Gently, Halloween, new Slipknot, New Slipknot album, Reviews, Roadrunner Records, Slipknot, Slipknot maggots, slipknot review, Solway Firth, Stone Sour, Unsainted, We Are Not Your Kind
American metal icons, Slipknot, released their brand new album, We Are Not Your Kind on the 9th of August via Roadrunner Records.
Music News – Scardust Release New Video and UK Dates
11/07/2019 11/07/2019 Brendan 'Unholydarklotus' Fisher Amaranthe, Anathema, Band, Bogren, BTBAM, Cradle of Filth, Cyhra, Devilment, Devin Townsend, Dials, Drake Mefestta, Epica, Israeli, Israeli metal, Jake E, Kobi Farhi, live video, Metal, Michael Romeo, Noa Gruman, Opeth, Orphaned Land, Pain of Salvation, Prog In The Park Stage, Progressive, Ramblin' Man Fair, Riverside, Sands of Time, Scardust, Symphonic, Symphony X, Therion
In advance of their upcoming live appearances in the UK, Israeli Symphonic/Progressive Metal band, Scardust, debut their live video for the song, Dials.
Bloodstock 2019 Music News
News – Metal 2 the Masses Essex – The Grand Final
12/06/2019 12/06/2019 Brendan 'Unholydarklotus' Fisher Animals as Leaders, Bloodstock Festival 2019, Breed 77, Cancer Bats, Colchester, Collected, Devin Townsend, Essex, Funeral For A Friend, Goat Monsoon, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, M2TM, Metal 2 The Masses Essex, Metal to the masses, Metallica, Motörhead, New Blood Stage, News, Osmium Guillotine, Soundhouse, Tesseract, The Bull, The Grand Final, Walk in Coma, Witch Tripper
Metal 2 the Masses Essex is gearing up for it’s final showdown where the deserved winner will earn their place at Bloodstock Festival 2019.
Album Review – Empath by Devin Townsend (HevyDevy Records)
04/04/2019 04/04/2019 Brendan 'Unholydarklotus' Fisher Alice In Wonderland, Art, Canada, Canadian, Castaway, Casualties of Cool, Clapton, Colourful, creative, Devin Townsend, Disney Princess, eccentric, Empath, Evermore, HevyDevy Records, Hip Hop, Metal, Pop, positive music, Rabbit Hole, singularity, solo artist, Strapping Young Lad, The Devin Townsend Band, The Devin Townsend Project, Transcendence, unique, Z2, Ziltoid the Omniscient
Prepare for a vivid journey into the mind of a genius with Devin Townsend’s latest release, Empath. A creative, eccentric and slightly mad piece of art laid down in musical form.
2019 Single Slam
Single Slam – Evermore by Devin Townsend (Empath)
21/03/2019 21/03/2019 Brendan 'Unholydarklotus' Fisher Canada, Casualties of Cool, Devin Townsend, Empath, Evermore, Heavy, Metal, New Metal, New Music, Review, Strapping Young Lad, Symphonic, The Devin Townsend Band, The Devin Townsend Project, theatrical, Transcendence, West End Musical, Z2, Ziltoid the Omniscient
Evermore is the latest single released from Devin Townsend’s new album, Empath. The Canadian metal icon will release Empath on the 29th of March via his own label HevyDevy Records.
Bloodstock 2019
Band Interview – Collected (Metal 2 the Masses Essex 2019)
16/01/2019 11/01/2019 Brendan 'Unholydarklotus' Fisher Agent Fresco, alien, Band Interview, Battlefield, Bloodstock, Bloodstock Festival 2019, BOA, Colchester, Collected, Devin Townsend, Evil Dead II, Fyresky, Goat Monsoon, Heat One, Left to Nothingness, M2TM, Metal 2 the Masses Essex 2019, Metal Gear, Modern, New Blood Stage, Paranormal Activity, Parrilla, progressive rock band, ps4, Rocket league, Tesseract, The Bull, The Contortionist, The Penny Antics, The Soundhouse
Modern/progressive rock band Collected will play in Heat One of Metal 2 the Masses Essex 2019. They face off against Parrilla, FyreSky, Goat Monsoon and The Penny Antics on the 18th of January. The event takes place at The Soundhouse which is at The Bull, Colchester, CO3 3ES.
Album Review: Dominia - The Withering Of The Rose (MSH Music Group)
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Fix the 6-10: City Forum Highlights Need for New Ideas to Fix the 6-10
Press release from Fix the 6-10:
Last night, August 30, over 100 residents, community leaders, business owners, and transportation and planning experts gathered for a public forum at Asa Messer Elementary School on the West Side to discuss the future of the Rt. 6-10 Connector.
Workshop participants gave voice to the many values other than just moving cars that are important to Rhode Islanders: fiscal sustainability; improved safety for people driving, walking, biking, or taking the bus; creating new opportunities for economic development and low-income communities that live near the highway; open space and beauty and innovation and climate change.
Many participants suggested replacing the highway with a connected network of boulevards and streets more like Memorial Boulevard in Providence or Blackstone Boulevard, or the Parkways in Boston’s Emerald Necklace; which would greatly reduce long-term maintenance costs and improve connections between neighborhoods.
RI Department of Transportation (RIDOT) and the City of Providence have been working for the last year to design a replacement for the aging interchange and its structurally deficient bridges. Earlier this summer, the State learned it would not receive a $175 million grant to support the reconstruction.
Fix the 6-10, a recently formed coalition of community groups, believes that there is much work to be done before the best design can be determined.
First, there is a lack of comprehensive data and analysis of current traffic utilization, origins and destinations, and alternatives. We call on the state to work with effected communities to design a comprehensive data collection and analysis process that is open and transparent.
Second, any future design must measure not just traffic flow but also fiscal, environmental, social, and economic impacts. How we will pay for the infrastructure now and in the future? How do we move people efficiently in the City and the region? How do we repair damaged neighborhoods and poor health? How do we reduce vehicle carbon emissions? How do we attract investment and grow jobs in Rhode Island? We’ll design for what we measure.
The hard work begins now.
[alert type=”muted”]See also: ProJo: Providence workshop participants offer their vision of Routes 6-10[/alert]
6/10 Federal Hill Olneyville Roads Route 10 Route 6 Silver Lake Slider Transportation Valley West End
ProJo: State to fast-track Route 6-10 connector project, abandon surface boulevard
New Coalition Advocating for Cost-Effective Rte. 6-10 Redesign
Pointing out the idjits in the room says:
Has anyone that suggested a Blvd approach looked at the traffic during rush hours in-bound?? Obviously not. Great idea tho !!
Anything besides a standard highway would be great, but I drive the 6-10 everyday and it honesty does not look like the supports can stand much longer. It’s scary.
margherita pryor says:
I was at the meeting. I applaud the good intentions of everyone there, and maybe even believe that the planning staff would like to take the recommendations seriously. But I’ve been a good citizen through way too many of these sessions, from one laborious neighborhood planning process to another, without seeing any of them implemented or even begun. If there was a real desire to get informed and thoughtful comment, here’s what should have happened last night:
there would have been handouts or at least multiple sites around the room with demographic, traffic, economic, and other information so that we all share the same data and reality checks; someone could have been available to answer questions about the city’s economic prospects (we don’t seem to be able even to give away the I-195 sites, even with all the infrastructure prep we’ve put in — what makes us think the highway area will suddenly bloom with cafes, retail, and housing?); there would have been round tables so that everyone in each group could see each other; the location would have been chosen so we could actually hear each other (in my group, several people simply gave up because they couldn’t hear what was being proposed and couldn’t get a word in edgewise); there would have been places to lock bikes; and there would have been a commitment that the city would fight RIDOT’s clearly signaled intention to do what it wants to do. And finally, there would have been results of a survey or other instrument to find out what the residents of that area really want instead of having a bunch of us speak for them.
My sad expectation is that the planning will drag on long enough for chunks of highway to cause a horrible accident, at which point it will be decided that it needs to be rebuilt as is. Or even more likely — it will be a “temporary” parking lot.
mp775 says:
Capacity for inbound traffic is limited by the signal at Memorial Boulevard and Francis Street. A surface boulevard with coordinated signals would meter the traffic and provide safer and more efficient traffic flow into downtown than the current free flow into the back of stopped traffic.
Goosd point mp775. Traffic going northbound on I-95 is already often stopped by the slow merge and that too might get better flow though RIDOT is considering spending even more $ millions on widening the merge in hopes of speeding it up.
If the city really wanted to block the redoing of limited access expressways with all the land that requires, the meeting would allow them to say the public there generally wanted something better for the city, but there was no real alternative road design offered and as for transit, it was mostly feel-good generic “better transit” wanted.
More likely the city will let RIDOT proceed and say they gave folks an opportunity for input.
To really trade in their political capital for blocking the expressway they city would likely have to come up with some carrots for the suburbs whose commute might be slower – park and ride lots before Olneyville? Enhanced transit on the commuter rail track with a stop in Cranston?
Jen K says:
I drive on Rte 10 every day. The traffic is light compared to other cities in the region. Moreover, there are plenty of alternate routes to get downtown or to Rte 95. I can take Elmwood. I can take Eddy St., I can take Allens Ave. Coming from the west, I can take Plainfield or Hartford. This is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to upgrade our infrastucture, and with it, our economy and quality of life. Let’s not screw it up.
6/10Transportation
[RIDOT Director] Alviti said the disruption to commuters that a boulevard would create was unacceptable.
Fix your taxes. Fix your commute. Fix the environment. Fix the economy. Fix the 6-10.
James Kennedy: Reconnect Providence with a real 6/10 Boulevard
The answer is the Connector itself, that might as well be called the Disconnector. While in theory it speeds up traffic along its corridor, its limited-access ramp system also cuts off the smaller streets that could...
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7 senior PLA officers promoted to rank of stand up speak up braceletgeneral
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The Central Military Commission promotes seven senior military officers on Thursday to the rank of general, the highest rank for officers in active service in China. [Photo/Xinhua]
The Central Military Commission promoted seven senior military officers on Thursday to the rank of general, the highest rank for officers in active service in China.
Central Military Commission Chairman Xi Jinping presented the officers with certificates of command, shook hands with them and extended his congratulations at a promotion ceremony in Beijing.
The promoted officers include Commander of the Eastern Theater Command of the People"s Liberation Army He Weidong, Political Commissar of the PLA Eastern Theater Command He Ping, Political Commissar of the PLA Southern Theater Command Wang Jianwu and Commander of the PLA Northern Theater Command Li Qiaoming.
Also among the promoted officers are Commander of the PLA Rocket Force Zhou Yaning, Commander of the PLA Strategic Support Force Li Fengbiao and President of the PLA Academy of Military Science Yang Xuejun.
Commission Vice-Chairman Xu Qiliang announced the order of promotion signed by Xi. The ceremony was presided over by Zhang Youxia, also a vice-chairman of the commission.
The last promotion ceremony was held on July 31, ahead of China"s Army Day, which falls annually on Aug 1. Ten other senior officers were promoted to general or admiral.
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Kris Davis’s Infrasound – Save Your Breath (Clean Feed, 2015) ****½
Monday, May 25, 2015 7 comments
By Troy Dostert
In what is becoming a formidable series of recordings, Kris Davis continues to demonstrate her strengths not only as a pianist but as a composer. She did this to great effect on last year’s Waiting for You to Grow, an outstanding trio record with John Hébert and Tom Rainey - and once again with this disc, her newest release. Indeed, this one is even more impressive, as Davis has expanded her compositional vision with one of the more unusual groupings of instruments I can recall hearing. Here she’s working with an octet, which includes (in addition to Davis) a rhythm section of Jim Black (drums), Gary Versace (organ and accordion), and Nate Radley (guitar), and perhaps most surprisingly, four bass clarinets, played by Ben Goldberg, Oscar Noriega, Andrew Bishop and Joachim Badenhorst.
What is clear from the outset is that this is a record built around atmosphere and mood rather than instrumental virtuosity. Which is not to say that any of these players are slouches—far from it—but that Davis has much bigger things in mind than a blowing session. Each of these six tracks has a distinctive feel and sense of purpose, and while there’s ample room for the musicians to pursue a few twists and turns along the way, it’s abundantly evident that Davis has intentionally constructed these pieces in order to forge a collective sound for each one, although in dramatically different ways from track to track.
The album’s opener, “Union Forever,” develops an infectious series of patterns played principally by the clarinets, with Black, Radley and Versace keeping the rhythms shifting unpredictably, finally moving into a more straightforward 4/4 segment for the second half of the tune in which Versace really lets loose. Several of the tracks make especially good use of Black’s rock-inflected drumming style, which often works to establish a groove and ratchet up the intensity level of the group.
But although the record definitely delivers some hard-hitting punches, it’s often the more subtle moments that are most effective, particularly because here Davis gets to explore the rich sonority and textures this unusual blend of instruments makes available. The beginning of “Jumping Over Your Shadow,” for example, the record’s second cut, has some really interesting interplay between the bass clarinets, creating a sense of dark mystery to pull the listener in, only to gradually evolve into a more aggressive, confrontational mood once Black starts to interject on the drum kit and Versace joins in with some effective piercing jabs. And the most interesting cut of all is probably the record’s title track, an almost 15-minute exploration of sound and mood in which Versace employs his understated, atmospheric organ work. It evokes the album’s cover photo perfectly, as the sense of discovery and hint of danger accompanying a deep-sea dive is exactly what the track provides. And when Radley, Davis and the others gradually enter the picture, expanding the sense of wonder and the unexpected, the result is captivating.
Davis has summarized her view of this group as a “living, breathing wild animal,” and given the musicians’ willingness to work cohesively to create a single group identity and to regularly go in unexpected directions, that’s an apt analogy. This record will no doubt continue to build Davis’s growing reputation as one of the most exciting composers working in today’s music, and the group as a whole is certainly deserving of the accolades that should come its way.
Available from Instantjazz.
Antonio said...
Nice review & very good album, but the name of the record is "Save Your Breath." :-)
Thanks Antonio ... rectified in the meantime.
Martin Schray said...
Well-written, mouth-watering review, Troy. I will definitely check this album out.
Steve P. said...
Kris Davis has become one of those artists that when I see she has put out a new album, I go purchase a digital copy from Bandcamp or Amazon (my two favorites) and then I listen to it while I read the review. This is another solid outing and a very different sound from this ensemble. She is proving to be a great talent and I am a big fan. I also love this website and all the contributors who do such a marvelous job making my music collection one of my prized possessions.
Thanks Troy
Troy D said...
I agree fully with you, Steve. Davis is one of a number of young pianists working today who combine technical brilliance with real compositional creativity. You always know they're going to do something interesting and worthwhile. Folks like Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer, or Matt Mitchell, in addition to Davis--and those are just the ones off the top of my head. Times are good for fans of the piano!
erik.ellestad said...
I was expecting to love this because of the clarinets. And I do, but the real revelation IS the organ playing. Also, great review!
Kenny said...
This is phenomenal. Kris Davis has yet to dissappoint this fan.
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RETURN TO INSIGHTS
GGA Pulse Research
GGA consistently test the vital signs of the club industry throughout the world using our pulse surveys. The results are supported by interpretation and guidance for success.
Manager Views on Innovation August 22, 2018
Generating growth through culture change is the goal of the Innovation Labs initiative.
Discussions about business, society, the economy or technology invariably include the word “innovation,” which implies a pursuit of inventiveness or change. The word also appears in conversations about golf culture or the club industry, though typically in a negative context or when referring to a lack of change.
By nature, clubs embrace and value tradition. That’s one of the things that defines them as clubs. They are organizations dedicated to a particular interest, activity or lifestyle. However, a culture of tradition does not prevent a club from pursuing change.
Investigating innovation
In recent years, club managers, club members, developers and businesses that serve the industry have used the word “innovation” more frequently. But it’s unclear what innovation looks like for clubs. We see various industries targeting clubs with innovations: Manufacturers are making equipment stronger, lighter and more powerful; agronomic experts are growing turf that is cleaner, greener and more sustainable; technology focused fi rms are developing ways to make golf more accessible and less time-consuming.
As part of its commitment to continually provide forward-looking ideas and advanced education to club managers, CMAA identified innovation as a key research topic for 2018. At Global Golf Advisors (GGA), the goal is to leverage adaptation, transformation, growth and efficiency to maximize the performance of clubs — and innovation is always on the table.
Key objectives for both CMAA and GGA have always been to help clubs optimize their performance and maximize financial, operational and lifestyle related results for club leaders and their members. Earlier this year, CMAA announced the renewal of its business partnership with GGA, a multiyear commitment of cooperation to enhance CMAA’s research initiative using GGA’s business intelligence services and to co-create Innovation Labs to promote and inspire innovation by clubs. The Innovation Labs will explore new ways to help clubs move ahead faster.
Typical research projects analyze past results and projected outcomes. Research on innovation, however, is forward-looking and requires new ideas, new methods and change. Still, successful innovations are difficult to quantify and involve significant risk.
To minimize risk and create reliable, replicable and successful methodologies, GGA and CMAA have established a joint task force that will identify, measure and field-test ideas that have the greatest potential for innovation in club management.
Establishing baselines
This case-based approach to innovation began with a yearlong research project involving clubs that are reimagining the way they operate. The first phase of the three-phase project was to study the relationship between clubs and innovation by talking to the individuals who know clubs better than anyone: club managers.
This effort was launched in advance of the 91st CMAA World Conference on Club Management and Club Business Expo in San Francisco. CMAA members took a 10-minute survey designed to gather managers’ thoughts on innovation, identify research opportunities and assess latent demand for innovation within clubs. The nearly 400 CMAA members who participated represented more than eight types of clubs, and more than 150 individuals volunteered their clubs to contribute to additional research.
Results from the preliminary survey confirmed that innovation is crucial for the future of club management. According to the survey, approximately 95 percent of club managers regard innovation as “important” or “very important” to the long-term success and sustainability of clubs.
Club managers also believe clubs need to improve when it comes to innovation. Managers do not necessarily regard their clubs as innovative. Less than two-thirds (63 percent) described their club in that way. And when asked to quantify the extent of their innovativeness, only 40 percent of managers rated their club as “innovative” or “extremely innovative.”
Participants also rated the extent to which they believe clubs are keeping pace with innovative practices in other industries. Ninety-two percent rated that pace as being between “slightly below average” and “slightly above average.”
The top three challenges that inhibit innovation were determined to be: (1) limited resources such as money, time, space and people; (2) social or cultural opposition to change; and (3) a lack of structured innovation processes or procedures.
Using the right tools
What fuels the engine of innovation? What is required to innovate? Survey feedback identified three keys to innovation: (1) a culture that fosters and supports innovation; (2) willingness to change norms and take risks; and (3) strong visionary business leadership.
Club managers said one of the most important ingredients for innovation is a culture of strategic thinking. This encourages new ideas, supports experimentation, solicits group input and is characterized by fearless, resourceful leaders willing to take calculated risks.
While managers are divided on whether innovation is a priority for their clubs (55 percent said yes; 45 percent said no), it is clear that those who focus on innovation are seeing results. Among managers who indicated that innovation is a primary focus, 91 percent said their clubs seek opportunities to innovate and 90 percent said their focus on innovation gives them a competitive advantage. One caveat: Only 27 percent of clubs that focus on innovation have a clear, well-defined innovation strategy.
Even managers who believe innovation is essential to the long-term success of their clubs do not regard themselves as particularly innovative. They believe the club industry lags behind other sectors when it comes to change. They say they would like to catch up in the areas of marketing, communications, technology, food & beverage and strategy, but they say they are hampered by resource constraints, cultural opposition and a lack of effective infrastructure. Even many clubs that do prioritize and pursue innovation are operating without a deliberate plan of action.
To translate ingenuity into business strategy, managers believe that a broader cultural endorsement is needed within their clubs to support, enable and nurture innovation. Affecting cultural change from the top down, with reliable bottom-up support, is not easy. Clear policies and programs are essential.
The results of this preliminary survey have helped guide the development of GGA/CMAA research and the new Innovation Labs initiative. They will be circulated in a detailed, full report later this year. Stay tuned for more details on ideas, insights and experiments to be generated by the Innovation Labs during the coming year.
GGA’s Bennett DeLozier penned this article for Club Management Magazine, published by the Club Management Association of America.
Think Big Entering A New Decade
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Phone calls, emails, knocks on the door… all contribute to those days when you feel busy, but achieve nothing. GGA's …
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Threatened Supply
Tilapia lake virus is affecting huge populations of both open water and farmed fish in Colombia, Ecuador, Egpyt and Israel. And in Thailand, 90% of farmed stock were decimated.
The Cost of Progress in Brazil
This is what progress looks like: Brazil lifted 36 million people out of poverty in the last 13 years.
Venezuela’s Recession Favors the Mosquito
Declared malaria-free in the 1960s by the WHO, Venezuela now it risks exporting the disease to its neighbors.
Leveling Brazil's Playing Field
While onlookers cheered the start of the Paralympics last week in Rio de Janeiro, Public Radio International spoke with two local advocates for the disabled. They reflected on the irony of hosting the Paralympics in a city where access remains a serious issue for those with…
Scrub Typhus Makes Itself Home in South America
The discovery of scrub typhus off the coast of Chile suggests it may be endemic in South America, far from the Asia-Pacific region known as home to the deadly bacteria. Spread by the larvae of trombiculid mites (chiggers), researchers confirmed a cluster of 3 cases on an…
Zika’s Dangerous Travels
Unknowns are plentiful in connection with the Zika epidemic currently unfolding in Brazil, now estimated at 440,000–1,300,000 cases. No vaccine or antibiotic exists for the mosquito-borne virus and there are multiple questions about the link with microcephaly in infants…
Uruguay’s Approach, Rooted in Harm Reduction
Uruguay’s approach to making clandestine abortions safer—before the country legalized abortion in 2012—serves as a model for other countries. Working within Uruguay’s laws, doctors could not perform abortions, but they capitalized on opportunities to treat women before and…
Superbugs Hitching Rides on Gulls
A superbug resistant to the last-line antibiotic colistin has been found in seagulls in Europe and South America—indicating one vehicle for the spread of resistant bacteria. 2 separate research teams in Lithuania and Argentina, in letters to the Journal of Antimicrobial…
Ecuador Needs Food, Not Volunteers
People reeling from Ecuador’s April 16 earthquake need food and essential supplies more than hands-on help at this point. Furthermore, volunteers may be doing more harm than good. “Many volunteers have arrived; many do not have food and are not self-sufficient when it…
Brazil Bets on Prevention
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Brazil’s Hidden Birth Defects
Before last fall, Brazil reported about 150 annual cases of microcephaly—far less than the 5,600 cases reported since October, as concerns soared over a possible Zika link. But questions lurk about the data. Many cases have been thrown out or are still being investigated,…
Zika Amid Border Tensions
Amid a backdrop of tension between Venezuela and Colombia—and Venezuela’s economic crisis—Zika is adding to the friction. While Colombia reports more than 37,000 cases, it suspects that Venezuela’s report of fewer than 5,000 is too low. And with shortages of medicine and…
Preparing for Guillain-Barré
In Turbo, a town of 60,000 on Colombia’s north coast, doctors would see perhaps one case per year of Guillain-Barré syndrome. In the past 6 weeks, they have diagnosed 5 severe cases, including 3 deaths. While global attention on the exploding Zika virus has focused on the…
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Geometry Global and Path to Purchase Institute Present Global Perspectives on Shopper Marketing
New Book Showcases Best Practices in Shopper Marketing From Around the World
October 09, 2013 16:25 ET | Source: Geometry Global
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Oct 9, 2013) - The Path to Purchase Institute and Geometry Global announced today the release of a new book, Global Perspectives on Shopper Marketing. Published by the Path to Purchase Institute and Geometry Global in conjunction with Coca-Cola and Unilever, the book's official unveiling took place at the 2013 Shopper Marketing Expo in Chicago.
Global Perspectives resulted from a desire to examine shopper marketing outside of the United States in an effort to identify best practices and how they translate from continent to continent, country to country. The book highlights the expertise of two global manufacturing giants, Unilever and Coca-Cola, as well as best-in-class case histories from Precision Activation agency Geometry Global. It contains 31 case studies on topics such as Experiential Marketing, the Digital Path to Purchase, Retail Messaging and Media and Regional Branding from brands and marketers in 18 countries including Germany, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Romania.
"Marketers looking for best practices and fresh ideas can often get mired in their own product category, retail channel and especially geographic region," said Peter Hoyt, CEO of the Path to Purchase Institute. "Our goal was to help marketers around the world find inspiration by gaining a global perspective on shopper marketing and learn from the successes of peers outside their markets."
Presented as a compendium of case studies, the book found three universal truths about effective shopper marketing across all regions, namely:
Effective programs all start with shopper insights vs. consumer insights.
Insights are the driving force behind relevant programs that address real shopper needs.
Strong collaboration between a brand and a retailer is the key ingredient that turns a good program into a great one.
"The path to purchase has become increasingly complex as the digital age turns the concept of shopping into an 'anytime, anywhere' occurrence," said Scott McCallum, President, Shopper Marketing North America at Geometry Global. "Successful marketing now requires a strategy that will translate insights into a precise plan of action, one that identifies the ideal combination of vehicles, venues, occasions and communications to reach shoppers at the most opportune moments."
About Path to Purchase Institute
The Path to Purchase Institute is a global association serving the needs of retailers, brands and the entire ecosystem of solution providers along the path to purchase. Through a variety of platforms the Institute engages, informs and empowers its members and the industry at large. The Institute's mission: To foster best practices and a deeper understanding of all marketing efforts and touch-points that influence and culminate in purchase decisions in-store and online.
About Geometry Global
Geometry Global is the largest and most geographically complete activation agency of its kind, providing brand marketers with a unique solution for an unmet need: Precision Activation. This proprietary approach focuses on the exact blend of context and content that combine to influence consumer behavior, transforming proven communication techniques and big creative ideas into effective and profitable business growth drivers. With a team of 4000 experts in 56 markets, the global network develops highly compelling marketing programs -- informed by data and insights -- connecting people with brands at precisely the right times, in the right places, and right ways -- making a measurable difference to clients' businesses. Launched in June 2013, Geometry Global delivers award-winning creativity and integrated talent across a range of disciplines including Shopper, Relationship, Promotional and Experiential, Trade and Digital Marketing. Geometry Global is part of the WPP group. For more information, visit www.geometry.com.
Lee Lubarsky
DiGennaro Communications
lee.lubarsky@digennaro-usa.com
Geometry Global
lauren.smith@geometry.com
The Path To Purchase Institute Geometry Global Shopper Marketing Coca-Cola Unilever Book
The Path to Purchase Institute
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Video: Title Tiger Woods reflects on his career as he receives the trophy for his 82nd win at the Zozo Championship.
Tiger: 'Hard to believe it's been 23 years' between win Nos. 1 and 82
Tiger Woods reflects on his career as he receives the trophy for his 82nd win at the Zozo Championship.
Tiger: 'I know how it feels to have this game taken away from you'
Woodland (64): 'Rode some momentum' after last week's T-3 finish at the CJ CUP
Woods (64): 'One of the stranger rounds I've experienced in a while'
Thomas: CJ Cup win is 'birthday gift' for dad
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We reviewed Another World on Switch
Thursday, July 12, 2018 | 8:40 AM
GSY Review Switch PC
Who doesn't know Another World, even more than 20 years after its original release? The Nintendo Switch welcomed Eric Chahi's jewel yesterday, so why don't you check out our full walkthrough and our +/- section inside and then remember how much older you feel now?
E3: Another World screens
Game2k
Monday, June 9, 2014 | 10:48 PM
Images PS4 Xbox One
Some screenshots of Another World that will celebrate its 20th anniversary also on Xbox One.
Our videos of Another World
Saturday, April 6, 2013 | 8:50 AM
First 10 minutes PC
Jordan Mechner, Paul Cuisset and Eric Chahi are three names which are still praised today because of what these guys have brought to video games. Chahi's Another World (Out of this World in North America) was among the first titles to offer a cinematic experience, bringing animated cutscenes to us young players of the 90s. Since the game got finally released on Steam yesterday, we thought you might enjoy going back in time for a few minutes and (re) discover this jewel of a title both in its original form and its HD version. Enjoy!
Another World is back on Mac and PC
Aure04
Friday, April 5, 2013 | 12:42 PM
Images PC
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the classic Another World, Eric Chahi game is back on Steam (PC and Mac). The opportunity for young people to discover the game that has made ??its way to the MoMA in New York.
Focus Home Inter...
Delphine Softwar...
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entitled 'Retirement Income: Ensuring Income throughout Retirement
Requires Difficult Choices' which was released on July 1, 2011.
Report to the Chairman, Special Committee on Aging, U.S. Senate:
Retirement Income:
Ensuring Income throughout Retirement Requires Difficult Choices:
Highlights of GAO-11-400, a report to the Chairman, Special Committee
on Aging, U.S. Senate.
As life expectancy increases, the risk that retirees will outlive
their assets is a growing challenge. The shift from defined benefit
(DB) pension plans to defined contribution (DC) plans also increases
the responsibility for workers and retirees to make difficult
decisions and manage their pension and other financial assets so that
they have income throughout retirement. GAO was asked to review (1)
strategies that experts recommend retirees employ to ensure income
throughout retirement, (2) choices retirees have made for managing
their pension and financial assets for generating income, and (3)
policy options available to ensure income throughout retirement and
their advantages and disadvantages. GAO interviewed experts about
strategies retirees should take, including strategies for five
households from different quintiles of net wealth (assets less debt);
analyzed nationally representative data and studies about retirees�
decisions; and interviewed experts and reviewed documents about
related policy options.
GAO received comments on a draft of this report from the Department of
the Treasury and technical comments from the Department of Labor,
Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, Social
Security Administration, and the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners, and incorporated them, as appropriate.
Financial experts GAO interviewed typically recommended that retirees
systematically draw down their savings and convert a portion of their
savings into an income annuity to cover necessary expenses, or opt for
the annuity provided by an employer-sponsored DB pension instead of a
lump sum withdrawal. Experts also recommended that individuals delay
receipt of Social Security benefits until reaching at least full
retirement age and, in some cases, continue to work and save, if
possible. For example, for the two middle net-wealth households GAO
profiled with about $350,000 to $375,000 in net wealth, experts
recommended purchase of annuities with a portion of savings, drawdown
of savings at an annual rate, such as 4 percent of the initial
balance, use of lifetime income from the DB plan, if applicable, and
delay of Social Security. To navigate the difficult choices on income
throughout retirement, they noted strategies depend on an individual�s
circumstances, such as anticipated expenses, income level, health, and
each household�s tolerance for risks, such as investment and longevity
risk.
Regarding the choices retirees have made, GAO found that most retirees
rely primarily on Social Security and pass up opportunities for
additional lifetime retirement income. Taking Social Security benefits
when they turned 62, many retirees born in 1943, for example, passed
up increases of at least 33 percent in their monthly inflation-
adjusted Social Security benefit levels available at full retirement
age of 66. Most retirees who left jobs with a DB pension received or
deferred lifetime benefits, but only 6 percent of those with a DC plan
chose or purchased an annuity at retirement. Those in the middle
income group who had savings typically drew down those savings
gradually. Nonetheless, an estimated 3.4 million people (9 percent)
aged 65 or older in 2009 had incomes (excluding any noncash
assistance) below the poverty level. Among people of all ages the
poverty rate was 14.3 percent.
To help people make these often difficult choices, policy options
proposed by various groups concerning income throughout retirement
include encouraging the availability of annuities in DC plans and
promoting financial literacy. Certain proposed policies seek to
increase access to annuities in DC plans, which may be able to provide
them at lower cost for some individuals. However, some pension plan
sponsors are reluctant to offer annuities for fear that their choice
of annuity provider could make them vulnerable to litigation should
problems occur. Other proposed options aim to improve individuals�
financial literacy, especially to better understand risks and
available choices for managing income throughout retirement in
addition to the current emphasis on saving for retirement. Proposed
options include additional federal publications and interactive tools,
sponsor notices to plan participants on financial risks and choices
they face during retirement, and estimates on lifetime annuity income
on participants� benefit statements.
components. For more information, contact Charles Jeszeck at (202) 512-
7215 or jeszeckc@gao.gov.
Experts Recommend Retirees Balance Draw Down of Savings and Use of
Lifetime Retirement Income Options:
Many Retirees Forego Options to Secure Additional Lifetime Retirement
Various Proposed Policies Would Seek to Promote Access to Annuities
through Defined Contribution Plans and Improve Financial Literacy
about Retirement Income:
Concluding Observations:
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology:
Appendix II: Demographic and Financial Characteristics of Households
Nearing Social Security Eligibility, 2008:
Appendix III: Demographic and Financial Characteristics of a Sample of
Five Households Nearing Social Security Eligibility:
Appendix IV: Retirees' Disposition of Pensions:
Appendix V: Selected Types of Retirement Income Arrangements and
Appendix VI: Comments from the Department of the Treasury:
Appendix VII: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Related GAO Products:
Table 1: Preretirement Earnings Replacement Rates for Workers Retiring
in 2011 at Age 65, Percentage of Career-Average Earnings:
Table 2: Recommended Savings Strategies, by Income Level, for Near-
Retirement Households:
Table 3: Estimated Probability by CRS That a Retirement Account Will
Last for at Least a Specific Number of Years:
Table 4: Selected Policy Options Proposed by RFI Respondents to
Promote Access to Annuities in DC Plans:
Table 5: Selected Options Proposed by RFI Respondents and Others to
Improve Individuals' Understanding about Retirement Income:
Table 6: Examples of Materials on Income in Retirement from Selected
Federal Agencies:
Table 7: Demographic and Financial Characteristics of Households
Nearing Social Security Eligibility by Net Wealth Quintile, 2008:
Table 8: Confidence Intervals for Demographic and Financial
Characteristics of Households Nearing Social Security Eligibility by
Net Wealth Quintile, 2008:
Table 9: Characteristics of Household One, Lowest Net Wealth Quintile:
Table 10: Characteristics of Household Two, Middle Net Wealth Quintile:
Table 11: Characteristics of Household Three, Middle Net Wealth
Quintile:
Table 12: Characteristics of Household Four, Highest Net Wealth
Table 13: Characteristics of Household Five, Highest Net Wealth
Table 14: Confidence Intervals for Estimates of the Percentage of
Workers That Left Employment with a DB Pension and Retired Indicating
the Disposition of Their Pension, 2000 through 2006:
Workers That Left Employment with a DC Pension and Retired Indicating
Table 16: Descriptions of Selected Retirement Income Arrangements and
Figure 1: Sources of Aggregate Income for Households with Someone Aged
65 or Older, 2008:
Figure 2: Sequence of Investment Returns Can Affect the Sustainability
of a Drawdown Strategy:
Figure 3: Delaying Social Security Is More Cost Effective than
Purchasing an Annuity to Enhance Retirement Income:
Figure 4: Awards of Social Security Retired Worker Benefits by Age and
Birth Year, 1997-2009:
Figure 5: More People 60 and Older Are in the Labor Force, 1994-2010:
Figure 6: Most Workers Received Lifetime Benefits from Their DB
Pension Rather than a Cash Settlement or IRA Rollover, 2000-2006:
Figure 7: Dispositions of DC Pensions by Retiring Workers, 2000-2006:
Figure 8: Allocations to Equities Declined for 401(k) Account Holders
in Their 60s, Year-End 2005-2009:
Figure 9: Older 401(k) Investors Held Smaller Allocations in Equities
than Younger Investors, Year-End 2009:
BLS: Bureau of Labor Statistics:
CPI-U: Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers:
CPS: Current Population Survey:
CRS: Congressional Research Service:
DB: defined benefit:
DC: defined contribution:
ERISA: Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974:
EBRI: Employee Benefit Research Institute:
HRS: Health and Retirement Study:
IRA: individual retirement arrangement:
IRS: Internal Revenue Service:
Labor: Department of Labor:
NAIC: National Association of Insurance Commissioners:
PBGC: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation:
QDIA: qualified default investment alternative:
QJSA: qualified joint and survivor annuity:
RFI: request for information:
SEC: Securities and Exchange Commission:
SSA: Social Security Administration:
Treasury: Department of the Treasury:
The Honorable Herb Kohl:
Chairman:
Special Committee on Aging:
United States Senate:
Dear Mr. Chairman:
As the life expectancy of U.S. residents continues to increase, the
risk that retirees will outlive their assets is a growing challenge.
[Footnote 1] Today, a husband and wife both aged 65 have approximately
a 47 percent chance that at least one of them will live to his or her
90th birthday and a 20 percent chance of living to his or her 95th
birthday.[Footnote 2] In addition to the risk of outliving one's
assets, the sharp declines in financial markets and home equity during
the last few years and the continued increase in health care costs
have intensified workers' concerns about having enough savings and how
to best manage those savings in retirement.[Footnote 3]
In addition, the shift among employer-sponsored pension plans from
defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) plans heightens the
responsibility for workers and retirees to manage their pension and
other financial assets so that their assets last throughout
retirement. In "traditional" DB plans, a retiree is entitled to
receive a specified, periodic annuity benefit for life, usually based
on years of service and other factors, whereas workers in DC plans
accumulate balances in individual accounts with employer or employee
contributions (or frequently both) plus accrued earnings. In DC plans,
participants are typically responsible for investing and assuming
investment risk.
The Department of Labor (Labor) and the Department of the Treasury
(Treasury) regulate employer-sponsored pension plans in the private
sector. In light of the shift from DB to DC plans, which moves
responsibility to retirees for ensuring that assets provide income
throughout retirement, Labor and Treasury issued a public request for
information (RFI) in 2010 on options for facilitating access to and
the use of lifetime retirement income sources, including lifetime
annuities, in employer-sponsored plans and individual retirement
arrangements (IRA).[Footnote 4]
Given your interest in these retirement income options, we examined
the following:
1. What strategies do experts recommend retirees employ to ensure
income throughout retirement?
2. What choices have retirees made for managing their pensions and
financial assets for generating income?
3. What policy options are available to ensure income throughout
retirement and what are their advantages and disadvantages for
retirees?
To identify the strategies that experts recommend retirees employ to
ensure income throughout retirement, we interviewed a judgmental
sample of a range of financial planners and other financial experts
from different academic and industry organizations and a retiree
interest group, which were from different geographic areas of the
country. (See appendix I.) We focused our discussion on five
households that we randomly selected from the Health and Retirement
Study (HRS) in the lowest, middle, and highest net wealth quintiles
with different combinations of pension plans in the middle and highest
quintiles.[Footnote 5] See financial and nonfinancial characteristics
by quintile in appendix II, and the selected households' summary
financial data in appendix III. We also reviewed company specific
financial product documentation and studies of retirement income
strategies such as those describing systematic withdrawals from
retirement savings. To review the choices retirees have made for
managing their pension and financial assets for generating income, we
analyzed data from the HRS, reviewed others' research, and analyzed
data from the Social Security Administration (SSA). We reviewed
additional data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI),
the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). To
identify policy options that are available to ensure income throughout
retirement, as well as their advantages and disadvantages, we reviewed
information from a variety of academic, consumer, industry, and
government sources. This included selected submissions in response to
the Labor and Treasury RFI, other publications, and interviews with
academic, consumer, industry, and government officials. We conducted
this performance audit from January 2010 through June 2011 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe
that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. For more
information on our scope and methodology, see appendix I.
While income in retirement varies widely by source, Social Security
benefits are the foundation of income for nearly all retiree
households. In aggregate, Social Security is the largest source of
retirement income for households with someone aged 65 or older, but
other financial assets such as pension income from DB and DC plans,
private savings, and assets such as home equity are important sources
of retirement income for many.[Footnote 6] (See figure 1.) In 2008,
the most recent year for which data were available, among households
with someone aged 55 to 60, the median net wealth for the middle
quintile of net wealth was $339,000. The median household income for
the middle net wealth quintile was about $70,000 in the preceding
year, according to the Health and Retirement Study. (See appendix II.)
Earnings from work can be an important source of income for some
households with a member aged 65 or older because, for example, a
spouse younger than 65 may be working. Yet many people aged 65 or
older also work. In 2010, 29.1 percent of people aged 65 to 69 worked
at least part-time and 6.9 percent of people aged 75 or older were
employed.[Footnote 7]
[Refer to PDF for image: pie-chart]
Social Security: 36.5%;
Employment earnings: 29.7%;
Pension and annuity: 18.4%;
Income from assets: 12.7%;
Cash public assistance: 0.6%;
Other: 2.1%.
Source: SSA, Office of Retirement and Disability Policy, Income of the
Population 55 or Older, 2008.
Notes: "Household" here refers to what SSA identifies as aged units--
either a married couple living together or a nonmarried person. The
age of a married couple is the age of the husband if he is 55 or
older; if the husband is younger than 55, the age of the married
couple is the age of the wife. Thus a married couple is considered to
be 65 or older if the husband is 65 or older or if the husband is
younger than 55 and his wife is 65 or older. Data reported by the
Social Security Administration for pension income includes regular
payments from IRA, Keogh, or 401(k) plans. Nonregular (nonannuitized
or lump sum) withdrawals from IRA, Keogh, and 401(k) plans are not
included. Social Security income includes retirement, auxiliary (such
as spousal), survivors, and disability benefits. Data reported for
income from assets includes interest income, income from dividends,
rents or royalties, and estates or trusts. Other income includes
noncash benefits, veteran's benefits, unemployment compensation,
workers' compensation, and personal contributions. Income from others
is excluded. The 95 percent confidence intervals for the share of
aggregate income are 35.9 to 37.1 percent for Social Security, 29.1 to
30.3 for employment earnings, 17.9 to 18.9 for pension and annuity
income, 12.3 to 13.1 for income from assets, 1.9 to 2.3 for other, and
0.5 to 0.7 for cash public assistance.
Social Security benefits provide annually inflation-adjusted income
for life--and in 2008 were on average the source of 64.8 percent of
total income for recipient households with someone aged 65 or older.
[Footnote 8] Under changes legislated in 1983, the retirement age for
an unreduced benefit (the full retirement age) is gradually increasing
from age 65, beginning with retirees born in 1938, and will reach age
67 for those born in 1960 or later.[Footnote 9]
Despite these changes, the cost of Social Security benefits is
projected to exceed sources of funding, and the program is projected
to be unable to pay a portion of scheduled benefits by 2036.[Footnote
10] In 2010, for the first time since 1983, the Social Security trust
funds began paying out more in benefits than they received through
payroll tax revenue, although trust fund interest income more than
covers the difference, according to the 2011 report of the Social
Security trust funds' Board of Trustees.[Footnote 11] However, changes
to Social Security could eliminate or reduce the size of this
projected long-term shortfall.
At retirement, DB plan participants are eligible for a specified
payment for life (either immediately or deferred, and with or without
benefits for a surviving spouse), but some DB plans also give
participants a choice, sometimes a difficult choice, to forego a
lifetime annuity and instead take a lump sum cash settlement
(distribution) or roll over funds to an IRA. DC participants face a
number of difficult choices regarding their account balances, such as
leaving money in the plan, purchasing an annuity,[Footnote 12] or
transferring or rolling over their balance into an IRA. Employers who
sponsor qualified plans and enable departing participants to receive
lump sum distributions must also give participants the option to have
these amounts directly rolled over into an IRA or another employer's
tax-qualified plan.[Footnote 13]
Workers entering retirement today typically face greater
responsibilities for managing their retirement savings than those who
retired in the past. Social Security continues to provide a foundation
of inflation-adjusted income for life, but fewer retirees today have
defined benefit plans providing lifetime income. DC plans have become
much more common and they generally do not offer annuities, so
retirees are left with increasingly important decisions about managing
their retirement savings.[Footnote 14] Participants in DB plans also
face similar decisions when the plan offers a lump sum option,
including not only whether to take the annuity or lump sum, but
decisions about managing these savings if a lump sum is elected.
For households with someone aged 65 or older with income from assets,
such as interest and dividends, the estimated median amount of asset
income for households in the third (middle) income quintile was $1,022
in 2008. For those in the highest income quintile the median was
$8,050.[Footnote 15] Financial assets provide income, but can also
provide flexibility to draw down funds as needed during retirement.
For workers with a self-directed lump sum or other retirement savings,
the money can be taken in periodic distributions for which there are
strategies to help reduce the chance that a retiree does not outlive
his or her money. For example, retirees could draw down a portion of
their balance as a form of regular income to supplement Social
Security and possibly DB pension income, investing the balance of
savings in a diversified portfolio of mutual funds containing equities
and fixed income securities.
An alternative to self-managing periodic distributions from savings is
to use one's savings to purchase an immediate annuity from an
insurance company that guarantees income for life. An immediate
annuity can help to protect a retiree against the risk of
underperforming investments, the risk of outliving one's assets
(longevity risk) and, when an inflation-adjusted annuity is purchased,
the risk of inflation diminishing one's purchasing power.[Footnote 16]
Researchers have concluded that annuities have important benefits. For
example, according to one association of actuaries, it is more
efficient to pool the risk of outliving one's assets than to self-
insure by accumulating enough assets to provide enough income in case
one lives to a very old age.[Footnote 17] Annuities provide income at
a rate that can help retirees avoid overspending their assets and
provide a floor of guaranteed income to prevent unnecessarily spending
too little for fear of outliving assets, according to one association.
Annuities can also relieve retirees of some of the burden of managing
their investments at older ages when their capacity to do so may
diminish, which may also make them susceptible to fraudulent sales. On
the other hand, annuities may be inappropriate or expensive for people
who have predictably shorter-than-normal life expectancies. Likewise,
funds used to purchase immediate annuities are no longer available to
cover large unplanned expenses. Also, immediate annuities that provide
for bequests have higher costs.[Footnote 18]
There is little consensus about how much income constitutes "enough"
retirement income. Retirement income adequacy may be defined relative
to a standard of minimum needs, such as the poverty rate, or to the
level of spending households experienced during working years. Some
economists and financial advisors consider retirement income adequate
if the ratio of retirement income to preretirement income--called the
replacement rate--is from 65 to 85 percent, although some retirees may
need considerably less or more than this. Typically, however, retirees
do not need to replace 100 percent of preretirement income to maintain
living standards for several reasons. For example, retirees will no
longer need to save for retirement and their payroll and income tax
liability will likely fall. However, some researchers cite
uncertainties about health and long-term care costs as reasons a
higher replacement rate may be necessary.[Footnote 19] Table 1 shows
replacement rates from Social Security benefits for low and high
earners retiring in 2011, as well as the remaining amount of
preretirement income from other sources necessary to achieve a 75
percent replacement rate.[Footnote 20]
Source of replacement rate income: Social Security;
Low earners' replacement rate: 55.2%;
High earners' replacement rate: 33.9%.
Source of replacement rate income: Replacement rate needed from other
sources to achieve 75 percent replacement rate;
Sources: GAO analysis and the 2011 Annual Report of the Board of
Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal
Disability Insurance Trust Funds, Table VI.F10.
Notes: Replacement rates represent the sum of annual scheduled benefit
amounts and other retirement income as a percent of career-average
annual earnings. A "low earner" is someone whose career average
earnings are about 45 percent of the national average wage index,
while a "high earner" has career average earnings of about 160 percent
of the average wage index. The national average wage index for 2009
was $40,711.61.
Social Security benefits for retired workers at full retirement age
(age 66 for workers born 1943 to 1954) in 2011 provide 90 percent of
the first $680 of average indexed monthly earnings, 32 percent of
additional earnings up to $4,100, and 15 percent of earnings above
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is the
primary statute governing private pension plans, including DB and DC
plans.[Footnote 21] It seeks to protect the interests of employee
benefit plan participants and their beneficiaries. Title I of ERISA,
enforced by Labor, sets standards of conduct and requires
accountability for the people who run or provide investment advice to
plans, known as plan fiduciaries,[Footnote 22] and requires
administrators to provide participants with certain disclosures,
including periodic benefit statements as well as a summary plan
description. Title IV of ERISA created the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation (PBGC) as a U.S. government corporation to provide plan
termination insurance for certain DB pension plans that are unable to
pay promised benefits. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), under Title
II of ERISA, and subsequent amendments to the Internal Revenue Code
(the Code), generally is responsible for ensuring that plans meet
certain requirements for tax qualification and for interpreting rules
in Title I of ERISA regarding participation, vesting, benefit accrual,
and minimum funding. Tax qualification enables employers to make tax-
deductible contributions and the plan to earn interest on a tax-
deferred basis. The tax advantages are intended to encourage employers
to establish and maintain pension plans for their employees and
advance other public policy objectives. For example, certain
provisions of the Code set required minimum distributions from tax-
deferred accounts, such as traditional IRAs and qualified plans,
generally by April 1 in the year following the year in which the
account holder reaches age 70 �. These required minimum distributions
help to ensure that account holders withdraw tax-deferred savings in
retirement rather than accumulate savings for their estate.
Once an individual withdraws his or her funds from either a DB or DC
plan, a myriad of laws and regulations typically applies, depending on
the investment decisions that the individual makes with those funds.
In this instance, the individual is no longer a plan participant
governed by ERISA, but is now essentially a retail investor governed
by the laws and regulations that are pertinent to the particular
product or asset in which he or she chooses to invest, and whether or
not the funds are in an IRA.[Footnote 23] The different laws,
regulations, and agencies that may come into play vary depending on
the type of assets held.[Footnote 24]
Various other federal and state agencies may regulate the investment
or insurance products offered in pension plans or outside of plans on
the retail market. For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) regulates mutual funds, which are pooled investments in a
portfolio of securities. In addition, certain types of annuities may
be regulated by states, while other types may also be subject to
federal securities laws and thus regulation by the SEC. For example,
the SEC, among others, regulates variable annuities, including
regulation of disclosure and sales practices. (See appendix V on
selected retirement income arrangements and products.) Insurance
company annuities are generally regulated by state insurance
departments, which set reserve requirements for the insurance
companies offering annuities. More recently, states are also
regulating sales and marketing practices and policy terms and
conditions to ensure that consumers are treated fairly when they
purchase insurance products and file claims. Although each state has
its own insurance regulator and laws, the National Association of
Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) provides a national forum for
addressing and resolving major insurance issues and for allowing
regulators to develop consistent policies on the regulation of
insurance when consistency is deemed appropriate.
State guaranty associations protect individuals with annuities up to
specified limits in the event of insurer insolvency. If an insurance
company becomes insolvent, guaranty associations assess solvent
insurers to pay covered claims to affected policyholders. However, the
associations are not state agencies, and their specified limits and
the extent of coverage vary across states.
Experts we interviewed tended to recommend that retirees draw down
their savings strategically and systematically and that they convert a
portion of their savings into an income annuity to cover necessary
expenses or opt for the annuity provided by an employer-sponsored DB
pension, rather than take a lump sum.[Footnote 25] The experts also
frequently recommended that retirees delay receipt of Social Security
benefits until they reach at least full retirement age.[Footnote 26]
However, according to the experts, the combination of these strategies
depends on an individual's household circumstances, such as the
standard of living the household seeks, its financial resources, and
its tolerance for risks such as investment, inflation, and longevity
To learn what these experts recommend, we presented them with the
financial profiles of five actual near-retirement households whose
data we drew from the HRS as of 2008.[Footnote 27] We randomly
selected households from the lowest, middle, and highest net wealth
quintiles and households with varying types of pensions. See table 2
for a summary of their recommendations for each of these households
and appendix III for a more detailed description of each household's
financial characteristics.
Net wealth quintile and sample household: Lowest quintile (household
1);
Total net wealth[A]: $2,000;
Gross financial wealth[B]: $0;
Marital status: Single;
Pension type: None;
Experts we spoke to tended to recommend: Continue working and
accumulating assets, if possible. Delay Social Security.
Net wealth quintile and sample household: Middle quintile (household
Total net wealth[A]: $349,000;
Gross financial wealth[B]: $191,000;
Marital status: Married;
Pension type: DC;
Experts we spoke to tended to recommend: Purchase annuity and
systematically draw down balance of financial assets. Delay Social
Security. Continue working and accumulating assets, if possible.
Pension type: DB;
Experts we spoke to tended to recommend: Take DB annuity income,[C]
purchase annuity, and systematically draw down balance of financial
assets. Delay Social Security. Continue working and accumulating
assets, if possible.
Net wealth quintile and sample household: Highest quintile (household
Total net wealth[A]: $1,597,000;
Gross financial wealth[B]: $1,262,000;
Experts we spoke to tended to recommend: Take DB annuity income and
systematically draw down financial assets. Delay Social Security.
Pension type: DB and DC;
Experts we spoke to tended to recommend: Liquidate some real estate,
take DB annuity income,[C] and systematically draw down financial
assets. Spouse in poor health take Social Security early and spouse in
good health delay.[D]
Source: GAO analysis of HRS data.
Notes: These estimates have sampling errors associated with them. For
95 percent confidence intervals and additional household financial
characteristics, see appendix II.
[A] Total net wealth is the sum of gross financial wealth, the market
value of homes and other real estate, housing debt, nonhousing debt,
and the value of vehicles, rounded to the nearest thousand.
[B] Gross financial wealth is the sum of the present value of a DB
plan, DC plan, IRA assets, business assets, and other financial
assets, rounded to the nearest thousand. The value of homes and other
real estate, housing debt, vehicles, and nonhousing debt are excluded.
[C] The present value of these DB plans was about $30,000.
[D] One of the members of this household may not be able to continue
working to delay taking Social Security as their self-reported health
status was "poor," compared with "good" and "very good" for most of
the other respondents and spouses in these households.
Draw Down a Portion of Savings Systematically for Income, Liquidity,
and Inflation Protection:
Experts we interviewed recommend that when retirees use their savings
or other assets to supplement other sources of retirement income, they
draw down a portion of these reserves at a systematic rate. The
drawdown rate should preserve some liquidity--immediately available
funds--in case of unexpected events such as high medical costs. Such a
drawdown should be part of a larger strategy that includes a certain
amount of lifetime retirement income (such as Social Security, defined
benefit, and annuity income). Drawdowns should be taken from assets
invested in a broadly diversified portfolio comprised of medium
exposure to stocks and the balance in bonds and cash. However, drawing
down assets invested in stocks and bonds was recommended with the
caveat that holding stocks and bonds leaves households exposed to the
uncertainty in financial markets over an unknown number of retirement
years.[Footnote 28]
The systematic drawdown of financial assets can be based on a "smooth"
and sustainable level of income throughout retirement or on a
retiree's remaining life expectancy. The smooth drawdown approach
takes annual withdrawals based on assumptions about one's life
expectancy and future investment return.[Footnote 29] According to the
Congressional Research Service (CRS), an approach based on a retiree's
remaining life expectancy could involve withdrawing amounts in light
of the retiree's remaining life expectancy in the year that a
withdrawal occurs. One example, under the Code, would be required
minimum distributions, which help to ensure that account holders
withdraw tax-deferred retirement savings in retirement rather than for
estate planning. The minimum distributions are calculated based partly
on life expectancy.
[Side bar:
Hypothetical �Smooth� Systematic Drawdown Plan:
Starting balance of $100,000. Four percent annual drawdown in year 1
and increase by 3 percent inflation each year.
Income draw:
Year 1, $4,000;
Year 20, $7,014.
Ending balance either grows or declines depending on investment
performance. End of side bar]
The experts we spoke to recommended a smooth systematic drawdown from
retiree investments, but their recommendations varied on the rate of
drawdown, depending on retirees' acceptance of the risk of running out
of money and the experts' own assumptions about future investment
returns. For example, those we spoke to recommended annual withdrawals
of 3 to 6 percent of the value of the investments in the first year of
retirement, with adjustments for inflation in subsequent years. These
rates generally comport with CRS estimates for assuring a lifelong
source of income.[Footnote 30] Using historical rates of investment
return on a limited selection of stocks and bonds, CRS estimated that
a drawdown rate of 4 percent on an investment portfolio with 35
percent U.S. stocks and 65 percent in corporate bonds would be 89.4
percent likely to last 35 years or more.[Footnote 31] (See additional
probabilities from the CRS estimates in table 3.) Importantly,
drawdown rates identified by CRS are based on historical rates of
return, and there is no assurance that future investment returns will
match historical returns.
Probabilities that money will last a given number of years, excluding
the impact of investment fees and taxes:
25 years or more;
Initial annual drawdown rate: 4%: 97.7%;
Initial annual drawdown rate: 6%: 65.2%.
Source: CRS Monte Carlo simulation of a portfolio consisting of 35
percent S&P 500 index and 65 percent AAA-rated corporate bonds.
Note: There is no assurance that future investment returns will match
historical rates of return. In addition, CRS estimates are based on
investment returns from 1926 to 2007, while the S&P 500 declined 38.5
percent in 2008 (providing a total return of -37.0 percent). The
probabilities of drawdown shown in the table depend upon the validity
of the assumptions used to create the Monte Carlo simulation model.
According to the experts we spoke to and literature we reviewed,
another factor that can affect the success of drawdown strategies is
the sequence of investment returns: if the drawdowns begin after the
value of the investments has declined, the income drawn would deplete
a greater proportion of the investments than if growth had occurred
before the income were drawn. If, for example, annual investment
returns on retirement savings are up 7 percent in the first year, then
down 13 percent in the following year, and then up 27 percent, with
subsequent returns throughout retirement a repetition of the first 3
years, the average return would be 7 percent. If the sequence of
returns in the second and third year were reversed, holding all else
constant, the average annual return would be the same; yet if
withdrawals are made each year, savings would be depleted sooner with
the first sequence of returns (see figure 2).[Footnote 32]
Circular sequences:
Annual investment return sequence: sustainable for 18 years:
Up 7%;
Down 13%;
Up 27%.
Up 27%;
Down 13%.
Source: GAO analysis; Moshe A. Milevsky and Alexandra C. Macqueen.
Notes: We assumed a $100,000 initial investment at age 65, an annual
drawdown rate of 9 percent, and withdrawals taken monthly. We used an
unusually high initial drawdown rate to illustrate both return
sequences resulting in the retiree running out of money before age 90.
The time-weighted arithmetic average return for both sequences is 7
percent, and the time-weighted geometric average for both is 5.74
percent. The scenario is based on GAO analysis and Moshe A. Milevsky
and Alexandra C. Macqueen, Pensionize Your Nest Egg: How to Use
Product Allocation to Create a Guaranteed Income For Life, (Ontario,
Calif.: John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd., 2010).
Lifetime Retirement Income Sources and Increased Social Security
Benefits Can Provide Additional Income Security:
Experts we spoke to generally recommended lifetime retirement income
from DB plans, when DB plans are available to workers, and income
annuities, in conjunction with systematic drawdown of other savings,
to provide a greater level of retirement income security. Furthermore,
they frequently recommend retirees delay Social Security to boost
inflation-adjusted lifetime retirement income.[Footnote 33]
Lifetime Retirement Income from DB Plans:
When the choice of taking a lump sum in exchange for lifetime
retirement income from a DB plan is available,[Footnote 34] the
experts we spoke with generally recommended that retirees take
lifetime retirement income because it would reduce their exposure to
investment and longevity risks. However, private sector DB plans do
not typically provide inflation protection. Without inflation
protection, the value of the income may be greatly diminished over a
long retirement. For example, income of $1,000 per month in 1980 would
have purchasing power closer to $385 a month 30 years later in 2009.
[Footnote 35] When a DB income stream does not adjust with inflation,
many experts recommended investing other savings in stocks and bonds,
which have on average returned above the rate of inflation.
Nevertheless, for retirees who want guaranteed income, experts we
spoke to considered lifetime retirement income from DB plans
preferable over purchasing an annuity with a lump sum distribution,
since DB plans may be able to provide payments at a higher rate than
is available through an insurance annuity outside of the plan.
Lifetime Retirement Income from Annuities:
The experts we spoke with also recommended that retirees enhance their
guaranteed income by purchasing an annuity with some limited portion
of their savings. The income needed from an annuity depends, in part,
on the amount of living expenses not covered by other sources of
guaranteed income such as Social Security or a DB pension. For those
that want a higher level of predictable income, an annuity can reduce
the uncertainty that comes with managing a portfolio of investments
and systematically drawing down income. The experts noted that
retirees may have more difficulty managing a portfolio of investments
as they age.
With regard to our sample of near-retirement households, the experts
we spoke to recommended that the middle quintile households purchase
annuities with a portion of their savings, but that the lowest
quintile household accumulate some precautionary cash savings before
purchasing an annuity or investing in securities. Furthermore, they
suggested that the two households in the highest quintile had
sufficient resources to go without annuities, unless the individuals
were very risk averse and felt the need for additional protection for
longevity. With regard to the middle quintile household without a DB
plan, experts specified that they should consider using a portion,
such as half, of their $191,000 in financial assets to purchase an
inflation-adjusted annuity. Based on current annuity rates, a premium
valued at half of $191,000 would provide an additional $355 per month
($4,262 in the first year) until the death of the last surviving
spouse, and include annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index.
[Footnote 36] A monthly payment in the first year at this rate would
provide slightly more than the annual income provided by a 4 percent
drawdown.[Footnote 37] By purchasing an annuity, this household would
reduce its exposure to the risks inherent in a drawdown strategy--
namely, the risks of longevity, inflation, and market volatility. This
household would also have some liquidity by having kept half of its
initial savings available to cover unexpected expenses or to leave for
a bequest.
For all the advantages of annuities, however, some of the experts we
spoke to noted that there is commonly a psychological hurdle involved
in the difficult decision to exchange a large principal payment for an
unknown number of small monthly payments. In addition, some planners
tempered their recommendations for annuities, given what they viewed
as the credit risk of annuity insurance companies or the risk of
defaulting on their obligation to make annuity payments. On the other
hand, an economist and an actuary we spoke to--who do not work for
insurance companies--maintain that the credit risk is small relative
to the risks inherent in holding stocks and bonds.[Footnote 38]
Annuities also carry some disadvantages with regard to estate and tax
planning. Regarding a retiree's estate, annuities are typically not
refundable upon death, whereas any funds that remain with the
deceased's systematic drawdown strategy could be left to
beneficiaries. With regard to taxes, the income from annuities
purchased with nonqualified funds is taxed as ordinary income, whereas
part of the investment return from a systematic drawdown strategy of
nonqualified savings is often taxed at lower capital gains or dividend
tax rates.
Delay Social Security:
Financial experts we spoke to recommended that retirees delay their
receipt of Social Security benefits in order to increase the amount
they receive from this guaranteed inflation-adjusted retirement
income, particularly since Social Security benefits are the foundation
of income for nearly all retiree households. Although, the experts
cited factors to consider before choosing to delay Social Security
benefits, such as one's health and personal life expectancy and the
availability of other sources of income.
Under market conditions at the time of the drafting of this report, we
found that by delaying Social Security benefits an individual can gain
additional retirement income at a lower cost than from an immediate
annuity. While individuals may choose reduced Social Security benefits
at the early eligibility age of 62, the payments they will receive at
full retirement age (age 66 for those born from 1943 to 1954) will be
higher, and continue to increase incrementally the longer they wait,
up to age 70.[Footnote 39] The total estimated amount of benefits
collected by electing to delay receipt of benefits from age 62 up to
age 70 is intended to be approximately actuarially equivalent, but
determinations of actuarial equivalence at any particular time depend
on assumptions as to current and projected interest and mortality
rates. The amount of money that a retiree would forego by waiting to
start benefits until age 66 is less than the amount needed to purchase
an annuity that would provide the additional monthly income available
by waiting until full retirement age. If, for example, a person
collects $12,000 per year at age 62 and every year thereafter (with
yearly adjustments for inflation), they could wait until age 66 and
collect $16,000 per year (33 percent more with additional adjustments
for inflation from age 62 to 66) and every year thereafter.[Footnote
40] By beginning to collect benefits at age 62 they would have
collected a total of $48,000 by age 66, and could then purchase an
inflation-adjusted annuity to provide income to make up the
difference. However, the cost of the annuity for a single male would
be 47.4 percent more than the $48,000 they could collect from age 62
through 65. (See figure 3.)
Scenario A � To secure $16,000 each year beginning at age 66, take
$48,000 in Social Security benefits age 62 to 65, then pay about
$71,000 for an annuity ($23,000 more than benefits received).
Male age:
62: $12,000;
Purchase an inflation-adjusted annuity for about $71,000 to provide
an additional $4,000 annually; total: $16,000;
Remainder of life: $12,000 yearly.
Scenario B � To secure $16,000 each year beginning at age 66, forego
$48,000 in Social Security benefits age 62 to 65.
62-65: Forgo $48,000
66: $16,000.
Source: GAO analysis based on formulas from SSA and an annuity quote
from Income Solutions.
Notes: This is a quote for a single-life immediate annuity for a male
resident in the State of Washington, currently aged 66, with no
beneficiary. If the annuity were based on a female's life, the cost of
the annuity would be more.
Most of today's retirees have taken early (and therefore, reduced)
Social Security benefits, though increasing numbers of people of
retirement age are also working. While most with DB pensions are
receiving lifetime retirement income, few have purchased annuities
with DC or other assets. Retirement age investors generally have
limited allocations in stocks. Though most retirees tap their
financial assets gradually, some exhaust their resources and many,
particularly those in the oldest age group, live in poverty.
Most Retirees Have Chosen Reduced Social Security Benefits, though
Increasing Numbers of Retirement Age Individuals Work:
The experts we talked with frequently recommend that retirees delay
taking Social Security to increase their lifetime retirement income,
but most of today's retirees took Social Security before their full
retirement age, which has committed many to substantially lower
monthly benefits than if they had waited. Among those who were
eligible to take benefits within 1 month after their 62nd birthday
from 1997 through 2005, 43.1 percent did so, according to Social
Security administrative data compiled by the Office of the Chief
Actuary.[Footnote 41] An estimated 72.8 percent took benefits before
age 65, and only 14.1 percent took benefits the month they reached
their full retirement age, which varied from age 65 to age 66
depending on birth year.[Footnote 42] In addition, only about 2.8
percent took benefits after their 66th birthday. By taking the
benefits on or before their 63rd birthday, 49.5 percent of
beneficiaries born in 1943 passed up increases of at least 25 to 33
percent in monthly inflation-adjusted benefits that would have been
available, had they waited until their full retirement age.[Footnote
43] (See figure 4.)
[Refer to PDF for image: line graph]
Percentage of claimants:
Age: 62; Benefits first available;
Birth year: 1935: 0.47%;
Birth year: 1943: 0.39%.
Age: 63;
Birth year: 1935: 0.17%; (full retirement age);
Birth year: 1935: 0%;
Birth year: 1943: 0.14%; (full retirement age).
Birth year: 1935: 0;
Birth year: 1943: 0.
Birth year: 1935: 0.01%
Source: GAO analysis of data from the SSA, Office of the Chief Actuary.
Note: This graph is based on actual awards of retired worker benefits
plus projections of the number of workers who had not taken benefits
by the end of 2009. Disability benefit recipients are excluded.
This early retirement pattern changed little over the 1997 to 2009
period, while under law enacted in 1983, the Social Security full
retirement age shifted by birth year from age 65 to 66 for those born
1938 to 1943.[Footnote 44] The proportion of those who took benefits
the first month they were eligible declined from 47.2 percent to 39.4
percent, but the percentage of those who waited until the month they
reached their respective full retirement age also decreased--from 17.4
to 13.9 percent.[Footnote 45]
While most people who are collecting Social Security retirement
benefits do not work, many do continue working at an older age. As
shown in figure 5, the proportion of older adults in the workforce has
increased over the last several years.
[Refer to PDF for image: vertical bar graph]
Labor force participation rate (percent):
(also indicates the 95% confidence interval for each entry)
Age group: 60-64;
1994: 45%;
2010: 55%.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics - Current Population Survey.
Notes: BLS identifies the labor force as employed residents aged 16 or
older as well as those unemployed and seeking work. From 2005 to 2010
the unemployment rate rose from 3.2 percent to 7.3 percent for those
aged 60 to 64 and from 3.5 percent to 6.7 percent for those aged 65 or
older. Active duty members of the military and institutionalized
residents are excluded from these data.
These increases in labor force participation may, in part, have arisen
in response to changes in the Social Security law effective in 2000
that eliminated penalties for earning wages while collecting Social
Security benefits after their full retirement age.[Footnote 46] With
these changes, more people who are eligible or receiving benefits are
working.
Most Workers Leaving Employment with a DB Pension and Retiring
Received Lifetime Annuities:
Experts we spoke to generally recommend taking lifetime retirement
income, and most workers leaving employment with a DB pension and
retiring received lifetime retirement income from their DB annuity. An
estimated 67.8 percent of workers who left employment and retired with
a DB pension from 2000 through 2006 commenced the DB annuity; fewer
deferred benefits.[Footnote 47] (See figure 6.) Limited data suggest
that among retiring workers who indicated they had an option to take a
cash settlement, IRA rollover, or an annuity, an estimated 8.6 percent
took a cash settlement, and 10.3 percent rolled over funds to an IRA.
[Footnote 48] (See appendix IV, table 14.)
Disposition of DB pensions (percent):
(also indicates the 95% confidence interval upper bound and lower
bound for each entry)
Receiving benefits: 67.8%;
Expect future benefit: 15.0%;
Cash settlement: 7.9%;
IRA rollover: 6.4%.
Source: GAO analysis of HRS data, including pension data compiled by
Alan Gustman, et al.
Note: Some respondents chose a combination of options, so the sum of
percentages exceeds 100.0 percent. This analysis is limited to
respondents in the HRS, 2000-2006. See appendix IV for details and
confidence intervals for these estimates. ERISA requires DB plan
sponsors to offer participants an annuity benefit, but they may also
provide a lump sum benefit option.
The Code permits a plan sponsor to provide a participant an
involuntary cash settlement if the vested value of their pension is
$5,000 or less. Among retirees who received a DB lump sum (cash
settlement or IRA rollover) some received a lump sum of $5,000 or less.
As most retirees leaving employment with a DB pension and retiring
receive an annuity benefit, many households with retirees have some
pension or annuity income (apart from Social Security). In 2008, an
estimated 40.7 percent of households with a member aged 65 or older
received pension or other annuity income.[Footnote 49]
Few with DC Plans Choose or Purchase an Annuity:
The experts we spoke with recommended that retirees enhance their
of their savings, yet few workers leaving employment with DC pensions
and retiring (6.1 percent) converted their funds or a portion of the
money to an annuity. (See figure 7.) An estimated 38.8 percent that
reported leaving employment with a DC pension and retiring during the
2000 to 2006 period left funds in the account, and 30.3 percent rolled
them over to an IRA. Fewer chose to take a withdrawal (15.8 percent).
This analysis, however, only reveals the decisions that retirees made
immediately or soon after leaving employment. In some cases some of
the retirees may have purchased annuities at a later time.[Footnote 50]
Disposition of DC pensions (percent):
Amount left in account: 38.8%;
IRA rollover: 30.3%;
Annuitized: 6.1%;
Withdrawal: 15.8%.
Notes: Some respondents chose a combination of options. The figures
shown indicate the percentage of respondents who selected one or more
options. Analysis is limited to respondents in the HRS, 2000-2006. See
appendix IV for details and confidence intervals for these estimates.
Although traditional insured life annuities provide predictable
lifetime retirement income, the amounts of income they provided
retirees has been modest. The vast majority of annuity sales are sales
of deferred annuities--annuities that provide purchasers investment
opportunities to increase savings while deferring federal income taxes
with an option to draw a guaranteed lifetime retirement income stream
at a later time. However, purchasers of these annuities typically do
not convert them to an income stream.[Footnote 51] In 2009, 94.4
percent of annuity sales were deferred annuities ($225 billion of the
$239 billion). In contrast, sales of traditional fixed immediate
annuities purchased to provide lifetime retirement income totaled
about $7.5 billion (3.1 percent of total sales).[Footnote 52] This
represents a small portion of retirees' assets (an estimated 1.5
percent of the IRA and nonpension financial assets held by those aged
66 in 2008, for example). If this amount had been used to purchase 100
percent joint and survivor immediate annuities for all those aged 66,
these annuities would provide only an estimated 0.26 percent of this
group's aggregate total household income.[Footnote 53] Annuities can
be purchased with either pension assets on which income taxes have
been deferred (tax qualified) or with other assets. In 2009, more than
half (57.9 percent) of the amount of annuities purchased came from tax-
qualified sources.
In Order to Reduce Market Risks, Investors Approaching Retirement
Generally Have Chosen to Reduce Allocations to Stocks:
Although experts we spoke to recommended a moderate exposure to stocks
to support a retirement income drawdown strategy, households near
retirement had a wide range of allocations to stocks (equities),
according to analysis by EBRI.[Footnote 54] In the volatile stock
market from 2005 to 2009, allocations to equities declined among older
401(k) investors (those in their 60s). While some of the decrease in
allocations to equities may have resulted from the decline in stock
prices relative to bond prices, some reflects investors' decisions to
reduce allocations to stocks. During 2008, for example, investors
withdrew a net total of $234 billion from stock funds and added a net
$28 billion to their bond fund holdings, according to the Investment
Company Institute[Footnote 55]. The proportion of 401(k) investors
with no allocations to equities changed little, but the proportion
with allocations of 80 percent or more of their assets to equities
fell from 32.6 percent to 22.3 percent. (See figure 8.)
Percentage of balance allocated to equities: 0;
2005: 19.8%;
2009: 18.9%.
Percentage of balance allocated to equities: 1-20;
2005: 8.3%;
Percentage of balance allocated to equities: 21-40;
2005: 8%;
Percentage of balance allocated to equities: over 80;
Source: Employee Benefits Research Institute.
Note: These results are based on the Investment Company Institute/EBRI
401(k) database, which included information concerning 20.7 million
plan participants with $1.2 trillion in 401(k) assets at the end of
2009. This represents an estimated 44 percent of all 401(k) assets.
While some of the decrease in allocations to equities may have
resulted from the decline in stock prices relative to bond prices,
some reflects investors' decisions to reduce allocations to stocks.
From the end of 2005 to the end of 2009 the total cumulative return
for the Standard and Poor's 500 stock market index was a 2.7 percent
loss. Over this same period the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond
Index returned 24.4 percent.
By the end of 2009, smaller proportions of 401(k) investors in their
60s held high proportions of their balances in equities than younger
investors. Although certain experts we spoke with recommended that
some retirees hold between 40 and 60 percent of financial assets in
stocks, about one-fifth (20.3 percent) of 401(k) investors aged 60 to
69 had such allocations, according to EBRI's analysis. (See figure 9.)
Percent of investors with the indicated allocation to equities in
their 401(k) account, year-end 2009:
Allocation to equities:
0-20%: 15%;
greater than 20-40%: 5.3%;
greater than 40-60%: 9%;
greater than 60-80%: 19.8%;
Over 80%: 51%.
0-20%: 16.6%;
Over 80%: 39.2%.
Most Retirees with Financial Assets Have Tapped Them Gradually, but
Others Have Few Assets and Outlive Them:
Although many retirees lack substantial savings, most have some
savings and have typically drawn on those savings gradually, as the
experts we spoke to recommend. According to Urban Institute
researchers' analysis of associations between household assets, age
and income data from HRS survey responses gathered over the 1998 to
2006 period, individuals in the highest income quintile typically
accumulated wealth, at least until their eighties.[Footnote 56] Those
in the middle income quintile typically started to spend down wealth
at somewhat earlier ages, but, as the experts we spoke to recommended,
gradually enough to likely have assets when they die. Those in the
lowest income quintile typically have few nonannuitized assets and
spend them fairly quickly.
Economists' analysis of U.S. Census survey data from 1997, 1998, 2001,
2002, 2004, and 2005 indicate a comparatively modest rate of
withdrawals prior to the age at which the Code required minimum
distribution requirements apply.[Footnote 57] Also, as a household
gradually draws down and consumes the principal of their savings,
their living expenses, rising with inflation, will be an ever bigger
portion of their declining principal.
Although many retirees draw on resources gradually, some older people
are at risk of outliving their financial assets, particularly if a
significant adverse health event occurs. Our analysis of HRS data
indicates that among individuals born in 1930 or earlier that had net
household financial assets of $15,000 or more in 1998, an estimated
7.3 percent of those alive in 2008 had net financial assets of $2,000
or less.[Footnote 58]
Entering a nursing home is associated with substantial declines in
household wealth for households with a person aged 70 or older.
[Footnote 59] Although several experts we spoke to recommended it, few
retirees purchase long-term care insurance to protect themselves from
some of the risk that they will be impoverished by having to pay for
nursing home services and certain assisted living services, as
premiums can be expensive.[Footnote 60]
Apart from whether individuals outlive their assets, millions of
retirees live in poverty late in life. Even with the widespread
availability of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits, in
2009 an estimated 3.4 million people aged 65 or older lived in
poverty. The poverty rate for this age group (8.9 percent), however,
was lower than for all U.S. residents (14.3 percent).[Footnote 61] On
the other hand, poverty among women aged 75 and older is much greater
than for men. During the 2005 to 2009 period, the Census Bureau
estimated that 13.5 percent of women in this age group had incomes
below the poverty line in the previous year compared with 7.7 percent
of men.[Footnote 62]
In the future, it is unclear to what extent similar patterns will hold
for retirees. For example, investment returns may differ from
historical rates of return. Also, DB plans and the lifetime retirement
income that retirees frequently received were more common for current
retirees. The shift away from DB plans toward DC plans may mean that
increased retirement savings and other options for generating
retirement income from savings, such as annuities, might become more
important for retirees in the future.
Proposed Options for Promoting Access to Annuities through Employer DC
Plans Take Many Forms:
Multiple experts told us about increasing lifetime retirement income
by purchasing an annuity, but DC plans typically do not offer access
to annuities and their participants infrequently use annuities when
leaving employment and retiring. The February 2010 Labor/Treasury RFI
asked about ways to facilitate access to lifetime retirement income
products such as annuities in DC plans, and a number of policy options
were proposed by respondents.[Footnote 63] (See table 4.) These policy
options in responses to the RFI came from industry, consumer,
academic, and other groups.
Policy option: Revise the Safe Harbor Provision for Selecting Annuity
Providers;
Basic description: Labor would revise its 2008 regulation that
establishes a safe harbor for the selection of an annuity provider.[A]
Although the current regulation provides a general process sponsors
may use to meet their fiduciary responsibilities when they select an
annuity provider, certain industry groups suggested that it lacks
sufficient detail. Some proposed revising a key condition of the
current safe harbor that requires sponsors, specifically, to assess
the ability of an insurance company to make all future payments under
an annuity contract.
Policy option: Require sponsors to offer an annuity as a choice;
Basic description: Legislation could require that sponsors of DC plans
offer annuities as a choice to plan participants.
Policy option: Encourage sponsors to offer a default annuity;
Basic description: Sponsors would be encouraged to offer an annuity as
the participant's election by default in DC plans. For example, some
industry groups suggested that Labor clarify its regulation on
qualified default investment alternatives (QDIA) regarding the
conditions under which sponsors could include annuities as QDIAs.[B]
Another option for DC plans would require an annuity as the default
way to take pension benefits, as with DB plans.
Policy option: Modify tax law on minimum distributions for deeply
deferred annuities;
Basic description: A legislative exemption from required minimum
distributions for deeply deferred annuities could make it easier for
sponsors to offer a deeply deferred annuity, or "longevity insurance."
A deeply deferred annuity is a type of income annuity that can be
purchased near or at retirement, and regular annuity payments start
after reaching an advanced age, such as 80 or 85. (See appendix V on
selected types of retirement arrangements and products.) Individuals
can presently purchase these newer annuities on the retail market.
Policy option: Modify spousal protection provisions;
Basic description: Proposed changes to the Code or regulations
regarding spousal protections include exempting DC plans, allowing
spousal consent procedures to occur electronically,[C] or clarifying
the requirements for newer products such as annuities with guaranteed
living benefits.d For spousal protections in most DC plans such as
401(k) plans, an individual can elect a lump sum payment without
spousal consent, but needs to obtain the consent of his/her spouse to
elect any life annuity that is not a qualified joint and survivor
annuity.[E]
Source: GAO analysis based on RFI responses.
[A] 73 Fed. Reg. 58,447 (Oct. 7, 2008). 29 C.F.R. � 2550.404a-4. The
safe harbor is an optional way for sponsors or other fiduciaries of
defined contribution plans to satisfy their responsibilities under
ERISA. It includes general conditions for fiduciaries to satisfy when
selecting a provider of annuities for benefit distributions from
defined contribution plans.
[B] The QDIA regulation limits liability for sponsors of DC
participant-directed plans that automatically invest contributions in
specific types of investments. The types of investments which may be
QDIAs generally include lifecycle (i.e., target-date) funds, balanced
funds, and managed accounts. 29 C.F.R. � 2550.404c-5. For more
information, see GAO, Defined Contribution Plans: Key Information on
Target Date Funds as Default Investments Should Be Provided to Plan
Sponsors and Participants, GAO-11-118 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 31,
2011). According to one industry group, the existing regulation
already permits sponsors to include annuities as QDIAs.
[C] For example, regulations on electronic disclosures do not allow
solely an electronic waiver for these decisions, such as with a
Personal Identification Number, since Treasury/IRS found that such
procedures would not sufficiently protect the integrity of the
spouse's consent. 71 Fed. Reg. 61,877 (Oct. 20, 2006). 26 C.F.R. �
1.401(a)-21(d)(6).
[D] Newer annuity products with guaranteed living benefits, such as
guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits, include variable annuities
that have riders to provide various protections or additional
features, subject to certain restrictions. (See appendix V.) These
newer products also raise other questions, including their cost,
complexity, vesting rules, and protections of state guaranty
associations.
[E] According to IRS publications, requirements on spousal protections
do not apply to DC plans (other than money purchase plans) that meet
all of the following criteria: (a) the plan provides that the
participant's nonforfeitable accrued benefit is payable in full, on
the participant's death, to the surviving spouse (unless the
participants elects with spousal consent that the benefit be paid
instead to a designated beneficiary); (b) the participant does not
elect to receive benefits in the form of a life annuity; and (c) the
plan is not a transferee or offset plan with respect to the
participant. 26 U.S.C. � 401(a)(11)(B)(iii).
Revise the Safe Harbor Provision for Selecting Annuity Providers:
According to several respondents who favored this option, revising the
safe harbor provision would have an advantage of helping to ease
concerns of some sponsors of DC plans about offering an annuity as a
payout choice. In turn, the availability of an annuity to plan
participants could possibly increase the number of retirees who
consider it as a way to withdraw pension benefits for predictable
lifetime retirement income. Additionally, this could help participants
who would otherwise purchase an annuity in the retail market on terms
that might not be as favorable. For example, annuities, especially in
larger plans, might be available at institutional prices and thus at
lower prices than on the retail market. Annuities at group rates
typically have lower prices than individual annuities.[Footnote 64]
Participants might also benefit from the fact that the plan
fiduciaries are required to fulfill fiduciary responsibilities for the
annuity selection, including the prudent selection and monitoring of
products and providers offered in the plan.[Footnote 65] Individuals
on their own might be less likely to be in a position or to have
experience to conduct as thorough and analytical a selection as the
plan fiduciary, who is required to conduct a diligent analysis as a
fiduciary.
However, revising the safe harbor provision could expose participants
to additional risks, including the risk that the insurance company
providing annuities becomes insolvent and unable to make promised
payments. Depending on the specific features of a policy change in
this area, it could have the effect of lessening protections and
recourse for participants, as compared to the current
regulation.[Footnote 66] For example, some industry respondents
proposed eliminating, modifying, or providing specific criteria for
the condition in the safe harbor that requires sponsors to assess the
ability of an insurance company to make all future payments under an
annuity contract. Labor officials said that protecting participants
against the risk of insurer insolvency is a key issue as they consider
revisions to the safe harbor regulation, given that retirees may
depend on annuities for decades. The insolvency of Executive Life
Insurance Company in the early 1990s is a case in point.[Footnote 67]
While states are generally responsible for insurance regulation
including the solvency of insurers, the degree of regulation can vary
in some aspects. There is also variation in the protections of state
guaranty associations to cover policyholders. For example, all state
guaranty associations generally protect an annuity's value up to at
least $100,000.[Footnote 68] According to an official from the
National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty
Associations, as of May 2011, roughly two-thirds of the associations
provide coverage of $250,000 or more, and roughly one-third have
limits of at least $100,000 for annuities.[Footnote 69] Given such
variation, some respondents raised the possibility of providing a
federal guarantee to help states protect policyholders in cases of
insurer insolvency.[Footnote 70]
Require Sponsors to Offer an Annuity as a Choice:
Some consumer and other groups recommended requiring DC plan sponsors
to offer annuities as a choice to plan participants, which would
require legislative efforts to amend ERISA or the Code. This would
make the availability of lifetime retirement income more widespread,
although the effect such amendments might have on the rate of
participants' adoption of annuities is uncertain. Since its passage in
1974, ERISA has required DB plans to offer such a choice.[Footnote 71]
Similarly, DC plans could be required to offer the choice of an
annuity for income in retirement.[Footnote 72] However, even with
greater access to annuities in their plans, participants frequently
have foregone this opportunity for lifetime retirement income and many
may continue not to use this choice for lifetime retirement income.
From the sponsors' perspective, such a requirement could impose
greater costs and administrative burdens, and possibly increase their
exposure to fiduciary liability. For example, this might involve the
selection and monitoring of an annuity provider, including costs to
hire any experts to assist with these decisions. As we have previously
reported, sponsors may be concerned about being held liable for these
decisions and paying any losses to participants in the event the
annuity provider cannot meet its financial obligations.[Footnote 73]
Also, the requirements for qualified joint and survivor annuities,
including spousal consent to waive the qualified joint and survivor
annuity, present administrative burdens and costs, according to
several industry groups. A few industry or other groups noted that the
administrative burdens or risk of lawsuits could even lead some
employers, such as small employers, not to carry DC plans at all.
Encourage Sponsors to Offer a Default Annuity:
A default arrangement could increase the use of annuities without an
affirmative decision from participants to do so. Certain respondents
noted that, to the extent that participants are unlikely to opt out of
the default annuity, use of annuities would increase. Accordingly,
automatic enrollment and default investments have been adopted in some
DC plans when workers save for retirement, partly to overcome such
tendencies as procrastinating or not making decisions. With the
declining availability of DB plans and the lifetime retirement income
they frequently provide, a default annuity in DC plans could help to
promote lifetime retirement income for more participants.
Other respondents or experts have noted disadvantages with default
annuities, such as irreversibility or financial penalties. Unlike
automatic enrollment or default investments to save for retirement,
annuitization by default may not allow for a subsequent change.
[Footnote 74] For some participants, default immediate life annuities
may not be appropriate given their health and other circumstances.
Other types of annuities, such as deferred variable annuities, provide
more flexibility to reallocate investments or make withdrawals, yet
surrender and other charges and fees may apply.[Footnote 75] Another
disadvantage to a default annuity would be setting a standard level of
how much to use for the annuity. The appropriate portion to annuitize
may vary among participants, given their particular circumstances such
as other sources of income.
Modify Tax Law on Minimum Distributions for Deeply Deferred Annuities:
Deeply deferred annuities, or "longevity insurance,"[Footnote 76]
which initiate payments at an advanced age, could provide protection
against longevity risk and could do so at a substantially lower price
than a traditional immediate annuity.[Footnote 77] For example,
according to one association, the cost of a deeply deferred annuity
purchased at age 65 with payments beginning at age 85 is approximately
10 to 15 percent of the cost of an annuity providing the same amount
of income that begins payments immediately.[Footnote 78] Also,
longevity insurance provides income at advanced ages, when risks of
poverty or outliving assets among the elderly may rise,[Footnote 79]
and sets a finite period for systematic or other withdrawals to last.
While longevity insurance is available on the retail market, current
provisions for required minimum distributions make it challenging to
offer this product in DC plans or IRAs, according to certain industry
groups. Longevity insurance purchased with tax-deferred funds can pose
problems for taxpayers if the insurance does not permit annuity
payments to be made until a date that is substantially after minimum
distributions must begin--for example, if the contract provides for no
payments to be made until age 85.[Footnote 80]
On the other hand, questions exist about this newer product, according
to Treasury officials and certain academic experts. For example, it is
unclear to what extent older people might understand and be willing to
purchase deeply deferred annuities whose payments may not begin for
decades, if at all. Further, a proposed exemption from minimum
distributions could potentially reduce revenue to the federal
government since a tax exemption for deeply deferred annuities would
result in some foregone revenue, although the extent of any foregone
revenue is unclear. However, the purpose of the minimum distribution
provisions is to ensure that tax-deferred retirement saving is used
for retirement rather than estate planning purposes. Depending on how
tax expenditures are structured, they also may raise questions about
fairness, such as the extent to which low-or high-income individuals
would benefit from a proposed exemption.
Modify Spousal Protection Provisions:
According to several industry groups, changes in requirements about
qualified joint and survivor annuities (QJSA), including the
procedures to document the spouse's consent, could lower
administrative burdens and costs so that sponsors might become more
willing to make annuities available. A QJSA generally guarantees
payments for the life of the participant and the participant's
surviving spouse. Some plans, including DB plans, are subject to
requirements to offer a QJSA as a default and obtain spousal consent
to not elect the joint and survivor annuity.[Footnote 81] For DC plans
that are subject to the requirements for some or all participants,
part of the procedures to elect a distribution other than the QJSA
include notarized or in-person consent by the spouse, which some
industry groups described as burdensome. However, these procedures
have helped to protect spouses of participants with decisions about
lifetime retirement income. For example, in DB plans, QJSA
requirements under the Retirement Equity Act of 1984 and its
implementing regulations sought to ensure that spouses are aware and
consent to a pension distribution other than a joint annuity that
would provide payments throughout their retirement.[Footnote 82] The
QJSA procedures for DB plans do not apply uniformly to DC plans, and
we have previously reported that spousal protections in DC plans
already have limitations. For example, a plan participant may withdraw
from or roll over an account balance without the consent of his or her
spouse.[Footnote 83] Women on average continue to live longer and be
more vulnerable to poverty at older ages than men, and reducing QJSA
requirements might further lessen spousal protections in DC plans as
compared to DB plans.
Proposed Approaches Vary to Improve Individuals' Understanding about
Improving individuals' financial literacy can be one important
component in helping them manage retirement income appropriately.
Financial literacy can be described as the ability to make informed
judgments and to take effective actions regarding the current and
future use and management of money. One way of improving consumer
financial literacy is through financial education--that is, the
processes whereby individuals improve their knowledge and
understanding of financial products, services, and concepts. A wide
variety of delivery mechanisms exist to provide financial education,
including classroom curricula, print materials, Web sites, broadcast
media, and individual counseling. As we recently testified,[Footnote
84] at the federal level, more than 20 federal agencies have programs
or initiatives related to financial literacy and these efforts are
coordinated by the Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC).
[Footnote 85]
Ensuring the financial literacy of older people has become
particularly important given the transition to a financial account-
based retirement system and the increasing responsibility of
individuals to manage their assets in retirement. According to many
respondents as well as experts we interviewed, education aimed at
helping manage retirement income should cover, in particular, the
financial risks faced in retirement, such as longevity risk, inflation
risk, and investment risk, among others. Appropriate financial
education can help prevent individuals from over-estimating their
expected investment returns or sustainable withdrawal rates, which
might make it more difficult to maintain their lifestyle in
retirement. It can also serve to help individuals understand various
difficult choices to mitigate these risks as well as how to evaluate
or compare choices, such as what factors to consider. Such education
can be particularly important given the complexity of annuities and
other retirement investment vehicles. Besides annuities, managing a
lump sum distribution and approaches that combine annuities and more
liquid assets are other choices for individuals. Individuals or plan
sponsors might not be aware that they can pursue combinations of
income in retirement, such as annuitizing part of the pension benefit,
rather than just all or none of it. Having adequate information on the
variety of options available--and their corresponding advantages and
disadvantages--allows individuals to tailor their decisions to their
particular circumstances.
Various entities proposed policy options that seek to better inform
individuals about income in retirement, and these options use
different approaches, such as financial education or notices involving
pensions. Multiple policy options, such as those offered in response
to the RFI or in reports we reviewed, could work together to improve
financial literacy on income throughout retirement. (See table 5.)
Some industry groups or academic experts stated that financial
education alone has its limitations and is not the only approach for
improving consumers' financial behavior. Financial education may
sometimes be more useful as a complement to other tools, such as
personalized investment advice or policy options like the use of
defaults.
Policy option: Develop and disseminate additional federal government
materials;
Basic description: The federal government, as part of its efforts on
financial education, would include materials, such as additional
publications and interactive tools, on managing pension and other
financial assets during retirement.
Policy option: Require sponsors to provide a notice for plan
participants;
Basic description: This would statutorily require that sponsors
periodically provide plan participants with a notice on the general
financial risks and choices that individuals face in retirement.
Policy option: Encourage voluntary education in plans by issuing clear
guidance;
Basic description: Labor would issue guidance on the types of
information that constitute education about income in retirement.
Labor's existing guidance, an interpretive bulletin from 1996,
specifies the types of general information considered to be investment
education rather than investment advice, which is a fiduciary act and
carries fiduciary duties and liability.[A]
Policy option: Require sponsors to provide an estimate of lifetime
annuity income on benefit statements;
Basic description: For benefit statements of DC plan participants,
sponsors could be required to show an estimate of the balance's
equivalent in lifetime retirement income as well as a total account
balance. For example, a legislative proposal, the Lifetime Income
Disclosure Act, would require Labor to provide assumptions for
sponsors to use in providing participants with annual lifetime
retirement income disclosures.[B]
Source: GAO analysis of RFI responses and other documents.
[A] 29 C.F.R. � 2509.96-1.
[B] S. 267 was introduced in Congress on February 3, 2011, and H.R.
677 was introduced on February 11, 2011. Plan sponsors would receive
relief from fiduciary liability for the estimate, to the extent they
follow legislative and regulatory provisions.
Develop and Disseminate Additional Federal Government Materials:
Currently, federal agencies provide some educational resources for the
general public about income in retirement as part of their efforts on
financial education. Certain agencies, such as SSA and Labor, have
taken various steps, as shown in table 6.
Federal agency: SSA;
Examples of materials on income in retirement: Various materials on
Social Security benefits are available,[A] including Web sites or
publications with factors to consider about when to claim benefits as
well as many online calculators to estimate benefits or the
population's life expectancy.
Examples of materials on income in retirement: SSA's Financial
Literacy Research Consortium began in 2009 with cooperative agreements
to three research centers to conduct research and develop materials to
improve financial literacy and retirement planning. However, according
to SSA's FY 2012 budget justification, funding is not provided for the
Financial Literacy Research Consortium.
Federal agency: Labor;
Examples of materials on income in retirement: The online and print
publication, Taking the Mystery Out of Retirement Planning, includes
chapters and calculators to help individuals understand their sources
and amounts of income and expenditures before and in retirement.[B]
The publication includes a chapter entitled "Making Your Money Last,"
which provides a few pages on choices like annuities, systematic
withdrawals, or combinations of approaches such as partial
annuitization.
Source: GAO analysis of agency documents.
[A] An important way for individuals to learn about Social Security
benefits is the annual statement provided to workers aged 25 and
older, which includes information on the worker's earnings and
projected benefits. We have previously reported in 2005 that SSA's
goals of the statement include educating the public about Social
Security programs, aiding in financial planning, and ensuring the
worker's earnings records are complete and accurate. However, in light
of the current budgetary situation, SSA recently announced that it has
suspended issuing annual statements.
[B] The online version of the publication is available at [hyperlink,
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/nearretirement.html].
We found that few other resources on how to ensure income throughout
retirement were available from the federal government.[Footnote 86]
With federal financial education, much of the retirement focus has
typically been on saving for retirement.
Although many sources of information are available from the private
sector, the federal government may be in a position to contribute to
financial education on managing pension and other financial assets in
retirement. The federal government can produce objective information
and partner with organizations outside of the government to deliver
its materials, which we have previously reported.[Footnote 87]
Leveraging partnerships with public and private sector stakeholders,
the federal government may help to reach many target audiences. This
could include those without plan sponsors such as the roughly half of
the private sector workforce not participating in a pension or those
who have rolled over pension assets to an IRA. Meanwhile, certain
research suggests that information from various financial service
companies may raise some concerns about possible limitations or
conflicts of interest.[Footnote 88] Regarding conflicts of interest,
we recently reported that participants in 401(k) plans may be unaware
that service providers, when furnishing education, may have
undisclosed financial interests, including on investment funds in
their plan or products outside the plan from roll-over balances.
[Footnote 89] Older people without pension plans or who have withdrawn
funds from their plans may receive information on products that are
not in their best interest or even fraudulent.[Footnote 90]
On the other hand, certain educational materials from the federal
government on income throughout retirement may have some limitations.
For example, Labor officials told us that their educational materials
on this topic may be fairly general, and plan sponsors may be more
aware of participants' circumstances and could better tailor
retirement education accordingly.
Require Sponsors to Provide a Notice for Plan Participants:
In 2003, we recommended that Congress consider amending ERISA so that
it specifically requires plan sponsors to provide participants with a
notice on risks that individuals face when managing their income and
expenditures at and during retirement.[Footnote 91] The notice could
be provided at certain key milestones, including when a participant
separates from service or at retirement. Although this policy option
has not been enacted, ERISA requires sponsors of DC plans to provide
participants a notice as part of their quarterly benefit statements
about the benefits of a well-balanced and diversified portfolio as
they save for retirement, which includes a link to a Labor Web site
for further information.[Footnote 92] According to Labor and Treasury
officials, plan sponsors are not required to provide a notice to
participants on managing pension assets in retirement, such as the
general financial risks and choices they face. Once retired or outside
their plan, individuals might be more susceptible to sales of products
that are not in their best interest or even constitute fraud. Without
additional information reinforced over time while participating in the
plan, participants could later make decisions that fail to sustain
their incomes and, as a result, potentially place a heavier burden on
public need-based assistance or other resources.
Encourage Voluntary Education in Plans by Issuing Clear Guidance:
Labor has provided an interpretive bulletin on participant investment
education as distinguished from investment advice in plans, but many
respondents observed that this bulletin and industry efforts generally
focus on saving for retirement, rather than on income throughout
retirement. According to a few industry groups, greater clarity on
education as distinguished from investment advice, as related to
income in retirement, may allay sponsors' and service providers' fears
of fiduciary liability by explaining the types of general information
on income in retirement that would not be considered to be investment
advice. With such clarity, more sponsors and service providers may
pursue voluntary efforts to educate plan participants in general on
income and expenses in retirement. Sponsors with assistance from
providers could tailor such education to their plan participants. Some
plans already offer such education.[Footnote 93]
However, any future guidance from Labor on investment education about
income in retirement, if poorly implemented, could have potential
disadvantages. For example, we recently recommended that Labor
evaluate and revise its interpretive bulletin on investment education,
including the ability to highlight proprietary funds which may result
in greater revenue to the service provider.[Footnote 94] As Labor
officials consider possible guidance on income in retirement, they
said that an inappropriate balance between education and advice could
result in plan participants receiving so-called "education" from
service providers with conflicts of interest and not having recourse
against fiduciaries. According to Labor officials, education on income
throughout retirement may also involve spending plan assets to varying
extents on choices not available in the plan, which could potentially
be challenged as unreasonable expenses from plan assets under certain
circumstances. Further, while guidance could encourage sponsors to
voluntarily provide education, it may not require it. Some sponsors
might not provide education on income throughout retirement due to
reasons other than fiduciary concerns, such as costs or not viewing it
as their role.
Require Sponsors to Provide an Estimate of Lifetime Annuity Income on
Benefit Statements:
Given the rise of DC plans which provide pension benefits as an
account balance, many industry, consumer, and academic groups noted
that an estimate on the participant benefit statement could present,
or "frame," the pension benefit as a stream of income in retirement
rather than just an account balance, which could help to change how
participants in DC plans perceive or ultimately withdraw their benefit
at retirement.[Footnote 95] For example, the Thrift Savings Plan, a DC
plan for federal workers, recently began to include such an estimate
on annual statements for participants,[Footnote 96] and
representatives of a service provider for other plans told us it does
so on quarterly statements. In addition, including an estimate of
annuity income, as the Lifetime Income Disclosure Act[Footnote 97]
would require if passed, could improve retirement planning by
indicating the estimated income stream available based on a worker's
account balance. This may be a difficult calculation for participants,
according to certain experts we interviewed. As workers save for
retirement, seeing an estimated monthly or annual income stream as
well as an account balance could possibly help them to increase saving
and understand how much they actually need to save to last throughout
retirement.
However, this proposed option is subject to many assumptions and
complexities, and certain industry or consumer groups expressed
concerns that an estimate could potentially confuse or discourage
participants. Although the current account balance may be simpler to
convert to an annuity estimate, a few industry groups cautioned that
such an estimate of annuity income could be quite low in some cases
and might even discourage saving by those with smaller balances, such
as younger participants. However, an estimate based on a projection of
the worker's future balance at retirement would entail additional
assumptions, such as future rates of return, and raise questions about
how to account for investment risk, if at all. Another area of
complexity is the level of uniformity or flexibility with
assumptions.[Footnote 98] While some industry groups noted that the
federal government could provide uniformity and consistency across
plan sponsors by prescribing assumptions for sponsors to use, other
industry groups preferred flexibility, such as tailoring estimates to
a plan's actual annuity products.
Given the long-term trends of rising life expectancy and the shift
from DB to DC plans, aging workers must increasingly focus not just on
accumulating assets for retirement but also on how to manage those
assets to have an adequate income throughout their retirement. Workers
are increasingly finding themselves depending on retirement savings
vehicles that they must self-manage, where they not only must save
consistently and invest prudently over their working years, but must
now continue to make comparable decisions throughout their retirement
years. Even for the minority of workers with significant retirement
savings, making their savings last may prove challenging. However, for
the majority of workers who approach retirement with small account
balances--workers with balances of $100,000 or less--the stakes are
far greater. For those with little or no pension or other financial
assets, ensuring income in retirement may involve difficult choices,
including how long to wait before claiming Social Security benefits in
order to receive higher benefits, how long to work, and how to adjust
consumption and lifestyle to lower levels of income in retirement.
Social Security benefits serve as the foundation of income in
retirement and a key source of lifetime retirement income, but many
older people claim benefits at the earliest age and pass up the
opportunity for a higher monthly benefit beginning at full retirement
age or later. By claiming benefits early, whether for health or other
important reasons, individuals take a smaller benefit when they could
potentially work longer and receive a higher monthly benefit. Although
retirement savings may be larger in the future as more workers have
opportunities to save over longer periods through strategies such as
automatic enrollment in DC plans, many will likely continue to face
little margin for error. Poor or imprudent investment decisions may
mean the difference between a secure retirement and poverty.
Even for the half of the workforce participating in pension plans,
employers as plan sponsors are currently not required to provide
notices on the financial risks and choices that participants face in
retirement. In our 2003 report, we included a Matter for Congressional
Consideration to require sponsors to provide a notice to plan
participants on risks in retirement. With the ongoing shift in pension
plans and the transition from lifetime retirement income toward
account balances, we believe that this continues to be important.
Absent such a requirement, many more workers may likely face key
retirement decisions without sufficient knowledge to decide which
choices are in their best interest. Without objective information from
employers and the federal government, even those retirees who have
adequate savings may be at risk of not having sufficient retirement
income. For those in the already large segment of the population
depending on limited retirement savings, making prudent choices is
especially important and difficult.
We provided officials from the Department of the Treasury, IRS,
Department of Labor, SEC, and the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners with a draft of this report. The Department of the
Treasury provided comments indicating that the report is a helpful
addition to the dialogue and analysis regarding the topic. See
appendix VI. Officials from the Department of the Treasury, IRS,
Commissioners provided technical comments that we incorporated in the
report, where appropriate. We also provided a copy of the draft to
officials from SSA for a technical review, and they also provided
technical comments that we incorporated where appropriate.
As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce its contents
earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days after the date
of this letter. At that time, we will send copies of this report to
the Secretary of the Treasury, Commissioner of Internal Revenue,
Secretary of Labor, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange
Commission, Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of
Insurance Commissioners, Commissioner of the Social Security
Administration, and other interested parties. In addition, this report
will be available at no charge on GAO's Web site at [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov].
If you or your staff have any questions concerning this report, please
contact me at (202) 512-7215 or jeszeckc@gao.gov. Contact points for
our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found
on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions
to this report are listed in appendix VII.
Charles Jeszeck:
Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues:
To identify the strategies experts recommend retirees employ to ensure
income throughout retirement we interviewed a judgmental sample of a
range of financial planners and other financial experts from different
academic and industry organizations and a retiree interest group,
which were from different geographic areas of the country. As part of
these interviews, to ensure we identified strategies that apply to
households across the net wealth spectrum and with both defined
benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pension plans, we randomly
selected five households from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS)
[Footnote 99] conducted by the University of Michigan in the lowest,
middle, and highest net wealth quintiles with different combinations
of pension plans in the middle and highest quintiles. See appendix III
for selected characteristics of these five households. See appendix II
for selected financial and demographic data about these net wealth
groups. The HRS is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of
older adults sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and the
Social Security Administration. The survey is administered in waves
(generally every 2 years) and includes information on respondent
demographics, health status, service receipt, and household
characteristics, among other things. An additional HRS dataset,
produced by the RAND Corporation, includes recoded variables and more
detailed information on household finances. Using RAND's March 2010
compilation of HRS data for waves 1992 through 2008 and HRS data
compiled by Gustman, et al., we identified these net wealth groups
using 2008 total net wealth data from RAND (including second homes) as
well as the present value of households' DB and DC pensions in 2006.
We limited our sample to households with a member nearing typical
retirement age (aged 55 to 60) in 2008 and adjusted income and asset
values for inflation to 2008 dollars. These net wealth estimates did
not include the present value of expected Social Security benefits. We
assessed the reliability of the data we used by reviewing pertinent
system and process documentation, interviewing knowledgeable
officials, and conducting electronic testing on data fields necessary
for our analysis. We found the data we reviewed reliable for the
purposes of our analysis. [Footnote 100]
We drew a random selection of five typical households from the first
(lowest), third (middle), and fifth (highest) net wealth quintiles. To
do so, we further restricted our analysis to households with net
wealth within 10 percent of the median for each of these three
quintile groups. For example, for the lowest quintile, median net
wealth was $2,000 so we selected households with net wealth in the
$1,800 to $2,200 range. Based on data for the first (lowest) quintile
(see appendix III), we selected a single-person household with neither
a DB nor a DC pension, two or three living children (not necessarily
living in the household), who reported being in "fair" or "good
health," and who did not own a house. Based on data for the third
(middle) quintile, we selected two households consisting of married
couples that owned their home, with either the respondent or spouse in
"good" or "very good" health, and with two living children. From this
quintile we selected one couple with only a DB pension and another
with only a DC pension. Based on data for the fifth (highest)
quintile, we selected two households consisting of married couples
that owned their home. We selected one with either the respondent or
spouse in "good" or "very good" health, two living children, and who
had both a DB and a DC pension. We selected another couple from this
quintile with only a DB pension, with members in "fair", "good", or
"very good" health, and no restriction concerning the number of their
living children. This procedure provided five households with
characteristics approximately equal to median values for their net
wealth quintile in these respects, but may not be in other ways.
We shared data on these households with the experts we
interviewed[Footnote 101] and discussed the strategies that the
experts would recommend these households' utilize and their trade-
offs. See the households' summary financial data in appendix III. We
also reviewed company-specific financial product documentation and
studies of retirement income strategies such as those describing
systematic withdrawals from retirement savings, including the results
of Monte Carlo simulations.[Footnote 102]
To review the choices retirees have made for managing their pension
and financial assets for generating income, we analyzed data from the
HRS, reviewed others' analyses of the HRS, and analyzed data from the
Social Security Administration, compiled by the Office of the Chief
Actuary. We reviewed other data sources including data on retirement
account holdings from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, labor
force participation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and
poverty estimates from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey.
We analyzed data concerning the disposition of pensions using HRS
data, including data compiled by RAND and Gustman, et al. We
restricted this analysis to workers that reported leaving employment
with a DB or DC pension plan and retiring between 2000 through 2006.
We also included only respondents that were in the HRS data set during
each wave, 2000 through 2006. Furthermore, we assembled and analyzed
data for a subset of these respondents that provided information
concerning the availability of a lump sum option for their DB pension
in the same HRS wave in which they reported a pension disposition.
To identify policy options that are available to ensure income
throughout retirement as well as their advantages and disadvantages,
we collected and reviewed information representing a variety of
academic, consumer, industry, and government sources. We analyzed over
40 public comments from diverse groups submitted in response to the
Department of Labor's (Labor) and the Department of the Treasury's
(Treasury) 2010 request for information (RFI) on lifetime income, and
at relevant congressional and Treasury-Labor department hearings. In
addition to the RFI submissions, we also reviewed other publications
from a variety of academic, consumer, and industry sources. We
reviewed reports from Labor's Employee Retirement Income Security Act
(ERISA) Advisory Council, and financial literacy materials on
retirement income available from federal agencies including the online
version of Labor's Taking the Mystery Out Of Retirement Planning and
the Financial Literacy and Education Commission's Web site,
[hyperlink, http://www.MyMoney.gov]. We conducted interviews with a
variety of academic, consumer, and industry sources. Interviews with
officials of federal government agencies included Labor, the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Treasury, the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS), and Treasury staff of the Financial Literacy
and Education Commission. Lastly, we reviewed applicable federal laws
and regulations.
These demographic and financial characteristics are for households in
the HRS in which either the respondent or spouse was in the 55 to 60
age range in 2008. Except as noted, the income figures apply to income
in 2007 and asset figures apply to assets at the time of the 2008 HRS
interview, typically mid-2008. Estimates are expressed in 2008
dollars. See table 8 for confidence intervals of these household
characteristics.
Demographic or financial characteristic: (italics indicate income):
The percent of households with income from work and for those with
such income, the median amount in 2007;
1st quintile (lowest)[A]: 58.7%, $26,000;
3rd quintile (middle)[A]: 83.5%, $62,000;
5th quintile (highest)[A]: 83.7%, $96,000.
Household's total income;
1st quintile (lowest)[A]: $23,000;
3rd quintile (middle)[A]: $70,000;
5th quintile (highest)[A]: $140,000.
Household's median net wealth in 2008[A];
1st quintile (lowest)[A]: $2,000;
3rd quintile (middle)[A]: $339,000;
5th quintile (highest)[A]: $1,508,000.
Percent of households with DB pensions, and for those with DB
pensions, the median estimated present value[B];
1st quintile (lowest)[A]: 5.9%, $16,000;
3rd quintile (middle)[A]: 62.3%, $132,000;
5th quintile (highest)[A]: 69.6%, $357,000.
The percent of households with DC pensions, and for those with DC
1st quintile (lowest)[A]: 18.9%,$5,000;
Gross financial assets (excluding pensions and IRAs);
1st quintile (lowest)[A]: $50;
The percentage of married couples;
1st quintile (lowest)[A]: 33.8%;
3rd quintile (middle)[A]: 64.0%;
5th quintile (highest)[A]: 83.2%.
The percent of households with living children, and for those with
children, the median number they had[C];
1st quintile (lowest)[A]: 86.7%, 2.6;
3rd quintile (middle)[A]: 88.6%, 1.9;
5th quintile (highest)[A]: 88.4%, 1.9.
The median self-reported level of health for the respondent (R) and
spouse (S): excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor;
1st quintile (lowest)[A]: 4 - fair (R) 3 - good (S);
3rd quintile (middle)[A]: 3 - good (R) 2 - very good (S);
5th quintile (highest)[A]: 2 - very good (R&S).
The percentage of households that owned a home, and for those that
did, the median amount of home equity of their primary and other
residences;
The percentage of households with a home that had a mortgage;
The median combined level of household risk aversion where 1 indicates
least risk averse and 6 being most risk averse;
1st quintile (lowest)[A]: 4.7 (from 1-6);
3rd quintile (middle)[A]: 4.4 (from 1-6);
5th quintile (highest)[A]: 3.9 (from 1-6).
The median estimate of the probability of leaving an inheritance of
$100,000 or more[D];
1st quintile (lowest)[A]: 0.0%;
[A] These net wealth groups are based on assets in individual
retirement accounts (which are a type of individual retirement
arrangement, or IRA), present value of DB and DC assets, and other
financial and nonfinancial assets net of debt, but not the present
value of Social Security assets. Nonfinancial assets include home
equity, business ownership, and the net value of vehicles.
[B] The source of DB and DC pension data is HRS data compiled by
Gustman, et al. for 2006. We adjusted the estimated present values of
these pensions to express their value in 2008 dollars.
[C] Includes children in the household as well as those living
[D] For couples providing responses, this is the average of both
responses.
Table 8 presents the confidence intervals for data in table 7, based
on a 95 percent confidence level.
The percent of households with income from work For those with such
income, the median amount in 2007;
1st quintile (lowest): 53.8% to 63.6%; $23,266 to 30,389;
3rd quintile (middle): 79.1% to 87.3%; $55,570 to $67,569;
5th quintile (highest): 79.3% to 87.5%; $84,623 to $106,635.
1st quintile (lowest): $20,526 to $25,379;
3rd quintile (middle): $66,256 to $73,806;
5th quintile (highest): $126,303 to $152,750.
Household's median net wealth in 2008;
1st quintile (lowest): $422 to $3,955;
3rd quintile (middle): $312,190 to $367,327;
5th quintile (highest): $1,405,301 to $1,610,021.
Percent of households with DB pensions, For those with DB pensions,
the median estimated present value;
1st quintile (lowest): 3.8% to 8.8%; $10,700 to $23,918;
3rd quintile (middle): 57.2% to 67.4%; $112,145 to $158,908;
5th quintile (highest): 64.7% to 74.6%; $289,520 to $432,774.
pensions, the median estimated present value;
1st quintile (lowest): 15.0% to 22.8%; $3,728 to $7,815;
1st quintile (lowest): $23 to $111;
1st quintile (lowest): 29.1% to 38.4%;
3rd quintile (middle): 58.9% to 69.2%;
5th quintile (highest): 79.2% to 87.2%.
children, the median number they had;
1st quintile (lowest): 82.5% to 90.1%; 2.4 to 2.9;
3rd quintile (middle): 84.5% to 92.0%; 1.8 to 2.0;
5th quintile (highest): 84.4% to 91.7%; 1.8 to 2.0.
The percentage of households that owned a home and for those that did,
the median amount of home equity of their primary and other residences;
1st quintile (lowest): 27.1% to 36.3%; $5,920 to $19,057;
3rd quintile (middle): 90.5% to 95.6%; $99,350 to $120,068;
being the least risk averse and 6 being the most risk averse;
1st quintile (lowest): 4.3 to 4.9;
3rd quintile (middle): 4.0 to 4.6;
5th quintile (highest): 3.7 to 4.2.
$100,000 or more;
1st quintile (lowest): 0.0% to 0.0%;
Below are selected demographic and financial characteristics of five
households whose retirement prospects we discussed with financial
planners and retirement income experts. We randomly selected these
households from a sample of near-retirement households in the HRS in
which the respondent and spouse were in the 55 to 60 age range in
2008. We selected one household from households in the lowest of five
net wealth groups, two households from the households in the middle
net wealth group, and two households in the highest net wealth group.
Characteristic: Gender and age of respondent in 2008:
Value for household #1: Female, 58.
Characteristic: Age of spouse, middle of 2008;
Value for household #1: NA.
Characteristic: Marital status;
Value for household #1: Single.
Characteristic: Net wealth;
Value for household #1:$2,000.
Characteristic: Pension status;
Value for household #1: No pension.
Characteristic: Market value of homes and other real estate;
Value for household #1: $0.
Characteristic: Housing debt;
Characteristic: Present value of DB plan;
Characteristic: Value of DC plan;
Characteristic: Value of IRA assets;
Characteristic: Value of vehicles;
Value for household #1: $2,000.
Characteristic: Value of business assets;
Characteristic: Value of other financial assets;
Characteristic: Nonhousing debt;
Characteristic: Total income;
Value for household #1: $22,000.
Characteristic: Income from earnings;
Characteristic: Expected annual Social Security benefit if first taken
at age 66 (respondent);
Characteristic: Self-reported health status (respondent/spouse);
Value for household #1: Fair.
Characteristic: Living children;
Value for household #1: 3.
Characteristic: Respondent's estimate of the probability that they
will leave a bequest of $10,000 or more;
Value for household #1: 10%.
will leave a bequest of $100,000 or more;
Value for household #1: 0%.
Characteristic: Level of risk aversion on a scale of 1 to 6, with 6
being the most risk averse (respondent);
Characteristic: Gender and age of respondent in 2008;
Value for household #2: 57.
Value for household #2: Married.
Value for household #2: $349,000.
Value for household #2: DC only.
Value for household #2: ($128,000).
Value for household #2: ($3,000).
Characteristic: Income from earnings (respondent/spouse);
Value for household #2: $33,000/$78,000.
at age 66 (respondent/spouse);
Value for household #2: Very good/Very good.
Value for household #2: 100%.
being the most risk averse (respondent/spouse);
Value for household #2: Don't know 5.
Characteristics: Gender and age of respondent in 2008;
Characteristics: Age of spouse, middle of 2008;
Value for household #3: DB only.
Value for household #3: ($17,000).
Value for household #3: $57,000[A].
Value for household #3: $8,000/$26,000.
Value for household #3: Good/Good.
Value for household #3: 6/6.
[A] Includes $22,000 from a pension or annuity.
Value for household #4: Male, 59.
Value for household #4: $1,597,000.
Value for household #4: Very good/Good.
Value for household #5: DB and DC.
Value for household #5: $1,100,000[A].
Value for household #5: $119,000[B].
Value for household #5: $0/$52,000.
Value for household #5: Poor/Good.
[A] This consists of a primary residence valued at $700,000 and other
real estate valued at $400,000.
[B] This includes $65,000 of capital income, such as gross rental
income, dividends, interest, and other asset income.
Table 14 provides estimates and confidence intervals for estimates of
the percentage of workers who reported the disposition of their
pension upon leaving work with a DB pension and retiring. Based on
analysis of our sample of HRS respondents, we are 95 percent confident
that the actual proportion of workers is between the low and high
percentage indicated in each cell. See appendix I for details
concerning our methodology for developing these estimates.
DB pension disposition: Receiving benefits;
Was a lump sum option available?
A. Yes, either full or partial lump sum available for one or more DB
pension: 68.3% (60.7 to 75.8%);
B. No: 77.3% (70.0 to 83.6%);
C. All: 67.8% (64.8 to 70.8%).
DB pension disposition: Expect future benefit;
pension: 18.4 (12.3 to 26.0%);
B. No: 18.7 (12.8 to 26.0%);
C. All: 15.0 (12.5 to 17.4%).
DB pension disposition: Cash settlement;
pension: 8.6 (4.6 to 14.4%);
B. No: 3.8 (1.6 to 7.2%);
C. All: 7.9 (6.3 to 9.6%).
DB pension disposition: IRA rollover;
pension: 10.3 (5.8 to 16.7%);
DB pension disposition: Total number of observations;
pension: 208;
B. No: 247;
C. All: 1336.
Alan L. Gustman, Thomas L. Steinmeier, and Nahid Tabatabai, Pensions
in the Health and Retirement Study (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 2010).
Note: Respondents may have chosen a combination of options, so the sum
of percentages in each column may exceed 100.0 percent. Analysis is
limited to respondents age 60 or older in 2006 in the HRS 2000 through
2006. Estimates concerning those that had an option or did not have an
option to take a lump sum were based on responses concerning this
option during the 2000 through 2006 period.
Table 15 addresses the dispositions of DC pensions by workers who left
employment with a pension and retired.
DC pension disposition: Amount left in account;
Estimate with (confidence interval) (percent): 38.8% (35.3 to 42.3%).
DC pension disposition: IRA rollover;
Estimate with (confidence interval) (percent): 30.3 (27.1 to 33.6).
DC pension disposition: Convert to annuity;
Estimate with (confidence interval) (percent): 6.1 (4.5 to 8.0).
DC pension disposition: Withdrawal;
DC pension disposition: Transfer to new employer;
Estimate with (confidence interval) (percent): 0.2 (0.02 to 0.7).
Total number of observations: 1,109.
Note: Respondents may have chosen a combination of options. Analysis
is limited to respondents in the HRS 2000 through 2006.
Table 16 describes selected types of arrangements which are tax-
advantaged and products that may provide retirement income. They
include tax-advantaged retirement arrangements, annuity products, and
investment products. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but
rather to provide a sense of certain types of financial arrangements
and products that may provide income throughout retirement.
Tax-advantaged retirement arrangements:
Type of arrangement or product: Defined benefit (DB) pension plans;
Basic description: DB plans promise to provide a benefit that is
generally based on an employee's years of service and, frequently,
salary (i.e., for "traditional" pension plans; "hybrid" pension plans,
such as cash balance plans, may use a formula to determine benefits
that may be expressed as a hypothetical account balance). Income taxes
typically apply when pension benefits are taken.
Type of arrangement or product: Defined contribution (DC) pension
plans;
Basic description: DC plans provide benefits based on contributions
and investment returns to individual accounts for employees. The
employee, the employer, or both periodically make contributions and/or
direct investments (e.g., 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, 457 plans, money
purchase plans, stock bonus plans). For tax-qualified plans, income
taxes are typically deferred on contributions and investment earnings
until withdrawals of pension benefits.
Type of arrangement or product: Individual retirement accounts[A];
Basic description: Individual retirement accounts are retirement
savings arrangements that allow the holder to make tax-deductible and
nondeductible contributions to an individual account and to preserve
assets from pension plans on a tax-deferred basis under certain
conditions. Amounts withdrawn from traditional individual retirement
accounts are fully or partially taxable in the year withdrawals are
made. A variation is the Roth individual retirement account, which,
under certain conditions, allows the holder to make nondeductible
contributions to an individual account and realize tax-free growth of
the balance from interest, dividends, and capital gains, with tax-free
withdrawals in retirement.
Annuity products:
Type of arrangement or product: Immediate fixed annuities;
Basic description: Immediate annuities are insurance products that
provide immediate income for a pre-determined period of time such as
for the life of the contract holder or a specified number of years.
Payments promise a set regular amount based on a certain interest rate.
Type of arrangement or product: Immediate variable annuities;
Basic description: Like immediate fixed annuities, these contracts
provide immediate income for a pre-determined period of time. Unlike
immediate fixed annuities, the payments may increase or decrease based
on performance of underlying investments the purchaser selects.
Type of arrangement or product: Deferred fixed annuities;
Basic description: Deferred annuities generally have an accumulation,
or investment, phase as well as the option of a payout, or income,
phase. There may be a one-time purchase or a series of purchases made
over time. Payments from the annuity for a set regular amount are to
begin in the future rather than immediately. An example of a variation
is a deeply deferred annuity, also known as commercial "longevity
insurance," which may begin payments starting after a late age, such
as 85.
Type of arrangement or product: Deferred variable annuities;
Basic description: Deferred annuities have an accumulation and
potentially a payout phase where the accumulation and regular payments
may vary based on performance of underlying investments the purchaser
selects. The payout phase may feature fixed or variable payments.
Type of arrangement or product: Indexed annuities;
Basic description: Indexed annuities offer a return computed by
reference to (but not necessarily the same as) an outside index such
as the S&P 500 Composite Stock Price Index, often promising a minimum
contract value regardless of index performance.
Type of arrangement or product: Annuities with guaranteed living
benefits;
Basic description: Newer annuities, including variable annuities,
frequently offer optional features that provide various protections or
guarantees, subject to certain restrictions. For example, a minimum
withdrawal benefit provides for periodic withdrawals of a specified
percentage of the investment (e.g., 5% to 7%) and further provides
that the insurance company will continue payments of that amount if
the account is depleted by reason of permitted withdrawals and/or
investment performance. These withdrawals generally will continue
until the original investment has been recouped or, in the case of a
so-called "lifetime withdrawal benefit," for the life of the contract
Investment products:
Type of arrangement or product: Mutual funds;
Basic description: Mutual funds are pooled investments in a portfolio
of securities that are managed professionally. Investors buy shares in
the fund, which represents an indirect ownership interest in the
fund's securities. Mutual funds may include stocks, bonds, cash
instruments, as well as combinations of these asset classes (e.g.,
balanced funds, payout funds, target-date funds).
Type of arrangement or product: Payout funds;
Basic description: These funds combine an investment portfolio with a
distribution, or payout, component. They may serve in place of
systematic drawdowns by making payments of a certain percent or for a
particular period of time.
Type of arrangement or product: Target-date funds;
Basic description: Target-date funds, or lifecycle funds, allocate
investments among various asset classes with the goal of reducing
investment risk as the retirement date approaches. These funds differ
widely in their allocations among asset types before, at and during
Type of arrangement or product: Treasury Inflation Protected
Securities (TIPS);
Basic description: TIPS are Treasury securities indexed to the rate of
inflation. Both interest payments and the return of the principal at
maturity are adjusted for inflation.
Source: GAO analysis of government and industry documents.
[A] IRA also refers to individual retirement arrangements, including
individual retirement accounts and individual retirement annuities.
Department Of The Treasury:
Charles A. Jeszeck, Director:
Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues:
441 G Street, NW:
Re: GAO Report on Retirement Income (GA0-11-400):
Dear Charlie:
Thank you for sending us the draft of GAO's report titled, "Retirement
Income: Ensuring Income throughout Retirement Requires Difficult
Choices" (GAO-11-400).
The report provides information and analysis pertaining to key issues
that were raised in the Request for Information (RFI) that the
Department of the Treasury and the Department of Labor published on
this subject (at 75 FR 5253, Feb. 2, 2010). As we have stated on
previous occasions, the RFI was intended to invite comments on
whether, and, if so, how, to give participants better options for
managing retirement savings or accessing lifetime income or other
arrangements that are designed to provide a stream of income after
The report is a helpful addition to the ongoing dialogue and analysis
regarding the importance of steps that might be taken to address the
risk of outliving one's retirement savings and to give people
additional options to manage those savings during their lifetime after
retirement. We will take the information and analysis in the report
into account as we consider guidance to issue in response to the
public comments we have received.
J. Mark Iwry:
Senior Advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Retirement and Health Policy (Office of Tax Policy):
Charles Jeszeck, (202) 512-7215 or jeszeckc@gao.gov:
In addition to the contact named above, Michael J. Collins, Assistant
Director; Joseph A. Applebaum; Carl S. Barden; Susan C. Bernstein;
Jason A. Bromberg; Michael Brostek; Tara E. Carter; Patrick S. Dynes;
Sharon L. Hermes; Mitchell B. Karpman; Gene G. Kuehneman Jr.; Mimi
Nguyen; Benjamin P. Pfeiffer; Bryan G. Rogowski; Matthew J. Saradjian;
Roger J. Thomas; Frank Todisco; Karen C. Tremba; and Walter K. Vance
made key contributions to this report.
401(K) Plans: Improved Regulation Could Better Protect Participants
from Conflicts of Interest. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-119]. Washington, D.C.: January 28,
Defined Contribution Plans: Key Information on Target Date Funds as
Default Investments Should Be Provided to Plan Sponsors and
Participants. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-118].
Washington, D.C.: January 31, 2011.
Consumer Finance: Regulatory Coverage Generally Exists for Financial
Planners, but Consumer Protection Issues Remain. [hyperlink,
Social Security Reform: Raising the Retirement Ages Would Have
Implications for Older Workers and SSA Disability Rolls. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-125]. Washington, D.C.: November
18, 2010.
State and Local Government Pension Plans: Governance Practices and
Long-term Investment Strategies Have Evolved Gradually as Plans Take
On Increased Investment Risk. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-754]. Washington, D.C. August 24,
Retirement Income: Challenges for Ensuring Income throughout
Retirement. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-632R].
Washington, D.C.: April 28, 2010.
Social Security: Options to Protect Benefits for Vulnerable Groups
When Addressing Program Solvency. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-101R]. Washington, D.C.: December
Retirement Savings: Automatic Enrollment Shows Promise for Some
Workers, but Proposals to Broaden Retirement Savings for Other Workers
Could Face Challenges. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-
31]. Washington, D.C.: October 23, 2009.
Retirement Savings: Better Information and Sponsor Guidance Could
Improve Oversight and Reduce Fees for Participants. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-641]. Washington, D.C.: September
Private Pensions: Alternative Approaches Could Address Retirement
Risks Faced by Workers but Pose Trade-offs. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-642]. Washington, D.C.: July 24,
Financial Literacy and Education Commission: Progress Made in
Fostering Partnerships, but National Strategy Remains Largely
Descriptive Rather Than Strategic. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-638T]. Washington, D.C.: April 29,
Private Pensions: Conflicts of Interest Can Affect Defined Benefit and
Defined Contribution Plans. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-503T]. Washington, D.C.: March 24,
Individual Retirement Accounts: Additional IRS Actions Could Help
Taxpayers Facing Challenges in Complying with Key Tax Rules.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-654]. Washington, D.C.:
Defined Benefit Pensions: Plan Freezes Affect Millions of Participants
and May Pose Retirement Income Challenges. [hyperlink,
Private Pensions: Fulfilling Fiduciary Obligations Can Present
Challenges for 401(k) Plan Sponsors. [hyperlink,
Individual Retirement Accounts: Government Actions Could Encourage
More Employers to Offer IRAs to Employees. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-590]. Washington, D.C.: June 4,
Private Pensions: Low Defined Contribution Plan Savings May Pose
Challenges to Retirement Security, Especially for Many Low-Income
Workers. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-8].
Washington, D.C.: November 29, 2007.
Retirement Security: Women Face Challenges in Ensuring Financial
Security in Retirement. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-105]. Washington, D.C.: October 11,
State and Local Government Retiree Benefits: Current Status of Benefit
Structures, Protections, and Fiscal Outlook for Funding Future Costs.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-1156]. Washington,
D.C.: September 24, 2007.
Retirement Decisions: Federal Policies Offer Mixed Signals about When
to Retire. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-753].
Washington, D.C.: July 11, 2007.
Defined Benefit Pensions: Conflicts of Interest Involving High Risk or
Terminated Plans Pose Enforcement Challenges. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-703]. Washington, D.C.: June 28,
Employer-Sponsored Health and Retirement Benefits: Efforts to Control
Employer Costs and the Implications for Workers. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-355]. Washington, D.C.: March 30,
Private Pensions: Changes Needed to Provide 401(k) Plan Participants
and the Department of Labor Better Information on Fees. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-21]. Washington, D.C.: November 16,
Baby Boom Generation: Retirement of Baby Boomers Is Unlikely to
Precipitate Dramatic Decline in Market Returns, but Broader Risks
Threaten Retirement Security. [hyperlink,
Social Security Reform: Answers to Key Questions. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-193SP]. Washington, D.C.: May 2005.
Older Workers: Labor Can Help Employers and Employees Plan Better for
the Future. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-80].
Washington, D.C.: December 5, 2005.
Redefining Retirement: Options for Older Americans. [hyperlink,
Highlights of a GAO Forum: The Federal Government's Role in Improving
Financial Literacy. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-93SP]. Washington, D.C.: November
Consumer Protection: Federal and State Agencies Face Challenges in
Combating Predatory Lending. [hyperlink,
Private Pensions: Participants Need Information on Risks They Face in
Managing Pension Assets at and during Retirement. [hyperlink,
Retiree Health Insurance: Gaps in Coverage and Availability.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-178T]. Washington,
D.C.: November 1, 2001.
Pension Plans: Characteristics of Persons in the Labor Force Without
Pension Coverage. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-00-131]. Washington, D.C.: August
Social Security Reform: Implications of Raising the Retirement Age.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-99-112]. Washington,
D.C.: August 27, 1999.
Social Security Reform: Raising Retirement Ages Improves Program
Solvency but May Cause Hardship for Some. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/T-HEHS-98-207]. Washington, D.C.: July
[1] Since 1970, life expectancies at age 65 have risen by about 2
years for women and nearly 4 years for men.
[2] These life expectancies are based on Social Security cohort life
tables, using a weighted average for people born in 1950 (i.e.,
turning 65 in 2015) and for people born in 1940 (i.e., turning 65 in
2005) to approximate expectancies for people turning 65 in 2011. See
Felicitie C. Bell and Michael L. Miller, Life Tables for the United
States Social Security Area 1900-2100, Actuarial Study No. 120, SSA
Pub. No. 11-11536 (Washington, D.C., Social Security Administration,
Office of the Chief Actuary, August 2005).
[3] GAO has highlighted such concern in earlier reports. See, for
example, GAO, Retirement Income: Challenges for Ensuring Income
throughout Retirement, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-632R] (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 28,
2010); Private Pensions: Alternative Approaches Could Address
Retirement Risks Faced by Workers but Pose Trade-offs, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-642] (Washington, D.C.: July 24,
2009); Private Pensions: Low Defined Contribution Plan Savings May
Pose Challenges to Retirement Security, Especially for Many Low-Income
Workers, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-8]
(Washington, D.C.: Nov. 29, 2007); and Baby Boom Generation:
Retirement of Baby Boomers is Unlikely to Precipitate Dramatic Decline
in Market Returns, but Broader Risks Threaten Retirement Security,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-718] (Washington, D.C.:
July 28, 2006).
[4] U.S. Department of the Treasury and U.S. Department of Labor,
Request for Information Regarding Lifetime Income Options for
Participants and Beneficiaries in Retirement Plans. 75 Fed. Reg. 5,253
(Feb. 2, 2010). Labor is currently reviewing the rules under the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Treasury is
currently reviewing the plan qualification rules under the Internal
Revenue Code to determine whether, and, if so, how the departments
could or should enhance, by regulation or otherwise, the retirement
security of participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans and in
IRAs by facilitating access to, and the use of, lifetime income or
other arrangements designed to provide a lifetime stream of income
after retirement. IRAs can be individual retirement accounts or
individual retirement annuities.
[5] The HRS is a national, longitudinal survey of older people
produced by the University of Michigan sponsored by the National
Institute of Aging. We used HRS data to identify quintiles based on
net wealth--IRA assets, present value of DB and DC pension assets, and
other financial and nonfinancial assets net of debt, but excluded the
present value of Social Security assets. Nonfinancial assets include
home equity, business ownership, and the net value of vehicles.
[6] A DB plan promises to provide a benefit that is generally based on
an employee's years of service and, frequently, salary. Typically, DB
annuity payments are received on a monthly basis by the retired
participant and continue as long as the recipient lives (and also for
the lifetime of the surviving spouse if the participant is married and
this form of benefit is taken). DC plan benefits, primarily those from
401(k) plans, are based on the contributions and investment returns in
individual accounts. For each participant, typically both the plan
sponsor and the participant may periodically contribute a specific
dollar amount or percentage of pay into each participant's account.
Private savings include bank account balances and IRA funds. IRAs are
retirement savings arrangements which allow workers to make tax-
deductible and nondeductible contributions to an individual account.
For workers who meet certain conditions regarding their income or who
are not otherwise eligible to participate in an employer-sponsored
pension plan, contributions to a regular (traditional) IRA receive
favorable tax treatment; workers may be eligible to take an income tax
deduction on some or all of the contributions they make to their
traditional IRA. Amounts withdrawn from a traditional IRA are fully or
partially taxable in the year withdrawals are made. If the taxpayer
made only deductible contributions, withdrawals are fully taxable.
Investment income on funds in the account is tax deferred until funds
are withdrawn. Workers below certain income limits may also contribute
to Roth IRAs, which do not provide an income tax deduction on
contributions, but permit tax free withdrawals. Individuals may also
transfer funds to a Roth IRA, but must pay taxes on the pretax amounts
transferred.
[7] These estimates are from the BLS analysis of Current Population
Survey (CPS) data. The 95 percent confidence intervals for these
estimates are 28.2 to 30.0 percent and 6.3 to 7.5 percent,
respectively, for adults aged 65 to 69 and adults aged 75 or older.
[8] Data for 2008 were the most recent available. This estimate is the
mean proportion of income from Social Security for households in which
one or more member is a Social Security recipient aged 65 or older.
For 34.2 percent of such households, Social Security benefits were the
source of 90 percent or more of income. See Social Security
Administration, Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2008
(Washington, D.C., April 2010), 300 (table 9.A1). The 95 percent
confidence intervals for these estimates are 64.1 to 65.5 percent and
33.5 to 34.9 percent respectively.
[9] Those born in 1938 were the first to be affected when they turned
62 in 2000 and faced a greater reduction for retiring at that age.
[10] These estimates are based on results using intermediate
assumptions in the 2011 report of the Social Security trust funds'
Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees, Federal Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds, The
2011 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds,
(Washington, D.C., May 13, 2011).
[11] The Social Security Administration estimates that over the next
several years, and over the long term, trust fund income, excluding
trust fund interest, is projected to be less than trust fund expenses,
absent any changes. The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance
Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 temporarily reduced
employees' share of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax
from 6.2 to 4.2 percent of covered wages for calendar year 2011. To
avoid harming Social Security's solvency, however, the act directs the
Treasury to transfer from the general fund to the Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds an
amount equal to 2.0 percent of covered wages. Pub. L. No. 111-312 �
601, 124 Stat. 3296, 3309-10.
[12] An annuity is an insurance agreement or contract that comes in a
number of different forms and can (1) help individuals accumulate
money for retirement through tax-deferred savings, (2) provide them
with monthly income that can be guaranteed to last for as long as they
live, or (3) do both.
[13] Not all plans, however, accept rollovers from other plans.
[14] From 1990 to 2008, the number of active participants in private
sector DB plans fell by 27.6 percent from about 26 million to about 19
million. From 1990 to 2008, the number of active participants in DC
plans increased by 90.3 percent from about 35 million to about 67
[15] The 95 percent confidence intervals for these estimates are $983
to $1,061 and $7,796 to $8,304, respectively, according to SSA.
[16] According to the Insured Retirement Institute, very few life
insurance companies offer true inflation-protected annuities for sale
in the United States.
[17] According to the American Academy of Actuaries, without pooling
longevity risk, through an immediate annuity for example, a retiree
would need to accumulate substantially more in savings to ensure not
outliving his or her assets.
[18] Annuity providers may offer term-certain options or death benefit
options for an additional cost.
[19] See, for example, Jonathan Skinner, "Are You Sure You're Saving
Enough for Retirement," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21(3)
(Summer 2007): 59-80; Congressional Budget Office, Baby Boomers'
Retirement Prospects: An Overview (November 2003).
[20] Due to the long-term fiscal challenges facing Social Security,
options for reform may result in lower benefits and reduced
replacement rates from Social Security. As a result, reforms to the
Social Security system may increase the need for retirement income
from other sources such as private pensions. See GAO, Social Security
Reform: Answers to Key Questions, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-193SP] (Washington, D.C.: May 2005).
[21] 29 U.S.C. � 1001 note.
[22] Under ERISA, a fiduciary is anyone, such as a sponsor, trustee,
investment adviser, or other service provider, to the extent they
exercise any discretionary authority or control over plan management
or any authority or control over the management or disposition of plan
assets, or who renders investment advice respecting plan money or
property for a fee or other compensation, or has discretionary
authority or responsibility for plan administration. 29 U.S.C. �
1002(21)(A).
[23] IRAs are subject to an exclusive benefit requirement and the
prohibited transaction rules in Code section 4975 (as interpreted by
Labor). Under the exclusive benefit requirement contributions made to
pension plans must be maintained for the exclusive benefit of
participants and their beneficiaries. Further, some IRAs, including
those in Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees of Small
Employers (SIMPLE), are DC plans subject to various ERISA rules for
plan sponsors. Thus, IRS and, to a limited extent, Labor have
oversight responsibilities for certain types of IRAs. IRS has
responsibility for tax rules governing how to establish and maintain
IRAs, while Labor has sole responsibility for oversight of fiduciary
standards for employer-sponsored IRAs, and has issued guidance to
employers related to payroll-deduction IRAs regarding when such an
arrangement would be a pension plan subject to Labor's jurisdiction.
29 C.F.R. � 2510.3-2(d) and 29 C.F.R. � 2509.99-1. Except for
rulemaking authority regarding the tax code's prohibited transaction
provisions, which apply to IRAs, Labor does not have jurisdiction to
oversee payroll-deduction IRA programs that are operated within the
conditions of their guidance. Also, more households own traditional
IRAs than employer-sponsored IRAs. Labor and IRS also work together to
oversee IRA prohibited transactions; generally, Labor has interpretive
jurisdiction and IRS has certain enforcement authority. See GAO,
More Employers to Offer IRAs to Employees, GAO-08-590 (Washington,
D.C.: June 4, 2008).
[24] See [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-632R], 14-15
[25] However, our selection of experts did not provide a statistically
representative sample of all financial experts.
[26] Under Social Security, retiree benefits are reduced for retirees
who start drawing benefits before their full retirement age and
increased for those who delay the start of benefits up to age 70.
[27] We did not have access to any personal identification information
for selected households; they remain anonymous.
[28] Life expectancy has risen over time. A male who reached age 65 in
1960 could expect to live another 13 years, while a man who reached
age 65 in 2010 could expect to live another 19 years, according to the
Social Security Board of Trustees. Females have experienced similar
gains. A female who reached age 65 in 1960 could expect to live
another 17 years, while a female who reached age 65 in 2010 could
expect to live another 21 years. Trustees Report (2011), cohort life
table p. 91.
[29] While the traditionally recommended drawdown strategy is to draw
only the income from investments, experts we spoke to recommended that
retirees draw from both income and principal and seek a return on
their investments irrespective of the income yield.
[30] These drawdown probabilities depend upon the assumptions
underlying the CRS simulation model. Janemarie Mulvey and Patrick
Purcell, Converting Retirement Savings into Income: Annuities and
Periodic Withdrawals, (Congressional Research Service: 2009).
[31] The experts we spoke to recommended that retirees hold more than
the two asset classes used in the CRS retirement model. In addition,
CRS excluded the effect of investment fees and taxes in its analysis.
According to the Investment Company Institute and the investment
research firm, Lipper, mutual fund fees incurred by investors averaged
about 1.0 percent for stock mutual funds and 0.7 percent for bond
funds in 2009. See Investment Company Fact Book: A Review of Trends
and Activity in the Investment Company Industry, 51st ed., Investment
Company Institute (2011). As we have previously reported, fees are one
of many factors to consider when choosing among investment options,
such as in DC plans and IRAs, because fees can significantly decrease
retirement assets. Even a small fee deducted from one's assets
annually could represent a large amount of money years later had it
remained in the account to be reinvested. See, for example, GAO,
Improve Oversight and Reduce Fees for Participants, GAO-09-641
(Washington, D.C.: Sept. 4, 2009).
[32] The scenario is based on GAO analysis and Moshe A. Milevsky and
Alexandra C. Macqueen, Pensionize Your Nest Egg: How to Use Product
Allocation to Create a Guaranteed Income For Life (Ontario, Calif.:
John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd., 2010), 34-47.
[33] SSA officials noted that beneficiaries who are eligible for more
than one type of benefit may have other ways to boost inflation-
adjusted lifetime retirement income. For example, under certain
circumstances a beneficiary could claim a spousal benefit at their
full retirement age on their lower-earning spouse's earnings record
and defer receipt of his or her own retirement benefit past full
retirement age in order to earn an increased benefit up to age 70.
[34] An estimated 49 percent of state and local government workers
with a DB had a lump sum option available in 2007. See U.S. Department
of Labor, National Compensation Survey: Retirement Benefits in State
and Local Governments in the United States, 2007, Summary 08-03 (May
2008). The 95 percent confidence interval for this estimate is 44.7 to
53.3 percent.
[35] Based on BLS Consumer Price Index data for all urban consumers
(CPI-U).
[36] Annuity quote was obtained on April 1, 2011, from Income
Solutions, Hueler Investment Services, Inc., and Vanguard. The
insurance company offering the annuity is American General Life
Companies. The premium for this annuity would be $95,500 of qualified
retirement funds and the transaction fee is 2 percent of the premium.
The rate also assumes that both the male and female spouse turned 66
on March 31, 2011, the annuity commencement date was June 1, 2011, the
purchasers were residents of Florida, upon death of one spouse the
surviving spouse continues to collect 100 percent of the income, and
the surviving spouse is the sole beneficiary of the income. The
inflation adjustment is based on the BLS Consumer Price Index for all
urban consumers (CPI-U).
[37] The annuity would provide $4,262 in the first year, and a 4
percent annual drawdown strategy would provide $3,820. The annual
amount provided by the annuity does not equal the product of 12
monthly payments due to rounding.
[38] The value of income annuities is backed by state guaranty
associations, as defined by state laws. The value of annuities is
generally protected for at least $100,000 in each state. For a
description of the regulation of annuities, see GAO, Retirement
Income: Challenges for Ensuring Income throughout Retirement, GAO-10-
632R (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 28, 2010), 15-16.
[39] Benefits received at age 62 are reduced by 25 percent of the
amount that would be provided at a full retirement age of 66 and
benefits received at age 70 are increased by 32 percent from the same
full retirement age. For example, if starting to receive benefits at
age 62 would provide $1,000 per month, then receiving benefits at a
full retirement age of 66 would provide $1,333 per month and age 70
would provide $1,760 per month with additional increases for
inflation. Additional months of work may also result in still higher
[40] Additional work and cost-of-living adjustments may also
contribute to higher benefits, but for purposes of this example we
assume that neither applies.
[41] Reduced Social Security retired worker benefits are typically
first available the month after an eligible worker's 62ND birthday.
Relatively few people born early in a month qualify as having been at
62 throughout the first month of their Social Security retirement.
[42] An estimated 19.5 percent of beneficiaries began receiving
benefits on or after reaching their full retirement age.
[43] Delaying the start of benefits results in receiving benefits for
fewer months, but provides an increased level of monthly benefits no
matter how long the recipient lives. Recipients had an opportunity to
repay the benefits they had received without interest and receive a
higher benefit recalculated based on a later start date, but the SSA
closed this option as the application withdrawal must occur within 12
months of the first month of entitlement. See Social Security
Administration, Amendments to Regulations Regarding Withdrawal of
Applications and Voluntary Suspension of Benefits, 75 Fed. Reg. 76,256
(Dec. 8, 2010).
[44] Pub. L. No. 98-21 � 201(a), 202(w)(6), 97 Stat. 65 (1983).
[45] Data from SSA's Office of the Chief Actuary indicate that the
percentage of those who waited until full retirement age or later
varied from 22.8 percent for those born in 1935 to 18.1 percent for
those born in 1939, and 19.5 percent for those born in 1943. According
to the experts we consulted, if recipients have poor health and a less
than average life expectancy, taking benefits earlier nonetheless may
be warranted. In addition, a few experts noted that delaying benefits
may not be appropriate if recipients place a high value on having
money now, rather than later. If delaying benefits requires increased
borrowing to make ends meet, it may be better to take benefits early.
[46] Pub. L. No. 106-182 (codified at 42 U.S.C. � 1305 note). Up to a
specified amount--the retirement earnings test--Social Security
retired worker beneficiaries can earn wages and salary without a
reduction in benefits before full retirement age. The earnings test
rose to $14,160 for recipients age 62 through the year before full
retirement age in 2009 and remained at that level in 2010. Every $2 of
earnings over this limit results in a $1 reduction in Social Security
benefits; however, early beneficiaries generally recoup the amounts
withheld because of the earnings test in the form of higher
recalculated benefits after they reach full retirement age. A higher
earnings limit--$37,680--applies in the year full retirement age is
attained, but only for the months before reaching full retirement age.
Beginning at full retirement age, earnings tests no longer apply. For
additional information, see GAO, Retirement Decisions: Federal
Policies Offer Mixed Signals about When to Retire, GAO-07-753
(Washington, D.C.: July 11, 2007), 17, 30.
[46] Or they may not yet have been eligible to commence benefits.
[48] GAO conducted a similar analysis for the 1992 to 2000 period. See
GAO, Private Pensions: Participants Need Information on Risks They
Face in Managing Pension Assets at and during Retirement, [hyperlink,
2003), 16. Other studies we located on the disposition of pensions
were anecdotal or focused on workers who left one job to go to another
or were based on data from few plans. Figure 6 estimates are based on
1,336 observations. We identified 208 respondents who indicated they
had a full or partial lump sum option and 247 who indicated they did
not have such an option. These results were based in part on data
compiled for Alan L. Gustman, Thomas L. Steinmeier, and Nahid
Tabatabai, Pensions in the Health and Retirement Study (Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2010). Lump sum payments may become
somewhat less attractive as provisions in the Pension Protection Act
of 2006 require that the minimum lump sum payments be calculated based
on corporate bond rates as opposed to U.S. Treasury security interest
rates. As corporate bond rates are typically higher than Treasury
interest rates for similar maturities, a smaller lump sum is needed to
cover the expected future benefits. The lump sum present value of an
annuity benefit is lower if interest rates are high. Pub. L. No. 109-
280 (codified at 26 U.S.C. � 430(h)(2)(D)).
[49] This is based on SSA analysis of Census Bureau CPS March
Supplement survey data for 2008. The 95 percent confidence interval
for this estimate is from 40.1 percent to 41.3 percent. This estimate
does not include all withdrawals from a pension, such as lump sum
distributions.
[50] Some researchers recommend gradually annuitizing during
retirement rather than at retirement. See for example, Wolfram J.
Horneff, Raimond H. Maurer, Olivia S. Mitchell, and Michael Z. Stamos,
"Variable payout annuities and dynamic portfolio choice in
retirement," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, vol. 9 (2010):
[51] According to the Insured Retirement Institute, in 2008, less than
1 percent of the amount of deferred annuities sold was converted to
lifetime retirement income.
[52] Another $5.6 billion of fixed immediate annuities were structured
settlements--contracts to provide a stream of income in lieu of a lump
sum settlement, in civil court settlements, for example.
[53] This estimate is based on an annuity quote from Income Solutions
through Vanguard's portal March 3, 2011. Such annuities would provide
no adjustment for inflation and no term certain feature.
[54] Jack VanDerhei, Sarah Holden, and Luis Alonso, 401(k) Plan Asset
Allocation, Account Balances, and Loan Activity in 2009, Issue Brief
No. 350, EBRI (November 2010). These data come from 401(k)
recordkeeping organizations for 20.7 million 401(k) participants
compiled jointly by EBRI and the Investment Company Institute. These
data may not definitively indicate the trends for all 401(k) account
holders, as the universe of data providers varies from year to year
and may not be statistically representative of all 401(k) account
holders. HRS data compiled by Gustman, et al. provide evidence of
household equity allocations including those in IRAs, DC plans, and
assets outside retirement accounts. Gustman, et al. found that an
estimated 34.6 percent of households with a member approaching
retirement (turning age 53 to 58 in 2006) held no assets in stocks. On
average, the middle 10 percent of households (from the 45th to the
55th percentile by wealth) held an estimated $49,363 in stocks,
representing 58.7 percent of their financial assets. Alan L. Gustman,
Thomas L. Steinmeier, and Nahid Tabatabai, "What the Stock Market
Decline Means for the Financial Security and Retirement Choices of the
Near-Retirement Population," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(1)
(2010): 161-182.
[55] Depending on when during the year they made withdrawals from
stock funds, these transactions may have been fortuitous or
detrimental to their returns. These figures reflect net flows of funds
into and out of mutual funds, and do not reflect the change in
valuation due to changes in market prices. From the end of fiscal year
2007 to the end of fiscal year 2008 the total net assets of retail
money market funds, excluding government accounts, increased by $39
[56] Karen E. Smith, Mauricio Soto, and Rudolph G. Penner, "How
Seniors Change their Asset Holdings During Retirement," Retirement
Policy Discussion Paper 09-06, The Urban Institute (October 2009).
This study focused on HRS data for the 1998 through 2006 period for
people age 60 and older in 2006.
[57] James M. Poterba, Steven F. Venti, and David A. Wise, "The
Drawdown of Personal Retirement Assets," National Bureau of Economic
Research Working Paper Series #16675 (January 2011), [hyperlink,
http://www.nber.org/papers/w16675] (accessed Feb. 1, 2011).
[58] The 95 percent confidence interval for this estimate is 6.2
percent to 8.5 percent. Adjusting for inflation using the CPI-U,
$15,000 in 1998 represents $19,807 in 2008 dollars. Net financial
assets here include the value of IRAs, but exclude the value of
pensions, expected Social Security benefits, and nonfinancial wealth
such as home equity.
[59] See Richard W. Johnson, Gordon B.T. Mermim, and Cori E. Uccello,
"When the Nest Egg Cracks: Financial Consequences of Health Problems,
Marital Status Changes, and Job Layoffs at Older Ages," The Urban
Institute (Washington D.C., January 2006). In 2009 an estimated 44.3
percent of long-term care expenditures were borne by the Medicaid
program, according to the National Health Expenditure data from the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary.
Confidence intervals for this estimate were not available.
[60] EBRI estimates that a large proportion of the workers' retirement
savings deficit is attributable to the need to fund nursing home and
home health care expenses. These costs increase the present value of
needed additional retirement savings by $25,317 for married couples,
$32,433 for single males, and $46,425 for single females in 2010
dollars. See EBRI, Retirement Savings Shortfalls for Today's Workers,
Notes, 31(10) (October 2010), 2. The coverage of long-term care
insurance policies varies widely, but on average policyholders aged 70
and over paid an average of $3,026 in premiums in 2007.
[61] This measure of poverty is based on money income including cash
public assistance, but does not take into account noncash benefits
received. The 90 percent confidence intervals for these estimates are
3.3 million to 3.6 million, 8.7 percent to 9.1 percent, and 14.0
percent to 14.6 percent, respectively. Other age groups had higher
poverty rates. For example, an estimated 20.7 percent of those under
age 25 and 9.4 percent of those approaching retirement age (age 60 to
64) had incomes below the poverty level. The 90 percent confidence
intervals for these estimates are 20.2 to 21.2 percent for those under
18, 20.1 to 21.3 percent for those age 18 to 24, and 8.9 percent to
9.9 percent for those age 60 to 64.
[62] These estimates are based on U.S. Census Bureau's American
Community Survey reports of income for the previous year during the
2005-2009 period.
[63] 75 Fed. Reg. 5,253 (Feb. 2, 2010). Additional measures were
proposed to increase the use of annuities. For example, a few
respondents proposed that plan participants be required to annuitize a
portion of their DC plan assets under certain circumstances; others
recommended that federal income taxes on income from annuities be
[64] In addition, annuities offered in pension plans must offer gender-
neutral prices.Arizona Governing Committee v. Norris, 463 U.S. 1073
(1983). By contrast, annuities offered in the retail market, including
IRAs that are not employer-sponsored, are not subject to the same
rule, and these annuities reflect gender-distinct pricing. Women may
find more favorable single-life annuity rates through pension plans,
but men may find more favorable prices through the retail market.
Annuity prices vary and are affected by such factors as interest
rates, mortality rates, and administrative costs.
[66] 29 C.F.R. � 2550.404a-4. Prior to the Pension Protection Act of
2006, DC plans were held to the standard of DB plans which is to
select the safest available annuity, unless under the circumstances it
would be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries to do
otherwise. This was regarded as a more stringent standard. (29 C.F.R.
� 2509.95-1.) Pub. L. No. 109-280 � 625, 120 Stat. 780.
[67] Although experts said that Executive Life Insurance Company had
high ratings from certain rating agencies--A.M. Best, Moody's, and
Standard & Poor's--prior to its insolvency, we reported that 44,000
retirees with Executive Life had received only 70 percent of their
promised monthly annuity payments for almost 13 months after
California regulators seized control of the company. GAO, Private
Pensions: Protections for Retirees' Insurance Annuities Can Be
Strengthened� [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HRD-93-29]
(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 31, 1993). According to data from the National
Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations, from
1987 to 2008, at least 64 multistate liquidations of life insurers
have involved state guaranty associations.
[68] This value represents the present value of an annuity, which is
the amount that would be sufficient, if invested at a given interest
rate, to fund the expected future stream of annuity payments. The
periodic payment is less than the annuity's present value.
[69] In 2009, NAIC amended its model act to provide an increase in the
coverage cap for annuities from $100,000 to $250,000.
[70] For more information, see, for example, GAO, Social Security
Reform: Implications of Private Annuities for Individual Accounts,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/HEHS-99-160] (Washington,
D.C.: July 30, 1999).
[71] 29 U.S.C. � 1055.
[72] Another approach would allow retirees an option to purchase
private sector annuities through a program facilitated by the federal
government. Retirees would have a one-time opportunity during their
first year of retirement to purchase a basic life annuity, up to
$100,000. The federal government would provide record-keeping,
marketing, distribution, and other administrative services and pay out
annuity benefits with Social Security benefits. The Aspen Institute,
Savings for Life: A Pathway to Financial Security for All Americans,
(New York, N.Y., 2007).
[73] One respondent recommended that a revised safe harbor accompany
the requirement that sponsors offer annuities as an option and help to
reduce fiduciary risks for sponsors.
[74] Certain respondents mentioned trial annuities, which might allow
for flexibility. One proposal developed prior to the RFI would
encourage sponsors to offer default trial annuities featuring a 2-year
trial period, during which the retiree would receive monthly income
unless the retiree opted out and made an affirmative decision to take
a lump sum distribution. William Gale, J. Mark Iwry, David John, and
Lina Walker, Increasing Annuitization in 401(k) Plans with Automatic
Trial Income, The Retirement Security Project (Washington, D.C., 2008).
[75] According to SEC officials, while products and their restrictions
vary, surrender charges on retail variable annuities often apply
during a surrender period of 6 to 8 years. For example, the surrender
charge could decrease from approximately 7 percent of the investment
amount to zero over the period by 1 percent per year.
[76] These products may be known in the marketplace as "longevity
insurance," since the payoff mostly goes to those who surpass their
life expectancy at retirement. More generically, it should be noted
that any arrangement that provides guaranteed income for life is a
form of longevity insurance, that is, protection against some of the
financial risks of living a long life.
[77] This is due to a combination of factors: the long deferral period
substantially reduces the present value of the eventual payouts; in
the case of a "pure" deferred annuity with no death benefit, the long
deferral period increases the chance that no payouts will be necessary
at all, because of mortality prior to the commencement of benefits;
and the higher mortality rates at advanced ages mean that payments
would last for fewer years on average.
[78] American Academy of Actuaries' response to the RFI. Available at
[hyperlink, http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/regs/cmt-1210-AB33.html].
[79] Besides the use of private sector annuities, longevity insurance
could also be provided through approaches such as increasing Social
Security benefits for beneficiaries who reach an advanced age. For
more information, see GAO, Social Security: Options to Protect
Benefits for Vulnerable Groups When Addressing Program Solvency,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-101R] (Washington,
D.C.: Dec. 7, 2009).
[80] The Code generally requires distributions of tax-deferred funds
to begin no later than the calendar year after the taxpayer turns 70�.
Under Treasury regulations, those distributions would be calculated
based on the entire interest, which includes both the account balance,
and the value of the longevity insurance (with these rules applied
separately to insurance bought under a plan and to insurance bought
under all of the participant's aggregated IRAs). To take minimum
distributions based on the entire interest including the longevity
insurance, the taxpayer could draw down the remainder of his or her
401(k) balance or, in the case of IRAs, make withdrawals from other
IRA assets. However, respondents have noted that this approach
presents practical difficulties, such as the risk of the other funds
being insufficient to meet the minimum distribution requirements
before the longevity annuity begins, especially if too large a portion
of the total account has been used to purchase the longevity
insurance. A taxpayer with an insufficient remaining balance would
have to accelerate payments from the longevity insurance and, while
the contract could be written to permit such an acceleration, that
feature would increase the cost of the longevity insurance. 26 C.F.R.
� 1.417(a)(3)-1.
[81] At least one type of DC plan, known as a money purchase plan, is
required to offer a QJSA. Other DC plans such as 401(k) plans may be
exempt if they satisfy certain criteria.
[82] 26 C.F.R. � 1.401(a)(20); 1.417(a)(3)-1.
[83] GAO, Retirement Security: Women Face Challenges in Ensuring
Financial Security in Retirement, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-105] (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 11,
[84] GAO, Financial Literacy: The Federal Government's Role in
Empowering Americans to Make Sound Financial Choices, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-504T] (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 12,
[85] In 2003, Congress created the multiagency Financial Literacy and
Education Commission, which was charged with, among other things,
developing a national strategy to promote financial literacy and
education, coordinating federal efforts, and identifying areas of
overlap and duplication. Pub. L. No. 108-159, Title V, 117 Stat. 1952,
2003 (codified at 20 U.S.C. �� 9701-08).
[86] Based on interviews with selected federal entities, as well as
our review of the FLEC's Web site and the 2010 study by the RAND
Corporation of federal financial and economic literacy education
programs. FLEC's Web site is available at [hyperlink,
http://www.MyMoney.gov]. For the RAND study, see Angela Hung et al.,
Federal Financial and Economic Literacy Education Programs, 2009, RAND
Corporation (2010). Another resource for retail investors, including
retirees, is the SEC Web site, [hyperlink, http://www.investor.gov].
[87] GAO, Highlights of a GAO Forum: The Federal Government's Role in
Improving Financial Literacy, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-93SP] (Washington, D.C.: Nov., 15,
[88] William Gale and Ruth Levine, Financial Literacy: What Works? How
Could It Be More Effective?, (October 2010). John Turner and Hazel
Witte, Retirement Planning Software and Post-Retirement Risks, Society
of Actuaries and Actuarial Foundation (December 2009); John Turner,
Why Don't People Annuitize? The Role of Advice Provided by Retirement
Planning Software, Pension Research Council Working Paper (May 2010).
[89] GAO, 401(K) Plans: Improved Regulation Could Better Protect
Participants from Conflicts of Interest, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-119] (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 28,
[90] See, for example, Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority, and the North American Securities
Administrators Association, Investor Alert: Investment Products and
Sales Practices Commonly Used to Defraud Seniors: Stories from the
Front Line; and Protecting Senior Investors: Report of Examinations of
Securities Firms Providing "Free Lunch" Sales Seminars, Sept. 2007.
According to an NAIC official, as of May 2011, approximately 27 states
have adopted a previous version and approximately 10 additional states
have adopted a current version of the model regulation requiring
insurance agents to ensure the suitability of annuities sold for the
consumer at the time of the transaction. For more information, see
GAO, Consumer Finance: Regulatory Coverage Generally Exists for
Financial Planners, but Consumer Protection Issues Remain, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-235] (Washington, D.C.: January 18,
[91] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-810].
[92] 29 U.S.C. � 1025(a)(2)(B)(ii)(II) and (III). This requirement
applies to DC plans that are participant-directed.
[93] For example, according to one study of 620 near retirees at two
large employers, levels of basic retirement knowledge increased after
a retirement seminar, and roughly one-quarter of these individuals
reported changes in how they intend to distribute pension benefits
from their DB and DC plans. Robert Clark et al., Pension Plan
Distributions: The Importance of Financial Literacy, Pension Research
Council Working Paper (October 2010).
[95] For a discussion on "framing," see Jeffrey Brown et al., "Why
Don't People Insure Late-Life Consumption? A Framing Explanation of
the Under-Annuitization Puzzle," American Economic Review: Papers and
Proceedings (98:2) 2008.
[96] The Thrift Savings Plan is governed by a statute other than
ERISA. For more information, see GAO, Federal Retirement Thrift
Investment Board: Many Responsibilities and Investment Policies Set by
Congress, GAO-07-611 (Washington, D.C.: June 21, 2007).
[97] S. 267 and H.R. 677.
[98] Additional assumptions or complexities exist. For example, it is
unclear what, if any, assumptions or caveats would address the tax
implications of the estimate, given that account balances are
typically tax deferred.
[99] This analysis uses Early Release data from the Health and
Retirement Study, the March 2010 RAND HRS, sponsored by the National
Institute on Aging (grant number NIA U01AG009740) and conducted by the
University of Michigan. These data have not been cleaned and may
contain errors that will be corrected in the Final Public Release
version of the dataset.
[100] Survey responses do not consistently match administrative
sources of information. Researchers have noted, for example, that
where respondents and their employers provided information about
whether they had a DB, DC, or both types of pensions, less than half
of respondents gave a response that matched information provided by
their employer. See Alan L. Gustman, Thomas L. Steinmeier, and Nahid
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2010), 125.
[101] We did not access any personally identifiable information.
[102] Monte Carlo analysis is a method of estimating the probable
outcome of an event in which one or more of the variables affecting
the outcome are random. This use of Monte Carlo simulations is to
illustrate how the variability of investment rates of return can
affect the balances in a retirement account. Monte Carlo estimation
methods utilize not just the average value of a random variable, but
also the distribution of values around the average. For example, rates
of return in the stock market vary from year to year. The
Congressional Research Service determined that the nominal rate of
return on the Standard & Poor's 500 index of stocks averaged 10.3
percent over the 1926 to 2007 period, but annual rates of return
varied widely around this average, producing a standard deviation of
20.0 percent. Likewise, while the nominal annual return on AAA-rated
corporate bonds averaged 6.3 percent between 1926 and 2007, the
standard deviation around this average was 7.0 percent. Monte Carlo
simulation is a tool to take this variability into account in the
[103] See [hyperlink,
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Portfolio Investments
GI Partners
Back to All Team
Blue-Smith
Sachi Blue-Smith is the Chief Human Resources Officer at GI Partners. She also oversees Administrative Services and Facilities. She leads the firm’s efforts to attract, develop, and retain world-class investment and fund operations professionals. Prior to joining GI Partners, Ms. Blue-Smith was at Index Ventures in San Francisco and London, where she built out the portfolio operations group, launching an Executive Briefing Center to accelerate enterprise sales, and helping companies expand their operations globally. She was also responsible for internal recruiting at Index Ventures, including diversifying the investment team. Ms. Blue-Smith has previously worked as a venture capital investment Director, as an HR executive at an enterprise software startup, and in the Office of the Chairman at Dell.
M.B.A. from Harvard Business School
A.B. from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges
GI Partners News
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Apple's New iPad Air To Come With Thinner Build and Touch ID Sensor
| Published: Monday, October 13, 2014, 11:16 [IST]
After iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the next big thing for Apple fans would be the launch of the new iPads, Macs and more. Apple is all set for its event on October 16th and has sent out the press invites for the same.
Recommended: Diwali 2014 Special Offers: Top 20 Android Smartphones With Major Discounts
Now ahead of the unveiling of the new slates and PCs, One of the Vietnamese websites has got hold of the new iPad and has posted a gallery of images online as well. It seems to be a prototype of the new iPad Air or the iPad Air 2. One of the most impressive things that this recent leak suggests is the thickness of the new iPad. According to the leak, the new iPad measures just 7 mm thick.
Although, there are several images leaked in this leak, the internal hardware has not been spoken of so far. However, to take cues from the Chinese blog that has got its hands on the internal hardware of the upcoming iPad Air, the new device would be powered by a faster A8X processor and 2GB of RAM.
Recommended: Nokia Diwali Offers: Top 10 Smartphones with Cash Back, Discount Price And Free Accessories
It is also said that the next iPad Air would also feature a Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the home button, which will allow Apple Pay transactions as with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Apple is launching Apple Pay later this month in the US, so there will be a wide range Apple products making the most of this service, including the new iPad.
However, these are just the rumors and is subject to change at the time of unveiling. But it is not just the 9.7-inch iPad Air that is on the pipeline, but at the same time, Apple might also unveil its larger tablet, which some speculate to be the iPad Pro.
Stay tuned to GizBot for more updates!
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Read More About: apple ipad air 2 touch id tablet ipad news
Story first published: Monday, October 13, 2014, 11:16 [IST]
Nubia Red Magic 5G Gaming Smartphone Bags 3C Certification: 55W Fast Charging Tipped
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How to Digitise Your Vinyl Collection
By Andrew Tarantola on at
Your LP collection may be the coelacanth of storage mediums, but it is often a repository of tracks and titles that you simply can't get anywhere else. Here's how to digitise your wax-platter music, and finally drag the last remnants of your analog life into the 21st Century.
The overarching idea behind LP digitisation is actually really simple. You output the analog signal, boost it with a preamp, then feed it into a computer where it is recorded in an electronic format. What's difficult is deciding how you want to do that. It depends greatly on what resources you already have at your disposal and how much you're willing to spend to get the gear you want. In general, you'll need at least some, if not all, of the following items:
A turntable with at least "phono level" outputs, though newer models will also sometimes include a USB port
A stereo receiver with phono inputs and "line level" outputs
A digital phono preamp (if your receiver lacks phono level inputs and a built-in line amp)
A computer-audio interface (a device that changes the analog signal to digital)
Audio recording software such as Adobe Audition, Garage Band, or Audacity
Cables: two RCA-RCA, one RCA-3.5mm TRS Y-connector
Now, a quick word on Line levels. The line level is defined as, "the specified strength of an audio signal used to transmit analog sound between audio components." That specified strength is one volt. The phonographic needle and cartridge (phono level), on the other hand, produce an electrical signal on the order of minivolts. So, to boost phono level to line level, the signal needs to be amplified—either in the turntable itself or externally using a phono preamp. There are literally hundreds of such preamps available on the market today, ranging in price from a few pounds to hundreds and offering a menagerie of features and output options. Two very popular models are the ART DJPRE II, which has both analog inputs and outputs, and the ART USB Phono Plus, which outputs directly to a USB and can save you a few steps.
Let's start with the turntable itself. First, determine what its output level and type is. That will directly determine how many steps this process will take. If it's an analog-phono output, you'll need to run the signal through a preamp, then through the receiver, then through the computer-audio interface, then into the computer. If it's analog-line level, it can be plugged directly into the computer audio-interface, then into the computer. If it's a digital output,you can stop reading now—just plug your turntable directly into your computer and start recording.
Turntables with analog-phono outputs are getting rather hard to find outside out of your parent's stereo cabinets. They're easy to spot because in addition to the RCA plugs, the output also includes a ground wire that eliminates the 60hz hum when connected. This type of turntable will require the most steps and additional equipment as you'll have to boost and equalize the signal before digitising it.
To do so, plug one of RCA-RCA cables into the phono out jacks on the turntable and the matching Phono In jacks on the preamp. If the preamp has an analog output, use the second set of RCA-RCA plugs to connect its Line Out to the stereo receiver's Line In. Then, take your RCA-3.5mm jack Y-cable and connect the receiver's Line Out to the computer-audio interface's input, then plug the interface into your computer's USB port. Got all that?
Turntable -> Preamp -> Receiver -> Interface -> Computer
Now if you're stereo has a built-in line amp and Phono In, you can skip the the preamp since it's redundant. And if you've got a newer stereo with digital output, you can ignore the Interface for the same reason. And, of course, if your turntable produces signal at Line level and has a digital output, you can cut out the three middle steps and connect the turntable directly to the computer.
Now that you have your hardware ducks in a row, it's time to actually do some ripping. Turn on all the devices, set them to the proper channels, double check you've not crossed any connections, and boot up your audio software. Before you start recording, you'll want to adjust the input source, audio quality, number of channels, etc as well.
Then, once you're done ripping the tracks, its simply a matter of importing the resulting MP3 or AAC files into iTunes or uploading them to your cloud service. [B&H Photo - About - Alpinesoft - Inside Home Recording - Image: Abacucu / Shutterstock]
This is just one of a multitude of the ways one can digitise his LP collection. Do you use an easier, cheaper, or better method?
homemod
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YouTube Launched Its Gaming App In Australia Today
Rae Johnston |
In August 2015 YouTube launched a dedicated platform just for gaming content. Today the YouTube Gaming app has been launched on iOS and Android in Australia, with the desktop version scoring an upgrade as well.
"YouTube Gaming is an app that keeps you connected to the games, players, and culture that matter to you, with videos, live streams, and the biggest community of gamers on the web—all in one place," said Ines Cha, Head of YouTube Gaming Content & Partnerships, Asia Pacific.
To say that gaming is a large part of the YouTube landscape is an understatement. Over 144 billion minutes of gaming content is viewed on YouTube every single month. If just search for "gaming" in YouTube, you'll get over 22.5 million results.
So, why? YouTube is already big, there's clearly already a lot of gaming content on there — why make an additional app? YouTube says there are three main reasons.
"We really wanted to create an experience that was personalised specifically by gamers, for gamers," a spokesperson for YouTube told Gizmodo. "The business team, the partnerships team, the engineers — these are gamers that are creating an experience for gamers and it feels very authentic. We are working very closely with creators and publishers to identify areas of needs and what it means to create products for gamers specifically."
Much like YouTube, within the gaming app each creator has a channel, brought in from YouTube. The difference lies in the ability to surface content, bringing live and relevant content to the forefront. Different broadcast sections, category tabs that are very specific to gaming "allowing the user to come into the channel, and consume that gaming content presented in a way that feels curated around the gamer's interests."
With 1080p60 live streaming, instant sharing to social media and chat, live content is getting a major push.
"Live is a platform which is something our creators and community have specifically asked for, so it makes a lot of sense to create this product for them. There's a lot of great content that's just inherently live. When you think of the E3 show or Gamescom live broadcast or you think about eSports — these are all content forms that are live and without having a live product we forgo having that content for our community. We do a disservice to the community by not having that product."
Stopping live content being buried was a priority.
"One thing we found was difficult on YouTube was discovering live content. Now we the gaming app you can go right in and experience events that are happening and creators that are streaming game content. It's easy to find — we elevate that content to the top."
New options are available for for monetisation whilst "live" as well. "We monetise content well, but we wanted to bring more and other areas to the platform, like fan funding that allows viewers to instantly donate to creators. Sponsorships allow a fan to pay a creator $3.99 a month that allows them access to a creator-decided "reward" like an emoticon, or a special chat."
You cam also clip highlights in real time. "So image you are doing a 3 hour live broadcast, but you just did a great play. While live-streaming you can snip the start and end time — while still live — and instantly export that into a VOD. All while still live streaming."
Chat moderation and real time analytics also helps creators to see how they are performing.
YouTube are also aiming to make it easier to stream mobile content. "The mobile industry accounts for a third of the revenue coming in — we feel we can do more. Now you can mobile capture any game you want. Because mobile capture has been difficult we felt it was important to remove the barriers. We feel mobile content will emerge in a more meaningful way now that it's easier to access that content." This functionality is currently only available on Android.
You can expect to see YouTube Gaming rocking up at more events.
"We wanted to start being where our creators and where our fans are at. We went to a lot of different gaming events — E3, Gamescom, PAX — we want to continue to do that. We feel it's important to be at the epicentre of where our creators are at and where our fans are at, and making sure we make that connection bridging the gap between creator and fans. We do it from a platform standpoint, and we want to do it physically."
So What's New?
When you open the app, you'll be asked to add some games to your "collection". This will help curate the content that you see within the platform.
The first tab on the main page is "Home". At the top is a side scroll or "carousel" of live videos from channels you subscribe for. Below is a list of recommended videos based on your viewing history, followed by a "Spotlight" of content curated by YouTube, then a list of "Trending" videos that have been going viral in the last few days.
The next tab is "Games". Is shows the games you've added to your "collection", along with some recommendations you can simply tap to add. Those games have a dedicated game page — there are 25,000 on YouTube Gaming so far. They tell you about the game itself, show trailers, any live broadcasts, Let's Play's and reviews.
The third tab is "Channels". It shows your subscriptions in a side scroll, with recent uploads below.
The last tab is "Live". It will show which of your subscriptions is live right now, the top live games, the most popular games — and you can refine the search to just channels from your region. You'll get a notification when any of your subscribers go live.
While mobile gaming capture is only available on Android at present, YouTube says that is because "the structure of the API's and the libraries made it easier to build" and the capability on iOS is a future goal.
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Heraklion Archaeological Museum
Parent Category: GOCrete
Rent a Car Heraklion, and visit the Archeological Museum of Heraklion which is located in the centre of the city in Xanthoulidou str.
The exhibits cover a period of 5500 years from the Neolithic to the Greco-Roman period.
In pride place among its collections are the unique masterpieces of Minoan art, which can be admired in all its development. The collection of Minoan antiquities is the largest in the world and the museum is justly considered the pre-eminent museum of Minoan civilization.
The museum is open for the public to visit all year long with the opening hours to vary according to period.
Ancient Palace of Knossos
Crete was the centre of the European civilization since 7000 b.C with the Minoan civilization dominating from 2700 b.C to…
Samaria Gorge is a 16 Km route in South West Crete at Chania prefecture. Samaria is among the biggest gorges…
Rent a Car Heraklion, and visit the Archeological Museum of Heraklion which is located in the centre of the city…
Chania Old Town & Venetian Harbor
Chania are situated in the Northwest Crete 170 Km from the capital Heraklion. With the old Venetian Port of Chania…
Lake Kournas, Argiroupolis and Ancient Lappa
Rent a Car Chania airport And head to Lake Kournas. Lake Kournas is the only natural freshwater lake on the…
Lassithi Plateau and Zeus Cave
Rent a Car Heraklion Port and spend a day in Lassithi Plateau. Lassithi Plateau is the largest plain in Crete.…
Anogia village & Zoniana Cave
Rent a Car Heraklion airport For a trip to Anogia and Zoniana. The mountain village Anogia situated at an altitude…
Car Rental Heraklion Airport to live your dream vacation in Agios Nikolaos. Situated in Eastern Crete, 70mm from Heraklion, Agios…
Elounda & Spinalonga Island
Just 10 km from Agios Nikolaos is the bay of Elounda. Known for its luxury hotels is the place that…
Loutro
Car Hire Chania Airport, for an unforgettable holiday in Loutro. The small picturesque village Loutro is located in South Crete,…
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Russia’s humiliating ban from the Winter Olympics is the right move to protect integrity in sport
Jack Anderson, University of Melbourne
As the result of a state-sponsored doping regime in the lead-up to and during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned Russia from participating at next year’s games.
Bans from the Olympics are not unprecedented. In the aftermath of the two world wars, certain countries – like Germany and Japan – were not permitted to compete.
Also, the IOC banned South Africa for three decades from the 1960s because of its apartheid regime. Afghanistan was suspended from the Olympics in 1999, partly because of the Taliban’s ban on the participation of women athletes. It did not send athletes to the 2000 Olympics.
The ban on Russia from competing at next year’s Winter Olympics in South Korea is, however, unique: it is directly linked to the country’s lack of sporting integrity.
How might Russia react?
The ban is a humiliating blow to Russian sport generally but also to the country’s president, Vladimir Putin. His interest in winter sports was evidenced by Russia spending a record US$51 billion on hosting the Olympics in 2014, which surpassed the previous record Beijing set in 2008.
But just one Olympic cycle later, the integrity of that event – at which Russia topped the medal table – has been undermined, and the Russian flag will not fly at the 2018 Games. Russian state TV has already said it will not broadcast from South Korea, where the country’s athletes were expected to be medal contenders in one-third of its 102 events.
Aside from Putin’s reaction, there are several further points of interest arising from the ban.
First, it is likely that Russia will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Russia appealed its ban from the 2016 Rio Paralympics – it remains banned from the Winter Paralympics – to CAS. This time, expect the appeal to be founded on the due process argument that the reports upon which the IOC’s decision is based – the McLaren reports of 2016 and the IOC’s Schmid Commission – were investigatory only. While the evidence, at first instance, appears compelling, Russia has yet to test or answer it in an adversarial setting.
Second, the IOC’s ban is not a blanket prohibition, and the IOC has said that it will allow athletes from Russia to compete under a neutral flag and as “Olympic Athletes from Russia”.
Similar to what occurred in the lead-up to the Rio Olympics in 2016 – where a ban on Russia competing was contemplated – the IOC has laid down strict testing criteria which such neutral athletes must satisfy before being declared eligible. Expect multiple CAS appeals to emanate from the IOC’s interpretation of criteria.
Echoes and lessons of history
CAS appeals may be rendered moot if Russia, as has been hinted, decides that such is the disproportionate, biased nature of the IOC’s actions that it will fully boycott the event and prohibit its athletes from competing even as “Olympic Athletes from Russia”.
Boycotts have historical connotations. The last time Russia hosted an Olympics (in Moscow in 1980) it boycotted the subsequent (1984) Games for political reasons relating to the Cold War.
One of the consequences for sport in the Cold War era was the use of sporting success as a propaganda tool. The Soviets and many of its satellite states – notably East Germany – used sophisticated state-sponsored doping regimes to fuel this success.
Echoes of that regime, particularly the East German system, resonate today. Its system was not so much state-sponsored but state-mandated.
Evidence from the surviving athletes themselves and from the Stasi files of the era reveal that young East German athletes rarely had a choice when it came to ingesting almost industrial levels of steroids, which had a devastating impact on their long-term health.
Team versus individual doping
The issue of informed, collective consent and fault in sports doping has been discussed at CAS – notably in the Essendon drugs case in Australian rules football. And the nature of doping infractions in a team setting is often much more nuanced than might first appear.
Athletes generally have a real-time appreciation of their bodies: their focus is on the next game or event; they often, rightly or wrongly, assign their long-term health to others in their entourage or support staff.
While doping ultimately reveals itself in the testing of athletes’ samples, as a matter of causation or responsibility, fault may lie elsewhere.
In Russia’s case, it is of note that the IOC has also banned its current deputy prime minister and former sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, from all future Olympic Games. But while Mutko will not be able to attend the 2018 Winter Olympics, he will continue to be the chief organiser for the 2018 football World Cup, which Russia will host.
FIFA, world football’s governing body, does not believe this is an impediment to Russia hosting the World Cup. But expect its attitude to come under intense scrutiny in coming months, as well as the wider issue of the prevalence of doping in football.
Finally, banning Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics was a straightforward decision for the IOC. The trickier issue will come with regard to the 2020 Summer Olympics. Will Russia have reformed its anti-doping policy and procedure to the standards expected by entities such as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)?
The criteria used by WADA and others to judge Russia will be highly technical in nature. Perhaps the most important way to gauge Russia’s good faith on this matter would be to see how it treated three key whistleblowers who have been central to this whole affair: Vitaly Stepanov and his wife Yuliya, and Grigory Rodchenkov.
Thus far, Russia has traduced them. They no longer live in Russia, but in fear. If Russia continues to discredit them, it should remain discredited in the eyes of the sporting world.
Jack Anderson, Professor of Sports Law, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne
This article was originally published on The Conversation.
December 9, 2017 by Editor in World News
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The Efficiency of the CHP's Vehicle Assembly Line
Managing a Police Fleet • September 1, 2017 • by Paul Clinton
Photo by Joe McHugh/CHP.
Assembly lines helped automakers in the early days of the industry increase production speed and create an efficient process to achieve standardization. Early cars such as Ford's Model T and Oldsmobile's Curved Dash rolled out of factories with the same parts attached in the same places.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has applied this process to its vehicle upfitting in its Fleet Operations facility in West Sacramento – the nerve center for California's largest law enforcement fleet. With approximately 1,000 vehicles per year that need radios, gun mounts, lightbars, and other law enforcement equipment, the agency needs to stay organized.
The assembly line also gives the agency certainty that officer safety will remain a top priority during the set-up of the vehicles. Auxiliary equipment will function the same way for any officer who gets behind any wheel. The agency has been using this process for decades.
While efficiency remains a potent benefit, the process is in place to protect the agency's sworn personnel, said Capt. Steve Mills, who has served as the commander of fleet operations since 2013.
"Every vehicle has to be standard," Mills said. "Every switch needs to be in the same place."
Nearly two years ago, the agency began fine-tuning the assembly line to accommodate its large order of Dodge Charger Pursuit sedans, which would mark a shift from the agency's heavy use of mid-size SUVs. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) won a bid in June of 2015 to supply the Dodge Chargers. The agency had ordered 580 Charger Pursuit sedans a year ago on a two-year contract. The agency had been using Ford's Police Interceptor Utility vehicles since shifting to that vehicle in 2012.
Part of the reason for the change came down to pricing, as the Chargers cost $23,695 per unit versus $27,465 for the Ford SUVs, Mills said. However, FCA was also able to increase the payload rating for the Charger's rear axle to accommodate a bulky tray of radios and other communications equipment that weighs about 246 lbs.
The rear-wheel drive, V-6 powered sedan could carry up to 1,359 lbs. after FCA beefed up the rear end assembly with factory modifications.
With new batches of vehicles arriving in bulk shipments, the agency's assembly line would soon be humming.
The CHP can equip about 100 cars a month to meet the demand for new patrol units by using the line.
The assembly line can crank out a car in 39 hours if needed with 22 workers and 11 stations, which include numerous stops for wiring (3 miles worth for each vehicle), radios, emergency lighting, brackets and mounts, and gun racks.
The shop fabricates initial quantities of all of the mounts and brackets to secure equipment in the vehicle, and assembles all the wiring harnesses. Once tested, supplies for production are purchased from the California Prison Industry Authority. One technician programs vehicle functions for emergency lighting and other electronic functions. Changing patrol vehicles didn't present too much of a wiring issue because 80% of the wiring in a vehicle is standard even across various brands, Mills said.
Most of the assets in the CHP's fleet move through the line, including all of the 2,501 marked units as well as the undercover vehicles, tactical vehicles, motorcycles, and executive vehicles for the state's elected leaders. The garage set up Gov. Jerry Brown's black Chevrolet Suburban. Overall, Mills manages 4,533 assets, which doesn't include the 26 planes and helicopters in the air fleet.
Every CHP vehicle that's pressed into duty goes through the operations shop, including the ones used by officers in Southern California – the agency maintains a facility in Torrance where two technicians give vehicles shipped down on a flatbed a final inspection before handing the keys to an officer.
Units are taken out of service when they reach 100,000 miles, which is mandated by the state's procurement agency, the Department of General Services. A black-and-white unit averages about 34,500 miles per year, Mills said. Cars that are taken out of service are sold via auction at the West Sacramento facility.
In the West Sacramento operations center, Mills supervises a staff of 85 fleet technicians and supervisors, who are eligible for a $150-per-month stipend negotiated in an agreement between International Union of Operating Engineers' Unit 12 and the California Department of Human Resources.
Mills was able to scoop up some of the technicians from local dealerships who had to lay off staff during the Great Recession.
"What's key for us is the ability to retain people and get the best that's out there," Mills said.
Several other public service agencies have used the assembly line, including Cal Fire, the California Department of Corrections, and even the Nevada Highway Patrol. The agencies provide Mills with the vehicles and auxiliary equipment, and he runs them through the line. Using the process can save an agency up to four months of downtime.
Related Photos: CHP's Vehicle Assembly Line
Senior Web Editor
Paul is a seasoned digital journalist who has covered an array of fleet and automotive topics for Automotive Fleet, Government Fleet, Mobile Electronics, Police Magazine, Work Truck, and other Bobit Business Media publications.
Read more about California Highway Patrol Upfitting Police Fleets
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The Dubai Police Department posted a mockup of Tesla's new Cybertruck fitted with patrol-ready vehicle graphics.
How Chevrolet's Tahoe PPV Differs From its Retail Relative
For the Chevrolet Tahoe PPV, tires are added to the vehicles that are capable of handling speeds of up to 134 mph and the brakes are adjusted to handle frequent stopping at high speeds.
Police Vehicles Pushed to the Limit in California
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department conducted its annual evaluation of 2018-model-year police vehicles from Oct. 10 to 13. Agency deputies got behind the wheel of 13 four-wheel vehicles and five motorcycles for the testing.
2018 Police Motorcycles Tested in Michigan
Harley-Davidson adds performance-oriented stage kits to its pair of bikes, while Yamaha offers a police version of its FJR1300 sport touring model.
2018 Police Vehicles Tested in Michigan
Michigan State Police test Ford's F-150 and hybrid sedan responders, as well as a Dodge Durango, during a 2018-model-year testing round that broadened the options for pursuit vehicles.
How FCA Views the Police Market
Law enforcement agencies continue to purchase Fiat Chrysler's Dodge Charger Pursuit, which appeals to law enforcement officers, who say the vehicle in a violator's rear-view conveys business.
Upgrading the F-150 for Off-Road Patrol
Ford took the wraps off its 2018 F-150 Police Responder earlier this month and showed police agencies its latest tool for law enforcement work on more rugged terrain. Early feedback indicates that the truck will find a place with more rural agencies.
Managing High-Speed Pursuits
Pursuits can be deadly for everyone involved, but they can't be prohibited in all cases. So agencies need to have policies and procedures in place to reduce the danger.
How to Deal With the Privileges of Rank
In law enforcement, police chiefs, sheriffs, and other top brass have been known to request higher trim grades and other vehicle upgrades, which can present challenges to the public fleet manager who must repurpose the vehicle after the chief switches into a new vehicle.
How Ford's Hybrid Patrol Car Is Different
Ford's Police Responder Hybrid Sedan offers several important differences from other retail hybrid cars that should make it well suited for the demands of a police duty cycle, while also providing lower costs to operate.
A Sure Bet for Reducing Distracted Police Driving
While shootouts and ambush killings of police officers provide high-profile examples of the hazards of police work, more often than not officers lose their lives while driving patrol vehicles.
A Closer Look at GM's Police Strategy
Starting this spring, law enforcement agencies will no longer be able to order a pursuit-rated sedan from General Motors.
Does Police Vehicle Testing Still Matter?
Each fall, the Michigan State Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department evaluate the current crop of police vehicles with a battery of road tests and provide a mountain of data about their performance, braking, and vehicle dynamics.
Can EVs Work as Patrol Vehicles?
Adding a fleet of battery-electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids to your motor pool is one thing. But giving an electrified sedan to a police officer seems like a trickier proposition.
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Home > World News > Europe
Russia Blast: Officials Believe Attack Was a Suicide Bombing, Death Toll Rises
Authorities say that they suspect that a man whose body fragments they found in the train was a suicide bomber.
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The Russian flag flies at half-mast on top of the State Hermitage museum in central Saint Petersburg on April 4, 2017.OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP
Russian investigators say they believe a suicide bomber was behind a deadly attack on the subway in Russia's second-largest city on Monday.
St. Petersburg bombing suspect identified as Kyrgyz-born Russian citizen
The leads in the St. Petersburg metro bombing point to Syria
Trump is abandoning Syria to Moscow's whims - with grave implications
The death toll in the blast inside a train on the St. Petersburg subway rose to 14. Dozens more were wounded.
The Investigative Committee said in a statement on Tuesday that they suspect that a man whose body fragments they found in the train was a suicide bomber. The committee said they identified him but would not release the details in the interests of the probe.
Earlier, Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security identified a suspect as Kyrgyz-born Russian Akbarzhon Dzhalilov. It is unclear whether the Russian and Kyrgyz statements referred to the same man.
The Kremlin spokesman said that intelligence agencies will look into the fact that Monday's subway blast happened while President Vladimir Putin was in town.
Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that the fact that Putin was in the city when the bomb went off, although several dozen miles away from where he was hosting talks, "makes one pause" and is "something for the intelligence agencies to analyze."
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Home Toys & Games Remote Control Toys & Robots
The Remote Controlled Abrams Tank
CHOKING HAZARD--Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.
Available only from Hammacher Schlemmer, this is the remote controlled tank that replicates the authentic details of the US military's M1A2 Abrams with realistic movement, sounds, and lights.
In Stock - We regret that this item is no longer available.
200 Additional Pellets for The Remote Controlled Abrams Tank
8 Pack AA Battery
Available only from Hammacher Schlemmer, this is the remote controlled tank that replicates the authentic details of the U.S. military’s M1A2 Abrams with realistic movement, sounds, and lights. The tank is at a 1:16 scale, detailed with desert weathering, and moves with working individual suspension on rubber treads. From up to 60' away, the 2.4 GHz digital proportional remote control provides forward, backward, left and right turns, and 360° spins. Housed in a turret that rotates 270°, its main gun fires with realistic recoil and cannon report, shooting seven 6mm-diam. plastic pellets in rapid succession at long-range targets up to 20' away, lowering or raising at your command with authentic sound. Its crewed .50-cal. machine gun shimmies and shakes with realistic sound when “fired” while a second 7.62mm machine gun provides point defense. Twin headlights illuminate the path ahead to victory. The RC tank’s rechargeable battery enables up to 30-minute engagements from a four-hour charge using the included AC adapter. Includes 15 pellets. Remote requires six AA batteries. Ages 14 and up. 25" L x 8 3/4" W x 8" H. (4 1/2 lbs.)
The Most Advanced Iron Man Robot
The RC Flying Battle Robots
The Build Your Own RC Tank
The 9 1/2 Foot Remote Controlled Bald Eagle
The RC Stunt Monster Truck
The Remote Controlled 17 MPH Micro ATV
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Yoon Sang-hyun considering new season of "Family Outing"
Korean actor Yoon Sang-hyun [Asia Economic Daily]
Korean actor Yoon Sang-hyun is reportedly considering to appear in the new season of variety show "Family Outing", according to his agency MGB Entertainment.
An official at MGB told Asia Economic Daily over the phone Tuesday that Yoon has been asked to appear on the show's second season, but also explained that they were "baffled the news had been printed in the media".
"Yoon Sang-hyun is scheduled to work in Japan and looking into new projects so nothing has been set", the official said. "But he is discussing the matter on a positive note".
The entire cast from the first season of "Family", including the show's host Yoo Jae-suk and singer Lee Hyori, are set to leave the show.
Producers of "Family Outing", one of the most popular variety programs in Korea since its premiere in June 2008, announced yesterday that they will be ending the show's first season run with shooting of the final episode to take place on January 11.
The "reality-based" variety show has been suffering from controversy and declining ratings after one of the show's scripts were leaked on the Internet early last year. Fans became outraged when they found that the show was not "real" with many of the remarks and responses by the cast members pre-scripted.
Yoon debuted in 2005 in the SBS TV series "To Marry a Millionaire". He rose to fame last year after starring in the smash hit drama "My Wife is a Superwoman" alongside actress Kim Nam-joo and followed it up with "My Fair Lady", which co-starred Yoon Eun-hye.
The 36-year-old actor won the First Prize acting title at the year-end MBC Acting Awards last week.
Reporter : Park Kun-ouc kun1112@asiae.co.kr
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr
<ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved>
Source : 10.asiae.co.kr/Articl...
(아가씨를 부탁해 - 2009)
My Wife is a Superwoman
(내조의 여왕 - 2009)
To Marry a Millionaire
(백만장자와 결혼하기 - 2005)
"Family Outing" to shoot final episode next week
Scenes from variety show "Family Outing" [SBS] Producers of SBS variety show "Family Outing" have,...More
Gang Dong-won says envies Song Kang-ho's animal instincts
From left, actor Song Kang-ho, director Jang Hoon and actor Kang Dong-won pose during a photo sess,...More
Bae Yong-joon's new wine drama gets cancelled
Hallyu star Bae Yong-joon [Asia Economic Daily] Hallyu star Bae Yong Joon's much-hyped drama adap,...More
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The Hand & Stone Rewards Points program ("Program") is designed to help you get the most out of your membership. We reward you for doing the things you already do, getting your monthly massage or facial, buying gift cards or other products and services, referring friends and even for booking your appointment online. As a member of the Lifestyle Program you are automatically enrolled in the program and agree to its Terms and Conditions below. If you choose not to participate, please let your membership location know, but why wouldn't you want to earn free services and products just for relaxing!
The following Hand & Stone Rewards Points terms and conditions (these "Rewards Terms and Conditions") contain important information regarding the Program. These Rewards Terms and Conditions govern your participation in any and all Program offers. Participation in the Program constitutes your agreement to the Site Terms and Conditions, and the Site Privacy Policy, which are incorporated herein.
Being eligible for the Program entitles Lifestyle Program members ("Members") to take advantage of certain Program Rewards ("Rewards") that may change from time to time and, which may be made available for limited times, all as determined by Hand & Stone in its sole discretion. Hand & Stone reserves the right to modify these Rewards Terms and Conditions at any time, without notice to you, so please check the Rewards Terms and Conditions periodically. Participation in the Program and/or redemption of Rewards is considered acceptance of these Rewards Terms and Conditions and any modified terms included therein. Hand & Stone may, in its sole and absolute discretion, cancel, change, suspend or modify any aspect of the Program and/or any Program Reward at any time, including the availability of any Program Reward, without notice.
To become a Member of the Program, you must be an active member of the Hand & Stone Lifestyle Program at a location in the United States and a legal resident of the fifty (50) United States or District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands and be 18 years of age or older. Lifestyle Members who are suspended, freeze, or terminate their Lifestyle membership are not eligible to earn or use Rewards Points. Upon termination of your Lifestyle Program membership, your Rewards Points will automatically expire and may not be used. If your Rewards Point account has no activity for a period of one year or more, we may expire your Rewards Points and terminate your participation in the Rewards Program. Rewards Points are not transferable, assignable or redeemable for cash.
Earning Hand & Stone Rewards Points
Once you have become a Lifestyle Member, you will automatically begin earning Rewards Points ("Points") as follows:
500 Points for joining the Lifestyle Program.
5 Points for every dollar you spend with Hand & Stone for services, products, gift cards, upgrades, even your monthly membership fee. Points earned on monthly membership packages or prepaid series packages are awarded when the package is redeemed for a service.
1,000 Points for every friend you refer to Hand & Stone. The friend must provide your name at appointment and you will be credited with the referral after your friend's first service at Hand & Stone.
50 Points for booking your monthly appointment online at www.handandstone.com or our app for mobile devices.
50 Points for pre-booking your appointment for next month at the time of your monthly service.
Points previously earned by Lifestyle Members under the previous Hand & Stone Whisper and Win Program will be converted at the rate of 1 Whisper and Win Point for 100 Rewards Points effective January 20, 2015, if not used prior to that date. You will earn Rewards Points for purchases at any Hand & Stone location in the United States, but not for purchases online or in Canada. Hand & Stone reserves the right to suspend, terminate, revalue or modify, without liability, or notice to Members, all or part of the Points' value structure and offers and any merchandise or service. You can check your Rewards Points balance on your account page.
Rewards Points Redemption
Redeeming your Rewards Points is simple! The following redemption levels apply:
Reward Points Redemption
Points Redeemed
50 Minute Hot Stone Massage or Exceptional Facial 9,000
50 Minute Massage or Signature Facial 7,000
Upgrade to Hot Stone Massage or an Exceptional Facial 4,000
All rewards awarded for redeemed Rewards Points may be placed on a Promotional Gift Card that restricts redemption to the issuing spa only and has a one year expiration date. Rewards points may only be redeemed at U.S. locations and may not be used in Canada. Only one award redeemed from Rewards Points may be used per visit.
Rewards Points earned will be rescinded in the event that an eligible purchase is returned for a refund.
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Rewards may be taxable, depending on the value of the item and the federal, state, and local tax laws applicable to Member. Members are solely responsible for sales tax, gratuity and to report such items on their tax returns and paying any associated tax liability. Rewards Points are the sole responsibility and liability of the independently owned and operated Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa issuing the Rewards Points. You agree that Hand & Stone Franchise Corp. is not liable for redemption of the Rewards Points and solely acts to administer the Program.
Hand & Stone may, in its sole and absolute discretion, cancel, change, suspend, or modify any aspect of the Program and/or any Reward at any time, including the availability of any Reward, without notice. Hand & Stone may, in its sole and absolute discretion, terminate or suspend any Member's participation in the Program for breach of these Rewards Terms and Conditions, or for taking any actions that are inconsistent with the intent of these Terms and Conditions.
The laws of the State of New Jersey shall govern these Rewards Terms and Conditions. Member hereby expressly consents to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in the courts located in New Jersey for all matters arising in connection with these Rewards Terms and Conditions or Member's participation in the Program.
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25 Worst Hospitals in the U.S. Is Yours On the List?
A new report on hospital performance in terms of infection rates, medical error, injuries, and medication misfires finds that four of the worst offenders are in Chicago, while Massachusetts medical centers rate best. Hospital errors are responsible for 180,000 deaths per year, and 400 per day.
By Amy O'Connor
You know how to handle a minor scrape at home, and you know heart attack symptoms should send you to the emergency room. But can you tell if a swollen ankle requires an ice pack or a 911 call? To the rescue: our handy guide to when to head to the ER, when to call your doctor, and when you can stay put.
Nola Lopez
The report was issued by Leapfrog, a coalition of public and private purchasers of health insurance benefits. The group recently updated its June list of poor-performing hospitals, giving D and F grades to those that represent "the most hazardous environments for patients in need of care."
Perhaps the biggest name among the 25 hospitals flunked by Leapfrog is the University of California Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. In response to the Leapfrog grade, the academic medical center told Medscape that UCLA's mission of delivering "the safest, highest quality, cutting-edge care" is reflected in numerous rankings and reports.
Regardless, one doesn't want to find themselves at one of the worst -performing hospitals in the country until they clean up their act. Here's the list:
Wiregrass Medical Center, Geneva, Alabama
Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, Hollister, California
Palo Verde Hospital, Blythe, California
University of California Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
Western Medical Center Anaheim, Anaheim, California
Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, Albany, Georgia
Madison Memorial Hospital, Rexburg, Idaho
Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
Jersey Community Hospital, Jerseyville, Illinois
Loretto Hospital, Chicago, Illinois
Norwegian American Hospital, Chicago, Illinois
Roseland Community Hospital, Chicago, Illinois
Daviess Community Hospital, Washington, Indiana
Richardson Medical Center, Rayville, Louisiana
Texas County Memorial Hospital, Houston, Missouri
Holy Rosary Medical Center, Ontario, Oregon
Clarendon Memorial Hospital, Manning, South Carolina
Wallace Thomson Hospital, Union, South Carolina
Christus Spohn Hospital Beeville, Beeville, Texas
Gulf Coast Medical Center, Wharton, Texas
Renaissance Hospital, Houston, Texas
Renaissance Hospital Dallas, Dallas, Texas
Renaissance Hospital Terrell, Terrell, Texas
Buchanan General Hospital, Grundy, Virginia
Valley General Hospital, Monroe, Washington
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Cunningham C-4R Wins 2015 Gran Turismo Award at Pebble Beach
Car CultureGran Turismo Series 30 August 16, 2015 by Andrew Evans
This year’s winner of the Gran Turismo Award at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is this 1952 Cunningham C-4R Competition Roadster.
Now in its 64th year, the Pebble Beach event celebrates the rare to unique historic cars, both well-kept originals and meticulously restored examples, in a pageant of motoring likened to the Olympics. Gran Turismo has been part of that history for the last eight years, with a special prize sponsored by Polyphony Digital for the car hand-picked by Kazunori Yamauchi for inclusion in a future Gran Turismo game.
The award has given us some spectacularly beautiful and noteworthy cars from automotive history, with previous award winners making it to Gran Turismo 5 and Gran Turismo 6, so this year’s winner will doubtless already be pencilled in along with its three predecessors for the next Gran Turismo game.
Winners of the Gran Turismo Award to date are:
2008 – 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400 Bertone Prototype
2009 – 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2 carrozzata da Zagato
2010 – 1952 Abarth 1500 Biposto Bertone BAT-1
2011 – 1960 Plymouth XNR Ghia Roadster
2012 – 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Pininfarina Coupe
2013 – 1953 Aston Martin DB3S Sports
2014 – 1954 Maserati A6GCS Spider
2015 – 1952 Cunningham C-4R Competition Roadster
So what of this year’s winner?
The Cunningham C-4R Roadster was one of three cars (two roadsters) built by Briggs Cunningham to win Le Mans with an American car and American drivers. Though this didn’t turn out the way that Cunningham had hoped, despite attempts from 1951 through to 1955, the C-4R was nevertheless a sports car weapon – finishing 84% of all races it started and winning 74% of them.
This particular car, part of the Simeone Foundation museum in Pennsylvania, is the most notable of the C-4R’s, finishing Le Mans in third overall (first in class) in 1954 driven by William Spear and Sherwood Johnston, 9 laps ahead of Cunningham himself in the sister C-4R. A worthy addition indeed!
Fans might note that the most recent three winners are also yet to appear in a Gran Turismo title, so it may be a little while until the Cunningham becomes digitally available. Nevertheless, we look forward to taking it to – where else – the Circuit de la Sarthe in the future!
Gran Turismo TrophyPebble Beach Concours d'ElegancePolyphony Digital
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Automotive News 7 Jan 21 by Andrew Evans
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It might be very early days in the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show, but it looks like Sony has already stolen the event. Not with some fancy new camera, television, phone,…
Long-Lost "Bullitt" Hero Car Ford Mustang Heads to Auction
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It might be one of the most famous movie cars in history, and now you have the chance to buy it. The original Ford Mustang from classic 1968 movie Bullitt…
Aston Martin Reaches For The Sky With Its New... Helicopter?
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Although usually associated with good guy spy James Bond, British brand Aston Martin looks to be stepping up its campaign to be the lifestyle supplier to his supervillain enemies. Aston’s…
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> Fashion
> HFM Magazine
Fashion, beauty and Instagrammable hotspots to put on your radar this December
Plus, the TV shows, movies and podcasts you NEED in your life...
Last modified on Dec 03, 2019 17:52 GMT Leanne Bayley Things to do in December. The fashion trend to follow, the beauty product to buy, the TV show to watch and the new music to listen to. Introducing the HELLO! Fashion Monthly radar...
Let TEAM HFM! help you with finding out all the best things to do in December. Whether you're looking to book the hottest restaurant in London, download the coolest new tracks or shop for the ultimate December lust-have in time for Christmas, we've got the perfect checklist for you. Ready to take some notes?
The fashion collaboration to discover in December
British accessories brand Radley has teamed up with Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, to introduce Radley X Dogs Trust – a collection of backpacks, bum bags, cross-bodies, totes and purses. Eight of the trust’s adorable fury girls and boys including Freddie the cocker spaniel, Moose the greyhound and Rosie the Labrador cross, had their turn in front of the camera. Radley will donate 10 per cent of each item sold to Dogs Trust, which helped 15,000 dogs in its 20 rehoming centres in the UK and one in Dublin, last year.
Just remember: A Dog is For Life, Not Just For Christmas…
The Radley X Dogs Trust collection costs from £12 - £99 and launches in-store and on radley.co.uk on Giving Tuesday – 3rd December.
The ad campaign to swoon over in December
Jennifer Lopez has been snapped up by Coach, the luxury fashion label, to front its upcoming campaigns for its shoes, accessories and ready-to-wear collections. Here's a little tease of the Spring 2020 campaign, photographed by Ben Rosser and featuring the singer/actress/catwalk start/phenomenon rocking a chic belted trench coat.
"I’m so excited for this collaboration with Coach," JLo said in a statement. "It is a timeless brand that I’ve always been a fan of and the upcoming collection really speaks to my personal style — an uptown downtown mix."
Shop Coach's trench coat on uk.coach.com now.
The sample sale to get your credit card out for in December
Fancy some Oscar de la Renta hanging in your wardrobe? Perhaps you're getting married and would like to have a little look at what's on offer. The sample sale will feature luxury ladieswear and children's wear, ready to wear, bridalwear, bags, shoes, and jewellery with up to 80 per cent off RRP.
Tuesday 3 December - 12pm to 8pm
Wednesday 4 December - 8am to 8pm
Thursday 5 December - 8am to 8pm
Last entry will be 30 minutes before the sale closes.
Address: 26 South Molton Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 5LF (closest tube station is Bond Street).
What we'll be scouring second hand for in December - watch out eBay!
We're searching '80s puff sleeve dresses' to try and find a one-of-a-kind on eBay. Need.
The band to download on Spotify in December
Scouse trio The Mysterines are our latest obsession! The Wirral ladies have kept a relatively low profile, but have created a buzz thanks to their catchy songs and supporting Miles Kane and The Vryll Society.
Download The Mysterines on Spotify now.
The TV show to binge watch in December
We'll be watching all the Gavin & Stacey episodes ahead of the Christmas special taking place on Christmas Day. James Corden recently opened up about the upcoming show to Radio Times, admitting that he and Ruth Jones were forced to rewrite it. "We’d written about 40 pages, and we sat and we read it – and we both went, 'This just isn’t good enough,' he explained. "It doesn’t feel like the show. It doesn’t feel like it’s right... We just stopped for the day. I think Ruth went out with [her husband] David, and I sort of just moped around here. Then all of us had dinner, and we agreed at the very least to talk about what might be wrong with it."
Watch the Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special on BBC One at 8.30pm on Christmas Day.
Our first stop when it's payday!
We'll be heading straight to Russell & Bromley's brand-new Covent Garden store located at 107 Long Acre in Covent Garden. This new location is a prime West End shopping destination and has an extensive collection of the brand’s luxurious, Italian-made shoes and handbags.
What's at the top of our December wish list? The hot pink Snaggle loafers, priced at £245.
The movie to watch at the cinema in December
Last Christmas follows down-on-her-luck Kate (Emilia Clarke), a shop assistant working at a year-round Christmas shop. Disappointing her family, her friends and her boss with her behaviour and attitude, everything changes when she bumps into the handsome Tom, played by Henry Golding, who "walks into her life and starts to see through so many of Kate's barriers." The official synopsis reads: "As London transforms into the most wonderful time of the year, nothing should work for these two. But sometimes, you gotta let the snow fall where it may, you gotta listen to your heart."
Last Christmas is now playing in most cinemas.
The Christmas jumper we'll be wearing on Christmas Jumper Day on 13 December
This is an online exclusive at Tu at Sainsbury's, and we love how chic it is. The Christmas knits are selling like crazy so don't wait around if this £13.50 Fair Isle jumper is top of your wish list.
The new beauty product to get excited about in December
Christmas is a time for puckering up, so can we suggest a new lip product to try? How about the new Clarins Lip Milky Mousse! Priced at £19, this is a new and innovative whipped texture which lightly dresses lips leaving them feeling fresh with a hint of tint. Oh, and a special shout out to the lip-hugging velour cushion applicator, leaving a satin finish and a peachy smooth effect that nourishes and smooths lips thanks to the addition of peach milk.
Available 29 December 2019 exclusively at Clarins and Debenhams.
We're getting involved with...
#GivingTuesday! Digital App Kindred and Just Giving have joined forces to challenge the nation to take part in #GivingTuesday, a campaign which encourages consumers to make charitable decisions over the high spending season. Prince Harry and Meghan urged their Instagram followers to give back and engage in Giving Tuesday. Want another reason, 100 percent of all Kindred’s proceeds on every single purchase made during #GivingTuesday (via the Kindred app) will be donated to a charity of the users choice, charities include UNICEF, Cancer Research UK, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Macmillan to name a few.
The beauty hotspot to know about for December
If you're in London, be sure to head to AFTERBeauty in Piccadilly. The beauty haven has been described as a Sephora for the UK and we couldn't agree more. We'll be heading here for all our beauty needs! From manicures to pedicures, facials, massages and our K-beauty buys.
AFTERBeauty is open at 189 Piccadilly, London.
The new candle we promise not to save for best
NARS introduces the Tiare Candle - an amazing scent which includes fresh Tiare blossoms, verdant lime, sweet coconut, and rich vanilla steeped in the aura of Francois Nars’ Motu Tane island hideaway. The decadent blend of essential oils ensures an optimum burn time of 68 hours.
Priced at £34.50, this is exclusive to NARS boutiques and narscosmetics.co.uk.
The party dress to get excited about in December
Oh, how we love French Connection for giving us sequins AND tiger print. The dream combination! The Ebba tiger print sequin dress, £250, has dropped in stores ready for the party season and we'll be rushing out to buy it straight after work.
The nail colour inspo for your December mani
Well, it's a given... December calls for a sparkly manicure! We love this creation from nail artist Hang Nguyen aka Moon (find her on Instagram @thehangedit). She created this look using Orosa nail polishes. The black is Onyx and the glitter polish is called Prism.
The Instagrammable restaurant to (attempt to) book a table at in December
If you happen to find yourself in Mayfair, head to Berkeley Square’s highly anticipated new restaurant, Amazónico. Interior buffs will fawn over the opulent design; from velvet booths to luscious live plants it’s a feast for the eyes as well as a mouth-watering experience. The menu is created by husband and wife duo, Sandro Silva and Marta Seco – two of Madrid’s best-known restauranteurs – and is a fusion of Latin American cuisine, from traditional Brazilian dishes to Peruvian sushi. Perfectly executed dishes include Patagonian Black Hake and lime and yuzu marinated prawns with popped purple corn. Already touted as one of Madrid’s hottest restaurants it’s somewhat of a celebrity magnet across the pond with fans including the Beckhams, Mariah Carey and Alessandra Ambrosio. With its nightly jazz performances and Latin American tunes, it’s the perfect weekend spot to celebrate this festive season.
More information available at Amazonico.
The game changer app to download in December
We don't want to be party poopers, but December is the time when our prosecco guzzling can get out of control, which is why we're downloading the Drinkaware App. This app can make sure you stay on top of your wellness and also your health when it comes to drinking. The app comes with trackers and tools such as the unit & calorie calculator and the alcohol self-assessment tool so you can review your drinking patterns, set goals and become more aware of the units you are consuming. The app can also record the money spent on alcohol - consider yourself warned.
The podcast we're pressing play on in December
If you've not yet listened to Chris Ramsey and his wife Rosie Ramsey's podcast, prepare to LOL all through December and into the new year. Released weekly, this couple's hilarious podcast will have you gripped. Download on Spotify now.
The fragrance to spritz for your Christmas party in December
Introducing... 'The Coveted Duchess Rose Eau de Parfum'. Featuring mandarin, rose and musky wood, it is described as "a not so innocent fresh rose." The perfect festive scent! What's more, it comes in a beautifully crafted bottle - spot the delicate fox face - what's not to love?
The Zara item that's top of our wish list in December
You've seen it all over Instagram - as modelled here by @bubblyaquarius - and you've seen it fly off Zara's virtual rails. Well, rumour has it, the famous two-piece is coming back to Zara in December. We'll be hitting refresh daily.
The infuencer you need to follow in December (if you don't already)
Belfast-based Marianne (aka @SmythSisters) is your newest girl crush. Whether she's wearing Zara, & Other Stories, H&M or Mango, she's forever giving us outfit inspiration. Press follow immediately.
Where to point your phone in December
Head to the beautiful Lancome Eiffel Tower at King's Cross in London for a cheeky snap. It's made from bottles of La Vie Est Belle perfume, and after Christmas, they are all being kindly donated to Look Good Feel Better UK - a confidence-boosting workshop for women, men and young adults undergoing cancer treatment.
The December Lust Have
If you’re on the look-out one piece of jewellery to take you through the party season or you want to add some sparkle to your Christmas wish list - this is for you. A 18 carat gold bracelet by Italian luxury jewellers FOPE. Apart from it’s sheer elegance, here are 3 good reasons to invest.
1.The unique Flex’ it strap (made of dozens of tiny gold springs between each link) means no one-handed struggling to fasten a clasp - just pull it on and go.
2. Gold is forever in fashion, it will never date.
3. It looks great stacked on your wrist and the mixed metal detail (18ct rose gold and white gold) means it will go with all your other jewellery or watches.
Sold?
Eka tiny bracelet £1985. Available in the Bouji newly opened FOPE flagship store on Old Bond Street or selected concessions nationwide at Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths or online at fope.com.
This article contains affiliate links, which means HELLO! may earn a small commission if a reader clicks through and makes a purchase. More information.
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See the most beautiful floral displays in London for Chelsea Flower Show
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*NEWS
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HollywoodNews.com > *NEWS > Quentin Tarantino’s Filmography Gets The Documentary Treatment In “QT8: The First Eight”
Sat, Oct 19 2019 | Published in *NEWS, AWARDS, CELEBS, HEADLINES, MOVIES, MUSIC, TV
Quentin Tarantino’s Filmography Gets The Documentary Treatment In “QT8: The First Eight”
By: Joey Magidson
Nobody loves cinema more than Quentin Tarantino. When watching one of his films, it’s impossible not to see the joy that movies, as well as making movies, brings the man. So, a documentary about his cinematic output almost makes too much sense not to exist. Lo and behold, one now does exist, in the special presentation QT8: The First Eight. A one night only event this coming Monday, it’s the sort of flick that should bring together anyone who loves Tarantino and his work. Luckily, it’s not a thrown together project either, but one made with care, featuring a ton of his players speaking highly about the auteur.
This is a documentary that focuses exclusively on the first eight films in Quentin Tarantino’s career, beginning with Reservoir Dogs and ending with Django Unchained, though the making of Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood is briefly mentioned. Spanning 21 years, it features behind the scenes footage, interviews with his most frequent collaborators, and a handful of animated moments, to boot. There’s a tiny bit of his backstory, but most of the doc is primarily concerned with once he became a writer and a director (the former is featured early on when discussing his scripts Natural Born Killers and True Romance). Split into chapters, like his movies, there’s tribute paid to his dialogue and style, as well as the numerous strong female roles he’s written over the years. All in all, it’s a guide through his filmography, meant to remind you just how great a talent he is. Without question, it succeeds. Tara Wood writes and directs, with cinematography by Jake Zortman, as well as a score by Doran Danoff and Tyler Wenzel. The talking heads here consist of Zoë Bell, Bruce Dern, the recently departed Robert Forster, Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Kruger, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Eli Roth, Tim Roth, and Christoph Waltz.
In many ways, this is a fan film, but it’s a well made one. If you have a solid working knowledge of Tarantino, not much will be a surprise here, safe for one throwaway detail (for me, it was that he made Reservoir Dogs in part through the money he got for playing an Elvis impersonator on an episode of The Golden Girls). Still, even without surprise revelations, it’s compelling to watch the men and women who work with him most waxing poetic about him. Especially, there’s a twinge of sadness in Robert Forster’s presence, as he credits Tarantino for breathing life back into his career. It’s a touching tribute.
QT8: The First Eight is clearly not the type of documentary that wins awards. In another era, it probably would have been included as a special feature on a deluxe Blu-Ray or DVD box set of Tarantino’s entire celluloid output to date. Hell, it still might be on a future release. For now, though it’s just a classy doc that lets fans of QT bathe in the glory of his one of a kind cinematic voice.
If you love Quentin Tarantino, QT8: The First Eight is an enjoyable guided tour through most of his unique filmography. Sure, it leaves out his incomplete first flick My Best Friend’s Birthday, forget about his contribution to Four Rooms, and looks at Kill Bill as one project for the purposes of counting, as opposed to tackling Kill Bill: Volume One and Kill Bill: Volume Two separately (there’s no wrong answer there, just an observation on my part), but Wood definitely appreciates what Tarantino has brought to cinema. If you’re in that boat as well, this one night only special screening on Monday is a must see. What better way to celebrate QT than to see his vision celebrated on the big screen?
Be sure to check out QT8: The First Eight, playing Monday night as a special Fathom Event!
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About Joey Magidson
A graduate of Stony Brook University (where he studied Cinema and Cultural Studies), resides in Brooklyn, New York. He contributes to several other film-related websites and is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association.
View all articles by Joey Magidson
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15 Scary Diseases You Can Get From Your Pet, According to Vets
Your furry friend can pass on more than just friendly licks and kisses.
By Katherine Martinelli
Hero ImagesGetty Images
Pets are one of life’s great joys. According to the National Institutes of Health, some 68 percent of American households have a pet, and their benefits are countless, from getting active to boosting mood. But as wonderful as our furry (or scaly, or feathered) friends are, there are certain health risks that come with having an animal in your home.
“Zoonotic diseases (zoonoses) are those that can be transmitted between animals and people,” explains Christa Gallagher, BSC, DVM, an assistant professor of public health and epidemiology at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. “Animals, whether wild or domesticated, can transmit harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi to humans.”
But talking to your veterinarian about possible disease transmission can help you avoid the risks. Diseases from pets can be transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, touching and/or petting, through bites and scratches, inhalation, and through mosquitos, ticks, and fleas, Dr. Gallagher says. Very young children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems are particularly at high risk. Here are 15 diseases you can get from your pet.
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“Toxoplasmosis (Toxoplasma Gondii) is a parasitic infection in which cats are the main source of infection,” explains Dr. Gallagher. While healthy people don’t typically contract the disease, it can cause serious health complications for pregnant women and immunocompromised people. Be sure to change the cat litter frequently (once a day if anyone has a weakened immune system in the house), and thoroughly wash your hands afterward. Pregnant women should avoid changing the cat litter altogether. Keeping your cat indoors will also help prevent them from contracting it.
Symptoms in pets: Cats don’t typically show symptoms of toxoplasmosis. Kittens, who are more vulnerable, may get diarrhea.
Symptoms in humans: Healthy people often won’t show any symptoms, and the CDC estimates that some 40 million people may be living with toxoplasmosis. Some people will have flu-like symptoms, including swollen lymph nodes or enduring muscle aches.
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While it's unlikely that you’ll contract rabies from your pet (it’s most commonly contracted from wild animals like raccoons and bats), it’s within the realm of possibility since it is transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal. “The disease is most commonly contracted through a bite, although potentially it could be transmitted through a scratch as well,” says Gary Richter, MS, DVM, a veterinary health expert with Rover.com. “Although human exposure to rabies from a dog is uncommon, it's worth noting since rabies is almost 100 percent fatal if the person is not treated immediately after exposure.” The best way to prevent it is to keep your pet up-to-date with their vaccines.
Symptoms in pets: Foaming at the mouth is the most common sign of rabies, but other symptoms could include behavioral changes, fever, hypersensitivity to touch, light, and sound, hiding in dark places, staggering, loss of appetite, and seizures.
Symptoms in humans: According to the CDC, preliminary symptoms can include fever, headache, and weakness, but as it progresses and infects the central nervous system, you can experience insomnia, anxiety, confusion, partial paralysis, and hallucinations.
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You’re probably aware that you can get salmonella from raw or undercooked poultry, but did you know you can get it from your pets? “This infection can also be caused by the bacteria that live on the skin of pet reptiles,” warns Tsippora Shainhouse, MD, FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist in Los Angeles. Jory D. Lange Jr, a food safety lawyer, also says they have seen cases of pet hedgehogs, backyard chickens, and dog food causing salmonella outbreaks.
To avoid it, wash your hands well after handling reptiles, especially after feeding them. Be sure to also clean pet toys and bedding outside.
Symptoms in pets: Reptiles don’t typically present with symptoms of salmonella, says Dr. Shainhouse.
Symptoms in humans: Fever, headache, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and chills are common symptoms in humans, according to Dr. Shainhouse.
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“Leptospirosis is a bacteria that is shed in the urine of infected animals. Our pets can contract this infection from ground water that is contaminated by infected wildlife. Though this infection does require contact with infected urine, it’s much easier than you may think to inadvertently come in contact with your pet's urine,” says Johanna Reel, NHV Natural Pet's in-house registered veterinary technician. Get your pet vaccinated against the disease, and don't swim in water that may be contaminated with animal urine.
Symptoms in pets: Some animals won’t show signs of leptospirosis, while others may have fever, vomiting, diarrhea, refusal to eat, depression, infertility, and other symptoms.
Symptoms in humans: Some people with leptospirosis won’t have any symptoms, while others may have high fever, headache, chills, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, or other symptoms. According to the CDC, if you recover from a first phase of symptoms and become more severely ill a second time, it could be a sign of meningitis or kidney or liver failure.
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Toxocariasis
Most commonly contracted from the feces of dogs but sometimes from cats, toxocariasis is a parasitic disease from the larvae of toxocara roundworms. Dr. Shainhouse says, "Be careful to use gloves or a plastic bag or shovel to clean up doggy poop, and wash your hands well afterward."
Symptoms in pets: Diarrhea, vomiting, bloody stool, worms seen in the stool
Symptoms in humans: “Humans contract roundworm infections by oral-fecal transmission, but the worms tend to end up in the lungs, which can present as shortness of breath and hives/itch, abdominal pain, bloody stool,” explains Dr. Shainhouse.
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“While you can contract this by eating undercooked pork, you can also contract this from an infected pet,” explains Dr. Shainhouse. One caveat: There needs to be a host, like a flea or another animal infected with tapeworm, and you could have to ingest that host in order to contract the tapeworm. So the best line of defense is to wash your hands often and consider running a flea comb through your pet’s fur after they’ve been outside.
Symptoms in pets: According to Dr. Shainhouse, abdominal pain, diarrhea, rice-like pieces in the stool, fatigue, hunger or loss of appetite, and longer worms in vomit are signs of tapeworm. She says that pets with tapeworm also often drag their bottoms along the ground.
Symptoms in humans: Abdominal pain, diarrhea, rice-like pieces in the stool, fatigue, hunger or loss of appetite.
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“Ringworm, which is a fungal disease (despite the deceptive name), grows on hair follicles. It is transmitted through direct contact,” explains Dr. Richter. Cleaning your pet's bedding regularly, frequently washing your hands, vacuuming, and disinfecting are your best bets for avoiding ringworm.
Symptoms in pets: Animals get the same circular lesion as humans, but it can be difficult to see under their fur so look out for signs like red lesions, crusty skin, and patchy hair.
Symptoms in humans: Ringworm in humans is usually easy to spot thanks to the telltale ring-shaped rash that is often red and itchy.
SilviaJansenGetty Images
Cat scratch disease
“This bacterial infection is caused by Bartonella henselae, which is carried by kittens. It is transmitted to humans via a scratch from the infected animal,” explains Dr. Shainhouse. According to the CDC, 30 to 40 percent of adopted shelter cats have documented cases of cat scratch fever. People with weakened immune systems are at higher risk, so they may want to hold off getting a kitten less than a year old, since they're more likely to get the infection. If you do get scratched, wash the area immediately.
Symptoms in pets: Cats usually don’t show any symptoms but in some cases may have a fever, and in rare cases, may have labored breathing, vomiting, swollen lymph nodes, red eyes, and/or decreased appetite. And despite the name, dogs can also get cat scratch fever and may show signs of fever, arrhythmia, and inflammation of the heart (endocarditis).
Symptoms in humans: Cat scratch fever is often contracted by kids who can show symptoms like fever and enlarged lymph nodes.
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“Pets can also pass some parasites on to their humans,” says Dr. Reel. “Giardia is a common intestinal parasitic microorganism, which causes severe gastrointestinal symptoms. This parasite can be spread through contact with contaminated water or contact with infected fecal matter.
Symptoms in pets: Painful gas, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting are common.
Symptoms in humans: Painful gas, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting are some of the common symptoms in humans as well.
MRBIG_PHOTOGRAPHYGetty Images
Pet scabies (mange)
Not to be confused with human scabies, pet scabies can’t truly be spread to humans, but can cause some discomfort. “In pet scabies, the animal is the only viable host for the mite, meaning the mite only lives on the pet,” explains Dr. Shainhouse. “However, the mite can jump off of the pet, bite the human owner, then jump back home (aka, the pet’s skin).” The best way to protect you and your dog is to avoid having your dog around other animals that have it.
Symptoms in pets: Pet scabies can affect your pet—typically dogs—with severe itching, rash, blisters, and sores.
Symptoms in humans: Temporary itching and skin irritation.
Photology1971Getty Images
Camp-what? The name may be hard to pronounce, but the CDC estimates that Campylobacter is the top cause of bacterial diarrheal illness in the country. Though it’s typically contracted from raw or undercooked poultry, pets can also spread it. “Campylobacteriosis is a bacterial disease cause by Campylobacter species. Fecal-oral transmission can result in gastrointestinal symptoms in most healthy persons. More serious infections can occur if a person is very young, elderly, or immunocompromised,” says Dr. Gallagher.
That's why it's important to wash your hands frequently, especially if you come in contact with animal feces.
Symptoms in pets: Most common in puppies younger than six months old. Fever, vomiting, and enlarged lymph nodes are possible symptoms in your dog.
Symptoms in humans: Severe, often bloody diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps are the top symptoms.
suprunGetty Images
Myobacterium marinum
Although our furry friends get the brunt of the diseases that can be passed on to humans, our scaled sidekicks aren’t without their possible infections. Mycobacterium Marinum grows in fish tanks and can be spread to humans. “It is commonly seen in people who put their ungloved hands into fish tanks (like when you clean out your pet’s tank),” explains Dr. Shainhouse. So be sure to wear gloves when scooping out fish and cleaning the fish tank.
Symptoms in humans: Red bumps or sores on the hand or finger that can spread to the arm. Symptoms can also include low-grade fevers.
ChalabalaGetty Images
Yet another canine parasite, hookworms suck on the intestinal lining of dogs. The eggs in the pet feces could transfer through the skin if you come in contact with it. Thoroughly washing your hands will go a long way, especially after curbing your dog.
Symptoms in pets: Diarrhea, weight loss
Symptoms in humans: People often show no symptoms but can come down with loss of appetite, anemia, cough, wheezing, or rash.
PeopleImagesGetty Images
“Dog and cat bites that pierce human skin can cause severe skin infection and cellulitis if not treated immediately,” warns Dr. Shainhouse. “Cats’ mouths carry Pasturella multocida, while dogs carry Staphylococcus, Streptomyces and Capnocytophaga sp.” Avoid rough play with your pets or other animals that might result in them taking an unintentional nibble of your skin.
Symptoms in pets: None.
Symptoms in humans: Bite mark and severe skin infection.
narin_nonthamandGetty Images
Irritant contact dermatitis
Though it’s not totally a disease, contact dermatitis is an irritating side effect of having pets for some people. “Pet kisses may be a sign of affection or loyalty, but it can cause skin irritation in humans,” says Dr. Shainhouse.
“If you are crazy enough to have a pet tarantula, know that they are not soft and fuzzy. Their ‘fur’ is actually spines that can be shed as protection when they are afraid or in fighting mode. These spines can prickle your skin and cause an irritant dermatitis.”
Take preventative measures especially if you have sensitive skin, like washing up after getting licked by your pet to prevent a rash.
Symptoms in pets: None
Symptoms in humans: Skin irritation, rash, and itchiness.
53 Landscaping Ideas for a Magical Outdoor Space
From: Prevention US
Katherine Martinelli Katherine Martinelli is a freelance journalist who covers health, food, travel, parenting, and more for publications like The Atlantic, The Washington Post, New York Magazine's The Cut, Bon Appetit, and Food & Wine.
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David Wilkinson’s strategy for Boeing’s global talent management is ready for takeoff.
By Debbie Bolla
With nearly 20 years of experience managing talent around the world with stints in London, Dubai, and North America, no one is better suited to pilot success for Boeing’s new global approach to human capital acquisition than David Wilkinson. The global infrastructure and operations director has been tasked with building a foundation that enables the tech company to compete for the best candidates in its many divisions. Here, he shares the challenges of the current market, the technology that empowers Boeing’s candidate experience, and how to reach talent on a global scale while embodying a local relevance.
What are your biggest talent challenges?
Boeing is an industrial champion but it’s also a new age tech company. When you look at the makeup of the organization, there are many different talent needs. We have a defense and space unit with significant contract wins. We had a record year with commercial airplanes. We also have Boeing global services, which is the afterlife of the planes after we have delivered and sold them, and corporate, which is the management of the business. All of those areas need different skill sets, different talent pools, and different numbers of hires. Every win that we get means more pressure to get talent more quickly.
There are many challenges when you hire up to 35,000 employees a year, but our greatest is that we are competing for talent on a global stage. Digital transformation plays a key role in our talent needs and we recognize the skill sets required for the future will continue to evolve and require a more technology-oriented focus. This means we are competing for talent in industries that are outside of traditional aerospace sectors. Like many employers, we are seeing a dramatic increase in competition for talent across the board, unemployment rates at an all-time low, a reduction in STEM graduates, and increased competition in the technology-oriented skills, making the talent market more complex and competitive than ever before.
Historically, we haven’t had a global view of talent or a global view of how we manage our hiring process. So we needed global efficiency in terms of tools, technology, system, and processes across the acquisition lifecycle.
Our mission is to be global talent champions: We are global, we are diverse, but we are also here to win—and we are going to do that.
How are you tackling these challenges?
We are on a journey within Boeing talent acquisition. We are challenging the assumptions based on “this is always how we’ve done it.” We are redefining how we approach talent. We are moving away from an administrative process to an advisor-like engagement. I like to use the phrase “engage and educate.” Whoever we are touching in the process, we need to engage positively and educate about potential opportunities.
How can we do this? We set up a global infrastructure with technology, tools, systems, and processes to drive candidate experience. For example, if a candidate is an IT or data analytics specialist looking to work at Boeing and one of our competitors, how do we make sure they feel engaged? We are engaging with this candidate through a crescendo of interest that ends with them landing at Boeing rather than a slow-drip process. We’re focusing more on the candidate experience and differentiating ourselves through our culture, our priorities and our products.
We also have a team that is solely focused on candidate care. We are also looking at our application process and our conflict of interest process.
We have to get better at every opportunity. The changes we continue to explore are not about changing all of our practices dramatically. Rather, they’re focused on small changes over time that will lead to greater improvements in how we attract, acquire, and engage top diverse talent.
As our hiring demand continues to be high, we are exploring best practices at engaging talent around the globe at various points in their career. We have invested in entry and mid-level rotation programs that will enable talent in multiple disciplines to learn about Boeing and the opportunities for career growth and exploration. We also continue to keep diversity at the forefront of our priorities. In 2018, Boeing announced a $6 million investment in the future technical workforce through a partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), the nation’s largest organization exclusively representing the black college community. The investment will fund scholarships, internships, on-campus engagements, and immersive “boot camp” programs that will introduce students to Boeing’s culture and career paths.
What tools and technology do you leverage to get an edge?
We will deploy new HR technology in 2019, which will be a strategic enabler for our organization. We are using this implementation as an opportunity to integrate a large number of systems into this framework, while also simplifying the overall practices used in talent acquisition and also our entire enterprise. We are looking to deploy technology that enables our team—recruiters and HR professionals—to focus on the candidate experience. We can automate some of the hiring process through machine learning and chatbots to allow all of our teams to be more strategic.
We appointed PeopleScout to look at our RPO model. Historically, we’ve gone to them when we are at capacity and they step in to manage the surge. Now PeopleScout is moving into a test lab for services, including a video interviewing pilot and the integration of analytics into some areas of our talent data. I see huge value from PeopleScout with their technology capability, candidate experience capability, and integration capability.
I want to move our services for all our vendors away from reliance in times of surge and max capacity to an intentional and strategic direction. Now we ask our vendors: If there was one risk that you would take with Boeing, what would you deploy right now? Where do you see needle movements in terms of how we are doing? What is the future of this relationship? We are asking them to advise us on what our roadmap should be.
How do you attract talent on a global scale?
We need to create organizational capabilities and a local perspective that has relevance to that market. We recognize that the talent we need is global and have taken significant strides to align our organization to source and attract talent in the markets in which our workforce is present and the business demands. India, for example, is a newer market for us and many of the candidates don’t realize the full breadth of Boeing’s products and services. As part of our talent attraction strategy, we will ensure the candidates understand our business imperative in India, the type of work that our teams deliver, and their role in supporting our customer’s needs.
We also continue to identify talent analytics that showcase where global talent resides. We use those analytics to inform our future hiring locations and also direct our investment in entry-level talent programs outside of the U.S.
Posted March 25, 2019 in Talent Acquisition
This entry was posted in Enabling Technology, Innovation, RPO & Staffing, Talent Acquisition, Workforce Management and tagged CHRO-Focused Article, Employee/Candidate Experience, Globalization, Magazine Article, March-2019, RPO, Talent Acquisition on March 25, 2019 by Audrey Roth.
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Why use WS-MEX when a simple ‘get’ would do ya?
Phil Windley just posted a comment on WS-MEX, where he asks why we need it…
I’ll admit it: I don’t really get WS-MetadataExchange (or WS-MEX, as it’s affectionately known). I understand why someone might want to get the Scheme, WSDL, and WS-Policy data for a service. I’m just not clear on why a simple URL isn’t good enough. Why do we need to invent new RPC-style request/response pairs?
I guess I can see that this allows me to have one URL for the service that can be interrogated for all three in a standard way. Otherwise, I have to tell you three URLs to give you the metadata instead of one, but couldn’t we just as easily agree to some kind of convention like this:
http://www.example.com/service_path?meta=wsdl
http://www.example.com/service_path?meta=schema
http://www.example.com/service_path?meta=policy
This seems much simpler and easier to implement that a request response pair. Plus, I can still grab each of these important documents in a browser and inspect them when I want without having to have a special tool. Am I missing something?
Before turning to the specific issue of why metadata exchange works the way it does, let's think for a minute about why you need it in the first place. The intent is to allow web service providers and consumers to be loosely coupled and negotiate the interfaces, infrastructural services and functional units they require.
To get more specific, let's take an example clear to those of us who work in the identity space. In previous discussions, we've drilled into the advantages of conceiving of digital identities as sets of claims. How would a relying party specify the specific claims it requires? How would it specify the parties from which it is willing to accept such claims (I'm struck by how easy it was to avoid the use of the word ‘trust’ in this sentence)? How would it indicate the types of underlying technologies and token formats which could be used to convey those claims? Finally, how can we create an infrastructure that subordinates, to the extent possible, these decisions to dynamic operational policies, rather than requiring software designers to hard code them?
Clearly Phil understands these motivations, and his question is about the design choice in using a new (if hyper simple) protocol rather than a basic HTTP GET.
To round up the best possible answer, I pinged Don Box, a person of great depth and wisdom who thinks about these issues as long and hard as people like us think about identity issues. He answered this way:
Fellow DSG-er Kim Cameron pointed me to Phil Windley's blog entry on WS-MEX this morning.
Since I was one of the offending parties, let me try to make clear why we did it.
We wanted a way to retrieve metadata for services using the same protocols we use to talk to those services.
It’s tempting to just use HTTP GET with query string hackery. In fact, this is exactly what we did in V1 (ASMX).
However, here are a few issues with that approach:
To date, we’ve avoided telling people how to form their URI. We’d like to keep it that way if possible.
Not all services will support HTTP. In Indigo, it’s common to expose an endpoint that only listens over IPC or SOAP-over-TCP.
We wanted metadata retrieval to compose with things like WS-Security.
We wanted to have one discoverable mechanism that would scale to arbitrary forms of metadata. In its simplest form, a MEX reply enumerates all of the supported metadata formats a given endpoint supports. For people building generic inspection/diagnostics/management tools, this is pure goodness.
All of this stated, ASMX still supports ?WSDL as does Indigo (if you enable it).
Using plain-old-HTTP-GET isn’t a bad solution – it just doesn’t always work. When it does, though, it’s a beautiful solution.
You can see why I'm so fond of Don. Someone designing protocols who cares as much about inspection and diagnostic and management tools as he does about the specific value of the protocol. Maybe time really is moving forward.
Posted on April 30, 2005 November 30, -0001 Categories Identity
Welcome Don Bowen
Let's welcome Don Bowen (a.k.a. Wizard of IdM) to the blogosphere… Don has been involved in identity issues for many years, and was one of the first people to deploy a metadirectory when he was at Caterpillar and I had just finished the very first version of ZOOMIT VIA. We had a great time working together.
Identity Battle as Koan
There is a gripping identity Battle of the Titans going on between Stefan Brandt (from Credentica and McGill) and SuperPat (Pat Patterson of Sun Microsystems) on their respective blogs. It is really a good and fascinating discussion.
There are too many pieces going back and forth for me to get this completely right, but as far as I can tell Stefan started the canon ball rolling with a piece he wrote just after the release of the preliminary report by the London School of Economics on the British ID Card initiative (my piece on the initiative is here). SuperPat added a comment asking why Stefan thought Liberty was related, and Stefan obliged with a piece where he went further, describing Liberty as being, in some of its underlying protocol design, potentially “panoptical” (a reference to Jeremy Bentham's prison observation system).
SuperPat responded that while the underlying SAML protocols could be misued, the very specialization of the identity provider role will lead to providers whose business is dependent on being trusted and protecting private infomation. He argues that use of a well-chosen trusted third party identity provider has benefits which compensate for any ensuing loss of privacy.
That leads to another piece by Stefan which drills down even further into how it is possible to avoid some of these problems by introducing new protocols and cryptographic technologies. So there is a subterranean “policy versus technology enforcement” theme here.
(Trying to write about this debate left me feeling like someone who has taken an engine apart and ended up with screws left over after putting it back together. Somehow, Stefan also posted this – and Peter Davis added a comment here.)
It's my view that anyone who follows this debate will find it fascinating. This is “the real thing”. I think Liberty marks a big step forward towards deployable intercorporate identity systems. I think Stefan offers important ideas that we must be able to plug into the emerging identity metasystem. I think his reactions warn us to be careful of overstating the privacy and other benefits of the systems we do put in place. I think Pat Patterson deserves an award for his serenity in face of the word “genuine”. And I think we can work all of these issues out as we go forward.
Phil WIndley on identity context and transfer of trust
I met with Phil Windley in person recently. We had a great exchange of ideas, and I was fascinated by his nuanced comments about identity and context.
I have the feeling I won't shock too many people by saying I am not the world's biggest fan of using the word “trust” to describe the means by which we evaluate the truthfulness of digital identity claims. And I have to hand it to Phil for humoring me during our conversation… But this caveat aside, I think Phil is onto something important when he talks about the one-time use of third-party claims to “transfer trust” – for example, the use a government identity to introduce oneself to a bank, even though it would not make sense to use that identity for daily transactions. This is an insightful contribution to the third law.
Phil has a special facility for concrete examples enriched by his long experience, including that as CIO of Utah. Phil blogged about some of these ideas today.
Identity credentials have contexts. When I was talking to Kim Cameron, he used the example of a Government issued passport and coffee club card. The context for the passport is a border crossing. The context for the coffee club card is buying coffee. Identity credentials are often used out of context. Sometimes, out of context use doesn’t make sense—think of presenting the coffee club card during a border crossing.
Other times, however, it’s a critical part of establishing a relationship or transferring trust. As an example, you might use a credit card to pay for your purchase at the coffee shop and be asked to present some kind of identity credential. In that case, using your passport at the coffee shop would be out of context, but you’d be doing so to transfer the trust that the government has that you are a particular person to the coffee shop cashier.
One identity credential that’s frequently used out of context is the driver’s license. Interestingly, if you ask the head of your State’s driver’s license bureau if the driver’s license is an identity document, you’ll probably be told no—its official purpose is to authorize you to drive.
A recent move by the Utah Legislature to issue “driving privilege cards” (DPC) instead of driver’s licenses to illegal aliens belies that. You might be scratching your head and asking why anyone would issue a driver’s license to someone in the country illegally. The answer is very practical. Illegal aliens drive. When they drive, they sometimes get into accidents. Without a driver’s license, they can’t get auto insurance. By not giving illegal aliens a driving permit of some kind, you create a huge pool of uninsured motorists.
Issuing a DPC sends the message, loud and clear, that the driver’s license is an identity document that is frequently used out of its original context. Of course, as a private citizen, you’re free to recognize the driving privilege card as an identity document if you like. I suspect, for example, that it will be readily accepted as proof of age by convenience stores that want to sell beer and cigarettes. That kind of out of context use will continue.
The legislation specifically rules out certain contexts. For example, the DPC cannot be used to identify yourself when you fly. Nor can it be used to claim certain government benefits. Getting a driver’s license opens the door to all kinds of opportunities in our country. The intent is that the DPC will not.
There’s a dark side to the DPC as well. I can be pretty sure that anyone presenting a DPC is illegal. This opens the door to all kinds of discrimination and abuse. Whether the DPC catches on remains to be seen. The Federal Real ID legislation will probably force other States down this or similar paths.
Phil has a book on Identity Management in the works which I'm sure readers of this blog will consider a thriller! He also just did a podcast for IT Conversations with Dan Solove, author of the Digital Person. If you missed my discussion of Solove's ideas, I join Phil in strongly recommending this book.
Getting clearer all the time…
It was good to hear from Robin Wilton, who by the way has a new role in Sun's CTO group:
Kim Cameron has just posted here on Stephen Deadman‘s recent paper concerning the legal implications of establishing a Liberty Circle of Trust.
Having just returned from the Liberty Sponsors‘ meeting, I think I can safely say that coffee-break conversation did sometimes turn to the topic of Kim‘s blog, and even if there were some specifics on which people might disagree, there was also a general appreciation of the way in which Kim‘s work brings important topics into the public domain in a constructive way, allowing different views to be aired.
That's very cool. Robin and the folks he describes have done a lot of really good work and I look forward to every opportunity to dialog with them.
There were just two sentences in Kim‘s post on which I wanted to offer my own personal comment, and here they are:
1 “The legal complexities of this style of federation are significant, and they must all be considered.”
I agree with the sentiment entirely… but not necessarily with the hint of an implication that there are other styles of federation which might be legally less complex.
Federation is one of the possible approaches to fixing the problem of trusted, interoperable authentication between multiple parties. My instinct is that relationships of that kind will give rise to pretty much the same legal complexity no matter which organisational and technical approach one adopts. It‘s just a tough (but not insoluble) problem.
Well, I want to assure Robin that this was not intended as a “complexity swipe” at Liberty or anyone else. I totally agree with the formulation that the policy problems are “tough but not insoluble.” Further, the Liberty participants should be congratulated for their leadership in thinking about the policy side of things and centering their thinking in concrete scenarios and use cases. These ideas are real contributions.
I contrasted possible “styles of federation” without giving you the slightest context for what I was thinking – sorry about that! Blame it on the rain.
Basically, I think there exists a second set of what Jamie Lewis is calling “personal” identity scenarios, and that such scenarios can be less complex from a policy point of view – when done right – than intercorporate scenarios. But that doesn't mean they replace intercorporate scenarios or represent some kind of “silver bullet” or higher path! Both sets of scenarios need to be solved. They are complementary.
2 “Now, perhaps I am just a man with a hammer who sees everything in the world as a nail, but the paper reinforced my thinking that the more our systems are built to guarantee that the user is the conscious agent of information release (rather than having this done on his behalf), the better privacy is served, and the simpler our lives become from a legal and policy point of view.”
Again, I agree with the basic statement but not the implication. In my view, the user can be “the conscious agent of information release” while still having that act performed on her behalf. For instance, when I write a cheque [check] I consciously act to make a payment, but I then rely on the clearing system to perform that payment on my behalf. In the online environment, I issue instructions to my bank to transfer funds to someone else; that‘s a process I trust a lot more than keeping my salary under the mattress!
So this is a trust model which already works in both the real and the online worlds; I think it can be applied to online attribute exchange as well – not necessarily as the whole and only solution, but certainly as a valid architectural option.
Totally agree, Robin. The option you propose is totally valid for the context you describe. When I was talking about a hammer, it was the hammer of user control and consent. There are many ways to achieve this and implement it in technology. I see you as a colleague who is as committed to this end as I am.
New Liberty Alliance Paper
The Liberty Alliance has published a paper called “Circles of Trust: The Implications of EU Data Protection and Privacy Law for Establishing a Legal Framework for Identity Federation” which is available for download here.
The paper was edited by Stephen Deadman and compiled by a very knowledgable panel of contributors including Luc Mathan, Christine Varney, Jeff Hodges, Paul Madsen, Joe Alhadeff, Piper Cole, and Stephanie Manning. It goes well beyond the Privacy and Security Best Practices paper released in 2003.
The paper situates the problems of privacy and data protection that arise when customer data is shared within the context of various European legal and normative initiatives (the thinking will be equally instructive to North Americans). At times I had the feeling the report raised almost as many questions as it answers – and that this was likely intentional. The legal complexities of this style of federation are significant, and they must all be considered.
The paper is a clarifying step forward for all of us who are working on federation solutions and deployments, whether they are based on Liberty profiles or other comparable technologies.
Now, perhaps I am just a man with a hammer who sees everything in the world as a nail, but the paper reinforced my thinking that the more our systems are built to guarantee that the user is the conscious agent of information release (rather than having this done on his behalf), the better privacy is served, and the simpler our lives become from a legal and policy point of view.
New primer from Stefan
Stefan Brands has pubished a Primer on User Identification which can be downloaded here. It is a good introduction to Stefan's thinking and research – very stimulating work.
I know there are people who hear about a metasystem proposal and think, “Can't we just stick with TOKEN-X and have done with it?” And I understand that as a human reaction. But I urge people to look at systems like Stefan's- and the other innovative systems coming from other “identity innovator” colleagues. These systems are being built today. Each of them has characteristics that are ideally suited to various contexts. Let's make sure, as we build an identity infrastructure encompassing a few billion computers, that it will support these innovative ideas.
Brittan School wins Most Invasive Proposal Award
Privacy International just posted the list of winners of the U.S. Big Brother Awards.
Of course there were many potential candidates, but the prize for Most Invasive Proposal or Project went to an initiative I have previously called out as a blockbuster. I'm talking about the “Brittan Elementary School RFID tagging of students” project, which broke a whopping four laws of identity in one go (user control and consent, minimal information, fewest parties, and directional identity). The sfgate.com story is here and my commentary on the project's demise is here. There was apparently stiff competiton.
The Privacy International press release reads:
The judges selected Brittan Elementary School for the award. Citing the principal of the school who enjoyed the idea of spying on all students’ whereabouts “because it would streamline the taking of attendance, giving teachers a few minutes more each day to teach and boost accuracy, no small matter given that California school funding is based on how many children attend class each day.” Parents of students reacted negatively and organized campaigns against the scheme. The Big Brother Award will be delivered personally to the principal by concerned parents.
Privacy International also issued a special Lifetime Menace Award to Choicepoint.
Eyetap Update
I recently wrote about the Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy that just took place in Seattle.
I met a number of key thinkers there, people who have worked hard for a long time to understand what privacy really is and how to protect it as technology evolves and we settle cyberspace. I came away hoping they will work with us – and blog with us – to ensure our thinking about the identity metasystem contributes as much to the protection of privacy as it does to any other aspect of security. Privacy and security are not possible without each other.
Eric Norlin recently wrote that he'd “never actually found a privacy paper interesting enough to read past page 2.” I've heard that complaint before, so I want to turn him on to Steve Mann. Eric, Steve will not bore you. I think it was clever the way conference organizers used Steve's ideas to frame a number of discussions.
One such idea is called “sousveillance” – a response to what he calls “The surveillance super highway”. Steve has taken those little black domes that hide surveillance cameras intended to observe individuals, and used them to make personal surveillance systems that work in the opposite direction (through which the individual can record his treatment by organizations – see the photo at right for an example…) He ups the “anti” by calling them “maybecameras” – maybe they are real, maybe they are on, maybe they are recording, maybe they are broadcasting (he has developed sophisticated mechanisms for broadcasting video images in real time, and assembling them at a base station into wrap-around visual representations which can even be manipulated to edit out unpleasant sights like billboards). Of course, the maybecameras are really a “situationist” intervention, through which everyone starts thinking about many privacy issues.
So get this. The conference organizers actually turned every conference bag into a maybecamera replete with its individual dome… It was really bizarre and effective, causually mixing with hundreds of other dome-carriers at a conference with a title of “Panopticon”… And guess what? It's the first time I have come home from a conference with something both my (university age) children wanted!
The good news (in terms of future conversation) is that the folks from eyetap.org sent me this update:
Slides from the conference keynote, opening plenary panel (Steve Mann, David Brin, Latanya Sweeney, and others) are in wearcam.org/cfp2005/
Pictures are here, including pictures of the dome sewing party where many well known volunteers such as John Gilmore, Jon Pincus, Deborah Pierce, etc., helped to make 500 maybecameras, one for each conference attendee. Some of the maybecameras had wireless transmitters to send live video offsite, but attendees did not know whether or not they were watching.
For more background information on the maybecamera sousveillance project, see some of the papers published in Leonardo on this topic.
Jack's One Law
Jack Krupansky has pointed out that if we want to speak to a wider audience, we need a really crisp problem statement. Speaking of the latest identity meltdown at University of California, he says:
Do you think that Senator Feinstein, et al are in possession of a rock-solid “problem statement”? I think not. And these are the policy decision-makers who can make or break identity “reform” efforts. Call this Jack's One Law For Everything: Without a rock-solid problem statement, there can be no joy.
Agreed. I like it, Jack.
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Home / ... / hidden europe 14 / border zone: around Lake Prespa
Border zone: around Lake Prespa
by Christopher Deliso
At the point in the southwest Balkans where Macedonia, Albania and Greece converge lies Lake Prespa. It is an extraordinary place - brackish waters, fill of bulbous weeds that pull at your feet. In the middle of the lake is Golem Grad, an island with stark white cliffs - and thousands of snakes.
Lake Prespa, a shallow lake shared by three countries in the southwestern corner of the Balkans, remains a mystery to many who visit the region. Lake Ohrid hogs the limelight, and it attracts many visitors. Few venture south to Lake Prespa and the Greek border region. However, with new tourism initiatives and growing cross border cooperation between Macedonia, Albania and Greece, Prespa's hour has come. Travellers who take the time to explore Lake Prespa will find a region of sublime natural beauty, a wealth of wildlife and a very rich and complex history - the remains of which are all around in traditional stone houses, Byzantine churches, castle ruins and more. Chris Deliso, who lives and works in Macedonia, has been to the shores of Lake Prespa.
Kiril Jonovski phoned a month or two back to say we had been in his dream. The octogenarian historian and lifelong Prespa resident had entertained us one evening last summer in his garden in Pretor, a Macedonian lakeshore village that claims, as the name suggests, a Roman lineage. Kiril's two books about the lake document its history, its flora and fauna, its people and their notable achievements and customs. Many of the pictures we saw were in black-and-white, while most of Kiril's stories were in full colour.
The tale we really liked involved a mongoose. In 1967, while presiding over a preservation society dedicated to the lake's bizarre island of Golem Grad (literally, ‘big city' in Macedonian), Kiril had decided to bring over two of these agile predators from the Croatian island of Mljet. There, in the Adriatic sunshine, the imported Indian mongoose had proved its mettle in policing and devouring Mljet's unusually rampant snake population.
Forty years ago, when Kiril's mongooses arrived at Lake Prespa, the Yugoslav portion of the lakeshore was a popular holiday spot. Each season brought school trips, and tens of thousands of Prespa regulars, mainly workers in the collectives. And lots of ordinary Macedonian holidaymakers too. Kiril's old photos, depicting water skiers, bathers and visiting Soviet biology students prowling the thickets in short skirts, all captured a past now totally lost. Along the road running above the beach, ragged pasted handbills advertised the concerts of yesteryear; forlorn amidst bramble lay the dilapidated communist- era bungalows and residence blocks where the party stalwarts, sentenced to a few weeks of leisure, enjoyed Prespa sunshine.
The snakes of Golem Grad were a nuisance, though most were not poisonous. For a time, the mongoose solution appeared to be working. However, "they didn't survive the cold of winter," lamented Kiril "and the snakes have had the run of the place ever since."
About Christopher Deliso
Chris Deliso (www.chrisdeliso.com) is an American travel writer and journalist concentrating on southeast Europe, where he has been living and traveling since 2002. He's also the director of an independent website (www.balkanalysis.com) which covers current events, politics and more concerning the Balkan region. Chris has contributed to around 20 Lonely Planet travel guides to countries like Greece, Turkey, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Romania. He has covered political life in Macedonia for London's Economist Intelligence Unit since 2004, and has also published widely on travel in newspapers, magazines and websites in the US, UK and many other countries. Chris earned an MPhil with honours in Byzantine Studies from Oxford University (1999) — an experience that fuelled his curiosity in the lands of the former Byzantine Empire.
source: https://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk/border-zone-around-lake-prespa
Life on the Lake: The Isola dei Pescatori
Late afternoon, the day trippers are leaving Isola dei Pescatori. Come sunset, the island in Lake Maggiore becomes a quieter, gentler place as the hum of motorised vessels on the lake is hushed for the day. Join us on a trip to the Borromean ...
Double act: the Danish island of Ærø
The Danish island of Ærø is no more than a fleck in the Baltic. Yet this beautiful island is a good place to understand Danish history. If you are ever in any doubt as to how much the sea has inflected the Danish experience, make time for Marstal, ...
New links across Schengen borders
The benefits of having open borders across most of Europe are beginning to influence the pattern of weekend excursions made by Europeans living or taking holidays in frontier areas. The burden of having to show a passport at a border was never an ...
frozen in time: a border town in Belarus
the soul of Estonia: Saaremaa
thinking about festivals
Marne-la-Vallée: pure fantasy
beckoning rocks: the Elie chain walk
what's in a name: the island of Jan Mayen
what makes a country?
without let or hindrance: passports of yesteryear
mapping routes: some unusual waymarks
travel for the millions: Thomas Cook
peace parks
Estonian links
a European map
Trans-Caucasus rail link
Albania Balkans borders Greece Macedonia rivers and lakes
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Auction News: F1 Ferrari Up For Auction in Paris!
The immense Retromobile exhibition takes place in Pais early next year, with the HistoricRacingNews.com team there in force, and already the Artcurial Motorcars auction has some tempting lots confirmed.
Highlight of their 209 sale was a 1939 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Berlinetta which sold for nearly 17 M€ / 19 M$. and once again they will present an array of machinery exceptional in rarity, originality and provenance, and we have picked out a few early race-related gems. The 2020 sale will take place on Friday 7th February at the Parc des Exposition, Parc de Versailles in Paris.
Retromobile Auction - A Tale of Two Halves
Ferrari 126 C3
Standing out in the 2020 Retromovile sale will be the F1 1983 Ferrari 126 C3 single seater (pictured above) from the prestigious Manoir de l’Automobile collection in Lohéac. It was entered by the Scuderia Ferrari in the 1983 World Championship and driven by Patrick Tambay and René Arnoux. Arnot raced this car to victory in both the German and the Dutch Grand Prix that year. Ferrari dominated the 1983 season with the 126 C2B and 126 C3, winning the Constructors Championship.
Another iconic pre-war model on offer will be the 1936 Delahaye 135S, chassis n°46625. One of France’s premier marques in the 1930s, Delahaye was committed to racing successfully at the highest level and this car is one of just 16 competition 135S examples built by the marque. In 1937 it took part in the Le Mans 24 Hours. With such racing provenance, this rare car is highly eligible for historic events such as the Grand Prix Historique de Monaco, Goodwood Revival and the Mille Miglia.
Ferrari 275GTB
The 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB #6785, delivered new to full race spec with 6 carburettors, has an impressive racing provenance. The car took part in over 40 international races between 1965 and 1968, including rally, track and hillclimb events. It featured on the cover of the Ferrari Yearbook in 1966, having won the GT class in the Monza 1000km that year. The car also competed in the European hillclimb championship with rounds at Mont Ventoux, Ollon-Villars and Cesana Sestriere, and the Rallye Solitude Lyon Charbonnière. This competition 275 GTB has been preserved in Swedish ownership for the last two decades and is offered with fully documented history.
DB Le Monstre 1
Also boasting Le Mans history is the 1959 DB HBR4, known as “Le Monstre”. Chassis 1110 was bought new by Jacques Rey who won the Index of Performance in the 1959 Tour de France Automobile in this car. His team-mate, André Guilhardin, then modified and lowered the body by 11cm which increased the top speed of this extraordinary looking machine to an astonishing 190 km/h. With its new body, the car participated in the 1961 Le Mans 24 Hours, finishing 20th overall and 2nd in the Index of Energy Efficiency. Recently restored and well known in DB circles, this unique French race car would be welcome at all the most prestigious events today.
Video: Bringing Michel Vaillant To Life
Ford Mustang GT Coupé Hardtop
Johnny Hallyday never made a secret of his love for fine automobiles and owned a superb collection of machines. He acquired this Ford Mustang GT Coupé Hardtop (pictured below) in 1967, racing it the same year for the Écurie Ford France with Henri Chemin, Director of Communications for Ford France. In June 1967 he drove it to 2nd place in the Coupe ACIF at Monthléry, and in August of the same year, he also took part in the famous Mont Dore hillclimb.
Delahaye Auction Ferrari Retromobile Formula One Mustang
The Lotus 72 and Group C Jaguars to Feature in Goodwood Demonstrations
Video: The Gooding & Company Amelia Island Auction
Auction News: Low Mileage MG Metro 6R4 to be Sold at Autosport International
SIlverstone Auctions Competition Car Sale - We Pick Our Favourites!
Ex-Le Mans Triumph Sets Record Price for Model at Auction
Silverstone Auctions' Race Retro Sale Featured Wide Range of Cars
Bonhams' Festival of Speed Auction Sets Record with Red 5
Star Car Auction to Raise Money for Charity at The Amelia
Video: Classic Ford Lotus Cortina at the Silverstone Auctions Sale
Gallery: Amazingly Low Mileage Metro 6R4 Up for Auction!
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Title List: Each Letter as a Separate List
Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet & EA-18G Growler Aircraft
Abbreviations Used for Navy Enlisted Ratings
"The Ablest Men"
Abolishing the Spirit Rations in the Navy
Account of the Battle of Iwo Jima
Account of the Operations of the American Navy in France During the War With Germany
Act providing a Naval Armament
Action Report, Battle of Okinawa at RP Station #1, 12 April 1945
Action Report USS LCS(L) (3) 57, Battle of Okinawa at RP Station #1, Apriil 12, 1945
Active Military Sonar and Marine Mammals
Advanced Intelligence Centers in the US Navy
Admiral Caperton in Haiti
Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80
Afghanistan: A Short Account by P.F. Walker
Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians
Afghanistan - Silver Star Presented Francis L. Toner IV
Africa Command
African Squadron
Agreement Between the United States and the Republic of Haiti
Al Qaeda: Statements and Evolving Ideology
Alcohol in the Navy
The Aleutians Campaign
Allied Ships present in Tokyo Bay
American Naval Mission in the Adriatic, 1918-1921
American Naval Participation in the Great War (With Special Reference to the European Theater of Operations)
American Naval Planning Section London
American Ship Casualties of the World War
American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics
Amphibious Landings in Lingayen Gulf
Amphibious Operations: Capture of Iwo Jima
Amphibious Operations - The Planning Phase
Analysis of the Advantage of Speed and Changes of Course in Avoiding Attack by Submarine
Anchor of Resolve
Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Navy
Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1821
Anomaly of the Enlisted Officer
Answering a Call in a Crisis
Antiaircraft Action Summary
Antiaircraft Action Summary COMINCH P-009
Antisubmarine Information, ONI No. 14, 1918
Antisubmarine Tactics, ONI No. 42, 1918
Antisubmarine Warfare, ONI No. 9, 1917
Anti-Suicide Action Summary
Are the Southern Privateersmen Pirates?
Arleigh Burke: The Last CNO
Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and US Response - 2016
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medals
Army-Navy E Award
Articles for the Government of the United States Navy, 1930
Assault Landings on Leyte Island
The Assault on Kwajalein and Majuro (Part One)
Atlantis: The Legendary Island
Attack on Halifax and Adjacent Territory
Aviation Personnel Fatalities in World War II
Battenberg Cup Award
Battle Experience - Radar Pickets
Battle Instructions for the German Navy
Battle for Iwo Jima
Battle of Derna, 27 April 1805: Selected Naval Documents
Battle of Iwo Jima: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Awarded the Medal of Honor
Battle of Iwo Jima: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Awarded the Medal of Honor Justice M. Chambers, Lieutenant Colonel, USMCR
Battle of Jutland War Game
Battle of Lake Erie: Building the Fleet in the Wilderness
Battle of Manila Bay, 1 May 1898
Battle of Midway: Aerology and Naval Warfare
Battle of Midway: Army Air Forces
Battle of Midway: 3-6 June 1942 Combat Narrative
Battle of Midway: 4-7 June 1942
Battle of Midway, 4-7 June 1942: Combat Intelligence
Battle of Midway: 4-7 June 1942 SRH-230
Battle of Midway - Interrogation of Japanese Officials
Battle of Midway: Japanese Plans Chapter 5 of The Campaigns of the Pacific War
Battle of Midway: Preliminaries
Battle of Midway: U.S. Marine Corps
Battle of Mobile Bay
Battle of Mobile Bay: Selected Documents
Battle of Savo Island August 9th, 1942 Strategic and Tactical Analysis
Battle of the Atlantic Volume 3 German Naval Communication Intelligence
Battle of the Atlantic Volume 4 Technical Intelligence From Allied Communications Intelligence
Battle of the Coral Sea
Battle of the Coral Sea- Combat Narrative
Battle of the Nile
Battle of Tripoli Harbor, 3 August 1804: Selected Naval Documents
Battlecruisers in the United States and the United Kingdom, 1902-1922.
Battles of Savo Island and Eastern Solomons
Bayly's Navy
Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil
Bells on Ships
Bismarck, Sinking of
Boat Pool 15-1 Manila, P.I. Thanksgiving '22 Nov. 45
Blockade-running Between Europe and the Far East by Submarines, 1942-44
Bombing As a Policy Tool in Vietnam
Boxer Rebellion and the US Navy, 1900-1901
Selected Documents of the Boxer Rebellion
Bibliography on the Boxer Rebellion
Battle Streamer: China Relief Expedition 1900-1901
Navy Medal of Honor: Boxer Rebellion 1900
Brief History of Civilian Personnel in the US Navy Department
A Brief History of Naval Cryptanalysis
Brief History of Punishment by Flogging in the US Navy
Brief History of the Seagoing Marines
Brief Summary of the Perry Expedition to Japan, 1853
Bronze Guns (cannons) Glossary
Budget of the US Navy: 1794 to 2014
Building the Navy's Bases in World War II
Building the Navy's Bases, vol. I (part I)
Building the Navy's Bases, vol. I (part II)
Building the Navy's Bases, vol. 2 (part III)
Building the Navy's Bases, vol. 2 (part III, chapter 26)
Bull Ensign
Bunker Busters: Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator Issues
By Sea, Air, and Land
Chapter 1: The Early Years, 1950-1959
Chapter 2: The Era of Growing Conflict, 1959-1965
Chapter 3: The Years of Combat, 1965-1968
Chapter 4: Winding Down the War, 1968 - 1973
Chapter 5: The Final Curtain, 1973 - 1975
Medal of Honor Recipients of the U.S. Navy in Vietnam
Secretaries of the Navy and Key United States Naval Officers, 1950 - 1975
Aircraft Tailcodes
Enemy Aircraft Shot Down by Naval Aviators in Southeast Asia
Cannons of the Washington Navy Yard
No. 1 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer with cutout
No. 1 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer - Plaque
No. 2 French 4-pounder Smoothbore
No. 3 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer
No. 4 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer - Sight Cutaway
No. 5 Japanese Gun - Bore 6.875 inches
No. 6 4-pounder
No. 6 Austrian 4-pounder
No. 7 U.S. Army 24-pounder Howitzer
No. 8 Spanish 12-pounder
No. 9 Spanish 6-pounder
No. 9 Spanish 6-pounder - Arms
No. 10 Spanish 27 -pounder
No. 10 Spanish 27-pounder - Plaque
No.11 French 12-pounder
No. 11 French 12-pounder - Le Belliqueux
No. 11 French 12-pounder - Plaque
No. 11 French 12-pounder - Royal Arms
No. 12 French 12-pounder
No. 12 French 12-pounder - Le Vigoureux
No. 13 Spanish 27-pounder
No.14 Spanish 12-pounder
No. 19 Spanish 9-pounder
No. 19 Spanish 9-pounder - Plaque
No. 20 Spanish 9-pounder - Cambernon
No. 21 British Howitzer
No. 23 4.63-inch Howitzer
No. 23 4.63-inch Howitzer - 249
No. 24 6.5-inch Spanish Howitzer
No. 25 Venetian 5.75-inch Howitzer
No. 25 Venetian 5.75-inch Howitzers
Flagpole and Mortars
Flagpole and Mortars - Base
Flagpole and Mortars - Mortar
The Navy Museum
View Along Dahlgren Avenue
Captain Raphael Semmes and the C.S.S. Alabama
Captain Samuel Nicholson: A Monograph [pdf]
Capture of CSS Florida by USS Wachusett - Report of Commander Napoleon Collins
Capture of CSS Florida by USS Wachusett - Report of Lieutenant Morris
Capture of the Frigate USS Philadelphia
Caribbean Tempest: The Dominican Republic Intervention of 1965
Carrier Deployments During the Vietnam Conflict
Carrier Locations - Pearl Harbor Attack
Carrier Strikes on the China Coast
Case of the Somers' Mutiny 1843
Casualties: US Navy & Marine Corps Personnel
Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action
Change of Command and Retirement Ceremony of the Commandant Naval District, Washington, DC
Change of Command Ceremony
Charles Morris A Man of Letters and Numbers
Chart Your Future As A Woman Officer
Chester Nimitz and the Development of Fueling at Sea
Christmas 1932 U.S. Naval Air Station San Diego California
CIC [Combat Information Center] Manual (RADSIX)
CIC [Combat Information Center] Operation in an AGC
CIC [Combat Information Center] Yesterday and Today
CIC Operations On a Night Carrier
CINCPAC Glossary of Commonly Used Abbreviations and Short Titles
CinCPac Report - Pearl Harbor
Airplane Damage Report - Pearl Harbor
Ship Damage Report - Pearl Harbor
List of Narrative Reports - Commanding Officers
Circular September 13, 1839
Circular 17 July, 1869
Colored Persons in the Navy of the U.S. (1842)
Combined Operation Craft: Small Scale Drawings
COMINT [Communications Intelligence] Contributions [to] Submarine Warfare in WW II
Command and Control of Air Operations in the Vietnam War
Commander Task Force Seventeen Operation Plan 1-45
Commander's Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations
Comparison of Military and Civilian Equivalent Grades
Compilation of Enlisted Ratings and Apprentiships US Navy 1775-1969
Composition of Japanese Forces
Composition of US Forces
Computer Attack and Cyberterrorism
Condition of the Navy and Its Expenses 1821
Conduct of War at Sea
Conflict and Cooperation: The U.S. and Soviet Navies in the Cold War
Constitution Fighting Top
The Constitution Gun Deck
Constitution Sailors in the Battle of Lake Erie [pdf]
Continental Congress and the Navy
The Continental Navy: "I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight."
Copy of talk given by Captain B.E. Manseau, USN, before the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Naval Architets and Marine Engineers
Cordon of Steel
The Corps' Salty Seadogs Have All But Come Ashore: Seagoing Traditions Founder as New Millennium Approaches
Costs of Major US Wars
Cruise Missile Inventories and NATO Attacks on Yugoslavia: Background Information
Cruise of the Great White Fleet
Cruising Fleets
Cruising in the Old Navy
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
Abeyance and Negotiation
Stand Down and Conclusion
Current Doctrine Submarines
Cursor scales for the VG [Plan Position Indicator (radar)
Customs and Traditions, Navy
D-Day, the Normandy Invasion: Combat Demolition Units
Dartmoor Prison
Decatur House and Its Distinguished Occupants
Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Military Force
The Defense and Burning of Washington in 1814: Naval Documents of the War of 1812
Demolition Units of the Atlantic Theatre of Operations
Department of Defense Acronyms
Destroyers at Normandy
Destroyers for Bases Agreement, 1941
Destroyers transferred to Britain under Destroyers for Bases agreement
Destruction of CSS Albemarle - Report of A. F. WARLEY
Destruction of CSS Albemarle - Report of Lieutenant William Barker Cushing
The Development of Japanese Sea Power: "Know Your Enemy"! [CinCPOA Bulletin 93-45, 1945]
The Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard 1813-1869
The Education of Michael Shiner
The Context of the Michael Shiner Diary
Digest Catalogue of Laws and Joint Resolutions: The Navy and the World War
Disaster at Savo Island, 1942
Disaster in the Pacific
Discipline in the U.S. Navy
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Opportunity in the Armed Services
Diving in the U.S. Navy: A Brief History
Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Carl Maxie Brashear, USN (Ret.)
Documents, Official and Unofficial, Relating to the Capture and Destruction of the Frigate Philadelphia at Tripoli - 1850
Documents Related to the Resignation of the German Commander in Chief, Navy, Grand Admiral Raeder and to the Decommissioning of the German High Seas Fleet
DoD Rules for Military Commissions - 2006
Dominican Republic Intervention
Navy Unit Commendation
The DRVN Strategic Intelligence Service
Early Raids in the Pacific Ocean
Elementary Map and Aerial Photograph Reading
Emancipation Proclamation, Navy general Order No. 4, 1863
Employment of Naval Forces
Enlisted Uniforms
Enlistment, Training, and Organization of Crews for Our New Ships
Essay on Naval Battles of the Korean War
Establishment of the Department of the Navy
Establishment of the Navy
Exercise Tiger
Exorcizing the Devil's Triangle
Expeditions, Diplomatic and Scientific Activity, and Operations Against Native Americans and Pirates
Exploring the Antarctic 1840 - The Wilkes Expedition
Eye-Witness Account of the Battle Between the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia Mar 9 1862
Far Eastern Sighting Guide [ONI-F-31 FE]
Fifty Years of Naval District Development 1903-1953
Filipinos in the United States Navy
Final Contact: USS Indianapolis (CA-35) passes USS LST-779 29 July 1945
Fixing Wages and Salaries of Navy Civilian Employees
Flag Sizes
Fleet Air Wing Four Strikes
Fleet Post Office, New York, New York
Fleet Post Office, San Francisco, California
"Forward ... From the Start": The U.S. Navy & Homeland Defense: 1775-2003
French Indo-China PSIS 400-35
Frocking
From Dam Neck to Okinawa: A Memoir of Antiaircraft Training in World War II
From the Sea to the Stars
The First Raid on Japan
Fourth of July Dinner the Spirit of '45
GAF (German Air Force, Luftwaffe] and the Invasion of Normandy
Gearing Up for Victory American Military and Industrial Mobilization in World War II
Gedunk
General Information for Employees - Washington Navy Yard - 1941
General Instructions for Commanding Officers of Naval Armed Guards on Merchant Ships - 1944
General Instructions for Sloops and Torpedo Craft
General Mess Manual and Cook Book
General Order (21 January 1834) Presents
General Order (28 November 1838) Animals
General Order (18 February 1846) Port and Starboard
General Order (17 December 1850) Furnishing Vessels
General Order (27 September 1851) Contracts of Enlistment Ending
General Order (17 May 1858) Naval Academy Graduates Denied Letter
General Order (22 April 1862) Officers Forbidden to Give Publicity to Any Hydrographical Knowledge
General Order (12 December 1862) Rules for Naval Communication
General Order (23 December 1862) Rules Corresponding with SecNav and Bureaus
General Order No. 1 (1863) Rules to Disseminate General Orders
General Order No. 4 (1863) Emancipation Proclamation
General Order No. 9 (1863) Observance of Paroles
General Order No. 51 (1865) Announcing Death President Abraham Lincoln
General Order No. 73 (1866) Resolution of Thanks from Congress to Admiral Farragut for Mobile Bay Action
General Order No. 81 (1866) Requirements of Guardians for Boy to Enlist
General Order No. 83 (1867) Proclamation Issued by President Johnson
General Order No. 90 (1869) Uniform Changes
General Order No. 99 (1869) Authority Given to Fleet Officers
General Order No. 105 (1869) North & South Pacific Squadrons Combined into Pacific Station
General Order No. 110 (1869) Forbidding Applications for Duty Through Persons of Influence
General Order No. 112 (1869) Sea Service of Officers to be Three Years
General Order No. 123 (1869) Uniform Change for Masters, Ensigns & Midshipmen
General Order No. 127 (1869) List of Types of Officers to Mess in Second Ward Room
General Order No. 128 (1869) Exercises for Ships with Sails
General Order No. 131 (1869) Economizing the Use of Coal
General Order No. 175 (1872) Division of the Pacific Station into Two Stations
General Order No. 226 (1877) Importance of Complete Reports and Logs
General Order No. 230 (1877) Special Shore Service and Duty
General Order No. 232 (1877) Working Hours at Navy Yards and Stations
General Order No. 248 (1880) Correct and General Understanding of Signals
General Order No. 250 (1880) Establishment of the Office of Judge Advocate General of the Navy
General Order No. 252 (1880) Painting Schematic for Boats
General Order No. 292 (1882) Establishment of the Office of Intelligence
General Order No. 370 (1889) Copies of Books to the Navy Department Library
General Order No. 372 (1889) Order for Official Communications
General Order No. 544 (1900) Establishment of the General Board
General Order No. 55 (1901) Decorations for Philippine Islands and Boxer Rebellion
General Order No. 56 (1901) Puget Sound, Naval Station to Navy Yard
General Order No. 128 (1903) Establishment of Naval Districts
General Order No. 129 (1903) Surplus Provisions
General Order No. 74 (1908) Establishing Ship Post Offices
General Order No. 135 (1911) Definitions of Well-known Naval Terms
General Order No. 30 (1913) Movement of the Rudder
General Order No. 99 (1914) Prohibition in the Navy
General Order No. 132 (1915) Khaki Dye for White Undress Uniform
General Order No. 258 (1917) SecNav Announces Death of Admiral Dewey
General Order No. 259 (1917) Executive Order and Message on Death of Admiral Dewey
General Order No. 294 (1917) Identification Tags ("Dog Tags")
General Order No. 456 (1919) Observance of the Sabbath Day
General Order No. 541 (1920) Standard Nomemclature for Naval Vessels
General Order No. 244 [1934] Alcoholic Liquors
General Order No. 47 (1935) Precedence of Forces in Parades
General Orders 1921-1935
General Orders for the Regulation of the Navy Yard Washington, D.C. - 1833-1850
General Orders USS Independence 1815
German Commanders Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl on the Invasion of Normandy in 1944
German Defense of Berlin
German Espionage and Sabotage
George John Dasch and the Nazi Saboteurs
Eastern Sea Frontier War Diary
German B.d.U. War Diary
German Report on the Allied Invasion of Normandy
German Submarine Activities on the Atlantic Coast
German Submarine Attacks
German Submarines in Question and Answer
Glossary of U.S. Naval Code Words (NAVEXOS P-474)
Going South: U.S. Navy Officer Resignations & Dismissals On the Eve of the Civil War
Grand Strategy Contending Contemporary Analyst Views & Implications for the US Navy
Greely Relief Expedition
Grenada: Operation Urgent Fury
List of U.S. Navy Ships Participating
Guadalcanal Campaign
Guide to Command of Negro Naval Personnel NAVPERS-15092
Guidelines: Naval Social Customs
Guide to US Military Casualty Statistics
Haitian Campaign of 1915
Haiti - US Navy Medal of Honor - 1915
Halsey-Doolittle Raid
Handbook of First Aid Treatment for Survivors of Disasters at Sea
Head - Ship's Toilet
High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse and High Power Microwave Devices: Threat Assessments
Historical Approach to Warrant Officer Classifications
The Historical Importance to Navigation of Nathaniel Bowditch's New American Practical Navigator
History and Descriptive Guide of the US Navy Yard Washington, DC
History of Convoy and Routing [1945]
History of Flag Career of Rear Admiral W.B. Caperton
History of Paul Jones, the Pirate
History of the Bureau of Engineering During WWI
History of the Chief Petty Officer
History of the Dudley Knox Center for Naval History
History of the Navy Department Library
History of the Seabees
Seabees in Southeast Asia
After Vietnam
Desert Shield and Desert Storm
History of the US Navy
The Navy
Continental Period
Oceanic Period
Transoceanic Period
Personnel Strength 1794-1990
History of United States Naval Operations: Korea
Foreword - History of US Naval Operations: Korea
Preface - History of US Naval Operations: Korea
List of Maps - History of US Naval Operations: Korea
List of Tables - History of US Naval Operations: Korea
Chapter 1: To Korea By Sea
Chapter 2: Policy and Its Instruments
Chapter 3: War Begins
Chapter 4: Help on the Way
Chapter 5: Into the Perimeter
Chapter 6: Holding the Line
Chapter 7: Back to the Parallel
Chapter 8: On to the Border
Chapter 9: Retreat to the South
Chapter 10: The Second Six Months
Chapter 11: Problems of a Policeman
Chapter 12: Two More Years
A Note on Source Materials
Glossary of Naval Abbreviations
History of US Navy Uniforms 1776 - 1981
Homeland Security: Navy Operations - Background and Issues for Congress
Honda (Pedernales) Point, California, Disaster, 8 September 1923
List of Naval Personnel Who Died in the Honda Point Disaster
How the Navy Talks
How to Fold Your Navy Uniform
How to Mark Your Navy Uniform
How to serve your country in the WAVES
The Hungnam and Chinnampo Evacuations
Hurricanes and the War of 1812
I Was a Yeoman (F)
Identification Tags - Dog Tags
Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq: Effects and Countermeasures
In Honor of Master Chief Britt K Slabinski: United States Navy, Retired: MEDAL OF HONOR - HALL OF HEROES INDUCTION CEREMONY- THE PENTAGON AUDITORIUM- 25 MAY 2018
In Memory of CTIC(IW/EXW) Shannon M. Kent
Incredible Alaska Overland Rescue
Indians in the War 1945
1918 Influenza by Vice Admiral Albert Gleaves, Commander of Convoy Operations in the Atlantic, 1917-1919.
Admiral William B. Caperton of the 1918 Influenza on Armored Cruiser No. 4, USS Pittsburgh
A Forgotten Enemy: PHS's [Public Health Service] Fight Against the 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Great Flu Crisis at Mare Island Navy Yard.
Influenza at the United States Naval Hospital, Washington, D.C.
The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 by Carla R. Morrisey, RN, BSN
Influenza of 1918 (Spanish Flu) and the US Navy
Influenza on a Naval Transport
Influenza-Related Medical Terms
The Pandemic of Influenza in 1918-1919
Philadelphia, Nurses, and the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918
A Winding Sheet and a Wooden Box
Information in Relation to the Naval Protection Afforded to The Commerce of the United States in the West India Islands, &c. &c.
Information Operations, Electronic Warfare, and Cyberwar
Injury and Destruction of Navy Vessels by Earthquakes, Dec. 1868
Inquiry Into Occupation and Administration of Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Instances of Use of US Armed Forces Abroad, 1798 - 2004
Instructional Material for the Fight Against Enemy Propaganda
Instructions for the examination and entry into United States Ports in time of war
Instructions on Reception, Care and Training of Homing Pigeons
Inter-Allied Naval Relations and the Birth of NATO
Interrogation of General Alfred Jodl
Interrogations of Japanese Officials - Vol. I & II
Invasion of Sicily
The Invasion of Southern France: Aerology and Amphibious Warfare
Iran, Gulf Security, and U.S. Policy
Iran Hostage - Rescue Mission Report
Iran's Foreign and Defense Policies
Iran's Nuclear Program: Recent Developments
Irregular Enemies and the Essence of Strategy
Irregular Warfare Special Study
Islam: A Primer - Congressional Research Service Report for Congress
Islamic State and US Policy
Islamic Terrorism and the Balkans
Japan's Struggle to End the War - 1946
Japanese Interrogation Of Prisoners Of War
Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses - WWII
Japanese Naval Ground Forces
Japanese Naval Shipbuilding
Japanese Operational Aircraft CinCPOA 105-45
Japanese Operational Aircraft CinCPOA 105-45 Revised
Japanese Radio Communications and Radio Intelligence CinCPOA 5-45
Japanese - Smithsonian War Background Study
Japanese Story of the Battle of Midway
Action of AA Units
Enemy Action and Damage Suffered By Us
Part II - Plans
Part III - 7 Movement and Action Charts
Part V - Results
SUPPLEMENTARY TABLE NO. 3
Java Sea Campaign
Journal of the Disasters in Afghanistan, 1841-2
Kite Balloons in Escorts
Kosovo Naval Lessons Learned During Operation Allied Force
Korean War Chronology
June-December 1950
January-June 1951
July-December 1951
January-April 1952
May-August 1952
September-December 1952
January - April 1953
May-July 1953
Korean War Interim Evaluation No 1
Lost of Flight 19 Official Accident Reports
Landing Operations Doctrine, USN, FTP-167
Law of Naval Warfare: NWIP 10-2, 1955
Law of Naval Warfare: Chapters 1 - 6
Appendix A: Convention For the Adaption to Maritime War of the Principles of the Geneva Convention - X Hague, 1907
Appendix B: Convention Concerning the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Maritime War - XIII Hague, 1907
Appendix C: Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick
Appendix D: Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick, and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of August 12, 1949
Appendix E: Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949
Appendix F: Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of August 12, 1949
Appendix G-I
Lend Lease Act, 11 March 1941
Letter from President Harry S. Truman to Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal regarding the Five-Star Rank
Lengthy Deployment: The Jeannette Expedition In Arctic Waters
Library Regulations - USS Pittsburgh
Limited Duty Officer
List of Authorized Abbreviations for Use in Bureau of Naval Personnel Messages (1958)
List of Expeditions 1901-1929
List of Patrol Squadron Deployments to Korea During the War
Living Conditions in the 19th Century US Navy
Log of the trip of the president to the Casablanca Conference 9-31 January, 1943
The Logistics of Advance Bases
Look at YOU in the United States NAVY
Lookout Manual 1943
Loss of Flight 19 Official Accident Reports
Lost Patrol
LSU Squadron Two Thanksgiving Dinner November 22 1951
Magic Background of Pearl Harbor
Magic Background of Pearl Harbor Vol. 2
Magic Background of Pearl Harbor Vol. 2 Appendix
Main Navy Building: Its Construction and Original Occupants
Manual for Buglers, US Navy
Manual of Commands and Orders, 1945
Manual of Information Concerning Employments for the Panama Canal Service
Marine Amphibious Landing in Korea, 1871
Market Time (U) CRC 280
Master File Drawings of German Naval Vessels
Matthew Fontaine Maury: Benefactor of Mankind
Menu Thanksgiving Day November 27, 1913
Merchant Ship Shapes
Mers-el-Kebir Port Instructions for Merchant Vessels [1942]
Mess Night Manual
Midway in Retrospect: The Still Under Appreciated Victory
Midway’s Operational Lesson: The Need For More Carriers
Midway: Sheer Luck or Better Doctrine?
Midway's Strategic Lessons
Midway Plan of the Day Notes
Military Base Closures: Role and Costs of Environmental Cleanup
Military Sealift Command
Military Service Records and Unit Histories
Mine Sweeping Manual 1917
Mine Warfare in South Vietnam
Miracle Harbor
Miracle Harbor 1
Miracle Harbor 10
Miscellaneous Actions in the South Pacific
Missile Defense: The Current Debate
More Bang for the Buck: U.S. Nuclear Strategy and Missile Development 1945-1965
My days aboard U.S.S. Santa Fe
Naming of Streets, Facilities and Areas On Naval Installations
Narrative of Captain W.S. Cunningham, US Navy Relative to events on Wake Island in December 1941, and subsequent related events
Narrative of Joshua Davis an American Citizen 1811
Narrative of the Capture, Sufferings and Escape of Capt. Barnabas Lincoln
Narrative of the March and Operations of the Army of the Indus
Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea
Navajo Code Talker Dictionary
Navajo Code Talkers: World War II Fact Sheet
Naval Anecdotes Relating to HMS Leopard Versus USS Chesapeake, 24 June 1807.
Naval Armed Guard Service in World War II
Russian Convoys
German Surface Raiders
Naval Armed Guard at Bari, Italy
Japanese Atrocities
Normandy Invasion
Research about the Naval Armed Guard
Action at Okinawa
Battle of the Philippines
The Naval Bombing Experiments
An Account of the Bombing
Minutes of the Pre-Bombing Conferences
Naval District Manual 1927
Naval Districts
Naval Gun Factory (Washington Navy Yard) Facilities Data: World War II
Naval Guns at Normandy
Naval Memorial Service, Casting Flowers on the Sea in Honor of the Naval Dead
The Naval Quarantine of Cuba
Quarantine 22 - 26 Oct
Naval Transformation: Background and Issues for Congress
Naval Yarns by Captain Bartlett [manuscript]
The Navy by Michael A. Palmer
Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program
Navy Aegis Cruiser and Destroyer Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
Navy and Defense Reform: A Short History and Reference Chronology
Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual [Rev. 1953]
Pt. 1 - Personal Decorations
Pt. 2 - Unit Awards
Pt. 3 - Special and Commemorative Medals
Pt. 4 - Campaign and Service Medals
Pt. 5 - Decorations Awarded By Foreign Governments
Pt. 6 - Other Federal Decorations (non-military)
Memo - Changes
Ships & Other Units Eligible for the Korean Service Medal
Navy at a Tipping Point - 2010
Navy Civil War Chronology
Navy Columbia Class Ballistic Missile Submarine
Navy CVN-21 Aircraft Carrier Program
Navy DD(X) and CG(X) Programs
The Navy Department A brief history until 1945
Navy Department Communiques 1-300 and Pertinent Press Releases
Navy Department Communiques 301 to 600
Navy Filing Manual 1941
Navy Force Structure A Bigger Fleet
Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans - 2016
The Navy in the Cold War Era, 1945-1991
Navy Interdiction Korea Vol. II
Navy Irregular Warfare and Counterterrorism Operations 2011
Navy John Lewis (TAO-205) Class Oiler Shipbuilding Program
Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Hypervelocity Projectiles
Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)/Frigate Program
Navy LX(R) Amphibious Ship Program
Navy Network-Centric Warfare
Navy Nurse Corps General Uniform Instructions 1917
The Navy of the Republic of Vietnam
Navy Records and [Navy Department] Library (E Branch)
Navy Regulations, 1814
Navy Ship Names - Sept 2016
Navy Ship Names - Jan 2016
Navy Ship Procurement: Alternative Funding Approaches
Navy Ship Propulsion Technologies - 2006
Navy Shipboard Lasers for Surface, Air, and Missile Defense
Navy Trident Submarine Conversion (SSGN) Program: Background and Issues for Congress
Navy Virginia (SSN-774) Class Attack
Navy-Yard, Washington, History by Hibben
The Navy's World War II-era Fleet Admirals
Forward Presence in the Modern Navy: From the Cold War to a Future Tailored Force
Historiography of Programming and Acquisition Management since 1950 - Hone
Historiography of Technology Since 1950
Naval Personnel since 1945: Areas for Historical Research
Navy, Science, and Professional History
The Social History of the U.S. Navy, 1945–Present
U.S. Navy’s Role in National Strategy
Writing U.S. Naval Operational History 1980–2010
Negro in the Navy - 1947
Negro in the Navy by Miller
Neutrality Instructions US Navy 1940
New Equation: Chinese Intervention into the Korean War
A New Look at the Cuban Missile Crisis
Nixon's Trident: Naval Power in Southeast Asia, 1968-1972 by John D. Sherwood
Nomenclature of Decks
Nomenclature of Naval Vessels
Non-Discrimination in V-12 Program
North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program
North Korea's Second Nuclear Test [2009]
North Korean Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States
Northern Barrage and Other Mining Activities
Northern Barrage: Taking Up Mines
Northern Formosa, Pescadores
Notes on Anti-submarine Defenses ONI Publication No. 8
Notes on Writing Naval (not Navy) English
Nuclear Arms Control: The U.S.-Russian Agenda
Nuclear Weapons: Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Occupation of Kiska
Occupation of the Gilbert Islands
The Offensive Navy Since World War II: How Big and Why, A Brief Summary
Office of Naval Records and Library 1882-1946
Officers and Key Personnel Attached to the Office of Naval Records and Library 1882-1946
Officers of the Continental Navy and Marine Corps
Officers of Navy Yards, Shore Stations, and Vessels, 1 January 1865
Officers of the Continental and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps 1775-1900
Marine Corps Officers: 1798-1900
Continental Navy Officers: 1775-1785
Continental Marine Corps Officers: 1775-1785
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (A)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (B)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (C)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (D)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (E)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (F)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (G)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (H)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (I)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (J)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (K)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (L)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (M)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (N)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (O)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (P)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (Q)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (R)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (S)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (T)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (U)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (V)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (W)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (Y)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (Z)
"Official" USS Missouri Survival Guide
Operation Crossroads
Composition of Joint Task Force One
Target Ships Sunk During Test Able 1 July 1946
Target Ships Sunk During Test Baker 25 July 1946
Disposition of Target Vessels
Operation NEPTUNE - The Invasion of Normandy
Table of Contents - Operation NEPTUNE
Editor's Note - Operation Neptune
Chapter 1: THE STRATEGIC BACKGROUND OF OVERLORD
Chapter 2: PLANNING AND PREPARATION FOR CROSS-CHANNEL (OVERLORD) OPERATIONS
Chapter 4: NEPTUNE OPERATIONS PLANS
Chapter 5: Naval Preparations for Cross-Channel Operations
Chapter 6: The Operation Begins
Chapter 7: Defensive Measures - NEPTUNE Operation
Chapter 8: Bombardment and Other Defensive Operations Against Enemy Land Forces
Chapter 9: The NEPTUNE Assaults
Chapter 10: The Build-up for the Battle of France
Operation NEPTUNE - Index
Operation NEPTUNE Administrative History's Table of Contents
Operation Neptune
Sunk and Damaged Ships and Craft
Operations of the Navy and Marine Corps in the Philippine Archipelago
Operations of the Seventh Amphibious Force
Operations of USS Don Juan de Austria
OPNAV [Office of the Chief of Naval Operations] Acronyms
Origin of Navy Terminology
Our Vanishing History and Traditions - Knox
Operation of the Admiral Scheer
Our Navy at War
Pacific Typhoon, 18 December 1944
Admiral Nimitz's Pacific Fleet Confidential Letter on Lessons of Damage in Typhoon
List of Commands and Ships Involved
Personnel Casualties Suffered by Third Fleet, 17-18 December 1944, Compiled from Official Sources
Aircraft Losses Suffered by Third Fleet, 17-18 December 1944, Compiled From Official Sources
Extracts Relating to the Typhoon from Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet Report
Pacific Typhoon, June 1945 - Reports
Extracts from Commander Carrier Division Six Report
Extract from Report of Task Group Thirty-eight point one
Extract from Third Fleet Report
Pacific Typhoon October 1945 - Okinawa
Peacekeeping and Related Stability Operations: Issues of U.S. Military Involvement
The Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 - Overview
Pearl Harbor Navy Medical Activities
"Pearl Harbor Revisited: USN Communications Intelligence"
Notes on Sources
Pearl Harbor Salvage Report 1944
Pearl Harbor Submarine Base 1918-1945
Pearl Harbor: Survivor Reports
USS Arizona - Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
USS California- Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
USS Maryland - Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
USS Oklahoma - Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
USS Tennessee - Report by Survivor of Pearl Harbor Attack
USS West Virginia - Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
Pearl Harbor: Why, How, Fleet Salvage and Final Appraisal
Pentagon 9/11
Personal Identification Tags or "Dog Tags"
BUREAU OF NAVIGATION CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 57-41
BUREAU OF NAVIGATION CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 152-41
Perspectives on Enhanced Interrogation Techniques
Philadelphia Experiment
Philadelphia Experiment: ONR Information Sheet
Phonetic Alphabet and Signal Flags
Piracy Off the Horn of Africa
The Pivot Upon Which Everything Turned
Plea in Favor of Maintaining Flogging in the Navy
Pocket Guide to Hawaii
Pocket Guide to Japan
Pocket Guide to Netherlands East Indies
Pocket Guide to New Guinea and the Solomons
Port Chicago, CA, Explosion
Posse Comitatus Act and Related Matters: A Sketch
Post Mortem CIC [Combat Information Center] Notes
Post Mortems on Enemy Ships
Potato Famine of 1847
Precisely Appropriate for the Purpose
Preserving an Honored Past
Priceless Advantage by FD Parker
Propaganda Foreign Military Studies 1952
Public Law 333, 79th Congress
Q-ships during World War II
Radio Intelligence Appreciations Concerning German U-Boat Activity in the Far East
Radio Proximty (VT) Fuzes
Ready Seapower: A History of the US Seventh Fleet by Edward J. Marolda [pdf]
Recollections of Capture by the Germans, Imprisonment, and Escape of Lieutenant Edouard Victor Isaacs, U.S.N.
Recollections of Ensign Leonard W. Tate
Recollections of Lieutenant Commander William Leide
Recollections of Lieutenant Wilton Wenker and Lieutenant Elby Concerning the Crossing of the Rhine River in 1945
Recollections of USS Pampanito's rescue of prison ship survivors by Lieutenant Commander Landon Davis
Recollections of Vice Admiral Alan G. Kirk Concerning the Crossing of the Rhine River in 1945
Reestablishment of the Marine Corps
Registers of the Navy
Register of the Navy, 1812
Register of Patients at Naval Hospital Washington DC 1814
Register of USN & USMC Officer Personnel 1801-1807 [pdf]
Regulation, December 7, 1841
Regulations for the Information of Officers On Neutrality Duty in Connection With the Visits of Belligerent Vessels of War [1916]
Regulations For Powder Magazines and Shell Houses 1874
Regulations Governing the Uniform of Commissioned Officers 1897
Reincarnation of John Paul Jones The Navy Discovers Its Professional Roots
Religions of Vietnam
Remarks on Protection of a Convoy by Extended Patrols
Remarks on Submarine Tactics Against Convoys
Reminiscences of Seattle Washington Territory and the U. S. Sloop-of-War Decatur
Report by the Special Subcommittee on Disciplinary Problems in the US Navy
Reports of Arica, Peru Earthquake from USS Powhatan and USS Wateree
Republic of Korea Navy
Resolution of the Continental Congress, 11 December 1775
Resolution of the Continental Congress, 25 November 1775
Resolution of the Continental Congress establishing the Marine Corps - 10 November 1775
Hyman G. Rickover's Promotion to Admiral [H.A.S.C. 93-16]
Ringle Report on Japanese Internment
Riverine Warfare Manual [1971]
Riverine Warfare: The US Navy's Operations on Inland Waters
Rocks and Shoals: Articles for the Government of the U.S. Navy
The Recruitment of African Americans in the US Navy 1839
The Role of COMINT in the Battle of Midway
The Role of the United States Navy in the Formation and Development of the Federal German Navy, 1945-1970
Rommel and the Atlantic Wall
Royal Works USS Lexington [Crossing the Line 1936]
Rules for the Regulation of the Navy - 1775
The Russian Navy Visits the United States
Sailors as Infantry in the US Navy
Sailors as Infantry Appendices
The Sailors Creed
Samoan Hurricane
A Sampling of U.S. Naval Humanitarian Operations
Seabee History
Seabee History - Introduction
Seabee History - World War II
Seabee History - 1946-1960
Seabee History - Vietnam
Seabee History - After Vietnam
Seabee History - Desert Shield/Desert Storm
Secretary of the Navy's Report for 1900 on the China Relief Expedition
Selected Documents of the Spanish American War
Battle of Manila Bay
Battle of Manila Bay: Miscellaneous Documents
Olympia in Battle of Manila Bay
Raleigh in Battle of Manila Bay
Concord in Battle of Manila Bay
Baltimore in Battle of Manila Bay
Petrel in Battle of Manila Bay
Boston in Battle of Manila Bay
McCulloch in Battle of Manila Bay
U.S. Consul at Manila
Official Spanish Report on Battle of Manila Bay
Selected Groups in the Republic of Vietnam
Selected Groups/Republic Vietnam - The Binh Xuyen
Selected Groups/Republic Vietnam - The Cao Dai
Selected Groups/Republic Vietnam - The Cham
Selected Groups/Republic Vietnam - The Chinese
Selected Groups/Republic Vietnam - The Khmer
Seventh Amphibious Force - Command History 1945
Shelling of the Alaskan Native American Village of Angoon, October 1882
Ship to Shore Movement
Ship Shapes Anatomy and types of Naval Vessels
Shipboard Ettiquette [Naval R. O. T. C. Pamphlet No. 16]
Shiploading - A Picture Dictionary
Ships named for Individual Sailors
Ships named for Individual Sailors - Citations
Ships Present at Pearl Harbor
Ships Sunk and Damaged in Action during the Korean Conflict
A Short Account of the Several General Duties of Officers, of Ships of War: From an Admiral, Down to the Most Inferior Officer
Short Guide to Iraq
The Sicilian Campaign, Operation 'Husky'
Signals for the Use of the Navy of the Confederate States
Sinking of C.S.S. Alabama by U.S.S. Kearsarge - 19 Jun 1864
Sinking of the Bismarck
Bismarck: The Cruise of the Bismarck
British/American Cooperation
The Scouting and Search for Bismarck
Selected Sources on the German Battleship Bismarck
The Sinking of the German Battleship Bismarck as Described in the B.d.U. [Commander U-boats] War Log, 24-31 May 1941
Sinking of the USS Guitarro
The Sinking of the USS Housatonic by the Submarine CSS H.L. Hunley
Sinking of USS Indianapolis - Press Releases & Related Sources
Memorandum to Press on Scheduled Testimony
Narrative of the Circumstances
Navy Department Press Release
Skill in the Surf: A Landing Boat Manual
Chapter I. Landing Boats Are Important!
Chapter II. Landing Craft From Troy to Tokio
Chapter III. Know Your Boat!
Chapter IV. Know Your Job!
Chapter V. Keep It Running!
Chapter VI. The Coxswain Takes Over
Chapter VII. Learning the Ropes
Chapter VIII. The Salvage Boat
Chapter IX. Where Sea Meets Land
Chapter X. Hit That Beach!
Chapter XI. Information, Please!
Appendix E
Appendix G
Appendix H
Appendix J
Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish
Slapton Sands: The Cover-up That Never Was
Small Wars Their Principles and Practice
Smith, Melancton Rear Admiral USN A Memoir
Smoker Sat., July 27, 1918 U.S.S. Arizona
So You are Going to the South Pacific?
Soldier's Guide Bosnia-Herzegovina
Solomon Islands Campaign: I The Landing in the Solomons
Solomon Islands Campaign: II Savo Island & III Eastern Solomons
Solomon Islands Campaign: IV Battle of Cape Esperance
Solomon Islands Campaign: X Operations in the New Georgia Area 21 June-5 August 1943
Some Experiences Reported by the Crew of the USS Pueblo and American Prisoners of War from Vietnam
Some Memorandums Construction of Ships Frederick Tudor
Somers, essay on legal aspects of Somers Affair
Sources on US Naval History by State
Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 1
Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 10
Spanish-American War; War Plans and Impact on U.S. Navy
Special Order 1865 April 17 Assemblage of Officers to Attend
Special Order 1865 April 17 Navy Department Closure
Special Order 1865 April 17 Officers to Attend Funeral
Special Order 1865 April 20 List of Officers to Accompany Remains
Special Order No. 73 - 1905 April 18 Travel Pay
Specifications for Ship and Motor Boat Bells
Composition and Acoustic Properties
Bell Clapper
Sports in the Navy: 1775 to 1963
Stalin's Cold War Military Machine: A New Evaluation
Statement Regarding Winds Message
The Story Of The Confederate States' Ship Virginia
Strait Comparison: Lessons Learned from the 1915 Dardanelles Campaign
Strategic Concepts of the U.S. Navy (NWP 1 A)
Striking the Flag
Structural Repairs in Forward Areas During WWII
Study of the General Board of the U.S. Navy, 1929-1933
Submarine Activities Connected with Guerrilla Organizations
Submarine Sighting Guide ONI 31-2A
ONI 31-2A PDF
Submarine Sighting Guide ONI 31SS-Rev. 1
Submarine Silhouette Book No. 1
Submarine Turtle Naval Documents
Surprised at Tet: U.S. Naval Forces in Vietnam, 1968
Survey of the Amazon- Selfridge
Survival of the Collection of the Navy Department Library
Syria's Chemical Weapons: Issues for Congress
Tactical Lessons of Midway
Target Information From CIC [Combat Information Center]
Terminology and Nomenclature
Bravo Zulu
Terrorism in Southeast Asia
Terrorism: Some Legal Restrictions on Military Assistance
Terrorist Attack on USS Cole: Background and Issues for Congress
Tet: The Turning Point in Vietnam
This is Ann - Malaria
Time of Change: National Strategy in the Early Postwar Era
Titanic Disaster: Report of Navy Hydrographic Office
Tokyo a Study in Jap Flak Defense
Tokyo Bay: The Formal Surrender of the Empire of Japan
Tonkin Gulf Crisis
Tonkin Gulf Crisis, August 1964 - Summary
Formerly Classified Documents from 2 August - 4 August 1964
Formerly Classified Documents Subsequent to 4 August 1964
Publicly Released Information
Gulf of Tonkin the 1964 Incidents
Gulf of Tonkin the 1964 Incidents [Part II]
Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Code Words
Tonkin Gulf Crisis Select Bibliography
Torpedo War - Rodgers - Fulton
Training Ships
The Trial of Admiral Doenitz
Tsunami (Tidal Wave) Disasters
20th Century Warriors: Native American Participation in the United States Military
Typhoons and Hurricanes: The Effects of Cyclonic Winds on US Naval Operations
Typhoons and Hurricanes: The Storm at Apia, Samoa, 15-16 March 1889
U-94 Sunk By USN PBY Plane and HMCS Oakville 8-27-42
U-162 Sunk By HM Ships Pathfinder, Vimy, and Quentin 9-3-42
U-210 Sunk By HMCS Assiniboine 7-6-42
U-352 Sunk By U.S.C.G. Icarus 5-9-42
U-505 Sinking
U-571, World War II German Submarine
U-595 Scuttled and Sunk Off Cape Khamis, Algeria 11-14-42
U-701 Sunk By US Army Attack Bomber No. 9-29-322, Unit 296 B.S. 7-7-42
U-Boat War in the Caribbean: Opportunities Lost
Ultra and the Campaign Against U-boats in World War II
Underwater earthquake disasters and the U.S. Navy
Uniform Regulations, 1797
General Regulations: Full Dress, Undress, Service Dress
Coats, Overcoats, Jackets
Cuff and Sleeve Ornaments
Pantaloons, Vests
Part 1: Rear Admiral to Ensign
Part 2: Engineer Corps
Part 3: Professors, Secretaries
Part 4: Medical Corps
Part 5: Chaplains, Paymasters
Part 6: Naval Constructors
Part 7: Regulations for Wearing Shoulder Straps
Cap and Cap Ornaments
Straw Hats, Sword and Scabbard, Sword-Belt, Sword-Knot, Buttons, Cravat
Dress for Petty Officers and Crew
Uniform Regulations, Women's Reserve, USNR, 1943
Uniforms of the US Navy
Uniform-Buttons
Chief Petty Officers' Uniforms U.S. Navy
Cold-Weather/Foul-Weather Wear
Gas Masks and Breathing Apparatus U.S. Navy Uniform
Uniform and Dress of the Navy of the Confederate States
Insignias U.S. Navy Uniform
Maintenance/Care of Uniforms
Pants/Bell-Bottoms
Personal Appearance
Seabags
Navy Seabags
Shirts/Jumpers
Naval Uniforms, misc.
Petty Officer Rating Badge Locations and Eagle Designs
Uniform Changes
Historical Surveys of the Evolution of US Navy Uniforms
History of US Navy Uniforms, 1776-1981
Identification Tags ("Dog Tags")
United States Atlantic Fleet Organization 1942
United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945
United States Naval Hospital Ships
United States Naval Railway Batteries in France
United States Navy and the Persian Gulf
United States Navy and World War I: 1914–1922
United States Navy's World of Work
United States Submarine Losses World War II
Notes to US Submarine Losses in World War II
Albacore (SS 218)
Amberjack (SS 219)
Argonaut (SS 166)
Barbel (SS 316)
Bonefish (SS 223)
Bullhead (SS 332)
Capelin (SS 289)
Cisco (SS 290)
Corvina (SS 226)
Darter (SS 227)
Dorado (SS 248)
Escolar (SS 294)
Flier (SS 250)
Golet (SS 361)
Grampus (SS 207)
Grayback (SS 208)
Grayling (SS 209)
Grenadier (SS 210)
Growler (SS 215)
Grunion (SS 216)
Gudgeon (SS 211)
Harder (SS 257)
Herring (SS 233)
Kete (SS 369)
Lagarto (SS 371)
Perch (SS 176)
Pickerel (SS 177)
Pompano (SS 181)
R-12 (SS 89)
Robalo (SS 273)
Runner (SS 275)
S-26 (SS 131)
Scamp (SS 277)
Scorpion (SS 278)
Sculpin (SS 191)
Sealion (SS 195)
Seawolf (SS 197)
Shark I* (SS 174)
Shark 2* (SS 314)
Snook (SS 279)
Swordfish (SS 193)
Tang (SS 306)
Trigger (SS 237)
Triton (SS 201)
Trout (SS 202)
Tullibee (SS 284)
Wahoo (SS 238)
German U-Boat Casualties in World War Two
Italian Submarine Casualties in World War Two
Japanese Submarine Casualties in World War Two (I and RO Boats)
Unmanned Vehicles for U.S. Naval Forces: Background and Issues for Congress
US Democracy Promotion Policy in the Middle East
US-Greek Naval Relations Begin
US Marines at Pearl Harbor
US Mining and Mine Clearance in North Vietnam
US Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters, 1919-1924
US Naval Forces in Northern Russia 1918-1919
US Naval Plans for War with the United Kingdom in the 1890s
US Naval Port Officers in the Bordeaux Region, 1917-1919
US Navy Abbreviations of World War II
Navy Numbers
US Navy and Hawaii-A Historical Summary
Pearl Harbor: Its Origin and Administrative History Through World War II
Development of the Naval Establishment in Hawaii
The World War II Years
US Navy at War Second Official Report
US Navy at War Final Official Report
US Navy Capstone Strategies and Concepts (1970-1980)
US Navy Capstone Strategy, Policy, Vision and Concept Documents
US Navy Code Words of World War II
US Navy Congo River Expedition of 1885
US Navy Forward Deployment 1801-2001
US Navy in Desert Shield/Desert Storm
Overview: Desert Storm - The Role of the Navy
A Common Goal - Joint Ops
Bullets, Bandages and Beans - Logistic Ops
Thunder and Lightning - The war with Iraq
Appendix B: Participating Naval Units
Appendix A: Chronology - August 1990
Appendix A: Chronology - September 1990
Appendix A: Chronology - October 1990
Appendix A: Chronology - November 1990
Appendix A: Chronology - December 1990
Appendix A: Chronology - January 1991
Appendix A: Chronology - January 1991 cont.
Appendix A: Chronology - February 1991
Appendix A: Chronology - March 1991
Appendix A: Chronology - April 1991
Appendix C: Allied Participation and Contributions
Appendix D: Aircraft Sortie Count
Appendix E: Aircraft Readiness Rates
Appendix F: Aircraft and Personnel Losses
Appendix G: Naval Gunfire Support
Appendix H: Surface Warfare
Appendix I: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Appendix K: Sealift
Appendix L: Airlift
US Navy in the World (2001-2010)
US Navy instruction for the destruction of signal books, 1863
Truxtun Signal Book
1813 Signal Book
US Navy Interviewer's Classification Guide
US Navy Libraries
US Navy Libraries: Historic Documents
US Navy Motor Torpedo Boat Operational Losses
US Navy Nurse Corps General Uniform Instructions, 1917
US Navy in Operation Enduring Freedom, 2001-2002
US Navy Personnel in World War II: Service and Casualty Statistics
US Navy Personnel Strength, 1775 to Present
US Navy Sailors Operating Ashore as Artillerymen Roth
US Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm/Weather Related Incidents
US Navy Special Operations in the Korean War
US Navy Submarines Losses, Selected Accidents, and Selected Incidents of Damage Resulting from Enemy Action, Chronological
US Occupation Assistance: Iraq, Germany and Japan Compared
US Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934
US Periods of War and Dates of Recent Conflicts
US Prisoners of War and Civilian American Citizens Captured
US Radar: Operational Characteristics of Radar Classified by Tactical Application
US Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress
Use of Naval Forces in the Post-War Era
U.S.S. Colorado BB-45 Diary
U.S.S. Searaven S.S. 196 4 July 1945
USS Constitution's Battle Record
Cutting Out Expedition, 1800
Bombardment of Tripoli, 1804
Escape from an Enemy Squadron, 1812
Engagement with HMS Guerriere
USS Constitution vs. HMS Java, 1812
USS Constitution, Capture of Cyane and Levant
Seizing a Slaver, 1853
USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) Memorial Ceremony
USS Kearsarge Rescues Soviet Soldiers, 1960
USS Monitor Versus CSS Virginia and the Battle for Hampton Roads
USS Pirate; Selected documents on the Salvage of USS Pirate and USS Pledge
USS Vega, Report of Pearl Harbor Attack
USS West Virgina, Report of Salvage, Pearl Harbor
The U.S. Navy Enlistment, Instruction, Pay and Advancement
V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft
Vessels Lost and Salvaged, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1916
Vessels of the Continental Navy
Vieques, Puerto Rico Naval Training Range: Background and Issues for Congress
Viet-Nam Free-World Challenge in Southeast Asia
Viet-Nam: The Struggle for Freedom
Viet-Nam: The Third Face of the War
Voyage of the Jamestown on Her Errand of Mercy
Vietnamese Naval Intelligence
Yangtze River Patrol and Other US Navy Asiatic Fleet Activities in China
Yemen: Civil War and Regional Intervention
List of Z-grams
Z-Gram 1
Z-Gram 10
Z-Gram 100
Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service Report for Congress
Christopher Bolkcom
Specialist in National Defense
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Updated June 8, 2006
The F/A-18E/F Program 2
System Description 2
Costs, Purchases and Schedule 5
Sales, Operations, and Basing 6
EA-18G "Growler" 7
Key Issues for Congress 8
Congressional Action 10
Figure 1. Comparison of F/A-18 Dimensions 3
Table 1. Comparison of F/A-187 C/D and E/F 4
Table 2. F/A-18E/F/G FY2007 Budget 10
The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is the Navy's highest priority aviation modernization program. It is replacing Navy F/A-18C/D Hornet combat aircraft.
The decision to undertake [the] F/A-18E/F Super Hornet program was made during a period of great turbulence in Navy aviation modernization. During this time frame the Navy struggled to identify and implement the best way to modernize its aging fleet of F-14 fighters and A-6E attack aircraft. The A-12 program (a stealthy replacement to the A-6E) was terminated in January 1991. The AFX program, another proposed replacement for the A-6E, began in 1991, but was also terminated.
The principal alternative to the F/A-18E/F was a modest upgrade of the F-14 -- a large, two-seat fighter designed in the 1960s, with potential air-to-surface attack capabilities. Some observers describe the F/A-18E/F as an upgraded and larger version of the F/A-18C/D, with increased range and payload capacity and more space and weight for future improvements. Others assert that the differences between the baseline Hornet aircraft and the E/F model are so great that they would describe the Super Hornet as an entirely new aircraft.
The Department of Defense is currently facing a shortage of radar and communications jamming capability. The Navy and Marine Corp's EA-6B Prowlers escort and protect Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force aircraft operating in hostile airspace. The Prowlers, however, are few and rapidly aging.1 All the Services are evaluating preferred approaches to ameliorating this shortfall. The Navy's approach is to produce a new electronic attack aircraft based on the F/A-18F, called the EA-18G.
The Defense Department's Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) of December 31, 2005, estimated the acquisition cost of a 462-aircraft program at $44 billion. The cost of procuring 90 EA-18G electronic attack variants is estimated at $9 billion. The Super Hornet has been approved for international export, but no sales have been made as of June 2006. Key issues surrounding the program relate to the total number of Super Hornets to be procured.
The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is the Navy's highest priority aviation modernization program, replacing rapidly aging F/A-18C/D Hornet combat aircraft.2 It has been employed in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and is currently in full rate production. Principal issues surrounding the program relate to the total number of Super Hornets to be procured.
The decision to undertake the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet program was made during a period of great turbulence in Navy aviation modernization, when the Navy was struggling to identify and implement the best way to modernize its aging fleet of F-14 fighters and A-6E attack aircraft. The A-12 program (a stealthy replacement to the A-6E) was terminated in January 1991. The AFX program, another proposed replacement for the A-6E, began in 1991, but was also terminated. Efforts to develop a carrier-based naval version of the Air Force's F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter were abandoned in 1991 and proposals for a carrier-capable version of the Air Force's F-117 were never endorsed by Navy leadership.
In the midst of these program starts and stops, the principal alternative to the F/A-18E/F (a major upgrade of the F/A-18, a smaller, one- or two-seat strike-fighter designed in the 1970s as a lower-cost supplement to the F-14) was a modest upgrade of the F-14: a large, two-seat fighter designed in the 1960s with potential air-to-surface attack capabilities.
Proponents of the F/A-18E/F argued that upgrading the F/A-18 to take over the F-14's air-to-air combat mission would cost less in procurement and operating expenses than upgrading the F-14 to take over the F/A-18's air-to-surface attack mission. Some also argued that the F-14's long-range air defense mission, known as the outer air battle, will be less important in the post-Cold War era, when naval aircraft are expected to be used at shorter ranges in littoral (off-shore) operations in Third-World scenarios. Competing upgrade options were proposed for both the F-14 and the F/A-18. In 1992, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees recommended development of both the F/A-18E/F and an attack-capable version of the F-14 (P.L. 102-484, Section 125).
The F/A-18E/F program began officially in May 1992 when the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) approved the commencement of engineering/manufacturing development (EMD). On July 21, 1992, the Navy awarded two contracts to get EMD under way: McDonnell Douglas received $97 million from a $3,964-million contract to develop the airframe and General Electric received $94 million from a $754-million contract to develop the F414-GE-400 engine. On September 18, 1995, the Navy received the first of seven EMD aircraft to be flight-tested in 1995-98. By September 1997, these test planes had logged some 1,500 flight hours, with carrier-based flights beginning in January 1997 aboard the USS John C. Stennis.
Although derived from an existing aircraft, the F/A-18E/F suffered noteworthy developmental challenges. In 1996, flight testing was suspended when problems with the Super Hornet's engines caused the aircraft to be grounded. The Super Hornet fleet was grounded a second time in 1998 when engine problems resurfaced.
In December 1997, the F/A-18E/F's persistent performance problems in highspeed maneuvers led the Navy to delay FY1998 funding for the program, pending solution of these problems. First experienced in March 1996, the aircraft's "wingdrop" problem may occur during turns at speeds of .6 to .9 Mach (speed of sound), when the wing loses lift and the plane rolls unexpectedly to the left or right, preventing the pilot from tracking a target. Since this anomaly was apparently related to the wing's leading edge, some feared the wing might have to be redesigned; others thought the problem could be resolved by modifications of the wing, such as adding a "porous wing fairing." After successful flight testing of this modification, Secretary of Defense Cohen approved FY1998 funding for procurement of another 20 aircraft on April 3, 1998.
The Defense Department's Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) of May 19, 1997, recommended reducing procurement of F/A-18E/Fs from 1,000 aircraft to 548, with the possibility of buying up to 785 if the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program were delayed or if the aircraft were too expensive compared to the F/A-18E/F. Defense Secretary William Cohen stated that he hoped this change in the program would set up "creative tension" between the contractors producing the JSF and the F/A-18E/F. The QDR also recommended reducing the maximum annual production rate to 48 aircraft. These recommendations were reflected in the FY1999 budget's procurement projections.
The F/A-18E/F Program
Some observers describe the F/A-18E/F as an upgraded and larger version of the F/A-18C/D, with increased range and payload capacity and more space and weight for future improvements. Other observers assert that the differences between the baseline Hornet aircraft and the E/F model are so great that they would describe the Super Hornet as an entirely new aircraft. The single-seat F/A-18E and twin-seat F/A-18F will replace the single-seat C and twin-seat D versions of the F/A-18, which have been in production since 1986. Compared to the F/A-18C/D, the F/A-18E/F has a longer fuselage (+4.3 ft) and a 25% larger wing, providing 33% more internal fuel capacity (14,500 vs. 10,381 lb.); two additional weapon stations (11 vs. 9); and survivability improvements (e.g., new electronic warfare equipment and reduced vulnerable areas). The F/A-18E/F is powered by two upgraded F414-GE-400 engines (developed originally for the A-12), producing 36% more thrust than the C/D's F404 engines. Using 480-gal tanks increases the E/F's external fuel capacity to 9,800 lb. (vs. the C/D's 6,700 lb. with 330-gal tanks). The use of low-observable materials and shaping makes the E/F less detectable by radar than the C/D.
Figure 1. Comparison of F/A-18 Dimensions.
In 1992, the F/A-18's operational requirements specified a combat radius of 410 nautical miles (nm, 1.15 statute miles) for fighter missions and 430 nm for attack missions. Such ranges were not achieved by the F/A-18C/D, whose range/payload capabilities have been reduced by weight growth due to equipment added in successive upgrades since 1982, when its combat radius was 366 nm in fighter missions and 415 nm in attack missions. In 1992 the Navy projected the F/A-18E/F's fighter combat radius to be about 420 nm, with an attack radius of about 490 nm -- exceeding requirements of 410 nm and 430 nm for these missions.3 In carrier landings, the F/A-18E/F is estimated to be able to bring back 9,000 lb of fuel/ordnance payload vs. the C/D's recovery payload of less than 6,000 lb.
These improvements in range, payload, and bring-back capability, are viewed by the Navy as the primary advantages of the E/F over the C/D. In 1996, the General Accounting Office seriously questioned the F/A-18E/F's performance advantages over the C/D variant, arguing that F/A-18C/Ds could provide similar capabilities at lower costs.4 The Navy did not agree with these GAO conclusions, which were cited during Senate debate on the F/A-18E/F program in July 1996.
Table 1. Comparison of F/A-18 C/D and E/F
Program Unit Acquisition Cost $43 milliona $95.3 millionb
Propulsion 2 F404-GE-402 turbofans 2 F414-GE-400 turbofans
Thrust 17,700 lbs 22,000 lbs
Speed Mach 1.7 Mach 1.8
External fuel capacity 6,700 lbs 9,800 lbs
Approx. Un-refueled Combat Radius Fighter: 366 nm
Attack: 415 nm Fighter: 420 nm
Attack: 490 nm
Weapon hard points 9 11
First Flight November 1978 December 1995
a. Selected Acquisition Reports, Dec. 31, 1994, Department of Defense (DOD) Comptroller. Reflects a purchase of 1,026 aircraft. Figure is adjusted for inflation and expressed in 2006 dollars.
b. Selected Acquisition Reports, December 31, 2005. DOD Comptroller, assumes 462 aircraft purchase, does not include $9 billion estimate to procure 90 EA-18G variants.
The F/A-18E/F's radar will also differentiate it from earlier models. Under current plans, 419 of the Super Hornets procured by the Navy will be equipped with active electronically steered array (AESA) radar. Conventional radars are limited, in part, by the speed with which their antennas can be mechanically moved. Recent improvements in electronics technology enable AESA radars to update a radar's computer several times a second.5 AESA radars are expected to offer up to 30 times the net radar capability of mechanically steered radars.6 The hope is that they are more reliable than mechanically steered radars and are able to perform several different functions almost simultaneously.
Many believe that in addition to seeking out and locking on to enemy targets, AESA radars will also offer powerful electronic warfare capabilities, specifically the ability to jam enemy radars that attempt to target the F/A-18E/F.7 It is currently unclear exactly how effective this jamming capability will be and if it will complement or compete with the electronic attack capabilities offered by the proposed EA-18G model. Other Super Hornet upgrades -- Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared (ATFLIR), Joint Helmet Mounted Cuing System (JHMCS), JDAM Hornet Autonomous Real-Time Targeting Capability, and, for the F model, the Advanced Crew Station -- are hoped to combine with AESA to give the Super Hornet superior all weather precision attack capabilities against time critical targets.8
Costs, Purchases and Schedule
The Defense Department's Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) of December 31, 2005, estimated the acquisition cost of a 462-aircraft program at $44 billion. The cost of procuring 90 EA-18G electronic attack variants is estimated at $9 billion. The currently planned F/A-18E/F program reflects the Department of the Navy's implementation of its Tactical Air Integration Plan (TAI), which includes an 88-plane reduction in the number of Super Hornets to be procured. The implications for the overall program, in terms of cost and other factors, is still being studied.9
On December 7, 1998, the Defense Department announced the Navy's award of a contract to start production of the 30 aircraft funded in FY1999. Up to seven production aircraft began operational testing and evaluation (OT&E) flights in late May of 1999 at China Lake, CA, which continued through November 1999. In March 2000, Navy test squadron VX-9 reported that the F/A-18EF had passed its six month OT&E. The squadron flew 1,233 hours in 850 "missions," performed more than 24 carrier operations, and participated in a "Red Flag" exercise. Based on this successful operational evaluation, on June 16, 2000, the Navy announced the signing of a multi-year contract with [the] Boeing Company for the F/A-18E/F full rate production. Under the five-year contract, the Navy agreed to pay $8.9 billion for 222 aircraft. The second F/A-18E/F multi-year procurement contract -- estimated at $8.9 billion over five years to procure 210 aircraft -- was awarded in December 2003.
The FY2007 defense budget projected the following annual buys: FY2007: 30; FY2008: 24; FY2009: 20; FY2010: 22; FY2011: 14. The first production aircraft were delivered in 1999 for operational testing and evaluation, with initial operating capability (IOC) achieved in 2001.
Sales, Operations, and Basing
In June 2001 the Department of Defense approved the Super Hornet for international export.10 Malaysia, which currently operates the two-seat F/A-18D, appears to be a potential importer. On September 4, 2002, the Department of Defense (DOD) notified Congress of the potential sale of 18 F/A-18Fs to Malaysia as part of a larger $1.48 billion arms deal, but as of 2006 no sale has taken place.11 The Indian government plans to import approximately 125 combat aircraft, and the F/A-18E/F has been discussed as a potential competitor for this contract.12 Other potential F/A-18E/F importers include Australia, Bulgaria, Finland, Japan, Kuwait, Spain, and Switzerland.
Generally speaking, arguments for foreign military sales tend to focus on advancing U.S. industry, supporting allied countries, and promoting interoperability with those countries. Arguments against arms sales tend to focus on the negative aspects of military technology proliferation and the potential for causing regional instability. The government approves arms sales on a case-by case basis.13 According to press reports, the Boeing Co., with assistance from the Navy, is aggressively marketing the Super Hornet for export.14 Despite these efforts, international orders for the F/A-18E/F have not yet emerged. Some believe that a lack of international business is hindering Boeing's efforts to reduce the aircraft's price.15
Strike Fighter Squadron 115 (VFA-115), based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, CA, was the first fleet operational F/A-18E/F squadron. VFA-115 Super Hornets deployed in the summer of 2002 aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). This 12-plane squadron flew approximately 90 missions over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.16 VFA-115 also deployed to the Persian Gulf region and participated in Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the "No-Fly Zones" over Iraq. In November 2002, F/A-18E/F aircraft used the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) to attack Iraqi surface-to-air missile systems and a command and control communications facility.17 F/A-18E/F squadrons from the aircraft carriers Abraham Lincoln and Nimitz participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On September 10, 2003, the Navy released its decision to base eight F/A-18E/F fleet squadrons and one fleet replacement squadron (120 aircraft) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana, (VA), two fleet squadrons (24 aircraft) at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point (NC) and to construct an outlying field (OLF) in Washington County, NC.18 The Washington County site for the OLF has proven controversial and the Navy is considering alternatives.19
EA-18G "Growler"
The Department of Defense is currently facing a shortage of radar and communications jamming capability. The Navy and Marine Corps' EA-6B Prowlers escort and protect Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force aircraft operating in hostile airspace. The Prowlers, however, are few and rapidly aging.20 All the Services are evaluating approaches to ameliorating this shortfall. The Navy's approach is to produce a new electronic attack aircraft based on the F/A-18F, called the EA-18G.
Basing the EA-6B's replacement on the F/A-18E/F airframe is attractive to the Navy because it is expected to engender less new training, operations and maintenance than a new type of aircraft. Operating an electronic attack aircraft that can fly at the same speed and to the same ranges as the strike aircraft it is supporting should also generate operational benefits. The Marine Corps does not operate, and currently does not plan to procure, the FA/18-E/F, so fielding the EA-18G is presumably less attractive to that Service. In January 2005 it was reported that the Marine Corps was embarking on a year-long study to determine the F-35's potential to replace the EA-6B.21
F/A-18F and EA-18G models are expected to be produced on the same production line starting in FY2008 and achieve initial operational capability (IOC) in September 2009. The EA-18G would share the F/A-18F's airframe and avionics and be built on the same assembly line. The EA-18G would replace the F-model's cannon with a nose-mounted jamming processor and carry up to five ALQ-99 jamming pods. These are the same jamming pods currently employed by the EA-6B.
The Navy's currently envisioned program includes a total buy of 90 EA-18Gs -- at a cost of $9 billion -- to augment and replace the aging EA-6B force. The Navy has awarded a $1 billion contract to Boeing for system design and development (SDD).22 Procurement of 56 EA-18Gs by FY2009 is included in Boeing's second MYP contract (154 F/A-18E/Fs fill out the 210-aircraft contract). If 56 EA-18Gs are not approved, additional F/A-19E/Fs will be produced to maintain the contract's 42 aircraft per year minimum quantity. During FY2005 congressional action, authorizers and Senate appropriators expressed their concerns about the program's progress. (See Congressional Action section, below.)
Key Issues for Congress
The principal issues surrounding the program at this juncture relate to the total number of Super Hornets to be procured.
Number of Super Hornets to be Procured
Like other DOD tactical aviation programs (e.g., F-22A, RAH-66, JSF), the planned number of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to be procured has decreased over time. The current plan is to procure 462 E/F models, about half of the originally planned quantity. Several factors could influence whether the planned procurement number continues to decrease or holds steady.
The Department of the Navy has recently implemented a Tactical Aviation Integration plan, which has reduced the planned number of Super Hornets and F-35s to be procured and fielded. If this integration of Navy and Marine Corps aviation appears successful, some may argue for further reductions in these aircraft. The potential retirement of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy could also spark discussion of aircraft reductions. Further in the future, the successful fielding of naval unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for both surveillance and strike missions could compete with manned Navy aircraft for deck space. The most discussed factor, however, influencing the potential purchase of Super Hornets is the F-35 program.
The Navy and Marine Corps are both planning on procuring variants of the F-35 JSF. This aircraft is expected to be operational between 2012 and 2013. Some argue that the JSF will be a clearly more capable aircraft. It will be stealthy, employ advanced, integrated avionics, the most modern agile electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, and is hoped to be cheaper to procure and operate than the Super Hornet. JSF proponents also argue that the F-35 will field, and that the F/A-18E/F lacks, advanced computing and communications capabilities that enable tomorrow's combat aircraft to fully participate in high speed collaborative targeting. Sharing and receiving targeting information from other sources appears central, JSF proponents argue, to effectively engaging challenging targets. Improved enemy air defenses suggest that the Navy field these kinds of strike fighter attributes quickly if it is to remain survivable and relevant on tomorrow's battlefield. In addition to these operational attributes, the JSF is hoped to be less expensive to procure and to operate than the Super Hornet.
JSF advocates argue that the F/A-18E/F program should be truncated, and that more resources should be invested in the JSF program. It makes little sense, they say, to continue purchasing two types of aircraft that perform essentially the same role, especially when one is clearly superior. The Super Hornet is a "compromise" program, JSF proponents say, designed to fill the void left by the cancelled A-12. It isn't as good a fighter aircraft as the F-14 Tomcat, nor it as good an attack aircraft as was the A-6E Intruder.
The ease with which the U.S. Air Forces have dominated its recent military opponents (e.g., Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq) suggest that the current inventory of F- 14s and F/A-18C/Ds will continue to be effective until the JSF is fielded. Much can be saved by truncating the Super Hornet and buying the JSF in even greater numbers. Acting DOD acquisition chief Michael Wynne reportedly suggested that truncating the F/A-18E/F purchase in favor of the JSF could be considered if DOD had to reduce its tactical aviation procurement budget.23
While the Navy looks forward to the JSF's eventual deployment, F/A-18E/F proponents point out that it is still in development and there is no guarantee that it will be fielded on time. Many aviation programs, such as the C-17 Globemaster, RAH-66 Comanche, and the V-22 Osprey, take much longer to develop and procure than planned. The F/A-18E/F is a bird in the hand, its supporters say, and its rapid and continued procurement is essential to executing the Navy's current and evolving military strategy. In 2006 Navy leaders and the Senate Armed Services Committee supported the purchase of additional Super Hornets. In its mark-up of the FY2007 Defense Authorization Bill, the Committee noted
the Navy will confront a sizeable gap in aircraft inventory as older F/A-18A-D Hornets retire before the aircraft carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is available.....The magnitude of the problem, and the procurement cost to avoid a shortfall in the carrier air wing force structure, is entirely dependent on when the Navy determines that its F/A-18A/Cs are at the end of their service life....the committee recommends that the Navy consider buying additional F/A-18E/Fs to mitigate the known shortfall, while allowing the Navy to transition to the JSF as soon as feasible.24
Super Hornet advocates argue that while the JSF will be a valuable contribution to the Navy inventory, its capabilities complement the F/A-18E/F rather than supercede it. It is not clear that stealth technology is required immediately and stealthy aircraft have not proven invulnerable in recent conflicts. Also, to maintain its stealthy signature, the JSF must carry its weapons internally, which limits its payload.
Proponents of the F/A-18E/F acknowledge that the plane lacks some of the F-14D's mission capabilities speed and all-weather attack capability and the A-6E's range/payload, but they argue that advances in weapons and targeting capabilities make up for these shortcomings. Further, they argue, the Super Hornet offers considerable upgrade potential. Modernizing the F/A-18E/F with software programmable radios, computers and other networking equipment is relatively straightforward, proponents argue.
Congressional Action
The administration's FY2007 budget requested $3,658 million in procurement and $403.4 million in RDT&E funds for F/A-18 aircraft.
Table 2. F/A-18E/F/G FY2007 Budget
Request E/F FY07
E/F APCY
G FY07
G APCY
Mods 2,288.3
- F/A-18 Squadrons
EA-18G 31.1
Authorization House H.R. 5122 (109-452) E/F FY07
Appropriation Senate S. 2766 (109-254) E/F FY07
House authorizers added R&D funding to the F/A-18 account for composite missile launch improvement, digital electronic warfare system, and digital heads-up display upgrade.
The administration's FY2006 budget requested $3,581.4 million in procurement and $497.8 million in RDT&E funds for F/A-18 aircraft. Congressional action on this request is summarized in the table below. Adjustments to the request are highlighted with bold font.
Authorization Conference H.R. 1815 (109-360) E/F FY06
Appropriation Conference H.R. 2863 (109-359) E/F FY06
Both authorizers and appropriators added procurement funding for F/A-18E/F Shared reconnaissance pods (SHARP), and appropriators added funds for spare engines and modules. Appropriators cut EA-18G R&D funds due to program support costs, and reduced F/A-18 R&D funding due to program execution.
The administration's FY2005 budget requested $3,406 million in F/A-18 procurement funds and $134 million in F/A-18 RDT&E. Congressional action on this request is summarized in the table below. Adjustments to the request are highlighted with bold font.
APCY
EA-18G APCY
412.5 42 F/A-18 Squadrons
EA-18G 134.5
Authorization Conference H.R. 4200 (H.Rept. 108-767) E/F FY05
Appropriation Conference H.R. 4613 (H.Rept. 108-553) E/F FY05
House appropriators (H.Rept. 108-553, H.R. 4613) recommended eliminating EA-18G advance procurement because it believed the program to be overly aggressive and wanted the Navy to conduct more testing before acquisition (p.145). Increases to F/A-18 procurement (modifications) funded improvements to safety and targeting capabilities.25 Increases to the F/A-18's RDT&E account funded improved displays, data recorders, and information systems.26
1. For more information on the EA-6B and electronic warfare, see CRS Report RL30639, Electronic Warfare: EA-6B Aircraft Modernization and Related Issues for Congress, by Christopher Bolkcom.
2. The Navy The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, currently projected by Defense Department officials to produce up to 680 new fighter/attack planes for the Navy and Marine Corps, could yield operational aircraft in 2012 that will complement and eventually replace the F/A-18E/F.
3. The December 31, 2005 SAR estimates the F/A-18E/F mission radii for fighter escort and interdiction missions to be 439nm and 468nm respectively.
4. U.S. General Accounting Office, Navy Aviation: F/A-18E/F Will Provide Marginal Operational Improvement at High Cost, GAO/NSIAD-96-98, June 1996.
5. David Fulghum, "Cool, Small, Cheap Defines Flexible Next Generation Radar," Aviation Week & Space Technology, Sept. 11, 2000, p. 61.
6. Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Future DOD Airborne High Frequency Radar Needs/Resources, April 2001, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology.
7. Lorenzo Cortes, "AESA Allows Super Hornet to Perform Tactical Electronic Attack, Navy Official Says," Defense Daily, Dec. 4, 2002 and "New Sensors Grab Extra Combat Roles," Aviation Week & Space Technology, Sept. 11, 2000.
8. "The F/A-18 & EA-18G." (Briefing) F/A-18 Deputy Program Manager for System Development. PEOTACAIR. July 19, 2005. Stephen Trimble, "Super Hornet Crews Ponder New Missions as Block II Upgrades Arrive," Aerospace Daily, Sept. 9, 2003 and Christopher Castelli, "Navy to Integrate JDAM HART with Super Hornet's AESA Radar," Inside the Navy, Oct. 13, 2003.
9. Key elements of the TAI plan is to operate a smaller number of strike fighters, reduce the planned procurement of strike fighters, increase the readiness of Navy aircraft, increase funding for modernization, and increase cross-assignment of Navy and Marine Corps fighter squadrons. For more information, see CRS Report RS21488, Navy-Marine Corps Tactical Air Integration Plan: Background and Issues for Congress, by Christopher Bolkcom and Ronald O'Rourke.
10. "Boeing's Super Hornet Cleared for International Sales," Defense Daily, Aug. 7, 2001.
11. Michael Sirak, "Malaysia Seeks Super Hornets to Augment F/A-18 Fleet," Jane's Defence Weekly, Sept. 18, 2002.
12. For more information, see CRS Report RS22148, Combat Aircraft Sales to South Asia: Potential Implications, by Christopher Bolkcom, Richard F. Grimmett, and K. Alan Kronstadt.
13. For more information on arms sales, see CRS Report RS20757 and CRS Report RL31529 (out of print; for copies, contact author at 7-2577).
14. Ron Laurenzo, "Boeing Hunts Abroad for Super Hornet Sales," Defense Today, Aug. 11, 2004 and Jason Ma, "Navy, Boeing Pitch Super Hornet for Potential International Sales," Inside the Navy, Oct. 4, 2004.
15. Robert Wall, "Navy Commitment," Aviation Week & Space Technology, Jan. 5, 2004.
16. Tony Capaccio, "Boeing Super Hornet, New U.S. Fighter, Begins Patrols Over Iraq," Bloomberg.com, Oct. 31, 2002.
17. "Super Hornets Make Combat Debut," Defense Daily, Nov. 8, 2002, p. 4.
18. "Navy Issues Decision on Super Hornet Basing," Immediate Release, No. 663-03. Department of the Navy, Sept. 10, 2003.
19. Kate Wiltrout, "Navy Says It Will Re-Examine Four Alternate Sites For OLF," Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, June 25, 2005.
20. For more information on the EA-6B and electronic warfare, see CRS Report RL30639, Electronic Warfare: EA-6B Aircraft Modernization and Related Issues for Congress, by Christopher Bolkcom.
21. Robert Wall, "U.S. Marines Realize Time Is Short to Draft EA-6B Follow-on Plan," Aviation Week & Space Technology, Jan. 3, 2005.
22. "Navy Awards Boeing $9.6 Billion in Super Hornet and EA-18G Contracts," Press Release, The Boeing Company, St. Louis, Dec. 29, 2003.
23. Dave Ahearn, "Wynne Weighs Overlap of F/A-18, JSF Carrier Versions," Defense Today, Dec. 16, 2004.
24. S. 2766 (109-254), May 9, 2006. p.111.
25. H.R. 4613 (H.Rept. 108-553) p. 174.
26. Ibid. p. 305.
[The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Naval History & Heritage Command].
Published: Mon Jun 01 08:23:51 EDT 2015
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Top 10 bizarre photo galleries
From skeleton puppets to Elvis’s soiled underpants, we’ve featured some unusual images over the years. Here, we’ve rounded up some of our favourites...
1) Frozen in Time
Decaying and abandoned family homes that remain almost exactly as they were left were captured on film by Dutch photographer Niki Feijen, in a series of evocative photographs.
2) Hair: The Styling of Society
From metallic wigs to stuffed animal headpieces, this gallery charts the bizarre evolution of the ways in which we style our hair.
3) Heavenly Bodies
Skeletons clad in intricate costumes and dazzling jewellery feature in this strange set of photographs. Believed to be the remains of early Christian martyrs, the skeletons revitalised the faith of Catholics during the Counter-Reformation in Europe.
4) Auctions: The Weird and Wonderful
Elvis’s soiled underpants and a slice of Charles and Diana’s wedding cake star in this round-up of weird and wonderful items that have at one time or another gone under the hammer.
5) The Empire of Death
As strange as it seems, there existed a tradition of creating works of art from human remains between the 16th and 19th centuries. Check out some of the most haunting creations here…
6) Brains: The Mind as Matter
From slices of Einstein’s brain to 3000-year-old trepanned skulls, the Wellcome Collection’s exhibition, Brains: The Mind As Matter, took a closer look at what humans have done to brains throughout history.
7) Charms and Superstition
Tokens of good luck have appeared throughout history and across cultures, each invested with the hope or belief that they could somehow mediate on behalf of their owner. But bizarrely in years gone by they came in the form of mole feet, glass shoes, and chunks of animal spine engraved with a human face…
8) Body Parts: skulls, mummy heads, and bones from a plague pit
Thousands of human body parts are stored at the University of Cambridge’s Duckworth Laboratory. Among the collection are skulls, mummy heads, bones from a 17th-century plague pit, hair bundles and blood samples…
9) The American Circus
Clowns, performing animals and ‘freaks’ feature in this gallery charting the emergence of a distinctly American pastime – the circus.
10) Death: A Self-Portrait
A collection devoted to the iconography of death and our complex and contradictory attitudes towards it, this gallery features haunting images of skeleton puppets and metamorphic postcards…
More on: Weird and wonderful
Murder, conspiracy and execution: six centuries of scandalous royal deaths
Playing the fool: Tudor jesters
10 memorable moments in Wimbledon’s history
Self-portraits: How people took selfies in the past
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When an educational institution receives notification that the OCR has opened a complaint for investigation, our team guides the institution through every step of the process. We help the client cooperate and respond to OCR requests and work to negotiate a resolution agreement that is in the best interests of our client. If a resolution is not attainable, we help the client challenge the OCR’s findings, from filing an appeal of the OCR’s determination with the Director of the Enforcement Office to appealing the agency’s final decision in federal court.
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"Ta! Come visit again! Or I'll pluck out your eyes."
— Sheogorath
pyandonea
The Maormer of Pyandonea
Submitted by Lady N on Mon, 03/03/2014 - 22:55
Entry 543, Atlas Notes, Imperial Geographical Society
It was once believed that the Maormer of Pyandonea were originally exiles from the Summerset Isles, but while it is likely they came from similar Aldmeri ancestors, they certainly did not come from Summerset. Translations of tapestries in the Crystal Tower tell the tale of a far older separation. The Maormer likely differentiated from the ancient Aldmer not in Summerset, but in their original homeland of Aldmeris.
Orgnum, their leader and self-styled "King," according to the legend was a phenomenally wealthy Aldmeri nobleman, who used his fortune to finance a rebellion against the powers of the land. He and his followers were banished for this to a place separated from Aldmeris by an impenetrable mist, Pyandonea, "The Mist-Veiled Isles." This exile proved so effective that the followers of Orgnum never again disturbed their former countrymen. The new Aldmeri homeland of Summerset, however, was not so lucky.
For much of Summerset's history, the Maormer have launched attacks against their cousins of Old Ehlnofey. Every one of these battles has been led by Orgnum himself, who it seems is not only immortal but grows more youthful by the century. No historian, to the knowledge of the staff of the Imperial Geographic Society, has counted the number of wars and strategems employed against Summerset, but somehow each has proved, no matter how ingenious, an ultimate failure.
One attack in particular is worthy of mention as it gives us our only glimpse into the actual landscape of Pyandonea. In the year 2E 486, a small Maormeri fleet was sighted off the coast of Alinor, and King Hidellith ordered his navy to give chase. The navy followed the ships through uncharted waters, into an ambush near Pyandonea itself. Most of the Altmeri navy was destroyed, but a single warship returned to Summerset to describe the land as a "sea jungle." Massive plateaus spilling over with vegetation form mazes around valleys of ocean. Waving tendrils of kelp trap all but the Maormer's own ships, and provide a well-camouflaged home for the sea serpents that are Orgnum's guards and occasional mounts. Mist storms spill over the land, further disorienting one's views. That even one ship survived the visit is a testament to the maritime genius of the Altmer.
Submitted by B on Wed, 06/30/2010 - 22:53
orgnum
Imperial Geographical Society
It was once belived that the Maormer of Pyandonea were originally exiles from the Summerset Isle, but while it is likely they came from similar Aldmeri ancestors, they certainly did not come from Summerset. Translations of tapestries in the Crystal Tower tell the tale of a far older enmity. The Maormer were likely separated from the ancient Aldmer not in Summerset, but in their original homeland of Aldmeris.
Orgnum, their leader and self-styled "King," according to the legend was a phenomenally wealthy Aldmer nobleman, who used his finances to launch a rebellion against the powers of the land. He and his followers were banished for this to a place separated from Aldmeris by an impenetrable mist, Pyandonea, "The Veil of Mist". This boundary proved so effective that the followers of Orgnum never again disturbed their former countrymen. The new Aldmeri homeland of Summerset, however, was not so lucky.
For much of Summerset's history, the Maormer have launched attacks against their sister child of Aldmeris. Every one of these battles have been led by Orgnum himself who it seems is not only immortal but grows more youthful by the century. No historian, to the knowledge of the staff of the Imperial Geographic Society, has counted the number of wars and number of strategies employed against Summerset, but somehow each has proved, no matter how ingenious, an ultimate failure.
The Wild Regions
Submitted by The Librarian on Sun, 06/20/2010 - 07:56
orsinium
sload
thras
Argonia
These vast swamplands were once part of the Second Empire, which, in 1E2837, had seized a large portion of it to create the Imperial Province of Black Marsh. Many humans still refer to the region by that name, but the Elves call it Argonia, after some ancient battlefield where many of their ancestors fell1. Thus, the native inhabitants of the swamplands, a collection of beastly tribes of "lizard-men," have become, in common parlance, the Argonians.
Argonians are rarely seen outside of their homeland, except for a relatively intelligent strain called the hist. Individuals of this strain are repulsive, but peaceful enough to be tolerated among the human kingdoms, and can be found as far from Black Marsh as western Hammerfell. The rest of the Argonians are primitive, reclusive, and practice heathen rituals of nature worship that necessitates a proximity to a certain type of spore-tree, which grows only in the interior of their native swamplands.
Black Marsh never regained its Provincial status after the dissolution of the Second Empire, though some parts of it are still considered Imperial territories. In CE560, the Knahaten Flu spread through greater Argonia, claiming the lives of the Kothringi tribesmen, the only humans to have persisted in the area for long. The hist proved immune to the effects of this plague, leading to wild rumors that they had, in fact, created it through a manipulation of their cherished spore-trees.
Far to the south of the Summerset Isles is the island kingdom of Pyandonea, home to the Maormer, a rare breed of tropical elf. It is covered mostly in dense rain forest, and is a playground for the southern water spirits. The Maormer almost never travel to Tamriel or visit their cousins at Summerset, for they were exiled from the latter kingdom in ancient times. They are known to possess a strange, chameleon-like skin, an involuntary process that is similar to the forest-coupling skills of the Bosmer. They also practice a powerful form of snake magic. With this, they have tamed the sea serpents of their island for use as steeds and warbeasts. The Maormer ruler is King Orgnum, a deathless wizard who is said to be the Serpent God of the Satakal (see Hammerfell).
The coral kingdoms of Thras, a set of islands southwest of the Chain in the Abecean Sea, are home to a godless tribe of beastmen called the Sload. These amphibious slugmen, perhaps the most hated race in all of Tamriel, were long thought to be extinct. After the Sload released the Thrassian Plague in 1E2200, which claimed more than half of the continent's population, the largest allied naval force in Tamrielic history sailed to Thras, slaughtered all the Sload they could find, and, with great unknown magicks, sunk their coral kingdoms into the sea.
Sadly, it has been reported that Thras has risen again, and that its masters, the Sload, have recently been seen in various areas of Tamriel. Citizens are encouraged to avoid these beasts, and contact the nearest Imperial authorities when they learn of one's existence. Much is remembered about the slugmen, and has been collected for you in the nearby sidebar. Be vigilant.
Collected from the Notes of Bendu Olo, West King of Anvil and Baron-Admiral of the All Flags Navy, and Dealer of Swift Justice to the Foul Spot of Thras.
Juvenile: Disgusting little amorphous grubs.
Adolescent: Soft, squishy octopuslike things that cannot emerge on land.
Adult: No outside limit to age or size. Individuals seen on land in Tamriel tend to be older, corpulent adults; the trait of greed is common in these individuals, and they excel as merchants and smuggling entrepreneurs. Younger adults lack essential surface survival skills, and are rarely seen on land. Older adults collapse under their own weight unless buoyed by water.
Perfect memory. They cannot read or write, but they remember everything they see or hear.
Magic-adept: All land-traveling Sload know the Recall spell at a high level of skill, and use it casually and frequently as the default mode of travel. It also provides the best defense; they teleport out of difficulty instinctively. We must be on our feet!
Poor grasping ability, weak tool use. [Sload slowly adapt their outer integument to conform with surfaces and objects, permitting them to pick things up or climb things like disgusting slugs.] Slow! They think very quickly, but never enough to suit their careful, deliberate personalities. They move slowly, and act slowly. It takes them a long time to come to decisions. They can answer questions quickly, if they choose to… which they seldom do.
Cautious. They have no word in their language for adventure. The closest equivalent means 'tragic disaster'. All their heroic myths are about individuals who sit around and think for years and years, consulting cautiously with wise Sload, until finally they act - always deliberately, always successfully. All their mythic villains act quickly, and always fail.
Morally Repugnant: Every Sload individual encountered has been a grasping, callous, godless, self-loving schemer. They do not seem to experience or display any familiar human emotions, though they are skilled diplomats and actors, and produce gross, exaggerated parodies of human behavior [laughter at lame jokes, weeping at apparent misfortunes, furious tirades at folly or ineptitude]. They have no compunctions about blasphemy, theft, torture, kidnapping, murder, or genocide. They break laws whenever they calculate it in their best interests. They do not perceive or honor friendship or loyalty in the familiar human terms, except for a cheerful affinity for those who defeat them or trick them in any endeavor. The adult form does not apparently reproduce, and shows no interest in the fate of its offspring.
Literally, 'Orsinium' means Orc-Town in the early Aldmeris. The goblin-ken (orcs, ogres, gremlins, and other beastfolk) that live in Orsinium favor the Elvish name for their settlement, for it suggests, at least to human ears, a glorious and beautiful fortress-city instead of the squalid and filth-ridden village-and-keep that it is. It was founded during the Camoran Dynasy, when hundreds of beastmen were set free by the rulers of the Summerset Isles and allowed to settle lands north of Valenwood. These Orcish tribes chose an uninhabited mountain region near Old H'roldan in High Rock, for their people were (and most still are) dependent on a rare shaggy giant centipede herdbeast that can live only at high altitudes on alpine and sub-alpine forage.
Orsinium did possess considerable strength during the First Era, when Orcish refugees fleeing the Ra Gada invasion of Hammerfell joined the beastman army already gathering there. This army was determined to take control of the Bjoulsae River and force the kingdom of Wayrest to pay Orsinium regularly for its use. Other powers of the area rose to confront the Orcs, principally the Yokudan Order of Diagna and the chieftan-kings of early Daggerfall. The Siege of Orsinium lasted thirty years and ended in its ruin.
Orsinium briefly became an Imperial territory under the Akaviri Potentate, though this ended with the death of Savirien-Chorak in CE431. The Orcs have recently petitioned the New Emperor to grant them a similar status, but Tiber Septim is famous for his hatred of their kind, and has yet to bestow the beastfolk good answer.
Annotations by YR:
1. "Does anyone on the Thalmor know what the humans are talking about?"
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Life Homes
Charming Victorian in peaceful Kildare on the market for €700k
Garavogue House, Prosperous, Co Kildare: €700,000
Nicola Conway Nicola Conway outside Garavogue House.
Words: Fran Power. Photos: Tony Gavin
Most old houses have a story to tell but few have one as unusual as the tale that comes with Garavogue House in a green and peaceful corner of Kildare.
https://www.independent.ie/life/home-garden/homes/charming-victorian-in-peaceful-kildare-on-the-market-for-700k-35171633.html
https://www.independent.ie/life/home-garden/homes/e73d6/35171628.ece/AUTOCROP/h342/Conway1.JPG
The vendor, Nicola Conway, has never lived at the property. Instead she inherited it in 2014 from her birth mother, Frances Cash. She knew Frances socially - as do most people in the horse world. Frances Cash produced show horses at Garavogue for many years and was the seven-times Supreme Champion show at the RDS, a record that has not yet been broken.
Garavogue Houe, Prosperous
But while Nicola knew Frances well and had worked in the stables at Garavogue when she was younger, it was only much later that she discovered Frances was her mother. Nicola was adopted in 1970 and mother and daughter only learnt that they were related in 2009. "It was like meeting up with an old friend," she says.
When Frances died she left her home to Nicola. "She gave us a great gift. My husband and myself sat down and thought seriously about moving to Garavogue House. We did the figures on paper but it would have meant a huge upheaval for us and our two children to move here. My husband is well-rooted where we are."
So it is with some reluctance that Nicola has put the house, which sits on 14 acres, on the market.
Garavogue House is a charming early Victorian property built in 1834 as the rectory for the parish of Ballynefagh in the barony of Clane. According to the ecclesiastical register, the Board of First Fruits awarded £600 towards its construction.
The charming early Victorian property has retained many of its original features, including shutters and fireplaces
Few reminders of its former use as a rectory remain in the main house but there is an intriguing feature still standing in the grounds.
A tin tabernacle, which Nicola describes as "the flat-pack of its day" was built by the local rector back in 1834 to accommodate his flock. Galvanised on the outside, wooden inside, it still has Gothic windows with a trefoil design. These days, however, it serves as a storage area for fuel rather than a place of worship. But it would make a fascinating renovation project.
The house itself stands two storeys over basement and many of the original features such as shutters and fireplaces remain. On the entrance floor there is a covered porch that leads into a large hallway with an elegant curved staircase and a double-aspect dining room off to the left. To the right there is a sitting room with double doors that leads into the drawing room. French doors lead to the garden.
In the basement, there is a study, bedroom, pantry and generous-sized kitchen with cream-painted units, an Aga, and French doors that lead up to a sunny patio on the lawn. The first floor has three double bedrooms and a bathroom. There is also a WC with shower on the entrance floor as well as an outside loo.
Garavogue House, Prosperous
"It is in good repair but in need of modernisation," says Nicola, "but it hasn't been mucked about with."
At the rear of the house there is a tack room, and six stables. "They were used by Frances until 2012 when she retired," says Nicola. "Three are in good shape but need new doors. Three need work." There is also a large hay barn. In total, the outbuildings come to 94sqm.
The property comes with a two-bedroom bungalow built in the late 1980s that, for a small outlay, says Nicola, "would be the cosiest little house in Ireland." It could also be repurposed as an office or staff accommodation - or even used to bring in rental income.
The main house is set in the centre of mature trees with acres of grassland that, until recently, were being grazed by Nicola's own horses. She has inherited a love of horses from both her birth mother and her adoptive parents.
An avenue lined with lime trees winds up to the front door and there is a sand arena to the rear that could be restored if the new owners wished to continue its tradition of producing fine show horses. Garavogue House is also well-placed with respect to The Curragh, Punchestown and Fairyhouse race courses for those who enjoy a flutter.
Size: 270sqm
Joint agents: Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes (01) 237 6300; Sherry FitzGerald Reilly (045 868 412; Bannon Auctioneers & Valuers (01) 801 1300. Viewing: Strictly by appointment
Sunday Independent
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Stree Review: Rajkummar Rao film is funny, scary and comes with a message
Stree, starring Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor, just hit the screens today. The film uses familiar old tricks of horror and is a letdown, says our movie review.
Suhani Singh
UPDATED: February 8, 2019 20:18 IST
Stree Movie Review: Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor in a still from the film
Stree is a horror comedy with a ghost and also a purpose. Amidst all the laughs and screams there are ideas regarding the role of women in Indian society and the way women have been depicted in horror genre itself.
Disappointingly then there's also the regressive item number that dilutes the message and a protracted romantic track in the first half. Nonetheless for most part the Raj & DK-written film never deviates from its mission: to throw in all the tropes of horror and thereby show the inherent humour present in the genre itself. The net result is a film that has both nervous laughs to soothe the fright and the humour-induced ones, courtesy dialogue writer Sumit Arora.
It's title may be Stree but the film essentially revolves around men. Vicky (Rajkummar Rao, continuing the small town charm of Bareilly Ki Barfi) is the finest tailor in Chanderi, where the superstitious residents paint their walls with "O Stree, Kal Aana" to avoid the preying eyes of a female ghost, who lurks only four nights every year, in search of men.
On the first day, Vicky meets a young woman (Shraddha Kapoor) whose sudden entry, almost always from the back, instantly spells trouble. Vicky is too smitten to care. It's only after two men disappear including his friend and his friend Bittoo's (Aparshakti Khurana) questions about the existence of his nameless ladylove that Vicky begins to take the deadly ghost threat seriously.
Much in the vein of Go Goa Gone, Stree too centres on ordinary men who find themselves pitted against a formidable adversary albeit here the focus is more on one as Rao's Vicky becomes the reluctant hero of the battle to rescue Chanderi. The best scenes here too belong to three friends - Bittoo, Vicky and Jana (Abhishek Banerjee) - as they discuss matters of matters of heart and cope with horror. Adding to the merriment is the inclusion of the local self-appointed expert on Stree (Pankaj Tripathi) who lists out survival tactics which emphasize the goodness of the evil spirit and also invariably highlight the societal mores that have bound women for long.
Stree's advocacy for gender parity comes with clever, blink-you-miss commentary that reveals the socio-political leanings of its makers whether it is talking about being a "bhakt" or the Emergency. The writers also cleverly twist Hindi cinema's heavily romanticised ploy of 'palat' into horror's rule of don't look back.
But for a film that intends to expose the ridiculousness of the Indian horror film landscape with logic, Stree can't help but rely on the familiar old tricks of horror rulebook such as magical portions and more to confront it. After regaling audiences with many ideas it's a bit of a letdown to see a film venture on a all-too familiar terrain. Stree tries to give its female ghost an identity that goes beyond revenge, yet by the end she also feels nothing beyond a scream queen.
2.5 out of 5 for Stree.
ALSO READ | Nale Ba: The scary urban legend Rajkummar-Shraddha's Stree is based on
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Home / Business & Economy / Transportation / Hyundai to Develop Air Taxis for Uber's Future Aerial Rideshare Network
Hyundai to Develop Air Taxis for Uber's Future Aerial Rideshare Network
IndraStra Global Tuesday, January 07, 2020 Business & Economy , Transportation Edit
Image Attribute: Hyundai-Uber PAV (Personal Air Vehicle) S-A1
On January 6, 2020, Hyundai Motor Company and Uber announced a new partnership to develop Uber Air Taxis for a future aerial rideshare network and unveiled a new full-scale aircraft concept at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Hyundai is the first automotive company to join the Uber Elevate initiative, bringing automotive-scale manufacturing capability and a track record of mass-producing electric vehicles. The Hyundai's air vehicle concept was created in part through Uber's open design process, a NASA-inspired approach that jump-starts innovation by publicly releasing vehicle design concepts so any company can use them to innovate their air taxi models and engineering technologies.
In this partnership, Hyundai will produce and deploy the air vehicles, and Uber will provide airspace support services, connections to ground transportation, and customer interfaces through an aerial rideshare network. Both parties are collaborating on infrastructure concepts to support take-off and landing for this new class of vehicles.
"Our vision of Urban Air Mobility will transform the concept of urban transportation," said Jaiwon Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai's Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Division. "We expect UAM to vitalize urban communities and provide more quality time to people. We are confident that Uber Elevate is the right partner to make this innovative product readily available to as many customers as possible."
"Hyundai is our first vehicle partner with experience in manufacturing passenger cars on a global scale. We believe Hyundai has the potential to build Uber Air vehicles at rates unseen in the current aerospace industry, producing high quality, reliable aircraft at high volumes to drive down passenger costs per trip. Combining Hyundai's manufacturing muscle with Uber's technology platform represents a giant leap forward for launching a vibrant air taxi network in the coming years," said Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate.
In preparation for this announcement, Hyundai has worked with Uber Elevate to develop a PAV (Personal Air Vehicle) model, S-A1 that utilizes innovative design processes to optimize electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for aerial ridesharing purposes. The Elevate initiative based this process on NASA's historical approach of putting design concepts out publicly to inspire innovation amongst multiple companies, spurring the development of common research models to investigate novel aerodynamic concepts and catalyzing industry progress in wing design, noise, aerodynamics, and simulation verification.
As a result, Hyundai's S-A1 model unveiled at CES reflects previous eVTOL designs Uber Elevate has released in the following ways;
It is designed for a cruising speed up to 180 miles/hr (290 km/hr), a cruising altitude of around 1,000-2,000 feet (300 - 600 mt) above ground, and to fly trips up to 60 miles (100 km).
The Hyundai vehicle will be 100% electric, utilizing distributed electric propulsion and during peak hours will require about five to seven minutes for recharging.
Hyundai's electric aircraft utilizes distributed electric propulsion, powering multiple rotors and propellers around the airframe to increase safety by decreasing any single point of failure. Having several, smaller rotors also reduces noise relative to large rotor helicopters with combustion engines, which is very important to cities.
The model is designed to take off vertically, the transition to wing-borne lift in cruise, and then transition back to vertical flight to land.
The Hyundai vehicle will be piloted initially, but over time they will become autonomous.
The cabin is designed with four passenger seats, allowing riders to board/disembark easily and avoid the dreaded middle seat with enough space for a personal bag or backpack/rider.
Ushering in the era of seamless mobility, Hyundai's exploration of future urban transportation incorporates the electric PAV concept with new ground transportation, the Purpose Built Vehicle (PBV) concept. Hyundai's vision for creating communities from future transit systems comes into focus with yet another new infrastructure concept, called the Hub. When many PBVs and PAVs are docked and connected to a Hub, they make a new public space where diverse groups of people can come together.
Hyundai Motor's innovative smart mobility solutions including UAM, PBV, Hub and more will be showcased at Hyundai's CES booth in Las Vegas Convention Center North Hall, Booth 5431.
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In-House Research
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A Collection of write-ups that bring the lessons from the legends who walked the earth & events that shaped history.
March 20: 5 POWER Lessons From 5 Leaders Who Made History On This DAY!
We all have the ability of self-empowerment, but the experiences of these successful leaders will truly serve as an added stimulant to your journey towards success. Read on!
1. “Knowledge always gifts you respect and leaves you in an atmosphere of fulfillment.”
Always remember that you will be secured and held high forever by all that you nurtured and worked for. What you dedicate your life for, is a savior in disguise which forms a shadow of you, living with you all throughout your journey. What you gain from your interest, passion and consistent hard work cannot be measured in physical terms; it is something which adds immense value to not just your life but to the entire society because such deeds always result to a feeling of added positive provocation in the minds of the world to set their ideas and transform the present into a nourished one.
The abstract asset, knowledge is one among those which can never be stolen. Hence, it is every one’s responsibility to ensure this asset reaches all the residents of the world. Known for transforming the college into the elegant American research university, Charles William Eliot, American academic and Harvard's president who was appended with the longest term, proved his high scientific talents by dealing with gaining and spreading knowledge. The Assistant Professor’s most influential reforms include the development of a system of “spontaneous diversity of choice” to promote liberty for choosing what we want to. Making it a motive to cast what is called as ‘education,’ he had to walk away from his dreams of Professorship yet he overcame all his family’s economic situations which formed the darker side of his life by going with the flow as he knew the stream of life would let him land on his destination.
2. “Your thirst to learn beyond the horizon is something which sculpts your success.”
In general, we tend to restrict ourselves to only work on what we are assigned; we don’t usually expand our horizon to seek knowledge about the overall prospect. Along with seeking an opportunity to learn all that is confined to your profession, mastering the ways to improvise the background of it also adds weightage to the overall development professionally. When we aim to increase the overall outcome and performance then working on all the aspects, thinking in terms of increasing the possibilities and binding the pluses after a keen analysis of the complete overview must also be focused on.
Following the same principle, father of production management, Frederick Winslow Taylor, an American mechanical engineer gave life to an endorsed theory called scientific management. His deep analysis made him understand the actual meaning of whatever he is involved in professionally. Making efficiency as his only mantra, one of the first management consultants intellectually sowed a seed of progress and reaped the grand outcome characterizing the floor of management. Combining technical, industrial and creative skills, he brought about advancement in the quality of job, work atmosphere and much more. His techniques spoke about Pay the Worker, Not the work idea. Initially trained as an engineer, he began his professional life as an apprentice pattern-maker and the experience of which induced a tinge of motivation in him to achieve and reach the position he was destined to.
3. “Being yourself is a prerequisite to creating your own identity.”
Learning from others, following your role model and taking the path walked by the experienced add more good to your life. This has nothing to do with imitating or replicating the idea, work, action or anything; recognizing and utilizing the unique talent which god has bestowed upon you is the key to remain an idol of sanctity and joy at every step you take. Being yourself purely by keeping aside, all the criticism, weaknesses and inferiorities help you gain what is known as reputation for whatever you do with the real essence of innocence. However we are aware that nothing is a barrier as far as tasting success is concerned. Reflecting the same, Amanda E. Clement the first woman umpire for a baseball game on a regular basis for six years, and served occasionally for several decades.
An accomplished athlete in multiple disciplines like gymnastics, tennis and more, at age 16 she umpired a game for the first time. The young Clement quickly worked throughout a five-state region, and she was the first person contacted to umpire any game. Clement umpired for six years but she raised her fame while stories of her appeared in every newspaper in the country, which brought her fame and recognition. Amanda certainly is an inspiration from history and stand as an ambassador for courage and determination.
4. “Enthusiasm, spirit, desire to spread joy, has the power to simulate your inner strengths!”
The true joy, happiness, contentment and satisfaction reside in spreading fortune and gifting smiles. Carving a radix of hope in the lives of people around takes what is called as the dedication and attitude of helping. Understanding the spark of glory which gets ignited as a result of improving another person’s life is something to be described beyond the worldly terms. American philanthropist, Ralph Hauenstein, proved to be a leader and role model by contributing his part in all his responsibilities- an army officer, business leader and a reputed newspaper editor. His widely prospective services like Center for Presidential Studies, Centers at Saint Mary's Hospital and Hauenstein Library created a string of hope and positive impact in the life of many. He coupled knowledge, resources and reality to produce ways which could benefit the society and help walking towards true development. Striving for the up-liftment of the society doesn’t just help improve other’s lives but yours too; consistent hard work and perseverance pushed his position to the rank of colonel. Holding the primary objective as establishing betterment, he behaved as an active source, scrolling all throughout to ensure this objective of his is fulfilled.
Age is a mere number! This statement is specifically authenticated by the ever young master in terms of enthusiasm, innovation, and more as at 103 years of age, Ralph Hauenstein lived a life characterizing divinity which emphasized the service and leadership which would inspire the rest of the world. What is the point in just growing in terms of age? How well we make use of our age and circumstances to create a legacy which empowers the world is what makes us a little different compared to the remaining.
5. “The difference between impossible and possible lies in your determination.”
The society, having every kind of life thinking rationally, looks for previously proved instances to accept something. There must be a start for that concept of previously proved instances to occur and that is the role of a leader, a curator who dreams to leave the world with jewelry of practically proved lessons which when followed, would fetch you the necessary growth.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, rooting the same cause, casted her originality by a very different blend, which got her close towards realizing her quality of uniqueness, determination to create what she imagined, by appending a new tagline to it to describe its unfading power. Not compromising on the identity of the original gospels, she redefined the same by adding a rhythm to the spiritual lyrics which attracted the rock and roll musicians. The singer’s divine light emerged as a gleaming inspiration in the dark nights of concerts. The dedicated contributor to frame the stream called pop-gospel, she proved that the true sense of art can be revolutionized purely based on the contemplations and colorful thoughts.
Beginning at an age of 6 by performing on stages with her mother, she grew this seed of interest into a tall tree which showered upon her wisdom to give rise to an expanded horizon in her domain. Called "singing and guitar playing miracle," she was the first great recording star of gospel music of her times. The great melody instilled an array of motivation in the minds of her song lovers before she left.
This refreshing read would have undeniably brought a revitalizing wave into your mind as the ultimate goal of each of us here, is to achieve what we want to and live for the purpose of our lives. We believe that you shall always remember to apply these learnings during the course of your life, to enhance your growth and your lifestyle!
(Sources: harvard.edu, economist.com, pbs.org, biography.com, sdshof.com, hauensteincenter.org, wikipedia.org)
Any facts, figures or references stated here are made by the author & don't reflect the endorsement of iU at all times unless otherwise drafted by official staff at iU. This article was first published here on 20th March 2017.
iU eMagazine
Editorial Team of iU eMagazine
How she did it? - Rohini Mundra Speaks About Her Entrepreneurial Journey In Building 7 Intelligence
3 Steps to create the best of your life
Mountains of the Mind!
How Fintech Is Helping Businesses In a Way Traditional Banks Couldn't
Start-ups Place
10 Extremely Easy Ways To Save Money On Your Next Vacation
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Pennsbury's Denman chooses Penn State
by Rick O'Brien, Inquirer Staff Writer, Posted: May 20, 2011
You can't say Pennsbury's J.J. Denman made a snap decision.
Before committing to Penn State for football, the offensive tackle visited seven other Division I schools, including Notre Dame, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
"I did my homework," the 6-foot-6, 305-pound junior said Thursday. "No school wanted me more than Penn State did."
Denman committed to the Nittany Lions after a trip to State College last weekend. Near the end of his stay, the 17-year-old and his father, John, chatted with coach Joe Paterno and recruiting coordinator Mike McQueary for about 30 minutes.
"Coach Paterno is 84 years old, but he came off like he was a young guy," J.J. Denman said. "Meeting him was an honor, but I did not need to meet him to decide on Penn State. I looked at the big picture."
An Inquirer first-team all-Southeastern Pennsylvania pick, Denman said he had scholarship offers from 30 Division I schools.
Contact staff writer Rick O'Brien at 610-313-8019
or robrien@phillynews.com.
Posted: May 20, 2011 - 3:01 AM
Rick O'Brien, Inquirer Staff Writer
Jeff Woodward powers Methacton past Norristown
Football recruiting: Burlington City’s D.J. Woodbury chose football over basketball, but he has unfinished goals on the court
Chris Melchiorre
Legendary Lansdale Catholic football coach Jim Algeo dies at 83
Southeastern Pennsylvania basketball rankings: No. 1 Neumann-Goretti, No. 2 Archbishop Wood set for showdown
Jaylen Stinson’s dramatic three-pointer helps Archbishop Wood beat Roman Catholic in 2 OTs
Basketball recruiting: Paul VI’s Jaden Arline looks forward to more college exposure
Kevin Cooney
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< $999NZD $1,000NZD - $3,000NZD $3,001NZD - $6,000NZD $6,001NZD - $9,000NZD $9,001 +NZD
Snapshot: Fushimi Inari
One of Kyoto’s most photographed sights is also its most sacred
The Fushimi Inari Shrine (or Fushimi Inari-Taisha) is one of the largest in Japan, and among Kyoto’s most visited attractions, but it wasn’t always such a hotspot. In fact, the site was relatively tourist-free until the 2005 release of Memoirs of a Geisha, where it features in one of the film's pinnacle scenes. In the years since the shrine has exploded in popularity and when you lay eyes on it yourself, you’ll quickly understand why.
Fushimi Inari-Taisha features more than 10,000 torii gates that wrap around the base of Mount Inari and continue deep into the mountain. The gates symbolise a division between the regular world and the sacred and are a striking shade of red to ward off evil spirits. The colour is also affiliated with the harvests that Inari gives to the Japanese people.
Inari, the deity for which the shrine was dedicated, is the god of rice, sake and prosperity. Although he is one of eight million kami (deities), Inari is one of the most admired and Fushimi Inari-Taisha functions as the head shrine to more than 30,000 others devoted to him across Japan. Officially, Fushimi Inari dates back to the 8th century, but unlike many of Japan’s most sacred sites, new torii are added regularly. Gates are donations to Inari and the inscriptions detail the year and name of their sponsor. Even tourists can gift a torii, if they have a spare one million yen (AU$12,736).
EXPLORE OUR INSPIRING JAPAN SMALL GROUP TOURS HERE
The Fushimi Inari shrine is easily accessible from anywhere in Kyoto. The site is unmissable, with a towering red torii and the Romon Gate, which signifies the entrance to the shrine. Continue past temples and sculptures to the chozuya (water ablution pavilion) where it’s respectful to wash your hands with a hishaku (ladle) before proceeding to the most spectacular part of the shrine, the senbon torii (thousands of torii). Walking through the vermillion tunnel of gates, shrouded by trees and away from the hum of the city, feels entirely otherworldly. The colour of the gates changes depending on light and time of day, so when the crowds subside, stick around to see them glow golden in the setting sun.
Throughout the site, you’ll see many foxes. From sculptures to wooden ema (wishing) plaques with fox faces, the animals are scattered everywhere. Foxes are said to be spirit messengers of Inari. While souvenirs typically attract tourists, it’s usually Japanese visitors that buy fox-related memorabilia which is thought to be lucky.
Although you'll have to share the shrine with other tourists, Fushimi is an unmissable stop on any visit to Kyoto. For the best chance of capturing a perfect photo of the senbon torii without people, head to the shrine early in the morning or after sunset. Unlike most sites in Kyoto, Fushimi Inari is open 24 hours and come nightfall, most people will have left, reverting the site back into the peaceful sanctuary it was intended to be.
Snapshot: Nagasaki
Snapshot: Tokyo
Snapshot: Miyajima Island
Snapshot: Hiroshima
Snapshot: Kyoto
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Where to find the best views of Mount Fuji
Japanese sweets to bring home
Snapshot: Kanazawa and Shirakawa-go
Snapshot: Mount Koya
Snapshot: Nara
Snapshot: Scenic Central Honshu
Everything you need to know about: Bullet Trains in Japan
5 must-see castles of Japan
Snapshot: Kanda Matsuri
Snapshot: Himeji Castle
Snapshot: Osaka
Snapshot: Nagano
Five books to read before your trip to Japan
Eat like the Japanese: five must try regional dishes
The four seasons: when should I travel to Japan?
Everything you need to know about: Hanami
Guide to cherry blossom season in Japan
Blooming beauties: a seasonal guide to Japan’s flowers
Tokyo in five ways, over five days
Japanese etiquette tips every visitor should know
101 Things to do in Japan
A first timer's guide to Japan
Everything you need to know about: Sapporo Snow Festival
14 DAY MAGNIFICENT JAPAN
$5,499NZD
17 DAY UNFORGETTABLE JAPAN
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16 DAY INSPIRING JAPAN
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17 DAY DISCOVER JAPAN & OKINAWA ISLANDS
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Internet Access Local
Comprehensive Internet Service Provider (ISP) Guide
Internet Access in 07018 (East Orange, NJ)
Internet Connectivity in 07018
^ An estimated 20,788 of residents in 07018 are connected to the Internet either at home, work, elsewhere or at multiple locations [1].
Internet Availability in 07018
^ Collectively (all cities), 82.3% of all New Jersey residents live in a household where Internet is available, which ranks 8th in the nation [2].
Connected in 07018
^ There are an estimated 7,505 residents in 07018 who are not connected to the Internet at all - whether at home, work, or elsewhere [1].
Internet Speed in 07018 (East Orange, NJ)
Landline Internet Speed in 07018
Sorry, speed data is not currently available.
Wireless Internet Speed in 07018
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in 07018 (East Orange, NJ)
Landline Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in 07018
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Type of Internet Service Offered
Maximum advertised download speed
Maximum advertised upload speed
Cable Modem 100 Mb/s - 1 Gb/s 50 Mb/s - 100 Mb/s
Asymmetric DSL 6 Mb/s - 10 Mb/s 768 Kb/s - 1.5 Mb/s
MegaPath Corporation
Other Copper Wireline 3 Mb/s - 6 Mb/s 3 Mb/s - 6 Mb/s
Wireless Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in 07018
Wireless 3 Mb/s - 6 Mb/s 768 Kb/s - 1.5 Mb/s
Wireless 10 Mb/s - 25 Mb/s 3 Mb/s - 6 Mb/s
Clearwire Corporation
Featured ISPs for 07018
Fast, reliable broadband connections
Allows you to connect all Wi-Fi-enabled devices
Bundle with phone or other services for bigger discounts
DSL Extreme
Get fast internet for an unbeatable price!
Packages as low as $17.95/month.
FREE installation (reg. $199); No phone line required.
Up to 75Mbps download speed; Wireless Router included.
07018 Internet Statistics
07018 Internet Connectivity
07018: 73.4% of residents are connected, with 32.6% of the population connected on multiple devices [1].
Connected to the Internet in 07018
07018 Internet Connectivity [1]
An estimated 20,788 07018 residents are connected to the Internet in some capacity - either at home, work, elsewhere or at multiple locations.
An estimated 7,505 07018 residents are not connected to the Internet. These residents are not connected at home, work, or elsewhere.
07018 Internet Availability [2]
It is estimated that 23,309 07018 residents live in a household where Internet is available.
07018: The median household income is $46,420 and 16% of households are below poverty level [6].
Additional information about 07018
The region associated with ZIP code 07018 has an approximate population of 28,322 [2] and is located in Essex County in New Jersey.
Internet Access in 07018
For more information about 07018 Internet Access, or for additional resources regarding New Jersey Internet access overall, visit New Jersey Office of Information Technology.
More About 07018
Of all residents in 07018, 72% have a high school diploma or higher, and 13% have a bachelor's degree or higher [6].
Cities in NJ
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Internet Access Local is an extensive collection of data, statistics, information and other resources regarding Internet Service Providers in local areas throughout the United States. Our comprehensive Internet access guides help consumers learn about local ISPs and find fast, affordable service.
ISPs in 07018 (East Orange, NJ)
U.S. Internet Statistics
© Copyright 2020 Internet Access Local
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The best care for farm animals
The Iowa Dish
It’s cold and flu season here in Iowa, and many of us will need to take antibiotics to fight off bronchitis or sinus and ear infections.
Farm animals also get sick sometimes. When that happens, farmers consult with their veterinarians to determine the best treatment. Farmers are also collaborating with researchers to develop more natural alternatives to antibiotics.
“Just as you would with your own kids, you do the very same thing for your livestock,” says Stacey Euken, a pig farmer and mom of two boys from Wiota. “So you make sure (the pigs) are getting the proper diet. And if they are sick, you need to give them medicine.”
Farmers are addressing their customers’ concerns about antibiotic use in farm animals.
A new report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shows that sales and distribution of antimicrobials for food-producing animals declined 10 percent in 2016, the first decline since 2009.
In addition, sales and distribution of medically important antibiotics, or those that are important to human health, for food-producing animals declined 14 percent in 2016, according to the FDA report.
Dr. Heather Fowler, a veterinarian at the National Pork Board in Clive, says the new FDA report shows that pig farmers have made responsible antibiotic use a priority.
“We are starting to see in the data what we’ve always known, that pig farmers are committed to protecting the effectiveness of antibiotics, and they do that by using antibiotics responsibly,” Fowler says.
Farmers can use antibiotics for animal disease prevention, treatment and control, but only with a veterinarian’s approval and oversight, Fowler explains.
If a farm animal is given antibiotics, federal law requires that the animal must undergo a withdrawal period before it can be marketed for processing.
Livestock farmers work closely with their veterinarians to protect animal health and overall food safety, Fowler says.
The National Pork Board helps train farmers through its Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus certification program, Fowler says. PQA Plus outlines best management practices for farmers to ensure herd health, animal well-being and pork safety.
“Farmers care about their livestock and are well educated and do everything they can to make sure that what they do on their farm and what they do to care for their animals has their welfare in mind,” Euken says.
Fowler says farmers base their herd-health decisions on the latest science and the guidance of their veterinarians.
Pig farmers have invested their own dollars in research on responsible antibiotic use, alternatives to antibiotics and production methods to reduce the need for antibiotics in their herds, Fowler said.
“America’s pig farmers are committed to protecting the effectiveness of antibiotics while simultaneously protecting the health and welfare of people, pigs and the planet,” Fowler says.
For more information about pig health and food safety, visit the National Pork Board’s website. Also, Best Food Facts features a video that takes a closer look at antibiotic use in farm animals.
Return to The Iowa Dish
Jump start your 2020 healthy eating goals
Want to eat healthier in 2020? It’s OK to eat meat
CBD: Is it worth the hype?
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Dáil expected to approve civil partnership legislation
By Shaun Connolly Political Correspondent
LANDMARK civil partnership laws will not be damaged by the fall-out from the stag hunting row, Green leaders have said.
Environment Minister John Gormley is confident legislation to give same-sex couples many of the rights enjoyed by heterosexual ones will not be hit by a backlash as it passes its final Dáil stages today.
Stag hunt rebel Mattie McGrath included the civil partnership bill in a list of laws he claimed the Greens were “bullying” Fianna Fáil backbenchers into supporting. However, a spokesperson for Mr Gormley pointed out that giving extra legal protection to same-sex couples was Fianna Fáil policy as well and the Greens had amended their initial policy of civil marriage to accommodate their Coalition partners in the programme for government.
However, if the bill clears the Dáil as expected, it may face a challenge from some Fine Gael senators who are poised to try and push for a free vote on aspects of the legislation.
Some, such as Senator Paul Bradford, have raised the possibility of imposing a “conscience clause” so that service providers could not be prosecuted under equality legislation if they do not want to be involved in a civil partnership.
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Category: Visual Storytelling
Top 10 by the Numbers
LISTF
The Back Story on the Storytelling Blog
Advanced Storytelling
Bad Stuff
Basics of Storytelling
Best-of-the-year Posts
Business Takes
Communications Industry
Steve Jobs Storytelling
Storytelling Examples
Storytelling Theory
Storytelling Workshops
The Hoffman Agency
Striving to Be an Educational Resource
Top 10 Posts by the Numbers
Speaking Gigs
SlideShare Decks
A Few Words on Me
LISTF Life Is Stranger Than Fiction
Classic Storytelling in Seven Seconds Flat
Orson Welles wasn’t exactly known for his brevity in storytelling. “War of the Worlds” ran for only one hour, but the radio broadcast seemed so real that it caused panic throughout the nation. We’ve discovered that you can tell a story in seven seconds. Here goes —
Visual Storytelling Tips for Communicators Steeped in Words
Your title might be PR manager, keeper of the blog, content developer or the classic copywriter. It doesn’t matter. All of us need to get the visual storytelling religion. The increasing amount of information accessed on mobile means shortened attention spans. And people want an entertainment dimension to their information, even in the business sphere …more
The Wonders of the “Word Visual” and a Thanksgiving Story
I first touted the virtues of the “word visual” in 2014. For those not familiar with this technique, the idea is to use the words (or typography) to drive the action while minimizing the need for design expertise. The image above borrowing the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld falls in the “word visual” category. Most “word …more
“Oops” Alone No Longer Differentiates 404 Pages
Every interaction with the customer offers a brand-building opportunity. This is particularly true for B2B companies that tend to pay less attention to the squishy things in life. Simply using conversational language that sounds like it comes from an actual human being — “Going from Point A to Point B to Point C gets you …more
Words as an Action Film: Ira Glass on Creativity
Who doesn’t like Ira Glass? The man single-handedly popularized the podcast when his NPR show “This American Life” proved that with the right stories, the medium could reach millions. The original premise for “This American Life” was to take an individual who isn’t famous or in the news and build a narrative that captivates listeners. …more
Reaching Today’s 35 and Under Crowd
Every generation — boomers, Gen Xers, millennials, and beyond — brings its values and frames of mind to the world. For communicators and marketing pros with deep experience, say 20+ years, that experience isn’t necessarily an advantage when you’re targeting millennials. We don’t think like them. We don’t talk like them. Because we’re not them. …more
Storytelling Wisdom from Bestselling Author
I interviewed author Ella Frances Sanders in 2015 after her book “Lost in Translation” had caused quite a sensation and landed on the NY Times bestselling list for four months. I remember thinking how improbable that a single blog post, “11 Untranslatable Words from Other Cultures” could morph into a bestseller. Thanks to over 2 …more
Reverse-engineering Amazon’s Brand-building Journey
We live in a world that correlates speed with business success. Often, it’s not about inventing the best solution. It’s about getting there first and then fending off competitors parallel to trying to get the product right. But building a brand is not a transaction or a campaign. It requires time. Those same fast-twitch muscles …more
A Search for the Best Hotel Door Hangers in the World
I wrote a couple weeks ago about how word choice can lift a narrative. Forget the classic story arc for a moment. Even one word or phrase can warm up the copy or jar the reader with a bolt of incongruence. But nothing tests the ability to harmonize words in tight quarters like …more
© 2020 The Hoffman Agency | All Rights Reserved
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Digital & Disruption
Benchmark Awards 2020: Why digital-driven change is inescapable
By Simon Sharwood on Dec 3, 2019 1:56PM
iTnews' own AI experience proves it.
If you ever meet iTnews for an interview, the resulting story will be written with the help of artificial intelligence.
I don’t mention this to talk shop, but to point out that if AI can change something as simple as an interview, it can change anything.
Here’s how it changed us.
We like to record and then transcribe interviews to make sure we quote people accurately. But transcribing audio is a tedious and thankless chore that requires about three minutes to turn one minute of audio into accurate text. Paid human transcription cost $1.50 a minute and takes forty-eight hours to turn around.
We can’t afford that time lag and the monetary cost is unwelcome.
So in late 2018 we started playing with AWS Transcribe and the Azure Speech-to-text API, cloud services that turns audio into text.
Our first experiments turned a one-hour interview into text in 30 minutes, at a cost of a single dollar.
While the cost and time were vast improvements, the transcriptions weren’t. The team figured we’d need to wait a year or three for the technology to mature.
It turns out we only had to wait until March 2019 when we found a smartphone app that delivers speech-to-text in real time and offers an online editor that makes it easy to search and review audio.
There’s nothing to learn, nothing to pay (for ten hours of transcriptions per month), no hardware to buy and no complications.
The app easily picked out deeply technical terms during a DevOps conference, a feat that won over the whole editorial team.
Our work practices have since changed. We finish stories faster and they include more quotes.
We think that’s because we can make more eye contact during interviews – an example of machines letting humans do the things humans do best.
This transcription app is not a secret. Our rivals have it and they’re changing too. So we’re now on the lookout for the next tool to improve our work, after years in which the way we conduct interviews has remained largely unchanged.
When the team started work on the 2020 iTnews Benchmark Awards, we wondered if this year’s entrants would tell similar stories of advanced technologies becoming affordable, then becoming ubiquitous, then rapidly changing established business processes.
We didn’t have to look far.
Many entrants see the ability to make better-informed, data-driven, decisions as a tool that will help them achieve market leadership.
Most recognise that building that capability is not a one-and-done proposition, and that they’ll need to become capable of rapid and constant change.
We’ll reveal the details of how entrants have put digital technology to work when we name finalists in the awards in January 2020.
Before then, iTnews has again teamed with Benchmark Awards partner KPMG to present a series of stories that explore the big issues facing businesses and technologists in 2020 and beyond – issues just like those that have empowered our team, and threatened others.
This year we’ve called that series “Digital & Disruption”.
Please don’t hesitate to let us know what you think of the series as it rolls out over coming weeks. If you’d like to do that during an interview and watch our team use AI transcription, all the better!
Simon Sharwood
iTnews.com.au
ai benchmark awards cloud digital & disruption digital disruption transcription
By Simon Sharwood
Harnessing innovation from the 4th industrial revolution
Formulating strategies that re-imagine organisations
Edith Cowan Uni’s cloud move slashes IT costs by 50 percent
Actioning insights from trusted data
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Blogs: Supplier News
Supplier News: Week of Jan. 13
January 13, 2020 by Brittany Siminitz
Fine jeweler Alisa is under new ownership. As owners Fred and Lisa Morgan move into retirement, industry veterans Marci and Adam Staub will head the company as its new principals.
Adam Staub is a GIA graduate gemologist and a member of the 24K Club in the southeast region. Together, he and Marci have 35 years of experience in the fine jewelry industry. According to a statement, the new owners will uphold the tradition of Alisa’s line and “creatively expand the product line as we go forward.”
“We are delighted that the Alisa brand will continue to be available to our many loyal retailers through such highly talented people,” said Fred and Lisa Morgan in a joint statement. “We’ve known Marci and Adam for more than a decade. They are true professionals in our industry—knowledgeable, innovative, energetic, and customer-service oriented—and they will be fabulous for the brand’s ongoing success.”
To see their current offerings, visit alisadesigns.com.
NAJA Announces 2020 Online Appraisal Studies Course
The National Association of Jewelry Appraisers has announced an updated and expanded online Appraisal Studies Course for 2020.
The course offers a wide variety of topics, ranging from appraisal theory and methodology to jewelry history, with a quiz rounding out the end of each lesson. Brief interactive sections as well as supplemental videos and external links are available to enhance understanding, and students are able to view and save their progress every step along the way. In addition, students are alerted to any updates or alterations made to the courses, and they are allowed to go back and revisit the course at any time.
The course is available to both NAJA members and nonmembers. For more information, visit najaappraisers.com.
Frederick Goldman Licenses Tungsten Carbide to Thorsten Jewelry
Frederick Goldman Inc. has announced it will license its tungsten carbide material to the Long Beach, Calif., men’s wedding band wholesaler Thorsten Rings. Frederick Goldman holds the patent of the Trent West Tungsten Carbide, which remains in effect until August 23, 2023. Only licensees authorized by Frederick Goldman may sell wedding rings made of the material on the market.
Frederick Goldman holds a number of patents on coatings and processes, such as Triton’s White Tungsten Carbide, which obtains its color through a patented nanotechnology multilayered coating applied to the surface of the metal. The company also has a patent pending on a multipiece construction combining contemporary metals with precision-machined 14k gold, for a virtually seamless design. Its latest patent application is for Diamond-Like Carbon, a carbon-based coating with some properties of diamond often used in luxury watches and high-end performance tools because of its tough, protective qualities.
For more information, visit fgoldman.com.
Fura Completes Acquisition of Australian Sapphire Mining Project
Toronto-based Fura Gems, a new gemstone mining and marketing company with emerald, ruby, and sapphire assets in Colombia, Mozambique, and Australia, has announced its successful acquisition of a sapphire mining project in Queensland, Australia.
“We are very pleased to complete the acquisition, which results in Fura becoming the only public gemstone mining and marketing company in the world to hold emerald, ruby, and sapphire mining assets,” said Fura president and chief executive officer Dev Shetty, in a statement.
For more information on the details of this transaction, visit furagems.com.
Tara Pearls Announces Change in Business Strategy
Tara Pearls will eliminating its fashion-forward pearl and diamond jewelry category to focus on its high-end pearls and pearl jewelry.
To facilitate this change, Tara will be selling off its fashion-forward line at highly discounted prices at the upcoming Centurion show and at the AGTA GemFair Tucson, offering retailers the chance to procure the merchandise at below cost.
“We will be focusing our strengths on finding the finest pearls on the planet, including conch, melo, and South Seas, while continuing our classic Japanese akoya line of pearls,” said CEO Sonny Sethi in a statement.
For more information, visit tarapearls.com.
Bonas Announces Colored Stone Tender 2020
International diamond tender house Bonas has announced it will hold a gemstone tender alongside the February Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair in February at the city’s Impact Challenger Center. The tender is said to feature approximately 500 lots of precious colored gemstones, ranging from certified to uncertified, heated and unheated, rubies, sapphires, Paraiba tourmaline, and others.
Full details of the goods will be available toward the end of January, but some of the highlights include a 4.01 ct. cushion Mozambican ruby, no heat, pigeon’s-blood; a 14.33 ct. oval Burmese sapphire, no heat, royal blue; and a 4.02 ct. oval Mozambican ruby, no heat, Global Recycled Standard certification, pigeon’s-blood.
For more information and to register for the event, email bonascolouredgems@bonasgroup.com.
Top, from left: Adam and Marci Staub, new owners of Alisa, and the company’s previous owners, Lisa and Fred Morgan
Brittany Siminitz
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Amtrak riders: Restore Hoosier State line while Indiana still can
Amtrak riders: Restore Hoosier State service while Indiana still can
Amtrak riders: Restore Hoosier State line while Indiana still can Amtrak riders: Restore Hoosier State service while Indiana still can Check out this story on jconline.com: https://www.jconline.com/story/news/opinion/letters/2019/08/07/amtrak-riders-restore-hoosier-state-line-while-indiana-still-can/1951911001/
J&C readers Published 10:52 p.m. ET Aug. 7, 2019
Hoosier State conductor Kevin Burns leans out of a passenger car as the last Hoosier State train pulls out of the Big Four Depot, Sunday, June 30, 2019 in Lafayette. Sunday, the Hoosier State Trains will be taken out of service due to lack of funding from the state of Indiana. (Photo: Nikos Frazier, Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier)
Recently, the Hoosier State passenger train from Indianapolis to Chicago was discontinued by Amtrak due to funding restrictions by the state of Indiana, compounded by stalled negotiations with Amtrak.
Between the four-day-per-week service of the Hoosier State and the three-day-per-week service on Amtrak’s Cardinal line, Indianapolis and other Indiana cities had a daily rail connection to Chicago. That service is now reduced to a bare-bones thrice weekly.
Also serviced were the university cities of West Lafayette/Lafayette (Purdue) and Crawfordsville (Wabash), along with Rensselaer and Dyer. (Rensselaer has a six-year-old depot that is currently only partially used.)
The fact that a state with a storied rail history would walk away from such service, while continuing to fund interstate highways, airports and marine ports, indicates that this may have been more than a simple budgetary matter — though Amtrak’s reluctance to budge on contractual negotiations does not help.
We understand that Indiana has an unexpectedly high budget surplus and is looking for creative ways to spend some of that money. Well, it’s time to get more creative with our transportation network and options. (Yes, we need Amtrak’s cooperation and willingness to be a congenial partner.)
Even though tax-supported interstates, airports and ports are not touted as profit centers for our state, some members of our state legislature have expected the Hoosier State and Amtrak to be profitable. They cite average to slightly-above-average rail passenger statistics — and cost — as being reasons for eliminating the line.
But what has the state of Indiana done to promote the Hoosier State train? What has Amtrak done to market the line?
Since Indy’s historic Union Station is suitable for some rail users, but is not always the easiest access for all, here’s what might help to restart and reinvigorate the line: A new station in the fast-developing Brownsburg area — which currently lies on the railroad line but without a station — with simple access, inexpensive parking and amenities that riders could access in the Brownsburg area. (Considering that recent major developments in downtown Brownsburg show that the city wants to attract new residents and visitors, it’s doubtful it would object to increased tourism.)
Additional necessary improvements in service include matching the Hoosier State schedule with that of the Cardinal, WiFi on all cars, synchronizing Indy departure/arrival times with IndyGo bus service, adding a second train daily and,as previously alluded to, far better marketing.
In the past some of our leadership has objected to “subsidizing” train service, as if that’s a distasteful concept. These objections seem hypocritical when those same leaders “subsidize” highways, stadiums, schools and a gigantic laundry list of other state programs daily. (Notice the massive traffic jams as Indiana taxpayers are now paying for the complete overhauling of Interstate 465 and other Indiana interstates.)
Some 29,000 annual users of the Hoosier State lost one of their vital transportation choices between Indy and Chicago when the service was stopped. It’s time to reinstitute rail service while honoring Indiana’s amazing railroad history and provide folks with a comfortable method of travel. With energized marketing, creative thinking and some updated facilities in new locations, the Hoosier State can thrive, and at least be as financially beneficial as our interstates, airports and marine ports.
Nicholas Kohne, Franklin; Chris Jordan, Brookston; Bryan Debshaw, Zionsville; Darrell Sherrod, Kokomo; Greg Jones, Fishers; Tony Hedrick, Kokomo; Richard Ralston, Indianapolis; James Ellison, Logansport; Karin Maloney, Fishers; Marni Macy Hamilton, Noblesville; Tyler Mendenhall, Westfield; Sara Schmidt, Fishers; Derek Zollinger, Carmel; Richard Vonnegut, Indianapolis; Gary M. Davis, Plainfield; and Logan Day, Fishers
Submit letters to the editor of 250 words or fewer to editor@jconline.com or to 823 Park East Blvd., Lafayette, IN 47905. Please include your name, town and phone number, for confirmation purposes.
Read or Share this story: https://www.jconline.com/story/news/opinion/letters/2019/08/07/amtrak-riders-restore-hoosier-state-line-while-indiana-still-can/1951911001/
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A portrait of Frank Carlson, Kansas United States Senator. Born in 1893 near Concordia, Kansas, he attended public schools and Kansas State University before serving in World War I. After the war, he returned to Concordia. Carlson, a Republican, had a long and successful political career serving in the Kansas Legislature 1929-1931 and United States House of Representatives 1935-1947. In 1946, he was elected governor of Kansas and left office on November 28, 1950 when he was elected United States Senator. Carlson served in the United States Senate from 1950-1969.
To order images and/or obtain permission to use them commercially, please contact the KSHS Reference Desk at KSHS.reference@ks.gov or 785-272-8681, ext. 117.
For more information see the Copyright and Permission FAQ.
Frank Carlson, United States Senator
Call Number: B Carlson, Frank *105
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 216220
Business and Industry - Occupations/Professions - Politicians
Collections - Photograph
Date - 1960s - 1961
Government and Politics - Federal Government - Congress - Senate - Carlson, Frank
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Photograph
People - Notable Kansans - Carlson, Frank, 1893-1987
Places - Other States - District of Columbia -- Washington
Thematic Time Period - Eisenhower Years, 1946 - 1961
Type of Material - Photographs
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/216220
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Video shows tiger's stalking skills with boy at zoo in seemingly terrifying moment
A heart-pounding moment for a little boy and viewers was caught on cam.Video showed the exact moment a tiger lurked and dashed toward the child at a zoo."My son was on the menu in Dublin Zoo today #raar," the boy's father said on Twitter.Thankfully, a glass wall separated the two, preventing the animal from touching the boy.The Irish Post reported Monday the child, Sean, visited the zoo and likely was part of a "bit of playfulness" from the big cat.In the video, Sean faced away from the tiger and would look back at the animal, causing it to stop the encounter. After a long look away from the tiger, it lunged forward and pressed its paws against the barrier, enough to cause Sean to back away.
A heart-pounding moment for a little boy and viewers was caught on cam.
Video showed the exact moment a tiger lurked and dashed toward the child at a zoo.
"My son was on the menu in Dublin Zoo today #raar," the boy's father said on Twitter.
Thankfully, a glass wall separated the two, preventing the animal from touching the boy.
The Irish Post reported Monday the child, Sean, visited the zoo and likely was part of a "bit of playfulness" from the big cat.
In the video, Sean faced away from the tiger and would look back at the animal, causing it to stop the encounter.
After a long look away from the tiger, it lunged forward and pressed its paws against the barrier, enough to cause Sean to back away.
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KEN'S TIRE & AUTO SERVICE > REPAIR SERVICES > DOMESTIC CARS & TRUCKS
Ken's Tire & Auto Service Specializes in Domestic Vehicle Service
Ken's Tire & Auto Service is a full-service auto repair and preventative maintenance facility specializing in domestic vehicle repairs. Our experts have the knowledge and experience to service and repair the most challenging domestic vehicles.
We perform scheduled services for domestic vehicles, and provide complete repair services including tires, alignments, brakes, front ends, rear ends, transmissions, diagnostic services, engine diagnostics and repairs, electronics service and repair. We have factory level diagnostic equipment and trained technicians.
Domestic Vehicles Serviced at Ken's Tire & Auto Service:
"The Class of World Class"
Buick was the pillar that General Motors used to become the world's largest automaker. Buick is the creator of the overhead valve engines and they used that to build their brand image in the automotive marketplace. If you have a Buick you are driving something that symbolizes an important part of the automobile history. Ken's Tire & Auto Service knows the significance and will be able to service or repair any problems your Buick might be having. Read More About Our Buick Services»
"It's a Lifestyle"
Having a Cadillac in your driveway shows the kind of lifestyle that you are living. A Cadillac is a different breed of innovative luxury vehicles. You can trust Ken's Tire & Auto Service with your Cadillac because they have certified technicians and use the latest equipment necessary to service your vehicle. Read More About Our Cadillac Services»
"Find New Roads"
Chevrolet just doesn't have drivers, they have passionate fans and collectors. Chevrolet has been around for over 100 years and over the years they have created a wide variety of different models. All of their cars and trucks represent the spirit, style and dependability of Chevrolet. Ken's Tire & Auto Service's technicians will treat your vehicle as if it was their own. Read More About Our Chevrolet Services»
"Imported from Detroit"
Chrysler has created vehicles over the years that are both affordable and luxurious. As an owner of a Chrysler you know the great American tradition that comes along with the brand. Chryslers are made in Detroit and designed with a purpose. Bring your Chrysler to Ken's Tire & Auto Service today and it will be serviced by expert technicians. Read More About Our Chrysler Services»
"Cars That Were Built To Be Driven"
Dodge is known for their low cost high quality automobiles. All of their vehicles are powerful and built tough to overcome whatever obstacle is in their way. Dodge vehicles are always welcome in Ken's Tire & Auto Service's shop and will be serviced and repaired by expert automotive technicians. Read More About Our Dodge Services»
"Go Further"
Ford created the first automobile in 1903. Ford being the pioneer of the automobile industry helped changed how the world traveled. As an owner of a Ford vehicle you know that it's strong and built to last! When your Ford loses its strength, come on by Ken's Tire & Auto Service and we will help maintain the strong heritage that comes with it. Read More About Our Ford Services»
"We Are Professional Grade."
The GMC badge stands for delivering what is expected and then more. GMC drivers understand that their vehicles are made of professional grade technology and are more powerful than most other car brands. Ken's Tire & Auto Service is ready for your GMC, so whether you need an oil change or transmission work, they will be able to meet your needs. Read More About Our GMC Services»
"Like Nothing Else."
The owners of Hummer vehicles like to find new roads off the asphalt. Hummers are built and designed to help their drivers test their limits on and off the road. Hummers are built for the outdoors and are some of the most reliable multipurpose vehicles on planet earth. Bring your Hummer to Ken's Tire & Auto Service today so you can continue your off-road journey. Read More About Our Hummer Services»
"What A Luxury Car Should Be"Lincoln, a division of Ford, differentiates its vehicles through additional luxury features, more powerful engines and unique styling. Trust the experts at Ken's Tire & Auto Service to service and repair your Lincoln car, pickup or SUV. Read More About Our Lincoln Services»
"Imagine Yourself In A Mercury Now"Mercury was built to fill the gap between basic Fords and luxury Lincolns, and for 71 years it stood for innovation and speed. Even though Mercury production has ended, you can trust the experts at Ken's Tire & Auto Service to service and repair your vehicle. Read More About Our Mercury Services»
Oldsmobile represented the leadership and innovation of General Motors for over 100 years, earning a place in automotive history. While GM no longer makes Oldsmobile vehicles, Ken's Tire & Auto Service can help you keep your classic car on the road.
"We Are Driving Excitement"Pontiac didn't make any ordinary vehicles. It made extraordinary rides that have emotion and soul. Even though Pontiac production has ended, Ken's Tire & Auto Service has the knowledge and experience to keep you "driving excitement". Read More About Our Pontiac Services»
"We're Still Here."
If you are behind the wheel of a Saturn then you know how unique the vehicle is. The Saturn difference is a different way of doing things from the customer interactions all the way to the models being produced. The Saturn brand still lives on with its drivers and Ken's Tire & Auto Service has the knowledge and experience needed to service your automobile. Read More About Our Saturn Services»
For questions about your domestic vehicle, contact us at 269-673-6668 or send us an email. Our experts will help determine what needs to be done.
To learn more about our Domestic Car & Truck services, call us at 269-673-6668 or request a quote by clicking below:
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Dr. Geetika Saini (left) and Dr. Shammi both volunteer their skills and time at H.E.C.K to provide dental care to vulnerable adults and seniors in the South Okanagan. Following a recent clinic day, the doctors were able to donate 47 extracted teeth from 7 patients to assist an area search and rescue group with their human remains recovery training. (Contributed)
South Okanagan volunteer dental clinic donates rotten teeth to good cause
H.E.C.K. recently gifted 47 rotten teeth to a search and rescue group in the area
Jordyn Thomson
Dec. 7, 2019 4:00 p.m.
The Henning Emergency Clinic of Kindness (H.E.C.K.) recently made an odd donation to one of the area’s search and rescue groups.
The clinic provides dental treatment to vulnerable adults and seniors living in the South Okanagan through dentists who volunteer their time.
“Dental decay is preventable but for our patrons, poverty, addiction, mental health, fear of dentists and procedures are just some of the many reasons why they have not been able to access dentistry or have avoided dental treatment their whole life,” states a release from the clinic.
READ MORE: South Okanagan low-income dental clinic honoured as community hero
“Founder and volunteer, Greta Henning is extremely proud to be part of the board of directors who, despite many challenges, has managed to keep the H.E.C.K. Dental Clinic open for business.”
Recently, the clinic received an odd request from a search and rescue group in the area that is working with dogs and their owners to train them in human remains recovery.
The request was for any of the rotten teeth the clinic extracts from its patients.
“When it comes to search and rescue and in particular, the specialty of human remains recovery, how else can you use human remains for training?” states the release.
“Providing scenarios with real teeth is a huge asset to assist SAR dogs in their practice of being able to detect small amounts of human remains that they can then alert their handlers. The smellier the better.”
The team was in luck when the clinic recently held a treatment day and extracted 47 teeth for 7 patients in need, which were then donated for training purposes to certify the dogs and owners in this type of recovery.
H.E.C.K. is looking for more dentists to volunteer their services and donors to help offer the service on more days in the area.
“The ultimate goal of the clinic is to have the resources in place to offer prevention of decay and restorative procedures for low-income families,” states the release.
Jordyn Thomson | Reporter
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OPERATION KRONSTADT
The True Story of Honor, Espionage, and the Rescue of Britain’s Greatest Spy, the Man with a Hundred Faces
by Harry Ferguson
A sometimes sluggish recitation of a thrilling episode at the dawn of the Bolshevik era.
Former MI6 operative Ferguson ventures that the findings of British spies in Russia during the civil-war era should have encouraged intervention to bring down the vulnerable Communist regime, which would have spared the West a great deal of trouble in the decades to come. But much of the action he recounts here was characterized by bad guesses, misinterpretations and crossed signals, for which Ferguson lays much blame at the door of early spymaster Mansfield Cumming (“the myth that he was an intelligence mastermind persists to this day”). In the contested theater of operations around Petrograd, a British agent named Paul Dukes had been caught in the Bolshevik lines, bearing sensitive documents. The only way to get him out, the stalwarts of the Royal Navy concluded, was to mount a daring raid. Ferguson’s novelistic touches in setting the scene are heavy-handed—“At long last, the grey-haired officer removed his spectacles and slipped a gold rimmed monocle into his right eye”—and his efforts at rendering dialogue are clumsy. The narrative gathers steam as the author follows the resourceful commandos and their attack on the heavily armed Soviet fleet at Kronstadt with a flotilla of plywood boats. It remains for the interested reader to learn the outcome of the attack. Suffice it to say that things did not go exactly as planned, but there were plenty of fireworks and cliffhangers—even though the Soviet regime survived both the attack and the civil war.
A somewhat useful documentation, but a shorter, tighter tale would have been welcome.
Pub Date: July 7th, 2009
Publisher: Overlook
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15th, 2009
More History >
More Non-Fiction >
More Nonfiction >
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Hurricane Harvey responders get unexpected invite to World Series
A pair of Houston firefighters who were among the many responders working during Hurricane Harvey got a gift from a complete stranger in tickets to Friday night's World Series game.The lawyer who wanted to do something to thank Houston's heroes tells his story in the video above.
A pair of Houston firefighters who were among the many responders working during Hurricane Harvey got a gift from a complete stranger in tickets to Friday night's World Series game.
The lawyer who wanted to do something to thank Houston's heroes tells his story in the video above.
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Index » Playground » In-thread RPGs
Trust me, me neither (Peparexa and Angel-WolfBunny)
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Post subject: Re: Trust me, me neither (Peparexa and Angel-WolfBunny)
Posted: Dec 6th, '15, 13:21
Angel-WolfBunny
Joined: Dec 3rd, '15, 23:16
Hugs: 9902
Ariel was concentrated on little bird flying over him. 'You are special little creature, aren't you?' He was still smiling. He almost didn't hear what Victor was talking. ''Every place with nature, that lets humans be closer to it, is special place.'' He said when bird landed on his hand. He looked at demon boy. He wanted to ask him so much about him like 'When did he become demon?' and 'Which kind of demon he is?'. But angel needed to keep himself from asking those questions, not to give himself away.
He blinked few times when hearing question of Victor. He stopped to think about where is his name in human world heard. He remembered texts about angels, but he couldn't even bring it up, or could he. ''I was named after Archangel of animals, Ariel. But you probably heard my name in that cartoon. How is it called? Little mermaid, I think.'' He tried to sound convincing. Little bird decided to flew away.
Peparexa
"Is anybody home?" Victor thought to himself, since Ariel didn't seem to hear him too well, but he stopped himself from saying that. Ariel was too concentrated on the birdie. Why was that bird even here though? Birds don't usually just approach humans like that. He really seemed to have something special in him that only animals could see. That made Victor quite curious. What was it? Why did animals love Ariel so much?
He nodded when Ariel told him that he was named after Archangel of animals. "The name certainly suits you," he said. That was where he heard that name. Demons were warned to beware the archangels, since they were much stronger than other angels. But of course, Ariel couldn't be an archangel, right? That would just be ridiculous. What would an archangel be doing here? Wouldn't he have better things to do?
"So, wanna stay here some more or do you wanna keep going? I mean, you seem to like it here," Victor said and smiled.
''Oh, surely we can move on.'' Ariel said smiling. ''I still need to find hotel. I came here just today. I am here on work business'' He remembered he doesn't have anythings with himself to support his story. ''My things are on their way here. I will go get them after I find place to stay in.'' He had some human things at house he had in forest on mountain, it was a little bit away of small village. And he didn't lie, he was here on job. But he could stay few days, he just needed to check in heaven on animals from time to time.
''Also I would like to learn more about you, after all I will need someone who knows this city.'' He added second part of sentence fastly after realising he sounded like he flirted. He just wanted to know more about new demons and how they are trained. 'For heaven.' He kept saying himself. But he couldn't suppress fact that this demon was kind of charming even to angel like himself.
Victor nodded when Ariel told him that he needs to find a hotel and that his things are on the way. "I see," he said. He still wasn't really an expert when it came to humans and their jobs, but it seemed likely. He chuckled a little when Ariel said that he wanted to meet him better, since he knows this city. "Well, I guess that after we find you a hotel, we can go somewhere. For a beer, coffee or something like that and then we can talk some more. My treat."
He actually didn't need to eat nor drink. He was an incubus. He just needed to have sex with someone once in a while and it would be enough. But, it was fun to drink or eat something that he found tasty from time to time. "But for now, let's concentrate on finding a hotel for you. I know one that's not really expensive, but is still quite good," he said. "Follow me."
''I can't really believe you don't live here, you know so much about this town. Let's go see that hotel. I have money. At least enough to buy myself a drink.'' Ariel said to Victor. He remembered, he hasn't tried human food or drinks in at least decade. Also he remembered humans need to eat. ''I also haven't eat something in long time so we could go to restaurant.'' His senses told him it was wrong talking so casual to demon. But there was feeling in him he never felt before. 'This demon sure is charming and acts like human, I would even believe him if I didn't know what he is.'
Next to them just went little girl walking her dog with her mother behind her. Dog started pulling girl towards Ariel. 'Seriously if this continues to happen I will be discovered.' He thought while dog jumped on him. ''No Puff, let boy alone.'' Then girl looked at him. ''I am sorry, sir.'' He smiled. ''It's okay little one, I like animals and obviously they like me.'' He got up cleaning his clothes with few motions, to human and demon it looked like normal thing but he was using his angel power. He looking at mother taking dog and they continiued on
Victor chuckled when Ariel said that he knows much about the town. He nodded. "Sure. A restaurant sounds great," he responded when Ariel said that he hasn't eaten in a while, so they could go to a restaurant. He liked restaurants. Especially ones with good food. Because, if they had bad food, there was no point in even bothering, since he didn't need to eat. At least not in the way humans do.
"Animals really do love you," he said when a dog ran towards him. Seriously though, it was as if he was an angel, since angels love animals and are loved by them as well. But, he would have felt it if Ariel was an angel right? Unless he was an archangel. Still, wouldn't Ariel have known he was a demon if he was an archangel? And why would he stay next to him then? Besides, didn't archangels have more important things to do? Some important archangelic businesses?
Maybe he should keep an eye on him, just in case. But, if he manages to seduce him... he'll have a huge advantage. He had a well thought plan in his head to make sure that nothing happens to him. Besides, Ariel was quite attractive. He couldn't deny that.
Ariel knew he was probably suspicious, but he just needed to continue acting human. 'What ever that means.' He then realised he needed to give some human information about himself. ''Silly me, I wanted from you to give me some information about yourself without saying anything about myself.'' He put hand on his neck and massaged it for few seconds. ''I am animal rights activist,'' He said. It wasn't lie, he practically couldn't lie. He remembered what happened last time he lied. He was stuck in his angel form and couldn't go to Earth. Many animals, he can help only in human form, like that puppy from earlier, got hurt because of that. He also liked being human, eat, sleep, dream and he couldn't do that in his angel form.
He got back to now. ''I was given that job since I was really young, before I even knew what my parent ment under animals.'' He smiled and hoped it will be good enough to keep demon from asking questions. But if he did Ariel had some more things he could say to Victor.
Victor smiled. "I'm not surprised," he said when Ariel told him that he is an animal rights activist. "But, even though it was kind of... forced upon you, you really seem to love animals," he said. After all, he had basically thrown himself in the traffic to save a puppy. Not everyone was ready to do that. He could have been hit easily. Something was telling him that it wasn't the first time Ariel did something like that.
"I kinda admire you for doing things like that," he said. Though he could use lies and sweet words (he was a demon, after all) to seduce and lure his victims in, what he just said was actually true. It took guts, passion and dedication. And that was something worth admiring.
Ariel looked at demon. 'He didn't sound like he was lying. But that's demon's job. To lie.' He still wasn't sure about it, but his guts, that he had only when human, told him truth was coming from Victors mouth. He realised what demon said. ''No you got it wrong. It wasn't forced upon me. I choose to folow it, I love animals with my whole heart.'' He said with huge smile, the real smile he always had when talking about animals. ''I am flattered for you admiration. I just do what I think is best for animals. And without animals humanity couldn't survive very long. So I also do good for humanity.'' He said with small amount of pride.
"I'm glad to hear that," Victor said and smiled when Ariel told him that he choose to follow it, rather than it being forced upon him. But truth be told, it did sound like something an angel would say. After all, as far as he knew, God has given angels their duties and they would accept whatever he had chosen for them. Or at least that was just a general opinion shared by the demons.
However, he needed more prooves before he could be certain. "That is true. Without animals, humans couldn't live at all. Though most humans often forget about that," he said and shrugged. "Or just ignore it in favor of money."
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Vancouver businesses increase staff in anticipation of the busiest cruise ship season yet
The Port of Vancouver says they are anticipating over one million visitors to come into the city this year on cruise ships
Last updated Apr 3, 2019
Reported by Maxim Fossey
Local businesses are hiring extra staff to cope with what the Port of Vancouver says will be the busiest cruise season ever, with over one million anticipated visitors coming into the city.
Canada Place is expecting almost 300 cruise ships coming into the Port of Vancouver this cruise season, with more than a 20 per cent boost in passengers. In 2018, Vancouver saw 243 cruise ships come through the port.
Victor Mota, a guest experience guide at FlyOver Canada near Canada Place, said that this spring break has been busier than usual for the tourist attraction.
“Everything is increasing drastically. This summer, the number of our retail employees is expected to triple compared to last year,” Mota said. “Cruise ship season has two things that impacts us: how many employees we’re supposed to hire, and how much work we’re expected to do.”
Mota says that staff at FlyOver Canada were given a schedule of the ships to prepare for the increased workload during the cruise ship season.
An early season
Tim Jones, a ticket information guide at Westcoast Sightseeing, said that everything has started earlier this year.
“Usually our peak season might start around April, like right now,” Jones said. “But it has started earlier this year, like January to February I’d say,” Jones said.
Danielle Jang, a media representative from the Port of Vancouver, says that they are expecting a record number of cruise passengers to come through the Canada Place terminal this season, which typically runs from March to November.
“With roughly 21 per cent more passengers, there is an estimate of more than a million passengers and 290 ship visits coming into Vancouver,” Jang said.
She also said the Port of Vancouver has made a number of enhancements to improve passenger flow, such as redesigning the ground transportation area.
“There’s been a reconfiguration of the terminal to expand passenger processing areas,” Jang said. “We also now have free wifi available to passengers to use.”
UPDATE: Arson attack on Langara College was planned and deliberate
Sun glare a contributing factor in car accidents
Langara student identified as one of the victims of deadly Tehran plane crash
Canadians’ savings looking grim
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Run For The Wall memorial service at Veterans Park
Visitors to Veterans Memorial Park, including City of Las Cruces mayor Ken Miyagishima, right, raise the United States flag on Friday morning. Nearly 500 bikers rumbled through Las Cruces on Friday morning, part of the Run For the Wall tribute.
Run For The Wall memorial service at Veterans Park Visitors to Veterans Memorial Park, including City of Las Cruces mayor Ken Miyagishima, right, raise the United States flag on Friday morning. Nearly 500 bikers rumbled through Las Cruces on Friday morning, part of the Run For the Wall tribute. Check out this story on lcsun-news.com: https://lcsun.co/27JAsKh
Sun-News Reports, lcsun-news.com Published 6:38 p.m. MT May 20, 2016
Visitors to Veterans Memorial Park, including City of Las Cruces mayor Ken Miyagishima, right, raise the United States flag, May 20, 2016.(Photo: Jett Loe / Sun-News)Buy Photo
Visitors to Veterans Memorial Park, including City of Las Cruces mayor Ken Miyagishima, right, raise the United States flag on Friday morning before a Run For the Wall-sponsored wreath-laying memorial. Nearly 500 bikers rumbled through Las Cruces as part of the Run For the Wall tribute. The RFTW participants are in the midst of a ride from California to Washington, D.C., where they will spend Memorial Day at the National Vietnam War Monument.
Read or Share this story: https://lcsun.co/27JAsKh
Mayor Ken Miyagishima opposes legal marijuana
Mother charged after daughter tests positive for meth
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Lake Catholic High School is proud to offer a variety of opportunities for aspiring instrumental musicians. The band program features four main ensembles listed below.
Would you like to learn more about Lake Catholic’s Band Program? Contact Jenn Bretz at (440) 578-1020 ex. 266 or email jbretz@lakecatholic.org
Would you like to learn more about Lake Catholic’s Band Program?
Contact Jenn Bretz at jbretz@lakecatholic.org
Cougar Pride Marching Band
The Lake Catholic Cougar Pride Marching Band is a staple of the Cougar Community. The band performs at every varsity football game, sporting events throughout the year, and local parades such as the Little Italy Columbus Day Parade.
Lake Catholic Concert Band
The LC Concert Band is the premier wind ensemble of Lake Catholic High School. Consisting of woodwind, brass, and percussion instrumentalists in grades 9 through 12, the Concert Band performs all varieties of music at three school concerts, including a Christmas concert, and more.
LC Jazz Band
The LC Jazz Band consists of about 20 musicians spanning all four grade levels. Playing in the format and style of a standard “big band,” the LC Jazz Band explores the many styles of jazz, including swing, Latin, Bebop, and even rock. The LC Jazz Band meets and performs in school concerts and the greater community throughout the Spring Semester.
Pep Bands
Student-coordinated “pep bands” are assembled throughout the year to support sporting events outside of the marching band season.
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Left Bank Books, LLC
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Armani, Giorgio; Roversi, Paolo (photography)
Spring-Summer '03
Milan: Giorgio Armani, 2003. 1st Edition. Quarto, publisher's pictorial two-tone black cloth, original black cloth slipcase.
Armani lookbook for his spring-summer 2003 collection, shot in cool black-and-white by Italian fashion photographer Roversi. Women's and men's lines from the "awful aughts," including eyewear, shoes, accessories, and a section in color devoted to runway shows. Scarce in original slipcase. Fine. Item #1327
See all items in Fashion, Photography
See all items by Giorgio Armani, Paolo Roversi, photography
© 2020 Left Bank Books, LLC. All rights reserved. Site Map | Site by Bibliopolis
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Noise Complaints pauses Wind Farm operation…for now
Askam and Ireleth Wind farm near Barrow, Cumbria
By Legal Futures’ Associate Future Climate Info
Residents claiming a nearby wind farm has been noisy for 20 years have convinced councillors to pause plans to keep it open for another decade. But precedent may have been set on extending the life of old wind farms that could prolong the pain for residents.
Barrow Council’s planning committee heard the application at a meeting in the town hall on Tuesday, September 10.
A 114-page report shows that the Askam and Ireleth Wind farm near Barrow, Cumbria, has continued to provoke residents, saying the noise was “unbearable”.
Askam and Ireleth Wind Farm is a group of 7 turbines which were erected in late 1998 and started generating energy in July 1999.
The original developer E.ON claimed that the farm generated enough renewable electricity in 2005 to supply nearly 2,500 homes and avoided the emission of over 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. However, it is has become clear in recent years, that the farm is running nowhere near its target level of efficiency.
In the last five years, 35 complaints have been lodged with the council, with some citing ‘horrendous’ noise and blaming the site’s topography, changes in wind direction and how close it was built to homes.
The current owners, Cannock Wind Farm Services want to keep it running until August 2029 after its 20-year-old permission expired this summer. In the five years since they took over the site, they state that they have not received a single statutory noise nuisance, nor has the Barrow council’s public protection officer objected to the plan
Askam and Ireleth Parish Council do not support the time extension and claimed the turbines only run at ’14 per cent efficiency’.
Long history of complaints
Concerns about the wind farm have been running for two decades. The Marton, Askam and Ireleth Wind farm Action Group (MAIWAG) was formed by local residents of the three villages upset by what they saw as the inconsiderate construction of the wind farm by then developers Wind Prospect.
The group claimed that the final construction of the wind farm bore little resemblance to the proposed scheme they were first told about. Their main concerns related to the size and environmental impact of the development as well as noise it produced.
It was discovered that six of the seven turbines were not constructed in line with the developer’s original application and as such did not have planning permission.
Barrow Borough Council signed an agreement with the developer, imposing a range of planning conditions on the turbines already built. As complaints by local residents continued to be made about the noise, the council resolved to take action against the wind farm.
Later, borough councillors decided to drop this planned enforcement action in December 2002. Disappointed by this decision, six members of the group went ahead with a private prosecution against the owners and operators of the wind farm on the grounds it was a “noise nuisance”. But their case was unsuccessful.
Further noise investigations
Now, a decision on an application to extend the wind farm’s life has been deferred while Barrow Council seeks independent evidence about the noise it makes.
Councillors were told the site was “recognised as the noisiest site in the UK judged by the huge number of complaints compared to similar other sites”.
Overall, there had been 152 complaints, compared with “single digits” for other similar farms, the planning committee heard.
Cannock Wind Farm Services say that a recent replacement of the noise management system and further improvements “will reduce the noise nuisance experienced by the affected properties” and had “endeavoured to engage” with any complaints about noise.
Residents said that this had done little to reduce the noise and were critical of Barrow Council. Ireleth resident Les Nicholls told councillors: “No action has ever been taken by the council against the developer to my knowledge.
“When repeatedly questioned why, the response has always been that the developer has got deep pockets and the council is skint.”
Barrow council’s principal planning officer Charles Wilton has recommended that the application be approved – provided that extra noise mitigation measures are introduced and a noise management plan submitted.
Wind Farms could stay for longer than planned
So it is quite likely that the turbines will start spinning again, especially in the light of the recent Kirkby Moor wind farm verdict.
Kirkby Moor development was one of the UK’s first wind farms, coming online in 1993. South Lakeland District Council refused permission to keep the Kirkby Moor wind farm in Cumbria running until 2027.
A government planning inspector, Phillip Ware, upheld an appeal by operators Ventient Energy after a public inquiry, ruling that the controversial farm could stay for another 8 years.
This now sets an interesting precedent where wind energy companies could now cite the decision to keep turbines in place for longer than originally permitted. This hinges on a technicality in the 2019 National Planning Policy Framework.
It says new wind farms need the backing of the local community – but the “re-powering of existing wind farms” does not.
Keeping track with changes
With property purchase decisions now often made for 20-30 years hence, homebuyers must consider how the local area’s energy needs and the impact of existing and planning wind farms could affect their investment and the quiet enjoyment of their home.
Future Climate Info provides conveyancers and their clients with the latest insight on energy and infrastructure changes that may affect the vicinity of a property. As new schemes come online through planning, we will capture and alert these in a clear and concise way so you can make an informed decision on whether the investment could be harmed or improved.
Here is more information on the datasets in our premium environmental report
Call us on 01732 755 180 or email info@futureclimateinfo.com
Mansfield: Homes Evacuated after Massive Landslide
Building damage, fire and land contamination: Our capital’s painful legacy
Greenland and our disappearing coast
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SRA issues holiday sickness claims warning as it probes 31 firms for referral ban breaches
Posted by Nick Hilborne
Philip: Issue is very much of concern at the moment
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned law firms that they are not doing enough to weed out “false or dubious” holiday sickness claims and that some are engaging in shady practices like encouraging clients to delete evidence.
It is also investigating information from the Claims Management Regulator that 31 firms have potentially improper referral arrangements with claims management companies (CMCs).
The SRA has been under pressure to take action on the issue, with the Association of British Travel Agents claiming a 500% rise in compensation claims since 2013 and the government poised to introduce fixed costs.
In a warning notice issued yesterday, the SRA said it was concerned that claims were being pursued without “proper analysis of the evidence or understanding of the legal position”.
The regulator went on: “Holiday claims provide an example of our concern that some law firms fail to engage properly, or sometimes at all, with the merits of their clients’ cases.
“This is of particular concern where there is evidence to suggest that the claim is false or dubious in some way.
“We are clear in our view that lawyers should not bring cases, or continue with them, where there is a serious concern about the honesty or reliability of the evidence.
“The extent to which law firms should verify their clients’ cases is risk-specific. For example, there seems to be a serious risk that many holiday sickness claims are not genuine.”
The SRA said examples of risk factors included that a claim was made some time after the incident, there was no report of the claim to the hotel and no extensive illness among other travellers, or that “the client ate or drank excessively”.
The regulator said it had seen not only failures to ensure that documentary evidence was analysed but “highly improper advice” to delete evidence.
“If there are allegations or concerns about a case, law firms must not turn a blind eye, but instead must engage with them and objectively assess whether the case can properly be pursued.
“An example of this might be allegations that claims are being generated or co-ordinated by organised criminals, as we have seen in ‘cash for crash’ cases.
“Law firms cannot simply ignore such allegations and nor can they simply assert that they consider them unproved or unfounded. They must engage properly with them and bear in mind their duty to the administration of justice.”
The SRA said it was concerned that law firms were breaching the rules by accepting cases from introducers who were cold calling, entering into improper referral arrangements, or submitting false or dubious claims in the hope of a settlement without further investigation by the defendant.
Solicitors were also warned to identify clients properly and not seek “unreasonable costs for a limited amount of work”, either from a client or defendant.
The regulator added: “There are now a number of reports of cases where claims have been dismissed as dishonest, leading to costs orders against claimants and even a criminal prosecution.”
SRA chief executive Paul Philip said: “This issue is very much of concern at the moment and we want to make sure that solicitors do not get caught up in bringing false claims. We expect all solicitors to act with the utmost integrity.”
Our PI Futures event on 19 September in Liverpool includes a major session on holiday sickenss claims. A few tickets are still available. Click here for more details.
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NY Rangers projected lineup: Kaapo Kakko to stay with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome
Jesper Fast will be a game-time decision for Monday's clash with the Vegas Golden Knights, while Kaapo Kakko will remain on the second line.
NY Rangers projected lineup: Kaapo Kakko to stay with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome Jesper Fast will be a game-time decision for Monday's clash with the Vegas Golden Knights, while Kaapo Kakko will remain on the second line. Check out this story on lohud.com: https://www.lohud.com/story/sports/nhl/rangers/2019/12/02/ny-rangers-projected-lineup-jesper-fast-game-time-decision/4349024002/
Vincent Z. Mercogliano, NHL writer Published 12:53 p.m. ET Dec. 2, 2019 | Updated 6:37 p.m. ET Dec. 2, 2019
Nov 30, 2019; Newark, NJ, USA; New York Rangers right wing Kaapo Kakko (24) skates with the puck during the first period of their game against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports (Photo: Ed Mulholland, Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports)
NEW YORK - Ryan Strome can relate to what Kaapo Kakko is going through.
He wasn't playing in the NHL at 18 years old, like Kakko is, but Strome was a top-five pick in the draft who came in with the expectation to put up points.
"I've been through it as young player — especially in a market like this," said Strome, who was the No. 5 overall pick by the New York Islanders in 2011. "You want to score every game, you want to produce, but you're going to go through spells where you’re not going to score for five or six games. He's got to kind of learn what he can do when the pucks aren’t going in the net to be more effective. I think the last game was a great example."
With Kakko riding a five-game stretch without a point, Rangers coach David Quinn decided to see if he could spark this year's No. 2 pick by pushing him up to the second line to play with Strome and Artemi Panarin.
The results were encouraging.
Kakko had the primary assist on Adam Fox's power-play goal in Saturday's 4-0 win over the New Jersey Devils, and generally looked more confident.
"He was a horse in that first period down low — hitting guys, reverse checking," Strome said. "He looked engaged."
POSTGAME ANALYSIS: Kaapo Kakko gets a boost as Rangers roll out new lines
POSTGAME ANALYSIS: Rangers' power play failures lead to OT loss in Boston
Quinn also liked what he saw, confirming Monday morning that he plans to keep that line together for the 7 p.m. game against the visiting Vegas Golden Knights.
They've been "kicking around a lot of scenarios," as Quinn put it, for the other three lines. That's mostly because Jesper Fast is going to be a game-time decision after leaving the Jersey game for a stretch following a collision in the first period. (He did return later in the game.)
Nov 22, 2019; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; New York Rangers right wing Jesper Fast (17) gets tangled up with a broken stick in the third period againstthe Ottawa Senator at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports (Photo: Marc DesRosiers, Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports)
Fast played as the right winger on the third line alongside Chris Kreider and Filip Chytil. It's unclear how Quinn would fill that spot if Fast is unable to play. Brendan Smith, who's been the right winger on the fourth line, could be moved up. Or Quinn could get more creative.
As for the first line — where Brendan Lemieux was bumped up to play with Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich on Saturday — Quinn said, "We'll see what happens."
"I just wanted to give that line a little bit of a different look," he added. "Brendan brings a consistent edge to his game, and again we're looking to see what the lineup would look like with a little bit more balance. It’s something that we talked about doing when Mika came back (from injury)."
Quinn confirmed that Henrik Lundqvist will start in goal against Vegas, with Alexandar Georgiev set to start Thursday's 7 p.m. game in Columbus against the Blue Jackets and Lundqvist back in for Friday's home game against the Montreal Canadiens.
Projected lineup: Dec. 2 vs. Vegas Golden Knights
NOTE: These lines are based on Monday's morning skate and could be subject to change.
First line → Chris Kreider (LW) – Mika Zibanejad (C) – Pavel Buchnevich (RW)
Second line → Artemi Panarin (LW) – Ryan Strome (RW) – Kaapo Kakko (RW)
Third line → – Filip Chytil (C) – Jesper Fast (RW)
Fourth line → Micheal Haley (LW) – Brett Howden (C) – Brendan Smith (RW)
First pair → Brady Skjei (L) and Jacob Trouba (R)
Second pair → Ryan Lindgren (L) and Adam Fox (R)
Third pair → Libor Hájek (L) and Tony DeAngelo (R)
Starter → Henrik Lundqvist
Backup → Alexandar Georgiev
Healthy scratch: Boo Nieves
Injured: Greg McKegg (lower body) and Marc Staal (ankle)
Nov 27, 2019; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist (30) makes a glove save against the Carolina Hurricanes during the first period at Madison Square Garden. (Photo: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports)
How to watch/listen: 7 p.m. ET — TV: MSG 2; Radio: ESPN 1050 AM
All-time series: 1-2-0-1 (1-0-0-1 at home; 0-2-0-0 on the road)
Goalie love: Henrik Lundqvist and Marc-Andre Fleury rank first and second, respectively, among active NHL goaltenders in career appearances and wins. Lundqvist and Fleury have represented the Rangers and Golden Knights, respectively, in the NHL All-Star Game in each of the last two years (2018 and 2019).
Zibby: Mika Zibanejad has registered a goal/point in each of his four career games against the Golden Knights and has six points (four goals and two assists). Zibanejad tallied three points (one goal and two assists), including the game-winning goal, in the first all-time meeting between the Rangers and Golden Knights on Oct. 31, 2017 at MSG.
Point taken: The Rangers have posted a 10-4-2 record in their last 16 games, dating back to Oct. 29 vs. Tampa Bay. The Rangers' 22 points over the span are tied for the sixth-most in the NHL, and their 10 wins over the span are tied for the fifth-most in the league.
Game notes provided by New York Rangers public relations coordinator Michael Rappaport.
Follow our Rangers coverage at lohud.com/sports/rangers!
Twitter: @vzmercogliano
NY Rangers' Brendan Lemieux close to returning
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Smithtown Teen Going the Distance for Community With First Sunken Meadow Recycling Project 5K Race & Half Mile Fun Run
Community, Charity & Cause, Sports & Recreation, Press Releases, School & Education, Nature & Weather
By Allison Gayne Published: April 17 2015
Smithtown West High School Junior Rachel Gladstone is organizing the first Sunken Meadow Recycling Project 5K Race and Half Mile Fun Run as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award.
Smithtown, NY - April 16th, 2015 - Smithtown West High School Junior Rachel Gladstone is stepping up to make a difference in her community, organizing, in conjunction with the Girls Scouts of Suffolk County, the first Sunken Meadow Recycling Project 5K Race and Half Mile Run Fun for Kids at Sunken Meadow State Park on Saturday, June 13, 2015. With all money raised going toward the purchase of recycling bins for Sunken Meadow State Park to improve our environment, the event will kick off with its Half Mile Fun Run for Kids from 9:15 a.m. – 9:45 a.m., which will be followed by a 5K Race for everyone at 10:00 a.m.
As a member of Girl Scouts Troop Number 295 eager to get involved with a large service fundraising project for bettering her community as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award, Gladstone discovered her calling upon visiting Sunken Meadow State Park with her high school cross country team. Her concept for the Sunken Meadow Recycling Project 5K Race and Half Mile Run Fun for Kids was realized from her recognizing the need for large scale recycling programs within today’s parks in order to stop the influx of plastic bottles and cans ending up in garbage cans at our parks and subsequently in our oceans and landfills.
“Through this event it is my hope that we generate more awareness of this park-wide recycling problem and that our recycling bin initiative inspires other parks to follow suit,” says Gladstone. “We all have a responsibility to preserve our future. It is important that we all pitch in and do our part for bringing about change when and where needed. I hope that everyone takes advantage of participating in this event for enjoying the nice weather and our beautiful park while making a difference to improve our environment.”
“Rachel’s dedication and passion for generating environmental awareness are evident in her Gold Award Project,” says Yvonne Grant, President and CEO of Girl Scouts of Suffolk County. “Girl Scouts pledge to use resources wisely, and Rachel’s project reminds us that environmental conservation is a pivotal step to creating a greener and more sustainable world.”
Check-in begins at 8:00 a.m. An Award Ceremony from 11:30 am - 12:00 p.m. will be held to recognize top overall male and top overall female as well as top three males and top three females within each age category. Age categories will include: 13 and under, 14-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70 and up.
An "Early Bird Special" admission rate of $20.00 per person for the 5K Race is available until May 1, 2015; admission is $25.00 per person after May 1 and is $30 at the door the day of the event. Registration for the 5K Race includes free admission of children ages 10 and under for the 1/2 Mile Fun Run for Kids, which will feature a fun-filled obstacle course creatively made of recycled products. A signature T-Shirt is also included (while supplies last).
The upcoming fundraising community event has already garnered sponsorship support from local businesses, including Seaford Paint Place/Benjamin Moore of Seaford, Sands at Atlantic Beach, RJ Painting Inc. of Amityville, Ugell & Sommers CPA of Garden City, Antique Equities of Lynbrook, Crazy Crepe Café of Smithtown, Smithtown Running Company of Smithtown, and Batteries Plus Bulbs of Commack. Additional sponsorship opportunities, along with that of volunteering, are available and welcome.
For more information about the Sunken Meadow Recycling Project 5K Race and Half Mile Run Fun for Kids, volunteer and sponsorship opportunities and/or to register, click here, or email sunkenmeadowrecyclingproject@gmail.com.
Pictured: Sunken Meadow State Park Director Jeffrey J. Mason meets with Smithtown West High School Junior Rachel Gladstone to review plans for Gladstone’s first Sunken Meadow Recycling Project 5K Race and Half Mile Run Fun for Kids taking place at Sunken Meadow State Park on Saturday, June 13, 2015, which Gladstone is organizing in conjunction with Girls Scouts of Suffolk County as part of her Girls Scout Gold Award. All money raised will go toward the purchase of recycling bins for Sunken Meadow State Park to improve our environment.
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LOOKOUT CALL
LOOKOUT CALL SUPPORTS CPSL MIND
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Learn how Lookout Call has provided lone worker safety for its customers.
Lookout Call has a growing series of testimonials from its customers; here are some of their stories.
Mencap boosts lone worker protection with Lookout Call
Mencap, the leading UK charity that fights for the rights of people with a learning disability, has purchased 3000 licenses for Lookout Call, a mobile-based lone worker safety system. The service will be used initially by community-based support staff in the charity’s Housing and Support Services. Their roles vary greatly and include visiting people with… Read Full Case Study “Mencap boosts lone worker protection with Lookout Call”
Lookout Call offers ‘excellent value for money’ says Scotscare
Scotscare, a charity dedicated to helping Scottish citizens living in London is successfully deploying Lookout Call, an automated lone worker alarm system to help protect all its out reach staff that work throughout the city. Scotscare provides help to first and second generation Scots living within a 35-mile radius of Charing Cross station. It offers… Read Full Case Study “Lookout Call offers ‘excellent value for money’ says Scotscare”
ORMISTON FAMILIES
Ormiston Families has been supporting children, young people and their families across East Anglia ever since 1969 when Fiona Ormiston Murray and her husband were tragically killed in a car accident on their honeymoon. The Murray Family established the Ormiston Trust to create a living memorial to a woman who loved children but was denied… Read Full Case Study “ORMISTON FAMILIES”
Cambridge Cyrenians impressed with customised Lookout Call system
Cambridge Cyrenians, a registered charity that provides supported accommodation for single, homeless people in Cambridge, is using a customised version of Lookout Call, to enhance the lone worker protection of staff members and volunteer workers, as part of its overall health and safety policy. The Cyrenians has nine hostels throughout the city and these are… Read Full Case Study “Cambridge Cyrenians impressed with customised Lookout Call system”
Mind chooses Lookout Call
Mind in Cambridgeshire is a dynamic county-wide charity that supports local people in their recovery from mental health issues. As well as offering active support, the charity is also committed to raising awareness around mental well-being and tackling the stigma of mental health. Mind in Cambridgeshire provides a home support service for people recovering from… Read Full Case Study “Mind chooses Lookout Call”
Julian Support improve lone worker safety
Julian Support, a Norfolk charity that offers support to people with mental health issues, is using Lookout Call to help protect all outreach staff who often spend long periods of time working alone in remote areas of the county. Julian Housing works in close partnership with Norfolk Social Services, Norfolk Health and all the major… Read Full Case Study “Julian Support improve lone worker safety”
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LRB blog
The Society of Authors has a petition to ask the Department for Culture, Media and Sport not to cut the Public Lending Right (which gives writers sixpence every time one of their books is taken out of a library) in next month's Spending Review. 'Any and all writers who feel strongly about this subject' should sign it, they say. Is it too much to hope that a few readers might care about PLR too? Anyway, the 'Statement by Authors' is as follows and writers can sign it here:
The Public Lending Right scheme, under which authors receive 6p when a book is borrowed from a public library, is funded by the Department for Culture Media and Sport. Over the last three years, while public spending has been buoyant, PLR's allocation has fallen by 3%: over 10% in real terms.
While accepting that DCMS has been instructed to reduce its budget, we ask the Secretary of State, Jeremy Hunt, to recognise that the £7.5m spent on PLR gives effect to a legal right and is not a subsidy. It provides working writers with a modest income when their books are read by library users free of charge. PLR is particularly important to authors whose books are sold mainly to libraries and to those whose books are no longer in print but are still being used.
Press coverage tends to focus on a few successful authors, yet most struggle to make ends meet. PLR provides a significant and much-valued part of authors' incomes. The £6,600 upper limit ensures that the fund helps those most in need.
The admirably efficient PLR Office has already cut its running costs very substantially. Any reduction in PLR will have an immediate and detrimental effect on the ‘front line' payments to authors.
writing reading libraries
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Sit like an AppleRuth Bernard Yeazell
Sit like an Apple
Ruth Bernard Yeazell
Hidden in the Shadow of the Master: The Model-Wives of Cézanne, Monet and Rodin
by Ruth Butler.
Yale, 354 pp., £18.99, July 2008, 978 0 300 12624 2Show More
Claude Monet’s first breakthrough was not the ‘impression’ of a sunrise that lent its name to a movement but a full-length figure in contemporary dress that he submitted to the Salon of 1866 under the title Camille. Posed against a red curtain on a canvas more than seven feet high, a woman in a green and black striped gown and a black jacket trimmed with fur stands with her back angled towards the viewer, her face partly visible as she turns her head over her shoulder and raises one gloved hand in a gesture both elegant and ambiguous. Though one critic complained that the body beneath the dress was poorly modelled and another implied she was little better than a courtesan, Monet’s woman was certainly an attention-getter. A poem in L’Artiste addressed her as the queen of Paris; a friendly caricature of her made the cover of another journal; and Zola, writing under a pseudonym, hailed the 25-year-old artist, whom he had yet to meet, as ‘a man in a crowd of eunuchs’. The liberal critic Théophile Thoré (then publishing as William Bürger) contributed to the buzz by reporting that the entire canvas had taken only four days. That wasn’t true; but, like another of his claims for the picture, it stuck. ‘Henceforth,’ he declared, ‘Camille is immortal and will be called The Woman in the Green Dress.’
It is not clear whether Thoré thought the painting’s original title a fiction, like Manet’s sensational ‘Olympia’ the year before, or was aware that the artist had recently acquired a young mistress called Camille Doncieux, whose face and form had served for the woman in green. But by simultaneously proclaiming her immortal and obliterating her identity, the critic effectively summed up her fate. Camille might pass for a portrait, but The Woman in the Green Dress was a genre painting; Camille entered history only by disappearing from memory. Despite Monet’s initial decision to name the picture after his mistress, in later years even he adopted the generic title. When the Bremen Kunsthalle acquired the painting in 1906, what they bought was The Woman in the Green Dress. The woman in the picture may still have resembled Camille, but she had become, in Monet’s words, ‘merely a Parisian figure of that time’.
Such vanishing acts are hardly unusual in the history of painting. ‘I had not the least desire my model should be discoverable in my picture,’ Henry James’s nameless artist says in ‘The Real Thing’ (1892), as he cavalierly dispatches her to the same sort of afterlife Thoré imagined for Camille: ‘If she was lost it was only as the dead who go to heaven are lost – in the gain of an angel the more.’ But James’s tale draws a sharp line between successful representation and the real thing; and it is very much to the point of his ironic fable that the model in question ‘could represent everything’. She may be ‘only a freckled cockney’, but the painter who hires her has no intention of depicting Miss Churm herself. Disappearing into the image, after all, is what models are for. Miss Churm is a professional.
The relation between Camille Doncieux and her representation on canvas was more ambiguous, however. Monet did not pay her to sit for him: like the other two women who are the subject of Ruth Butler’s new book – Hortense Fiquet (Paul Cézanne) and Rose Beuret (Auguste Rodin) – Doncieux was first the artist’s mistress and later his wife. Hiring a model cost a minimum of one franc an hour; painting the woman who already shared your bed was clearly the cheaper alternative. Though both Monet and Cézanne began their careers with support from their families in the provinces, neither they nor Rodin (whose father was a Parisian clerical worker) had money to spare. But precarious finances are not the only explanation for the phenomenon of the ‘model-wife’. Having broken with the conventions of academic history painting, Butler suggests, the Impressionists and their followers no longer needed to rely on professionals who had been trained to adopt traditional poses. Artists looked to the women of their households because of a newfound interest in everyday life.
Like many histories of modern painting centred on 19th-century France, this argument rather short-changes the work of the Dutch two centuries earlier. Jan Steen frequently included his wife and family in his genre scenes; Gerard ter Borch drew on his half-sister, Gesina; Rembrandt had Saskia and Hendrickje; and at least one prominent Vermeer scholar, John Michael Montias, has speculated that several of the unknown women in Vermeer’s paintings are the artist’s wife or daughter. Perhaps the order of things was a bit more bourgeois in 17th-century Holland: though biographical data for the Dutch are comparatively scarce, they may have been more inclined than their counterparts in 19th-century Paris to marry women before painting them. (Rodin didn’t marry Rose Beuret until she was on her deathbed.) But if neither the model-wife nor the turn to the everyday is as new as Butler implies, her book nonetheless makes an appealing attempt to rescue her subjects from the anonymity of being known as ‘The Woman in the Green Dress’.
The three stories have much in common, particularly at the start. A young woman, not yet twenty, meets up with a male artist on an unrecorded occasion somewhere in Paris. She agrees to model for him or have sex with him (we don’t know which came first); and within a few years they have an illegitimate son. At some point they set up house together; and sooner or later – in the Rodins’ case, more than half a century later – they marry. For much of their life as a couple, they struggle with poverty. Changes of address are frequent, whether for the sake of art or in flight from creditors. (No one beats Monet, however, when it comes to begging letters: to be his friend was to be perpetually solicited for francs, even when he should have been prospering.) All three artists come and go by themselves a lot, though only Cézanne seems to have been principally motivated by the desire to spend as little time as possible with his wife and child. (He preferred living with his mother and sister in Aix.) In due course the relation is disrupted by another woman, but here the narratives diverge considerably, from the unrequited affair that briefly obsessed the sexually anxious Cézanne even before he married Fiquet, to the womanising in which Rodin indulged after he became a celebrity. Monet, who may or may not have had an affair with his second wife while still married to his first, was living in a ménage à quatre with the other woman and her husband when Doncieux died. He was the only one to marry again. Only Fiquet outlasted the artist who had painted her.
The conventional wisdom in the cafés was that domestic entanglements should be avoided; and with the partial exception of ‘Monet’s bird’, as Butler says Doncieux was known by his friends, these wives have not had a good press. Contemporaries regarded Fiquet and ‘her bourgeois son’ as a dead weight on Cézanne: perhaps taking their cue from him, they called her la Boule, as in ‘ball and chain’. Van Gogh thought there was ‘plenty of male potency’ in Cézanne’s work ‘because it didn’t evaporate on his wedding night’. Puzzling over the artist’s nature some forty years later, Roger Fry wondered how much ‘the tremendous repression that took place’ could be explained by ‘that sour-looking bitch of a Mme’. The misogyny directed at Rodin’s partner was somewhat less virulent; and since she was the offspring of peasants, it took a different form. Late in life the artist told Vita Sackville-West that Beuret had attached herself to him ‘comme une bête’ – less ‘like a crazy person’, as Butler has it, than ‘like a dumb animal’. (Butler earlier quotes Alexandre Dumas on the ‘trainloads of young people’ arriving from the provinces: ‘especially girls from the lowest classes who, being so close to natural savagery, retain their animal appetites for sensual indulgence’.) By the time Rodin was discussing Beuret with Sackville-West, his international success had carried him far from his working-class origins, and even further from those of the provincial peasant who still shared his life. Most accounts of Beuret date from his years of fame, when gossip dismissed her as a ‘little washerwoman without any capacity for communication with him’ (Edmond de Goncourt), and visitors mistook her for his jealous old housekeeper. Though there were some dissenting voices – including that of Rilke, who briefly worked as Rodin’s secretary – even those in charge of preserving the artist’s legacy managed not to see her. Butler reports that the portrait of Beuret that appears as a frontispiece to this book long hung in the Musée Rodin as a picture of the artist’s mother.
The voices of these women, too, have almost vanished from the record. Whether Monet’s second wife destroyed the letters of her predecessor, as many scholars assume, or the artist himself set fire to them, as Butler plausibly speculates, nothing from Doncieux survives. We have just two letters from Fiquet; 11, barely literate, from Beuret. Butler partly compensates for this absence by turning to social history. She invokes the demographic shifts that help explain, for example, why nearly all the principals in her story had roots in the provinces. To contextualise her subjects’ frequent movements around Paris and its suburbs, she offers several brief excursuses on the changing face of the 19th-century city. We hear about the growth of consumerism and the rise of the department store, especially in relation to the up-to-date fashions that figure so prominently in Monet’s images of his wife, and about the national rail system that would have taken the 17-year-old Beuret from her village in the Haute-Marne to the capital. Descriptions of Parisian needleworkers fill in Beuret’s life as a seamstress; and a modern study of impoverished motherhood in the city serves to reconstruct the conditions under which she would have given birth to Rodin’s baby.
Hidden in the Shadow of the Master also draws on the evidence of Zola’s L’Oeuvre (1885-86), a re-creation of a Cézanne-like painter, Claude Lantier, and his model-wife, Christine. As the suffering partner of a man who always puts his art first, Christine is, in Butler’s account, ‘the fictional sister of the women in this book’. Indeed, Zola’s portrait of the model-wife is sympathetic – arguably more so than his portrait of the artist. (The publication of L’Oeuvre put an end to Cézanne’s friendship with the novelist.) In lines Butler doesn’t quote, Zola even suggests that a woman married to the man who paints her is compelled to work harder than her paid equivalent:
Claude soon began to take her for granted and to treat her merely as a model, making more demands upon her than if he had been paying her and without ever thinking that, since she was his wife, he could ask too much of her. He used her for everything and expected her to be ready to undress for him at any moment, for an arm or a leg or for any odd detail he happened to need. She was reduced to being nothing more nor less than a kind of living dummy which he set in position and copied, as he would have copied a jug or a cooking-pot in a still life.
Despite her recourse to Zola’s novel, Butler resists the implications of a passage like this, with its picture of the model-wife as the dehumanised victim of her husband’s art. While the neglected Christine ends by angrily denouncing Lantier’s painting – ‘it’s been choking the life out of me,’ she says, ‘ever since I met you’ – Butler wants to believe that her model-wives were active, even joyful, collaborators in their husbands’ work. She invites us to see them not as objects of the gaze but as subjects who managed to convey that subjectivity in ‘their look’.
Teasing out historical persons from their painted images would be a tricky exercise under any conditions; but it proves all the more challenging here because so many of the pictures at issue show relatively little interest in the model’s face. With some notable exceptions, including the recently identified portrait of Beuret, the artists in this book used their wives more as elements of composition than as characters. This holds true not only for works like Monet’s Women in the Garden (1866), with its four modishly dressed figures – all based, according to Butler, on Doncieux – but also for the multiple images of Fiquet in which Cézanne turned the art of portraiture into something nearly resembling still life. Though Fiquet’s form typically dominates the canvas, her personality remains elusive: her face an enigmatic mask, her eyes two dark hollows. Looking at one of the most famous of these images, Madame Cézanne with a Fan (begun in 1878), Butler finds enough white in one of those eyes to counter the impression that their owner is sightless. But whether the dignity she identifies in this and other such portraits was the gift of the model or of the man who painted her is impossible to say. In any open question, Butler opts for the model: she speaks, for example, of how ‘Hortense Fiquet brought solidity and patience to Paul Cézanne’s art,’ though all we can know for certain is that Fiquet sat repeatedly for her husband in their early years together and that others’ accounts of what this experience was like suggest that more than an ordinary degree of patience was required. ‘You wretch!’ the artist reportedly shouted at his dealer, Ambroise Vollard: ‘You’ve spoiled the pose. Do I have to tell you again you must sit like an apple?’ In justice to Fiquet, one of Cézanne’s nieces recalled, many years later, that her aunt would patiently read to him for hours on end when he could not sleep. As for ‘solidity’: if to ‘sit like an apple’ is already to possess the weightiness and substance that Cézanne typically gave to that fruit, then perhaps here, too, we should credit the model as much as the painter.
The argument for Doncieux, by contrast, hangs primarily on her clothes. Rather than attribute her eye-catching outfits to Monet, Butler prefers to think of dressing up as woman’s work – especially, she implies, because the dresses in these pictures were often so stylish. (Presumably a man would not have cared whether his models were wearing the latest fashion.) A chain of inference links the origins of Doncieux’s father in Lyon to the textile trade and thence to his daughter’s ‘instinctive taste for feminine elegance’. Or perhaps she acquired her taste by wandering round Printemps, the most recently opened of the Parisian department stores and the nearest to the family home in Batignolles. (‘We can imagine this to have been Camille’s kind of place.’) Looking at Doncieux elegantly posed in the green dress, Butler decides that a ‘quality of display … came naturally to her.’ Never mind that the dress was a studio prop, borrowed from another artist. Whenever possible, Butler chooses to believe that the models suggested their own costumes. So she notes, for example, of Women in the Garden that Doncieux ‘has added a stylish hat’ to an outfit worn in an earlier painting, or remarks that ‘surely it was she who selected the dresses’ for the various domestic scenes that Monet painted at Argenteuil in the 1870s. When Doncieux dons a red kimono and yellow wig for La Japonaise (1876) – the large canvas of a woman in Oriental trappings with which Monet sought to replicate the original success of Camille – Butler encourages us to picture the couple trying out poses together and laughing at their visual wit. They were, she asserts, ‘a good team’.
It’s an attractive scenario, and Butler evidently prefers it to the stolid endurance she associates with Fiquet. But wishful speculation proves no match in the end for a narrative better grounded in history: that of Rose Beuret’s long involvement with Rodin. Though Beuret herself could barely write, Rodin was an obsessive record-keeper, who hoarded everything from his own ardent letters early in their relationship to financial papers, erotic drawings and the outpourings of his later mistresses. By the first decade of the 20th century, according to one of his secretaries, ‘two whole rooms’ of his villa ‘were given up to this passion for the accumulation and preservation of the letters, invoices, vouchers, estimates and receipts of a lifetime.’ The secretaries themselves later contributed reminiscences, as did many of the visitors who descended on Rodin in his years of fame. Butler, who has already written a biography of the sculptor, knows this material well, and she draws on it to good effect in her portrait of Beuret. There is more than a little irony in our knowing most about the model-wife who would have been least able to tell her own story.
As a sculptor rather than a painter, Rodin inhabited a different world from Cézanne and Monet. Alone among those discussed here, he testified to the collaboration of artist and model: ‘They work together as a productive force.’ He certainly seems to have got more out of Beuret than a capacity to sit like an apple. One female allegory for which she served as a model required her to ‘get up on an elevated platform, nude to the waist … her arms outstretched for long periods of time’ – only to break the pose periodically by leaping and yelling as loudly as possible, so that Rodin could capture the ferocity of her gesture in his image. The dynamism of another such figure, originally intended as a bust of ‘La République’, gave rise to the unsubstantiated claim that Rodin had captured Beuret’s expression during one of their frequent quarrels. (Both projects failed to win the commissions for which they were submitted; ‘La République’ subsequently became Bellone, the goddess of war.) But even when she wasn’t supplying expressive energy for his figures, the artisanal character of the sculptor’s studio meant there was much work to do. Rodin’s first surviving letter to Beuret, written while he was engaged on a project in Brussels, makes clear that he counted on her: ‘When you moisten my figure, don’t moisten it too much or the legs will get too soft. I am well pleased that you are taking care of my plasters and my clays.’ Subsequent sets of instructions, more difficult for the uninitiated to decode, testify to the understanding that grew between them. Clay had to be kept damp by carefully rotating wet rags; fragile figures needed to be packed up for shipment; photographers and collectors had to be shown around the studio. So long as Rodin regarded himself primarily as a craftsman rather than a genius, his companion could proudly continue to serve as his ‘garçon d’atelier’.
Success, as it has a way of doing, divided them. In 1880, some 16 years after he met Beuret, Rodin won the commission for the relief that would eventually become The Gates of Hell. He began going to dinner parties without her. ‘C’est une sauvage,’ he once explained to a host who was walking him home, when the latter wondered why they had encountered Beuret waiting for Rodin in the park. Around the same time, he acquired new assistants, among them the young sculptor Camille Claudel, with whom he would soon embark on a stormy affair. Claudel was followed by a number of others, including Gwen John, as Rodin’s increasing celebrity drew to his studio a harem of models and lovers. But as Claudel discovered when she tried to make him leave Beuret and marry her, this most spectacularly unfaithful of artists had his own kind of loyalty. A wicked drawing by Claudel, one of a series of angry caricatures she sent to her lover, shows the naked bodies of Rodin and Beuret, the woman on all fours, her rear end apparently stuck to that of the man, who grabs hold of a tree trunk in a futile effort to pull himself free. Claudel called it Le Collage – ‘Glued Together’. Many a woman whose lover refuses to leave his wife might recognise the sentiment, but Rodin was not married. (‘Collage’ is also slang for an illicit liaison.) The drawing is dated 1892; Rodin stuck with Beuret, in some fashion, for another quarter-century. Not until 1917, when worries about his estate prompted him to legalise their relation, did Rose Beuret become Mme Rodin. Asked by a witness why he had not married her long ago, she had a simple answer: ‘He told me if I was his wife I would not obey him as well as I do.’ She died two weeks later.
Send Letters To:
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Please include name, address, and a telephone number.
Ruth Bernard Yeazell is Chace Family Professor of English at Yale. Her most recent book, Picture Titles: How and Why Western Paintings Acquired Their Names, came out last year.
More by this contributor
Peaches d’antan: Henry James’s Autobiographies
In what sense did she love him? Constance Fenimore Woolson
Oh! – only Oh! Burne-Jones
More by Ruth Bernard Yeazell
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Helena Bonham Carter Once Had A Sleepover With The Queen
Claire Foy Will Take To The Throne Once More In 'The Crown'
Who Will Take Over As The Queen In 'The Crown' Season 5?
Olivia Colman Has Finally Been Given The Royal Recognition She Deserves
'The Crown' Has Reportedly Cast The Role Of Margaret Thatcher
Claire Foy Responds To Being Paid Less Than Matt Smith On 'The Crown'
Queen Elizabeth II Gets Candid About Being Monarch For The First Time
Here’s Definitive Proof The Queen Has Binge-Watched The Crown
‘The Crown’ Creator Peter Morgan Says The Queen Is “A Countryside Woman With Limited Intelligence”
'The Crown' Recreates Famous Princess Diana Moment In Rare Look At Season 4
The Queen Responds To Prince Harry And Meghan Markle's Decision To Step Back From The Royal Family
Meghan Markle Returns To Canada Without Prince Harry Amid Royal Family Drama
Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Have Resigned From the Royal Family
Olivia Colman’s Glam Squad Used This Anti-Aging Face Tool Before The Golden Globes
The First Look At Olivia Coleman As The Queen In 'The Crown' Is Here
'Patience' - by Jessica Bosco
We’re still coming to terms with the fact that all the characters we know and love on Netflix’s hit show The Crown, won’t be returning for season three.
But now we finally have our first look at Olivia Coleman taking over the role of Queen Elizabeth and it's getting us excited.
The Crown on Twitter
Taking over from Emmy nominated, Golden Globe winning Clare Foy, who played the role for the first to seasons, Coleman has some big shoes to fill.
"I'm so thrilled to be part of The Crown, I was utterly gripped watching it, a proper ‘just one more' feeling," Colman said in a statement back in April 2018.
"I think Claire Foy is an absolute genius, she's an incredibly hard act to follow, I'm basically going to rewatch every episode and copy her!"
The new season will also see the roles of Prince Phillip and Princess Margaret replaced with Tobias Menzies and Helena Bonham Carter joining the cast.
Click here for everything we know about season 3 so far
Jessica Bosco
Jessica is marie claire and InStyle's Senior Digital Content Editor reporting on everything from celebrities to breaking news, lifestyle and all things royal (ahem, Meghan and Harry!).
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National Theatre Live: Fleabag
See the hilarious, award-winning, one-woman show that inspired the BBC’s hit TV series Fleabag recorded live. Written and performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve) and directed by Vicky Jones, Fleabag is a rip-roaring look at some sort of woman living her sort of life.
Bar opens
Under 18s advance and on the door
Unreserved Seating
Tickets available in person from Lyme Regis and Bridport Tourist Information centres and over the phone on 01297 442138.
Booking fee may apply.
Read More Buy Tickets
Fleabag may seem oversexed, emotionally unfiltered and self-obsessed, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With family and friendships under strain and a guinea pig café struggling to keep afloat, Fleabag suddenly finds herself with nothing to lose.
Playing to sold-out audiences in New York and London, don’t miss your chance to see this ‘legitimately hilarious show’ (New Yorker), screened at the Marine.
This is a recorded ‘encore’ screening.
Presented by DryWrite, Soho Theatre and Annapurna Theatre
Your Visit & Tickets
Eat & Sleep
Adopt A Year
Wedding Partners
© Marine Theatre 2020
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CRIMINAL DEFENSE – PERSONAL INJURY – PHARMACEUTICAL & MEDICAL DEVICE LITIGATION
Tigran Martinian
Suzanna Abrahamian
Arash Zabetian
Ivet Grigoryan
Nina Sargsyan
Skilled & Experienced Attorneys
About Attorney Tigran Martinian
Founder of Martinian & Associates, Inc.
Founder of Martinian & Associates, Inc., Attorney Tigran Martinian is recognized by his peers, clients, and the public as a skilled trial attorney in California.
Mr. Martinian has developed a reputation as a passionate attorney for justice by representing clients with a high level of skill. Trained by legendary trial lawyers, he provides effective and aggressive representation in every case he tries. He has a proven track record of helping those who have been harmed by the wrongful conduct of others or charged with a crime.
Upon taking on a case, Mr. Martinian maximizes its value by exploring perspectives from law professors, judges, formal judges, and defense attorneys. Shortly after passing his bar exam, Mr. Martinian was able to resolve his first criminal case, at the preliminary hearing stage, with a full dismissal of all charges against his client who was accused of major insurance fraud.
Thereafter, Mr. Martinian obtained verdicts exceeding millions of dollars in his first few civil trials. Since then, he has successfully collected over $100 million in verdicts and settlements in both state and federal courts. Among these recoveries includes the matter wherein Mr. Martinian obtained the largest broken arm verdict ($600,000.00) in California.
Mr. Martinian was born in Armenia and migrated to Los Angeles in his late teens where he was put through many challenges. Through hard work, dedication, and perseverance, Mr. Martinian now leads a multi-million dollar law firm – which focuses on personal injury, products liability, elder abuse, criminal defense, mass tort pharmaceutical litigation, and class actions.
State Bar of California
University of Phoenix, Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration, February 1998
Abraham Lincoln University, Juris Doctor, February, 2004
Honors and Recognitions
The National Trial Lawyers, Top 100 Trial Lawyers in California, 2014, 2015
The National Trial Lawyers, Top 40 Under 40, 2013
National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys, Top 10 Attorney Award, 2015
Best Attorneys of America, Lifetime Charter Member
Professional Affiliations and Membership
American Association of Justice
National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys
Martial Arts - Black Belt 2nd Degree
Contemporary Arts
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2801 Cahuenga Boulevard West Los Angeles, CA 90068 Map & Directions [+]
Main: (888) 987-7243 Local: (323) 850-1900
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Home » MAA Publications » MAA Reviews » Heavenly Numbers: Astronomy and Authority in Early Imperial China
Heavenly Numbers: Astronomy and Authority in Early Imperial China
Christopher Cullen
[Reviewed by
Megan Sawyer
With a strong emphasis on primary sources, Heavenly Numbers explores the Chinese system of astronomy and the emphasis Chinese rulers placed on the preciseness of the system. An attempt to make this text understandable to both the layperson and to the scholar is apparent throughout in the reiteration and discussion of concepts as a narrative rather than a series of concise definitions.
Heavenly Numbers begins with an introduction to the Chinese astronomy system and, more importantly for this material, the implications that a precise calendar had on a ruling dynasty. Through a series of chapters, the reader is introduced to Chinese mathematicians who are novel contributors to the accuracy of the calendar system. Although these mathematician-astronomers are “side characters” to the ruling party, Cullen makes it obvious that without their key contributions — including tracking stars, planets, and pinning down equinoxes and eclipses — the connection that Chinese dynasties made between emperors and gods would have been more tenuously accepted by the population as a whole. This is evident especially in the transition between dynasties: Cullen discusses how these transitionary periods were often accompanied by changes to the position of master astronomer and occasionally, the accepted calendar itself.
Cullen guides the reader through the Chinese system in precise detail with references to source documents and incorporation of Chinese characters throughout the text. Footnotes pepper each page with tidbits of information, clarification, or references to source documents. Although helpful, this reviewer did find the sheer amount of side-information distracting and would rather see these comments in an endnote for each chapter. Regardless, Heavenly Numbers is an enlightening glimpse into Eastern mathematics and astronomy and the reader will finish the book with an appreciation of the depth of the connection between the two fields.
Megan Sawyer is an associate professor of mathematics at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH.
1. The astronomical empire
2. Li in everyday life: dates and calendars
3. The Emperor's Grand Inception, and the defeat of the Grand Clerk
4. The Triple Concordance system & Liu Xin's 'Grand Unified Theory'
5. The measures and forms of heaven
6. Restoration and re-creation in the Eastern Han
7. The age of debates
8. Liu Hong and the conquest of the moon
9. Epilogue
Non-Western Cultures
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ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND THE MIL-TEK WORLD
EN16500 Balers: Improved Safety Standards
Mil-tek has updated its range of balers with key changes and improvements in accordance with EN16500, a new set of safety standards from the British Standards Institute...
EN16500:2014 are a new set of safety standards published by the British Standards Institution in conjunction with CEN (the European Committee for Standardization), which are designed to rigorously protect users through all operational aspects of a vertical baler. These standards cover all aspects of use including but not exclusive to the bale chamber, the bale ejection area, the controls actuators and devices, emergency stop systems, noise reduction, instruction manuals and labels and any other potential hazards a user could face. The design of the machine is entirely committed to ergonomic and safe use.
In accordance with these new standards Mil-tek has updated its range of balers with key changes and improvements.
Key New Safety Factors
No access to moving parts, by user or second person
Fail-safety mechanism with dual interlock system
Two handed bale-out device (2305, 2306 & 2509 Models)
Lock-out device to isolate power to the baler
New & Improved Features On EN16500 Range
Faster pressing cycle: 50% reduction in return plate time, as low as 3 seconds
Self-locking and closing mechanisms for added safety
Up to 15% reduction in power use
Bale-out indicator
Cycle counter
Kristian Skannerup, Founder & CEO:
"For any employer, the health and safety of their workforce in tantamount. For us as an organisation, it's another testament to our ongoing commitment to safety. We have spent over 22 years ensuring that our machines are completely safe and user friendly and we are delighted to reaffirm this commitment. We are proud to be at the heart of this initiative, making clean and green solutions that help organisations minimize waste."
For more information please visit www.mil-tek.com/EN16500
For more information on BSI please visit http://www.bsigroup.com/
EN16500 Balers: Improved Safety Standards /Default.aspx?ID=6075&newsid=61&PID=37281&M=NewsV2&Action=1
Mads Skannerup
Darragh Groeger
marketing@miltek.dk
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Home MMO News First Assault Runs Free Stress Test Until 7/21, Offers Loot Bundles For...
First Assault Runs Free Stress Test Until 7/21, Offers Loot Bundles For Sale
If you’ve been wanting to try out First Assault, Nexon’s Ghost in the Shell shooter, but haven’t felt like shelling out the cash for early access in advance of its free-to-play launch, you’re in luck. From now until July 21, the game is fully free-to-play via Steam and the Nexon global platform as part of a weeklong stress test to prepare the game for open beta.
Nexon has also added one new and one returning item to First Assault’s cash shop for the text. The Elite Content Crate returns, giving you a head start with two 500,000 GP coupons — one for now and one for open beta — an exclusive Motoko Kusanagi skin, three exclusive weapon skins, and two operative skins, all for $29.99. If you’d prefer not to spend that much, you can instead pick up the new Starter Supply Crate for $9.99, which nets you 250,000 GP and 10 each 100% XP and GP boosters.
You can get full details on the stress test and these packages on the stress test announcement page.
ASA July 19, 2016 at 2:15 pm
Gonna suck when stress testing is over. I only installed the nexon game launcher just to play this which I had loads of fun on this game. I’m unsure if I will uninstall it or not but since they are really close to open beta only time will tell.
LAMBDA471 July 23, 2016 at 5:53 am
They extended the stress test into Open Beta, which starts on July 28th.
IDGAF July 17, 2016 at 11:52 am
Good Game. And the best thing they blocked Brazil. They allways lag hard and 99,9% of them are hackers in most games they ruind so many games and its nice to see that NEXON learnd this. I hope more companys follow them and block Brazil too.
Laxiba July 16, 2016 at 2:17 pm
The coolest game of the year and the Brazilian can not play because Nexon is a xenophobic company. The saddest part is Steam have agreed not to release the game for all countries. They blocked the Brazilians because of hackers in Combat Arms but were all that used these nasty programs !? Not yet innocent pay the price for what went wrong, so unfair. I just think that cases of hackers would not be repeated because the VAC of Steam is cruel and could easily handle any dirty program that tried to use in bad faith to damage someone else’s game. Well, that’s it, the indignation of a player who was deprived of play.
ChibiCthulhu July 16, 2016 at 10:03 am
Great game, very promising. I’ve put over 200 hours into it so far.
I’d say the only problem this game has, aside from small playerbase (which will change after it goes F2P) is bad netcode which can result in bad hit registration and delays in death. Those things don’t happen very often though so it’s not a game-breaking problem.
dark20xx July 15, 2016 at 6:58 pm
So I’ve downloaded it in order to see if there was something new or if there were some changes. My unlock token was gone and the server went down for maintenance. 10/10 would recommend.
Fan July 15, 2016 at 7:25 pm
Why are you lying to yourself. Be honest
dark20xx July 16, 2016 at 10:37 am
yeah, tried it, no positive changes, it’s still mediocre at best, even for a korean shooter – and they’re known for being trash.
Deathloche July 15, 2016 at 6:46 pm
the weapons in this game need some serious tweaking. hip fire is inaccurate and iron site is not as accurate as it should be. you can be like 3 feet away and still wont hit the target.
THEchosenONe July 16, 2016 at 6:03 am
L…l…like in cs:go? 😀 i really like the weapons even with such a spread i got to control them quite easily.
kek July 16, 2016 at 1:25 pm
So you want it to be like call of duty? Jumping and shooting 100% accurate? Sigh.
Nah, he just want the game to be good.
I agree it’s not a terrible game I had loads more fun on here then I had on Overwatch but the only problem like @shanex said was they lack a playerbase so it’s hard to actually play the game since not many players are actually logging in. This is just a stress test to get people to join and play while they prepare to get the game ready for open beta.
xKuKix July 15, 2016 at 6:02 pm
EU only 🙁 not NA 🙁
Yes NA. There are servers for:
NA East
NA West
EU East
EU West
Shanex July 15, 2016 at 5:59 pm
It’s not terrible but the lack of player base kinda makes it hard to play. The stress test is just an attempt to get people to play it with population.
extasist July 16, 2016 at 4:35 am
why do you think player base is so low?, its f2p game for how long now, and why do you think there was no key give away its a cash grab… if you cant see that oh boy what can i tell you.
I’m not even sure what you are trying to say lol. It just has a low pop.
ff July 18, 2016 at 6:28 am
Its a free to play game and they charged cash for their early access or beta test for months. A free to play game shouldn’t charge any money. Thanks to the beta testers who paid money to play a bugged game. Its nice to see there are always dumb people who pay money to do the work of others. Many years agoyou got paid for being a beta tester. Today the beta tester pay the devs. Thanks to the lower human beings.
extasist July 15, 2016 at 3:14 pm
people plz dont fall for this game, great ip, but oh god terrible game.
How is it terrible?
Terrible games look like shit, are unplayable and no one plays them.
This one looks nice, it’s easy to get into and everything is free except for skins.
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Guild Wars 2 (GW2)
ArenaNet | Play Now | Official Site
MMORPG | Setting:Fantasy | Status:Final (rel 08/28/12) | Pub:NCSoft
PVP:Yes | Distribution:Download,Retail | Retail Price:Free | Pay Type:Free | Monthly Fee:Free
A Case Against Water Combat (and in Favor of Anything Else)
By Steven Weber on June 01, 2018 | Columns | Comments
In Guild Wars 2 we have had opportunities to take to the skies, dive into the depths of volcanoes, explore dangerous jungles and even tarry in the afterlife to some degree. Throughout the starkly different landscapes and mediums of gameplay, players have experienced, there has always been an underlying consensus from the greater populous. Underwater combat is bad. If you disagree, I refuse to apologize, and will vehemently fight you on this.
On May 8th Arenanet released a bevy of information on the changes they released to water combat, and rumors are swirling that the next expansion may contain a substantial amount of seascape to traverse with increased emphasis on water combat. Whether that will come to pass or whether the next expansion will go a completely different route, I’m here to make a case against extensive water combat, or at least, water combat as we know it, in favor of other types of gameplay that aren’t already sullied by a sordid and unpleasant past. Here are some areas I can see Guild Wars 2 expanding gameplay in areas that the community would love.
Expanded Mount Combat
In Path of Fire mounts were added to the game. While mounts were requested even before the launch of the legacy version of Guild Wars 2, Arenanet finally delivered, nay, surpassed expectations, when they finally released mounts. Mounts are exceptionally fun, granting you increased movement and new ways to interact with the environment like how the skimmer can glide over dangerous landscapes. One of the main reasons why mounts were so well received is that they enabled players, whereas even to this day, after all of the changes, water combat is a detriment to gameplay. You move slower, many of your abilities don’t work, you can’t use the same weapons or skills, but more importantly, your choices of weapons and skills are greatly reduced.
Adding mounted combat that doesn’t dismount you would be a great boon to gameplay as a whole. When I’m on my mount going from area to area, having to hop on and off of my mount is annoying at best, but expansive mount combat could not only increase enjoyment of these mounts as tools but expand them as extensions of your favorite class specializations. To go one further, adding underwater mounts that allow for water combat would do for submarine warfare what the Path of Fire mounts did for land travel. Simply put, it would make it a pleasure rather than a chore.
We have traveled to the Jungles of Maguuma and the arid Crystal Desert, so let us pretend we’re heading into Cantha on the next expansion. How would one suppose they would migrate across the oceans blue to find out what came of Cantha after the Zhaitan attack? I won’t be patronizing of you, yes, Naval Combat can open up a lot of opportunities, while not completely losing sight of the current work they’ve done on water combat. Sure, this doesn’t completely remove the necessity for underwater gameplay, in fact, you could make the case that it puts you in a position for substantially more underwater gameplay but sailing the oceans on a schooner that you can control could fundamentally change the perception of water-based combat.
In addition to that, utilizing ships as an alternative specifically for water combat would also be very helpful in the legacy game too. Currently, several levels require that you trudge through a hefty expanse of water to complete heart quests or earn Skill Points. What better way to do it than to stay on your ship, firing cannons and swashbuckling to your heart's content? This would also open up a substantial amount of content. Think of the pirates you could hunt, or the pirate you could become? Imagine guild ships where you could quest together in the open ocean, but never be too far from your Krytan home. It would be all of the enjoyment of seafaring combat without the downsides of being underwater.
Deep Sea Combat
If underwater combat doesn’t tickle your fancy, why would Deep Sea combat? Let me just float this out there, no pun intended. Tyria is a world of vast magic and wonder. There are plentiful sea dwelling races such as the Quaggans, the Krait, and the Largos. Who are we to say that somewhere underneath the ocean there are cities built within air pockets, where all the enjoyment of land combat exists deep under the ocean's surface. Why spend so much time trying to make abilities make sense for underwater combat when the easiest premise would be, make underwater combat act more like land-based combat?
The implications of this could extend to many areas of the game. Just as mounts and gliders activate during certain circumstances, an air pocket generator could make underwater travel enjoyable, while also making all combat abilities available for immediate use. Strategically speaking, it could even work better alongside the use of the current set of water combat abilities that sink and float enemies. In turn, this could open up a lot of opportunities later on for heavy underwater exploration. We took stock of Arenanets abilities to make multi-tiered zones with Heart of Thorns. Utilizing the same structure, being able to drop to the bottom or rise to the top quickly without sacrificing speed or combat ability by the use of air bubbles could be a lot of fun. Currently swimming slowly through water zones, whether it’s horizontally or vertically challenges one’s patience and much less of one’s gameplay.
We have no confirmation yet as to where the next expansion might take us. Will it be Cantha? One can only hope, but the sudden prevalence of a water combat update was an interesting if not unwanted revision. My pedantic side screams, “that’s not what I wanted” yet, in truth, the reason why it is unwanted is simply that it’s too little, too late to bridge the gap that will make underwater combat a welcome inclusion to an otherwise stellar game. My opinions of what could be added in lieu of more prominent water combat are just options that would make sense and work well within the lore, without sacrificing too much in the way of gameplay. The reality is, many of us don’t feel that undersea battles are enjoyable, they just don’t resonate with many of us in their current iteration. Whether you like it, or you hate it, what would you do if it was your choice?
Created On: June 01, 2018
MMORPG.com » Games » Guild Wars 2 » Columns » A Case Against Water Combat (and in Favor of Anything Else)
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The Division 2 (TD2)
UBISoft | Official Site
MMOTPS | Setting:Real Life | Status:Final (rel 03/15/19) | Pub:UBISoft
PVP:Yes | Distribution:Download,Retail | Retail Price:$59.99 | Pay Type:Buy to Play | Monthly Fee:n/a
System Req: | ESRB:M| Out of date info? Let us know!
The Division 2 – Open Beta Impressions
By Steven Weber on March 04, 2019 | Previews | Comments
As a final prelude to the inevitable launch next week, Ubisoft led this past weekends’ Open Beta as an unexpected love letter to Division players. Despite maintaining a fairly limited scope that falls in line with what we saw in the Private Beta, Ubisoft proved that they are all ears when it comes to making concessions on their original design to make their players happy. The long journey from New York to Washington D.C. has almost finished, but is the Open Beta enough to curtail fears of a problematic launch?
In recent years, betas have often been used more as marketing tactics than actual attempts to gear up for an actual launch. We’ve seen similarly tested titles like Fallout 76 and Anthem provides tastes of their game, only to have some issues to persist long into launch. In this way, Ubisoft has proven that stability is a core issue that they have been working on repeatedly from the Private Beta on to Open Beta. An example of this was the lack of a login queue this time around despite the beta being open to everyone. I attempted to play across PC and PS4, and regardless of where I logged in, I had zero queue times.
On my last preview of Private Beta, I had a very mixed impression of the disparity between early leveling gameplay and high-level play. Ubisoft didn’t shrink away from the continued complaints that high-level bullet sponges were a severe detriment to the overall feel of combat. No, you shouldn’t expect a one hit kill, even with a sniper rifle, on most enemies. They have decreased the sponginess enough that I was able to kill multiple enemies on a single magazine, even on hard mode. Another major issue I had, was that specialization ammo would drop extremely scarcely to the point that I was hesitant ever to use it. During Open Beta, special ammunition fell like candy. I was able to consistently utilize my crossbow, and regain ammo as I went.
Unfortunately, players were still confined to the very lowest areas of Washington D.C. A new level was opened, and the Chem Launcher was added, so players were able to see just a little bit more than they could in the Private Beta, but this leaves the largest swath of the game, the middle, uncharted. In many ways, I’m thankful for this, as I had just enough of the beginning and the end of the game to get a sense of what to expect, without spoiling the majority of the content. On the other hand, I have a concern that bugs may still exist somewhere in the middle as I experienced at the private hands-on press event, where our team had gotten stuck on a level. That being said, the new Viewpoint Museum mission was a lot of fun, and I was able to complete it without issue.
After primarily playing through the same content several times over the multiple tests I have done, I can unequivocally say that the game has continued to get better throughout each iteration. The end game bullet sponginess is much improved. The stuttering and disconnecting issues from the last beta were nonexistent. In all senses, from what I’ve experienced on both PS4 and PC, this game is ready to launch. Whether the great performance translates to the actual launch, only time will tell.
Created On: March 04, 2019
MMORPG.com » Games » The Division 2 » Previews » The Division 2 – Open Beta Impressions
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Amazon launches new Alexa feature that reminds customers when to take meds
By Laura Lovett 01:59 pm November 26, 2019
Amazon is jumping into the medication adherence space with a new feature that lets users link up their pharmacy prescription information and, in turn, get reminders about when to take their pills and order refills. The latest feature was born out of a collaboration between the online retail giant and Omnicell, a tech-enabled medication management company. Initially the feature will be rolled out...
AliveCor snags Amazon Alexa vet for its vacant CEO position
By Dave Muoio 01:33 pm July 25, 2019
After months of treading water, mobile ECG maker AliveCor has finally named its new CEO: Priya Abani, who up until this point led the Alexa Voice Service for Amazon. Abani’s three years at Amazon as general manager for devices and enablement saw her spearheading integration efforts to integrate voice assistant with Amazon’s various connected services, as well as leading its product, engineering,...
Partnership will see Amazon Alexa provide access to NHS-verified health information
By Leontina Postelnicu 06:24 am July 10, 2019
After the formal launch of NHSX, a new unit for digital, data and technology, the department of health and social care in England has announced that the NHS is working with Amazon to make verified health information available through the AI-powered voice assistant Alexa. Amazon’s algorithms will use information from the NHS.UK resource to give people answers to questions about common illnesses,...
Boston Children’s Hospital investigating Alexa skills for doctors in the clinic
By Dave Muoio 04:00 pm August 9, 2018
In early 2016, Boston Children’s Hospital was among the first healthcare organizations to leverage Amazon Alexa with KidsMD, a skill that helps parents understand their child’s symptoms, seek basic medication dosing guidance, or decide whether an in-person visit is necessary. With roughly 100,000 app interactions to date, more than 200 unique weekly, and plans for a second version of the skill...
Designing Alexa skills for consumers? Focus on content first, Cigna head says
Voice assistants are finding their way into a growing number of consumer homes, leading an ever-increasing number of healthcare companies to investigate how these connected technologies can be used to improve patients' health and deliver pertinent information directly to the individual. Unsurprisingly, building a successful consumer voice app comes with a number of challenges and considerations...
Optra Health launches Alexa-powered AI genomics platform
By Dave Muoio 03:41 pm February 20, 2018
Optra Health, which produces AI-driven iPhronesis analysis platform for healthcare and life sciences clients, today announced the launch of a new genetics-focused product specially designed for consumers, genetic counselors, and other genomics researchers. The OptraGURU platform combines the AI tech of iPhronesis with the language capabilities of Amazon’s Alexa. Users can speak directly to...
GoodRx launches Alexa app for finding the cheapest prescription drugs
By Jonah Comstock 04:36 pm December 14, 2017
Santa Monica, California-based GoodRx is giving consumers a new way to access the company’s database of drug prices: asking Alexa. With a new skill that's due to launch soon, users can find out the cheapest place to obtain a given drug and get a coupon texted to their phone, all just by using voice interaction. “We want to give GoodRx in whatever the shape or form people need it,” CEO Doug Hirsch...
Amazon's Alexa now offers health advice from the Mayo Clinic
By Dave Muoio 03:52 pm September 20, 2017
Basic health information and advice provided by the Mayo Clinic is now available on Amazon Alexa-enabled devices. Owners who have downloaded the Mayo Clinic First Aid skill (Amazon’s version of apps) need only voice their concerns to receive answers to dozens of everyday health issues or other self-care instructions. “Mayo Clinic produces trusted, evidence-based health guidance to empower people...
Boston Children's Hospital launches KidsMD, an app for Amazon's Alexa
By Jonah Comstock 02:19 pm April 12, 2016
After hinting about it in a recent interview, Boston Children's Hospital has officially launched its partnership with Amazon Echo, which gives the voice-powered home appliance a new "skill" that will allow it to give simple health advice to parents about their children's' fever and medication dosing. Called KidsMD, the Alexa app is just the first step in a plan to bring Boston Children's medical...
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Home M POS Payment industry history with first AES DUKPT key management implementation
Alex Rolfe
Verifone says it has implemented AES DUKPT with its end-to-end encryption solution, VeriShield Total Protect, its Engage family of payment devices, and Carbon 8 & 10.
Co-designed by Verifone, AES DUKPT is a new security key management standard that was approved as an American National Standard in October 2017 by the Accredited Standards Committee X9 (ASC X9). It incorporates the AES cryptographic algorithm to encrypt transaction data with greater security and processing speed than Triple Data Encryption Standard DUKPT (“Triple-DES DUKPT”)—the former standard that is widely deployed by the financial services industry.
“X9 [ASC X9] is grateful to have members like Verifone that worked to develop this standard,” said Steve Stevens, the Executive Director of X9. “AES DUKPT is a major improvement over the previously used algorithms because, among other benefits, it provides a much larger set of unique secret keys.” The main advantage of AES DUKPT is AES itself, as it provides the best security cryptography has to offer by supporting up to 256-bit keys, which are immune to all known methods of attack—even quantum computing attacks.
“Payment security—with the proliferation of EMV, end-to-end encryption, and tokenization—continues to be a top priority for Verifone, as we are committed to protecting the billions of transactions that pass through our systems every month,” said Joachim Vance, Verifone’s Chief Security Architect and AES DUKPT co-designer. “Our implementation of AES DUKPT—a standard we advocated for years with other industry influencers—validates this commitment.”
While Triple-DES DUKPT supports just over one million transactions, AES DUKPT can support over 2.4 billion, providing the ability for a terminal to handle more transactions using a single key that is expected for its full lifespan. AES DUKPT support is available for VeriShield Total Protect and requires Verifone payment devices to have Application Development Kit (ADK) 4.5.
“Cybercriminals are developing new, highly-innovative methods of attack at speeds that outpace the rapid, ongoing evolution underway in payments and commerce,” said Vance. “Supporting AES DUKPT at both the hardware- and software-level demonstrates ‘crypto-agility’ in our solutions—vastly strengthening the ability to protect merchants and customers’ sensitive transaction data as security threats and standards change.”
“The Master of Keys,” by Joachim Vance, Chief Security Architect, Verifone
ASC X9 press release
ANSI X9.24-3-2017, Retail Financial Services Symmetric Key Management – Part 3: DUKPT
Ingenico launches products to secure place in fast growing Android POS market
Turning a smartphone into a payment terminal – Mobeewave announces agreement with Samsung
NFC-ready POS terminals to reach 16.1 million in 2016
Hypercom achieves PCI PTS 2.1 security approval
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