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President Toomas Hendrik Ilves has approved a bill which will force companies to declare any transactions over 1,000 euros. He vetoed a similar bill in December. “Apparent conflicts with the Constitution have been removed and the analysis of its effect has been improved,” Ilves said today. He said only time will tell whether the new law will have any effect on tax fraud or not. Ilves said there is a suspicion and a feeling of superiority among politicians toward businesses, but the business community should be encouraged and acknowledged instead. Ilves was voted the "taxpayer's friend" after his veto in 2013, and Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi the "taxpayer's foe" for proposing the idea. Ligi said the requirement would cut tax fraud, while business unions said it burdens companies with unnecessary red tape. "Such an intensive restriction on basic rights can only be seen as constitutional if analysis of the various types and examples of VAT fraud can prove that current schemes to hide revenue and to defraud the state of VAT would, in the conditions of the regulation, become either impossible or significantly easier to discover, and that they cannot quickly be replaced with new effective fraud schemes," the President said in December. IRL, now in opposition, calculated the additional cost to businesses at 80 million a year, with possible extra revenue only 30 million euros. |
A West Vancouver woman who was charged and subsequently acquitted of human trafficking, and then went on to sue the RCMP, has reached a settlement and received an apology. In a letter dated Aug. 7, RCMP Supt. Sean Sullivan confirms the civil suit Ladha launched against the RCMP in 2015 alleging negligent investigation and defamation had been resolved via a "compensation agreement." "In the course of the criminal investigation, certain public statements were made by the RCMP that the Force now recognizes were improper," wrote Sullivan. "On behalf to the RCMP, I would like to unreservedly apologize to you and your family for those statements." Terms of the compensation agreement were not disclosed. In a statement, Ladha said: "I look forward to resuming my normal life with my reputation and that of my family fully restored." "The B.C. Supreme Court's emphatic Nov. 22, 2013 judgment finding that I was completely innocent of all charges and now the RCMP's unqualified apology for the improper narrative they spread when announcing charges against me concludes this terrible saga." Mumtaz Ladha was found not guilty on four charges under the federal Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. She consequently sued the RCMP for negligent investigation and defamation. (CBC) In 2011, the RCMP held a news conference accusing Ladha of human trafficking for allegedly bringing a teenage mother from Africa to Canada and forcing her to work as an unpaid housekeeper. But Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon found Ladha not guilty on one charge of human trafficking, two counts of misrepresenting facts to the High Commission of Canada in Tanzania and misrepresenting facts to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. In her judgment, Fenlon said not only was there was reasonable doubt Ladha was guilty but that she was convinced Ladha's accuser was lying. Ladha also sued B.C.'s civil forfeiture office after it filed a claim against her $4 million West Vancouver home, freezing the family's main asset when they needed cash to mount a defence. Ladha's lawyer, David Martin, said he hopes the settlement and apology "will send the message that it is unacceptable for the police when announcing criminal charges to make comments about the evidence said to support the charges thereby acting as both investigators and judges." |
Socks haven’t always been an element of the fashion world. For most of human history they were used to protect and warm feet. Fashion as a key element in clothing choice has been a fairly recent improvement. Socks have become a component of individuality and unique fashion statements since the fifteenth century. There are conclusive changes in clothing throughout all of history. But simply taking a look at the decades of the last hundred years can show you just how much clothing has changed over time. Socks as we understand them today are quite different from what the people of history wore. But socks have been around since ancient times, and have seen quite a bit of progress since that time. The Big World Of Historical Socks Currently, we enjoy a variety of fabrics and materials to keep our feet cozy and warm. In the past, most clothing was made from animal skins, and socks are no exception. The Greeks used tangled animal hair, Romans used fabrics and leathers, and it wasn’t until later that knitted or woven socks became commonplace. Since then, novelty socks and fashion leg wear have altered the selection of fabrics that are utilized in sock making and hosiery. As history progressed, socks became decorative and not just functional. The Middle Ages brought with it the trend of garters. People didn’t initially do this for fashion’s sake. It was necessary. Colored cloth was tied around the legs, and then a garter would be worn over the top of the sock to prevent it from slipping down. With elastic, we no longer need garters to maintain our fun sock trends. The fifteenth century changed sock wear into what we know today. Socks Can Make Or Destroy An Outfit When you are trying to heat up on a cold day, nothing can beat a pair of nice socks. Socks and hosiery were originally used to keep people’s feet from being exposed to harsh weather and the elements. But even in olden days, they were also a component of making a declaration. Looking at where novelty socks have found their position in our culture, and seeing the place they held in ancient societies can be incredibly insightful. From what we can see of some ancient peoples, animal skins were just used in an effort to keep feet safe from the cold and harsh environments, and were simply secured to the feet by being tied around the ankle. Some periods of time and particular cultures used socks to depict high status. There were other people that used them to show religious status. One illustration is priests of the 5th century. They wore socks in order to display their commitment to purity. In Rome socks were a symbol of wealth. Over time, fun socks, tights, and other decorative hosiery became commonplace in western society. Socks As A Statement Piece Decorative socks came around in the fifteenth century. Once printed sock designs were first seen in the fifteenth century, there was no going back. Soon there were variations in sock length, ranging from the thigh to the knee to below the calf. Rather than the focus being on guarding your feet from sharp rocks and cold weather, novelty socks, tights, and decorative hosiery became a concern to people. Nowadays there are seemingly limitless possibilities available to those searching for novelty socks, fashion leg wear and printed tights. The creation of synthetic fabrics permanently altered sock design and styles. While there have always been styles in certain cultures during every time of history, the fifteenth century is a mile marker. During this period, socks took the form that we know today. In the past clothing was primarily functional and secondarily about appearance. During this time fashion took its’ place as a top priority. This time period ushered in many different fun socks that were used to liven up an outfit, and make an individual statement concerning the wearer. These trends affected both men’s and women’s wear. Current Sock Style And Leg Wear It was in 1938 that nylon was developed, which led to a surge in the manufacturing of nylon tights. This opened up textiles to a brand new world of chance. With the mixing of fabrics, a brand new set of materials was now open for clothing and sock designers to utilize. Currently, polyester, acrylic, polyamide and spandex have totally altered the modern fashions we observe in today’s novelty sock industry, and hosiery in general. Now there are socks to fit with any fashion, any event, and people of all sizes and personalities. Once the 1500s brought with it the innovation of the knitting machine, the time it took to make knitted socks was cut drastically. This increased the accessibility to more socks in a broader variety of styles. In the 1900s, the mass creation of clothing in general took the world by storm, and fun socks were included in this. Socks were previously made by hand each and every time. But with the invention of circular knitted frames, a standardized, mechanized process became obtainable. Unless these kinds of inventions had been created, the trends and kinds of socks that we have available today would be really different. Industry has undoubtedly played an irreplaceable role in our access to fashion socks in our modern society. It wasn’t until recently that sock design saw such an explosion in patterns, materials, colors and styles that we see today. With the variety of options available, people can choose a sock brand to buy exclusively. Some people enjoy buying a wide variety of designs, ranging from printed wool socks to leggings and fashion tights. Socks have become a further expression of personal style. Regardless of what you like, whether it’s printed leggings or novelty socks, tights or athletic socks, the world is your oyster when it involves sock options. It’s been a long time coming. Advertisements |
Acute exposure of mammals to the environmental pollutant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) results in a diverse set of toxicologic and pathologic effects. The mechanism of some of these effects has been studied extensively in vitro and correlative studies have indicated the involvement of a transcription factor known as the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). However, a definitive association of the AHR with TCDD-mediated toxicity has been difficult to establish due to the diversity of effects and the ubiquitous expression of this receptor. In an effort to distinguish AHR-mediated TCDD toxicities from those resulting from alternative pathways, we have made use of the recently described AHR-deficient mouse that was generated by locus-specific homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. Present studies demonstrate that AHR-deficient mice are relatively unaffected by doses of TCDD (2000 micrograms/kg) 10-fold higher than that found to induce severe toxic and pathologic effects in littermates expressing a functional AHR. Analyses of liver, thymus, heart, kidney, pancreas, spleen, lymph nodes, and uterus from AHR-deficient mice identified no significant TCDD-induced lesions. The resistance of AHR-deficient mice to TCDD-induced thymic atrophy appears restricted to processes involving AHR since the corticosteroid dexamethasone rapidly and efficiently induced cortical depletion in both AHR-deficient and normal littermate control mice. Taken together these results suggest that the pathological changes induced by TCDD in the liver and thymus are mediated entirely by the AHR. However, it is important to note that at high doses of TCDD, AHR-deficient mice displayed limited vasculitis and scattered single cell necrosis in their lungs and livers, respectively. The mechanism(s) responsible for these apparently receptor-independent processes remain unclear but may involve novel, alternative pathways for TCDD-induced toxicity. |
While Luis Suarez played a small part in Steven Gerrard's testimonial match against Olympiakos on Saturday afternoon at Anfield, most of the talk later in the day about the Uruguayan striker had to do with his apparent exit from the post-match festivities. A celebratory dinner capped off the occasion and was attended by most of the Liverpool squad, but a constellation of Twitter happenings--including widespread speculation that Suarez wasn't in attendance--combined to create a whole mess of drama about something that nobody knows for sure actually happened. Also known as just Saturday. The following is not a timeline, but more of a post-mortem celebration and eulogy of "Suarez" searches that's likely going to be repeated for the next four weeks. So maybe just don't go on Twitter, ever, for any reason at all. What we know is that the day started with Jamie Carragher coming back and convincing Luis Suarez to stay. I know this because Jamie Carragher was there, Luis Suarez was there, and they did something resembling talking before coming on to a wonderful reception for Suarez by the Liverpool supporters. This is the moment of moments. All is good again--Carragher is screaming at everyone, Suarez is looking clean-cut and quick, Henderson scored a goal and then celebrated like it won the Premier League, and the skipper's later ushered off the pitch to a standing ovation. Everything is right in the universe. Lucas, Philippe Coutinho, and Sebastian Coates in fancy dress! But...wait. Luis Suarez is always with the South Americans, because Monopoly and Guesstures and Apples to Apples and South America. Generic question/offensive joke about Sebastian Coates having a puzzilingly attractive partner? And wait, where is Luis Suarez? Why is Luis Suarez not here? Because HE'S ESCAPING YOU IDIOTS WHAT IS THIS THE DARK KNIGHT RISES WHY IS LITERALLY EVERYONE IN A POSITION OF POWER HEADING INTO THE SEWERS AT ONCE?!? Also, In this metaphor, the sewers are the gala and the football field that gets exploded is Lime Street Station. I think. So this guy met Suarez on a train station after he played Gerard Testimonial... Haha rumours pic.twitter.com/cyUWl8RNuk — AFC FŪTŪRĖ (@madimaadi) August 4, 2013 What is the average growing rate of facial hair? Unfortunately a question that became relevant for reasons other than praying puberty away. A) Was it was actually Suarez, and 2) Could he have possibly grown a goatee in six hours without a pack of cigarettes, a flask of cheap whiskey, and a well-worn Moleskine packed with depressing short stories about men struggling to find their way in the early 20th century wool trade in Uruguay? I have Rayman one and 2 — king sleepy (@Jesmar_Suarez) August 4, 2013 Jesmar Suarez--not really even related to Luis--has Rayman one and 2, and those are just good games. Good on you, Jesmar. Keep doing you. @DialSquare_1886 @HighburyStand Suarez' beard at the testimonial game and in that picture is the EXACT same. pic.twitter.com/oJPl77hAxO — Halo Gooner (@db10Halo) August 3, 2013 IT'S ALL GOING OFF NOW! Luis Suarez had facial hair today, possibly even on his face, and in that one picture from the place that sends hunks of metal hurtling toward an uncertain future at reckless speeds, his face is also sprouting millimeters of hair. We are in dire straits, friends. Around the time everyone was clicking ENHANCE on Lucas' Instagram photo--which only revealed a close-up of the inner turmoil that led to Martin Kelly's coiffure--the press started to release sensationalized versions of Brendan Rodgers' post-match quotes along with Arsene Wenger's comments that were loosely related but didn't really have anything to do with anything but were somehow combined to place the two men in a bitter struggle over a cause that everyone's bored about at this point anyway. Brendan Rodgers blasts cheap Arsene Wenger over Luis Suarez bids: KOP boss Brendan Rodgers last night blasted ... http://t.co/4yIa1X7GDy — Barclays PL News (@BarclaysLeague) August 4, 2013 What does it all mean? Whatever it is, it's not good. |
Okay, so Minnesota ruined it. Everyone had been looking forward to seeing two 0-14 (in conference) teams play one another on Tuesday. If that had happened, and the rest of the season played out with the bottom two teams in the conference having a combined 2 wins (against each other), it would’ve been the first time that had happened across any conference since prior to 2000 (in the 2000-2001 season, Middle Tennessee State and North Texas both finished with 1 win in conference, UNT against FIU, MTSU against UNT). But Minnesota had to go and upset a conference foe. But not just any conference foe, they beat a #6 ranked Maryland team. Terrible. Instead, we get what used to happen almost annually, but now hasn’t happened since 2012: when the bottom two teams in a conference combine for fewer than 3 conference wins. Let’s take a look at every game in the last 10 years, and its result: The first game comes from the 2011-12 season in the Ivy League, when 0-9 Dartmouth hosted 1-8 Brown, whose one conference win had come earlier in the season against the Big Green of Dartmouth. Dartmouth took home the win 58-53, their only win in the Ivy League that season. Brown later went on to upset Columbia, giving them a second conference win, and with it seventh place in the eight team Ivy. The second game comes from 2010-11, and features the Centernary Gentlemen, who have since left Division 1, hosting Western Illinois. Centenary was 0-16 while Western Illinois came into the game 2-14, with one of the wins coming from an earlier matchup against Centenary. The Gentlemen pulled the upset, snapping a 33 game losing streak, by winning 73-60, giving them their only conference win of the year, and their last win as a Division 1 team. Interestingly, our third game features one of the teams that will be playing on Tuesday. Perennial powerhouse Rutgers, who at the time was in the Big East, with a record of 0-8 vs Depaul, who was also 0-8. Rutgers would win 75-56, then went on to go 2-16 in conference. Depaul went 0-18 before upsetting Cincinnati in the first round of the Big East tournament, which may have been the memory of that tournament if it wasn’t for Syracuse and UConn going 6 OTs in the Quarterfinals. Next comes a Big Ten matchup from the 2006-07 season, when 1-8 Penn State traveled to Evanston to take on 1-9 Northwestern. Penn State’s only conference win was from the prior matchup against the Wildcats. But this one was a barnburner, going into OT before Northwestern took home the 53-51 win. Both would end up finishing their Big Ten season with two conference wins. The 2005-06 season had two conferences where the bottom two teams had three or fewer conference wins. First, in the Atlantic 10, St. Bonaventure, 1-12 in conference, faced off at 1-12 Duquesne. The Bonnies won 77-76 and finished the season 2-14, while Duquesne rounded out their campaign at 1-15 in A-10 play. Meanwhile in the WAC, 1-8 Idaho played the 1-7 Spartans of San José State, whose only win in conference was (you guessed it) a win against Idaho earlier in conference play. SJSU took the win again (72-61), and finished 2-14 in conference, while Idaho finished 1-15. So there you have it. Tuesday’s game may not be the worst in the last 20 years, but it certainly is going to be the worst conference game (when you look at in-conference records, at least, otherwise almost all of the SWAC’s conference play would count) of the year, so Gophers and Scarlet Knights fans, you’ve got that going for you. May the least worst team win! |
China's manufacturing activity fell to its lowest level in more than three years in August as the global economic slowdown continues to weigh on the world's largest exporter. The final reading of the official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which gauges nationwide manufacturing activity, fell to 47.6 last month from 49.3 in July, according to data released over the weekend. This was the lowest since March 2009 and marked the tenth consecutive monthly fall, the bank said. It chimed with the official PMI figure released Saturday, which hit a nine-month low of 49.2. A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion, while one below 50 points to contraction. Qu Hongbin, an economist for HSBC, Europe's largest bank, said the figures showed China's manufacturing sector faced "intensifying downward pressure" and urged the government to step up easing measures. "China's exporters are facing increasing difficulties amid stronger global headwinds," he said, adding new export orders contracted last month at the sharpest pace since March 2009 while employers cut jobs at the fastest rate in 41 months. Authorities have tried to boost the economy with interest rate cuts and by lowering the amount of reserves that banks must keep on hand in a bid to spur the kind of lending that could stimulate a rebound. However, Qu said the latest manufacturing figures indicated the previous stimulus efforts were not sufficient and more was needed. "Beijing must step up policy easing to stabilise growth and foster job market conditions," he said. China's economic expansion slowed to 7.6 per cent in the second quarter to the end of June, the worst performance in three years and the sixth straight quarter of slower growth. July figures for trade, industrial output, retail sales and foreign direct investment were also weak, raising concerns that government efforts to stimulate growth may have been insufficient. |
Twenty Proofs of Euler's Formula: V-E+F=2 Many theorems in mathematics are important enough that they have been proved repeatedly in surprisingly many different ways. Examples of this include the existence of infinitely many prime numbers, the evaluation of zeta(2), the fundamental theorem of algebra (polynomials have roots), quadratic reciprocity (a formula for testing whether an arithmetic progression contains a square) and the Pythagorean theorem (which according to Wells has at least 367 proofs). This also sometimes happens for unimportant theorems, such as the fact that in any rectangle dissected into smaller rectangles, if each smaller rectangle has integer width or height, so does the large one. This page lists proofs of the Euler formula: for any convex polyhedron, the number of vertices and faces together is exactly two more than the number of edges. Symbolically V−E+F=2. For instance, a tetrahedron has four vertices, four faces, and six edges; 4-6+4=2. A version of the formula dates over 100 years earlier than Euler, to Descartes in 1630. Descartes gives a discrete form of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem, stating that the sum of the face angles of a polyhedron is 2π(V−2), from which he infers that the number of plane angles is 2F+2V-4. The number of plane angles is always twice the number of edges, so this is equivalent to Euler's formula, but later authors such as Lakatos, Malkevitch, and Polya disagree, feeling that the distinction between face angles and edges is too large for this to be viewed as the same formula. The formula V−E+F=2 was (re)discovered by Euler; he wrote about it twice in 1750, and in 1752 published the result, with a faulty proof by induction for triangulated polyhedra based on removing a vertex and retriangulating the hole formed by its removal. The retriangulation step does not necessarily preserve the convexity or planarity of the resulting shape, so the induction does not go through. Another early attempt at a proof, by Meister in 1784, is essentially the triangle removal proof given here, but without justifying the existence of a triangle to remove. In 1794, Legendre provided a complete proof, using spherical angles. Cauchy got into the act in 1811, citing Legendre and adding incomplete proofs based on triangle removal, ear decomposition, and tetrahedron removal from a tetrahedralization of a partition of the polyhedron into smaller polyhedra. Hilton and Pederson provide more references as well as entertaining speculation on Euler's discovery of the formula. Confusingly, other equations such as ei pi = -1 and aphi(n) = 1 (mod n) also go by the name of "Euler's formula"; Euler was a busy man. The polyhedron formula, of course, can be generalized in many important ways, some using methods described below. One important generalization is to planar graphs. To form a planar graph from a polyhedron, place a light source near one face of the polyhedron, and a plane on the other side. The shadows of the polyhedron edges form a planar graph, embedded in such a way that the edges are straight line segments. The faces of the polyhedron correspond to convex polygons that are faces of the embedding. The face nearest the light source corresponds to the outside face of the embedding, which is also convex. Conversely, any planar graph with certain connectivity properties comes from a polyhedron in this way. Some of the proofs below use only the topology of the planar graph, some use the geometry of its embedding, and some use the three-dimensional geometry of the original polyhedron. Graphs in these proofs will not necessarily be simple: edges may connect a vertex to itself, and two vertices may be connected by multiple edges. Several of the proofs rely on the Jordan curve theorem, which itself has multiple proofs; however these are not generally based on Euler's formula so one can use Jordan curves without fear of circular reasoning. I imagine it would be possible to construct inductions based on the representation of convex polyhedra as intersections of halfspaces or convex hulls of points, but the need to handle inputs in non-general position would make the resulting proofs quite messy. There also seems to be a potential connection to binomials: if one defines a polynomial p(t) = 1+Vt+Et2+Ft3+t4, the Euler formula can be interpreted as saying that p(t) is divisible by 1+t. But for simplices of any dimension, p(t)=(1+t)d+1 by the binomial formula. Perhaps there is a proof of Euler's formula that uses these polynomials directly rather than merely translating one of the inductions into polynomial form. Jim Propp asks similar questions for infinite-dimensional polytopes, interpreting p(t) as a power series (see also his recent expansion of these ideas). From the Geometry Junkyard, computational and recreational geometry pointers. David Eppstein, Theory Group, ICS, UC Irvine. |
The battle to replace David Tennant for Doctor Who is hotting up, at least down the local bookies. William Hill is taking bets on who will be replacing Tennant in the Tardis, once he hangs up his sonic screwdriver and psychic paper, and the running currently looks like this: 2/1: Robert Carlyle 4/1: Jason Statham 6/1: James Nesbitt 7/1: John Simm 10/1: Julian Walsh 12/1: Daniel Radcliffe 14/1: Nigel Harman 16/1: Bill Nighy 25/1: Catherine Tate 33/1: Billie Piper Hmm. While Carlyle has attracted speculation of late linking him with the role, there’s been no talk of him showing that much interest in it. And some of the others we wouldn’t even be tempted to dig a cheeky quid out of the petty cash piggybank for a cheeky flutter. Harry Potter as Doctor Who? Do us a favour. There’s also the small matter that Tennant has – in spite of lots of chatter – shown little sign that he’s quitting the role anyway. One theory right now is that, in the light of Steven Moffat taking over the show for the next full series in 2010, that he might hang around for a good chunk of that. Our advice? Save your cash for now. The chances of you even being able to claim on a winning bet in the next year are slim at best. Give us the money instead, eh? Worth a try… |
Federal budget jargon buster: Work through the waffle Updated Bamboozled by bracket creep, no idea about negative gearing? Use our jargon buster to help wrap your head around some of the terms being bandied about this budget. Tax cuts are expected to be on offer in the 2018 budget, so they're probably the key terms to get your head around. Alternatively, you can jump to a key definition below. Jump to a definition: Tax brackets, rates and thresholds Australia has five tax brackets, or income ranges, with a different rate of tax for each. This is what you pay now. Taxable income Tax on this income 0-$18,200 Nil $18,201–$37,000 19c for each $1 over $18,200 $37,001–$87,000 $3,572 plus 32.5c for each $1 over $37,000 $87,001–$180,000 $19,822 plus 37c for each $1 over $87,000 $180,001 and over $54,232 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000 There are a couple of ways the Government can reduce the amount of tax you pay. One is to lower the amount or rate charged on each bracket. So instead of 32.5 cents per dollar for the third bracket, the rate might be cut to 30 cents per dollar. The other way of delivering a tax cut is to change the threshold between tax brackets. For example, the first tax bracket could have a higher threshold, so it could be lifted from $18,200 to $20,000. That would deliver a tax cut for everyone with an income above $18,201. But when everyone benefits from a tax cut, it is spread quite thinly and might not seem as generous. It is quite likely there could be a combination of the two options, both lifting a threshold and cutting a rate. To deliver a tax cut and return the budget to surplus on schedule means the Government will probably give a fairly modest tax cut, often referred to the equivalent of a sandwich and a milkshake. Back to top Bracket creep Bracket creep happens when wages increase with inflation and push people into a higher tax bracket. The Government gets more tax revenue, but this can cause distortions if someone considered to be a low-income earner finds themselves slipping into a higher tax bracket. Tax brackets are designed to be indexed to account for increases in inflation, but that doesn't happen automatically. So the Government ends up with more revenue without raising taxes. Lifting the tax threshold is the usual way to deal with bracket creep. Back to top Budget repair Once the budget is back in surplus — which is forecast to happen in the 2020–21 financial year — the Government can start to use that money to begin paying off the debt, which it likes to call "repairing the budget". Analysts say that the extra revenue that has been coming in recently could mean an earlier return to surplus and an faster start to budget repair. But instead of taking that option, it is likely there will be a modest income tax cut instead and the return to surplus will happen as forecast in 2020–21. Back to top Debt vs. deficit Politicians of all stripes are fond of comparing the budget to a family's finances, but this often leads to confusion. When a politician says they are balancing the books and returning the budget to surplus, it gives the impression that they are clearing the government's debt. The reality is that the deficit is just the amount of money the government spends beyond what it receives in a financial year. Just because you return the budget to surplus does not mean that the debt incurred by the previous deficits disappears. Any deficits, or shortfalls, instead are added to existing government debt, which is expected to hit $317.2 billion this financial year. While $317.2 billion sounds like (and is) a lot of money, by international standards Australia's public debt is quite low, sitting at 18 per cent of GDP — which is the value of what Australia's economy produces each year. While government debt can pose problems, it is not quite the same as personal debt and can often serve a purpose. Governments take on debt by issuing bonds to investors who are paid a return, with ratings agencies allotting a credit rating to government debt. A high credit rating, such as the one Australia has, allows governments to borrow at very low rates, with investors trading profit for security. Some economists argue this ability to borrow at a lower rate than the market should be used to fund infrastructure projects that are likely to make a profit, as well as boosting productivity. Back to top Forward estimates The forward estimates are a series of projections, released alongside the budget, which predict revenue and expenses for the next four financial years. The budget shows what the revenue and expenditure is expected to be for the upcoming financial year. The forward estimates for the following three years are based on estimations of forecasting assumptions including the economic and population growth rates. As they rely on assumptions about revenue and indicators, they are often subject to change — as the mining boom unfolded, the estimates often undervalued the amount of revenue, and since commodity prices peaked they have had to be revised downwards. But the estimates are seen as a useful way of showing the Government's longer-term plans for spending. Back to top GDP The gross domestic product (GDP) is the annual value of goods and services produced by a country. GDP is generally recognised as one of the key indicators of the state of a country's finances. Back to top Negative gearing While the Coalition has directly ruled out changes to negative gearing in this budget, Labor's negative gearing policy means the issue is sure to remain in the headlines. Negative gearing allows property investors to write the interest costs of their mortgages off as an income tax deduction against other sources of income, and has been blamed for soaring property prices as it subsidises loss-making real estate investments. Labor wants to restrict negative gearing to new properties, as well as reduce the capital gains tax discount. (Currently investors are only taxed on half of their investment profits from capital gains if they hold an asset for at least one year.) Back to top Nominal GDP A version of the GDP that has not been adjusted for inflation. This means the GDP will appear higher than it actually is, as it fails to take into account the devaluing effect of inflation. However, it is also the measure of GDP that is most closely related to government revenue and spending, as both are affected by inflation. Back to top Parameter variations Parameter variations refer to the budget's assumptions about the economy (such as growth, inflation and unemployment) and how these will affect revenue and costs. Back to top PEFO and MYEFO The Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook (PEFO) is released by the Federal Treasury shortly before a federal election, and represents Treasury's and Finance's predictions on the current and future state of the economy. While budget bottom lines are often open to manipulation by governments, the PEFO is put together independently and is the only outlook signed off by the heads of Treasury and Finance. This is almost certainly the last budget before the next election, so the PEFO could be the next update on the state of the books. The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) is an update to the budget that the Government releases halfway through the financial year. The Prime Minister has been insisting the election will be held next year, so that would mean there is a MYEFO released just before Christmas. Back to top Structural deficit A structural deficit refers to a situation where the current tax structures of a country will fail to cover the expenses under normal economic conditions. Governments commonly run deficits in times of economic downturn as a means of insulating the economy and ensuring services are not impacted, with the understanding that surpluses during peak times will help pay down the debt incurred by going into deficit. A government can still run surpluses but be in structural deficit — for example, towards the end of the Howard government terms, revenue from the mining boom allowed it to post surpluses — however, under normal conditions the budget would have been in deficit. Working out whether a government has a structural deficit is complicated by the changing nature of sources of revenue and costs for governments, but governments and economic organisations try to remove the influence of temporary impacts on the budget bottom line to assess the long-term prospects for the economy. Back to top Superannuation concessions Super concessions are tax breaks designed to encourage people to put more money into superannuation, in theory saving the government money down the track by reducing the burden these people will have on the public purse when they retire. Currently superannuation is taxed at 15 per cent, with super earnings not taxed at all once you hit 60 years of age. Employers are required to put a minimum of 9.5 per cent of an employee's income into a super fund. The superannuation concession allows people to voluntarily contribute more to their superannuation and still be taxed at the rate of 15 per cent (or 30 per cent if you're really well off), well below the majority of tax rates. The concessions have been criticised for disproportionately benefiting the wealthy, who get a much bigger discount on their normal income tax rates than those in lower tax brackets. With many wealthy people likely to be ineligible for the pension on reaching retirement anyway, critics argue that the concessions cost the government far more in lost revenue than it would cost to support wealthy individuals with the aged pension. Back to top Tax expenditures Tax expenditures are sources of revenue the Government goes without due to tax concessions. While they are not government spending, they represent significant losses of potential revenue for the Government. While some of this is offset by increases in productivity and increased spending, it remains a significant source of potential revenue the Government is missing out on. Among the most well-known examples of tax expenditures are superannuation concessions and the capital gains tax exemption on the family home. Back to top Terms of trade 'Terms of trade' measures the relationship between the prices a country receives for its exports and the prices it pays for its imports. A rising terms of trade means the nation is getting better prices for its exports relative to what it pays for imports, and vice versa. Australia benefitted from rising terms of trade during the mining boom as the prices of iron ore, coal, and other commodities surged, while the price of many imports such as electronics and clothes stayed steady or fell. Economists are cautious about drawing too many conclusions from high or low terms of trade figures, but trends in the movement of the terms of trade are useful for predicting changes in the standard of living. Back to top Topics: budget, federal-government, government-and-politics, australia First posted |
PTS just got a huge 700mb update with a ton of changes in preparation for Rift Patch 2.4. Quick Summary: World Gear has gotten an additional upgrade rank called ‘Subjugator’s’. has gotten an rank called ‘Subjugator’s’. Dungeon Gear has gotten an additional upgrade rank called ‘Avenger’s’. has gotten an rank called ‘Avenger’s’. Raid Gear has gotten a new Tier 2 Raid Gear set. These now have the ability to be both horizontally and vertically upgraded. I.e. Epic to Relic, as well as Epic SP to Epic CP to Epic Spell Crit/etc. These now have the ability to be both horizontally and vertically upgraded. I.e. Epic to Relic, as well as Epic SP to Epic CP to Epic Spell Crit/etc. New PvP Rank 90 “Myrmidon’s”. New PvP Gear called “Myrmidon’s” as well. They use new “Myrmidon’s Empowered Cells” to upgrade. Those at Rank 80 now have the option in warfront dailies of either 600 Warlord Marks or 300 Myrmidon Marks. There are new models for the new rank’s weapons and armor. called “Myrmidon’s” as well. They use new “Myrmidon’s Empowered Cells” to upgrade. Those at Rank 80 now have the option in warfront dailies of either 600 Warlord Marks or 300 Myrmidon Marks. There are new models for the new rank’s weapons and armor. PvP Gear has also been given multiple horizontal upgrade paths (i.e., you can side-grade an SP shoulder into a CP shoulder or a spell crit shoulder.) has also been given (i.e., you can side-grade an SP shoulder into a CP shoulder or a spell crit shoulder.) New 2-man Chronicle Infernal Dawn: Laethys is up on PTS and Achieves to go with it. is up on PTS and Achieves to go with it. New Seals. Main Stat+89. New crafting reagents. 2 new tiers of Capes and a new tier of Augments Recipes dropping in Expert Dungeons. New Synergy Crystals with the new Tier 2 Raid Gear. The new Myrmidon’s PvP Gear also uses the new Synergy Crystals. New Trophies category in the Cash Shop allowing you to purchase Bind on Account versions of achievement rewards that you have unlocked. Requires Credits. in the Cash Shop allowing you to purchase Bind on Account versions of achievement rewards that you have unlocked. Requires Credits. New Cosmetic sub-category in the Services Category in the Cash Shop. Purchase ‘Extended Hair Style Set’, ‘Hair Color Set Bundle’ and ‘Skin Color Set Bundle’. in the Services Category in the Cash Shop. Purchase ‘Extended Hair Style Set’, ‘Hair Color Set Bundle’ and ‘Skin Color Set Bundle’. Added Cash Shop button to Dimensions toolbar. Additional Planebreaker Bastion Achieves. ‘Prisoner’ is ‘Marus’ and you must defeat Warden Thrax. Conquest Queue is now completely random . Cannot join specific. is now . Cannot join specific. Optimisation changes. More detailed information with screenshots below: World Gear Upgrade Level 60 World Gear (ones that cost Infinity Stones) has gotten an additional upgrade path called “Subjugator’s”. It provides slightly higher stats than the previous “Hero’s” set but still remains at a HIT + 53 level (i.e., still under Tier 1 Raid gear). Thus far on PTS there has been no model change for this gear, and no horizontal side-grade paths available. It still uses the same Gilded Synergy Crystals (the Blue ones). The upgrade requires both an Ephemeral Element and a Majestic Material crafting materials. Dungeon Gear Upgrade Level 60 Dungeon Gear (ones that cost Empyreal Slayer’s Marks) has also gotten an additional upgrade path called “Avenger’s”. It provides slightly higher stats than the previous “Marauder’s” set but still remains at a HIT + 53 level (i.e. still under Tier 1 Raid gear). Thus far on PTS there has been no model change for this gear, and no horizontal side-grade paths available. It still uses the same Gilded Synergy Crystals (the Blue ones). The upgrade requires its respectively sized Empyreal Marauder’s Cells. Unsure whether this will change though since it seems strange to use the exact same Cell as the previous set. Raid Gear Upgrade With the two Tier 2 20-man Raids coming to Rift in Patch 2.4, they are also introducing new Tier 2 Raid merchant gear. These are new HIT + 78 gear. Relic upgrades require Infinity Cells + Marauder Cells. Unsure whether this will change or not as the Cells are dropped in Tier 1 Raids which is rather odd for a Tier 2 Relic upgrade. There are currently no model changes for this new tier of gear on the PTS although it is highly likely that model changes will be available once the patch hits Live. Multiple Sidegrades and Upgrades One of the major changes is the multiple sidegrades and upgrades you can now perform on your gear. Each Tier 2 Raid Gear now has the option of using Empyreal Marauder’s Cells (the Dungeon Currency Upgrade Pieces) to allow you to switch between an SP/AP-focused, CP-focused or Spell Crit/Phys Crit-focused piece of gear. Below is an example of these new upgrade paths (click to enlarge). The top-right is the original Cleric Chest Piece. It has CP on it. You can side-grade this so that you get a slightly different version with Spell Crit in it, and also do so for one with SP in it. This allows you to customise the gear for your main spec/role (i.e., DPS generally likes CP, Heals generally likes SP). You can do these side-grades an infinite amount of time. You can also upgrade to Relic. The Relic piece also has multiple side-grades. PvP Gear Upgrade + New Rank PvP has gotten a new Rank 90 called “Myrmidon”. Players at Rank 80 will start off with needing 292,484 Prestige to rank up to Rank 81. With this new Rank comes a new set of gear! Those at Rank 80 are able to start buying the Armor pieces but the Weapons will be restricted to Rank 90. That said, they require new Myrmidon Marks and Myrmidon Upgrade Pieces so you won’t be getting them anytime soon. Multiple Sidegrades Like the new Raid Gear, there are also multiple sidegrades for your new Myrmidon gear. Thus for Clerics/Mages you can change an SP-based gear into CP or even Spell Crit. Similarly for Rogues/Warriors you can change an AP-based gear into CP or even Phys Crit. Changes to Dailies/Weekly Rewards With the new PvP gear you’ll also find that Rank 80 players will no longer be able to choose Freelancer Marks in their Dailies/Weeklies. Instead your Daily Warfronts now provide you with 600 Warlord’s Marks or 300 Myrmidon’s Marks. Your Weeklies now give you the option of either 1800 Warlord’s Marks or 900 Myrmidon’s Marks. Given past history, these currencies may increase when you hit Rank 90. Changes to Previous Tier Sets Now you may be worried that this means that those of you who still have Mercenary Gear can’t get Freelancers Gear anymore (depending on your upgrade path). Not to fear! They’ve dropped Mercenary Gear and have made Freelancers gear cost favor-only! i.e. Freelancer’s Boots/Belt/Grips = 39k Favor each.Freelancer’s Pauldrons/Coif = 53k Favor each. Freelancer’s Chausses/Habergeon = 66k Favor each. Freelancer’s Rings = 33k Favor each. Freelancer’s Amulet = 46k Favor. Freelancer’s Cape = 53k Favor. New Models Now for the goodies! Looks like thus far on PTS, only the new PvP gear has been given new models (compared to the PvE upgrade sets). Click on the below thumbnails to check them out! Cleric: Mage: Rogue: Warrior: 2-man Chronicle – Infernal Dawn: Laethys There’s a new 2-man Chronicle called “Infernal Dawn: Laethys” on the PTS with Achieves to go with it! You will journey through the Earth-portion of Infernal Dawn in this chronicle, fighting Maklamos the Scryer, Rusila Dreadblade and finally, Laethys. Only 3 bosses, but the fights tend to have more mechanics than in previous Chronicles. Each step of the way you’ll find a Communicator just before each boss which will hint at all the mechanics of each boss. This should help prevent frustrating wipes. That said, the fights are not 100% like the Raid versions of these bosses in order to make it more accessible to the general public, and to a one or two-man team. Right now the bosses drop old Level 50 raid gear from the bosses so it seems they are using the old Pre-SL Tier 3 Infernal Dawn raid drops. This may change to something more useful and relevant for starter Level 60s when the chronicle hits live. The fact that it is titled “Infernal Dawn: Laethys” leads me to hope that in the future we’ll get an “Infernal Dawn: Maelforge” chronicle as well! New Seals and Synergy Crystals New Seals There are new seals available at the major crafters (except Runecrafter) recipes NPCs that provides Main Stat + 89. They cost an absolute ton of very expensive craft mats however. Right now on PTS they only cost 60 Master Marks so if you are trying to find them via Cost in Descending Order, you’ll have to look a ways down. The cost will probably be increased in line with the large costs of the other crafting recipes of this tier. However, right now they may be low on the PTS just to make it easier for people to test out. New Synergy Crystals There are also new Synergy Crystals that are a tier above the old Epic ones. These are useable by both the new Tier 2 Raid Gear sets as well as the new Myrmidon PvP Gear Sets. Here is a side-by-side comparison for Clerics in terms of the old Qil’s Synergy Crystals and the new Qils’ Glowing Synergy Crystals. Trophies Category There’s a new Trophy Category on the Cash Shop. These ‘Trophies’ are basically achievement rewards that can be turned into Bind on Account versions. They cost 225 Credits and you must have already earned the achieve in order to buy them. So this includes stuff like Infernal Strider mount from ID Conqueror achievement and the Dungeon Conqueror achievement items such as Swarm of Spiders, CL0N3 Generator and Hand Cannon. Cosmetic Sub-Category Looks like the twitter post by Rift that showed a Kelari with a new hair color was spot on. Only this seems to be new Cash Shop-only sets. So looks like a bunch of new hair styles, hair colors and skin colors; but they are Cash Shop items with Credits-purchase only. Daglar has stated they are going to be one-time account-wide purchases. The Hair Style set for instance will have 4 new hairstyles per race. Dimensions Cash Shop Button They added a small quality-of-life improvement for Dimensioneers by adding a small Rift Store button that shortcuts directly to the Dimensions Category. This effectively saves people a single button press (instead of Cash Shop -> Dimensions, i.e. 2 clicks, it’s now 1 click). Not really sure why they had to add this (probably to remind Dimensioneers to shop) but since the Cash Shop icon is already always on your screen…not much difference. Additional Planebreaker Bastion Achieves Additional Planebreaker Bastion achievements were added as follows: Egg Drop Something to do with the Eggtenders. No clue otherwise. Jailbreak “Marus” is clearly the ‘Prisoner’ from the old achievements datamine and “Warden Thrax” looks to be the boss. Double Dutch No clue what “Greater Tectonic Transference” means although it would be interesting if there was some sort of Prison mechanic given that he is a Warden. Eggtimer Destroy eggs within 20 seconds of their creation. Kind of straight forward and to be expected in a fight involved “Eggtenders”. Conquest Queue: Random Conquest queue is now Join-only; you cannot select an individual faction to join. Whether this has any effect on single premade groups is unknown at this stage. Will be interesting to see if it makes any difference given that the leading faction is often Full anyway. Optimisation Changes They’ve added a “Pixel Granularity” to Settings -> Video -> Advanced. Description: “Change the size of 3d pixels without affecting UI resolution”. Basically 100% = just as Rift currently is for you. The lower you slide it, the more blurry the game becomes although the UI will always remain crisp. There is also a “Use Low Quality Terrain” option that can be accessed after checking “Low Quality Renderer” (requires a restart of your client to see the changes) that is supposed to help out low-end computers with their frame rate. Current optimisation changes other than that are concentrated on low-end computers and for now high-end computer players will see little improvement. They will be gradually working their way towards optimising higher-end PCs (source: 6th Sept Livestream). —— Conclusion Lots and lots of stuff added in this huge 700MB patch. There’s probably stuff I’ve missed. If so, give me a holler! Can’t wait for 2.4! |
When the Sega Genesis launched in 1989 it was off to a rough start. While the Genesis may have been the first true 16-bit console, its direct competitor, the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System, was beating it in the console wars thanks to Nintendo's mega-hit Super Mario Bros. 3. Once the news came that Nintendo would be coming out with their own 16-bt system, it was time for Sega to take drastic measures, leading to the birth of one of the most popular video game characters of all time... The Basics of the Game Title: Sonic the Hedgehog Platform: Sega Genesis Publisher: SEGA Developer: Sonic Team Release Date: June 1991 A Sad Pre-Sonic Sega By 1990 things were less than stellar for the arcade giant Sega's second foray into the home video game market. Sure the Sega Genesis was the number one console in Brazil, but in Japan it took a backseat to the Turbografx-16, and in North America, the industry was still dominated by the NES. While the launch of the Genesis had started the console wars, it was not making nearly enough strides to dominate the industry. Then Nintendo announced plans for their own 16-bit console, the Super Nintendo, with a North American release date of August 23, 1991. Even though Sega had a head start in this 4th generation of video games, they needed to make some drastic changes if they were to compete with the Nintendo powerhouse. Sega Changes Their Game Plan The first step Sega took was to replace the CEO of their North American division with the former head of Mattel, Tom Kalinske. Until then Sega's marketing focus had been on celebrity-themed games as Nintendo had much of the major arcade ports tied up in exclusive deals. Kalinske sought to change this direction by focusing on brand awareness and to do this they not only needed a hit video game but a flagship character that was so popular it would constantly be associated with the Sega name. Sega turned to their internal 5-person development team Sega AM8 to create a major hit video game that would give Mario a run for his money. Easy task...no? A Hedgehog...Really? AM8 started pitching all sorts of ideas from funny animals to goofy old men. Finally, a concept stuck. A sketch of a hedgehog by team member Naoto Ōshima, who had previously designed Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star 2, stood out from the crowd. Originally referred to as Mr. Needlemouse. The gameplay itself was designed to be a side-scrolling platformer with an innovative twist - . While a hedgehog wasn't the fastest animal on earth, AM8's hedgehog would be the fastest video game character ever, with the gameplay designed to keep him moving. To make the name better fit the character and the concept of speed, he was renamed "Sonic" - an adjective to describe reaching the speed of sound. Sonic the Hedgehog was born. Knowing they would have a hit on their hands, Sonic became infamous throughout the Sega offices long before the game was ever released, with the AM8 development team becoming affectionately known as Sonic Team, a moniker they still go by today. In addition to Naoto Ōshima, Sonic Team consisted of programmer Yuji Naka, game director Hirokazu Yasuhara, designers Jinya Itoh and Rieko Kodama. What Makes Sonic So Special While the industry had seen plenty of side-scrolling platformers, most modeling themselves after the core structure of Super Mario Bros., with paced jumping, ladder climbing, chasm leaping and enemy head bopping, but Sonic expanded the concept, taking the genre in a whole new direction. The levels in Sonic were designed with speed in mind. They weren't so easy that players could run through non-stop from beginning to end, but with a balance of both fast and paced movement to keep things intense and challenging. As Sonic could pick up fast speeds, several of the platforms were curved to allow him to run up walls, speed through loop-d-loops, and in some cases repel off a spring and go flying up or back in the direction he came from. While many of the levels moved the player along in a single path, there were several designed for Sonic to complete in any number of combinations. From staying at ground level, or speeding through vertically raised platforms into the sky, to underground caverns. With so many variations, no two replays of these levels ever felt the same. The Day Sonic Saved Sega Sonic released on June 23rd, 1991 and was an instant hit. The game was so popular that it became the Genesis console's first "killer app." with gamers buying the system just for the chance to play Sonic. Tom Kalinske took the opportunity to switch out the current in-pack game that came with the Genesis, Altered Beast, and replaced it with Sonic the Hedgehog, driving sales of the system even further. Not only was it Sonic's innovative gameplay that made him popular, but his edgy, yet friendly personality was a refreshing change for many young gamers, making him a hero they could better relate to. Genesis sales shot to the top as fast as Sonic's feet could carry them, and over the subsequent years,they overtook 60% of the video game market. The Sonic Legacy Sonic The Hedgehog remained the best selling Sega Genesis game through the life of the console. To feed the public demands, Sega also released an 8-bit version for the Sega Master System and quickly put Sonic Team into production on a sequel. The monumental success of Sonic spun out into a major franchise that not only outlived the Sega Genesis but all Sega consoles. |
Of the many things he needs to improve upon, Nuggets point guard Emmanuel Mudiay knows there is one area that will bring everything together. Improved shooting. “I didn’t shoot it great during the preseason, but I just got to keep working on my game, stay the course,” said Mudiay in reference to shooting 30.2 percent from the field, 7.7 percent from the 3-point line and 63.6 percent from the free throw line. But Mudiay, heading into his second season, said he’s not worried. “No, because I put in the work,” he said. “It’s going to click. I’m not too worried. It is what it is. The preseason is over with, so now it’s the real deal.” The Nuggets begin their season Wednesday at New Orleans. Nuggets coach Michael Malone isn’t concerned, either. He said Mudiay’s shot selection has been good during the preseason, and he expects his shooting percentage will soon climb based on the quality of shots he’s taking. Mudiay agrees. “I feel like I’m getting to my spots,” he said. “We’re running a new offense and I was still trying to figure it out in the four games that I played. But other than that, I feel pretty good.” Related Articles October 20, 2016 Kiszla: For Nuggets to dream big, Kenneth Faried must accept coming off bench October 20, 2016 Nuggets coach Michael Malone to treat preseason finale like “home opener” October 23, 2016 Denver Nuggets 2016-17 player bios Confident Barton. Will Barton has flown under the radar to a certain extent during the preseason but he’s quietly had a solid training camp. He enters the regular season feeling confident. “I’m relaxed, I feel good,” he said. “This is the best I’ve felt going into a regular season as far as confidence. I’m real confident right now. I feel like I’m prepared and I’m ready to go.” Thankful Stokes. Making the Nuggets roster was work but not nerve-wracking, said forward Jarnell Stokes, who claimed the 15th, and last, spot with the team after the final exhibition game. Why? He trusted himself, and the process that brought him to Denver. “I’ve kind of installed in my mind that God doesn’t make mistakes,” Stokes said. “So that’s pretty much helped me not worry throughout this entire process. Just being here now, I’m able to look back and look at the work that I’ve accomplished.” Footnotes. Shooting guard Gary Harris (groin) participated in parts of Monday’s practice, then went through more extensive individual work after practice. He is questionable for the season opener, Malone said. Meanwhile, veteran forward Darrell Arthur was able to get through Monday’s practice and is on track to be available for Wednesday’s game. |
Mark Rumsey reports on concerns about health effects of legal substance kratom. A drug advertised as a “legal psychoactive” would be off limits to minors in North Carolina under legislation nearing final approval in the General Assembly. The herbal drug known as kratom is commonly sold in head shops and online. It comes in leaf or powder form, often with colorful packaging, and is sometimes made into teas. And, it acts as a powerful sedative or stimulant, depending on dosage. "There are cases of patients having seizures after an overdose, and there are cases of patients going into withdrawal," says Anna Dulaney, a toxicologist with the Carolinas Poison Control Center in Charlotte. She adds that if a heavy kratom user stops using the supplement abruptly, withdrawal symptoms can be similar to those experienced when withdrawing from opioids such as heroin or morphine. Dulaney says the Poison Control Center has handled 17 cases involving kratom since 2013, mostly among older teenagers and young adults. The NC Senate approved a bill Friday that bans its sale to anyone under 18. Senate and House lawmakers are near agreement on final legislation. Kratom comes from Southeast Asia, where it’s long been used as an energy booster and pain reliever. In the U.S., marketing of the drug is not regulated as a controlled substance by the Food and Drug Administration. Dulaney says that means there are no official safety standards for its use. The North Carolina bill also calls for more research on the effects of kratom, to see if stronger legislation is needed. More about kratom: Read the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration evaluation of kratom. |
The bills being drafted, as described by top Republicans and lobbyists, would affect family budgets across the United States, by altering tax brackets and some popular deductions, and investment decisions around the globe, by changing the way the United States taxes multinational companies. It centers on deep cuts to business tax rates, which Republicans promise will deliver income gains to middle-class workers. Mr. Trump and Republican leaders in Congress released an outline of their plan in September, which included reducing the corporate income tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent, a doubling of the standard deduction for individual income tax filers and the elimination of several widely claimed deductions for individuals. The framework put down a marker but left dozens of questions unresolved, many of them potentially worth billions of dollars to businesses and the federal government. Business groups are meeting frequently with key Republicans, seeking to shape the bill, but no snippets of legislative text have yet become public. However, party leaders cannot finalize a bill until another budget hurdle is cleared — the Senate and House must agree on a consensus budget document, which will include instructions for how much a tax bill could reduce federal tax revenues over the next decade. That document, which would be an agreement between the House and Senate, is crucial to allowing Republicans to change tax law without any Democratic support. Such agreement could come quickly or drag out over a week or more, depending on whether House members agree to the Senate version or demand substantial changes to it. Republican leaders hope to finalize and introduce the House version of the tax bill as soon as early November, allow amendments from both parties in committee and on the House floor, and pass something by Thanksgiving. Senate leaders hope to pass a bill by December or early next year. Democrats say that process does not allow time for careful consideration of the bill, or for the sort of bipartisan compromise that marked the 1986 effort. “I can’t imagine that something this momentous would be done without hearings, when you consider they’re about to fundamentally alter the architecture of the nation’s revenue collection,” said Representative Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee. |
Court orders settlement after Earthjustice, Greenpeace and other organizations take legal action amid concern over the impact of military training activities A federal court has ordered a settlement in two cases that challenged the United States navy’s training and testing activities off the coasts of Hawaii and Southern California. Environmental legal aid organization Earthjustice tells the Guardian that the settlement will secure “long-sought protections for whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals by limiting navy activities in vital habitats”. 'A deaf whale is a dead whale': US navy sonars could be cause of strandings Read more The settlement announced on Monday establishes new regulations from 2018 that the navy must abide by when conducting activities in the water. In March, a US district court in Hawaii found that the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) improperly gave approval to the navy’s use of sonar in the Pacific, an issue long contested by environmental groups that allege sonar is causing damage to marine animals’ migration patterns, feeding locations, breeding and ability to hear and communicate. The navy uses sonar for training, to simulate real-life situations in the ocean. Earthjustice, Greenpeace and the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have brought forward actions against the navy over the impact sonar and other training activities have on whales, orcas and other marine life. The settlement will help change the status quo in the Pacific, environmental organizations said. “This settlement proves what we’ve been saying all along,” said Marsha Green, president of the Ocean Mammal Institute, in a statement. “The Navy can meet its training and testing needs and, at the same time, provide significant protections to whales and dolphins by limiting the use of sonar and explosives in vital habitat.” According to Earthjustice, the deal will prohibit the navy “from using mid-frequency active sonar for training and testing activities in important habitat for beaked whales between Santa Catalina Island and San Nicolas Island” and “from using mid-frequency active sonar for training and testing activities in important habitat for blue whales feeding near San Diego”. It also requires that “surface vessels must use ‘extreme caution’ and travel at a safe speed to minimize the risk of ship strikes in blue whale feeding habitat and migratory corridors for blue, fin, and gray whales.” Similar regulations are also in place off Hawaiian waters, but they are specific for the species present near Hawaii. They include special prohibitions on excesses speeds in order to protect humpback whales. The new rules will be implemented in 2018 after a current navy agreement expires. |
One could be forgiven if back in January 2016 they thought Elon Musk’s ideas about tunnels, offered to a bunch of college students, were hot air. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO has a lot of big ideas, but this one seemed too far-fetched even for him. Will he really try to build a 3D network of tunnels beneath the Earth in order to create new transportation routes and decongest highways? The answer, so far, continues to be yes. “Just installed steel skeleton of the car/pod elevator. Should be operating next week,” Musk announced Friday to his 9.63 million Twitter followers, pairing his comments with a video showing a framework of a box that would transport a car from the surface to the underground tunnel, just as was shown in a video released earlier this spring at the TED 2017 conference. Here’s the video posted by Musk: And this video shows the beginnings of the tunnel: Across the road and below the ground pic.twitter.com/E2DG8EzaXg — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2017 And here’s what the “car/pod elevator” could look like, as seen in the Boring Company video released at TED: Musk’s plan for the Boring Company is to literally bore — wink, wink —tunnels under the ground. Other than tweets, he’s not done much talking about it, besides his lengthy interview at the TED conference in late April in Vancouver. INVERSE LOOT DEALS Meet the Pod The first bed that learns the perfect temperature for your sleep, and dynamically warms or cools according to your needs. Buy Now For anyone worried that Musk’s attention is underground instead of on the streets with Tesla or the stars with SpaceX, he did note in that TED conference interview that the company — which recently completed the first section of its test tunnel beneath SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California — takes up “maybe 2 or 3 percent” of his time. “This is basically interns and people doing it part-time,” Musk said then. “We bought some second-hand machinery; it’s kind of puttering along but it’s making good progress.” Godot That second-hand machinery will build a tunnel route that Musk hopes will run from Los Angeles International Airport to Culver City, Santa Monica, Westwood, and Sherman Oaks. Musk has said he wants his boring machine, named “Godot,” to be part of a process that speeds up tunnel-digging by a factor of ten over traditional subway-digging processes. Part of that was designing Godot to do continuous digging and reinforcing of the tunnel walls, and beefing up the power of the machine. Here’s the full, visionary video by the Boring Company, as released back in April: Back on January 30, 2016, Musk told those college students, the participants in the SpaceX-sponsored competition to design a hyperloop passenger pod, that tunnel-digging was easy. “Build more tunnels,” Musk said then. “Tunnels are great. It’s just a hole in the ground,” he deadpanned to laughs from students at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. “It’s not that hard, but if you have tunnels in cities, it would massively alleviate congestion. You could have tunnels at all different levels, you could have 30 layers of tunnels and completely relieve the congestion problem in high-density cities. So, I highly suggest tunnels.” Seems like he’s turning his suggestion into a reality. |
What’s a break from funding without a little funding still happening? It’s July, the summer month Start Garden planned to take a long-earned break from making its weekly $10,000 investments, split between two new startup ideas. Although Rick DeVos’ $15-million seed fund has ceased making its first-level funding for the month, his team is still making major investments in the ideas at the second level of funding. Second Step Series Start Garden held the first event of its Second Step Series last week, an open-to-the-public program that periodically brings in Start Garden’s entrepreneurs funded at $20,000 or higher to present on their progress. During the event, at Start Garden’s headquarters downtown, at 50 Louis St., four Start Garden ideas that were at the $20,000 level of funding presented: One Second Epic, ReindeerCam, Pickl and Sing Song Yoga. "These projects are each doing something interesting, building new partnerships and competing in markets that are moving incredibly fast," said DeVos, CEO of Start Garden. "They have all been through epic highs and lows, and we're bringing that story to the public with the Second Step Series." The Second Step Series is another step in DeVos’ big-picture plan for Start Garden. In his State of the Start Garden address this spring, an address DeVos made celebrating Start Garden’s one-year anniversary, he explained that Start Garden's investment goal is to have about one dozen companies, which Start Garden owns a percentage of, showing signs of growing exponentially in value. One Second Epic One Second Epic, one of Start Garden’s first funded ideas, was given another $50,000 in investment at the event. It reached the $20,000 level of funding exactly one year ago this month. One Second Epic, referred to by some as "Twitter for video,” was released as an Apple iOS app in October last year. The free app allows users to shoot short video clips and edit them by “stitching” them together into one continuous video. The One Second Epic team, comprised of Joe Johnston, Eric Loehfelm and Christian Saylor, will partner with DeVos’ Art Prize this fall to help local and visiting fans of the world’s largest art competition document their experiences using the app. The team is expecting thousands of individuals to upload their videos to a common feed, creating a completely user-generated visual experience. Epic from One Second Epic on Vimeo. |
About MathApp, with made-easy tutorials for high school students with graphics, problems and solutions. Preparing students for Math exams. An iOS app of math tutorials and quizzes with answers for High school students. This Math app is for iPhone and Android. this project involves creating an app with tutorials in Algebra, Statistics, Geometry, Trigonometry and Probability. This involves taking videos and audios of math classes. The funds will be used for those involved in creating the app. This involves programming/developing, graphic designing and other technical work. The funds will be used as salaries for the software designers, developers and analysts who are creating the app. The app automatically gets updated each year with new quizzes and lessons.We will launch this on May 1 2014. There are thousands of questions and answers. This is a great opportunity for investors. Short Summary I am a software developer involved in designing the app. The app is a coaching tutorial for math students struggling to pass with minimal grades. You will be helping millions of students in completing High School. What We Need & What You Get We require 2000,000$.The funds will be used for those involved in creating the app. This involves programming/developing, graphic designing and other technical work. The funds will be used as salaries for the software designers, developers and analysts who are creating the app. With our rewards we will give you the entire app for life with updated versions. If the goal is not met we will use the funds for our next project. The Impact Math app is very handy and can be used anywhere at home or travelling or at school. The learning process will be quick and easy as tutorials are made easy for beginners and slow-learners. Other Ways You Can Help You can be a part of this campaign by sharing it with your friends an colleagues. Arctic, Bikes, pets, Civic, Library, Maps, Movie Theater, Museums, Open source, Robots, RPG, Science, Space,art |
In anticipation of the first Presidential debate between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Donald Trump, here are some of Hillary’s greatest debate moments. I’m not sure Trump knows what’s coming for him. And that’s a good thing. Video #1: x YouTube Video John Edwards attacks Hillary for being a member of the “status-quo,” saying she won’t produce “real” change. Hillary corrects him in the most epic way possible. Never forget Hillary’s commitment to children, beginning at the Children’s Defense Fund and leading to the Children’s Health Insurance Program, giving 8+ million children health insurance. Video #2: x YouTube Video Hillary receives a standing ovation. Electrifying!! Video #3: x YouTube Video Tim Russert tries to trick Hillary by asking her to respond to a quote by her husband, former President Bill Clinton. But Russert doesn’t tell Hillary in advance that it’s a quote by Bill. Tricky tricky! In this clip, Hillary quickly turns the tables back on Russert in another epic moment. Video #4: x YouTube Video A compilation of Hillary debate clips, highlighting that she is ready “on day 1.” Video #5: x YouTube Video Hillary knocks both Barack Obama and John Edwards off their game. Hillary is ruthless and I love it. Bonus Section: Here are a few extra videos to take a trip down memory lane and prepare for the final stretch of the election. x YouTube Video The moment Clinton slayed Bush. x YouTube Video A video highlighting Hillary’s lifelong commitment to children’s issues. Such a beautiful and nostalgic video. I wish the Clinton campaign would use more nostalgia. It works! x YouTube Video Hey my fellow millennials, here is Hillary Rodham Clinton fighting for education, families, children, and women throughout her entire career. Hillary *IS* authentic. After Yale, Hillary worked for the Children's Defense Fund, the Arkansas Children's Hospital Legal Services, cofounded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, secured federal funds to expand medical facilities in Arkansas's poorest areas as chair of the Rural Health Advisory Committee, successfully reformed the Arkansas education system as chair of the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee while Bill was Governor, and became the first female partner of the Rose Law Firm. As First Lady of the United States, Hillary increased research funding for prostate cancer and childhood asthma at the National Institutes of Health, helped to create the Office on Violence Against Women and the Campaign Against Teenage Pregnancy which reduced abortion rates by providing women with accurate information and contraception, in addition to highly significant achievements such as the Adoption and Safe Families Act, the Foster Care Independence Act, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which currently provides 8+ million children with health insurance. x YouTube Video Other accomplishments: –Hillary has worked closely with the Human Rights Campaign on a variety of issues over the years. Hillary has correctly noted she was the first First Lady to march in a gay pride parade. As New York Senator, Hillary fought for stronger hate crime laws and anti-discrimination laws. As Secretary of State, Hillary enacted lifesaving policies and programs that saved LGBT people around the globe, historically declaring on the world stage: "Gay rights are human rights." –Fighting and achieving the necessary healthcare for 9/11 first responders as New York Senator. –Secretary of State: New START treaty with Russia, ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, promoting and protecting the rights of women and the LGBT community worldwide, our “pivot” to Asia strategy – visiting Burma for the first time in over 40 years, and improving the favorability of the U.S. by 20 points worldwide after the disastrous Bush Administration. x YouTube Video History will look at Hillary Clinton as someone who never gave up and continued to succeed, despite being knocked down over and over again. She will be seen as a polarizing trailblazer who finally found her voice — leading to eventual success as First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State. Once in positions of power, Hillary is ruthless when it comes to effectively advocating for her positions and destroying the opposition. This is why Republicans have fought (and failed) to stop her political career from climbing to new heights. Hillary's resilience is unparalleled. She bounces back in the face of defeat because she's smart, articulate, and tough. Many of Hillary's colleagues have often noted that she is almost always the most knowledgeable person in the room about any given issue. Her knowledge, persistence, and stamina is an unstoppable combination. Her perseverance, despite being attacked daily for the last 30 years, is a testament to her political skill and brilliance. Former President Bill Clinton, the other half of this political powerhouse, often describes Hillary as the most competent person in his generation. I couldn't agree more. So although she may have been too polarizing to win the Presidency in 2008, we can all be certain that if given the opportunity, she would have been one of the most competent and successful President's in our lifetime. And I hope she is given another chance in 2016. “I’m not going to mislead anybody. Politics is really hard. And it is harder for women. There’s a double standard, and you can’t complain about it. You just have to accept it, and be smart enough to navigate it. And you have to have a pretty tough skin. To paraphrase a favorite quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: If a woman wants to be in politics, she has to have the skin of a rhinoceros. So occasionally I’ll be sitting somewhere and I’ll be listening to someone perhaps not saying the kindest things about me. And I’ll look down at my hand and I’ll sort of pinch my skin to make sure it still has the requisite thickness I know Eleanor Roosevelt expects me to have.” ~Hillary Rodham Clinton “I really don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what people think about me…I would be totally paralyzed. How could you get up in the morning if you worried about some poll or what somebody said about you? That’s giving up power over your life to somebody else, and I don’t intend to do that.” ~Hillary Rodham Clinton “I’ve been called many things by many people. ‘Quitter’ is not one of them.” ~Hillary Rodham Clinton Let’s all root for Hillary during the debates. Trump can’t beat the first female nominee of a major political party. Especially a nominee as qualified as Hillary. Go Hillary Go!! |
Well, I think we are officially at the point in the legal economy where servicing law school debts is just like servicing an expensive drug habit. The parallels between the two are too great to ignore: Is it something you started because everybody else was doing it? Is it something you initially thought was a harmless way to kill some time? Did somebody make wild claims about how “great” it would be for you to try it? Do you find yourself whoring yourself out in order to make money for it? In the J.D. context, we usually think of “whoring” as a figurative state. But not for much longer. We already know that many strippers do what they do in order to get money for their drugs. Now, through the wonders of Craigslist, we’re about to see strippers baring all in order to get money for their educational debts. Sallie Mae might be just a lending institution now, but she dreams of becoming a madam… All you need to know about what it’s like for recent law school graduates is contained in this Craigslist ad (in case it has been removed, there’s a screencap at the end of this post): $$$ Female Attorneys Wanted $$$ (Midtown) Date: 2011-01-31, 2:03PM EST NOT MAKING ENOUGH $$$ AT YOUR DAY JOB? NOT HAVING FUN WHILE YOU’RE WORKING? EARN THOUSANDS WEEKLY WORKING A FEW HOURS A NIGHT GIVING LAP DANCES AND LEGAL ADVICE FOR UPSCALE GENTLEMAN’S CLUB LOCATED IN TIME SQUARE. SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY. ATTACH PHOTO AND BIO. PLEASE CONTACT JAIME * Compensation: $$$ * Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster. * Please, no phone calls about this job! * Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests. How many ladies out there thought that getting a J.D. would keep them off the pole? How many fathers encouraged their daughters to go to law school to avoid this very fate? Now, well, they might as well be handing out clear heels and thongs at commencement ceremonies. Professors who teach jobless 3Ls should just start calling people by their stripper names to get them used to it: “Porsche, can you tell us if there is a reasonable expectation of privacy inside the champagne room? Or is that outside the penumbras and emanations of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments?” Hey, you got to do what you got to do to pay your bills. It’s better than begging for the money on eBay. And who knows, you might find the “shady strip club patron with the heart of gold” and end up eloping to Mexico. But I will say this: if you are a lady who is hot enough and willing to strip but haven’t been able to “charm” an aged hiring partner locked in a passionless marriage into giving you a job, then you really need to examine your motives. Meanwhile, this Craigslist ad figuratively screams another question: WHO THE F**K TAKES LEGAL ADVICE FROM STRIPPERS? Christ on the holy pole, what kind of person goes into a strip club and says, “Can I get a lap dance, also, do you know if I can deduct my truck as a business expense?” Really, the fact that there are probably some dudes who would take legal advice from a stripper illustrates why it is so difficult to get well-paid legal jobs in this market. “I freaking hate lawyers, they’re always trying to shaft you. I’m sure that Candy at the club can tell me how to reduce my alimony payments.” And that doesn’t even get into the issue of trying to sit down and relax and having somebody coming up to you to talk about your tort liability during a snowstorm. I mean, who goes to the strip club looking for intelligent conversation? Isn’t that what girlfriends and wives are for? Has anybody ever sat at a strip club and thought, “Man, what a rack on her. If only she had an opinion on whether I should take ADR or roll the dice at trial, I’d totally stuff money down her G-string.” All that said, I know a lot of our unemployed male readers would gladly take off their clothes and dance around for a little extra cash. Sadly, it seems women are too smart to need legal advice from the crew at Thunder Down Under. Gents, if you’re annoyed that ladies have an unfair extra employment advantage, I suggest you STFU and learn how to chop wood, break rocks, have gay sex on camera, or engage in some other activity traditionally associated with men who need extra money. This whole thing reminds me of a new stat we need the Law School Transparency guys to try to get out of law schools: percentage of graduates currently employed as sexual entertainers. Hey, this might be one stat that helps law schools. I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who would love to supercharge their exotic-dancing careers with a J.D. Earlier: Law Student Solicits Donations on eBay |
Last year’s Wrecking Ball lineup came in like a… well, you get the idea. So many great up-and-comers mixed in with the heavyhitters of punk and hardcore. This year, Wrecking Ball's organizers are looking to one-up themselves. Over 60 artists across five stages. Lots of rare appearances and much-anticipated reunions that will make you go "hooooly shit" and promptly buy a ticket to Atlanta. Piebald! Quicksand! Thursday (which should come to the surprise of no one who has been following Geoff Rickly’s tweets lately)! Hey Mercedes! The festival, which takes place on August 13 and 14 in Atlanta, Georgia, also boasts Motion City Soundtrack who are taking their last victory lap, the recently regrouped American Football, L7, Drive Like Jehu, and Noisey faves The Menzingers. Let’s take a gander at the full lineup and drool, shall we? Quicksand L7 Thursday Drive Like Jehu Dinosaur Jr American Football The Julie Ruin Motion City Soundtrack Gorilla Biscuits The Bouncing Souls The Promise Ring American Nightmare Piebald Touche Amore Bayside Deafheaven Civ Rainer Maria Anti-Flag Trapped Under Ice Tigers Jaw Cold Cave Hey Mercedes Juliette and the Licks Burn Bully Good Riddance Joyce Manor Ceremony Turnstile The Menzingers Maritime Diarrhea Planet Mothers Milemarker Jeff Rosenstock Potty Mouth Lemuria Wildhoney Antarctigo Vespucci PEARS Microwave Big Jesus Solids Daddy Issues Young and Heartless Free Donovan Wolfington Broken Beak Drug Church Femignome Bobby Barnett Looming The Obsessives Warehouse Spur Auspice Fox Wound Exwhy Tickets go on sale on April 1 on Wrecking Ball's website and we hear rumors that there are possibly more bands signing on soon. See ya in ATL. |
A former sacristan for the Knights of Malta has pleaded guilty to nine sex offences including those against boys as young as 11 he had met in the 1960s and 70s. Vernon Quaintance, a companion of the Order of Malta, served at the Knights’ regular Mass at the chapel in St John and St Elizabeth Hospital in North London. On Wednesday this week a court heard that Quaintance, 71, was a paedophile who also ran a pro-circumcision group. Southwark Crown Court heard he accumulated images as recently as 2011. He was also a leader of the Gilgal Society, a group claiming to promote male circumcision and “its benefits in terms of health, sexual satisfaction and self-image.” In 2012, he was found guilty of possessing nine hours of child pornography on video tapes. This week he pleaded guilty to five counts of indecency with a child between 1966 and 1976 and four counts of possession of indecent images. An additional count of sexual assault alleged to have taken place in 2011 on a child was left to lie on file. Judge Anthony Leonard QC adjourned sentencing until September. He said there was a “very real likelihood” of a significant custodial sentence. Quaintance was released on conditional bail, with the requirement to have no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18. Concerns about Quaintance’s behaviour had come to the attention of members of the Grand Priory, a senior body of knights, who were later found not to have reported the concerns to the relevant authorities. Quaintance had been banned from serving and attending the social club at St Bede’s, Clapham Park, South London. An inquiry into the matter by Baroness (Julia) Cumberlege found that three of the knights made a catalogue of serious errors in dealing with the concerns. The three later apologised. |
Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) Requirements to attain the FSA designation include exams, e–Learning courses and modules, a proctored project assessment, validation of educational experiences outside the SOA Education system (VEE), a professionalism seminar and the Fellowship Admissions Course. Fellowship candidates choose a specialty track and complete the requirements of that track (must complete all requirements in a single track). Candidates have flexibility with regard to the order requirements are completed. However, the SOA has established a recommended order for each fellowship track, which is also reflected in the table below. Candidates should be aware that an examination/module may assume familiarity with material that is covered in any requirement that is recommended to come before that examination or module. Additional Resources Pathway Requirements To see the requirements for the ASA designation or the CERA credential, click on the appropriate tab below. ASA Requirements CERA Requirements FSA Requirements Candidates seeking to attain an FSA must also complete the ASA requirements. This is typically done in advance of beginning a fellowship track. Choose a specialty track below and complete the requirements in that column. All candidates must complete DMAC and FAC. The requirements in each track are listed in recommended order. *ERM Module may be taken at any time, but should be taken prior to ERM exam **May be taken before or at the same time as the previous item ***May be taken at any time Contact Information |
BOBBY JINDAL IS DEMOLISHING LOUISIANA, BUT WE ELECTED HIM AND THE LEGISLATORS WHO LET HIS WRECKING BALL SWING. Bobby Jindal’s Jan. 24 pep rally for piety didn’t leave Louisiana with a prayer. Short of the miraculous growth of a spine by the Legislature over the next year, he will leave his successor — especially a supply-side Republican who cleaves to the same retrograde economic philosophy and presiding over a GOP-controlled Legislature (and isn’t that a foregone conclusion?) — with an annual budget deficit as far as the eye can see along with the cutbacks and privations that are its handmaidens. And that affects us all, especially the most vulnerable: children, the elderly, the disabled, the poor. They say we get the leaders we deserve, and never has that been more sadly true than in the Age of Jindal. Because this one’s on us. We’ve known since at least halfway through his first term that Jindal’s ambitions are national. Yet in October 2011, 66 percent of us voted to re-elect him governor; the runner-up got 18 percent in a crowded field. No fellow Republican dared challenge him. A relatively progressive parish, Lafayette awarded him 59 percent of the vote in 2007 and amplified its misbegotten faith four years later with 71 percent. Raise your hand if you’re having buyer’s remorse. Jindal is what he is — a craven, calculating politician whose national ambitions have long clouded his judgment and retarded his ability or willingness to actually govern to the benefit of Louisiana. But what have we voters given him but opportunity, acquiescence and sheepish representatives and senators? As our highways and bridges buckle and heave, a quarter million working poor are deprived of health insurance through Medicaid expansion; as our coast is sliced to ribbons and dissolves into the Gulf; even as we slog along as one of the poorest, dumbest, sickest, most chemically dependent, violent and incarcerated states in the Union, we elect ideologues like Jindal. We let the good times roll, pop open another Coors Lite and urge our young expatriates to “Come Home, Louisiana!” Come home to what? It’s become almost a bipartisan statement of fact that Jindal has been the most fiscally irresponsible governor in modern Louisiana history, and that’s saying something. He squandered a $1 billion-plus surplus left behind by Gov. Kathleen Blanco. And he has played a shell game with the state budget since the revenue generated via hurricane recovery and the federal stimulus plan dried up, using onetime revenue for recurring expenses, assuming revenue projections will meet or exceed spending commitments — they rarely do — and then raiding pots of money with other programs’ names on the lid to patch up the budget; tossing around tax incentives and credits like meth in a trailer park, selling off state assets and quashing rebellious lawmakers who dare question him. All of these failings by Jindal gather along a general fault line: his political ambitions above the fourth floor of the state Capitol and his stubborn refusal to even consider tax hikes or other measures that, while making the budget realistically sustainable, might leave a crack in his armor wide enough for a Scott Walker or Chris Christie to plunge in a dagger. Bobby Jindal will say with a straight face in a presidential primary debate next year that he never raised a tax during his time as governor. He can’t say he’s been a responsible steward of state finances. Not with a straight face. Oh, what am I saying? He’ll say it with a straight face and he’ll blame falling oil prices and the “liberal media” for everything. Bobby Jindal doesn’t exist in a vacuum; we elected him, and we’ve elected the lawmakers who have enabled him. And the long-term damage Jindal and the Legislature have done to Louisiana is our legacy as voters. This is acutely true with our colleges and universities, which teeter on the brink of collapse after $700 million in cuts over the last several years. State support for higher education is at its lowest per capita level in more than 50 years. With an anticipated budget gap of more than $1.6 billion for the 2015-16 fiscal year beginning in July — not to mention a shiny, new $103 million hole in this year’s budget thanks to falling oil prices, according to the Revenue Estimating Conference’s Jan. 26 findings — the administration has already told higher education officials to brace for yet another round of cuts, possibly as high as $400 million. Higher ed and health care services are typically the first to face the budget sledgehammer because so many other programs’ funding sources are constitutionally protected, which we’ll get to later. (State-administered health services, which like higher ed are not protected in the state constitution, could face up to $400 million in cuts.) The Times-Picayune reported in mid-January that reductions of that magnitude would likely close entire institutions, namely smaller universities and campuses within the community and technical college system like Nicholls or Northwestern State and satellite campuses of the South Louisiana Community College System. “The magnitude of cuts being discussed for higher education could mean between 40 to 60 percent reductions of base funding for institutions in a single year,” Sandra Woodley, president of the University of Louisiana System, told The Times-Pic. “I do feel that all of our universities are critically needed for their regional economies and, especially, to meet the demands for workforce.” What would become of cities like Thibodaux or Natchitoches if their local universities were shuttered or severely, irrevocably crippled? Close to home at inarguably the biggest economic driver in Acadiana, UL Lafayette, the situation is dire. UL officials are keeping a stiff upper lip, as they typically do, in large part to maintain morale within the instructional ranks. But our UL could be asked to absorb up to $20 million of the overall cuts. How could Martin Hall conceivably eat a $20 million budget cut? We don’t know. Martin Hall doesn’t know exactly; sources tell us officials there are taking a wait-and-see approach — waiting until Jindal releases his executive budget some time this month to see what the actual cuts are — and running worst-case scenarios through administration circles. Nearly a third of the non-instructional staff are civil service employees, and a large chunk of the professor ranks is tenured; those jobs can’t be cut immediately — certainly not quickly enough to deal with a $20 million budget reduction. But something will have to give, and it will be programs, courses, technology and adjunct staff, not to mention UL’s ability to recruit top students who increasingly see higher education in Louisiana as a low priority in a state with its priorities way the hell out of whack. Jindal can say he’s never raised a tax, and that’s technically true but practically a load of bull because college students and their families are being forced to subsidize his budgetary chicanery through skyrocketing tuition costs and the debilitating student loan debt that goes with them. Tuition at UL Lafayette has risen an astonishing 55 percent over the last five years, increases that coincide precisely with state-mandated budget cuts. It’s nauseating, but it’s ultimately we voters jabbing a finger down our throat and forcing the gag reflex via our selections at the ballot box. The malaise Bobby Jindal is visiting on UL Lafayette has been enabled by the Legislature, and within the Lafayette delegation three members — Reps. Joel Robideaux and Nancy Landry, and Sen. Page Cortez — have mostly marched lock-step with the governor. A CPA, attorney and furniture store owner, respectively, they are nice, conscientious people in our view. But in their acquiescence to Jindal’s politicized management of state finances, can we say they are without blame for what’s happened and will happen soon to UL? Robideaux was elected to the House in 2003 and is in his third and final term, the latter two of which have been concurrent with Jindal’s terror reign. Cortez was elected in 2007, the same year as Jindal, and his two terms so far — 2008-2011 in the House and 2012 to current in the Senate — have spanned Jindal’s. Landry’s first term began in January 2009 after winning a special election the year before, so she’s off the hook for Jindal’s first year in office, which in terms of far-reaching negative effects on the Louisiana budget was a doozy. Louisiana was flush with cash when Jindal was inaugurated in January 2008. Federal hurricane money had been flowing in for two full years, since the aftermaths of Katrina and Rita, along with insurance money. Folks were making lots of purchases at Home Depot and hiring contractors. The economy was robust. The budget surplus was north of $1 billion. And what did Jindal and the Legislature do? They agreed to raise the annual spending cap by — wait for it! — $1 billion, and they agreed to a partial repeal of the Stelly Plan. Remember the Stelly Plan? Passed by voters in 2002 and named for its architect, now-retired Rep. Vic Stelly of Lake Charles, it abolished the state sales tax on food, prescription drugs and some utilities and raised income taxes on upper middle class and wealthy taxpayers. While it was revenue-neutral in terms of the state budget, it helped lower-income Louisiana residents, who pay a bigger share of their income on basic necessities like food and utilities. But those upper-income taxpayers, the folks who write checks to politicians, didn’t like it, and in 2008 the Legislature voted unanimously to move tax rates back to pre-Stelly levels. But they didn’t reprise the state sales taxes. Jindal initially opposed a Stelly repeal, as did the editorial boards of most major newspapers in the state. The Public Affairs Research Council warned that shifting away from relying on income taxes to buttress the budget would make the state reliant on oil and gas revenue and lead to the very boom-and-bust cycles we’ve been in for the last several years. But with public sentiment turning in favor of repeal and with the White House glimmering on some distant hill — Common Core anyone? — our new governor decided he could not brook reinstating taxes of any sort. (Remember Jindal in 2011 even vetoed the renewal of a tax on tobacco products that had expired. A renewal ferkrisake!) The result was a $358 million drop in state revenue for the next fiscal year and hundreds of millions less in revenue every year since. Reps. Robideaux and Cortez, politicians Lafayette elected, voted for the Stelly repeal. (Read their defense of their records in the sidebar.) Since 2009, when the Stelly repeal and increased spending cap began to have debilitating effects on the budget and led to the cuts that have so eviscerated higher ed and health care, Cortez, Landry and Robideaux have voted yea on House Bill 1 — save for Landry’s 2012 no vote — the massive state budget that, after all the wrangling and horse trading that goes into a legislative session, is the final arbiter of what programs get funded and those that must be cut. A study conducted a few years ago estimated that each student at UL Lafayette has a $20,000 annual impact on the local economy. Students buy stuff, pay rent, go to movies. As Jindal, the Legislature and ultimately voters who elected them push our university to the precipice, we push the Acadiana economy there with it. UL has been remarkably resilient through the cuts, even growing its enrollment by about 5 percent over the past five years. But ingenuity and flexibility have their limits. So have Cortez, Robideaux and Landry been good stewards of an annual budget that has propped up Jindal’s political aspirations at the expense of our university and so many other vital programs? Can they look the administration at UL in the eye and say, “We’ve had your back”? There’s a lot our lawmakers can do over the remaining year of the Jindal misadventure to restore some common sense and fairness to state finances. They will not do these things, but they should. $ The Legislature can vote to temporarily suspend the scores of tax breaks and credits the state bestows on business, many of which are headquartered out of state, and Jindal couldn’t do a thing about it. Truth be told, he’s probably secretly wishing it would happen because it would pull his rear a little out of the fryer as he ramps up his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Temporarily suspending those corporate tax breaks would bring in many millions of dollars in revenue. They would be temporary, yes, but could alleviate some of the pain facing our universities in the short term while giving Jindal cover on his “no tax” ideology. Revenue gained from temporary suspensions of tax breaks to business would be considered one-time money, and it would take a two-thirds vote in the House to agree to use it for a recurring expense — higher ed — but faced with the closure of campuses, the pressure would be great to plug the additional revenue into the budget. $ Raise the gas tax. At an average of just over 38 cents per gallon, Louisiana’s is one of the lowest in the country, where the U.S. average is more than 49 cents. Gasoline is cheap right now. This would raise a lot of revenue without much economic pain for motorists. $ Restore the Stelly Plan. Louisiana’s upper income earners are doing just fine. They can pay more. $ Speaking of which, address Louisiana’s regressive tax policy. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the bottom 20 percent of Louisiana families pay 10 percent of their income in state and local taxes, as do the 20 percent above them. The top 1 percent, however, pay just 4.2 percent, and the 4 percent beneath them pay only 5.4 percent. Even uber-conservative columnist Quin Hillyer called this “bassackwards.” Restoring the Stelly Plan would do much of the heavy lifting. $ Revisit constitutional protections on program funding. Almost every year, Louisiana voters are presented with a slew of constitutional amendments to consider, many of which enshrine in state law protections against programs’ funding being tapped for other needs. Last November voters statewide elected to add the Medical Assistance Trust Fund and the Hospital Stabilization Fund to a growing list. And as the number of protected funds grows, unshielded areas like higher education and health care become ever more vulnerable to cuts. (This newspaper urged readers to vote against those two amendments last year for that very reason.) $ Expand Medicaid. If Jindal vetoes it, hold an override session and push it through. Billions in federal money would flow into Louisiana at almost no short-term cost to the state, and the benefit — giving a quarter million working poor families access to preventive health care instead of emergency rooms after they’re sick — would far outweigh the negligible cost. This is a moral issue too, but let’s not go there. $ Stop using one-time money for recurring expenses. This is the most irresponsible practice the governor and state lawmakers have used for several years now to get the budget balanced. Selling state property or using legal settlements — money available in a given fiscal year that won’t be there the next — to fund expenses that never go away is voodoo economics. Of course, the use of one-time money on recurring expenses will continue to be catnip for lawmakers as long as none of the above recommendations is undertaken, and it might prove to be unavoidable in the short term given our dire fiscal straits. We don’t like piling on Cortez, Landry and Robideaux. We’ve no doubt they’re well-meaning, and other lawmakers in the Lafayette delegation elected since Jindal came in have also voted for HB1, but none with the water-carrying consistency of the three Republicans. The fact is, we’re headed toward bequeathing our grandchildren a state with a higher education system that is greatly diminished — in academic achievement, in research and funding, in prestige — along with Third World transportation infrastructure and a poor and working-class population that is one slipped disc or broken radiator away from economic devastation. And it’s our choices at the ballot box that have gotten us here. $5,004 Decrease in state support per student for higher education in Louisiana, 2008-2014 — the biggest drop in the U.S.; the average decrease in higher ed support per student over the same period among the states was about $2,000, with only Alaska ($636) and North Dakota ($3,150) increasing spending. (Source: Illinois State University’s annual Grapevine Report, and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association) 55 Percent increase in undergraduate tuition at UL Lafayette, fall 2010 to fall 2014, from $2,213 to $3,436 It Could Have Been Worse “The fact is, the struggle over the last six years has been keeping higher education from being cut even more than it was,” Rep. Nancy Landry says in an email response to The IND seeking her take on what has transpired under the Jindal administration. That’s a common refrain — that the cuts to higher ed and health care could have been much worse — among the three members of the Lafayette legislative delegation we’ve focused on for this news analysis. “With regard to cuts to higher education, we are tasked with crafting a budget based on forecasts from economic experts,” says Rep. Joel Robideaux, the dean of the delegation. “During many of the Jindal years, the forecasts required reductions in spending.” Robideaux points to the loss of federal hurricanerecovery money, which created robust economic activity, and the end of funding from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, AKA President Barack Obama’s 2009 stimulus plan, as major contributors to the budget woes of the last several years. But he defends his vote to repeal the Stelly Plan, pointing out that changes to it that have had an adverse effect on the budget actually occurred in the 2007 session pre-Jindal. “During that 2007 legislative session, Louisiana’s middle class made their voices heard loud and clear that the Stelly Plan was far from revenue neutral as had been billed,” he says. Although she didn’t vote on repealing Stelly — Landry went to Baton Rouge following victory in a 2008 special election to replace Rep. Don Trahan — she echoes Robideaux’s sentiments: “Constituents in my district overwhelmingly supported repeal of Stelly,” she says. “Many felt duped because it was supposed to be revenue neutral.” In terms of generating revenue, Stelly was in fact neutral, shifting the burden from sales taxes to income taxes. Few notice a few pennies saved here and a nickle saved there on grocery bills — savings that cumulatively add up — but everyone notices when their state income tax bill jumps. Cortez seems a little more torn about his vote to repeal Stelly: “Hindsight is, as they say, 20/20,” he says. “At that time did I have any regrets in repealing some personal income taxes? No, I didn’t have any regrets at the time because, with all of the revenue we had coming in and these surpluses in back-to-back years, I didn’t have a problem repealing income taxes or pulling back on the income tax.” The senator says he now wishes the Legislature had sent the Stelly Plan back to voters, whom he believes would have elected to repeal it. But that repeal would have reinstated those sales taxes, sparing state finances hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue over the intervening years. Robideaux says he wishes lawmakers had set aside some of the money from those surpluses early in the Jindal years. “Don’t get me wrong, we did a lot of good with those surplus dollars — deferred maintenance for higher ed, road and bridge repairs, payments toward the pension system’s unfunded accrued liabilities, etc.,” he notes. “But a portion could have been set aside for the exact situation we now face.” — WP |
If you were to try and find download any of the HERE apps on Windows Phone now, you will likely run into some issues. For one, the apps do not show up on search, and secondly when you do find a direct link you will likely get this error: Given the HERE’s recent history (the company has recently been purchased by a German car conglomerate) it is easy to think that the apps have made an exit stage left from the Windows phone platform. This is however not the case, according to their support on twitter. They note: @WindowsUtd they will be back. There’s a temporary technical glitch at the moment ^J — HERE (@here) September 20, 2015 When they do show up, the apps, which were updated less than 2 weeks ago, can be found in the Windows Store here. HERE Drive+ Developer: HERE Apps LLC Price: unknown HERE Maps Developer: HERE Apps LLC Price: unknown |
President Obama took a dig at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday, urging voters not to treat the election as if it were a reality show. "We cannot afford to act as if there is some equivalence here," Obama said. (Reuters) President Obama took a dig at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday, urging voters not to treat the election as if it were a reality show. "We cannot afford to act as if there is some equivalence here," Obama said. (Reuters) President Obama implored Americans on Tuesday to consider the gravity of the presidential election eight weeks away, calling Republican Donald Trump a dangerous fraud who has no real idea of what it means to be president. Turning serious at the close of a rollicking campaign rally for Democrat Hillary Clinton, Obama allowed himself to “vent” about a Republican nominee who he said “isn’t fit in any way, shape or form to represent this country.” With a note of exasperation, Obama said he had lost patience with the trivialities of a campaign dominated by what he called a reality-television mentality. Obama also acknowledged some of Trump’s outsider appeal and likened it to his own. “Look, I understand. We’re a young country. We are a restless country,” Obama said. “We always like the new, shiny thing. I benefited from that when I was a candidate. And we take for granted sometimes what’s steady and true. And Hillary Clinton’s steady, and she is true.” The rally was planned long before Clinton fell ill last weekend and canceled a planned West Coast campaigning and fundraising swing. Obama called no direct attention to her illness, even when someone in the crowd fainted and Obama told the crowd to do some knee bends and drink water. President Obama speaks during a campaign event in Philadelphia to support Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. (Tracie Van Auken/European Pressphoto Agency) [Clinton’s impulse to ‘power through’ with illness set off cascade of problems] Obama first made a joke of Trump’s admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, an adversary of Obama’s throughout his presidency, but then sought to shame Trump. “I have to do business with Putin. I have to do business with Russia. That’s part of foreign policy. But I don’t go around saying: That’s my role model,” Obama said of the authoritarian former KGB agent. “Could you imagine Ronald Reagan idolizing somebody like that?” Obama mocked the Republican and novice candidate as a fraudulent champion for the working class, suggesting that the businessman is merely exploiting this year’s populist voter mood after a lifetime of gilded circumstances. “I keep on reading this analysis that Trump’s got support from, like, working folks,” Obama said. “Really? This is the guy you want to be championing working people? This guy who spent 70 years on this earth showing no concern for working people.” During a midday rally in Clive, Iowa, Trump took sharp aim at Clinton and Obama, arguing that their policies have harmed the country and that Clinton’s character flaws disqualify her from being president. “Hillary Clinton lacks the judgment, temperament and moral character to lead this country,” Trump said. And as he has done repeatedly in recent days, he went after Clinton for labeling half his supporters a “a basket of deplorables.” Trump said he is running to “reverse” the policies of the past eight years and “create a future of prosperity for all Americans.” Earlier in the day, Trump’s campaign issued a news release targeting Obama over his decision to campaign for Clinton. “Shouldn’t you be at work?” it said at the top, citing a series of economic and foreign-policy problems. Eight weeks to the day until Election Day, Obama appeared to revel in his star turn as Clinton’s defender. He said he “really, really, really” wants to see her elected and pledged to work hard on her behalf. “I could not be prouder of the leader we have nominated to take my place,” Obama said. “Even though I have run my last campaign, I am going to work as hard as I can this fall to elect Hillary Clinton the next president of the United States.” But he seemed most energized when criticizing Trump. He left little doubt that he is on a personal mission to defeat the man who rose to political prominence as the celebrity proponent of the false “birther” theory that Obama was not born in the United States and is therefore not legitimately president. “This guy’s suddenly going to be your champion?” Obama asked. “I mean, he spent most of life trying to stay as far away from working people as he could, and now this guy’s going to be the champion of working people. Huh?” “I mean, he wasn’t going to let you on his golf course,” he added. “He wasn’t going to let you buy in his condo. And now suddenly this guy’s going to be your champion?” He drew laughs when he took aim at Trump’s charitable foundation, noting, as The Washington Post reported, that he “took money other people gave to his charity and then bought a 6-foot-tall painting of himself. He had the taste not to go for the 10-foot version.” Obama scolded the news media, saying it is applying “unfair” scrutiny to Clinton while grading Trump “on a curve.” Clinton had never planned to attend the event, which was part of a push to rally Democrats with the biggest names backing Clinton this year. Vice President Biden and Michelle Obama were also campaigning for Clinton this week. Clinton’s campaign sent out Twitter messages quoting Obama while he made the case that she represents inclusion and diversity, compared with what Democrats call Trump’s message of division and bigotry. “All of us, young, old, men, women, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, folks with disabilities, all pledging allegiance to the same flag — that’s the America I know,” Obama said. “That’s the America you know and believe in. And there is just one candidate in this race who’s devoted her life to building that America.” Obama is next expected on the trail in October, with a focus on young voters, blacks and Hispanics. Clinton’s strategists hope that Obama’s enduring popularity among Democrats, and his sway with African Americans and younger voters, can help Clinton overcome the difficult hurdle of winning a third term for the same political party. “It is good to be back on the campaign trail,” Obama said as he began some 40 minutes of remarks. Obama reflected on his fierce 2008 primary contest with Clinton, especially in Pennsylvania, where Clinton won the primary and kept her bid alive. “Every time I thought I had that race won, I was like going up the ‘Rocky’ steps,” Obama said. “I was about to celebrate, and then I looked. She’s right there. And I got whupped here in Pennsylvania. She whupped me.” The enthusiastic crowd was gathered outdoors on a balmy late-summer afternoon in front of the historic Philadelphia Museum of Art, whose front steps were featured in the Sylvester Stallone movie. Clinton has tied herself closely to Obama, whom she served as secretary of state, and gives him credit in nearly every speech for pulling the country out of the “ditch” of the Great Recession at the start of his tenure. No one, and certainly not Trump, really knows what it means to be president and make life-and-death decisions, Obama said. “Anybody can pop off,” he said. “Anybody can fire off a tweet. Everybody’s a critic. But that doesn’t mean you know what it’s like to manage a global crisis. You don’t know what it’s like to send a group of young people to war knowing some won’t come back. But the closest you can come to understanding what it’s like is to be where Hillary’s been, to have been part of those decisions.” Sean Sullivan in Clive contributed to this report. |
A GOLD Coast 14-year-old has spoken out about her employer potentially breaking child employment laws in a big to strongarm underage employees into accepting a pay cut or face losing work. Brisbane-based Domino’s has confirmed as of 7 December, all in-store and supervisor casual employees will be “offered” permanent part-time roles instead — but it’s an offer they can’t refuse. COUNCIL CANCELS ZELDA’S CHRISTMAS Staff were informed two weeks ago of the new national policy, but many were told they had to sign the new contracts and accept a $2.37 pay cut from $11.86 to $9.49 an hour, or they would simply not be given any more shifts. A 14-year-old Gold Coast girl has spoken out about her employer, Domino's, potentially breaking child employment laws -... Posted by Gold Coast Bulletin on Tuesday, December 1, 2015 Gold Coast high school student Lucy*, 14, said she and about 15 other casuals were called into the meeting at the Runaway Bay store, where the store manager and regional manager were both present. FROZEN CURLEWS CAUSING CONFUSION “They read this contract out at the meeting and they said even though it was really technical they had to say it word for word,” she said. “They read out what’s going to be happening, that we’re getting a $2 pay drop, and going to become part-time employees, that we get 10 hours sick leave a year and [some] annual leave. “They gave us something to take home to sign, and they also said, if we don’t sign it they can’t fire us but we won’t get any more shifts.” She said both the store manager and the regional manager repeated the line. “We said, what if we don’t sign? They said, we won’t put you on — we’ll just hire more people and put them on. We said, what if none of us sign it? And they said they would just hire new people.” In a statement, a Domino’s spokeswoman said: “This is contrary to what was instructed to our corporate store managers. We are happy to receive more information so we can address this with the store and management in question.” She further clarified that staff at the Runaway Bay store “were instructed to think about the conversion for no less than 24 hours and if wishing to convert could they please return the contracts by Saturday 28 November”. media_camera Staff were told to sign the contracts or they wouldn’t be given any more work. Lucy, who works at the store with her 16-year-old sister Ruby, said all the staff were given was a single page ‘offer of employment’ letter stating the role, employment type and commencement date. Under ‘terms of employment’, the letter says to consult the SDA — Domino’s Pizza Agreement 2005 or 2009, or to contact head office for “more detailed information regarding the terms and conditions of your employment”. “The contract didn’t say what was happening, it just said we’re changing to part time,” Lucy said. “They didn’t give us the piece of paper that said the pay rates. If I didn’t tell my parents what they told us at the meeting, they wouldn’t have known what was going on. “They just said to sign it and bring it back.” In a statement to News Corp, a Domino’s spokesman confirmed the change, starting with all corporate stores, and said the move was about offering the current workforce secure employment, certainty, training and upskilling employees for the future. “We are commencing the new strategy with our instore and shift runners,” he said. “We are in a period of solid growth at Domino’s and we want to invest in our workers, and train and retain them for as long as we possibly can — we see this as a really positive move. “Casual employees have no guarantee of hours or ongoing employment. Instead, casuals are retained on an ‘as needs’ basis. The new employment strategy will help us retain staff and their knowledge in a period of skill shortages and would also attract new staff to Domino’s looking for job certainty. “Offering job security and opportunity is a large part of the Domino’s culture and really does cement our People Powered Pizza ethos and that our people are the heart of this business.” He said other benefits to employees include added entitlements such as annual leave, personal leave, leave loading, redundancy and notice of termination. media_camera A fact sheet sent to staff on Wednesday. media_camera High school staff are upset their pay is being cut by more than $2. media_camera The SDA is concerned young employees are being “compelled” to convert. Lucy said everyone at the meeting was “really angry”. “I’m 14, most of the others are 15 or 16. We don’t go on annual leave because we all go to school, so we still get paid less,” she said. Lucy and Ruby’s father, John, is furious. When his daughters first got the job, he went in to sign their casual contracts as their guardian. “I just can’t believe a 14-year-old kid was asked to sign a contract without parental consent,” he said. Under the enterprise agreement struck between the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) and Domino’s Pizza in 2009, casual employees can work minimum two-hour shifts up to a maximum of 38 hours a week. Part-time employees are required to work at least nine hours a week in minimum three-hour shifts. “They’re just school students, my youngest daughter it’s her first ever job,” John said. “I do find it strange, and I want to know why a school kid would go permanent part-time. Young students just want the money, they’re not worried about annual leave and everything,” he said. “They’ve got to have a life, they can’t commit to nine hours every week. They’re telling them they had to be available every weekend for three-hour shifts, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.” In a fact sheet sent out to staff this morning addressing employees’ concerns about the changes, Domino’s was unclear whether staff will be allowed to remain as casual employees. Under the question “What if I don’t want to convert to permanent part-time?”, the letter states: “If you do not wish to be employed as a permanent part time employee please request a meeting with your manager.” Giri Sivaraman, principal with law firm Maurice Blackburn, said it was concerning to see the continued trend in franchises and fast-food in particular where “employees who are vulnerable and can be more easily exploited being told they have no choice but to accept new employment conditions”. “We’ve seen this in Pizza Hut, we’ve seen this in 7-Eleven, now we’re seeing Domino’s where 14-year-olds are being brought into a room and told, ‘You have to sign this contract’,” he said. “It’s really of concern.” Mr Sivaraman described the behaviour was “highly inappropriate considering their age”, and potentially unlawful in Queensland, where children under the age of 18 are subject to the Child Employment Act 2006. “It says that an employer should not require a school-age child to perform work without a parental consent form,” he said. “What that also implies, and what you generally expect in the common law, is if it’s a child then clearly any contractual change should have been brought to the attention of their parents first. “They should not have been dragged into a room and not given the opportunity of taking the contracts home with their parents, and they shouldn’t have been told, ‘You have to sign this or you don’t have work.’” media_camera Maurice Blackburn principal Giri Sivaraman says the conduct is “highly inappropriate”. Mr Sivaraman said even senior executives might need advice on a new employment contract. “I advise senior execs on their contracts all the time, [so] a child of 14 or 16 clearly needs to take that contract home to her mother or father for advice.” The combination of a young, vulnerable workforce, sometimes from overseas or on student visas, geographically spread out across a large number of small workplaces, with franchisees often under “onerous” conditions, created a “vicious cocktail that can lead to the breaking of labour standards and labour laws”, he added. However, the Domino’s spokesman said the new arrangements were a step in the right direction in empowering youth with more employment benefits. “In a period of employment uncertainty ripe in the current landscape with sham contracts and other corner cutting tactics, the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry has been working to move in the right space and embrace what the right thing to do by our employees is,” he said. “At the end of the day it’s all about offering more stability and more opportunities for youth employment in the QSR space, especially in an environment where generally workforces are becoming more ‘casualised’.” Gerard Dwyer, national secretary of the SDA, said the union had been contacted by a law firm representing two Domino’s employees, and had offered to take the matter up on their behalf. “We have recently raised concerns with Domino’s about conversions from casual to part-time,” he said. “It’s been put to me that two junior individuals were asked and required to convert. “In the broad, we all know there are a lot of advantages that go with part-time employment, but our concern is to make sure that anyone who takes up part-time employment [does so through] a genuine and mutually agreed process.” Mr Dwyer said he was “concerned young employees may have been compelled to alter their status” without proper consideration. “Individual circumstances need to be taken into account,” he said. “Someone might jump at guaranteed minimum hours, where for someone else it might be something they don’t want.” He added that if employees were being informed they must be available to work on weekends, the SDA would take that up with Domino’s. “We deal with rostering all the time, and it’s something where you have to arrive at a point where both parties are satisfied,” he said. “There is no position that says you must work Friday, Saturday and Sunday.” The SDA says it will pursue the matter through the normal industrial disputes procedure, leaving the door open to Fair Work Commission proceedings failing a resolution with Domino’s. A spokesman for the Fair Work Ombudsman said it not received any complaints in relation to the new contracts. “Any worker, or parent of a young worker, seeking advice or assistance can contact the Fair Work Ombudsman via the website or the Fair Work Infoline,” he said. *Last name withheld. frank.chung@news.com.au |
Jaime Hernandez - December 21, 2010 In 1982, the Philadelphia Mint produced a small quantity of dimes without a mintmark, the first such error to occur on a coin made for circulation. This inconceivable error came about thanks to a Mint employee who failed to add the mintmark onto an obverse die. Traditionally, Mint employees punch the mintmark into working dies, which are then inspected for any flaws or omissions. In this case, the omission of the mintmark went unnoticed and thousands of 1982 dimes without mintmarks escaped from the Philadelphia Mint that year. The 1982 No Mintmark dimes were first discovered in late December, 1982. Credit for the discovery is shared by Walter Placzankis, Andrew Macdonald and Lane Durkee. The largest concentration of these error coins was in the area around Sandusky, Ohio, where approximately 8,000 to 10,000 of them were found. All of the coins from the Sandusky area display strong strikes with a date separated from the rim of the coin. Many of the error coins were given out as change to visitors at the Cedar Point Amusement Park. Additional error coins eventually turned up in circulation. In August 1983, more 1982 No Mintmark dimes were reported in Pittsburgh. The original estimate for this hoard was in the 3,000 to 5,000 range. The coins from this hoard were weakly struck, as opposed to the strong strikes found in Sandusky. On the weakly struck examples, the number "2" of the date is weak and closer to the rim when compared to the well-struck examples. Both varieties of the "Weak" and "Strong" 1982 No P Mint Mark Dimes were traced to mint bags that came from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Later, additional 1982 No Mintmark dimes were found in the Boston area, giving the indication that at least part of the Cleveland shipment ended up in Boston. Most of the uncirculated examples were retrieved directly from the Citizen's Bank or from some of the dealers who purchased them from local bank tellers. The discoveries were pinpointed to three major locations, thus providing some very crucial clues as to how many coins were released. A prominent Toledo coin dealer by the name of Clyde Englehardt owned about 1,500 of these error coins at one time; this is the area where most of the coins were found. Clyde, who has been dealing in coins since 1960, is also mentioned in Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of U.S. Coins. When we interviewed Clyde, he reminisced about the early 1980s, just as the coins were being discovered and how the local dealers and bank tellers would offer him 1982 No Mintmark dimes by the roll! He also preserved different inserts and periodicals relating to the 1982 No Mintmark dimes over the years that were very helpful for this article. In 1987, Clyde donated examples to the American Numismatic Association and the Smithsonian Institution. He never found a 1982 No Mintmark Dime in circulation, but that never stopped him from buying them. He also made some very keen observations on the Weak and Strong varieties. For example, he discovered that only 47 to 48 sharply stuck 1982 No Mintmark dimes fit inside a plastic dime tube as opposed to 50 to 51 weakly struck examples fitting in the same tube. Coincidentally, Clyde is the guardian of two very significant coins, each notable because it illustrates a very distinguishable die crack at 1 o'clock on the obverse. The die crack provides additional clues as to how many of these errors were created in 1982. Many experts believe the Weak 1982 No Mintmark dimes were created before the Strong versions. It is very possible that a mint employee noticed the weakly struck examples early in the production process, then increased the striking pressure to obtain a better and stronger strike (resulting in the Strong variety). The die cracks on Clyde's coins may have been the result of the increased pressure. Once this damage was noticed by the press operator, the die would have been pulled and discarded, thus ending the production of 1982 No Mintmark dimes. In 1982, the expected life of a single die pair was 75,000 circulation strikes, placing an upper limit on the mintage of the 1982 No Mintmark dimes. However, if the increased striking pressure caused the dies to crack prematurely, the actual mintage might be significantly lower. |
At 12 o'clock on Saturday, extreme-nationalist party Svenskarnas Parti (SvP) gathered in Stockholm's Humlegården to demonstrate their right to be Swedish in Sweden. The demonstration was the start-off point of their nationwide campaign, "Thousands of years of Swedishness – don't break our blue-yellow bonds," which according to SvP's party leader Stefan Jacobsson, is aimed specifically at young people. I don't want to sound like a know-it-all or anything, but here's a tip: if you want to reach young people you should probably scrap that motto of referring to the Stone Age and develop a Swedish app for iPad or something instead. Either way, SvP supporters could buy pins in the shape of blue-yellow bonds that look similar to those pins supporting breast cancer for a bargain 100 Swedish kronors. Here's another tip: kids like stuff that are free. Apparently the money cashed in on the pins will support SvP's new initiative to give Swedish parents financial support with their new-born Swedish babies – a very frightening thought that brought most people in Humlegården on Saturday back to the 1940s. What's even more scary is that SvP's supporters welcomed the initiative with applauds while press and outsiders laughed nervously and horrified. The demonstration started off with three speeches, followed by a parade through central Stockholm, and finished off in another park, Observatorielunden approximately two kilometres away. SvP expected to be followed by counter-demonstrators protesting against their xenophobic politics and had scheduled that the complete time for the parade (a walk that usually takes around 25 minutes) would be around five hours, including speeches and two verses of the national anthem. However, by the time their second speaker, Daniel Spansk entered the stage, counter-demonstrators who were sick of waiting around for SvP in their designated demonstration area, Hötorget, had gathered in Humlegården, too, to speak their mind: "No Nazis on our streets" and "Shut the fuck up!" were the messages. The parade of around 250 people got heavily delayed as counter-demonstrators threw water balloons while police vans, police on horsebacks and riot police followed the parade up-close. By the time SvP had reached Stureplan in central Stockholm, attempts to overthrow the parade had been made several times, and firecrackers, water balloons and beer cans ended up in masses of people who were not taking part of the demonstrations – and were only trying to enjoy their Saturday off with some shopping. At one point people ran for cover inside a Zara-store when one SvP-supporter threw a firecracker on a shop window in attempt to protect his group. At the same time, anti-fascists who had gathered at Hötorget prepared for SvP. "Nothing will change. But we have to show the Nazis that they're not welcome on our streets. And every bit of action counts to discourage their disgraceful behaviour," said Victor, a 20-year-old student who was volunteering as a medic, sporting a hand-painted red cross safety-pinned to his sleeve. When the parade had reached Sveavägen, the main street leading to their final destination, several spectators had seen SvP-supporters throwing firecrackers and bottles at crowds without police interfering, despite the fact that anti-fascists had been arrested each time an attempt of throwing something at the SvP supporters had been made. This caused the situation to be even more heated, with one guy telling us that, "the police's job to protect the Nazis only allows them to do whatever the fuck they want!" One police officer told us however, that all police wanted to do was to make sure the parade got over and done with as neat and smooth as possible. "These guys [SvP] are so easily agitated, so interfering too much with them will only cause reasons for riots. And we don't want that." When time had reached about 5 PM – an hour past the booked demonstration time, the tension had died down as the protestors realised that the police would immediately crush any attempt at direct contact with SvP. The 200 people who had lingered on merely resorted to their insults and chants, which had little effect on SvP's gathering of about 50. The SvP members were eventually ushered into the metro under close police protection, while the protestors left for their Saturday night beers to soothe their sore throats and angry hearts. Additional reporting by Sara Brolin, Markus Hård and Caisa Ederyd. Want more like this? Drunk Swedish Fascist MPs Going Mad In the Street The English Defence League Loves Gay Pride WATCH – Teenage Riot: May Day In Eskilstuna |
Pity young Dick Whitman/Don Draper. The childhood orphan wound up growing up in a Pennsylvania brothel with a stepmother who didn't love him. (At least he had the occasional Hershey's bar.) Season six of "Mad Men" featured several flashbacks to Don's teenage years in the whorehouse, leading to the final scene of the season finale -- in which Don (Jon Hamm) takes his kids to the home (now, years later, in complete disrepair, see above).In real life, Don's childhood whorehouse is actually in the historic Los Angeles neighborhood of Angelino Heights, a popular spot for film shoots (particuarly period pieces like "Mad Men"). The neighborhood, located just south of Dodger Stadium/Chavez Ravine, is known for its collection of still-standing Victorian homes.Don Draper's childhood whorehouse, located at the corner of Douglas and Carroll (that's the Google Maps photo above), was built in 1887; is six bedrooms/one bath; 3,160 square feet -- and valued at just under $600,000, according to Zillow . (That sounds remarkably low, given the size and the historic value.)Here's the Zillow entry:Note a few important differences: "Mad Men" added *a lot* of CGI to make the house look more rundown than it really is. Plus it's surrounded by apartment buildings in that digitally altered scene from the show, but in real life it's just more homes. (At least the power lines on the left appear to be authentic.) Interestingly, this publicity shot for the show, found on Richard Rushfield's Tumblr , appears to also be without those digital alterations:How popular is this house as a film location? The Google Maps photo of the house happens to catch a shooting trailer and "No Parking" signs all around the house:Meanwhile, Nicole Verhamme, who lives across the street from Don Draper's childhood whorehouse and goes by the handle @slowdowncoletrane , has chronicled the "Mad Men" shoots. Check out this pic she snapped from her window:"Once again, woke up on the set of a Mad Men shooting, & yes, that IS Jon Hamm right in front of me...!!!!" she writes.Obviously they did add some junk to the front yard, it's not nearly as nice as the yard in the Google Maps pic. But the house sure doesn't look this shabby:And by the way, it goes without saying, but there are no smokestacks on the other side of the street, despite this shot:We've marveled for years about how "Mad Men" has expertly managed to turn Los Angeles locations into mid-century New York (as well as Rome and other locales). Check out some of our past posts here How amazing was that Season 6 finale, by the way? It really sets the stage for perhaps a new, introspective Don Draper. And it also gives us plenty to think about as we wait for the show's final season next year. I spoke to creator Matt Weiner about the season ender; read that TV Guide Q&A here |
Inflation Dynamics and Monetary Policy in Bolivia Author/Editor: Alejandro D Guerson Publication Date: December 18, 2015 Electronic Access: Free Full Text. Use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this PDF file Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate Summary: This paper explores inflation dynamics and monetary policy in Bolivia. Bolivia’s monetary policy framework has been effective in stabilizing inflation in recent times. This has been a challenging task given high price volatility of key consumer goods subject to recurrent supply shocks, especially food items. Empirical testing indicates that the monetary policy framework has contributed to the stabilization of inflation, with effective transmission through the bank lending channel, while the defacto dollar peg has also played a role. Looking ahead, the current framework will be tested by the new commodity price normal and a potentially permanent adjustment in relative prices. Against this background, consideration could be given to a more flexible exchange rate policy arrangement, with short term interest rates as the main policy instrument. |
Malay food encouraged to step up to the plate after five continuous days of absence. A hiatus-triggered Singaporean man queued up for Malay nasi padang for lunch this afternoon to the applause of Singaporeans from all walks of life, who are still seen as coming from different races despite being one united people. The man, Jiak Cai Png, who had Chinese food the last five days before this meal, said: “According to my body’s constitution, when a type of food from any racial group has not occupied my stomach after five continuous days, the next meal will be reserved for a plate of that food from that racial group.” “For this purpose, my body has categorised the relevant racial groups into three: Chinese, Malay and Indian and other communities.” “This reserved meal on a Saturday will likely encourage food from that absent group to step forward and onto my plate.” This rotation of meals based on race has been hailed as keeping the constitution of one’s body healthy. A local doctor, Kua Nor Koon, said: “I noticed the man’s nasi padang consisted of beef rendang, bergedel and sambal kang kong, which is representative of Malay cuisine.” “But Singaporeans are free to eat whatever meals they like. Some eat Western food all the time, some like roti prata for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper.” “Just let Singaporeans be. They know what is best for themselves.” “No point dictating they must eat this, eat that. Later they still fall ill, how? Whose fault?” |
by NW Spotlight Back in 2009 and 2010, Democrats controlled the White House and the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rammed Obamacare through without a single Republican vote. The Washington Post said of the Obamacare fight at the time “It has inflamed the partisanship that Obama pledged to tame when he campaigned for the White House and has limited Congress’s ability to pass any other major legislation.” In December 2009, the U.S. Senate voted 60 to 39 for Obamacare. The Washington Post reported “The Senate bill passed without a single GOP vote.” In March 2010, the U.S. House voted 219 to 212 for Obamacare. 34 House Democrats and all of the House Republicans voted against Obamacare. The NO votes were the only bipartisan votes. President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) on March 23, 2010. Democrats ignored the plans offered by Republicans at the time – including the House GOP plan drafted by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) and The Patients’ Choice Act of 2009 introduced by U.S. Senators Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) and Richard Burr (R-NC) and U.S. Representatives Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Devin Nunes (R-CA). |
About Connecting to your loved ones around the world at the flick of a switch! Keeping in touch with people has gradually become more than being “always on, sometimes off”. We would like to think that people can share parts of their lives with their families & loved ones in more subtle ways with the flick of a switch. A physical social network. Why is this useful? Home alone. Ever wanted to keep an eye on a loved one who lives alone? Give them a Big Lamp and watch your Little Lamp turn on as they come home or go to bed. Global families. Live abroad and can't seem to call your family at the right time? Let them switch a Big Lamp on when they're around and can be called and vice versa. Global teams. Have a team working around the world and want to see if they're around for that conference call? Turn your Big Lamp on when you're ready. Collect your colleagues Little Lamps and watch everyone join the call. Connecting worlds. Want to connect home and work, turn the Big Lamp off when you leave work so your family knows you're on your way. How is it packaged? The Good Night Lamp comes as a Set of a Big Lamp and 1 Little Lamp. You can add Little Lamps as you go. Each Little Lamp represents another loved one or friend. A Set Collecting Little Lamps What did we achieve in this campaign? We started working on this in March 2012 and since then we've been slowly working towards a product we really want to bring into production. We've gone through 5 iterations of the production since then. By the end of this campaign - We'd appeared in Forbes, Fast Company, BBC Radio 4, Boing Boing, Slashdot, Reddit and many more. - We've been to CES and back and have been invited to showcase some of our latest developments at the Launch Festival in San Francisco, as part of a showcase of Hackney-based projects at SXSW & the upcoming Gadget Show Live where we'll have a booth. We are opening up a store for pre-orders on Friday the 8th of February 2013. Have a look at our website for more details. Our studio in London where John works. Inside the Little Lamp right now Why did we try to raise so much? After having run 2 companies in the past 7 years we have a really good idea of what is involved in making things at the scale that we want to, ie not just a few Good Night Lamps, but plenty, thousands. Basically we're trying to raise enough to make more than a little batch, more than something that's hand-made, hand-soldered and un-certified*. This means we not only have to raise enough to set up production (around £150 000) but also to reward our backers with a product which we don't want to make at a loss. So when you back us, you also are backing our little company not to lose any money by making the rewards. This means that for every backer that's giving us £89, £50.80 will go to making your Good Night Lamp set, and the rest goes into helping us towards that £150 000. That £150 000 includes 6 months of work to cover: - Design the electronics for pre-production and the software that the electronics need to have to talk to the internet (15 weeks of work) - Find the right wood & plastics providers in the UK with Tom Cecil & Makers who have been working with us already. - Cover the cost of certification of the product CE (covers Europe), UL (covers the US + New Zealand & Australia) and eventually for Japan as they have a slightly different wifi range. - Rent of a room up in Liverpool where we can assemble the sets, pay people to work with us to help us assemble the sets, register them on our online service and ship them off safely. - People's time to both manage the production of the product but also develop our online infrastructure. We will need to hire some people to help us out too. We hope this will make sense to our backers. What we didn't want to do was to be in a situation of either pretending that we needed less or hiding the cost of making something like the Good Night Lamp. Hopefully this is something other campaigns will also share with their backers as these kinds of projects take off in the UK. Why are we doing this? House Coats for your collection of Little Lamps We are a team of designers, technologists and makers who have been working around the internet of things for a long time and we think its more than a buzzword. We think that there is a space in people's homes for quirky, internet-connected object that connect people in new ways. We have great plans for the Good Night Lamp. Follow our blog for all the other aspects of the project we've been building like house coats! How can you keep in touch with the project? We have a newsletter, a Twitter account and a Facebook page. |
Watford forward Fernando Forestieri will not join Leeds United, claimed Massimo Cellino earlier today. Leeds United fans have taken to social networking site Twitter to give their reaction to club chairman Massimo Cellino’s stance over Fernando Forestieri. Earlier today, Cellino revealed on Leeds’ official website that the Whites will not be pursuing a deal to recruit Fernando Forestieri from Watford before the end of the summer transfer window next month. The Whites were interested in recruiting the forward, but the Italian entrepreneur claimed that the 25-year-old did not have the right mentality to play for the West Yorkshire outfit. Leeds and Watford, who got promoted to the Premier League from the Championship at the end of last season, had agreed a fee for the transfer of Forestieri, as revealed in the statement. However, Cellino stated that the former Genoa striker did not have the desire and hunger that some of the other Leeds summer signings showed before putting pen to paper. Following the statement, Leeds fans took to Twitter to have their say on the end to the Forestieri pursuit. Below are some of the best comments: Oh and Forestieri? Wrong mentality? Or simply turned us down in the hope of a better move and MC is trying to save face? #lufc — Jennifer (@jenbarlufc) August 28, 2015 Right decision on Forestieri, he's good but can he do it on a cold <DATE SUBJECT TO CHANGE> in Leeds #lufc — el_murph (@el_murph) August 28, 2015 Lets find players who WANTS too play for #lufc. Forestieri dont. Good we move on — Øystein Sigstad (@oyssig75) August 28, 2015 Great news, #lufc end interest in Forestieri. If he's not interested, no probe, plenty more fish in the sea http://t.co/2x0zHnBmy4 — Steve Chambers (@stevie_chambers) August 28, 2015 Right decision on Forestieri if he doesn't fancy it. We need 2 in before the window shuts hope they deliver. #lufc — Irish_Leeds (@Irish_Leeds) August 28, 2015 Should've expected it. MC says #lufc not pursuing Forestieri, feels he isn't committed to Leeds. Good decision I'd say- but MC getting flak? — Just watching (@Cellino_In) August 28, 2015 Forestieri will end up Wednesday n we won't hear the end of it. #Lufc — SS5 Jay (@JayBlufc) August 28, 2015 Let Forestieri sit on the bench every week, he will have wished he would of joined Leeds #lufc #mot — Ryan (@LeedsUtdRyan) August 28, 2015 |
Actress Kelli O’Hara, songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Jeanine Tesori and “Wicked” book writer Winnie Holzman are among the women in the theater being honored at the fifth annual Lilly Awards. Kristen Anderson-Lopez Susan Bernfield Johanna Day Winnie Holzman Joyce Ketay Mary Mitchell Campbell Rebecca Naomi Jones Dominique Morrisseau Kelli O’Hara Jen Silverman Jeanine Tesori Liesl Tommy In addition, the cast of the current critically acclaimed production of Broadway’s Raisin in the Sun will honor the life of the play’s author Lorraine Hansberry. The ceremony will take place June 2nd at Playwrights Horizons. The Lillys, named for playwright Lillian Hellman, were created in 2010 as a way to honor the work of women in the American Theater. The founders of The Lilly Awards were Julia Jordan, Marsha Norman and Theresa Rebeck. Advertisements Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Email Print Like this: Like Loading... |
For the 1 Giant Leap song "Ta Moko", see 1 Giant Leap (album) Tā moko is the permanent marking of the face and body as traditionally practised by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. Captain James Cook wrote in 1769: The marks in general are spirals drawn with great nicety and even elegance. One side corresponds with the other. The marks on the body resemble foliage in old chased ornaments, convolutions of filigree work, but in these they have such a luxury of forms that of a hundred which at first appeared exactly the same no two were formed alike on close examination.[1][2] Tohunga-tā-moko (tattooists) were considered tapu, or inviolable and sacred.[3] Background [ edit ] Tattoo arts are common in the Eastern Polynesian homeland of Māori, and the traditional implements and methods employed were similar to those used in other parts of Polynesia.[4] In pre-European Māori culture, many if not most high-ranking persons received moko, and those who went without them were seen as persons of lower social status. Receiving moko constituted an important milestone between childhood and adulthood, and was accompanied by many rites and rituals. Apart from signalling status and rank, another reason for the practice in traditional times was to make a person more attractive to the opposite sex. Men generally received moko on their faces, buttocks (raperape) and thighs (puhoro). Women usually wore moko on their lips (kauwae) and chins. Other parts of the body known to have moko include women's foreheads, buttocks, thighs, necks and backs and men's backs, stomachs, and calves. Historically, moko was distinct from tattooing, in that the skin was carved by uhi[5] (chisels), not punctured. This left the skin with grooves rather than a smooth surface. korere (feeding funnels) A collection of(feeding funnels) Instruments used [ edit ] Originally tohunga-tā-moko (moko specialists) used a range of uhi (chisels) made from albatross bone which were hafted onto a handle, and struck with a mallet.[6] The pigments were made from the awheto for the body colour, and ngarehu (burnt timbers) for the blacker face colour. The soot from burnt kauri gum was also mixed with fat to make pigment.[7] The pigment was stored in ornate vessels named oko, which were often buried when not in use. The oko were handed on to successive generations. A kōrere (feeding funnel) is believed to have been used to feed men whose mouths had become swollen from receiving tā moko.[8] Men were predominantly the tā moko specialists, although King records a number of women during the early 20th century who also took up the practice. There is also a remarkable account of a woman prisoner-of-war in the 1830s who was seen putting moko on the entire back of the wife of a chief.[citation needed] Changes [ edit ] The pākehā practice of collecting and trading mokomokai (tattooed heads) changed the dynamic of tā moko in the early colonial period. King (see below) talks about changes which evolved in the late 19th century when needles came to replace the uhi as the main tools. This was a quicker method, less prone to possible health risks, but the feel of the tā moko changed to smooth. Tā moko on men stopped around the 1860s in line with changing fashion and acceptance by Pākehā. Women continued receiving moko through the early 20th century,[9] and the historian Michael King in the early 1970s interviewing over 70 elderly women who would have been given the moko before the 1907 Tohunga Suppression Act.[10][11] Women were traditionally only tattooed on their lips, around the chin, and sometimes the nostrils.[12][13] Tā moko today [ edit ] Since 1990 there has been a resurgence in the practice of tā moko for both men and women, as a sign of cultural identity and a reflection of the general revival of the language and culture. Most tā moko applied today is done using a tattoo machine, but there has also been a revival of the use of uhi (chisels).[14] Women too have become more involved as practitioners, such as Christine Harvey of the Chathams, Henriata Nicholas in Rotorua and Julie Kipa in Whakatane. Te Uhi a Mataora was established in 2000 "to preserve, enhance, and develop tā moko as a living art form".[15] Use by non-Māori [ edit ] Europeans were aware of tā moko from at the time of the first voyage of James Cook, and early Māori visitors to Europe, such as Moehanga in 1805,[16] then Hongi Hika in 1820 and Te Pēhi Kupe in 1826,[17] all had full-face moko, as did several "Pākehā Māori" such as Barnet Burns. However, until relatively recently the art had little global impact. Appropriation of tā moko by non-Māori is deemed offensive,[18][19] and high-profile uses of Māori designs by Robbie Williams, Ben Harper and a 2007 Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion show were controversial.[20][21][22][23] To reconcile the demand for Māori designs in a culturally sensitive way, the Te Uhi a Mataora group promotes the use of the term kirituhi,[24] which has now gained wide acceptance:[25][26][27][28] ...Kirituhi translates literally to mean—"drawn skin." As opposed to Moko which requires a process of consents, genealogy and historical information, Kirituhi is merely a design with a Maori flavour that can be applied anywhere, for any reason and on anyone...[24] Gallery [ edit ] See also [ edit ] Mokomokai , preserved Māori heads , preserved Māori heads Pe'a, traditional male Samoan tattoo References [ edit ] Sources [ edit ] |
It’s funny I have the impression that script loaders keep coming back in the news, if we go back one year and a half ago we mostly only had labJS and requireJS, these guys want to load all your scripts asynch, but now we got new kids, notably yepnope, that allows you to load scripts based on feature detection and others.. headJS, controlJS, enhanceJS, jsDefer ouch… Script loaders are responding to a weird problem, you would think that browsers do a good job at loading script since its been doing just that for more than 10 years, but in fact not really, it could be a lot better and this is where those technologies come in. What they do is super charge the loading speed of your scripts by using various tricks, and when I say tricks, sometimes it really means hacks, specially in older browsers like ie6. In my article about script loaders 1 year ago I gave them praised, and I definitely meant it, but currently I unfortunately just stopped using loaders. What went wrong? When I first tested labJS I was flabbergasted, it was loading my scripts 3 times faster on a average website. I was looking at optimizing the front-end speed of our framework at my last job (w.illi.am/ a web consulting/agency), and this was a strong contender at being implemented. And we did just that, we implemented labJS at the core of our CMS. It definitely took some fine tuning and we had some weird bugs at first with execution order and dom ready statements, but within a week or 2 everything was back to normal. Then a new project came with an IE phase testing, to our horror IE8 was giving us wrong error lines, it did not understand what labJS was doing and could not find any script file loaded by labjs. Still we continued to use it. Then Firefox4 came along, our older labjs version was not compatible with it, this was a big problem for us, since w.illi.am/ does something like 50 websites a year, not centralized. We just could not afford to update labJS for each project. This was the end of script loading for us, we had to revert back to our old way, we could not take the chance that older version would not be compatible with future browsers. ** I also heard that some of them had problems with newer webkit releases, prompting another library update. Is it really worth it to use a script loader? Personally my response would be no, you introduce in your stack a very big point of failure, if this script fails, your entire app fails, furthermore you *generally* need to follow convention dictated by the library. RequireJS works best if you follow their module convention, and labJS has an api to make it easier to keep the execution order, but it really changes the way you would normally work. I’m no more at w.illi.am/, but at Cakemail we are currently minifying everything we can into one big js file, like what javascriptMVC does, and loading it normally. It seems to me as the best approach, *some* scripts minifier have been stable for ages, so I know that my production application will not break because of it (it can happen of course, but it is really rare), and in development we just keep the gazillions of script tags for debugging. That being said, I still think script loaders are a brilliant technology, and I have a lot of respect for their authors. I mean, if your looking for optimizing your page loading time to the maximum, script loaders are a no brainer, its probably your single best optimization beside doing the normal stuff, but it’s not a task to be taken lightly and you must be aware that there will be maintenance and setup cost. |
The Supreme Court ruled that people have a right to try to make the congressional redistricting process less partisan. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) A divided Supreme Court on Monday said voters concerned that partisan gerrymandering is creating unfair elections are entitled to take reapportionment away from state legislatures. The court ruled 5 to 4 that the Constitution does not give legislatures exclusive control over congressional redistricting and said voters may vest the power in independent commissions by ballot initiative, where this option exists. “The animating principle of our Constitution [is] that the people themselves are the originating source of all the powers of government,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the majority. The court upheld a plan Arizona voters approved in 2000 that set up an independent commission to draw the boundaries. [This is the best explanation of gerrymandering you will ever see] The Republican-led Arizona legislature had objected to the plan the commission drew, and pointed to the Constitution’s Elections Clause to contest the validity of the district map. The clause states that the “Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.” If the Arizona legislature had retained the power to set the map, Republican lawmakers would have been able to redraw the boundaries to the advantage of their party in at least two of the state’s nine congressional districts, which are now roughly split between Republicans and Democrats. The Supreme Court has largely stayed out of partisan gerrymandering cases, unable to agree on a test that would allow the court to discern when expected political maneuvering rises to the level of being unconstitutional. [Supreme Court decision in Arizona redistricting case] Ginsburg was joined in the majority by Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued a biting dissent, accusing the majority of using a “magic trick” to impose its policy preferences. “No matter how concerned we may be about partisanship in redistricting, this court has no power to gerrymander the Constitution,” Roberts wrote. He was joined in dissent by Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. Scalia and Thomas would have ruled that the case be dismissed as an allocation of political power that the courts have no business deciding. Scalia said he joined Roberts because the majority opinion “is so outrageously wrong, so utterly devoid of textual or historic support, so flatly in contradiction of prior Supreme Court cases, so obviously the willful product of hostility to districting by state legislatures, that I cannot avoid adding my vote to the devastating dissent of the Chief Justice.” The Arizona plan works like this: The top Republican and Democratic leaders in the two legislative chambers each select a member of the commission from a list of 25 people compiled by a group that also selects judicial candidates. Those four commission members select a chairman also from the list. [How efforts to legalize same-sex marriage culminated in Supreme Court decision ] Legislative leaders may comment on the plans the commission draws up, but they cannot alter the maps, nor can the governor veto them. California is the only other state that has diminished the legislature’s role in a similar fashion. About 11 other states have created commissions that advise legislators on reapportionment or serve as a backup in case the legislature fails to complete a plan. Ginsburg acknowledged that the language of the Elections Clause seemed to indicate the work was to be done by a legislature. But she invoked history and the court’s precedents to say that the word more broadly speaks to the power to make laws and that it is clear Arizona allows voters to make laws through the initiative process. “Recall that when the Constitution was composed in Philadelphia and later ratified, the people’s legislative prerogatives — the initiative and the referendum — were not yet in our democracy’s arsenal,” Ginsburg wrote. “The Elections Clause, however, is not reasonably read to disarm states from adopting modes of legislation that place the lead rein in the people’s hands.” Roberts countered that it took 86 years to pass the 17th Amendment calling for the election of U.S. senators directly by the people instead of by state “legislature.” “Didn’t they realize that all they had to do was interpret the constitutional term ‘the Legislature’ to mean ‘the people’?” Roberts asked. Roberts said the Constitution uses the word “legislature” nearly 20 times to mean a law-making body, and that the majority simply thinks it is better to combat gerrymandering than abide by the words of the document. Michael Li, counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, said the ruling was a big win for voters concerned about gerrymandering. “By leaving in place important redistricting reforms in Arizona and California, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the principle that voters have the freedom under the Constitution to experiment with ways to make their democracy work better,” he said. About half of the states have ballot initiatives that let citizens go around the legislature and put issues to referendum. The case is Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. |
On its public health web page, the VA has posted a terse, official statement about burn pits. “At this time,” it reads, “research does not show evidence of long-term health problems from exposure to burn pits.” This statement is untrue, in the way that official statements are often untrue: not because it contains an outright lie, but because it twists the meaning of everyday words like research and evidence.As the VA knows, there has, in fact, been significant research into burn pits by reputable scientists at established academic institutions, who have published their findings in major, peer-reviewed publications. And that research strongly suggests that long-term health problems among veterans may well have been caused by exposure to burn pits. One of the first studies was conducted by Miller, the professor of clinical medicine at Vanderbilt. In 2004, soldiers from the 101st Airborne returned from a one-year deployment in Iraq and were stationed at Fort Campbell, not far from the university. Some were so short of breath, they were unable to complete the Army’s two-mile run—one of the military’s most basic tests for physical readiness to deploy. Physical readiness is an important factor in determining “service connection,” the causal link for military-related illnesses that obligates the VA to provide medical care or disability benefits. A soldier who has completed a tour of duty was, by definition, physically fit prior to deployment. So when healthy soldiers are suddenly unable to complete the same test they passed prior to deployment, there is a baseline indication that something happened to them during their service that caused their health to deteriorate. As Miller later recalled, what each soldier told him was remarkably consistent: “I was elite. I was athletic. I was deployed. And now I can’t do my two-mile run, and I’m not deployable.” Miller’s study was published in 2011 in the New England Journal of Medicine. In a related paper, he observed that constrictive bronchiolitis “rarely occurs in otherwise healthy and athletic individuals. It is known to result from toxic inhalation.” He also noted that researchers at National Jewish Health in Denver found similar patterns of constrictive bronchiolitis among soldiers exposed to burn pits. Other academic researchers were also studying how burn pits had injured soldiers. In 2004, Anthony Szema, an occupational medicine and epidemiology expert at Hofstra, noticed a sudden shift in the kind of patients who came to him for treatment. “Before, I mostly saw 80-year-old veterans,” he recalls. “Now I saw young women and men, previously healthy soldiers, who were out of breath and suffering respiratory illnesses, including asthma, and no longer fit to deploy.” When asthma medication didn’t improve their conditions, Szema began conducting a series of tests to figure out what was wrong. He acquired three sets of dust samples: one from sand taken from the San Joaquin Valley in California; another from a titanium mine in Montana; and a third from a burn pit at Camp Victory in Iraq. When Szema pumped the samples into the lungs of laboratory mice, the result was striking: Mice that inhaled the Camp Victory dust suffered the highest levels of lung inflammation and suppressed T-cells, which form the core of the body’s immune system. The study was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. While Szema’s sample size was tiny—only 13 mice—the results matched what he saw among the soldiers he treated. “Humans are not supposed to breathe in particles,” he says. “If we breathe in high concentrations of particulate matter, we will suffer prematurely, of lung disease or asthma, regardless of where the particles are coming from. Humans should not be inhaling smoke. We should not be burning trash. In Iraq, the trash is fueled by jet fuel. Do you want to breathe jet fuel?” “Humans should not be inhaling smoke,” Szema says. “We should not be burning trash. In Iraq, the trash is fueled by jet fuel. Do you want to breathe jet fuel?” Szema compares burn-pit exposure to the illnesses suffered by firefighters, police, and other 9/11 workers after the collapse of the World Trade Center. “The exposure is much worse in Iraq,” he says. “Not only were many of these guys deployed for a whole year, but in addition to burn pits, there are tons of other exposure sources. It’s a multifactorial issue. If you’re not dead after the Humvee explodes, then you are going to breathe in bits of the vaporized Humvee. Whatever they aim at you over there, it blows up. Then you head back to base after battle and hang out and breathe in all the smoke from trash fires, because the smoke was in the mess halls and bathrooms and barracks.” The issue of multifactorial exposure is at the heart of the battle over burn-pit disabilities. Because troops were exposed to so many health hazards, from sandstorms to IED blasts to mine fires, it is extremely difficult—if not impossible—to isolate a single cause behind a rash of ailments with absolute certainty. But for many soldiers, Szema notes, the burn pits delivered a steady stream of toxic chemicals straight into their lungs, day and night. “The lungs are our body’s filters,” he says. “Go to Iraq and your lungs are like the back of an air conditioner you haven’t changed for five years. It’s like Iraq is coming out of their lungs.” The government’s response to these studies has been emblematic of its past approach to service-related illnesses among veterans. First, it sought to debunk the early research. Then, it manipulated its own studies to ensure that the outcome would arrive at the word so many burn-pit soldiers have come to dread: inconclusive. In 2009, the VA commissioned a major study of burn pits, focused on the Balad base. The study was conducted by the Health and Medicine Division—previously known as the Institute of Medicine—at the National Academy of Medicine. HMD’s mission is to “provide independent, objective analysis” that will help “solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine.” In practice, however, HMD faces the same pressure any other consulting organization faces: to produce results that will please its client. More than half of all funding for HMD and the National Academy of Medicine comes from the federal government, including 13 percent from the VA. The HMD study on burn pits, in short, was underwritten by the very agency potentially facing billions of dollars in insurance claims from veterans exposed to burn pits. In 2011, after two years of study, HMD issued a report entitled “Long-Term Health Consequences of Exposure to Burn Pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The report wasted no time dismissing the “concerns” expressed by ailing veterans. The public furor, it suggested, had been created by “articles in the popular press” and “anecdotal reports.” Such reports, HMD warned, “do not demonstrate causality or even association; the committee looked instead to the epidemiologic literature on the exposed populations, and on populations similarly exposed.” HMD’s own conclusion amounted to one big scientific shrug. Its researchers reported that they were “unable to say whether exposures to emissions from the burn pit at Joint Base Balad have caused long-term health effects.” They conceded only that service in Iraq and Afghanistan “might” be associated with long-term health effects. They also recommended further study—not of burn pits, but a “broader consideration of air pollution.” A closer look at the study, however, reveals that the HMD shaped the methodology and data to avoid linking burn pits to the widespread suffering among veterans. The research protocol it followed required a “risk assessment process” for contamination that was first developed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1983. The process sounds straightforward enough: First, you study the contamination level of a specific place, such as Balad. Then, you figure out the inherent toxicity of the chemical and how many people were exposed. After that, you review research published on comparable contaminations—cancer among victims at Chernobyl, say, or residents of Love Canal. The result, in theory, should yield a scientifically rigorous prediction of how likely the contamination was to make people sick. When it comes to burn pits, however, that kind of risk assessment simply isn’t possible. In its report, HMD concedes that the Defense Department does not possess adequate data on Balad. It doesn’t know what was burned, or how often soldiers worked in the pits, or how many troops lived nearby, or how long they lived there. It doesn’t know the frequency of smoke exposure, or the combination of pollutants involved, or what other contamination soldiers might have been exposed to, either on base or off. The Pentagon was conducting a war, not a science experiment. And as in past wars, it did not pause to assess whether its own practices—something as seemingly mundane as burning trash—might be placing soldiers at serious risk. After Vietnam, the government was unable to say exactly how much Agent Orange soldiers were exposed to. After the Gulf War, it could not account for the combination of toxic elements that contributed to veterans falling ill: depleted uranium, smoke from burning oil wells, vaccinations, sarin gas. The VA, in fact, still refuses to refer to the debilitating condition suffered by Gulf War vets as a “syndrome.” It prefers a more revealing term: “medically unexplained illnesses.” For the military, the health and well-being of veterans is simply another known unknown. Faced with a lack of accurate data on human exposure in Iraq and Afghanistan, HMD had a clear alternative, one that would meet the prevailing scientific standard for such research: a review of toxicity studies on animals. While such a review would not be comprehensive, it would help determine whether burn pits had made soldiers sick. That, in turn, would allow veterans to know if their ailments were service-related, which would force the VA to provide them with treatment and disability. But instead of following established scientific protocol, HMD made a decision that fatally undercut its findings: It refused to consider animal studies in reaching its conclusions. HMD researchers had been working for years to skew their studies in favor of the VA. In 1994, when HMD published its first study on the impact of Agent Orange on U.S. soldiers, its own research standards required it to rely on both human and animal studies. That study confirmed a link between Agent Orange, a military herbicide, and widespread health problems among Vietnam vets. By 1998, though, when HMD began its studies of Gulf War exposures, it had made a subtle but significant change to its standards for “categories of evidence.” Animal studies could still be discussed in its reports, but they were no longer considered valid evidence as part of its final conclusions. The science, in short, was being rigged to reach a desired outcome. In Anthony Szema’s study, dust samples from Camp Victory (top) injured the immune system in mice. Electron microscopy of the dust (above) found particulates that likely caused lung scarring in veterans. Photographs by Nina Berman (x2) A year earlier, a congressional investigation had called the government’s approach to studying Gulf War illnesses “irreparably flawed.” In response, Congress created the Research Advisory Committee to conduct an independent study. The RAC reviewed evidence from nearly 2,000 scientific studies and government reports, including both human and animal studies. Unlike HMD, which stated that it was not its responsibility “to determine whether a unique Gulf War syndrome exists,” the RAC found that the illness was “real” and that it “affects at least one-fourth of those who served in the war, is not associated with psychiatric illness, and was caused by toxic exposures including pesticides, pyridostigmine bromide pills, and possibly oil well fires, multiple vaccinations, and low-level nerve gas released by the destruction of Iraqi facilities.” When it came time to study burn pits, however, HMD once again relied on flawed methodology. Lacking human data on Balad, researchers decided instead to look at two nonmilitary populations it defined as similar to soldiers who served at Balad: firefighters, including those exposed to chemical blazes and wildfires, as well as incinerator workers. HMD acknowledged that the experience of firefighters is “likely to differ from the chronic exposures to burn-pit emissions that military personnel experience.” But it still contended that this group was “the best available representation of exposures to mixtures of combustion products.” It’s not hard to see how HMD’s methodology would corrupt its findings. Firefighters inhale smoke only for brief periods, unlike the around-the-clock exposure experienced by soldiers who lived and worked next to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. And incinerator workers, by definition, inhale cleaner-burning smoke that has been run through an incinerator—the very same equipment that KBR failed to deploy at Balad and other military bases. Demonstrating a low risk to firefighters and incinerator workers would tell you next to nothing about the connection between burn pits and ailing veterans. “You have a concern about people coming back, people getting ill, and then do you go do a study by comparing their health to people back home?” says James Binns, who chaired the RAC that studied Gulf War illnesses. “This was a study designed not to detect the problems, but to dilute the problems.” In an email to the New Republic, HMD defended its methodology. It cited the complex mix of chemicals released by the burn pits, and said that it did not know “if the black smoke that everyone complained about had been sampled.” While it would have been “nice,” HMD added, to have reliable studies in which animals were exposed to burn-pit emissions with the same intensity and frequency as soldiers, “these types of studies are difficult, expensive, and time-consuming to conduct.” The VA employed a similar form of scientific self-dealing in 2009, when it conducted a national survey on the health of more than 20,500 veterans who had been deployed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Steven Coughlin, a senior epidemiologist at the VA’s Office of Public Health, used data from the survey to study the link between burn-pit exposure and respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis. Coughlin, who had run the public health ethics program at Tulane University and who co-wrote the ethics guidelines for the American College of Epidemiology, found a positive correlation between soldiers exposed to the burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan and the onset of chronic ailments. But when he shared his findings with his supervisor at the VA, he was ordered to stop looking into the data for such connections. “We set the findings aside,” Coughlin says. “Tabled them. Discarded them. They decided not to include the burn-pit exposures, and focus simply on the frequency of respiratory illness. They wanted to ‘simplify’ the analysis. It became clear that they were trying to suppress the findings and downplay the associations instead of highlighting them.” Coughlin resigned from the VA in 2012. It was untenable, he concluded, to conduct scientific research on behalf of an agency that, like any insurance company, had a direct financial motivation to deny claims to its patients. “There’s a conflict of interest within the VA,” Coughlin says. “As they find new deployment-related health conditions, like the conditions associated with Agent Orange exposure during Vietnam, it ends up costing them billions of dollars.” |
Same all over the joint. “Over the past year, 30 percent of all Chinese inquiries to invest in the U.S. were for cities other than New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, according to consultancy East-West Property Advisors. Meanwhile, Seattle replaced San Francisco as the third most viewed market on Juwai.com last year. Houston and Las Vegas complete the top five.” https://therealdeal.com/2017/01/02/chinese-buyers-grow-savvier-about-u-s-real-estate/ What is really destroying affordability? Govt policy distortions and, increasingly, the sheer volume of illicit Chinese capital exports, backed by the full knowledge of the CCP. Re illicit capital exports out of China – it is no accident. Just how easily the West has fallen for the biggest scam of the century? One ex-Wall Street trader noted about $12.2T in illicit capital outflows from China (since 2000) were used to go on a global spending spree for hard assets: “For more than a decade, China had been reporting an impossible twin surplus in its BoP accounts. . . likelihood of massive illicit capital outflows that not been accounted for. . . according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange of China (SAFE), China had accumulated a BoP imbalance that was close to $9.4 trillion surplus since 2000 which we believed represented capital outflows that should have been recorded in the capital account. On the capital account side, there was a downward revision of $10.1 trillion – from a $4.2 trillion surplus to a $5.9 trillion deficit. On the current account side, the revisions show that Chinese exports have not been as strong as initially reported over the last decade and a half. China’s current account surplus has been reduced by $2.1 trillion– going from $5.1 trillion to $2.9 trillion over the last 16 years.” http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/china-qe-dwarfs-japan-and-eu/ Summary: estimate $12.2 trillion ILLICIT capital outflows from China since 2000. If the State Administration of Foreign Exchange of China (SAFE) has advised the market of these imbalances then there is no secret. Western nations are being royally scammed yet are doing nothing to address the situation. It’s surreal. Chanting a mantra that homes should be 4-5 times annual income is up against self-centred politicians and a flood of illicit foreign capital. The day may come when our Sino-overlords blow the whistle on their own scam and fold a shadow bank or ten, renationalise a few industries, etc. What are we going to do then? Try and make claims that a good portion of 10 years plus of foreign capital imported was an accounting trick? Our politicians are either naïve or are deliberately out to destroy the nation by accepting large volumes of illicit funds from a communist country. For the sake of their peace of mind I hope it is naive on their part. |
During an event in Nevada, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addressed the church shooting in Charleston, S.C., and gun control. (United States Conference of Mayors) During an event in Nevada, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addressed the church shooting in Charleston, S.C., and gun control. (United States Conference of Mayors) In her standard stump speech, Hillary Rodham Clinton talks about fighting income inequality, celebrating court rulings on gay marriage and health care, and, since the Emanuel AME Church massacre, toughening the nation’s gun laws. That last component marks an important evolution in presidential politics. For at least the past several decades, Democrats seeking national office have often been timid on the issue of guns for fear of alienating firearms owners. In 2008, after Barack Obama took heat for his gaffe about people who “cling to guns or religion,” he rarely mentioned guns again — neither that year nor in his 2012 reelection campaign. But in a sign that the political environment on guns has shifted in the wake of recent mass shootings — and of Clinton’s determination to stake out liberal ground in her primary race against insurgent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — Clinton is not only initiating a debate about gun control but also vowing to fight the National Rifle Association. “I’m going to speak out against the uncontrollable use of guns in our country because I believe we can do better,” Clinton said Tuesday in Iowa City. A few days earlier, she said in Hanover, N.H.: “We have to take on the gun lobby. . . . This is a controversial issue. I am well aware of that. But I think it is the height of irresponsibility not to talk about it.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is drawing big crowds, such as Monday’s rally in Portland, Maine, but gun control is an issue on which Hillary Rodham Clinton has a more progressive record. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP) Clinton’s comments could stoke millions of politically active gun owners, and Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s executive vice president, argued that the move was fraught with peril for her. “We’ve been down this road before with the Clintons,” LaPierre said through a spokesman. “She needs to read her husband’s book.” In his memoir, “My Life,” former president Bill Clinton suggested that his vice president, Al Gore, lost the 2000 presidential election in part because of backlash in states such as Arkansas and Tennessee over the Clinton administration’s 1995 ban on assault weapons, which has since expired. Many Democratic lawmakers also lost their elections after gun-control votes. The Republican 2016 presidential candidates, in keeping with GOP orthodoxy, have spoken out loudly against gun control. Many gave speeches at the NRA’s spring convention and tout their high ratings from the group. Mark Glaze, a longtime gun-control advocate who until recently oversaw former New York mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s gun-control efforts, argued that Hillary Clinton should embrace her husband’s record. “The Clintons pulled off the almost-impossible by giving us the background-check system and banning assault weapons,” Glaze said. “That’s something President Obama wasn’t able to do. Their political interest lies in owning, rather than obscuring, that accomplishment.” Many Democratic strategists said campaigning on guns is smart politics for Hillary Clinton both in the primary and, should she become the nominee, in the general election. 1 of 60 Full Screen Autoplay Close April 2015 Skip Ad × Hillary Rodham Clinton on the trail View Photos The Democratic presidential candidate hits the road to make her 2016 pitch. Caption The Democratic presidential candidate hits the road to make her 2016 pitch. June 23, 2015 Pastor Traci Blackmon prays as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton listens at Christ the King United Church of Christ in Florissant, Mo, near Ferguson. Whitney Curtis/Getty Images Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. Gun control is one of the few issues on which Clinton has a more left-leaning record than Sanders, who represents a rural, pro-gun-rights state and has voted in the past for legislation to protect the firearms industry. Although Clinton has not attacked Sanders by name, by invoking guns she makes an unspoken contrast. The issue also fits neatly into the overall narrative Clinton is trying to present. She can stake out a bold stance on an issue that plays well with the liberal base while arguing that she would break through the partisan stalemate in Washington. There are few issues more intractable than guns. In 2013, after the massacre of 20 young children and six educators at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., a bipartisan compromise to expand background checks for firearm purchases failed to pass the Senate despite overwhelming popular support and President Obama’s backing. Clinton began talking about gun control in the days following last month’s church shooting in Charleston, S.C., and aides said she plans to keep it in her stump speech, although she has no immediate plans to unveil a detailed gun policy. “This is an important issue, and she believes that we cannot let partisan gridlock prevent us from continuing to seek common-sense safety measures,” said Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon. Despite his mixed voting record, Sanders did support the 2013 background-check bill and assault-weapons ban. And on the stump, he is trying to sound more forceful. He notes that “guns in Chicago and Los Angeles mean a very different thing than guns in Vermont and New Hampshire” but says — as he did two weeks ago in Bow, N.H. — that the next president must “come forward with a common-sense proposal on guns.” In the Democratic field, former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley has the strongest record in favor of gun control. He supported an assault-weapons ban as mayor of Baltimore in the early 2000s and then signed one into law as governor in 2013, along with a suite of gun restrictions that stand as among the nation’s toughest. “He’s the only person in the race who’s led on this issue,” said O’Malley spokeswoman Haley Morris. Looking to the general election, some gun-control measures are popular, especially with the coalition of swing-state Latinos, African Americans, and young and suburban women the Democratic nominee would need to win the White House. “There is no more powerful force in an election than the suburban mother, and you don’t find a lot of suburban mothers that are against some sort of common-sense gun control,” said Mo Elleithee, a former Clinton adviser and Democratic strategist who now directs the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service. Other Democrats argue that Clinton has nothing to lose. Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va.) said the NRA has become a “paper tiger,” noting the elections he’s won despite the NRA’s vocal opposition. “I think she has no illusion that even if she didn’t say a word about guns, the NRA would be out there blasting her to say she had a conspiratorial plan to work with the U.N. to take everybody’s guns away, so why not go head-on on an issue that will improve safety,” Kaine said. A survey this year by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research found that 89 percent favor requiring background checks for all gun sales, including 85 percent of gun owners. But polling is much more closely divided on other gun restrictions and does not account for the high intensity among gun-control opponents. David “Mudcat” Saunders, a Democratic strategist based in conservative rural Virginia, warned that Clinton’s focus on guns could taint the entire Democratic ticket, including candidates for state and local offices. “Never in the history of the Democratic Party have they started a gun debate that didn’t cost them numbers in the general election,” said Saunders, who supports the candidacy of former senator Jim Webb (D-Va.). “She’s trying to get to the left of Bernie, obviously, but I think it’ll hurt her in the long run — and it’ll cost anybody on the down ticket in the South and in rural America.” In her 2008 presidential campaign, Clinton stayed nearly silent on guns. An exception was after Obama’s “cling to guns” comment surfaced, when she attacked him as being “elitist” and fondly recalled her father teaching her to shoot as a little girl at her grandfather’s Pennsylvania lake house. Howard Wolfson, for many years a top Clinton aide before going to work for Bloomberg, said Clinton’s avoidance of guns in 2008 should not be mistaken for a lack of interest in gun control. “I started working for her back in 1999 and she talked about it back then,” Wolfson said. “As a senator from New York, it was something that was important to her. I think in the wake of Newtown and Charleston, it’s more resonant in our political culture.” In recent months, Clinton’s speechwriters and policy staff have sought counsel from Bloomberg’s group, Everytown for Gun Safety. Erika Soto Lamb, Everytown’s spokeswoman, said Clinton’s focus on the issue is “striking.” “Knowing how hard we tried in 2012 to get [Republican nominee Mitt] Romney or Obama to say something about guns,” she said, “it is a changed world now when Hillary and other candidates are making it a part of their stump. This is the first presidential election when we’ve seen proactive statements.” Jose DelReal in Iowa City and Scott Clement in Washington contributed to this report. |
Share this... The Germany-based European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE) here recently reminded readers of two things: 1) renewable energies are performing woefully and temperature trends for Germany are pretty much flat, meaning they do not even remotely resemble anything you’d expect from a rapidly warming globe. ================================================= A look at the “climate-rescuing” new energies By Helmut Kuntz (Translated/edited by P Gosselin) This comment pretty much remains the same as the last one posted for October. Also in November the new energies have proven their uselessness. Supposedly they are already delivering 35% of the electric power demand – however only in the rare times that it actually gets produced. Overall there are still no signs of a “reliable supply” and baseload capability to be seen anywhere. Germany’s November plots for demand (red), wind power (blue) and solar power (yellow). Often both sun a wind were practically AWOL. Source: R. Schuster If the installed green power capacity were to be tripled, then the result would look like that shown in the following chart. Consumption would still not be able to be covered – even using (currently unavailable) storage capacity. What’s glaring is the low level power yield seen in November with regards to the installed capacity. The power grids have to be designed to handle the rated installed capacity. One can already imagine the feed-in act-related installation madness that remains ahead for Germany. Germany November plots for the new energies multiplied by 3 and consumption (Verbrauch).The upper red line at 270,000 MW represents the tripled installed capacity. Source: R. Schuster. The above chart clearly shows that even a tripling of installed rated capacity to 270,000 MW would still not even come close to covering Germany’s electricity needs. Very little warming in November since 1962 On temperature in Germany, the following chart shows the mean temperature for November, starting in 1962. A rapid heating looks much different. Germany DWD national weather service November-temperatures for Germany from 1962 to 2016 (blue), 30-year mean value (brown). Chart produced from DWD data by Helmut Kuntz Summary Also November shows an unbelievable normalcy with respect to climate. The great breakaway change predicted by computer simulations is still nowhere in sight. |
High street vs high end: Staple pieces for summer If like us you get tired of waiting the entire month for pay day just to find out you can’t afford any of the pieces you love, we may be about to answer all of your fashion prayers! Finding must-have clothes and accessories is a great feeling, that’s why it’s always a disappointment when you’re prevented from owning them because of a high price tag. Take a look at these amazingly affordable alternatives, your wardrobe and your wallet will thank you! Mustard sun dress Both of these dresses are stunning and absolutely perfect for summer. Besides the slight variance in style however, there is another not so subtle contrast between the two. We’re going to go ahead and say it’s the huge £268 difference in price! Now that ladies, is a saving. (Cost difference: £268) Sun Beam mini dress, £288, Free People Ruffle trim skater dress, £20, Lily Lulu Red belt bag Look to any celebrity or celebrated fashionista stepping out this summer and it’s likely they’ll be sporting a belt bag. There’s no doubt this classic 80s style is well and truly back, making its mark on summer 2018. (Cost difference: £773) Red leather belt bag, £795, Gucci Red belt bag, £22, Topshop Simple white bikini There’s nothing like a crisp white bikini to show off your holiday tan and we love this quilted triangle offering from Beach Cafe. We also love the Asos version at a fraction of the cost! (Cost difference: £94.50) Seafolly quilted triangle bikini, £110, Beach Cafe Pretty Little Thing cami bikini, £15.50, ASOS Straw hat An indulgently large straw hat is definitely up there with most stylish ways to shield yourself from the sun. If you’re feeling extra generous with your cash, opt for the Lack Of Colour straw boater hat. Alternatively, there’s the South Beach version, which is just as gorgeous but leaves extra cash for cocktails by the pool. (Cost difference: £150) Lack Of Colour straw boater hat, £160, Selfridges South Beach straw boater hat, £10, Asos Tortoiseshell cat eye sunglasses The cat eye seems to be the celebrity choice of shape for sunnies this year. Though some hold a hefty price tag like the Fendi version there are much more reasonably price alternatives from high street brands like Topshop. Perfect for when you inevitably sit on them in the car. (Cost difference: £199) Fendi tortoiseshell cat eye sunglasses, £219, Harvey Nichols Tortoiseshell cat eye sunglasses, £20, Topshop Sophie Cook |
Jack London State Park, unscathed by fires, will be free for the rest of the year A couple walks up to the House of Happy Walls Museum at Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen, Calif., on Friday, July 13th, 2012. The park, which was unharmed by October's deadly wildfires, will reopen Nov. 1 and be free to all through the rest of the year. less A couple walks up to the House of Happy Walls Museum at Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen, Calif., on Friday, July 13th, 2012. The park, which was unharmed by October's deadly wildfires, will reopen Nov. 1 ... more Photo: John Storey, Special To The Chronicle Photo: John Storey, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Jack London State Park, unscathed by fires, will be free for the rest of the year 1 / 18 Back to Gallery Starting Nov. 1, Jack London State Historic Park in Sonoma County will reopen after narrowly escaping devastation earlier during the Nuns Fire this month. The scenic grounds will be free to the public through the end of the year to give the community a safe place to reflect and recover. The park's staff thanked the public for the support they'd gotten throughout the wildfire disaster, which obliterated many of its neighbors beginning October 9th. The historical landmark survived unharmed. The flames destroyed several homes on London Ranch Rd., the pathway to the 1,400-acre site. The park is home to the graves of Jack London and his family as well as a museum dedicated to his life and work. "It's a miracle," Susan St. Marie, director of program and volunteer management at the park, said. "We just feel very fortunate and happy to be able to open up and provide a place of solace and healing to our community." RELATED: Forever wild: Celebrating Jack London 100 years after his death In a public post, the park announced that it will serve as a "community resource where you can rejuvenate the soul and spirit." Glowing comments of appreciation and relief followed. "Great news about the park being in good care," Traci Verardo-Torres wrote on Facebook. "What a wonderful reflection of how parks are places of civic connectedness and community." St. Marie said the state rangers did a "gargantuan job" removing almost all of the park's original artifacts once news of the fire spread. First edition copies of London's books and his wife Charmain's saddle and riding boots were among the artifacts they worked quickly to save. MORE: Camp Newman, popular Jewish summer camp in Santa Rosa, destroyed by flames However, those relics are still in the process of returning. St. Marie said while the museum will be open, very few artifacts will be available for viewing. The cottage's opening day is still to be determined. The 2,000-year-old redwood tree and sprawling miles of sylvan trails are among the offerings housed in the historic site that users are free to enjoy. ALSO: The worst rumors about the Wine Country fires "Everything outside is ready to rock 'n' roll," she said. The park earned its landmark title in 1963 and sees about 90,000 visitors every year. |
The 2015-16 Commonwealth budget’s “Stronger Communities” slush fund for every lower house MP raises serious questions. The allocation of $150,000 a year to every MP’s electorate risks seducing and trapping MPs into unethical behaviour that conflicts with new benchmarks for parliamentary codes of conduct. The allocation, at a total cost of $45 million over two years, is wrong on two counts. Firstly, taxpayers’ money is being used to buy advantage for government MPs compared to their opponents at the next election, whether opposition, minor party or independent candidates. Because Tony Abbott’s Coalition government has more MPs – they occupy 90 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives – more of the money will go to government-held electorates. The Coalition’s marginal seat MPs will be especially advantaged. Incumbent MPs will be able to splash around taxpayers’ money – an extra $300,000 each over the next two years – to curry favour from voters. Their opponents in these electorates will have no access to public money for projects to strengthen the same local community. Secondly, these slush funds have a sorry record of corrupt use by MPs to benefit themselves, family friends and supporters. Known as constituency development funds (CDFs) in other countries, they are notorious for diversion and misuse. They have been spent on everything from non-existent “consultant’s reports” to urgent, expensive medical treatment for individual constituents. Federal MPs have no code of conduct The risk of misuse is greater in the Australian Parliament because it has no code of conduct to guide MPs on ethical behaviour. Two things should happen. As a matter of principle, the “Stronger Communities” money should be removed from political influence. The money should be administered by public servants to fund projects according to national priorities, not vote-buying. Even more importantly, the parliament should adopt and enforce a code of conduct, using the new Benchmarks for Codes of Conduct recently developed by my team based at Monash University working with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). The CPA benchmarks aim to strengthen parliamentary performance and fill a serious gap in how to deal with unethical behaviour by members of parliament. Research suggests that unethical behaviour undermines reputations, legitimacy and performance. Effective parliamentary codes greatly reduce the corrosive risks of unethical behaviour. Underpinning the CPA benchmarks are fundamental concepts which must be reflected in codes. Thus every MP must understand that he or she is a public officer, entrusted to act on behalf of the public in general. MPs must put public interest first An MP is not free to act in his or her own interest or that of anyone else except the public. This also means that political parties must put the public interest first. These concepts relate to essential features of parliament which are crucial to good governance. The code also rests on principles including the internationally respected Principles of Public Life: selflessness; integrity; objectivity; accountability; openness; honesty; and leadership. These ethical principles can be traced back to Queensland’s Fitzgerald Royal Commission, which investigated rampant corruption in the state government. The principles were further developed by Lord Nolan almost 20 years ago. Corruption in politics is a constant risk, not just a product of the occasional “bad apple”, according to research extending over decades in many countries. It requires eternal vigilance backed up by effective codes that are strongly enforced. Our research identified three key features of an effective code: clear standards of expected behaviour ethical training and advice independent investigation of alleged breaches. The history of political corruption around the world confirms that sooner or later, some MPs will succumb to the temptation to rort the “Stronger Communities” slush fund. MPS will advise on and are likely to have influence in the selection of projects in their electorates. The temptation to misuse public money to win votes is particularly strong in marginal seats. The absence of a code of conduct adds to the risk. The lack of an independent adviser with whom MPs can discuss the ethics of “Stronger Communities” proposals is yet another weakness, which heightens the risks of the program becoming a slush fund. Prime Minister Abbott would have had severe doubts about the ethics of the “Stronger Communities” funding if he had followed the principles recommended in the CPA benchmarks. It is hard to argue that advantaging the incumbent majority of Coalition MPs is in the public interest. Rather, it undermines public confidence in the fair use of taxpayers’ funds. Australia is out step with the many other democratic parliaments that have and enforce a code of conduct. These parliaments are expected to apply the CPA benchmarks to the structure and functions of their codes of conduct, and so help avoid MPs being trapped through schemes like the “Stronger Communities” slush fund. Acknowledgement: The Benchmarks for Codes of Conduct applying to members of parliament is available here. It has been funded by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in partnership with Monash University. The CPA is the international association of national, provincial/state, territory parliaments of the UK and its former colonies – almost 200 houses of parliament. |
The Justice Department on Friday petitioned the US Supreme Court to step into an international legal thicket, one that asks whether US search warrants extend to data stored on foreign servers. The US government says it has the legal right, with a valid court warrant, to reach into the world's servers with the assistance of the tech sector, no matter where the data is stored. The request for Supreme Court intervention concerns a 4-year-old legal battle between Microsoft and the US government over data stored on Dublin, Ireland servers. The US government has a valid warrant for the e-mail as part of a drug investigation. Microsoft balked at the warrant, and convinced a federal appeals court that US law does not apply to foreign data. The government on Friday told the justices that US law allows it to get overseas data, and national security was at risk. "This Court should grant review to restore the government’s ability to require providers to disclose electronic communications—which are, in this day and age, often the only or the most critical evidence of terrorism and crime," the government wrote. (PDF) The outcome has huge privacy ramifications for consumers and for the tech sector, which is caught between a rock and a hard place. The sector is being asked by the US government to comply with court orders that sometimes conflict with the laws of where the data is stored. To remedy that, Congress is trying to hash out legislation that would allow the US government to enter into reciprocity agreements with other countries so that each side has the right to access data on foreign servers—with a valid warrant. The paradox "I look forward to getting out some legislation before the end of the year," Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the topic last month. "It's very important for our national security." Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican and member of the Judiciary Committee, asked: "What are providers supposed to do? Who's law do they violate?" Adding to the quagmire, lawmakers noted that the search-and-seizure laws of some nations, like China, are not on par with the US government, which would make it difficult to negotiate reciprocity deals with those countries. Brad Smith, Microsoft's president and chief legal officer, told the committee he hopes the US can strike deals with foreign nations. He told lawmakers that Microsoft first challenged whether the US had the right to overseas data in 2013. Simply complying with US warrants for overseas data, he said, "undermines foreign confidence in American technology companies." "These concerns led to our lawsuit," he said. In a statement late Friday, Smith added: Today the U.S. Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to reconsider a legal decision, in a case brought by Microsoft, which found that U.S. warrants cannot be unilaterally applied to email in other countries. It seems backward to keep arguing in court when there is positive momentum in Congress toward better law for everyone. The DOJ’s position would put businesses in impossible conflict-of-law situations and hurt the security, jobs, and personal rights of Americans. The government balked at the assertion. In its petition, the Justice Department said that Microsoft's "arguments ring hallow." Economic concerns cannot override the text of the statute or the interests in public safety and national security that are at stake in this case—particularly when the claimed economic benefit is derived directly from a provider’s ability to market itself as capable of shielding subscribers' activity, including their criminal activity, from discovery by the authorities. Following Microsoft's lead, there are more than 100 active cases in the US in which the tech sector is challenging whether the US government, even with valid warrants, can reach into their foreign servers. "The numbers continue to rise," Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brad Wiegmann told the Judiciary Committee. Many of those challenges are under seal and not a part of public court dockets. Some cases not under seal were brought by Google and Yahoo. Invalid warrants In a nutshell, the US government claims it should not matter where the data is stored. What matters is whether the company can access that data in the US. The Microsoft case is the only one to have been litigated far enough to have reached the Supreme Court. When the Microsoft case was in the lower courts, dozens of organizations and companies submitted briefs on behalf of Microsoft. They include the US Chamber of Commerce, Amazon, Apple, Cisco, CNN, Fox News Network, Gannett, and Verizon. If the justices grant the government's appeal, a hearing is not expected until the court's next term in the fall. |
After Jim Carrey published a vulgar attack on gun owners Monday, a clever eBayer put an autographed picture of the actor up for auction saying the proceeds would go to buy a gun. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the description of that auction has been changed as have similar listings at the website: The phenomenon started when an eBay user going by the name of “astrobuzz” listed a “Jim Carrey Autographed 8X10 Photo So I Can Afford a Gun!” The listing, explained the user, was in response to Carrey’s Funny or Die video in which he disparages gun owners, Second Amendment advocates and deceased Oscar winning-actor Charlton Heston, who once headed the NRA. THR noted that identical items on eBay typically sell for about $8 and don't generate more than a few bids. Yet by Wednesday afternoon, astrobuzz had gotten 103 bids driving the price up to an astonishing $860. Then, the item's description suddenly changed late Wednesday, and the bids disappeared. The seller's detailed description of his reason for wanting to sell the item was gone, including all references to the gun he wants to purchase. As of late Wednesday, the description for the Carrey photo being sold by astrobuzz read: "I'm selling this Jim Carrey autographed B&W photo (mint condition) for purposes I cannot explain because it might be against eBay's Terms & Conditions." THR pointed out that astrobuzz attracted copycats with some promising to join the NRA with their proceeds and others vowing to pursue classes and apply for a concealed-carry permit. According to THR, by late Wednesday, the word "gun" had been removed from all the Carrey-related listings. THR requested a comment from eBay concerning this matter. At press time, none had been given. |
Image copyright Getty Images A town in the US state of South Carolina has banned the wearing of sagging trousers, an offence that may now lead to a $600 (£462) fine. Timmonsville, a town of only 2,000 people, passed the order on Tuesday. A first offence leads to a verbal warning, a second to a written warning and a third to a fine of $100-600. Similar orders were previously made in towns in Florida and Louisiana. One council official said the ban would lead to racial profiling. In 2007, officials in Delcambre, Louisiana, said their ban was not racist. In pictures: Sagging trousers The style is popular with hip-hop artists. The New York Times reported that the style originated from oversized prison outfits, given without belts to avoid suicide attempts. The Timmonsville order, published by the Florence News newspaper, reads: "It shall be unlawful for any person driving or walking the streets and roads of the town of Timmonsville to: (a) engage in public nudity; (b) display pornographic material such that others are unwantingly exposed to the same or that minors are able to view the same; (c) display the flesh of one's rear-end, behind or backside during stationary or movement within the city limits; (d) wear pants, trousers, or shorts such that the known undergarments are intentional displayed/exposed to the public." "Young children do what they see," Timmonsville Mayor William James Jr was quoted as saying by the Florence News. "If they see older guys doing that, they're going to grow up and think that it's right. We need to put a stop to it. I understand there's a such thing as fads, but this has gone on way too long." One member of the council, Cheryl Qualls, objected to the order, saying: "It will increase racial profiling on some of our children here in Timmonsville and across the country," according to South Carolina's The State newspaper. Sagging trousers were often more expensive, and used as a status symbol, she said. Ocala city council in Florida overturned its ban on sagging trousers two years ago. |
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