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Elka Whalan
John Buchanan
Lauren Burns OAM
Sue Stanley
Mark Tonelli
Olympic Medalist, Keynote Speaker & MC
Chloe Esposito OAM is one of Australia's most impressive athletes, having won Gold at the Rio Olympic Games in Modern Pentathlon, the most challenging sport of all.
Her success was a long time in the making and a true demonstration of determination. She attempted to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at just 15 years of age, however a third place finish at the Oceania Championships in 2007 wasn't enough to qualify her... yet this didn't deter her from trying again.
Eleven years on, Chloe has competed at two Olympic Games and achieved an Olympic record in 2016.
Chloe is an extraordinary Australian sportswoman and an inspirational speaker and elegant role model. With her outgoing personality and charisma she will enhance any corporate occasion.
More about Chloe Esposito:
Following in the steps of father and now Coach, Daniel, Chloe first tasted podium success in 2011 at just 20 years old when she won the Swiss Open International. Since then she has been a top 10 regular and has established her position as one of the best Pentathletes on the world circuit.
In 2011 she returned to the Oceania Championships in Cheng Du, China seeking London Olympic qualification and achieved just that, qualifying 1st. Chloe went on to achieve Australia's best female result in London. She came from behind when she started the final combined event in 16th place. Her charge saw her finish in 7th and that gritty determination has become her trademark.
Although still under the radar of most Australians, 2012 was a pinnacle year for Chloe as she won her first World Cup medal in Rio De Janeiro as well as Australia's first medal at a World Championships. She claimed a bronze medal at the Junior World Championships in Poland.
Fast forward to 2016, having qualified for the Rio Olympic Games and overcome some prolonged injuries, Chloe Esposito was poised to take on the world. After three disciplines Chloe was seventh. She stormed through the field with precision shooting and superior cross country running to take home the crown as Olympic Champion and Australia's first medalist at an Olympic Games.
Always pushing for more Chloe has set herself to two clear goals. They are to become World Champion and then to go on and represent Australia at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Back to back Olympic Gold Medals !
May 2018 saw Chloe make her aspirations clear. In Kecskemet, Hungary, she became the first Australian to ever win a World Cup event.
Chloe Esposito speaks about:
We are a product of our environment - the impact of family, school and local environment on achieving Olympic Gold.
Chloe Esposito - my story
There are numerous factors that make for success both in sport and life - a Gold Medal perspective
Health & Lifestyle, Keynote Speaker, Sport, Motivational, Inspirational, Guest
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CEOs endorse 'foothold strategy' for electric cars
The Electrification Coalition of different companies pushes for policies to promote electric vehicles in six to eight regions in the U.S. as a way to build critical mass.
Martin LaMonica
November 17, 2009 5:31 AM PST
A group of CEOs on Monday came out favor of a regional roll-out of electric vehicles in up to eight cities to demonstrate the viability of the technology and incubate the fledgling industry.
The Electricifcation Coalition held a press conference in Washington, D.C. and released an Electrification Roadmap, which prescribes the business and policy steps required to ramp up electric vehicle adoption.
There are 13 members of the coalition, including the CEOs of Nissan Motor, FedEx, Pacific Gas & Electric, and battery maker A123 Systems. The coalition was spun out of Securing America's Future Energy, a lobbying group focused on reducing U.S. imports of oil.
Photos: Plug-in vehicles in Motor City
The Electrification Coalition argues that light-duty electric vehicles are the only technology that can cut oil imports and reduce carbon emissions in the near term. Its report (click for link) focuses on what's required to make electric cars available at large scale.
"I think we have the conditions for the mass market. But it's going to take more time," said Carlos Ghosn, the president and CEO of Nissan. "The investments to be made are huge. To make 50,000 batteries is a $250 million investment."
Of all the major automakers, Nissan is the most bullish on electrification. It is releasing an all-electric family sedan called the Leaf in the U.S. and Japan next year. It projects that 10 percent of new cars sales in 2020 will be electric, which is higher than most analysts' projections.
The shift presents challenges to auto makers that are unsure of consumer acceptance. Utilities and municipalities need to prepare in order to make these vehicles more consumer-friendly but they, too, are unsure what the volume of sales will be.
To take some uncertainly out of the picture, the Electrification Coalition advocates a "foothold strategy." Six to eight cities would create a number of incentives for electric vehicles, such as preferential parking and public charging stations. They would apply for government incentives and then test out the system to help bring electric cars to "critical mass," explained David Crane, the president and CEO of power generator NRG Energy.
In the first phase, the plan calls for getting 50,000 to 100,000 light-duty plug-in vehicles on the road per year in certain areas starting next year and then expand to 25 cities. Its report sets a target of having 25 percent of new vehicle sales be plug-ins by 2020, which is 5 million vehicles. A jump to 90 percent of new vehicle sales being plug-ins by 2030 would represent roughly 17 million units, according to data from consulting company PRTM.
For consumers, batteries should be owned and financed separately from the car itself, Crane said. Because batteries are an expensive component that makes it more expensive than a comparably-sized gasoline car, auto makers, including Nissan, are looking at ways to keep monthly car payments roughly the same by leasing batteries.
Governments around the world have established financial incentives for electric vehicles because it improves national security and addresses environmental problems, Nissan's Ghosn said. He noted that France, the U.S., and Japan each have established a tax credit of about $7,500 to consumers who buy an electric car.
In addition to federal tax credits, the coalition endorses incentives for municipalities dedicated to bringing in electric vehicles. Also required is technology to allow consumers to charge at off-peak times.
Speakers at the coalition launch also underscored the economic reasons for which governments are pushing electrification. Reducing oil imports would mean that billions of dollars of U.S. wealth would stop being exported, said Crane.
Government programs to drive investing in electric vehicle manufacturing also help the U.S. auto industry adapt to emerging technologies.
"We can do this. This is something we have the ingenuity for--we have enough innovation. What we need to do is capture that and use that to our advantage to build factories," said David Vieau, the CEO of A123 Systems.
Click for larger image. Electrification Coalition
Updated at 11:40 a.m. PT with corrected figure for sales projections.
Culture Car Tech
Discuss: CEOs endorse 'foothold strategy' for electric cars
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Google testing custom domain registration service
Still in an invite-only beta, Google Domains is geared toward helping small businesses without a Web presence purchase and transfer domains.
Google Domains start page. Google
Google apparently has its eye on a larger piece of the Internet.
The search giant announced Monday it is testing a custom domain registration service called Google Domains. Google said it decided to launch the service, which is still in an invite-only beta mode, after learning that 55 percent of small businesses did not have a website.
"We're beginning to invite a small number of people to kick the tires on Google Domains, a domain registration service we're in the process of building," the company said in a statement. "Businesses will be able to search, find, purchase and transfer the best domain for their business -- whether it's .com, .biz, .org, or any of the wide range of new domains that are being released to the Web."
Google Domains will offer services such as domain forwarding, customizable sub-domains, and no-cost private registration. In addition to offering access to hundreds of new domains such as .guru and .photography, the service will create up to 100 email aliases based on the domain of choice
While the service will give people the ability to buy customized URLs, Google won't provide the actual site hosting. Partners such as Wix, Weebly, Shopify, and Squarespace will provide hosting and website building services to registrants, the company said.
A Google page describing the service's features lists a $12 annual registration fee, which a Google representative confirmed for CNET.
Google's presence in the sector could prove disruptive, especially for leading domain registrar GoDaddy, which filed papers two weeks ago for an initial public offering that could be worth more than $100 million. While GoDaddy has 57 million domains under its management, controlling roughly 30 percent of the domain registrar market, the company revealed earlier this month that it had net losses of nearly $200 million of $1.13 billion in revenue in 2013.
Internet Google
Discuss: Google testing custom domain registration service
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War hero to speak at Friends of Scouting Breakfast
GREENSBORO — The Old North State Council Boy Scouts of America will host the 9th annual Friends of Scouting Breakfast on Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 7:30 a.m. at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro.
Staff Sgt. Ty Michael Carter, a recognized war hero and former Scout presently enlisted with the 7th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, will be the keynote speaker.
"Having such a respected national hero who was a Boy Scout sets a great example for our Scouts," said Bill Goebel, president of the Old North State Council, which includes Randolph County, "but that’s not the sole purpose of our event. The Friends of Scouting Breakfast helps us ring in the new year’s fund-raising campaign while bringing new Scouts together to celebrate the accomplishment of those who came before them in the Boy Scouts."
Last year’s event brought more than $200,000 to the organization, which was nearly 40 percent of the council’s goal.
The speaker, Carter, received recognition for his heroic actions at 2009’s Battle of Kamdesh in Afghanistan. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1998 and served until an honorable discharge in 2002. In 2008, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, which brought him two tours of duty in Afghanistan. He has earned several military honors, including the Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart, the Valorous Unit Award and the Air Assault Badge. His most recent national media appearance was on "The Tonight Show" with David Letterman.
For more information, visit www.scouting.org.
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N.C. Zoo featured on state travel guide cover
ASHEBORO — The N.C. Zoo, celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2014, becomes one of the state’s most visible attractions with its place on the cover of "The Official 2014 North Carolina Travel Guide."
The N.C. Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development unveiled the guide Wednesday with a special event at the monthly meeting of the Randolph County Tourism Development Authority (TDA) hosted by the Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau.
This is a very exciting announcement, said Hal Johnson, TDA board chair.
"The N.C. Zoo, Randolph County’s largest attraction, has not only made a major impact on our state and region’s tourism economy, it has also become the state’s chief educational resource and example of maintaining and sustaining our fragile environment and habitats," said Johnson. "It is an honor to be the home of the N.C. Zoo, and to have this prized attraction grace the cover of the North Carolina Travel Guide."
Dr. David Jones and members of his staff were on hand for the unveiling of the cover art at Wednesday’s meeting. He said secrecy around the selection of the zoo as the cover was strong. He said he only found out about the decision a few days earlier. Jones pointed out 550,000 copies of the guide will be distributed around the state in Welcome Centers and in the Visitor Centers located just south of Asheboro. The publicity is sure to raise the zoo’s profile, he said.
"The beauty of it is, so many people in the state still haven’t seen the zoo," he said. "This should trigger a first visit for many of those people."
Two covers are available for the guide, which is published in print and digital formats. One features Jamani and year-old Bomassa, two of the western lowland gorillas at the zoo in Asheboro, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2014; the other features Pinehurst, whose No. 2 golf course will make history in June as the first to host both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Women’s Open championships on back-to-back weekends. Readers of the digital guide will see both images.
"What a great opportunity to work with our friends at the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area Convention & Visitors Bureau to advance the unique opportunities that can be found only in North Carolina’s central region," said Tammy O’Kelley, TDA director.
Jones said the state will focus its media support on the zoo in the first part of the year. During the summer months, the focus will shift to Pinehurst but will return to the zoo in the latter part of the year, he said.
The zoo’s 40th birthday creates a timely reason to shine the spotlight on the zoo, said Wit Tuttell, executive director of the state tourism office.
"The zoo and Pinehurst are both state treasures, and their significance extends beyond North Carolina," Tuttell said. "The zoo was the nation’s first state-supported zoo and the first built on the ‘natural habitat’ philosophy, and it has advanced the cause of species survival. The multiple gorilla births in 2012 is one recent success. And Pinehurst has a storied history that reaches another high point with the 2014 championships."
Tuttell said the zoo also will be featured on the department’s tourism website, several digital formats and on Project 543.com, which showcases the state’s unique locations on the 543-mile stretch from one end of North Carolina to the other.
Beginning Wednesday, travelers have a special opportunity to experience both the zoo and Pinehurst with "Putt & Play: The Travel Guide Sweepstakes." The "Play" portion includes accommodations for four at the Hampton Inn of Asheboro, a zoo tour with a personal tour guide, a catered lunch and a Richland Creek Zip Line Canopy Tour excursion. The "Putt" portion includes accommodations for two at Pinehurst Resort for two nights, three rounds of golf, breakfast, dinner and afternoon tea. The prize also comes with $800 in gift cards plus a $500 Visa gift card to help cover transportation costs. Details and the entry form are posted at VisitNC.com.
The Travel Guide is available for free at all nine North Carolina interstate welcome centers, and by calling 1-800-VISITNC (847-4862) or by placing an order at VisitNC.com, the state’s official website for travel information. The digital version, distributed through the Scribd and Calaméo, can be accessed at VisitNC.com/eguide. Magazine apps for Android and iOS are also available.
The guides are also available locally at the Interstate 73/74 Visitor Centers near Seagrove, and the Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau in Asheboro, both of which are staffed and operated by the TDA.
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COUNTY NEWS: Drug-dealer has sentence for knife crime reduced
Samuel Morgan has had his sentence reduced by five months on appeal. Picture by Eddie Mitchell
A drug-dealer jailed for a knife crime which led to the death of a teenager has won his appeal to have his prison sentence reduced.
Samuel Morgan, 21, of Adelaide Road, Chichester, is serving a jail term over the death of 18-year-old Luke Jeffrey, who died of knife wounds following an argument over drugs in Chichester in March 2016.
Luke Jeffrey from Bognor died from knife wound on March 11, 2016
Following a trial Morgan was cleared of both murder or manslaughter at Lewes Crown Court in August 2016.
He later admitted illegal possession of a knife in public, and also pleaded guilty to wounding Simon Wilmott in an earlier drug-related incident in April 2015, and was jailed for a total of six years in February 2017.
But yesterday (Thursday, February 7) Morgan’s term was cut by five months after Court of Appeal judges said he should have been given credit for admitting having the knife which killed Mr Jeffrey.
Lord Justice Irwin said Morgan’s guilty plea had come very late in the proceedings, but he still deserved credit for owning up.
“His plea wasn’t entered at the 11th hour but at one minute to midnight,” said the judge, sitting with Sir Kenneth Parker and Judge David Aubrey QC.
He added: “After very careful consideration, we conclude that there is force in the argument that a withholding of credit in this case was wrong in principle.”
During the trial over the death of Chichester college student Mr Jeffrey, Morgan gave evidence saying he took a kitchen knife with him to an alleyway off Lewis Street, Chichester, on March 11, 2016, where Mr Jeffrey and an associate of Morgan’s were arguing over a £20 drug payment.
He claimed in court that he only took the knife to threaten Mr Jeffrey and used it when the unarmed teenager came towards him.
Mr Jeffrey, from Linden Road, Bognor Regis, collapsed in a street nearby soon after and died the following morning in hospital of a knife wound to his side.
After being cleared of murder, Morgan was then due to stand trial over possession of the knife, but the day it was due to start changed his plea to guilty.
Morgan committed the offence while on bail over an attack on Mr Wilmott, who was seriously injured close to Chichester Festival Theatre on April 19, 2015.
Burgess Hill bricklayer and Haywards Heath teen to stand trial over ‘racially aggravated assault’
The student was set upon with punches and kicks by Morgan while another man, Brandon Attwater, arrived and stabbed him.
Mr Wilmott required life-saving surgery and was in intensive care for three days.
Following a trial over that incident, Morgan was jailed for two years for unlawful wounding, on the basis that he claimed he had not known Attwater would bring a knife to the scene of the attack.
He was handed an additional four-year term at the same time for possessing the knife which killed Mr Jeffrey.
In passing sentence, the judge called it an ‘utterly senseless loss of a life’.
Attwater, who was 16 at the time, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and was sentenced at the same time to five years at a young offenders’ institute.
Yesterday in court, Morgan’s lawyers argued that the sentencing judge had been wrong not to give him credit for eventually pleading guilty to possessing the knife.
Even though his plea had come at 3pm on the day his trial was due to start, the judge was wrong not to reward him in some way for avoiding the need for the case to continue, they argued.
Allowing the appeal, Lord Justice Irwin said Morgan’s sentence would be reduced by five months so that he will serve a total of five years and seven months for his crimes.
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Home › News & Info › News › Nuclear power in Vietnam: challenges and alternatives
Nuclear power in Vietnam: challenges and alternatives
This article provides information regarding different issues which need to be carefully considered in various steps of nuclear power development, from the planning phase to the dismantling and waste treatment. It is based on scientific information and experiences from Germany, Japan and South Africa.
Recommendations proposed here are consolidated from existing research, a recent study-tour in Germany and two workshops on “Nuclear power development in Vietnam and worldwide”, organised in Hanoi in early October 2016 with different stakeholders, including members of Vietnam’s National Assembly, representatives of line ministries and experts.
Nuclear governance
As nuclear power is one of the most dangerous technologies ever invented, the strictest possible safety laws have to be adopted, and regularly updated, in order to prevent accidents. Beside the two “meltdowns” in Chernobyl and Fukushima, more than 30 accidents have been categorised according to the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES), and countless smaller accidents have not been recorded internationally.
Laws and regulations regulating security concerns have to be adopted before the concrete planning phase of nuclear power plants begins. They need to cover the whole nuclear life-cycle, including a comprehensive plan for nuclear waste storage. Special attention needs to be paid to policy coherency, i.e. consistency with other relevant laws.
A clear division of tasks is crucial to avoid overlaps and loopholes in decision-making processes. This division of tasks needs to be clear for the operation of nuclear sites (plants, transport ways, and waste storage) and a clear chain of command is especially important in case of accidents.
All major decisions need to be taken by an independent regulatory authority, whose utmost concern is security, not the promotion of nuclear power. An authority which is interested in its own economic benefit or in research, and therefore promotes nuclear power, is likely to underestimate costs and risks, and to overestimate the benefits of nuclear energy, as many international examples show.
Transparency by government in relation to the wider public is crucial, while citizens living close to nuclear facilities have to be informed continuously, and should ideally be involved in decision-making procedures. As many international examples show, if state agencies do not disclose all relevant information regarding nuclear power to the wider public, the trust in those institutions can easily be jeopardised.
Special attention has to be paid to information campaigns for citizens living close to nuclear power plants, nuclear waste storage, and transport routes of nuclear fuel and waste. They need to be informed about potential risks, and about emergency plans. In order to increase the trust of those citizens, participatory decision making models have proven successful.
Before nuclear power production is considered, sufficient funds have to be secured by the state as well as by private energy providers. Usually, the state will finance all necessary agencies involved in the political oversight of, as well as the planning, maintenance, and control of all nuclear sites (i.e. also the exploration of nuclear waste sites). The energy provider should – from the beginning of operations onwards – set aside funds to cover the full life cycle costs of nuclear power, including the dismantling of the power plants, and the transportation and storage of nuclear waste over centuries.
Those funds need to be secured in case of the possible insolvency of the energy provider. Whether the state, the energy provider, or both cover the interest payments on international credits for the construction of the plants, the training of staff, the information and emergency planning for the public, and of insurances and compensation schemes in case of accidents has to be clarified before a decision for or against nuclear power production is taken on a political level.
Even if all those national governance measures are in place, nuclear power means a dependency on foreign countries for many decades. Countries like Vietnam, which will not control the whole value chain of nuclear power production by itself, will always be depend on foreign investors in order to receive and reprocess nuclear fuel, or to educate staff members working in the nuclear power plants.
Social and environmental impacts
Strategic impact assessments on a policy making level to consider the social and environmental impacts of the whole life-cycle of nuclear power (including power plants, waste storage sites, and transport ways shall be conducted to decide whether nuclear power should be introduced or not. In case of a decision in favour of nuclear energy, comprehensive environmental and social impact assessment and feasibility studies for each project site, including meaningful public consultation, should be carried out.
These assessments must include the baseline study on health and environment. The impact on local economy is a crucial aspect of social impact. The negative impact on existing local industry and impact due to resettlement should be also assessed. A transparent social and environmental impact management plan should be disclosed for the public in advance and enforced during the whole life-cycle of a nuclear power plant.
Rigid safety standards should be implemented
Safety checks by an independent nuclear regulatory authority should continuously be conducted to prevent accidents. Health check-ups for workers and communities should be also mandatory.
Furthermore, continuous monitoring of the impact on the surrounding environment and radiation level is needed. The monitoring information should be accessible to citizens to ensure transparency and safety.
Strict safety standards should also be applied to the selection of reactor types – incorporating the principles of multiple barriers, diversification and redundancies for all parts of the building – and other construction work.
All nuclear facilities need to be secured against possible terrorist attacks. There is the dual risk of international terrorist networks stealing radioactive materials (possibly also from waste storage or during transport), and using it for so called “dirty bombs”; and terrorists trying to destroy a nuclear power plant, for example by crashing an aeroplane into a reactor. In fact, not even the very solid German nuclear power plants could withstand an attack by aeroplanes.
Because staff at nuclear power plants have to be very well trained, very few local residents are usually able to work there. Even in countries with a very high academic education level, the training of staff for nuclear power plants takes several years, because of high safety standards.
This is after training facilities (simulators, research reactors, etc.,) have been created and trainers have been trained. If staff members are to be trained abroad, for example in Russia and Japan, difficulties could result because of the different languages and training styles in both countries. It should also be clarified when foreign investors will pull out, and hand over operations to local staff only.
Preparation for accidents, including the emergency plans, evacuation plans, and radiation protection schemes for victims should be approved, and made public, beforehand. There should be emergency plans including back-up solutions for loss of energy (also to prevent severe accidents in other power plants, if a nuclear plant suddenly goes off the grid), as well as radiation protection plans.
Specialised staff outside the nuclear facilities (such as specialised nurses or firefighters) need to be trained, and emergency equipment, such as iodine tablets, have to be stored, and regularly replaced. Staffs and local communities must engage in evacuation drills and evacuation plans should be effectively communicated to the local people.
These plans should reflect a thorough review of the previous accidents including Fukushima and Chernobyl. Continuous monitoring of the health of the affected citizens and environment after the accident is needed.
After severe accidents, sufficient funds for adequate compensation and for clean-up need to be secured. Once an accident happens, it would affect not only the nearby communities or workers but also wider economic activities, public health and the ecosystem.
Beside the funds needed for fixing the accident, covering the extra costs for power production (possibly by imports), and for decontamination, compensation schemes have to be set up to cover the costs associated with compensation for staff members of the power plant; citizens losing their livelihood, relocation, health checks and treatment (including future generations), the loss/severe injury of family members, as well as for affected industries which have to limit or stop production as a result of the accident.
Throughout the entire process of a nuclear power installation, people’s rights to information must be ensured and a grievance system should be created. At any stage, the safety of people and the environment must be prioritised.
Life-cycle costs
Nuclear energy requires a very large financial commitment by the state, creating financial burdens instead of benefits, if the whole lifecycle is taken into account. Many countries chose to invest in nuclear power, not for economic reasons, but for prestige or energy security. Accordingly, nuclear power production is heavily subsidised by the state1.
Countries which cannot create the whole value chain of nuclear production (development of plant technology, construction of reactors, training staff, production and reprocessing of fuel, etc.) will have even less economic benefits, and become more dependent on foreign support2.
But even technologically advanced countries such as the US or Germany, which tried to establish the whole value chain, greatly underestimated the lifecycle costs of nuclear energy, and are now confronted with huge financial burdens.
Overnight costs
The so-called “overnight costs” were underestimated, and other life-cycle costs were not taken into account. Reactor vendor companies only quote the overnight cost as the price of their reactors. Overnight costs include only what are called EPC costs, for engineering, procurement and construction, added to “owner’s costs” comprised of land, licencing, testing, training, and project management.
Overnight costs are essentially the costs spent up to the time of switching on the reactor: preparing the land, undertaking the construction and training the workforce. The two reactors being built in the UK by EDF with Chinese finance at Hinkley Point C are estimated to have a full cost of US$57-billion, of which construction accounts for $22,3-billion and finance at least $8-billion. Here, the estimated full costs are 255% more than the construction costs.
It should be noted that the nuclear construction industry is well known for cost overruns, and extension of time for construction. There are large differences in cost between the original and final quotes. For example, Areva/Siemens is building a nuclear power plant at Olkiluoto in Finland. Construction began in 2005, but the project is still under construction and is now running nine years overdue.
The cost began at $3,6-billion but is now estimated to be $9,5-billion. Currently the clients are in a $11-billion legal battle challenging the cost and time overruns. The example of Olkiluoto is typical of the nuclear industry.
In order to quote low overnight costs, vendor companies often offer comparatively cheaper models of nuclear reactors, thereby compromising security concerns, as underestimating future investment costs. Cheaper reactor models often do not fulfil the safety standards regarding multiple barriers, diversification, and redundancies mentioned above.
In addition to that, newer reactor types could generate energy for a period of more than 60 years – however, the older a reactor gets, the more often it must be taken off the grid for maintenance, and to be modernised in order to fulfil the latest (national or international) safety and environmental standards.
Because the reactors usually have to be shut down for several months during those periods, it is often more economical to shut down reactors permanently after a couple of decades. Reactor models with comparatively lower construction costs often turn out to be more expensive in the long run, because of higher maintenance and modernisation costs.
Overnight costs typically do not include twelve categories of lifecycle costs, which have to be covered by the state budget, and collected from energy consumers or tax payers. As mentioned in earlier, it is advisable to oblige the private energy providers to set up funds to cover at least a part of these costs by law.
Costs for establishing a policy framework: This includes costs ranging from setting up independent control agencies on a national level to specialised auditors working on the ground, as mentioned earlier.
Costs for financing the project: These are international loans and interest repayments. Most countries exporting nuclear technology (such as France, Japan or Russia) are currently facing economic difficulties, and are therefore unlikely to grant financially beneficial contracts for client countries. Apart from that, it should be highlighted that there are international loans for the construction of reactors, but no international loans for dismantling or waste storage, which could exceed the construction costs.
Costs for buying the nuclear fuel: Especially in this regard, Vietnam will always be dependent on the prices set by the global market. The contracts should regulate which country will cover the costs for transportation of the fuel to Vietnam, including all necessary safety measures for the transport.
Costs for operating the reactor for its lifetime: This includes the cost for technical equipment, as well as for human resources. The investment contract should clearly regulate whether any of those costs are covered by the investor, and if so, for what time span.
Costs for maintenance: As indicated above, all reactor types regularly, have to be taken off the grid for several months, and energy security for the country has to be secured by other means.
Costs for training specialised personnel: Staff at the reactor other nuclear facilities (waste storage, etc.,) need to be trained. As mentioned earlier, only highly skilled personnel, who, at least for the first decade, will have to be trained abroad, will be able to work in those facilities.
Costs for emergency preparedness and for informing the public: This includes costs for training specialised personnel for emergency situations, and for developing emergency plans, as well as for informing the public and local decision makers, as mentioned in part two. Those costs will arise at all nuclear sites (reactors, waste storage, and all transport routes for radioactive material).
Costs for insurance against possible accidents: However, no insurance company worldwide will fully cover the costs arising from accidents, and for the compensation costs listed in part two.
Costs for securing all nuclear sites against terrorist activities: Those are costs for policing and safeguarding all nuclear material against theft, and for securing all facilities against possible attacks (which is, however, not even fully technically feasible for most reactors today).
Costs for the decommissioning of reactors: These are typically equivalent to the construction costs. Unlike parts from a wind turbine or from a coal power plants, most parts of nuclear reactors are radioactive, and cannot be sold or recycled, but have to be dismantled very carefully (often by robots, as it would be too dangerous for humans), and stored as nuclear waste.
Costs for transporting radioactive materials to waste storage: Nuclear waste has to be transported in appropriate secure containers, for which the necessary infrastructure (safe roads or railways) have to be in place.
Costs for storing nuclear waste: Nuclear waste must be securely stored for more than 244 000 years3. Internationally, no long term storage for high-level nuclear waste has been found. There is some waste storage solution for low- and medium level-waste, which, however, are in most cases far more costly than previously estimated. Even the low-level wastes have to be insulated from the environment for hundreds of years.
All these costs will be incurred during the safe operation of a reactor, i.e. there will be considerably higher costs in case of severe accidents. If there are accidents or damaging incidents, the costs of clean-up will be considerable. Estimates given for the costs of clean-up of the Fukushima accident are currently about US$131-billion.
Against this background, is it impossible to calculate a realistic price for a kWh of nuclear energy today; this is only possible after the last power plant has been shut down (to see whether any severe accidents occurred), and after radiation of nuclear material has ceased (after up to 244 000 years).
This is a very different calculation from the costs for running coal-fired power plants (although, also here, the costs for social and environmental impacts, and costs arising from climate change can only be roughly estimated). The costs for renewables, which do not leave any costly waste, and where building materials (such as concrete and metals), can be easily recycled, are far easier to predict.
Alternatives to nuclear power
It is time to consider alternative energy solutions. What energy source would be the best alternative for nuclear power?
The new generation of nuclear power plants is not an alternative: Some nuclear energy experts affirm that the new generations of reactors (3+ and 4) are safer and can solve the shortcoming of old generations (1, 2 and 3). However, the construction of generation 3+ reactors has been considerably delayed due to unforeseen technical challenges in Finland and France. And up to now, there is no Generation 4 reactor connected to the grid, and this technology will be available in the 2030s at the earliest.
Coal power should not be a solution: Coal mining and coal burning cause severe environmental impacts, comprising water, soil and air pollution, which negatively affect the livelihoods and health of people4, the economy, and ecosystems. An increase in coal power production will also result in an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, which is a severe problem for countries most vulnerable to climate change5. In addition to that, reliance on imported coal will also create dependencies, and threaten energy security.
Considering the disadvantages of both coal and nuclear power production, the cheapest and most sustainable kWh is always the one that does not need to be produced. So accelerating energy saving and energy efficiency should be the first and easiest measure to replace nuclear power in Vietnam.
Recent studies show that Vietnam has great potential for energy saving and energy efficiency. At the same time, the energy demand forecast has proven to be too high.
Therefore, realistic demand projection is required to avoid wasting investment on building new power plants and environmental loss. According to recent studies6, it is possible to reduce 208-billion kWh in 2030 thanks to energy efficiency measures combining with realistic power demand forecast.
These demand side management measures may help to reduce the need for installing of new power plants but still fully meet the energy demand in 2030. The total estimated capacity reduction may be ranging from 30 000 to 42 000 MW while the share of nuclear power will be only 4600 MW in 2030.
Applying energy efficiency solutions could have the potential to save $45- to 50-billion from investing in building new power plants.
In addition, restructuring the growth model towards low carbon development would also contribute significant added value for the success of energy efficiency solutions.
Last but not least, renewable energy (RE) is the best new energy technology for Vietnam. Because of technical feasibility, economical benefit and available finance, there has been a boom of global RE production in recent years.
Compared with both coal and nuclear power, RE has the following nine advantages for Vietnam:
Because of high RE potential especially for solar, biomass, and wind energy with an average capacity of 37 818 MW7, which is almost similar to the current capacity of the power system, Vietnam could become independent from energy imports and could ensure national energy security even when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine but batteries have improved.
RE is an innovative technology with very low risks of accidents.
There is very little negative impact on the environment, and on people’s livelihoods.
Because of its simplicity, renewable energy creates more jobs for people with lower education level from the rural areas as well as jobs in managing RE, possibly also in RE industrial production, installation and maintenance. For example, in Germany, many sustainable jobs were created in the RE sector with 380 000 against 38 000 in nuclear the sector since 2000.
Being a less complicated technology, renewables can be linked to the grid much faster than coal and nuclear energy, as its construction time is within about two years only.
This development can create local value chains and bring possibilities to develop rural areas which is in line with government efforts to achieve new rural development and Green Growth.
It is recognised in other countries that more investment from the private sector will invest in renewables with the right policy incentives, while for nuclear power, considerable state subsidies have to be granted on a long-term basis.
Rapid reductions in costs for solar (LCOE of 1 kWh solar power reduced by about 60% since 2008 and it is only $0,03 in a recent project in Dubai8) and wind energy that we have seen globally enable us to redirect our investments towards renewable energy sources.
RE is an effective mitigation solution to cut down carbon emissions. In sum, having multiple benefits for the economy, environment and people, this clean energy source just needs stronger political will to take off.
The disadvantages of nuclear power clearly outweigh its advantages – especially because some often-cited advantages do not hold true. A clear advantage of nuclear power is its high capacity to produce electricity in a relatively small area (if one does not take the space for waste storage into account). Nevertheless, in addition to the disadvantages described above, nuclear power does not have the advantages its proponents often emphasise.
An increase in nuclear energy production cannot mitigate climate change. Because the construction of nuclear power plants takes many years (about 10 years or more), and the time span to limit global temperature increase to 1,5°C is very limited, a drastic increase of nuclear energy production would simply come too late.
According to studies by the International Energy Agency (IAE), nuclear power could only contribute 6% of the necessary mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions until 2050.
Nuclear power does not provide energy security. Due to its complex technical features, nuclear power plants are susceptible to faults and errors. Even if no incidents occur over a longer period, the reactors regularly have to be shut down for maintenance, or to be partly reconstructed in order to abide by new security regulations. During those shutdowns, which can last for several months, the stability of the grid has to be secured and alternative power generated.
Nuclear power is not a source of technological innovation. Very little innovation in the field of science and technology has come from research into nuclear power. On the contrary, expenses for nuclear power production and research could have been used in far more productive fields of science.
In addition to the many disadvantages of nuclear power, its necessity seems questionable. The decision of many countries (such as South Africa and Germany) to start nuclear power production was based on high estimates of future energy needs, which later turned out to be exaggerated, because the increasing potential for energy efficiency and energy savings had not been taken into account.
In the case of Vietnam, the need for nuclear energy production has been considerably reduced in the revised version of recent power development planning (revised PDP VII). However, nuclear power is a “take it or leave it” decision: Even if only one nuclear power plant is built, all institutional and infrastructural measures mentioned above will have to be provided.
Against this background, the question should be raised whether nuclear energy production really pays off particularly when it will only generate such a small percentage of the country’s electricity needs.
1. Even in countries where there is private generation of nuclear energy, such as the USA, the private companies will only invest if they have considerable state subsidies. Without such subsidies, for example, there has been very little new building of nuclear reactors in the US since the late 1970s. In Germany, the state invested €15-billion to promote nuclear energy production (excluding costs for dismantling and waste storage). And in the UK, a feed-in tariff for nuclear power coming from the planned reactor in Hinkley Point has been guaranteed for 35 years, which exceeds today’s market-based tariff for wind power in the UK.
2. It is clear that Vietnam cannot create the whole value chain within its borders, due to IAEA regulations especially regarding the reprocessing of nuclear fuel, even if there was sufficient technological and human capacity to do so.
3. This is the number of years that it is estimated that the plutonium in the spent fuel takes to lose its radioactivity. As a comparison: Homo sapiens developed around 150 000 years ago, agriculture was developed around 12 000 years ago, and the first cities were built around 7000 years ago.
4. Harvard study in 2015 predicted that premature deaths per year caused by air pollutants from coal power plants in 2011 was 4300 people and this number will increase five times by 2030
5. Economic damages due to climate change induced by coal are from $1,2-billion in 2011 to $9-billion in 2030 according to power development planning No 7.
6. GreenID and WWF studies 2015-2016 on sustainable energy development for Vietnam
7. Nguyen Quoc Khanh, 2015
8. Vietnam Renewable Energy Strategy
Contact Nguy Thi Khanh, Green ID, ntkhanh@greenidvietnam.org.vn
The post Nuclear power in Vietnam: challenges and alternatives appeared first on EE Publishers.
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My Cultural Life: Ciaran Carson
On the eve of the publication of The Collected Poems the poet talks about his love of song, Gerard Manley Hopkins and wonders what Shakespeare would be like after a few drinks
CCarson320x-v4.jpg
When did you first fall in love with poetry?
It depends on what you mean by 'in love', and what you mean by poetry. I'm sure that songs were among the first pieces of organised language I ever heard. Both my father and my mother sang, and both sang to me when I was little. The songs entered my consciousness in a kind of osmotic way, and I can still hear them. And I'm sure they still lie at the back of my writing.
If by poetry we mean the kind of thing represented in school anthologies, I well remember the first time I encountered the poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins and Robert Frost in Fourth Form in a book called A Galaxy of Poems Old and New. Hopkins in particular was a revelation, as he was to many of my generation. I'd never seen the English language used in this way before, with such intense heft and power.
Which poets do you most admire and why?
There are so many. Shakespeare, the great Russian poet Mandelshtam, Rilke, Dante, Emily Dickinson, John Donne, to name just a few. Frost and Hopkins again. All of them have their own voice, but they resemble each other in their meticulous care of the language and the ability to make it new and surprising, to present the world in another verbal light.
Lately I've been reading Paul Celan as translated by Pierre Joris - a bewildering and fantastic experience that I keep going back to, trying to figure out what is going on. The work is unparaphrasable but strikes you with some kind of weird, visceral and authoritative immediacy.
If you could have written any poem in history, what would be it be and why?
Another difficult one, but I'd be happy to settle with Robert Frost's 'After Apple-picking'. It's a wonderful example of the ordinary transformed into the extraordinary. Wonderfully delicate and powerful.
'I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight/ I got from looking through a pane of glass/ I skimmed this morning from the drinking-trough/ And held against the world of hoary grass./ It melted, and I let it fall and break.'
Everything in those lines belongs to the real world of natural speech, yet they extend it into another dimension.
A new anthology of your Collected Poems is just being published, which line of your poetry are you most proud of?
It's a question I'd avoid asking myself. So many of my books, especially in the last few years, depend on the cumulative effect of the poems and the lines within them that I'd be loth to single out any one line.
Does The Collected Poems represent the end of one phase of your writing career and the beginning of another?
The Collected Poems was published on my 60th birthday, so in a way it's only a conventional gesture of celebration. As the book was being edited I had already embarked on another collection, On the Night Watch, and I finished it by the time The Collected Poems was in place. It'll be published by Gallery Press next April.
I think it's another departure; but it is not unconnected to all that has gone before. And I'm scribbling away at the moment at some poems which might amount to something, or might not. That's the trouble and the joy of poetry, that you never know what's coming next. If you did, there's be no point in doing it.
If you could have four cultural figures from any period in history around for dinner who would it be and why?
You'd have to include Shakespeare, if only to see what kind of fellow he was over a few drinks. Brian Merriman, the author of Cúirt an Mheáin Oíche (The Midnight Court), which I translated a few years ago. I've a notion he must have been a traditional fiddle player, and I'd like to share some tunes and crack with him. The painter Titian, whose work is packed with all sorts of examination of the human condition, mysterious, subtle and frightening at times, yet full of the joy of his art. And John Donne, who must have been as witty a fellow in conversation as he was in his poetry.
If you could have produced one piece of art in history, what would it be and why?
Titian's 'The Death of Actaeon', which I go to see in the National Gallery any time I'm in London. I see new things in it every time. I often go back to the passage in Ovid's Metamorphoses which inspired it, trying to see how the story gets transformed into marks of paint on a canvas. It deals with the big subjects, sex, birth, death, in passages of ambiguous glooms and lights. Endlessly unplumbable depths. But of course to have produced it you would have to have been Titian, and that's unimaginable.
Which Irish cultural figure to you most admire and why?
I've always loved the singing of Darach Ó Cathain. Sean-nós singing, of which he was a magnificent exponent, hardly features in the general picture of Irish cultural life, and many people might not be aware of his existence. But the sounds and rhythms of his voice are ingrained in my ear and I cannot imagine writing anything without a ghost of that voice somewhere at the back of my mind.
What has been your cultural highlight of 2008 thus far?
Recently the poet Paul Farley, from Liverpool, gave a brilliant lecture on Louis MacNeice under the auspices of the Seamus Heaney Centre. It was everything a lecture should be, informative, scholarly, entertaining, delivered by someone with a real passion for his subject and for language. In particular he drew comparisons between MacNeice's work and that of John Clare which would never have occurred to me, and so threw a whole new light on the poetic process.
What cultural event are you most looking forward to?
I'm not much one for going out to cultural events. I am looking forward to watching a DVD of the films of Bill Douglas - My Childhood, My Ain Folk and My Way Home. I saw them many years ago on TV and was completely rapt. Beautiful, simple, complex film-making, harsh and tender at the same time.
What's been the best piece of advice you've ever had?
If you know exactly what you're going to write, don't bother.
If you could write your epitaph in no more than 10 words, what would it be and why?
'Happy to Meet and Sorry to Part'. It's the name of a jig which I've been playing on the flute for at least half my life. Lovely jig it is too. There's always another way round it.
Culture Norther...
My Cultural Life: Glenn Patterson
The acclaimed novelist on Neon Neon, Trafalmadorians and the freedom of the novel
We Don’t Know The Half Of It
Ciaran Carson's poetry reaches a new high with For All We Know, writes Ross Moore
We Don't Know The Half of It part 2
My Cultural Life: Gerald Dawe
The acclaimed poet on falling in love with the medium, admiring Mary Robinson and the exhibition of the year in northern Italy
Once Upon a Hill
Glenn Patterson's new memoir delves into a history of violence in Lisburn
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The 10 Best Murder Ballads
By Complex Staff
If you’ve never been into country, folk, or any other kind of American roots music before, consider this a good (and slightly odd) place to start. Non-country fans might associate words like “corny” and “hokey” with the state of popular modern country music, but these types of generalizations are grossly ignoring the fact that country and folk can get really badass.
Murder ballads have been around for a long, long time as a traditional form of poetry that exists to tell the story of a murder. First found in Europe a few hundred years ago, these poems and songs have since become heavily associated with traditional American music from the South. In modern music, murder ballads are a mainstay in country and folk, although the form has been played to not always fit the traditional ballad structure. It’s given rise to a subgenre of original songwriting, covers and reinterpretations, and if you’ve listened to enough Johnny Cash or Leadbelly (on Kurt Cobain’s recommendation), you should know at least few murder ballads well.
These are all murder stories. They’re interesting, brutal and sad, each in their own way; what more can you ask for in narrative music? Check out our picks for the 10 Best Murder Ballads below.
Hit “next” or click the picture to read on…
Image via Discogs/Epitaph
10. “The Two Sisters”
One of the original murder ballads, this song can be traced back to 1656 and it’s spawned a huge range of variants, continuations and elaborations through the years as it spread. The basic story has never changed, though, from two sisters going down to the water and the older drowning the younger. Whether she intentionally drowned her sister or just pushed her in and refused to help her out is one source of debate, as is the motive; sexual jealousy or a shared suitor is the most common theme to come out of the various versions of this song, and occasionally it won’t be mentioned at all. When the drowned body surfaces, the bones are used to make a harp with the hair for the strings, which can then be used to play this song. Circle of life.
Tom Waits – “Two Sisters”
Image via Discogs/Polydor
9. “Hey Joe”
Made famous by Jimi Hendrix, “Hey Joe” was a song written by Billy Roberts about a man who heads to Mexico after killing his wife. The most chilling part of the song, especially in the Hendrix version, is the matter-of-fact nature of stating the intentions here: “I’m goin’ down to shoot my old lady. You know, I caught her messin’ around with another man.”
Jimi Hendrix – “Hey Joe”
Image via Discogs/Columbia
8. “The Long Black Veil”
As a style that’s arguably predicated more by covers, reinterpretations and variations on standards than original songs, murder ballads like “The Long Black Veil” are a perfect example of the form. Written in 1956 and heavily influenced by a series of a few different murder ballads, this one provided an interesting twist. A man stands accused of a murder he did not commit, but his alibi is sleeping with his best friend’s wife. Rather than tell the truth and lose his sense of honor, he faces the gallows and keeps the secret. The veil is a reference to his lover, and her visits to his grave after the execution.
The song was originally performed by Lefty Frizell, but ended up being one of the many murder ballads eventually owned by Johnny Cash for his charismatic performance of the song.
Johnny Cash – “The Long Black Veil”
Image via Discogs/London Records
7. “Mack The Knife”
Originally a German opera song, “Mack The Knife” made the jump to American roots music in 1956 when Louis Armstrong performed his own take on it. The song truly took on a life of it’s own when sung by Bobby Darin, giving the jackknife-wielding protagonist a suave, confident makeover, backed by a big band and making killing sound really fucking cool.
Bobby Darin – “Mack The Knife”
6. “Nebraska”
It was fitting for Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, often considered his best full-length, to include a take on the American murder ballad, considering his role as a quintessentially American rockstar. Based on the true story of serial killer Charles Starkweather, it set the tone for the album; a bleak, cynical look at the country’s heartland. Apparently heavily influenced by Flannery O’Connor, it’s one of Springsteen’s best written songs, setting off an album of stripped down solo demos that ranks as one of Springsteen’s essential songs and a strong entry into murder music canon.
Bruce Springsteen – “Nebraska”
5. “Cocaine Blues”
The average singer is going to be hard-pressed to come up with an opening couplet to top “Early one morning while making the rounds/I took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman down.”
Starting the story at its end, lesser-known folk songwriter Red Arnall kicked off his classic murder ballad in style, working away from the murder rather than towards it. The song continues to tell of the murderer fleeing the country, subsequent arrest and a more traditional end setting of tortured mind in prison. Part of what makes it such a classic is another turn by Johnny Cash, who let “Cocaine Blues” loose in his iconic Folsom Prison performance.
Johnny Cash – “Cocaine Blues”
4. “Frankie & Johnny”
A time-tested classic, “Frankie & Johnny” is one of many murder ballads to take its subject matter from true events. The most story the song is reportedly occurred when Allen Britt won a slow-dancing competition in St. Louis, 1899. The problem was that he won it with a woman that wasn’t Frankie Baker, his girlfriend, and she was waiting for him when he got home in the early hours of the morning. Frankie shot Albert in the stomach, and he died four days later from the injuries. After her trial, the song “Frankie & Johnny” was composed.
The song is one of the most widely distributed traditional songs in folk music because of how many great American artists have covered it in one way or another over the years. Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan have all taken it on, as well as instrumental versions from Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. The best version, however, belongs to Leadbelly.
Leadbelly – “Frankie & Albert”
Image via Discogs/Bigtime
3. “Ballad of Hollis Brown”
When he politicized the murder ballad in the deft manner he included politics and society into everything he created in the early ‘60s, Bob Dylan provided a new, affecting twist to an old form. The murder in “Hollis Brown” is by man who, before taking his own life, shoots his wife and children. Dylan’s addition to the form is the man’s motive; he’s a farmer crushed by poverty and hardship, driven to his shotgun as a means to escape. Dylan wrote 11 verses for the song and created a classic that, when included on his society-spurring The Times They Are A-Changin’ album, very nearly eclipsed the career-defining title track.
Bob Dylan – “Ballad of Hollis Brown”
Image via Discogs/Geffen Records
2. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”
Leadbelly, or Huddie William Leadbetter, had a career steeped in murder ballads. It’s interesting to see which he penned himself and which were covers, as a few of his best weren’t traditionals that he refined and recorded, but his own take on the established, dramatic style. “Where Did You Sleep Tonight,” or “In The Pines,” or “Black Girl,” is best known – and rightfully so – as a Nirvana song. Kurt Cobain covered it in the band’s MTV Unplugged set in 1993 and the song has been undeniably his ever since—its performance footage remains one of the most powerful moments in modern music history.
Nirvana – “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”
Image via Discogs/BMG Records
1. “Delia’s Gone”
A heart-wrenching American classic, “Delia’s Gone” is the chilling, first-person account of a brutal murder from a haunted, jailed man. A man who loved Delia goes to visit her, and when she opens the door he ties her to a chair before shooting her, twice, when the first bullet to her side only puts her in agony. Despite entries from Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger, the most famous take on the story belongs to Johnny Cash, it’s one of his songs that never quite lets go of you.
What’s worst about “Delia’s Gone” is that it’s firmly based in fact. Delia Green was a 14 year-old African-American girl who was murdered on Christmas Eve, 1900, by her suspected lover, the 15 year-old (white) Mose Houston in Georgia. He served 12 years for the crime before receiving a pardon, while Delia was buried in an unmarked grave in Savannah, Georgia.
Johnny Cash – “Delia’s Gone”
Bob DylanPigeons And PlanesJohnny CashLeadbelly
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Home News Families pay the price of an unfair tax system
Families pay the price of an unfair tax system
For more than ten years, CARE (Christian Action Research and Education) has produced unique research on the tax burden faced by UK families. In that time, there has been little change in the figures. More importantly, there has been little change in the underlying problems, namely that the UK tax system is highly individualistic and bears little to no regard for family responsibility and makeup. The latest research yet again makes for grim reading.
One of the unique aspects of CARE’s research is the evaluation of the UK tax burden with comparable countries in the EU and OECD. Doing this sort of comparison means it is easier to understand why the current bias in the UK tax system against families is so unusual.
At the OECD average wage for the UK, the tax burden is 26 per cent greater than the international average on single parents with two children, and 30 per cent greater on one-earner married couples with two children. By contrast, the tax burden on a single person with no family responsibilities is significantly less – 18 per cent – than the international average. The latest findings demonstrate, yet again, that the UK is a cold place for families.
International comparisons prove that a high tax burden on families is not simply an inevitability of independent taxation. Other countries, such as France, Germany and the United States, have independent taxation, but have taken proactive steps to ensure that the tax burden is shared more equally.
Looking at the specific figures for income tax, the UK’s failings compared with other international friends come into even sharper focus.
Take the case of a UK one-earner married couple with two children. On average wage they would pay:
85 per cent more income tax than the equivalent French family;
More than twice as much as the equivalent US family;
And eleven times as much as the equivalent German family.
Because of the UK’s tax credit system, the overall tax rate for families in poverty is quite low by international standards. However, as tax credits are tapered sharply, the amount of income families retain as they earn more is punishingly minute. This is because the UK has, by far, the highest marginal tax rate in the OECD. Generally this is around 73 per cent, but for the increasing number of families who have no alternative but to rent it can be up to 96 per cent. It means that in the worst cases there is no incentive for people to work more hours or even get a better paid job, when they will feel the benefit of only 4p of every pound they earn. In the UK, the poor are taxed as if they are rich.
How should we deal with the problems? The picture is bleak. CARE’s report demonstrates that the tax system is failing families, and the result is that the benefits system has to pick up the pieces.
Heavily taxing people who are then judged to need propping up with benefits is simply digging holes and filling them in again. For far too long, issues of poverty have been addressed only through the benefits system. This is undoubtedly a vital safety net, but almost no work has been done to address the root cause, which is that our taxation system does not recognise family responsibility.
With this in mind, what policy solutions are available? What could the Government do better to take into account family responsibility? What is ultimately needed is fundamental reform. However, for the immediate future CARE has two practical policy solutions that would begin to help addressing the bias against families in the tax system.
In his recent budget the Chancellor announced increases to the personal allowance for the eighth successive year. These increases mainly benefit single people, couples without children and households which are frequently in the top half of the income distribution. These are not the people who need it most. CARE would rather see the Government scrap these increases and spend the money saved on funding a fully transferable allowance for a smaller group of one-earner married couples, such as those with children under five, or to extend the increases only to taxpayers with dependent children.
CARE would also like to see a significant increase in the transferable allowance for all married couples. While the re-introduction of a marriage tax break back in April 2015 was welcome, the current amount is no more than a token and pays no respect to the contributions that non-working spouses make not only to family life but also our national economy. Just weeks ago, the Office of National Statistics published research which estimated that stay-at-home spouses add approximately £19,000 per person to the national economy each year through jobs such as cooking, cleaning, washing and childcare.
These policy suggestions are not in themselves going to fix the fundamental problems in the UK tax system. Rather, a new approach needs to be developed:
Where family responsibility is properly respected;
Where marriage is made more, not less, accessible, with all its social and economic benefits;
Where spouses are not punished for the choices they make about how to provide for their families and raise their children, and no parent is penalised financially for choosing to stay at home;
Where how well-off people are is taken into account when they are taxed, so that we stop taxing the poor as if they are rich, and the rich as if they are poor.
The Prime Minister says she is committed to fighting ‘burning injustices’. If she means what she has said, the problems identified by CARE will no longer be left ignored and forgotten.
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Jonathan Williams is the family policy officer at CARE (Christian Action Research and Education)
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Foundation Certificate in English Literature
Starting: September 2019
Duration: 2 years part-time
Applications for 2019 entry are now closed.
Applications for 2020 entry will open in early September 2019.
Course Directors: Dr Sandie Byrne and Dr Tara Stubbs
Ask a question Notify me
Do you love reading a wide range of books, and discussing your reading with others? Would you like to study literature in more depth and develop solid skills in critical analysis?
If so, you might enjoy the challenge of our Foundation Certificate in English Literature. Covering a range of writing from Shakespeare to the twentieth century, the course teaches skills in the analysis of literature, including the ability to read closely and to recognise and apply approaches in contemporary literary theory. Taught part-time over two years, it is equivalent to the first year of a full-time undergraduate English degree.
As well as taking part in the tutorials, seminars, and day schools at Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education, you will have free access to English Faculty lectures and the excellent resources of the Bodleian Library.
After completing the course, you will be able to apply for second-year entry to an English Literature degree. More than 50 of our students have moved on to full-time study at Oxford colleges since 1995, while others have gained places at universities such as Warwick, Exeter, UCL, Oxford Brookes, Cardiff, St Andrews, Leeds and Birmingham.
(Please note that successfully completing the course does not give you automatic right of entry to any institution.)
The video below offers an introduction to the course by one of our Course Directors, Dr Sandie Byrne, and two current students.
All those interested in applying are warmly invited to one of our open evenings, held at Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA, on Thursday 10 January 2019, 6.00-8.00pm and Thursday 11 April 2019, 6.00-8.00pm. You will be able to see the Department, meet the Course Directors and discuss the course. If you would like to join us, please email undergraduate@conted.ox.ac.uk.
You must be able to show a keen interest in literature and strong motivation to study it at degree level. You must demonstrate an effective command of written English and some proficiency in discussing your reading.
This is an intensive and intellectually challenging course, which demands a high level of commitment. You will need to devote at least 12 hours a week to private study. However, if you have little or no recent experience of study or exams, please don’t let this put you off. Although relevant qualifications will normally be favourably regarded, particularly if recent, formal qualifications are not essential and other considerations may be more important.
If you have not had experience of formal study of English literature, we recommend taking a short course in Critical Reading before applying for the Foundation Certificate. Critical Reading is available as a weekly class in Oxford, and as an online course (please note: the course content for these two courses differs - check each course page for full details).
How you will study
Each week during term you will take part in a two-hour evening class, held on Tuesday evenings, 7.00-9.00 pm at Rewley House. There are ten of these classes per term.
Our students also attend a one-week Shakespeare Summer School, usually held in September between Year 1 and Year 2. This is non-residential but with lunch and the end-of-term dinner included in the course fee. There are also six weekend day schools over the two years, one per term. (See below for more information on these.)
Each term you will have two one-hour tutorials. There are usually no more than two students in each tutorial group.
The course in detail
The course covers a range of English literature from the Early Modern period to the early twentieth century. Among the authors you study will be Shakespeare, Marlowe, Donne, Dickens, Tennyson, the Brontës, Hardy, Forster, Joyce and Woolf. Close analysis of works by these and other authors, reinforced by general discussion of modern critical theory and practice, will provide the basis for an enhanced appreciation of the pleasures and problems associated with the serious reading of literature.
Section 1: Introduction to the course and to the study of literature
The introductory sessions will raise fundamental questions about why and how we should study literature and then concentrate on detailed analysis of poetry and fiction. The emphasis will be on techniques of close reading, but we also hope to impart a sense of literary history and an understanding of the links between literature and its wider contexts.
Section 2: Victorian Fiction and Poetry
This section will deal first with works by four Victorian novelists: Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë and Hardy. The second part will offer a survey of the main forms and themes of Victorian poetry. Discussion will concentrate on Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, Christina Rossetti and Hopkins. Both fiction and poetry will be related to their social and intellectual contexts.
Section 3: Early Modern Poetry
The third section will be largely devoted to the study of Early Modern poetry and to the contemporary critical debate about its form and purpose. We shall examine a selection of poems by writers such as Edmund Spenser, Sir Philip Sidney, John Donne and George Herbert. In this term a special day school will be devoted to preparation for the first-year examinations.
Shakespeare Summer School
Often a favourite part of the course for many students, the one-week summer school gives a flavour of life as a full-time student at Oxford. It focuses centrally on two comedies, two tragedies and two history plays, combining close textual analysis with an exploration of the wider context of Shakespeare’s work. The central texts are likely to be: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Winter’s Tale, Hamlet, King Lear, Richard III, Henry IV Part I.
Section 4: Approaches to Language and Literature II
In this section we will spend five weeks on critical theory, considering the ways in which Formalist, Structuralist, Post-Structuralist and political theories raise questions about and challenge concepts such as the production of meaning, reading, literature, and literary value.
During the next five weeks of term students are introduced to the concepts and methodologies surrounding the history and varieties of the English language.
Section 5: Modernist Literature
In the fifth section we explore the rise of modernism in Britain and Ireland, whilst looking at Modernist writing, including; Eliot, Woolf, Joyce, and Yeats.
Section 6: Early Modern drama
The sixth section explores Early Modern drama, through the contemporaries of Shakespeare. In this term a special day school will be devoted to preparation for the second-year examinations.
As well as the lectures arranged specifically for the Foundation Certificate, you will be entitled, for no extra payment, to attend the wide range of lectures organised by the University’s Faculty of English.
Michaelmas term (Autumn): Section 1, Approaches to Language and Literature I
Hilary term (Winter): Section 2, Victorian Fiction and Poetry
Trinity term (Spring): Section 3, Early Modern Poetry
Our Shakespeare Summer School runs for a week in September before the start of Year 2.
Michaelmas term (Autumn): Section 4, Approaches to Language and Literature II
Hilary term (Winter): Section 5, Modernist Literature
Trinity Term (Spring): Section 6, Early Modern Drama (excluding Shakespeare)
You will also attend six weekend day schools, one per term. Some of the day schools will be part of the Public Programme, while others will be designed specifically for Foundation Certificate students. Each day school will be linked to the syllabus, usually by its subject matter, though the third will focus on preparation for examinations.
Examinations, totalling six hours, will be held at the end of each year of the course.
Assessment will be based both on coursework (usually two 2,000-word essays submitted each term) and on written examinations, usually held in June of each year. The exceptions are the Approaches to Language and Literature I and II sections, both of which are examined by a portfolio of written work.
In each year, the coursework assignments (not including the first assignment submitted in Year 1 but including the assignment submitted after the summer school) account for 5% each, the examinations for 25% each and the portfolio for 20%. At the end of the course the marks awarded for Year 1 account for 40% of the final mark and the marks awarded for the Year 2 account for 60%.
The Shakespeare Summer School, between Years 1 and 2, also has a coursework requirement. One essay, written immediately after the Summer School, will count towards the final total of 11 assessed essays.
Examinations: you will have to write four papers, two on each of the topics below, each of three hours’ duration:
a - Early Modern Literature
b - Victorian and Modern Literature
Your two portfolios of written work will demonstrate practice, use and knowledge of comparative criticism. The first will be up to 3,000 words in length and the second up to 5,000 words.
This course uses the Department’s online assignment submission system. In order to prepare and submit your course assignments you will need access to the Internet and a computer meeting our recommended minimum computer specification. Students of this course may use the student computing facilities provided in Departmental buildings.
The Course Directors are Dr Sandie Byrne and Dr Tara Stubbs.
Dr Sandie Byrne was formerly Fellow and Tutor in English at Balliol College, Oxford, and Professor of English at the University of Lincoln. She is the author of a number of books and articles on 19th- and 20th-century literature.
Dr Tara Stubbs is Associate Professor in English Literature and Creative Writing at OUDCE. She has published widely on Irish and American modernism, and is the author of American Literature and Irish Culture, 1910–1955 (MUP, 2013). Her new project discusses the Irish sonnet in the 20th century.
Most other tutors on the course are drawn from the English Faculty at Oxford University.
As well as being experts in their subjects, teaching staff understand the pressures on students who are combining part-time study with other commitments. Much of the academic support you receive will come from the Course Directors, whom you can contact at any time during office hours to discuss matters relating to the course. In addition, the Department runs a programme of Study Skills workshops designed to enable you to develop and improve the skills needed for effective study. These workshops are free to students enrolled on the Foundation course. For full details please contact +44 (0)1865 280892.
If you would like an informal discussion on academic matters before applying, please do get in touch. You can contact:
Dr Sandie Byrne sandie.byrne@conted.ox.ac.uk
Dr Tara Stubbs tara.stubbs@conted.ox.ac.uk
Applications and admissions +44 (0)1865 270369 undergraduate@conted.ox.ac.uk
Student Advice +44 (0)1865 280355
For general guidance and advice, credit transfer, special needs provision, residential category and sources of funding: student.support@conted.ox.ac.uk
Study Skills +44 (0)1865 280892
For information about Study Skills courses: studyskills@conted.ox.ac.uk
Please use the apply button on this page to download the application form, which includes a reference form. You should complete the reference form and send it to your referee, asking him/her to provide a reference by direct email to us. Please note that the reference is compulsory and we cannot consider your application without it.
If possible, your referee should be a person who can comment on your academic ability and background, but where this is not possible, you should name a referee who can vouch for your motivation, commitment and potential. A reference from a family member is not acceptable.
Please complete the rest of the application form and send it to the address below with the following additional materials:
A written statement of 300–400 words stating why you wish to undertake the course
An outline of your literary interests, explaining your choices
(You should be prepared to discuss these submissions during your interview.)
Proof of your English language ability if you are a non-native English-speaking applicant (see below for further information).
Please send your application with the additional materials to the:
Course Administrator
OUDCE
Ewert House
Ewert Place
Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 7DD
The application deadlines are Thursday 24 January 2019 and Thursday 9 May 2019.
Applicants who submit a complete application by the January deadline will be guaranteed an invitation to interview. Interviews are likely to be in mid-February, and mid/late May. Late applications will be considered subject to the availability of places. The final decision on admission to the course rests with OUDCE.
This course will accept applications for 2019 entry until 27 June 2019 or until the course is full, whichever is soonest.
The fee for 2019–2020 will be £2,715 (Home / EU students) or £4,650 (non-EU students). An option to pay the fee in instalments is available. The fee includes all tuition as well as participation in the day schools (including meals) and, on a non-residential basis, the summer school. Lunches and the end-of-term dinner on Friday evening during the summer school are also included in the fee; accommodation can be provided at an additional cost. There may be a small increase in the fee for the second year of the course.
The UK government has confirmed that non-UK EU students commencing their studies in 2019-20 will continue to have ‘Home’ fee status and pay fees at the home rate for the duration of their course.
This course is not suitable for non-EU students who do not already live in the UK before the course begins. For information, refer to www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration.
Check information on the specific English language requirements for this course.
Applicants are required to have the Higher level scores.
Julie Whyman
‘The Foundation Certificate has taught me so much more than what to read: it has taught me how to read.’ Read more
After completing the Foundation Certificate, Julie was accepted onto our part-time MSt in Literature and Arts.
Student spotlight: Shamim Chowdhury
Shamim is a journalist and enrolled on our Foundation Certificate in English Literature as she craved a new challenge.
Student spotlight: Julie Whyman
Julie’s sixth form English teacher inspired her to join our Foundation Certificate in English Literature – and then onto an MA programme.
Student spotlight: Antony Mumford
Antony enrolled on our Foundation Certificate in English Literature as a stepping stone to studying for a degree.
MSt in Literature and Arts (MLA)
An interdisciplinary programme which encompasses literature, history, art, architectural history, political thought and the history of ideas. It is designed around 3 sequential periods of British history, from Early Modern to the early 20th century.
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SNCC Veterans Visit High School Classrooms
To continue the momentum of Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, Teaching for Change coordinated visits by two Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) veterans to high school classrooms. SNCC was comprised of young activists and organizers who “represented a radical, new, unanticipated force during the civil rights movement and whose work continues to have great relevance today.”
Tim Jenkins
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) veteran Tim Jenkins visited EL Haynes Public Charter School’s first Freedom School on February 22. To prepare for the pilot class, “Introduction to the Civil Rights Movement,” high school teacher Jessica Rucker explored the SNCC Digital Gateway with her students and used a lesson on SNCC from the Zinn Education Project.
Mr. Jenkins began the morning by telling students about the Southern Negro Youth Congress (SNYC), a group of youth activists that formed in the early 1930s in Richmond, Virginia. Mr. Jenkins then talked about the significance of W. E. B. Du Bois’s famous “Behold the Land” speech at the 1946 SNYC conference. He pointed out that SNYC laid the foundations for groups like SNCC.
Mr. Jenkins, who studied at Howard University, was serving as the student body president when he first got involved in the movement. One of his actions was to “ask President Mordecai Johnson to overrule his Vice President for student affairs so that we would be allowed to use our student activities monies to help underwrite the costs for the first SNCC conference as an off campus expenditure.”
Jenkins spoke about the strategies of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, including sit-ins for the right to public spaces including lunch counters, pools, libraries, etc. Discussing the critical organizing for voter rights, Jenkins reflected on the power of student movements and their importance to the world.
Students asked if he had been exposed to violence and about specific strategies or demands they made.
Jenkins noted that “[SNCC] was a people’s approach” and that one of their methods was to advocate that local people “Not buy where you can’t work.” Jenkins explains, “We used this terminology to depict what we were doing as ‘selective patronage' as a euphemism for legally forbidden ‘boycotts’ when we were seeking to punish stores which refused to hire without discrimination. This was a term we had successfully used in Philadelphia to avoid running afoul of the local law forbidding economic boycotts.”
Dorie Ladner and students at Georgetown Day School
SNCC veteran Dorie Ladner spoke in the “Freedom Rides to Ferguson” class (taught by Paula Young Shelton) at Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C. on February 21st. The students introduced themselves and stated why they were taking this particular course. Most of the students said they wanted a more in-depth course on the Civil Rights Movement, instead of just learning about it briefly in U.S. history. Ms. Ladner began by describing how Dr. Martin Luther King’s notion of a Beloved Community helped shape her upbringing and involvement in the movement.
When asked what got her involved in the movement, Ms. Ladner responded that it was the death of Emmett Till, who was only a year older than her. Ms. Ladner went on to describe how attending Jackson State University, 90 miles from her home in the community of Palmer’s Crossing, Hattiesburg, Mississippi opened up her world. There she met Medgar Evers and got involved in organizing. She talked about transferring to Tougaloo College and working full time with SNCC registering people to vote in the Delta.
Ms. Ladner discussed how the deaths of Medgar Evers and Vernon Dahmer, whom she worked closely with, greatly affected her — but it was the work of organizing and the Beloved Community that surrounded her that kept her going.
Urging the importance of student-led movements, Ladner stated:
The groundwork has to come from young people… they’ve got the energy!
See more photos.
More Stories From the Week of Action
Beyond2019Mykella Palmer February 27, 2019 HIGH SCHOOL
Black Lives Matter Principles at School-Wide Assembly
Beyond2019Allison Acosta March 14, 2019
Middle School Students Explain 13 Guiding Principles in American Sign Language
Thu2019Allison Acosta February 27, 2019
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CNN's 'Ivory Tower' Will Change The Way You Think About College, Forever.
Fri Nov 21, 2014 07:26:39AM
Categories: Student Loans, Colleges and Universities, CNN, Elizabeth Warren & College Students
Duke University graduation, May 2011.By: Carine06
If you are going to watch one single documentary about higher education in the United States, you can do no better than CNN's 'Ivory Tower'. Is College Worth It? That's the question Director Andrew Rossi sets out to answer. The points made in this documentary are nuanced, and the answers are many. But in the end, for anyone that's been through the 'college experience', or is about to, or is considering embarking on that difficult journey, you will walk away thinking very differently about the way the United States as a whole handles higher education after viewing this, and the future of where this education experience should go from here on out.
The IMDB tagline for 'Ivory Tower' is: A documentary that questions the cost -- and value -- of higher education in the United States. Those two words, cost and value, are really what the conversation boils down to.
Let's start with the cost of a typical college education. The average cost of a 4-year public degree with room and board (for 2013) was $67,156. It's no mystery that the average student doesn't come from a family that can simply afford to pay for this hefty price tag outright. So that leaves millions taking out student loans. Actually, the rate of students needing to take out student loans has risen dramatically from even the last 10 years, from 5.9 million in 2002-2003, to 10 million in 2012-2013. This has to do with several factors, but mostly it is because of rising tuition costs, coupled with dramatically less invested from taxpayers into higher public education in general. So, quite simply the buck gets passed down to the student. Or customer really, when it comes down to it, because that's largely what the college experience has become: a way for massive educational businesses to construct mini cities that attract top dollar student-customers to live and learn in their complex over the coarse of 4-10 years of attendance.
Now, that term customer-student is not necessarily in the documentary. And keep in mind that this is my take, directly after watching the film. But it's hard not to come to that conclusion when you consider the amount of money typical colleges and universities are spending today on recreational centers, apartment complexes and dormitory amenities, sporting events and stadiums, and not too mention advertising, faculty research grants, and of course administrator's vaunted salaries.
That's not to say that everyone experiences this universally. Or that all schools charge ungodly sums of cash in exchange for a piece of paper. There are exceptions to the rule. Some of the most prestigious institutions on earth, like Harvard and Stanford (as the doc does highlight) offer free education, or 'full rides' to students that qualify. And there are some schools that teach alternative models of education that are still free. Although a vast majority of "respected" institutions in this country do cost tens of thousands a year. And a vast majority of students feel the sting of debt out of college, whether they graduate or not. In fact, the average student is roughly $26,000 in debt after graduating. That's a price tag that on average takes 10 years to pay off, if you are shilling out $277/month to pay it off. And of course, don't forget about interest. With a $26K debt out of college, in 10 years of paying that off, you will have payed an additional $6,700 in interest alone!
The term "respected" definitely comes into play when it comes to asking if the college experience is valuable, or worth the price tag. You may ask, 'Well, what about community college?". And that's a great question. For going to a community college is a great way to get higher education at a heavily discounted right, in comparison. But you have to then take into account the second term the IMDB descript provides: value. What's the value of a community college degree? Almost universally, a community college is a 2-year program, usually labeled with 'continuing education' over 'higher education'. That is because the real-world, economic value of attaining a 2-year degree from a community college is the equivalent of going to the 13th and 14th grade, as I have heard many a hiring manager tell me. An Associates degree is good for what it is. But it doesn't give you the perceived value that a Bachelor's degree provides, which is half the reason most kids venture into college in the first place. That value is one of opening doors, with the concrete opportunity to make much more money with said piece of paper, over simply just having a high school diploma or GED. Community college is an intermediate between high school and a 4 year university. And in most cases is treated as such. They are a way to allow you to get some basic courses out of the way while you figure out what major you wish to pursue. But the goal for most is to still transfer into a 4-year university to get that coveted BA. And even now, the BA is falling way to the ever-growing standard of the MBA or Doctorate. (talk about even more money invested)
Those are just some of the stats to consider when talking about the cost of education. Here's another: As a nation, we are over $1.2 Trillion in debt with student loans. That's Trillion, with a T. Education reformers like Elizabeth Warren find this every bit as abhorrent and shocking as I do. And she has a great many ideas about just how to 'change the system', which I invite and encourage everyone that reads this to check out. If I'm being honest, I would vote for her for President of the United States solely on her promise to champion this single issue (if she does ever run that is) because it is that important.
Alternative models of higher education are promising though. Enter the internet, and the ability to learn without the enormous expense of a campus. Online education is a clear alternative that I believe is extremely viable. Although it is in its infancy. And the doc points that out in a very matter-of-fact way. 'Ivory Tower' reminds that nothing beats person to person interaction. And I have to agree. Which points you toward some variation of a hybrid situation; a higher learning environment where a vast majority of the vaunted price tag is mitigated by online courses. But coupled with a smaller, more practical institution where you can still psychically go to get in-person mentoring and additional training on the subject in question. This would maintain real-world value and cut down on the cost dramatically, if every institution were to adopt a variation of a hybrid method. That's my 2 cents and takeaway.
Whatever you think of the college experience, it's value, the high price tag, and if it's worth it or not, I still highly recommend checking out the documentary. Or investing further into Andrew Rossi's work. The college model is in flux right now, and much is at stake. I personally feel we need to prioritize higher education in more the vein of the late 1960s, where it didn't cost much of anything to attend college. We need to invest in the future of our workforce and make higher education as accessible as humanly possible. Simply put, everyone will benefit, and the United States will be better because of that investment. Please leave a comment below and give me your thoughts. What would you change? Do you feel the college experience is worth it, and why or why not? That sort of thing.
At the end of the doc, the film encourages action and education by visiting:
takepart.com/ivorytower
MoiBreenone
30 0 1 0 0 Athens, GA
My DVR is set. This is a high priority topic for me. I was born in 1946. When I describe my family, I say we had everything needed and not much beyond that. We certainly had little to no money for me to go to college. But, I did get a B.A. in 1968 thanks to a scholarship from NYS and a scholarship from the college and to a no-interest student loan from NYS. I went on to get an M.S. in 1970 and a Ph.D. in 1985. I am so thankful for the support I had when I was young. I so wish the US would go back to supporting students today in similar ways. Or, better yet, do as Denmark does and have public support for all education for qualified students.
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LaMarca Law Group, P.C. > Blog > 2016 > July
Iowa Farming Industry Continues with Highest Fatalities
Last year Iowa was declared by the Iowa Department of Public Health to have the highest rate of worker fatalities in the entire Midwest. It is no secret that agriculture plays an important role in the state’s economy, with major industries including forestry, fishing, and hunting. But agricultural workers continue to be subjected to a number of hazards that put them at high risk for injury and death.
There are other factors that make Iowa in particular dangerous in these industries. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa employs a large number of older individuals, and has a lack of safety equipment. On top of this, farming involves long hours, working with large equipment, and dealing with a number of chemicals. Agricultural workers are exposed to numerous health hazards that include:
Respiratory Risks
The significant risks that farmers are subject to can often be prevented, but the necessary precautions are often not taken to protect the workers in the field.
At LaMarca Law Group, P.C., our Des Moines workers’ compensation attorneys believe that the health of farm workers needs to be protected, and are here to help anyone who has suffered from work-related injury. If you or someone you know has been injured or killed on the job, then contacting out legal team can help you receive the financial support to help recovery. Contact our offices today at 877-327-2600.
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HOMESERVICESEVENTSPARTNEROUR BOARDOUR STORYIN THE NEWSSTORE
Our Journey to Destiny House Restoration Center
Written By Lisa Mitts 12/5/2015
In November of 2011, David Mitts watched a music video by Luke Dowler, called "Our Silence is Shameful," which depicted the struggle of a young teenage girl being taken against her will into a house of sex-trafficking. It deeply touched his heart and inspired him to encourage his wife, Lisa, to produce a music video to a song she had recently written, entitled "Where Has Love Gone?" from her newest released album at the time, "You Found Me."
This song was written for the purpose of relaying the increasing and unknown epidemic of sex trafficking happening right here in the U.S, as well as pointing people to The Defender Foundation, an organization committed to rescuing girls both domestically and abroad. In the process they also established the Seattle Chapter of the organization.
Councilman Reagan Dunn, the majority of the cast and crew from the WHLG music video, as well as representatives from other anti-trafficking organizations such as Compassion2One and Genesis Project.
Over that next year, much work went into developing a business plan, budget and establishing relationships in the community. Another big fundraiser was planned on behalf of Destiny House and held at the Vessel Winery in Woodinville, WA on Sept. 17th, 2013. The evening included a silent auction as well as a concert featuring Born to Be Wild with Lisa Mitts and Band opening.
In early 2014, David and Lisa were introduced to Stacy Cecchet, Ph.D. Dr. Cecchet is one of the leading experts in the U.S. and the only Ph.D. in sex-trafficking, having done her thesis in what is the 2nd largest crime and growing to number one. She also has appeared before Congress and has the support of both WA State Senators.
Together, David, Lisa and Dr. Stacy are writing what will be a breakthrough, data-based, vetted holistic program with measurable results of healing, entitled "H.E.A.R.T.S" (Healing, Education And Restoration Treatment for Survivors) for women 18 and over who have been the victims of sex-trafficking. Dr. Cecchet was voted by the Board of Directors to be the Executive Director of Treatment for Destiny House RC.
Over the last two years, Lisa has become the spokesperson on behalf of Destiny House, performing in many coffee houses and several other venues such as churches, wineries and homes in the Puget Sound area, working hard to establish partners. In January of 2014, doors opened for a national connection and Destiny House RC received its first corporate sponsor, the Healthy Home Company.
In addition, Lisa received an invitation from IJM (International Justice Mission) to be one of the musical artists promoting their awareness and service programs around the world - in return, IJM has also partnered with her to promote her music since she is donating 50% of the profits of her newly released album, "Songbird" for the sake of Destiny House.
Given this would be a first music video for Lisa, as well as very limited funds for the production, money was raised through an online campaign as well as their small church community, One New Man Ministry and by April, filming began in Tacoma with local actors. The music video was produced and directed by Gary Voelker of Experience Studios, who worked with Lisa on the idea and script, as well as auditions for the different roles. Since it was released on May 31st 2012, the gripping and true-to-life music video, "Where Has Love Gone?" has been seen by many people all over the world.
By the time the music video was finished, David and Lisa realized that an even more pressing need was to have a place of real healing and restoration for the women who wanting healing and to get out of 'the life'. After meeting with a handful of local volunteers, the name Destiny House Restoration Center was agreed upon.
On June 16, 2012 the first benefit concert and fundraiser was held in Bellevue, WA on behalf of both The Seattle Defender Foundation as well as Destiny House Restoration Center. Several V.I.P.'s attended that evening, including former Seahawk, Mack Strong;
Destiny House:
Check Out Our Store!
Let's do this! I want to join the growing collaboration of ministries and organizations who want to build Destiny House Restoration Center - a planned 10-bed long term aftercare program designed to restore these women back to their God-given identity and destiny!
You can support the mission and
vision of Destiny House by visiting out store
and shopping there for inspiring music, gifts and more!
14410 SE Petrovitsky Road, Suite 209, Renton, WA 98058
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Markell creates group to support implementation of new federal education law
Calling a new federal education law an opportunity for teachers, school leaders, parents, and others to build on record graduation rates and other progress happening in Delaware schools, Governor Jack Markell today signed Executive Order 62, which brings together a diverse group of stakeholders to provide input for the state plan required by the federal Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA). The plan, which the U.S. Department of Education is expected to require by sometime next year, will detail efforts to:
· Implement academic standards aligned with what students need to know stay on track for success in college and the workplace;
· Ensure students from all backgrounds have access to high-quality educational opportunities from pre-school through high school;
· Support training, retention, and professional advancement of great educators; and
· Track progress of schools across a variety of measures, not limited to test scores, and identify ways to offer additional support where students are struggling.
The Governor, who signed E.O. 62 at Lewis Elementary School, noted that improvements from the last major federal education law, No Child Left Behind, mean that states have more flexibility in ways to support students, including how to measure schools’ progress and new opportunities to focus on early childhood education, which has been a top priority of the Markell Administration.
“We should all be proud of the progress we have made over the last few years, when we have seen thousands more low-income families enroll children in high-quality early childhood programs, recorded the fastest-growing graduation rate in the country, offered thousands more students the chance to earn workplace experience and college credit while in high school, and given more students access to college,” said Markell.
“ESSA provides an exciting chance for us to build on that momentum – to better support and attract great teachers and ensure all of our students have access to the education they deserve, no matter their backgrounds. More flexibility in how states approach these issues means more responsibility for us to make sound decisions and as we develop our state’s plan under ESSA. The executive order I sign today will help engage our teachers, school leaders, parents, and other advocates to ensure a successful process.”
The Executive Order outlines the variety of education leaders and advocates who must be represented on the committee and provides the group with the opportunity to review drafts of the state plan and submit recommendations to the Secretary of Education. A chair will be announced in advance of the first meeting and the group will include representatives of:
· Parents in every county
· Educators from urban and rural communities
· The State Board of Education
· The Delaware State Education Association
· The Delaware Association of School Administrators
· The Delaware School Board’s Association
· The Delaware Charter School Network
· The Wilmington Education Improvement Commission
· The Early Childhood Council
· Delaware English Language Teachers and Advocates
· An organization advocating for students with disabilities
· Delaware’s business community
· Workforce development programs
· The General Assembly
“After engaging in initial discussions with a wide variety of education stakeholders on development of our ESSA plan, this advisory committee represents an important next step in supporting our communication with teachers, administrators, and parents who are working hard to support our students,” said Delaware Education Secretary Steve Godowsky. “This group will help ensure we fully consider a wide range of perspectives and set our state on a path of continued improvement.”
The department also will engage representatives of stakeholder groups in two discussion groups. The first group will focus discussions on technical topics related to Measures of School Success and Reporting. The second group will focus discussions on provisions for Student and School Supports. Participants for these topical discussion groups can be nominated on the department’s ESSA web site through September 9, 2016. The discussion groups will provide information to the Advisory group created by this Executive Order.
To further support engagement of the broader education community, the Department of Education has announced a series of Community Conversations later this month during which teachers, administrators, and others will offer input on specific questions that the state must address in its plan. These discussions will take place at the following times and locations:
Tuesday September 20 at 6:00 p.m. – Cheer Center, Georgetown
Saturday September 24 at 10:00 a.m. – Christina Cultural Arts Center, Wilmington
Tuesday September 27 at 6:00 p.m. – Bunker Hill Elementary School, Middletown
Thursday September 29 at 5:30 p.m. – Collette Education Center, Dover
The public also is invited to provide input through online surveys found on the Department’s ESSA web site and by submitting feedback to ESSAStatePlan@doe.k12.de.us.
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A Sailor’s Journey to Sailor of the Year
Photo By Chief Petty Officer Gabrielle Hartford | Official photo of the Commander, Naval Surface Forces Pacific (SURFPAC) 2018 Sailor of...... read more read more
Photo By Chief Petty Officer Gabrielle Hartford | Official photo of the Commander, Naval Surface Forces Pacific (SURFPAC) 2018 Sailor of the Year (SOY), Interior Communications Specialist 1st Class Nick Natelli, assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Diana Quinlan) see less | View Image Page
Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Gavin T Shields
USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6)
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Facing adversity in life is inevitable, but as the famous “Rocky” saying goes, “it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” For the Commander, Naval Surface Forces Pacific (SURFPAC) 2018 Sailor of the Year (SOY), Interior Communications Specialist 1st Class Nick Natelli, his career has been a true example of what a Sailor can achieve by putting forth the effort to Rise Above.
During his 19-year career, Natelli had been subjected to non-judicial punishment for missing ship’s movement and lost his security clearance while in his last semester at Old Dominion University for the Seaman-to-Admiral (STA-21) program. But through his honor, courage and commitment, he overcame these setbacks and earned recognition as the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) SOY, then Commander, Amphibious Squadron 3 SOY, Expeditionary Strike Group 3 SOY, SURFPAC SOY, and nomination for Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet Surface SOY.
"I encourage all our Sailors to 'Rise Above' and strive for success," said Capt. Rich LeBron, Bonhomme Richard's commanding officer. "I want to inspire our Sailors to aspire for excellence and serve as a model of what we can achieve Navy-wide with the right focus and the right message. IC1 Natelli is the perfect example of what I mean. He has successfully bounced back from many setbacks and is a Sailor who continuously makes the whole BHR family proud."
From the age of 12 Natelli was a runaway. He lived more or less on his own, staying with his parents, grandparents, friends or on the street.
“I realized the error of my ways around the age of 17, and started looking for a way forward,” said Natelli. “I noticed a lot of Sailors in my hometown of Virginia Beach, Virginia, had nice cars, and the idea of the military being challenging excited me. So after getting my GED, I enlisted as an undesignated Fireman at the age of 18.”
After graduating from boot camp, Natelli described feeling like a new person.
“The way I walked, the way I talked, my aspirations and my drive - all felt as if they had been opened up,” said Natelli. “Now I wasn’t just completing tasks because I was told to. I wanted to do these extra things so that I could be the best.”
Natelli began to form his goals and work toward them. He was top of his class at the Fireman Apprenticeship Training program and was sent to Interior Communications (IC) Advanced (“A”) school.
After completing “A” school, Natelli was sent to his first command aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). He served one year on the carrier before duty swapping to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower (CVN 69), where he served four years. Natelli made Petty Officer 2nd class on Eisenhower before going to Continuation (“C”) school at Great Lakes, where he was promoted to 1st class petty officer, the rank in which he has served for the last 14 years.
“I’ve seen a lot of friends, shipmates and even a lot of junior personnel - all advance into the Chief’s mess,” said Natelli. “I couldn’t be deterred from not being committed to the job, even though I was not advancing. Regardless of the outcome, at the end of the day I have to tell myself that I gave 100 percent.”
Natelli says the key to commitment is to find the fun within each situation.
“If you are doing a job that you love, it’s no longer work,” said Natelli. “I love my job as an IC. We have a lot of diversity on what we can work on, and we work with every department on the ship - that keeps me motivated to keep going. It’s the people too. The Navy is so diverse, that is one of my favorite things about the Navy. You’ve got to enjoy time, that’s the key.”
Natelli was later sent to Mid Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC), where he was selected to become a Surface Warfare Officer for the STA-21 program, and was sent to the Naval Science Institute (NSI) in Newport, R.I. After completing the officer program at NSI, Natelli moved on to the graduate program at Old Dominion Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) with a major in General Engineering Technology.
While attending college, Natelli began to have troubles at home.
“I was going through a rough divorce and I lost my security clearance,” said Natelli. “The process to get my clearance back was going to take two years. After all of my hard work, things started falling down around me and I lost my footing. I was dropped from the program during my last semester.”
After losing his opportunity to become an officer, Natelli found the strength to continue by remembering his basic training at boot camp. He remembered how empowered he felt graduating boot camp and the honor that came with his first few days as a Sailor.
“I think of the movie ‘Men of Honor’,” said Natelli. “I think of the master diver, all the obstacles that he had to overcome. He never stopped, no matter the trial or tribulation, he stayed committed. I think honor and commitment go hand-in-hand. I believe that a person who behaves that way will always reflect positive credit upon themselves, upon the Navy and as an ambassador the United States of America.”
Natelli returned to the fleet and became part of the crew of the mine countermeasures ship USS Guardian (MCM 5). On January 13, 2013, Natelli and the rest of his crew received instruction from their captain to abandon ship after they ran aground 80 miles off the coast of the Philippines.
“During the casualty, I was an Engineer of the Watch,” said Natelli. “Basically, I was in charge of keeping the ship water-free and maintaining electrical power for as long as we could. I was one of the last ten people to abandon the ship.
“All of the damage control trainings we do all of the time happened all at once,” said Natelli. “All of them from flooding to abandon ship. It was total chaos. Half of the crew was picked up by one ship and half by another, we all returned to shore two weeks later with no ship.”
While in port with no ship, Natelli could see a problem with the morale of his shipmates, so he routed a proposal to his commanding officer to become head of the Morale, Welfare and Recreation program.
“We did a lot of volunteer events, so the Sailor felt a sense of purpose,” said Natelli. “We did a lot of sponsored trips. Finally we were given the mine countermeasure ship USS Warrior (MCM 10).”
Natelli’s experience during his time with the crew of the Guardian after they lost their ship allowed him to reflect on his character and what courage meant to him.
“It took some courage from us all to do what we did that day to make sure no one was hurt,” said Natelli. “But one thing about courage that I have learned is that it takes courage to be a leader.
“I’ve learned to find the faith in others and enable them to do the things that need to be done for the team to succeed,” said Natelli. “I’ve also learned to exchange your ideas and collaborate as a team. It’s easy to think that you can do the job best by yourself but it takes a team to make big things happen.”
“They say tough times make strong men and IC1 Natelli is a direct reflection of this saying,” said Master Chief Information Systems Technician Rich Huerta, Natelli’s departmental leading chief petty officer. “His challenges have developed his leadership and commitment to his family, Sailors and the U.S. Navy. Our department is proud of IC1 Natelli’s accomplishments and representation of the USS Bonhomme Richard.”
Natelli will compete for Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) Surface Sailor of the Year. The PACFLT winner is meritoriously advanced to the rank of Chief Petty Officer.
Bonhomme Richard is in its homeport of San Diego.
For more information about Bonhomme Richard, visit our Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/ussbhr and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LHD6BHR
Date Taken: 03.07.2019
Date Posted: 03.11.2019 11:57
Story ID: 313800
Location: SAN DIEGO, CA, US
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Healthy ecosystems ensure that nature can continue to provide the goods and services upon which we all rely. By taking nature into account, our work informs projects, investment, and policy decisions that help restore, protect, and enhance ecosystems.
Many of our projects have focused on valuing ecosystem services so that investment in natural capital can be justified and adopted by decision makers.
Valuing the Largest Mangrove Forest in Central America
Costa Rica’s Térraba-Sierpe National Wetlands, like so many other crucial ecological zones, is increasingly threatened by pressures from development and climate change. In 2010, Earth Economics conducted an ecosystem services valuation focused on the wetlands' mangrove forests that identified the reserve’s value at a stunning $302 million to $1.9 billion annually. This notable evidence of the wetlands’ value was ultimately used to support the adoption of a legally-binding management plan, the first ever for this area.
Making the Business Case for National Park Expansion
It’s no secret that garnering support for preservation and restoration of wilderness areas is an uphill battle. When National Parks officials proposed significant expansion along the Carbon River entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park in 2002, their proposal required strong evidence of the benefits of park expansion. Thanks to a core group of concerned citizens and the collaborative efforts of Earth Economics and a consortium of conservation groups, the proposed expansion was brought to fruition, protecting 800 acres of one of Washington State’s most stunning treasures in the largest expansion to Mt. Rainier National Park in 70 years.
Banner Photo Credit: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington via Flickr
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Partnership approach offers new model for airline competition, says Eithad Airways President and CEO
The partnership approach adopted by Etihad Airways offers a new model for airline competition, said President and CEO James Hogan, speaking at The Wings Club in New York yesterday.
In an industry dominated by legacy airlines, and with such high barriers to entry, no new network carrier could hope to compete effectively in its own, he said. Yet without new competition, consumers around the world would suffer.
Delivering the keynote address at the monthly Wings Club meeting, Mr Hogan said:
“Global air travel is a business with incredibly high barriers to entry – not just in terms of cost, but in market access, infrastructure requirements and the challenge of competing against such entrenched mega-carriers.
“The highest barrier is network. You can’t build a global network overnight – in fact, you’d need decades, and billions of dollars, to build networks that could compete against the major airline groups.
“That’s where partnership comes in. From day one, we’ve taken an open partnership approach, working with scores of airlines on codeshare agreements. Then we took that a step further with minority equity investments in strategically important airlines.
“Together, we have been able to create a new competitive choice for air travellers in key markets around the world. That’s good for consumers, good for tourism and good for trade.”
Mr Hogan said Etihad Airways’ equity investment strategy was a key element of that approach.
“We have a two-pronged approach. From a strategic level, we are looking for the equity partners to bring network connectivity, generate additional revenues and create economies of scale. All our partners are delivering on this level.
“That has helped to create the seventh largest airline group in the world and is delivering hundreds of millions of dollars to our business.
“Each partner then has its own business plan, which is the responsibility of their own management and Boards of Directors. Many of these, such as Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Jet Airways and Virgin Australia, are now delivering on this level too. We are supporting the restructuring of businesses that require it, such as Alitalia and airberlin.”
Mr Hogan said Etihad Airways’ entry into the United States market had also brought major benefits to the country.
“We are a tiny player in the US air travel market, with less than 0.01 per cent of daily international departures. However, we have been able to offer major benefits to the United States.
“We connect the US, through our hub in Abu Dhabi, with scores of markets which are simply not served by other carriers. That means we are feeding hundreds of thousands of travellers, leisure and business, into the US. Hundreds of thousands of those get fed onto the US carriers.
“We’ve also been a close business partner with US corporations – most obviously with Boeing and other aerospace suppliers, but we’ve also created major partnerships with Sabre, Honeywell, IBM, Adobe and many others.
“Our total impact on the US economy is more than US$ 440 million a year.”
Mr Hogan said he believed much of the issues raised about Etihad Airways by the Open Skies campaign stemmed from a lack of understanding of the airline’s business model.
“There are many myths about our business. But the truth is that we run as a commercial organisation, with a shareholder that demands a clear return on its investment. We get no subsidies or state support. We have a well remunerated, highly satisfied workforce.
“What we have had is the investment required to compete in such a capital-intensive business. That’s a smart investment when you consider the many advantages Abu Dhabi offers as the focus for a global network airline – as long as there is a return. That’s where our unique partnership model comes in.”
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New roles for senior UAE nationals at Etihad Aviation Group
Etihad Airways today announced new roles and responsibilities for four of its most senior UAE nationals.
Ahmed Al Qubaisi, who currently holds the position of Vice President Aero Political and Industry Affairs, will be promoted to Senior Vice President and take on responsibility for International Affairs and for Environmental Affairs. Ahmed joined Etihad Airways in 2015 as Vice President Alliances and Partnerships, before being promoted to his current role in 2016.
Hareb Al Muhairy is to become Senior Vice President, UAE and GCC Sales, responsible for driving sales revenues in the airline’s priority markets. He moves from his current position in Corporate and International Affairs.
Amina Taher has been promoted to Vice President, Corporate Affairs, and will be responsible for leading corporate communications strategy for Etihad Aviation Group (EAG). With this promotion, she becomes one of the group’s most senior female executives.
Finally, responsibility for the airline’s corporate social responsibility strategy will be moved under Dr. Nadia Bastaki, Vice President Medical Services. Dr. Nadia joined the Medical Centre at Etihad Airways in 2007 and is a leading Aviation Medical specialist in the region. Under her leadership the Etihad Medical Centre has become adopted by the industry as best-in-class and the addition of corporate social responsibility is a natural extension of her Medical and Wellbeing portfolio.
H.E. Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Board of the Etihad Aviation Group, said: “Our business is committed to developing career opportunities for advancing UAE nationals. These four highly-talented leaders have all seized those opportunities to develop careers as senior executives within one of the UAE’s largest businesses.”
These new executive roles come two weeks after Etihad Airways’ team at Abu Dhabi International Airport welcomed 157 talented Emirati nationals from across the UAE, after they graduated from the Etihad UAE National Development Foundation Programme.
Etihad Aviation Group employs more than 3,000 Emiratis and runs more than 20 programmes to attract, train and develop UAE nationals in areas such as engineering, flight operations, management and at the all-female Al Ain Contact Centre.
Prior to joining Etihad Airways, Ahmed Al Qubaisi spent six years at the Department of Transport, as Director International and Government Affairs, responsible for protecting and enhancing the aero-political interests of Abu Dhabi. His aviation career also includes three years with Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) as Head of Capacity and Operations Planning and as project coordinator at SCADIA. Since joining in 2015, Mr. Qubaisi has performed a critical role in Etihad Airways’ international aviation regulatory affairs arena at a time when the industry is experiencing increasingly complex and challenging competition and regulation.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from Portland State University in the United States.
Hareb Al Muhairy’s career at Etihad Airways has spanned both the Commercial and Corporate Affairs portfolios, holding the role of Vice President Sales UAE before moving to oversee Corporate and International Affairs in 2015. He previously held the position of Vice President Corporate Communications between 2009 and 2010.
Mr. Al Muhairy joined Etihad Airways in 2004 having studied political science and management at the UAE University in Al Ain. He also holds a Master Degree in Strategic and Security Studies gained in 2015 from the National Defense College.
Amina Taher joined Etihad Airways’ Corporate Affairs department as Head of Corporate Communications in January 2014, from the Mubadala Development Company (MDC) where she held the position of Head of Social Development and Sponsorship. An experienced media professional, Ms. Taher has hosted a number of Etihad Airways’ global media conferences and more recently has been focused on providing corporate communications strategic and campaign support to the Etihad Airways executive leadership.
Ms. Taher holds both a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the London Business School and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University gained in 2015. She achieved a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Media Studies with honours from the Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai.
Dr. Nadia Bastaki has made significant achievements during her decade with Etihad Airways. She was the first female aviation medicine specialist in the UAE appointed by the Abu Dhabi health authority and was also the first GCAA instructor and Medical Review Officer (MRO) for the region appointed by the GCAA.
Under her leadership, the Medical Centre has received a number of awards, as well as recognition by the GCAA and both the FAA and CASA (American and Australian aviation authorities). Dr. Nadia herself has won several awards for her leadership role.
Dr. Nadia holds a Master degree in Occupational Medicine from Manchester University and a post graduate degree in aviation medicine from Kings College London. She recently completed a women’s director programme run by the Institute of Directors and Hawkamah.
These new appointments take effect immediately.
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Emma Thompson, Helen Mirren and Tim Allen Among Stars Paying Tribute to Alan Rickman
By Jackie Willis and Emily Krauser 1:00 PM PST, January 14, 2016
Hollywood is mourning the death of Alan Rickman after it was reported on Thursday that the beloved British actor died of cancer at age 69.
Emma Thompson -- who appeared in numerous films with Rickman, including Love Actually, Sense and Sensibility, Judas Kiss, three Harry Potter films and the TV movie The Song of Lunch -- said that she felt "hugely privileged to have worked" with the actor.
NEWS: Harry Potter Stars Mourn the Loss of Alan Rickman
"Alan was my friend and so this is hard to write because I have just kissed him goodbye," the 56-year-old actress said in a statement. "What I remember most in this moment of painful leave-taking is his humor, intelligence, wisdom and kindness. The intransigence which made him the great artist he was -- his ineffable and cynical wit, the clarity with which he saw most things, including me, and the fact that he never spared me the view."
Thompson -- who was also directed by Rickman in the 1997 film The Winter Guest -- added, "I learned a lot from him. He was the finest of actors and directors. I couldn't wait to see what he was going to do with his face next. I consider myself hugely privileged to have worked with him so many times and to have been directed by him."
Helen Mirren stars alongside Rickman in his final film, Eye in the Sky -- which will be released in the U.S. on March 11 -- and she shared her heartfelt memories of the actor in a statement to ET.
"Alan was a towering person, physically, mentally and as an artist," the 70-year-old actress said. "He was utterly distinctive, with a voice that could suggest honey or a hidden stiletto blade, and the profile of a Roman Emperor. He was also a great friend, generous and social. He will be very missed by many."
Many more of Rickman's co-stars, including his Harry Potter collaborators, and directors took to social media to honor the late actor. His Galaxy Quest co-stars, Sigourney Weaver and Tim Allen both shared their condolences, as did Lee Daniels who directed Rickman in Lee Daniels' The Butler, shared a tribute on Instagram.
"Alan's enormous strength of character infused every character he played. Who else could have brought such pain and wit to Snape," Weaver said in a statement, referencing Rickman's role in the Harry Potter franchise. "He used his talent always to make a difference, his production of Rachel Corrie being one of the most powerful examples. I can't believe he's gone."
Very sad that Alan has passed.
— Tim Allen (@ofctimallen) January 14, 2016
Kevin Smith, who directed Rickman in Dogma, also shared his heartfelt memories and condolences on Facebook. "Alan was the first non-friend who signed up to the flick, but he became a great friend in record time... Thank you for lending a hack like me your artistry and your credibility, Alan," Smith wrote of Rickman, who portrayed the voice of God, Metatron, in the 1999 film.
"You were never Snape to me as much as you were the adult Harry Potter himself: a bonafide wizard who could conjure absolute magic using merely words. He was a HUGE cauldron of win, this man," Smith ended his message. "I'll miss him forever. Rest in Peace, Voice of God. Back to Heaven, where you came from..."
MORE: Love Actually Writer Finally Reveals What Happened Between Emma Thompson & Alan Rickman's Characters
Hugh Jackman also praised his friend after hearing the news of his death. "Alan Rickman. Amazing actor and director," he posted on Facebook. "Above all the most generous, funny, loving friend to Deb and I. We will miss you so."
Here's how other stars have reacted to the loss:
Feel so lucky to have worked with the legendary #alanrickman. May your continued journey take you to extraordinary places. #gonetoosoon #rip
Posted by Malin Akerman on Thursday, January 14, 2016
WATCH: Alan Rickman Marries Longtime Love Rima Horton After Nearly 50 Years!
Take a look back at the life and career of Rickman:
Veteran Actor Alan Rickman Dies at 69
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Megadeth / OHM.
"I love playing guitar, and I’ll play guitar until I can’t." - Chris Poland.
Guitarist Chris Poland has left an indelible mark on the metal world. A member of Megadeth from their earliest days, the New York state native provided the yin with his fluid leads, to Dave Mustaine's more abrasive yang, on their first two LPs; ‘Killing is My Business… And Business is good!’ and the landmark ‘Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?’. Parting ways with the band in 1987, he’s since moved back to concentrating on his jazz fusion stylings, with three-piece OHM. We caught up with Chris at NAMM, to chat his work with Legator Guitars, his time in and out of Megadeth, and how he ain’t superstitious about ever playing with them again. Last rites; Eamon O’Neill.
Hi Chris, you’ve just played some astonishing solos here at NAMM 2019; what’s it like to pick up one of these Legator guitars and let rip like that?
Well, me and Ken and Ryan [Knowles] have been working on this design for four or five months, and I am so blown away. It’s perfectly balanced. It’s the best guitar I’ve ever played, and I’ve played a lot of guitars, man; Paul Reed Smiths, Andersons, Jacksons, Schecters; and that is the best guitar I’ve ever played.
Click HERE to see Chris in action at NAMM 2019.
You’re a regular at the winter NAMM Show; what makes you come back year after year?
Well, normally I get a room and I come all four days, but I just couldn’t do it this year; I had stuff at home going on, and I just was like; “I’m just going to come on Saturday”. But I wish I did come for all four days, because then I’d have a chance to go look at new stuff.
When you’re at NAMM, do you still get recognised a lot from your Megadeth days?
Oh, of course. No matter what I do, no matter how good I do anything; it’s always going to be me and Megadeth. But I’m very proud of everything we did together.
The tales of Megadeth’s early days are infamous; was it as crazy as it’s made out to be?
Oh God; it was way crazier than that! No, there was… I can’t even tell you the stories.
On the ‘So Far, So Good… So What!’ album, there’s the song ‘Liar’, which was supposedly written about you.
Oh know man. You know what? I never even listened to it, but somebody told me about it, and I’m like; “Yeah, okay, so Dave’s pissed – so what?!”
Do you have any connection with any of the Megadeth guys at all these days?
You know what, not really, man. I have no animosity towards them; it’s just that I’ve got too much other shit going on.
You did almost re-join Megadeth on a couple of occasions; firstly for the ‘Rust in Peace’ album.
It almost did happen [then]. My manager Janie Hoffman, she told me they wanted me in the band, and then she said; “You know what? If you join that band, you’re going to die”. And I thought about it. I was going to do it, but then on the way down there, I think we had dinner at The Ivy; it was Ron Laffitte [Megadeth manager], Mustaine, me, Janie. And on the way down I said; “You know what? I’m not going to do it”. And she basically said; “You have a deal; you have a record deal for your own thing that you love to do; why are you going to take a chance on joining a band where you’ve just got sober, and those guys might not be sober? And if they’re not, you know it’s only going to take a month before you start using again”.
You’re talking about your debut solo album ‘Return to Metalopolis’ [1990]; how do you view it all these years later?
I had just got sober, and before that I wasn’t a tone chaser, so I just felt like the tones I got for that record were kind of like everything I could just get on the spot. My tone’s a lot different now because I care now. Back then I didn’t really care; I would just take a Rockman [amp], and plug it into the front of a Marshall half-stack, and that was it.
Moving forward, and the second time you did end up working with Megadeth was on ‘The System has Failed’ album, in 2004.
That was just a studio thing. But what was really cool was Ralph Patlan was the engineer on that record, and he had a Plexi 51 Marshall in there that was the best late-sixties’ Plexi I ever heard. So I brought my whole rig down, and I played it for him, and he goes; “Here, plug into this amp”, and as soon as I plugged into that amp, man, I was like; “Alright, I’ll use this!” And then he had a case that was like three feet wide, and six feet long and two feet high full of vintage pedals, so the wah sound that we got on the last song on the record [‘My Kingdom’], was this furry, red Vox wah that he had. Dude, I had my pick of all these pedals, and that was a really great session.
Hearing you talk about your sound, and watching you tweaking the EQ today; you’re very much about the tone these days.
Well, they had the tweeters on these Yamaha NS10 copies flat out! So it’s like trying to play a razor blade, you know?!
Dave Mustaine has talked about Megadeth’s possible induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; if that happened, would you be up for jumping up on stage with the band again?
Absolutely! I don’t have any [problem with anyone]. Like I said; everybody’s got their own life. If anybody’s got a problem with our lives before, then they should have dealt with it by now.
Finally, you’re looking remarkably healthy these days, which is a long away from those hedonistic early days; would you say you’ve made the right decisions along the way?
Oh, thank you very much! Oh, I think so, especially letting go of the opiate thing. But I love playing guitar, and I’ll play guitar until I can’t. Luckily, I don’t have arthritis yet!
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Visit Chris Poland's Legator Guitars profile, HERE.
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David Ellefson On How Rejoining Megadeth Saw "New Men On Our Own Two Feet".
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Eureka College: The Hidden Gem
A Bold Commitment To Our Students
“The Uniquely Eureka Advantage” is a program that features bold commitments including graduation in four years, a four-year tuition freeze, an experiential learning award to all new students and opportunities to study abroad and participate in campus activities. Each student has their own uniquely Eureka experience. What will yours be?
All incoming new students who meet the requirements for admission, maintain satisfactory academic progress and meet various additional requirements are eligible to take advantage of all five commitments the program offers.
"We already offer a top-notch education which results in proven success for our students. The Uniquely Eureka Advantage is our way of doubling down on our commitments and further enhancing students’ experience."
Eureka College President Jamel Santa Cruze Wright
Four Years Or Free
Eureka College is committed to helping all incoming first-year students graduate in four years. If students follow all guidelines and requirements and do not graduate in four years for any reason, the fifth year will be tuition-free. This is part of our commitment to making Eureka one of the best colleges for its value in the state of Illinois.
Tuition Freeze
Additionally, tuition will be “frozen” for all four years for incoming freshmen. This commitment applies to students who are in good academic standing and continuously enrolled for four academic years or eight semesters. If you’re interested in private colleges near Peoria, IL, we have a lot to offer that can benefit students financially.
The third commitment offers all new students a $2,000 Experiential Learning Grant. The grant may support high-impact practices such as internships, mentorships, research for conferences & presentations, or study-abroad opportunities. Students will be eligible for the grant after completing 45 credits hours at Eureka College.
In addition, we are more committed to offering study abroad opportunities to all students who choose to include this experience as part of their learning and service. Similar to the Experiential Learning Grant, students will work closely under the guidance of faculty and staff and must have completed 45 Eureka College credit hours to be eligible.
Campus Opportunities
Finally, we are committed to offering all students opportunities to participate in a college activity including music, theatre, athletics or student organizations. Students may initiate their own activity or organization under Eureka College guidelines. As a small college in central Illinois, we’re able to offer each and every student the chance to become a leader in their field of work or recreation.
"The Uniquely Eureka Advantage is designed to advance the College’s mission and represents the next level in providing excellence in learning, service and leadership. We are confident that this initiative will keep our pricing competitive while enhancing our superior outcomes."
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Weyenberg Public Library Foundation, Inc.
The Weyenberg Public Library Foundation, Inc. was established in 1982 as a registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity to support the Frank L. Weyenberg Library of Mequon – Thiensville.
Every year the Weyenberg Public Library Foundation, Inc. funds multiple projects that enhance the library experience for Mequon and Thiensville patrons. Recent projects include the Children's Services Desk and bright new board book shelving, two new history collection spaces on the second floor, and more shelving for Large Print books, Teen material, and music CDs.
We can't forget about earlier projects that we still enjoy every day, including the Children's Garden, the east side Foundation plaza and its planters, the exterior light-emitting diode (LED) promotional sign, the Digitization Lab and the annual Fine Arts Series.
The 2019 Fine Arts Series features a variety of performers guaranteed to entertain, and maybe even educate. This series, presented in the Library Rotunda, is free and open to the public. Mark your calendars for these upcoming events, all Sunday afternoons beginning at 2pm:
March 31, 2019: Jeff Pockat, Celtic Harpist
Jeff Pockat is a self taught Celtic harp (Gaelic harp) musician and composer. He performs on the Ancient Wire Strung Celtic Harp. His songs are traditional and original pieces that soothe the mind, soul, body, and spirit.
April 28, 2019: Rebecca Schulz, Violinist, and Ingrid Tihtcheva, Cellist
Rebecca Schulz holds a BFA in Violin Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she studied with Dr. Bernard Zinck. She performs regularly with the Racine Symphony Orchestra, the Racine String Quartet, Dominican High School Theater, and other musical ensembles.
Ingrid Tihtcheva graduated with honors from the University of Southern Mississippi with a Bachelor's Degree in Cello Performance. Since coming to Milwaukee, for graduate studies with the Fine Arts Quartet, she has played with many local orchestras and is currently a member of the Wisconsin Philharmonic and the Festival City Symphony. She loves playing chamber music and teaching while keeping a successful private cello studio of all ages.
September 22, 2019: Craig Siemsen's "Over the Rainbow"
For years, fans of acoustic music have been entertained by Craig Siemsen’s personal blend of original songs, folk, and old timey country music. With his whimsical story telling and wit, audiences find themselves laughing and toe tapping during these memorable performances. Drawn to all music since he can remember, Craig has developed a reputation for powerful interpretations of his own and other’s songs, as well as a very unique guitar style. With a voice made for crooning, Craig uses a playful stage presence to deliver his songs and stories to audiences around the Great Lakes and beyond. "Over the Rainbow" features an engaging selection of popular songs and stories from the 1930s through the 1960s. Plan to laugh!
November 3, 2019: Jackie Kennedy, as portrayed by Leslie Goddard
It's1964. We are in the living room of former First Lady Jackie Kennedy.
Leslie Goddard is an actress and historian who has been portraying famous women in history, including many of our nation's illustrious first ladies, for more than a decade. She has both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in theater, and she earned a Ph.D. from Northwestern University. She currently works full-time as a historical interpreter and public speaker.
To continue to offer the high-quality collection and services you expect, please make a donation to the Weyenberg Public Library Foundation. You may complete a printable donation form (PDF) and mail it to the Library, or use the Donate button above.
James Friedman, President
Christine Nuernberg, Vice-President
Richard Sheridan, Treasurer
Jennifer Bogli, Assistant Treasurer
Rachel Muchin Young, Secretary
Luke Behnke
Tom Doerr
David Hase
Robert Tenges
Al McIlwraith
Vanessa Nerbun
Jill M. Miller
Brenda Richardson
David Strifling
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Watch: ‘You are laughing because you’re unable to see God in me’, says Gujarat official show-caused for absenteeism
New Delhi | Updated: May 19, 2018 4:57:40 PM
In his bizarre reply to the show-cause notice, Fefar describing himself as Kalki said that he was observing penance in the fifth dimension to “change the global conscience”.
Gujarat government engineer Rameshchandra Fefar has courted controversy over his bizarre reply to a show-cause notice issued to him for his absence from work. (IE)
Gujarat government engineer Rameshchandra Fefar has courted controversy over his bizarre reply to a show-cause notice issued to him for his absence from work. In an interview to media, the superintendent engineer claimed that the people are mocking him just like members of the royal court of Hastinapur did, who couldn’t see ‘God’ in Krishna. In his reply to the government’s notice, Rameshchandra had claimed that he is an avatar of Kalki, 10th incarnation of Krishna, and has ushered in Satyug from September 16, 2012 at 7:30 am.
#WATCH: A Gujarat govt official Rameshchandra Fefar,who claims that he is incarnation of Kalki, 10th incarnation of Lord Vishnu,said, ‘Just like everybody laughed at me at the time of Mahabharata, you guys are doing the same because you’re unable to see God in me’. (18.5.2018) pic.twitter.com/QJWLErLuK0
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2018
Fefar attended office for a total of 16 days in the past eight months, which earned him a show-cause notice from Sardar Sarovar Punarvasvat Agency (SSPA) on May 15. In his bizarre reply to the show-cause notice, Fefar describing himself as Kalki said that he was observing penance in the fifth dimension to “change the global conscience”. He justified his absence saying that due to his ‘sadhna’ the country was receiving good rains and added that he was attempting to create an environment where the nation would experience no droughts.
Speaking to reporters in Rajkot, Fefar said that he lived during the age of Mahabharata and possesses divine powers, which he realised while in office in March 2010. An employee of the state’s irrigation department, Fefar claimed that people have always failed to recognise him and even drew parallels to his presence as Krishna during Mahabharata times. Fefar said, “Just like everybody laughed at me at the time of Mahabharata, you guys are doing the same because you’re unable to see God in me”.
When asked about his negligence towards his family members, Fefar explained that God gets separated from his wife in every birth and he was no different. He went on to proclaim Baba Ramdev as among the few ‘Sant devs’ still existing in the country.
The SSPA has said that the disciplinary authority of the irrigation department will decide on the action to be initiated against him.
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In tune: Music streaming apps tango with telcos
Published: April 15, 2019 4:51:32 AM
The million-dollar question is whether listeners will stay tuned because they are now increasingly spoilt for choice: apart from JioSaavn, Gaana and Wynk, there are the global streamers YouTube Music, Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music.
India may be a big customer but not everyone wants to pay for their music.
By Asmita Dey
Online music streaming app YouTube Music claims it attracted three million downloads within a week of its launch in India. That’s good going. But the million-dollar question is whether listeners will stay tuned because they are now increasingly spoilt for choice: apart from JioSaavn, Gaana and Wynk, there are the global streamers YouTube Music, Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music.
India may be a big customer but not everyone wants to pay for their music, especially when plenty of it is already available on radio channels or even YouTube, which comes downloaded with an Android phone.
Of the estimated 150 million users, just about 1-1.5 million pay for their music today, according to experts who point out subscription revenues came in a shade below Rs 100 crore in 2018. But acquiring customers can be an expensive affair — $1.5-$6.5 — and content doesn’t come cheap either.
EY (M&E) director Raghav Anand says without a minimum number of users and a minimum Arpu, it is difficult to defray the high CAC and content costs. The app economics, experts say, begin to look good once there are 20 million steady users paying around Rs 150 per month; while the money is made from 5 million users, 20 million are needed, given the churn can be high at around 60-70%.
The way JioSaavn works, the money is being made by telecom service provider from data usage. As of now, apps driven by telcos seem to have an edge given the costs for the others would be relatively high. Girish Menon, partner and head, M&E, KPMG, points out that apps that come with a telco may not, however, have deep insights into consumer preferences. “On the other hand running a stand-alone app, even if it has deeper consumer insights can be challenging to scale up and requires significant investments in marketing and distribution,” Menon observed.
Amazon Music, a pure subscription-based service that comes bundled with the Prime offering, has been launched not so much with the aim of making money but to attract customers to Amazon Prime. “Amazon Prime is using music to drive the e-commerce business,” analysts said.
Experts point out the foreign apps would need to invest serious money to acquire Bollywood music, the most popular genre. If YouTube — the video app — has been a success it is because there is plenty of Bollywood music available on the platform. Also, as Gaurav Jindal, Principal, at Boston Consulting Group, explains it’s hard to be exclusive and points out that most of the streaming apps appear to have similar content. Consequently, music streaming could form just one component of a bigger package rather than a stand-alone business as is the case with Amazon Music.
“Either way from a long-term perspective, partnerships and collaboration will be critical as platforms will require significant financial staying power and an ecosystem approach to create and maintain a strong market position,” Menon said.
Today Sing by smule — an app where users can record and upload music–is the top player in terms of revenue. EY’s Anand believes music streaming with additional features is becoming popular. “Youngsters are willing to pay for differentiated services,” he said.
Sameer Batra, CEO, content & apps at Bharti Airtel said Wynk’s deep understanding of consumers and personalisation of the music experience it delivers distinguishes it from other players. “As regional music becomes popular Wynk’s distribution reach through Airtel, makes it very well positioned to leverage the opportunity,” Batra said.
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Eames DSR chair, ice grey - chrome
Vitra’s Eames DSR chair is also known as the Eiffel chair due to the graphical cross structure formed by its metal legs. The name DSR comes from the words Dining Height Side Chair Rod Base.
Designed by Charles and Ray Eames, the plastic Eames chairs are true design icons of the 1950s. Their popularity lies in the timeless, ergonomic design and various leg options. The original model with a fibreglass seat was the first industrially produced plastic chair. Today, the seat of the Eames chair is made of polypropylene.
Vitra launched the updated versions of the Eames chairs at the Milan Furniture Fair of 2015. Because the average human height has increased by almost 10 centimetres in the past 60 years, Vitra considered necessary to update the size of the classic chairs. Depending on the model, the length of the legs has been increased by about 20 mm, and the geometry of the seat has been carefully readjusted. The changes seem minimal, but they make the Eames chairs significantly more comfortable for today’s needs.
Ice grey, chrome
Ray and Charles Eames were an American designer couple whose name is familiar for anyone with an interest in modern design. Charles Eames was born in 1907 in St. Louis, Missouri. He studied architecture at University of Washington and, invited by the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen, continued his studies at the Cranbrook Academy of Arts, Michigan in 1940. There he met Eero Saarinen, with whom he participated in a competition called ”Organic Design in Home Furnishing”, arranged by New York’s MoMA. Eames and Saarinen won the competition using a plywood moulding technique originally developed by Alvar Aalto. In Cranbrook Charles Eames also met her future wife Ray, and the couple got married in 1941.
Ray Eames (née Kaiser) was an artist and photographer born in 1912 in Sacramento, California. She created a significant career as a furniture designer starting from 1941, when she began moulding plywood into furniture together with Charles Eames. In 1946, the Eameses exhibited their work at MoMA, and in 1948 Herman Miller began producing their designs. In 1949, the famous Eames House was build in California – besides a home, the Eames House was also space for exhibitions of many notable designers of the time. In 1950s the Eameses started to focus more on photography and cinema.
During their career, Charles and Ray Eames were awarded with many prestigious design awards, such as the British Royal Gold Medal and the Twenty-five Year Award by the American Institute of Architects, and in 1985 the Industrial Designers Society of America gave the Eameses ”The Most Influential Designer of the 20th Century" recognition. Charles Eames continued his productive career until his death in 1978, and Ray passed away in 1988, ten years to the day after Charles.
The designs of Ray and Charles Eames, such as the iconic Lounge Chair, different versions of the Plastic Chair and the ’Hang it all’ coat rack, have always been essential part of Vitra's production. Eameses’ influence on Vitra is more than just furniture – even today, their design philosophy influences Vitra’s values, course and goals.
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F2PMeter: Is World of Warplanes truly Free-to-play?
October 31, 2014 16:09 ( Articles ) 2
Our F2PMeter goes high up in the sky: World of Warplanes is the next title facing it. In case you don't know it, officially released in November 2013, this game is a MMO dedicated to the golden era of military aviation. With more than 130 planes from six nations belonging to three different classes, a complex damage system as well as weather effects, the titles offers an in-depth flight simulation in combination with arcade style air combat.
By the way, before starting, you should check out our matchup between World of Warplanes and War Thunder.
Remember: Games start with a 100% of free-to-play-ness. That percentage will vary depending on the answers to our questions.
Let's go with it.
No. World of Warplanes was developed with a free-to-play business model and therefore allows players to register an account and download the client to start playing without being charged at all.
Yes (optional) – -15%. Although the game doesn’t incorporate a traditional subscription feature, it still offers the opportunity to spend real-world money on a premium membership that grants 50% more EXP per battle, 50% more crew EXP per battle, 50% more credits earned in battles as well as a cleaner and nicer-looking hangar. Customers may choose among different duration options ranging from 1 to 360 days, which is actually comparable to a non-recurring subscription.
No. All updates and patches released since launch have been made available for free to everyone.
Yes – -5%. There is a premium shop that offers premium aircraft, premium account time as well as the premium currency in form of in-game gold to be bought with real-world money.
No. Most of the items available to paying customers apparently don’t convey any advantages during battles as they only serve convenient and time-saving purposes.
No. All UI customisation options are available for free to all players; there aren’t any additional options available for purchase or reserved for premium accounts.
No – -15%. All players have access to all the playable nations in the game and their respective tech-trees. In addition to those warplanes available to everyone, the premium shop has specific premium aircraft on offer, which are unavailable to non-paying users.
No. World of Warplanes doesn’t feature an Auction House as there simply isn’t much what players could buy from and sell to others, so trade between players doesn’t take place.
Yes – -10%. The amount of a player’s hangar slots is limited to one slot per nation; additional hangar slots have to be purchased. Premium aircraft already come with an additional hangar slot.
Yes. In World of Warplanes, players’ access to maps or game modes isn’t restricted in any way, meaning that everyone can enjoy the whole content for free.
No. The entire game including all end-game content is available to everyone for absolutely free and without any restrictions.
Yes – +10%. Despite the premium options available for purchase with real-world money, World of Warplanes appears to be pretty fair and absolutely playable without feeling the need to pay a single dime. Paying users will evidently only gain more convenience and save some time, but won’t gain an unfair advantage over others by purchasing premium items in the shop.
After being tested with our F2Pmeter, World of Warplanes receives a fair 65% of free-to-play-ness.
2 Comments - "F2PMeter: Is World of Warplanes truly Free-to-play?"
Gubbsan November 2, 2014 at 6:21 PM -
Excuse me but, why are you wasting your time making articles over games that no one plays?
If you really want this site to grow you should write about the games that people actually have an interest in.
Grom November 4, 2014 at 10:22 AM -
I’ve played, lol. There are a lot of players in World of Warplanes.
Play World of Warplanes
World of Warplanes profile
World of Warplanes wallpapers
World of Warplanes screenshots
World of Warplanes videos
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Dr. Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights, new title from Konami for Nintendo 3DS
By Raiz Khan on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 01:37
Konami Digital Entertainment announced a new adventure game based on puzzles and set in nineteenth-century at Paris for the new handheld console Nintendo 3DS. It is titled as Dr. Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights.
The player leads Lautrec through gameplay, using logic, reasoning and good eye to decipher the riddles, solve puzzles and overcome all challenges. Thanks to the powerful features of Nintendo 3DS, the game makes full use of the added dimension of the 3D system to solve the puzzles, including the ability to control objects found in any direction or zoomed to emphasize one part of the stage that coincides with something on the map.
Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights is set to release for Nintendo 3DS in Summer 2011.
puzzle solving
Dr Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights
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Non-GMO Project Is Spreading Fake News Again But Still Has A Grip On Our Food Supply
Kavin Senapathy Contributor
The Non-GMO Project is among the most ubiquitous fringe organizations in North America.
What kind of standard do consumers uphold when we allow peddlers of nonsense rather than the world’s leading experts to dictate the methods we use to grow our food?
In a not too surprising display of conspiracy theorist tendencies, the Non-GMO Project tweeted a link to a fringe unverified story published last week about a humanitarian aid shipment of “GMO corn seed” into Haiti. (The tweet was later deleted following sharp criticism from scientists.) Bearing several hallmarks of a conspiracy theory, the article cited vague links to Bill Gates—a favorite Infowars target—and another unnamed business magnate. The story in the Haiti Sentinel condemns the shipment of high-yielding seeds, which it claims makes “soil addicted to drugs.” Some comments on the article call for burning the shipments, while others point out that the details of the story are false.
In addition to the untenable denigration of humanitarian aid and the unsubstantiated and outlandish descriptions of the seeds, the article made a fundamental mistake—the high-yielding HUGO seed in the shipment was not GMO (genetically engineered). Dr. Kevin Folta, prolific communicator and professor and chairman of the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida, Gainesville, thoroughly covered the flaws in The Haiti Sentinel story, so I won’t go into further detail. My question is, why are we allowing purveyors of hype to proliferate and thrive in one of the most mainstream of American institutions—the grocery store?
The Non-GMO Project is among the most ubiquitous fringe organizations in North America. As I wrote in May:
American shoppers are surely familiar with the iconic orange butterfly logo. According to its website, retail partners report that Non-GMO Project Verified products are the fastest dollar growth trend in their stores, with total annual sales exceeding $19.2 billion. What the Non-GMO Project’s website doesn’t tell visitors is that its label tells us absolutely nothing meaningful about a product or its ingredients, including healthfulness, environmental impact, and working conditions for food workers and farmers. It doesn’t even tell consumers about a common objection to GMOs—whether or not a food product was derived from a patented crop variety.
The organization certifies water, cat litter and salt as “Non-GMO” even though none of these contain anything derived from an organism, so there is no genetic material to modify. Given that the term GMO, which stands for Genetically Modified Organism, has infiltrated the popular vernacular and is plastered all over our grocery items, it can be surprising to learn how meaningless it is. Though it only denotes organisms engineered with modern molecular methods, "GMO" could apply to the vast majority of the foods we consume. Virtually all of our food has been genetically altered by humans in the field or in a lab, with very few exceptions. Yet even those with genetic mutations intentionally induced by chemicals and radiation can be sold as organic are are eligible for the Non-GMO Project butterfly, dubbed the “sanctity stamp” by critics.
Now we’re letting the Non-GMO Project dictate the future of a powerful and relatively new agricultural technology. The organization wrote on Facebook on July 9th, “With new forms of genetic engineering like synthetic biology and gene editing entering the marketplace, keeping GMOs out of your shopping basket is trickier than ever. Look for the Butterfly to ensure your food and products are non-GMO.” Kind of makes gene editing sound like a hidden menace lurking in grocery aisles. In reality gene editing is simply a set of faster and more versatile methods of genetic engineering. It will allow breeders to work with more precision and efficiency than ever before to achieve important traits in agriculture and help nourish the world’s growing population while making the best use of resources and minimizing environmental impacts. Proponents say that over regulating products of gene editing will stifle crucial innovation.
Jennifer Doudna, biochemist based at the University of California, Berkeley and co-discoverer of gene-editing tool CRISPR, said recently that in addition to applications in human disease “there are many others arenas in which better gene-editing tools can promote global health, specifically by improving crops and sustaining a healthy microbial environment that has been shown to prevent illness, improve crop yields and nurture a balanced ecosystem. At UC Berkeley we have the expertise in plant science and microbiology research to make a real contribution by designing higher-yield, more pest-resistant crops that a large proportion of the world’s population depend on, and fostering the microbial populations critical to human health and the health of the planet.”
While governments grapple with how stringently gene edited crops should be regulated, or whether they will be subject to mandatory labeling laws, supporters of agricultural biotechnology argue that it’s not the technique that should be regulated, but the end product. Genetic engineering is more precise than older techniques, but none of these methods is inherently safer or riskier than others.
Not to be bogged down by the nuance of such sophisticated discussions, the quickly-growing Non-GMO Project, which strives to change the world by slapping its label on chewing gum and dog waste odor eliminator, has already made a decision on gene editing. Megan Westgate, the organization’s executive director, told me via email last year that “products produced with gene editing technologies are not in compliance with the Non-GMO Project Standard and are not eligible to bear the Non-GMO Project label.”
But what kind of “standard” can an organization uphold when it rejects humanitarian aid and beneficial traits like high yield seeds, no matter the breeding technique, based on vague fears of drug addicted soil? What kind of standard do consumers uphold when we allow peddlers of nonsense rather than the world’s leading experts to dictate the methods we use to grow our food?
As I said in May:
Given the challenges we face to feed an ever-growing population while combating climate change and striving to produce food efficiently with minimal use of land and other resources, the Non-GMO Project’s vilification of safe technologies that can reduce food waste, reduce carbon emissions, and help fight food insecurity and malnutrition if we would only let it, is indefensible.
Kavin Senapathy is a communicator and mom of two based in Madison, Wisconsin. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
Kavin Senapathy
I am an author and public speaker covering science, health, medicine, agriculture, food, parenting and their intersection. I'm a proud Science Mom, and am featured in th...
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Wal-Mart lawyers ID 5 risky countries
NEW YORK – Lawyers for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have identified Brazil, India, China and South Africa along with Mexico as areas having the biggest risk for corruption, according to a letter from two congressmen who are doing their own investigation into the allegations of bribery in its Mexico operations.
The letter, dated Monday, shed light on a May 21 briefing with outside lawyers from Wal-Mart, who said they had been retained to do a global anti-corruption compliance review of its operations in 2011.
The attorneys from the law firms Greenberg Traurig and Akin Gump said the review focused on Brazil, China and Mexico because they represent the highest corruption risk. Based on the review, they recommended that Wal-Mart also evaluate its operations in India and South Africa
Dave Tovar, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said the review of its anti-corruption program was worldwide.
"We are taking a deep look at our policies and procedures in every country we operate," he said.
In the letter to Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke, Democratic congressmen Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Henry Waxman of California wrote that the world's largest retailer hasn't provided any documents regarding the potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which forbids U.S. companies from bribing foreign officials.
The two lawmakers also said Wal-Mart hasn't allowed them to interview any of its employees. "Wal-Mart's actions to date significantly inhibit our ability to investigate these allegations," stated the letter. A copy of the letter was sent to The Associated Press.
The congressmen ask that information be furnished by June 26. They also want details of the lawyers' recommendations.
"We are cooperating with the ongoing federal investigations, and as appropriate, will also continue to assist members of Congress and their staffs in understanding our efforts to address FCPA issues," Tovar said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. "We have already provided committee staff with one briefing and have another briefing scheduled tomorrow."
The New York Times reported in late April that Wal-Mart's Mexican unit allegedly paid millions of dollars in bribes to speed building permits and gain other favors. The Times said executives didn't notify authorities even after Wal-Mart found evidence of the scheme.
Wal-Mart is facing at least a dozen "derivative" lawsuits, meant to change the way a company is run. The plaintiffs are also seeking to recover any fines or other financial damages that Wal-Mart faces as a result of the violations and have the money be awarded to the company.
Wal-Mart, which is based in Bentonville, Ark., has maintained that it's committed to a full and independent investigation, but that's in the early stages of the probe.
This Day in History: July 19
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Proposed Rule
Tip Regulations Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
A Proposed Rule by the Wage and Hour Division on 12/05/2017
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List of participants SBA Roundtable Tip regulations NPRM
Malivuk v. Ameripark, LLC, 2007 WL 2491498 (11th Cir. June 9,...
Cumbie v. Woody Woo, Inc., 596 F.3d 577 (9th Cir. 2010)
Marlow v. New Food Guy, Inc. 861 F.3d 1157 (10th Cir. 2017)
Trejo v. Ryman Hosp. Props., Inc., 795 F.3d 442 (4th Cir. 2015)
Oregon Rest. & Lodging Assn v. Perez, 843 F.3d 355, 356 (9th...
Oregon Rest. & Lodging Assn v. Perez, 816 F.3d 1080 (9th Cir....
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Executive Summary
II. Recent Developments in Tip Pooling Regulations and Litigation; Proposed Changes to Regulations; and Nonenforcement Policy
III. Legislative and Regulatory History of the Section 3(m) Tip Credit
IV. Recent Changes in State Tip Pooling Laws
V. The Department Is Proposing To Rescind Portions of Its Tip Regulations
VI. Paperwork Reduction Act
VII. Analysis Conducted in Accordance With Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, Executive Order 13563, Improved Regulation and Regulatory Review, and Executive Order 13771, Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs
A. The Need for Rulemaking
B. Economic Analysis
ii. Estimated Number of Affected Workers and Firms
iii. Qualitative Analysis
iv. Estimated Costs and Cost Savings to Employers
1. Regulatory Familiarization Costs
2. Other Potential Costs or Cost Savings
v. Summary of Familiarization Costs
C. Discussion of Benefits and Other Potential Impacts of the Proposed Rule
i. Benefits
ii. Additional Discussions
1. Possible Employment and Earnings Impacts of the Transfer of Tips
2. Possible Change in Customers' Tipping Behavior That Could Result From the Transfer of Tips From Employees to Employers
D. Analysis of Regulatory Alternatives
i. Alternative 1
ii. Alternative 2
E. Classification as a Deregulatory Action and Estimated Regulatory Cost Savings
VIII. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA)
A. Why the Department Is Considering Action
B. Statement of Objectives and Legal Basis for the Proposed Rule
C. Description of the Number of Small Entities to Which the Proposed Rule Will Apply
i. Definition of a Small Entity
ii. Data Sources and Methods
D. Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirements of the Proposed Rule
i. Costs to Small Entities
ii. Number of Small Entities Impacted by the Proposed Rule
E. Regulatory Alternatives That Minimize the Impact on Small Entities
F. Differing Compliance and Reporting Requirements for Small Entities
G. Identification, to the Extent Practicable, of All Relevant Federal Rules That May Duplicate, Overlap, or Conflict With the Proposed Rule
IX. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act Analysis
X. Executive Order 13132, Federalism
XI. Executive Order 13175, Indian Tribal Governments
XII. Effects on Families
XIII. Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children
XIV. Environmental Impact Assessment
XV. Executive Order 13211, Energy Supply
XVI. Executive Order 12630, Constitutionally Protected Property Rights
XVII. Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform Analysis
XVIII. Summary of Proposed Changes
List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 531
PART 531—WAGE PAYMENTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938
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Start Preamble
Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor.
Notice of proposed rulemaking; request for comments.
The Department of Labor (Department) is proposing to rescind portions of its tip regulations issued pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act that impose restrictions on employers that pay a direct cash wage of at least the full federal minimum wage and do not seek to use a portion of tips as a credit toward their minimum wage obligations. This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeks the views of the public on the Department's proposed rescission of those portions of the regulations.
To facilitate the receipt and processing of written comments on this NPRM, the Department encourages interested persons to submit their comments electronically. You may submit comments, identified by Regulatory Information Number (RIN) 1235-AA21, by either of the following methods:
Electronic Comments: Follow the instructions for submitting comments on the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
Mail: Address written submissions to Melissa Smith, Director of the Division of Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210.
Instructions: This NPRM is available through the Federal Register and the http://www.regulations.gov Web site. You may also access this document via the Wage and Hour Division's (WHD) Web site at http://www.dol.gov/whd/. All comment submissions must include the agency name and Regulatory Information Number (RIN 1235-AA21) for this NPRM. Response to this NPRM is voluntary. The Department requests that no business proprietary information, copyrighted information, or personally identifiable information be submitted in response to this NPRM. Submit only one copy of your comment by only one method (e.g., persons submitting comments electronically are encouraged not to submit paper copies). Please be advised that comments received will become a matter of public record and will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. All comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on the date indicated for consideration in this NPRM; comments received after the comment period closes will not be considered. Commenters should transmit comments early to ensure timely receipt prior to the close of the comment period. Electronic submission via http://www.regulations.gov enables prompt receipt of comments submitted as DOL continues to experience delays in the receipt of mail in our area. For access to the docket to read background documents or comments, go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.
Start Further Info
Melissa Smith, Director of the Division of Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210, telephone: (202) 693-0406 (this is not a toll-free number). Copies of this NPRM may be obtained in alternative formats (Large Print, Braille, Audio Tape or Disc), upon request, by calling (202) 693-0675 (this is not a toll-free number). TTY/TDD callers may dial toll-free 1 (877) 889-5627 to obtain information or request materials in alternative formats.
Questions of interpretation and/or enforcement of the agency's regulations may be directed to the nearest WHD district office. Locate the nearest office by calling the WHD's toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE ((866) 487-9243) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. in your local time zone, or log onto WHD's Web site at http://www.dol.gov/whd/america2.htm for a nationwide listing of WHD district and area offices.
End Further Info End Preamble Start Supplemental Information
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) generally requires covered employers to pay employees at least a Federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour. See 29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1). Under section 3(m) of the FLSA, which defines the term “wage,” an employer of tipped employees can satisfy its obligation to pay those employees the Federal minimum wage by paying a lower direct cash wage and counting a limited amount of the tips received by its employees as a partial credit to satisfy the difference between the direct cash wage paid and the Federal minimum wage (known as a “tip credit”), if it follows certain statutory requirements. See 29 U.S.C. 203(m).
In 1966, Congress created a tip credit provision within the definition of a “wage” in section 3(m) of the statute that permitted an employer to utilize tips received by its employees to subsidize up to 50 percent of its minimum wage obligations. See Public Law 89-601, 101(a), 80 Stat. 830 (1966); 76 FR 18,832, 18,838.[1] In 1974, Congress again amended section 3(m) by providing that an employer could not utilize tips received by its employees toward its Federal minimum wage obligation unless, among other things:
(1) [its] employee has been informed by the employer of the provisions of this subsection and (2) all tips received by such employee have been retained by the employee, except that this subsection shall not be construed to prohibit the pooling of tips among employees who customarily and regularly receive tips.
Public Law 93-259, 13(e), 88 Stat. 55 (1974). Thus, section 3(m) permits an employer to take a partial credit against its minimum wage obligations on account of tips received by its employees but only if, among other things, its tipped employees retain all of their tips. Section 3(m), however, does not preclude an employer that takes a tip credit from implementing a tip pool in which tips are shared only among those employees who “customarily and regularly receive tips.” Id.
The Department first promulgated regulations implementing the section 3(m) tip credit in 1967. See 32 FR 13,575 (Sept. 28, 1967). In 2011, the Department updated those regulations to reflect its then-existing view that the statutory conditions in section 3(m) of the FLSA require that tipped employees retain all of their tips, except for those tips distributed through a tip pool limited to customarily and regularly tipped employees, regardless whether such employees work for an employer that takes a tip credit. See, e.g., § 531.52.Start Printed Page 57396
As discussed below, since 2011 there has been a significant amount of private litigation involving the tip pooling and tip retention practices of employers that pay a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage and do not take a tip credit. There has also been litigation directly challenging the Department's authority to promulgate the 2011 Final Rule as it applies to employers that pay a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage. At the same time, there have been changes in state laws that require employers to pay their tipped employees a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage, which have resulted in more employers being unable to claim a tip credit.
In part because of these developments, the Department is concerned about the scope of its current tip regulations as applied to employers that pay the full Federal minimum wage to their tipped employees. The Department is also seriously concerned that it incorrectly construed the statute in promulgating the tip credit regulations that apply to such employers. Additionally, the Department seeks to consider whether it is unnecessary to prohibit the sharing of tips with employees who do not customarily receive tips, including restaurant cooks, dishwashers, and other traditionally lower-wage job classifications, when their employer does not take a tip credit under FLSA section 3(m) and its employees are paid at least the full Federal minimum wage.
The Department is therefore proposing to rescind the parts of its tip regulations that bar tip-sharing arrangements in establishments where the employers pay full Federal minimum wage and do not take a tip credit against their minimum wage obligations. This proposed rule applies only to employers that pay direct cash wages of at least the Federal minimum wage and do not take a tip credit. It does not apply to employers who pay less than the Federal minimum wage and take a tip credit.
The proposed removal of the regulatory limitation on an employer's ability to utilize tips if it pays a direct wage of at least the full FLSA minimum wage will allow for employers to provide in their agreements [2] with employees for tip sharing among a larger tip pool of employees. This change could result, for example, in tips being shared with employees who are not customarily and regularly tipped, such as back-of-the-house employees in restaurants. This type of tip sharing was at issue in Cumbie v. Woody Woo, Inc., 596 F.3d 577 (9th Cir. 2010) (employer paid its tipped employees a direct wage payment that exceeded the Federal minimum wage and instituted a tip pool that included back-of-the-house employees who did not customarily and regularly receive tips, such as dishwashers and cooks). If the Department's rule were adopted as proposed herein, it would expressly allow such tip sharing. Employers in other industries could also adopt similarly varied tip pooling arrangements among tipped and non-tipped employees. E.g., Cesarz v. Wynn Las Vegas, 2014 WL 117579 (D. Nev. 2014), rev'd and remanded by Oregon Rest. & Lodging Ass'n v. Perez, 816 F.3d 1080 (9th Cir. 2016), reh'g and reh'g en banc denied, 843 F.3d 355 (9th Cir. 2016), pet. for cert. filed (Aug. 1 2016) (employer instituted a tip pool through which dealers' tips were shared with other casino employees in jobs that have not traditionally been customarily and regularly tipped). Promulgation of the regulation would also make clear that where an employer does not claim the tip credit under section 3(m) and pays a direct wage that satisfies the FLSA's minimum wage requirements, the treatment and disposition of tips is a matter of agreement between the employer and employees or of state law.
To estimate the impact of the proposed rule, the Department looked at two occupations that constitute a large percentage of tipped workers (waiters, waitresses, and bartenders) and focused on two industries (drinking places and full-service restaurants). Based on the data used in the regulatory impact analysis below, the Department estimated that there are up to 1,298,231 tipped workers in the selected occupations, and 206,770 full-service restaurants, and 40,095 drinking places.
There are labor market forces that will affect decisions concerning employer use or reallocation of tips. For example, there are certain market factors that may discourage any changes in tip-sharing practices, such as employee resistance and heightened turnover among the customarily tipped employees. The Department is unable to quantify how customers will respond to proposed regulatory changes, which in turn would affect total tipped income and employer behavior. The Department currently lacks data to quantify possible reallocations of tips through newly expanded tip pools to employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips. The Department presents a primarily qualitative approach to assessing the benefits and transfers of the new rule.
The Department estimated the regulatory familiarization costs associated with this proposed rule on an establishment basis and calculated the first year cost to be $3.431 million. The Department discussed other impacts and benefits of the proposed rule qualitatively. For the purposes of E.O. 13771, it is expected that this proposed rule would, if finalized as proposed, qualify as an “E.O. 13771 deregulatory action.”
As noted above, the FLSA's tip credit provision was enacted in 1966. WHD promulgated regulations implementing the FLSA's tip credit provision in 1967. See 29 U.S.C. 203(m), Public Law 89-601, 101(a), 80 Stat. 830 (1966); 32 FR 13,575 (Sept. 28, 1967). Among other things, the 1967 regulations acknowledged that employers and employees could agree that tips received would belong to the employer, which might then use the tips to satisfy the entirety of its minimum wage obligations, thus exceeding the then-50 percent limitation on an employer's crediting of tips received by its employees against its minimum wage obligations. See, e.g., § 531.55(b) (1967) (“[I]f pursuant to an employment agreement the tips received by an employee must be credited or turned over to the employer, such sums may, after receipt by the employer, be used by the employer to satisfy the monetary requirements of the Act. In such instances there is no applicability of the 50-percent limitation on tip credits provided by section 3(m).”).
The 1967 regulations were consistent with Williams v. Jacksonville Terminal Co., 315 U.S. 386 (1942), and the legislative history of the 1966 amendments. In Jacksonville Terminal, the Supreme Court held that an employer had complied with the FLSA's minimum-wage requirements by paying its employees only those tips that the employees received from customers and, if tips received by any employee did not satisfy the minimum wage, by paying the difference to that employee. Start Printed Page 57397 Id. at 388-389, 397-398, 403-408. The Court reasoned that such tips “belong to the recipient” employee “in the absence of an explicit contrary understanding,” but that an employer and its employees could agree that the employer would “take the compensation paid by [customers] for the service [provided by the employees], whether paid as a fixed charge or as a tip.” Id. at 397-398. The Court ultimately concluded that the parties in the case had entered, and the FLSA did not prohibit, such an agreement to “transfer the tips [collected by the employees] . . . to the credit of the [employer].” Id. at 403; see id. at 403-408. The 1966 legislative history similarly reflected that the new statutory “tip provisions [we]re sufficiently flexible to permit the continuance of existing practices with respect to tips,” including practices under which “an employer and his tipped employees . . . agree that all tips are to be turned over or accounted for to the employer to be treated by him as part of his gross receipts.” S. Rep. 1487, 89th Cong., 2d Sess. 12 (1966). In that circumstance, however, “the employer must pay the employee the full minimum hourly wage, since for all practical purposes the employee is not receiving tip income.” Id.
When it amended section 3(m) in 1974, Congress added the requirement that an employer taking a tip credit must permit its tipped employees to retain all of their tips, except for those tips distributed through a mandatory tip pool that includes only employees who customarily and regularly receive tips. See Public Law 93-259, 13(e). Immediately after the 1974 amendments, WHD stated that its existing regulations were superseded by the amendments to the extent that they were in conflict with those amendments, in particular, those provisions that permitted an employer to use tips received by its employees toward its minimum wage obligations to a greater extent than permitted by section 3(m). See Wage and Hour Opinion Letter FLSA-626, 1974 WL 422051 (June 21, 1974), at *2; Wage and Hour Opinion Letter WH-310, 1975 WL 40934, at *1 (Feb. 18, 1975); Wage and Hour Opinion Letter WH-321, 1975 WL 40945, at *1-2 (Apr. 30, 1975). However, although the statutory tip credit provision was significantly amended in 1974 and thereafter, WHD did not revise its 1967 tip credit regulations until 2011. See 76 FR 18,832, 18,854-56 (Apr. 5, 2011).
In 2008, the Department published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposed, among other things, to amend WHD's tip credit regulations to reflect the 1974 amendments to the FLSA. See 73 FR 43,654, 43,659 (July 28, 2008). Before it had finalized that rulemaking, the Department participated as amicus curiae in support of a tipped employee challenging her employer's tip pooling arrangement in Cumbie v. Woody Woo, a case before the Ninth Circuit. 596 F.3d 577. Woody Woo involved an employer that paid its tipped employees a direct wage payment that exceeded the Federal minimum wage and instituted a mandatory tip pool that included back-of-the-house employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips, such as dishwashers and cooks. Id. at 578-79. The district court in Woody Woo had concluded that section 3(m)'s restrictions on tip pooling apply only when an employer takes a tip credit against its minimum wage obligations. See Cumbie v. Woody Woo, Inc., 2008 WL 2884484, at *3 (D. Or. July 25, 2008). The Department argued before the Ninth Circuit that the district court's interpretation would permit an employer to use tips received by its employees to a greater extent than that permitted in section 3(m), since it would permit an employer to use tips to meet its entire minimum wage obligation or to subsidize the wages of non-tipped employees. See Br. of the Sec'y of Labor as Amicus Curiae, Apr. 29, 2009, at 8, 2009 WL 2609879, Cumbie v. Woody Woo, Inc., 596 F.3d 577 (9th Cir. 2010). On February 23, 2010, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Cumbie v. Woody Woo, which held in the context of an employer that did not use tips to pay its employees the minimum wage, that section 3(m)'s tip retention requirements apply only to employers that avail themselves of the tip credit provision. 596 F.3d 577, 581 (9th Cir. 2010).
The Department finalized its revisions to the tip regulations in 2011. See 76 FR 18,832, 18,854-56 (revising, among other provisions, §§ 531.52, 531.54, and 531.59). Those regulations, among other things, bar all employers from sharing tips with employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips—regardless whether the employers take a tip credit. See, e.g., § 531.52. The Department's regulations thus provide that an employer is prohibited from using tips received by employees, whether or not it has taken a tip credit, except as a credit against its minimum wage obligations to the employee to the extent permitted by that section, or in furtherance of a tip pool that is permissible under that section. Id.
On July 12, 2012, the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association (ORLA), along with the National Restaurant Association, Washington Restaurant Association, Alaska Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant & Retailers Association, and others (the ORLA Plaintiffs), challenged the Department's authority to promulgate the 2011 Final Rule as it applies to employers that do not take a tip credit and that pay a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage. See Compl., July 12, 2012, Oregon Rest. & Lodging Ass'n v. Solis, 948 F.Supp.2d 1217 (D. Or. 2013). The ORLA Plaintiffs sought to have those parts of the Department's 2011 tip regulations that apply to employers that do not take a tip credit against their minimum wage obligations declared invalid and vacated. See id. at 33-34 (identifying §§ 531.52, 531.54, and 531.59).
The plaintiffs alleged, inter alia, that such tip regulations are contrary to the FLSA's clear statutory language in section 3(m), which places restrictions on an employer's use of tips only when the employer takes a tip credit. See id. at 18-21. The Department responded by arguing that the FLSA does not address an employer's use of tips when the employer does not take a tip credit, and that the Department appropriately used its rulemaking authority to address that statutory gap through the 2011 tip regulations. See Reply Br. of the Sec'y of Labor, Dec. 7, 2012, at 5-8, Oregon Rest. & Lodging Ass'n v. Solis, 948 F.Supp.2d 1217 (D. Or. 2013). On June 7, 2013, the district court granted the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, ruling that the 2011 tip regulations were invalid. Oregon Rest. & Lodging Ass'n v. Solis, 948 F.Supp.2d 1217, 1227 (D. Or. 2013). The court concluded that the regulations were contrary to the clear intent of Congress to limit the use or pooling of tips only to employers that elect to take a tip credit. See id. at 1226.
On August 21, 2013, the Department appealed the district court's decision to the Ninth Circuit. See Br. of the Sec'y of Labor, Dec. 27, 2013, at 8, Oregon Rest. & Lodging Ass'n v. Perez, 816 F.3d 1080 (9th Cir. 2016) (ORLA). In its brief, the Department argued that the 1974 amendments to the FLSA expressly delegated broad authority to the Department to implement the terms of the amendments and that the Department properly used this authority to promulgate the 2011 tip regulations, which address a gap in the statutory scheme: Whether an employer that does not take a tip credit is subject to section 3(m)'s restrictions. See id. at 24-28. The Department further argued that the regulations were necessary to prevent a circumvention of section 3(m)'s limitations on an employer's ability to Start Printed Page 57398use or require the pooling of tips. See id. at 32-33. The Ninth Circuit consolidated the case with Cesarz v. Wynn Las Vegas—a private FLSA action in which the plaintiffs-employees, relying on the Department's 2011 regulations, alleged that the employer violated the FLSA when it required its tipped employees to share their tips with non-tipped employees, see 2014 WL 117579, at *1 (D. Nev. 2014)— for purposes of oral argument and disposition. See 816 F.3d 1080 n.* (9th Cir. 2016).[3]
On February 23, 2016, the Ninth Circuit, reversing the district court, upheld the validity of the 2011 tip regulations in ORLA v. Perez, 816 F.3d 1080, 1090 (9th Cir. 2016). In deciding ORLA, the Ninth Circuit concluded that Woody Woo held only that section 3(m) does not prohibit employers that do not take a tip credit from instituting an invalid tip pool. See id. at 1088. Having found that the FLSA is silent with respect to employers that do not take a tip credit, the Ninth Circuit concluded that the 2011 tip regulations were a reasonable application of the agency's authority to fill gaps left by the text of the FLSA, because the “purpose of the Act does not support the view that Congress intended permanently to allow employers that do not take a tip credit to do whatever they wish with their employees' tips.” See id. at 1089-1090. On April 6, 2016, the ORLA Plaintiffs filed a petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc. See Pet. for Panel Reh'g and Reh'g En Banc, Apr. 6, 2016, ORLA v. Perez, 816 F.3d 1080 (9th Cir. 2016). The ORLA Plaintiffs argued that the Ninth Circuit's decision in ORLA cannot be reconciled with Woody Woo and reiterated their contention that the 2011 tip pooling regulation is an impermissible interpretation of the FLSA. See id. at 11, 13.
On September 6, 2016, the ORLA panel denied the plaintiffs' request for panel rehearing, and a majority of the non-recused active judges voted to decline en banc review. See ORLA v. Perez, 816 F.3d 1080, reh'g and reh'g en banc denied, 843 F.3d 355, 356 (9th Cir. 2016).
Judge O'Scannlain, joined by nine other judges, dissented. See id. (O'Scannlain, J., dissenting). Judge O'Scannlain concluded that the Department's tip pooling regulation is precluded because the Ninth Circuit previously held in Woody Woo that the FLSA “clearly and unambiguously permits employers who forgo a tip credit to arrange their tip-pooling affairs however they see fit.” See id. at 358 (citing Cumbie v. Woody Woo, 596 F.3d at 579 n.6, 581, 581 n.11, 582, 583; Nat'l Cable & Telecomms. Ass'n v. Brand X Internet Servs., 545 U.S. 967, 984 (2005)). Based on this statutory construction, Judge O'Scannlain wrote, “[T]he Department has not been delegated authority to ban tip pooling by employers who forgo the tip credit, and [as such] the Department's assertion of regulatory jurisdiction is manifestly contrary to the statute and exceeds [its] statutory authority.” Id. at 363-64 (internal quotation marks omitted).
The National Restaurant Association (and other plaintiffs in the OLRA litigation) filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court, asking for review of the Ninth Circuit's decision in ORLA, and that petition is pending. See Sup. Ct. No. 16-920 (certiorari petition filed Jan. 19, 2017). The Wynn Defendants filed their own petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court on August 1, 2016, which is also still pending. Sup. Ct. No. 16-163 (certiorari petition filed (Aug. 1 2016)).
As explained further in Part IV, below, more employers are unable to claim a tip credit in 2017 than when the Department's regulations were promulgated in 2011 due to the increased number of states that require employers to pay their tipped employees a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage. Perhaps because of these changes to state law, there has been a significant amount of private litigation in recent years involving the tip pooling and tip retention practices of employers that pay a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage. Much of that litigation involves the application of the Department's 2011 tip credit regulations that bar employers from retaining and from sharing tips with employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips, even when the employers have not taken a tip credit. For example, in Trejo v. Ryman Hospitality Properties, the employees alleged that their employer, which had paid its tipped employees a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage, improperly required its tipped employees to contribute to a tip pool including employees who were not customarily and regularly tipped. Sazzad v. Ryman Hosp. Properties, No. 8:13-cv-02911 (D. Md., April 21, 2014), aff'd sub nom, Trejo, 795 F.3d 442 (4th Cir. 2015); see also Malivuk, 2016 WL 3999878, aff'd on other grounds,—F. App'x —, 2017 WL 2491498 (11th Cir. June 9, 2017); see also Brueningsen v. Resort Express Inc., 2015 WL 339671 (D. Utah Jan. 26, 2015), recons. denied, 2016 WL 1181683 (D. Utah Mar. 25, 2016), appeal filed (10th Cir., Nov. 16, 2016). Wynn, 2014 WL 117579 (D. Nev. 2014) (employees alleged that the employer improperly required them to contribute to a tip pool that included their supervisors), rev'd and remanded by ORLA, 816 F.3d 1080 (9th Cir. 2016), reh'g and reh'g en banc denied, 843 F.3d 355 (9th Cir. 2016), pet. for cert. filed (Aug. 1 2016). Therefore, the application of the Department's regulations to employers who do not take a tip credit has gained increasing importance in recent years.
Additionally, the Tenth Circuit recently ruled in Marlow v. The New Food Guy, a private FLSA case in which the United States participated as amicus curiae, that the Department's 2011 tip regulations are invalid to the extent that they bar an employer from using or sharing tips with employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips when the employer pays a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage and does not claim a section 3(m) tip credit. See Marlow v. New Food Guy, Inc., 861 F.3d 1157 (10th Cir. 2017). In Marlow, the plaintiff alleged that the employer, which paid the plaintiff a direct wage of at least the Federal minimum wage and did not claim a section 3(m) tip credit, violated section 3(m) and the Department's 2011 regulations by retaining the tips employees received from customers. Id. at 1158-59. The district court dismissed the plaintiff's claim, concluding that the employer satisfied its obligations under the FLSA and that section 3(m) does not Start Printed Page 57399provide a cause of action for lost tips. Marlow v. New Food Guy, Inc., No. 15-CV-01327, 2016 WL 4920980, at *1 (D. Colo. Feb. 17, 2016).[4] On appeal, the United States, while also defending the validity of the Department of Labor's 2011 tip regulations, argued as a threshold matter that the plaintiff failed to plead a claim under the FLSA because she did not allege that her employer's retention of her tips resulted in a minimum wage or overtime violation. See Br. of the United States as Amicus Curiae, Oct. 2016, 2016 WL 6566326, at *10. The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the plaintiff's claim, holding that the text of the FLSA limits an employer's use of tips only when the employer takes a tip credit, “leaving [the Department] without authority to regulate to the contrary.” See Marlow, 861 F.3d at 1163-64.[5]
The Department has taken into account the changed landscape and extensive litigation since promulgating its 2011 Final Rule. In that regard, the dissent to the denial of the petition for rehearing en banc in ORLA is notable, not only because of the force of that opinion but also because it drew the support of nine other judges in the Ninth Circuit. After considering the ORLA rehearing dissent and the Tenth Circuit's decision in Marlow, both of which state that the Department's 2011 Final Rule exceeded the agency's authority under section 3(m), the Department is reconsidering its regulations to the extent that they apply to employers that pay a direct wage of at least the Federal minimum wage and do not claim a credit based on tips to satisfy their minimum wage obligation. The Department has serious concerns that it incorrectly construed the statute in promulgating its current regulations, the scope of which extends to employers that have paid the full Federal minimum wage to their tipped employees, particularly insofar as those employers, rather than taking the tips for their own purposes, provide for such tips to be shared with other employees through a tip pool. The Department also has independent and serious concerns about those regulations as a policy matter. In particular, the Department seeks to remove prohibitions on sharing tips with employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips—including restaurant cooks, dishwashers, and other traditionally lower-wage job classifications—when their employer does not take a tip credit under FLSA section 3(m) and all employees are paid at least the full Federal minimum wage. In light of all of these factors, the Department is proposing to rescind the parts of its tip regulations that apply to employers that pay a direct cash wage of at least the full Federal minimum wage and do not take a tip credit against their minimum wage obligations. The Department also issued a nonenforcement policy on July 20, 2017, whereby WHD will not enforce the Department's regulations on the retention of tips received by employees with respect to any employee who is paid a cash wage of not less than the full FLSA minimum wage ($7.25) and for whom their employer does not take an FLSA section 3(m) tip credit either for 18 months or until the completion of this rulemaking, whichever comes first.[6] This nonenforcement policy provides nationwide consistency while the Department moves forward with rulemaking.
As discussed above, Congress amended the FLSA's tip credit provision in 1974 to require an employer that elects to take a tip credit against its minimum wage obligations to permit its tipped employees to retain all tips they receive, except for those distributed through a tip pool limited to customarily and regularly tipped employees. See Public Law 93-259, § 13(e). The legislative history emphasizes that the employee-tip-retention requirement was not “intended to discourage the practice of pooling, splitting, or sharing tips with employees who customarily and regularly receive tips—e.g., waiters, bellhops, waitresses, countermen, busboys, [and] service bartenders, etc.” S. Rep. No. 93-690, at 43 (1974). “On the other hand,” the Report explains, “the employer will lose the benefit” of the tip credit if tipped employees are required to share their tips with employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips—e.g., janitors, dishwashers, chefs, laundry room attendants, etc.” Id. [7]
The language from the 1974 amendments to section 3(m) is essentially the same as the current version of the law. See 29 U.S.C. 203(m). Although section 3(m)'s tip credit provision has been amended three times since 1974—in 1977, 1989, and 1996—these amendments changed only the applicable amount of tips received by employees that could be used as a credit against an employer's minimum wage obligations. See Public Law 95-151, § 3(b), 91 Stat. 1245 (1977); Public Law 101-157, § 5, 103 Stat. 938 (1989); and Public Law 104-188, § 2105(b), 110 Stat. 1755 (1996).[8] In Start Printed Page 57400amendments to the FLSA in 2007, Congress increased the minimum wage in three steps to $7.25 per hour beginning July 2009, but did not change the definition of “wage” in section 3(m) for purposes of applying the tip credit formula. Public Law 110-28, § 8102(a), 121 Stat. 112 (2007). Thus, the maximum tip credit that an employer is permitted to claim under section 3(m) today is $5.12 per hour—the current Federal minimum wage, $7.25 per hour, 29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1), minus $2.13—or 71 percent of the current Federal minimum wage. See 76 FR 18,832, 18,839.
As explained above, the Department promulgated its initial tip regulations in 1967, one year after Congress created the tip credit in section 3(m), and several years before the 1974 amendments to section 3(m)'s tip provisions. 32 FR 13,575 (Sept. 28, 1967). Consistent with the Department's understanding of the 1966 amendments, the 1967 tip regulations permitted agreements under which tips received by employees would be turned over to the employer, which could then use the tips to pay the Federal minimum wage. Cf. S. Rep. 1487, 89th Cong., 2d Sess. 12 (1966) (explaining that such practices could continue under the 1966 amendments).
Shortly after the 1974 statutory amendments, however, the Department addressed the impact of the amendments on its tip regulations and stated that its then-existing regulations were superseded by the amendments to the extent tha they were in conflict. Specifically, when asked about the legality of an agreement under which “the employer would retain all monies generated by tips” and directly pay its employees at the minimum wage rate, the Department stated that “[t]he amendments to section 3(m) of the Act,” which specified that an employer's wage credit for tips (up to 50% of the minimum wage) could not exceed the amount of tips actually received by the employee, “would have no meaning or effect unless they prohibit agreements under which tips are credited or turned over to the employer for use by the employer in satisfying the monetary requirements of the Act.” See Wage and Hour Opinion Letter FLSA-626, 1974 WL 422051, at *2 (June 21, 1974).
The Department opined shortly after the 1974 amendments that “an employer may not take advantage of Section 3(m) by using any part of his employee's tips as a credit to meet his monetary obligation unless the employee is permitted to keep all tips” and, if an employer takes tips received by an employee, “then, in order to come into compliance, such employer must return the tips and pay the full statutory minimum wage.” Wage and Hour Opinion Letter WH-310, 1975 WL 40934, at *1 (Feb. 18, 1975); see Wage and Hour Opinion Letter WH-386, 1976 WL 41739, at *3 (July 12, 1976) (“[E]mployers must pay tipped employees at least half of the applicable minimum wage (from their own pockets) for each hour worked, and may take a tip credit of no more than 50 percent of the required minimum wage.”). To conclude otherwise, the Department reasoned, would enable an employer to circumvent section 3(m)'s restriction that employers use no more than a limited portion of tips received by employees to satisfy their Federal minimum wage obligations. Cf. Woody Woo, 596 F.3d at 579 n.7.
The opinion letters issued shortly after the 1974 amendments were primarily focused on whether it would constitute an impermissible circumvention of section 3(m) of the Act for an employer to utilize tips received by its employees to satisfy its minimum wage obligations to a greater extent than Congress expressly permitted in the Act's tip credit provision. In a 1989 opinion letter, however, the Department opined that merely requiring tipped employees to participate in a tip pool that is not limited to employees in customarily and regularly tipped occupations—i.e., a tip pool in a form not expressly authorized by section 3(m)—may also violate the FLSA, even when an employer has paid all of the tipped and non-tipped employees in the pool a direct cash wage equal to or greater than the Federal minimum wage. See Wage and Hour Opinion Letter WH-536, 1989 WL 610348, at *3 (Oct. 26, 1989). In that letter, the Department stated that tips are an employee's property even when an employer pays a direct cash wage of at least the full Federal minimum wage and does not claim a tip credit against its minimum wage obligations based on erroneous reasoning [9] and, on that premise, concluded that a tipped employee who is required to participate in a tip pool that does not satisfy the criteria in section 3(m) is effectively required to “contribute part of his or her property to the employer or to other persons for the benefit of the employer.” Id. at *2. Thus, under the erroneous reasoning reflected in that letter, even when an employer does not claim a tip credit to reduce the direct cash wage it pays and does not use tips to fulfill any part of its minimum wage obligation to its tipped employees, mandating that a tipped employee contribute to a pool that includes employees in occupations that do not customarily and regularly receive tips “would become an issue under the minimum wage provisions of the Act,” if the “employer does not pay a sufficiently high cash wage to reimburse such employee for such loss, plus at least the minimum wage.” Id.[10]
In 2011, the Department issued a Final Rule addressing tip pooling and other uses of tips. See 76 FR 18,832, 18,842. Revised § 531.52 provides in relevant part that:
Start Printed Page 57401
Tips are the property of the employee whether or not the employer has taken a tip credit under section 3(m) of the FLSA. The employer is prohibited from using an employee's tips, whether or not it has taken a tip credit, for any reason other than that which is statutorily permitted in section 3(m): As a credit against its minimum wage obligations to the employee, or in furtherance of a valid tip pool.
Id. at 18,855 (emphasis added). Under the current regulations an employer that pays a direct cash wage equal to or greater than the Federal minimum wage—just like an employer that claims a tip credit to reduce the direct cash wage it pays—may require tipped employees to participate in a tip pool that is limited to employees in customarily and regularly tipped occupations, but it may not require tipped employees to participate in a tip pool that includes employees who are not in customarily and regularly tipped occupations. Nor may an employer that pays a direct cash wage equal to or greater than the Federal minimum wage use its tips received by its employees for any other purpose.
As a result of market forces and changes in state wage laws, the number of employers paying tipped employees a direct cash wage that is equal to or greater than the Federal minimum wage (and thus not claiming a section 3(m) tip credit) has increased since the Department promulgated the 2011 Final Rule. The Department believes that these changes also merit reconsideration of the tip pooling restrictions imposed on employers that do not claim a tip credit under section 3(m).
Historically, six western states (Alaska, California, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) have prohibited employers from using tips received by employees as a credit against their state minimum wages—all of which today equal or exceed the Federal minimum wage—thereby preventing employers in these states from claiming a section 3(m) tip credit to reduce the direct cash wage they pay without incurring liability under state law. See Alaska Stat. § 23.10.065(a); Cal. Lab. Code § 351 (amended 1975); Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-3-402, 39-2-404 (originally enacted Sec. 2, Ch. 417 (1971)), Mont. Admin. R. 24.16.1508(1); Nev. Rev. Stat. § 608.160(1)(b); Or. Rev. Stat. § 653.035; Rev. Code Wash. 49.46.020, Wash. Admin. Code 296-126-022 (effective 1974); see also Alaska School Bus Safety Act, 1990 Alaska Laws Ch. 12, § 23.10.065 (1990); Henning v. Industrial Welfare Commission, 46 Cal. 3d 1262, 1275-76 (Cal. 1988) (holding that Labor Code section 351, as amended in 1975, “bar[s] the establishment of a minimum wage for tipped employees lower than the generally applicable minimum wage.”); Moen v. Las Vegas Int'l Hotel, Inc., 402 F. Supp. 157, 158 (D. Nev. 1975) (outlining requirements of Nev. Rev. Stat. § 608.160); Wash. Att'y Gen. Op. 1974 No. 18, 1974 WL 168752 (concluding that hotels and restaurants must pay the full Washington minimum wage to their tipped employees, and may not take advantage of the section 3(m) tip credit, since, “as it has long been administratively construed by the department of labor and industries, tips are . . . not included as a part of an employee's wages for the purposes of the Washington law.”); WHD, Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees, January 1, 2003, https://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped2003.htm.[11]
Since the Department promulgated the 2011 Final Rule, a number of additional states have increased the direct cash wage an employer must pay some or all tipped employees under state law. In August 2014, Minnesota—which prohibits employers from taking a tip credit against the state minimum wage—increased its minimum wage for large employers from $6.15 per hour to $8.00 per hour (it was increased on August 1, 2016 to $9.50 per hour) and increased its minimum wage for small employers from $5.25 per hour to $7.25 per hour beginning in August 2015 (it is currently $7.75 per hour). See Minn. Stat. Ann. § 177.24, subd. 1, 2; 2014 Minn. Sess. Law Serv. Ch. 166. As a result, employers in Minnesota now must pay tipped employees a direct cash wage that is greater than the Federal minimum wage. In January 2015, Hawaii—which permits employers to take a tip credit but requires that the combined cash wage and tips must equal at least $7.00 more than the state minimum wage—increased the direct cash wage employers must pay tipped employees to $7.25 per hour (the current Federal minimum wage). Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 387-2. The minimum direct cash wage an employer must pay a tipped employee in Hawaii is currently $8.50 per hour and is scheduled to increase to $9.35 in January 2018. Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 387-2. In December 2015, New York increased the direct cash wage employers that take a tip credit must pay tipped food service employees and other service employees to at least $7.50 per hour. See 12 NY ADC 146-1.3 (Dec. 4, 2015).[12] And in November 2016, Arizona and Colorado enacted ballot measures that will increase the direct cash wage employers that take a tip credit must pay tipped employees to at least the current Federal minimum wage by January 2020. See Ariz. Proposition 206, approved Nov. 8, 2016 (amending Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 23-363(C)); 2016 Colo. Legis. Serv. Init. Pet. 101 (amending Colo. Const. art. XVIII, § 15).
Due to these changes, the share of servers, bellhops and porters, counter attendants, bartenders, and dining room attendants and bartender helpers [13] with employers that are or will be required under state law to pay a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage to all or a portion of their tipped employees has almost doubled, from approximately 17 percent in 2011 to approximately 31 percent today. See Table A: WHD Analysis of BLS Data Regarding States that Require Employers to Pay Tipped Employees a Direct Cash Wage At Least Equal to the Federal Minimum Wage.
The Department seeks public comments, which should include supporting data whenever possible, on the proposed rescission of those portions of its 2011 tip regulations that apply to employers that pay tipped employees a direct cash wage that is equal to or greater than the Federal minimum wage and that do not claim a tip credit. The Department's current regulations require that tipped employees retain all tips they receive regardless whether the employer takes a Start Printed Page 57402tip credit under section 3(m). Employers can only require tipped employees to participate in a mandatory tip pool if the tip pool is limited to employees in customarily and regularly tipped occupations, such as servers, bartenders, and bussers. As discussed above, this regulatory restriction limiting tip pools to only customarily and regularly tipped employees applies even when an employer pays a direct cash wage of at least the full Federal minimum wage and does not claim a credit pursuant to section 3(m).
The purpose of section 3(m)'s tip credit provision is to allow an employer to subsidize a portion of its Federal minimum wage obligation by crediting the tips customers give to employees. If an employer takes a tip credit against its wage obligations, section 3(m) applies, along with its attendant protections that restrict the employer's use of tips received by its employees. Where an employer has paid a direct cash wage of at least the full Federal minimum wage and does not take the employee tips directly, a strong argument exists that the statutory protections of section 3(m) do not apply.[14] But if an employer pays the full Federal minimum wage and does not take a tip credit, the proposed rule would allow tip sharing in a manner currently prohibited by regulation, including by sharing tips with employees who are not customarily and regularly tipped (e.g., restaurant cooks and dishwashers) through a tip pool. The proposed rule, therefore, provides such employers and employees greater flexibility in determining the pay policies for tipped and non-tipped workers. It additionally allows them to reduce wage disparities among employees who all contribute to the customers' experience and to incentivize all employees to improve that experience regardless of their position. In sum, due to the Department's serious concerns that it incorrectly construed the statute in promulgating its current tip regulations to cover employers who pay a direct cash wage of at least the full Federal minimum wage, as well as the various other reasons described in this NPRM, the Department is proposing to rescind the portions of the current regulations that apply to employers that pay a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage and do not claim a tip credit against their minimum wage obligations.
This NPRM uses the term “tip pooling” to describe any scenario in which a tip provided by a customer to an employee or group of employees is shared, in whole or in part, with other employees. The Department recognizes that in some workplaces or under State laws, the term “tip pooling” may refer to a narrower set of practices, and that employers and workers may use other terms—for example “tip out,” “tip sharing,” or “tip jar”—to describe certain practices regarding tips. Accordingly, the Department asks commenters to define in their comments any terms they use to describe practices regarding tips. The Department will consider information provided by the public in response to this NPRM in finalizing its proposal to amend 29 CFR part 531, subpart D, as it applies to situations where an employer pays tipped employees a direct cash wage that is at least the Federal minimum wage.
Table A—WHD Analysis of BLS Data Regarding States That Require Employers To Pay Tipped Employees a Direct Cash Wage at Least Equal to the Federal Minimum Wage
Servers (waiters & waitresses) SOC Code 353031
Bartenders SOC Code 353011
Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop SOC Code 353022
Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers SOC Code 359011
Baggage porters & bellhops SOC Code 396011
Servers; bartenders; counter attendants; dining room & cafeteria attendants & bartenders helpers; porters & bellhops
Direct cash wage for tipped employees at least equal to the Federal minimum wage, 2011 15
Alaska 3690 1930 1550 1020 190 8380
California 233330 45280 61040 61380 4800 405830
Montana 8780 4550 690 1060 90 15170
Nevada 37380 13420 3960 11050 3080 68890
Oregon 26530 9340 5100 3320 340 44630
Washington 41160 12530 19080 8430 920 82120
Subtotal 350870 86450 91420 86260 9420 624420
Total, U.S. 2289010 512230 441830 391290 44130 3678490
% U.S. total 15.33% 16.88% 20.69% 22.05% 21.35% 16.97%
Direct cash wage for tipped employees equal to or scheduled to reach at least Federal minimum wage, present 16
Alaska 4260 1740 2540 920 90 9550
Arizona 53580 11150 8340 9610 740 83420
Colorado 52540 12560 4530 7490 640 77760
Connecticut 28430 7740 5480 3430 180 45260
Hawaii 16110 3200 5470 5130 1380 31290
Minnesota 50230 17270 15060 4040 330 86930
New York 155540 43670 31470 33390 4250 268320
Subtotal 770260 197440 149730 162090 16840 1296360
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., and its attendant regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, require the Department to consider the agency's need for its information collections, their practical utility, as well as the impact of paperwork and other information collection burdens imposed on the public, and how to minimize those burdens. The PRA typically requires an agency to provide notice and seek public comments on any proposed collection of information contained in a proposed rule. See 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(B); 5 CFR 1320.8.
This NPRM does not contain a collection of information subject to OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department welcomes comments on this determination.
Under Executive Order 12866, the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB's) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs determines whether a regulatory action is significant and, therefore, subject to the requirements of the Executive Order and review by OMB. 58 FR 51735. Section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866 defines a “significant regulatory action” as an action that is likely to result in a rule that: (1) Has an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more, or adversely affects in a material way a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local or tribal governments or communities (also referred to as economically significant); (2) creates serious inconsistency or otherwise interferes with an action taken or planned by another agency; (3) materially alters the budgetary impacts of entitlement grants, user fees, or loan programs, or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or (4) raises novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in the Executive Order. Id. OMB has determined that this proposed rule is a “significant regulatory action” under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866.
Executive Order 13563 directs agencies to propose or adopt a regulation only upon a reasoned determination that its benefits justify its costs; it is tailored to impose the least burden on society, consistent with achieving the regulatory objectives; and in choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, the agency has selected those approaches that maximize net benefits. Executive Order 13563 recognizes that some benefits are difficult to quantify and provides that, where appropriate and permitted by law, agencies may consider and discuss qualitatively values that are difficult or impossible to quantify, including equity, human dignity, fairness, and distributive impacts.
Executive Order 13771 (“E.O. 13771”) directs agencies to reduce regulation and control regulatory costs by eliminating at least two existing regulations for each new regulation, and by controlling the cost of planned regulations through the budgeting process. See 82 FR 9339. In relevant part, OMB defines an “E.O. 13771 regulatory action” as “a significant regulatory action as defined in section 3(f) of E.O. 12866 that has been finalized and that imposes total costs greater than zero.” [17] By contrast, an “E.O. 13771 deregulatory action” is defined as “an action that has been finalized and has total costs less than zero.” [18] For the purposes of E.O. 13771, it is expected that this proposed rule would, if finalized as proposed, qualify as an “E.O. 13771 deregulatory action.”
As explained earlier in Part IV of this notice, more employers are unable to claim a tip credit in 2017 than when the Department's regulations were promulgated in 2011 due to the increased number of states that require employers to pay their tipped Start Printed Page 57404employees a direct cash wage of at least the current $7.25 per hour Federal minimum wage. Perhaps because of these changes to state law, there has been a significant amount of private litigation in recent years involving the tip pooling and tip retention practices of employers that pay a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage. See, e.g., Trejo v. Ryman Hosp. Properties, 795 F.3d 442 (4th Cir. 2015); Aguila v. Corp. Caterers IV, 199 F. Supp. 3d 1358 (S.D. Fla. 2016), aff'd sub nom. 2017 WL 1101081 (11th Cir. Mar. 24, 2017); Marlow v. The New Food Guy, Inc., 861 F.3d 1157 (10th Cir. 2017).
In part because of these developments, the Department has serious concerns that it incorrectly construed the statute in promulgating its current tip regulations as applied to employers that have paid the full Federal minimum wage to their tipped employees, and serious concerns about the regulations as a policy matter, especially under changed circumstances. Additionally, the Department seeks to remove prohibitions on sharing tips with non-customarily tipped employees—including restaurant cooks, dishwashers, and other traditionally lower-wage job classifications—when their employer does not take a tip credit under FLSA section 3(m) and all employees are paid at least the full Federal minimum wage. The Department is therefore proposing to rescind the portions of its tip regulations at 29 CFR part 531, subpart D that limit employee arrangements to share tips by imposing restrictions on employers that pay a direct cash wage of at least the full Federal minimum wage and do not claim a tip credit against their minimum wage obligation. The Department also issued a nonenforcement policy on July 20, 2017, whereby WHD will not enforce the Department's regulations on the retention of employees' tips with respect to any employee who is paid a cash wage of not less than the full FLSA minimum wage ($7.25) and for whom their employer does not take an FLSA section 3(m) tip credit, either for 18 months or until the completion of this rulemaking, whichever comes first.
This economic analysis provides a quantitative analysis of the rule familiarization costs of the proposed rule, and a qualitative discussion of the benefits and transfers that may result from the proposed rule.[19] The potential benefits and transfers have not been quantified in this NPRM.
There are labor market forces that will affect employers' decisions on tips that employees receive. For example, there are certain market factors that may cause employers not to change their practices with respect to tips, such as employee resistance and a decline in employee morale, as well as the costs of employee turnover. The Department is unable to quantify how customers will respond to proposed regulatory changes, which in turn would affect total tipped income and employer behavior.
The Department welcomes comments that provide data or information regarding the potential benefits and transfers of this proposed rule, and has asked some specific questions that may help the Department quantify benefits and transfers in the Final Rule analysis. See Section VII.B.iv.
This section explains the methodology used to estimate the number of workers who are defined as a tipped employee, i.e., where a tipped employee means any employee engaged in an occupation in which he or she customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. See 29 U.S.C. 203(t). In the absence of data to specifically categorize employees by the definition above, the Department relied on a broader definition as allowed by the available data, where the minimum tip amount received is relaxed (that is, this analysis does not consider the $30-a-month threshold), and where the focus is on tipped employees who are classified under two Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes: SOC 35-3031 (Waiters and Waitresses) and SOC 35-3011 (Bartenders).
For the present analysis, the Department considered these two occupations as they constitute a large percentage of tipped workers.[20] The Department understands that there are other occupations with tipped workers such as SOC 35-9011 (Dining room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers) and SOC 35-9031 (Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop), and others; thus, the Department welcomes comments and suggestions on whether this analysis should extend to additional tipped occupations. The Department focused on employees in those two occupations in the two industries in which they are primarily concentrated. The two industries are classified under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as 722410 (Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)) and 722511 (Full-service Restaurants). The Department understands that there are other industries with tipped workers, and welcomes comments and suggestions on whether this analysis should extend to those additional industries, and if so, which industries and why.
The Department used the Current Population Survey (CPS), a large, nationally representative sample of the labor force, for data on the number of workers employed in the two occupations mentioned above, the wages for these workers, and their usual hours worked. The CPS, which is sponsored jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and BLS, is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households. In any given month, one adult household member reports employment and other information for each member of the household.[21] Households are surveyed for four months, excluded from the survey for eight months, surveyed for an additional four months, then permanently dropped from the sample. During the last month of each rotation in the sample (month 4 and month 16), employed respondents complete a supplementary questionnaire in addition to the regular survey. These households and questions form the CPS Merged Outgoing Rotation Group (CPS-MORG) and provide more detailed information about those surveyed.
The CPS asks respondents whether they usually receive overtime pay, tips, and commissions, which allows the Department to estimate the number of bartenders and wait staff in restaurants Start Printed Page 57405and drinking places who receive tips. CPS data, however, are not available separately for overtime pay, tips, and commissions, but the Department assumes very few bartenders and wait staff at restaurants and drinking places receive commissions, and the number who receive overtime pay but not tips is also assumed to be minimal. Therefore, where bartenders and wait staff responded affirmatively to this question, the Department assumes that they receive tips.
All data tables in this analysis include estimates for the year 2016 as the baseline. Table 1 presents the estimates of the share of bartenders and wait staff in restaurants and drinking places who reported that they usually earned overtime pay, tips, or commissions in 2016. Approximately 61 percent of bartenders and 57 percent of wait staff reported usually earning overtime pay, tips, or commissions in 2016.
Table 1—Share of Bartenders and Waiters/Waitresses in Restaurants and Drinking Places Who Earned Overtime Pay, Tips, or Commissions, 2016
Number of bartenders and waiters/waitresses in restaurants and drinking places
Number who responded Yes to earning overtime pay, tips, or commissions
Percent who responded Yes to earning overtime pay, tips, or commissions
Total 2,265,705 1,298,231 57
Bartenders 357,727 218,989 61
Waiters and waitresses 1,907,979 1,079,243 57
Source: 2016 Current Population Survey. The Department used DataFerrett to extract basic monthly CPS data.
Occupations: Bartenders (Census Code 4040) and Waiters and Waitresses (Census Code 4110).
Industries: Restaurants and other food services (Census Code 8680) and Drinking places, alcoholic beverages (Census Code 8690).
The Department used data from BLS' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) to estimate the familiarization cost (Section VII.B.iv). The Department believes regulatory familiarization will occur at the specific establishment level rather than the broader firm level.[22]
Under this NPRM, employers that pay at least the full FLSA minimum wage directly to tipped employees could utilize some or all of the tips received by employees for purposes currently prohibited by the regulations (i.e., for purposes other than a tip pool limited to customarily and regularly tipped employees) or when employers that currently claim the section 3(m) tip credit increase the cash wages of their tipped employees to at least the full FLSA minimum wage and then utilize some or all of the tips received by employees for purposes currently prohibited by the regulations.[23]
The Department does not attempt to definitively interpret individual state law, and is therefore unable to determine to what extent state law will affect employer behavior in light of the proposed changes. It is assumed, however, that about 30 percent of all waiters and waitresses and bartenders work in states that prohibit employers from obtaining tips received by employees.[24] In these states, employers must continue complying with state law, and therefore tipped employees in these states may not be impacted by the changes proposed in this NPRM. The potential transfers of tips would depend on employer behavior, employee behavior, customer behavior, and other factors. The Department seeks public comments, which should include supporting data whenever possible, on “tip pooling” practices in workplaces where an employer pays tipped employees a direct cash wage that is equal to or greater than the Federal minimum wage. The Department uses the term “tip pooling” to describe any scenario in which a tip provided by a customer to an employee or group of employees is redistributed, in whole or in part, with other employees.[25] The Department recognizes that in some workplaces or under State laws, the term “tip pooling” may refer to a narrower set of practices, and that employers and workers may use other terms—for example “tip out,” “tip sharing,” or “tip jar”—to describe certain practices regarding tips. Accordingly, the Department asks commenters to define in their comments any terms they use to describe practices regarding tips. Specifically, the Department solicits comments with supporting data to the following issues:
1. Among employers that currently pay a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage and do not take a tip credit, what portion reallocate tips, with other employees? And, among that population of employers, what portion of the total tips do they retain or reallocate?
2. How prevalent are employer-required, or mandatory, tip pools? What factors determine whether an employer institutes a mandatory tip pool? What portion of the tips received by employees do employers anticipate being contributed to the tip pool? What kinds of factors might influence an employer's decision to exclude some tips from inclusion in a mandatory tip pool?
3. Do tipped employees receiving money from a mandatory tip pool typically receive a fixed dollar amount, or a fixed percentage of the pool? Is it common for some employees to receive Start Printed Page 57406a larger share of the tip pool than others,[26] or are tips typically distributed on an even basis among all participants in the tip pool?
4. If this proposed rule were adopted as proposed, what kinds of employees would employers choose to include in mandatory tip pools?
5. If this proposed rule were adopted as proposed, would customers' tipping practices change?
6. If this proposed rule were adopted as proposed, would some employers respond by reallocating tipped income to their non-tipped employees? Would such a response reduce the disparity in take-home earnings between tipped and non-tipped employees in service industry establishments?
7. If this rule were adopted as proposed, what non-regulatory limitations would employers and employees face when deciding whether and how to design a tip pooling arrangement? Are there any market norms or other behavioral reasons why some types of tip pooling are more prevalent than others? To what extent is the endowment effect (that is, customarily and regularly tipped employees potentially valuing tips more than wages of the same average amount) relevant for explaining potential tip behavior in a relatively less-regulated market?
In this subsection, the Department addresses regulatory familiarization costs and recordkeeping costs and cost savings attributable to the proposed rule. The Department also presents a qualitative discussion of potential benefits and the impacts of the proposed rule on wages and employment, as well as possible changes to customers' tipping behavior resulting from employers reallocating tips to other employees.
Regulatory familiarization costs represent direct costs on businesses associated with reviewing the new regulation. It is not clear whether regulatory familiarization costs are a function of the number of establishments or the number of firms. It can be assumed that the headquarters of a firm will conduct the regulatory review for businesses with multiple restaurants, and may also require chain restaurants to familiarize themselves with the regulation at the establishment level. To be conservative, the Department used the number of establishments in its cost estimate—which is larger than the number of firms—and assumes that regulatory familiarization occurs both the headquarters and at the decentralized (i.e., establishment) level.
The Department assumes that all establishments will incur some regulatory familiarization costs regardless of whether the employer decides to change its tip practices as a result of the proposed rule. There may be differences in familiarization cost by the size of establishments; however, our analysis does not compute different costs for establishments of different sizes. The estimate of regulatory familiarization cost in the analysis is assumed to be conservative. Further, the change in this regulation is quite straightforward and is unlikely to have a major burden or cost.
To estimate the total regulatory familiarization costs, the Department used: (1) The number of establishments in the two industries, Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) and Full-service Restaurants, employing affected workers; (2) the wage rate for the employees reviewing the rule; and (3) the number of hours that it estimates employees will spend reviewing the rule. Table 2 shows the number of establishments in the two industries. To estimate the number of affected establishments, the Department used data from BLS's QCEW.
Table 2—Number of Establishments With Tipped Workers, 2016
NAICS 722410 (Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)) 43,152
NAICS 722511 (Full-service Restaurants) 238,776
Source: QCEW, 2016.
For familiarization cost analysis, the Department assumes that a Compensation/benefits specialist (SOC 13-1141) (or a staff member in a similar position) with a median wage of $29.85 per hour in 2016 will review the rule.[27] Given the change proposed, the Department assumes that it will take about 15 minutes to review the final rule. Assuming benefits are paid at a rate of 46 percent of the base wage, and overhead costs are 17 percent of the base wage, the reviewer's effective hourly rate is $48.66; thus, the average cost per establishment is $12.17 for 15 minutes of review time. The number of establishments in the selected industries was 281,928 in 2016. Therefore, regulatory familiarization costs in Year 1 are estimated to be $3.431 million ($12.17 × 281,928 establishments), which amounts to a 10-year annualized cost of $390,510 at a discount rate of 3 percent or $456,548 at a discount rate of 7 percent.[28] Regulatory familiarization costs in future years are assumed to be de minimis.
If employers that are currently taking the section 3(m) tip credit continue to do so, their recordkeeping responsibilities under the FLSA regulation, 29 CFR 516.28, would not change under the proposed rule. However, if employers decide to pay the full FLSA minimum wage in cash and do not take a section 3(m) tip credit, they may have cost savings, because they will no longer need to keep the specific records required under 29 CFR 516.28.Start Printed Page 57407
To the extent that some employers choose to change their practices and pay at least the full FLSA minimum wage in cash and not take a section 3(m) tip credit, they may have to revise their employee handbooks, adjust their payroll systems, and/or advise affected employees. These are generally regarded as adjustment costs that would be imposed by changes in the regulations. The Department recognizes, however, that deciding to pay at least the full FLSA minimum wage in cash and not take a section 3(m) tip credit is a choice some employers may make in responding to the proposed rule, but is not a requirement of the regulation. Due to the many variables and assumptions needed to estimate how employers will respond to the proposed regulatory changes and insufficient information at this time regarding the costs that employers may assume or not incur as a result of the proposed rule, the Department has not quantified a monetary value for any additional costs or cost savings in this NPRM. The Department invites comments regarding any potential costs or cost savings attributable to the proposed rule.
Below the Department provides a summary table of the quantified costs for the RIA.
Table 3—Regulatory Familiarization Costs
Disc rate = 3%
First Year Costs ($ million) $3.431 $3.431
10-year Annualized Costs ($) 390,510 456,548
The purpose of section 3(m)'s tip credit provision is to allow an employer to subsidize a portion of its Federal minimum wage obligation through a credit against the tips given to employees by customers. If an employer takes a tip credit against its wage obligations, section 3(m) applies, along with its attendant provisions that restrict the employer's use of tips received by employees, including the requirement that only tipped employees be included in the tip pool. However, where an employer has paid employees a direct cash wage of at least the full Federal minimum wage, the proposed rule would allow the employer to reallocate tips received by its employees in a manner currently prohibited by regulation, including distributing tips to non-tipped employees (e.g., cooks or dishwashers) through a tip pool. The proposed rule, therefore, provides employers greater flexibility in determining the pay policies for tipped and non-tipped workers. Theoretically, it additionally allows them to reduce wage disparities among employees who all contribute to the customers' experience and incentivize all employees to improve that experience regardless of position.
It is common in full-service restaurants to have a tip pool. One study suggests that tip pooling contributes to increased service quality, along with enhanced interaction and cooperation between coworkers, especially when team members rely on input or task completion from each other.[29] From management's perspective, tip pooling may foster service that is customer-focused and promotes a setting where employees get along well, and may increase productivity.[30] These studies suggest that expanding the tip pool to include non-tipped employees may lead to enhanced interaction and cooperation between coworkers, and increased quality of service. On the other hand, a recent meta-analysis indicates that tips may be more a function of server looks and friendliness, the customer's mood, and even the weather than they are of aspects of service quality that depend on cooks, dishwashers, or other back-of-house staff who might newly be included in tip pools as a result of this proposed policy.[31] Under the proposed changes, the employer will be able to distribute customer tips to non-tipped employees, possibly resulting in increased earnings for those employees.
Also, research demonstrates a negative correlation between earnings and employee turnover: As earnings increase, employee turnover decreases.[32] If earnings increase for previously non-tipped employees who are newly added to a tip pool (or tip pools), then employers may see a decreased turnover rate amongst these employees. Reducing turnover may increase productivity, at least partially, because new employees have less firm-specific capital (i.e., skills and knowledge that have productive value in only one particular company) and thus are less productive and require additional supervision and training. Replacing experienced workers with new workers decreases productivity in the short term; avoiding the need to replace experienced workers may, thus, increase productivity. Reduced turnover should also reduce firms' hiring and training costs, leading to increased profitability. Although there may be increased turnover among tipped employees who would lose a portion of the tips they currently receive, thus leading to effects that are opposite in direction to the previously-discussed impacts, employers are best positioned to consider those issues and determine the optimum distribution of tipped income among their staff for the purpose of reducing employee turnover.
To the extent employers overall decrease use of the tip credit for traditionally tipped employees because of this proposed rule change, that too may provide benefits to traditionally tipped employees. A guaranteed direct cash wage of at least the full federal minimum wage will improve traditionally tipped employees' participation in various aspects of the marketplace that irregular income from changes over time from tip income may impact adversely. As with the previous paragraph, the benefits to one subset of employees (in this case, those who were previously paid a lower direct wage and received tips and now receive an increased direct wage payment from the employer) may be accompanied by harm to another subset (those who newly receive tips while experiencing an offsetting wage reduction).Start Printed Page 57408
To the extent employers may otherwise make an arrangement to allocate any customer tips to make capital improvements to their establishments (e.g., enlarging the dining area to accommodate more customers), lower restaurant menu prices, provide new benefits to workers (e.g., paid time off), increase work hours, or hire additional workers, these are also potential benefits to employees and the economy overall that may result under the proposed rule. The rule's transfer impacts could be approached with a model of minimum wages being made less binding by the proposed policy; as such, employment in the affected industries and occupations would, on net, be expected to increase. While some baseline workers could be harmed, due to lower overall compensation, both employers and workers who would lack jobs in the relevant occupations in the absence of the rule would experience benefits. Analysis of reduced deadweight loss would be a standard method for quantifying the gains to society of increased employment resulting from a policy such as the one proposed in this NPRM.
Finally, the proposed rule may result in a reduction in litigation. As explained in Part II, above, there has been a significant amount of private litigation in recent years involving the tip pooling and tip retention practices of employers that pay a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage. Much of that litigation involves the application of the Department's 2011 tip credit regulations providing that an employer's ability to utilize tips received by its employees is restricted even when it has not taken a tip credit. In several cases, employees alleged that their employers, who had paid their tipped employees a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage, improperly retained some or all of the tips received by employees or mandated that they participate in a tip pool that included non-tipped employees. The proposed rule rescinds those portions of the 2011 regulations that restrict employer use of customer tips when the employer pays at least the full Federal minimum wage and does not claim a section 3(m) tip credit, likely reducing litigation in this area.
Reallocation of tips may have implications on employment and earnings, as well as some impact on the tipping behavior of customers. Due to data limitations, it is difficult to quantify these impacts. Accordingly, in this section, the Department provides a qualitative discussion of the possible impacts of the proposed rule on employment and earnings and customer tipping behavior.
Research on how changes in the minimum required cash wage for tipped employees affect their earnings and employment is scarce, making the effects of these policies difficult to gauge. There is need for more research as tipped employment has been growing considerably. From 1990 to 2016 private sector employment grew by 31.8 percent, while employment in full service restaurants grew by 75 percent.[33]
Intuitively, the effect of this proposed rule will be driven by many economic factors, such as the prevailing wages in the local area, the supply and demand elasticity for labor in the local markets, and the demand elasticity for the restaurant's product. For instance, in a given market, if the equilibrium cash wage for tipped employees is above the minimum required cash wage, an employer has less incentive to change its behavior as a result of the changes proposed in the NPRM. Given that the firm is in a perfectly competitive market, any deviation from the market wage may cause the firm to lose its staff. However, if the conditions in the market are such that the equilibrium cash wage for tipped workers is below the minimum required cash wage, and a worker earns sufficient tips that their cash wage plus the tips that they receive is equal to or greater than the applicable full minimum wage, then their employer may have an incentive to increase the wage to the applicable minimum wage and share the tips that tipped employees receive with, for instance, other lower-wage non-tipped employees. In such a case, an increase in the direct cash wage paid to the tipped workers and the transfer of tips from workers to others can be associated with changes in employment. If the employees' new wage is lower than their prior wage plus tips, and if the tips received by employees are not being redistributed to them, then there may be a decline in the quantity of supplied labor of tipped workers, and therefore in their employment. Alternatively, the employer could effectively redistribute tips to other employees and thus reduce its overall wage bill. If it now requires less direct wages to hire their workers, it may increase the employer's demand for labor.[34 35]
However, for reasons such as “sticky wages” [36] in the short run and inflexibility in substituting between labor and capital, the above discussion of the potential effect on employment and wages in this analysis may be only valid in the medium to long run. Further, the overall consequences of this proposed rule on employment and earnings will be driven by the employers' response to this rule; i.e., whether establishments continue taking the tip credit, and what proportion of employers switch from taking the tip credit to not taking the tip credit.
In the United States, tipping is a common practice in the eating and drinking places industries. The main reasons that a customer would tip are future service, social norms and fairness, and quality of service.[37] The theoretical economic justification for tipping is that it incentivizes and rewards good service.[38] From the employer's standpoint, tipping may also be considered an efficient way of monitoring the efforts of service workers, and a screening device for identifying good and motivated workers.[39]
Although consideration of future service is a commonly-stated reason for tipping, evidence suggests that customers do not necessarily regard future service as the main reason for tipping. Even non-repeat customers tip. This leads to the other main cited reason for tipping: Social norms surrounding tipping. Tipping may be the result of a positive utility from feeling generous. In addition, customers often feel empathy for the workers who serve them, and they want to show their Start Printed Page 57409gratitude by leaving a tip. Customers may also tip as they believe that bartenders, waiters, waitresses, and other workers earn too little for their hard work and therefore want to reward them. Moreover, customers often feel obligated to tip because tips are a major source of income for the workers.[40 41]
From the employer's standpoint, the theoretical economic justification for tipping is that it incentivizes and rewards good service; In other words, if workers who provide good service earn large tips, they are more likely to retain their jobs, whereas those workers who earn smaller tips are more likely to choose to quit. Tipping can also be a way of monitoring the efforts of service workers. Firms find it difficult and expensive to monitor and control the quality of intangible and highly customized services that are rendered by their employees. Therefore, tipping can allow customers to directly monitor service providers at lower cost than if employers had to directly monitor their employees.[42]
The potential impact of the proposed rule on customers' decisions to leave tips for bartenders and servers may depend on how much information the customer has regarding the employer's tip pooling policy. Assuming customers are aware of the employer's policy, changes to tipping behavior, if they occur at all, may differ depending on whether the tips are redistributed into a tip pool that includes a broader group of employees, or otherwise utilized in part (or in full) by the employer. Tipping may also be affected if the change is not welcomed by the staff, leading to poor morale and reduced service quality.
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives. Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and promoting flexibility. The Department considered two alternatives as part of determining whether to issue this NPRM: (1) Making no regulatory changes; and (2) Removing the regulatory language that addresses an employers' ability to utilize employee tips even when the employer claims a section 3(m) tip credit. The alternatives are discussed in more detail below.
Under the proposed rule, employers would no longer be prohibited from utilizing tips received by employees more broadly so long as they pay at least the full Federal minimum wage in cash and do not claim a section 3(m) tip credit.
For the first alternative, the Department would make no regulatory changes and leave in place the limited nonenforcement policy it announced in July 2013. In Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association v. Solis, 948 F. Supp. 2d 1217 (D. Or. 2013), the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon declared invalid the Department's 2011 regulations that limit an employer's use of its employees' tips when the employer has not taken a tip credit against its minimum wage obligations, and imposed injunctive relief. As discussed above, on February 23, 2016, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the judgment entered by the district court. See Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Ass'n et al. v. Perez, 816 F.3d 1080 (2016), pet. for reh'g and reh'g en banc denied 843 F.3d 355 (Sept. 6, 2016). Notwithstanding the Ninth Circuit's decision, the Department continues to be constrained by the injunctive relief entered by the district court until the Ninth Circuit issues its mandate, which formally notifies the district court of the court of appeals' decision. On September 13, 2016, the Ninth Circuit issued a Stay of the Mandate “until final disposition [of this litigation] by the Supreme Court.” Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Ass'n et al. v. Perez, No. 13-35765 (9th Cir., Sept. 13, 2016). For these reasons, the Department is currently prohibited from enforcing its tip retention requirements against the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association plaintiffs (which include several associations, one restaurant, and one individual) and members of the plaintiff associations that can demonstrate that they were a member on June 24, 2013. As a matter of enforcement policy, the Department decided at the time the injunction was issued that while the injunction is in place it would not enforce its tip retention requirements against any employer within the Ninth Circuit's jurisdiction that has not taken a tip credit.[43] The Ninth Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over the states of California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Hawaii, and Arizona; Guam; and the Northern Mariana Islands. The injunction itself does not prevent the Department from investigating cases that are outside the scope of that limited injunctive relief. For instance, the Department can lawfully investigate such cases involving employers located outside the Ninth Circuit and that are not members of the plaintiff associations involved in the ORLA litigation. Making the Department's limited nonenforcement policy permanent without issuing the NPRM, however, would result in different requirements for different geographic regions, or different employers depending on their membership in certain associations. Such a situation, for example, could mean an employer that has locations within, and outside of, the Ninth Circuit would have different compliance requirements. Also, the limited nonenforcement policy does not impact employees' right to bring private actions under section 16(b) of the FLSA to enforce the tip retention regulations, exposing employers to an uncertain landscape. See 29 U.S.C. 216(b). Moreover, taking no regulatory action does not address the Department's concerns discussed above. See, supra, Need for Rulemaking.
For the second alternative, the Department considered removing the regulatory language that reiterates the statutory restrictions in section 3(m) addressing an employer's ability to utilize tips received by employees even when the employer claims a tip credit. The regulations from which the Department considered removing this language include 29 CFR 531.52, 531.54, and 531.59. Under this alternative, for employers that claim a tip credit, the Department would enforce the tip retention requirements of section 3(m) based only on the text of the statute.
There is a significant risk, however, that this alternative would create confusion as to tipped employees' right to retain tips when their employer claims a tip credit. The removal of the Department's current regulatory guidance could also increase the risk of employer non-compliance with the statute due to the lack of regulatory guidance.Start Printed Page 57410
Under the current regulations, employers are prohibited from reallocating tips or including non-tipped employees in a mandatory tip pool “whether or not the employer has taken a tip credit under section 3(m) of the FLSA.” 29 CFR 531.52. This proposed rule would remove such restrictions on the treatment of tips when an employer does not take a tip credit, and would not introduce any new regulatory requirements in replacement of the requirements proposed for elimination. Therefore, it is expected that this proposed rule would, if finalized as proposed, qualify as a “deregulatory action” for the purposes of E.O. 13771.
As discussed earlier, the Department estimates that this proposed rule would result in Year 1 regulatory familiarization costs of approximately $3.4 million. See, supra, Section VII.B.v. The Department expects that these relatively modest familiarization costs would be more than offset by greater cost savings for employers attributable to the elimination of existing regulatory requirements, but, due to a lack of adequate information about the costs employers presently bear in complying with the regulations identified for elimination, cost savings have not been quantified in this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Additionally, the Department notes that reduced deadweight loss in the affected labor markets would likely significantly outweigh the $3.4 million in estimated regulatory familiarization costs.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, Public Law 104-121 (March 29, 1996), requires federal agencies engaged in rulemaking to consider the impact of their proposals on small entities, consider alternatives to minimize that impact, and solicit public comment on their analyses. The RFA requires the assessment of the impact of a regulation on a wide range of small entities, including small businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions.
Agencies must perform a review to determine whether a proposed or final rule would have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604. As part of a regulatory proposal, the RFA requires a federal agency to prepare, and make available for public comment, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis that describes the impact of the proposed rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603(a).
The Department has conducted, and is publishing here, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis to help small entities better understand the impacts of the proposed rule. The Department invites comments on the number of small entities affected by the proposed rule's requirements, the compliance cost estimates, and whether alternatives exist that will reduce the burden on small entities.
As explained in greater detail earlier in the analysis, the Department has serious concerns that it incorrectly construed the statute in promulgating its current tip regulations to apply to employers that have paid a direct cash wage of at least the full Federal minimum wage to their tipped employees and serious concerns about those regulations as a policy matter. The Department is therefore proposing to rescind those portions of its tip regulations at 29 CFR part 531, subpart D that impose restrictions on employers that pay a direct cash wage of at least the full Federal minimum wage and do not claim a tip credit against their minimum wage obligations.
The Department's regulations addressing the treatment of tipped employees under federal law at 29 CFR part 531, subpart D are derived from section 3(m) of the FLSA. See 29 U.S.C. 203(m). As explained earlier, the Department now has serious concerns that it incorrectly construed the statute in promulgating its current tip regulations to apply to employers that do not take a tip credit, i.e., where an employee receives at least the full $7.25 Federal minimum wage directly from the employer, and serious concerns about the regulations as a policy matter, especially in light of changed circumstances.
The purpose of Section 3(m)'s tip credit provision is to allow an employer to subsidize a portion of its Federal minimum wage obligation through a credit against the tips given to employees by customers. If an employer pays its tipped employees a direct cash wage of at least the full Federal minimum wage (currently $7.25 per hour) but reallocates equal or greater amount of the tips received by its employees, there is a question as to whether the employer is circumventing the protections of Section 3(m) because it is utilizing tips received by its employees towards its minimum wage obligations to a greater extent than permitted under the statute. Where, however, an employer has paid employees a direct cash wage of at least the full Federal minimum wage and does not reallocate the employee tips directly, but requires that employee tips be distributed to non-tipped employees through a tip pool, there is a strong argument that the statutory protections of Section 3(m) are not circumvented.
This section describes the industry or economic sector that will be affected by the proposed rule in total and its small and large entity segments, includes a description of the industry or sector at the time of the proposal, and explains any existing dynamics, such as trends in employment or birth of entities.
A “small entity” is one that is “independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation.” [44] The definition of “small business” varies from industry to industry to properly reflect industry size differences. An agency must either use the Small Business Administration (SBA) definition for a small entity or establish an alternative definition for the relevant industries to which a rule applies.
In our analysis, the Department uses the Small Business Administration (SBA) size standards, which determine when a business qualifies for small business status.[45] According to the 2017 standards, Full-service Restaurants (NAICS 722511) and Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (NAICS 722410) have a size standard of $7.5 million in annual revenue.[46] The Department used this number to estimate the number of small entities in this analysis. Any firms with annual sales revenue less than this Start Printed Page 57411amount will be considered a small business entity in this analysis.
The Department used data from several different sources to estimate the number of small entities to which the rule will apply, i.e., affected firms. The Department used the U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Economic Census [47] to obtain the number of firms, total number of paid employees, and annual sales/receipts for the two industries in the analysis: Full-service Restaurants (NAICS 722511) and Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (NAICS 722410).
From annual receipts/sales, the Department can estimate how many firms fall under the size standard. Table 4 below shows the number of private firms in the two industries by revenue. The number of firms and number of employees are obtained directly from the U.S. Economic Census (2012) data.[48]
To obtain the number of bartenders & waiters/waitresses in the two industries, the Department used the BLS industry-occupation mix (2014).[49] Using the staffing mix of industries to estimate bartenders and wait staff allows for use of the very latest industry data, which builds on the highly-regarded QCEW data set. About 42.9 percent of workers in the Full-service Restaurant industry (NAICS 722511) are bartenders or waiters/waitresses (5 percent are bartenders; 37.9 percent are waiters/waitresses). In Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (722410), about 63.5 percent are bartenders and waiters/waitresses (46.1 percent are bartenders; 17.4 percent are waiters/waitresses). The Department applied these percentages uniformly to total paid employees in these two industries to obtain the number of bartenders and waiters/waitresses across all firm sizes.
To determine the number of tipped bartenders & waiters/waitresses, the Department used 57 percent of all bartenders and waiters/waitresses in both industries, based on the share in the CPS data that report usually receiving tips.[50]
The annual cost per firm is calculated based on the regulatory familiarization cost ($3.4 million), which amounts to $12.17 per establishment. The Department applied this cost to all sizes of firms since this will be incurred by each firm regardless of the number of affected workers. Finally, the impact of this provision is calculated as the ratio of annual cost per firm to receipts per firm. As shown, the per-firm cost incurred in the first year ($12.17) is less than one percent of annual receipts per small firm under this proposed rule; thus, it does not have any significant burden on small entities.
Table 4—Annual Cost to Small Entities
Annual revenue/sales/receipts (2012)
Number of firms
Number of paid employees
Average annual sales per firm ($)
Number of bartenders and servers a
Number of tipped bartenders and servers
Annual cost per firm ($) b
Annual cost per firm as percent of sales/receipts
Firms with revenue less than $100,000 10,071 24,455 $61,885 10,491 5,246 $12.17 Less than 0.1%.
Firms with revenue of $100,000 to $249,999 28,344 129,413 175,461 55,518 27,759 12.17 Less than 0.1%.
Firms with revenue of $250,000 to $499,999 38,105 324,566 366,027 139,239 69,620 12.17 Less than 0.1%.
Firms with revenue of $500,000 to $999,999 40,970 652,792 714,479 280,048 140,024 12.17 Less than 0.1%.
Firms with revenue of $1,000,000 to $2,499,999 32,965 1,066,544 1,514,178 457,547 228,774 12.17 Less than 0.1%.
Firms with revenue of $2,500,000 to $4,999,999 7,806 499,989 3,330,922 214,495 107,248 12.17 Less than 0.1%.
Firms with revenue of $5,000,000 to $9,999,999 2,021 237,316 6,653,982 101,809 50,905 12.17 Less than 0.1%.
Firms with revenue less than $100,000 4,584 N/A - - - 12.17
Firms with revenue of $100,000 to $249,999 11,517 44,508 171,075 28,263 14,132 12.17 Less than 0.1%.
Firms with revenue of $250,000 to $499,999 8,873 60,159 350,496 38,201 19,101 12.17 Less than 0.1%.
Firms with revenue of $1,000,000 to $2,499,999 3,046 82,871 1,492,272 52,623 26,312 12.17 Less than 0.1%.
Firms with revenue of $2,500,000 to $4,999,999 668 36,013 3,370,838 22,868 11,434 12.17 Less than 0.1%.
Firms with revenue of $5,000,000 to $9,999,999 156 13,785 6,740,077 8,753 4,377 12.17 Less than 0.1%.
a “Servers” stands for waiters & waitresses; `N/A' Not available in Economic census, 2012, withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual companies; data are included in higher level totals; `−' value not calculated as one or more inputs are missing.
b The Annual Cost per firm is the regulatory familiarization cost per firm calculated in Section VII.B.iv.i.
The FLSA sets minimum wage, overtime pay, and recordkeeping requirements for employment subject to its provisions. The FLSA allows an employer to claim a tip credit, as defined by section 3(m) of the statute, toward meeting its minimum wage obligation for employees who customarily and regularly receive more than $30.00 per month in tips. FLSA section 11(c) requires all covered employers to make, keep, and preserve records of employees and of wages, hours, and other conditions of employment. Employers use the records to document compliance with the FLSA, including showing the tips received is not less than the tip credit claimed. The Department has promulgated regulations at 29 CFR part 516 to establish the basic FLSA recordkeeping requirements; this proposal does not alter these recordkeeping requirements. The recordkeeping regulation at 29 CFR 516.28 applies to tipped employees. Since the employees who may be impacted by the proposed changes to the regulations are those for whom the employer pays a direct cash wage of at least the FLSA minimum wage under section 6(a)(1)(C) with no tip credit taken, such employers would not face additional recordkeeping requirements within the scope of 29 CFR 516.28. Therefore, there are no additional recordkeeping requirements beyond those required by other sections of the FLSA under the proposed rule. Similarly, the proposed rule does not Start Printed Page 57412have reporting or other compliance requirements.
The direct costs to employers, specifically, regulatory familiarization, are quantified in the Regulatory Impact Analysis. Regulatory familiarization costs are the costs incurred to read and become familiar with the requirements of the rule. Regardless of business size, the Department estimates that each establishment will spend 15 minutes for regulatory familiarization. As a direct result of this proposed rule, the Department expects total direct employer costs (regulatory familiarization) of $2,362,866 will be incurred by all small entities combined in the first year after the promulgation of the proposed rule: $12.17—the cost of 15 minutes of work by a Compensation/benefits specialist (SOC 13-1141), see, supra, VII.B.iv—multiplied by 194,155, the number of small entities (see below). Regulatory familiarization costs are only incurred in the first year. The per-firm costs incurred in the first year ($12.17) are less than one percent of the annual average revenue per firm for the small entities shown in Table 4 in Section VIII.C.ii.
As noted above, the SBA size standard for Full-service Restaurants (722511) and Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (722410) is $7.5 million in annual revenue.[51] There are 194,155 small entities that fall below this size standard in these two selected industries, which accounts for 78 percent of total number of firms in these industries, employing about 3,237,535 employees. As per the calculation in Section VIII.C, the Department estimates the proposed rule would have no significant negative impact.
Section 603(c) of the RFA requires that each initial regulatory flexibility analysis contain a description of any significant alternatives to the proposal that accomplish the statutory objectives and minimize the significant economic impact of the proposal on small entities. The Department considered the following alternatives:
i. Differing compliance or reporting requirements that take into account the resources available to small entities. This NPRM makes no changes to existing recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Accordingly, it is not necessary to establish different compliance or reporting requirements for small businesses.
ii. The clarification, consolidation, or simplification of compliance and reporting requirements for small entities. The proposed rule imposes no new compliance or reporting requirements. The Department makes available a variety of resources to employers for understanding their obligation and for achieving compliance.
iii. The use of performance rather than design standards. Under the proposed rule, employers may achieve compliance through a variety of means. Employers may elect to continue (or not) to take a tip credit under section 3(m) of the FLSA. For those employers who take such a tip credit, the statutory restrictions on employer use of customer tips continue to apply. However, for those employers who pay at least the Federal minimum wage and do not take a section 3(m) tip credit, the proposed rule rescinds those regulatory restrictions. The Department makes available a variety of resources to employers for understanding their obligation and for achieving compliance.
iv. An exemption from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for such small entities. Creating an exemption from coverage of the NPRM for small businesses is not necessary as this proposed rule proposes to rescind employer restrictions on employer use of customer tips when the employer pays at least the Federal minimum wage in cash and does not take a section 3(m) tip credit.
Due to the deregulatory nature of this rulemaking, the Department does not believe that different compliance and reporting requirements for small entities are required.
The Department is not aware of any federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this NPRM.
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), 2 U.S.C. 1532, requires that agencies prepare a written statement, which includes an assessment of anticipated costs and benefits, before proposing any Federal mandate that may result in excess of $100 million (adjusted annually for inflation) in expenditures in any one year by state, local, and tribal governments in the aggregate, or by the private sector. This rulemaking is not expected to affect state, local, or tribal governments. While this rulemaking would affect employers in the private sector, it is not expected to result in expenditures greater than $100 million in any one year. Please see Section VII.B-C for an assessment of anticipated costs and benefits to the private sector.
The Department has (1) reviewed this proposed rule in accordance with Executive Order 13132 regarding federalism and (2) determined that it does not have federalism implications. The proposed rule would not have substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government.
This proposed rule would not have substantial direct effects on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes.
The undersigned hereby certifies that the proposed rule would not adversely affect the well-being of families, as discussed under section 654 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999.
This proposed rule would have no environmental health risk or safety risk that may disproportionately affect children.
A review of this proposed rule in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality, 40 CFR part 1500 et seq.; and the Departmental NEPA procedures, 29 CFR part 11, indicates that the rule would not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. There is, thus, no corresponding environmental Start Printed Page 57413assessment or an environmental impact statement.
This proposed rule is not subject to Executive Order 13211. It will not have a significant adverse effect on the supply, distribution, or use of energy.
This proposed rule is not subject to Executive Order 12630 because it does not involve implementation of a policy that has takings implications or that could impose limitations on private property use.
This proposed rule was drafted and reviewed in accordance with Executive Order 12988 and will not unduly burden the Federal court system. The proposed rule was: (1) Reviewed to eliminate drafting errors and ambiguities; (2) written to minimize litigation; and (3) written to provide a clear legal standard for affected conduct and to promote burden reduction.
The Department proposes to remove or amend the portions of §§ 531.52, 531.54, and 531.59 that impose restrictions on employers that pay a direct cash wage of least the Federal minimum wage and do not claim the section 3(m) tip credit. The proposed rule deletes the fourth sentence of section 531.52, which currently states that “[t]ips are the property of the employee whether or not the employer has taken a tip credit under section 3(m) of the FLSA.” The proposed rule also revises the fifth sentence of sections 531.52, the last sentence of section 531.54, and the final sentence of section 531.59(b) to remove language placing restrictions on an employer's use of tips when that employer has not taken a tip credit while retaining language that reflects the statutory restrictions on an employer's use of tips received by its employees when it does take a tip credit.
Start List of Subjects
End List of Subjects Start Signature
Bryan L. Jarrett,
Acting Administrator, Wage and Hour Division.
End Signature
For the reasons set forth above, the Department proposes to amend Title 29, part 531 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:
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1. The authority citation for part 531 continues to read as follows:
End Amendment Part Start Authority
Authority: Sec. 3(m), 52 Stat. 1060; sec. 2, 75 Stat. 65; sec. 101, 80 Stat. 830; sec. 29(B), 88 Stat. 55, Pub. L. 93-259; Pub. L. 95-151, 29 U.S.C. 203(m) and (t); Pub. L. 104-188, 2105(b); Pub. L. 110-28, 121 Stat. 112.
End Authority Start Amendment Part
2. Revise § 531.52 to read as follows:
End Amendment Part
§ 531.52
General characteristics of “tips.”
A tip is a sum presented by a customer as a gift or gratuity in recognition of some service performed for him. It is to be distinguished from payment of a charge, if any, made for the service. Whether a tip is to be given, and its amount, are matters determined solely by the customer, who has the right to determine who shall be the recipient of the gratuity. An employer that takes a tip credit is prohibited from using an employee's tips for any reason other than that which is statutorily permitted in section 3(m): As a credit against its minimum wage obligations to the employee, or in furtherance of a valid tip pool. Only tips actually received by an employee as money belonging to the employee may be counted in determining whether the person is a “tipped employee” within the meaning of the Act and in applying the provisions of section 3(m) which govern wage credits for tips.
Start Amendment Part
3. Revise the last sentence of § 531.54 to read as follows:
Tip pooling.
* * * However, an employer that takes a tip credit must notify its employees of any required tip pool contribution amount, may only take a tip credit for the amount of tips each employee ultimately receives, and may not retain any of the employees' tips for any other purpose.
4. In § 531.59, revise the last sentence of paragraph (b) to read as follows:
The tip wage credit.
(b) * * * With the exception of tips contributed to a valid tip pool as described in § 531.54, the tip credit provisions of section 3(m) also require employers that take a tip credit to permit employees to retain all tips received by the employee.
End Supplemental Information
1. As discussed further below, Congress changed the amount of tips received by employees that an employer can credit against its minimum wage obligation in subsequent amendments to the FLSA. See, infra, Sec. III.
Back to Citation
2. Similar references to agreements in this notice refer to agreements, whether written or otherwise, between an employer and its employees regarding the treatment and disposition of tips received by such employees. Cf. Williams v. Jacksonville Terminal Co., 315 U.S. 386, 397 (1942) (determining that, “[i]n businesses where tipping is customary, the tips, in the absence of an explicit contrary understanding, belong to the recipient,” but that “an arrangement [may be] made by which the employee agrees” to a different disposition of such tips).
3. While ORLA was pending before the Ninth Circuit, the Fourth Circuit heard Trejo v. Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc., an appeal from a district court's dismissal of a private FLSA action in which plaintiffs—whose employer did not claim the tip credit—sought to recoup tips that their employer required them to pay into an allegedly invalid tip pool. 795 F.3d 442 (4th Cir. 2015). The Department submitted a brief as amicus curiae arguing that the 2011 tip-pooling regulation was valid and entitled to deference, but also pointing out that the FLSA provides a cause of action only to recover unpaid minimum wages or overtime compensation under sections 6 and 7 of the FLSA, rather than to recover tips in and of themselves under section 3(m), and that plaintiffs had expressly disclaimed any minimum wage violation. See Br. of the United States as Amicus Curiae, Jan. 2015, at *12, *13, 2015 WL 191535, Trejo, 795 F.3d 442 (4th Cir. 2015). In other words, and as explained further in footnote 10, infra, Plaintiffs did not argue that the effect of the invalid tip pool was to reduce their wages below the minimum wage, which would present a valid cause of action under the FLSA. See id. at *12 (citing 29 U.S.C. 216(b) (private right of action limited to enforcing the FLSA's minimum wage and overtime compensation provisions); see also 29 U.S.C. 216(c) (imposing similar limitations on the Secretary's ability to enforce the FLSA)). The Fourth Circuit concluded that section 3(m) “simply does not contemplate a claim for wages other than minimum wage or overtime wages.” Trejo, 795 F.3d at 448 (internal quotation marks omitted). See also Malivuk v. Ameripark, 2016 WL 3999878, aff'd on other grounds,—F. App'x —, 2007 WL 2491498, (11th Cir. June 9, 2017).
4. Following the Ninth Circuit's decision in ORLA, the plaintiff moved for reconsideration of the district court's decision. See Marlow, 861 F.3d at 1159. The district court denied the plaintiff's motion, expressing its agreement with the ORLA dissent. See id.; Order on Plaintiff's Motion for Reconsideration, Marlow, No. 15-CV-01327 (D. Co. Apr. 4, 2016).
5. The plaintiff in Marlow petitioned for panel rehearing of the Tenth Circuit's decision, which the Court denied on July 20, 2017. See Order on Appellant's Petition for Panel Rehearing, Marlow, No. 16-1134 (10th Cir. July 20, 2017).
6. This nonenforcement policy extends the agency's partial nonenforcement policy already in effect. In Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Ass'n v. Solis, 948 F. Supp. 2d 1217 (D. Or. 2013), the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon declared the Department's 2011 regulations that limit an employer's use of tips received by its employees when the employer has not taken a tip credit against its minimum wage obligations to be invalid, and imposed injunctive relief, as described below. Notwithstanding the Ninth Circuit's decision in ORLA reversing that decision, the Department continues to be constrained by the injunctive relief entered by the district court until the Ninth Circuit issues its mandate, which formally notifies the district court of the court of appeals' decision; issuance of that mandate has been stayed “until final disposition [of this litigation] by the Supreme Court.” ORLA v. Perez, No. 13-35765 (9th Cir. Sept. 13, 2016). For these reasons, the Department is currently prohibited from enforcing its tip retention requirements against the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association plaintiffs (which include several associations, one restaurant, and one individual) and members of the plaintiff associations that can demonstrate that they were a member on June 24, 2013. The plaintiff associations in the Oregon litigation were the National Restaurant Association, Washington Restaurant Association, Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, and Alaska Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant, and Retailer Association. As a matter of enforcement policy, the Department decided that while the injunction is in place it will not enforce its tip retention requirements against any employer that has not taken a tip credit in jurisdictions within the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over the states of California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Hawaii, and Arizona; Guam; and the Northern Mariana Islands. See WHD, Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.pdf (last accessed June 12, 2017).
7. The Department has concluded that employer-mandated tip pools described in section 3(m) may also include employees in occupations with duties analogous to those of the Senate's list of “employees who customarily and regularly receive tips” (“waiters, bellhops, waitresses, countermen, busboys, service bartenders”), such as barbacks. See Field Operations Handbook 30d04(b). Likewise, the Department has concluded that employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips, and therefore may not be included in an employer-mandated tip pool described in § 3(m), include employees in occupations with duties analogous to the Senate's list of non-customarily tipped occupations (“janitors, chefs or cooks, dishwashers, laundry room attendants”), such as salad preparers and prep cooks. See Field Operations Handbook 30d04(f).
8. The 1977 amendments to the FLSA decreased the section 3(m) tip credit to a maximum of 40 percent of the Federal minimum wage, while the 1989 amendments returned it to a maximum of 50 percent of the Federal minimum wage. See Public Law 95-151, §§ 2(a), 3(b), 91 Stat. 1245 (1977); Public Law 101-157, §§ 2, 5, 103 Stat. 938 (1989). The 1996 amendments “froze” the direct cash wage that an employer must pay its tipped employees under section 3(m) at a minimum of 50 percent of the minimum wage in effect on the date of their enactment, or $2.13 per hour. See Public Law 104-188, §§ 2104(b), § 2105(b), 110 Stat. 1755 (1996). This change shifted the amount of the maximum tip credit from a fixed percentage of the current Federal minimum wage to the difference between the current Federal minimum wage and the frozen minimum direct cash payment, thus allowing the percentage of the Federal minimum wage covered by the tip credit to increase as the minimum wage rose.
9. The opinion letter, in the context of an employer that did not take a 3(m) tip credit, stated that “[t]he courts have made clear that tips are the property of the employee to whom they are given.” 1989 WL 610348, at *2 (citing Barcellona v. Tiffany English Pub, Inc., 597 F.2d 464, 466-467 (5th Cir. 1979)). The Department acknowledges that that statement is incorrect. Barcellona concluded that “[i]f there was no agreement as to ownership, then the tips were the property of the recipient,” and that the trial evidence in that particular case supported the factual finding that no such agreement existed. 597 F.2d at 467 (emphasis added) (citing Williams v. Jacksonville Terminal Co., 315 U.S. 386, 397 (1940)); cf. Richard v. Marriott Corp., 549 F.2d 303, 304-305 (4th Cir. 1977) (concluding that “tips belong to the employee to whom they are left” in circumstances in which no contrary agreement existed and the employer simply undertook to pay “the difference between the tips and the [minimum] hourly wage”).
10. The Department similarly stated in the preamble to the 2011 Final Rule that, if, by requiring tipped employees to participate in a tip pool that does not satisfy the standards in section 3(m) or by claiming and using the tips itself, such an employer deducts sufficient tips to “reduce the employer's direct wage payment to an amount below the minimum wage,” the employer would violate section 6 of the FLSA and be subject to suit under section 16 or 17. 76 FR 18,832, 18,842; see also Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 73 FR 43,654, 43,659 (July 28, 2008) (explaining that if an “employer paid the employee a direct wage in excess of the minimum wage” it “would be able to make deductions [from the employee's tips] so long as they did not reduce the direct wage payment below the minimum wage”); Br. of the United States as Amicus Curiae, Jan. 2015, at 2, 2015 WL 191535, Trejo v. Ryman Hospitality Indus., 795 F.3d 442 (4th Cir. Jan. 2015) (pointing out that private plaintiffs who did not allege that the effect of their employers' tip pool was to reduce their wages below the minimum wage in violation of section 6 failed to plead a cause of action under the FLSA because section 3(m) of the Act does not provide a freestanding right to recover tips).
11. Additionally, Connecticut has required employers to pay bartenders a direct cash wage of at least the Federal minimum wage since 2001. See Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. 31-58, 31-60; Conn. Pub. Act. No. 00-144 (May 26, 2000). Connecticut currently requires bartenders to be paid a direct cash wage of at least $8.23 per hour. See Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. 31-58, 31-60. It permits employers to pay other tipped employees a minimum direct cash wage of $6.38. See id.
12. Effective December 31, 2016, New York has four schedules of direct cash wages that employers must pay tipped service workers and food service workers based on employer size and geographic location. See N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 12, § 146-1.3. Currently, the lowest direct cash wage an employer can pay to a tipped food service worker in any part of the state is $7.50 per hour and the lowest direct cash wage an employer can pay a tipped service employee in any part of the state is $8.10 per hour. See id.
13. The BLS occupational categories of “Waiters and Waitresses,” “Baggage Porters and Bellhops,” “Counter Attendants, Cafeteria, Food Concession, and Coffee Shop,” “Bartenders,” and “Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers” most closely correspond to the illustrative list of “customarily and regularly tipped” occupations in the Senate Report accompanying the 1974 amendments to the FLSA: “waiters, bellhops, waitresses, countermen, busboys, [and] service bartenders.” See S. Rep. No. 93-690, at 43 (1974).
14. If an employer pays its tipped employees a direct cash wage of at least the full Federal minimum wage but takes its employees' tips to satisfy the entirety of its minimum wage obligation, there is a question as to whether the employer is circumventing the protections of section 3(m) because it is utilizing its employees' tips towards its minimum wage obligations to a greater extent than permitted under the statute for employers that take the tip credit. The Department will consider whether additional guidance on this circumvention issue should be issued in the future.
15. These employment figures are from the May 2011 BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Survey.
16. These employment figures are from the May 2016 BLS OES Survey.
17. OIRA Memo M-17-21, Guidance Implementing Executive Order 13771 (April 5, 2017).
18. Id.
19. The Department focused on two industries, which are classified under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as 722410 (Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)) and 722511 (Full-service Restaurants, the focus is on tipped employees who are classified under two Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes: SOC 35-3031 (Waiters and Waitresses) and SOC 35-3011 (Bartenders).
20. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Table 11b. Employed Persons by Detailed Occupation and Age, 2016 (https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11b.pdf). The number of bartenders and wait staff were calculated as a percentage of total employment in 11 occupations in which compensation depends heavily on tips. The 11 occupations are based on a 2014 Congressional Budget Office report, “The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income” (https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/113th-congress-2013-2014/reports/44995-MinimumWage.pdf).
21. See Current Population Survey, U.S. Census Bureau, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps.html (last visited July 17, 2017); CPS Merged Outgoing Rotation Groups, NBER, http://www.nber.org/data/morg.html (last visited July 17, 2017).
22. An establishment is commonly understood as a single economic unit, such as a farm, a mine, a factory, or a store, that produces goods or services. Establishments are typically at one physical location and engaged in one, or predominantly one, type of economic activity for which a single industrial classification may be applied. An establishment is in contrast to a firm, or a company, which is a business and may consist of one or more establishments, where each establishment may participate in a different predominant economic activity. See Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages: Concepts, https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cew/concepts.htm.
23. Under the Department's proposed rule, employers that do take a tip credit will still be subject to section 3(m)'s restrictions on the use of employee tips.
24. See, e.g., Cal. Labor Code § 351 (“Every gratuity is hereby declared to be the sole property of the employee or employees to whom it was paid, given, or left for.”); N.Y. Lab. Law § 196-d (“No employer . . . shall demand or accept, directly or indirectly, any part of the gratuities, received by an employee, or retain any part of a gratuity or of any charge purported to be a gratuity for an employee.”). The Department seeks comments regarding how certain state laws apply to the retention of tips when the employer pays the full minimum wage directly and does not take a tip credit. Such information may assist the Department in providing a more detailed analysis in the final rule.
25. Under the Department's current regulations, an employer can lawfully mandate that an employee contribute a portion of her tips to a tip pool, but only if the pool is limited to “employees who customarily and regularly receive tips.” Public Law 93-259, 13(e), (i.e., a “valid tip pool”). See § 531.54; Field Operations Handbook 30d04(a).
26. Woody Woo, 596 F.3d 577, addressed the legality of a tip pool where between 55 to 70 percent of the tip pool went to kitchen staff (e.g., dishwashers and cooks), with the remaining 30 to 45 percent returned to servers in proportion to their hours worked. Id. at 578-79.
27. Compensation/benefits specialist ensures company compliance with federal and state laws, including reporting requirements; evaluates job positions, determining classification, exempt or non-exempt status, and salary; plans, develops, evaluates, improves, and communicates methods and techniques for selecting, promoting, compensating, evaluating, and training workers. 13-1141 Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes131141.htm (last visited on July 20, 2017).
28. This regulatory familiarization cost cannot be subtracted from any current compliance costs because there was no Regulatory Impact Analysis in the 2011 rule. Costs incurred in 2011 are sunk from the perspective of employers in 2017.
29. Samuel Estreicher and Jonathan Nash, American Law & Economics Association Annual Meetings, The Law and Economics of Tipping: The Laborer's Perspective. (2004) available at http://law.bepress.com/alea/14th/art54.
30. Ofer H. Azar, The implications of tipping for economics and management, 30 (10) International Journal of Social Economics. 1084-1094 (2003).
31. Michael Lynn and Michael McCall, Beyond Gratitude and Gratuity: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Predictors of Restaurant Tipping. Cornell University Working Paper (2016), available at http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1021&context=workingpapers.
32. Rodger W. Griffeth, Peter W. Hom, and Stefan Gaertner. A Meta-Analysis of Antecedents and Correlates of Employee Turnover: Update, Moderator Tests, and Research Implications for the Next Millennium. 26 (3) Journal of Management. 463-488 (2000).
33. See Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, www.bls.gov/ces. The implicit assumption is that the proportion of tipped workers in these industries remained constant over time, which then implies that there was an increase in tipped employment.
34. Daniel Hamermesh. Econometric Studies of Labor Demand and Their Application to Policy Analysis. The Journal of Human Resources, vol. 11, no. 4, 1976, pp. 507-525. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/145429.
35. Deadweight loss analysis, discussed elsewhere in this regulatory impact analysis, can be used to assess net effects where isolated partial views of the market seem to indicate opposing tendencies.
36. “Sticky wages” refers to the situation in which workers' wages do not adjust quickly to changes in the overall economy.
38. Samuel Estreicher and Jonathan R. Nash, The Law and Economics of Tipping: The Laborer's Perspective, American Law & Economics Association Annual Meetings. 54 (2004).
39. Ofer H. Azar, Optimal monitoring with external incentives: the case of tipping, Southern Economic Journal. 170-181 (2004).
40. William E. Even and David A. Macpherson, The effect of the tipped minimum wage on employees in the US restaurant industry, 80(3) Southern Economic Journal. 633-655 (2014).
41. PayScale's Restaurant Report: The Agony and Ecstasy of Food Service Workers, http://www.payscale.com/data-packages/restaurant-report/full-data.
42. Ofer H. Azar, Optimal Monitoring with External Incentives: The Case of Tipping, Southern Economic Journal 170-181 (2004).
43. As noted in section II and footnote 6, the Department expanded the scope of this initial nonenforcement position when it decided to pursue this rulemaking.
44. The RFA adopts the definition of “small business concern” used in the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 632(a)(1).
45. U.S. Small Business Administration, Summary of Size Standards by Industry Sector, February 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2017 from https://www.sba.gov/contracting/getting-started-contractor/make-sure-you-meet-sba-size-standards/summary-size-standards-industry-sector. See also full US SBA Size Standard listings at https://www.sba.gov/contracting/getting-started-contractor/make-sure-you-meet-sba-size-standards/table-small-business-size-standards.
46. Id., Subsector 722.
47. U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Economic Census https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ECN_2012_US_72SSSZ1&prodType=table.
48. The small business size standard for the two industries is $7.5 million in annual revenue. However, the final size category reported in the table is $5 million-$9 million. This is a data limitation because the 2012 Economic Census reported this category of $5 million-$9 million and not $5 million-$7.5 million. Thus, the total number of firms used in the calculation may be slightly higher.
49. BLS Industry-Occupation Matrix Data, By Industry, https://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_109.htm.
50. As noted above, see, supra, section VII.B.ii, approximately 57 percent of waiters/waitresses and bartenders in the 2016 CPS-MORG survey responded affirmatively when asked if they usually receive tips or commissions. The Department considers employees who responded affirmatively to this question to be tipped employees.
51. Because of the limitations of the size-class data, the analysis looks at firms with annual revenues up to $9,999,999.
[FR Doc. 2017-25802 Filed 12-4-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-27-P
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Recherche du site Mots clé(s):
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Beyond Sibiu. Here's why EU leaders must think about forests.
Written by: Hannah Mowat
As various heads of government gather today in Sibiu, Romania for the final EU summit before this month’s European elections, there’s one piece of news that they - and all of us - should contemplate. Humans are driving one million species to extinction.
In its first major assessment of biodiversity since 2005, the landmark report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), leaves no doubt about the threat posed to life on earth. And forests are at the heart of both the problem and the solution.
As home to 80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity, forests are the planet’s most important ecosystem, and therefore fundamental to attempts to prevent the collapse of our life support systems.
So, as EU leaders come together to reflect on their past performance and future direction, there could hardly be a more timely moment to assess the EU’s record on forests and to outline the steps the incoming Commission should take to improve it. This will help protect the carbon dioxide (CO2) forests store, as well the plants and animals they are home to, and the livelihoods they provide to hundreds of millions of people.
Mixed legacy
To look at it most generously, the Juncker era’s legacy on forests is mixed.
On the credit side, the EU took Poland to court for illegally logging in the UNESCO-protected Białowieża forest, winning a landmark case, which could see Poland hit with multi-million Euro fines.
Following a positive review, the EU decided to strengthen the implementation of its Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan – which, regardless of its unwieldy acronym, is the first scheme of its kind to address the root causes of illegal logging, and which through its timber trade deals with forested countries, has helped strengthen civil society and the rights of forest communities around the world.
The EU has also, it appears, started listening to the many businesses, Member States and hundreds of thousands of its citizens, calling for specific measures to tackle the EU’s huge role in driving deforestation through imports of agricultural products. Collectively the EU is the biggest (per capita) importer of agricultural goods - such as palm oil, soy, beef and cocoa – grown on deforested land. A European Commission Communication outlining its plan on how to tackle this, is imminent.
But on the debit side, there are signs that this plan will be nowhere near ambitious enough. The Roadmap on deforestation, (which indicates direction of travel) doesn’t propose any additional regulation to tackle deforestation.
This is despite the fact that after years of voluntary measures, companies are now admitting that they need help to get their houses in order, and that 84 per cent of respondents to the Commission’s consultation on deforestation favour the EU stepping up action.
In its own back yard, EU policies are also putting forests in danger.
Most Member States are planning major harvesting increases over the next five years, which will lead to an unprecedented decline in the amount of CO₂ their forests store and absorb. Much of this lost carbon will not be accounted for in the EU’s greenhouse gas target, due to fatal flaws in the EU’s LULUCF Regulation, where emissions from land use and the forest sector are supposed to be accounted for.
One of the EU’s own studies indicates that this is largely due to an increase in logging driven by demand for bioenergy. It’s now widely accepted that the Commission betrayed Europe’s forests and those beyond its shores when it failed to adopt meaningful criteria to ensure that forest biomass burnt for energy doesn’t harm biodiversity or increase emissions. Unfortunately, in the next ten years it will do both, despite calls from 800 scientists, and others, warning the Commission of the risks.
A new strategy
The baton of responsibility for all this will soon pass to the EU’s new leaders.
They will have the power to ensure that the EU has laws capable of eliminating the human rights abuses and forest destruction in their agricultural supply chains, and so help protect the 40 per cent of the world’s extreme rural poor who live in forests or savannahs.
They will also assume the responsibility to protect EU citizens against the growing number of deadly forest fires on the continent, in part by protecting and restoring the natural forests, that are crucial for achieving the carbon neutrality target set for mid-century. From a climate perspective, it is high time the EU re-thinks the way we use land and forests, as well as the resources they provide.
And as the EU embarks on trade negotiations with highly forested countries, including Indonesia and Brazil, it should adopt inclusive trade rules that create space for governance reforms that protect forests.
Through its actions, the EU can show it is listening not just to its voters, but to those who are too young to cast their ballot, but who are taking to the streets and striking for their futures.
More than 100 MEP candidates have so far signed Fern’s Forest Pledge to promote policies that protect and restore the world’s forests. The pledge has also been endorsed by more than 40 international NGOs and globally renowned writers, film-makers, activists and environmentalists. Show your support for EU action to protect forests by sharing the Forest Pledge with candidate MEPs.
Catégories: Bioénergie, UTCATF, Plan d'action européen sur la protection des forêts et le respect des droits, FLEGT, Accords de libre-échange
Hannah Mowat
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FreedomWorks' Member of the Month for July 2019: Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.)
By Luke Hogg
FreedomWorks is proud to honor Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) as our member of the month for July 2019. Rep. Cline represents the people of Virginia’s 6th Congressional District, which encompasses the area of western Virginia along I-81 that includes Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, and Roanoke.
Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018, Rep. Cline has had a long history of defending individual liberties. As a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Rep. Cline chaired the Committee on Militia, Police, and Public Safety, and he was the House Co-Chair of the Conservative Caucus. During his tenure in Richmond, Rep. Cline successfully championed several important pieces of legislation including HB 1362, which established a penalty for the misuse of public assets. In the House of Delegates, Cline also sponsored a bill that prohibited state and local law enforcement agencies from using unmanned drone aircraft, except in cases of Amber Alerts and search in rescue missions. When the bill passed into law in 2013, it was the first of its kind.
He is also an advocate for criminal justice reform. In 2012, he was instrumental in brokering a compromise between law enforcement and prisoner advocates around the use of restraints on pregnant inmates. He similarly advocated for non-violent juvenile offenders including his staunch opposition to the closure of the last facility solely for non-violent offenders in the Commonwealth in 2009.
In the short period that Rep. Cline has been in Congress, he has proved himself a valuable ally of freedom and justice. As a member of both the House Committee on Education and Labor as well as the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Cline has shown the people of the Virginia 6th what a dedicated advocate can accomplish. He has supported such free-market proposals as eliminating the death tax and repealing the excise tax on employer-sponsored health care coverage.
Most notably, Rep. Cline has introduced sweeping reforms in the Small Business Reorganization Act, H.R. 3311. This legislation seeks to simplify the process by which small businesses can use bankruptcy as a means of reorganization. Rep. Cline recognizes that many small businesses have few options when the economy takes a downturn due to the regulatory red tape surrounding the process. As such, H.R. 3311 would “provide an important avenue of relief to the people in our communities who employ countless individuals and drive our local economies.”
Although he is early into his time in the House, Rep. Cline has maintained a perfect score of 100 percent on the FreedomWorks congressional scorecard during his first year in Congress. The scorecard recognizes members of Congress who consistently vote to uphold individual liberty and free markets.
During his first few months of federal service, Rep. Cline has been a model for conservative values and principled policymaking. We know that he will continue the fight for liberty for the remainder of the 116th Congress. For all of these reasons and more, we are proud to name Rep. Ben Cline as our Member of the Month for July 2019.
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“The Gift of Love” – Creative Writing Essay
The feeling has been known since the beginning of time, and the warning signs have most likely never evolved. They include the heart rising to the throat, inability to catch one’s breath, blood rushing to the cheeks, and the sudden loss of any linguistic capabilities. Yet these are fleeting symptoms, so they cannot really indicate if one is experiencing a visit from that
mysterious and elusive character named romantic love. As powerful as the physical onslaught of lust appears, true love is a phenomena that requires the use of one’s time, thought and energy. To love is to unselfishly be faithful to one’s own feelings for another individual. Loving is not seeking personal gain, but hoping to better the life of the other person by becoming a part of it. Love is severely complex because it requires those who seek it to give up a part of themselves to another, without regard to the personal risks that they are taking through this action. It is this type of dangerous but true love that is exhibited in Camus’ Black Orpheus (1958), which is based on the famous myth of two lovers. In this film, a true and profound love is demonstrated by Orpheus and Eurydice because of these characters’ unselfish motives and commitment to their emotions.
From the beginning of the movie, Orpheus’ history of love proves him to be a philanderer who has never been serious about a woman, and who does not know how to love truly. He has recently become engaged to Mira, the biggest flirt in town, and this is not a poor match. Orpheus himself is a flatterer and a flirt who constructs enchanting phrases when he composes his famous music. His tendency to charm comes across in the scene where he first encounters Eurydice at the trolley station. He playfully inquires where she is off to and flatters her appearance. Because Orpheus has had such experience with women and relationships, one would not expect him to be able to settle down and have a woman suppress his philandering manner. Evidently, Orpheus’ fiancé has not tamed him, as he tries to flirt with Eurydice when he meets her. The way Orpheus reacts to love can be interpreted as selfish. His meddles with women for the sake of his own amusement, not because he has a deep appreciation of them. His generosity towards Mira does not surpass a display of mild passions for her. There is no evidence of his ability to give more to a woman than his poetic but empty words.
When Eurydice rejects the charming words of Orpheus, she demonstrates her ability to see through his external act and appreciate his true identity. Orpheus and Eurydice meet again, and this time they are alone. Orpheus tries once more to charm her, and she claims that it is not his words that she noticed about him, but his tune. She knows that his words are delightful but deceptive, and she is able to see the man who is behind the words. Eurydice perceives Orpheus not as a charmer with a captivating and quick tongue, but as a man whose beautiful music extends from a brilliant soul.
Eurydice proves to be both an open minded and unselfish lover when she refuses to let Orpheus use his charms on her. In the quote previously mentioned, Eurydice reveals both her ability to see Orpheus for who he really is, and also her unwillingness to receive anything less than the real man. Accepting Orpheus’ flattery would be to relinquish hopes of truly understanding who he was, because it would mean that she didn’t believe that there was anything under the words. It would also show selfishness. Accepting his empty compliments would demonstrate a desire for him to affirm her pleasant qualities. Eurydice rejects flattery because she knows her love to be deeper. She is true to the emotions which do not allow her to be a self seeker, but force her to be willing to risk giving in to her strong feelings.
The generosity that Orpheus displays once he realizes the intensity of his feelings demonstrates the truth of his and Eurydice’s love. It is her straight forward attitude and ability to see through him that makes him recognize her uniqueness. He quickly becomes aware of his love for her after he sees that she is serious about him, and now he can think of nothing but her protection. He brings her to his house at night because he wants to be assured of her safety, and he does not make even the slightest sexual advances. This is where his willingness to give of himself for her is demonstrated. His constant concern shifts from his own desires to those of Eurydice. No longer does he try to extract what he wants from the relationship, because his thoughts are more pure.
Orpheus and Eurydice are true lovers because there is no force that can interrupt their commitment. A physical illustration of how deeply Orpheus has loved Eurydice is shown at the end of the film, when Orpheus transports Eurydice’s dead body from the morgue back up the hillside. Eurydice is dead and can no longer give her love to Orpheus, yet even death cannot stop him from caring for her. He watches over the lifeless body and guards it vigilantly, and soon he dies with it in his arms. It is clear that this love is unconditional, because death cannot restrain it. The truest love cannot have boundaries, because that would mean that the lovers have abandoned their emotions. Orpheus is emotionally committed to Eurydice until his death.
Both Orpheus and Eurydice show a willingness to change their lives so that they can fully support one another. There love was based on profound mutual care and sincere generosity, the same characteristics that define true love. Love is valid when it is not based on self interest, but the well being and happiness of the individuals involved. The commitment to giving is the beautiful ideal that is achieved by Orpheus and Eurydice in Black Orpheus.
Research Papers on "The Gift of Love" - Creative Writing Essay
“Honest” Iago’s Truth through Deception
Where Wild and West Meet
Analysis Of A Cosmetics Advertisement
19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided Era
Comparison: Letter from Birmingham and Crito
“Mind Travel”
Three Concepts of Psychodynamic
Hip-Hop is Art
| Category: Creative Writing
The debate of gender differences in aggression – Psychology Research Paper
Creating a Life Mission Statement – English Essay
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Home Articles The Barbershop The Power of Place
The Power of Place
R. M. Stangler
Review of “The Power of Place: KU Alumni Artists” at the Spencer Museum of Art in Lawrence, KS. The exhibit runs through June 30, 2019.
There is a line in Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle, somewhere among the many thousands of ruminations and observations, where Karl Ove admits with admirable candor his inability to understand modern art. There had been some point, he thinks to himself, when artists had stopped trying to represent the sacred and the beautiful and instead devoted all their energy to undermining it. And, he concludes, we are the worse off for it.
You can see the truth of this observation virtually anywhere in the world of visual art. Go to a gallery or museum exhibit, read a review, survey an exhibition brochure, and you will see the giveaway words: trouble, interrogate, question, identity, problematize. Somewhere along the way we turned visual art into an enormous freshman cultural studies seminar.
It was a relief, then, to visit “The Power of Place” at the Spencer Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Kansas. The Spencer is a wonderful museum with an outstanding permanent collection, though it is often overshadowed by the world-class Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art just down the road in Kansas City. The curatorial staff at the Spencer has assembled a collection featuring pieces by 30 professional artists who are all, like me, KU alumni. For the casual appreciator, it is a lovely show. For the Kansan, it is a familiar display of scenes from home. For the Jayhawk, it is a pride-instilling and sometimes quite moving exhibition.
According to the Spencer, the exhibit “considers profound understandings of place in the work of 30 artists… Place can be both literal and figurative; imagined, avoided, embraced, or criticized. Place can be a site of memory, comfort, tension, or identity. The focus on place also explores the power of this place—the KU campus and community—in shaping students who make art.”
This is an important point. Localists often expound on the power of place as a general concept, while occasionally forgetting that it is specific places, landscapes, and communities that shape people. As it happens, the specific place of the Spencer has shaped me a bit. My former academic home is perched on a hill overlooking the museum, and I’ve spent many days this winter sledding down that very hill with my son. I used to make my students traverse the grove of hickories and catalpas outside the museum as an exercise in appreciating beauty. And on weekends I can often be found in that same grove with my dog, as he enjoys one of the finest squirrel colonies in the region. This particular place—the building, its surroundings, its art—has surely shaped me in certain ways, just as it shaped these 30 artists.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, I was most affected by the pieces that depict my adopted home state and its surrounding region. Larry Shwarm, a noted photographer who recently wrapped up his own exhibition here, has photos of the destruction in Greensburg, KS, following the deadly 2007 tornado there. The pictures are almost overwhelming in their scale and misery. Greensburg has rebounded, but part of the power of the photographs is knowing it could happen again at any point.
Larry Shwarm, Blue SUV on South Main Street, Greensburg, Kansas, May 5, 2007
Perhaps most affecting for me, given that I live about a par three from its banks, were the depictions of the Kansas River by the local artist Lisa Grossman. Her oil painting Navigating is a stunning depiction of our beloved (if polluted) local waterway, which winds its way throughout much of the state, flanked by bluffs and populated in winter by cascading bald eagles.
Lisa Grossman, Navigating
“I revel in the lyrical sweep of the Kansas River,” writes Grossman, “particularly an oblique, aerial view of the floodplain stretching to the prairie horizon… There’s nothing like a painting to really seeand develop affection for places, and, for me, it was a way to honor the river as a whole, one painting at a time.” As fate would have it, when I visited this exhibition I had just finished a book on Monet’s time on the Mediterranean coast, and his thoughts were very similar to Grossman’s. The large canvas, the swirling oils, the sweeping landscape: is not an oil painting a kind of poem? An attempt to capture the elusive beauty of a thing, a time, a place?
Lisa Grossman, 86 Bends of the Kaw
I happened to be standing directly in front of Grossman’s 86 Bends of the Kaw (the Kaw is the local name for the Kansas River, coming from the Kaw, or Kanza, nation) when Grossman herself walked up, giving a talk to a class. 86 Bends is an enormous piece, displaying a variety of panels with woodcuts featuring 86 different bends in the river. The woodcuts are mounted on wood panels, and the tinting is sometimes sepia, sometimes monochromatic, sometimes multilayered—but in every panel it is remarkable. As a fly fisher, I am predisposed to love rivers, but seeing 86 different bends of prairie water cut into wood panels is enough riverine beauty to win over even the most devoted mountain fans.
Of special interest to Porchers may be the Arkansan John L. Newman’s acrylic painting Front Porch Therapy. The painting depicts an eclectic group on a porch, some in casual poses, others leaning forward, still others relaxing and reclining. Newman writes: “Where I grew up, the front porch was a place used for therapy for African Americans. It was a space for gathering, talking, and relaxing… Advice was given, chewed on, and sometimes accepted. Interruptions were frequent, ideas challenged, and arguments erupted… Problems were never completely resolved, but emotions were soothed for a moment, front porch therapy to resume later.”
John L. Newman, Front Porch Therapy
This description gets at something that so many FPR pieces emphasize and so many FPR readers understand: direct and tangible interaction with those around you, in a shared space, is precisely the thing that creates a sense of place that is so necessary in our ephemeral world of globalistic placelessness. When Somewhere could be Anywhere, it is no longer Somewhere. For Newman, the front porch represented a place where people met, and where they—get this—disagreed, and yet still enjoyed each other’s company. Direct exposure and tangible interaction cannot be replicated in any online forum; a Twitter argument is not the same as a front porch argument, and not just because the latter often features shared libations. We’ve got to seeeach other, in a particular place, in order to love each other.
Another piece worth mentioning is Cris Bruch’s Harbinger, a sculpture of a tornado made up of “a single strip of paper, which [Bruch] estimates to be about 1.5 inches wide by about 500 feet long.” The tornado, affixed to the ceiling high above the exhibit, is unsettling precisely because of its quietly looming presence. Anyone who has lived in this area knows how quickly a tornado can appear, and we need look no further than Shwarm’s photos of Greensburg to see the havoc it can wreak on a place.
Cris Bruch, Harbinger
The exhibit also features Bruch’s large installation Pent, a series of wood fences “influenced by the standard geometry of livestock fences,” through which the visitor can walk. Bruch calls “this work a ‘people sorter’ that invites visitors to choose a path.” If you grew up in the Midwest, then you probably know these simple fences made of simple materials. Fences and walls figure prominently in the news lately, of course, but I can’t help but think we still don’t truly understand their literal and symbolic power. Settlers who arrived here erected walls and fences all across the open prairie that had been called home by free-ranging tribes for, sometimes, thousands of years. I fear we still do not understand the power, futility, or imposition of our barriers.
Cris Bruch, Pent
The exhibition has a few misfires. Ann Hamilton’s draw, a video loop showing a moving piece of red thread again and again, is said to “create a place by drawing thread through surfaces,” which feels like a stretch. Anne Austin Pearce’s Animals Don’t Take Vows: Tortuga, which “reflects Anne Austin Pearce’s memories of coastal Mexico,” feels out of place. The ink and acrylic piece is said to depict “the contrast between the organic rhythms of nature and the organized structure of civilization,” but in truth it just looks messy and halfhearted, as if she remembered the night before that she had an assignment due and grabbed the nearest thing.
Anne Austin Pearce, Animals Don’t Take Vows: Tortuga
But these are small complaints. The exhibition is generally ambitious, usually lovely, and always affecting. As a Kansan and a localist, I of course responded most strongly to the pieces that evoked a sense of place within this particular geographic place. What is strongest in this exhibition is the attempt by these 30 artists to represent, as Knausgård would have it, the places that have been sacred and beautiful to them. Something larger than themselves, in other words: something that predates the modern turn and its endless, exhausting self-obsession.
About a week before this exhibition opened, I happened to be at the Spencer with my four-year-old son. He brought his sketchbook and colored pencils, and we stopped every now and then so we could try to draw some of the pieces. In the Spencer’s modern art gallery we came to a Warhol piece, a cardboard box under glass that had once been used to ship ketchup. My son looked at it and said “Well… that’s boring. That’s just a box.”
Aha, I thought: even a preschooler can see through that charlatan’s frauds! I had a good laugh, of course. But as I spent a couple hours wandering through “The Power of Place,” I kept returning in my mind to that comment. Because none of these pieces rely upon the lazy solipsism of that Warhol; none of these pieces are Anywhere. They are Somewhere, and they are rather proud of it. Visual art, and our world at large, could use a little more of that.
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R.M. Stangler works in the administration at Donnelly College in Kansas City. He earned a Ph.D. in rhetoric at the University of Kansas, where he wrote his dissertation on Richard Weaver and the Southern Agrarian writers. He has taught at the University of Kansas, Donnelly College, and Berry College, and he is at work on a book about Weaver, agrarianism, and American culture.
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Tourism as Urban Savior?
Leroy See March 21, 2019 at 8:16 pm
Although I now live in eastern Missouri and grew up on the South Side of Chicago moving to Kansas in the 1960’s provided me a sense of place never felt before. I have lived in western Kansas and eastern Kansas during my career in education. Graduating from the University of Kansas made me a Kansan through and through and marrying someone from McPherson added depth and breadth. When my friends from Missouri and other places say there’s nothing there but endless prairie. I smile and say that’s what makes it special, it’s what isn’t there that gives it my sense of place and refuge from the rush toward modernity exemplified by the suburbanization of suburbs in ever increasing rings around decaying cities. My years in small towns where everyone knew each other for better or worse loom large in my mind as they are now a part of me wherever I live. The same is true for Joe’s Bakery in Lawrence where I spent many hours people watching while eating too many donuts after drinking too many beers at one of the watering hole, holes-in-the-wall beer joints just off campus. Even today, Lawrence and environs are my sense of place from which my coming to appreciate the way of life of family farming and living off the land are passed from generation to generation but a few miles from the city limits and the world of academia. For years it bothered me greatly that I was “from Kansas” and not living there anymore. The advent of children and grandchildren has mitigated my longing as has writing short stories about those I have known and lived next door to. I can’t get to Lawrence to visit the Spencer showing but I am heartened that its focus upon a sense of place by Kansans has brought to the fore the universal longing for a sense of place that is felt by many others in today’s busy world. Perhaps, too, someone will compile a list of stories, fiction of otherwise, and poems and plays written by Kansas about Kansans.
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Governor Cuomo Announces Over $2 Million in Funding to Help New York Farms Address Impacts of Climate Change
TOP Governor Cuomo Announces Over $2 Million in...
Awards to Help More Than 30 Farms Reduce Their Environmental Impact and Better Prepare for and Recover from Extreme Weather Events
Supports State's Environmental Protection Efforts Announced During Earth Week
2018-19 State Budget Includes Additional Funding for Round 4 Through the Environmental Protection Fund
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced nearly $2.2 million will be awarded to 34 farms across the state through the Climate Resilient Farming Grant Program. Launched by the Governor in 2015, the program helps farms reduce their operational impact on the environment and better prepare for and recover after extreme weather events. Through three rounds of funding to date, the state has provided $5.1 million to 40 total projects, assisting nearly 70 farms.
"Extreme weather can take a toll on our farms, and with unpredictable storms on the rise across the state, this funding is critical in helping New York farmers invest in preventative and resilient infrastructure," Governor Cuomo said. "These investments will allow our agriculture businesses to fight back against climate change, reduce the environmental footprint of their operations, and support our efforts to create a stronger, more sustainable Empire State."
Awarded projects in the Mohawk Valley, Finger Lakes, Central New York, North Country, Western New York, and Southern Tier regions focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and promoting energy savings and soil health. They also increase irrigation capacity and emphasize water management to mitigate the effects of periods of drought on crops and livestock, as well as heavy rainfall and flooding.
County Soil and Water Conservation Districts were awarded grants on behalf of farmers in one of the following project categories: agricultural waste storage cover and flare, on-farm water management, and soil health systems.
Mohawk Valley
Fulton County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $74,494 to assist one farm with the implementation of a 45-acre prescribed grazing and 5.7-acre riparian buffer system that will increase soil health and reduce farm based greenhouse gas emissions.
Herkimer County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $432,659 to work with a dairy farm to install a manure storage cover and flare. The system will dramatically reduce methane emissions from the farm's manure storage, mitigate water quality concerns - especially during major precipitation events, and promote energy savings.
Schoharie County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $10,256 to work with one vegetable farm to implement cover crops using no-till planting methods. This project will plant 14 acres of diverse species cover crops to improve carbon sequestration and improve resiliency to the farm during periods of flood and drought.
Monroe County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $149,085 to work with one dairy farm to install a riparian buffer system and an irrigation water management system. The systems will mitigate nutrient and sediment runoff and allow the farm to store and convey water as needed in preparation for any drought situations.
Ontario County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $119,907 to work with four farms to implement cover crops to improve the carbon sequestration potential in the soils and improve resiliency to the farm during periods of flood and drought.
Wayne County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $281,686 to work with a diverse livestock farm to install a manure storage cover and flare to dramatically reduce methane emissions from the farm's manure storage, mitigate water quality concerns - especially during major precipitation events, and promote energy savings.
Genesee County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $156,790 to work with one dairy farm to expand a clean water storage reservoir to an irrigation reservoir that will provide additional capacity for drought and flood periods and install a center pivot irrigation system.
Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $128,600 to work with one farm to implement a water and sediment control basin system that will prevent erosion and protect the Village of Chittenango from an increased flooding potential due to runoff from the farm.
Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $40,760 to work with one farm to implement a 78-acre prescribed grazing system that will increase soil health, improve soil carbon sequestration by promoting plant growth throughout the year, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $180,856 to work with one farm to implement a 1.05-acre wetland that will allow for greater storage of stormwater. The project will help to reduce the flood volume downstream and ultimately reduce sedimentation into Skaneateles Lake.
Essex County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $103,500 to work with one farm to install riparian buffers systems and ponds for stormwater capture and irrigation. The systems will sequester carbon dioxide emissions and reduce farm runoff to the Boquet River and Lake Champlain.
Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $43,696 to work with one farm to install a riparian buffer system and livestock access control. The systems will reduce streambank erosion and sedimentation, provide a reliable water source for grazing animals, and improve the capability of the farm to withstand extreme weather conditions.
Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $85,024 to work with one farm to implement diverse species cover crops that will improve soil quality, reduce erosion during extreme weather events, and increase soil organic matter.
Erie County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $82,268 to work with five farms to implement cover crops. These projects will improve the carbon sequestration potential in the soils and improve resiliency to the farm during periods of flood and drought.
Chenango County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $77,255 to work with six farms to implement cover crops. Cover crops are planted to improve soil quality, reduce erosion, and to increase soil organic matter to improve resiliency to the farm during periods of flood and drought and decrease the impacts of flooding downstream.
Schuyler County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $205,000 to work with seven farms that include dairy, crop, and beef/sheep farms, in three priority watersheds, to implement cover crops. This project will allow for cover crops throughout nearly the entire growing season, which will conserve soil, improve water holding capacity to help mitigate impacts of extreme storm events, and help to protect several public drinking water sources.
The Climate Resilient Farming Grant Program is a part of the State's Environmental Protection Fund. This year, the program was once again funded at a historic level, with $300 million dedicated in the 2018-19 State Budget. A fourth round of the Climate Resilient Farming Grant Program was included in the budget for $2.5 million and will be announced this fall.
State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said, "Our farmers are increasingly faced with challenges when it comes to our changing climate and resulting extreme weather conditions. Thanks to Governor Cuomo's commitment to combatting climate change and protecting our environment, this grant program is helping our farmers better deal with the severe flooding and droughts that we have seen in recent years, while maintaining a high standard of environmental stewardship."
Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Patty Ritchie said, "New York State's hardworking farmers understand that their success and livelihood is tied to the health of their land and other natural resources. Through these grants, we are ensuring that farmers receive the support they need to continue to be good stewards of their land and at the same time, safeguard their farms and communities."
Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair Bill Magee said, "It is imperative that our farmers have the tools they need to mitigate the adverse effects of changes brought on by climate shift and adverse weather conditions so that lands remain viable for use by the producers of food and agricultural products we all need and enjoy. This commitment will assist hard working farmers to stay productive, while helping to protect the environment and the agricultural economy of New York State."
New York State Soil and Water Conservation Committee member David Brass said, "The Climate Resilient Farming Program is helpful in assisting farms in dealing with extreme weather events from severe precipitation to drought. The program allows farms to implement projects that reduce greenhouse gas production, promote energy savings, and improve soil health, which helps to preserve our natural resources and can also improve farm productivity. New York State and its farmers, continue to be leaders in agricultural environmental stewardship."
New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher said, "New York's farmers have a long history of sound environmental management, and the grants announced today will support that effort. Increasing the use of cover crops, building up soil health and reducing erosion are some of the long lasting benefits of the projects taking place on our farms. It is fitting that the state's farmers, often seen as the first environmentalists, are being recognized for the stewardship they continue to provide."
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[House Report 109-510]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress Report
2d Session 109-510
AMENDING THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT WITH RESPECT TO THE NATIONAL
FOUNDATION FOR THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
June 20, 2006.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
Mr. Barton of Texas, from the Committee on Energy and Commerce,
submitted the following
[To accompany S. 655]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Energy and Commerce, to whom was referred
the bill (S. 655) to amend the Public Health Service Act with
respect to the National Foundation for the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, having considered the same, report
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill
as amended do pass.
Amendment........................................................ 2
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 2
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 2
Hearings......................................................... 4
Committee Consideration.......................................... 4
Committee Votes.................................................. 4
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 4
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 5
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures 5
Committee Cost Estimate.......................................... 5
Congressional Budget Office Estimate............................. 5
Federal Mandates Statement....................................... 7
Advisory Committee Statement..................................... 7
Constitutional Authority Statement............................... 7
Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................. 7
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation................... 7
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 7
The amendment (stated in terms of the page and line numbers
of the introduced bill) is as follows:
Page 2, line 19, insert ``at the end of the second
sentence'' after ``period''.
Purpose and Summary
S. 655 amends Section 399G of the Public Health Service Act
(PHSA), the statute governing the National Foundation for the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Foundation).
The legislation makes several technical corrections and changes
to Section 399G that, among other things, grant increased
flexibility in the amounts of Federal funding and support
services allocated to the CDC Foundation to compensate for the
Foundation's administrative and operating expenses.
Background and Need for Legislation
Authorized by Congress in 1992 and incorporated two years
later, the CDC Foundation is a private, non-profit organization
that supports the work of the CDC. In its eleven year history,
the Foundation has raised more than $100 million in private
funds to enhance the CDC's work. Donations to the CDC
Foundation come from individuals, corporations, foundations,
and other organizations. Along with private donations, the
Federal government contributes $500,000 per year through the
CDC to help cover the Foundation's operating expenses. Over the
past five years, the CDC Foundation has raised an average of
$15 million per year to boost the work of the CDC, representing
a 30 to 1 return on CDC's $500,000 annual investment in the
Foundation. The CDC Foundation uses donated funds to bring the
flexibility of a non-profit organization to bear on the CDC's
many efforts to improve health and safety.
The CDC Foundation's mission statement is to help CDC ``do
more, faster by forging effective partnerships between CDC and
others to fight threats to health and safety.'' To this end,
the CDC Foundation has managed more than 100 programs that have
supported the CDC's work both in the United States and in over
30 countries to fight deadly infections and other diseases that
threaten the safety of U.S. citizens here and abroad. With an
outstanding, internationally renowned Board of Directors taking
its members from the corporate, philanthropic, educational, and
public health sectors, the non-profit CDC Foundation brings
accountability and flexibility to every private-sector
partnership it builds on behalf of the CDC. Examples of such
partnerships include:
Lilly International Fellowships: A series of year-
long laboratory fellowships that bring laboratorians from other
countries' ministries of health to learn from CDC laboratorians
and build relationships to prepare for when disease in those
countries threaten U.S. citizens.
Corporate/CDC Roundtable on Global Health Threats:
This CDC Foundation-based roundtable brings together the CDC
Director and her leadership team with representatives of 10
global corporations to develop joint approaches to detecting
and responding to global health threats that threaten both U.S.
citizens and economic activities. Members include top
executives from corporations such as GE, General Motors, IBM,
UPS, Coke, and Wal-Mart.
Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund: After 9/
11 and the anthrax attacks, the CDC Foundation established a
special fund that allows the CDC to respond with greater
flexibility in future crises when existing government
regulations may hinder CDC in doing all it can to save lives.
The fund provides credit cards, made available by the Synovus
Corporation, to the administrative leader of each of the 15 CDC
teams that have been established to respond to national health
threats. Credit cards provided by the fund were used by CDC
experts in the field following Hurricane Katrina to purchase
needed computers and printers.
Emergency Operations Center: After 9/11, CDC
Foundation Board member Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home
Depot, recognized the need for CDC to have a state-of-the-art
Emergency Operations Center. He donated $4 million to the CDC
Foundation as a challenge grant to encourage other United
States corporations to help CDC build a world-class emergency
operations center ``at the speed of business.'' The CDC
Foundation quickly contacted corporations and raised over
$400,000 worth of in-kind equipment donations from corporations
like Dell, Motorola, and Shure. Because of the Marcus gift and
other corporate donations, CDC's new Emergency Operations
Center was able to open 6 months early, just in time to track
and combat the spread of the deadly severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) virus.
Management Academy for Public Health: Using $1
million each from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the
Kellogg Foundation, CDC, and the Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA), the Foundation supported the
establishment of a new management academy to train mid-career
leaders from State and local health departments in how to
manage people, data, and dollars. The academy is now totally
self-sufficient and continues to train hundreds of public
health leaders from around the country each year.
Mobile Breast Cancer Detection: Through a multi-
million dollar grant from Avon, the Foundation has purchased
and placed mobile mammography screening vans to reach
underserved women in multiple States around the country.
Funding also supports a CDC scientist to evaluate the van
placement programs and disseminate lessons learned about best
practices that will help other such programs across the country
be most effective and have the best chance of becoming self-
supporting.
Field Disease Detection and Response Training
Programs in Developing Countries: With privately-raised support
from organizations like the World Bank, the Nuclear Threat
Initiative, and the Ellison Medical Foundation, the CDC
Foundation has enabled CDC to establish special disease
detection and/or laboratory support programs in countries like
Brazil, India, and Kenya that will help detect and control
deadly infectious diseases that pose serious threats not only
in those countries but in the United States as well.
The annual operating costs for the CDC Foundation have
climbed from $300,000 when it began in 1995 to nearly $3
million in 2005. In 1995, CDC's $500,000 annual grant of
support was sufficient to cover the Foundation's operations.
However, this amount, which has been capped under current law
since the Foundation's inception, no longer provides sufficient
funds to allow the CDC Foundation to provide the kinds of
support activities noted in the examples above. S. 655 will
allow the CDC Director to support the work of the Foundation
beyond the current $500,000 baseline to up to $1.25 million if,
in the judgment of the CDC Director, an occasion arises that
warrants such increase. Such support does not require an
increased appropriation since funding would come from existing
appropriations to the CDC Director's office. Such financial
support, at most, would constitute approximately half of the
current operating costs of the Foundation.
The legislation also incorporates language that would allow
the CDC to provide facilities, utilities, and support services
to the Foundation if ``it is determined by the Director to be
advantageous to the programs of such Centers.''
Currently, privately supported fellows assigned to help CDC
implement Foundation programs are artificially limited to two
years each. This limitation creates program implementation
problems for programs supported by private funding from
organizations such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and
the Kellogg Foundation that sometimes run three or four years
long. To remedy this, the legislation contains a provision
linking the length of any privately supported fellowships to
the duration of private funding for each such fellowship.
The Committee on Energy and Commerce has not held hearings
on the legislation.
Committee Consideration
On Thursday, June 8, 2006, the Subcommittee on Health met
in open markup session and approved S. 655 for Full Committee
consideration, without amendment, by a voice vote, a quorum
being present. On Thursday, June 15, 2006, the Committee on
Energy and Commerce met in open markup session and ordered S.
655 reported to the House, amended, by a voice vote, a quorum
being present.
Committee Votes
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes
on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto.
There were no record votes taken in connection with ordering S.
655, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect
to the National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, reported. A motion by Mr. Deal to order S. 655
reported to the House, amended, was agreed to by a voice vote.
Committee Oversight Findings
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee has not held oversight
or legislative hearings on this legislation.
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives
The goals of S. 655 are to enhance the CDC Foundation's
ability to assist the CDC and to increase the accountability of
the Foundation.
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures
In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee finds that S.
and Prevention, would result in no new or increased budget
authority, entitlement authority, or tax expenditures or
revenues.
Committee Cost Estimate
The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared
by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to
section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
Congressional Budget Office Estimate
House of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate
provided by the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, June 19, 2006.
Hon. Joe Barton,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 655, an act to amend
the Public Health Service Act with respect to the National
Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Tim
Gronniger.
Donald B. Marron,
Acting Director.
S. 655--An act to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to
the National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and
Summary: S. 655 would modify the Public Health Service Act
to increase the amount of the grants the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) is authorized to provide to the
National Foundation of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) from $500,000 per year to $1.25 million per
year. The bill also would increase the amount HHS can transfer
to the Foundation from $500,000 to not less than $500,000 and
not more than $1.25 million. S. 655 also would allow longer
terms of voluntary service to be contributed from the
Foundation to the CDC and would allow sharing of equipment and
support services from the CDC to the Foundation.
CBO estimates that implementing S. 655 would cost $1
million in 2007 and $7 million over the 2007-2011 period,
assuming appropriation and transfer of the authorized amounts.
S. 655 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments. Enacting S. 655 would not affect spending or
receipts.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of S. 655 is shown in the following table. The
costs of this legislation fall within budget function 550
(health).
By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Spending Under Current Law:
Estimated Authorization Level\1\............................ 1 1 1 1 1 1
Estimated Outlays........................................... 1 1 1 1 1 1
Propsoed Changes:
Estimated Authorization Level............................... 0 2 2 2 2 2
Spending Under S. 655:
\1\The 2006 level is the amount appropriated and transferred to the National Foundation for the CDC for that
Note.--Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.
Basis of estimate: The National Foundation for the CDC is a
not-for-profit entity that raises private funds to support the
work of the CDC. Under current law, CDC may accept the services
of an individual who receives financial support from the
Foundation for a period of up to two years. S. 655 would
eliminate that two-year restriction. The act also would allow
the CDC to provide in-kind transfers and support services to
the Foundation. Current law authorizes both the appropriation
of $500,000 to the Foundation and the transfer to the
Foundation of $500,000 from funds appropriated to HHS. S. 655
would increase the authorized appropriation to $1.25 million a
year, and would authorize the annual transfer from HHS of at
lest $500,000 and no more than $1.25 million.
In addition to the $500,000 that CBO expects will be
transferred to the Foundation each year under current law, CBO
estimates that S. 655 would cost $1 million in 2007 and $7
million over the 2007-2011 period, assuming the appropriation
and transfer of the necessary amounts.
Intergovemental and private-sector impact: S. 655 contains
no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in
UMRA and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or
tribal governments.
Previous CBO estimate: On May 31, 2005, CBO transmitted a
cost estimate for S. 655 as reported by the Senate Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on April 27, 2005. That
version of the legislation does not differ significantly from
S. 655 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and
Commerce. CBO's previous estimate for S. 655 did not consider
the increase in transfer authority as affecting the
authorization of future appropriations. This estimate corrects
that error. Accounting for that change increases the estimated
cost of implementing S. 655 from $3.5 millions to $7 million
over the relevant five-year periods, assuming appropriation and
transfer of necessary funds.
Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Tim Gronniger. Impact
on state, local, and tribal governments: Leo Lex. Impact on the
private section: Meena Fernandes.
Estimate approved by: Peter H Fontaine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Federal Mandates Statement
The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Advisory Committee Statement
No Advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b)
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this
legislation.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that the
Constitutional authority for this legislation is provided in
Article I, section 8, clause 3, which grants Congress the power
to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several
States, and with the Indian tribes.
Applicability to Legislative Branch
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public
services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation
Section 1. National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention; Acceptance of voluntary services; Federal funding
Section 1(a) amends Section 399G(h)(2)(A) of the Public
Health Service Act to clarify that any fellowship with the CDC
Foundation will match the length of time the endowment for that
project takes.
Section 1(b) amends Section 399G(h)(7) of the Public Health
Service Act to require the Foundation's annual reports to
include an accounting of the use of funds transferred from the
CDC to the Foundation for its operating expenses and that these
reports be provided to the appropriate committees in Congress.
Section 1(c) amends Section 399G(i) of the Public Health
Service Act by requiring the CDC Director to transfer no less
than $500,000 and not more than $1,250,000 to the Foundation
for operating expenses.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
SECTION 399G OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT
SEC. 399G. ESTABLISHMENT AND DUTIES OF FOUNDATION.
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(h) General Provisions.--
(1) * * *
(2) Authority for acceptance of voluntary services.--
(A) The Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention may accept, on behalf of
the Federal Government, any voluntary services
provided to such Centers by the Foundation for
the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work
of such Centers. [In the case of an individual,
such Director may accept the services provided
under the preceding sentence by the individual
for not more than 2 years.] In the case of an
individual, such Director may accept the
services provided under the preceding sentence
by the individual until such time as the
private funding for such individual ends.
(7) Reports.--
(A) Not later than February 1 of each fiscal
year, the Foundation shall publish a report
describing the activities of the Foundation
during the preceding fiscal year. Each such
report shall include for the fiscal year
involved a comprehensive statement of the
operations, activities, financial condition,
and accomplishments of the Foundation,
including an accounting of the use of amounts
provided for under subsection (i).
[(C) The Foundation shall make copies of each
report submitted under subparagraph (A)
available for public inspection, and shall upon
request provide a copy of the report to any
individual for a charge not exceeding the cost
of providing the copy.]
(C) The Foundation shall make copies of each
available--
(i) for public inspection, and shall
upon request provide a copy of the
report to any individual for a charge
not to exceed the cost of providing the
copy; and
(ii) to the appropriate committees of
(i) Federal Funding.--
(2) Funding for grants.--
(A) For the purpose of grants under paragraph
(1), there is authorized to be appropriated
[$500,000] $1,250,000 for each fiscal year.
(B) For the purpose of grants under paragraph
(1), the Secretary may for each fiscal year
make available [not more than $500,000] not
less than $500,000, and not more than
$1,250,000 from the amounts appropriated for
the fiscal year for the programs of the
Department of Health and Human Services. Such
amounts may be made available without regard to
whether amounts have been appropriated under
subparagraph (A).
(4) Support services.--The Director of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention may provide
facilities, utilities, and support services to the
Foundation if it is determined by the Director to be
advantageous to the programs of such Centers.
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GCGL
GRAPHIC SHOWBIZ
Ghana Politics
Native Daughter
Civic Realities
Voice From Afar
8.36% agricultural growth in 2017 was due to prudent policies – President Akufo-Addo
Date: Sep 09 , 2018 , 13:23
President Akufo-Addo
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has attributed the impressive 8.36 per cent growth witnessed in Ghana’s agricultural sector in 2017 to effective policy making and implementation by his government.
According to President Akufo-Addo, “when you look at where we were, and what has happened since, it is largely because the policy has been properly aligned, in my view.”
A statement issued by the Communications Bureau of the presidency said president Akufo-Addo was speaking at the 2018 Africa Green Revolution Forum, a platform for global and African leaders to develop actionable plans that will move African agriculture forward, on Saturday, September 8, 2018, in Kigali, Rwanda.
The president noted that between 2014 and 2016, Ghanaian agriculture witnessed an average growth, over the period of 2.5 per cent.
Indeed, in 2014, Ghana’s agriculture grew at 4.65 per cent, 2.78 per cent in 2015 and 2.95 per cent in 2016.
President Akufo-Addo explained that this situation meant that Ghana’s population growth of 3 per cent per annum was outstripping growth in agriculture, resulting, therefore, in deepening poverty and increased rural-urban migration, with its attendant social and economic pressures.
Again, with the value of food imports into Ghana increasing from $344 million in 2007 to GH¢2.2 billion in 2016, the President stated that “the same amount of money we earned from cocoa in 2016, i.e. GH¢2.2 billion, was being used to pay for food imports. When that happens, you know it is as a result of policy failure.”
He told the gathering, which had the President of Rwanda, His Excellency Mr. Paul Kagame, Deputy President of Kenya, His Excellency Mr. William Ruto, and the Prime Minister of Gabon, Emmanuel Issoze-Ngodet, as part of a panel, that “what we decided to do to revive Ghanaian agriculture was to devise a programme, which we call Planting for Food and Jobs.”
The programme for Planting for Food and Jobs, he added, is anchored on five main pillars.
These are the provision of improved seeds, the supply of fertilizers, the provision of dedicated extension services, a marketing strategy and the use of e-Agriculture.
Additionally, financial instruments such as the Bank of Ghana’s “Ghana Incentive Based Risk Sharing Agricultural Lending scheme”, with a fund of some GH¢500 million the President explained, is targeted at reducing risks of investments and promoting agriculture financing.
The results of these polices, the President stressed, have had a dramatic impact on the food crop yields.
He indicated that there was an increase in the production of maize, from 1.9 metric tons per hectare in 2016, to 3 metric tons per hectare in 2017; an increase in the production of rice, from 2.7 metric tons per hectare in 2016, to 4 metric tons per hectare in 2017; an increase in the production of soya, from 1.2 metric tons per hectare in 2016, to 2.5 metric tons per hectare in 2017; and an increase in the production of sorghum, from 0.8 metric tons per hectare in 2016 to 1.8 metric tons per hectare in 2017.
“The end result has been a significant increase in agricultural output and productivity in 2017, our first year in office. 8.36 per cent was our growth rate in agriculture. For me, the first and most obvious area of success has been policy making and implementation,” he added.
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Officer killed in Colorado Springs was co-pastor, figure skater
Crime | November 28, 2015
This photo provided by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs shows officer Garrett Swasey, who was killed in a shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., Friday, Nov. 27, 2015. A gunman who opened fire inside a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic was arrested Friday after engaging in gun battles with authorities during an hours-long standoff that killed several, including Swasey, and wounded others, officials said. (University of Colorado at Colorado Springs via AP)
AP | University of Colorado at Colora
COLORADO SPRINGS — Faith led Garrett Swasey to a career in public service and pastoral care, and duty led him to a Planned Parenthood clinic where was gunned down in a standoff.
The 44-year-old Swasey was the first of three victims to be identified in the shootings Friday at the clinic.
Married with two children, Swasey worked as a police officer at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. He was there when he was called to assist with an active shooter at the nearby clinic.
Swasey was originally from Melrose, Massachusetts, where Police Chief Michael Lyle said he dedicated much of his life to helping others.
He moved to Colorado in the 1980s to pursue competitive figure skater, his father told the Boston Globe. He became a police officer six years ago, around the time his daughter was born, 73-year-old David Swasey said.
“He was a great dad,” Swasey told the newspaper. “I mean, a super dad. Everybody in the police department loved him. Anybody who ever met him loved him. He was a great guy, a great person.”
As a skater, Garrett Swasey won a national championship in the junior ranks and competed in the U.S. Championships at least three times, his father said.
Swasey was a co-pastor at Hope Chapel, an evangelical church in Colorado Springs.
He and his wife, Rachel, began attending in 2001, according to a bio on the church’s website. “As they raise their son, Elijah, and daughter, Faith, they view the members of the church as their family,” the bio reads.
“Here’s a guy who worked full time as a police officer, and then gave a great amount of time to his local church and didn’t get a dime for it,” the Rev. Scott Dontanville, a co-pastor who knew Swasey for 15 years, told The New York Times.
Dontanville told the Globe that he and Swasey, a fan of the New England Patriots, often would tease each other about football since Dontanville roots for the Denver Broncos.
“That’s something he would always give us trouble for on Sunday morning,” he told the newspaper. “He was an awesome man. … Great father, great husband, good friend — caring, compassionate.”
President Barack Obama praised Swasey in a statement released by the White House: “May God bless Officer Garrett Swasey and the Americans he tried to save — and may He grant the rest of us the courage to do the same thing.”
Little was known about the other two people who were killed or the nine who were wounded. Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains released a statement that indicated none of the other victims worked at the clinic.
Colorado Springs Fire Department Chief Chris Riley visited four injured officers Friday night. All had been shot but were talking and expected to recover, he said.
“Their spirits are good,” Riley said after visiting them. “They’re obviously in pain. But they’re alive and talking to us. They’re heroes. Absolute heroes.”
Two vigils were planned Saturday in Colorado Springs for Swasey and the other victims. Moments of silence were planned in honor of Swasey before the men’s and women’s basketball cames at UCCS.
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Praised for his fine musicality, “glowing intensity,” and “clarion tone,” Gregory Zavracky maintains an active performance schedule on concert and opera stages alike. Recent engagements include the Officer in The Barber of Seville with Boston Lyric Opera, Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville with Townsend Opera, Tamino in Boston Lyric Opera’s family production of The Magic Flute, Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi and Buoso’s Ghost with Lake George Opera, Ferrando in Così Fan Tutte and Camille in The Merry Widow with Cape Cod Opera, Ernesto in Don Pasquale with Opera in the Heights in Houston, Lechmere in Owen Wingrave with Boston University Opera Institute, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Metrowest Opera, Face on the Barroom Floor with Charleston Chamber Opera, Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola with Capitol Heights Lyric Opera, and Prince Dauntless in Once Upon a Mattress and Schmidt in Werther with Chautauqua Opera, where he also covered Nemorino in the Elixir of Love.
Gregory has recently sung in the world premieres of Matthew Aucoin's Crossing with the American Repertory Theater, the Five Borough Songbook with Five Boroughs Music Festival, David Wolfson's Faith Operas with Hartford Opera Theater, Steven Sametz's A Child's Requiem with the University of Connecticut Orchestra, Ketty Nez’s The Fiddler and the Old Woman of Rumelia with the Xanthos Ensemble and James Yannatos’ Rocket’s Red Blare with Intermezzo Opera, and Three American Songs by Anthony DeRitis (soon to be released on CD).
A Gerda Lissner Foundation Encouragement Award recipient, a Liederkranz Competition finalist in the art song divison, and a finalist in the Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, Gregory’s concert experience includes opera and pops concerts with both the Chautauqua and Utah Symphony, Handel’s Messiah with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Mozart’s Vespers with the Providence Singers, Schubert’s Mass in G with Coro Allegro; Britten’s Les Illuminations with the Aurea Ensemble; the Bach Magnificat and Cantata 191 with Back Bay Chorale, Janácek’s Otcenás and Respighi’s Lauda per la Natività with Chorus Pro Musica, Carmina Burana with Masterworks Chorale; Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Haydn’s Creation with Nashoba Valley Chorale; Mozart’s Mass in C minor with Quincy Choral Society, and Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Connecticut Virtuosi.
As a composer, Gregory's works include several song cycles, three operas, and a number of choral and chamber works. A two-time finalist for the NATS Art Song Award for his song cycles Slabs of the Sunburnt West and Sea Garden, recent performances of his works have been heard at Virginia Tech, Smith College, the Music at Norway Pond, the Cosmos Club in DC, Calliope’s Call recital series, the Cotuit Center for the Arts, and Boston University. In 2011, his madrigal, Sighs are my food, won first place in the Cambridge Chamber Singers composition competition.
Gregory currently teaches voice at the University of Connecticut, Brown University, and Boston University Tanglewood Institute. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University. Previous degrees include a Bachelor of Arts in music from Emory University, followed by two Master of Music degrees from New England Conservatory in voice performance and opera studies as a student of Edward Zambara. His recent article, "A Guide to Libby Larsen's My Ántonia," was published in the March/April 2018 Journal of Singing.
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Jul 18, 2019-Thursday
411-acre Savitribai Phule Pune University is the city’s green lungs
The university was the erstwhile monsoon residence of the British Governor of the Bombay (now Mumbai) Presidency. The varsity houses over 400 Patangi trees.
pune Updated: Jul 31, 2017 12:15 IST
Ananya Barua
The gardens of the university, once Governor’s residence and later established on February 10, 1949, as Poona University, had plant species selected to replicate the English countryside.(HT PHOTO)
The long canopied concourse leading up to the main building of the Savitribai Phule Pune University, has much more hidden within the contours of lush expanses than its academic laurels. A home to Pune’s rarest flora, this 411-acre university was the erstwhile monsoon residence of the British Governor of the Bombay (now Mumbai) Presidency. Remnants of the classic 19th century English landscape garden remain well preserved within it’s campus.
These ‘formal gardens’ have been laid near the main administrative building of the university and have graduallymerged with the surrounding ‘landscape park’, all adhering to the principles of the English landscape garden. The heritage of the university garden landscape design has been documented by landscape architect Shankar Brahme, who was also the garden superintendent of the university park from 1954 to 1962.
The gardens of the university, once Governor’s residence and later established on February 10, 1949, as Poona University, had plant species selected in such a way to replicate the English countryside, so much so that the effects of seasonal cycles of the English countryside were to be reflected in the hues of the landscapes. The Patangi trees that now populate the different corners of the premises was one such species which was brought from Africa to serve this purpose. The varsity now houses over 400 of them.
The British introduced many species of exotic flora, eventually creating a botanical garden within it’s folds. ( HT PHOTO )
Scientifically known as, Dalbergia melanoxylon, this species of trees are lush green during the monsoons, while from summer to winter, they shed leaves to depict the seasonal transition. Yet again, they bloom with white fragrant flowers to usher the spring season.
Later, the British further introduced many species of exotic flora, eventually creating a botanical garden within it’s folds. With a sprawling greenery of 780 species of flora, the campus hasan ancient Banyan tree - Ficus benghalensis (Wad) and Adansonia digitata (Baobab) tree, which is said to be some 120 years old.
Among the other rare flora species present in the campus are Bursera penicillata, Cycas zeylanica, Stercuculia guttata, Olea europaea (European Olive).
First Published: Jul 31, 2017 12:14 IST
Shivaji swore to build his ‘Hindavi Swarajya’ here
Rare ‘Gauripati’ tree found at this city park
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Feb 09- Feb 15 2019, Stray Thoughts
CLAUDE, MODI BOTH FAILED MAGICIANS!
By Rajan Narayan February 9, 2019 Leave a comment
GUILTY: Going by the order of the police all the pedestrians who were present during the inauguration of the Atal Setu by Manohar Parrikar should be arrested as pedestrians are not permitted on the bridge
And a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally agreed to meet the mining dependents. For a Saturday following the week when the State government proposed a scheme for the recovery of the mining loot. For a Saturday following the week when the Director General of Police went on the offensive against the MLAs who were objecting to the Sentinel scheme. For the Saturday following the week when destination weddings seem to have become the mainstay of the Goan tourism industry.
NO LUCK WITH MODI
And a few stray thoughts on Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally meeting the delegation of mining dependents from Goa.
Nothing came out of the meeting between the Modi and the delegation. The Prime Minister did not give any assurance that mining will resume soon. All that the Modi told the delegation was that he would look into the matter and that any solution will be within the law.
In sharp contrast to Prime Minister Modi, Minister for Mining Narendra Singh Tomar ruled out any amendment to extend the leases of mines which will lapse in less than two years. Tomar made it clear that the Centre will not intervene in Goa’s mining crisis.
Nearly 3,000 mining leases across the country are set to lapse in 2020 under the provision in an amendment introduced by the Narendra Modi government in January 2015, making e-auctions mandatory for the grant of mining licenses. In 1987 the mining concessions granted by the Portuguese were converted into mining leases by the Ministry of Industry. The state government’s renewal of the leases two years ago was struck down by the Supreme Court on the basis of a petition filed by Goa Foundation.
The delegation comprised all the three members of parliament —speaker Promod Sawant, Power Minister Nilesh Cabral and Independent MLA Prasad Gaonkar. The leader of the delegation was Puti Gaonkar who is a leader of the mining dependents.
The mining dependents primarily comprise of truck owners, barge owners and all those who bought machinery to lease to the mining industry. The state government tried to bypass the Supreme Court by claiming that the 87 mining leases had been renewed by the Mines Department after paying the royalty and duties. Unfortunately for both the mining industry and the mining dependents the Supreme Court passed an order on February 7, 2018 directing the state government to stop mining operations.
Although the mining group met BJP party president Amit Shah in January this year and were assured that a solution would be found, nothing happened. Though Amit Shah was reportedly in favour of passing an ordinance on the lines of the triple talaq, the Law Ministry turned it down. Narendra Singh Tomar, who is also parliamentary affairs minister, and Modi, did not favour amending the 1987 Mining Act which converted the concessions granted by the Portuguese into leases.
The legal position is very clear with the Supreme Court reiterating time and again all natural resources should be auctioned.
This came in the wake of the massive coal scam where huge blocks of coal were allotted at their discretion by officials and ministers including former UPA Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who was holding temporary charge as Coal Minister. A connection was sought to be made between the granting of a coal mining lease to Kumar Mangalam Birla soon after a visit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. On the eve of the elections, the Modi government already rattled by the Rafale deal, is not anxious to spoil its image.
It is doubtful if the Supreme Court will permit resumption purely on humanitarian grounds. There are two proposals doing the rounds. One of them comes from the Sharad Pawar gang which seeks to revive mining ore production by forming Mining Co-operative Societies like the Sugar Co-operative Societies in Maharashtra and UP. The production will be done by the local people while the logistics and export will be done by the traditional ore exporters who have experience of the same. The other proposal mooted by Nitin Gadkari is the formation of a company managed by members of the Legislative Assembly of Goa with the Speaker as the chairperson. Nitin Gadkari plans to run the company from the background for the benefit of his industrial friends. Unfortunately, though the mining MLAs in Goa are in favour, Parrikar is strongly opposed. We will have to wait to see if a solution can be found to resume mining, the stoppage of which has rendered more than two lakhs people jobless.
RECOVERING MONEY?
And a few stray thoughts on the government being directed by the Supreme Court to submit the proposal for recovery of the amounts allegedly stolen by the mining industry. It will be recalled that the Supreme Court had ruled on April 21, 2014, that all mining in Goa after November 22, 2007, was illegal.
The Goa Foundation has been claiming that the total amount due to the people from all the miners put together is 65,000 crore. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and the Goa government has strongly disputed this figure and insisted that the actual loss is only around3,000 crore. It has been argued that notional losses such as mining in excess of capacity, or mining that was undertaken during the period when the mines was renewed after the expiry of the period for renewal, are technically not illegal. The argument is that they may be immoral but you cannot consider them illegal if royalty was paid and export duty and custom duty were also paid.
If the government considered all this illegal it would also be party to the robbery. In fact, Claude Alvares’ calculation of the total amount stolen by mine owners being 65,000 crore and how it could generate50,000 for each Goan family, is as much of a pipe-dream as Modi’s black money scheme. When Modi was campaigning during the 2017 election he had promised to get back all black money and deposit 15 lakhs in account of every Indian. Neither the50,000 per family of four promised by Claude or 15 lakhs promised by Modi have been realised. According to Claude Alvares, as recently as last Monday Jharkhand imposed a fine of33,000 crore on 20 mining companies for illegally extracting ore. Considering the total budget of Goa is not more than 30,000 it is a joke to claim that mining companies owe65,000 crore or even if they do, that the amount can be recovered. Both Modi and Claude think they can take all the people for a ride all the time.
RESCUING THE CHURCH
And a few stray thoughts on how the Goan Catholic seems to be rescuing the Church not just in Goa and other parts of India, but even the UK and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Going to church has become unfashionable particularly in the west. I remember in the ‘80s when I went to church in England, there were hardly ten people.
The situation in UK is very strange with King Henry the Eighth who was refused permission to divorce and marry deciding to set up his own Church, the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the equivalent of the Pope for the Church of England. There are not many Roman Catholics in England. Indeed in the whole of Europe there are more Protestants than Catholics.
The Protestants are a sect started by Luther who objected to the corruption in the Church and the Protestant religion is the dominant religion in most of Europe and the US. The elite in the US, who migrated from UK and Europe, are often referred to as WASPs — White Anglo-Saxon Protestants.
Recently when Goa’s Archbishop Rahul Fernandes went to the UK, the largest crowd ever witnessed at the Swindon church near London was because of the large number of Goans who live there. It is not just followers but priests and Bishops who were supplied to the rest of the Christian kingdom by the Church in India and the Church in Goa. A large number of Bishops and Popes are of Goan origin.
The high point for the Catholic community living in the Gulf was the first ever visit of Pope Francis. It was very gracious of the UAE, which has more Goans than locals, to invite the Pope on a visit when Modi has refused despite repeated requests. The Vatican, over which the Pope presides, is considered a country, and the Pope can visit only when there is an invitation from the head of state. Even more encouraging for the Goan Catholics in the Gulf was the fact that the prayers and the hymns were sung in Konkani.
MLAS & SENTINELS
And a few stray thoughts on the Director General of Police going on the offensive against the MLAs objecting to the Sentinel scheme.
It may be recalled that there has been a lot of protest against the Sentinel scheme (more popularly mocked as the spy scheme) introduced by the DG, Muktesh Chandra. Under the scheme citizens are paid to capture the image or video of a traffic offence along with the vehicle number on an app which sends the photo/video to the control room of police so that they can follow up and issue tickets etc.
The police claim that following the introduction of the spy scheme, 34 motorists have been convicted in drunk driving cases, 1,754 similar cases are pending on court and 4,227 licenses have been cancelled. As many as 25,000 cases of drunken driving cases alone have forwarded to the Transport Department.
If you take into an account other offenses like not wearing a helmet, speaking on a mobile while driving, and not wearing seat belts, more than half the population of Goa would be issued challans by the police. Oddly the seven lakh challans do not include one single taxi driver who has committed any offense. Muktesh Chandra can harass ordinary citizens but not the taxi mafia. Admittedly steps have to be taken to stop violation of traffic rules, but these have to be equally tough on all.
It is my experience that Goan drivers and most Goans themselves, except the very educated, do not believe in traffic rules. Very few young Goans wear helmets. Some of my colleagues and my drivers don’t even believe in seat belts.
Talking on mobiles is considered a birthright. The only concession that the taxi driver will make is to use their phones handsfree with earphones or other devices. Thank god we do not have Ola and Uber in Goa. Drivers of Ola and Uber are constantly getting mobile calls asking them if they are available and to come to some destination. If talking on the mobile is an offense, all Ola and Uber drivers would be arrested.
Compared to its population Goa has an incredible number of vehicles. According to the 2011 census the vehicle population was 14.5 lakhs which has risen to 20 lakhs in 2019 with as many as 75,000 vehicles registered every year in the state.
The population of Goa grows at less than 1.5% while the annual birth rate of vehicles is 13.9%. The numbers of vehicles is equivalant to the population of Goa which means that every man, women and child has a vehicle. The most dangerous are the two wheelers and accident rates are high because tanks are filled not with gas but with alcohol. Goa needs a spy scheme as the number of police to control the traffic is very low with a ratio of 1:2428.
The number of two wheeler has increased in Goa from 7.5 lakhs to 9.7 lakhs in the last four years itself. The number of cars have gone up from two lakhs to 5 lakhs and goods vehicles from 59,000 to 69,000. The figure would have been much higher but for the suspension of mining.
The number of taxis have gone up from 17,000 to 25,000. When you make a cocktail of a flood of vehicles and pot-holed roads the result is several lives lost and several gallons of blood spilt on the roads.
Ironically the DG himself may be encouraging people to commit an offense. If the traffic spies have to take photographs of other traffic offenders on the move, they in all probability have to be driving themselves.
ATAL PROTEST
The traffic police have threatened with immediate effect that motors who halt their vehicles on the newly inaugurated Atal Setu or walk on it will be fined.
The bridge, which is the third link over the Mandovi River is also off limits for two and three wheelers. This is absurd as the bridge has being built at the expense of the aam aadmi for the use of the aam aadmi. The provision for arresting motorists who were only ones allowed to use the bridge is because many of them stop to see the view rather than drive over the bridge which creates traffic congestion.
Admittedly it was announced that pedestrians, scooters and two wheelers would not be permitted on the bridge as the wind velocity at that height might blow them off the bridge or worse still they may fall on the other bridges. However, there were 5,000 people present on the bridge when Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar inaugurated it along with Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Where was the wind velocity fear then?
The new Mandovi Bridge may have been planned and designed by Manohar Parrikar, but it is the property of the people. It is meant for use by all people and not just the khaas aadmi in their SUVs. All citizens must get together to protest against the fine against pedestrians and two wheelers and the ban on them using the Atal Setu. Let us teach the police and the chief minister that public property belongs to the public.
And a last stray thought on destination weddings having become the backbone of the Goa tourism industry. When I was returning from Mumbai last Sunday all the flights to Goa were full of wedding parties.
Incidentally the number of patients travelling on wheelchairs was also the high. This is because whenever there is a wedding, grandfathers and grandmothers, however old, also want to travel, and wheelchairs have to be organised for them to join the wedding party.
It is not true that destination weddings are only patronized by NRIs and Gujaratis. The party which was on our flight was from Orissa. I got talking to one of the group who explained the logic. In the first place a destination wedding avoided the trouble of organising the event. You could also keep guests at the minimum as unlike a wedding at the bride’s place, the number of people will be only close family. All the details of the venue, food, and décor, down to the horse or the palki, is decided by the event manager is the consultation with the bridal couple.
The formula is very simple. A small pandal is put up on the beach or close to the beach where seats are put up for the bridegroom and the family. There is also place for a hawan and the priest. Surprisingly I have never noticed a fire extinguisher or any fire safety devices. The bride groom comes first and occupies his throne. The bride is bought on a palki lifted by four people with the members of the family dancing away. Everything is nakli including the priest. Most priests are not even temple priests. Anyone who can be picked up in the street and dressed in a dhoti and can murmur a few words is acceptable as a priest. This is because the actual marriage has already been performed and registered. The destination wedding is just for some tamasha. Instead of the tradition sangeet you have a DJ who plays the latest Bollywood numbers. There is more daru them mehendi at the mehendi function. With the men in both the families Goa is a favourite destination, because you drink as much as you want, as the price of liquor is the cheapest in the country.
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French Open Bans Serena Williams from Wearing Her Life-Saving Catsuit
Even though it helped her with a major health issue.
By Megan Friedman
Aug 24 2018, 5:19 pm EDT
Tim Clayton - CorbisGetty Images
When Serena Williams returned to tennis after giving birth to her daughter, she did so in the ultimate power suit. She wore a black Nike catsuit, a nod, at least in part, to Black Panther. “I call it, like, my Wakanda-inspired catsuit,” she joked at the time. On Instagram, she dedicated it to “all the moms out there who had a tough recovery from pregnancy.”
Catsuit anyone? For all the moms out there who had a tough recovery from pregnancy—here you go. If I can do it, so can you. Love you all!!
A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on May 29, 2018 at 12:05pm PDT
Nearly 800,000 people liked that post but the French Tennis Federation are apparently not fans.
The Associated Press reports that she’ll be banned from wearing a similar outfit thanks to a new dress code. Bernard Giudicelli, the president of the French Tennis Federation, told Tennis magazine her catsuit was specifically a problem. “It will no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place,” he said. “I think that sometimes we’ve gone too far.”
Williams' suit was more than a fashion moment, though. It had potentially live-saving functionality. As a full-body compression garment, it was made to help with blood clots, a health issue she’s dealt with frequently in the past. At one point, a pulmonary embolism in her lung left her on the sidelines for a year.
“They told me I had several blood clots in both lungs,” she said in 2011. “A lot of people die from that.” And when she was giving birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia, last year, she had a pulmonary embolism, and her knowledge of her history with blood clots helped her advocate for herself when doctors and nurses ignored her.
Clive BrunskillGetty Images
“I had a lot of problems with my blood clots, and, God, I don’t know how many I have had in the past 12 months. So it is definitely a little functionality to it,” Williams said of the suit. “I have been wearing pants in general a lot when I play, so I can keep the blood circulation going. It’s a fun suit but it’s also functional, so I can be able to play without any problems.”
Giudicelli said the rules won’t be as strict as Wimbledon, which makes everyone wear white, but they will be asking designers to give them an advance look at designs for players and will “impose certain limits.”
It’s just the latest example of Williams being singled out and shamed for her outfits—and, by extension, her body. And this one seems particularly egregious given the health risks at stake.
Let the G.O.A.T be the G.O.A.T.
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Proposed Medicaid changes criticized at public hearing
updated Mon November 13, 2017
By Dan McKay / Journal Staff Writer
Published: Monday, October 30th, 2017 at 11:35pm
Updated: Monday, October 30th, 2017 at 11:32pm
New Mexico’s proposal to revamp its Medicaid program – by charging some premiums and expanding the use of copays – drew harsh criticism during a public hearing late Monday in Albuquerque.
“I think it’s inhumane and mean-spirited,” said one man who called in to participate in the hearing by telephone.
State officials, in turn, told the audience of about 60 that the proposal would encourage patients to seek preventive services, help control costs and improve the coordination of care received by Medicaid recipients. They said they were open to making changes based on the public comments.
The proposed changes, in any case, must be approved by the federal government. They would go into effect in 2019 if approved.
Medicaid covers more than 40 percent of the population in New Mexico, providing services to low-income individuals and families and people with disabilities.
Opponents said the introduction of premiums and expanded copays – however small – would discourage people from seeking coverage, even if there are exemptions. They also said the proposal would eliminate important benefits, such as transitional and retroactive coverage.
“When in doubt, people who are struggling financially are going to say, ‘I don’t have $10. I can’t go to the doctor and risk having to pay this,’ ” said Elena Rubinfeld, staff attorney at the Southwest Women’s Law Center.
Monday’s two-hour hearing, held at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, was the last in a round of public meetings this month focusing on the proposal.
The proposed changes come as New Mexico faces a tight budget. Lawmakers heard just last week that Medicaid costs could climb about $82 million next year, partly as a result of changes in federal funding.
Under the proposal, the state would:
• Charge premiums for the first time. People and families below the federal poverty line – about $12,000 for an individual – would be exempt, as would Native Americans.
The amount charged would depend on the patients’ income, starting at $10 a month for an individual just above the poverty level, with a state option to push it to $20 a month in future years. Households with more than one person would pay twice the basic premium.
• Introduce more copays into the system. Individuals above the poverty level, for example, would face new copay requirements, such as $5 for some office visits and $2 for prescriptions.
Most Medicaid patients would also have to pay $8 for medication if they opt for the brand-name drug when a generic is available or if they visit an emergency room when they don’t have an emergency.
There would be a variety of exemptions.
Read more: https://www.abqjournal.com/1085673/proposed-medicaid-changes-criticized-at-public-hearing.html
Categories: Medicaid Watch
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‘Vme Especiales: Premios Impacto Positivo’ Recognizes Community Volunteerism of 20 Outstanding Hispanic Americans
June 3, 2014 3:23 PM EDT
Miami, FL – June 3, 2014 – (HISPANICIZE WIRE) – Vme TV, the only national Spanish-language television network affiliated with public television stations, will air “Vme Especiales: Premios Impacto Positivo,” an exclusive look at the 20 extraordinary honorees of the 2014 Hispanicize Positive Impact Awards. The special awards program, a first of its kind for the Latino community, takes a look at 20 ordinary Latinos who have dedicated their life to doing extraordinary acts of selflessness. The show is set to air on June 6, 2014 at 10 p.m. E/P on Vme TV.
Selected from hundreds of nominations submitted nationwide, the honorees in the inaugural presentation of the Positive Impact Awards represent a wide spectrum of industries including medicine, technology, the arts, and education, among others. Each honoree was selected as a recipient for a Positive Impact Award based on his or her unwavering dedication, resourcefulness, vision and overall impact on the communities they represent.
“Vme TV is dedicated to using its platform to highlight the generous and exceptional work that people in the Latino community are doing, such as those honored at the Positive Impact Awards,” said Vme TV Vice President of Marketing Ralph Parkman. “Contrary to the perpetual imagery of violence and crime that we see in the media, Hispanic Americans are a compassionate and hard-working group of people and it is important that we focus on leaders that our community can emulate.”
Created by Hispanicize, the annual Latino event for influencers in blogging, journalism, marketing, entertainment and tech, and sponsored by 3M, the 2014 Positive Impact Awards sought to identify the foot soldiers of the community who work tirelessly and selflessly to ensure a better future for others. The award was established in honor of the late Louis Pagan, co-founder of Hispanicize and well-known social media entrepreneur who was widely known for his kindness and commitment to giving the community a voice through his vast social media networks.
“We are proud to have partnered with Vme TV to highlight these exceptional honorees and we are thrilled to share their inspiring stories with television audiences across America,” said Hispanicize Founder Manny Ruiz. “We when created the Positive Impact Awards we knew that it would be well-received, but we could have never imagined the excitement that the event would generate. The outstanding individuals that were honored are truly representative of selfless commitment and dedication to community and this is our way of thanking them for their work.”
Vme TV’s partnership with Hispanicize forms part of the network’s programming strategy to highlight its key pillars and values while emphasizing content that is enriching and inspirational for the Hispanic American population. This alliance is part of an effort to engage Hispanic Americans and provide resources for their advancement. Similar partnerships have been formed with other organizations including ASPIRA, the United States Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) and the Hispanic Heritage Youth Foundation, among others.
Available in 43 markets and reaching more than 70 million households in the United States, Vme TV is available through Comcast, DIRECTV, DISH Network and AT&T U-verse among other local cable companies. To find your local channel or to learn more about Vme TV, visit www.vmetv.com or follow us on social media via www.facebook.com/vmetv or www.twitter.com/vmetv.
About Vme Television
Vme TV (pronounced veh-meh), is the first national Spanish-language television network in association with public television stations. Reaching more than 70 million households in the United States, Vme TV is broadcast in 43 markets by PBS stations and is available on DIRECTV, DISH Network, AT&T U-verse, as well as major cable companies including Comcast. The 24-hour digital broadcast service is dedicated to entertain, educate and inspire families in Spanish with a contemporary mix of original productions, exclusive premieres, acquisitions, and popular public television programs specially adapted for Hispanics. To find your local channel or to learn more about Vme TV, visit www.vmetv.com (http://www.vmetv.com/mediakit) or follow us on social media via www.facebook.com/vmetv or www.twitter.com/vmetv.
About Hispanicize 2014
Now in its fifth year, Hispanicize 2014 (http://www.HispanicizeEvent.com) (#Hispz14) is the iconic, largest annual event for Latino trendsetters and newsmakers in social media, journalism, advertising, PR, technology, film and music.
Co-chaired by award winning journalist Maria Hinojosa of NPR’s Latino USA and Patricia Pineda, Group Vice President of the Hispanic Business Strategy Group of Toyota Motor North America, Hispanicize 2014 is expected to gather more than 1,700 of the nation’s most influential Latino professionals from the industries of blogging, journalism, technology, music, marketing, film and business over four full days. Featuring U.S. Hispanic thought leaders and celebrities, the 5th anniversary edition of Hispanicize will be taking place at the InterContinental Miami hotel with several offsite events at major cultural venues.
The event is a launch pad for creative endeavors, new products, technologies, marketing campaigns, films, books and more targeting Latinos in the U.S. and/or Puerto Rico.
Hispanicize 2014, a partnership of the Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA), Hispanicize and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), will be held at the InterContinental Miami hotel, April 1-4, 2014 in downtown Miami.
Roshana Gossoff
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All-rounder Shoaib Malik rejoins the national team in England after a 10-day break owing to personal reasons.
Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik will be available for selection for the second One-Day International against England. The match begins on Saturday, 11th May.
Pakistan Cricket Team's all rounder Shoaib Malik has joined the squad in Southampton. He will take part in today's training session with the team. Shoaib Malik will be available for second One Day International against England. @TheRealPCB @realshoaibmalik #PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/D2qr9oUkvW
— News99 (@News99P) May 9, 2019
A 10-day leave was granted to the former captain, on April 29. However, the Board did not give any reason for doing this.
Earlier the Board had said: “The Pakistan cricket team management has given leave to Shoaib Malik so that he can return home to deal with a domestic issue. He is expected to rejoin the team in 10 days’ time.”
Shoaib Malik will rejoin the Pakistan cricket team in Southampton on Thursday and will be available for selection for the second One-Day International against England to be played on Saturday, 11 May.
More ▶️ https://t.co/cPdpiyXD6I pic.twitter.com/sBQZUdw7JD
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) May 7, 2019
The 37-year-old is the senior most player in Pakistan’s 15-member World Cup squad. He has the experience of nearly 300 ODIs and over 100 T20 internationals to his name.
Shoaib Malik made his One Day International debut in 1999 against the West Indies and his Test debut in 2001 against Bangladesh. On 3 November 2015, he announced his retirement from Test cricket to focus on 2019 Cricket World Cup.
On 2 July 2018, he became the first male cricketer to play 100 T20Is.
Shoaib Malik has taken over 150 ODI wickets, and has a batting average in the mid 30s in both Test and ODI cricket. His bowling action has come under scrutiny (particularly his doosra) but he has had elbow surgery to correct this. In the ICC ODI all-rounder rankings in June 2008, Malik’s rank was second, behind teammate Shahid Afridi.
He remains a pivotal figure in the Pakistan squad and his experience would come in handy during the 2019 Cricket World Cup as Pakistan has decided to take a lot of youngsters.
Tags: Cricket England pakistan shoaib malik
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by RJ Sottile | May 12, 2019 | Corvettes
Thank you for stopping by here at Hobby Car Corvettes where we are all Corvettes, all the time. As used Corvette dealers here in Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, we have a deep passion for the history of the Corvette. One of the biggest pieces of the history of a car, is who was responsible for its creation.
Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing some of the key players in the fortunate creation of the Corvette. This week, we will be diving into the backstory of yet another influencer, Peter Brock.
Peter Brock
Peter Elbert Brock was born in November of 1936 in Northern California. He was named after his grandfather, E. J.Hall, co-designer of the Liberty L-12 engine and co-founder of the Hall-Scott Motor Car Company. Like many of the other influencers we have discussed, a passion for speed and automotive design was in Brock’s blood.
Brock attended his first road race at Pebble Beach in 1951. He fell in love with the sport, but being too young for a racing driver’s license yet, he instead opted to photograph the cars and drivers until he could get behind the wheel. This began his hobby of photojournalism, documenting racing and cars.
Brock’s first project car was a 1949 MG he saved up for and purchased from the back of a garage he had been working in when he was 16 years old. Wanting something with a bit more giddy-up, he found a half-completed 1946 Ford convertible and set to work. He installed a Cadillac engine, which earned the car the nickname “the Fordillac”. Brock won the Oakland Roadster show with the car while in high school, and then again in 1956.
Similar to Harley Earl, Brock enrolled at Stanford University for engineering, and also similar to Harley Earl, he did not complete his studies here. Brock felt his calling elsewhere, and drove to Los Angeles to enroll in The Art Center School. When Brock showed up at The Art Center School, he had no drawings to provide as proof of his talents. He went to his car and drew some hot rod cars in his binder, went back to the admissions office, and presented his work. He was admitted.
Peter Brock Corvette Drawing
Whether it was his formal education at The Art Center School, or his innate talent and eye for design, Brock was ripe for the picking and GM hired him at the young age of 19 years old. To this day, he remains one of the youngest designers ever invited to work at GM Design. He was still enrolled at The Art Center School when the opportunity to join GM presented itself.
Brock quickly became a vital piece to the creation of the Corvette when Bill Mitchell set out to build a successor to the 1957 Corvette SS concept car. After reviewing the designs of several team members, Brock’s design was chosen for implementation. A team was assembled including Chuck Pohlmann, Larry Shinoda, and Tony Lapine. The combined efforts of these GM design geniuses resulted into the very first Corvette to be called a Sting Ray, the XP87 Corvette Sting Ray Racer.
Brock made a brief but majorly influential impact at GM, and then left promptly in 1959 when he turned 21 to return to California to obtain his racing license. While he excelled in design, his heart was in racing. While in Detroit, he worked on a mid-1950’s Cooper that ran at La Mans. When he returned to California, he started working at Max’s Hollywood Motors during the day, and worked on his race car by night.
Brock’s next big career move would be with Shelby American. He was hired on as Shelby’s first paid employee running the Carroll Shelby School of High Performance Driving. Brock worked with Shelby until 1965. He ran the school and created logos, merchandise, ads, and car liveries. He also designed the components of the Shelby Mustang GT350. Other cars he had a hand in designing include the Lang Cooper, Nethercutt Mirage, De Tomaso P70, and the Shelby Daytona Cobra coupes.
BROCK RACING ENTERPRISES
With so much passion and inspiration, Brock set out to start his own design firm and motor racing team. The Brock Racing Enterprises team worked with Hino, Datsun, and Toyota. Still itching for more adventure and new sources of adrenaline, Brock disbanded the racing team in 1972 when he moved onto hang gliding.
An ongoing passion of Brocks, was documenting the journey and evolution of racing and automotive design through photography and writing. He has written many articles and books, and captured through photography, an epic era of motor-racing. It is because of Brock’s commitment, that we have a thoroughly documented history of the Corvette from its humble beginnings in the mid 1950’s. Brock captured iconic drivers such as Dave McDonald, Dick Thompson, and Bob Bondurant as they established the Corvette as America’s only true production performance car.
While Brock’s stint with GM was brief, it made a great impact on GM and on Brock himself. Knowing that he had played a massively influential role in the evolution of the Corvette, the car always held a special place in his life, even while seeking experience and adventure elsewhere. In 2017, Peter Brock was inducted into the Corvette Hall of Fame.
As always, thank you for stopping by here at Hobby Car Corvettes. We are grateful for our readers and welcome you to peruse our used Corvette inventory that is constantly updating!
If you have any questions, reach out today! Let’s start a conversation that could result in your proud ownership of a beautiful used Corvette!
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Kathryn Bigelow's Navy Seal Team 6 Film to Hit Theaters in 2012
5:14 PM PDT 5/24/2011 by Borys Kit
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Columbia has snagged U.S. rights to Bigelow and Mark Boal's untitled film, which will incorporate Osama bin Laden's death in the script.
Columbia Pictures has picked up the U.S. distribution rights to Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal’s project regarding Navy Seal Team 6 and its hunt for Osama Bin Laden.
The duo behind the Oscar-winning thriller The Hurt Locker have been working on the project for some time and were eyeing a summer start when real life events -- Bin Laden’s killing by the black ops team -- overtook the
project. Boal is incorporating the latest developments into the script.
Boal and Bigelow will produce the project, along with Megan Ellison of Annapurna Pictures, which is financing. Greg Shapiro, who worked on Hurt Locker, is exec producing.
Production is slated to begin in the late summer. The film will be released in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the studio.
The pickup marks another timely and elevated project for Amy Pascal and Columbia's slate. After the success of The Social Network, they have proven themselves unafraid to try on dramas if the right creative people are involved.
Annapurna, meanwhile, has also been ratcheting up its slate, which has become more and more high-profile in recent months.
CAA repped Bigelow and Boal in the deal.
THRnews@thr.com borys_kit
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Logistically, digitally and socially, Amsterdam is extremely well-connected. All relevant contacts are close at hand, and a wide network of internationally orientated service providers offer companies a competitive edge.
Gateway to Europe
Whether you are an international choosing Amsterdam as a new home, a new startup doing things differently, an established business that’s looking to grow or a global corporate expanding to Amsterdam, connectivity counts. We are frequently regarded as the gateway to Europe for this very reason. The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area offers full access to the European market: the award-winning Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is centrally located and flies to more than 300 destinations. High-speed rail services make it easy to work while travelling from Amsterdam to Brussels, Paris, London and Berlin, and the Port of Amsterdam is ranked in the top five of Europe.
Amsterdam’s connectivity is not limited to logistics. The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area is a thriving tech hub, too, and home to the largest data transport hub in the world, the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX). The region also has the highest rankings of broadband penetration in Europe.
companies in amsterdam
Contact amsterdam inbusiness
Get in touch for information on setting up your business in the Amsterdam area.
12.07.19 Startup in Residence releases new impact report
The team behind the Startup in Residence programme have published an impact report, looking back on the four years of the programme’s existence and sharing insights gained from the past as well as ambitions for the future.
12.07.19 Humanyze opens European HQ
Humanyze, an MIT Media Lab spin-off that aims to improve the way employees of large companies work, has opened its European headquarters in Amsterdam.
Logistically, digitally and socially, Amsterdam is extremely well-connected. All relevant contacts are close at hand, and a wide network of internatio...
Sustainable data centres at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Two groups are partnering to make the data centres around Amsterdam Airport Schiphol even greener than they are today.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol wins high marks as global hub
A new report shows Amsterdam Airport Schiphol continuing to flourish as one of the world’s leading airports in terms of connectivity.
KLM celebrates 70 years of Amsterdam New York flights
The 70th anniversary of KLM flights between Amsterdam and New York is an important milestone.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol continues to add new routes
Airlines at Schiphol are offering more flights to India and China, plus many new destinations within Europe.
Why the Amsterdam logistics sector is booming
Amsterdam is a key player in the global economy, thanks in no small part to its world-class logistics sector. It is home to an increasing number of co...
“Amsterdam is strategic for our growth, as it is a city that offers mobility and easy connectivity to the region’s countries,” said Jorge Ramos, Embra...
KLM and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
The Senior VP of cargo at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Enno Osinga, explains what makes the airport so unique.
Oracle moving to new sales office in Amsterdam
The company is building the new facility to capitalize on Amsterdam’s ideal position in the emerging cloud economy.
Amsterdam home to more and more new data centres
The announcement of two new data centres further cements Amsterdam’s role as a global data hub.
Amsterdam continues to excel in international rankings
The latest international surveys and rankings again find Amsterdam playing a leading role in terms of innovation, tech and quality of life.
NTT Communications establishes presence at Amsterdam Science Park
The presence of Japan’s NTT at the Amsterdam Science Park further connects the Dutch capital to Asia and beyond.
In the spring of 2012, Mayor Eberhard van der Laan opened the online hotel reservation site Booking.com’s new headquarters in Amsterdam.
Appsterdam
“I set out on a world tour to find the place that could offer app developers the best quality of life. Amsterdam was a straightforward decision.”
AMS-IX
“I think it’s testament to Amsterdam’s forward-thinking nature that we were established so early,” says the co-founder and for...
I am startup
I am talent
I am corporate
We are StartupAmsterdam
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Making It: Continuing the Legacy with Humphrey Popcorn
Jean-Marie Papoi
Topics Arts & Culture
MAKERS: Joanne Lynch, Mike Prokop, Susan Prokop
BUSINESS: Humphrey Popcorn Company
CENTURY-LONG TRADITION: It was 1893 when Dudley Sherman Humphrey opened his first popcorn stand in Cleveland’s Public Square.
“There were many vendors in Cleveland who were popping popcorn,” said Susan Prokop, who does marketing for the Humphrey Popcorn Company. “Dudley was very much an entrepreneur, and had loved his grandmother’s popcorn. He wanted to figure out a way to put that into a business.”
Dudley decided to set up his own popcorn stand, and along the way, developed a new type of popcorn popper.
“The popcorn came first, and then it was like, what can we do with the popcorn to make other products,” Prokop said.
That formed into the idea to make popcorn balls, a treat that’s still made with the very same recipe today.
A CLEVELAND LANDMARK: When Euclid Beach Park opened in 1895, Humphrey sold his popcorn to the masses of people who spent their summer days there on the shores of Lake Erie. As the turn of the century approached, the park fell into financial trouble and the Humphrey family decided to take over management and save the park in 1901. Thanks to many additions from the Humphreys, Euclid Beach again gained momentum and continued to be a success up until the 1960s, when population declined and financial stress led to the park’s closure in September of 1969.
A NEW ERA: The Humphrey family continued to make the popcorn products in Northeast Ohio long after the park closed. Susan had always loved the popcorn balls, and when she went with a classmate to purchase some for a class reunion she learned from the Humphrey family that they were looking to sell the business. It wasn’t a hard decision for her, her husband, Mike, and his sister, Joanne Lynch, to purchase the business in 2011 and continue the legacy in Cleveland.
BRIDGING THE PAST AND PRESENT: The Humphrey Company now has a new storefront that recently opened on 185th Street in the Collinwood area of Cleveland, just minutes away from the land where Euclid Beach Park was once located.
“I think part of coming back into the community, the closeness to Euclid Beach, it’s just a solid foundation,” said Mike Prokop of the new location next to the historic La Salle Theater.
Their hope is to bring back memories for those who remember going to the park, but to also spark interest in a new generation.
“We’re trying to go forward in other directions, to bring new people in,” Lynch explains. “We’re finding that a lot of people are saying, ‘my grandparents came, or my parents came,’ so they’re interested in that because they’ve heard stories from family members. So we’re trying to bring the past and the future together.”
Making It: Rust Belt Riders Transform Food Waste
Making It: Melding Chocolate and Community at Sweet Designs
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Aussie comedy lays bare sex and secrets
12 July, 2013 by Don Groves
Billed by the producers as an “intelligent comedy about sex and secrets,” The Little Death starts shooting in Sydney on July 29.
Illustrating its risqué premise, the film’s title is derived from Le Petit Mort, French slang for orgasm.
The film marks the feature directing and screenwriting debut of US-based actor Josh Lawson, a regular in the TV series House of Lies, who appears with Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and Christina Applegate in the upcoming Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.
The narrative explores the lives of five seemingly normal couples who reside in the same neighbourhood. Lawson will play a role and the other casting is being finalised.
Matt Reeder is producing for See Pictures and the investors include UK financier Head Gear, Deluxe and Red Apple Camera Rentals. This represents a new model for funding low-budget films, due to be unveiled at this month’s MIFF 37ºSouth Market. EOne Hopscotch is the Australian distributor and Bankside will handle foreign sales.
See Pictures was formed three years ago by filmmaker Michael Petroni and producer Jamie Hilton, who are preparing to shoot Backtrack, a supernatural thriller written and directed by Petroni, in Sydney in October.
The plot revolves around a psychologist whose life is thrown into turmoil when he discovers his patients are all ghosts of people who died in an accident 20 years earlier. Hilton and Antonia Barnard are producing, with funding from Screen Australia, Screen NSW, the 40% producer offset, Australian distributor Madman Entertainment, Deluxe, Spectrum and sales agent Bankside. Casting is underway.
It will be Petroni’s first Australian film since 2002’s Till Human Voices Wake Us. Based primarily in the US for 15 years, he co-wrote the screenplay of Disney’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Most recently Petroni wrote the screenplay of The Book Thief, a WWII drama set in Germany based on a novel by Markus Zusak, starring Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson and French-Canadian actress Sophie Nélisse.
He’s also scripted Three Little Words, adapted from an Ashley Rhodes-Courter novel about a Florida girl who went missing in the child welfare system for nine years until an unpaid volunteer found her. Amanda Seyfried and Reese Witherspoon are in negotiations to star, with James Mangold directing.
backtrack,
see-pictures
Ticket to Ride rolls with The Little Death
New US distributor takes Backtrack
Download frenzy for The Little Death
‘Backtrack’ cleans up at Australian Screen Sound Guild Awards
Noni Hazlehurst, Claudia Karvan and Stephen Curry star in ‘June Again’
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Appendix A – The Glossary 11
by Colin R. Singer / Friday, 18 November 2016 / Published in Immigrant Investor Venture Capital, Immigration, Immigration Manuals
Qualifying Business: The authorities consider a qualifying business as one in which the percentage of the business controlled by the applicant meets at least two of the following thresholds in one year:
The full-time job equivalents are equal to or greater than two
The total annual sales are equal to or greater than $500,000 Canadian dollars
The net income in the year is equal to or greater than $50,000 Canadian dollars and,
The net assets at the end of the year is equal to or greater than $125,000 Canadian dollars
This definition enables officers to determine whether an entrepreneur or investor applicant has managed to meet the prescribed business experience requirements.
Reaffirmation Ceremony: This refers to a formal event where Canadian citizens express their commitment to Canada by repeating the oath of citizenship.
Recall of Citizenship Certificate: This refers to the process by which the authorities might require a person to surrender the Citizenship Certificate. The surrender of the certificate would be required in case the authorities find that they have reason to believe that the person might not be entitled to the certificate. Alternatively, the authorities might require the person to surrender the certificate if they find that the person has violated any of the provisions of the Act.
Record of Landing (IMM 1000): This denotes an official document once the authorities issue it to a person on arrival in Canada as a permanent resident. It is worth mentioning that Canada has stopped issuing records of landing on June 28, 2002. For more details, refer to the definitions of the terms ‘Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR)’ and ‘Permanent Resident Card (PRC)’.
Record Suspension: A record suspension (formerly referred to as a pardon) enables people who were convicted of criminal offences to have their criminal records kept separate and apart from other criminal records. This usually takes place in the case the individuals have completed their sentences and demonstrated that they are law-abiding citizens for a prescribed number of years. For more details, refer to the definitions of the terms ‘Criminal Inadmissibility’, ‘Criminal Rehabilitation’ and ‘Deemed Rehabilitation’.
Refugee and Humanitarian Resettlement Program: This refers to the Government of Canada’s program under which the authorities select refugees from abroad and admit them into Canada. This applies only to those refugees who meet Canada’s refugee resettlement criteria.
Refugee Claimant: This denotes a person who has applied for refugee protection status while in Canada. In addition, this person might be waiting for the authorities from the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) of Canada to take a decision on the claim. For more details, refer to the definition of the term ‘Protected Person’.
Refugee Dependent: This denotes a family member of a refugee in Canada, whose application for permanent residence is processed by the officers at the same time as that of the principal applicant’s.
Refugee Landed in Canada: This denotes a permanent resident who applied for and received permanent resident status in Canada after the authorities accepted their refugee claim.
Refugee Protection Status: When the authorities determine a person (whether inland or overseas) to be a Convention refugee or a protected person, they confer refugee protection status on that person in Canada. The authorities usually provide refugee protection to a person in accordance with the provisions specified in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).
Refugee Travel Document: This refers to a document for people in Canada who have a protected person status, which they can use for travelling outside Canada. People having this document could typically include refugees and people who have received a positive Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA). These individuals can use this document for travelling anywhere except the country of which the person is a citizen or the country of claimed persecution.
Regulated Occupation: This denotes a profession that typically sets its own standards of practice. People wanting to work in a regulated occupation and to use a regulated title, would need to have a licence or a certificate. Alternatively, they would need to be registered with the regulatory body associated with their occupation. On occasions, some occupations might be regulated in some provinces or territories but not in others. Estimates suggest that approximately 20 percent of jobs in Canada are regulated.
Regulatory Body: This refers to an organisation that sets the standards and practices of a regulated occupation. It is worth mentioning that a regulatory body exists for each regulated occupation within each province or territory.
Rehabilitation: This denotes a process by which a person could overcome criminal inadmissibility. For more details, refer to the definitions of the terms ‘Criminal Rehabilitation’ and ‘Deemed Rehabilitation’.
Relationship of Convenience (or Marriages of Convenience): This refers to a marriage, common-law relationship, conjugal partnership or adoption that is not genuine. It could also refer to a marriage, common-law relationship, conjugal partnership or adoption that the concerned parties entered into for status or privilege in Canada. It is worth mentioning that people in these relationships are usually not members of the family class.
Relative: This denotes a person who is related to another person by blood or adoption.
Relevant Experience: In the context of a person applying to immigrate as a self-employed individual, the term relevant experience refers to at least two one-year periods of experience in the period from five years prior to the application date to the day the authorities make a decision on the application. In many cases, experience would usually be in one of the following areas:
Self-employment in cultural activities or athletics
Participating in cultural activities or athletics at the world-class level or,
Australia Contributory Parent Visa Immigration
Express Entry Manuals
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Sport League of Ireland
'The thoughts of them carrying me in a coffin would kill me! They'd probably drop me. They did alright with their da though'
The first family of Irish goalkeeping reflect on a lifetime of looking after number ones
Angela Henderson with her sons Dave and Stephen at the family home in Dublin. Photo: Mark Condren
David Kelly Twitter Email
The Hendersons are one of Irish football's most famous families and they can trace their pedigree back for a century and more. Paddy, who passed away in 2017, played in goal for Shamrock Rovers in the 1960s, sons David (59) and Stephen (53) had extensive careers in the League of Ireland while Wayne won six caps for Ireland.
https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/the-thoughts-of-them-carrying-me-in-a-coffin-would-kill-me-theyd-probably-drop-me-they-did-alright-with-their-da-though-38289030.html
https://www.independent.ie/incoming/article38287977.ece/21e01/AUTOCROP/h342/sn%20henderson%20family.jpg
On Thursday, Paddy's grandson Stephen Jnr (31), was in England with Wayne (35), who is now an agent, hoping to find a new club. Back in Dublin, was Stephen, as Head of Youth Development, and David, Head of Recruitment, after their first day working side by side, at Shelbourne FC.
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We sat down to discuss nature and nurture, family, life and death - and a bit of football. Joining us was Angela (81); the mother of all goalkeepers.
David Kelly: Angela, how did you meet Paddy?
Angela Henderson: It was an end-of-year awards do in 1955. My father ran the St Bernard's team and someone said that Paddy liked me. It wasn't love at first sight. The second time it was. We got married in 1959 when we were both 21. We lived in a room in Dorset St and the butcher across the road was a mad Rovers man. If Paddy made a mistake on the Sunday I couldn't go across the road on a Monday. We'd nearly starve for the week!
Dave Henderson: Paddy's uncle, "Rosie" Henderson was a League of Ireland star, a striking 6'2" fella. Played for Ireland too. All their family were originally from Irishtown. They go right back to the early 1900s.
AH: I wouldn't have gone to many games, never did. I'd stay at home with the rosary beads. I'd be fierce nervous. Even when Wayne played big matches on Sky Sports, I'd be watching through the glass door, half afraid. Even when he won, I'd be afraid to watch them on video afterwards in case he might make a mistake. You're worried about what happens afterwards. Paddy would love it when Wayne rang to say he'd done well. We could have our fry then!
DH: Dad had a perfect temperament for a goalkeeper.
AH: You'd never know if he'd lost, he'd never mope around.
DK: Was the temperament passed down? You two guys have a reputation!
Stephen Henderson: I worked with him for 18 years so I would have watched closely how he interacted with people. He was incredibly empathetic. He took half the kids in Cabra off the streets and gave them a job. He'd only lose his temper when arrogant bosses made stupid demands. He hated people who were aloof. And I think we got those traits from him.
DH: His twin rules were "Don't tell lies" and "Always try to do the right thing."
Stephen, Dave, Wayne and their father Paddy Henderson pictured in 1998
SH: She won't like me telling this story but Mam fell in Spain when she was pregnant with Wayne, she was 45 at the time. He took a few days extra to look after her but when he returned they sacked him. That broke his heart. It was testament to the man that every one of those workers went on strike. He'd never missed a day. They had to bring him back. But they took his car off him and gave him an old dirty van that barely worked. The only reason he went back and suffered humiliation was for the workers. I always admired him but never more than during that time.
AH: I remember a woman coming up to me a year before he died. "It's thanks to Paddy that my son was saved because he gave him a job." He finished early because he had a bad back. In those days they'd cut you open like a curtain. These two have bad backs, Wayne had to retire early because of it. And we're hoping Stephen Jnr gets on okay with his medical. All goalkeepers get it. I suppose it's all the bending down.
DK: Did you expect to have a family of footballers, never mind a family of goalkeepers?
AH: No, well you don't think. You get married and have your first baby, and you don't think about football. But since they could walk, Paddy'd have them at the gates, keeping goal.
DH: I played up front at Stella Maris. When I was 11, our goalie was having a nightmare so they stuck me in. I never left. That's why I always played like the modern goalies, I always had the ball at my feet but I was deemed a lunatic. When they changed the back-pass rule in 1990, it benefited me. I could read the game and affect it. Making a save is the easiest thing for a goalkeeper. Niall Quinn can do it. Brian Kerr used to encourage me, it made the game quicker.
DK: You were with Dublin Fire Brigade?
DH: They told me I had to give up football and I said I would because I wanted to get in so badly. But I ended up playing 15 years. I had a few bad scrapes in the 30 years. In the last year, I had a breakdown when a junkie spat in my eyes. Really bad. I keeled over in the hospital, floods of tears. I was out for a few months, went through counselling. It still affects me. You can get a bad run. So many dead bodies . . .
DK: So many? Can you remember how many dead people you've seen? I mean soldiers in a war can remember how many dead people they've seen.
DH: Absolutely, I know. It's generally the ambulance cases [when] you see them. Christmas morning, a dead baby in a fire. Then you're finished at 10 and going home to open your kids' presents from Santa. I'd have a reputation for being a bit mad, but I'd be a sensitive soul. It comes from my parents but experience gives you perspective. Two of my best friends my age in the fire brigade died in the last week. In my role now, recruitment, I can see kids who are damaged. I can relate to them. Kids now have it very difficult, you have to be on the same wavelength as them. You need to be watching Love Island. Frank Lampard only got the Chelsea gig to be friends with the players.
SH: Dave always had a great sense of humour but you had to understand it. He'd joke about death but it was a defence mechanism. If you got down, you were done.
DH: I saw a mate today who was also in the service and he had all the cycling gear and I shouted over at him. 'How'd you recognise me?' You're still breathing, I says. But there's life too. I delivered my only baby on the morning of a match in Kilkenny, Dad drove me down. All through the match I never saw a ball, only a baby's head. 'Eight centimetres, keep pushing.' It was an amazing thing. And I didn't drop it!
AH: The thoughts of them carrying me in a coffin would kill me! They'd probably drop me. They did alright with their da though.
DK: You've all had different careers, Wayne capped for Ireland, Dave a League of Ireland stalwart. Stephen, you were more noted in management.
SH: I got on the coaching ladder when it wasn't a big thing. I did the FAS course with Billy Young and you saw how you were as a player. And then you learn from managers. When I went into management, I took treating people the same way they treat you a bit too literally. If they treated me like a p****, I'd respond in the same way. But my Dad's standards and ethics flowed through it all. Treating people with respect.
DK: Were you a good manager?
SH: I think so. I've never really had funds but we always punched above our weight, whether it was the two spells at Cobh or Waterford. Cobh have only won two trophies and I was there for both and their first Cup final. It's tough at times. I had a player texting me on a Tuesday saying he wouldn't train because his ankle is gone. Then I see a picture on social media on a Thursday with his mate on his shoulders, drinking at a music festival. I don't blame him, he's thinking it's not worth it which is sad. My wife Leslie was the treasurer and we did what we could. The last thing that happened was that we finished with dirty jerseys being handed to us before a match.
DK: Both of you have been in a game, an industry, that has existed despite, rather than because of, help from those in charge?
DH: League of Ireland has thrived because of people like us and so many others. We're in it now at Shelbourne to give kids the opportunity to play and there's loads of it. Others are in the game for self-promotion. There are great people in the FAI but they have been let down.
SH: There is no football industry here. Why have about 10 teams gone out of existence, and so many others flirted with it, since the FAI took over the League? I get so annoyed with it. At Cobh, we trained on cow fields. How can you tell a kid that is part of a pyramid? Back to what my dad said, you can't tell people lies. Others might. We've lost 15 or 20 years. The underage leagues were just a box-ticking exercise, the clubs are struggling as it is and the FAI needed them to justify the large salaries being paid to certain people or to get funding from UEFA. There was no thought process. On a side note, I've gone to Noel Mooney in the FAI with a Managers' Association I'm trying to set up. I met 16 managers last weekend and we've started the ball rolling. We've no representation which is crazy. The new FAI is supposed to be open so I'll keep at it.
DH: The All-Ireland League will work. Parochialism works. That's why the GAA is strong. The football might be poor but people want to see their team win. And there are very few grounds here where you can have a family experience. It's more like a horror movie.
DK: And now you started work this week for Shelbourne?
DH: We have different opinions but we have a good consensus of what we want to do. We want to progress things carefully, developing our underage teams, possibly getting promotion. But it has to be sustainable. Our job is to try to produce around half the first-team squad which we can supplement with outsiders. That's the goal.
AH: Your dad would be proud. You're still alive after the first week.
DK: Angela, you have a daughter but there is another boy, Robert.
AH: I think Robert was the only one Paddy lost the rag with! He had the makings of a great footballer. He's a gentle soul. But when he went on the pitch he always got sent off! He never gave the impression he was worried about it. He's happy with his life.
DH: He wouldn't play in goal. If there were no referees, he would have played for Barcelona! Coming from a football family brings pressure. I used to think being good enough is good enough. People expect because of the name. My son Sam played, I never pushed him. He was doing well but he just stopped. I asked him afterwards. He said Wayne had played for Ireland, Stephen Junior was doing well. He told me a few years later that he had to fulfil that expectation. I never knew he felt that.
SH: I've two boys who play, Colin and Aaron. But you'd be worried about the comments they might get.
DH: I remember going to Hibs to work with Pat Fenlon. I was 52, had left the fire brigade. And suddenly I was scared. And I'd sent so many for trials who must have felt the same.
AH: Wayne went at 13. Stephen went at 12 to Arsenal. He was gone one minute and came back! It can be tough. But I'm proud of them all.
DH: I remember when Wayne made his debut. The next day Eamonn Darcy rang to say how well he'd done. Paddy wouldn't have been an emotional man. But he cried that day.
AH: Ah, I'm very proud of them all. They didn't turn out that badly in the end!
Sunday Indo Sport
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'You look at Qarabag and that's what we want to achieve' - Dundalk chief... League of Ireland
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Dundalk star Duffy's partner gives birth during extra time - then midfielder... League of Ireland
Dettori hoping 'Catcher' can star in Irish Oaks
He may have been out of luck on his first visit to Killarney on Wednesday but...
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September 15, 2017 12:01AM EDT
Refugees and the German elections
Published in Policy Review
Wenzel Michalski
Director, Germany WenzelMichalski
Election campaign posters for the upcoming general election are pictured in Berlin, Germany, September 12, 2017.
© 2017 Reuters
Refugees are one of the most debated topics in the campaign before Germany’s election on September 24. The political programs of the seven parties most likely to be elected do all reflect this.
According to its party platform, the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) wants to close the borders and largely disband the asylum system rooted in Germany’s Basic Law. The Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), conservative sister party to Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), wants to cap the number of asylum seekers at 200,000 per year, denying refugees the right to seek asylum if they arrive after that limit is reached. Both proposals would violate international law on the right to fair asylum procedures.
The other five parties support the unconditional right to seek asylum. However, even the platform of the strongest party, the CDU, shows restrictive tendencies, which raises doubts about the chancellor's repeated assurances of adhering strictly to international law.
The center-right party's main goal seems to be to permanently reduce the number of refugees coming to Germany. Declaring the North African countries Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia as safe countries of origin is one of the suggested ways of achieving this goal. However, in view of the human rights situation in the Maghreb states these countries could not be said to be presumptively safe for everyone. To presume that asylum seekers from these countries generally will not qualify as refugees, and to push their applications through fast-track procedures carries a real risk that some may be denied the protection they need.
The CDU party platform also calls for the quick deportation of rejected asylum seekers, even to Afghanistan. While this might technically be legal, Afghanistan has been torn apart by armed conflict and general violence for decades, and the sudden arrival of large numbers of deportees is destabilizing to a country without the capacity to reintegrate them. There might very well be people whose lives would not be in immediate danger if they moved to certain areas of the country, but that doesn’t make turning an asylum seeker into an internally displaced person a reasonable or sustainable policy.
Germany should avoid fuelling the very instability it says it wants stopped by deferring deportation of rejected Afghan asylum seekers until it becomes clear how Kabul will cope with the influx. In the meantime, Germany should grant Afghans the most favorable status possible under national law and not detain them.
Since Pakistan deported hundreds of thousands of Afghans who had been there for many years under dubious international legality in 2016, Afghanistan’s capacities are nearly exhausted and a potential humanitarian catastrophe is brewing in parts of the country. A temporary halt in deportations to Afghanistan, at least until the security situation there has fundamentally and durably improved, makes both moral and geopolitical sense.
The CDU's vague plan to enter into agreements with African countries similar to the EU-Turkey Deal is problematic as well. The humanitarian situation in some of these countries is even more precarious than in Turkey, where it is already alarming. The EU-Turkey Deal has led to unacceptable living conditions and emotional distress for hundreds of thousands asylum seekers. They are stranded on the Greek Islands or on dangerous Syrian soil near the closed Turkish border, with no tangible perspective for a dignified life.
Refugees should have safe and legal travel routes. Programs for family reunification offer one way to achieve this. The organized reunification of family members can help avoid dangerous journeys, take business away from people smugglers, and help foster integration. Despite all this, politicians from Merkel's party are expending a lot of energy on keeping organized family reunification to a minimum. This is also reflected in the CDU party platform, which says that family reunification is only possible for people recognized as refugees under the international Refugee Convention.
Under the leadership of CDU Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, the grand coalition of CDU/CSU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), first adopted a policy of granting Syrians a subsidiary form of protection, rather than full refugee status, and then imposed a two-year delay on the right to family reunification. This measure will be renegotiated in March 2018. It remains to be seen whether the CDU's more liberal wing around Merkel will prevail within its own party and what kind of support it might get from its coalition partners.
On paper, the party platforms of the SPD, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne), The Left (Linke), and in some parts the Free Democratic Party (FDP) regarding refugee policy are far more liberal. They follow, and in some cases even exceed, the standards laid down in international law. In practice, however, certain politicians from the ranks of SPD (Oppermann), Grüne (Palmer) and Linke (Wagenknecht) have made statements about restrictive immigration, apparently to appeal to AfD voters.
During the crucial time after the elections, potential coalition partners should take a stand and clearly position themselves to help shape any agreement that will set the direction for a potential future coalition government. They should unambiguously commit to uphold the highest standards of protection for asylum seekers and refugees and to expand safe and legal channels, such as family reunification and refugee resettlement. This is the best way to manage an asylum and immigration system that respects human rights and fulfills all relevant obligations.
Refugee Rights
German Election
September 14, 2017 News Release
Syrian Refugee Children’s Uncertain School Aid
September 8, 2017 Dispatches
European Union Court Endorses Collective Action to Help Refugees
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Stay Awake (Hardcover)
By Dan Chaon
Ballantine Books, 9780345530370, 272pp.
Compact Disc (2/7/2012)
MP3 CD (2/7/2012)
Pre-Recorded Audio Player (2/7/2012)
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The Washington Post • San Francisco Chronicle
Before the critically acclaimed novels Await Your Reply and You Remind Me of Me, Dan Chaon made a name for himself as a renowned writer of dazzling short stories. Now, in Stay Awake, Chaon returns to that form for the first time since his masterly Among the Missing, a finalist for the National Book Award.
In these haunting, suspenseful stories, lost, fragile, searching characters wander between ordinary life and a psychological shadowland. They have experienced intense love or loss, grief or loneliness, displacement or disconnection—and find themselves in unexpected, dire, and sometimes unfathomable situations.
A father’s life is upended by his son’s night terrors—and disturbing memories of the first wife and child he abandoned; a foster child receives a call from the past and begins to remember his birth mother, whose actions were unthinkable; a divorced woman experiences her own dark version of “empty-nest syndrome”; a young widower is unnerved by the sudden, inexplicable appearances of messages and notes—on dollar bills, inside a magazine, stapled to the side of a tree; and a college dropout begins to suspect that there’s something off, something sinister, in his late parents’ house.
Dan Chaon’s stories feature scattered families, unfulfilled dreamers, anxious souls. They exist in a twilight realm—in a place by the window late at night when the streets are empty and the world appears to be quiet. But you are up, unable to sleep. So you stay awake.
Praise for Stay Awake
“Eerily beautiful . . . [Chaon] is the modern day John Cheever.”—Boston Sunday Globe
“Powerful and disturbing . . . The shocks in this collection are many.”—The Washington Post
“Chaon is able to create fully realized characters in mere pages. . . . This collection is further proof that Chaon is one of the best fiction writers working right now.”—Omaha World-Herald
“There are not many fiction writers who can do what Dan Chaon can do. . . . [He is] a literary force.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Intense and suspenseful . . . a highly recommended work, not to be missed.”—Library Journal (starred review)
“Mesmerizing . . . gripping, masterful fiction.”—The Plain Dealer
“Superbly disquieting.”—The New York Times Book Review
Dan Chaon is the acclaimed author of "Among the Missing, "which was a finalist for the National Book Award; "You Remind Me of Me, "which was named one of the best books of the year by "The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, "and" Entertainment Weekly, "among other publications; and "Await Your Reply, " which was a "New York Times" Notable Book and appeared on more than a dozen "Best of the Year" lists. Chaon's fiction has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including "The Best American Short Stories, Pushcart Prize, "and" The O. Henry Prize Stories." He has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award in Fiction, and he was the recipient of the 2006 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Chaon lives in Cleveland, Ohio, and teaches at Oberlin College, where he is the Pauline M. Delaney Professor of Creative Writing.
Praise For Stay Awake: Stories…
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InfoQ Homepage Presentations Zero to Production in Five Months @ ThirdLove
Zero to Production in Five Months @ ThirdLove
View Presentation
Megan Cartwright discusses how ThirdLove built their first machine learning recommendation algorithm that predicts bra size and style. She talks about the challenge of working with real-world data where there is no truth flag, and about the tradeoffs associated with key decisions they made around design, implementation and testing.
Megan Cartwright is Head of Data Science at ThirdLove. She entered data science via physics where she developed algorithms to predict energy transfer across the solar system.
Software is changing the world. QCon empowers software development by facilitating the spread of knowledge and innovation in the developer community. A practitioner-driven conference, QCon is designed for technical team leads, architects, engineering directors, and project managers who influence innovation in their teams.
We are a small startup based here, in San Fran. And my team develops algorithms and infrastructure across all functions of the company. So we're talking about marketing, CX, product, finance, everyone. And I'm really excited today to share, actually, one of my favorite algorithms, probably because it was the first one we developed when we had nothing in product. And then we moved to machine learning in our product relatively quickly, within four and a half months.
So as alluded to, we make bras. And first, I'm going to describe the problem space to you a bit, because I suspect there's a number of you who don't really understand why we're doing this or what the problem is. And then I'm going to go into some of the real-world issues that we were faced with as we developed this algorithm and this infrastructure.
The Problem: Why Bras?
So why bras? Well, as you suspect, half the population wears a bra, starting at age 12 up to literally their last day. So that's a really long lifetime value. It's also a multibillion-dollar industry worldwide, and it's seen very little innovation in the last 60 years. So for example, bra sizes themselves haven't changed in over 100 years, and they were developed by a man. So that just makes no sense to me. I won't talk about all the issues of bras. But just so you know, to get a feel for it, one of the issues women face is their strap slips down. And so if I was up here in a dress with no sleeves and my strap slips down, I'm going to be self-conscious, annoyed, distracted, as might be you guys. And that's just a really small issue. This could literally happen to you every single day, many times a day. It's really annoying. There are all kinds of other issues when it comes to fitting bras. And so at ThirdLove, what we've aimed to do is try to fix some of these raw, core issues that have seen no innovation.
In the industry, what happens is you basically have two choices. One is legacy companies like Victoria's Secret or Maidenform. Another is fast fashion, such as like Zara or H&M, or whatever. So these are the two options that we've had for quite some time. Now, if you go to Victoria's Secret, that use case is you go into a room, some stranger touches you while you're naked and, hopefully, gives you some right size and gives you a bra. Then, you might wear that bra for the next 20 years, realize that you've been wearing the wrong bra for 20 years. Not fun. And then your other option is fast fashion, which is really bad quality, trendy, get it now or never, you don't really know what you're getting there. So at ThirdLove, we decided to make a third option, which is to actually make a bra that has good quality at a good price point, and at all sizes.
So what you see here is that most women, maybe more than 40% of the U.S. population of women, don't actually fit in that traditional bra sizing anymore. At ThirdLove, we decided to change that. My CEO, she likes to say, "If shoes get half sizes, why don't bra cups get half sizes? It makes no sense." So we're literally trying to change everything we can about this product to make it fit women better. As you can see, Victoria's Secret, half as many bras as us. We're actually launching more bra sizes next year. So we have the full core set, and then we try to do this extended set. We don't call it "extended" because we firmly believe every woman deserves a good-fitting bra. So that's just sizing.
Moving Bra Sizing from the Store to Online
So where does data come into play? So we come into play in this specific algorithm, in that we are moving bra sizing from the store, that horrible interaction that women have to go through, to online. And we do believe we can do this online. So what we do right now is, this is actually one of our landing pages, we call it the "Fit Finder Quiz." And in under a minute, you answer a series of questions. And using those questions, we recommend the right size and style of bra for that person. Millions of women have actually taken this quiz of ours in the last year, and over 70% say they have a very strong size issue. So this is a big problem that we really need to support.
In our team, our goal is to fit every woman to the right size bra at least the first time. I mean, ideally, we do it the first time. Obviously, you want to do it every time. But usually, people come in, and they do the Fit Finder one time, they get recommended a size and style. So we wanted to change this. So this Fit Finder Quiz right now, it's a series of questions. This is one of the first questions, bubble question, where you put in your current size. And there are 10 or 12 questions, and these questions are all coded up in a JavaScript React app, and it's all rules-based. So it's like, "if, else, if, else." It was created by our head of creative, who has been designing bras for 30 years and knows what it takes for a bra to fit the right body.
So using that content knowledge, we populated this "if, else”- I call it the "rules-based algorithm," not an algorithm. And we ask a series of questions. So here's another question. Here, we ask what brand you're wearing, because different brands have, actually, different styles attached to them. So here, you can write in "Target," for example. Also, how well does something fit? Is it a little? Is it a lot? And then, using all of these questions, plus more that I'm not showing, we actually recommend to you your size, like 38A, and your style. In this case, it's a Plunge. There's actually like three main core bras, and Plunge is one of them. Plunge fits women who are particularly narrow-shouldered or short. And so this is actually one of our core bras that we would offer.
The Real World is Full of Messy Data
The company knew that a rules-based quiz wasn't going to last very long. They knew that they were collecting all this rich data about how women were fitting and feeling in their bra. And they knew that if they could get a better feedback loop using a machine-learning algorithm, we could actually, over time, fit women better. So that's where my team came in. They asked us to solve this problem. So this is where I think we're going to all be much more interested. But it's really, "Where is the real world in this?" And so the rest of the talk is going to be about the real-world consequences of using this data and how you build this infrastructure.
Right now, the first thing we did was actually look at the data. And it's really messy, as you could suspect. One is those bubbles – that's structured data. So, yes, I get your bra size. You're a 38B. Awesome. But then, if you notice, there was some other data that was more freeform text, which is a lot harder to parse through and understand. There are a lot of ways to do it. And so obviously, you want to pick a way and hope that's the best. But you can't spend forever, because we're a small startup and so you only have a few days to figure this out.
Some of the other things that you have to worry about are, "Where is the data stored? Are you tracking it all?" What we found was some of the data was stored in parse in our back end. Our orders data was in Shopify, and so you had to link that together. You also have exchanges and returns. And how does this data all play together? Is it in the right format? Are there duplicates? Because usually there are. All this comes together, and you have to put it in a place to actually create what we call a "training dataset," where you actually build a model off of it.
So like I said, the first thing we did was get all the data and put it in one place. So we put it in Redshift, and we're like, "Okay, what are we going to do? What is it telling us?" And so one of the first things I asked the engineering team was, "Are we actually tracking all the data?" There's clicks, submits, there's all kinds of stuff. What we're interested in is sessions. So, “How many sessions did someone do? Did we track all that?” “No. We aren't tracking all that. We tracked the very last time they took a Fit Finder Quiz.” That's not helpful. If we're going to build an algorithm, we actually need to know all the data. And that was just one example.
Real World Algorithm Design: How Do We Define Success?
Let's get into it. In terms of building an algorithm like this in the real world, how do you design it, and how do you measure success? What you see on the right-hand side, is actually the Fit Finder would recommend a size and a style, and you're like, "Awesome." Then, you look at the next. And then we parse all that data together that we saw before and we're like, "Did they keep it? Did they exchange it? What was their final kept size and style?" And then to the right is all the features, some of the features we put into the model that we're playing with.
So the really important part here is the feedback loop. So what is it that you want to make better? You want this fit to be better, right? But how are you going to get there? Is it conversion? "Oh, they loved this bra. They converted. We're done." But what feedback do you get from that? Nothing. Is it returns? Do you include returns? Because they didn't like it, obviously, they returned it. But why did they return it? We don't actually know. So you should track that, too. And then also, exchanges. We have exchanges. So if you look at all of this data and put it together, you can actually … What we decided to do as our feedback loop was actually, what did they finally keep? You can actually exchange a bra with us many times because we're dedicated to getting you into the right fit and to the right style. So this is actually really complicated to track and to pull and to push together. But this is what we decided to do as our final feedback loop, was the kept.
So now, we dug into it. Well, we have all this data. We have a feature set that we know we're going to track to, which is kept size and style. Now, what does this data show us? So we started tracking all the sessions. Awesome. What we found out was that people were doing it, they were doing this Fit Finder Quick 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 times before or after they make an order. So which session is the truth session? And there is no truth session. Right? Is it the first session? Is it the last session that they're most serious about? Is it the session in which they made an order from? Is it the session in which they got the same size that they ordered from? Because you could actually change your size when you're in the ordering process. I don't know.
The way that we decided to attack this was the first alg we built, we totally cheated. We used sessions that people had only done one session, so their first and last session was one. And we had enough data to be able to build a simple alg off that. And then we decided to think about all the different hypotheses that we had brainstormed. Is it the first session that they’re most serious about? And somebody was like, "No, it can't be. Because that's when they're in the subway, and they're just looking at it. It's the last session before the order." I'm like, "Okay, fine." So we actually, literally, are testing training data associated to each session using experiments. That's how we got around this one.
Real World Biases
And then we're like, "Great. We have a model. It's awesome. We have all this training data." And then we start looking at it, and we realize that, there are some interesting trends here. And I think this is a really important piece that's really been weighing on me lately, is that your training data has innate biases. Amazon just recently came out saying they had to throw out a couple of their algorithms because there were innate biases that were overpredicting things that were not something that they wanted to see. And so for us, it's the same thing. And so here, one of the things that's interested about bras is people become very connected to their bra size. "How dare you tell me I am not a 36C? That is my size." And you see this in the data, actually. We would see people doing the quiz multiple times trying to get back to the same size.
And so we actually did some simple clustering to find this pattern in the data. And so there's a subset of people, we correlated it back to what we heard from the return data. And really, what we heard was this; this like strong subset of people who want their same size no matter what we recommend to them. So that means, how do you deal with that in the data finally? Do you remove it? Which is what we did; we removed that subset because we actually do want to predict the best size for you. But we also are building a new product to recommend a couple different sizes to you. So then, if you want your original size and your recommended size, you could have both and then just return which one you don't want. That's how we approached it.
Another interesting thing which a lot of e-commerce has to deal with is actually the "lazy returner syndrome" I like to call it. We knew it was going to be a problem. But we actually knew that people who said, "Oh, I want to return," and then never actually sent the product back to us, was a small but significant subset. So how do you deal with this in your dataset? And for us, we just decided to go back to our target metric, which is the feedback loop. And just keep iterating on that and making sure that that's a really strong connection, that we're getting as much feedback as we can from returns and from exchanges, so then hopefully we can identify these people. But it's a very hard problem to deal with.
And then, finally, the last bias I'll talk about is just returns. So people return it and they say, "Oh, you know, I don't know why I returned it. I just don't like it." You know? "So why don't you like it? Give us some information? Did it actually fit you, and you just don't like it? Or you thought it was too expensive?" So ways you have to get around this is really asking more questions in the Return form, which is painful to do. But hopefully, you can make it in a way that's easy to do. Also, you can look at those customers and try to relate them to other customers within your training database and then maybe remove them, which is another trick you can do. But we didn't do that.
Real World: Cold Start Problem
Great. So now, you have your training data. You have built up a simple model off of it, and you're putting it into production. And then the VP of operations comes to you and says, "Hey, guess what? We're launching 50 new sizes next month." Like, "Oh, awesome." We don't have those sizes in our training dataset. So this is called the "cold start problem." It's a well-known problem in machine learning. For us, we actually made an algorithm for all those green and yellow sizes. But those red sizes, we literally launched while we were testing the green and yellow sizes. So we actually decided to pull out the yellow sizes and use the old rules-based algorithm, because we didn't want to poorly recommend a yellow size into green, when it should have been a red size.
And then we had to develop a strategy for how we want to deal with cold start, and we came up with two approaches. The best approach is always to get more data. And so, for us, the velocity which we gain data, that wasn't a problem. So we could actually do that, to wait for the data to come in. There are other approaches where you actually use a more Bayesian stats approach, where you find priors, where the probability that someone has these features and will convert is similar to other people. Luckily, we didn't have to deal with that problem.
And then there are other business considerations as well, when you build a real-world alg, especially for a small startup where maybe your inventory is closely monitored and watched. So here, on the right-hand side is our basic T-shirt demi-cup, and on the left is the box of the same exact bra in different colors or styles. So you have lace or, actually, that turquoise one has a different covering on it, so it's like stripe-y. And so what was interesting was even though we built our alg off this training dataset, what we found was people were ordering different things and that they were being recommended. And so, that's great. But how do you deal with that? What if we don't have enough of the turquoise lace overlay bra in stock? We can't recommend that to our users. So we actually had to dial our alg back and put some guardrails in place to make sure that we were only recommending the bras that we knew we had enough inventory for. Otherwise, you're going to be in trouble. So that's guardrails, Part 1.
And then what model do you finally choose for production? So we have spent all this time thinking about which model to choose, how to build the model, the training set, been very thoughtful. So sizing of bras is really, like, retarded because those sizes are not necessarily linear. The band size is linear, but then there's something called "true cup size," which is linear; it's volumetrically linear, but then the size of the bra is not linear. That's weird. So that's why I say sizing is not well done.
But anyway, so you can build a model that's linear, and we did. When we were building and testing out the training data and building out the infrastructure to support it to the client side, we decided, "Oh, a linear approach, super-simple, easy." Always start simple and easy. And it was a very small file. So you take the model, and then you serialize it, and it was really small. But then, at the same time, we were also playing with random forests and ensemble methods, because we knew that we needed to get a really good accuracy as well. And the accuracy on the linear model was not so great. So we're still working on that.
Creating a Compatible Model API & Infrastructure
And then we decided to build out the infrastructure at the same time. And we're building infrastructure where our site is actually a Shopify site still, and we use parse in the back end with a JavaScript React Fit Finder Quiz. And so we knew we wanted to build something very simple that worked with our stack, something with Python and scikit-learn and so it'd be easy to use. And then we decided to deploy, from a machine learning standpoint, the ensemble method, the random forest method. Which is a much more complicated algorithm. And when you serialize it, which is that little weird "01" green section, it is too big to fit in that simple little infrastructure that we decided to go with. It wouldn't fit in DynamoDB. DynamoDB has a storage limit of 400 kilobytes. So that's fun.
Our random forest, when you pruned all those trees back, it was not performing very well. So we're like, "Well, we can't use DynamoDB. So what are we going to do?" Luckily, we have some great engineers and machine learning engineers, and we just decided, "Screw it. We're going to put a link to S3, and then we'll store the models in S3. And that way, we can have our scientists or data scientists be able to export the model into S3, and then use it in production and then pull it in.
Our Design Overview
So what's that look like? This is just a very sketchy overview. I would say it's a very classic overview, where models are uploaded by the Data Science team. We have a promotion scheme, so you have different classifiers, and then the API itself actually calls a predict function and fits the size and style, sends it back to the client side. And then we have some A/B testing stuff on the front end. And then, if you see, all that data is logged and sent back to Redshift, which is great.
But we decided, in our validation process before we launch anything live, that we're going to launch it in Shadow first. So the data scientists export the model in, we need to test it, and Shadow allows us to have all requests be evaluated using any one classifier and then save that data in Redshift. So something that was really interesting to us was, we'd done all this work, and we failed to recognize that our styles that we were recommending, were actually significantly different than the styles the rules-based algorithm were recommending, and that's because that's not what people were buying. We had put guardrails around, "Oh, it can't be lace, and it can't be colors. It has to be core, '24/7' styles," we call them. But we had failed to realize that that could actually have inventory concerns. If we're not recommending anybody this one style, then there's going to be a lot more orders in this other style. But that's what they're ordering anyways. I guess, that was my philosophy, so I was like, "Deal with it. Order more." So anyway, that was just an interesting Shadow thing.
And then we decided to deploy it live. Which is always slightly terrifying to deploy an alg live, especially when it's the first alg, and you've never done it in product before. So we just tested a classic A/B test, our alg against rules, 50/50, and keep rate is our primary metric. So what we found was that we did, over time, we won. And at the same time, we developed infrastructure to be able to retrain that same model on a monthly cadence, where we're weighting newer feedback data more than the old feedback data. As you could imagine, we get better and better with the bra product and the recommendations, and whatnot.
So that was our timeline from building this JavaScript app which collects data, building the machine learning models and infrastructure, and then deploying them live to the front end. So where are we going now? Well, we're all about real women and real women's problems in this space. So we are developing algorithms across the product, the site, the experience, returns, exchanges, next orders, what we should be recommending, what kind of imagery we should be showing and how we show it across different markets, and things like that. And then, inventory predictions as well.
So if you are interested in machine learning and machine learning infrastructure, we are hiring as well, for machine learning engineers. Thank you.
Participant 1: I had a question about the architecture diagram that you had. When a model is promoted to production, what's the mechanism by which it's switched in your API?
Cartwright: Yes. We have a couple schemes, actually. Well, we're testing multiple classifiers, because we're actually building different models to predict the same thing. So we don't actually have a strict promotion scheme about which one we switch to. What's it called? We just take one out when we decide not to use it anymore. And actually, the way it pulls up a classifier, we're kind of cheating, today. And I assume you won't be cheating. But in our A/B test split, because we're a Shopify site and we actually don't own the load or anything, we have to call the classifier up by using the A/B test flag that we use.
So we use VWO currently. We're going to actually move off to something else, so we can do much more sophisticated testing. Because right now, we don't have any capability to do multi-armed bandit or whatever, which is what we need to be doing. So, in the A/B test flag that we build, it has the name of the classifier, and that's how it actually loads in. It's cheating. But we're a startup, so I can do that.
Participant 2: So for your models, do you do any online training based on the new data that you get in? Or do you have to retrain your models every few weeks or whatever and deploy them?
Cartwright: Yes, that's a great question. And right now, we have to manually retrain them. I mean, we retrain them on a schedule. So we pull the data, retrain the model, and then we have to push the model. But it's still somewhat manual. We're actually changing it right now, so we have a better infrastructure. This is a cheap and easy way to get into the product quickly. But now, the team is like, "No. We want to do a continuous deployment. We want to do like a proper blah, blah." And so we're moving in that direction though, so we can do more real-time. It would be nice to have, especially, on some of the new styles and some of the new testing we're going to be doing, to be able to do more real-time work.
Participant 3: I was wondering how much you think you suffer from survey fatigue? Right now, this year, I've kind of given up on most feedback requests. And the only ones I really do are the ones where I think I'm going to benefit. And even if it's for the benefit of the company to develop stuff, then I see how it might benefit me. So are you trying to measure that? Are you trying to get a handle on that?
Cartwright: Yes, actually. So we only require feedback when you do an exchange or return, in the product to get the return slip, and we're rethinking that design even so. Because still, you make an order, and then we send like a [inaudible 00:29:10] review. And that's actually one way where I'm trying to understand biases in lazy returners, I call it the "happiness factor." And so I actually just got enough data to be able to do a little bit of analysis around how happy people are, and then trying to identify who those people are early using an algorithm. That's what we're doing now. We try to send like 1 in 10, but it has to be random enough across geography and all that, and it's kind of hard to know sometimes. But I think that's a huge problem.
Participant 3: And do you think your people who are keeping the bras, then a lot of people don't return things because the buyers don't return things? So how are you trying to navigate that one?
Cartwright: Yes. That's a really hard one. I would say it's the hardest one we have. We actually tried making an algorithm to identify these people via actions they were taking, and it wasn't very great. I can actually build a model to predict if you're going to convert on our site or not, way better than this, which has even less data. So I'm not sure how we're going to address it entirely yet, other than getting some of these reviews and trying to identify them. I think in time, we'll get better. But it's a hard problem.
Participant 4: So it seems like quite a few of the data points that you guys ingest are free text fields. And so for those fields, in particular, what kind of standardization logic do you have in place and deduping, and how much have you seen that might effect your algorithms as they evolve?
Cartwright: So interestingly enough, there's only really one, the brand question where you can put "other" in, that really is a good feature for us, is a really good predictor. At first, we manually went through it, to be honest, and then parsed it that way. Actually, we decided that, "Well, that's a lot of effort and it would require …" There are a lot of different ways you can do this, like text parsing automatically, but none of them are really capturing what we needed to capture.
So at the end of the day, we had net phrases like, "Okay, 'VS,' Victoria's Secret" – even though Victoria's Secret is an option, so I don't know why it would – that we used, and then we grouped them. And then we actually grouped them into, "Are they Victoria's Secret-like?" so they were looking for sexy, lacy stuff, or, “Are they like more every day? Or are they more fast fashion?" And so that actually came out pretty clear in the data. But, yes, there's no easy way to do that, I would say, especially if you want to do this quickly, like real-time. Awesome.
Participant 5: How many data points did you actually need before your machine learning algorithm gave you good results?
Cartwright: You know, honestly, I don't know how many the minimum threshold was. I started at 90k observations, which is a very small subset, but it was the cleanest subset I could pull. We're actually using it in product still. So not that much data, actually.
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28-year-old real estate investor's theory: You own the corner, you own the block
St. Petersburg, Fla., real estate investor Samuel Boutros has “purchased a lot of corners” in the city’s Grand Central District west of downtown, hoping “they will end up being a holdout piece” of a big development project.
“The theory is you own the corner, you own the block, with the focus being on the short term,” Boutros told the Tampa Bay Times.
That’s just what’s happened to a 103-year-old house the 28-year-old purchased for $130,000 in 2011 — high-density apartments are going up all around it, in a scene reminiscent of the Pixar movie “Up,” the Times reports.
But apartment developer Atlantic Housing Partners is refusing to play along, offering only a “few thousand” more than Boutros has invested in the property, he said. So he’s happy keep rental income from the property, which is subdivided into four apartments. Source: tampabay.com
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BC Ferries cancelling several sailings on south coast due to strong winds
A number of sailings between Victoria and Tsawwassen were cancelled, with many other routes delayed
Ashley Wadhwani
BC Ferries were faced with a number of issues Saturday, causing cancellations and delays across several sailings.
High winds have cancelled all further sailings between Victoria’s Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen in Delta. This includes sailings at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Other sailings cancelled due to winds included the Queen of Alberni’s 12:45 p.m. sailing from Nanaimo’s Duke Point, as was an earlier sailing of the Coastal Inspiration from Duke Point.
“It’s difficult to predict when sailings will resume and non-reserved customers will be able to travel as weather and vessel issues are putting considerable pressure on the system today,” noted a social media post from BC Ferries at 1 p.m, advising that travellers monitor travel advisories on the ferry corporations website.
The 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. sailings between Tsawwassen and Victoria had been cancelled due to mechanical issues that could cause safety issues in high winds, according to a 9:45 a.m. service update from the Crown corporation.
Sailings from West Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo’s Departure Bay were delayed by 35 minutes due to an IT issue that impacted ticket purchasing.
Sailings between Tsawwassen and Nanaimo were facing a 90-minute delay, due to a medical emergency on a ferry travelling between Nanaimo and Vancouver earlier.
READ MORE: High winds cause power outages, ferry cancellations in Metro Vancouver
The high winds along the Georgia Strait also forced BC Ferries to cancel the 11 a.m. departure form Mayne Island to Tsawwassen, as well as the 12:40 p.m. sailing from Tsawwassen to Salt Spring Island.
The cancellations and delays along south coast ferry routes follow last weekend’s busy holiday scheduling, which saw lengthy lineups until Wednesday.
This story will be updated as new information becomes available.
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TAJ Seeks to Broaden Tax Base through Third Party Leads
Published Date March 12, 2019 10:48 AM
Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ), through its Intelligence, Investigation & Enforcement Unit (IIEU) continues its efforts to broaden the tax base through the use of third party leads. TAJ has identified a number of taxpayers, through its data mining activities who have transactions of various economic value and have not filed a Tax Return.
The IIEU will be carrying out enforcement activities geared towards capturing these persons in the tax net. Notices will be served on these taxpayers to have Returns filed within fifteen (15) days of the receipt of such notice.
Taxpayers who do not respond to the Notices served will be prosecuted.
The Tax Authority is reminding taxpayers in receipt of income, profits or gains as defined by the Income Tax Act and who have not filed a Tax Return for such income, profits or gains in accordance with the Income Tax Act, that such non-compliance is an offence and is liable for prosecution.
Delinquent taxpayers are further reminded that not filing a Tax Return in accordance with the Income Tax Act is an offence as stated in Section 70(4).
The Act states that, “if any person on whom any such Notice is served fails without reasonable excuse to comply with the requirements of the Notice, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable –
(a) on summary conviction in a Resident Magistrate’s Court –
I. in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding two million dollars and, in default of payment thereof, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, and
II. in the case of a second or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding five million dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both such fine and imprisonment; and
(b) on conviction on indictment in a Circuit Court, to a fine and, in default of payment therefore, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years.
Tax Administration Jamaica is encouraging persons who may need further information on the tax law and any tax related matter to contact our Customer Care Centre at 888-TAX-HELP (888-829-4357) or the nearest Tax Office.
By Marlon Thompson
1149 Views,
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In Memoriam: William Wesley Harmon, 1941-2017
Filed in In Memoriam on January 3, 2018
William W. Harmon, former president of Central College of Houston Community College, died on December 26 after a brief illness. He was 76 years old.
From 2005 to 2016, Dr. Harmon served as president of Central College, which today enrolls about 18,000 students. The college has campuses in downtown Houston and on the city’s South Side. Earlier in his career, he was dean of health sciences at Wichita State University in Kansas, vice president for student affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, and vice president for student affairs at the University of Virginia.
A native of Charlotte, Dr. Harmon served in the U.S. Army for two years and then earned a bachelor’s degree and played basketball at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte. He went on to earn a master’s degree from Seton Hall University in New Jersey and a Ph.D. at Kansas State University.
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"The goals of our program are to provide students with the information and routines necessary for effective skill-building, to assist students in an exploration of different musical styles, and to offer the safe environment that encourages students to fully trust their natural musical impulse. Passion and curiosity are what fuel the learning process." — Heidi Castleman, Viola Faculty
Juilliard’s String Department is the largest department within the Music Division, representing about one-third of its total student enrollment. At the heart of the department is a distinguished faculty that includes internationally acclaimed soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians, and leading pedagogues, as well as the world-renowned Juilliard String Quartet.
Juilliard houses a collection of more than 200 historic stringed instruments – including examples by Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppi Guarneri del Gesù – which students may apply to borrow for special performances or competitions.
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Viola Faculty Samuel Rhodes | Juilliard Snapshot
Performing before a live audience is an essential part of the Juilliard experience. Whether you are an instrumentalist, singer, or composer, you will have frequent opportunities to share your art with the public. Most performances take place in one of Juilliard's superb auditoriums, but you will also have occasion to appear elsewhere at Lincoln Center, including David Geffen and Alice Tully halls, homes of the New York Philharmonic and the Chamber Music Society; at other venues in New York City, such as Carnegie Hall, where the Juilliard Orchestra performs annually, the Blue Note Jazz Club, where Jazz students enjoy regular gigs, and the Museum of Modern Art, where the New Juilliard Ensemble appears in the Summergarden series; or on national and international tours.
Classroom Studies
The Music Division’s main areas of classroom instruction—Ear Training, Music Theory and Analysis, Music History, and Keyboard Studies—complement your private lessons and performance experiences to broaden your understanding of the foundations of music and to provide a context for the music literature you study and perform. Juilliard’s Center for Innovation in the Arts equips students with skills to compose and perform music using new technology, and offers hands-on experience with state of the art equipment.
Whatever your discipline, your development as an artist will be deepened by a foundation in the liberal arts, which provides the humanistic, ethical, social, critical, and aesthetic background essential to personal development and professional excellence. All undergraduate degree students take classes in literature, philosophy, history, social sciences, arts, and languages – studies that will help you develop a deeper understanding of yourself and the complex world in which you live. Through your coursework in liberal arts, you will refine your skills in reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking, and learn to communicate with greater clarity and effectiveness.
In the changing cultural landscape, performers must think more creatively about their careers than ever. While some pursue positions in traditional settings, others are exploring new ways to create opportunities that are both creatively satisfying and financially sustainable. The Alan D. Marks Center for Career Services and Entrepreneurship encourages leadership, initiative, and entrepreneurial thinking, enabling young performing artists to develop a more expansive view of success in the 21st century. It teaches students the skills essential for success in today’s entrepreneurial environment, with workshops in public speaking and business planning, panel discussions with industry leaders, and entrepreneurship residencies. It also facilitates more than 450 freelance performance opportunities for Juilliard students.
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Western District of Washington
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U.S. Attorneys » Western District of Washington » News
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Members of International Drug Trafficking Conspiracy Plead Guilty
Defendants used Cash from China to Purchase and Operate Marijuana Grow Houses – Set up Shipping Company to Move Thousands of Pounds of Black Market Marijuana to East Coast
Three members of an international drug trafficking organization pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to distributing more than a thousand kilograms of illegal marijuana, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. The defendants admit in their plea agreements that they used money from conspirators in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) to purchase homes in the Puget Sound area that they used for marijuana production. QIFENG LI, 41, his wife XIAMIN HUANG, 38, and brother QIWEI LI, 45, all face a mandatory minimum five years in prison and up to 40 years in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour on June 18, 2019.
“The entry of organized crime into the marijuana marketplace is of increasing concern in the Western District of Washington,” said U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. “This conduct brings crime to our neighborhoods, artificially fuels the housing market, and creates a blight of toxic abandoned grow houses. With this case, the defendants are forfeiting more than a million dollars of equity in properties and more than $350,000 in cash – putting a dent in the organized crime profits.”
According to the facts admitted in the plea agreement, between July 2015 and May 2018, the conspirators purchased homes in Burien, Kent, Seattle and Tukwila, which they used exclusively for marijuana production. More than $598,000 was wired to the conspirators from China to fund the purchases. The defendants shipped more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana to the New York City area, via FedEx, UPS, the U.S. Postal Service and a private freight forwarder. Ultimately, in an effort to streamline distribution the conspirators established a shipping company, Pony Movers, LLC, to transport their marijuana from Western Washington to a warehouse in Little Ferry, New Jersey. The defendants then deposited the profits from the marijuana enterprise into their bank accounts in amounts less than $10,000 to avoid financial reporting requirements.
QIFENG LI and XIAMIN HUANG are U.S. citizens. QIWEI LI is a Lawful Permanent Resident who likely will face deportation following his prison term.
This was an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, providing supplemental federal funding to the federal and state agencies involved.
The Investigation was led by DEA and Homeland Security Investigation (HSI). Significant investigative assistance was also provided by the Seattle Police Department and FBI.
The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Joe Silvio and Assistant United States Attorney Marie Dalton. Mr. Silvio is an attorney with Homeland Security Investigations, specially designated to prosecute cases in federal court.
USAO - Washington, Western
Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Public Affairs Officer Emily Langlie at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@usdoj.gov.
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Our nation-wide commitment to reducing gun crime in America
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Smith won't be resting on latest laurel either | Lexington Herald Leader
Smith won't be resting on latest laurel either
Tom Eblen - Herald-Leader columnist
Every few months, it seems, some organization is honoring the veteran Kentucky journalist Al Smith.
On Saturday, he's receiving a big award: The Society of Professional Journalists, at its annual convention in Atlanta, will name Smith a Fellow of the Society, the organization's highest honor.
The first baby boomers are now reaching retirement age and deciding how to spend their last couple of decades. Will they putter around the house and polish their golf games? Or will they use their spare time and accumulated expertise to help solve some of the world's problems?
I asked Smith about this, and he was quick to say that he didn't presume to tell other people what to do.
"An older person needs to be as active as he can, but everybody's different," he said. "You've got 60-year-olds who act 80, and 80-year-olds who act 60."
Smith said he spent time in recent years reflecting on the importance of family and community. He thinks every one, especially those who have spent their life accumulating wealth and knowledge, should give something back to their community.
"Everybody ought to do some kind of volunteer work, that's for sure," he said.
He said he wasted his opportunities as a college student and dropped out, and he has spent the past 40 years working to improve higher education for others.
As a lifelong journalist, he feels compelled to help figure out how to help journalism survive now that the century-old, advertising-based business model of media companies no longer works in this digital age.
Smith said that as a young man, he disappointed many people close to him, including an activist grandmother, because he didn't live up to his potential. Since then, he has tried to find role models in people he admires, and to follow their example.
"All of us who are older need to be in this struggle to make sure the values we have followed in our life and work survive," he said. "I think everybody ought to give something back to the community. It certainly has made a lot of difference in my life."
Besides, Smith said: "I don't know how to play golf."
Related stories from Lexington Herald Leader
<strong>Bluegrass & Beyond:</strong> Tom Eblen's blog
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Claytor Lake State Park
The Claytor Lake State Park TRACK Trail is superimposed on the Park’s Shady Ridge Trail – a 0.7 mile long loop trail that has a short out and back section leading from the trailhead. Although initially uphill, the trail levels out and gently contours the lay of the land as it meanders through the forest. Lots of different birds can be seen and heard as they move about through the diverse canopy of oaks, maples, pines, hickory and locust. Our TRACK Trail brochures are specifically designed to be used on any of the trails found within Claytor Lake State Park. To begin your adventure, please visit the trailhead kiosk located at the beginning of the Shady Ridge Trail. The Shady Ridge trailhead is located at the northeast end of the Park, near the picnic area parking lot. Claytor Lake State Park is located in the New River Valley of southwest Virginia. The 472 acre park has three miles of lake frontage on the 4500-acre, 21-mile long Claytor Lake… offering visitors a wide variety of activities on both land and water. Easily accessible from Interstate 81, Claytor Lake State Park offers swimming, miles of hiking trails, nature and history programs, and a visitor center located in the historic Howe House. And, with over 100 campsites, 15 cabins, 3 lodges, and a meeting facility, Claytor Lake State Park is a great place to spend several days with friends and family. The lake and the park are named after Graham Claytor (1886-1971), who was vice president of Appalachian Power and supervised construction of the dam.
Claytor Lake State Park is located in the New River Valley of southwest Virginia. The 462 acre park has three miles of lake frontage on the 4500-acre, 21-mile long Claytor Lake… offering visitors a wide variety of activities on both land and water.
Easily accessible from Interstate 81, Claytor Lake State Park offers swimming, miles of hiking trails, nature and history programs, and a visitor center located in the historic Howe House. And, with over 100 campsites, 13 cabins, 3 lodges, and a meeting facility, Claytor Lake State Park is a great place to spend several days with friends and family.
The lake and the park are named after Graham Claytor (1886-1971), who was vice president of Appalachian Power and supervised construction of the dam.
Recreational Features: Paved Bike Path, Mountain Bike Trails, Canoe / Kayak, Camping, Picnic Tables, Fishing, Interpretive Programs, Birding, Playground
Amenities: Restrooms, Nature Center, Visitor Center, Gift Shop, Lodging Cabins
Adventures for Claytor Lake State Park
Blue Ridge Parkway : Flower Power
Many flowers depend on relationships with pollinators to reproduce. Use the clues in this brochure to see how a flower’s size, shape, color and smell have the power to attract unique pollinators.
Bugs come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors, so it can be easy to mistake one family of creepy-crawlies for another. On your hike today, use this brochure to get "Bugged Out" and learn the differences between insects, spiders, and other common arthropods.
Animal Athletes
6620 Ben H. Bolen Drive
Dublin, VA 24084
From I-81:
Take Exit 101 (Claytor Lake). Head South on State Park Road (State Route 660). This road will dead-end into the entrance of Claytor Lake State Park.
Directions to the Blue Ridge Parkway:
From Claytor Lake State Park, travel south on I-81 for approximately 20 miles. Take exit 81 to merge onto I-77 South toward Charlotte, NC. Drive 17 miles to exit 14 for US-58/US-221 toward Hillsville/Galax. After 0.3 miles, turn Left onto US-221 N/US-58 E/ Carrolton Pike and continue driving for 24 miles until you reach Meadows of Dan, VA.
GPS Directions:
6620 Ben H. Bolen Drive, Dublin, VA
Latitude, 37.057372. Longitude, -80.627394.
Claytor Lake State Park’s TRACK Trail was made possible through partnerships formed with Claytor Lake State Park and The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of State Parks.
Rocky Knob Picnic Area - Blue Ridge Parkway
Town of Wytheville's Crystal Springs Recreation Area
Blue Ridge Music Center
Mount Airy's Emily B. Taylor Greenway
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Sainthood for Junipero Serra puts spotlight on Carmel Mission
Updated: 10:00 AM PDT Apr 20, 2015
Caitlin Conrad
The Vatican is mounting a campaign to defend its decision to canonize the Rev. Junipero Serra (1713-1784). As part of the campaign the Vatican announced it plans to work with the archdiocese of Los Angeles to hold an appreciation day in May for Serra.The day-long celebration on May 2 will take place at the North American College and will honor Serra who is credited with introducing Christianity to much of California and building a number of missions.Pope Francis has plans to canonize Serra, on Sept. 23 during his visit to the United States, a decision which has already put a spotlight on the Carmel mission."It means a great deal for California and for her people to recognize that this part of the world has its own saint now," said the Rev. Paul Murphy, pastor at Carmel Mission Basilica.Murphey said the planned canonization has already brought an increase in pilgrims to the Central Coast. He the pilgrims come to see the headquarters the proposed saint established and to pray at the home of his remains. Murphy said Serra did lead a saintlike life as defined by the Catholic Church.“He founded these missions in order to bring people closer to God, to introduce them to the good news, what we call the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ," the pastor explained.The decision to canonize Serra has been a controversial one. Native American tribes in California hold Serra and other Catholic missionaries responsible for killing and beating their ancestors.Tribal councilwoman for the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation, Louise Miranda Ramirez said her tribe has decided to oppose the canonization."We are not speaking up against the religion, we talking about the man himself and his acts and that the church needs to hold him responsible," she said.Ramirez said she is a Catholic and in her eyes Serra is no saint. Pope Francis is facing protests from Native Americans up and down the West Coast, who have compared Serra's conversion of natives to genocide.Ruben Mendoza Ph.D. RPA is an archeologist and works at California State University Monterey Bay as the director of the Institute of Archaeology. Mendoza has worked in the California missions for 20 years and is an expert on the subject. He said there is plenty of evidence documenting illness, whippings and other forms of punishment in the missions but he says these facts are distorted when taken out of the context of history."There are too many of these kinds of details that are completely overlooked by those who would rather sensationalize the past of Serra than his efforts to evangelize and protect the people under his charge," Mendoza said in an interview Monday.On Monday Vatican officials defended Serra's record saying he worked in defense of Native Americans and often intervened to spare them from more brutal colonial officials.Mendoza said he has read evidence that this is true. And while the professor did not defend the cruel acts suffered by the Native Americans he did stress that the 1700s were a different time."You have to ask yourself can we judge Serra by today's standards? I would say that we can, but then we need to condemn all other historical personalities that lived by the same period that Serra lived," he said.The Vatican is still in the process of investigating Serra's life. Murphy said there is a priest in Rome who specializes in examining the good done by those in the Catholic Church. He said it is important to remember in Serra's case that canonization does not mean a person lived a life without fault."Not everything that a saint did in his or her life is always a good thing, you know, it's a mixture as all of us are of good and bad," Murphy said.The Carmel Mission has already begun work in preparation for more pilgrims. It is in phase two of a projected which is retrofitting and upgrading the museums on the mission’s grounds to make them more welcoming for the expected influx of visitors.
CARMEL, Calif. —
The Vatican is mounting a campaign to defend its decision to canonize the Rev. Junipero Serra (1713-1784). As part of the campaign the Vatican announced it plans to work with the archdiocese of Los Angeles to hold an appreciation day in May for Serra.
The day-long celebration on May 2 will take place at the North American College and will honor Serra who is credited with introducing Christianity to much of California and building a number of missions.
California delays plan to replace statue of soon-to-be saint
Vatican defends plans to canonize Junipero Serra
Pope Francis has plans to canonize Serra, on Sept. 23 during his visit to the United States, a decision which has already put a spotlight on the Carmel mission.
"It means a great deal for California and for her people to recognize that this part of the world has its own saint now," said the Rev. Paul Murphy, pastor at Carmel Mission Basilica.
Murphey said the planned canonization has already brought an increase in pilgrims to the Central Coast. He the pilgrims come to see the headquarters the proposed saint established and to pray at the home of his remains. Murphy said Serra did lead a saintlike life as defined by the Catholic Church.
“He founded these missions in order to bring people closer to God, to introduce them to the good news, what we call the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ," the pastor explained.
The decision to canonize Serra has been a controversial one. Native American tribes in California hold Serra and other Catholic missionaries responsible for killing and beating their ancestors.
Tribal councilwoman for the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation, Louise Miranda Ramirez said her tribe has decided to oppose the canonization.
"We are not speaking up against the religion, we talking about the man himself and his acts and that the church needs to hold him responsible," she said.
Ramirez said she is a Catholic and in her eyes Serra is no saint. Pope Francis is facing protests from Native Americans up and down the West Coast, who have compared Serra's conversion of natives to genocide.
Ruben Mendoza Ph.D. RPA is an archeologist and works at California State University Monterey Bay as the director of the Institute of Archaeology. Mendoza has worked in the California missions for 20 years and is an expert on the subject. He said there is plenty of evidence documenting illness, whippings and other forms of punishment in the missions but he says these facts are distorted when taken out of the context of history.
"There are too many of these kinds of details that are completely overlooked by those who would rather sensationalize the past of Serra than his efforts to evangelize and protect the people under his charge," Mendoza said in an interview Monday.
On Monday Vatican officials defended Serra's record saying he worked in defense of Native Americans and often intervened to spare them from more brutal colonial officials.
Mendoza said he has read evidence that this is true. And while the professor did not defend the cruel acts suffered by the Native Americans he did stress that the 1700s were a different time.
"You have to ask yourself can we judge Serra by today's standards? I would say that we can, but then we need to condemn all other historical personalities that lived by the same period that Serra lived," he said.
The Vatican is still in the process of investigating Serra's life. Murphy said there is a priest in Rome who specializes in examining the good done by those in the Catholic Church. He said it is important to remember in Serra's case that canonization does not mean a person lived a life without fault.
"Not everything that a saint did in his or her life is always a good thing, you know, it's a mixture as all of us are of good and bad," Murphy said.
The Carmel Mission has already begun work in preparation for more pilgrims. It is in phase two of a projected which is retrofitting and upgrading the museums on the mission’s grounds to make them more welcoming for the expected influx of visitors.
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The Lowdown on Lean Accounting
A new way of looking at the numbers.
Performance and Cost Management, Analysis and Control
LEAN MANUFACTURING PRINCIPLES FOCUS on eliminating waste and producing only to meet customer demand. They also typically require a company to move from a functional division of work to work cells where all of the processes needed to manufacture a product or line occur next to each other in sequence.
AS COMPANIES IMPLEMENT A LEAN APPROACH to manufacturing, CPAs have begun to realize many standard cost accounting practices no longer make sense. A growing number of businesses are implementing lean accounting concepts to better capture the performance of their operations.
SINCE STANDARD COST ACCOUNTING DOESN’T work in a lean operation, adherents propose a new way of looking at the numbers. Rather than categorizing costs by department, they organize them by value stream, which includes everything done to create value for a customer the company can reasonably associate with a product or product line.
WHILE USING ALTERNATIVE ACCOUNTING CONCEPTS solves some problems, it is not a panacea. CPAs may have difficulty accurately pricing products and determining profitability when they analyze performance by value stream rather than by individual product. The approach also may emphasize speed and quality almost to the exclusion of cost concerns.
WHEN MOVING TO LEAN ACCOUNTING, CPAs may want to supplement the company’s standard financial statements with additional information that captures the resulting improvements. Most CPAs will find the cost information they need to prepare lean financial statements already is available in the company accounting systems.
KAREN M. KROLL is a freelance business writer in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
s with many companies that implemented what are referred to as “lean” processes in their manufacturing operations, Landscape Structures Inc. has seen significant benefits. Manufacturing lead times dropped 90%, inventory turnover jumped 50% and production capacity was freed up by about 25% each year. According to CFO Fred Caslavka, CPA, the privately held manufacturer of playground equipment in Delano, Minnesota, has “had some big successes” from applying lean manufacturing processes to its business.
In contrast to traditional mass-production operations, a lean company emphasizes eliminating waste, boosting inventory turnover and reducing inventory levels. The focus is on achieving the shortest possible production cycle and producing only to meet customer demand. The benefits generally are lower costs, higher product quality and shorter lead times.
As a company implements this approach to doing business, its financial statements often show a temporary hit to the bottom line as deferred labor and overhead move from the inventory account on the balance sheet to the expense section of the income statement, lowering profits. (See the glossary for definitions of key terms.) This means a company’s financial statements may not reflect the true financial benefits of lean manufacturing. This dichotomy in actual vs. reported performance presents a challenge to CPAs seeking to accurately account for a lean company’s finances. As a result, CPAs, operations personnel and consultants have begun to question the role of standard cost accounting. This article explains the basics of lean manufacturing and why CPAs may need to use alternative accounting practices to help companies better understand the benefits the process brings to their operations.
Can’t Argue With “Lean” Results
Gorton’s says it more than met its original goal of lowering inventories by 40% to 50%.
Xantrex Technology Inc. says in one area it managed to reduce lead times from eight weeks to one day and improve productivity 100%.
Whirlpool Inc. says its Oklahoma plant had a quality improvement of more than 40% over the past two years.
Source: Lean Advisors, Ontario, Canada, www.leanadvisors.com .
WHAT LEAN MEANS
Although lean concepts can apply to all aspects of a company’s business, to date they’ve been implemented mostly on plant floors. Adherents range from Pratt & Whitney, a division of $31 billion United Technologies Corp., a maker of building systems and aerospace products, to Lantech Inc., a $70 million Louisville, Kentucky-based manufacturer of packaging equipment.
Lean manufacturing principles differ from mass production in several key ways. For starters, the latter typically concentrates on efficiency and machine utilization, which can lead to long run times and bloated inventory levels. “With lean, however, it’s all about reducing waste,” says Alex Tawse, CPA, CFO of the Kaizen Institute of America, a global management consulting company, in Austin, Texas. “The biggest sin is to overproduce.”
Operating leanly often requires moving manufacturing processes from functional divisions of work—where different departments stamp, mold, drill, paint and so on—to work groups or cells that together produce similar products. Rather than having a part move from department to department, which takes time, eats up floor space and makes tracking difficult, all of the processes needed to manufacture a product or line occur next to each other in sequence.
Lantech Inc. shows CPAs how this can work. Before moving to a lean operation, manufacturing a packaging machine could take up to 16 weeks, as parts moved through nearly a dozen operations. The company kept large parts inventories, and assemblies often sat idle while they waited to move to the next step. Not only did this waste space, it often caused extra work as the machines would need touch-up paint, having gotten nicked and dirty while traversing the factory.
Capacity. The volume of products or services a business can produce with the resources available to it.
Deferred labor. The labor costs a company incurs to produce a product it holds in inventory. The costs are deferred until the company sells the inventory. At that time the costs move from the asset side of the balance sheet to the expense side of the income statement as cost of goods sold.
Hurdle rate. The rate of return a company requires before it will invest in a product or operation. It should generally equal the company’s incremental cost of capital.
Inventory turnover. The number of times a year a company sells its inventory. This is calculated as the ratio of annual sales to the average value of inventory. An equivalent measure is the fraction of a year an average product remains in inventory.
Just-in-time. An approach to manufacturing whereby raw materials and supplies are delivered to a manufacturing operation just as they are needed to meet demand. This contrasts with batch-and-queue manufacturing, in which a company holds supplies and materials in inventory to manufacture in large quantities, even if demand for the products doesn’t meet production levels.
Lead time. The amount of time a supplier requires to fill customer orders. Typically, the shorter the time, the more efficiently the supplier is operating.
Lean accounting. Concepts designed to better reflect the financial performance of a company that has implemented lean manufacturing processes. These may include organizing costs by value stream, changing inventory valuation techniques and modifying financial statements to include nonfinancial information.
Lean manufacturing. A strategy designed to achieve the shortest possible production cycle by eliminating waste. The goal is to reduce inventory and produce only to meet customer demand. Benefits include lower costs, higher quality and shorter lead times.
Scrap rate. The percentage of products in a production run that fail to meet specifications, and thus can’t be sold at full price. So, if a company has to “scrap” 5 of every 150 products, its scrap rate is 3.3%.
Value stream. The flow of activities required to transform raw materials or information into a product or service for customer use.
Work cell. A group of machinery, tools and employees that produces a family of products.
Still, from its founding in 1972 until the late 1980s, Lantech’s production processes largely were protected by patents and business grew. Then, its patents began expiring and competition and price pressure increased. “We were having a hard time meeting customer delivery times. We would build things partway and then put them on the shelf, hoping we would have the right modules for actual customer orders,” says Jean Cunningham who was, until recently, the company’s CFO. “There was a lot of cash and space tied up in inventory.” (Cunningham now is the CFO of Marshfield Door Systems in Marshfield, Wisconsin. She says she and her colleagues at Marshfield are actively following lean accounting principles.)
To remain viable, the company went lean. Employees created work cells for each of the four machine models it produced. Instead of having parts moving all over the factory, a cell performed all activities needed to produce a machine in sequence in one place. Workers were cross-trained to perform various operations, and suppliers began delivering parts on a just-in-time basis. “Within a year, we were able to manufacture a product—from cutting the steel to shipping it—in 15 hours,” says Cunningham.
STANDARD COST ACCOUNTING DOESN’T FIT
Those who have worked with lean companies contend that many standard cost accounting practices no longer make sense. “Traditional accounting was designed to support mass production,” says Mike Kuhn, CPA, partner with Vrakas/Bluhm, S.C., in Brookfield, Wisconsin. In addition, traditional cost accounting reports were developed to present an accurate view of the company to outsiders. Their purpose wasn’t to help managers run their operations better. According to Kuhn, “many of the accounting assumptions contradict lean manufacturing.” As a result a growing number of companies are implementing “lean accounting” concepts to better capture the performance of their operations.
Why doesn’t standard cost accounting work? Under lean manufacturing some nonfinancial measures including lead times, scrap rates and on-time deliveries show significant improvements, yet they aren’t captured on GAAP financial statements. On the other hand, net income usually declines—albeit temporarily—when a company switches to lean manufacturing. That’s because as the company works through its existing inventory, deferred labor and overhead move from the asset side of the balance sheet to the expense section of the income statement. Even though short-lived, the decline in net income causes concern among executives, investors and other financial statement readers.
Given these difficulties it’s not surprising executives at Lantech and other lean companies began looking for a better way to account for performance. “As a company transforms itself from traditional mass production to lean manufacturing, the ways you count, control and measure are different,” says Brian Maskell, CPA, president of BMA Inc., a consulting firm in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
What are the differences? When standard cost accounting was developed in the early 1900s, most companies’ cost structures consisted of 60% direct labor, 30% materials and 10% overhead, says Orest J. Fiume, a retired vice-president of finance and coauthor with Jean Cunningham of the book Real Numbers: Management Accounting in a Lean Organization. Companies typically allocated overhead costs to products in the same proportion as direct labor. “Overhead was so insignificant that even if the allocation was incorrect, it wasn’t a big deal,” he adds.
Today, the percentage of direct labor in most manufacturing processes is somewhere between 5% and 15%, says David Arnsdorf, president of the Alaska Manufacturers’ Association in Anchorage. So, is direct labor a good measure for applying overhead? Arnsdorf and other lean advocates, not surprisingly, say it usually is not. Lean proponents also view inventory differently. “Inventory is not an asset,” says Maria Elena Stopher, manager of the national lean initiative within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Gaithersburg, Maryland. “You have handling costs, it takes up floor space and reduces cash flow.”
Treating inventory as an asset in traditional financial statements allows a company to match its cost against revenue—as cost of goods sold—when it sells the product. In lean operations, where the goal is to produce only to meet demand, this strategy reduces inventory to the point where it is negligible.
Equally important, the calculations used to value inventory usually are erroneous in today’s environment of rapid technological change. “Historically, there’s been a bias to overvalue inventory, because you presume it all will sell at market price,” says Jim Womack, president of the Lean Enterprise Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts. As lean adherents point out, products stocked in inventory often become obsolete before the company sells them. As a result they often sell for less than market value.
Lean accounting advocates point out that the columns of variances from standard costs, standard material usage, standard labor rates and the like that show up in traditional financial statements make them nearly impossible for most nonfinancial people to understand. “We underestimate the difficulty of interpreting financial information,” says Caslavka of Landscape Structures.
IF NOT STANDARD COSTING, THEN WHAT?
If standard cost accounting doesn’t make sense in a lean operation, what does? Adherents propose a new way of looking at the numbers. For starters, rather than categorizing costs by department, they organize them by value stream. A value stream includes everything done to create value for a customer that can reasonably be associated with a product or product line, says Maskell. Among the costs in a value stream would be the expenses a company incurs to design, engineer, sell, market and ship a product as well as costs related to servicing the customer, purchasing materials and collecting payments on product sales.
Value streams cut across functional departments, so that’s why one stream can include sales and marketing, production, design and cash collection costs. Ideally, each employee is assigned to a single value stream, rather than being split among several, as is traditional with most employees. “We define the value stream as best we can,” says Maskell. Then, it’s a matter of gathering revenue and expenses for the value stream to produce an income statement. While corporate overhead costs are accounted for, they’re shown below the line on internal value stream reports, says Maskell. The reason? Employees working in the value stream can’t control them.
Lantech’s experience shows how this scenario can play out. Previously, accounting would look at the cost for each piece or work order and then add an overhead allocation. During her tenure as Lantech’s CFO, Cunningham began reporting by value stream as the company moved to lean manufacturing. “We tracked costs at the product line level. I knew the revenue for the line, the material for the line, supplies for the line, scrap for the line,” says Cunningham. With this information, managers easily can see whether material use, scrap rates and labor costs for a product line are moving up or down.
Inventory valuation also changes under lean accounting. Because of the focus on producing only to meet customer demand, inventories tend to be much lower than in traditional manufacturing operations. Thus, while the balance sheet includes a line for inventory, valuing it may take just minutes. Lantech, for instance, completes its yearend inventory count in several hours, says Cunningham.
In addition to making changes to their financial statements, companies that adopt lean processes often include nonfinancial data in the statements. For instance, Caslavka of Landscape Structures increased the level of detail on sales discounts. “Previously, we viewed this as one undissected pool of money. Now, we’re taking a stronger look at how we spend the dollars and the benefits we get.” For instance, the reports now show the number of sales leads generated by different promotional discounts. (For a comparison of traditional and lean financial statements see the exhibit .)
Traditional vs. Lean Financial Statements
Source: Adapted from Real Numbers: Management Accounting in a Lean Organization by Jean Cunningham and Orest J. Fiume. Reprinted with permission.
A PANACEA?
Is it possible lean accounting concepts are too good to be true? Even adherents acknowledge some potential shortcomings. For starters, there’s the challenge of accurately pricing individual products and determining profitability when CPAs analyze performance by value stream, rather than by product.
One example: How would management decide whether to accept an order to make a particular product for $10? First, accounting would look at the impact on the overall value stream and determine how much material or labor costs would increase, says Maskell.
However, if the calculations considered only the additional direct costs needed to produce the order and excluded support functions from outside the value stream, the company’s profitability eventually would be undermined because it failed to consider the indirect costs. To prevent that, the company needs to determine whether the new product will not only make money but also beat a “hurdle” rate that covers costs both within and outside the value stream, he says. A hurdle rate refers to the return the company requires before it will invest in a product or operation. It should generally equal the company’s incremental cost of capital.
If practiced too rigorously, a lean approach could emphasize speed and quality almost to the exclusion of cost concerns. For instance, machine shops that make stamped metal parts frequently have lead times of up to several days if they haven’t applied any lean concepts. Simply by reorganizing and better scheduling their work, employees often can cut lead times to less than an hour. From there, decreasing them to minutes or seconds usually means investing in new machinery. Arnsdorf says: “You can’t just apply lean blindly. You have to look at costs. Faster isn’t always better.”
Cheryl S. McWatters, PhD, CMA, dean of the faculty of extension at the University of Alberta, Canada, offers another view. “After the fact you may want to know the norm and what you spent,” she says. “Accounting information regarding variances to budget can be a way to control employees’ performance.” For instance, if the company’s annual budget calls for a 10% reduction in materials expenses but actual expenses are the same as the previous year, the manager responsible will have to account for the discrepancy.
Finally, one of the most significant concerns regarding lean accounting is whether its principles conform to GAAP. Proponents say not only do lean financial reports meet GAAP requirements, but they actually more closely follow the spirit of GAAP because they’re more easily understood. “We don’t do anything that isn’t in compliance with GAAP,” says Cunningham. “Lean accounting is simply about doing the reporting in a way that is simpler and easier to follow.”
PRACTICAL TIPS TO REMEMBER
Because traditional accounting was designed to support mass production, many of its assumptions contradict lean manufacturing. As a result CPAs may want to recommend businesses with lean operations implement alternative accounting concepts to better capture their performance.
Lean adherents suggest a new way of looking at the numbers: Rather than categorizing costs by department, CPAs can recommend companies organize them by value stream, which includes everything an entity does in creating value for a customer that it can reasonably associate with a product or product line.
CPAs should encourage companies moving to lean accounting to resist the temptation to eliminate standard reporting entirely. Businesses should supplement their traditional financial statements with additional information that captures the improvements lean manufacturing brings. Instead of eliminating the standard reporting system overnight, companies should dismantle it piece by piece as their underlying operations change.
WHAT ACCOUNTANTS THINK
The changeover to lean business and accounting concepts hasn’t occurred without some bumps. “The thought process was formed outside accounting, so there’s always been a bit of tension between it and traditional accounting,” says Womack of the Lean Enterprise Institute.
In addition, many of lean’s tenets are contrary to the natural tendencies of accountants, says Daniel Szidon, a CPA and partner in Wipfli LLP in Wausau, Wisconsin. “When CPAs work with numbers, the goal is to fully allocate costs to precise and stable cost centers,” he says. In contrast, lean focuses on accounting for costs in a manner that’s reasonably accurate. “The goal isn’t a perfect allocation of costs. It’s an accurate, relative measure of them.”
IMPLEMENTING LEAN ACCOUNTING
As with any significant change in operations, applying new accounting concepts requires the committed support of top management. “CEOs doing this can’t be just visionaries; they have to be doers,” says Fiume.
When a company moves to lean accounting, CPAs usually will want to continue to supplement the entity’s standard financial statements with additional information that captures the related improvements rather than eliminating the statements outright. “You can’t turn off the standard reporting system overnight,” says Fiume. “Instead, dismantle it piece by piece as the underlying operations change. In the meanwhile, prepare lean format financial statements on a parallel basis” to illustrate results both ways. For a sample of hypothetical financial statements prepared according to the traditional and lean methods, see the exhibit .
Fortunately, most financial officers find the cost information they need to prepare lean financial statements already is available in their company accounting systems. It’s just a matter of reformatting the data, says Tawse of the Kaizen Institute. For instance, rather than including labor and overhead expenses in the cost of goods sold, a lean financial statement will show materials, labor and overhead as separate line items. That way the company will recognize labor and overhead expenses when it incurs them rather that having them get wrapped into inventory on the balance sheet.
GOOD FOR YOU?
CPAs need to recognize the power they have to help their employers become leaner and more competitive in the marketplace. Because of their skills, CPAs can make sure the organization has accounting policies in place to better reflect the positive impact lean typically has. Otherwise, businesses that implement lean strategies won’t be able to judge the bottom line result and know for sure whether the change is good for their business.
Lean Accounting and Management: Improving Profitability by Streamlining Operations, a self-study course (# 731271JA).
For more information or to order, visit www.cpa2biz.com or call the Institute at 888-777-7077.
Business Excellence Consortium, resources for implementing lean manufacturing and lean accounting, http://bec.msoe.edu .
Society of Manufacturing Engineers, a leading resource on manufacturing processes, including the related accounting treatment, www.sme.org .
TBM LeanSigma Institute, courses on lean manufacturing and lean accounting, www.lean-institute.net .
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14 Stocks With Special Dividends to Watch
By Lisa Springer, Contributing Writer | May 15, 2019
If regular dividends are the bread and butter of income investors, then special dividends are the icing on the cake, making the investment that much sweeter. These “one-time” payouts are used for several reasons … and occasionally, they are paid out more than just one time.
Companies sometimes pay special dividends to share windfall profits, either from exceptional earnings or a gain on an asset sale, with investors. However, other stocks will use special dividends consistently as a way of supplementing a modest regular dividend with income based on their operational results. These distributions can swell in boom times and recede during tighter years.
Special dividends frequently fly under investors’ radar because financial databases don’t track them well. They’re not included in calculating dividend yield, because they’re not regular programs. But these payouts are cash all the same and can add significantly to shareholder wealth – in some cases they increase the annual yield several times over.
Here are 14 stocks with special dividends to watch. Not all of them are buys at the moment. But given past precedent and current financial standing, the potential for more special dividends is in the cards, making them all stocks to put on your radar. In many cases, these stocks pay regular distributions as well.
SEE ALSO: 33 Ways to Get Higher Yields (Up to 12%!)
Data is as of May 13, 2019. Dividend yields are calculated by annualizing the most recent quarterly payout and dividing by the share price. Regular annual dividend: calculated by annualizing the most recent regular payout. Annual and special dividends listed on a per-share basis.
14 Stocks With Special Dividends to Watch | Slide 2 of 15
Market value: $7.6 billion
Regular annual dividend: N/A
Last special dividend: 50 cents paid in April 2019
Amerco (UHAL, $387.90) is the parent company of U-Haul International, America’s largest do-it-yourself moving van and self-storage facility operator. The company’s fleet consists of roughly 161,000 rental trucks, 118,000 trailers and 42,000 towing devices.
Amerco began building its self-storage business a few years ago as a natural outgrowth of the self-moving business. It has expanded its self-storage network to 1,519 locations across North America encompassing 55.2 million square feet of storage space. Amerco acquired 126 new storage locations in 2018 and has already purchased or developed 45 new locations so far this year.
The company rents out these trucks, trailers and storage units through a network of 1,790 corporate locations and 20,000 independent U-Haul dealers.
In the past five years, truck rental revenues have grown 7% per year and self-storage revenues have expanded 16.2% annually. During the first nine months of its fiscal year that ended March 31 (the full year will be reported in late May), Amerco’s revenues grew 7% and adjusted net earnings popped by 25%.
Amerco doesn’t pay a regular cash dividend, but it pays special dividends left and right. It delivered a 50-cent-per-share special distribution in April, preceded by four 50-cent payouts in 2018, $2.50 spread across three payments in 2017 and varying payouts in previous years.
SEE ALSO: 57 Dividend Stocks You Can Count On in 2019
Market value: $23.4 billion
Regular annual dividend: $1.28
Last special dividend: $2.00 in January 2019
Paccar (PCAR, $67.74) is a global leader in heavy trucks. The company is the world’s eighth-largest manufacturer of 16-ton-and-larger trucks, which it manufactures under the well-known Peterbilt, Kenworth and DAF brands. Paccar also produces diesel engines and powertrains, and it provides financing and leasing services to its fleet customers.
Over the past decade, Paccar has sold more than 1.3 million trucks. While truck demand is cyclical, the company’s financial performance across business cycles has been impressive. Since 1999, Paccar has improved revenues by 6% per year, grown net income at an 9% annual rate and boosted operating cash flow by 8% annually. Paccar has posted 80 consecutive years of net profits, paid dividends every year since 1941 and boasts an A+/A1 credit rating.
The company expects future growth to come from product line extensions, the launch of new hybrid and electric vehicles, and introducing innovations such as zero-emission vehicles, autonomous driving and smart truck technologies.
Paccar has paid year-end special dividends 19 times over the past 20 years in amounts typically ranging from 60 cents to $1.40 per share. However, last December, the company paired a whopping special dividend of $2.00 per share along with a 14% increase to its regular payout. The quarterly dole of 32 cents per share is good for a yield of 1.9%; a similar special dividend to 2018’s, at current prices, would bump that yield up to 4.9%.
Piper Jaffrey analyst Alex Potter reiterated his “Overweight” rating (equivalent of “Buy”) on shares in February, calling it a “bargain” and citing its high revenue visibility and record backlog. In early May, Baird analyst David Leiker reiterated his “Outperform” rating while raising his price target from $80 to $82.
SEE ALSO: 20 of Wall Street’s Newest Dividend Stocks
CME Group
Last special dividend: $1.75 paid in January 2019
CME Group (CME, $182.30) was formed in 2007 when the Chicago Mercantile Exchange merged with the Chicago Board of Trade. It provides futures and options contracts for commodity traders and the stock market.
CME has a solid track record showing consistent growth and benefits from its position as a market leader with exceptional pricing power. The group anticipates future growth will be tied to new trading products such as micro e-mini futures contracts on stock indexes that are one-tenth the size of existing contracts. In addition, CME is expanding globally via its recent acquisition of U.K.-based NEX.
Elevated volatility and increased customer demand led to record trading volume for CME Group in 2018, with volume exceeding 20 million contracts a day, revenues up 18% and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) soaring by 43%. Stocks have mostly been in recovery mode in 2019, tamping down volatility, but the recently re-widened trade rift with China might make investors nervous one more.
CME Group has been paying special dividends since 2012 and has grown the special dividend amount from 60 cents per share initially to $1.75 in 2018. The company bases special dividends on the amount of excess cash available each year, so the amount will vary depending on its capital needs and operating results.
Wall Street is only slightly optimistic about CME stock, which has four “Buys,” two “Holds” and two “Sells” over the past three months. Notably, three analysts who say the stock is a “Buy” nonetheless lowered their price targets following the company’s most recent earnings report, which included a 17% year-over-year drop in profits.
SEE ALSO: 7 High-Yield Dividend Stocks With More to Give
Costco Wholesale Corporation
Market value: $106.4 billion
Last special dividend: $7.00 paid in 2017
Costco (COST, $241.92) is the world’s second-largest retailer behind Walmart (WMT). The company operates a global chain of membership warehouses offering a wide selection of merchandise at discounted prices. Costco’s private-label Kirkland Signature-branded products compete with national brands across a variety of categories. At present, the company operates 772 warehouses worldwide, including 535 locations in the U.S., 100 in Canada, 39 in Mexico and the rest in Asia and Europe. Roughly 96.3 million members shop at Costco warehouses.
Fears that Amazon.com (AMZN) would rapidly dominate the grocery business and sink Costco’s sales have so far proven unfounded. The company’s sales grew 10% year-over-year in 2018 to boost profits per share by 17%. Strong results have continued in 2019, with Costco’s sales rising 7% in its fiscal Q2, prompting a 26% improvement in profits.
The company has a 14-year dividend track record and has grown its regular payout by an average of 15% annually over the past half-decade. Costco also has paid three special dividends in recent years — 2017, 2015 and 2012 — leading some to speculate a special dividend will be paid this year or next. When asked about the likelihood for a 2019 special dividend, CEO Richard Galanti didn't deny the possibility but said no decision has been made yet.
Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh is among the experts who predicts a special dividend from the stock this year. He lists Costco as one of his top picks and has a $245 price target on COST, citing improving margins and the ability to leverage expenses as growth catalysts. He predicts a $10-per-share special payout in 2019.
SEE ALSO: 10 High-Yield Monthly Dividend Stocks and Funds to Buy
National Presto Industries
Market value: $710.1 million
Last special dividend: $5.00 paid March 2018
National Presto (NPK, $101.16) is an industrial company that operates in two very disparate segments: Housewares/Small Appliances and Defense. The housewares/appliance business produces and sells pressure cookers, canners, deep fryers and similar products under the Presto brand name. Its Defense business manufactures 40mm ammunition sold to the U.S. Department of Defense under long-term contracts, as well as fuses and cartridge cases.
Defense is a much larger business for National Presto, accounting for 70% of the company’s revenues.
Under a $43 million contract awarded last year, National Presto began producing small-diameter bombs launched from aircraft. The company was also awarded a $46.8 million year-two option in 2018 under a five-year Army contract, with deliveries scheduled to commence in 2020. Earlier this year, National Presto was awarded a year-three option valued at $23.8 million with deliveries expected to begin in 2021.
Due to the lumpy nature of its defense business, National Presto’s sales and earnings tend to be erratic. However, the company typically generates sufficient EPS to cover its regular dividend several times over, leaving plenty of cash available for special dividends.
National Presto’s sales fell 3% in 2018 because of store closings by customers that reduced houseware sales, as well as the sale of its less-lethal munitions business. Profits per share dropped 25%, primarily because of a $3 million impairment charge on the business sale. Another factor was a tough comparison to 2017, when the company realized a sizable gain on another asset sale.
National Presto’s regular dividend, $1 per share paid annually, has remained flat for years and translates into a yield of about 1%. The company paid a $5 special dividend in 2018, however, that would translate into a 6% total yield at current prices. NPK has paid special dividends totaling $20.65 over the past half-decade.
SEE ALSO: 9 High-Yield Dividend Stocks That Deserve Your Attention
Regular annual dividend: 42 cents
Last special dividend: 9.33 cents paid in December 2018
Rollins (ROL, $35.70) provides termite and pest control services worldwide under its well-known Orkin and Rollins brand names, coordinated via 700 branch offices. Much of Orkin’s recent growth has come from franchising in smaller markets; at year-end 2018, the company had 47 domestic Orkin franchises and 86 international franchises.
Rollins also launched its Critter Control franchise program last year, which traps raccoons, skunks and other pests for home owners. The company currently supports 80 Critter Control franchises.
A $100 investment in Rollins six years ago would have been worth nearly $290 at year-end 2018, or rough twice the value of a similar investment in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. Reflecting the recession-resistant nature of the pest control business, Rollins has delivered 21 consecutive years of rising sales and profits. The company’s sales improved 9% in 2018 and EPS grew 29%.
Rollins expects to expand internationally; the company currently operates in 57 countries. In addition, Rollins is filling in its U.S. footprint by acquiring smaller competitors such as Clark Pest Control, which added 26 locations to Rollins’ footprint across California and Nevada.
The company rewarded investors with a 12.5% hike in the regular dividend last December, which was the 17th consecutive year that Rollins rewarded shareholders with a payout bump of 12% or more. Earlier, Rollins had announced a 3-for-2 split and a 14-cent-per-share special dividend (9.33 cents per share accounting for the split), which was paid to investors in December.
SEE ALSO: 12 Dividend Stocks That Hedge Funds Love
National Beverage
National Beverage (FIZZ, $54.55) owns the LaCroix brand of sparkling waters, which are marketed primarily to millennials and Generation Z consumers as a flavorful and healthier alternative to sugary sodas. It also markets Faygo, Shasta, Rip It energy drinks and Mr. Pure and Everfresh juices. All told, it’s the fifth-largest soft-drink producer in the U.S.
The company’s shares came under severe pressure in October 2018 because of a lawsuit alleging that its products are mislabeled as “all natural” and contain synthetic, potentially harmful compounds. A report in Popular Science disputed this claim, arguing that the ingredients in question are naturally occurring and derived from plants. Still, the pain as continued as weak earnings reported in March triggered multiple analyst downgrades. FIZZ has shed roughly 60% of its value from the stock’s September 2018 peak and currently sits around three-year lows.
National Beverage didn’t help its cause by blaming a 40% drop in third-quarter 2019 EPS on “injustice.”
FIZZ paid two special dividends in 2017, as well as at various points in its past including 2012, 2011 and 2007. However, its $2.90-per-share special payout this year wasn’t warmly received by all. Maxim analyst Anthony Vendetti, who already had a “Sell” rating on the company, wrote that the special dividend enriched the CEO and was an inappropriate way to allocate capital.
SEE ALSO: 11 Dividend Stocks With 55 or More Years of Payout Growth
Courtesy kenjonbro via flickr
Last special dividend: 10 cents in October 2018
Marine Products (MPX, $14.67) manufactures fiberglass powerboats under the Chaparral and Robalo brands. Chaparral is a line of sterndrive, outboard and jet boats, while the Robalo line consists of outboard sport fishing boats. The company’s craft range in price from $23,000 to $318,000 and are sold through a network of 168 domestic and 86 international independent dealers as of year-end 2018.
Marine Products’ recent growth has been the result of product line extensions, including the introduction of lower-priced entry-level models that appeal to value-conscious consumers.
The company has delivered consistent sales and EPS growth over the past five years as well as strong gains in operating margins. Last year was plenty productive for Marine Products, which grew its sales by 12% year-over-year and squeezed that into a 38% improvement in profits.
Marine Products has paid special dividends four times in five years, including a 10-cent dividend delivered last October. Typically, each special distribution amounts to an extra quarterly payment.
Income investors received another a treat in January, when MPX increased the regular dividend by 20% to 12 cents per share; the 3.3% yield on its regular payout is robust among companies that often pay special dividends.
SEE ALSO: The Kiplinger Dividend 15: Our Favorite Dividend-Paying Stocks
14 Stocks With Special Dividends to Watch | Slide 10 of 15
John B. Sanfilippo & Son
Last special dividend: $2.00 paid in August 2018
John B. Sanfilippo & Son (JBSS, $77.05) is a processor and distributor of nuts and dried fruit products under its Fisher, Orchard Valley Harvest, Squirrel, Southern Style Nuts and Sunshine Country brands, as well as a few private brands. Its Fisher line is the leading brand in the packaged nut category.
Growth in the company’s sales and EPS has been erratic in the past due to fluctuating prices for commodity nuts and increased competition for market share from private-label nut products – an ideal situation for a special-dividend model.
Sanfilippo’s sales increased 5% in 2018, but EPS declined 11% because of higher commodity costs for some nuts that couldn’t be pass through to customers because of holiday promotional pricing commitments. During the first half of fiscal 2019, the company’s sales slipped 4% and EPS dropped 3% due to shifts in sales volume from higher-priced cashews to lower-priced peanuts.
JBSS declared a special dividend of $2.00 per share last August, and it has delivered special payouts every year since 2012. The company also began a regular annual dividend in 2017 and increased it by 10% last August to 55 cents per share. That translates to a sub-1% yield on current prices.
The Buckle
Last special dividend: $1.00 paid in December 2018
The Buckle (BKE, $17.94) is a retailer of casual apparel and footwear for young adults. Its brand names include BKE, Buckle Black, BKE Boutique, Red by BKE, Daytrip denim, Gimmicks, Gilded Intent, Outpost Makers, Departwest, and Veece. The company operates 450 stores in 42 states.
Like many mall-based retailers, Buckle has experienced sales erosion and declining average sales per store over the past five years, which is why shares are worth well less than half of what they were worth in 2014. Earnings have drifted lower, too, though regular dividends are well-covered by earnings.
Buckle’s sales fell 3% in 2018 due to one less week in the fiscal year, lower comparable-store sales, the closing of 12 stores and reduced retail prices on merchandise. EPS did improve 6%, but largely because of a lower tax provision.
Buckle has a long history of paying special dividends. It distributed $1.00 per share in 2018, $1.75 in 2017, 75 cents in 2016 and $1.00 in 2015, in addition to its 25-cent regular payout, delivered quarterly. That payout has remained flat since 2016, however.
Zacks Equity Research has a “Buy” rating on the stock due to recent upward revisions in analyst earnings estimates. However, Deutsche Bank analyst Tiffany Kanaga downgraded the stock to “Sell” in March, citing comparable-store sales weaknesses that are pressuring margins and deepening challenges in the women’s apparel business, where falling prices have not translated into store traffic gains. Analysts as a whole see revenues declining roughly 2% this year, then recovering by 2% in 2020.
SEE ALSO: 7 Dividend ETFs for Investors of Every Stripe
Insteel Industries
Last special dividend: $1.00 paid in October 2017
Insteel Industries (IIIN, $19.04) is the nation’s largest manufacturer of steel reinforcing wire products used in concrete construction. It wares are sold to manufacturers of concrete products and used in non-residential construction. Insteel owns 10 manufacturing plants across the U.S. that are located in close proximity to its customers. Demand for its products is both seasonal and cyclical, driven by the level of construction activity.
While relatively unknown, this company had been a decent performer over the past decade, roughly matching the S&P 500 from the beginning of 2009 through mid-2018. Since then, the market has notched slight gains of 5%, while IIIN has plunged 40% over tariff concerns – concerns that continue today.
The cyclicality of the business also mean that Insteel’s sales and profits are erratic, though earnings typically cover the dividend numerous times over. And its operations were strong in 2018, with sales growing 16.5% and profits up 46% backing out tax-law impacts. However, its results in the first two quarters of 2019 have included weaker products on weather-related shipment delays, higher manufacturing costs and an increase in low-price competition from imports.
Growth in the regular dividend has been tepid at just 2% annually over the past four years, but Insteel has been generous in rewarding investors with special dividends. The company paid special dividends of $1.00 in 2015, $1.25 in 2016 and $1.00 in 2017. That said, Insteel did not declare a special dividend for 2018. For now, it’s an aberration, but one that investors should watch considering the significant boost to annual yield provided by its previous special payouts.
Natural Health Trends
Regular annual dividend: $64 cents
Last special dividend: 8 cents paid in January 2019
Natural Health Trends (NHTC, $10.86) is a micro-cap company that sells personal care and wellness products under its NHT Global brand name in more than 40 countries, including the U.S. and Canada, as well as many parts of Europe and Asia. Approximately 90% of the company’s order volume comes from Hong Kong.
According to the company’s annual filings, “We distribute our products internationally primarily through a network marketing system, which is a form of person-to-person direct selling. Under this system, members primarily refer our products to prospective consumers or they may buy at wholesale prices for personal consumption or for resale to consumers.”
The company has been dogged by allegations that it’s a pyramid scheme; indeed, shares have lost 60% over the past year thanks in large part to a China Central Television broadcast alleging NHTC was “operating illegally.” Natural Health Trends rejected these claims, arguing that its business in China complies with all applicable regulations.
National Health Trends’ 2018 results also were dogged by global trade tensions, currency effects and China’s slowing economy. Sales declined 3% year-over-year, and while EPS improved by 31%, that was primarily because of a lower tax provision. Natural Health Trends also temporarily suspended member activities in China while working with government agencies to ensure full regulatory compliance.
While NHTC stock itself is on shaky ground, the dividend is well-covered by EPS and has grown nearly five-fold in five years. Moreover, the company paid a special dividend in 2016, multiple special distributions in 2017 and 2018, and one special dividend already this year.
Courtesy Shutterstock
Shutterstock (SSTK, $39.10) manages a huge library of high-quality digital content, including photographs, illustrations and videos, available for download. Users pay a fee to license, download and incorporate these images into their own work. More than 1.9 million customers licensed content from Shutterstock during 2018.
The company’s paid downloads have rapidly risen, from 125.9 million in 2014 to 179.6 million last year. Each download generated $3.40 in revenues. The Shutterstock’s downloadable library has also grown steadily to 241.7 million images and 13.1 million video clips in 2019.
However, while Shutterstock has generated consistent revenue growth over five years, EPS growth has varied due to investments in building out infrastructure. The ratio was on SSTK’s side in 2018, however, as revenues grew 12% as a result of increased download activity, and resulted in a 35% jump in adjusted EPS. In 2019, the company is guiding for 10% to 12% revenue growth.
Shutterstock paid a special dividend of $104.9 million, or $3 per share, in August 2018, and it also repurchased roughly 2.6 million shares. The volatility of Shutterstock’s profits, and the fact that SSTK decided to repay investors this way rather than initiate a regular dividend, seem to increase the likelihood that the company would use special dividends under similar circumstances in the future.
Last special dividend: 10 cents in February 2019
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS, $5.92) is a leading U.K. retail and commercial bank. Its principal brands are NatWest in England and Wales, Royal Bank of Scotland in Scotland, and Ulster Bank in Ireland. The bank was hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis and posted several consecutive years of losses before returning to profitability in 2017.
The bank’s EPS more than doubled in 2018 as a result of expense reductions and an increase in average interest-earning assets.
Royal Bank plans to invest nearly $2 billion in strategic growth initiatives in 2019 while trimming $385 million from operating expenses. Cost will decline as the bank accelerates its transition to digital services. Approximately 6.4 million customers are already using its mobile app, up 17% from last year, and the bank recently launched a service for commercial customers enabling online applications for loans up to £750,000 – the largest value available digitally from any U.K. commercial bank.
Last year, RBS paid its first dividend in a decade. The bank paid a combination of interim and special dividends that was 60% higher than analyst forecasts. However, the bank also cautioned investors that Brexit concerns could be a drag on near-term earnings. Going forward, the bank plans to pay ordinary dividends at 40% of earnings, and additional special dividends have not been ruled out – but again, this is a new program from an only recently profitable bank, so investors should temper their expectations.
Also important to remember: This lender is 70% owned by the U.K. government, which acquired its stake as part of a taxpayer bailout during the financial crisis. The government plans to sell its multibillion-dollar stake by 2024. Another overhang on RBS comes from recent lawsuits alleging that Royal Bank of Scotland was one of several international banks involved in price-fixing in the European government bond market.
SEE ALSO: The Best Online Brokers
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Milestone in Weener
Output at Weener paper mill passes four million tonnes
19.06.2009 - Investments in three-figure millions
Total production at our paper mill passed the 4 million tonne mark on 18 June 2009. The Weener paper mill has been part of the Klingele Group since 1961, when annual output was 8,400 t. The 111 men and women currently working there now produce 250,000 tonnes of base paper per year. “Of course, this has only become possible through continuous investment in the latest technology and lean production methods,” says Dr. Jan Klingele. ”In the past five years alone, we have invested around 100 million euros in the Weener site.”
Combating the crisis with innovations
To be precise, the money has been invested primarily in an innovative energy concept, process optimisation and a new procedure to improve the quality of the paper we produce. “This is our way of combating the current financial and economic crisis, which has not passed us by entirely,” says Thilo-Hubertus Kuhl, Managing Director of the Weener paper mill. In view of rising energy prices – and energy costs make up a large proportion of the cost of paper production – the decision was taken to build a combined heat and power plant called Weener Energie, in the immediate vicinity of the paper mill. In the meantime, Weener Energie supplies our paper mill with 100 % of its heat requirements and around one-third of its electric power.
At the same time, a world first was installed in the papermaking machine in the shape of a BoostDryer. This is a new type of drying cylinder with a twofold purpose, namely to improve both the efficiency and the quality of paper production. “These investments are intended to remind us that, even in troubled times, we should never lose sight of our objective, which is to work better and more efficiently,” says Klingele.
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Abuse of minors, victims’ voices can save the Church
In view of the February summit in the Vatican, the bishops will have to «listen directly to the suffering» of those who have been abused. Cardinal Schoenborn’s case, the delays of the Italian Church and the Chilean issue
FRANCESCO PELOSO 11 Febbraio 2019
Since the last 20 years, when victims of sexual abuse committed by priests have managed to overcome shame, fear of social stigma, fear of not being believed, and have begun to speak, the paedophilia scandal has violently broken out in the Church. Their voice, more than judicial proceedings, canonical processes, the inevitable and necessary bureaucratization of crime to obtain justice, has actually managed to brake the logic of cover-ups. The summit dedicated to the protection of minors in the Church will be held in the Vatican from 21 to 24 February, with the participation of all the presidents of episcopal conferences around the world. In a message addressed to the latter, the organizing committee of the summit in the Vatican gave a precise indication: "to meet the victims who survived clerical sexual abuse, in their respective countries, before the meeting in Rome, to know in a direct way the suffering they experienced".
“A cry that touches the soul”
Direct witness, in fact, not only holds a penitential value, but is also the tool that can break the "abuse of power" circle- using Pope Francis' words - that is triggered and amplified behind the mechanism of abuse in defense of the institution and its members regardless of justice and piety. In the Pope's letter of August 2018 on the scandal and addressed to all the people of God, Francis stated: " The heart-wrenching pain of these victims, which cries out to heaven, was long ignored, kept quiet or silenced. But their outcry was more powerful than all the measures meant to silence it, or sought even to resolve it by decisions that increased its gravity by falling into complicity. The Lord heard that cry and once again showed us on which side he stands".
The path of the Austrian Church
Recently some Episcopal Conferences - starting with the American and French ones - struggling with the consequences of the scandal, have listened to the voices of the victims; a non-formal step that points the way forward, provided - of course - they take it seriously. And on the other hand it cannot be forgotten how some local churches, some high prelates, were forerunners in this sense. Among these is undoubtedly cardinal, Christoph Schoenborn, archbishop of Vienna and leader of the Austrian church. Since 2003 the Church in Austria has been committed, in the light of the cases of abuse that have emerged, to combating the scourge of paedophilia through a difficult path towards transparency and public recognition of the scandal.
In 2010, then, Cardinal Schoenborn in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, organized a penitential celebration together with various associations of victims of abuse. According to the chronicle of the time - reported by L'Osservatore Romano - "about ten witnesses, men and women, direct victims of the abuse or their representatives, spoke out denouncing and presenting before God the violence suffered, the irremediable wounds, the disappointment, but also the hopes and demands. "Faced with so much pain - the cardinal observed - every word becomes "out of place". Silence is better, but certainly not complicit silence, but the reflexive and wise silence of Job, whose faith, according to the biblical account, is harshly tested". Therefore "the cardinal has recognized the responsibility of some priests, both in cases of "sexual violence" and in having "concealed the facts". And he recognized, on behalf of the Church, "that he had given more importance to security, to power, to appearance"".
The delays of the IEC and the recent turning point
On this same level, the Italian Church appears to be very late and is ultimately trying to make up for the lost ground. The IEC has finally developed 'guidelines' for dealing with the phenomenon in line with the indications of the Holy See after having drafted similar documents in past years that have not passed the scrutiny not only of public opinion, but above all of the competent Vatican departments. Now something is moving, even if the draft guidelines on abuses will only be definitively voted on next May at the annual general assembly of bishops. Alongside the general assembly, two meetings with the victims: one before the summit in the Vatican with the Presidential Council of the IEC, and another in Spring with the Permanent Episcopal Council. It would be important, however, that these meetings were not reduced to too private 'moments', in which institutions essentially perform a necessary task which seems a little forced upon; we will see in the coming weeks what the path chosen by the Episcopal Conference will be.
On the other hand, the relationship with the victims is not always easy for the Church; often the experience suffered leaves deep and indelible wounds in the lives of men and women, sometimes they are parents who have seen the lives of their children destroyed - many of whom committed suicide - for having trusted "their" Church; in other cases the mounting anger against the cover-ups, the protections offered to serial predators, does not cease to stir feelings. Not to mention that many former abusers have been silenced, especially in the United States, thanks to massive financial compensation through which the scandal has often been stifled; in some cases instead the clamorous disbursements of the dioceses have obtained the opposite effect, but almost always the judicial conflict is the result of an attempt to conceal the truth.
The Chilean case
Certainly some victims have become "famous" because they have dedicated a significant part of their lives to the battle against abuses, to their personal demand for justice, and it does not matter that sometimes in their speeches, reasons are mixed with the most bitter controversy. Think of the case of Juan Carlo Cruz, in Chile. His name is linked to the case of the Chilean bishop Juan Barros, great protector - along with his other brothers - of the powerful former priest Fernando Karadima of whom Cruz was a victim. Juan Carlos and some of his companions never stopped asking for justice by accusing the leaders of the Chilean Church.
When Francis went to Chile in January last year, he defended Barros, then he explained that he had been wrongly informed and returned radically to his footsteps, so much so that the management of the abuse affair in the Andean country has become a painful test for the universal Church. On this path of awareness, also made up of repeated resignations of bishops, of investigations conducted directly by the Vatican through papal agent, Msgr. Charles Scicluna, the voice of the victims played its part. The Pope listened to Cruz and two other victims of Karadima in a series of long talks; that is what they asked.
In 2015, Cruz in a letter addressed to the Pope in which he described at length the abuses suffered and the cover-ups enjoyed by Karadima, concluded: "...I go forward, and even if it costs, dear Holy Father, I try not to fall into sadness and despair because I hope that someone like you will be able to do something. I hope, God willing, to come and visit you one day and embrace you in person. When you consider it appropriate in private or in public, but I want to tell you personally. I always pray for you. Please help us. I want to desperately believe in you and keep my faith. Everything that has happened in recent years and days says otherwise. Please, Holy Father, do not be like everyone else. There are many of us who believe, despite everything, that you can do something”.
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Network Spotlight: Jackie Saumweber
by casper
September 26, 2017 casper
Jackie Saumweber has served as a LAUNCH Food Council Member since March 2017. Most recently, she worked as a senior manager on Walmart's global food sustainability team. In that role, she worked with government, nonprofits and industry to develop programs that drive business and address growing social issues. She also facilitated the implementation of broader sustainability initiatives across Walmart’s private brand business, such as date labeling, packaging, and animal welfare.
As part of her role as a LAUNCH Council member, Jackie helped connect and support our Food innovators in their journey to scale. We asked her how Walmart’s sustainability work relates to nutrition and why it’s important to work across sectors to solve global challenges.
1. How would you define your role in the larger food system?
Walmart aspires to help create a more affordable, accessible, sustainable and healthier food system. To do so, we have major initiatives underway involving farmers, fisheries, agronomists, development agencies, food manufacturers, environmental nonprofits, food banks, nutritionists, schools, community groups, government agencies and producer associations, among others. We aim to use our strengths – our expertise in food production and distribution relationships with food producers and suppliers around the world, billions of dollars in food purchase orders, our stores and logistics network, as well as our philanthropy – to collaborate with others to bring about significant and lasting improvements in the food system.
2. What are three pressing food system challenges you hope to see solved in your lifetime?
Enhancing nutrition – With the rates of obesity and nutrition-related illnesses rising around the world, health advocates and officials are calling for healthier eating options and better public education on nutrition. It is important that we continue to help educate families about nutritious eating and provide tools to help them plan and eat in healthier ways. At Walmart we have developed the “Great For You” icon to help our customers instantly identify food options that are better for them. It made its debut on our Great Value and Marketside items in 2012 and also appears on fresh and packaged fruits and vegetables at Walmart stores nationwide.
Improving sustainable food production – The practice of sustainable agriculture sits at the junction of three pressing environmental issues: the need to feed a growing global population in a way that reduces GHG emissions and conserves the use of water and land. According to the United Nations and World Economic Forum, agriculture accounts for approximately 70 percent of global freshwater consumption and 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture will need to become more efficient if it is to meet the 20 percent improvement in food availability by 2025 recommended by the World Economic Forum.
Increasing access to affordable food – Even where food is plentiful, it can remain inaccessible due to lack of income, geographic barriers or because of poor distribution networks.
3. Your work touches a range of different sectors. What’s the importance of cross-sector collaboration?
It’s absolutely essential. Achieving multi-sector goals and reaching inter-industry consensus requires collaboration and collective action. In many instances, by incorporating inclusive input and reciprocal dialogue in our collaborative processes we come to discover that we share common goals and principles.
4. You’ve been a Council Member and a technical advisor for LAUNCH Food. What, to you, is the value of being a part of the LAUNCH network?
LAUNCH is a valuable convener that facilitates substantive idea sharing and innovative thinking. The network provides an opportunity for a diverse set of stakeholders, with an equally diverse set of strengths and resources, to channel their efforts towards a shared cause, with front-line innovators leading the way.
The LAUNCH Food network is a global, cross-sector coalition of stakeholders committed to creating positive change in the food system. Are you interested in joining? Email info@launch.org.
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British IT business unveils flagship Birmingham office as part of one of the UK’s largest talent acquisition programmes
Advanced*, the third largest software provider to the UK market, has today officially launched its brand new Midlands HQ at the Mailbox in Birmingham.
The company is undergoing one of the largest transformations of any UK business today, which includes the launch of a major talent acquisition programme creating 1,000 roles over the next 18 months.
The unique high potential entry level programme is designed to attract Britain’s best talent. The drive welcomes both graduates and non-graduates of all ages and backgrounds looking to pursue a career in IT.
Candidates undergo a rigorous assessment and, if successful, are offered the chance to fast-track their careers in the organisation. A minimum of 50% of new employees will come from the talent acquisition programme.
Four hundred of the new roles will be based in Advanced’s newly refurbished Midlands HQ at the Mailbox in Birmingham. Occupying 45,000 sq ft of space on the famous building’s third floor, this is one of the city’s largest commercial accommodations on a single floor.
Gordon Wilson, CEO, Advanced said: “The launch of our new Birmingham office is a key milestone in our business growth strategy and the talent acquisition programme represents a great opportunity for individuals considering a career in IT.
“We are passionate about identifying dynamic, high performing and motivated individuals who are invaluable to our future expansion and who will make a major contribution to our company culture. Birmingham is the clear choice given it has the UK’s largest regional urban economy and is the most popular destination outside the South East for mass millennial migration.”
Advanced is recognised as a British business success story having grown to a £750m company in just eight years. Following its acquisition by Vista Equity Partners, in March 2015, the business has undergone significant transformation and investment in its people and solutions, creating a solid platform for further impressive growth.
Part of the transformation includes the appointment of a new C-suite, comprising high calibre employees in the tech industry. The business is also completing a four stage programme of re-branding, relocation, restructure and recruitment.
Mark Rogers, chief executive, Birmingham City Council said: “It is great news that Advanced has chosen to launch in Birmingham, creating hundreds of new training and career opportunities for the city’s workforce.
“With over £1 billion of investment in the last year, the Greater Birmingham region is enjoying significant growth. We are building an unprecedented amount of modern office space and investing record amounts to improve transport links. Advanced’s arrival demonstrates the strength of Birmingham’s offer for major British brands looking to locate here.”
Neil Rami, chief executive, marketing Birmingham said: “With more than 6,000 firms in Greater Birmingham employing 36,000 people and delivering £1.6 billion to the local economy, Advanced is joining one of the UK’s best performing digital economies.
“Tech companies are increasingly looking to our region’s offer to set up, thrive and expand. The strength of this sector means Advanced has a large local talent base from which to recruit, with some 40,000 students studying computer science or business in Birmingham each year.
“We will continue to work closely with Advanced in the coming months and anticipate the firm playing a leading role in the region’s vibrant digital community.”
Advanced employs 2,000 people and has a loyal customer base of more than 20,000 organisations including: Virgin Trains, Harvey Nichols, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Carewatch.
*Advanced Computer Software Group has been renamed Advanced today, April 11, as part of a global rebrand.
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ARSENAL CONFIDENT OF TRANSFER OF DUO
July 13, 2019 index
Wilfred Zaha transfer to Arsenal has dominated the news in recent days as it has been reported that the player wants a move to the club. However, the transfer looks like one that could get drawn out through the summer.
According to latest reports from England Arsenal have offered an initial bid of £40 million for the player which was flatly rejected by the club. Crystal Palace value the attacker more than any player on their team and expect a transfer fee of £80 million.
It is suggested that Palace believe that Zaha as the best player in their team should go for a higher fee than the £50 million United paid for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Arsenal have a reduced transfer budget of £40 million due to the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League and this is likely to be a major factor in the transfer.
TOP LEFT BACKS IN THE EPL FOR THE PAST DECADE
April 5, 2019 index
The Premier League has seen its fair share of excellent defenders in the past decade. This are players that are excellent in joining up with the attack and also capable of defending opposing wingers. There have been many leftbacks to have graced the league in that period but only a few have been able to take control of their position and light up the league
The Everton left-back was for many years regarded as the best attacking left back in the league. capable of overlapping runs as well as putting in dangerous crosses Baines was a premier left back. In this era of leftbacks having to work as a fullback and also as an emergency wingback the 32-year-old excelled in both roles.
Taking setpieces was like cake to the England International as he regularly delivered dangerous set pieces for the likes of Fellaini and Tim Cahill over the years. He still holds the record for the most freekicks scored by a defender in the past decade. Baines is one of the Premier League all-time greats in the Left-back position
Marco Silva Expresses His View On Leighton Baines, As To Whether He Wants To Keep Him At The Everton Or Not
January 25, 2019 index
The defender of Everton named Leighton Baines has struggled a lot for appearances in this season at the Goodison Park, with the impressing performance of Lucas Digne. The contract of Baines at the club of Everton is about to come to an end within a few months, and he has barely made any appearances in this season for the club.
The arrival of Lucas Digne at the Goodison Park has resulted in the replacement of Banies in the defense of Everton, and his task of coming back to the team of Silva seems to be a lot difficult. It can be considered as a herculean task for him. Lucas has emerged as the best player so far in this season for the club of Everton, with the signing of summer rapidly adapting to the football’s Premier League.
Silva pleased with the Blues’ maturity
December 3, 2018 index
Marco Silva reckons the reason why Everton has managed to perform consistently in the English top tier this season is because there is a great atmosphere in their camp and everybody is in a great frame of mind, everybody understands his role and everybody is willing to do what’s needed for the team’s success.
According to Silva, the coordination between the players that is there on the ground is very, very important, but what happens off the ground is important too and off the ground, the spirits are really high. To be able to accomplish big things and to be able to land trophies, it’s important that each and every player in the squad puts in the hard yards and prepares himself in the best way possible and he is glad that nobody in the camp is shying away from the hard work.
Richarlison keen on making quick start with Everton
September 25, 2018 index
Everton’s summer signing Richarlison is keen to make a quick impression with the Toffees during the upcoming Premier League season. The Brazilian arrived from Watford earlier last month and he has since been one of the club’s standout performers during pre-season despite the results not going their way.
Speaking to reporters, Richarlison cited that he wants to score his maiden Toffees goal at the earliest possibility in order to show off his pigeon dance. Meanwhile, the attacker refused to speak about the speculation related to close friend Yerry Mina citing that the issue should be dealt with the Colombian’s representatives.
MARCO SILVA SET FOR LONG HAUL AT EVERTON
July 5, 2018 index
Everton manager Marco Silva seems set for the long haul at the Premier League side. He is the latest manager being brandished at the Merseyside and reportedly ready to be the steady hands through the impending upheavals this summer.
Ronald Koeman joined in the summer of 2016 highly recommended following his work at Southampton. He started well but after poor transfer signings without commensurate results, the Dutchman was axed last October. Firefighting expert Sam Allardyce was ushered in to help until the end of the season. Everton owner Farhad Moshiri then employed Marco Silva to join hands with new director of football Marcel Brands in a modern European club management structure.
Ronald Koeman refuses to rule out move for Diego Costa
October 5, 2017 index
Everton manager Ronald Koeman has refused to rule out a late move to sign Chelsea contract rebel Diego Costa.
The Spain international is currently in an indefinite strike in Brazil as he looks to plot a potential exit from Stamford Bridge before deadline day. Atletico Madrid have remained hot favourites to land the striker in recent weeks, but their ongoing transfer ban has restricted them from negotiating a sizeable sum for his services.
As a result, the Toffees have emerged as a surprise destination for the Spaniard as they seek to add a world-class striker to their ranks before the close of the transfer window. Following Everton’s 2-0 defeat at Chelsea, Koeman was asked whether he would consider a potential move for the Blues outcast, for which he refused to comment.
He said: “I don’t know [about Costa]. We are looking at players who are available and if we sign somebody, it is somebody who makes the team better. I don’t speak about names, about players. It is the media who is talking about Costa or other players. But we are looking and we do our job and hopefully, we will arrange it [a striker to arrive] for next week.” Read More
LEIGHTON BAINES PRAISES ROONEY MOVE
Everton defender Leighton Baines has praised the move of former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney.
The defender says the all-time goalscorer for United has “a lot” to contribute to the team.
Everton FC are set to face GorMahia in Tanzania on Thursday and Rooney is expected to feature for the first time in a royal blue jersey since his return to his boyhood club. The England national team skipper trained with the team on Wednesday evening after his grand arrival at Dar esSaleem. He had completed the deal from Old Trafford on Sunday before making the flight to join his teammates on Wednesday.
Everton stars have been involved in a number of cultural events since they arrived at the African country. AdemolaLookman, IdrissaGueye, YannickBolasie and Baines visited the UhuruMchanganyiko Primary School. They were showed what UK Aid were doing for the physically impaired students. Read More
Ronald Koeman comments on Leighton Baines
May 26, 2017 index
Ronald Koeman reckons that Leighton Baines has flown under the radar a little bit as people haven’t talked about him in the on-going season as much as they should.
As per Koeman, the contribution of Baines in Everton’s recent run in the Premiership has been as big as that of anyone else and he has proved that even in his thirties, he is worth his weight in gold.
In Koeman’s opinion, Baines is a wise Footballer and his subtleties on the pitch are brilliant to watch. But, it’s just that there are a few Footballers who gather all the attention and there are a few others who don’t get that much of it despite playing equally well and Baines sadly comes in the second category despite being a top notch defender.
Koeman also doesn’t think that Baines is approaching the end of his stint at Everton. The coach backs the 32-year old to continue to be at his peak for at least a couple of more seasons or possibly even longer than that as he has kept his body in a great shape so far. Read More
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Keith Kyle
John Reader
Scram from Africa
Jackson Lears
Obama’s Parents
David Runciman
Ian Gilmour
The Profumo Case
Frank Kermode
Harold Nicolson
Biography and memoirs, Biography, Africa, East Africa, Kenya, 1900-1999, 1946-1999, 1960-1969, Politics and economics
Vol. 5 No. 12 · 7 July 1983
Picking the winner
Tom Mboya: The Man Kenya Wanted to Forget by David Goldsworthy
Heinemann/Africana, 308 pp, £13.00, June 1982, ISBN 0 435 96275 2
In December 1963 when Kenya at last achieved her uhuru – her freedom – two topics were most prominent in the gossip centres of Nairobi. How long would Mzee – Jomo Kenyatta, ‘The Old Man’ – last? And what was to be done about Tom Mboya? Kenya had emerged from the anti-colonial struggle with two leaders of world renown, one young, dynamic and immensely talented, the other old (no one was quite sure how old) and respected as much for what he had suffered as for what he had done: a mythical figure who until recently had been cut off from all political and virtually all social life by a decade of imprisonment and detention compounded by an extraordinary propaganda campaign – comparable only to the Stalinist attempt to eliminate any reference to Trotsky’s role in the Russian Revolution – aimed at reducing him to the status of a non-person. Everyone was by now agreed that Jomo Kenyatta should become the first President of Kenya, but it was widely thought that, aged and enfeebled by his harsh treatment, he would soon die or retire: many felt that, cost what it might, Mboya, for all his manifest ability, should never succeed him. Some who were both proud of Mboya’s celebrity and embarrassed by it dreamt up exotic careers for him: when the expected East African Federation came into existence he could become its Foreign Minister, or, better still because further away, he could be the first African Secretary-General of the United Nations – anything so long as he did not become the ruler of Kenya.
Tom Mboya had star quality. Of that there could be no conceivable doubt. He sprang, as it seemed, from nowhere: his father was an illiterate worker on a settler-owned sisal estate, and although Mboya stayed at secondary school until he was 17, he had no university education except for a year at Ruskin College, Oxford, when he was well launched on his career. Yet he astonished the world with his eloquence, his rational presentation – in fluent and faultless English – of the viewpoints of black Africa, with his quick intelligence and remarkable stamina, his business-like precision and efficiency. Dressed in a well-cut suit, never at a loss for words or for an attractive formulation of ideas, he was the perfect refutation of colonialist disdain.
David Goldsworthy, the Australian scholar who is Mboya’s second biographer – the first, Alan Rake, wrote his book in 1962 – has produced an efficient interim study of his career, which examines in a sensible way the main issues it presents. He never met his subject, but those who did will recognise the portrait he draws: the ability to operate with ease on many different planes, considerable charm but also a habit of switching off, an enviable range of talents but also the ruthlessness, calculation and arrogance that were to transform a long list of one-time collaborators into opponents. The author is candid about the material that he did not, and, in some cases, could not, see and expresses the hope that ‘materials yet unworked’ will provide the basis for a fuller biography.
Ethnically a Luo, though not from the mainstream of that tribe, Tom Mboya arrived in Nairobi, a predominantly Kikuyu city, at the age of 20 as a sanitary inspector working for the city council. Two years later almost the entire, mostly Kikuyu, political leadership of the city was wiped out by arrest and subsequent conviction or detention as a result of the Mau Mau Emergency: this very young man moved rapidly to fill the vacuum. As a Luo he had more freedom to function than a Kikuyu, who would have been prima facie suspect until he gave positive proof of being a loyalist; and, working now as a trade-unionist, he found a role that was accorded a certain legitimacy by some of the colonial authorities. He scored a spectacular personal success when he brought the illegal and highly dangerous Mombasa dock strike of 1955 to an end, by improvising an acceptable procedure for channelling the dock workers’ grievances. He was the Lech Walesa of Kenya.
It did not take long for him to be discovered by a wider world. Moral Rearmament can take the credit for providing him with his first free air ticket to Europe in 1954: he used it to make his number in Brussels with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which had considerable funds, mainly from American sources, to promote non-communist labour movements in what was to be called the Third World, and with liberal and Labour circles in London, such as the Observer and the Fabian Colonial Bureau. He began the intensive lobbying that got him to Ruskin College for a year, where he wrote an influential Fabian pamphlet, The Kenya Question, and thereafter to the United States, for his first, immensely successful lecture tour. He was just the young spokesman for the new Africa whom the Americans wanted. They took him up in a big way and he was well prepared to exploit the opportunity – always alert, always ready to provide articles and speeches, as well as appealing projects that required finance. The AFL-CIO, whose international policy was, directed along sharply anti-communist lines by the ex-General Secretary of the American Communist Party, Jay Lovestone, provided Mboya with enough money to build a new African-owned headquarters for the trade-union movement: it made a dramatic impact on the physical appearance of Nairobi. Later Mboya secured places at American colleges for dozens of African students from Kenya and raised the finance (most of it from American sources) to bring them over by special airlift. When he was first elected for the Nairobi constituency in March 1957 – the first time blacks were allowed to vote in Kenya – he already had solid accomplishments to show.
Goldsworthy discusses sensibly – though necessarily with incomplete evidence – the question, which was much debated in his lifetime, of whether Mboya was an American agent. He always claimed that he had never knowingly had contact with the CIA and although he was much admired in America and had a number of close American friends, he would have been most unlikely to have promised specific actions in return for support. For the recipient of American aid the question was whether the head-start it made possible would always outweigh the resistance and suspicion it might generate. It is true that the Americans were not alone in picking Mboya as the spokesman for yet-to-be-liberated Africa. Kwame Nkrumah in 1958 chose him as the chairman of the All-African People’s conference at Accra, though Mboya was eventually to split with the Ghanaians.
Official British opinion of Mboya during the approach to Independence went through a fairly rapid transition. ‘One day he might be brought round,’ said Evelyn Baring, who was Governor when Mboya was first elected to the Legislative Council, ‘but at present he is pretty sinister and evil ... We must fight him, he is intensely arrogant, a lapsed RC with the morals of a monkey.’ In Legco, with his easy debating style, he ran verbal rings round heavy-handed and script-bound white speakers. While it remained fashionable to speak as though Kenya would become a plural society with institutionalised power-sharing racial groups, Mboya remained militantly opposed to British plans. Later, when the British were resigned to a course that would lead to a black African state, he became the favourite British candidate for Finance Minister in the hope that this would lead to his becoming Prime Minister and thereby keep out the dreaded Jomo Kenyatta. ‘Tom,’ a very senior British official told me later, ‘had every quality for the leadership of Kenya except moral courage’ – in other words, he had been offered the kingdom and had refused it. Mboya had shown the greater wisdom in seeing that with British rule ending the only way to hold Kenya together as a nation was to hold together the Kikuyu who had just emerged from the traumatic experience of civil war. That could be done only by Kenyatta.
The hitherto unspoken name of a man whom many white settlers regarded as Satan personified had been reintroduced into Kenyan politics by Oginga Odinga, the chairman of the African Elected Members, who hoped thereby to wrongfoot the too smooth and too smart Tom Mboya. Odinga was a pioneer of African capitalism in western Kenya, who set up hotels and trading companies and wrote articles to instruct his fellow Africans in business principles: altogether, an unlikely individual to associate with communism. But as an older man, from the same Luo tribe as Mboya, he was very conscious of his African dignity and was offended at the ease with which Mboya mixed with his British and American friends. Odinga proceeded to cross lines which Mboya, for all his defiance of colonialism, had been unwilling to cross: he went to Cairo, where Nasser kept a Kenya Office which put out broadcasts in favour of Mau Mau and the ‘liberation struggle’, to East Germany, Moscow, Peking. Odinga also had some means of financing a political campaign. The Cold War had entered Kenyan politics.
Odinga was not by any means Mboya’s only enemy. After the Lancaster House conference in 1960, where Mboya had antagonised almost everyone by his assurance, his constant access to the media and his assumption of the habits of a leadership which had not been accorded to him, almost the entire political élite resolved that in the nationalist party they would form Mboya should have no part whatsoever. By superb political manoeuvring Mboya avoided that trap and through sheer merit emerged again near the centre. In one group, party or delegation after another, grudging colleagues would acknowledge Mboya’s superior organising skills by making him the secretary, swearing that this time he would be kept to the more menial aspects of the role. Invariably he emerged as the star. He tended to act as though union members were his personal political troops, at one time committing them to a political strike (which they largely ignored) while he was off on a visit to West Africa, at another announcing ahead of the agreed time a series of strikes and demonstrations during an election campaign. Many leading Kenyans who shared his rather conservative views about the country’s economy feared him as a potential dictator.
Once Jomo Kenyatta took over the government of Kenya, Tom Mboya rapidly made himself indispensable to the ‘old man’. As Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, he took the lead in establishing the Republican Constitution; as Minister of Economic Planning and Development, he laid the foundations of the present economy, with its encouragement of private enterprise and heavy reliance on foreign investment; as a masterly parliamentarian, he handled the more embarrassing types of government business such as the laws permitting large back payments of ministerial expenses and making independent candidacies at elections illegal; and as ideologist-in-chief, he defined African Socialism in the famous Sessional Paper No 10. This paper, which might as well have been named ‘African Capitalism’, or even, his critics later observed, ‘African Neocolonialism’, leaned heavily on the idea of the ‘mutual social responsibility’ of traditional Africa to counterbalance the sharp inequalities that were liable to result from the type of growth which he had in mind. During his lifetime Kenya’s high growth rates enabled Mboya to claim with some plausibility that everyone was benefiting. It is unclear how much his views would have changed when a fallen growth rate no longer exceeded the exceptionally high rate of births and the gap between incomes had widened alarmingly.
It was still emphatically Kenyatta’s government and Mboya was in no sense the heir apparent. When the President, worried by the Army mutiny in 1964, decided to destroy the political power of the Vice-President, Oginga Odinga, it was Mboya’s multiple skills and lack of squeamishness that were put to work. But when, in 1968, the job was done there was no mention of Mboya’s taking up the vacant vice-presidency. On the contrary, that post was eventually given to Daniel arap Moi, one of the great survivors of Kenyan politics, the only one of the six Africans appointed to the Legco by the British to be kept there subsequently by the voters, and also one of the principal leaders of the party that had lost the 1963 pre-Independence election, in which Mboya had been the organiser of Kenyatta’s victory. Once Odinga had been crushed, the ‘inner group’ round the President began systematically to undermine the internal bases of Mboya’s position, both in the trade unions and in the ruling party. His two closest American friends were declared prohibited immigrants by his colleague arap Moi, and he was attacked for his American connections at a closed party meeting by men who have since his death made far closer arrangements, including some of a military nature, with the United States than he had ever suggested.
Tom Mboya was killed by an assassin just before his 39th birthday. He was not the first Kenyan politician so to die – that was Pio Pinto, Odinga’s close friend and liaison with Eastern embassies – nor has he been the last. Mboya’s murder hasn’t been satisfactorily accounted for, any more than others have been. The problem of what to do about the continent’s most brilliant political leader had been settled years before Kenyatta’s death and the smooth passage of Kenyatta’s power to his chosen successor. Last year’s uprising by the Air Force and the university gave an insight into the social unrest that is very near the surface in Kenya. Mboya’s great work of national construction cannot even now be regarded as secure, while his career as a favourite godson of the United States illuminates the holes and ambiguities in President Reagan’s schemes for the assertion of the pluralistic nature of democracy as the best alternative to Communism.
Vol. 5 No. 12 · 7 July 1983 » Keith Kyle » Picking the winner
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Jean-Christophe Babin on Bulgari: “Digital is Redefining the Role of the Flagship”
by Dino Auciello | Feb. 28, 2018
Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin talks about the brand’s omnichannel approach and expanding in China in an exclusive interview with Luxury Society.
Jewellery is still Bulgari’s largest segment. How is it growing today?
For Bulgari, jewellery has historically been the core category which, today, still best epitomises the brand in terms of its Roman origins and its DNA as it was inspired by art, architecture, volumes and colours. Furthermore, because high jewellery is one of a kind, it provides even more possibilities of expression than a watch. Watches are functional and therefore have some constraints. Jewellery, however, is unconstrained; there is no type of functionality that limits a piece of jewellery and no ceiling to creativity.
In terms of customer experience, how does digital currently have an impact on the experience of purchasing a luxury jewel? How do you see it evolving in the future?
When it comes to digital, the first benefit is knowledge. Thanks to the digital realm, you now have a diffusion of global knowledge which allows far more clients to understand watches, jewellery and art today, than would have been possible thirty years ago. The second benefit is brand screening and prioritising. Before the digital age, most clients would window shop. They would discover different brands during their walks and shortlist the products they wanted at the last minute. Nowadays, with digital, most clients shop at home whenever they want until they make up their minds about the style, the category and the price range they want to spend online, before even considering shopping. The third aspect of digital is the possibility to buy 24/7, which is a great advantage. Customers can choose to click and collect if they wish to visit the store.
Across these three dimensions, digital allows the client to have a permanent dialogue with the brand. In the past, this kind of dialogue was limited only to visiting a flagship store, or through customer care. Whether it’s with WhatsApp, WeChat, or Weibo, a client can have a permanent, personal connection with the brand. It is now a full dimension which has changed the business model.
Bulgari was one of the early adopters amongst luxury brands to use WeChat sales. Can you tell us more about your experience with this platform?
WeChat is the main Chinese platform for networking, yet it goes beyond this. On WeChat, customers can book, buy, pay; it is a super-WhatsApp. With all these facilities, it has become a type of e-commerce platform, even though this isn’t its only function. In the past, it would be used by Chinese consumers, as well as our staff, as a personal social platform. Then, we took it to the brand level and created a true, professional and friendly dialogue with our key clients. We ran CRM operations with them in a more personal manner, compared to the traditional CRM where email was used. Email is evolving too, but WeChat has allowed us to take the next step in forming closer relationships with our clients and befriending them.
You have been developing the Japanese and U.S. markets in terms of e-commerce. What are the next steps?
We recently went live in the U.K, Europe will follow by mid-2018. E-commerce will be available in many European countries. In China, we’ve already extended ourselves onto WeChat. In parallel, we also complement countries like Australia, which, geographically speaking, is huge and where e-commerce is a real counterpart to the brick-and-mortar experience.
With all these new sales channels, were you able to detect an increase in revenues from the digital channels?
It is difficult to talk about one channel over another, as today, everything is about the omnichannel approach. Omnichannel has become the new experience. A client will make his or her first screening of products via the internet, or receive some news from salespeople via WeChat. Consumers will then mull over it, assess the products in more detail, and then decide to make a purchase via an online channel or click and collect. Therefore, it is not so easy to credit the sale to the digital channels or to the boutique only.
It is, however, a certainty that digital sales and e-commerce are increasing the business side. Why? Because it is spontaneous. At one moment, you are driven by impulse to buy, for example, the Octo Watch or the Diva’s Dream Necklace. This impulse has been intensified by inspecting the product online. At a certain point, you find the desire within yourself which calls for action. However, if at this point you do not have the means to move to action, the desire will quickly vanish by the next day.
Now with digital, you can immediately take action, regardless of whether you collect it yourself or have it delivered. That’s why I think the two are complementary. That’s why digital is increasing business, because it’s more of an occasion to follow one’s impulse, regardless of how long the impulse itself has increased.
The brick-and-mortar stores remain very important to Bulgari. We saw the reopening of your U.S. flagship in New York. How do you see the physical stores’ network evolving?
Today, the sales network is one touch point out of several; hence the need to redefine its role as a part of the client’s experience, but not the whole experience. More than ever, the brick-and-mortar store must become a brand and products enhancer.
Digital is complementary to brick-and-mortar and vice versa, in building this omnichannel approach. It will also redefine the role of the flagship in the future, because it is a long-term process versus what it used to be in the past.
Historically, luxury brands set up their flagships in their cities, such as Bulgari in Rome. The first flagships were often a sort of local representation of the brand with as many logistics on display. After this, brands tend to expand their flagship into the next largest cities such as New York or Paris. These stores will have a different role in the network that is not so traditional to the brand; the role is more about the physical accessibility in a given place. If the area is highly prestigious, then the store will be considered as a flagship. With digital, logic can be put aside in accessing some of these locations as you do not need to have a physical location per city. We might gradually revert to the initial flagship concept; fewer brand representations in fewer locations, because brands do not need inventory in several places.
The future of physical stores therefore embodies how it used to be one and a half centuries ago, but with an integrated upstream and downstream experience. The flagship will revert to what it used to be in terms of the statement it makes and its rarity. If you were to build a new luxury brand today, I do not think you would build 300 stores in the long term, but rather limit it to 80. This smaller number of stores could be enough while keeping in mind that most local representations will not need great stores in smaller cities.
Is this the direction which Bulgari is taking?
When a brand already has a network of 300, it you do not decide overnight that you might only need 150 in the future, and that you might perhaps close down 150 of them in one day. No, Bulgari is much more pragmatic. We continuously learn, evolve and invest in digital. And as this process evolves - which I think will be a ten to twenty-year process - you will end up with less stores.
In the future, we will have more magnificent stores, but not necessarily bigger stores. These stores will instead be representations of the brand. As a consequence, you might end up closing more stores and opening less stores than what you would have done twenty years before.
What is your approach towards millennials?
Bulgari has already managed to develop the millennial segment, if we agree that it is a broad group anywhere between 17 and 37 years old. We are now focusing on a younger segment, between 17 and 27 years old, which often includes single people, with no kids, still studying or new to the job market. We benefit from the diversification of our Business Divisions to create a ladder into the brand, starting from our 100 euros perfumes to then offer 250/400 euros accessories. The jewellery segment starts with STC silver range at 600 euros; then BB and B-Zero 1 gold collections from 1000 euros onwards.
In parallel, we adapt our communication with the help of younger influencers, KOLs, and millennial icons like Bella Hadid, Demi Lovato or Jasmine Sanders. We also stress the authenticity, the craftsmanship and the integrity of our manufacturing – the famous “Bello e Ben Fatto” – which are very important values for millennials.
In China, the jewellery market is growing in strength. How does Bulgari target the special preferences and habits of the Chinese consumers?
Every culture has specific traditions. What is special when it comes to the history of jewellery, throughout all cultures, is the worshipping of gold, platinum, diamonds and sapphires, which has virtually been the same through time. This is because they were not alterable, they had a functional reason. Gold was treasured for its aspect of interest. These precious stones have always been rare, and today they are becoming even more rare. So, there is a kind of commonwealth in worshipping all of these different materials.
Occasionally, another gem - that does not belong to the family of the four traditional art stones - will gain some interest; such as the Jadeite in China. As a global jeweller, you will try to integrate this dimension by adding it to some of the collections, but without replacing another stone such as emerald, which has the closest colour to Jadeite.
I would say this kind of integration is a mark of respect and a direct hook with the emotional side of Chinese consumers. Having a preconceived view, whereby you would replace emerald stones with Jadeite in order to appeal to the Chinese consumers, would not correspond to the right approach.
This means you can meander your way around the types of gems and colours which are more or less familiar depending on the targeted geographical region. For example, with Bulgari’s leather goods, our best-sellers in China are centred more on red and purple pieces, whereas in Middle East, they prefer green. You can relate this to religious reasons; red in relation to Buddhism in China, and green for Islam.
Each geographical location is being considered. We pay attention to the depth of range of our green assortments when targeting the Middle East, while still integrating red and purple pieces. In China, we take the same approach for the red and purple pieces. It is a balance which we frame according to the local sensibility.
E-commerce is about spontaneous purchasing as you previously explained. Chinese shoppers tend to buy online, do you expect more from the Chinese side?
This is true. For example, 11/11 (Single’s Day in China) set a new record for Tmall and JD.com this year. Perfume is typically the type of gift which a consumer will buy on impulse, at the last minute, and even on delivery on Tmall or JD.com. When it comes to jewellery, we are not yet considering it, because what is important for our brand is for the image to be coherent. We are reluctant to move onto certain digital platforms if we believe that the brand environment would be inconsistent with the brand size which we use as a basis for our communication channels, our brick-and-mortar, or through our old website. We are rather considering our own bulgari.com platform. With the same logic as brick-and-mortar, we are tightly controlling our image. As long as the platform does not match with our luxury standards, we will proceed with caution as we do not want to project the wrong image for the brand to very reputable e-retailers. We need to be paying enough attention to the execution of the website and of the services, as these remain very important.
I see a big future. I know that Tmall and JD.com are currently developing their specific luxury marketplaces, which have not yet been launched. This acknowledges that on their main marketplace, which is of mass design, it is more difficult to sell luxury products.
Cover image credit: Luxury Society
Published on Feb. 28, 2018 under Leaders • Jewelry
Dino Auciello
Editor, International , Luxury Society
Dino Auciello is the International Editor of Luxury Society. He is also Head of Marketing & Client Development at DLG, the parent company of Luxury Society. Based in Geneva, Dino was previously Deputy Chief Editor of the Swiss business magazine, Bilan.
5 Interesting Valentine’s Day Campaigns on WeChat
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Succession planning: how to do it right
Executing the perfect succession plan: how one wealth business got it right
When wealth manager Robert Lipman contemplated his retirement, he knew he needed a sound succession plan to continue to deliver excellent client service to his loyal investors. When an opportunity to acquire the wealth management arm of Investec arose in 2011, Lipman took steps to implement that plan.
This process included lifting the profile of key team members, high-level client communication and the engagement of external consultants to ensure a smooth transition.
Succession tactic #1: make key staff more visible to clients
“If you’re an advice firm that’s invested in your people, you should showcase the talent of your firm to your clients,” says Lipman, Burgon and Partners Managing Director, Paul Burgon, “and over time they will grow to trust those new advisers.” The company, renamed in November 2015 to reflect its changing of the guard, is a boutique, independent wealth management company that services the needs of high net worth clients.
Burgon is in the process of taking the reins from Lipman and the pair have been working on a meticulous succession plan for the last five years. A critical part of that plan is making long-term clients comfortable with other financial planners in the firm.
Burgon became equity partner when Lipman acquired the wealth management business from Investec. They took over the Australian financial services license and opened an office in Sydney. Many long-standing clients followed them.
In terms of long-term goals for succession, the pair want to continue to grow the firm, possibly reaching into Melbourne and Brisbane as well as expanding the Sydney team.
Lipman has reduced his time in the office to three days a week, pursuing interests in photography and golf on his days off. “Succession really started on the day I decided to offer Paul the opportunity to come in with me, and to become a major equity partner,” Lipman explains.
“Paul’s roughly 20 years younger than I am. I realised then, on day one, that in this transition process our clients would want to deal with someone who’s going to hopefully take them through their retirement years and beyond.”
However, he’s quick to counter, “we’re not changing the process. We’re not changing the way we construct portfolios, we’re not changing the way we service our client base, we’re not changing the values system that’s been in place for a long time. All those things will remain constant.”
One of the challenges that young people face when coming into the financial advice industry is to have credibility with the older client base.
Succession tactic #2: mentor team members for long-term growth
While he continues to service some 100 clients, Lipman has focused his lens on training and mentoring younger members of the team. To retain and mentor millennial talent in this lean team of 13 is a priority. “I don’t feel old in the sense I’m past my use-by date,” he says. “It’s opportune to spend more of my time building up others, to hopefully see this business go on to succeed in the future.”
“We do regularly catch up with all of our staff and help track their career,” Burgon adds. “We hope we can offer millennials a fantastic career at the firm.” Every associate hire is potential partner material.
“One of the challenges that young people face when coming into the financial advice industry is to have credibility with the older client base,” Burgon says, adding that one advantage of a boutique firm is the access to high net worth investors that goes with the small staff. “The opportunities for progression are tremendous,” Lipman adds. “People learn at a much faster rate, they get access to meetings they wouldn’t otherwise get in larger firms. And they interact with fund managers and people who supply us with research.”
This investment in staff and the attention paid to nurturing their individual goals has paid dividends in a very low churn rate. Lipman’s one-on-one mentoring sessions remain confidential, and address more than purely professional goals of team members.
Succession tactic #3: define the way forward
The question of succession also provided an organic opportunity to address issues of their vision for the future. The business will continue operating as a classic wealth management company.
Despite trends towards convergence of accountancy and wealth management, Lipman and Burgon are firm on what they stand for. “One result of our partnership is that we now have two main areas of excellence. We have excellence in investment management because that’s been a passion of Robert’s for 20-odd years. And I feel I’ve been able to bring an excellence in investment structure,” says Burgon, referencing his experience in tax strategy.
Succession tactic #4: clear communication
The response from clients so far has been positive. A front-footed communications strategy adopted from day one offered an open-book mentality that has meant no nasty surprises. Early in the process, they engaged Apollo Communications, as well as their external graphic design team, to join a visioning workshop, where their core values were defined: Honesty, accountability and tenacity. These will remain constant into the future, providing stability during a period of change.
The idea was that everyone would understand their vision, in order to clearly articulate how it impacts clients and staff alike.
Because Lipman intends to maintain regular time in the office over the next few years, there’s the opportunity to make clients comfortable with new consultants while retaining established client service managers, many of whom have been in place more than a decade.
With an average client age of just under 70 years, the growth strategy is necessarily divergent from what it might be if clients were from a different demographic. Part of the plan moving forward is management of investments for those who inherit their current clients’ wealth.
While they do engage in some contemporary communications practices with younger clients, video-conferencing and email communication aren’t routinely used for older clientele. And robo-advice is not a tool used by the firm. “We’re across it but millennials are not our core clients,” says Burgon.
One area where they do see the benefits of technology is in the effort to reduce paperwork. In terms of process, Burgon says, there’s the need for a single-overview portal where clients can view their various accounts in one place, as well as a vault for all their estate planning documentation and powers of attorney.
“This technology is something we’d embrace once we got comfort around the security of our clients’ information,” Burgon explains. While they’re not going digital yet, the intention is to stay across developments, so they’ll be ready to strike when they feel comfortable with it.
Succession tactic #5: work the work-life balance
Looking to the future, work-life balance is an enduring question for both Lipman and Burgon, as well as younger staff. Burgon is quick to affirm that he supports staff members’ commitments to balance work as part of a successful life. “I think people have realised that just having success in your professional life is not a level of success across your life,” he says. “You have to have success professionally and personally. That’s being acknowledged more and more by the millennial generation.”
With the extra responsibilities of management, as well as servicing clients and future planning, Burgon concedes he’s grateful for a supportive family but that it’s sometimes a battle to retain the same balance for himself that he encourages in his staff.
He’s even considered engaging his own professional coach, and earmarks at least two days in every month when he clears his calendar of client meetings. These days are dedicated to working on the business, rather than in it. And at the beginning of each year, Lipman and Burgon take time out to address goal-setting, to ensure the company remains on track.
But the hard work and dedicated hours have been worth it. “There’s no reason for Paul and I to feel a sense of anxiety or pessimism at the outlook,” says Lipman. “The opposite is true. We’ve done everything we possibly could to allow for a smooth succession. Paul to his credit did a lot of work in researching the best succession plans that have been adopted in the industry, prior to us appointing external consultants. We knew what we wanted, and we did a lot of work to hire what we felt were the best people to work with us to make sure this process actually worked. It’s early days but it does appear to be working.”
Unless stated otherwise, this information has been prepared by Macquarie Bank Limited ABN 46 008 583 542 AFSL and Australian Credit Licence 237502 and does not take into account your client’s objectives, financial situation or needs.
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Store Count & Square Footage
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The 42nd Annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks:® The Nation’s Biggest Independence Day Celebration Honors America’s Birthday Live From New York City
The 2018 Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks, the nation’s largest Independence Day celebration, will launch more than 75,000 shells and effects from seven barges on the East River in New York City. (Photo: Business Wire)
The 2018 Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks, the nation’s largest Independence Day celebration, will ignite the New York City skyline on Wednesday, July 4 with more than 75,000 shells and effects. (Photo: Business Wire)
Download as PDF June 04, 2018
This year’s dazzling pyrotechnic spectacle will mark Macy’s Fireworks largest display since the Millennial Celebration with more than 75,000 shells and effects launched from seven barges positioned in midtown on the East River, accompanied by a rousing patriotic score from the West Point Band and Glee Club and featuring a special rendition of “God Bless America” from superstar Kelly Clarkson
In honor of the nation’s Armed Forces, “Macy’s Salutes Those Who Serve” with a special charitable campaign to support and empower veterans and military families from June 28 – July 8
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The nation’s largest 4th of July celebration will once again ignite the night with an unparalleled barrage of dazzling effects framing the iconic New York City skyline during the 42nd Annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks®. On Wednesday, July 4, more than 3 million live spectators along the shores of Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn in New York City, and more than 12 million television viewers nationwide will be amazed by a jaw-dropping display of color, shape, light and sound, celebrating Independence Day. At approximately 9:25 p.m., the first of more than 75,000 shells and effects will hit the night sky and rumble towards Macy’s (NYSE:M) famed pyrotechnic finale, marking the spectacle’s largest display since the Millennial Celebration in 2000.
“Macy’s Fireworks continue to grow in artistry, as we ignite the night for the nation’s premiere Independence Day celebration,” said Susan Tercero, executive producer of Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks. “This year’s showcase will be one for the record books as we create dazzling scenes expertly timed and choreographed to a rousing and moving patriotic score featuring the West Point Band and Glee Club and the stunning voice of superstar Kelly Clarkson. We are excited to celebrate the holiday with a jaw-dropping display of colorful firepower delighting millions of spectators across the nation.”
Since 1976, Macy’s Fireworks have grown to become the nation’s largest Independence Day celebration in design, artistry, live and nationwide television audience. This year’s 25-minute spectacle will be 25 percent larger than last year’s presentation, with more than 3,000 shells and effects per minute launched from seven barges positioned between 23rd and 42nd Streets in midtown on the East River.
The 42nd edition of the pyrotechnic splendor is designed with Pyro Spectaculars by Souza. Perfectly orchestrated to synchronize to the musical score, the display will feature a host of new shells in 25 colors and effects including neon pinwheels, swirling water fountains, brocade horse tails, ghosting fans, blooming ring chases, and pulsing hearts.
As the basis for the Fireworks choreography, this year’s musical score will feature performances from the West Point Band and Glee Club, and will highlight new interpretations of patriotic classics like Stars & Stripes Forever and The Star Spangled Banner, as well as several American musical standards. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of famed American composer Leonard Bernstein, a medley of his classic musical compositions will be showcased including the iconic New York, New York from “On the Town,” as well as Mambo and America from “West Side Story.”
In addition, to honor the 100th anniversary of God Bless America by Irving Berlin, a soaring new recording of the classic, sung by superstar Kelly Clarkson. will inspire patriotism in the hearts of millions. Backed by the full West Point Band Orchestra and Glee Club, the awe-inspiring tribute by Ms. Clarkson will be the show’s emotional and pyrotechnic centerpiece serving as the backdrop for Macy’s famed Golden Mile. This signature of Macy’s Fireworks ignites the skyline with a dazzling array of golden-hued effects for a mile across the river and from 1,000 feet in the air to the water’s edge.
This year, in salute to the nation’s Armed Forces, Macy’s and its customers nationwide will come together for a charitable giving campaign to support and empower veterans and military families. The give-back campaign, “Macy’s Salutes Those Who Serve” kicks off on Thursday, June 28 and runs through Sunday, July 8, and will generate funds for select charities through donations in-store and online at macys.com. With a $3 donation, customers will receive, as a thank you, a 25 percent off* coupon that can be used on select merchandise (*see sales associates for a list of exclusions, discount is 15 percent off in some departments). One hundred percent of the donations will benefit three veterans and military family focused organizations: Blue Star Families, Bunker Labs, and Team Rubicon. These charities focus on a number of programs that support current and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families, providing access to career development, caregiver support, entrepreneurship and business opportunities, as well as skills-based volunteering and community rebuilding activities, among other services.
On Independence Day, spectators are encouraged to experience the full design of the spectacle by tuning in to radio station 1010 WINS to hear the musical score to which the entire show is choreographed. Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks can be seen from any unobstructed view of the sky above the East River where the barges are located. Public viewing locations and dedicated entry points will be set up along various streets on the F.D.R. Drive, as well as various points in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Check macys.com/fireworks for the most up-to-date information including exact points of entry, viewing locations for persons with disabilities and for marine viewing details. Spectators lining the shores of the East River will also enjoy an NYPD helicopter flyover and an FDNY waterboat show prior to the start of the display.
Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks are made possible in part by signature partners Green Giant®, King’s Hawaiian®, and SOUR PATCH KIDS® Candy and are presented in partnership with the City of New York.
Independence Day spectators from coast-to-coast can catch all the action in the sky by tuning to NBC’s two-hour live national broadcast of “Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular” beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT and 7 p.m. CT, with a one-hour encore presentation at 10 p.m. ET/PT, and 9 p.m. CT (check local listings). In addition to the pyrotechnic splendor, the 4th of July’s most popular entertainment special will feature musical performances from the nation’s premiere artists.
For more information on the 42nd Annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks, please visit www.macys.com/fireworks or call the Macy’s Fireworks Hotline at (212) 494-4495, follow and participate in the excitement on various social platforms via @macys and #MacysFireworks.
Orlando Veras / Christine Olver Nealon
EventMedia@macys.com
Source: Macy’s
© 2019 Macy's, Inc.
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Diandra Luker Wikipedia, Biography, Net Worth (Michael Douglas Wife)
Name Diandra Luker
Birthday / Date of Birth / Diandra Luker Age Born in year 1956. As of 2019, her age is around 63 years.
Biography Profile / Wiki Profile
Introduction : Who is Diandra Luker ?
Diandra Luker is a movie producer, who is mostly known for her divorce from Hollywood star Michael Douglas.
Diandra was born in 1956 and grew up on a small island in Majorca. Her father used to work as an ambassador.
Once she reached middle school age, her dad made the decision to send her to boarding school to allow her to finish school life seamlessly. She first attended one in Switzerland, before finishing her schooling in the US.
Michael Douglas Diandra Luker Married Life :
At the age of 19, Luker met actor Michael Douglas. He reportedly proposed within 2 weeks of dating her.
In March of 1977, the two were married.
They reportedly had a happy marriage for the first 10 years, after which they began fighting.
They separated officially in 1995, but it wasn’t until 2000 that their divorce was finalised.
It was said that Douglas finally gave her whatever she wanted so that he would be free to marry his new partner, Catherine Zeta Jones.
Luker received $45 million dollars in the settlement, as well as various properties. Due to this, she began receiving hate mail from many people labelling her as greedy. Tabloids have also suggested that it was her greed that caused her son’s drug addiction that eventually saw him incarcerated.
She has since hit back at tabloids, stating she only ever took what she was owed.
Diandra Luker Children :
Diandra had her first son, Cameron, in 1978 with then-husband Michael Douglas. He famously served 7 years in prison for heroin related offences.
In 2004, she welcomed twin boys Hudson and Hawk, with the help of a surrogate, alongside her then-fiance Zach Hampton Bacon III.
Luker also adopted a daughter named Imira from Kazakhstan.
She was the godmother of the late Johnson & Johnson heiress Casey Johnson, and labelled her passing as such a tragic turn of events.
Professional Life : Diandra Luker Net Worth
After initially studying at Georgetown’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Diandra became distracted by her new-found marriage at the tender age of 19 to Douglas.
Later, she was heavily involved in charity work, in particular with The Red Cross.
Her charity work led to her landing a role on the board for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The board eventually hired her to produce documentaries for their Office of Film and Television.
During this time, she was also signed to Ford Models, and worked with the likes of Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera and Donna Karan.
In 1991, she produced one episode for the American Masters series, which was a series that showed documentaries regularly on television. Her episode was called ‘Frederic Remington: The of Other Dogs’.
She then went on to produce the documentaries ‘The birth of Sound/Singing Cowboys and Western Swing’ and ‘Off The Menu: The Last Days of Chasen’.
She made her movies debut in 2008, when she acted as the executive producer for the movie Broken Lines.
Wedding / Husband / Relationships / Marriage / Partner Was married to Michael Douglas.
Quinn Lundberg Wiki
Marathi.TV Editorial Team, Jun 2, 2017
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Rob was a writer and editor at Space.com starting in 1999. He served as managing editor of Live Science at its launch in 2004. He is now Chief Content Officer overseeing media properties for the sites’ parent company, Purch. Prior to joining the company, Rob was an editor at The Star-Ledger in New Jersey, and in 1998 he was founder and editor of the science news website ExploreZone. He has a journalism degree from Humboldt State University in California.
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Appian, The Illyrian Wars 5
Appian of Alexandria (c.95-c.165): one of the most underestimated of all Greek historians, author of a Roman History in twenty-four books.
Although only Appian's books on the Roman Civil Wars survive in their entirety, large parts of the other books, devoted to Rome's foreign wars, have also come down to us. The parts on the Third Punic War, the wars in Iberia, and the Mithridatic Wars are very important historical sources. This is also true for Appian's account of the Illyrian Wars, presented on these pages, which is almost without parallel.
Because these texts have to be reconstructed from several medieval manuscripts, not all editions of Appian's account of Rome's foreign wars are numbered in the same way. On these pages, the separate units of a book are counted strictly chronologically.
The translation was made by Horace White; notes by Jona Lendering.
Octavian's War (cont'd)
[21] The next day theynote[The Iapides from the city of Metulus; 35 BCE.] sent messengers to Augustus offering to give fifty hostages whom he might select, and promising to receive a garrison and to assign to them the highest hill while they themselves would occupy the other.
When the garrison entered and he ordered them to lay down their arms they were very angry. They shut their wives and children up in their council chamber and stationed guards there with orders to set fire to the building in case things went wrong with them, and then they attacked the Romans with desperation. Since, however, they made the attack from a lower position upon those occupying higher ground, they were completely overpowered. Since, however, they made the attack from a lower position upon those occupying higher ground, they were completely overpowered.
Then the guards set fire to the council chamber and many of the women killed their children and themselves. Others, holding in their arms their children still alive, leaped into the flames. Thus all the Metulian youth perished in battle and the greater part of the non-combatants by fire. Their city was entirely consumed, and, large as it was, not a trace of it now remains.
After the destruction of Metulus the remainder of the Iapydes, being terror-stricken, surrendered to Augustus. The transalpine Iapydes were then for the first time brought in subjection to the Romans. After Augustus departed the Poseni rebelled and Marcus Helvius was sent against them. He conquered them and after punishing the leaders of the revolt with death sold the rest as slaves.
[22] At an earlier time the Romans twice attacked the country of the Segestani, but obtained no hostages nor anything else, for which reason the Segestani became very arrogant. Augustus advanced against them through the Pannonian territory, which was not yet under subjection to the Romans.note[35 BCE.]
(Pannonia is a wooded country extending from the Iapydes to the Dardani. The inhabitants do not live in cities, but scattered through the country or in villages according to relationship. They have no common council and no rulers over the whole nation. They number 100,000 fighting men, but they do not assemble in one body, because they have no common government.)
When Augustus advanced against them they took to the woods, from which they darted out and slew the stragglers of the army. As long as Augustus hoped that they would surrender voluntarily he spared their fields and villages. As none of them came in he devastated the country with fire and sword for eight days, until he came to the Segestani.
Theirs is also Pannonian territory, on the river Save, on which is situated a city strongly fortified by the river and by a very large ditch encircling it. For this reason Augustus greatly desired to possess it as a magazine convenient for a war against the Dacians and the Bastarnae on the other side of the Ister, which is there called the Danube, but a little lower down is called the Ister. The Save flows into it, and Augustus caused ships to be built in the latter stream to bring provisions to the Danube for him.
[23] For these reasons he desired to obtain possession of Segesta. As he was approaching, the Segestani sent to inquire what he wanted. He replied that he desired to station a garrison there and to have them give him a hundred hostages in order that he might use the town safely as a base of operations in his war against the Dacians. He also asked for as much food as they were able to supply.
The chief men of the town acquiesced, but the common people were furious, yet consented to the giving of the hostages, perhaps because they were not their children, but those of the notables. When the garrison came up, however, they could not bear the sight of them, but shut the gates in a mad fury and stationed themselves on the walls.
Thereupon Augustus bridged the river and surrounded the place with ditch and palisade, and, having blockaded them, raised two mounds. Upon these the Segestani made frequent assaults and, being unable to capture them, endeavored to destroy them with torches and fire thrown from above. When aid was sent to them by the other Pannonians Augustus met and ambuscaded this reinforcement, destroyed a part of their force, and put the rest to flight. After this they got no more help from the Pannonians.
[24] Thus the Segestani, after enduring all the evils of a siege, were taken by force on the thirtieth day, and then for the first time they began to beg. Augustus, admiring them for their bravery and yielding to their prayers, neither killed nor banished them, but contented himself with a fine.
He caused a part of the city to be separated from the rest by a wall, and in this he placed a garrison of twenty-five cohorts. Having accomplished this he went back to Rome, intending to return toIllyria in the spring.
But a rumor becoming current that the Segestani had massacred the garrison, he set forth hastily in the winter. However, he found that the rumor was false, yet not without cause. They had been in danger from a sudden uprising of the Segestani and had lost many men by reason of its unexpectedness, but on the next day they rallied and put down the insurgents. Augustus turned his forces to Dalmatia, another Illyrian country bordering on Taulantia.
[25] The Dalmatians, after the slaughter of the five cohorts under Gabiniusnote[Aulus Gabinius.] and the taking of their standards, elated by their success, had not laid down their arms for ten years. When Augustus advanced against them they made an alliance with each other for mutual aid in war.note[34 BCE.] They had upwards of 12,000 fighting men under a general named Versus. He occupied Promona, the city of the Liburni, and fortified it, although it was very strong by nature. It is a mountain stronghold surrounded on all sides by sharp-pointed hills like saw-teeth.
The greater part of his forces were stationed in the town, but he placed guards on the hills and all of them looked down upon the Romans from elevated positions. Augustus in plain sight began to draw a wall around the whole, but secretly he sent his bravest men to seek a path to the highest of the hills. These, concealing themselves in the woods, fell upon the guards by night while they were asleep, slew them, and signaled to Augustus in the twilight. He led the bulk of the army to make an attempt upon the city, and sent another force to hold the height that had been taken, while the captors of it should get possession of the lower hills. Terror and confusion fell upon the barbarians everywhere, for they believed themselves to be attacked on all sides. Especially were those on the hills alarmed lest they should be cut off from their supply of water, for which reason they all fled to Promona.
This page was created in 2005; last modified on 16 October 2017.
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Business/Consumer Services
Vantiv makes offer for Worldpay valued at $10B
By Ben Dummett
Published: July 5, 2017 8:56 a.m. ET
BenDummett
Vantiv Inc., a major U.S. credit-card processor, has made an offer valuing U.K. payments group Worldpay Group Inc. at $10 billon, potentially beating out rival bidder J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
Worldpay said in a statement Wednesday that it had agreed a deal in principle with Vantiv.
The deal, if successful, would create a trans-Atlantic payments processing giant with a combined market value of more than $20 billion. The preliminary agreement still leaves space for J.P. Morgan to make a counterbid. Both parties have until Aug. 1 to make a firm offer.
Vantiv is offering a share and cash deal that would value Worldpay at about 19% of its closing share price before speculation of a deal began. Under the current merger on offer, Worldpay shareholders would own approximately 41% of the share capital of the two groups.
J.P. Morgan confirmed Wednesday it was considering an offer for Worldpay following an invitation from the U.K. firm, but has decided not to go ahead with an offer.
Worldpay is particularly strong in the U.K. and the U.S., processing millions of payments daily in stores, online and on mobile phones.
Ohio-based Vantiv helps merchants, banks and credit unions accept credit- and debit-card payments, as well as gift cards and online payments mainly in the U.S.
Payments businesses are under pressure to consolidate as regulators and rising competition from technology startups, squeeze the fees of incumbents. Worldpay rival Nets AS said last week that it had been approached by suitors. In April, Mastercard Inc. received regulatory approval to acquire payment-technology firm VocaLink Holdings Ltd. for about $920 million.
Write to Ben Dummett at ben.dummett@wsj.com and Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com
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Name: César Orozco
Biographical: César Orozco is a prolific Cuban/Venezuelan pianist, violinist, composer, arranger, producer, and educator. After developing an important career in Venezuela, Mr. Orozco moved to the United States in 2012 and enrolled with a full tuition Assistantship to The Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he earned a Graduate Performance Diploma (GPD) in 2014. Since relocating to the New York tri-state area in 2015, Mr. Orozco has become an in-demand pianist as a sideman as well as a leader of his own projects. Some of the artists he has worked with include Paquito D’Rivera, Pedrito Martinez, Gary Thomas, Yosvany Terry, Flavio Sala, Luisito Quintero, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Luis Enrique, Itai Kriss, Troy Roberts, Paul Bollenback, Jeremy Warren, and Giovanni Hidalgo just to name a few. Orozco has developed an innovative approach to a fusion of Venezuelan and Cuban traditional music with Jazz along with his project Kamarata Jazz. He has appeared in more than 70 albums and his recordings as a leader include “Son con Pajarillo” (2007), “Ebano y Marfil” (2008), “Orozcojam” (Guataca, 2010), which was awarded for Best vocal/Instrumental album at Cubadisco 2012 in Havana, Cuba, “No Limits for Tumbao” (Alfi Records, 2015) and the latest one “Stringwise”, a duo with the outstanding Venezuelan Cuatro player Jorge Glem. He is also a recipient of a DownBeat Magazine's 2014 Student Music Award for Original Composition (Orozcojam) Small Ensemble Outstanding Performance.
Throughout his career, Orozco has toured extensively across the United States, Europe, Latin America and Australia, participating in some of the most renowned music festivals around the world such as the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, the Cervantino Festival in Mexico, and the Jazz al Parque in Bogota, Colombia. As a bandleader, he has performed at venues such as Blues Alley, Twins Jazz, and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Bolivar Hall in London, the Bird's Basement Jazz Club in Melbourne, Australia, the Bimhuis Jazz Club in Amsterdam, Subrosa, The Zinc Bar, Terraza 7, and the Fat Cat in New York City among others.
Mr. Orozco has written music for a wide range of ensembles and instrumentations, including but not limited to symphony orchestras, big bands, salsa combos, string quartets, string quintets, and brass quintets. He has been commissioned by the Baltimore School for the Arts, the Army Blues Band in Washington DC, the Chamber String Orchestra from the MCYO organization at Strathmore in Maryland, The Netherlands Blazers Ensemble (NBE), RaícesJazz Orchestra from Miami FL, The Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, and the HR-Big Band, also named Frankfurt Radio Big Band. Within the musical theater field, his credits as a composer, music director, and/or arranger include the Venezuelan musicals "Orinoco" and "Venezuela Viva" (with more than 100 international performances), the autobiographical monologue "Las Ciudades Que Soy" starred and written by the recognized Cuban actress Beatriz Valdez, and "La UltimaPartida" (The Final Draw), a play with live improvised Jazz piano directed by Monica Lopez-Gonzalez which was premiered at the Baltimore Theater Project in 2014.
Orozco was born in Cuba in 1980 and earned a degree in Violin Performance and Ensemble Conducting from the National School of Arts in Havana, Cuba in 1998. The same year, he traveled to Venezuela after accepting an invitation from the Carabobo Symphony Orchestra as a violinist. In Venezuela, Mr. Orozco performed and/or recorded with some of the most important local artists, including Guaco, Rafael “El Pollo” Brito, Andres Briceño, Maria Teresa Chacín, Soledad Bravo, Kiara, Karina, Frank Quintero, Aquiles Báez, Ilan Chester, Orlando Poleo, Gerardo Rosales, Alfredo Naranjo, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Carabobo Symphony Orchestra, Pablo Gil, Simón Díaz and flautist Huáscar Barradas among many others. He also served as a Professor of Jazz Piano, Harmony, and Ensembles for more than three years at the National Experimental University of the Arts in Caracas.
Besides having a very busy performing career, Mr. Orozco is currently an active clinician and educator. He has taught lectures and master classes at some of the most prestigious institutions in the United States such as the Baltimore School for the Arts, Loyola University (Baltimore, MD), Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA), Salem State University, (Boston, MA), and the “New York Arts Program” (NY). He also has his private studio in River Edge, NJ and is faculty at Corlears School in Manhattan, NY.
Website: http://cesarorozco.net
Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/artist/0eO6MjeuzzOF9gOUVdDRfx
Spotify 2: http://open.spotify.com/artist/5ufB42iqMhwrchodi98D4j
Spotify 3: http://open.spotify.com/artist/62jPSBRAcuUpQp1Ljnx0mH
Instagram: orozcopiano
Email: cesarpiano@gmail.com
Quotes, Notes & Etc. “César Orozco manages to make the best combination between Cuban, Jazz and Venezuelan music I ever heard”.
- Paquito D’Rivera
César Orozco is curatable per...
0 Composer
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Jorge Glem & César Orozco - Merengue Today
By César Orozco
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Jeanne W. (Wyllie) Ferraro
May 15, 1953 ~ May 13, 2019 (age 65)
Jeanne W. (Wyllie) Ferraro, 65, a longtime resident of Millis died Monday May 13, 2019, following a brief illness. Born in Milford, she was the daughter of the late Edwin J. & Jean (Feeley) Wyllie, and the beloved wife of Robert J. Ferraro for more than 37 years.
Jeanne was raised and educated in Franklin, and was a 1975 graduate of North Adams State College. In college she was an avid skier both downhill and cross country. When she first moved to Millis Jeanne became a member of the Oak Tree League of Millis and made many lifelong friends. After raising her three children Jeanne worked for many years as an assistant teacher with Project Accept in Medfield and most recently as an assistant teacher at the Adams School in Holliston.
Jeanne loved her family dearly and supported them in whatever they chose to do. She taught CCD classes when her children were young and enjoyed attending all their sporting events throughout their High School and College years. Her greatest treasures were her four grandchildren who she adored.
Besides her husband Bob, Jeanne is survived by her children, Michael J. & his wife, Danielle of Millis, Timothy J. & his wife Carly of Glenside, PA, and Molly E. of Millis, her grandchildren, Joseph, Henry, Colton, and Peyton, her siblings, Anne (Wyllie) Ammendolia & her husband Anthony of Acton, and Edwin Wyllie Jr. & his fiancé, Jen Duffin of Hopkinton. Jeanne is also survived by many nieces, nephews and cousins. She was predeceased by her infant daughter, Katie E.
Family and friends will honor and remember Jeanne’s life by celebrating her Funeral Mass on Monday, May 20th in St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 82 Exchange St., Millis at 10:30 A.M. Interment will follow in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Natick.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made in Jeanne’s name to: Spina Bifida Association of Greater New England, 219 E. Main St. Milford, MA 01757, www.sbagreaterne.org.
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Our Duty
Who Is MCO?
One Voice
George Haight
George Haight, a gate keeper, was poisoned by an inmate March 27, 1893 at the Michigan State Penitentiary in Jackson.
Haight ate tainted food prepared by inmate Robert Irving Latimer. Latimer served Haight, the captain, and other workers food poisoned with prussic acid. Latimer had special permission to both cook meals and purchase hazardous chemicals.
When Haight passed out, Latimer swiped his key ring and made his break. He was apprehended days later.
Haight was survived by a wife and five children.
Latimer wasn’t charged with Haight’s murder, possibly because he was already serving a life sentence for his mother’s murder. Decades later, he received a pardon from the governor and was released.
Earl DeMarse
On the morning of September 25, 1973, Earl F. DeMarse, a corrections officer at the Marquette Branch Prison, reported for duty as usual.
Fifteen minutes into the shift, DeMarse came from his station in the auditorium to Central Control bleeding profusely from multiple stab wounds. He died before he made it to the hospital. DeMarse was 55 years old. DeMarse’s killer, inmate Richard Goodard, was given a mandatory life sentence in 1974. He was transferred to the State Prison of Southern Michigan and was there only a short time when he stabbed and injured another officer.
DeMarse was the second corrections officer killed in the line of duty in the state of Michigan. The Earl F. DeMarse Corrections Academy in Lansing was named after him to honor his 26 years of dedicated work as a Michigan corrections officer.
After DeMarse’s death, many officers wanted to strike because they were shorthanded and under very difficult working conditions.
Josephine McCallum
Corrections Officer Josephine McCallum, a new employee, was found murdered at the bottom of a stairwell in the activities building of Jackson Central March 24, 1987.
She was the only officer in the building when she was brutally attacked, raped, and left to die. She left behind one son and a husband.
Inmate Edward Hill was charged with the murder of Josephine McCallum and received a life imprisonment sentence in 1990. One of the delays in the trial was the blood enzyme test (from blood found on Hill’s clothing). The courts decided that the test was inadmissible evidence because of the uncertainty of its accuracy. The Jackson County Prosecutor challenged the decision and was successful in bringing Hill to trial.
Jack Budd
On December 27, 1987, Corrections Officer Jack Budd was working in five block at the State Prison of Southern Michigan.
His life ended when a prisoner brutally attacked and murdered him.The inmate ran from the shower area and attacked Budd, stabbing him repeatedly.
Inmate James Miller was charged with the murder of Officer Jack Budd. He went to trial and received an additional 80-120 years in prison.
Fallen Officers Memorial
After years of research and planning, MCO’s Fallen Officers Memorial was dedicated May 7, 2017. As bagpipes played “Amazing Grace,” corrections officers lifted the veil off the long-anticipated memorial, giving corrections staff, other law enforcement, legislators, and union supporters their first glimpse of the monument that honors Michigan corrections officers killed in the line of duty.
“It’s very moving,” Sally Budd, sister of fallen corrections officer Jack Budd, said that day. “It’s beautiful because it’s so simple. It’s also a stark reminder of the danger of the job.”
The memorial honors the four corrections officers who have lost their lives in service to the people of Michigan. They are George Haight (date of death March 27, 1893); Earl DeMarse (Sept. 25, 1973); Josephine McCallum (March 24, 1987); and Jack Budd (Dec. 27, 1987). This memorial is our way of ensuring the sacrifice of these officers is never forgotten.
The investment MCO leaders put into the memorial and the unveiling ceremony also sent a strong message to all members: your union leadership understands and appreciates the dangerous nature of your job. We won’t forget. We won’t stop fighting for safer prisons and a voice in our working conditions.
“Corrections officers are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they face a lot of danger, aggression, and insults,” MCO Executive Director Andy Potter said. “As corrections reform moves forward, our hope is that the voices of these fallen officers and the voices of corrections and forensic officers who are still working do not go unheard inside these changes.”
To mark the occasion, MCO created a special commemorative coin that was given to all guests at the memorial unveiling. The memorial honors the fallen, but the coin acknowledges those currently working behind the walls.
“Whenever someone looks at this coin, we hope they reflect on us, the corrections officers, working at that very moment. We put our safety on the line in service to our communities every day,” said Lorraine Emery, corrections officer at the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility.
Any MCO member may receive one of these coins by visiting the memorial at the MCO Central Office, 421 W. Kalamazoo St., Lansing, during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding state holidays).
© 2019 Michigan Corrections Organization
421 W. Kalamazoo St.
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Jun 13 New owner plans $26.5 million renovation of Wells Fargo building
The new owner of the Wells Fargo complex in downtown Rochester is proposing some big changes to the six-story glass structure.
Ryan Companies, which purchased the building earlier this year, is planning a $26.5 million renovation of the space. The updates will include a transparent glass replacement of the facade, plus a glass addition to the lobby that will provide an extension of the public space in Peace Plaza.
Officials from Destination Medical Center have also been working with Ryan Companies to find ways to incorporate the project within its Heart of the City concept, as well as future plans for the adjacent Chateau Theatre.
Before moving forward, the company is asking for $1.78 million in tax increment financing (TIF) assistance. The proposal is set to come before the DMC Corporation Board on June 28, with a formal funding request to the Rochester City Council expected in July.
The 107,000 square-foot property, located at 21 First Street SW, is primarily made up of office space. Its largest tenant is Mayo Clinic. As we reported last year, Wells Fargo plans to maintain a branch inside the building.
Holiday Inn update
A couple blocks south, a developer is seeking $3.3 million in TIF to help with its renovation of the current Holiday Inn hotel building.
According to city documents, the $41 million facelift will include "replacing the monolithic panels with glass to connect the hotel interior to the surrounding streetscape." The proposal also calls for updating the hotel rooms, lobby and second-floor restaurant.
The Holiday Inn renovation is one of three large-scale projects being pitched within the DMC district by California-based EKN Development Group.
What is TIF?
TIF is a tool often used by local governments to help incentivize economic development that aligns with the city's strategic goals. It works by taking the increased tax revenues created by a new development and using them for some form of public benefit (you can read a full explanation here).
Cover photo by Med City Beat
Jun 14 Let's party like it's 1949
Jun 13 Rochester residents invited to provide input on the state of the city
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Home News Albania 3 Leke banknote of 1976
Albania 3 Leke banknote of 1976
24 Oct 2018 Wed
Albania, on South Eastern Europe’s Balkan Peninsula, is a small country with Adriatic and Ionian coastlines and has an interior crossed by the Albanian Alps. The country has many castles and archaeological sites. Capital Tirana centres on sprawling Skanderbeg Square, site of the National History Museum, with exhibits spanning antiquity to post-communism and frescoed Et’hem Bey Mosque.
The Lek is the official currency of Albania. It is subdivided into 100 qindarka, although the qindarkas are no longer issued. The lek was introduced as the first Albanian currency in February 1926. In 1926, the National Bank of Albania (Banka Kombetare e Shqipnis) introduced notes in denominations of 1, 5, 20 and 100 franka ari. In 1939, notes were issued denominated as 5 and 20 franga. These were followed in 1944 with notes for 2, 5 and 10 lek and 100 franga.
The note depicted in the image alongside is a 3 leke banknote issued in 1976. The front of the note features an Albanian peasant woman with a basket of grapes at a vineyard to left along with the denominational value and series number to right. The back depicts the view of Saranda (Sarande) and the harbour.
Image Courtesy: www.nvmvs.com
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The Mezcal Collaborative Advisory Board is comprised of people with a broad range of expertise across various areas that impact the category of Mezcal. This initial advisory board will serve a 12-18 month term and will guide the Collaborative through the initial steps of developing infrastructure, process and goals. We are very excited by the caliber and breadth of the first advisory board. Future advisory boards will be comprised of elected members.
Misty Kalkofen
Madrina – Del Maguey
Misty Kalkofen first stepped behind the bar while studying theology at Harvard Divinity School and soon realized what most excited her about the Bible was the passage in which Jesus turns water into wine. Kalkofen has spent over twenty years honing her craft and has earned a reputation as one of America’s foremost authorities on cocktail history and culture. She has been featured in Bon Appetit, Imbibe, Food & Wine Cocktail editions, Wine Enthusiast, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, Tasting Panel, Wine & Spirits, and more. In 2013, she decided to focus attention on her love for all things agave by joining the team of Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal. Always one to find a good reason for a party, Kalkofen founded the Boston chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of the Endangered Cocktail (LUPEC) thus fulfilling her desire to “cocktail for a cause.” Since then, LUPEC has raised more than $40,000 for local Boston women’s charities by throwing the best parties in town.
Mackenzie Shults
Co-founder – Laika Spirits
Mackenzie Shults is the Co-Founder of Laika Spirits and Managing Partner at Dancing Dog Ranch. Her work is rooted in telling the story of the plants and communities that care for them to the consumers that enjoy them, whether it is wild agave from Southern Mexico distilled into mezcal, or rare cannabis strains grown in Northern California. She strives to apply her background in applied research and inquiry-based design to create products that make a difference to both communities of origin and consumers.
Bob Wenzlau
Bob brings practice in sustainability, community engagement with Oaxaca, and recently has introduced Huxal mezcal. As an environmental engineer, Bob founded Terradex to provide web-based land stewardship monitoring land activities impacting sensitive habitats or environmentally-impaired land. Bob is president of the Palo Alto, California sister city programs including Oaxaca as a sister city for 50 years. Across 20 years, Bob has arranged the transport of 15 emergency vehicles to Oaxaca’s fire fighters – one ambulance alone recorded 750 births. Bob also lead an initiative for the first sale of carbon offsets from Mexico to California relying on managing forests in rural Oaxaca. Beyond the environmental benefit, economic benefit to rural communities are being developed including efforts to introduce planting of wild agaves. In 2019, Bob is part of a team introducing Huxal Mezcal as an artisanal mezcal also yielding monies to support transporting more vehicles to Oaxaca’s fire fighters. Bob looks forward to contributing social and environmental insights into the Mezcal Collaboration.
Feliz Monterroza
Co-founder Mezcales CUISH
Full bio coming
Jaime Saavedra
Director – Cerrimex
Jaime is currently the Director of Marketing and Business Development at CERRIMEX, LLC, a corporation focused on the importation and distribution of select alcoholic beverages with an emphasis on premium Mexican spirits. Jaime’s passion for Mexican spirits stems both from his chemical background as well as his love for the rural and artisanal Mexico of times past. Prior to devoting his time to the spirits industry, Jaime was a practicing attorney at international law firms where he focused his practice on intellectual property issues related to patent prosecution, as well as trademark litigation. Jaime’s scientific experience includes work in organic chemistry and biochemistry. He has authored articles in peer-reviewed journals and has presented his research at scientific conferences. Jaime believes that the historical context of Mexican artisanal spirits as well as the deceptively simple series of chemical transformations that makes them possible are equal and necessary elements to achieve a true appreciation of Mexican spirits. It is at this interface of tradition, craftsmanship, and science that Jaime likes to operate.
Jay Schroeder
Partner, Author
Jay Schroeder has dedicated his career to agave and cocktail culture, working exclusively with agave products for years to become one of the preeminent authorities on Mexican spirits in the industry. Schroeder’s history with agave spirits includes running the beverage program for Rick Bayless’s top restaurants Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, and Xoco; launching the award-winning Mezcaleria Las Flores in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood and most recently running the beverage program as a partner at Logan Square’s acclaimed restaurant Quiote and adjacent mezcaleria Todos Santos.
Lou Bank
Founder – SACRED
Lou Bank is the founder of SACRED, a not-for-profit that uses heirloom agave spirits to improve the quality of life in the rural Mexican communities where those spirits are made. He also runs StoryBus, a children’s museum on wheels, and manages Van Gogh For All, a traveling exhibit that engages children, families, and young adults in the work of Vincent van Gogh. Before working in not-for-profits, Lou ran sales at Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics, and started the craft distillery at Rogue Ales.
Michelle Ivey
COO – Ilegal Mezcal
Michelle’s early career started with 15 years in hospitality management from 24 hour dive bars to boutique hotels and was followed by ten years of owning her own firm specializing in hospitality investment management and compliance. In 2013, feeling a bit tired she decided to take a year off and travel Central and South America. Her first stop was Antigua, Guatemala where she promptly found the bar, Cafe No Se, and the liquid, Ilegal Mezcal. It was love at first sip. Her year off lasted ten days when she met the founder of Ilegal, John Rexer (and coincidentally owner of her now favorite bar). The company was growing quickly and in need. She joined Ilegal right away as the Director of Operations, stayed in Antigua for three years (that tends to happen there) before moving back to NYC to continue growing the brand and the company. She has been on board with Ilegal for over 6 years now, is a co-founder of the lifestyle marketing group 11C & Co and is still waiting to take that year off.
Tess Rose Lampert
Wine and Spirits Educator
Tess Rose Lampert is a New York based writer, educator and beverage expert with a lifelong passion for Mexican culture. Her work has taken her on extensive travels throughout Mexico to learn about agave spirits from the families and communities that produce them, and bring back their knowledge and wisdom to share with other enthusiasts. In addition to consulting with brands and judging competitions, she participates in and organizes events to educate consumers, trade, and media on all aspects of agave.
John McEvoy
Venture Capitalist, MezcalPhD
John McEvoy, from the well-known blog Mezcal PhD, is the author of Holy Smoke! It’s Mezcal! The Revised Second Edition and the original, Holy Smoke! It’s Mezcal! The Complete Guide from Agave to Zapotec. John is known for his direct commentary. He celebrates the many excellent mezcal brands on the market, but also is not shy about calling out the industrial and poorly made mezcals. He traces his love of mezcal to a journey that began with tequila over 30 years ago. As mezcal began to emerge in the 2000s, John embraced this amazing spirit and made it his mission to inform and educate everyone he could reach. Mostly, his wife just got tired of him talking to her about it all the time. As mezcal is an endless riddle, John continues his own education by making regular trips to Oaxaca and drinking as much mezcal as possible – he calls this research. When not immersed in the mezcal world, John runs a New York based venture group, Tribeca Early Stage Partners. He has an undergraduate degree in Business from the University of Texas and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University.
Jake Lustig
Founder – Terranova Spirits
A native Californian, Jake Lustig spent much of his youth in Mexico, where as a teenager he worked as a translator and tour guide for visitors to the remote southern region of Oaxaca. When tequila’s popularity began to boom in the late 1980’s, Jake added mezcal distilleries to his artisan village tours. In working with these remote Oaxacan distilleries, Jake learned of the nuances in agave distillation and eventually began a small business selling quality mezcal to neighbors and visiting travelers. In 1995, with his work by now focused wholly on mezcal distilleries and production, Jake partnered with an 11-generation distillation family, the Arellanes family, to renovate the family’s Destilería Real de Minas, and launched a newly created mezcal brand, Don Amado Mezcal. Following a couple of years of distillation and brand development work in Mexico, in 1997 the team began exporting the Don Amado Mezcal brand abroad to begin develop foreign markets. His experience in production and mezcal brand development led to work with Espolon Tequila,Southern Wines & Spirits, and Haas Brothers. In 2017 Jake partnered with friend and colleague, Enrique Fonseca, to create Terranova Spirits, a global purveyor of spirits and liqueurs, with a focus on agave, cane spirits and bitters.
Glynn Pegler
Media and Technology Entrepreneur
Glynn established his first company – a leading youth consumer magazine, challenging the way young people learn – at the age of 15. He now works across private and public sectors and his initiatives have been consumed by millions of print media readers, by tens of millions of television viewers and over a billion internet visitors.’Culture Group’, founded by Glynn, creates initiatives to entertain, inform and inspire. They do this by developing digital strategies, formats and partnerships to create social change. Learning platforms that result in loyalty and growth for clients including Google, Virgin, Red Bull, Comic Relief and Santander. Glynn sits on an Advisory Board for BBC Studios, sat on the Advisory Board for Welsh Government and co-founded Young Brits as a social enterprise to champion young business talent from the UK. He is a UK Ambassador for the European Cultural Parliament’s Youth Network & was the UK’s Lead Entrepreneur delegate at the G20 Summits. Glynn became a Director of UnLtd – a £100m Foundation for social entrepreneurs – for six years and additionally Director of Digital and Emerging Markets for Santander. Glynn was appointed as a diplomat by the President of Mexico as a UK Honorary Consul. Glynn began working with members of the Mezcal industry in 2008 and recently established his own brand, Kiko Mezcal.
Erick Rodriguez
Founder – Almamezcalera
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Brendan Dassey being escorted to the courthouse in Manitowoc, Wisconsin 2007Source: Sue Pischke/AP
'Making a Murderer' Convict's Half Brother Brad Dassey Drops New Rap "They Didn't Do It"
By Tom Barnes
Making a Murderer, Netflix's hit new series covering the legal proceedings surrounding the murder of Teresa Halbach, is now making a rapper.
Brad Dassey, self-described "Christian rap indie artist" and half brother to Making a Murderer subject Brendan Dassey, released a new track Monday addressing his brother's conviction. Titled "They Didn't Do It," the song throws support behind accusations of corruption and conspiracy that Brendan Dassey and Steven Avery were framed for Halbach's murder. It's been generating huge buzz within fan communities feeling the impact of the song's message.
"Kid's just innocent," Brad Dassey raps. "Was only 16, tryna set him free/ He's not guilty, there's no way in hell/ Corruption made him fall, lose it all."
Source: braddasseymusic/Soundcloud
According to Brad Dassey's SoundCloud, he wrote and recorded the new track in 10 hours as a way to try to bring more attention to his brother's case.
"I was influenced to write it because everybody's talking about Steven this, Steven that," Brad Dassey said in an interview with the Daily Beast. "Nobody talks about Brendan. The poor guy just got railroaded by investigators and got the raw end of the deal, and somebody needs to support him."
Both Brendan Dassey and Avery, the latter of whom is the primary focus of Netflix's Making a Murderer, have been serving life in prison since being found guilty in 2007 for the 2005 murder of Halbach. Avery had previously served 18 years for a sexual assault and was later exonerated by DNA evidence. He was in the process of suing local officials for $36 million for wrongful conviction when he was hit with the murder charge.
The Netflix documentary series covering these legal proceedings has gathered a large number of supporters demanding their release. A petition submitted to the White House asking for a presidential pardon for both men garnered 129,950 signatures, and another at Change.org drawn more than 400,000 signatures. However, since Halbach's murder was never a federal case, the president doesn't have the power to overturn the conviction, as a White House representative wrote in response.
Brad Dassey still holds out hope that some good will come from the attention the documentary and his song are receiving, besides helping to get his music in front of wider audience than ever. "I just want people who support our family to listen to it," Dassey told the Daily Beast. "It's more of a victory song to the better days ahead, because I just had a dream the other day that [Brendan and Steven] were out, and there was going to be a massive party and people all over the globe were going to come down and celebrate."
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Was the White House Built By Slaves? Some Are Really Doubting Michelle Obama’s DNC Speech
Yes, FLOTUS haters, the White House was built by slaves.
Last night, first lady Michelle Obama delivered a banger of a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, asking voters if they wanted their children to grow up with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton or Republican nominee Donald Trump as a role model.
When explaining the importance of having black and female role models, she said:
That is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done, so that today I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.
Obama's speech was met by resounding cheers. But because the law of the internet dictates there's always got to be "that guy" in the conversation, people objected to what she'd said.
In a now-deleted response to Kelly Clarkson, one Twitter user criticized "the part where she said the White House was built by slaves."
That Twitter user wasn't the only one.
But they're wrong. In fact, the White House Historical Association has an entire page dedicated to the question of whether slaves built the White House.
And sorry, commenters, they absolutely did.
Source: Giphy
As the Association's page states, "Construction on the president's house began in 1792 in Washington, D.C., a new capital situated in a sparsely settled region far from a major population center. The decision to place the capital on land ceded by two slave states — Virginia and Maryland — ultimately influenced the acquisition of laborers to construct its public buildings.
The D.C. commissioners, charged by Congress with building the new city under the direction of the president, initially planned to import workers from Europe to meet their labor needs. However, response to recruitment was dismal and soon they turned to African-American(s) — enslaved and free — to provide the bulk of labor that built the White House, the United States Capitol, and other early government buildings.
Stonemason Collen Williamson "trained enslaved people on the spot at the government's quarry at Aquia, Virginia," the page continues: "Enslaved people quarried and cut the rough stone that was later dressed and laid by Scottish masons to erect the walls of the president's house. The slaves joined a workforce that included local white laborers and artisans from Maryland and Virginia, as well as immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and other European nations."
So there you have it. We leave you with this:
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Pixies have staying power
Alt-rock legends finish Doolittle tour in Victoria
American alt-rock legends, the Pixies, are making a stop at the Save On Foods Memorial Centre with their Doolittle tour, Thursday, May 5.
The air is thick with anticipation.
Fans of critically acclaimed alt-rock pioneers, the Pixies, won’t have to wait much longer to see the rock legends perform a perfected version of their 1989 album, Doolittle.
With almost 100 tour dates under their belt, the Pixies are finishing off their cross-Canada tour here in Victoria, Thursday, May 5.
“It’s amazing, tours keep coming up because of demand,” says drummer David Lovering. “We thought it was over in the U.S. late last summer, but we found out Canada wants to see it, too.”
The Doolittle tour began in Ireland in September 2009, and has graced stages throughout Europe, Australia, South America, the U.S. and finally Canada.
They’ll be playing the 22-year-old album from start to finish, along with B-sides for an eager crowd of aging rock enthusiasts and new fans alike.
“It’s very weird, I can’t believe how young some of these people in the crowd are,” says guitar player Joey Santiago. “I guess they found out about us in utero when they were fetuses because their parents really dug the music.”
“We’re one of those lucky bands because college really broadens people’s horizons. I used to tell my nieces and nephews about my work, but when they hit college they came to me and I was like ‘I told you I was a fucken bad ass, I’m not just your uncle.”
The band members: singer Black Francis, bassist Kim Deal, Lovering and Santiago, will take turns selecting songs for the encore. “Generally when we do an encore, it’s a greatest hits kind of thing,” says Lovering.
The show will feature 11 films custom-made by Judy Jacobs, Tom Winkler, Brent Felix and Melinda Tupling. The films will be projected onto a massive back drop and will accompany about half of the songs on the set list.
“This is the biggest, grandest production we’ve ever had,” says Lovering. “We have two semis full of equipment.”
After the show, Santiago and Lovering will be spending time around town enjoying some local delicacies.
“We like to eat,” says Santiago. “We’re the hunters of the group. “The other two are gatherers — they’re mostly vegetarian.”
Keep your eyes peeled for Santiago cruising around town on his bicycle, which he uses for sightseeing on tour.
“I picked up this beater mountain bike in Halifax for $100 and brought it along for the tour. When I take it for a cruise, I always have a destination, usually food related — I have to find a place to get my huevos rancheros,” he says.
He plans to lock the bike up somewhere in Victoria and hold a treasure hunt contest on Twitter, leaving clues to its location. “Whoever finds it will get to keep it. I’ll give them the lock combination.” M
Delhi 2 Dublin
They can dance if they want to
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Hounslow London Borough Council
Residents say no to flight path changes
Plans to redraw the airspace above Hounslow have been given an overwhelming thumbs-down by concerned residents.
Heathrow jet and control tower
More than 80 per cent of people who responded to a public consultation on where planes should fly have objected to the proposals outright.
Residents in the areas surrounding Heathrow raised fears about noise levels, with Hounslow Council claiming 40,000 more residents would be affected by aircraft din.
The plans were drawn up by NATS, the national body responsible for managing air traffic, and were its first fundamental overhaul of south east England's airspace in decades.
Just 13 per cent of the 14,000 respondents supported the proposal in its current form, according to the first data to be published by NATS since the consultation closed in June.
Yesterday Jonathan Astill, head of airspace management for NATS, said: "It may be that there are changes we can make to the design, and that could lead to further consultation with local communities."
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West Middlesex Hospital staff recognised for long-term service
Employees clock up more than 900 years of service with longest serving member 40 years
West Middlesex Hospital recognised 144 employees from nurses and midwives to managers on their long service. An event was held on Feb 5 at the hospital in Isleworth and attended by 56 employees. Pictured here are a group of long service award winners.
Dedicated staff at West Middlesex Hospita l have clocked up more than 900 years of service between them.
The team of 56 employees made up of nurses, managers and midwives were each rewarded for putting in over ten years of service.
Their hardwork and commitment was celebrated at the annual Long Service Awards held at the hospital, last Wednesday (5).
The longest serving staff member at the ceremony was patient affairs manager, Chris Lewis, from Shepperton who has worked at the Trust for 41 years, this April.
He said: “I have carried out many roles in my time here; I started out in the x-ray department as a messenger, then a clerical assistant before joining the finance department where I have had various roles before working in the patient affairs office.
"It has certainly gone very quickly and I’ve always enjoyed working here.”
There were 56 members of staff who attended the event which recognised people who had achieved significant milestones of 10, 15, 20, and up to 40 years of service.
Diane Pursglove from Chiswick who has worked in the hospital pharmacy department for 30 years, said: “Funnily enough I started here in a temporary position, since then I have worked with many people and have made a lot of good friends.
"I have seen the hospital change a lot and I have also had a few family members work here over the years; there have been many good times, and some sad times but on the whole, I have enjoyed my time here. “
Susan Nugent from Isleworth collected her award for over 15 years service as a midwife although she actually started her career at the hospital over 30 years ago, before taking a break to raise her two daughters.
She said: “I came back to the Trust in 1998 as a neonatal nurse and returned to practice midwifery a year later; my colleagues are all very friendly and I really enjoy my work as a community midwife.”
In total 144 staff were commended for their service to hospital.
Nina Singh, Director of Workforce and Development, said: “West Middlesex is a hospital where many staff choose to stay with us and form part of the local community.
"That’s quite special for a London hospital and we hope to preserve that.
"We see the importance of formally recognising the achievements and loyalty of our workforce and this ceremony gives us the opportunity to publicly thank staff and acknowledge the service they have given over many years.”
West Middlesex Hospital
Metropolitan PoliceMaida Vale Islamic Centre evacuation: Man detained after being spotted 'acting suspiciously with luggage' near mosqueCordons were in place while incident response teams investigated
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Cab driver left with shocking injuries after 'vicious attack'
The shocking image, released by police, showed the multiple injuries the cab driver was left with having been "repeatedly kicked or punched in the head"
Witnesses have been urged to come forward after a “vicious attack” on a 62-year-old cab driver in Kensington.
Police are appealing for help six months after the attack.
The cab driver, who does not wish to be named, was hailed by a man and woman, thought to be aged in their early 20s, at around 2.20am on Monday January 26, in the Brompton Square area near Harrods.
After stopping the cab, the driver agreed to take the pair to Addison Gardens, Kensington.
The man paid the £20 fare and the pair then left the cab in Lower Addison Gardens.
As they left the cab, the driver noticed that the woman had been sick in the back of his cab during the journey. He suggested to the man that they should clear up the mess or give him an extra £45 to pay for the cleaning of the cab.
The cab driver has no recollection of what happened next but, when he regained consciousness, he was badly injured and his clothing was covered in blood. He managed to drive home where his son took him to hospital for treatment.
He suffered multiple fractures around his eye socket.
Officers were called to the hospital where they began an investigation.
DC Simon Jewell, from Kensington & Chelsea CID, said: "The victim's injuries are consistent with having been repeatedly kicked or punched in the head. This would appear to be a vicious attack on a 62-year-old man who has only recently been able to return to work.
"We have released a photo of the cab driver in hospital, taken from a Body Worn Camera, in the hope that this will encourage people to come forward with information to help the investigation.
"We are appealing for anyone who can help us to identify the couple - a white man and woman in their early 20s - who caught the cab in the early hours on Monday January 26 from the vicinity of Brompton Square to Lower Addison Gardens.
"We'd particularly like to speak to the residents of Lower Addison Gardens and Addison Gardens who may have heard noise at around 2.30am on Monday January 26 or may even have witnessed the assault."
If you have any information about this incident please call police on 020 8246 0217 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Police Appeals
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West London duo win award for community cohesion work
Youngsters' passion for martial arts and using language skills to break barriers rewarded at ceremony in House of Lords
Olympic Champion Darren Campbell with Hounslow award winner Jasmine Madhan, and Peoples Health Trust chief executive John Hume
An inspirational female duo from west London have been honoured for their remarkable work in supporting community cohesion.
Jasmine Madhan, 14, of Hounslow, who has a passion for martial arts tied with teaching younger children, was commended as part of the borough's connecting communities programme at the House of Lords on Wednesday (July 15).
In Brent, Melissa Desousa, 20, was awarded for using her language and translation skills to engage other young people who may have felt isolated and missed out on opportunities to connect with peers.
Jasmine, who was one of 12 young people to scoop a trophy at the Connecting Communities Award, said: “It was a huge honour to be at the House of Lords, to accept this award on behalf of Hounslow.
"Connecting Communities is a fantastic initiative that has helped our community take part in regular, structured, and fun activities.
"It has helped me develop my own confidence and leadership through being involved so this is an unforgettable moment for me.”
Olympic Champion Darren Campbell, Brent award winner Melissa Desousa, and Peoples Health Trust chief executive John Hume
Connecting Communities aims to inspire and empower young people to get more involved in their local area, providing them with skills and confidence to take control of a project.
The scheme, which runs in 12 of the UK's disadvantaged neighbourhoods, is a network of people inspired to volunteer their time to benefit others in the community.
Over the past 12 months, more than 400 young people have been involved in activities nationwide as part of the programme, and have reported an increase in their skills set and confidence.
Olympic champion and TV presenter Darren Campbell congratulated both on their fantastic efforts.
The initiative is funded by People's Health Trust through The Health Lottery and the event was hosted by Youth Sport Trust. The Connecting Communities Awards at the House of Lords were hosted by Youth Sport Trust Chair Baroness Sue Campbell, who praised the contribution of Jasmine and Melissa.
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TMT (I) Share Price
NSE Symbol: TMTINDIA | BSE Code: 522171
The BSE or the Bombay Stock Exchange is Asia's oldest and first stock exchange. It is located in Mumbai, erstwhile Bombay, and it was formally established in 1875. An influential stockbroker and a businessman, Premchand Roychand, along with a handful of acquaintances, started the BSE journey in 1855. The BSE had its meetings under Banyan trees in its initial days. The group grew and eventually moved to a permanent place in 1874. BSE’s office is very appropriately named ‘Dalal Street’ which translated to Broker Street in Hindi. BSE operated as a floor trading exchange for a long time before ascending the digital ladder in 1995. They implemented an automated trading platform which had a capacity of 8 million per day. BSE went global in 2012, by joining the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchange as a partner. Subsequently, in 2016, BSE established the first international exchange of India, called INX.
With an aim to induce transparency to the Indian capital market, the Indian Government implored a group of leading financial institutions for an effective solution. Accordingly, these financial institutions, along with the Government's support, established the first demutualized electronic exchange of India in 1992, known as the NSE. Since its inception, the NSE functioned on a totally automated screen-based digital trading system, which offered a great platform to connect the investor base of the entire country and offer them an easy trading facility. NSE was India's first electronic exchange and currently offers services pertaining to several segments, such as equity derivatives, clearing and settlement services in equity, trading, debt and currency derivatives, etc.
The NIFTY is National Stock Exchange of India's benchmark broad-based stock market index for the country's equity market. It lists 50 selected Indian companies across 12 sectors that own the largest and most liquid Indian securities. Hence, it is popularly called NIFTY 50. The Nifty index represents the weighted average of the stock value of those 50 companies. The India Index Services and Products or IISL, a company which is focused on an index as a core product, owns and manages the Nifty. Through one efficient portfolio, the Nifty exposes investment managers to the current status of the Indian market and helps in determining promising investment opportunities.
Similar to NSE's Nifty 50, BSE also has a stock market index known as Sensex. The word comes from the words 'Sensitive' and 'Index,' and is basically a portmanteau of the two. BSE 30 and S&P BSE SENSEX are two other names of this index. Sensex constitutes the top 30 financially flourishing and well-established companies from the ones listed on BSE. These companies typically represent diverse industrial sectors of the country's economy to ensure a holistic calculation. Usually, these are the companies that have the largest and most actively traded stocks. SENSEX is broadly reported through both print and electronic media in national as well as international markets. The scientifically designed indexing system is based on globally accepted construction and review methodologies. It is being calculated on the basis of a free-float market capitalization methodology since September 2003.
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#C138 – 2001 60c Acadia National Park
$2.40FREE with 640 points!
- Used Single Stamp(s)
3 More - Click Here
camera Mint Plate Block of 4
camera Mint Sheet(s)
camera Silk First Day Cover
Mounts - Click Here
- MM637215x32mm 25 Horizontal Black Split-Back Mounts
- MM62147x32mm 50 Horizontal Black Split-Back Mounts
- MM420747x32mm 50 Horizontal Clear Bottom-Weld Mounts
U.S. #C138
2001-05 60¢ Acadia National Park
Scenic American Landscapes
Issue Date: 2001-2005
First City: Bar Harbor, Maine
Quantity Issued: 100,000,000
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforation: Serpentine Die Cut 11 ¼ x 11 1/2
Color: Multicolored
The sixth Scenic American Landscapes Series stamp features Acadia National Park, which includes 45,000 acres of mountains, lakes, forests, and rocky shoreline in Maine. Acadia was the first national park created east of the Mississippi River. This 60¢ stamp, issued in 2001, replaced the 60¢ Grand Canyon stamp for letters weighing up to and including one ounce and being mailed to Canada or Mexico.
The Wabanaki people were some of the first known residents of present-day Acadia, arriving as much as 5,000 years ago. They called Mount Desert Island Pemetic, which means “range of mountains” or “the sloping land.” With entire families in each canoe, they traveled there seasonally to hunt, fish, and collect the bountiful natural harvest.
Some of the earliest accounts of outsiders in the Wabanaki territory were in the 1500s, when Europeans reportedly began trading with them. In 1604, French explorer Samuel de Champlain ran aground at Mount Desert Island and gave the mountain its current name. The Wabanaki kindly welcomed French Jesuits in 1613, who established the first French mission in America near the entrance of Somes Sound. The French were in the process of building a fort and baptizing natives when an English ship, led by Captain Samuel Argall, arrived and destroyed the mission. With the French in control of the area north of the island and British in the south, there was little European activity on the island for about 150 years.
A British victory over the French in 1759 made the island part of New England until the American Revolution saw the island added to the newly formed United States of America. Soon, American homesteaders arrived at the island. By 1820, farming, lumbering, fishing, and shipbuilding were the area’s major occupations. Hundreds of acres of trees were cut down for commercial use. By the mid-1800s, artists of the Hudson River School, including Thomas Cole and Frederic Church, popularized the island to outsiders. Over the next few decades, there were 30 hotels on the island and tourism was among the island’s main industries. As the 19th century came to a close, the island became a popular retreat for wealthy families, many of whom built lavish houses with breathtaking views.
The “Father of Acadia National Park,” George B. Dorr, first visited the area in 1868 while on vacation with his parents. During that stay, he decided to make Mount Desert Island his home. Early on he knew this land was special and worked tirelessly to collect land for protection. He convinced others to give land or money to buy land, and gave much of his own. In 1901, along with Charles W. Eliot, he created the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations to continue to raise money and set aside land. By 1913, however, he realized that the land needed Federal protection to be truly safe and that became his primary concern. Dorr immediately began meeting with influential friends in Washington armed with maps, deeds, and titles – anything necessary to convince them how important this was.
After more than two years of aggressive lobbying, Dorr had success. On July 8, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson established the Sieur de Monts National Monument. Dorr and the trustees had wanted to make it a national park, but he didn’t want to wait the extra time for Congress to deliberate on the issue.
Dorr was appointed the first superintendent of Trustees to the lands and immediately began work on a springhouse. Beginning in 1915, wealthy philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. paid for, designed, and oversaw the construction of 57 miles of carriage trails through the park. An expert road builder, Rockefeller’s trails featured sweeping vistas and remarkable close-up views of the natural sights.
Over time, more land was added and in 1919, it achieved new status as Lafayette National Park – the first National Park east of the Mississippi River. During his years overseeing the park, Dorr demanded everything be of the highest quality, and nothing be done that might harm the park’s unsurpassed beauty or uniqueness. Ten years after achieving National Park status, it was renamed Acadia – in honor of the French who originally called the area Arcadia – meaning refuge or idyllic place.
The arrival of the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933 saw the creation of more trails throughout the park and two camps, one of which serves as the park headquarters today. Since that time, the island’s residents have kept their predecessor’s traditions alive, continuing to donate lands and establishing rules on their own property to keep the landscape safe.
Read More - Click Here
Stamps in the Set:
#C133-50
1999-2012 Scenic Landscapes Airmails
#C1-150
1918-2012 US Airmail Collection, Complete Set of 153 Stamps and FREE Mounts
$1,995.00- $2,895.00
#C133
1999 48c Niagara Falls s/a
$0.80- $45.00
1999 40c Rio Grande s/a
2000 60c Grand Canyon, s/a
2001 70c Nine-Mile Prairie
2001 80c Mt. McKinley
2006 63c Bryce Canyon National Park
2006 75c Great Smoky Mnts Nat'l Park
2006 84c Yosemite National Park
2007 69c Okefenokee Swamp
2007 90c Hagatna Bay
2008 72c 13-Mile Woods, New Hampshire
2008 94c Trunk Bay, St. John, Virgin Is.
2009 79c Zion National Park
2009 98c Grand Teton National Park
2011 80c Voyageurs National Park
2012 85c Glacier National Park
2012 $1.05 Lancaster County, PA
1999 Airmails 2 stamps
1993 40c William T. Piper,reissue
$0.60- $395.00
1990 45c AMERICA Caribbean coastal scene
1991 50c Bering Land Bridge
1989 45c Future Mail Transportation s/s
1991 50c Antarctic Treaty
1991 40c William Piper
1991 50c Harriet Quimby
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New insights into life in the deepest places on Earth
A feeding frenzy of cusk-eels where nothing was previously thought to live, an entirely new species of deep-sea fish, and large crustacean scavengers, are among the highlights of a recent research expedition that is shedding new light on the ecology of deepest places on Earth.
A team of marine biologists from the UK, Japan and New Zealand working within the HADEEP project have recently returned from an expedition to the Peru-Chile Trench in the Southeast Pacific Ocean on the German research vessel Sonne. There they used state-of-the-art deep-sea imaging technology to investigate life in the deepest parts of the oceans; the Hadal Trenches. The team used an ultra-deep free-falling baited camera system to take a total of 6000 images between 4500 and 8000 metres (three to five miles deep) within the trench.
These results revealed a high diversity and abundance of animals, mainly fish, at depths previously thought to be almost devoid of life. The HADEEP team has been investigating these extreme depths for three years, and two years ago filmed the deepest fish ever seen alive. Their previous findings from off Japan and New Zealand have revealed a strange phenomenon of snailfish (known as Liparids) inhabiting the trenches at a depth of approximately 7000 m, with each trench hosting its own unique species of snailfish.
To test whether this phenomenon occurred in all trenches they repeated the experiments on the other side of the Pacific Ocean off Peru and Chile, some 6000 miles from their last observations, and found that indeed there was another unique species of snailfish living at 7000 m. This species of snailfish is new to science and has never been caught or even seen before.
However this new species of fish was not the only significant find of the expedition. At 6000 m, a depth which previous campaigns had revealed to be a ‘no man’s land’, and where there had always been believed to be an absence of fish, they found more fish than all the other trench observations put together. Here, a species of cusk-eel (known as Ophidiids) aggregated at the camera and began a feeding frenzy that lasted the entire duration of the deployment; 22 hours.
The team leader, Dr. Alan Jamieson said, “These are some fantastic results and will prompt a rethink into fish populations at extreme depths.” He later quipped “We’ll be scratching our heads over this for a while, absolutely not what we were expecting.” He also added, “These results highlight the significance of the individual trench environment rather than simply depth itself.”
Dr. Toyonobu Fujii, a deep-sea fish expert from Aberdeen said, “How deep fish can live has long been an intriguing question and the results from this expedition has provided ‘deeper’ insight into our understanding of the global distribution of fish in the oceans.”
The activity of these fish was interspersed with the presence of scavenging crustaceans known as amphipods; large shrimp-like creatures of which one particular group, called Eurythenes, were generally far larger and occurred much deeper in this trench than found elsewhere. Many specimens of amphipods were collected by the team and are now in New Zealand.
Dr. Niamh Kilgallen, an amphipod expert working at the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research in Wellington said, “The sheer abundance of these big amphipods was overwhelming, particularly at 7000 and 8000 m, which is much deeper than they have been found in any other trench. It begs the question of why and how they can live so deep in this trench but not in any other.”.
These findings prompt a re-evaluation of the diversity and abundance of life at extreme depths. Furthermore, it is now apparent that each of the deep trenches hosts a unique assembly of animals which can differ greatly from trench to trench. The immense isolation of each trench draws parallels with island evolution theory popularised by Darwin’s finches.
The HADEEP project is funded by the Nippon Foundation (Japan) and NERC (UK) and is a collaboration between the Universities of Aberdeen (UK) and Tokyo (Japan) with additional support from NIWA (New Zealand).
For comment, contact:
Dr. Niamh Kilgallen,
NIWA (New Zealand)
Dr. Alan Jamieson,
(UK) 00 44 1224 274410,
a.jamieson@abdn.ac.uk
Dr. Kota Kitazawa,
University of Tokyo (Japan),
Email: kitazawa@aori.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Other contacts:
Jennifer Phillips
University of Aberdeen Press Office
Tel: 00 44 1224 273174,
j.phillips@abdn.ac.uk
Dr. Toyonobu Fujii
University of Aberdeen deep-sea fish expert)
Tel: 00 1224 274430,
t.fujii@abdn.ac.uk
Diversity in the Deep
Research subject: Benthic habitats
Voyage Update 5: sampling rattails and exploring vulnerable coral habitats in the MPA
Voyage Update 3: Phytoplankton producers powering the world
Ross Sea Region Research and Monitoring Programme
New discoveries on Marlborough seafloor
NIWA undertakes an ambitious, complex seabed experiment
Chatham Rise seabed survey - May - June 2018
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Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other Colleges in Kansas
Discover and research the 1 college with Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other majors in Kansas with Noodle. Find the right Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other colleges for you by entering your GPA, test scores and other preferences.
Dodge City Community College
2501 N 14th Ave, Dodge City, KS 67801
Dodge City Community College is an Associate's college with 1785 students located in Dodge City, KS. learn more
Offers Associate Degrees, Open Admissions
Facts About Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other Colleges in Kansas
There are 1 Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other Colleges in Kansas.
Browse Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other Colleges in Kansas by Majors
Colleges in Kansas
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Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other Colleges
(1) Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other Colleges in Dodge City, KS
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CONTACT NORM
Miller Highlights Local Healthcare Leaders’ Support for Bill 74
Thanks Minister Elliott for supporting redevelopment of both Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare hospitals
QUEEN’S PARK, TORONTO: Healthcare leaders in Parry Sound-Muskoka have told MPP Norman Miller that Bill 74 is a good step towards creating integrated healthcare.
Miller took time during the debate on Bill 74, the People’s Healthcare Act to highlight that support from local healthcare leaders and to thank the Minister of Health for ensuring that the redevelopment of both the Huntsville and Bracebridge sites of Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare was in the budget.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank the Minister of Health for listening to the people of Muskoka and Almaguin. Page 116 of this year’s budget lists hospital projects in the construction or planning stages,” said Miller. “It includes redevelopment plans for both Bracebridge’s and Huntsville’s hospitals. This will come as a relief for many in Muskoka who know that timely access to their hospitals will save lives. I’m very pleased to see their voices have been heard.”
Miller went on to describe some of the challenges his constituents have faced in accessing the care they needed and situations where the patients have fallen through the cracks in the existing system. “Without a doubt, this system can and should be improved. Ontario’s patients shouldn’t have to wait any longer,” said Miller.
Miller spoke about a meeting he and Christine Elliott, Minister of Health and Long Term Care, had with members of the Muskoka and Area Health Transformation council as well as other healthcare leaders from Parry Sound-Muskoka on March 11, 2019 in Bracebridge.
“I was very pleased to have an opportunity to sit down with Minister Elliott and health care leaders from across my riding in March. Doctors, mental health workers, nurses, administrators and patients were all represented, and the tone of the meeting was overwhelmingly positive,” said Miller.
“Phil Matthews, who is the chair of the board of directors for Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, heralded Bill 74 as ‘exactly the type of legislation they’ve been looking for,’ and described it as dovetailing exactly with the work they’ve been doing to create integrated care in their communities.”
Miller went on to tell the Legislature that Natalie Bubela, CEO of MAHC, told the meeting that MAHC would be submitting “a collaborative application for an Ontario health team modelled around primary care that builds up the exceptional work previously done by the Muskoka and Area Health System Transformation group.”
Finally, Miller quoted Donald Sanderson, CEO of the West Parry Sound Health Centre who said, “We see great opportunity in your vision for health care transformation. We are proud to say that Bill 74 describes the community-based relationships that already involve West Parry Sound Health Centre and our care partners. This legislation will enable us to create even stronger partnerships with patients and families at the centre of our care.”
“Mr. Speaker, I have great respect for these individuals and all healthcare providers in Parry Sound–Muskoka. I trust these people, and they are saying that we are headed in the right direction,” said Miller. “And I’m proud to say that I’m here today in support of Minister Elliott’s vision.”
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