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Biologists hope chinook salmon’s rebound will continue Biologists urge caution, say numbers still far below numbers seen in previous decades Originally Published by CBC News, July 29, 2015 The number of chinook salmon entering the Yukon has met minimum targets for the second year in a row. This year, 57,000 fish have been counted in the Yukon River at Eagle, Alaska, just above the target of 55,000. Biologists the number is somewhat encouraging, but say the problem of declining chinook has not been solved. This year’s number still pales in comparison to average run sizes in the 1990s which measured 150,000 fish. Restrictions in Alaska praised Pauline Frost, chair of the Yukon Salmon Sub-Committee, says a ban on salmon harvesting in Alaska has made a difference. “If the U.S. had harvested then we may not have seen the numbers. But, because of the efforts that were put in over the last three, four, five years … we see the numbers creeping up,” she said. “But it has to be sustained long-term.” Dennis Zimmerman says this year’s numbers could mean the eighth-lowest chinook run on record. They are however an improvement over numbers seen in 2013 and 2014. (Philippe Morin/CBC) Earlier this year, Alaska scientists said they were expecting a low run this season. Stephanie Schmidt, a biologist with Alaska Fish and Game, said this year’s run was unusual for a number of reasons. One is that the headwaters of the Yukon River were unseasonably warm. Forty-five per cent of the fish passing upriver are female so far, which scientists consider an acceptable number. The marginal increase has not changed either the U.S. or Canadian policy on commercial fishing. Commercial salmon fishing on the Yukon River is closed again this year and Yukon First Nations have voluntarily opted not to fish in order to help preserve the salmon. Numbers are still historically low Schmidt says there’s no guarantee the numbers will stay on this positive trend. “I think this is good news but the run size this year was still well below average. We were only able to do that because of the substantial fishing restrictions that were in place on the Alaska portion of the drainage,” she says. Schmidt says many environmental factors affect chinook populations. “We’ve done what we could on this end, to get enough fish on the spawning grounds. Now hopefully environmental conditions will be favourable and that production will improve and we’ll see even more fish in the future.” This year’s numbers mark the second consecutive increase since 2013, which was the lowest run on record. Fish not breeding at sustainable levels Scientists studying chinook have noticed the fish often fail to breed at sustainable levels. Dennis Zimmerman, executive director of the Yukon Salmon Committee, says it’s still a mystery. Zimmerman says a good rate for a breeding Chinook would be to produce four offspring which escape the spawning grounds. The current rate is sometimes measured at less than one. “Salmon have a complex life cycle; they travel through the freshwater and marine environment over multiple years. We don’t know where in the system [the breeding problem is caused.] Our understanding is there may be some ocean-based factors happening because Alaska stocks in general are not doing very well. What they have in common is the marine environment,” he says. Zimmerman says he is encouraged by this year’s numbers but reiterates that the salmon population’s recovery is far from guaranteed. “This could the eighth-lowest run on record so we have to be cautious. It really is a long-term rebuilding process” he says. Photo courtesy Phillipe Morin. Keep Canada Fishing2021-02-07T22:36:29+00:00July 31st, 2015|Categories: General, Issues, News, North|Comments Off on Biologists hope chinook salmon’s rebound will continue The Future of Fishing in Canada

Selling your home is one of the most personal, important decisions you’ll ever have to make. At Ebby Halliday, we offer 70 years of success selling luxury homes across North Texas. We’ll act as your trusted guide throughout the process, from start to finish. And, our affiliation with Luxury Portfolio International, the luxury marketing arm of the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World network, ensures your property will receive the exposure it deserves before qualified buyers across the globe. The Ebby Difference Our North Texas Realtors remain the highest-rated in Texas as a result of our commitment to client service, continuing education programs, and dedication to our industry and communities we serve. Your Sales Team To help you get started, we've outlined most of the key steps to selling your home and detailed the ways that we can provide assistance. You want to sell your home, and you attract the best offer possible. There are some simple tips that will help you attract a bid and ease the bidding process. Luxury Portfolio You want to sell your home, and you want to attract the best offer possible. There are some simple tips that will help you get the most for your home.

Hajdu standing up for equality on International Women’s Day Written by Ryan Forbes Wednesday, Mar 08 2023, 1:46 PM Women in Kenora set up an impressive display on the Greenbelt this morning. Today is a day to recognize the sacrifices that those who identify as women and girls make each day. Today is International Women’s Day – to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness about discrimination and take action to bring gender equality. “This is about celebrating the accomplishments and leadership of women, but it’s also an important day to reflect on how hard it is for women, even to this day, to experience equality in a number of different domains,” explains Thunder Bay–Superior North MP and Minister of Indigenous Services, Patty Hajdu. “On average, women are still making 27 cents less on the dollar than men. There are still several sectors where women are not encouraged to participate or have a hard time. And we still see rates of gender-based violence at astronomical levels,” adds Hajdu. “There’s still work to do, but it is a day to reflect on how far we’ve come. And to have some gratitude for our mothers, grandmothers and the women before them that fought for things like the ability to vote and the ability to work outside of the home.” This year’s theme is ‘Every Woman Counts’ – a reminder that all women, from all ages and walks of life, have a place in every aspect of Canadian society. Hajdu also spoke about the need to end patriarchal social norms for those who identify as men as well – including stopping the use of phrases like ‘boys don’t cry’, ‘man up’ and more. In this morning’s remarks, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau encouraged all Canadians to stand up for a more equal world and to take time to celebrate women’s contributions in every aspect of Canada. ‘You’re going to have to kill us’ Moonias to Ring of Fire Metals

Posted on 5 April 2021 by Erika van Nes To write a column today without talking about corona is really impossible. After all, it seems as if the whole world has come to a standstill and everything revolves around the fight against the corona pandemic. In one sense it is rightly so, after all, this battle somehow affects everyone in our globalized world. Despite all our efforts, the virus does not care much about boundaries and does not bother with religious beliefs. The fight against this evil unites us, at least it seems natural that a united fight is crucial. However, a pandemic like this often conveys fine words about common interests, but in practice we find distancing rather than connection. We see this on all levels. The “scramble for vaccines” is happening everywhere and dividing the world in an unprecedented way. Rich countries buy the lion’s share of the tests and vaccines. The gap with the so-called Third World will therefore become larger in stead of smaller. And according to virologists, this will eventually lead to a virus continuing to circulate and mutate, eventually creating another mutation that will also hit hard the rich West again. Closer to home, people withdraw more and more into the small circle of the family, their own bubble. We look with more suspicion at people who are not part of our inner circle. Vague contacts become even more vague, and our own circle smaller and smaller. Psychologists fear this could have long-lasting negative effects on the community. After all, the other moves out of the picture and our own small circle becomes even more the centre of the world. Historically, these are the known and understandable responses to pandemics. It happened in the times of the plague, the cholera, etc. In the past, this was often accompanied by the search for a scapegoat. You not only shield yourself from the other, but the other is also blamed. E.g. the Jews in Europe were seen as the cause of the plague. What impact will this pandemic have on contacts between the various groups in the Netherlands? The tendency to blame others also became visible in this pandemic. The virus very quickly became a “Chinese virus”. During the second wave, more than 50% of the corona patients in the ICU in Amsterdam hospitals appeared to have a migrant background, and have little or no understanding of the Dutch language. PVV leader Geert Wilders immediately commented on Twitter: ‘So treatments and operations of Henk and Ingrid with cancer, heart failure or other diseases are being postponed again because the ICUs are mainly occupied by Mohammed and Fatima who do not speak our language and do not care about the rules?’ It appears that even now a pandemic can easily increase the contradictions, the mistrust between population groups. It is striking that this can also affect the church. Perhaps even more than on our immigrant fellow countrymen, the churches have come into the picture as hotspots. Apparently, they are people who do not obey the rules and do not partake in the social debate in the usual way. On the other hand, there are attempts by denominations and consultative bodies to prevent precisely this reaction. Which then creates the same processes of condemnation and exclusion within churches! Churches, church members who are good and those who don’t care about anything and just let things happen. The language of exclusion, dividing people into us and them, blaming the other, is a many-headed monster. It turns against every possible minority. It changes direction, but retains its character. At the beginning of our era, Christians were seen as those who were guilty of child sacrifice and drinking blood. Now it can be used by “Christians” against liberal politicians. Corona crosses all boundaries, but our response doesn’t! It seems that establishing old and new borders is the only answer we can come up with. Doesn’t the pandemic challenge us to reconsider our relationships? It may start with the language we use when we talk about the other. Language matters. It also requires to keep in contact. No matter how complicated that at the moment may be. Also with the migrant Dutch citizen, the Muslim neighbour. We must be aware of behaviour and language that divides, not establishing new boundaries but breaking them down. Perhaps more relevant than ever, now that we realize more than before that we can easily become the victims and not only be perpetrators. Rev. J.P. (Jan) Ouwehand Jan Ouwehand has been active in missionary work and social aid for several years. He is a minister in the protestant Church of the Netherlands (PKN) en after serving the church of Wilnis, he worked as the CEO of the Reformed Mission League, a Missions organisation in the Protestant Church. Since november 2020 he serves as a fulltime minister of the Church of Ilpendam en Watergang, near Amsterdam. Jan has been a member of the board of the ‘The Church in the Context of Islam’ Foundation and has actively contributed to the development of the Chair’s current research project: Inclusion versus exclusion, searching for Biblical inspiration. Tasting the aroma - by Martijn Leeftink Actions speak louder than words - By Willem Jansen Tasting the aroma – by Martijn Leeftink

kevinliebl.com – Insights on Leadership Stop and listen, the rules are changing… About Kevin Liebl Posted by: kevinliebl | February 21, 2010 Has your Company or Product “Jumped the Shark”? Arthur “Fonzi“ Fonzarelli Jumping the Shark Sometimes there is a phrase or expression that fits a scenario perfectly. One of my favorite business terms is “Jumping the Shark”. This is a term that became popular in the mid-1980s and was used to describe a successful television series that had reached its peak and was now in the decline. The writers would often attempt to breathe life back into the series by writing plot twists and storylines that ultimately were perceived as absurd and desperate. The term originated from a 1977 episode of the show Happy Days where the character Arthur Fonzarelli – “Fonzi” (Henry Winkler), wearing swim trunks and his famous leather jacket, attempted to jump over a shark tank on water-skis. He completed the stunt as a challenge, in an attempt to prove his bravery. The fact that he wore his leather jacket in the ocean and had never water-skied previously were just two of the many reasons this scene was silly. Both the critics and the fans alike found this storyline desperate and while the show continued for several more seasons, it was never taken seriously again. The show went through many cast changes and restructuring in an attempt to regain a leadership position. It was clearly a tipping point for the ratings. The upside of this terrible episode is that we have a great catch phrase that is now used frequently in business. Anytime a company tries to extend the life of a marketing promotion, an ad campaign or a product line beyond it’s true value, it is perceived as “jumping the shark”. This happens frequently when a company has a great ad campaign that is extremely successful. They will re-use the same formula until it simply becomes a parody of itself. It will also happen when a company relies on a single product for an unreasonable amount of its revenue. If the product line does not have a clear roadmap of demonstrating value, the company is sometimes forced to create empty positioning which is perceived as absurd and desperate. This can be sad because the original marketing campaign or product line is often a brilliant piece of work and when the company is forced to take it one step too far, we look back sadly because it tarnishes the original effort. I believe that there are several lessons that can be learned from my wasted-youth watching sitcom television. First, never get too comfortable riding the wave of success. All good things come to an end and you need to be thinking about the next great success, whether it is an ad campaign, product line or even job opportunity. Second, recognize when you are coming up on a transition point. Cut over to your next success before you are forced to. I admire athletes who can retire at their peak. I am amazed by companies who introduce brilliant new products even when their current products are still industry leaders. Finally, remember that the market is smarter than you think. They will recognize garbage when they see it. It is very difficult to put out poor work and convince people that it is brilliant. If you can’t sell your campaign, product or proposal with a straight face, then don’t do it. You never want to be perceived as desperate. Can you share any experiences where you, your company or your competition have “jumped the shark”? If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to the RSS feed. Posted in Business Lessons, Creativity, Marketing, Strategic Planning | Tags: B2B, Business Lesssons, Creativity, Innovation, Integrity, Jumping the shark, Marketing, Product Marketing, Success « How can you make yourself Indispensable? Building, Buying and Outsourcing – Which Makes the Most Sense? » Good question. I wonder how many businesses are blaming the economy for their lack luster performance when in reality their products and services have finished their life cycle. By: Brenda Richter, CPA on February 24, 2010 Thanks for the comment. A great point. I think that we are being squeezed from both sides. The economy is forcing companies to cut back and squeeze what they can out of existing product lines, marketing efforts, etc… Therefore, we are not able to invest in leading-edge work. There is a strong argument that in tough economies, you need to invest heavily to take advantage of those companies that are struggling. The strong companies can quickly grab market share from the weaker ones. However, it takes a strong management team to invest during tough times. Only the strongest companies can afford to do so. As Warren Buffett says, “It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.” By: kevinliebl on February 24, 2010 Nice post. You can’t rest on your laurels. In my business I’ve learned the hard way that even your best clients can instantly become former clients for any number of reasons (political, financial, etc.). The flip side is clients don’t like service providers who seem to be more focused on the hunt for new business. It’s a delicate balance. I never watched that show, but heard about the “shark” episode. When a TV show goes south with its plot lines, it’s time for the producers to call it a day and live off the residuals. By: Joel Don on February 24, 2010 Business Lessons Lessons From Joe Subscribe by email or RSS Categories Select Category Branding (12) Business Lessons (48) Communication (32) Creativity (14) Customer Satisfaction (4) Goals (19) Leadership (27) Lessons From Joe (6) Marketing (41) Persistence (6) Personal Branding (20) Positioning (8) Social Networking (17) Strategic Planning (15) Uncategorized (1) Monthly Archives September 2017 July 2017 June 2011 April 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 It’s not whether the glass is half-empty or half-full, it’s whether the contents will quench your thirst. Henry Ford Had it Right… The Value of Collaboration The Importance of Staying Balanced The Value of A Simple Red Light Great Blogs to Follow Tim's Strategy Blink – Malcolm Gladwell Crowdsourcing – Jeff Howe Groundswell – Li and Bernoff Linchpin – Seth Godin The 4-Hour Workweek – Timothy Ferriss The Three Laws of Performance – Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell Tribes – Seth Godin kevinliebl.com - Insights on Leadership

Daily Archives for May 2, 2016 Was Tasmania’s summer of fires and floods a glimpse of its climate future? Alistair Hobday, CSIRO; Eric Oliver, University of Tasmania; Jan McDonald, University of Tasmania, and Michael Grose, CSIRO Drought, fires, floods, marine heatwaves – Tasmania has had a tough time this summer. These events damaged its natural environment, including world heritage forests and alpine areas, and affected homes, businesses and energy security. In past decades, climate-related warming of Tasmania’s land and ocean environments has seen dozens of marine species moving south, contributed to dieback in several tree species, and encouraged businesses and people from mainland Australia to relocate. These slow changes don’t generate a lot of attention, but this summer’s events have made people sit up and take notice. If climate change will produce conditions that we have never seen before, did Tasmania just get a glimpse of this future? After the coldest winter in half a century, Tasmania experienced a warm and very dry spring in 2015, including a record dry October. During this time there was a strong El Niño event in the Pacific Ocean and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole event, both of which influence Tasmania’s climate. The dry spring was followed by Tasmania’s warmest summer since records began in 1910, with temperatures 1.78℃ above the long-term average. Many regions, especially the west coast, stayed dry during the summer – a pattern consistent with climate projections. The dry spring and summer led to a reduction in available water, including a reduction of inflows into reservoirs. Left: September-November 2015 rainfall, relative to the long-term average. Right: December 2015-February 2016 temperatures, relative to the long-term average. Bureau of Meteorology, Author provided Is warmer better? Not with fires and floods Tourists and locals alike enjoyed the clear, warm days – but these conditions came at a cost, priming Tasmania for damaging bushfires. Three big lightning storms struck, including one on January 13 that delivered almost 2,000 lightning strikes and sparked many fires, particularly in the state’s northwest. By the end of February, more than 300 fires had burned more than 120,000 hectares, including more than 1% of Tasmania’s World Heritage Area – alpine areas that had not burnt since the end of the last ice age some 8,000 years ago. Their fire-sensitive cushion plants and endemic pine forests are unlikely to recover, due to the loss of peat and soils. Meanwhile, the state’s emergency resources were further stretched by heavy rain at the end of January. This caused flash flooding in several east coast towns, some of which received their highest rainfall ever. Launceston experienced its second-wettest day on record, while Gray recorded 221 mm in one day, and 489 mm over four days. Flooding and road closures isolated parts of the state for several days, and many businesses (particularly tourism) suffered weeks of disruption. The extreme rainfall was caused by an intense low-pressure system – the Climate Futures for Tasmania project has predicted that this kind of event will become more frequent in the state’s northeast under a warming climate. This summer, an extended marine heatwave also developed off eastern Tasmania. Temperatures were 4.4℃ above average, partly due to the warm East Australian Current extending southwards. The heatwave began on December 3, 2015, and was ongoing as of April 17 – the longest such event recorded in Tasmania since satellite records began in 1982. It began just days after the end of the second-longest marine heatwave on record, from August 31 to November 28, 2015, although that event was less intense. Anatomy of a marine heatwave. Top left: summer sea surface temperatures relative to seasonal average. Top right: ocean temperature over time; red shaded region shows the ongoing heatwave. Bottom panels: duration (left) and intensity (right) of all recorded heatwaves; the ongoing event is shown in red. Eric Oliver As well as months of near-constant heat stress, oyster farms along the east coast were devastated by a new disease, Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome, which killed 100% of juvenile oysters at some farms. The disease, which has previously affected New South Wales oyster farms, is thought to be linked to unusually warm water temperatures, although this is not yet proven. Compounding the damage Tasmania is often seen as having a mild climate that is less vulnerable to damage from climate change. It has even been portrayed as a “climate refuge”. But if this summer was a taste of things to come, Tasmania may be less resilient than many have believed. The spring and summer weather also hit Tasmania’s hydroelectric dams, which were already run down during the short-lived carbon price as Tasmania sold clean renewable power to the mainland. Dam levels are at an all-time low and continue to fall. The situation has escalated into a looming energy crisis, because the state’s connection to the national electricity grid – the Basslink cable – has not been operational since late December. The state faces the prospect of meeting winter energy demand by running 200 leased diesel generators, at a cost of A$43 million and making major carbon emissions that can only exacerbate the climate-related problems that are already stretching the state’s emergency response capability. Is this summer’s experience a window on the future? Further study into the causes of climate events, known as “detection and attribution”, can help us untangle the human influence from natural factors. If we do see the fingerprint of human influence on this summer, Tasmania and every other state and territory should take in the view and plan accordingly. The likely concurrence of multiple events in the future – such as Tasmania’s simultaneous fires and floods at either end of the island and a heatwave offshore – demands that governments and communities devise new strategies and mobilise extra resources. This will require unprecedented coordination and cooperation between governments at all levels, and between governments, citizens, and community and business groups. Done well, the island state could show other parts of Australia how to prepare for a future with no precedent. Alistair Hobday, Senior Principal Research Scientist – Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRO; Eric Oliver, Postdoctoral Fellow (Physical Oceanography and Climate), University of Tasmania; Jan McDonald, Professor of Environmental Law, University of Tasmania, and Michael Grose, Climate Projections Scientist, CSIRO May 2, 2016 by particularkev Categories: Australia, Bushfires/Wildfires, Climate Change, Global Warming, Tasmania, weather | Tags: article, Australia, bushfires, climate, Climate Change, floods, future, global warming, summer, Tasmania | Leave a comment Phasing out fossil fuels for renewables may not be a straightforward swap Anthony James, Swinburne University of Technology To have any chance of preventing dangerous climate change, the world needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero or even negative by mid-century. Many experts suggest this means we need to completely phase out fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. Several studies have concluded that 100% renewable energy supply systems are technically and economically feasible. This informs the widespread view that fossil fuels can be more or less “swapped out” for renewables, without significant economic consequences. We are strongly sympathetic to the need for a rapid global shift away from fossil fuels. But new modelling conducted independently and made publicly available by my colleague at the Understandascope, Josh Floyd, suggests that such a transition may face significant challenges. Analyses of how to get to 100% renewable energy typically look at how future energy sources can supply enough energy to meet a given future demand. This is what’s known as an “energy balance”. The high-quality work of Mark Diesendorf and his colleagues on the transition of Australia’s electricity supply to 100% renewables typifies such modelling. But this approach doesn’t tell us what will happen to overall energy supply during the transition. This new modelling suggests a significant decline in availability of overall energy services during the transition phase. This reflects the increased energy demand associated with the transition task itself. Such an energy “trough” would significantly impact the economy during the transition. This has flow-on consequences for how to maintain the massive renewables roll-out. What are net energy services? To investigate what might happen to energy availability during transition, the model looks at “net energy services” at a global scale. Net energy services are the total work and heat that energy sources – for instance solar photovoltaic (PV) systems or petroleum – make available to end users, minus the energy services required to provide that supply. Petroleum requires energy services to find, produce, transport and refine it. Solar PV systems require energy services for mining raw materials, manufacturing, installation, replacement and so on. The net services are what remains available for all other purposes, such as heating buildings and moving goods and people. A rapid, large-scale energy transition creates extra demands for energy services. This demand will compete with other economic activity. The speed of transition matters To start with, the model assumes that fossil fuels are phased out over about 50 years. Biomass, hydro and nuclear contributions are assumed roughly to double. The model then attempts to maintain the net energy services to the global economy at the maximum level before the fossil fuel phase-out. To do this it uses electricity from onshore wind turbines and large-scale solar PV plants, buffered with lithium ion batteries. The findings show that the faster the transition rate, the greater the energy services required by the transition task, and the lower the services available for other uses. This is because of the time lag between energy investments and returns. It is exacerbated for sources where up-front energy investment is a relatively high proportion of the total life cycle, particularly so for solar PV. A 50-year fossil-fuel phase-out represents a relatively modest transition rate. Even so, in the model’s baseline scenario, net energy services decline during that transition period by more than 15% before recovering. And that recovery is not certain. The model doesn’t consider how this decline in energy services might affect the transition effort. If less energy services are available, then energy transition will come at the expense of other economic activity. That may impact the collective will to continue. The cost of transition In the model’s baseline scenario – phasing out fossil fuels over 50 years – wind and solar plants need to be installed at eight to ten times current rates by 2035. Financially, this corresponds with capital investment in wind and solar PV plants plus batteries of around US$3 trillion per year (in 2015 dollars) and average lifetime capital cost in the order of US$5 trillion to US$6 trillion per year. For comparison, in 2014 the International Energy Agency forecast global investment for all energy supply in 2035 at US$2 trillion per year. This implies that total expenditure on energy supply will increase its share of world spending, reducing scope for other expenditure. Compounding the decline in energy services during transition, this has potential to apply contractionary pressure to the global economy. This has implications in turn for financing and maintaining the political will for the renewables rollout. What if it were possible to roll out renewables even faster? This could reduce the depth and duration of the decline, but not eliminate it. Again, due to the time lags involved, accelerating deployment in the short term takes energy services away, rather than adding them. Of course, this is “just” modelling. But good models can tell us a lot about the real world. If this modelling is right, and energy services fall and costs rise, we’ll have to complement building cleaner energy supply with other approaches. The other key aspect of transition that we have control over is how much energy we expect to use. Usually discussions of transition focus on maintaining energy supply sufficient for a growing economy much like we see today – just with “clean” energy. But this is changing. Growing numbers of analysts, business leaders and other prominent figures are calling for broader cultural change, as it becomes clearer that technological change alone is not enough to avoid climate catastrophe and myriad other consequences of energy-intensive consumer societies. This is about more than efficiency. It is about a shift in our collective priorities and how we define progress, wellbeing and quality of living. Reducing energy demand within these redefined aspirations will markedly improve our prospects for successful transition. This article was co-authored by Josh Floyd, advisor on energy, systems and societal futures at independent research and education organisation the Understandascope, and founding partner of the Centre for Australian Foresight. Anthony James, Lecturer with the National Centre for Sustainability , Swinburne University of Technology May 2, 2016 by particularkev Categories: Australia, Climate Change, Global Warming, Renewable Energy | Tags: article, Australia, Climate Change, fossil fuels, global warming, phasing out, renewables | Leave a comment

The Oldest Church In Iowa Dates Back To The 1800s Ryan "Brain" Brainard Published: February 22, 2023 Jeff Lenhart The oldest church in Iowa sits in the oldest city in the state. Dubuque is a city full of historic buildings that date back to the early 1800s. But the oldest church can trace its origins back to the same year that the city itself was founded! St. Raphael's Cathedral sits at 231 Bluff Street in Dubuque. The parish can trace its origins all the way back to 1833, the same year the city of Dubuque was organized. Settlers began holding mass in people's homes in the area, and soon a church was planned. Work finally began in 1834 on a small log cabin that was set aside for worship. According to Wikipedia, Father Mazzuchelli arrived in Dubuque in 1835 and dedicated the church to the Archangel Raphael. In 1837 Pope Gregory XVI created the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The current building began construction in 1857 and was constructed in the Gothic Revival style. Wikipedia reports that the construction of the cathedral was completed in 1861. The tower wasn't finished until 1876. The chapel in the back of the cathedral was finished in 1882. In 1886, frescoes in the church were completed by Luigi Gregori, a professor at Notre Dame who had done work at the Vatican, according to Wikipedia. Renovations to the church and cathedral were done in both 1914 and 1936. St. Raphael's Cathedral underwent more renovations in 1986 and 2020. Some of that work is just now being completed. The cathedral has truly stood the test of time. You can take Mass at St. Raphael's on Saturday at 4 p.m. and on Sunday at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. There is even a Spanish-speaking Mass on Sundays at 11 a.m. If you are unable to attend this historic church in Dubuque in person, you can also live stream a service HERE. Queen Anne-Style Mansion for Sale in Vinton Located at 913 2nd Avenue in Vinton, this amazing home was built in 1893. The 5-bedroom home has a total of 8 bathrooms and nearly 5,000 finished square feet. It's in a district in Vinton that's on the National Register of Historic Places. Brad Cole of Ohl Iowa Realty is the listing agent for the home, which is priced at $339,900. 10 Cozy Cabins & Cottages to Stay At This Winter in Iowa Looking for a little "staycation" this winter in Iowa? There are lots of cozy cabins and cottages on Airbnb that you can stay at! Here are 10 of our favorites: Filed Under: cathedral, church, dubuque, Iowa, nl, oldest Eastern Iowa’s Mac & Cheese Festival Will Return This Spring

Published October 26, 2017 at 800 × 532 in Mollymook Beach House

Jump to maincontent Klevfos Industrial Museum Hand-crafted paper The Munch Path The Munch Centre The outdoor area at Klevfos Munch's The Sun in VR The path goes in a circle and tells the story of the famous painter’s family’s connection to the village Ådalsbruk. On the information boards, you can read about their relationship to the place. The Munch path starts at Klevfos. When Edvard Munch was born at Engelaug farm in 1863, the later factory site was part of the farm. When Edvard was back on summer holiday as an 11-year old, he has most likely played here, and we know he fished in Svartelva (the Black River). He wrote about it in letters he sent home to his father. "We can jump in the hay as much as we want and fish for minnows here in the river, which are almost as big as small herring, and we catch about 30 of them each time we go fishing.” We can say that here at Klevfos, we literally follow in Edvard Munch's footsteps. He was also back here in the summer of 1882 and probably wandered around the area to reminisce. We know he returned for a last time in 1938. The house called Klevfosbolin or Bolin (the Klevfos Residence) has a direct connection to Edvard Munch. His father, Christian Munch, worked as an army physician in Løten. The house was on Tofsrud, where there was a drill ground, and it was moved here in 1894 to become apartments for workers at Klevfos. Christian Munch had his office in this building while it was located at Tofsrud. After the house was rebuilt at Klevfos, it was converted into apartments, with up to 9 families living here. Bolin never had running water, and the last family that lived here moved in 1981! Englaug, Edvard Munchs birthplace. Open or close caption Edvard was born on the second floor in the large, white farm house at Engelaug. The building is now exactly as it was at the time. The one who runs Engelaug today is a direct descendant of Ingeborg and Anton Thingstad, who ran the farm when Edvard was born. Their relationship with the Munch family was very good, and they had extensive contact through letters and visits throughout Edvard`s life. The Munch family called the farm “Engelhaug” (Angel Hill) because the people here were so kind. When Edvard's sister Sophie died of tuberculosis at age 15, her father, Christian, travelled to Løten and gave Ingeborg Sophie's devotional book. It is well preserved at Engelaug today, and so is the bed Edvard was born in. Below the farm, a photo spot has been set up, with space for bus parking. Laura Bjølstad and Christian Munch met in Elverum, where Laura was a housemaid for the Munthe family. Christian already worked in Løten at that time. He got them an apartment at By in Ådalsbruk, and they moved there when they got married in October of 1861. Sophie was born here. By is the town of Løten’s oldest farm. One of the inland area’s largest burial grounds from the years 0-1000 A.D. is located here. Christian and Laura Munch lived here for about a year. The houses at By were old and drafty, and it has been said that Christian Munch was concerned for the health of the little one and for Laura, who was already sick with tuberculosis. They were able to move to Engelaug. Christian Writes to Laura about the house at By: "we will have 3 rooms and a small kitchen whit a stov, as well as a room next to it that can be used as a pantry. The living room is rather larger, very bright and friendly. I just hope it is warm for you, my darly beloved!" Englaug farm is the birthplace of painter Edvard Munch. Christian Munch was the army physician associated with the drill ground Tofsrudmoen near Tofsrud farm at Ådalsbruk. This position called him to duty only during certain periods, and he could therefore also work as a doctor in Løten. He also substituted for this student friend, Dr. Christoffer Munthe in Elverum, and this was where he met Laura. As early as in May of 1863, Christian got a job as national army physician at the main headquarters in Christiania (now Oslo), and the family moved in October the same year. Klevbakken 45, 2345 Ådalsbruk, Norway. Telephone (+47) 62 50 88 00 E-mail klevfos@annomuseum.no Anno - Museene i Hedmark Museums in hedmark

Developer Making "Singleplayer RPG Adventure"...With His Kid Nick Pasto, the developer behind the excellent Abobo's Big Adventure, is making a new game. With his daughter. Who is eight. Please, Play This 80's Tribute Game, Right Now (It's Free!) Abobo's Big Adventure takes the Double Dragon villain and sends him on an epic, if a little tough,… It's not for a school project, it's not some cheap little gimmick game, it's a real game, one that's promising to be a fairly epic 2D adventure, with boss fights, levelling-up, fancy gear, the works. While Pasto is obviously handling stuff like coding and the final art, his daughter Bella did the concept art for the game, stars as a main voice actor and also serves as a "play-tester". It's nice that she's handling more than just being a token presence; it'll be neat playing through a game where characters were dreamed up by an eight year-old, because eight year-olds are crazy. The game's called Super Chibi Knight, and it's a "full-size sequel" to Chibi Knight, a hit web game. It's currently up on both Kickstarter and Steam Greenlight.

By KSLX | January 15, 2021 ZZ Top released its debut album 50 years ago this Saturday Fifty years ago this Saturday, January 16, rock fans got their first taste of that little ol’ band from Texas, ZZ Top, when the trio — singer/guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist/singer Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard — released its debut album. The record, which was aptly titled ZZ Top’s First Album, was produced by the band’s manager, Bill Ham, and recorded at Robin Hood Studios in Tyler, Texas, outside of Dallas. Ham went on to produce the group’s first 10 albums. The album failed to chart on the Billboard 200, and yielded one, albeit unsuccessful, single, “(Somebody Else Been) Shakin’ Your Tree,” but it established the trio’s trademark musical mix of blues boogie, hard rock and Southern rock with lyrics packed with attitude and humor. Reflecting on the album in a 2013 interview with MusicRadar, Gibbons said, “We were three guys, we had three chords, and the future was wide open. We called the record ZZ Top’s First Album because we wanted everyone to know that there would be more. We weren’t certain if we’d get another chance in the studio, but we had high hopes.” Gibbons wrote or co-wrote all 10 songs on the album, with Ham contributing to five of the tunes, Hill to three and Beard to one. Here’s the ZZ Top’s First Album track list: “(Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your Tree” “Squank” “Goin’ Down to Mexico” “Neighbor, Neighbor” “Certified Blues” “Bedroom Thang” “Just Got Back from Baby’s” “Backdoor Love Affair”

K. S. Watts Mississippi Writer. Curly Girl. Sports Enthusiast. Boy Mom. Total Geek. Book Review: Shades of Milk and Honey (Glamourist Histories #1) by Mary Robinette Kowal On August 16, 2018 August 16, 2018 By K. S. WattsIn Book Reviews2 Comments Using glamour is an art form. A young lady must be very skilled to master the art of pulling folds of it from another plane and using it to create images and sounds in this one. And all well-bred young women are expected to be skilled. It is, after all, one of the “womanly arts”. Jane is nearing the age of spinsterhood and has accepted her fate. Her gorgeous sister, Melody, can wrap men around her finger with very little effort, but Jane is not considered beautiful and feels awkward instead of flirtatious. But working glamour is where Jane shines. Everyone in the county knows of Jane’s particular skill and she is often called upon to entertain during parties. It is at one such party that Jane meets a professional glamourist. Like all “womanly arts” such as painting and playing music, the paid professionals are actually all men. And Mr. Vincent is one of the most lauded glamourists in all England. But his haughty manner rankles Jane. She wants to learn more about his techniques, but his company tests her composure. Jane would prefer to dodge the handsome but infuriating Mr. Vincent, but his work is exquisite and she is desperate to know more. As she studies his creations, she tests her own version of his technique. While testing one such technique, one that obscures her from view to anyone outside the fold of glamour, she overhears some distressing things regarding her sister and her latest suitor. Jane must use her skill and her wit to save the family from potential ruin because, in a world where illusions can be pulled from thin air, nothing is quite what it seems. This was billed as Jane Austen meets magic and I was sold. I found the series in a used bookstore in the Staff Picks display and bought the series. Jane Austen, magic, discount. That is a powerful combination, my dears. I was all in. With hints of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and written in an alternate history where magic is quite literally an art form, this hooked me from the first chapter. Having said that, if you don’t like Jane Austen, historical fiction, or alternate histories, stop here. This book isn’t for you. If you are practically squealing with delight, carry on. As always, let’s visit the high points first. I like that this wasn’t a simple retelling. It definitely paid homage to specific Jane Austen tales, but it was not the exact same story plus magic. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I enjoyed that this was a little something new. Jane isn’t beautiful. She knows it and everyone else does too. She is not one of those girls who thinks she’s plain when she’s secretly gorgeous. While not ugly, she isn’t pretty either, and no excuses are made for it. Once or twice she does wonder what it would be like if she were pretty like her sister, but she isn’t the type of character who dwells on it. Her talent with glamour earns her as much praise as her sister’s beauty, even if it feels a bit harder to come by. She loves her sister, but she does get annoyed by her behavior. Jane is not a saint or a martyr. She hides her feelings behind a mask of propriety, but her ire–and the guilt over the ire–are there. As someone with two sisters, I appreciated that her love for her sister didn’t erase or negate other emotions. You’re allowed to love someone and not like them all the time. But I digress. On the flipside of the coin, let’s look at the low points. The magic system can be hard to follow. The rules are clear, but what the characters are actually doing can sometimes be difficult to picture. It is described using terms most often associated with laundry or linens (wraps, folds, sheets), bubbles, and ropes (braiding, knotting). I just had to roll with it at first until it started to make sense. I have to grade using the same rubric for everyone, so I have to bring up diversity. There isn’t any. Although, I will point out that, having read all but the final book in the series now (I haven’t had time to read the last one, but I do have it), that the author does remedy that. She brings in new characters of different ethnicities and sexual orientations, though the latter is talked around as you would expect for characters living in the early 1800s. But in the first book, nada. I found that to be true of most of my criticisms of each book. Whatever I found lacking in one book, the next book in the series seemed to address. It’s as if (I know it sounds crazy, but just hear me out) the author was learning from her mistakes and growing as a writer. What a concept. Let’s all try it. Overall, I enjoyed the book. I recommend the series, or at least books 1-4 since I haven’t actually read number five yet. Did you really think I was going to give it a thumbs down? Jane Austen with Magic! The only way this could have hooked me faster was if it had been set in outer space. Your mileage may vary. Book Review: Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse On July 5, 2018 July 3, 2018 By K. S. WattsIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment The Big Water came. The world changed. The monsters returned. This is the Sixth World. Maggie Hoskie is a Diné, or Navajo, monster hunter. And the reservation where she grew up is now Dinétah, a land surrounded by walls on each side to keep out those would try to colonize the land all over again. But sometimes what’s inside the walls is enough to give you nightmares. Her mentor, a living legend who broke Maggie’s heart, abandoned her almost two years ago without another thought. She’s been hiding out, trying to put the pieces of her life back together. Unfortunately, the monsters don’t care that she’s experiencing emotional turmoil and when one of them abducts a little girl, Maggie knows what she has to do. What Maggie finds when she tracks the little girl down is a lot of scary questions that need answers. The kind of monster she is tracking is one she has seen before–the kind that took her family from her. But this type of monster is made and someone is controlling it, and she needs to know who. With the help of a handsome and charismatic medicine man named Kai, Maggie sets off to find the one responsible and do what she does best–kill them. But she’s up against more than just monsters. Witches, legends, and a meddling Coyote could mean she’s finally found a fight she can’t win. And if she doesn’t, the world will end. Again. It was hard to write that summary because no matter what I said I couldn’t do the story justice. It’s also really difficult to write coherently when I’m this excited. I’m going to take a deep breath and try not to oversell this one for you. Deep breath. Okay. I’m ready. This is the best thing I’ve read this year. Let’s start with some of the things I liked. I say “some” because if I listed them all, this post would be encyclopedic in length. I like Fantasy novels that incorporate mythology into the storyline. The trouble is, so many of the stories have been done to death. This is the first Fantasy I’ve read that uses Navajo, or more accurately Diné, mythology as its base and it was awesome. It was new (to me), it was gripping, and it sucked me in so much that now I’m counting down to April of 2019 so I can read the sequel. Maggie is both strong and vulnerable in all the best ways. And by best I mean relatable. She knows she can kick butt, but she’s not great with people. She’s been burned and is afraid of letting people in because they might break her heart, or she might break them. But she doesn’t let that fear hold her back from her calling. With a custom grip shotgun that uses corn pollen bullets and a Böker hunting knife, she lays waste to the things that go bump in the night. I also love her sense of humor. The supporting cast is lovable, flawed, and full of depth. It wouldn’t shock me at all if fanfiction involving Tah or Clive starting popping up in the near future. And Maggie isn’t the only woman who can hold her own. Grace and her daughter Rissa are smart, capable women who nobody would ever dare call damsels. Clan powers. They’re super cool. Okay, now that it’s getting harder and harder to rein in the gushing, let me talk about a couple of things I didn’t like. When Maggie first begins to track the monster, she has flashbacks to when another monster hurt her. She has already mentioned that sometimes humans are the worst monsters of all. For a moment, I was afraid the flashback was going to allude to some sort of sexual assault. The kind that makes me put a book down. Luckily, I was so determined to read this book that I’d been excited about since I first saw the blurb go up on Goodreads that I kept going and discovered it was a flashback of a trauma, but not one of a sexual nature. However, if this easily triggers you, please be careful in the first couple of chapters while she hunts for the little girl and her captor. The relationship that Maggie has with her mentor is understandable based on her backstory, but when you finally meet him he bears the stench of an abuser. Emotionally and in at least one specific instance physically, though they were in a fighting ring at the time. I concede that this may be because of who he is in Diné mythology, and since I know so little about him I didn’t know to expect it. In any case, be aware that there is an emotionally abusive relationship on the page. It is not a romanticized one, but it is there. Those were my sticking points. Part of me really wants to see this one made into a movie if for nothing else than to watch the scene where Clive helps Maggie get ready for The Shalimar. Also, I now solidly believe that mocassins are superior footwear for monster slayers. I want to see more of that. If you’ve been seeing this book mentioned on social media or on Goodreads, but weren’t really sure if you should give it a shot, I encourage you to go for it. Book Review: Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearne On June 14, 2018 June 14, 2018 By K. S. WattsIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment Atticus O’Sullivan leads a simple life. He runs an occult bookshop in Arizona where he sells specialty teas and is mostly sought out by local college kids who want to know if any of his special herbs are actually weed. At home, he is kept company by his Irish Wolfhound and an aging Irish widow from down the street. It’s a quiet existence for someone who still looks young enough to be in college alongside his clientele, but it’s all a deception. Atticus is an anglicized name he took long ago. He’s actually twenty-one centuries old, and the last living Druid in existence. A fact that still irks one particular Irish deity to no end. And that deity, Aenghus Og, is about to catch up to him. Aenghus wants a mystical sword that Atticus is hiding, one that would give him untold power and a chance to take over his entire pantheon. Atticus has no choice but to protect the sword. But he can’t do it alone. The druid must call upon his friends–his werewolf and vampire attorney team, a bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and the Chooser of the Slain–to help him face his nemesis. Their two millennia dance has been fun, but enough is enough. Atticus knows that this time it’s him or Aenghus Og, and he’s not ready to die just yet. I had a fabulous time reading this book. It was such a fun read that in an effort not to oversell it, I’m going to have to start with the things I didn’t like. Most of the characters are of Irish, Polish, or Scandinavian origin, so even though they’re hanging out in Arizona, there is an overabundance of European white people. Even the Hindu witch has possessed a red-headed white girl. The cast is mostly monochromatic. I’m sure that in over 2,000 years, Atticus has learned to work it, but over half the women he meets want to bed him. It started to be more comical than sexy. To be clear, I wasn’t upset about this, I just gave it an eye roll here and there. It was still worth the laughter. There is more than one possession in the book, and I’ll have to be vague here to keep from spoiling anything, but one of them made me feel terrible for the possessee (is that a word?). The situation tried to be smoothed out, but there was only so much that Atticus could do. I didn’t like it, but it added a depth of character for Atticus. He’s not an altruistic hero. He’s more of a gray area type of main character, and it makes him more interesting. So there were upsides to a few of the things I wasn’t crazy about. Now to the things I enjoyed. The humor in this book is sprinkled through in such a way, that I never really stopped giggling. Even though heavy stuff was discussed, I never felt weighed down by it. I don’t need a palate cleanser book to help me recover from the gravity of it all. It was funny in all the right ways. Oberon. The Irish Wolfhound is more than a companion animal, he’s a great character. He might actually be my favorite character. If someone bought me the stuffed Oberon from Kevin Hearne’s website, I wouldn’t complain. The widow. She’s amazing. I hope there is more of her in books to come. If she dies at some point in the series, don’t tell me yet. I don’t think my heart could take it. Seriously, if it happens I will straight up ugly cry. The battle scenes are not drawn out in ridiculous ways. The majority of fights in books and film are way too long compared to the average length of a fight in real life. But in Hounded, I never felt that the battles were unrealistic in length. Also, there is more mental maneuvering at play here. I loved that. Some of the battles are those of wit. My favorite kind. Also, since I’ve been pretty open on my blog before that I’m a Christian, I’d like to add one more. I appreciate the way my religion is acknowledged by Atticus. It is not my deity that he doesn’t care for, it’s the people (we, the followers) who are the problem. I actually couldn’t agree more on that point. There are other things I could gush over, but spoilers. I loved this book. I can’t wait to read the next one in the series. Beyond that, I’m signing up for Kevin Hearne’s newsletter and will eagerly look for more of his work to devour. Highly recommend. Book Review: The Rogue Retrieval by Dan Koboldt On June 7, 2018 By K. S. WattsIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment Quinn Bradley is a Vegas magician. His dream in life is to headline at a casino on the strip and he’s finally got a shot to make the big time–until a powerful and mysterious corporation blocks him out. They want him to themselves, to go through a secret portal into another world and impersonate a guild magician in order to retrieve a rogue official. The problem is that in this new world, magicians aren’t illusionists, but wield real power and the penalty for impersonating one is death. Quinn goes through the portal with the others on the mission, but things go wrong from the start. A dragon attack, a pack of wild dogs, a closed portal, loss of communication with the company on the other side, and a trap waiting for them, and that’s just the first day. They chase a ghost through groups of mercenaries and highwaymen only to find the rogue official is already three steps ahead. And Quinn pays the price when the magicians guild captures him. In a strange and fortuitous turn of events, the magician who captures Quinn senses a spark of true magic in him. Instead of immediate execution, the guild gets to see what Quinn has to offer. If he can convince them he’s more than just razzle-dazzle he gets to keep his life, but he needs to do so before another group of rogues kills his comrades and destroys the portal, locking him in this strange world forever. This was a good book. The characters were well-developed. Some plot points were predictable, but they were done with flair. I would recommend it to a lot of the readers I know. It didn’t quite grasp me the way I hoped it would, but I can’t put my finger on why. First, the things I liked about the book. Genre-bending. Is it Fantasy? Is it is Science Fiction? The truth is this story sports a little of both and I love that. A cast that isn’t lily white or without distinctive character voices. There were two characters with similar voices, but they were still distinctive enough not to be confused. I like when characters aren’t cardboard cutouts of each other just taking up space in the background. I cared about each character’s struggles. There were unanswered questions that didn’t make the novel into something that couldn’t stand alone, but left enough room so that the sequels (it is the first in a series) make sense and already have a pull. Not everyone magically survives battles, wars, or thugs and those that do aren’t unscathed emotionally. It feels more real when the characters have scars. Now for the things I wasn’t so keen on. The admiration Chaudri has for Holt and the questions about their relationship allude to a workplace romance. I dislike the colleague romance tropes. It’s just not my thing. To be fair, it seems pretty one-sided and not like an abuse of power. I like romantic subplots and there was one here, but it was an afterthought. That is a plus for a lot of readers. More power to you. That’s pretty much it. It has a lot going for it, and I suspect if I read it on a different week than I did (I was busy and distracted) I’d have loved it instantly. And truthfully, I care enough about the characters that I’m still interested in the sequels. So when I say it didn’t grip me, don’t let that turn you off. I stand by my first statement. It’s a good book. Book Review: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black On March 22, 2018 By K. S. WattsIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment Hazel lives in Fairfold, a small town at the edge of the forest that the Folk call home. Nobody remembers how the horned boy in the glass coffin came to be in the middle of the forest, but he slumbered through the decades, his handsome face never changing. Until Hazel woke him up. Now strange and dangerous things are happening around Fairfold–more so than normal. Townspeople are being attacked by a tree monster that renders them unconscious with no way to awaken them, the high school is under attack from an unseen force, and the King of the Folk reveals that Hazel is in it all up to her eyeballs. He gives her a deadline to turn over his son, the horned prince, or all of Fairfold will face the consequences. The problem is the horned prince is a nice guy, and his father doesn’t want to welcome him home with open arms, he wants to kill him. And since Hazel’s brother is in love with him, it’s more than a little problematic. Hazel has to find a way to hide the prince, defeat the king, and save her fellow townsmen before time runs out. With the help of the prince, her brother, and her brother’s best friend–who happens to be a changeling and Hazel’s lifelong crush, Hazel refuses to admit defeat. After all, she’s one of the best knights the Folk have ever known. I don’t read a ton of YA. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against it. On the contrary, I will gladly read a compelling story regardless of the age category. It just so happens that I tend to read more adult-targeted books. This one, though, caught my eye. It twists some old tropes into something that is both familiar and surprising. The characters are all distinctive and unforgettable. The voice is compelling. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read this, but the blurb sounded interesting so I download a sample from Amazon. In the first few pages, I knew I had to see where it was going. The plot was barely off the ground, but the voice reeled me in. There are some things about the story I was less than thrilled with. Any time there is a scene that breaks down to “I know I kissed your sibling, but it’s really you I’m into” or “I’m with you because your sibling won’t look at me twice” I tend to tap out. There are two such points in this story. However, this is a YA story. A high school setting. And since I witnessed this particular storyline play out more than once in my own high school (back when dirt was young and dinosaurs roamed the earth), I can’t argue that it isn’t realistic. Overall the story was good, the voice was compelling and I don’t regret diving into it. I’m writing this review more than a week after I finished the story, so I’ve come down from the story high and am less attached to it now. That’s my fault. However, it had a flawed but still kick butt heroine, a beautiful male asleep in the glass coffin instead of a princess, and changeling who would have had me drawing hearts in a notebook during homeroom, so if you like fantasy, ya, or would like to read a story that doesn’t pretend the lgbtq+ community doesn’t exist in small towns in the middle of nowhere this could be what you’re looking for. Book Review: The Watchmaker’s Daughter (Book One of the Glass and Steele Series) by C.J. Archer On March 1, 2018 By K. S. WattsIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment India Steele’s father just died and the only good thing about her ex-fiance stealing her family shop out from under her is that he’s her ex-fiance. When she goes to the shop to tell him off, because someone has to, she arrives just in time to ruin his interaction with a would-be customer. The customer, however, doesn’t take India’s dressing down quite the way she expected. He offers her a job. He’s looking for a specific watchmaker to fix his very special watch, but he doesn’t know the man’s name, where he works, or even if he is still in London. He hires India, who has intimate working knowledge of the clock industry in London to help him find the man. Since she is without employment, prospects, or a place to live, she accepts. The mysterious man and his special watch intrigue India; especially when she discovers him using the magical watch to heal himself of some undisclosed illness! On the same day she discovers that a man, possibly matching his description, has just arrived in London from America and is an outlaw on the run. He’s only in town for a week. Perhaps if she can manage to not get distracted by his handsome countenance, his charming manner, and his motley crew of friends, she can survive the week and claim the reward on his head. I love the chemistry between the two main characters in this book. The supporting cast is varied and endearing. It was a quick, fun read that left me wanting to find out where the story goes from here. Having said that, I do have to say that I think the story suffers from pacing issues overall. There is a subplot that, while it becomes more relevant through the series, feels superfluous in this book. Also, not being a sensitivity reader and coming from the background that I do, I cannot speak for how anybody else will interpret a couple of the characters, but I will say that each of them gets stronger and more developed throughout the series. As you can see, there are ups and downs, but I liked it. What I considered flaws in the structure didn’t keep me from enjoying the book as a whole, nor will they stop me from desiring to read the next book in the series. It is a good example of a story not needing to be perfect to be captivating. Thank you for following whatever rabbit hole lead you here. This is a strange and wild land of book reviews, editorials, and a hodgepodge of facts. Come on in and sit a spell. 10 Things About Prohibition November 10, 2022 10 Things About the History of Forensics September 10, 2022 10 Things I Learned This Summer August 10, 2022 10 Things Hiatus April 10, 2022 10 Things About Christmas Decorations (Part 2) December 10, 2021 Follow K. S. 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How to File a Claim Under Pennsylvania Labor Laws What is the Pennsylvania Labor Law? How to File a Claim Under the Pennsylvania Labor Law Who is Covered Under the Pennsylvania Labor Law? What are the Penalties for Violating the Pennsylvania Labor Law? How Can I Enforce the Pennsylvania Labor Law? What Should I Do If I Think My Employer Has Violated the Pennsylvania Labor Law? How Do I File a Complaint With the Pennsylvania Department of Labor? How Do I File a Lawsuit Under the Pennsylvania Labor Law? What Are Some Examples of Cases Brought Under the Pennsylvania Labor Law? If you think you may have a claim under Pennsylvania labor laws, the first step is to file a claim with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). This process can be done online, by mail, or in person. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry is responsible for enforcing the state’s labor laws. If you believe your employer has violated your rights under these laws, you can file a claim with the department. There are a few things you should know before you file a claim, however. First, you should be aware that the department will not represent you in your case. Rather, they will investigate your claim and, if they find evidence of a violation, they may take action against your employer. Second, you should know that you may be required to appear before an administrative law judge to testify about your claim. This hearing will be open to the public, and your employer will have the opportunity to defend themselves against your allegations. Before you file a claim with the department, you should discuss your case with an experienced Pennsylvania labor lawyer. An attorney can help you determine whether filing a claim is the best option for you and can represent you during any hearings or investigations that may take place. The Pennsylvania Labor Law is a set of laws and regulations that govern labor relations and employment in the state of Pennsylvania. These laws protect the rights of workers, provide for minimum wage and overtime pay, and establish safety standards in the workplace. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry is responsible for enforcing the Pennsylvania Labor Law. If you believe that your rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with the department. If you have been the victim of a wage theft or labor law violation in Pennsylvania, you may be wondering how to file a claim. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (DOL) is responsible for investigating claims of wage theft and enforcing labor laws in the state. There are two ways to file a claim with the DOL: online or by mail. To file a claim online, visit the DOL website and select the “File a Claim” option. You will be prompted to create an account and will then be able to fill out an online form describing your problem. Once you have submitted the form, a DOL investigator will be assigned to your case and will contact you to discuss next steps. To file a claim by mail, download and print the complaint form from the DOL website. Fill out the form and mail it to: Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry Bureau of Labor Law Compliance 300 North Second Street The Pennsylvania Labor Law applies to all employers in the state, regardless of size. Employees who are covered by the law include those who are classified as non-exempt, meaning they are entitled to overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a week. Exempt employees are not entitled to overtime pay, but may be covered by other provisions of the law, such as the prohibition on retaliation for reporting a violation. Pennsylvania labor laws are designed to protect workers from exploitation and abuse. However, if an employer violates these laws, they may be subject to penalties. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry is responsible for enforcing the state’s labor laws. They can investigate complaints and impose penalties on employers who violate the law. Penalties for violating Pennsylvania labor laws can include: -Fines -Suspension of business licenses -Jail time If your employer has violated Pennsylvania labor laws, you may be able to file a claim to recover lost wages or obtain other relief. Depending on the violation, you might file a claim with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or another state or federal agency. You might also be able to file a private lawsuit. To learn more about how to enforce Pennsylvania labor laws, read on. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) is responsible for enforcing the state’s labor laws. If you believe your employer has violated these laws, you can file a claim with DOLI. To do so, you will need to complete a complaint form and submit it to the department. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that investigates claims of discrimination in the workplace. If you believe your employer has discriminated against you in violation of Pennsylvania labor laws, you can file a claim with the EEOC. To do so, you will need to complete a complaint form and submit it to the agency. You might also be able to file a private lawsuit against your employer if you believe they have violated Pennsylvania labor laws. To learn more about this option, you should speak with an experienced employment law attorney. If you think that your employer has violated the Pennsylvania Labor Law, you should contact the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. You can do this by calling the Department’s Bureau of Labor Law Compliance at (717) 787-4676. You can also file a complaint online at https://www.dli.pa.gov/Individuals/Labor-Management-Relations/Pages/Labor-Standards-Complaints.aspx. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor (DOL) is responsible for enforcing the state’s labor laws. If you believe that your employer has violated your rights under these laws, you can file a complaint with the DOL. To file a complaint, you will need to submit a completed “Complaint of Discrimination” form, which can be obtained from the DOL’s website or by contacting the department directly. Once the form is completed, it should be mailed or faxed to the address or number listed on the form. It is important to note that, in most cases, you must first file a complaint with the DOL before you can file a lawsuit against your employer in court. Therefore, it is advisable to consult with an experienced Pennsylvania employment law attorney before taking any legal action. If you have been the victim of an unlawful labor practice under Pennsylvania law, you have the right to bring a lawsuit against your employer. You may be entitled to damages, including back pay, reinstatement, and attorneys’ fees. To file a lawsuit under Pennsylvania labor laws, you must first file a complaint with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. The Department will investigate your complaint and determine whether there is enough evidence to support your claim. If the Department finds that there is enough evidence to support your claim, it will issue a “right-to-sue” letter. This letter gives you permission to file a lawsuit against your employer in court. You must file your lawsuit within two years of the date on which the unlawful labor practice occurred. If you do not file your lawsuit within this two-year period, you will lose your right to sue. To learn more about filing a lawsuit under Pennsylvania labor laws, contact an experienced employment law attorney in your area. The Pennsylvania Labor Law is a set of statutes that governs payments and compensation for work, hours worked, overtime, and breaks. The law also establishes other protections for workers, such as prohibitions on discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation. There are many different types of cases that can be brought under the Pennsylvania Labor Law. Some examples of cases that may be brought under the law include: -Unpaid wages or overtime -Unpaid break time -Discrimination based on race, gender, age, or disability -Retaliation for reporting unlawful conduct

What Exactly Is Labor Law? Introduction to labor law The history of labor law The purpose of labor law The benefits of labor law The protections offered by labor law The rights of employees under labor law The responsibilities of employers under labor law The enforcement of labor law The challenges of labor law The future of labor law Looking for information on labor law? You’ve come to the right place! In this blog post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about this important topic. Labor law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations. As such, it mediates many aspects of the relationship between trade unions, employers and employees. In other words, labor law defines the rights and obligations of employees, employers, and trade unions in the workplace. The history of labor law can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution in Europe in the late 18th century. As countries rapidly industrialized, workers began to organize into trade unions with the goal of protecting their interests. In response, governments began to enact laws to regulate the relationships between workers and their employers. In the United States, early labor laws were largely influenced by the English common law tradition. However, since the mid-19th century, American labor law has been shaped largely by federal statutes enacted in response topressure from organized labor. Today, labor law in America is still mostly a matter of federal law, although there is a growing body of state and local laws that also address issues related to employment. The most important piece of federal labor legislation in America is the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935. The NLRA guarantees workers the right to form unions and engage in collective bargaining with their employers. The NLRA also prohibits certain unfair practices by employers that are designed to discourage union organizing or interfere with collective bargaining agreements. Other important federal statutes that impact labor relations include the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938, which establishes minimum wage and overtime pay requirements; The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967, which protects workers over 40 from age discrimination; and The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, which prohibits discrimination against workers with disabilities. While most labor law is governed by federal statutes, there are also a number of important state and local laws that impact employment relationships. For example, many states have enacted their own minimum wage laws that set a higher standard than the federal minimum wage. And some cities have enacted so-called “living wage” ordinances that require certain businesses to pay their employees a wage that is high enough to cover basic living expenses. Labor law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations. As such, it mediates many aspects of the relationship between trade unions, employers and employees. In other words, labor law defines the rights and obligations of employees and employers in the workplace. The history of labor law can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the United States. At that time, there was a great deal of exploitation of workers by employers, which led to a number of workers’ uprisings and protests. These protests led to the enactment of a number of laws designed to protect workers’ rights and improve their working conditions. In the United States, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was enacted in 1935 to protect workers’ rights to form unions and engage in collective bargaining with their employers. The NLRA is still in effect today, though it has been amended several times over the years. In addition to federal laws like the NLRA, there are also a number of state laws governing labor relations. These state laws vary considerably from one another, but they all share the common goal of protecting workers’ rights and ensuring that they are treated fairly by their employers. The purpose of labor law is to regulates the relationship between employers and employees. It covers a wide range of topics, such as employment contracts, wages, hours of work, and working conditions. It also prohibits discrimination in the workplace and protects workers’ rights to form unions and engage in collective bargaining. The most important benefits that labor law provides are: – Protection against discrimination in the workplace; – The right to join a union; – The right to strike; – The right to a safe and healthy work environment; – Minimum wage and overtime pay standards; – And much more. In the United States, labor law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations. As such, it mediates many aspects of the relationship between trade unions, employers and employees. Labor law arose in parallel with the Industrial Revolution as the relationship between worker and employer changed from small-scale producers with workers in their homes or shops to large-scale factories. The national government was initially slow to recognize the need for legislation to protect workers’ rights, fearing that such legislation would hinder economic growth. eventually did pass laws to protect workers, starting with the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. This law gave workers the right to form unions and engage in collective bargaining with their employers. It also created the National Labor Relations Board, which is responsible for enforcing labor laws. Since 1935, labor law in the United States has been extensively amended and revised. New laws have been passed to protect workers from discrimination based on race, gender, age, national origin, religion, disability, or other characteristics. Other laws have been passed to ensure that employees receive fair wages and safe working conditions. Still other laws have been enacted to give employees a voice in decisions about their jobs and work life (such as whether or not to unionize). The most important federal labor law is probably the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA covers most private sector employers and employees; however, there are some exceptions (such as agricultural workers and domestic workers). The NLRA protects employees’ right to organize into unions and engage in collective bargaining with their employers. It also prohibits employers from interfering with these activities or retaliating against employees who engage in them. The NLRA is enforced by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is an independent agency of the federal government. The NLRB is responsible for investigating complaints of violations of labor law and for bringing cases against employers who violate the law. If an employer is found to have violated labor law, the NLRB can order them to take corrective action (such as reinstating an employee who was unlawfully fired) or impose punitive damages (such as requiring an employer to pay back wages that were unlawfully withheld). Labor law is a broad term that covers all of the laws and regulations that govern the workplace. It includes everything from wage and hour laws to safety standards to discrimination laws. Most labor law is governed by federal law, but there are also state and local laws that can come into play. For example, some states have their own minimum wage laws that are higher than the federal minimum wage. Labor law covers both private sector employers and public sector employers. Employees of private companies are covered by the National Labor Relations Act, which governs things like unionization and collective bargaining. Employees of state and local governments are covered by the Public Employer-Employee Cooperation Act. The rights of employees under labor law are constantly evolving, as courts interpret the existing laws and Congress passes new legislation. If you have any questions about your rights in the workplace, it’s best to speak with an experienced labor law attorney. Labor law is the body of law that governs the employer-employee relationship. It covers such issues as wages, hours of work, working conditions, workplace safety, and employee benefits. It also covers such topics as union organizing and bargaining, strikes and other forms of employee action, and employer unfair labor practices. Labor law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations. As such, it mediates many aspects of the relationship between trade unions, employers and employees. In other words, labor law defines and regulates the rights and obligations of workers (employees), trade unions and employers in the workplace. Labor law is the body of employment law that applies to relations between employers and employees. It covers everything from hiring and firing, to wages and hours, to workplace safety and discrimination. Because labor law is always evolving as social norms change, it can be a challenge for employers to keep up with the latest developments. While most employers are generally familiar with the basics of labor law, there are often specific compliance issues that can be challenging to navigate. For example, employers may need to deal with the complexities of collective bargaining agreements, or they may need to ensure that their employees are receiving proper overtime pay. In addition, labor law compliance can vary depending on the type of business you operate. For example, businesses that employ workers who are considered essential employees (such as police officers or firefighters) may have different compliance requirements than other businesses. If you’re not sure whether your business is in compliance with labor law, it’s a good idea to consult with an experienced attorney who specializes in this area of law. Labor law is the area of law that covers employment and labor relations. It is designed to protect workers from exploitation and to ensure that they are treated fairly by their employers. Labor law is constantly evolving, as the nature of work changes and new issues arise. For example, recent years have seen an increase in the use of non-compete clauses in employment contracts, as well as a rise in the number of disputes over wage theft. The future of labor law will likely be shaped by these and other trends. For example, the gig economy is expected to continue to grow, which could lead to new challenges for workers and employers alike.

Mixed Review for L.A. Gang Tours Former gang-members have teamed up with a non-profit outreach organization to offer a look at the inner city by conducting gang tours in South Central Los Angeles. https://lagente.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/LAGENTE156H.png 0 0 admin https://lagente.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/LAGENTE156H.png admin2010-02-03 23:34:272010-02-03 23:34:27Mixed Review for L.A. Gang Tours

Entertainment Article Regional Attractions Articles Visit La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse You may have been to twenty Broadway shows, or you may have only stepped inside a theater once in your entire life. Either way, the La Jolla Playhouse is home to incredibly thought provoking shows and wonderful events year-round. It’s filled with a rich history, has close ties within the community, and hosts incredible award-winning shows that continue to impress audiences. The team and community here put amazing amounts of effort into the design, practice and showcasing of each component of the show, which you’ll get to experience when the curtain opens! The La Jolla Playhouse was founded back in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer, names you may well recognize; it was revived in 1983 under the leadership of Des McAnuff, who served as Artistic Director from 1983 to 1994. All of these individuals were on a mission to advance the art of theater as an important platform for moral, political, and social thoughts and to become internationally renowned for producing plays that continue to surprise and surpass limits. This mission has certainly been held up through today. Shows and plays performed at La Jolla Playhouse shows won over 300 awards that include more than 30 highly acclaimed Tony Awards. Numerous plays have gone on to Broadway, such as A Walk in the Woods, Dracula, the Musical, Jersey Boys, Memphis, Bonnie and Clyde and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. This Venue Today One thing we particularly love about this theater is the number of plays it has showing at one time and throughout the year. New shows are constantly in the lineup, and the La Jolla Playhouse utilizes multiple stages and venues to host shows. This makes live entertainment more like a standard movie theater, in that you often have more than just one option. If the current show at the Playhouse doesn’t tickle your fancy, head to other venues in town like the Lafayette Hotel. Regular showgoers may be surprised to discover other events hosted here at the Playhouse they weren’t aware of. Some of these include: The Annual Gala: Every year, this exclusive night gives theater lovers the ultimate way to enjoy and contribute to the playhouse. Tickets go towards the welcome reception (complete with cocktails), an exquisite meal created by famous chefs and cocktails for dinner, and desserts and dancing after an incredible performance. The most wonderful part? Because this theater is non-profit, all proceeds from your ticket go towards funding Playhouse opportunities. Foodie Fridays: Certain Fridays, the Playhouse brings the most decadent food trucks in town to its lot and offers tasting for local samplings of beer. No need to feel guilty about adding another cost for the alcohol; the beer is on the Playhouse! Innovation Night: Combine extraordinary theater with networking; this event brings together the different industry professionals from around San Diego to one spot. Exchange business cards before…and thoughts on the show after! If at the La Jolla Playhouse itself, parking is $2 until 11 pm. (This is a time that’s difficult to go past as the latest shows are typically at 8 pm.) When pulling into a spot, just make sure to make note of the spot’s number before heading to pay for parking. You’ll need it! If you or any members in your party are hearing-impaired, La Jolla Playhouse provides special hearing impaired headphones to ensure the full experience. Simply ask a member working there where to grab them before the show. If you truly love theater and want to do more than just attend the shows, there are plenty of opportunities to do so here at the Playhouse. Learn more about them on their website: http://www.lajollaplayhouse.org. Planning a Date? For art and theater lovers, we’ve created the itinerary for the ultimate date in La Jolla. See how to plan it at our blog: The Ultimate Art Lovers’ Date in La Jolla. Dolphin Sightings in La Jolla Tours in La Jolla Scuba Diving in La Jolla

Nathan Dorn As the new 2018 Major League Baseball season begins The Cleveland Indians have gotten of to a rough start. They are 20-21 and are not performing up to their standards. The Cleveland Indians are a sub 500 team right now. However they are first in the American League central division and the rest of the teams in their division are not playing that good either. The Indians pitching staff have not been pitching like they have in the past. They are giving up many runs and can’t get out of trouble. The Indians also have some players in the disabled list and some of their better players are on the list. There has been some off-season adjustments to there lie up. First baseman for the Cleveland Indians Carlos Santana left the team and went on to sign with the Phillies for more money. The Indians landed First baseman Yonder Alonso to replace Santana. Cleveland also got Rajai Davis back on the roster. The Cleveland Indians need to get hot at the right time to make the playoffs and win it all. Maybe the Indians can set the world record for the american league again. Last year they had 22 wins in a row. Then they did lose to the New York Yankees in the first round that year. The MLB draft is on June 4 through June 6. Hopefully the Cleveland Indians can select a good player to help the team win as many games as possible. There is a lot more season left for the Indians to play.

Lamp Lifeboat Ladder Survivor voices Razan: Learn the language so no one else speaks for you LLL participant and teacher Razan explains her motivation to learn English and why it’s so crucial for people to learn the language of their new country. "We knew we would eventually be granted sanctuary in the USA, so I built up my English whilst we were in Spain where my youngest daughter received medical treatment. I spoke to the doctors in English so I could learn about her treatment. Every day she was in the hospital I started to find new English words and tried to have long conversations with the doctors. This helped me learn a lot. "When I first arrived in the USA interpreters worked with our family. I didn’t want to tell them that I already knew some English. However, the interpreter we had wasn’t very good - a lot of what we said in Arabic was lost during the translation. I didn’t feel that they shared our feelings or understood our suffering. This gave me the motivation and the power to learn more English. I do not want anyone else to speak on my behalf. "It took me one year to start really improving my English. I used to stay at home, and I didn’t want to meet other people. I was absorbed in thinking a lot about my past and all the reasons that had forced us to leave Syria. Ultimately my father, who is still in Syria, encouraged me to take the step to learn, to gain that power. Language is very important: you are the only one who can truly understand or explain what is going on inside yourself." Razan lives with her husband and four children in Syracuse, N.Y., USA. She and her family are originally from Syria and spent time in Jordan and Spain before they resettled to the USA four years ago with the support of Reed Smith. Posted by Sophie McCann on 09 Mar 2021 Survivor Experts, Survivor Voices, Education and Capacity Building Sophie McCann Sophie McCann is a program director and advocate with experience in international development and human rights advocacy in the UK and internationally. She specializes in refugee and migrants’ rights and community-based mental health and gender programming. Sophie is part of the Lamp Lifeboat Ladder team focusing on organizational development and communications. Survivor Experts, Survivor Voices Survivor-led Approach - Lamp Lifeboat Ladder Education and Capacity Building Resources for Allies Help us aid refugees who have survived torture and trauma to discover a new life by supporting their relocation to Canada. Public-Private Partnership for Resettling Refugees Email. lamplifeboatladder@reedsmith.com Website by Living Group Click here to find out more about how this website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience.

US Investors Drawn to Africa’s Economic Potential President Barack Obama will highlight the importance of boosting U.S. investment in Africa during his trip to Kenya. U.S. officials say nearly half of all jobs created in Africa are from small businesses, many owned by women. VOA's Aru Pande talks to a Rwandan handicraft exporter who has transformed the lives of thousands of women with the help of the United States.

Preferential share rises from $200,000 to $350,000 Surviving spouses whose partners die intestate are now entitled to the first $350,000 of the estate after the provincial government boosted the amount in its latest round of legal updates. The “preferential share,” as it is known, went up from $200,000 in March of this year, after an amendment to Ontario’s Succession Law Reform Act. This could be seen as good news for married spouses left behind by the death of a partner, but it’s a rule I would rather never kicked in, since it only applies when the deceased person has not left a will. In my view, having an estate plan in place before you die is one of the best gifts a person can leave for their surviving loved ones, who will have enough emotional turmoil at that time in their lives without the added stress of an intestacy to deal with. Reports have estimated that as many as half of Canadians do not have a will, which means that they’re giving up their right to say what should happen to their assets if they die before they can get one drafted. When an Ontarian dies intestate, it’s effectively the government who decides where their property goes, via the SLRA, which sets strict rules for the distribution of assets. Under the Act, the deceased’s surviving spouse now gets the first $350,000 from any estate, with the remainder divided between the spouse and any surviving children. When there is just one child, the assets are split equally with the spouse. If there is more than one child, then the spouse gets one-third of the amount over $350,000, and the remaining two-thirds are divided equally among all the children. Common-law spouses can be left most exposed by the death of a partner, since the law offers no automatic entitlements to them – a fact that comes as a surprise to many. A claim in court for dependant’s relief is always a possibility, but it’s a complex and costly one. Those with complicated family dynamics also have much to gain from getting their wishes down in writing, since the Act makes no provision for the individual circumstances of the deceased. For those who are still in doubt about the value of an estate plan, I would add that a properly drafted will helps testators take control of their affairs by minimizing the tax their estate will pay, establishing funeral and burial wishes and choosing guardians for their minor children. Disclaimer: The content on this web site is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice or an opinion of any kind. Users of this website are advised to seek specific legal advice by contacting members of Laredo Law (or their own legal counsel) regarding any specific legal issues.

Man in the Maze: A Conversation with Robert Silverberg September 18, 2020 • By Rob Latham THE LONG AND VARIED career of science fiction author Robert Silverberg can almost be viewed as a microcosm of the genre’s development over the past seven decades. Starting out in the world of fandom, Silverberg edited a popular zine in the early 1950s, then turned to professional writing during the SF boom of the mid-’50s, producing hundreds of stories — under his own name and numerous pseudonyms — for the pulp and digest magazines. Most of this material was clearly apprentice work, though estimable enough to earn him a 1956 Hugo Award for most promising new writer. When the boom went bust in the late ’50s, and most of the magazine markets folded or retrenched, Silverberg, like many of the decade’s authors, moved on to other literary endeavors — mostly young-adult nonfiction and soft-core erotica, two disparate fields in which he produced well over 100 titles during the early 1960s. The mid-’60s paperback boom, coinciding with the advent of the New Wave, lured the author back into the genre full-time, and soon he was producing some of the most ambitious SF of the period — novels like Thorns (1967) and The Book of Skulls (1972), stories like “Sundance” (1969) and “Born with the Dead” (1974) — as well as editing a major anthology series, New Dimensions (1971–’81). Silverberg’s SF of the period came to define the stylistic and speculative energy of the American New Wave, with the author taking traditional SF themes and radically reimagining them, sometimes by bringing them into conversation with classics of “mainstream” literature. Downward to the Earth (1970), for example, spliced a Darwinian tale of planetary exploration with a rigorous interrogation of colonialism à la Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1902), while Dying Inside (1972) is the story of a Jewish everyman out of Bellow or Roth, with the twist that this protagonist is a telepath whose mental powers are waning as he enters middle age. Told with grace and poignancy, Dying Inside is perhaps Silverberg’s single finest novel. When the serial novel with quest fantasy elements came to predominate in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Silverberg emerged from a brief retirement with the “Majipoor” trilogy (1980–’83), an exuberant planetary romance that eventually extended to eight engaging volumes. During the 1980s and ’90s, he continued to publish steadily, producing roughly one book per year, up until his final retirement from novel writing after the publication of Roma Eterna in 2003. His work during this period often reflected, even while complicating, contemporary trends, such as an emphasis on mythic intertexts (e.g., Gilgamesh the King [1984]), evolutionary speculation (e.g., At Winter’s End [1988]), and religious allegory (e.g., Kingdoms of the Wall [1992]). Over the years, Silverberg has received four Hugos and five Nebula Awards, and in 2004, acknowledging his major contributions to the field, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named him its 21st “Grand Master.” ROB LATHAM: You began your career in the mid-’50s, which was a boom time for science fiction. In 1957 alone, 23 different SF magazines were published in the United States, some long-lasting titles, some more ephemeral, and you wrote for most of them. It was a really dynamic market, with the old pulps tottering and a host of new digests cropping up. Today, the SF magazines are basically a vestigial market, so current fans have no real sense of what a thriving magazine culture is like. Can you describe what it was like negotiating this lively scene, as a budding writer but also as a fan? I’m particularly interested in how individual titles managed to carve out niches for themselves in such a crowded and bustling marketplace. ROBERT SILVERBERG: The editors of the day were in perpetual need of material, though of course the top three — John Campbell at Astounding, Horace Gold at Galaxy, and Anthony Boucher at F&SF — maintained very high standards. Even so, all three were not only willing but eager to see material from a promising newcomer like me, and to work with me until I reached their standards. (By the time I was 21, I had sold stories to all three.) There just weren’t enough professional-level writers to supply such a suddenly huge market — in the 1940s, there had been only seven or eight magazines, and by 1953 there were dozens, but though many new writers had emerged (Jack Vance, Philip K. Dick, Robert Sheckley, James Blish, etc.), there still weren’t enough. The lesser magazines had to make do with lesser stories, but their editors solved the problem in different ways: Amazing, Fantastic, and the two William Hamling magazines, Imagination and Imaginative Tales, used a stable of regular writers who supplied a quota of stories each month that were purchased sight unseen, so long as the writers observed the policy guidelines of those magazines. Others, like Infinity, If, and Fantastic Universe, depended on what came in, rather than commissioning work in advance, but anything that had just missed the demanding top-three editors was relatively easy to sell to them. Further down the pay scale, as for example the various Robert Lowndes magazines, it was easier yet, though Lowndes not only read submissions carefully but commissioned stories from favorite writers at special rates (Isaac Asimov, for example; later on, me). It was very much a seller’s market, and a prolific, precociously capable writer like me was able to sell just about everything he wrote as fast as he could write it, though of course at the top level one had to be prepared for the occasional rejection (for which salvage markets stood ready). Somehow, with 20 or 30 magazines coming out at once, they all managed to be profitable, until the collapse of the main distributor in 1958 killed most of them practically overnight. I could not have asked for a better time to start my career. The four staff-written magazines specialized in fast-paced adventure stories. Their readers were chiefly teenage boys. The various second-tier magazines like If and Infinity, making do with rejects from the top three, were not greatly different in tone from those three, and had much the same readership. A host of evanescent titles like Saturn and Orbit (a magazine, not the Damon Knight anthology) came and went in half a dozen issues or so, without ever making a lasting mark, but they did buy stories while they were with us. As you say, from fairly early in your career, you were able to produce publishable copy quickly and efficiently. During the mid-to-late ’50s, you were publishing close to a million words of SF annually, which is a stunning amount. A lot of your ’50s output was produced to order: you had contracts with several magazine editors that specified monthly wordage for a set fee. You’ve described much of your work during this period as “utilitarian prose […] churned out by the yard,” and you’ve written about how, when you attended the Milford Writers’ Conference in 1956, some older authors there upbraided you for essentially wasting your talents on slick product. Can you describe the sorts of pressures writers were under at the time, especially someone who, like you, was trying to make a career in SF, as opposed to simply moonlighting in the field, as so many others did? Since I was particularly prolific and capable of meeting the demands of various markets from high to low, selling better than a story a week in those early years, I was under no particular economic pressure — right out of college, I was earning at the Heinlein and Asimov level. Except for Philip K. Dick and, for a time, Robert Sheckley, most of the other SF writers of the day were unable to produce any notable volume of material, and although the pay level of the magazines (book publication was not yet much of a factor) was quite good in terms of the purchasing power of the dollar in those days, one could not live comfortably selling one or two stories a month, as most of them did. Right out of college I had a handsome five-room apartment on one of Manhattan’s best residential streets, went to Europe in 1957, etc. The older writers did not exactly “upbraid” me for my willingness to write quickie space opera, but they did tease me in a fairly affectionate way. The most useful criticism I got came from Lester del Rey, who pointed out that, although I was selling everything I wrote and making a good living at it, there was no long-term value in writing pulp stories that would never be reprinted in anthologies or story collections — all I would get would be the initial sale. I took that to heart and began concentrating on more ambitious stories for the better magazines. What neither Lester nor I nor anyone else foresaw was that in the age of the internet even those early pulp stories would be reprinted again and again and continue to bring in income, just as my stories for Astounding and Galaxy were doing. He was, though, fundamentally right, within the context of the times, that even if money was my primary concern, I would ultimately make more by aiming high rather than by churning out reams of “utilitarian” prose. As you mentioned, SF’s boom years went bust in the late ’50s, when the collapse of a major distributor led to a massive contraction in the magazine market. By the early ’60s, only a handful of titles had survived the winnowing. A lot of writers, yourself included, departed the field during that period, moving on to greener pastures. In your case, this included penning over 100 pseudonymous works of erotica while also researching and writing a series of superb works of popular history. Given your success in these other markets, what eventually lured you back into the genre? And when you returned to SF, what impelled you to undertake more ambitious and aesthetically challenging projects? Not only had most of the 1950s magazines disappeared, but those with the most editorial flexibility (Infinity, the Lowndes magazines, Fantastic Universe) were among the first to go in the great collapse at the end of the decade. Of the three top editors, Anthony Boucher of F&SF had retired, John Campbell of Astounding had grown increasingly rigid ideologically, and Horace Gold had retreated from the initial brilliance of Galaxy toward a sort of frivolity and shallowness that forced most of his writers to avoid any kind of emotional force. So, there was no artistic challenge left in magazine science fiction, and there wasn’t much money left in it either; nor had the great expansion of paperback science fiction begun yet. I had grown accustomed to my life as a freelance writer and had no desire to seek conventional employment in the outside world, so I turned to two wholly different fields of writing, the pseudonymous paperbacks, Simenon-plus-eroticism, that I could churn out with great rapidity, and the more demanding works of popular nonfiction that grew out of my longtime interests in archaeology, ancient history, and geography. For four or five years I ignored science fiction almost completely, now and then doing a short story at some editor’s urging, but basically staying outside the field. A number of factors brought me back. One was the advent of a host of enlightened paperback publishers (Avon, Ballantine, Dell, and others) that were willing to let SF writers get away from the space-opera formulas and which paid quite well for the novels they bought. Another was Frederik Pohl’s taking over of the editorship of Galaxy. Pohl and I were good friends, and he knew what my real capacities as a writer were and had frequently urged me to exploit them, but, since I was selling everything I could write by arrangement with the book publishers, I disliked the uncertainties of writing speculatively for magazines. Pohl took the uncertainty out by offering to buy, sight unseen, whatever fiction I wanted to write for him, with the proviso that the first time I gave him a story that he didn’t want to publish, the deal would end. This led to “To See the Invisible Man” (1963), to the Blue Fire series [eventually published in book form as To Open the Sky (1967)], to “Hawksbill Station” (1967), and to many another story that I could not have written in the earlier, restrictive magazine era, and which I would not have written had Pohl not opened the door for me. Then, too, I was now in my 30s, with far more experience of life than I had had at the precocious beginning of my career, and the fiction that I wrote from 1963 on reflected that, both in depth of characterization and in complexity of style and narrative technique. The fact that I could now write whatever I pleased and that I did not have to write, so to speak, with one arm tied behind my back was irresistible, and I launched into the decade of science-fiction writing that produced my most important work. Your work from the mid-’60s to the mid-’70s is usually classified as belonging to the New Wave, a loosely knit movement that brought to the field a more complex literary sensibility and a penchant for downbeat themes. And this movement inspired a fierce backlash among Old Guard writers and fans, who lambasted the New Wave as arty garbage. Were you drawn into these debates and controversies at the time? What, if anything, did the New Wave contribute to your own sense of what SF could be? I was sympathetic to the New Wave movement, such as it was (it was a far less coherent movement than it may seem in hindsight), because I enjoyed the new freedom that was inherent in writing SF with the full range of my technical skills. But I was never formally linked to such self-proclaimed factions as the New Worlds group in London or the Milford group in the United States. I was in London in 1965 as the New Wave there was taking shape, and I paid a weekend visit to Milford in 1966 during the New Wave ferment in the US, but neither time was I very deeply involved. I was writing my own books — Thorns (1967), The Masks of Time (1968), The Man in the Maze (1969), Son of Man (1971) — and in them I took advantage of the new freedom that SF publishers were granting the writers, but I didn’t regard myself as being on the front line of the battle. On the other hand, I did defend some of the New Wave writers against Old Guard friends of mine like Lester del Rey (and I did agree with the Old Guard people that some of the new stuff was, indeed, arty garbage). But I didn’t need the New Wave to tell me that science fiction could be more than pulp-magazine fiction. I already had H. G. Wells and Aldous Huxley and other mainstream venturers into the mode to tell me that. The big benefit I drew from the New Wave excitement, brief though it was, was the willingness of commercial publishers to allow a certain new degree of experiment in what I wrote. Most of what I wrote between 1968 and 1973, the heart of my oeuvre, would have been unsalable a decade earlier. Most New Wave authors, especially in the United States — writers like Samuel R. Delany or Thomas M. Disch or Roger Zelazny — were new to the field in the mid-’60s; they had no real roots in the pulp tradition. Indeed, the New Wave marked a kind of generation gap in the genre, with many younger writers having greater affinities with the burgeoning counterculture than with the subcultures of SF. You were unusual since you had been a successful SF writer in the ’50s who was returning to the scene. Yet a lot of your work in the ’60s and ’70s had a strong countercultural flavor, animated by themes of renewal and rebirth: stories like “Trips” and “Sundance,” novels like Son of Man. Can you say a bit about how the “’60,” broadly construed, impacted SF, and your work in particular? We are all products of the Zeitgeist. Those were revolutionary years, for good or ill, and I could not help but reflect the mood of the era in what I wrote. During this same period, you relocated from New York to the Bay Area. And it seems to me that your SF of the ’70s has a strong California flavor, with occasional whiffs of New Age mysticism and druggy psychedelia. Yet there’s always a cool ironic distance in how this material is handled. You’ve written that the early ’70s were “a pretty freaky time in Western culture, especially in California, and when I wasn’t writing I was investigating a lot of odd corners of intellectual life.” Can you tell us about these researches and how they informed your SF? And I wonder if you would describe yourself, in any significant way, as a “California writer”? I think I know what a “New York” writer is, but I’m not sure what a “California writer” might be. My own experiences in the very liberated California of the early 1970s certainly had their impact on my writing (and, eventually, on my giving up writing altogether for nearly five years), but there is no way they could not have been. As for the “cool, ironic distance” of which you speak, that has always been the way I have approached the world since my childhood — it is central to my nature — and of necessity my writing would reflect that. After a decade of exceptionally strong work, which won a number of major awards, you retired again from the field in the mid-’70s. You have spoken angrily about how your most ambitious work was not finding a wide readership and how depressing it was to be told, by major SF editors, that “there was no room in commercial publishing for such books as Dying Inside and Son of Man.” Yet just a few years later, you returned to the field with your biggest and most exuberant book to date, Lord Valentine’s Castle (1980), which inaugurated a new phase of steady and popular work. Can you say more about why you left SF a second time and what drew you back into the field? I left SF in 1974 for much the same reason that I had a decade and a half earlier — the narrowing of editorial policies following the collapse of the New Wave had made the work seem stultifying and tiresome, and I no longer had any interest in writing to the sort of formulas that the triumph, on the one hand, of Star Trek (and a little later Star Wars) and, on the other hand, of Tolkien, had brought to the field. There was the additional factor that I was now in my 40s, had been working hard for two decades, and found the act of writing itself exhausting and unfulfilling. What brought me back was something as basic as financial need — I found myself confronting an expensive divorce that threatened the economic freedom I had built up over many years. I dealt with that with Lord Valentine’s Castle, and once that was behind me I discovered that the book publishers of the 1980s were offering a kind of artistic freedom that did not quite equal that of the New Wave period but was unrestrictive enough, coupled with quite remarkable financial benefits, and that was hard to resist. Hence such late novels as The Face of the Waters (1991) and Hot Sky at Midnight (1994), and such novellas as Sailing to Byzantium (1985), The Secret Sharer (1987), and We Are for the Dark (1988), which I think represented some of my best work. Eventually, as I entered my 70s, that late wave of creative energy ebbed and I retreated from writing altogether, this time permanently. Over the course of your long career, you have written just about every kind of SF, but you have also been drawn, again and again, to a handful of key themes, longstanding topics that you’ve embraced and made your own. The most obvious of these is time travel. Many of your most ambitious novels — Hawksbill Station (1968), The Masks of Time (1968), Up the Line (1969) — deal with this theme, and you’ve recently released a collection of your short stories on the topic, Time and Time Again (2018). Much of your time-travel fiction involves a return to or a recreation of the past, often involving meticulously detailed historical settings. I know you’re a history buff and have, as mentioned, written a number of works of popular history, and I wonder if your interest in time travel is connected in any way with your fascination for historical process. I’ve been a student of history longer than I’ve been a reader of science fiction, and that’s saying quite a lot. When I was a small boy, I was given Hendrik Willem van Loon’s The Story of Mankind (1921), and a little later H. G. Wells’s The Outline of History (1920), and I read them both many times. When I began traveling to far-off lands, which has been a preoccupation of mine since I finished college, I made a point of seeing the sites I had been reading about — Canterbury Cathedral, Stonehenge, Notre-Dame, and on and on to the Pyramids and Hagia Sophia and the Colosseum and everything else I could reach, and of course that sense of historical process that my readings and my travels have given me enabled me to push my vision forward into the future. The distant past and the distant future have equal romantic appeal for me, and that has informed my fiction. Another key theme that animates some of your best work is immortality, or the desperate search for it. My favorite of your novels, The Book of Skulls (1971), is about a group of friends on a competitive quest for eternal life, and my favorite of your stories, “Born with the Dead” (1974), depicts a world where humans coexist with reanimated beings. Much of your SF on this topic has a mythic quality — indeed, one of your finest later novels, Gilgamesh the King (1984), is a narrative retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh that powerfully captures the urge to confront and transcend death. Do you think there’s something about SF that lends itself to dealing, in a resolutely secular fashion, with the transcendental impulses that characterize religion and myth? Again, I’m afraid I have no good answer. Not dying interests me as a fictional theme because not dying interests me in general. But I have nothing much to say about SF as myth that I haven’t said in my stories themselves. Rob Latham is a LARB senior editor. Rob Latham is the author of Consuming Youth: Vampires, Cyborgs, and the Culture of Consumption (Chicago, 2002), co-editor of the Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction (2010), and editor of The Oxford Handbook of Science Fiction (2014) and Science Fiction Criticism: An Anthology of Essential Writings (2017). 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What Is Not Said: On Natalia Ginzburg’s “The Dry Heart” and “Happiness, as Such” August 13, 2019 • By Victoria Baena Happiness, as Such The Dry Heart IN A CONTEMPORARY REVIEW of Natalia Ginzburg’s 1947 novella, The Dry Heart, a 24-year-old Italo Calvino endeavored to articulate the simultaneous intimacy and reticence of the writer’s narrative voice. “Hers is not the first-person of lyrical diary keeping,” he wrote, “but rather an externalization in which she participates body and soul.” Straightforward, direct, often avoiding the complexity of the subordinate clause, Ginzburg’s unmistakable style emerged from the need to express herself in succinct, crisp sentences in order to get a word in around the dinner table, as she suggests in her autofictional Family Lexicon (reissued in a new, 2017 translation by NYRB Classics). The “Lexicon” of the title has also been translated as “sayings,” or as another earlier translation put it, Things We Used to Say. Language may be social, necessarily shared. But for Ginzburg it is also personal and intimate. Throughout her career she was interested in the peculiar phrases and particular vocabulary employed among small communities, within families — in how words might prove as durable as blood in constructing a world together. Ginzburg peppers Family Lexicon with scraps of lines from songs in dialect, from poems half-remembered, from opera librettos hummed by her mother, and from phrases (even offensive ones, like the pejorative term translated as “negroisms”) preferred by Giuseppe Levi, the patriarch of her sprawling, bourgeois Italian Jewish family. “If my siblings and I were to find ourselves in a dark cave or among millions of people,” Ginzburg writes, “just one of those phrases or words would immediately allow us to recognize each other.” The family’s good humor and wry wit, not to mention Giuseppe’s intense desire to distinguish himself from the uncultured rabble, was not able to save the family from its share of suffering under fascism. For alongside the plucky and charming bourgeois dinner table in Family Lexicon, another household story arises, one of racial discrimination and internal exile during World War II. During the war, Ginzburg would flee to the Abruzzi with her first husband, Leone, a writer, editor, and member of the Italian Resistance. Upon the Germans’ arrival, she and her husband would return to Rome, where Leone began to edit a clandestine newspaper. “They arrested him twenty days after our arrival,” she writes in Family Lexicon, “and I never saw him again.” Such elliptical language is paradigmatic for Ginzburg’s fiction; the phrase “Leone’s death” is mentioned scantly, only several lines later in a brief account of a conversation between Natalia and her mother, back in Florence. In her works, which focus on families, failed marriage, domestic frustrations, and the like, history teeters at the edge, intruding upon, though never explicitly reflected on, her plots. “Domestic life, its frustrations and miseries, occupies the foreground,” writes one reviewer, “the outside world barely discernible at the edges.” Yet Ginzburg’s fiction highlights and thematizes this very division as artificial and constructed. Ginzburg’s reputation within Italy for her portrayals of postwar Italian life relies in large part on her knack for probing continuity amid upheaval. Plus ça change, yes, but also its converse: how jarring it can be when politics or tragedy changes everything, and yet one wakes up the next morning to find that the trains are still running, that one’s in-laws still call, visit, and vex. This spring, New Directions republished two more of Ginzburg’s novels: The Dry Heart, reissued in its 1952 translation by the late Frances Frenaye, and a 1973 novel, Happiness, as Such, in a new translation by prizewinning writer and translator Minna Zallman Proctor. The one haunting and tightly wrought, the other vigorous, witty, and spirited, both nonetheless are instances of what Rachel Cusk has identified as Ginzburg’s aptitude for “the concept of storytelling from the concept of the self.” Cusk continues, “You come away from [Ginzburg’s fiction] feeling that you know the author profoundly, without having very much idea of who she is.” One might find in this approach a kind of model Cusk’s own Outline trilogy, in which the narrator’s (Cusk’s?) voice finds its way into the style of everyone she talks to, even as she herself remains withholding. Proctor, who has translated several novels from the Italian, is also the author of a set of interconnected personal essays or “true stories” about her own family, in part about being a daughter and having one: she brings that training to bear in translating the similarly analytic, though perhaps more reticent, Ginzburg. Ginzburg’s style is equally recognizable in both Proctor’s translation and Frenaye’s, even though over half a century separates them. The anti-confessional “externalizations” noted by Calvino find their way into both works, each of which operates through a kind of displacement. Family Lexicon revolves not just around Giuseppe, always bursting with anger, frustration, or glee, but also around the nearly absent presence of the narrator, Natalia herself, whose inner workings of consciousness remain largely opaque. Happiness, as Such, in turn, takes a son, brother, lover, and (possibly) father, Michele, as its own absent core. Meanwhile, The Dry Heart begins with a gunshot that, however dramatic a debut, is never fully explained throughout Ginzburg’s spare, almost suffocating matter-of-fact account. Like many novels, this is a story of a failed marriage, though here particularly so: “I shot him between the eyes,” the narrator states on the first page, before going out for a coffee at a café. She had met her husband, an older man named Alberto, at a doctor’s house. Though in some ways our narrator has made it, jumping aboard the post-industrialization flow from the stultifying provinces — Maona, where her father is a country doctor, to the big city — her experience of urban modernity is limited to a dingy and depressing boardinghouse. She falls in love with the idea of Alberto more than with the man himself, who, unsurprisingly, turns out not to be a very good husband: the true love of his life is an older woman named Giovanna, married with a child. Alberto regularly leaves on “business trips” to visit Giovanna, packing the same volume of Rilke that he reads to his own wife before bed. In this novella, the narrator’s imagination never quite serves as a panacea for reality, in large part because that imagination too often comes up short. Frustrated, before her marriage, that she is failing to visualize how Alberto spends his time, while she feels like an open book, “I said to myself that if he asked me I would marry him, and then I would know at every hour of the day where he was and what he was doing.” Even after she kills him, she recognizes, “Of course they’d put me in jail, but I couldn’t exactly imagine how that would be.” In murdering her husband, she has amputated his freedom but also her own flights of imagination — there are no reasons given for the murder, apart from the dreary excuse of infidelity. In The Dry Heart, however, that very distance between a deed and its justification become a satisfying experiment in unmotivated action. This story is that of many 20th-century women, women whose spheres of opportunity were far vaster than their mothers’, but whose dreams continued to remain stubbornly out of reach. Ginzburg’s wry irony makes of the disjuncture between act and motivation less a problem of narrative than one of a particular subgenre of modern female experience. At less than a hundred pages, The Dry Heart reads as a brief, intense étude for the themes that would continue to preoccupy Ginzburg for the following decades: family and its quirks and foibles, failed relationships of all kinds, the ways in which history torques its way into domestic life. Happiness, as Such, written over a quarter of a century later, is a different kind of book. Rather than the brutal but restrained throttle of The Dry Heart, this is a warmer, comic, polyglossic novel of letters and dialogue. Unfolding in perspective, it engages multiple voices, returning to the pleasure of dialogue and absurdities of familial glue evident in Family Lexicon. That book’s investment in dialect and the vernacular returns, here, as songs hummed and whistled and snatches of sayings half-recalled snake their way through its pages. Epistolary in part — the original Italian title is Caro Michele or “Dear Michele” — Happiness, as Such circles around that addressee, the grown son of divorced parents, who early on in the book abandons Italy for Leeds, possibly because of an involvement in radical politics. In Happiness, as Such, typically for Ginzburg, no one presses too hard against this possibility, even following the sober denouement, when Michele finds himself squarely in the midst of fascist/anti-fascist conflict in Bruges. In Italy, Michele leaves behind a depressed, rather passive-aggressive, and increasingly listless mother, Adriana, who needles him into writing back, into returning to Italy, or into visiting with his new American wife for Easter. He writes his sister Angelica, sending her on various errands, including getting rid of a rusted gun he had stashed under his apartment sink, as well as sending letters to a flighty and eccentric young woman named Mara, who may or may not have borne his child and who now works her way into what’s left of the family. Michele’s friend (and probably lover) Osvaldo steps in to pick up the shards of Michele’s departure and in doing so threads his way into the family fabric himself, checking in on Mara, helping her find a job, visiting Adriana, and renting out Michele’s studio. As he does so, we linger over Michele’s possible relationship with Osvaldo only as much and as far as these correspondents are willing to entertain the notion. The epistolary novel, at its heart, is a generous form: it shares and apportions its narrative voice among a variety of parties. But for that same reason it can also obscure, occlude. The events of the epistolary novel take place offstage, prior to the moment of writing, as well as in the interstices of the correspondence. These events, located between and behind the letters, are related, reflected on, commented upon, and reacted to, while we forgo the privilege of witnessing them ourselves. This is a particular kind of externalization: the epistolary form invites the intimacy of the confession while refusing another novelistic convention, the ability to enter into a character’s minds and motivations. It was perhaps for this reason that Ginzburg returned to the true province of 18th-century letters several times over the course of her career — in her 1983 The Manzoni Family, an imaginative reconstruction of the 19th-century Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni, as well as in the 1984 novel The City and the House. In Happiness, as Such, however, at times the letters end and a third-person narrator takes over, less establishing authority than adding another voice to the chorus. It’s through that loose epistolarity that Ginzburg modernizes the form. Because of her female narrators and her focus on the domestic — and perhaps, given the American public’s continued paucity of reading in translation — Ginzburg has recently been compared to Elena Ferrante, or at least noted as newly opportune for reissue or new translation for a public primed on complicated Italian family sagas. As critics have noted, Ginzburg has something of an older voice; in the Guardian, Lara Feigel writes, “[W]here reading Ferrante can seem like making a new friend, reading Ginzburg is more like finding a mentor.” One can imagine her subjecting Ferrante’s Elena Greco to the wry humor that the first person of the Neapolitan novels never quite permits. Ginzburg is also often funnier than Ferrante. She is acutely attuned to the maddening frustrations of the company of in-laws: in the voice of the mother in Happiness, as Such, speaking of her sister-in-law when a guest is visiting, she writes, “Matilde then provided the entertainment by talking about French Impressionism. She fanned her face, smoked her pipe, and paced back and forth with her hands in her pockets. I could have killed her.” The Ferrante novels, however, are explicitly concerned with the garden of forking paths for 20th-century Italian women, either with or without an education. As Proctor herself writes in a review of the second volume of the Neapolitan books, “All of Ferrante’s difficult, brassy, exotically intelligent heroines — from her 1991 debut, L’amore molesto (Troubling Love), to her latest — have fled, are fleeing, or dream of fleeing the slum they were born into and everything that it represents.” Ginzburg was a consummate female intellectual herself: she worked at the Einaudi publishing house that published Calvino and Primo Levi; she translated Proust into Italian; and though a communist, she served a stint in Parliament as an independent in the ’80s. Still, her fiction is less interested in examining intellectual life than in training an intellectual’s eye on characters with more petite aspirations. The men in these novels are amateur thinkers, salving their disappointing lives with literature, philosophy, and art: in The Dry Heart, Alberto sketches and reads Proust, quotes (though usually misquotes) Dante, while in Happiness, as Such, Michele toys with going to sculpture school, and asks his sister to track down his copy of Kant to send to him in Leeds. The female characters eschew even that: Michele’s mother declares that she will spend the morning reading Pascal’s Pensées, but despondently stares out the window instead; the narrator of The Dry Heart complains of teaching Ovid in a cold classroom to 18 girls who “bored me to the point of nausea.” Both remain skeptical of literature’s possibility to provide any kind of solace, disregarding the Madame Bovary conceit of the female heroine who prefers literature to life. Instead, Ginzburg rigorously limits her scope, exploring the vast realms of the social and the political through a smaller scale — the politics of the family — while refraining even from drawing too many conclusions from that. Between generational differences, genealogical secrets, former and secret lovers, and the desires and limitations related to real and aspirational social milieux, Ginzburg seems to suggest that in the sphere of the family there is always more to tell, and differently. In Happiness, as Such, there is a more robust family saga that might be found between what the characters do and, more importantly, do not say, just as in The Dry Heart the narrator’s motivations might have laid the groundwork for a Dostoyevskian criminology. Rather than develop those gaps, however, the novels leave them be, suggesting instead that there is more to family life than should be said, or perhaps could. Victoria Baena is a graduate student of comparative literature at Yale. Victoria Baena Victoria Baena is a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at Yale University. Her research focuses on the novel between realism and modernism across Europe and Latin America. “Disasters at the Origin of the Sense of Disaster”: Ferrante on Fascism Tessa Brown considers the politics of “My Brilliant Friend,” an adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels.... To Endure the Void: On Rachel Cusk’s “Outline” Trilogy Josie Mitchell surveys the “autofictional” project of Rachel Cusk, which reaches its end with “Kudos.”... Revisions of Resistance in Beatriz Bracher’s “I Didn’t Talk” Bracher’s slim, dense novel lingers in the eddies of personal memory and historical reckoning.... Elena Ferrante: The Mad Adventures of Serious Ladies GD Dess considers the complex female identities at the heart of the Neapolitan novels of Elena Ferrante.... “I Know That Story!”: On Natalia Ginzburg’s “Family Lexicon” Eric Gudas pores over “Family Lexicon” by Natalia Ginzburg.... ad[email protected]

Auction Map Lot List Group - Category All Groups & Categories Cars & Trucks (16) Coins & Paper Money (82) Estate & Personal Property - Furniture (164) Firearms & Weapons (68) Miscellaneous (1986) Showing 1 to 3 of 3 auctions Decorative Asian & Collectibles Auction - 309 Bidding Open Date(s) 3/16/2023 - 3/22/2023 Laughlin Auction 116-A North High Street Edinburg, VA 22824 Thursday, March 16th, Opening at 6:00 A.M. - Wednesday, March 22nd, Beginning to Close at 6:30 P.M. Onwards Preview: Monday, March 20th & Tuesday, March 21st from 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. Auction Dates:Thursday, March 16th, Opening at 6:00 A.M. - Wednesday, March 22nd, Beginning to Close at 6:30 P.M. Onwards Pick-Up Dates: Thursday & Friday March 23rd & 24th from 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. at 116 A. North High St. Edinburg VA, 22824 Receive a discount on your buyer's premium by picking up Thursday ONLY with Payment of Cash or Check Bidding Notice: The buyer is responsible for the pickup of all lots purchased at his/her own expense during the day's schedule for pickup. A courtesy call will be issued to all bidders at 3:00 P.M. the final day of pick up. Items must be retrieved by 10:00 A.M. the next business day to avoid storage fees. LATE PICK UP: A LATE PICK UP FEE OF $10 PER DAY after the scheduled pickup days.All items remaining after a total of THREE days from close of sale will be forfeited with no refund. Auction Notice: This is an Online - Internet Only - Timed Auction. All bidding activity will take place online. When bidding, just enter your maximum bid. The system will bid on your behalf using only what it needs to keep you in the lead. This feature is the surest way to win the items you're interested in at the lowest possible price. We have a one-minute soft close policy on each lot. This means that if a bidder enters a bid within one minute of the lot’s initial closing time, a one-minute extension would be added on. The lot will not close until bidding is static for one minute. Edinburg, VA 36th Annual Spring Equipment Sale - 310 Bidding opens in Thursday, March 23rd, Opening at 6:00 A.M. - Wednesday, March 29th, Beginning to Close at 6:30 P.M. Onwards Preview: Monday, March 27th & Tuesday, March 28th from 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. Auction Dates: Thursday, March 23rd, Opening at 6:00 A.M. - Wednesday, March 29th, Beginning to Close at 6:30 P.M. Onwards Pick-Up Dates: Thursday & Friday March 30th & 31st from 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. at 116 A. North High St. Edinburg VA, 22824. Receive a discount on your buyer's premium by picking up Thursday ONLY with Payment of Cash or Check View Catalog (1040 Lots) Sporting & Estate Auction - 311 Date(s) 3/30/2023 - 4/5/2023 Thursday, March 30th, Opening at 6:00 A.M. - Wednesday, April 5th, Beginning to Close at 6:30 P.M. Onwards Preview: Monday, April 3rd & Tuesday, April 4th from 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. Auction Dates:Thursday, March 30th, Opening at 6:00 A.M. - Wednesday, April 5th, Beginning to Close at 6:30 P.M. Onwards Pick-Up Dates: FIREARMS that require a background check must be picked up Thursday, April 6th from 8:30am - 3:00pm and Friday, April 7th from 10:00am - 2:00pm. Pickup for all other merchandise is Thursday & Friday April 6th & 7th from 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. at 116 A. North High St. Edinburg VA, 22824 Receive a discount on your buyer's premium by picking up Thursday ONLY with Payment of Cash or Check © 2023 Laughlin Auction Questions about an auction, lot, bidding, shipping, etc. for Laughlin Auction

Lynda August 1, 2022 July 7, 2022 Pat Yarborough has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Houston Young Lawyers Association, the city’s young professionals’ organization. He’ll serve in one of nine elected positions on the association’s Board of Directors. HYLA is comprised of lawyers under 36 years old or in their first five years of practice. The mission of the organization is to educate and inspire young professionals in the legal field. The Houston Young Lawyers Association is a nonprofit organization. The organization provides networking and professional development opportunities for young attorneys in Houston. It offers committee activities, sports leagues, and continuing legal education programs. The group also assesses and promotes leadership and strategic thinking. Encompass Scores are based on Beacon scores. The Houston Young Lawyers Association meets the eligibility requirements for the Impact & Results Beacon. The Houston Young Lawyers Association is a bar association for young attorneys in Houston. The organization offers monthly CLEs, panel discussions, and other networking events. The organization also offers leadership opportunities through the HYLA Leadership Academy. Each month, 20 members will work on a community service project. Membership in HYLA includes a host of signature events, including an Evening with the Judiciary and networking happy hours. In addition to offering great networking opportunities, the Houston Young Lawyers Association (HYLA) offers meaningful community service projects to young attorneys and law students. HYLA also offers several signature events to engage its members and connect them with potential clients and community leaders. To get started, create your nonprofit organization’s profile. Include a brief description of what you do, including your mission, program details, and geographic service areas. You can unlock more financial insights by signing up for a monthly plan. The Houston Young Lawyers Association is separate from the Houston Bar Association. HYLA members do not have to be members of either organization to become members. However, McCathern Houston associate Veronica Montemayor is an active member of both organizations. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors of HYLA. HYLA’s leadership role extends to associates and attorneys, including members of committees. Whether you’re looking for leadership opportunities in the legal field or just a good social group, the Houston Young Lawyers Association can help you get involved. From committee activities to continuing legal education programs to sports leagues, the Houston Young Lawyers Association provides a wealth of opportunities for young professionals in the Houston area. Members can use their involvement in the Houston Young Lawyers Association to help make their community and the profession a better place. The Houston Young Lawyers Association recently elected Kiara Gradney to their Board of Directors. She will serve as a Director for the years 2021-2022. HYLA is Houston’s premier organization for young professionals and a specialty bar association for lawyers. Members include law students, recent graduates, and those in their first five years of practice. The group’s mission is to educate, connect, and serve. Impact & Results score The Houston Young Lawyers Association faces similar challenges to many other bar associations, including a decline in membership that peaked in the mid-1980s at about 2,200 members. Membership dwindled to about 1,800 members a few years ago and has since been struggling to regain its peak level. Many bar associations and new attorneys cite lack of time as the primary reason for the decline in membership. The Houston Young Lawyers Association provides numerous opportunities for lawyers to serve the community and give back. The organization provides many ways to help new lawyers gain experience through meaningful community service projects and networking opportunities. In addition, the organization is committed to its mission to “lead, network, and serve.” The Houston Young Lawyers Association has similar challenges to other bar associations, such as a declining membership. The HYLA had about 2,200 members at its peak and a drop of over half to about 1,800 a few years ago. Since then, the association has struggled to regain its membership base, which currently stands at 2,000 members. The HYLA’s decline is likely related to two primary factors: the lack of time for members and the cost of membership. In the past, the HYLA has focused on improving the Web site to make it more user-friendly. The Houston Young Lawyers Association’s Web site has been updated regularly and the committee chairs have free reign to add or remove content. As a result, the Web site is constantly evolving and reflects the needs of young lawyers and law students. For $15 per year, law students can join the Law Student Division.

Lynda June 21, 2022 June 11, 2022 According to the Tyson class action lawsuit, certain class members’ were intentionally deceived into believing that they were purchasing a higher quality chicken than was available at the time of purchase. These class members were then charged additional fees for their “bargain” while on a “special order” basis. Subsequently, they were further pushed into a lawsuit that has had them divided up among different attorneys to collect on purported damages due to this “shady” practice. The suit claims that the alleged deception was orchestrated by several high-level executives of the poultry industry that went out of their way to speak with various media outlets to “distort the facts.” In addition, according to the Tyson class-action lawsuit, senior management was similarly inflamed by statements by top executives that called for mass flock sales in response to increasing demand from consumers. Further, Tyson and several other manufacturers used internal reports generated by Agri Stats, yet another defendant, in this case, to further coordinate the lie that wholesale chicken prices would soar as a result of the “supply-side” glut in poultry. In the course of this class action lawsuit, many former and current customers of Tyson foods have come forward to vocally support the complaint. Plaintiffs argue that because these defendants knew full well that the company was lying about wholesale chicken quality and did nothing to rectify the situation, they are liable for fraud. Further, one attorney in the case has indicated that he believes the damages that have been awarded in recent court cases to be “trumped” by the defendant’s insurance companies. (It should be noted that such lawsuits are generally brought by class members whose individual injuries arose as a direct result of the alleged conduct.) The Class Action Lawsuit further claims that the defendants did not provide either notice or adequate warning of the fraudulent intention to inflate the meat quality issue and purposely inflate the beef prices to receive a financial windfall at the expense of the class members. Further, defendant Metlife Insurance, one of the named defendants, and its president, John M. DeGiorgio, and vice president, Richard J. DeGiorgio, III, were aware of the falsity of defendant claims before advising the Dairy Farmers of their financial peril. At all times before advising the Dairy Farmers of the falsity of the “higher value” beef grades, Metlife Insurance had indicated to the Dairy Farmers that the strength of their brand had been misrepresented because the strength of the brand decreased when beef quality was lowered. These facts had a direct bearing on whether or not the Dairy Farmers of California was able to maintain its position as the nation’s largest dairy manufacturer. Further, it is alleged that the defendants failed to warn the Beef Products Corporation and its two main distributors of the falsity of their initial claims. Essentially, the claim goes on to say that the defendants knew that their statements regarding beef were false and could, therefore, have an effect on the price of their company’s stock. Further, it is alleged that the defendants failed to warn the United States Food and Drug Administration that their initial statements regarding the strength of their beef were untrue and could have a direct effect on the strength of the beef product upon which they sold. Finally, it is claimed that the defendants engaged in price-fixing – that is, they fixed the wholesale price of beef without telling any of their retailers the wholesale price was fixed and would not be affected by the claims.

Camp Lejeune Water Lawsuit A Camp Lejeune water lawsuit may be the only way to get justice for those who were injured by the contaminated water. This problem occurred at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune from 1953 to 1987. The base’s drinking-water system is contaminated with a chemical that is harmful to human health. The chemical is called chloroform. It is a common problem that has led to numerous injuries and illnesses. If you or a loved one has been harmed by this chemical, you should file a lawsuit to hold the responsible party accountable. The state of North Carolina has set a deadline of 10 years to file a civil lawsuit for water contamination. The lawsuit is challenging the policy of the Department of the Navy’s failure to provide clean drinking water to those who live and work in the area. A lawsuit filed by a Lejeune water contamination lawsuit is the best way to get justice for those affected by the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The lawsuit has been pending since 2010. The deadline begins from the day the injured party became aware of the exposure. The law also applies to exposures that occurred many years before the date the suit is filed. The EPA and the US Army have not released any official data on the health effects of the chemicals. Because of these strict time limits, individuals must file a lawsuit in the shortest time possible. In 2009, the U.S. federal government launched an investigation into allegations of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. Despite the failure of U.S. Marine officials to act on the issue, President Barack Obama signed the Janey Ensminger Act into law in August 2012. The law protects people who have been harmed by contaminated water. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune increases the risk of several diseases, including cancer. The government is denying the claims of more than 4,500 plaintiffs, despite the law. The Department of the Navy also has to provide medical care to those who have been affected by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have concluded that contaminated drinking waters increase the risk of multiple diseases, including cancer. Several articles have been written about the case. The New York Times and Washington Post have also published articles about the contamination at Camp Lejeune. Moreover, these articles provide information about the possible benefits of filing a lawsuit in North Carolina. These cases are a great way to make sure that the government does not take away your rights. There are many legal issues related to toxic water. But there are many reasons to file a LeJeune water lawsuit. While the government has yet to acknowledge the cases filed by the affected individuals, they will compensate victims for their injuries and suffering. A successful Lejeune water lawsuit can also help those who have been displaced due to the contaminated water. A lawyer with experience in this type of litigation will make it easier for you to collect compensation. A lawyer with experience in water litigation can be invaluable to your case. Whether you need to sue for damages resulting from contaminated water at Camp Lejeune or want to bring a lawsuit against the government, a lawyer will be able to assist you. A court decision is a final decision. A lawyer is a great resource in your case. He will guide you in filing your claim. A Lejeune water lawsuit can help you get justice for your injuries. The deadline for bringing a civil lawsuit against the government was ten years. If you were exposed to the water at Camp Lejeune and suffered from any of the illnesses listed above, you will be able to file a claim for damages for the disease you contracted. A lawyer will help you fight the law and get the compensation you need. It is important to file a Lejeune water lawsuit as soon as possible. In a recent case, a woman named Laura Jones was unable to sue the government for damages caused by contaminated water at Marine Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. The U.S. Department of Navy argued that she did not file the lawsuit within the ten-year statute of repose, which is a legal term for ten years. The plaintiffs had pleaded that the 10-year statute of limitations applied to her case. Previous post:What to Expect During the Lawsuit Settlement Process Next post:Columbia University Class Action Lawsuit

Zoloft Birth Defects Lawsuits – How to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit The alleged birth defects related to the use of Zoloft during pregnancy include: Birth defects and birth abnormalities are the usual problems reported during pregnancy and after delivery as a result of use of Zoloft. The common birth defects, especially birth deformities and abnormalities, are related to birth defects caused by exposure to birth control pills. Some of the known birth defect effects from Zoloft are: Birth defects and birth abnormalities can also be caused by other drugs that can be found in some Zoloft. These drugs include androgen (DHT) blockers such as Propecia. The use of other drugs like anti-inflammatory and anti-depressants has been linked to birth defect. Another risk of pregnancy is the possible development of birth defects. It is very important for pregnant mothers to take precautionary measures to minimize the risk of having defects. Some of the precautions include not smoking and drinking alcohol while pregnant. There are also other precautions such as avoiding using birth control pills. In addition, women who took Zoloft while they were pregnant should be informed and warned about possible birth defects. This is necessary so as to protect their unborn child and minimize suffering from any complications. If you feel that your doctor was negligent regarding the use of Zoloft during pregnancy, you have the right to file a lawsuit. In a lawsuit, your claim is filed against the manufacturer of the Zoloft. In most cases, these lawsuits are settled out of court or the court orders a retraction of the article or information from its website. However, it is still important to inform your lawyer immediately of the situation. As soon as you know if you will win your lawsuit, seek legal counsel so that you can obtain the best possible results. If you want to file a lawsuit, you should make sure that your doctor advised you of all risks related to the use of Zoloft during pregnancy and that the risk of having defects or birth defect are actually caused by the drug. If there are no specific risks or dangers stated, consult your doctor for further details. Ask your doctor if you can use other birth control methods or a different medication that is similar to Zoloft but have a lower rate of side effects. When filing a lawsuit, always keep in mind that there are many other medications that have the same side effects as Zoloft and can cause a birth defect. Always ask your lawyer about the possible side effects and risks that you may experience when taking other medications that contain Zoloft. It is also important that you are aware of how your body reacts to medications that contain Zoloft. The effects of such medications vary from person to person and can be extremely harmful. There are several birth defects caused by the use of medications that contain Zoloft. Do not forget that if you do not have any such defects or birth defect, you are not at risk for any defects. Do not allow yourself to become frustrated if you are not experiencing any birth defect. Do not wait until you give birth to file a lawsuit because there are still chances of receiving compensation for your suffering. You can also file a lawsuit to get compensation for the pain and suffering that you have undergone because of birth defects. These days, people are now more aware of the risks and damages that are associated with birth defects. It is also important for you to ask your doctor if you are taking any medications that contain Zoloft during pregnancy. Do not wait until you give birth to talk to your doctor about this matter. There are many cases in which women are compensated for the loss of earnings and medical expenses that they have suffered due to Zoloft. A large amount of money is also paid by these lawsuits, therefore, it is important for you to seek legal advice as soon as possible. Car accidents can be life-altering experiences that result in physical injuries, emotional trauma, and financial hardships. If you have been... Reasons Why You Should Hire a Personal Injury Attorney If you are the victim of an accident due to the fault of another party, you should hire a personal... What Are the Types of Personal Injury Cases? Are you dealing with a personal injury case? Being involved in a personal injury may impact your life in many... How Much Will It Cost to Hire a Personal Injury Attorney? A Simple Guide You were driving on the freeway when someone cut you off, and you couldn't stop in time. You were hit... What Are the Main Benefits of Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney? If you've suffered from personal injury, then you should fight against your aggressor to earn your entitled compensation. But this is... Previous post:Facts About Yeti Lawsuits in Denver Next post:Lawsuits Against Plavix

Access to Information Act Marginal note:Notice to third parties 33 Where the head of a government institution refuses to disclose a record requested under this Act or a part thereof and receives a notice under section 32 of a complaint in respect of the refusal, the head of the institution shall forthwith advise the Information Commissioner of any third party that the head of the institution has notified under subsection 27(1) in respect of the request or would have notified under that subsection if the head of the institution had intended to disclose the record or part thereof. 1980-81-82-83, c. 111, Sch. I “33”

ITS TYPES Meaning of Bail Bail is simply the short-term release of an accused person awaiting trial for an amount pledged for the accused's appearance. Bail is the judicial release of an accused who is charged with specific offences by imposing certain restrictions on him and gripping him to the Court of Law's jurisdiction. Getting bail is one of the accused's rights in a civil case, whereas it is at the discretion of the granting authority in a criminal proceeding. 4 TYPES OF BAIL 1. REGULAR BAIL 4. DEFAULT BAIL 3. INTERIM BAIL 2. ANTICIPATORY BAIL When a person commits a cognizable non-bailable offence, the police may take him into custody, and the person must be sent to jail after the custody period. However, the accused's right to be released from custody has been mentioned in Sections 437 & 439 of the Code. As a result, regular bail is the release of the accused from police custody in order to ensure his appearance at the court hearing. 2. ANTICIPATROY BAIL Anticipatory Bail is self-identified. This is the kind of bail granted to a person who is about to be arrested by the police for a non-bailable offence. This has been the most important bail in recent times because rivals in business or other powerful individuals frequently consider charging opponents with false cases. This is an advanced bail, as defined in Section 438 of the Code. Police cannot arrest someone who has been granted Anticipatory Bail. This sort of bail is granted for a brief length of time and for transitory purposes, either while an application is pending or when the court is considering an application for anticipatory or regular bail. Interim bail is always conditional and may be prolonged; however, if it lapses before the accused has been requested for anticipatory bail or regular bail and he refuses to pay the money necessary for the continuation of the bail, the accused lost his right to freedom and will be brought into custody. This is a bail right that arises when the police fail to complete an investigation in regard to an individual in judicial custody within a certain period of time. This is also referred to as statutory bail or compulsive bail. the accused person is prepared to furnish bail, If the charge sheet hasn't been filed in court. This right is acquired after 90 days of incarceration in cases punishable by death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for a term not less than ten years, and after 60 days of incarceration in all other cases. under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure IF YOU LIKE THIS STORY PLEASE SHARE LAWSSTUDY.COM

Home Domestic Violence Wisconsin Washburn County Washburn County Domestic Violence Lawyers Find Washburn County Domestic Violence Attorneys by City Eau Claire County, WI Domestic Violence Lawyer (715) 322-3368 17 S. Barstow St. Free ConsultationDomestic Violence, Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI and White Collar Crime We are the best criminal defense team in Northcentral and Northwestern Wisconsin. We have been helping clients resolve their matters for over 30 years. A criminal or OWI case can leave you with many hardships — from loss of a job, to financial hardships, community stigmatization and psychological and emotional distress. Defending a criminal or drunk driving case is difficult and stressful. You don't have to fight this battle alone. When a loved one is charged with a crime, the impact can be felt throughout the home. Many individuals struggle with enormous stress and anxiety due to the situation. This stress... Mr. Jamy Richard Johansen Douglas County, WI Domestic Violence Lawyer with 20 years of experience (715) 394-3939 1409 Hammond Ave, Ste 300 Superior, WI 54880 Free ConsultationDomestic Violence, Criminal Defense, Divorce and Family Attorney Johansen is a Superior native who graduated from the UWS-Superior with a B.A. in History, cum laude. He earned his J.D. in San Diego, California. While in law school, Johansen worked for Federal Defender's of San Diego, Inc. After passing the bar examination, Johansen began handling cases in Douglas County and surrounding Wisconsin counties. Attorney Johansen has served as both President and Vice President of the Douglas County Bar Association and is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin. For the past two decades, he has been President of Johansen Law Office, S.C. where he focuses... Stephen Zuber (715) 395-3195 515 Belknap Street, Suite #1 Free ConsultationDomestic Violence, Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI and Divorce Stephen R Zuber, S.C. Attorney At Law has over 30 years local experience practicing in Superior, Wisconsin as well as in Duluth, Minnesota, and their surrounding areas. No matter what your legal needs, Stephen R. Zuber will represent you diligently, effectively, and will present your case to obtain the most optimal results.?? When someone trusts me to defend them and their good name, I take it very seriously. My clients have the option of choosing any attorney to represent them in court. So, when an individual decides to choose me, I want to provide them with quality representation in return. Most of... Barbara K. Miller Saint Croix County, WI Domestic Violence Lawyer with 38 years of experience (715) 386-9655 615 Second Street I have been in practice in the State of Wisconsin for over 30 years and have been in the Hudson community for over 25. I have a varied litigation practice that is now focused on Family Law, Criminal Defense and Personal Injury. I litigate cases from beginning to closure; meet clients; research and prepare for court hearings; draft pleadings, motions, and appellate briefs. James CW Bock Saint Croix County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney (715) 494-0080 808 Carmichael Road PMB 113 Domestic Violence, Criminal Defense, Divorce and Family Autumn Lyn Lindquist (715) 381-8270 502 2nd St Ste 203 Domestic Violence, Divorce, Family and Municipal Molly French Trempealeau County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney with 18 years of experience (715) 597-5300 50556 South Charles Street Osseo, WI 54758 The John Marshall Law School Tracey A Wood Dane County, WI Domestic Violence Lawyer with 30 years of experience (608) 490-5779 6605 University Avenue Suite #101 Free ConsultationDomestic Violence, Appeals, Criminal Defense and DUI & DWI University of Wisconsin Law School A true Wisconsin native, Attorney Wood earned her undergraduate degree from Marquette University and her law degree from the University of Wisconsin. From the beginning of her legal career, Attorney Wood dedicated herself to defending OWI cases—allowing her to gain valuable experience and insights that are used to help her clients. Attorney Wood is the first Wisconsin attorney to serve on the Board of Regents for the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD) held at Harvard Law School, an organization devoted to furthering education for attorneys in this field of law. She is also a frequent speaker at... Eric Raskopf Waukesha County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney with 31 years of experience (262) 955-1644 100 S. Main Street Free ConsultationDomestic Violence, Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI and Traffic Tickets I have successfully defended the rights of the accused in the full range of criminal and traffic offenses since 1992. I am sensitive to the fact that while I have a busy caseload, this may be your only experience with the criminal justice system. Whether your are accused of a minor traffic violation or a serious felony, you can expect that your matter will be handled with a high level of professionalism, integrity and sensitivity. Remember, it's your case. Proper communication between attorney and client is the hallmark of effective representation. Clients can expect copies of documents filed on their behalf... Jeffrey T. Oswald Outagamie County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney with 26 years of experience 4650 W. Spencer Street Free ConsultationDomestic Violence, Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI and Juvenile I have lived in Appleton, Wisconsin my entire life other than attending college in Madison and law school in Chicago. I started my own law practice within the first year of graduating from law school, and continue to work with my same partners at our law firm Hammett, Bellin & Oswald, LLC. I am proud of the quality of individuals representing our law firm and am happy that we have helped so many people over the years. I am an active member of our community and serve in many different ways. I... Patrick Kiernan Cafferty Racine County, WI Domestic Violence Lawyer (262) 632-5000 840 Lake Ave Marquette University Law School Mr. Cafferty’s credentials and awards include: + Graduate of Marquette University Law School + Member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers + Member of the Wisconsin Association Criminal Defense Lawyers + Named in Super Lawyers Magazine 2008 – 2021 + Earned the Distinguished Martindale-Hubbell AV* Peer Review Rating + Named in Best Lawyers in America 2013-2021 Edition for Criminal Defense Mr. Cafferty has developed solid professional relationships and a reputation of being honest with judges and prosecutors throughout Southeast Wisconsin. From offices in Racine, criminal defense lawyer Patrick Cafferty defends the rights of people charged with state and federal criminal offenses throughout Southeastern Wisconsin and Northern... David Kowalski Sauk County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney with 17 years of experience (608) 448-4700 123 2nd Street Baraboo, WI 53913 Free ConsultationDomestic Violence, Appeals, Divorce and Family I am the founding shareholder of Kowalski, Wilson & Vang, LLC. Throughout my career, I have represented clients of diverse financial, ethnic, social, and cultural backgrounds. Experience gained through participation in hundreds of court hearings allows me to serve my clients across the entire spectrum of family issues.. I routinely lecture on family and child-related topics at seminars sponsored by the State Bar of Wisconsin and other legal organizations. For example, in 2010, I was Wisconsin’s representative to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Community Property Symposium in Seattle. From 2015 onward, I was named by my peers as a Rising Star and designated Superlawyer by SuperLawyers magazine, a lawyer review publication.... John Miller Carroll (920) 734-4878 226 S. State Street Domestic Violence, Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI and Personal Injury Attorney John Miller Carroll is the founder of our Appleton law firm, John Miller Carroll Law Office. At our firm, we focus on protecting the rights of the residents of Wisconsin, including but not limited to, Outagamie and Winnebago counties and surrounding east-central Wisconsin who face charges for state & criminal offenses. We proudly defend clients arrested for a variety of offenses, including: • Homicides • Drug offenses • Assault • OWI •... Sarah Schmeiser Dane County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney with 18 years of experience (608) 661-1054 33 E Main Street Domestic Violence, Appeals, Criminal Defense and DUI & DWI Sarah concentrates on two areas of practice: criminal and traffic defense and immigration law. In the area of criminal and traffic defense, Sarah has defended clients at all levels - from local municipal courts through the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Sarah handles many circuit court trials every year, successfully protecting client interests. Sarah handles all levels of appeal in criminal and traffic cases and has argued several cases in front of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Sarah frequently handles charges of drunk driving, sexual assault, substantial battery, theft from employer, delivery of a controlled substance, and all types of criminal and... John Birdsall Milwaukee County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney with 34 years of experience (414) 928-2309 1219 N. Cass Street Attorney John Birdsall has more than 30 years of experience and has earned a reputation as one of the most trusted criminal defense lawyers in Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin. With over 250 jury trails, mostly for serious felonies such as homicide, he has an acquittal rate that is three times the Wisconsin average. John’s practice is focused exclusively on defending the wrongly accused, and has recently helped a client named Eddie Gill. After being accused of shooting and killing a Milwaukee resident, John helped uncover that the police has interrogated Gill into confessing when he was in... David Patton Racine County, WI Domestic Violence Lawyer with 9 years of experience (262) 221-4848 2310 S. Green Bay Rd. Ste. C203 Domestic Violence, Criminal Defense, Divorce and Juvenile University of Minnesota - Twin Cities A versatile, innovative, and adaptable attorney with an attitude of service and broad experience who meets challenges with open-eyed optimism and solutions-oriented creativity, David cares about your case almost as much as you do. He's here to fight for you and to serve as your concierge throughout your encounter with the legal system David gets great results for his clients. With David, you can expect: -fierce courtroom advocacy; -a compassionate and listening ear; -an adviser offering you advanced strategic and tactical advice; -hard-line negotiating on your behalf; -a trusted guide through the legal wilderness; -aggressive motion practice to accomplish your goals; -established relationships with the players in... Jillian Scheidegger 840 Lake Ave Jillian J. Scheidegger is a partner at Cafferty & Scheidegger, S.C. Jillian has been with the firm since 2013. She focuses exclusively criminal defense and traffic matters. Her practice includes the representation of adults and juveniles charged with crimes. Her cases typically involve drugs, sexual offenses, property crimes, alcohol and domestic violence. Jillian has represented hundreds of clients, zealously advocating for the best possible result in each and every case. It is important to Jillian that her clients feel informed throughout the process and understand each step of the way. Jillian is passionate about obtaining excellent results for her clients... Michael Edwards Milwaukee County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney with 5 years of experience (414) 744-2757 3821 S. Howell Ave. Domestic Violence, Divorce and Family Marquette University Law School and Drake University Michael A. Edwards was born in Milwaukee, WI. Michael attended the Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa and graduated in 2014 after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law, Politics & Society and Rhetoric & Communication Studies. Michael graduated from Drake with University Honors. Michael graduated from Marquette University Law School in 2017 with a Certificate in Sports Law as well as Pro Bono Honors for volunteering nearly 400 hours of his time to pro bono legal services. Currently, Michael assists clients with family law issues in Fond du Lac and surrounding counties. While in school, Michael held various internship positions including... Corey Mehlos Winnebago County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney with 8 years of experience (920) 383-3228 Suite 26, 116 S. Commercial St. Domestic Violence, Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI and Juvenile Attorney Mehlos graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin Law School. During law school, Attorney Mehlos participated in the Wisconsin Innocence Project, handling 10 post-conviction homicide and assault cases. That experience provided Attorney Mehlos with the foundation to surgically attack highly-complex cases involving tough facts and tailor creative solutions to achieve outstanding results for his clients. Attorney Mehlos has worked relentlessly to achieve outstanding results for his clients in cases ranging from homicide cases, personal injury lawsuits, to helping families with child protective services. In his first case out of law school, Attorney... Brian Nelson (414) 270-0202 316 N. Milwaukee St Criminal defense attorney Brian C. Nelson earned his Bachelor degree from Indiana University in 2012. He continued his legal education at Indiana University, and earned his Juris Doctorate in 2016. During law school, Mr. Nelson focused on trial advocacy and criminal defense, taking every available course and clinic in those fields. In his second year, he interned at the Marion County Prosecutors Office for a semester before leaving to clerk for a private criminal defense attorney. Mr. Nelson was on the board of his legal fraternity, and competed as a member of his school’s trial advocacy team his last two... Amaro Lopez Outagamie County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney with 9 years of experience (920) 843-9267 536 North Richmond Street Attorney Amaro Lopez received his B.A. degree in Spanish Literature from the University of Dallas. He then continued on at the University of Dallas and obtained his Master’s Degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resources. After pursuing a career in Human Resources, Mr. Lopez realized that in order to make a difference in people’s lives the way he wanted, he would need to advance his education. He was accepted into the law school at the University of Wisconsin Madison and earned his Juris Doctorate degree. He feels a strong connection to his community and believes that a... Schuyler Boggio Dane County, WI Domestic Violence Lawyer (608) 661-6300 6605 University Ave Attorney Schuyler Boggio is an experienced trial attorney in all areas of criminal defense. He has represented clients through trial in cases ranging from misdemeanor charges to homicide, as well as civil commitment cases. Attorney Boggio attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as an undergrad where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology while minoring in criminal justice and sociology. He attended law school at Hamline University School of Law (Now Mitchell| Hamline School of Law.)where he received a Juris Doctorate in 2015. From 2015 to 2022 Attorney Boggio worked as a trial attorney for the Wisconsin Office of the State Public... David K Anderson Dane County, WI Domestic Violence Lawyer with 7 years of experience (608) 204-5807 411 West Main St. #202 Attorney David K Anderson has been practicing criminal defense for over 6 years. Attorney Anderson focuses solely on Criminal Defense. He defends individuals charged with violating Wisconsin's criminal statutes. His firm, DK Anderson, S.C. specializes in defending against OWIs, drug crimes, property crimes, domestic violence, and violent crimes. We are client focused and work hard to keep the communication channels open so our clients are not left in the dark. We will aggressively defend you and your rights all at an affordable fee. Peter J Prusinski Marathon County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney with 12 years of experience (715) 393-4448 500 N 3rd St STE 208-12 Free ConsultationDomestic Violence, Criminal Defense and DUI & DWI Peter J. Prusinski is your personal, professional defense attorney. Mr. Prusinski focuses 100% of his practice on criminal law and drunk-driving (DUI) matters, and is not afraid to take your case to trial. He champions individual Constitutional rights not only to protect his clients, but also to maintain integrity and justice for all. Mr. Prusinski is admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin and the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. He is a member of the American Bar Association, and the National, Wisconsin and Marathon County Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Mr. Prusinski has served as... Christopher Glinski Racine County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney with 15 years of experience (262) 632-1555 209 8th St Attorney Christopher M. Glinski is an aggressive and experienced Racine criminal defense, divorce, and child custody lawyer. He has dedicated his career to aggressively defending the rights of his clients and getting his clients great results. He also handles traffic tickets. Attorney Glinski has consistently been rated one of the top lawyers in Wisconsin. He was recently recognized as one of the "Top 40 Trial Lawyers under 40" in Wisconsin and nationally recognized as one of the "Top 100 Criminal Defense Lawyers." He works in Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin. Call (262) 632-1555 for a free consultation.... Dane County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney with 5 years of experience As an young and energetic attorney at Tracey Wood & Associates, Teuta Jonuzi fights hard for the rights or her clients. Amy Menzel Outagamie County, WI Domestic Violence Lawyer with 16 years of experience (920) 720-0000 4650 West Spencer Street Free ConsultationDomestic Violence, Administrative, Criminal Defense and Personal Injury I understand that when someone comes to me for legal advice, that person is likely at the lowest point in their life, due to a wrongful allegation, terrible decision or unfortunate accident. I am truly committed to helping all of my clients receive the best result in their situation. I treat each case as the unique situation that it is and am committed to going above and beyond what other attorneys would do to ensure that best possible result. I primarily focus on Criminal Defense and Personal Injury Law. I have found those to be the... Jeffrey Kippa Outagamie County, WI Domestic Violence Attorney (920) 228-8141 135 E. College Avenue I opened my office in 2013 and limit my practice exclusively to criminal law. Prior to opening my office, I worked for area firms for about ten years. In deciding to limit my practice to criminal defense, I have been able to focus on helping others out of what is typically the lowest point in their life. That is the hard part about my job - always meeting people at a horrible point in their lives. The best part of my job is helping them through the process and out the other side of things. Providing answers and direction to... Waukesha County, WI Domestic Violence Lawyer with 17 years of experience (414) 446-3544 200 S. Executive Drive Free ConsultationDomestic Violence, Cannabis Law, Criminal Defense and White Collar Crime Over the past 15 years, Sydne has earned a solid reputation for fighting and winning probation violation revocation hearings. She is known by judges and probation agents for her creative and persuasive Alternatives to Revocation (ATRS). Sydne's background in clinical psychology gives her an edge over other criminal defense attorneys. Her clinical experience and training allows her to find the root cause of behaviors and uses this to help her clients avoid revocation. "I've spent the past 15 years helping people beat revocations, get ATRs, and go back home to their life and their loved... Terese J. Singer (414) 271-6400 1110 N Old World 3rd St Free ConsultationDomestic Violence, Divorce, Family and Personal Injury Attorney Singer devotes her practice almost exclusively to helping couples through the difficult process of dissolving their marriage and rebuilding their lives. With over 25 years of experience, she is particularly sensitive to protecting her client's children and the parent's right to remain fully involved in their lives. She also works diligently to insure that her client's financial interests are protected, whether that means fighting for a fair division of property or making sure that maintenance is awarded in the appropriate cases. Her clients are divided equally between men and women and both have their rights and interests vigorously defended.... Chadwick Kaehne Domestic Violence, Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI and Divorce Mr. Chadwick Kaehne graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. Shortly after his undergraduate studies, Mr. Kaehne founded a mental health clinic serving clients throughout Winnebago, Fond du Lac, Outagamie, and Brown counties. Mr. Kaehne established his law practice shortly after receiving his Juris Doctorate from the University of Dayton School of Law in Ohio. Using the philosophy grounded from his experiences from the mental health field, Mr. Kaehne believes that not only should a law firm be both reputable and aggressive in serving the needs of their clients; but also passionate, with... John Smerlinski (608) 277-0909 5708 Monona Drive, Suite C Monona, WI 53716 Attorney John K. Smerlinski has over 20 years of experience practicing criminal, divorce, and personal injury law in the state of Wisconsin. Attorney Smerlinski specializes in criminal law and can help you with DUI charges, drug charges, misdemeanor charges, and felony charges just to name a few. Smerlinski Law Office S. C. has extensive experience in divorce/family law and personal injury law. The firm has secured over 50 acquittals for clients over the years, and will work hard to get you the best results possible with your case. Contact Smerlinski Law Office today, for a free consultation, to discuss... Aaron W Schenk Brown County, WI Domestic Violence Lawyer with 15 years of experience (920) 393-5884 141 S St. Augustine St Pulaski, WI 54162 Ave Maria School of Law For a Green Bay Attorney that PUTS YOU FIRST, look no further! The Schenk Law Firm, LLC is a "Client-First" Law Firm serving Green Bay (Brown County), Appleton (Outagamie County), Oshkosh (Winnebago County), and all other areas in Northeastern Wisconsin & Michigan. The Schenk Law Firm provides powerful legal representation to the people of Wisconsin, we are available for 24/7 Emergency Legal Assistance 911@SchenkLegal.com as well. Our Attorneys are some of the most sympathetic and considerate. Whether you're experiencing a Criminal Felony or Misdemeanor Law Case, Traffic, Probation Revocation, Appeals, Family Law Case, Divorce, Child Custody, Tribal Court, or Federal... Carl B Johnson (262) 632-5000 840 Lake Ave., Suite 300 Domestic Violence, Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI and Traffic Tickets Carl B. Johnson was born and raised in Racine. Attorney Johnson received his law degree from the Marquette University Law School in 2006 and his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Carl is licensed to practice in Wisconsin and the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Attorney Johnson’s practice specializes in all areas of criminal defense, including juvenile law, zealously defending his clients throughout southeastern Wisconsin. He represents clients charged with misdemeanors and serious felonies including drug offenses, gun crimes, domestic violence, property crimes, homicide, and sexual assault. Attorney Johnson has extensive trial experience,... Corey Chirafisi (608) 250-3500 1 S. Pinckney Street City University of New York - City College An accomplished criminal defense attorney in Wisconsin, Corey C. Chirafisi devotes his legal career solely to defending individuals charged with criminal and drunk driving offenses. He handles cases involving Wisconsin state law as well as federal law, and has represented people on every type of criminal charge and all levels of drunk driving charges with rather impressive results in numerous difficult cases. A former prosecutor, Mr. Chirafisi began his career as an assistant district attorney handling criminal matters ranging from disorderly conduct to homicide. He provides this experience to current clients whether they are charged with battery, computer... William Robert Kerner (414) 258-5989 6525 W Bluemound Rd A Traffic Ticket may seem like a small thing, but it can have larger consequences. Often, the fine is the least serious consequence of getting a Traffic Citation. The experienced and knowledgeable attorneys at Kerner Law Offices can help you fight your tickets and prevent much of the damage and cost they will inflict on you, but only if you take action. Eric Eickhoff Outagamie County, WI Domestic Violence Lawyer (920) 450-9800 4650 W. Spencer Street Free ConsultationDomestic Violence and Criminal Defense Since second grade Eric knew he wanted to be an attorney. And having been a lifelong resident of the Appleton, Eric knew this is where he wanted to practice law. Even though Eric’s office is in Outagamie County, he also has significant experience in Brown and Calumet Counties. Because of Eric’s capabilities, he has been appointed cases in Door, Manitowoc, Marathon, and Winnebago Counties as well. While Eric Eickhoff has extensive experience in other areas of law, Eric has made the conscience decision to focus on criminal defense. When an individual is alleged to have committed a misdemeanor or felony, they... Christopher T Van Wagner (608) 284-1200 110 East Main Street An accomplished defense attorney with a background in prosecution. Robert W Keller (262) 632-0632 913 Main Street Attorney Robert W. Keller practices exclusively in the areas of criminal defense law, and has been doing so since 1992. Clients are represented throughout the State of Wisconsin in both State and Federal Courts. Primary counties of practice include Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee. Felony Practice: A majority of the practice is devoted to felony criminal defense. This includes, but is not limited to homicide cases, controlled substance violations, firearms offenses, sexual assault crimes, reckless endangerment and serious theft cases. Misdemeanor Crimes: All misdemeanor offenses, including drug offenses and all domestic violence related cases. Traffic Crimes: Operating While Intoxicated, Operating After Revocation, Fleeing... Alexander Perwich III (414) 270-0202 316 N. Milwaukee St. Free ConsultationDomestic Violence, Criminal Defense and Traffic Tickets Domestic Violence Attorneys in Nearby Cities The Oyez Lawyer Directory contains lawyers who have claimed their profiles and are actively seeking clients. Find more Washburn County Domestic Violence Lawyers in the Justia Legal Services and Lawyers Directory which includes profiles of more than one million lawyers licensed to practice in the United States, in addition to profiles of legal aid, pro bono and legal service organizations.

Home Insurance Claims Pennsylvania Trumbauersville Trumbauersville Insurance Claims Lawyers Mark Scoblionko Allentown, PA Insurance Claims Lawyer with 54 years of experience (610) 434-7138 2030 W. Tilghman St. Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Business, Health Care and Personal Injury University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Native of the Lehigh Valley. Has been the President of Scoblionko, Scoblionko, Muir & Melman since 1975. Married to Deena since 1964; two children, three grandchildren. 2012 recipient of the Lifetime Service Award from Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley. Certified as "Civil Trial Advocate" by National Board of Trial Advocacy. Focuses on civil personal injury and commercial litigation, business and corporate law, real estate. Jonathan Ostroff Blue Bell, PA Insurance Claims Attorney with 32 years of experience (484) 804-4215 518 E. Township Line Road, Suite 100 Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Medical Malpractice, Nursing Home and Personal Injury Widener University Commonwealth Law School When you are injured, the lawyer or law firm you select is a very important decision. Your lawyer will effect how long you have wait to get money and how much you get! Your decision on which lawyer to hire is more important than buying a car, even more important than buying a house. Accident victims don't always ask the right questions to make sure the lawyer they select will aggressively represent them and get them top dollar for their personal injury case. At Ostroff Injury law, we build strong relationships with or clients and work to fully understand their needs so... John Cordisco Doylestown, PA Insurance Claims Attorney with 37 years of experience (215) 642-8841 4 E Court St #100 Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Construction, Personal Injury and Products Liability John F. Cordisco concentrates his practice in the representation of serious personal injury claims in both State and Federal Court. At the age of 22 he was elected to the school board. Mr. Cordisco received his degree in law from Temple University and was elected to the 140th legislative district in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1980 at the age of 25. Mr. Cordisco established the firm, Cordisco and Bradway in his hometown of Bristol Pennsylvania serving the very community that made him the success that he is today. After building his client base in his small firm,... Colmar, PA Insurance Claims Lawyer with 39 years of experience (215) 822-7575 2605 North Broad Street Colmar, PA 18915 Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI and Personal Injury William E. Moore, is a Partner with the law firm of Rubin, Glickman, Steinberg and Gifford, joined the firm in 1995. Mr. Moore is a past member of the Pennsylvania Advisory Committee on Probation, having been nominated by Gov. Tom Ridge with his appointment confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate in May of 2000. He was a Parole Agent with the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole for eleven years. Prior to joining Rubin, Glickman and Steinberg, he was chief deputy district attorney with the Bucks County District Attorney's Office for eight years heading up the Drug Prosecution Team, trying many... James DiMarco (484) 351-0350 518 East Township Line Road Insurance Claims, Animal, Construction and Personal Injury Villanova University School of Law Personal injury lawyer James DiMarco focuses his practice primarily on automobile accidents, slip and fall injuries, and other complex legal matters. Before becoming a personal injury attorney, he worked for seven years as a defense attorney representing corporations and insurance companies. This experience has given Jim unique insight when pursuing compensation for injured clients. His work representing clients in high-stakes litigation also allowed him to attain the skills to be a fierce litigator. Jim is a compassionate attorney, patient listener and tenacious advocate, who utilizes his knowledge and smart applications of the law to obtain great outcomes in his cases. He... Gregory R. Gifford Lansdale, PA Insurance Claims Lawyer with 39 years of experience (215) 822-7575 2605 N. Broad Street Gabriel Zalman Levin Philadelphia, PA Insurance Claims Lawyer with 21 years of experience (215) 825-5183 1500 John F. Kennedy Blvd Attorney Gabriel Levin is known as a tenacious fighter who protects his client's interests as though they were his own; he has tried hundreds of cases and handled all types of personal injury matters and prides himself on helping victims. Every case is meticulously prepared for trial. Trying cases to juries is what Mr. Levin enjoys the most. Clients know that Gabriel Levin is a very responsive attorney, keeps client fully informed, and always gets back to them in a timely manner. Mr. Levin has continuously been named as a Super Lawyer and was also named to the... Edward T. Kang Philadelphia, PA Insurance Claims Attorney with 21 years of experience (215) 525-5850 123 S Broad St Free ConsultationInsurance Claims Edward T. Kang is the managing member of Kang Haggerty LLC, and devotes his practice to business litigation and other litigation involving business entities or business matters. Edward is a trial lawyer. Unlike many litigation attorneys who never, or rarely, try a case in court, Edward regularly tries cases, including jury trials. As part of his business litigation practice, Edward carries expertise in a variety of areas, including contract disputes, business torts (such as fraud or tortious interference), civil RICO, and breach of fiduciary duty. In particular, Edward focuses on “business divorce,” such as shareholder and partnership... Brian Scott Chacker (877) 577-5796 1731 Spring Garden St. Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Civil Rights, Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Brian S. Chacker concentrates his practice in the areas of personal injury, premises liability and medical malpractice litigation, as well as all aspects of police brutality, civil right claims and prisoner injury law. He received his Juris Doctor from Villanova University School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chacker was listed as a Rising Star in the December, 2005 issue of Philadelphia Magazine. Mr. Chacker is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Joel J. Kofsky Philadelphia , PA Insurance Claims Lawyer with 32 years of experience (215) 253-3700 5700 N Broad St #300 Philadelphia , PA 19141 Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Nursing Home, Personal Injury and Workers' Comp Joel J. Kofsky has been successfully representing personal injury cases since 1991. He has assisted victims of car accidents, bike accidents, and slip and fall accidents, among many others. He has obtained numerous settlements for his clients over the years, including some in the six figure range: Auto Accident Victim: $985,000 Burn Accident Victim: $475,000 Pedestrian Accident Victim: $285,000 Mr. Kofsky received his J.D. from Widener University School of Law and his MBA from George Washington University. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association and has been admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania and for U.S. District... Gary Heslin (215) 332-0300 2834 Cottman Avenue Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Personal Injury and Workers' Comp Gary Heslin was born and raised in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Northeast Catholic High School and recieved his bachelor's degree from LaSalle University. After recieving his law degree from Loyola University in 1977, Gary worked for Judge William Lederer of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and then moved on to practice law in a small general practice law firm in the city of Philadelphia where he concentrated in personal injury law. In 1986, he started a law firm with a law school classmate handling exclusively personal injury, workers compensation and medical malpractice cases. In 1997,... Leonard Keith Hill (215) 567-7600 123 S. Broad St #1100 Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Animal, Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury For a complete an up-to-date bio, please visit my profile page - https://www.hilljustice.com/attorneys/leonard-k-hill/ Christian K. Lassen (800) 900-2521 1515 Market Street #1510 The Lassen Law Firm....Stop Searching...Start Calling...800-900-2521 Serving the Nation, and we handle: Delayed Life Insurance Claims Denied Life Insurance Claims Life Insurance Beneficiary Disputes Life Insurance Interpleader Lawsuits Denied Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) Claims Denied Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Claims Denied Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Claims Denied Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) Claims Denied Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance Traumatic Injury Protection (TSGLI) Claims Denied Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI) Claims We get claims settled fast Slade McLaughlin Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Asbestos, Business and Legal Malpractice Tenacious... Smart... Principled... Tireless in the pursuit of a client's case. Jeffrey Reiff Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury and Products Liability Nationally recognized Philadelphia Trial Lawyer committed to achieving Justice for over 38 years with acclaimed results. Over 300 million dollars recovered for clients. There is one way in this country in which all men are created equal - there is one human institution that makes the pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president - that institution is the courtroom. Consistently rated as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer 2005-2018,Best Lawyers in America 2016-2018; Top 100 Philadelphia Super Lawyers, 2012;Rated Superb,10/10 ( peer and client endorsements) by... Jay Solnick Jenkintown, PA Insurance Claims Attorney with 29 years of experience (877) 415-6495 261 Old York Rd Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Animal, Construction and Personal Injury Jay Solnick earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Brandeis University in Boston, Massachusetts and a law degree from Temple University School of Law. Jay has extensive experience litigating a wide variety of cases and claims in the state and federal courts of southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The insight and experience gained throughout his career, including the years which he spent handling insurance defense cases, are now utilized to the benefit of his clients in pursuing their claims. Jay’s practice is focused in the areas of personal injury, insurance claims, and other matters involving the rights of individuals. Jay... Howard Glenn Silverman (215) 232-1000 2401 Pennsylvania Ave., Suite #1a5 Dickinson School of Law Philadelphia Personal Injury lawyer at Kane & Silverman P.C., representing clients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I have won several multi-million dollar cases and believe in leveling the playing field by delivering high quality legal representation to all of my clients. Some of my accomplishments include being recognized as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in the nation, a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer and a member of the Martindale-Hubble Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. Howard A Rosen Reading, PA Insurance Claims Lawyer with 17 years of experience (215) 948-2264 400 Washington St. Insurance Claims, Personal Injury, Social Security Disability and Workers' Comp With strong family ties to the legal profession, Mr. Rosen had been interested in becoming an attorney since childhood. He genuinely enjoys helping people and has a passion for the law unmatched by most. After graduating with a law degree in 2005, Howard worked with a group for nearly 10 years before opening his law firm, H. Rosen Law, P.C., in 2014. Howard offers a client-centered approach to each case and takes the time to learn more about every client and situation that comes to his door. He believes that a strong attorney-client relationship is a key foundation for success,... Marina Kats Feasterville, PA Insurance Claims Lawyer with 34 years of experience (800) 529-1917 1 Bustleton Pike Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Temple University Beasley School of Law and Temple University Beasley School of Law Marina Kats was born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1979. Ms. Kats attended Temple University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1985. Thereafter, she attended Temple University, Beasley School of Law, receiving her Jurist Doctorate degree in 1988. Continuing her pursuits in education, in 1995, Marina Kats also graduated from Temple University, Beasley School of Law with a Masters Degree, becoming one of a handful of women nationally to receive the L.L.M. in trial advocacy. Ms. Kats currently is a member of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington, D.C.... Daniel D. Haggerty Insurance Claims, Bankruptcy, Business and Real Estate Daniel D. Haggerty concentrates his practice in commercial litigation, creditors’ rights, bankruptcy, and transactional matters. A significant portion of Dan’s practice is devoted to the representation of banks and financial institutions in complex workout matters. This representation includes reviewing and revising loan documents, negotiating and preparing forbearance agreements, securing debt via additional collateral, entering judgments though confession and foreclosure, executing on personal and real property, and pursuing debtors both inside and outside of bankruptcy. Dan has successfully sought and obtained approval of Chapter 11 creditors’ plans, and has successfully liquidated assets under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Dan also represents... Ryan Scott Zavodnick (215) 875-7030 123 S Broad St #1220 Ryan Zavodnick is an experienced personal injury attorney who has handled a wide variety of personal injury matters in Philadelphia, PA and the surrounding counties, including, slip and fall accidents, motor vehicle accidents, products liability accidents and workers' compensation claims resulting from work-related injuries. Mr. Zavodnick is an aggressive and creative attorney who prides himself on going the extra mile for his clients. He is a hands-on attorney who will handle your case personally from start to finish. Mr. Zavodnick earned his Juris Doctorate from Temple University School of Law in 2003 and his undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State... Chad Guevara Boonswang (855) 865-4335 1500 Sansom Street Insurance Claims, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury and Products Liability Based in Philadelphia and serving clients across the country, Boonswang Law focuses on life insurance and catastrophic personal injury claims. Led by Attorney Chad G. Boonswang – a nationally acclaimed life insurance lawyer - Boonswang Law helps clients who have had their life insurance claim denied or delayed and those who are looking to receive the compensation they deserve after a personal injury resulting from a variety of accidents, including automobile accidents and medical negligence Gregory H. Mathews Insurance Claims, Business and Securities Antioch College Greg is a highly experienced lawyer specializing in a variety of complex commercial litigation and corporate counseling. Before he entered private practice, Greg served four years as Special Counsel to the Office of Disclosure Policy at the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. As a member of the Commission’s Corporate Governance Project, he co-authored the Staff Report on Corporate Accountability (Committee Print, U.S. Senate 1980). After he entered private practice, Greg headed the securities law practice of a prominent Philadelphia law firm. There, Greg handled various securities matters including public and private offerings of securities, Securities Exchange Act reporting by... David A. Miller (800) 518-4529 606 N 5th St Paul Lauricella Philadelphia, PA Insurance Claims Lawyer (215) 568-1510 One Commerce Square 2005 Market Street, Suite 2300 Insurance Claims, Asbestos, Business and Personal Injury Paul Lauricella has been a trial attorney since 1982. Out of law school, he worked as an assistant district attorney, where he tried and convicted violent criminals. In 1987, Paul brought his trial experience to the Beasley Firm, where he spent twenty-four years as an associate and as a partner. Trained by the late legendary trial attorney James E. Beasley, Paul has secured million and multimillion dollar verdicts in malpractice actions involving a wide variety of medical specialties, including obstetrics/gynecology, emergency medicine, radiology, psychiatry, orthopedic surgery, urology, family practice, and even oral surgery. He has also won verdicts in products... John Kenneth Harris (215) 561-1700 30 S. 17th Street Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Business and Estate Planning New York University School of Law and Villanova University School of Law If you are about to embark on the estate planning process, the first thing you should do is to seek out the help and support of a Haddon Heights estate planning lawyer. When you come to Harris Law Office, you can have confidence in the help you can receive because Attorney Harris is dedicated to providing you with the help you need at this time. He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Virginia, before going on to earn his Juris Doctorate from Villanova University. He has been admitted to the Camden County Bar Association, the New Jersey State... Taylor A Gerchman Boothwyn, PA Insurance Claims Attorney with 5 years of experience (484) 604-9488 3390 Chichester Ave Boothwyn, PA 19061 Drexel University School of Law I am a young but driven and uniquely experienced attorney dedicated solely to life insurance issues. I have worked in the area of life insurance law since my first year of law school and developed a passion for the work. I believe it is of the utmost importance to communicate clearly and effectively with clients and opposing counsel alike in an effort to resolve matters efficiently. Matthew Roy Kessler Douglassville, PA Insurance Claims Attorney (610) 385-1090 1008 Benjamin Franklin Highway West Douglassville, PA 19518 Insurance Claims, Business, Divorce and Estate Planning Attorney Kessler has been practicing law in Southeastern Pennsylvania since 1998 and was the founder of the Law Offices of Matthew R. Kessler, L.L.C., located in Douglassville, PA, in 2005. Kandis L. Kovalsky Philadelphia, PA Insurance Claims Lawyer with 9 years of experience Associate Kandis Kovalsky is an accomplished business lawyer representing both corporate and individual clients in a broad range of complex commercial litigation matters in Pennsylvania and New Jersey state, federal and bankruptcy courts. Kandis represents clients in all aspects of commercial litigation, particularly in matters involving business torts, partnership and shareholder disputes, contractual disputes, unfair and deceptive business practices actions, creditor’s rights and civil RICO actions. Although Kandis’ practice mostly focuses on cases in active litigation, Kandis also assists clients in general business matters and litigation avoidance. Kandis represents commercial borrowers, secured and unsecured lenders and Chapter 7 trustees in complex bankruptcy... Joseph Monaco I am a Pennsylvania & New Jersey trial lawyer handling wrongful death and personal injury cases. I have tried to verdict numerous jury trials in both states and have secured individual injury and wrongful death recoveries in excess of $1,000,000. Also, I have lectured in CLE seminars on issues such as Daubert/Fry and premises liability. Bruce William Bellingham (215) 241-8913 1635 Market Street, 7th FL Insurance Claims, Communications, IP and Trademarks University of Pennsylvania Law School (267) 324-3773 719 E PASSYUNK AVENUE Insurance Claims, Administrative, Environmental and Insurance Defense Rutgers University - Camden Brian received his bachelor's degree in political science from Rutgers University College Camden where he graduated summa cum laude, earning the Jack Marvin Weiner award and the Armitage award for highest overall grade average. He graduated from Rutgers School of Law Camden in 2008. While in law school he performed pro bono work for the Community Dispute Resolution Pro Bono Mediation Project and completed a pro bono research project for a local maritime non-profit. Brian has over twenty years experience as a licensed mariner and over fifteen years in marine management positions, including Port Captain. He has extensive experience in... Lanique A. Roberts Bala Cynwyd, PA Insurance Claims Lawyer with 6 years of experience (856) 661-2092 11 Bala Ave Insurance Claims and Business The Pennsylvania State University School of Law Andrew Sacks Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Business, Cannabis Law and Personal Injury Attorney Andrew Sacks received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Grinnell College and his Juris Doctorate from Dickinson School of Law. He began his legal career practicing personal injury law in Philadelphia. Later, he began administrating legal service plans for large labor unions, servicing a collective membership of over 50,000 members and their families. In 1994, Mr. Sacks purchased his employer's assets and launched Sacks Weston, LLC. The firm handles personal injury, medical malpractice, maritime matters, and significant efforts were devoted to toxic tort and environmental contamination litigation. Sacks Weston, LLC pioneered N.O.R.M. litigation, which resulted in the largest, single-landowner verdict in... David R. Scott Insurance Claims, Business, Construction and Securities Wake Forest University School of Law David Scott concentrates his practice on business litigation matters such as partnership disputes, contract disputes, civil RICO, and breach of fiduciary duty. David also devotes significant aspects of his practice to securities litigation, class action cases and creditor’s rights. David graduated from the Wake Forest University School of Law in 2012 where he was a member of the Wake Forest Journal of Law and Policy. While in law school, David gained experience in the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office and as a law clerk for a judge on the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. Prior to joining the firm, David worked... Ethan F Abramowitz (215) 735-4222 1515 Market St., Suite 1100 Ethan F. Abramowitz is an Associate with Seltzer & Associates. Mr. Abramowitz concentrates his practice on the representation of impaired professionals, with a focus on disability insurance contracts, long-term disability plans, ERISA, employee benefits, and insurance bad faith. Bala Cynwyd, PA Insurance Claims Lawyer with 32 years of experience (484) 562-0473 333 E City Ave Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Business, Insurance Defense and Personal Injury I serve as general counsel to various companies, assisting with contractual, employment, insurance, litigation, real estate and other business issues. I strive to provide prompt, sound and rational legal advice and services. Richard P. Console Jr. (866) 778-5550 100 S Broad St #1523 Suite B Insurance Claims, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury and Workers' Comp Rutgers University School of Law A South Jersey native, Mr. Console grew up in Haddonfield and later returned to live in Cherry Hill with his wife and two sons. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree and graduated with honors from Villanova University in 1989. As a recipient of the Richter Merit Scholarship, he attended Rutgers University School of Law and graduated cum laude with his Juris Doctor degree in 1992. Shortly after launching his legal career, Mr. Console decided to start his own firm, and the Law Office of Richard P. Console, Jr., P.C. was born. Though he first practiced general law, he quickly decided that he... Scott Philip Sigman (215) 735-1010 2016 Spruce Street Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Business, Criminal Defense and Personal Injury Attorney Scott Sigman concentrates his practice in the areas of criminal defense, white collar defense, drug forfeiture, and civil litigation. He routinely represents defendants in cases involving murder, drug dealing, conspiracy, assault, firearm violations, gun possession, drug possession, rape, sexual assault, theft, stolen property, and DUI. Mr. Sigman was selected as a “Pennsylvania Rising Star Super Lawyer” by Philadelphia Magazine from 2005 through 2012 and as a “2006 Lawyer on the Fast Track” by The Legal Intelligencer. Mr. Sigman began his career as an Assistant District Attorney with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office where he was assigned to the Narcotics Division (in... Rupali Patel Shah (215) 320-7500 1221 Locust Street Free ConsultationInsurance Claims, Antitrust, Business and Construction RPS Legal Solutions is a legal consulting firm, specializing in legal advisory services for small and mid-size businesses. We provide legal auditing, litigation management and general counsel services for a variety of businesses. We also serve as a liaison between you and your existing representation. We handle your companyâs legal issues so that you can get back to the business of running yours. RPS Legal Solutions was founded by managing member, Rupali Patel Shah. Ms. Shah received her JD from The George Washington University School of Law. She is also a graduate of Georgetown University's McDonough... Insurance Claims Attorneys in Nearby Cities Perkasie Harleysville Souderton Insurance Claims Attorneys in Nearby Counties The Oyez Lawyer Directory contains lawyers who have claimed their profiles and are actively seeking clients. Find more Trumbauersville Insurance Claims Lawyers in the Justia Legal Services and Lawyers Directory which includes profiles of more than one million lawyers licensed to practice in the United States, in addition to profiles of legal aid, pro bono and legal service organizations.

Will Your Missionary Be Able To View The Eclipse? by LD | Aug 16, 2017 | Tips It is hard to imagine that anyone could have escaped the news that there will be a total eclipse next week. This will be the first total eclipse viewable in the contiguous United States in 38 years. Many of you will be able to look up and watch this wonder of the...

Solar Physics Division Announces 2022 Hale & Harvey Prizes Michael Kirk NASA Goddard Space Flight Center The Solar Physics Division (SPD) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) is proud to announce the 2022 winners of its two most prestigious annual scientific prizes. Dr. Sami Solanki of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Göttingen, Germany, is awarded the George Ellery Hale Prize for his foundational studies of solar magnetism, its impact on the Sun–Earth system, and magnetic fields of other stars. Dr. Adam Kowalski, who is joint faculty at University Colorado Boulder’s Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, and National Science Foundation’s National Solar Observatory in Boulder, CO, is awarded the Karen Harvey Prize for his innovative research into stellar flares towards resolving long-standing problems relating to flares on both the Sun and other stars. Dr. Sami Solanki has made many seminal contributions to the study of solar magnetism and its impact on the solar–terrestrial relationship over his career. His visionary and outstanding leadership and innovative instrument development have made him a pillar of the solar physics community. Dr. Solanki’s ground-breaking research has advanced understanding of the physical mechanisms that govern the structure and evolution of magnetic fields on the Sun and other stars and established reconstruction of the solar irradiance variability on timescales of days to millennia. In addition, Dr. Solanki led the balloon-borne Sunrise mission that demonstrated very high-resolution solar imaging from a flight platform and the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager on the European Solar Orbiter mission that is currently in flight. He has also mentored generations of solar and space scientists into successful careers. Dr. Adam Kowalski has made substantial contributions to understanding the response of lower stellar atmospheres to stellar flares using a combination of computer modeling, ground- and space-based observations, and theory. Dr. Kowalski’s research bridges the solar and stellar communities; this cross-cutting approach continues to yield important innovations on long-standing problems relating to flares on both the Sun and other stars. His early career research has advanced the understanding of continuum emission from flares, the interpretation of spectroscopic observations, and the timely subject of exoplanetary habitability. The Hale Prize is awarded for outstanding contributions to solar astronomy over an extended period of time and is presented in memory of George Ellery Hale (1868-1938). The Harvey Prize recognizes a significant contribution to the study of the Sun early in a person's professional career and honors the memory of Karen L. Harvey (1942-2002). The AAS Solar Physics Division is awarding its 2021 George Ellery Hale Prize to Russell Howard (Naval Research Laboratory) and its 2021 Karen Harvey Prize to Lucia Kleint (University of Geneva).

cheers and jeers on new year’s eve, my husband and i elected to stay in and drink some wine that we have been storing in our wine refrigerator. my husband is an occasional wine connoisseur and has amassed a fairly impressive collection over the years. my husband has connections to football royalty. his best friend is a guy we affectionately call “mr. peter.” mr. peter is the nephew of the owner of a major-league southern football team and various car dealerships located across the southwest united states. i don’t want to completely give it away, but this team’s fan’s were once reduced to wearing paper bags over their heads to conceal their identities during their lean years. you figure it out. mr. peter and my husband became friends during high school and their friendship has continued to this day, much to my dismay. they were each other’s best man (twice apiece). mr. peter is a middle-aged peter pan who grew up with everything handed to him on a silver platter and could probably have any woman he wants, but he continues to prefer the company of woman with really big boobs and strippers. this should tell you something. when i married my husband, mr. peter came as a package deal. don’t get me wrong, i like mr. peter OK and he has been a very good friend to my spouse, but he himself, is a terrible husband. but he is generous, amusing, and generally has some pretty interesting stories to share. so as we uncorked and drank our grape juice, my hubby asked if i’d like to hear an amusing story about the wine we were drinking. one time mr. peter and my husband had gone to chicago with his uncle for an out-of-town game. the pregame dinner was located at a prestigious restaurant where many fine wines were served. the owner of the restaurant approached mr. peter’s uncle as they were seated. the owner began chatting and said that recently, one of football team’s players, rickey jackson, had visited their fine establishment. the player said he wanted to order some of their finest wine. after perusing the wine list and not finding anything to his liking, he called for the sommelier and stated, “yeah, do you guys have the wine with the two dudes?” apparently there was some confusion on the part of the staff who were probably convinced he was talking about ernest and julio gallo, until someone brought this to the table: “yeah, that’s it! the two dudes!” he exclaimed. i guess ponying up a couple hundred dollars for a bottle opus one is easy when you forego your child support payments for say, 11 years. This entry was posted in Uncategorized on January 2, 2008 by leighonline. ← hello, room service? send up a new child merry xmas to all now shut the $*&% up, part 2 →

Tag: vascular dementia “They’re On The Boat” S.A.Leys Photo / http://www.SALeys.photo Mom’s vascular dementia came on quickly – within two weeks of my Dad’s death. It took us all a bit of time to adjust. Initially, it was hard even to figure out which end was up, and we just went day by day trying to figure everything out. After a few months, however, we settled into figuring out a routine that would work for us to get mom to all of her appointments while also keeping track of shopping and meal prep and everything that needed maintenance around the house. It was a scrappy start, but we slowly got to the point where we could figure everything out. One of the biggest (and probably the most heart-wrenching) challenges was mom realizing that her memory was going, and then trying to navigate that with her. Eventually, we settled on the idea that “this is what happens when you get old” and not calling it something more clinical that no one was ready to hear. It was the “elephant in the middle of the room” that we just referred to as “it’s what happens when you get old” instead of “vascular dementia.” One day mom dropped a full glass of Merlot on the white carpet next to her chair. When it happened, she was overwhelmed, and so we had her move to the couch so we could move the chair and clean the area around it quickly. She then forgot about it. A few days went by, and then one morning, she sat with her coffee and read the paper. As she reached for her coffee, she noticed the faint stain (which my brother and I had unsuccessfully tried to clean multiple times). “What’s this?” she asked. “Ah, I was klutzy,” I said. “Susan Ann!” – her response. It was a lot better to take responsibility for the spill than it was to see the immensely sad look on her face that accompanied her realization that her memory was fading very fast. I don’t know that you ever realize how intense caregiving is when you’re “in it” – only when it’s behind you, and you have time to reflect and adjust and yes, grieve and remember. For the most part, I am incredibly grateful for the time we had together. It was nice to step off the treadmill of working like a nut and calling Mom and Dad every few days to check how things were going to spending time with them in person. We enjoyed being together even if a huge chunk of that time involved driving to appointments, buying groceries, or meeting with healthcare providers and the hospice team. Whenever we fell into the “doughnut hole” with her medications, we talked about the doctors that she didn’t want to see anymore and the medications she didn’t want to take because of how they made her feel. Thankfully, the doctor who ended up treating her was the one she loved the most. A very compassionate man who agreed to care for her while we remained in their home – helping us and supporting us through each difficult decision as it arrived. We laughed a lot, thoroughly enjoyed going on picnics in our golf cart, and loved watching the dolphins and manatees swimming out in Sarasota Bay (the video above was filmed during one of those picnics). My other favorite part was listening to her critique of the houses in our neighborhood, especially as it related to color choice, texture, and design. Probably one of the things that made me the most anxious during that time was when mom couldn’t find her glasses. We had an abundance of “cheater readers” around the house, so the challenge was navigating around the cheaters to find her prescription glasses so she could read or sign whatever was in front of her. “Here, they are!” I would say while handing her the glasses I had in my hand. “No, those are magnifiers,” she’d say. It was frustrating, as many of them had the same shape frames. Mom and Dad (who together battled autoimmune illnesses for 25 of the 60 year they were married) both have been watching over us from heaven for a few years now. A few weeks ago, in searching for my glasses, I ran across Mom’s. I thought “here they are!” – half expecting her to be sitting on the sofa in my place saying, “Oh good, you found them!”. But this wasn’t the case, and as I held them in my hand, I found myself relieved of that same anxiety I felt whenever I would be searching for them. I decided to put them where I know I would be able to find them easily if needed – they’re on the boat. Format ImagePosted on 08/03/2020 10/31/2021 Categories Family, healthcare, WisdomTags caregiving, dementia, Family, family legacy, family loss, vascular dementia

Open and Subscribed Educational Resources Open and Subscribed Educational Resources: Open Educational Resources Subscribed e-Book Collections For UNCA Faculty UNCA Global Humanities Readers Open Textbook Collections Open Educational ResourcesToggle Dropdown Finding Images Other Recommended Sites Recommended Open Educational Resource Collections Open Educational Resource repositories listed here cover a wide variety of educational disciplines. They include OERs targeted at lower education levels as well, but advanced search can often be employed to refine results to university-level content. OER Commons (oercommons.org) Curating best in class learning materials from around the world since 2007. The OER Commons is a single search source that pulls from multiple OER collections, including MERLOT and Connexions. It is a great first step in an OER search, but often more results can be found by searching the specific collection. Users can create collections of existing content and create their own content pages to share. The OER Commons is a supported by ISKME (the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education). Recommended for the Business, Education, History, Life Sciences, Psychology and Sociology subject areas. MERLOT (merlot.org) is a free and open peer reviewed collection of online teaching and learning materials and faculty-developed services contributed and used by an international education community. MERLOT was opened in 1997 and is supported by the California State University System. MERLOT does not house content, but is a collection of links to other content. The materials can be ranked and many are peer-reviewed. There are discipline specific Communities that curate and review the content. You can create and share personal collections of content links. Recommended for the Business, Education, Music, Political Science and Sociology subject areas. f MIT OpenCourseWare - Intended for students but also licensed (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) for other non-commercial educational uses, this massive resource library of open courses can be helpful for coming up with new, effective teaching ideas, and adding high quality resources to your courses. Just make sure to attribute the original author in your work. "The underlying premise and purpose of MIT OpenCourseWare is to make course materials used in MIT courses freely and openly available to others for non-commercial educational purposes. Through MIT OpenCourseWare, MIT grants the right to anyone to use the materials, either "as is," or in a modified form. There is no restriction on how a user can modify the materials for the user's purpose. Materials may be edited, translated, combined with someone else's materials, reformatted, or changed in any other way." -MIT OpenCourseWare intellectual property details page. Also available is MIT's much smaller, more instructional resource focused OCW Educator Portal. OpenWashington - (http://www.openwa.org) is a site designed to help you understand the OER movement and find OER. They have links for finding textbooks, content, images and video, as well as stories from faculty who have adopted OER in their classrooms. Saylor.org is a non-profit organization sponsored by the Saylor Foundation, they are focused on bringing "freely available education to all." Founded in 1999 by Michael Saylor, they have created online courses curated from open content found on the Web. The courses are marketed toward students who just want to learn, and are working on some methods for offering credentials. For faculty, Saylor is a great site to start your search for OER by subject. Saylor.org does not house content, but link to outside resources. Lists of the Academic Consultants by subject area are available. Lists of the Content Review Panels by subject area are also available. They also have a collection of open textbooks. Recommended for the Accounting, Advertising, Sales, Marketing, General Business, Science & Mathematics, Management & Leadership, Business Law & Ethics, Social Sciences, and Writing & Communication subject areas. Europeana – is a gateway to European cultural assets, through through this one site you can search (use the hourglass at top right) in many European national libraries and archives for artworks, cultural items, books, and various archival documents from participating institutions all around Europe. The use permissions are usually clearly marked, though some will require contacting the hosting institution for clarity. Some hosting institutions will not have English translations but pasting the URL into Google Translate may be helpful in such cases. To find an item with the Creative Commons or public domain licensing you prefer - Once you type in your initial search on the main page, you will have a list of filters Use the "Can I use it?" and "By Copyright" filters to narrow down your results Canadiana - This bilingual French/English collection includes Canadian books, government publications, and serials such as newspapers, annuals and periodicals. Canadiana.org is a coalition of members dedicated to providing broad access to Canada's documentary heritage. Through their membership alliance, Canadian libraries share tools and capacity, partner on open-source projects, and spearhead digital preservation in Canada. Open Education Global - a global network of educational institutions, individuals and organizations that support an approach to education based on openness, including collaboration, innovation and collective development and use of open educational materials. It is a great resource for learning about and sharing ideas in the Open Education realm. Especially helpful are their lists of more than 10 years of OE Awards recognizing, "Annual recognition to outstanding contributions in the Open Education community." You can search an integrated database of the Open Education Consortium and MERLOT here. Finding Public Domain & Creative Commons Media by Harvard's Law School Library - Lists numerous searches and repositories for locating high quality public domain and Creative Commons licensed works. WAC Clearinghouse - The WAC (Writing-Across-the-Curriculum) Clearinghouse, in partnership with the International Network of Writing Across the Curriculum Programs, publishes open-access journals, books, and other resources for teachers who use writing in their courses. Although every effort is made to ensure that only reliable, up-to-date OER sites are recommended here, and that the content included by the sites themselves is actually licensed as listed, the responsibility ultimately falls on individual users to ensure that the license (including Creative Commons, Public Domain, and paid for/ individually agreed upon with the rights holders) is correct to the reuser's individual use case. Please make a diligent, good faith effort to ensure the resources you use are validly licensed for your intended uses before you reuse them. Librarians are here to help you, and UNCA general counsel is also available as a professional resource for some questions. << Previous: Open Textbook Collections Next: Open Educational Resources >> URL: https://library.unca.edu/OER

Home » Expo » 2018 Real Leaders, Real Impact: ‘Meet the Experts’ Breakout session at the Expo Posted in Expo We are THRILLED to announce the initial list of incredible leaders from around Canada and the world who will be attending the Experience Your Life Expo on 29th September 2018 at Novotel Mississauga. We are proud to be a forum that brings together role models that represent the upper echelons of the business and public sector organizations. More importantly, these are individuals who have achieved great success without losing sight of the important things in life such as giving back. We are also excited to share that these executives are flying in from around Canada and around the world which demonstrates their commitment to youth empowerment. The breakout sessions are designed for a deep 40 minute conversation as opposed to a presentation which makes this a truly empowering experience. Each leader will lead a table and you will get an opportunity to talk in a conversation style format (1 leader to 8 individuals) to really learn from their journey, ask them questions and be inspired. Register NOW at www.eyle.eventbrite.ca as we only have 200 spots for the breakout sessions and we are always SOLD OUT well in advance. Please note, your code for a FREE ticket for Expo Only section is ‘connectwithpurpose’ (while quantities last). The list of leaders will be released one by one in the days and weeks to follow. Each leader is hand-picked and will be showcased across our social media. We are thrilled to share the following leaders: 11:45 to 12:45: Youth round table with the following leaders (100 youths total): Major Alexia Hanmann: Commanding Officer, 417 Squadron, Canadian Armed Forces Eric Fournier, Director General (Science & Technology) for Strategic Decision Support, Department of National Defence Magali (Maggie) Calle, Senior Officer and Head of Cyber Security Services at Aviva Canada Anthony Iannucci, CIO, Town of Richmond Hill Mohamed Manji, VP, Finance, Personal Banking, TD Bank Group Brian Morgan, Talent Acquisition Lead Microsoft Americas Rachel Di Natale, Talent Acquisition Manager for Stanley Black & Decker Canada Khalil Alfar, Microsoft Canada General Manager for Azure Cloud and Enterprise Business Division Rob van der Ende, Vice President for Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) at Mandiant, a FireEye company. Joining us from Singapore. Jason Fobister, First Nations Artist from Grassy Narrows First Nations (flying in from 2000 km. away from Toronto) 2:00 to 3:00: Youth round table with the following leaders (100 youths total): Kendra Kincade: Air Traffic Controller. Founder and Board Chairman of Elevate Aviation – a venture dedicated to empowerment of women in aviation Kevin Whyte, Director of Government Relations with Sutherland Corporation Cherene Francis, International Television Host, Producer and Personal Branding Consultant Aseel El-Baba, Financial Services Professional, Podcast host of Get Real With Aseel David Gold, Founder and Director of Casco Antiguo Spanish School in Panama City, Panama Luc Lagrandeur , Professor, Faculty of Management at Laurentian University (Sudbury, Ontario) Amanda Fobister, Status Member of Grassy Narrow First Nation and Program Coordinator for the Kenora Chiefs Advisory Riya Karumanchi, Founder & CEO, SmartCane (15 year old CEO) Heather Hines, Director for Undergraduate Management Program, University of Toronto Codi Shewan, Keynote Speaker, Trainer and Management Consultant Here are the profiles of the break-out session leaders: Major Alexia Hannam was born and raised in Winnipeg, MB and joined the Royal Military College of Canada immediately after finishing high school. She graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and a Minor in History. After completing pilot training on the Slingsby Firefly, the Harvard II and the Jet Ranger, she spent seven years at 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Edmonton flying Griffon Helicopters. Major Hannam has been posted to 417 Combat Support Squadron for the past three years and she has completed several rescue missions and deployed on OP LENTUS during the Fort McMurray and BC wildfires as the Detachment Commander responsible for all Griffon support. At 417 Squadron she has been employed as the Operations Officer, Flight Commander, Unit Standards Officer, Training Officer, Unit Instrument Check Pilot, and Unit Flight Safety Officer. She was promoted to Major and took command of 417 Sqn in Aug 2018 as their Commanding Officer. She is heavily involved in Elevate, a non-profit organization for Women in Aviation. She is a mentor to women looking to get involved in aviation or the military as well as a guest speaker. In her free time she coaches the competitive Cold Lake gymnastics team as a volunteer. She is featured in the article here in the Helicopters Magazine. https://www.helicoptersmagazine.com/news/meeting-major-alexia-hannam-7675 Mr. Fournier is presently the Director General (Science & Technology) for Strategic Decision Support. He is a Scientific Advisor to the Department of National Defence and to the Canadian Armed Forces. His role is to provide analysis support on policy and strategy, and enterprise resource management to the department. Eric began his career with Defence Research & Development Canada (DRDC) as a Defence Scientist in the Flight Mechanics Group at the Valcartier laboratory in August 1992. He also spent one year at the United Kingdom DERA Fort Halstead laboratory as an exchange scientist in the late ninety’s. In May 2006, he was appointed Director, Science & Technology Air, in Ottawa, where he managed the Air Force S&T Program portfolio. As part of his duties, he also served as National Representative on the Aerospace Systems group (AER) in The Technical Cooperation Program. From September 2008 to July 2009, he moved to the Canadian Forces College in Toronto where he completed the National Security Program 1 (NSP-1). Upon his return to Ottawa, he was appointed Director of Defence Research and Development Canada’s Centre for Operational Research and Analysis (CORA), and was responsible for the delivery of a Science and Technology program in the areas of operational research, strategic analysis, and scientific and technical intelligence. In 2014, Mr. Fournier took up the position of Defence R&D Counsellor at CDLS (London) where he was responsible for liaison in defence Science and Technology between Canada and the United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Upon returning to Canada in July 2017, he was appointed DG for Strategic Decision Support, and also selected to develop and lead the implementation of the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) initiative. Magali (Maggie) Calle is a Cyber Security and Risk professional with 20+ years of experience in the Financial and Insurance Sector. Maggie is currently the Senior Officer and Head of Security Services at Aviva Canada where she is responsible for continuing to mature and transform Cyber Security Services at Aviva. Maggie has held various senior roles at CIBC, BMO and American Express where she had the opportunity to implement and operationalize large information security and technology solutions solving complex issues and touching many areas of Information Security. During her career, her focus has been software development, identity and access management, application security, vulnerability management, customer protection, network and data security. Maggie is a trusted leader in the IS community who often speaks at security events and conferences. Anthony Iannucci has spent 32 years in creating success for organizations in transformation and continuous improvement through the development of business strategy and alignment with information technology solutions. With a passion for developing and mentoring teams to deliver success for organizations Anthony is currently leading the Town of Richmond Hill through the delivery of a strategic transformation in Information Technology after a long career with North America’s third largest transit organization the Toronto Transit Commission spent primarily in creating greater business alignment with Information Technology solutions. Having worked at KPMG where he completed his CA designation, Mohamed then worked at the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (“IIROC”). In 1995, he joined TD Bank Group where he has held numerous executive positions in Canada and the US in Finance, Audit, Retail Banking, Wealth Management and has served as VP and Special Assistant to the President and CEO. He is currently Vice President of Finance in the Personal Banking segment of TD Canada Trust. In addition to his extensive background in banking, Mohamed has worked with boards and committees in both public and non-profit organizations. He currently serves on the Board of Governors of Centennial College and is Chair of their Learning & Education Committee, a member of the Board’s Executive Committee and was formerly Chair of their Audit Committee. Riya Karumanchi, Founder & CEO, SmartCane. Riya is a 15 year-old entrepreneur focused on harnessing technology to better people’s lives and making a positive impact on the world. She was just a “regular kid” until being introduced to entrepreneurship at the age of 12 through an amazing organization called ZeroToStartup, which taught her the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and engineering. There she formed a team who are currently working to introduce Smart Streetlights in Toronto and is currently the youngest member of the Social Ventures Zone at Ryerson University. After having a chance encounter at a friend’s house with their visually impaired grandmother seeing the challenges she was facing, it pushed her to come up with a solution to help enable independence and mobility. She currently has a startup company, SmartCane, an assistive device for orientation and mobility for the visually impaired. The SmartCane is an enhanced version of the 100 year-old stick that was never updated to take advantage of new technologies. The device leverages technology to increase independence and safety through GPS integration, object detection, and AI object classification. Her team is working towards SmartCane’s vision to integrate with cities to enable accessibility and autonomy when travelling. Starting as just a science fair project, her team has now received over $51,000 in funding and in-kind services, with assistance from companies like Microsoft, Inertia Engineering, Arrow Electronics, ICUBE & UrTech. Her entrepreneurial journey has been an incredible learning experience! She is working hard to further develop her skills and is both grateful for the help and encouragement she’s received and is excited for her journey ahead. Brian Morgan is currently the Talent Acquisition Lead Microsoft Americas responsible for continuing to grow and transform the way Microsoft brings great talent into the organization. During his 18+ year career in human resources, Brian has had the opportunity to touch on all areas of HR. His focus over the years has been around organizational development, employee relations, change management, executive development, coaching and most recently recruiting. Brian started his career in the pharmaceutical industry, holding various roles with Biovail Corporation and then moving to Kendle International where he was HR Director for their Early Stage Research division, supporting clinical research units in Canada, United States and the Netherlands. Brian holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Human Resources) from Ryerson University and is a Certified Executive Coach from the Hudson Institute of California. Aside from this, Brian’s most important roles are that of husband, father, son, brother, uncle, cousin and friend. Identifying and creatively seeking Talent has always been a passion for Rachel Di Natale throughout her career. As the Talent Acquisition Manager with Stanley Black & Decker Canada Inc, Rachel applies her Talent Evangelism to help the organization grow and flourish. She has spent the past 15 yrs in the Talent Acquisition arena working in a variety of industries including Technology, Not for profit, Construction and Consumer Packaged Goods focusing on identifying, sourcing, attracting and connecting extraordinary Talent with current and future business needs. When her TA hat is off for the day she spends her time as a Mom, Wife, Daughter, Friend and Mentor coaching her family through this wonderful experience of life always looking to be the best we can and making a difference in the lives around her. Khalil leads the Azure Cloud and Enterprise Business for Microsoft Canada with an amazing group of talented individuals. He have a passion for business leadership & growth; connecting organizations with digital strategies through AI, Blockchain, IoT, Data and Cloud. He believes in achievements through building and collaborating with high performance teams; coaching/mentoring individuals and startups; connecting everything to value and impact. In this role Khalil has End-to-end accountability for the Azure Cloud and Enterprise business in Canada – Infrastructure,Application, Data, AI, Blockchain, Open Source, Developer Tools Leads the business strategy, Profit & Loss, scorecard metrics, and investments for the Cloud and Enterprise business. Manages a high-performing team, drives revenue and market share goals, and ensures operational excellence Heather Hines, a Quebec native, has degrees in history and education as well as a Masters in Educational Administration from McGill University. Her work has taken her to Japan, where she taught English for two years, as well as to post-secondary institutions both in Quebec and Ontario. Through her roles and over 20 years spent working in the university sector, Heather has been able to cultivate her strong interest in experiential education, student support and curriculum development and enhancement. In addition to her formal role, Heather is a dedicated volunteer. She has served as a staff representative in university governance groups, is currently a mentor in the University’s Leadership Mentoring Program and also serves as a Steering Committee member for Connections & Conversations, an affinity group for racialized staff. Outside of the post-secondary environment, Heather is a member of Optimists International where she works to support youth in the community. She currently serves as the Best Practices rep at her daughter’s high school and recently finished a 6 year term as the school’s Eco Rep. Lastly, she made a foray into the world of book publishing, when she helped fulfil her father’s lifelong dream of producing a book about his childhood experiences with his maternal grandmother in Jamaica. Heather loves to learn, is excited about new ideas and trends and enjoys meeting young people and talking about their hopes and dreams. She is excited to be a part of this year’s Expo. Rob van der Ende is Vice President for Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) at Mandiant, a FireEye company. He is joining us from Singapore. He sets strategic vision across the region, develops and drives revenue for new and existing service lines, provides leadership, development and support to the team of Incident Response and Forensics experts and Security Services consultants and has ultimate responsibility for customer engagements in the region. Mr. Van der Ende holds seats in several executive committees and is a frequent speaker at industry events across the region. Prior to FireEye, Rob was Director for Cybersecurity & Public Sector across Asia within the Enterprise Services Business unit of Microsoft Corporation, where he successfully led the expansion of Microsoft’s Cybersecurity and Public Sector Solutions and Services across the geography. Before that, he held responsibilities as Vice President for Consulting (APAC) at Oracle Corporation and Executive Director at Electronic Data Systems in APAC and EMEA. Rob was born, raised and educated in The Netherlands, then held IT management roles for several Dutch multinational organizations covering business across most European countries, before relocating to the Asia Pacific region in 1999. He currently lives in Singapore and thoroughly enjoys his exposure to the cultural and cybersecurity diversity during his travels across the Asia Pacific and Japan region. Kendra Kincade: Speaker, philanthropist, air traffic controller, there is no doubt that Global Woman of Vision award winner, Kendra Kincade is a true inspiration, a beautiful reminder to us all that it is possible to intentionally change your life and live your dreams. Overcoming a decidedly challenging early life which left her dejected and disillusioned, a single mother raising 4 children, Kendra discovered quite by accident that the pathway to her own salvation lay in helping others find theirs. She enthusiastically embarked upon her quest to make a difference, fundraising for worthwhile organizations, even climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money for a local hospital. Soon, she was heading up her own nonprofit organization, Changing Stories, and choosing her own projects such as the construction of a sports playground in El Salvador and a classroom in Nicarauga. Her longtime career as an Air Traffic Controller opened up more horizons for the aspiring young woman, literally as well as figuratively, when Kendra, recognizing the negligible female presence in the industry, set out to remedy the situation. Now the Founder and Board Chairman of Elevate Aviation, a venture dedicated to uniting and empowering women in aviation, she is passionate about providing opportunities for women of all ages to attain knowledge and training in all its related professions. Kendra Kincade is proof positive that when you direct your energy towards your goals, you can make miracles happen. “You just have to imagine it and go after it.” as she would assure you. “You CAN ‘elevate’ your life.” Kevin Whyte works in the government relations field and is currently employed as the Director of Government Relations with Sutherland Corporation. Kevin is active in engaging all levels of government for various clients, some of which include tech and infrastructure companies, a union, developers, and a global security firm. In his role, Kevin is responsible for building and maintaining positive, constructive relationships with elected officials at all levels of government, and their staff, to ensure that the interests of Sutherland’s clients are attended to and new opportunities are made available. Kevin previously worked at Habitat for Humanity Halton-Mississauga as the Manager of Government Relations and Special Projects. He emphasizes community involvement, learning from failure rather than dwelling on it, and employing a positive attitude when taking on difficult tasks. Finally, his great interest in travel has taken him to 28 countries to date, including 2 overseas student exchange programs to Finland and Scotland.” Cherene Francis is an International Television Host, Producer and Personal Branding Consultant who helps entrepreneurs craft their message and confidently market themselves through television, video & online marketing, so they can grow their following, attract more opportunities and get more clients. Cherene’s superpower is energetic communication; the key ingredient that her clients use to inspire, influence and impact. She has formal education and experience in Personal Branding, Marketing, Image Development, Stage Performance, Religious Studies, and Philosophy. She is also an Internationally Board Designated Institute and Trainer of Hypnosis, Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Master Practitioner of Time Line Therapy and Master NLP Coach. When Cherene isn’t interviewing entrepreneurs on her television show, teaching in business circles, or serving at community churches, you can find her watching Netflix at home with her husband and two daughters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Connect with her at ChereneFrancis.com. Aseel El-Baba is an empowered woman fueled by passion to inspire, to motivate, and create an impact in the world. She holds various degrees and certifications in the Financial Planning Industry. She currently manages a portfolio of clients where she helps them with their investments and financial needs. She is pursuing her training in Psycotherapy, eager to learn more skills to help others navigate various life transitions. Aseel has her own empowerment podcast called Get Real With Aseel, found on Itunes, Podbean and Youtube (getrealwithaseel.podbean.com). Through her podcast, she publishes weekly episodes where she shares various tips and hacks for self improvement. Aseel is also a public speaker. She has won various competitions and participates in platforms where she shares her life lessons. Her desire to challenge the status quo and her commitment to serve keeps her busy and active. She is an avid reader, traveler, explorer, challenger and changer David Gold, is the founder and Director of the Casco Antiguo Spanish School in Panama City, Panama. The only language school located inside the UNESCO world heritage site of Casco Viejo, it organizes Spanish language immersion programs and volunteering placements in local non-profit organizations for everyone from ambassadors and CEO’s of multinational corporations to backpackers, families, and university groups. Founded in a community center, the school partners with non-profit organizations that work with at-risk youth, women, art, and dance to help students practice their language skills and give back. David studied International Development at McGill before working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia on small business development with rural women’s cooperatives. After the Peace Corps he taught 4th grade in Bolivia before relocating to Panama and starting the Casco Antiguo Spanish School. Luc Lagrandeur is a Professor in the Faculty of Management at Laurentian University (Sudbury, Ontario) teaching courses in marketing, case analysis and competitions, business venture creation, business launch and business consulting. Luc has 10 years of practical marketing experience; he held positions such as Strategic Account Manager, Marketing Manager and Manager of Customer Relations for one of Canada’s largest information technology outsourcing company based in Montreal. In December 2013, he completed an executive DBA (D3C) in e-business at Université de Sherbrooke. He is currently pursuing doctoral studies (PhD) at University of Lille in France. His interests focus in the fields of e-marketing for businesses & local governments, and management & leadership education. His current research projects are 1) on the implementation strategies of local government offering e-services using the virtual organization model; and 2) the impact of online municipal services at the organizational level (efficiency) and the relationship and interaction level with citizens (efficacy). Jason Fobister is an incredible First Nations artist from the Grassy Narrows First Nations community, almost 2000 km away from Toronto. Jason and has wife Crystal are working hard to support their community and to make the world aware of the incredible culture of our first nations. They are also working hard in their own community to support youths through conversation, art, expression and being great role models. During a recent visit to Grassy Narrows First Nations, Sultan the CEO of Experience Your Life and his family met Jason. At the invitation of Sultan’s daughters, Jason graciously accepted to fly 2000 km and support the Expo through this presence. This is an incredible opportunity for youths in the GTA to gain a better understanding of First Nations culture and meet an amazing artist whose spiritually and soul will rock you. Amanda Fobister – is a status member of Grassy Narrow First Nation, 2000 km away from Toronto. She also works for the Kenora Chiefs Advisory as Program Coordinator since February, 2015. She has had an incredible impact on First Nations Communities in various capacities including: Servicing 28 First Nations in Treaty 3 with a population of 21,000 Worked at the NeeChee Friendship Centre as the Wasa-Nabin Youth Program Coordinator for 3 years, working with At Risk Urban Aboriginal Youth aged 13-18, developing culturally relevant programs that offered support and services in a broad range of areas. Miss Fobister has worked extensively with First Nations people on and off reserve including acting as the Dental Health Promoter in her community of Grassy Narrows, and Dental assistant in an urban setting for 7 years combined. Enrolled in the Teacher Training Program while working at the Grassy Narrow School offered by Lake Head University and subsequently enrolled at the University of Manitoba where she completed her Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Major in Psychology, and Minor in Native Studies. Miss Fobister then obtained her Certification in Applied Behaviour Analysis, specializing in behaviour modification, and worked in the Psychology Department at the St Amant Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her most highly regarded experience however, was in 2008 when Miss Fobister spoke at the United Nations in Manhattan, New York City regarding environmental issues in her community, at the “Conference on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change”. Codi Shewan brings over 20 years of fast-paced, hyper-growth in the corporate world and has become a recognized authority in leadership and business, guaranteed to engage audiences from the moment he steps on stage, always ensuring they are equipped with takeaways they can immediately put into practice. Named by Blueprint as a ‘Future of Work Thought Leader’, his ability to be a trend-spotter has catapulted the success of his management consulting agency, where he advises leading brands and organizations on the key shifts happening around people management, change and innovation, leadership, and the future of work. He accepts full blame for inspiring teams, accelerating performance, and achieving world-class results. Using real -life examples and results-driven insights, Codi gives leaders and their teams the tools to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in their profession.

USAID/Jamaica Local Partner Development Activity Final Evaluation Award LINC has been awarded the Local Partner Development Activity (LPD) final performance evaluation task order under the EVAL-ME II IDIQ. LPD is an activity under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) of the U.S. Department of State (DOS). In 2017, the activity began as a general organizational strengthening program working with local partners across several sectors. After two years, in 2019, the LPD activity transitioned to strengthening institutions that work in the youth crime and violence prevention sector and re-align with the revised CBSI Framework. The purpose of this performance evaluation is threefold to (1) determine the extent to which the LPD activity’s strategic approach improved the resilience of targeted youth, their families, and communities to crime and violence; (2) assess the degree to which targeted local organizations are able to implement evidence-based programming to improve activity outcomes; and (3) examine the extent to which private sector engagement may improve the sustainability of youth crime and violence prevention interventions. The LPD evaluation will be conducted by LINC and its partner The Cloudburst Group, between the months of September 2022 and January 2023. For more information on this activity, please contact Carolyne Njihia, Task Order Manager, at cnjihia@linclocal.org. This activity is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). |Evaluation|Jamaica|USAID USAID MEL Platform Launched to Support USAID and Its Partners USAID/PPL Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Services IDIQ Award

The Physical, Mental & Emotional Impacts of a Knee Injury HomeBlogUncategorizedThe Physical, Mental & Emotional Impacts... Suffering a knee injury may not only impact our bodies, but also our minds and emotions. Especially in cases where the event surrounding the knee injury was particularly frightening or traumatizing. In some scenarios, therapy is needed as part of a thorough treatment plan. Recovering from a knee injury can be crucial for those who rely on being able to walk around as part of their career. Below we cover the many ways a knee injury can negatively influence our mind, body and soul health.. What are the Physical Impacts? Fractures, sprains and tears are all to common in knee injuries. Fractures most often happen when someone falls forward and lands directly on his or her knees. The severe force of this type of impact can cause the knee joint or cap to fracture. This fracturing of the knee is also referred to as a patellar fracture. Many people need surgery as part of the treatment plan. Sprains usually occur when knee ligaments are pushed farther than capable, and through twisting or some other sudden movement. If a knee ligament were to fully tear, surgery is most often the treatment recommended. When a knee endures a quick turning or twisting, the meniscus of the knee joint can tear. A tear can potentially heal on its own, but is typically accompanied with physical therapy. Surgery may be required for complete healing, depending on the severity. In all of these scenarios, the injured person may experience pain, bruising, an inability to fully straighten the leg and swelling. A popping sound is often felt or heard at the time of injury as well. What are the Mental Impacts? When a person has limited mobility and is restricted to bed rest, using crutches or a wheelchair, he or she may feel mentally depressed or bored. By not being able to get up and move about at will, or participate in hobbies, mental stimulation must be achieved through other activities. It may help to learn new hobbies while healing. For example, drawing, painting, playing cards, knitting, puzzles, video games or journaling may be great outlets for many people who need to busy their minds. It is important for the injured person to be patient with themselves, and not rush the healing process. Moving too fast or trying to do more than able can result in a worsening or prolonging of treatment. What are the Emotional Impacts? Depending on the person, not being able to participate in daily activities may cause some depression-like symptoms. He or she may feel alienated from friends, due to new physical limitations, and easily become frustrated with tasks taking longer than normal to perform. Therapy may be a great resource for people who need to vent or talk about their annoyances. Those who are injured are encouraged to talk about these feelings with loved ones and seek support if needed. There are outlets available to help an injured person get through treatment feeling empowered. Speak with an experienced attorney today about your options such as the personal injury lawyer St. Paul MN locals have been trusting for years Thanks to authors at Johnston Martineau LLP for their insight into Personal Injury Law.

Where applicable, appropriate child support arrangements must be in place before a divorce will be granted by the Court, and it is generally recommended that any parenting, support, and property issues arising from a relationship breakdown should be determined before completing a divorce. Meet with our team to get information regarding the divorce process and resolving family law issues to plan and make the best decisions for you and your family. We have experience in: Assisting clients in all legal aspects of the divorce process Recognition and enforcement of foreign marriages or divorces Inter-jurisdictional issues Hasti Vahidi

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On Max Perkins, One of America’s Greatest Editors The Genius Behind the Genius of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Wolfe, and More By A. Scott Berg Shortly after six o’clock on a rainy March evening in 1946, a slender, gray-haired man sat in his favorite bar, the Ritz, finishing the last of several martinis. Finding himself adequately fortified for the ordeal ahead, he paid the check, got up, and pulled on his coat and hat. A well-stuffed briefcase in one hand and an umbrella in the other, he left the bar and ventured into the downpour drenching mid-Manhattan. He headed west toward a small storefront on 43rd Street, several blocks away. Inside the storefront, 30 young men and women were awaiting him. They were students in an extension course on book publishing which New York University had asked Kenneth D. McCormick, editor-in-chief of Doubleday & Company, to conduct. All were eager to find a foothold in publishing and were attending the weekly seminars to increase their chances. On most evenings there were a few latecomers, but tonight, McCormick noted, every student was on hand and seated by the stroke of six. McCormick knew why. This evening’s lecture was on book editing, and he had persuaded the most respected, most influential book editor in America to “give a few words on the subject.” Maxwell Evarts Perkins was unknown to the general public, but to people in the world of books he was a major figure, a kind of hero. For he was the consummate editor. As a young man he had discovered great new talents—such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe—and had staked his career on them, defying the established tastes of the earlier generation and revolutionizing American literature. He had been associated with one firm, Charles Scribner’s Sons, for 36 years, and during this time, no editor at any house even approached his record for finding gifted authors and getting them into print. Several of McCormick’s students had confessed to him that it was the brilliant example of Perkins that had attracted them to publishing. McCormick called the class to order, thumping the collapsible card table in front of him with the palm of his hand, and began the session by describing the job of editor. It was not, he said, as it once had been, confined mainly to correcting spelling and punctuation. Rather, it was to know what to publish, how to get it, and what to do to help it achieve the largest readership. At all this, said McCormick, Max Perkins was unsurpassed. His literary judgement was original and exceedingly astute, and he was famous for his ability to inspire an author to produce the best that was in him or her. More a friend to his authors than a taskmaster, he aided them in every way. He helped them structure their books, if help was needed; thought up titles, invented plots; he served as psychoanalyst, lovelorn advisor, marriage counselor, career manager, money-lender. Few editors before him had done so much work on manuscripts, yet he was always faithful to his credo, “The book belongs to the author.” In some ways, McCormick suggested, Perkins was unlikely for his profession: He was a terrible speller, his punctuation was idiosyncratic, and when it came to reading, he was by his own admission “slow as an ox.” But he treated literature as a matter of life and death. He once wrote Thomas Wolfe: “There could be nothing so important as a book can be.” Partly because Perkins was the preeminent editor of his day, partly because many of his authors were celebrities, and partly because Perkins himself was somewhat eccentric, innumerable legends had sprung up about him, most of them rooted in truth. Everyone in Kenneth McCormick’s class had heard at least one breathless version of how Perkins had discovered F. Scott Fitzgerald; or how Scott’s wife, Zelda, at the wheel of Scott’s automobile, had once driven the editor into the Long Island Sound; or how Perkins had made Scribners lend Fitzgerald many thousands of dollars and rescued him from his breakdown. It was said that Perkins had agreed to publish Ernest Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises, sight unseen, then had to fight to keep his job when the manuscript arrived because it contained off-color language. Another favorite Perkins story concerned his confrontation with his ultraconservative publisher, Charles Scribner, over the four-letter words in Hemingway’s second novel, A Farewell to Arms. Perkins was said to have jotted the troublesome words he wanted to discuss—shit, fuck, and piss—on his desk calendar, without regard to the calendar’s heading: “Things to Do Today.” Old Scribner purportedly noticed the list and remarked to Perkins that he was in great trouble if he needed to remind himself to do those things. Many stories about Perkins dealt with the untamed writing and temperament of Thomas Wolfe. It was said that as Wolfe wrote Of Time and the River he leaned his six-and-a-half foot frame against his refrigerator and used the appliance’s top for a desk, casting each completed page into a wooden crate without even rereading it. Eventually, it was said, three husky men carted the heavily laden box to Perkins, who somehow shaped the outpouring into books. Everyone in McCormick’s class had also heard about Maxwell Perkins’s hat, a battered fedora, which he was reputed to wear all day long, indoors and out, removing it from his head only before going to bed. As McCormick talked, the legend himself approached the shop on 43rd Street and quietly entered. McCormick looked up, and seeing a stooped figure in the door at the rear, cut himself off in mid-sentence to welcome the visitor. The class turned to get their first glimpse of America’s greatest editor. He was 61 years old, stood five feet ten inches, and weighed 150 pounds. The umbrella he carried seemed to have offered him little protection—he was dripping wet, and his hat drooped over his ears. A pinkish glow suffused Perkins’s long, narrow face, softening the prominences. The face was aligned upon a strong, rubicund nose, straight almost to the end, where it curved down like a beak. His eyes were a blue pastel. Wolfe had once written that they were “full of a strange misty light, a kind of far weather of the sea in them, eyes of a New England sailor long months outbound for China on a clipper ship, with something drowned, sea-sunken in them.” Perkins took off his sopping raincoat and revealed an unpressed, pepper-and-salt, three-piece suit. Then his eyes shot upward and he removed his hat, under which a full head of metallic-gray hair was combed straight back from a V in the center of his forehead. Max Perkins did not care much about the impression he gave, which was just as well, for the first one he made on this particular evening was of some Vermont feed-and-grain merchant who had come to the city in his Sunday clothes and got caught in the rain. As he walked to the front of the room, he seemed slightly bewildered, and more so as Kenneth McCormick introduced him as “the dean of American editors.” Perkins had never spoken to a group like this before. Every year he received dozens of invitations, but he turned them all down. For one thing, he had become somewhat deaf and tended to avoid groups. For another, he believed that book editors should remain invisible; public recognition of them, he felt, might undermine readers’ faith in writers, and writers’ confidence in themselves. Moreover, Perkins had never seen any point in discussing his career—until McCormick’s invitation. Kenneth McCormick, one of the most able and best-liked people in publishing, who himself practiced Perkins’s philosophy of editorial self-effacement, was a hard man to refuse. Or perhaps Perkins sensed how much fatigue and sorrow had subtracted from his own longevity and felt he had better pass along what he knew before it was too late. Hooking his thumbs comfortably into the armholes of his waistcoat, speaking in his slightly rasping, well-bred voice, Perkins began. “The first thing you must remember,” he said, without quite facing his audience: “An editor does not add to a book. At best he serves as a handmaiden to an author. Don’t ever get to feeling important about yourself, because an editor at most releases energy. He creates nothing.” Perkins admitted that he had suggested books to authors who had no ideas of their own at the moment, but he maintained that such works were usually below their best, even though they were sometimes financially and even critically successful. “A writer’s best work,” he said, “comes entirely from himself.” He warned the students against any efforts by an editor to inject his own point of view into a writer’s work to try to make him something other than what he is. “The process is so simple,” he said. “If you have Mark Twain, don’t try to make him into a Shakespeare or make a Shakespeare into a Mark Twain. Because in the end an editor can only get as much out of an author as the author has in him.” Perkins spoke carefully, with that hollow timbre of the hard-of-hearing, as if he were surprised at the sound of his own voice. At first the audience had to strain to hear him, but within minutes they had become so still that his every syllable was quite audible. They sat listening intently to the diffident editor talking about the electrifying challenges of his work—the search for what he kept calling “the real thing.” Once Perkins had concluded his prepared remarks, Kenneth McCormick asked the class for questions. “What was it like to work with F. Scott Fitzgerald?” was the first. A fragile smile floated across Perkins’s face as he thought for a moment. Then he replied, “Scott was always the gentleman. Sometimes he needed extra support—and sobering up—but the writing was so rich it was worth it.” Perkins went on to say that Fitzgerald was comparatively simple to edit because he was a perfectionist about his work and wanted it to be right. However, Perkins had added, “Scott was especially sensitive to criticism. He could accept it, but as his editor you had to be sure of everything you suggested.” The discussion turned to Ernest Hemingway. Perkins said Hemingway needed backing in the beginning of his career, and even more later, “because he wrote as daringly as he lived.” Perkins believed Hemingway’s writing displayed that virtue of his heroes, “grace under pressure.” Hemingway, he said, was susceptible to overcorrecting himself. “He once told me that he had written parts of A Farewell to Arms fifty times,” Perkins said. “Before an author destroys the natural qualities of his writing—that’s when an editor has to step in. But not a moment sooner.” Perkins shared stories about working with Erskine Caldwell, then commented on several of his best-selling women novelists, including Taylor Caldwell, Marcia Davenport, and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. At last, as though the class had been reluctant to raise a tender subject, came questions about the late Thomas Wolfe, from whom Perkins had become estranged. Most of the inquires for the rest of the evening concerned Perkins’s intense involvement with Wolfe, the most arduous endeavor of his career. For years it had been widely rumored that Wolfe and Perkins had been equal partners in producing Wolfe’s sprawling novels. “Tom,” he said, “was a man of enormous talent, genius. That talent, like his view of America, was so vast that neither one book nor a single lifetime could contain all that he had to say.” As Wolfe transposed his world into fiction, Perkins had felt it was his responsibility to create certain boundaries—of length and form. He said, “These were practical conventions that Wolfe couldn’t stop to think about for himself.” “But did Wolfe take your suggestions gracefully?” someone asked. Perkins laughed for the first time that evening. He told of the time, at the midpoint of their relationship, when he tried to get Wolfe to delete a big section of Of Time and the River. “It was late on a hot night, and we were working at the office. I put my case to him and then sat in silence, reading on in the manuscript.” Perkins had known Wolfe would eventually agree to the deletion because the reasons for it were artistically sound. But Wolfe would not give in easily. He tossed his head about and swayed in his chair, while his eyes roved over Perkins’s sparsely furnished office. “I went on reading in the manuscript for not less than fifteen minutes,” Max continued, “but I was aware of Tom’s movements—aware at last that he was looking fixedly at one corner of the office. In that corner hung my hat and overcoat, and down from under the hat, along the coat, hung a sinister rattlesnake skin with seven rattles.” It was a present from Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Max looked at Tom, who was glaring at the hat, coat, and serpent. “Aha!” Wolfe exclaimed. “The portrait of an editor!” Having had his little joke, Wolfe then agreed to the deletion. A few of the questions from the would-be-publishers that evening had to be repeated so that Perkins could hear them. There were long, puzzling silences in his speech. He answered the questions eloquently, but in between them his mind seemed to wander among a thousand different remembrances. “Max seemed to be going into a private world of his own thoughts,” McCormick said years later, “making interior, private associations, as though he had entered a little room and closed the door behind him.” All in all it was a memorable performance, and the class sat mesmerized. The rural Yankee who had stumbled in out of the rain hours earlier had transformed himself before them into the very legend of their imaginings. Shortly after nine o’ clock, McCormick notified Perkins of the time so that Max could catch his train. It seemed a shame to stop. He had not even mentioned his experiences with novelists Sherwood Anderson, J. P. Marquand, Morley Callaghan, Hamilton Basso; he had not spoken of the biographer Douglas Southall Freeman, or Edmund Wilson, or Allen Tate, or Alice Roosevelt Longworth or Nancy Hale. It was too late to talk about Joseph Stanley Pennell, whose Rome Hanks Perkins considered the most exciting novel he had edited in recent years. There was no time to talk about new writers—Alan Paton and James Jones, for example, two authors whose promising manuscripts he was presently editing. Perkins, however, undoubtedly felt he had said more than enough. He picked up his hat and tugged it down over his head, put on his raincoat, turned his back on the standing ovation of his audience, and slipped out as unobtrusively as he had entered. It was still raining hard. Under his black umbrella he trudged to Grand Central Station. He had never talked so much about himself so publicly in his life. When he arrived at his home in New Canaan, Connecticut, late that night, Perkins found that the eldest of his five daughters had come over for the evening and was waiting up for him. She noticed that her father seemed melancholy, and she asked why. “I gave a speech tonight and they called me ‘the dean of American editors,’” he explained. “When they call you the dean, that means you’re through.” “Oh, Daddy, that doesn’t mean you’re through,” she objected. “It just means you’ve reached the top.” “No,” Perkins said flatly. “It means you’re through.” It was the 26th of March. On March 26th, 26 years earlier, there had been a great beginning for Maxwell Perkins—the publication of a book that changed his life, and a great deal more. From MAX PERKINS: Editor of Genius by A. Scott Berg. Reprinted by arrangement with New American Library, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 1978 by A. Scott Berg. A. Scott BergeditingeditorsErnest HemingwayExcerptF. Scott FitzgeraldMax PerkinsScribnerThomas Wolfewriters A. Scott Berg A. Scott Berg graduated from Princeton University in 1971. He is the author of the bestselling books Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, which won the National Book Award and Goldwyn: A Biography, for which he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in Los Angeles. Best of the Week: June 6 - 10, 2016 A Pilgrimage to the $7,500 Muhammad Ali Book “I think people probably miss those books that were written some time ago–the big book that was written with care.”...

Home / Uncategorized / Canuckle Wordle: One of the Best Word Games on the Internet Canuckle Wordle: One of the Best Word Games on the Internet The guide provides an overview of the Canadian word game, Canuckle Wordle Game. The game is attracting many players due to its unique and challenging gameplay. Players must use their knowledge of words and language to create as many unique words as possible from a selection of letter tiles. The player with the most unique words at the end of the game wins. The guide provides tips on how to play the game and win. Do you play word games and puzzles online? If you enjoy playing the popular puzzle game Wordle, you will probably love the new offering of the puzzle game called Canuckle Wordle. It is a new spin-off from the popular puzzle game Wordle, but contains Canadian-themed puzzles. Canuckle Wordle is the Canadian version of the word game. It’s fun for all the Canadian enthusiasts who love to play Wordle. The game is not only popular in Canada, but players in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States are also enjoying it. What is Canuckle Wordle? How to Play Canuckle Wordle Game? How many attempts do players get to guess the correct word? What are the rules for Canuckle? Who Invented the Puzzle Game? Canuckle Wordle game is a fun and easy to play word-guessing game. The goal of the game is to find words that are hidden in the image by drawing lines between the letters of each word. In Canuckle Wordle, there are no wrong answers. You just need to connect words that make sense together. If you make mistakes, you can easily fix them by drawing new paths or adding more letters to existing paths. You can also opt to randomly generate a word by clicking on the ‘generate’ button on the bottom right corner of your screen. Canuckle Wordle is a great way to test your vocabulary while having fun. Canuckle is a word game where players take turns making words using the letters in a grid. The first player forms a word using one letter, the next player forms a word using two letters, and so on. The game is over when no more words can be formed. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. In Canuckle Wordle, there are no wrong answers. You just need to connect words that make sense together. If you make mistakes, you can easily fix them by drawing new paths or adding more letters to existing paths. You can also opt to randomly generate a word by clicking on the ‘generate’ button on the bottom right corner of your screen. You only get six tries to guess the word, but the game will give you hints along the way. You’ll start out by randomly guessing any five-letter word. The game will then reveal one letter at a time, until all five letters are revealed. Your job is to guess the correct word using all five letters. There are no complex rules for Canuckle. All you have to do is select the letters from the scrambled word and unscramble it correctly. The game will provide you with a scrambled word, and you will have to select the letters from the given word and unscramble it correctly. The game will also provide you with a word that has been formed when the selected letters are rearranged. You will then have to enter the word shown correctly in the box that is provided below the word. If the word is incorrect, then no points will be awarded. This game can be played by anyone, irrespective of age. However, it is best suited for people who are not only looking for a fun way to pass time but also have a keen interest in improving their vocabulary skills. The Canadian sub-band is very popular among Wordle players. Mark Rogers, an Ottawa resident, invented the game. He created the puzzle game for his family, and it was played as a means of entertainment. But it gradually gained fame and received millions of visitors from all over the world. Many players play and give correct answer in Canuckle Word Game. Roger’s Kids are the inspiration behind the Canadian version of Wordle. The game was released on February 10, and it follows the same guidelines as Wordle. The game is a Canadian style puzzle game. Cats are mysterious creatures Benefits of Using Commercial Pest Control Methods 5 Tips For Better Air Rifle Aiming When Hunting Air rifle has been kind of an interesting sport to prey on an animal in the forest. The windy and full of trees forest seems like an adventure to our nation men. They are fond of doing it, especially in winters or springs. On the hot days of summers, the forest is breaking the records… Read More 5 Tips For Better Air Rifle Aiming When HuntingContinue Highest-Cost Clubs During The Summer Transfer Window The summer transfer window is already closed, but not all the results have been summed up yet. Many coaches and functionaries argued that many signings should not be expected since the clubs are going through a difficult period. 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Change the bail laws to punish fentanyl killers — NOW admin Mar 11, 2023 0 Fentanyl kills tens of thousands of Americans every year, with thousands killed in New York alone. That's why Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney's call for more drug offenses to be eligible for bail is…

Prodigal Series Day 13: Older Son, As Jesus? Living Simply With God biblical teaching November 11, 2022 November 17, 2022 2 Minutes Now is the time we are going to take a closer look at the other two parables in Luke 15 that have to do with something of value being lost. In doing so, we will be equipped with some keen insight into this story of the two lost brothers. In the first parable, we have a shepherd who goes out to find his lost sheep. That seems reasonable enough. Then, we have a woman who searches for a lost coin. In both instances, something is lost and someone sets out to find it. By the time the listeners heard the third story, they would have expected to hear the same pattern, but it never comes. No one searches for him. Why? Jesus is highlighting what didn’t happen so the audience could process what should have happened. As rabbi, Jesus was certainly familiar with old testament scriptures. He would have known about another story way back in Genesis about another set of brothers. In that case, the older brother was also proud and resentful, and yet he was told that he was his brother’s keeper. It’s the story of Cain and Abel. The elder brother in the story should have gone after the younger brother and restored him back into the family. Likewise, the Pharisees should go after the sinners and bring them into their spiritual family as heirs to the kingdom. Yet, they do not, and this older brother doesn’t either. The younger brother gets a Pharisee for a brother instead. Can you see where this is going? We have a perfect older brother in Jesus. He is sent by the Father to reveal God’s love for all His children and to offer Himself as the way home. Just as we saw last week that Jesus was the younger brother without being rebellious, now we see that He is also the older brother without being resentful. He does His Father’s bidding and seeks to find those who are lost to bring them back home. Amen?! Amen! Today, spend some time praying about how you can be more like Jesus as the perfect younger brother and perfect older brother. There’s one more aspect to the older brother I want to introduce you to. It’s how the parable ends…or doesn’t end, rather. What do I mean by this? Let’s review it tomorrow! Previous Post Prodigal Series Day 12: Older Son, A New Awareness Next Post Prodigal Series Day 14: Older Son, An Open-Ended Ending

Serving with Compassion Posted in Religion on November 11, 2021| Leave a Comment » Written by Lloyd Wicker, a contemporary pastor and chaplain in the US Navy. The story of Jesus feeding a crowd of thousands of people weaves together themes from throughout his ministry. These include compassion, power over creation, the ability to sustain life, and involving others in responding to human needs. We also see God’s grace and providence intertwine as Jesus sends the disciples out “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” It is important to realize that the people who heard the gospel and who were healed and fed were not saved and sanctified saints; they were not fully committed disciples who were ready to follow Jesus. Yet when Jesus saw their hurts and needs, he responded with love, knowing that many of them would abandon and even turn against him later. Even so, Jesus was moved with compassion, seeing their need. In the same way, he has compassion today when he sees the hurts and needs of anyone created in the image of God. We have daily opportunities to come alongside the people around us. It could mean drop­ping by the hospital or the nursing home for a visit. Perhaps it involves cooking a meal for someone. Maybe it includes simply listening to another person’s story. When we seek to provide what Jesus ­offers, we reflect a beautiful picture of God’s compassion and care for others. Written by Eugene Bersier (1831-1889), a pastor whose ancestors were Huguenot refugees in Switzerland, led the building of the Etoile Chapel in Paris. God of love, You see all the suffering, injustice, and misery in this world. Have pity on what You have created. In Your mercy look upon the poor, the oppressed, the destitute, and all who are heavy-laden. Fill our hearts with deep compassion for those who suffer, and hasten the coming of Your kingdom of justice and truth. Amen.

The Tale of the Christmas Tree This holiday tradition has a long and interesting history. By: Kelli Ballard | December 25, 2022 | Tags: Christmas tree, traditions 683 Words (Photo by Alexander Shcherbak\TASS via Getty Images) Just about everyone who celebrates Christmas these days have at least one beautifully decorated Christmas tree. The tree is such a prominent part of the holiday, there’s a song all about it – “O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, How lovely are thy branches!” How did the tree become such a symbol for this holy time of year? Pagan Times (Photo by Brian Lawless/PA Images via Getty Images) During the cold winter months, people looked for ways to cheer up their homes and to celebrate the beginning of new life. Evergreens like spruce, fir, and pine were brought into dwellings for this purpose, and they held spiritual and powerful significance. For instance, red holly berries and mistletoe were sacred because they were just a few of the vegetation species that thrived during this time of year. It was thought boughs from evergreens symbolized eternal life, and would repel disease and evil spirits. The winter solstice was a pagan festival that celebrated the shortest day of the year, because the sun would soon start coming back. From ancient Rome and Egypt, to the Druids, Celts, and Vikings, lots of cultures used plants to decorate for the solstice. The story of the Christmas tree evolved from this belief. Christianity and Trees in Germany Trees later became important in Christian celebrations. One legend is the story of the English monk, Boniface, who was in Germany during the eighth century to spread the news of Christianity. He found some pagans honoring the Viking god Thor at a sacred oak tree. Boniface chopped down the tree so they couldn’t worship their old god anymore. A fir tree grew from the fallen oak and became the symbol of Christianity because it was a triangle shape that represented the holy trinity. A painting of St. Boniface bringing Christianity into pagan Germany, by Jausen. Undated illustration. It wasn’t until around the 16th century that Christians in Germany started bringing the trees into their homes to celebrate Christmas. It’s though the trees were decorated with apples to represent the Garden of Eden. People would would also build “Christmas pyramids” from pieces of wood, and cover them with evergreens, nuts, and figurines. A century later, the decorations became more elaborate with gold leaf, paper, and candles. This is also when Christmas festivals started gaining popularity, especially for the royal courts. As German migrants traveled around Europe and the world, they took the tradition with them. Prince Albert, Queen Victoria and their children surround a Christmas tree at Windsor Castle, England, 1851. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) The Puritans were especially strict about Christmas and traditions. In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts made it a law that December 25 could only be celebrated by attending a church service. If people hung decorations observed the hoy day in any other “pagan” way, they could be fined or worse. Americans followed that stern example until the 1800s, except for German settlements, which celebrated with their traditional trees. What really popularized the Christmas tree in American homes was the fashion of Victorian England. German influence had come into the British royal family. Queen Victoria’s mother, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, was German so she grew up with the tradition. The queen’s husband, Prince Albert, was also a German. In 1848, the royals decorated a Christmas tree in Windsor Castle. When the image was illustrated in the Illustrated London News of the popular queen and her family around the decorated tree, the trend caught on. People couldn’t wait to follow the fad and by the 1890s Americans had added their own touch: European Christmas trees tended to be around 4-foot tall, but Americans liked trees that went from floor to ceiling. Today, decorated trees are one of the main symbols people around the world associate with Christmas. They are not only in most every home, they are in stores, along streets, and range from small to several stories tall.

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in Salinas, CA - 6 Maple Street 6 Maple Street Tue 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM Thu 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM Sun 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM ORDER LUNCH NEAR YOU IN Salinas, CA Lunch Near You at Taco Bell® 6 Maple Street Nobody does lunch like Taco Bell® in Salinas, CA. Our lunch options include your favorite menu items like tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos and more. Try the iconic Crunchy Taco or Chicken Quesadilla for a lunch you’ll love or customize your order to get your food just how you like it. If you’re looking for a great fast food option for lunch near you in Salinas, CA, Taco Bell at 6 Maple Street, Salinas, CA is nearby and available to help you satisfy your cravings. Visit us at our local Salinas location or order online and pickup later. Make sure to check out all our Mexican inspired food options for delicious food you won’t be able to resist. Find lunch near you in Salinas, CA at Taco Bell® today! 664 E Alisal 7:00 AM - 11:00 PM 7:00 AM - 11:00 PM 7:00 AM - 11:00 PM 7:00 AM - 11:00 PM 7:00 AM - 12:00 AM 7:00 AM - 12:00 AM 7:00 AM - 11:00 PM Open 24 Hours Open 24 Hours Open 24 Hours Open 24 Hours Open 24 Hours 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM 1597 N Sanborn Rd

Something about the name Jim True stories, short stories and stories for children by Lois November 13, 2020 April 3, 2022 Some time ago I wrote a story about making a train journey, not to London as the real people in my true story did! I shared this some time ago, but thinking of trains, makes me think of Jim, a friend of my dad’s who went with him to London one Saturday Is it something about the name Jim which makes men with it such characters? I had a friend JIm who I taught with who had an interesting experience with ducks… but I was reminded the other day of my dad’s friend and colleague Jim. Jim was a very eminent scientist working at the Low Temperature Research Station in Cambridge in the 1950’s and 60’s. He was what might be called a larger than life character and there was always some tale to tell when he and Donald went out with friends. One year, in the 50’s or 60’s, they and a group of others went up to London and then to Twickenham, Twickers, to watch the rugby; I don’t know for sure, but it was probably the Varsity match, Cambridge University vs Oxford University, but it may have been an international or a Barbar’s game (the Barbarians, as it says on their website is ‘a rugby club which brings together players from different clubs to play a few matches each year to enjoy the camaraderie of the game and play attacking, adventurous rugby without the pressure of having to win’; these would be the elite players from each club) Having watched the game, and no doubt enjoyed a few pints, the chaps went into London for something to eat and a few more pints. Jim managed to imbibe sufficient to make him very merry indeed, and wherever he went he was always leaving his umbrella behind and someone would be dashing after them with or running back for it. On the underground the wretched umbrella poked other passenger, hooked itself round bag straps or handrails, got wedged between closed doors, got left on seats, but somehow the blokes managed to hang onto Jim and his umbrella. And then it was time to catch the train back to Cambridge and as they got off someone had to leap back into the carriage to rescue the umbrella which had been left on a luggage rack. Outside the station they bundled Jim into a taxi and gave the driver directions, then had to flag him down again to give Jim the umbrella. The next morning at work everyone agreed the day out to Twickers had been a great day, most enjoyable, good game, good fun, good times! Jim breezed in looking fresh as daisy and joined in the opinion that it had been a fine day out, but there was one puzzle. “Umbrella,” he said. Surely he hadn’t left it in the taxi, surely after all the difficulty it had caused he had managed to get it home? “This umbrella, I just wonder whose it is, it seems to have come home in the taxi with me and I have no idea who it belongs to!” Twickenhamumbrella An almost silent world. Joan Wiley on November 14, 2020 at 1:37 am Great story! It is funny, too, how certain things can cause us to think of someone and sometimes we pick around the reason for it, until we dig up an old story like this? Cheers😊 Lois on November 14, 2020 at 10:46 am I love that trail into different story, link by link!

12,000 UK asylum seekers could get refugee status without face-to-face interviews Around 12,000 asylum seekers to the UK will be considered for refugee status without the need for face-to-face interviews, the BBC reported on Thursday. Nationals from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria, and Yemen who applied before July must fill out a 10-page questionnaire, which will be used by the Home Office to decide on their cases. The 40 questions must be completed in English and returned within 20 working days, or the Home Office may consider the asylum application has been withdrawn. The form suggests using “online translation tools” if necessary. UK government officials told the BBC that the usual security and criminal checks would still stand. The new scheme aims to reduce the asylum backlog, which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised to end in 2023. The Home Office told the BBC the move was not an asylum amnesty but would simplify the process for five nationalities which have already had 95 percent of claims accepted. However, the British Red Cross has warned that the 20-day limit could have “devastating” consequences for asylum seekers. Christina Marriott, executive director of strategy and communications at the British Red Cross, told The Guardian: “These men, women, and children may not speak English and are likely traumatized from fleeing persecution and war. “They need our support and compassion, not rushed and complicated bureaucracy that will only increase suffering. “We know from experience that government communications with people seeking asylum often falls short – translations are rarely provided, and forms are lost in transit. This time limit could have devastating impacts on people who need protection,” she added. Sile Reynolds, head of asylum advocacy at Freedom from Torture, told The Guardian: “Plans for an asylum claim questionnaire – requiring people to complete a complex form, often without any legal advice, in a language they don’t understand and to a 20-day deadline – could see many asylum claims wrongly withdrawn, leaving those individuals at risk of return to torture or persecution.” Marriott also expressed “deep concern” about the suggestion that applications be withdrawn if refugees did not complete the document on time. However, Home Office officials told the BBC that if no response was received, a follow-up notification would be sent, and each application would be considered on its own merits. The number of asylum seekers in the UK awaiting a decision on their case has reached a new high of approximately 166,000 people. In 2022, the number of asylum claims in the UK was almost 75,000, the highest in nearly two decades. More than three-quarters of decisions made were in favor of granting asylum, the highest number in three decades. According to a recent Migration Observatory analysis, the recent increase in applications was only one factor contributing to the current backlog, claiming that slow decision-making had allowed the backlog to accumulate over several years. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees welcomed the new scheme and said the agency would work with the Home Office to facilitate its implementation, The Guardian reported.

EU calls on Liz Truss to abide by Brexit deal European leaders express hope for more constructive relationship with Britain’s new prime minister The EU has urged Liz Truss to respect the Brexit agreement, as it called on the incoming British prime minister to take a broader view of Britain’s relationship with Europe. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who is expected to speak to Truss by phone in the coming days, tweeted her congratulations, referring to common challenges, from climate change to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She said: “I look forward to a constructive relationship, in full respect of our agreements.” Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s top official in charge of relations with the UK, said a positive relationship between the two was of great strategic importance. “I stand ready to work intensively and constructively with my new UK interlocutor to foster such a partnership, in full respect of our agreements.” The French president, Emmanuel Macron, also congratulated Truss, stating that “the British nation is our ally”, a few weeks after Truss told Tory members at a hustings event in August that she was undecided as to whether he was “friend or foe” when asked. “Congratulations to Liz Truss on her election,” Macron tweeted. “The British people are our friends, the British nation is our ally. Let us continue working together to defend our shared interests.” Behind the scenes, EU officials have low expectations of an improvement in relations with Truss, the architect of a bill to override key aspects of the Northern Ireland protocol, which could lead to a trade war. “The wish on this side is for things to improve, for there to be a more constructive relationship, but I don’t think anybody is holding their breath,” an EU diplomat said. The diplomat suggested that Truss’s reliance on Eurosceptic MPs in the Conservative parliamentary party did not bode well for her ability to strike compromises. They added: “Looking at where Liz Truss got her support I don’t really expect her to have that much room for manoeuvre. But I would gladly be proved wrong.” Sources hope that once installed in No 10, Truss will take a different tack to EU relations. “Obviously the reservations that were there beforehand remain given that she was the foreign secretary that brought through the [Northern Ireland] bill before the summer,” one EU diplomat said. “From an EU perspective, there is always a window of opportunity with the new prime minister, because the EU will be open to talks and negotiations.” Nathalie Loiseau, a French MEP who co-chairs the EU UK parliamentary partnership assembly, said she wished Truss the best of luck “because the success of the UK is important for its allies and neighbours”. Loiseau, a former Europe minister, added: “I hope she will refrain from making things more difficult between the EU and the UK and engage in a strong partnership.” David McAllister, a German centre-right MEP, who chairs the European parliament’s foreign affairs committee, congratulated Truss, while pointing to the agreements the British government had signed. He said: “The EU is keen to have stable and positive relations with the United Kingdom based on our agreements, mutually negotiated, signed and ratified by the EU and the UK. Facilitating the practical implementation of the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland is of key importance.” The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was one of the first leaders to offer his public congratulations, in a tweet that avoided mentioning the UK-EU dispute. He said: “I am looking forward to our cooperation in these challenging times. The UK and Germany will continue to work closely together – as partners and friends.” Truss, who will become prime minister on Tuesday, will be tested on her openness to work with the EU when she is invited to join European leaders for a summit in October. She will be invited to discuss the creation of the European Political Community, a pan-European body dedicated to promoting security and other ties among the nations of Europe. Her elevation to 10 Downing Street was given short shrift by the Kremlin, which said dire relations with Britain could get even worse. “I wouldn’t like to say that things can change for the worse, because it’s hard to imagine anything worse,” the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov replied when asked if Moscow expected any shift in relations with Britain, Reuters reported. “But unfortunately, this cannot be ruled out.” In Moscow, Truss is best known for her February meeting with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, who complained that her interventions were “just slogans shouted from the tribunes”. In the meeting, which took place two weeks before the Russian invasion, Truss challenged Lavrov on the buildup of 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s border, which Moscow denied was preparation for an attack. She was also mocked by the Russian government for confusing Russian regions with Ukrainian territory and apparently mixing up the Black and Baltic Seas. Truss received a warmer reaction from the UK’s traditional allies. In a statement of congratulations, New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, referred to New Zealand’s “exceptionally strong relationship with the United Kingdom based on our shared values, history and culture”. In her roles as trade and then foreign secretary, Truss was “a staunch supporter of the UK’s ‘tilt’ to the Indo-Pacific and played a central role in advancing our historic free trade agreement” Ardern said. Gibraltar’s chief minister, Fabian Picardo, praised Truss’s role in negotiations over the post-Brexit future of the British overseas territory, which voted to remain in the EU. “Liz was instrumental in delivering trade deals for Gibraltar and as foreign secretary we have worked very closely together on all issues, not least on the negotiations for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU,” he said.

Second-hand tech booms as shoppers look for bargains "We're lucky, to be a family with two full-time working adults. Still, we're turning the thermostat down and putting extra jumpers on. We've switched to budget supermarkets to save money." Anna Cargan, 35, lives with her husband and three young children in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. She started saving for Christmas in January. "We've really noticed how expensive things have got this year. We're having to think about what we're spending more than ever before." The Cargans are not alone. According to research by consultancy firm PWC, 86% of UK adults are concerned about affording the necessities of day-to-day life. Meanwhile, 70% of UK adults are planning to spend less this festive period, with almost half planning to cut back on Christmas presents, according to a survey by Accenture. One tactic Ms Cargan will use to save money this Christmas, is to buy second-hand tech. "I've saved about £600 buying second-hand phones," she says. "I don't want the latest model - as long as it's functional, I'm happy." Music Magpie refurbishes 400,000 pieces of tech a year She bought the phones from Music Magpie, which was founded in a garage in Stockport in 2007. Back then it sold second-hand CDs and DVDs. Five years later, it expanded into electronics. Now Music Magpie has two workshops in the UK and one in the US, where it refurbishes all sorts of unwanted electronics. Sam Vesey, Music Magpie's chief sustainability officer, suggests not only buying second-hand to save money, but also selling old tech too, to fund this year's present buying. "There are estimates that people have about £600 of unused tech," says Ms Vesey. "That's about £16bn sitting in drawers nationwide." More than five billion phones will be discarded this year, according to WEEE forum Now, with a growing number of companies offering pre-owned tech, buying second-hand, says Ms Vesey, no longer has the stigma it once had. "We've seen an increase in demand for refurbished tech," she says. "In the same way that we've always been happy to have a second-hand house or a second-hand car, that's now passing through to our technology. People are quite happy to say 'mine's refurbed'." According to the UN, e-waste, that's anything with a plug or a battery, is the world's fastest-growing domestic waste stream - fuelled by soaring consumption rates, short life cycles and limited options for repair. Its report says that in 2019 only about 17% of e-waste was collected and recycled. Meanwhile, the International Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum estimates that in 2022, more than 5.3 billion mobile phones alone will be discarded. Gold, silver, copper, platinum and other high-value, recoverable materials, valued at about £47bn, are dumped or burned year after year, rather than being collected for treatment and reuse.

We are not yet at next week, but I hope nonetheless that I am in a better frame of mind today than I was yesterday. I know the work that I still have to do today, and while there is a deadline, I am nonetheless back on track to complete the task before the hard deadline. I am at my desk slightly earlier than I might otherwise be, were I not burdened with completing this assignment before day’s end. Otherwise, this morning is similar to most. I was surprised, when I checked the temperature and forecast this morning, to see that it was 1°C outside. It is not bitterly cold, but it is certainly cold enough that I pulled my ski jacket out, rather than my spring jacket that I have worn the last week. I decided that I would wear my older ski jacket, and not the one that I purchased at the beginning of this past winter. I wanted to prove to myself that I was not imagining that the smaller jacket fit. It does. I zipped it against the wind, and I was more than comfortable in it… even though it is still snug. That is to be expected, of course… but at the beginning of next season I hope it will not be so. I wrote yesterday evening that I was not sated by my smaller meals, and that I indulged in two extra meal-replacement bars throughout the day. I will adjust my portions accordingly today, in hope that I will have no need to do so again. While there may be little difference in calories between the larger meal and the meal replacement bars, the lunchtime meal starts to digest earlier, and… well, we will see. The bathroom scale (I am not going to start referring to it as the bedroom scale, despite its recent relocation) gave me three different readings today. Unlike past times, when these might be many pounds different, today’s three readings were all very similar – the three separated by 4/10ths of a pound. In the end, I settled for the middle reading, which has me up 2/10ths of a pound from yesterday. I know, I cannot be impatient. I also have to trust that despite all of these maddening daily ups and downs, I have been consistently down on my fortnightly weigh-ins at the doctor’s office. Those are the ones that really matter, right? Two weeks from today I will be waking up next to Leslie in Cuba for the first time. That means, of course, that she is arriving here in under two weeks. I am very excited – I really miss her. I love our long video chats, but it is not the same as being able to hold her in my arms. Friends who know we are going are asking if I am excited to be going back to Cuba after all this time. After all, this has been the longest span of time that I have not been in many years. Yes, I am excited… but I am so much more excited for going with Leslie. I am excited to share with her a gorgeous beach vacation where we can relax and enjoy ourselves… without any stress or aggravation or work. While there are days when I look out the window and am tempted to blow off my work to sit outside with a cigar, today is not one of them. It is not raining, but the sounds of the outside world – the wind, with hints of Blue (our upstairs neighbour Siberian Husky) crying will keep me honest today. The forecast high is 4°C, with a 50% chance of snow flurries. While the overnight temps will drop to -2°C, I will be in bed for all of the below-freezing hours. Tomorrow’s high is forecast at 10°, which is lovely… except that I will be inside teaching most of the day… and inside learning for most of the evening. The weekend is looking nice though… and not only because of the weather. I will be quite relieved to have this class behind me. Today is the ninety-eighth day of my diet; I have recorded my thoughts in this journal every day since January 20. While there have been bad days (Day 45 was the worst of them), I think I have, for the most part, done pretty well. No, I am not on the strict, one hundred percent meal-replacement program that the weight loss clinics would prescribe. However, most weight loss professionals would likely agree that losing forty-five pounds in 98 days is nothing to sneeze at, and indeed is a healthy pace. They usually tell you that 1-2 lbs per week is a healthy pace, and I am exactly there. The fact that I had previously succeeded in losing 100 lbs in the same time period (in 2017) is not relevant, as I was on the extreme program then with absolutely no solid foods. While some might see my current diet as extreme, I assure you that it is far from it… two meals per day is not bad at all. Of course, if I was losing weight faster, I would be happy… but I might also not be able to fit into the clothes that I ordered a month ago, which will be arriving in another month or so. They say 8-10 weeks, and I am eagerly hoping that they arrive sooner rather than later. Either way, they should be here in time for my flight to Dallas, which is June 16. I know, it is going to be extremely hot in Dallas in June… but wouldn’t it be nice one evening to be able to dress up for my girlfriend? Maybe to go out on the town, enjoy a fine meal, or even just a walk in the park. She deserves that! Since sitting down the first time this morning, I received an unexpected call that my glasses were ready. I ran down to the optometrist to collect them, as NOW was the only available slot they had for me to come in today. I headed out, and after having the sunglasses fixed (they were my own frames, so they do not guarantee anything… and yes, a piece fell off, but yes, it was repairable) I came home, sat down to work, and promptly had a dog jump up to sit on my desk, preventing any possible work. Okay, so I am now two hours behind on the day… but I should be able to make it through. Now that I can get back at my keyboard, it is time to do some work. Have a great day folks! Clothes, Clothing, Eyeglasses, Girlfriend, Weather, Weight Management, Willpower

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Tag: launch Success! What Lies Beneath currently holds the #1 spot in a bunch of Amazon subcategories. It’s an awesome feeling to know that thousands of people will read the book this week, and it means something extra this time. Some of the issues raised in this particular book are important to us. (I can’t get into it without spoiling.) Anyway, thanks … Thankee-Sai I just wanted to let everyone know that, thanks to you, the new Darger novel, Five Days Post Mortem, achieved our best ever launch day ranking. Of all the 6,000,000+ books available for the Kindle, we hit #122. We also hit #1 in a bunch of subcategories, and we’re still #1 in Hard-Boiled Mysteries and Pulp Thrillers at the moment. …

Home » Real Estate News » Currently Reading: Private Atherton Estate now on the market for $6.99 Million May 2, 2011 Real Estate News No Comments A new luxury home has hit the market in Atherton on a private cul-de-sac street. My new listing has 6 bedrooms, 5.5 baths and is approximately 7,000 square feet. It sits on just over one acre and has beautiful landscaping as well as the perfect setup for the family that likes an outdoor lifestyle or entertaining. There is a pool, hot tub, lots of patio decking for parties, putting green, sand volleyball court and huge grassy area for playing any kind of family games. The interior of the home is very spacious and light filled. The six bedrooms are all generous in size and there is also a large office/den as well as bonus room that can be used for a workout room or media room. The family room is large and just off the kitchen, so it creates the perfect hanging out area, that also happens to lead to the pool and outdoor entertaining areas. This luxury Atherton real estate listing can be seen by appointment only by calling Gary Kurtz of Alain Pinel Realtors. The asking price is $6.999 million. The virtual tour will show you more pictures or you can go to my APR website for more information. Atherton has seen a surge in purchases of luxury real estate recently and homes in the 5-20 million dollar range have been selling, despite the sluggish economy. Atherton California is one of the most expensive areas in the country, having ranked #2 for highest average listing price.

Alappuzha Karthikeyan Alappuzha Karthikeyan is known for Ahalya (1978), Sree Ayyappanum Vavarum (1982) and Agni Yudham (1981).

Scooby-Doo, What Are You!

E-mail account Your personal office Mobile office Business prices Ad-free services Rushed through the back door: New G-10 bill introduces measures for the direct surveillance of users Last Thursday, 10 June, the German government coalition of SPD, CDU, and CSU voted in a bill that may open the door to widespread state surveillance. Hastily rushed through, an exacerbating amendment was introduced and passed at the last minute, which went far beyond the previously agreed changes, and which was controversially debated even within the governing coalition. Although app vendors and e-mail services such as mailbox.org are explicitly excluded, this kind of legislation massively undermines the security and trust of Internet providers, explains Peer Heinlein. The bill prescribes how exactly peoples' telecommunications secrecy rights as defined in the German basic law, article 10, and limited in paragraph 2, are to be applied by investigative authorities and intelligence services. The reforms that just went through parliament extend the measures for lawful telecommunication interception and aim to force the providers of communication services to limit the security and integrity of their own services so as to support the intelligence services in performing surveillance on people. Not only does the new bill mandate Internet providers to assist in the setup of devices but also in the supply of any information that is required for the installation of surveillance software. It also enables the intelligence services to obtain data from cell phones, for example. Critics of the new legislation have pointed out that the very security vulnerabilities that need to be maintained for state surveillance software to work properly can also be exploited by common criminals. More generally, this approach will only serve to increase the general feeling of mistrust and lack of security among Internet users. In worst case, telecommunication service providers could be forced to spy on their own customers, something the parliamentary party “Die Linke” compared to the aiding and abetting of (state-sponsored) hacking. Unsurprisingly, constitutional complaints concerning this issue have been lining up already. Konstantin von Notz, expert for domestic and digital policy from the green party called the bill „disastrous“ and said it was „unbearable” that this particular bill, which so massively restricts individual freedoms, had been „disguised” among 70 other agenda points of the home affairs committee, one day before the vote. mailbox.org-CEO Peer Heinlein says: „There is no question that investigative authorities and intelligence services need to keep up with modern technology to fulfil their mandate in the 21st century. No one wants to see those who work in law enforcement to be undermined or prevented from carrying out their duties. It always has been and still is possible for them to do their job. However, the idea of maintaining common security vulnerabilities because these are required for the so-called lawful interception of telecommunications is a risk for everyone’s security and inconsistent with the basic rights granted by our constitutional law. Any constitutional state should aim to protect the security of its citizens, and not work to undermine it. In our country, the separation of powers with checks and balances present a higher good to society, which stands in contrast to these plans, which effectively try to conscript providers to act as deputy law enforcement officers. The haste with which the amendments were pushed through is clear evidence that those responsible were very well aware of their wrongdoing. Once again, this federal government has chosen to ignore the provisions issued by our constitutional judges and so, this bill will - once again - be smashed by the federal constitutional court in Karlsruhe. We at mailbox.org will never consider ourselves to be an extension of law enforcement. We will continue to protect the privacy of our users, for example by promoting and further developing end-to-end encryption, and making it as easy as possible to use for people. mailbox.org will also continue to invest in the development of technologies that enforce privacy by design to make sure service providers do not have access to the communication contents of their users.“ Together with our many partners, mailbox.org has contributed to an open letter that argued against the original plans of the federal government that suggested a massive expansion of digital surveillance as well as a ban of the use of effective encryption techniques. Aside from mailbox.org, signatories of the open letter include our colleagues at Tutanota and mail.de, the Chaos Computer Club, Facebook, Google and many other affected service providers. We call for the legislature to cease introducing any further measures that are deemed to endanger the security of all citizens. The open letter also demands that any legislation that has such significance be prepared carefully and prudently, and not hurried along at the end of a legislative period. The ultimate mandate of parliament and government is to protect citizens and businesses, and we think this means the development of encryption technology should not be weakened but promoted and encouraged to maintain the integrity of all digital communication. T&Cs | Cancellation policy © 2023 mailbox.org

Will this week's Budget be pre-election giveaways, or show signs of strategic thinking? See also postscript below written shortly after the Budget To say that much of the media treats Budgets as if the government was a household is not really accurate. Much Budget analysis treats the government as a cash constrained household, such that any change in expected tax revenue is regarded as money the Chancellor has to spend or give away. Most households don’t work like that, because they have the capacity to save and borrow. The government of course finds it much easier to borrow than households. Unfortunately some governments encourage the media’s attitude to Budgets. On this occasion, however, the government’s fiscal rules are medium term, with targets always five years into the future. So there is nothing in these fiscal rules to suggest that temporary improvements to the government’s fiscal position need to be spent or given away. The reason they are likely to be spent or given away in the forthcoming budget is because we are close to an election. But because many in the media treat the government like a cash constrained household, what in reality is fiscal electioneering will be portrayed as normal practice. The forthcoming election is likely to influence Chancellor Hunt’s first Budget in two ways. First, he will want to produce fiscal giveaways that will make newspaper front page headlines the next day, and perhaps sway some voters to vote Conservative. Second, he will want to try and get the economy growing again as quickly as possible. The reason why can be seen from this chart. Whereas the US economy at the end of last year had GDP per head around 4% above its level at the end of 2019, the UK economy had GDP per head around 2% lower. This number may be flattering to the US because at the end of last year at least it was probably running a little hot, but the same is true of the UK yet GDP per head is still significantly lower than before the pandemic. The UK’s relative performance over the last three years has been even worse than its performance in the decade since 2010. The Chancellor will be desperate to see some positive economic news before the election, and hope that enough voters are myopic enough to forget how bad things have been since 2010. One of the reasons why the US has performed so much better than the UK since 2019 is that Biden had a clear long term plan of how he was going to support growth, while the UK did not. That plan involved first ensuring a strong vaccine enabled recovery from the pandemic using a fiscal stimulus focused on poorer citizens. Then came large instructure projects, followed last year with incentives for greening the economy. In contrast the strategy of the Conservative government since 2010 has involved shrinking government, tax cuts for firms and Brexit. The aim was to let an ‘unburdened’ private sector do all the work, and it has been a complete failure. A conventional pre-election fiscal stimulus runs the risk of encouraging the Bank of England to raise interest rates yet further. That suggests he will look at measures that increase aggregate supply as well as aggregate demand, and so might be regarded by the Bank as inflation neutral. Trying to increase aggregate supply is laudable of course, but unfortunately he is likely to shun the two most obvious choices: more public investment and better health. In his Autumn Statement he had already cut back on public investment, and it will be interesting if he goes further. Delaying the completion of HS2 is an example of what John Elledge had earlier called ‘Treasury brain’. Such delays in investment rarely save money in the longer term, and obviously they delay getting the benefit of the investment. It’s not as if the UK is ‘world beating’ with high speed rail - it’s actually way behind much of Europe. What is important here is not the rhetoric, which is always positive in Budget speeches, but the actual numbers for aggregate public investment, which I will report on in the postscript after the Budget. With so many good reasons to increase public investment in so many areas, it is so short sighted to be cutting it back. If public net investment over the next few years remains below 3% of GDP this will be a consequence of the stupidity of including public investment in the fiscal rule targets. The Chancellor will probably do something to tackle the large number of inactive people of working age that is one of the two key factors behind the UK’s current labour shortage (the other is Brexit). However, as this report argues, the main reason why this problem has been so uniquely persistent in the UK since the pandemic is the large number of people not working because they are sick, which in turn reflects the chronic state of the NHS after thirteen years of Conservative government.. Providing more money to the NHS (the report dubs this “check-ups to pay cheques”) is the best way to achieve this. Yet other reports suggest that the Treasury is trying to stop plans for more NHS nurses and doctors, which in turn suggests the Chancellor is unlikely to provide assistance where it can be most effective. One area where he may well act to increase demand and supply is incentives for investment by firms. While these incentives generally sound like a good idea, there is a danger that all they do is bring forward investment to years where the incentive applies from years when it doesn’t. If that is all that happens then little has been achieved from a long term point of view, yet with the cost of government payouts to the firms doing the intertemporal switching. However if the Chancellor wants to boost investment in an election year, at the expense of lower investment under what may well be a Labour government, this may not be his major concern! Low public investment, ignoring the long term sick, and politically motivated subsidies to firms are all examples of where poor political decisions mean that fiscal policy fails to improve the economy in the longer term. If the headline grabbing giveaways include not raising petrol duty yet again, then we can add that to the list. The media will report this as ‘popular with motorists’, as if motorists are united in welcoming climate change. As I noted in this post, the United States has for the first time a clear plan to encourage the kind of green industries which will play such an important part in all major economies over the next few decades. As their plan is also protectionist, it has encouraged the EU to increase subsidies for these industries. The UK needs its own response. As Torsten Bell points out, it cannot just be an attempt to duplicate what the US and EU are doing, because the UK is a smaller, more open economy that needs to play to its strengths. It will be interesting if we get any idea from the Budget about whether the current government has started to think about what the UK’s strategy on encouraging green industries should be, or whether it is continuing with the failed plan of hoping general corporate tax breaks will invigorate the economy. Budget Postscript (16/03/23) There were few surprises in this budget, so the comments above still largely apply. The government's strategic vision, in so far as it exists, remains to squeeze public services and to hope giving money to (a few) individuals and (temporarily) to firms spurs a strong recovery. The response to new green subsidies in the US and EU will have to wait until a little later, but when public investment is not expected to increase beyond this year I wouldn't hold your breath. (OBR Table A.1). The budget also confirmed the expected death of any grand levelling up strategy, although the small amounts allocated are perhaps better directed. The two welcome measures not covered above were abolishing Work Capability Assessments and the expansion of free child care for very young children. According to the OBR the latter should increase GDP by about 0.2%. Although what was announced will certainly increase the demand for child care, questions remain about whether supply of child care will increase to match this (see also here). As the OBR notes, the main reason labour supply has shrunk in the UK, by far more than in other economies (see chart below), is the increase in long term sickness. To reverse this requires more money for the NHS, and there was nothing in the budget to help with this. The only other measure to increase labour supply in the budget was a huge tax giveaway to the very rich. While the motivation might have been to stop senior medical staff retiring early, this could have been done differently and it might have been more productive to use this money to help stop the alarming rate young GPs are leaving the NHS. As a result of the Chancellor's choices, we have another Conservative budget that helps those on high incomes more than anyone else. Tax breaks for firms to increase investment were announced as expected, but only for three years, meaning that the OBR expects them to do little more than shift investment expenditure forward, as suggested above. As the following OBR chart shows, even this is small compared to the collapse in investment caused by Brexit. In terms of fiscal electioneering, there was the expected freezing of petrol duty, but otherwise not much. The Chancellor knows he has one more Budget to go before the election. The fact that he is only just meeting his 5 year fiscal rules shouldn't fool anyone. This target will have moved on a year by the next Budget anyway, but more importantly the public spending numbers he has in for the post-election period are largely fiction. If he needs to make them even more fictitious to pay for announced tax cuts next year he will. Listening to a bit of Hunt's Budget speech, I remembered how I once wrote a few posts pointing out the macroeconomic errors in George Osborne or David Cameron's speeches. I just couldn't do that now, because the posts would be far too long. Almost every sentence is misleading nonsense. I got to sentence number nine before I found something I couldn't take apart: the sentence was “But that’s not all we’ve done.” This may reflect a deterioration in the quality of the Chancellor's speech writers, but I expect it's more that they just have no good material to work with. Can a few tax cuts next year and an economy just starting to grow again really offset in voters minds what has been the most dismal thirteen years for the UK economy since WWII? Posted by Mainly Macro at 09:04 No comments: How the political right has used ‘impartiality’ to first gain political power, and then take over the BBC The BBC has never been completely independent of the government. But that is no reason to ignore its gradual transformation over the last thirteen years into a media organisation that has become increasingly prone to do the government’s bidding. A process that began out of fear has now become institutionalised through the appointment of a once deputy chairman of a local Conservative party and council candidate as director general, a Conservative party donor deeply involved in party politics as Chairman, and a former Communications Director for Theresa May on the BBC Board. Political appointments have been made to these senior positions at the BBC before, but we have not had a government like this before. A government that is far more prepared to interfere with established institutions to get its own way will mean that its political appointees in public institutions will be prepared to exert far more party political pressure than their predecessors ever have. The means which today’s political right have used so effectively to make the BBC an instrument to advance their political ends is to elevate their interpretation of impartiality above all else and then to apply that concept selectively. As I outlined here, the primacy of impartiality as balance between two political sides is a means by which a populist right can obscure truth and create bias. It allowed the populist right (the party of Johnson and the right wing press) to gain power through the Brexit referendum, when the truth about Brexit was buried because the BBC chose balance over facts and explanation. Since then it has allowed the government, through its press, to selectively squash things said by anyone involved with the BBC that embarrasses the government, but ignore equivalent cases involving opposition politicians. So BBC presenters like Alan Sugar can freely use social media to attack opposition politicians, but because no right wing newspapers splash headlines about this the BBC does nothing. But if Gary Lineker states facts about the government’s latest illegal immigration bill (yes it is cruel to refugees and yes the language used to promote it incites violence) he is fired. The BBC’s rules on impartiality are applied in a biased way. So when that same BBC presenter criticised Qatar’s human rights record on the BBC before its coverage of the world cup that was fine, because that was “something which is a matter of fact.” But when the same presenter in a tweet stands up for the human rights of refugees coming by irregular means to the UK (yes the proposed bill does break international law protecting the human rights of refugees), facts suddenly become unimportant and the BBC’s notion of impartiality rules. The BBC’s rules on impartiality are applied in a biased way So the BBC lost no time in responding to complaints from 10 Downing Street in itself criticising its Newsnight team and presenter Emily Maitlis for an introduction about public anger over the way Dominic Cummings had broken lockdown rules. There was no investigation, just a statement that the introduction had not been impartial. There was no attempt to suggest that anything in the introduction was factually wrong, or expressed an opinion about matters that remained uncertain. Instead simply stating facts that put the government in a bad light was sufficient to have something labelled as not impartial. But when the Chairman of a well established right wing magazine chaired a flagship BBC political programme, and tweeted his views freely, the BBC turned a blind eye. Once again, the BBC’s rules on impartiality are applied in a biased way. It may seem ironic that rules designed to promote impartiality should lead the BBC to become biased and subject to the government’s bidding, but it is inevitable when the government and its press have more power than other politicians and newspapers, and when those in charge at the BBC are appointed by that government. In the past facts and the truth have been an important defence against political inference at the BBC, but once stating facts that embarrass the government is deemed impermissible for anyone working at the BBC that defence against political interference disappears. It is no accident that the current leaders at the BBC promote their definition of impartiality so strongly. It is no accident that the BBC’s impartiality rules apply not just to what its political journalists say on the BBC, but also to what already famous sports presenters say in a personal capacity on twitter. The latter presents no threat to the reputation of the BBC, but it does represent a threat to the government. [see postscript] The selective promotion of political balance over facts is doing the BBC a great deal of harm. It has lost some excellent journalists as a result, and it is now in danger of losing its flagship sports programme. It is losing the trust of the public. But today’s political right wins either way. A BBC that does its bidding is just fine because it helps them keep power just as it helped them win power. If the BBC loses its reputation and its audience declines, that suits them too, because it gives more space for our equivalents of Fox News to gain an audience. This is why it is imperative that any future Labour government creates a truly independent BBC, where once again the BBC’s mission becomes to inform, educate and entertain. A BBC where political operatives can no longer take control, and a BBC where broadcasting facts, knowledge and truth are never subservient to party political balance. Until then those who want to see this kind of public service broadcaster should have no hesitation in criticising what the BBC has become, in pointing out how today’s BBC acts in a manner that is biased towards this government and in supporting those working at the BBC who try to tell the truth but are attacked by the BBC as a result. A media independent of the government is crucial to the survival of democracy. Postscript 13/03/23 The reasons given for restricting Lineker's freedom of speech are absurd. The fact that the public pay for the BBC and the BBC pays Lineker to present a programme about football should never give either the BBC or the public the right to restrict what Lineker says about politics in a personal capacity on twitter. To say "as a license fee payer I don't pay Lineker's salary to hear his political views" is silly because you don't pay him to write on twitter but to present a football programme. You don't have to follow him on twitter. The reason anyone else is reading about his political views is because the Mail, Telegraph and the BBC chose to publicise them! To say that Lineker owes some part of his twitter following to his role at the BBC is also irrelevant. Does every celebrity have to have their twitter account controlled by the media organisations that made them famous? No one with any sense thinks that Lineker's tweets represent the official position of the BBC, so any sensible BBC management would ignore what he said about refugees on twitter, just as they have ignored his and countless other tweets by BBC presenters in the past. Why Quantitative Easing should always be with us Quantitative Easing (QE) is not a well loved policy instrument in many quarters. What I want to argue in this post is that this unpopularity is in many cases misplaced, and also why QE will and should always be with us as long as central banks remain independent. To understand why, we need to talk about how fiscal policy (changes in government spending or taxes) is financed, and what happened at the start of the Covid pandemic. Macroeconomic textbooks are full of discussion and analysis contrasting bond financed and money financed fiscal policy. With a bond financed fiscal expansion the extra spending (or tax cuts) are matched by higher borrowing, while a money financed fiscal expansion is paid for by creating more money. But in the real world governments do not debate whether to finance the deficit by issuing bonds or creating money. That is because money creation has been delegated to their independent central bank. Central banks in turn typically determine short term interest rates to achieve inflation targets. But a money financed fiscal expansion is still possible, if a fiscal expansion is accompanied by Quantitative Easing (QE). This is what happened in the UK during the pandemic. Furlough was paid for by increasing government borrowing, but the Bank of England bought a very similar quantity of government debt by creating bank reserves (electronic money). So if you treat the central bank as part of the consolidated public sector (as you should here, because central bank profits and losses go to the government), furlough was largely paid for by creating money. It was similar to a classic money financed fiscal expansion. [1] If QE is very similar to textbook money creation, why was it initially treated as something new, and why has it become so unpopular in some quarters? Before the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) most mainstream economists signed up to the idea that macroeconomic stabilisation (and therefore control of inflation) should be exclusively done by independent central banks varying interest rates. In such a world, there would be no need for fiscal stimulus during recessions, because lower interest rates would do the job more quickly and efficiently. Any money creation done by the central bank would just be a bi-product of its interest rate setting process. In effect, independent inflation targeting central banks removed the option of governments choosing to finance their deficits by creating money rather than by borrowing. But that was fine, because there was no reason for governments to want to finance fiscal policy by creating money rather than borrowing as long as the central bank was able to control demand and inflation by varying short term interest rates. That idea broke down during the GFC, because interest rates fell so low they hit a level (roughly zero) that central banks were reluctant to go below. QE was adopted by both the UK and US as an alternative way to stimulate the economy. Money creation was back on the menu. Unfortunately, this also helps explain some of its unpopularity. When fiscal stimulus in 2009 turned to austerity in 2010 in most major economies, too many people who should have known better suggested this wouldn’t matter because QE could do the job interest rates could no longer do. There is a simple reason why this was not, and will never be, true. Fiscal stimulus has a much more reliable impact on aggregate demand than QE. It is now generally recognised by most academic economists that fiscal consolidation in 2010, at the start of the recovery from the biggest recession since WWII, was a major mistake. But this mistake didn’t happen because of QE. It happened in part because some, including many senior central bankers, oversold what QE was able to achieve. Quantitative Easing is also unpopular because it’s associated in many people’s minds with increasing wealth inequality. Once again, I think QE is being unfairly judged. What causes asset prices to rise is low long term interest rates. The decline in long term interest rates since the 1980s is in large part outside the control of policy makers. Long term rates are influenced by central banks varying short term rates, but they do this to keep inflation on target and aggregate demand reasonably strong. The contribution of QE to the level of asset prices is marginal compared to other factors, including the impact of the central bank’s interest rate decisions. Of course low interest rates also mean the income received from financial assets is lower, so what the wealthy gain on the wealth side they lose on the income side. The wealth effect of very low interest rates is also not inherent to interest rate stabilisation, but is instead a reflection of bad fiscal policy. Good fiscal policy should ensure that interest rates never need to fall to zero, except in extreme circumstances where fiscal policy has not had time to have an impact on the economy. The fact that we had interest rates at their lower bound for so long after the GFC reflects the 2010 austerity mistake in the UK, US and the Eurozone. There is a serious issue involved in reversing QE, which I have looked at in a recent post. Central banks are understandably reluctant to sell the large quantities of government debt they hold quickly (and use it to reduce reserves), which means money creation is slow to be reversed. As central banks pay interest on these reserves, when interest rates are high and rising as they are today the public sector ends up transferring funds to the private banks holding the reserves. But as my post points out, this is not a necessary consequence of QE, and can be fixed in more than one way. Last, but definitely least, there is an argument some make that the expansion of QE during the pandemic helped cause today's high inflation. This is in my view largely nonsense, and relies on either inflated views of the importance of central bank money creation (a form of monetarism), or incorrect views on what determines bank lending. If pandemic QE hadn't happened we would still have had higher energy prices and the invasion of Ukraine. More generally, given what happened after the GFC, it was important that policy ensured a strong and quick recovery from the pandemic, which is why I still think Biden's fiscal stimulus in 2020/21 was the right thing to do. As I note above, good fiscal policy should always ensure interest rates are well above their lower bound. While QE is not the evil that some make out, a legitimate question is whether it has any positive virtues. Why do you need an unreliable replacement for cutting interest rates when interest rates hit their lower bound if fiscal expansion is always superior? To answer that we need to go back to the last time a money financed fiscal expansion occurred, which was the pandemic. What the onset of the pandemic showed is that bond markets (the markets for government debt) can be fickle. As the pandemic broke they initially refused to buy government debt (not just in the UK but elsewhere), so without QE the government would have been forced to repeat the mistake of 2010 and cut spending or raise taxes. This is why the QE option always has to be there, and why QE will always be part of the policy toolkit. When a fiscal expansion is vital but the government cannot sell its debt, there has to be the option of a money financed fiscal expansion. We can make the same point another way. One of the excuses for 2010 austerity was precisely that without it the bond markets might panic. QE was the key reason why that argument was false, as I outlined in one of my first blog posts. When bond financed fiscal expansion is not possible because of fickle bond markets, yet fiscal expansion is necessary for the health of the economy, money financed fiscal expansion has to be an option. QE is what makes that option possible. It is very ironic that while central banks mis-sold QE as an alternative to fiscal expansion, in reality QE was all you needed to blow the main argument against fiscal expansion out of the water. [2] So in my view the bad press QE gets is largely unwarranted. It is true that QE is a pretty unreliable stimulus tool in itself, and it should never be a substitute for fiscal expansion during recessions. However QE is an important policy instrument that allows those fiscal expansions when the economy needs it, interest rates are so low they cannot provide it, yet bond markets will not buy government debt. This combination of circumstances is unlikely to happen very often, but even when it doesn't happen the existence of QE knocks down claims that it might. [1] In a textbook money financed fiscal expansion, the government saves having to pay the current interest rate on the government bonds it would otherwise have had to sell. With QE, the consolidated public sector (government+central bank) saves having to pay the interest on the bonds the central bank happens to buy. Another difference in detail is that furlough was more like fiscal support rather than fiscal expansion. [2] Is there a problem because governments do fiscal expansions, but central banks do QE? There shouldn’t be, because in recessions caused by deficient demand central banks will want long term interest rates to be low, and if the bond market is reluctant to buy government debt long term interest rates will rise, so the central bank will buy that government debt. The political economy and worldwide implications of the Inflation Reduction Act in the US In May last year I wrote about a new book by Eric Lonergan and Corinne Sawers called Supercharge Me. The book argued, in essence, that economists should stop thinking about carbon taxes as the way to tackle climate change, what we could call the big stick, and instead think about carrots in the form of subsidies and public investment designed to get green industries to a scale where their rapid growth would be inevitable. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is essentially a climate bill passed in the US that does exactly that. It is full of carrots, sometimes open ended carrots, designed to promote greener industries, financed not with carbon taxes but higher corporate taxes and lower drug prices for medicare. As I largely agreed with the central idea behind Supercharge Me, I thought it would be interesting to see how that strategy had proved successful in one of the most difficult countries to convince to go green. The IRA started as Build Back Better, which was a massive programme of infrastructure spending with a large green component and welfare spending. Some of that was diverted into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was passed into law in November 2021, but the climate part became stuck because one Democratic Senator, Joe Manchin from the Coal and Gas state of West Virginia, refused to support it. (The Republican party was of course united in opposition.) It looked as if once again the US Congress would block effective green action in the US. But then, to the surprise of many and with a name change the IRA was passed in August 2022. So why did Manchin change his mind, and what was lost as a result? What follows leans very heavily on this excellent talk and discussion, so if you want to know more than I can write here have a look. A key idea from Supercharge Me is to use the story of solar power as a model for how to green large parts (not all) of the economy. Solar power started off as a relatively expensive form of energy that also required large capital costs to install. However, partly as a result of what the book calls Extreme Positive Incentives, costs came down, more solar power was installed which allowed costs to come down even further, until now solar is one of the cheapest forms of energy. Electric Vehicles (EVs) are another example of where strong incentives or regulations could produce similar effects. In the UK at the moment not many people buy EVs because they cost more to buy and the charging network is far from ideal. However if the government provides incentives for people to buy EVs their costs will fall, and if they ensure the charging network is substantially improved more people will want to buy them. The IRA includes incentives to buy EVs (which are already working), heat pumps and a lot more besides. So what made Senator Manchin decide to finally support this bill? The answer is complex, and there are certainly some changes in the bill that he insisted on which are far from progressive. One example is that green incentives no longer require union labour. No one is suggesting the IRA is everything those supporting a Green New Deal would want. But something is better than nothing, so it is interesting to see why Manchin changed his mind, and why Big Oil did not fight against the IRA. One answer is the invasion of Ukraine. As I have already noted, green energy is now cheap energy, and that is intensified when the price of carbon based energy suddenly shoots up. That is one reason for the change of name to IRA. But perhaps more importantly, with US energy producers getting huge profits and exporting large amounts of gas to Europe, green energy seemed less of an existential threat to Big Oil. Republicans pleaded with oil companies to fight the IRA, and they refused. There are some signs that the IRA may also be robust enough to survive a Republican Congress. There is a new ‘battery belt’ in the US in a similar position to the old bible belt: southern red states which will be reluctant to give up the subsidies the IRA has created. The other factor that helped get the IRA passed in the Senate was China. Once you see Green Energy as at least part of the future, then most politicians will want their own country to be part of that. As with IT, there was a common concern that China was becoming too successful in providing key parts of the green revolution, and so the IRA is actually a very protectionist measure. Trump’s Make America Great Again has become an insistence that green goods should be Made in America. Again this aspect of the IRA may be far from ideal, but the link between greening the US and protection is not one I would have guessed beforehand. It has also created difficulties for the EU in how to respond. Hopefully the Ukraine war will also accelerate the global move towards renewable energy. For any significant movement in the UK we will have to wait for a Labour government, which has pledged a substantial programme of green investment, including a publicly owned renewable energy company. The main threat to this happening on the scale required to avoid harmful global warming, both in the UK and elsewhere, is an obsession with the government’s deficit and public debt. The IRA is fully financed by higher taxes, and that was the only political option Biden had. But whether we are talking about conventional public investment, or incentives to encourage private investment in green energy, using borrowing rather than taxes makes a lot more sense from an economic and political point of view. This is, after all, temporary government spending to spur investment with future benefits, so its costs should be spread over generations. There are strong economic arguments for higher carbon taxes because the polluter should pay, but the political constraints on achieving this seem high. In the UK at least there is a strong argument that permanent revenue from higher taxes should be used to fund permanent increases in current public spending to allow our public sector to recover from 15 years of Conservative governance. So how do we avoid deficit targets slowing down the transition to a green economy? Once again I need to stress that in an ideal world this would not be a problem. I have argued many times that targets for the total deficit or for falling debt to GDP make no sense, because public investment should not be constrained by fiscal rules. If public investment yields a good social return then it should happen, whatever the implications are for public debt. But unfortunately we are not in that ideal world, and so we need to start thinking about more imaginative ways to get around the obsession with public debt. One of these has recently been proposed in an interesting article by Peter Bofinger. He makes the case for funding public missions through increases in public debt, which is a kind of ‘project based golden rule’. (This idea of missions for government has recently been championed by Mariana Mazzucato, but it goes back further than this.) In the UK context this would allow the debt to GDP ratio to increase only to the extent that it represented spending to undertake a mission, in this case to green the economy. This generalises an idea I put forward in my post on Supercharge Me, which was to create a ‘green account’ that was outside normal fiscal rules. As I noted there, it would also require monitoring by the OBR to ensure mission spending was clearly defined. As the IRA illustrates, the obstacles to fighting climate change can with compromise and imagination be overcome. It is a mistake to prevent such compromise when the ideal is not politically possible. Providing incentives for greener energy is politically easier than making the polluter pay. While in an ideal world fiscal rules would not get in the way of such incentives, we live in a world that is obsessed by public debt. This too requires imagination and compromise to ensure this obsession does not get in the way of tackling climate change. In comparing prosperity across countries, productivity and inequality are almost everything Paul Krugman once said that to improve a country’s standard of living over time “productivity isn't everything, but, in the long run, it is almost everything”. I want to use a recent Resolution Foundation study to examine a slightly different question, which is what determines differences in prosperity across countries. The answer is very similar, but with an important modification. The Resolution Foundation report by Krishan Shah and Gregory Thwaites compares productivity and (PPP adjusted) incomes per household in the UK with the US, Germany and France, and with France it looks at both 2008 and 2019 so we can look at the comparison over time. But it starts with the following chart which includes many more countries. This plots GDP per hour (productivity) on the horizontal axis against median income (both logged) for a number of countries. The line passing through the points is the 45 degree line, and the fact that the points are clustered around this line shows that differences in productivity are crucially important. However there are big divergences from that line, suggesting other factors are important. The first key point, which can get lost in the detail of the report, is that incomes are not the same as prosperity, if you define prosperity in a more general sense. Three of the most important aspects of prosperity that are not captured by incomes are leisure, public goods and investment. Consider each in turn. Imagine two countries. In one, people work long hours, have few holidays and have a long working life, and as a result their incomes are high. In another, people work less hours, have longer holidays and retire earlier, and their incomes are less as a result. It would clearly be a mistake to call the country where people work more hours a more prosperous country. We could ask the same question where incomes differ because of different levels of tax, where tax goes to pay for more public goods. The country where incomes are higher but less goods are provided by the state is not necessarily more prosperous, particularly if private sector provision of these goods is less efficient (think US healthcare). These are key issues when comparing the US and France, for example. The final point is that you could raise incomes by not investing in the future. As future productivity depends on investment today, this might raise people’s incomes today, but at the expense of their incomes tomorrow. Differences in investment may occur not just in producing more capital goods, buildings etc, but also with investment in education, or simply in terms of income from overseas assets. These factors are important to consider when we look at the relationship between comparisons of productivity and comparisons of income per household. Here is the report’s comparison between the UK and France in 2019. On the left we have GDP/hour worked, a measure of productivity [1]. That shows that France is 17% more productive than the UK. The penultimate column is average household income, where France and the UK are almost equal. Why is France more productive but incomes are no higher? The main answer is the ‘worker/population’ column, which in this case mainly reflects earlier retirement in France (but also longer life expectancy). Does that mean that the average French person is not more prosperous than the average person in the UK, despite being more productive? Almost certainly [2] not, because people in France have decided to use their greater productivity to retire earlier. Differences in the proportion of workers to the population doesn’t just reflect retirement. There are fewer young people in the workforce in France. This is partly an investment effect (more education) but also reflects high youth unemployment. The other big factor reducing average incomes in France is the ratio of domestic household income to national domestic income. This partly reflects the fact that French firms invest more so the share of profits in GDP is higher (and the wage share lower), but it also reflects higher taxes and (almost certainly) therefore more public goods. [3] I hope it is now clear why I wanted to stress the distinction between incomes and prosperity. Although average incomes in France may be no higher than in the UK, the French are still more prosperous because they have used their productivity advantage to have a longer retirement, have more public goods and to invest more in the future. So productivity remains crucial to prosperity, but how people enjoy that prosperity can be quite different between countries. A final but crucial point comes from comparing the last two columns. Median income is the income of the person in the middle of the income distribution, where you have as much chance of having an income above or below that level. If the distribution of income is very unequal, and in particular if it is skewed in favour of those at the top, median income will be below average income. Median incomes are significantly higher in France than in the UK, because the UK is more unequal. So although productivity is crucial in making cross country comparisons of prosperity, inequality is also important. (For a more detailed comparative analysis of different income brackets, see John Burn-Murdoch here. For a discussion of the impact of changes in the proportion of income taken by the top 1% in the UK over time, see here and particularly here.) The comparison for 2008 rather than 2019 illustrates a key point that is familiar. While the productivity gap in 2019 was 17%, it was only 7% in 2009. The last 10/15 years really has been a period of UK decline. The 2019 comparison with Germany throws up similarities and differences to France that the report goes into. While the productivity gap is similar, the benefits are taken in terms of working less hours rather than less years. Turning to the US, the productivity gap with the UK is similar to the gap with Germany and France, but US income is much higher. Some of that big gap is because workers in the US work more hours, and taxes are lower because public good provision is lower, but there are also differences that must reflect problems with the data used. This analysis by the Resolution Foundation illustrates two general points. First, comparisons of personal (post-tax) income levels are a partial indicator of relative prosperity, because they ignore leisure, investment and public goods. For that reason, a comparison of productivity levels may be a better indicator of comparative prosperity than relative income levels. Second, what productivity ignores is the often significant impact different levels of inequality can have on the prosperity of the typical household. [1] GDP/hour worked is a very aggregate measure of productivity, and could reflect different compositions of output as well as how productive similar firms are. [2] We could drop the almost if we could be sure that the difference in retirement ages represented national preferences, including choices about retirement incomes. [3] In theory higher profits could reflect higher dividends rather than higher investment, of course. This links to the decoupling debate (between productivity and real wages) I talked about here, based on work by Teichgräber and Van Reenen. Why does the current political right find it so hard to learn? This isn’t a headline from the pre-Truss era, or immediately after the ill-fated Kwarteng budget - see the date. It’s as if they believe Truss was not brought down by the markets but instead by some left-wing plot. That the Mail and Telegraph could print headlines like these so soon after the Kwarteng/Truss debacle might seem extraordinary, but I fear it’s just an extreme example of something I wrote about a few weeks ago, and that is the failure of the Conservative right to learn from its own failures and events generally. This post explores why there seems to be an inability to learn and adapt on the political right in the UK. As Steve Richards emphasised recently, the Conservatives after their catastrophic defeat in 1997 did not undergo the soul searching and upheavals that Labour had after their heavy defeat in 1983. Perhaps more surprisingly, this didn’t happen after they lost the following two general elections. Despite the GFC demonstrating the dangers of deregulation, the Conservative party continued to push for less ‘red tape’, including recently in the financial sector. Osborne was forced to match Labour’s spending plans before the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) because they were popular, but rather than accepting this he used that crisis as a device for achieving a small state (less spending, lower taxes). This failure to learn has not always been true of the Conservative party. After the shocking (to them at least) defeat of Churchill in 1945, the Conservatives under Macmillan largely accepted the innovations introduced by the 1945 Labour government. More recently, Theresa May at least talked as if she wanted to shift the party away from the ‘government should get out of the way’ attitude that was behind austerity. (This interview between Steve Richards and Nick Timothy is interesting in this respect.) To an extent Johnson also understood that a low spending, low tax, low regulations platform would not appeal to the Red Wall voters who swept him to power. Yet neither May nor Johnson succeeded in taking their party with them. Tacking to the centre on the economy while staying conservative on social issues makes good electoral sense, but many Conservative MPs, most Conservative members and pretty well all the right wing press want lower taxes and less regulation. Even if the Conservative party loses heavy in 2024/5, it is hard to see this party shifting its economic policy towards the centre. I think this failure to learn and adapt is linked to another aspect of modern Conservatism, which is notable in both the UK and US, and this is a hostility to experts and science more generally. Again I don’t think this was as strong in Conservatism before Thatcher. Thatcher, and her mentor Keith Joseph, tried to abolish funding for social science in the UK. Austerity, although it had a few high profile academic supporters, went against basic and state of the art macroeconomics. More recently, Johnson began to ignore the advice on Covid that he received from his own group of medical scientists. Although Conservative party leaders sign up to the net zero agenda, their actions show a distinct lack of enthusiasm. Conservatives seem deeply distrustful of universities and academics. Science is all about the experimental method, which in turn is all about learning. Crudely, you have a theory, do an experiment to see if it works, and if it doesn’t you dump the theory and think again. Of course scientists are more attached to their theories than this Popperian characterisation suggests, sometimes for good reason and sometimes not, but there would be little scientific progress without learning. Right wing anti-science in the UK is not nearly as bad as in the US, where the front runners to be the next Republican President are using their opponent’s support for vaccines as a weapon against them. But using nonsense arguments to suggest pandemic lockdowns were always a bad idea, which is now just standard in the right wing press, is just one step away from where the US is right now. I have argued that the Conservative party’s obsession with tax cuts just isn’t possible without ending the NHS as we know it (see also George Eaton more recently), but the party either lies about this or is in denial. This refusal to respect basic arithmetic and evidence often initiates the party’s antagonism to democratic pluralism, and may even be a factor behind why some ministers resort to bullying civil servants. Which brings us, inevitably, to neoliberalism ideology. Why ideology more generally rather than neoliberalism? A standard definition of ideology is “a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy”. Ideology, being a system of ideas, is like a theory in that it can be right or wrong. But one characteristic of ideologies seems to be that they are particularly resistant to evidence that they are wrong. Neoliberalism is an ideology that borrows a lot from economics, but as I have sometimes said it is the economics you get from doing a Principles (Econ 101) course and missing half the lectures. Or as Dani Rodrik explains more eloquently here, it is just bad economics. As economics is a science, we can show its wrong using evidence. That is one reason why Thatcher so early on clashed with economists, and Keith Joseph tried to cut their funding. Has neoliberalism adapted to the evidence about its errors and limitations? Of course it has not. There are also ideologies on the left that can be just as resistant to evidence. To take just one example, after the recent energy and food price hike there are some who deny that higher private sector wages will lead to greater inflationary pressure. The lessons of the 1970s have not been learned. Ideologies often connect to specific interests, and allow these interests to be portrayed as benefiting society rather than just specific groups. One reason an ideology persists despite some of its elements being clearly wrong is that these interests prevail. However, to say that the modern Conservative party fails to learn from and adapt to failures, and can be anti-science, because of an attachment to an ideology is only half the story, and today may be even less than half the story. While neoliberalism began as an ideology that benefited businesses and corporations as a whole, in both the UK and US it seems to have degenerated into an excuse for some rich people, a few of whom own parts of the mainstream media, to demand lower taxes and deregulation. These monied interests connect with each other and networks of journalists and politicians (some of whom may also be pretty wealthy, while others just want to be). But the origins of these networks in schools or universities attended is less important than it might have been with the old Establishment, because what drives them is the desire of those with money to have power. Sometimes this may be a general desire for power or influence, but more often it may be much more specific, such as the ability to get a government contract for example. In this case donations to the Conservative party become little more than investments with an expected return. For the very wealthy who pay a lot in taxes, donations to politicians campaigning for tax cuts can easily repay themselves over time. For this reason the Truss premiership, and attempts to resurrect it, should not be regarded as some aberration but instead as the culmination of a transformation of the Conservative party that began with Thatcher and neoliberalism but has ended up with corruption and endless calls for tax cuts. Equally the scandal of the VIP lane for PPE equipment should not be seen as some oddity caused by a pandemic but instead as how today’s Conservative party thinks it should spend public money. We should not be surprised that this government seems so unresponsive to public opinion when it is monied interests that are calling the shots. In short, it doesn’t learn from its mistakes because it pays not to do so. After 1997 the Conservative party didn’t learn from its mistakes because it was still in thrall to an ideology and the Prime Minister that championed it. If the party loses power at the next election, it will be the influence of money rather than ideology that prevents it from learning the obvious lessons, and money that stops it changing to better reflect public opinion on economic issues. Will this week's Budget be pre-election giveaways,... How the political right has used ‘impartiality’ to...

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Posts Tagged ‘Wildlife Habitat’ The Plight of the Dragonfly Posted in Marie's Musings, tagged Dragonflies, Dragonfly Habitat, Everglades, Family Memories, Mosquitoes, Nature, Nymphs, Skeeter Hawks, Wildlife, Wildlife Habitat on June 30, 2017| 2 Comments » It was a dry year, until the rains came. I had to water my potted plants and raised beds just about every day. Miss a day and someone would die. In late May, the rains came. In June, we’ve had more rain than we had in the eight previous months—since September! I had so looked forward to June. The weather in May is as perfect as can be, pleasant but not too hot. But not for yard and garden work because of the yellow flies. Their bites are painful. They come in swarms. Some years I can’t sprint from the front door to the car without getting a half dozen bites. They thumb their noses at insect repellent. I can’t work outdoors without wearing armor. June is hotter, but I don’t mind the heat. I had so looked forward to June. Then the rains came—seven inches one day! With the rains, mosquitoes. I diligently went through my yard dumping anything that held water where mosquitoes could breed. Yet breed they did! I have no idea where, unless the wrigglers can live in humidity alone, and there’s plenty of that. The mosquitoes are so thick I can’t sprint from my front door to the car without getting a dozen bites. They thumb their noses at Skin so Soft. Insect repellent works for barely an hour. Even if Mosquito Control came back in my woods, I wouldn’t want them to spray. Too many other things live here. Besides, they spray at night. I don’t garden at night but the mosquitoes that bother me are out in the daytime. I had such plans for my yard. I wanted to work on the blueberry patch that inspired me last month. I had so looked forward to June. Here in the South, we have wondrous creatures called “skeeter hawks” that fly around and devour mosquitoes. Elsewhere they’re called dragonflies. Usually they’ll follow a plague of mosquitoes and make short work of them. So be patient, I told myself. Soon the dragonflies will come and I’ll be able to go outside again. But it’s the end of June and no dragonflies yet. Why? I knew dragonflies breed in water, like mosquitoes. A creek runs through my property and there are several ponds in the neighborhood, but they can dry up during drought, so the dragonflies likely had nowhere to breed. Even with all the rain we’ve had this month, my creek is still dry. The land was very thirsty. When the ponds fill up, the dragonflies should lay eggs, but how long before their babies grow up and eat mosquitoes? I turned to Google. I learned that, unlike mosquitoes, their larvae, called nymphs, live in the water for months or even years before they become adults. Mosquitoes take only a few days to grow up. The nymphs aren’t idle–they eat mosquito larvae in the water, but they’re not ready to take to the air for months or more. This isn’t the worst plague of mosquitoes I’ve seen. When my family lived in Moore Haven, they were so thick even window screens didn’t protect us. Dad always claimed one mosquito pokes a leg through the screen, another pokes a head through, and so on, then all the parts get together and make a whole mosquito. Enough body parts and you have a swarm of them. Some nights they were so bad in the house I’d sleep with a blanket over my head. In summer. In the Everglades. And we had no air conditioning. But at least those mosquitoes came out mostly at night. During the day, we could safely go outside. Why didn’t dragonflies keep the mosquitoes under control in South Florida? We were surrounded by water—Lake Okeechobee, the Caloosahatchee River, and scads of drainage canals. We were also surrounded by sugarcane fields. Who knows what chemicals they poured into those canals? This was in the 1960’s, long before the EPA, and dragonflies are more susceptible to pollution than mosquitoes. Also, draining the Everglades for agriculture destroyed dragonfly habitat while mosquitoes could still breed in a teaspoon of water. According to the National Wildlife Foundation, there are 307 species of dragonflies in the US and 15% of them are in danger of extinction. The ones most in danger are the stream dwellers, due to water pollution. Who’d have thought dragonflies could go extinct? Mosquitoes are in no danger of extinction. They outbreed dragonflies. The most dangerous mosquitoes, that carry things like malaria and Zika, are active during the day when we humans want to be outdoors. Several years ago when I was a social worker, there was an outbreak of West Nile Virus. I drove out into the countryside one day looking for a family and found a little old lady who knew where they lived. She was trying to load some things into her car and I offered to help. I stood with an armload of dishes while she rummaged in her purse for her keys and her mosquitoes chewed my ears and elbows. I couldn’t swat them without dropping her stuff. Finally, her goodies safely deposited in the car, I could freely swat while she gave me directions. Then she said, “Did you read in the newspaper about the man who caught West Nile Virus? That was my husband.” Whoa! Did the same mosquitoes trying to devour me bite him first? Fortunately, I escaped that unpleasant fate and lived to be bitten again. I’ve thought about getting my yard certified as a Wildlife Habitat. https://www.nwf.org/Garden-For-Wildlife/Certify.aspx I have everything required except a water feature. (In fact, I have so much of the required vegetation that I need to clear some out to make a human habitat.) Now I think I’ll raise my own home-grown skeeter hawks so I’ll have a head start on the next mosquito plague. The NWF website has information on building a pond for dragonflies: https://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Gardening/Archives/2002/Attracting-Aerial-Acrobats-to-Your-Yard.aspx/. Amazing how something like this can grow up to be a beautiful dragonfly! But how can I keep mosquitoes from breeding in my pond until the nymphs hatch and eat them? Fish would eat wrigglers and nymphs alike. There is a product called BTi, mosquito dunks, that kills mosquito larvae but won’t harm nymphs. I must get some. I wish I could provide a habitat for the stream dwellers, too, but my little creek dries up when there’s no rain.

October 4, 2021 / Mark A Nutting / Leave a comment First let me explain what impostor syndrome is. An article on Time.com poses the question, “Have you ever felt like you don’t belong? Like your friends or colleagues are going to discover you’re a fraud, and you don’t actually deserve your job and accomplishments?” The article goes on to say that 70% of individuals feel this at some point in their lives. Most people are afraid to admit this because they assume that if people find out, they may not continue to give them the same opportunities or look at them in the same way. Because I know that so many others feel or have felt this, I’m not afraid to admit it. I have felt like an impostor on many occasions. I also know that I shouldn’t feel this way. I’ve worked very hard to reach my various goals and my level of expertise, but still I have those doubts. I’m sure there are reasons that so many of us feel this. For me, maybe it was growing up as the third of eight kids. Maybe I felt I had to work hard to get out from under my older siblings’ shadows. Who knows? I don’t need to know why. Recently, in a book that I was reading, the author made a point that there was an upside to suffering from impostor syndrome. That is, because somehow we don’t feel we’ve earned our success, we end up working extra hard to make sure that we get it right. I feel that’s very true. We need to feel that we’ve put in at least as much if not more than anyone else to prove our right to be where we are. Rarely are we satisfied, and that is a strength. In talking about his climb to success, Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that, “I always stay hungry, never satisfied with current accomplishments.” and I believe that is us, too. I’m my own worst critic and it keeps me on my toes and always trying to do better. If you are one of the many that suffer from impostor syndrome, know that you’re not alone… far from it. Know that it can be an asset and help you attain even more success, if you let it. So, stay hungry, keep getting better, accept your achievements (because you deserve them) and move on to the next challenge. Best wishes going forward!

Leave a Comment / By Mary Anne Mohanraj / March 17, 2023 March 17, 2023

Furious 7 (2015) Posted on April 26, 2015 by Matti S Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Kurt Russell, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Dwayne Johnson, Djimon Hounsou, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang (archive footage) Directed by: James Wan Rated PG-13 for violence and strong action throughout, some language and suggestive content The Fast and Furious crew is back and this time around, they’ve got two baddies on their tails. The first is Deckard Shaw, out for revenge since Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and Co. put his brother Owen in a coma. The second is Somalian terrorist Jakande, who goes after them after they rescue hacker extraordinaire Ramsey (Emmanuel) from his clutches in Azerbaijan. You see, Ramsey is responsible for creating a computer program known as God’s Eye which can hack into any device on any network. As such, it can locate anyone, anywhere, anytime. Called back from their quiet lives by “Mr.Nobody” (Russell), who promises to help them stop Shaw if they keep Jakande from getting his hands on God’s eye, the Furious crew sets out once again for another ride. Don’t worry too much about the plot. Ten minutes into the film it doesn’t really matter anymore. New director James Wan ( Saw, The Conjuring) goes for broke with the action, giving fans of the franchise exactly what they came for: death-defying (and improbable, if not impossible) stunts, expensive and powerful soupe-up cars,and gratuitous scantily clad women. The action begins quickly and doesn’t let up until the very end, making the film’s long runtime (two hours, seventeen minutes) fly by. The film does not cover any new ground either. Batman Begins featured a similar program to “God’s Eye” and “Live Free or Die Hard” featured similar action sequences. Non-fans and/or Furious virgins will most likely be left cold by this film, but Paul Walker fanboys/girls will definitely appreciate the film’s touching tribute to the late actor at the end. Since Walker’s untimely death began during filming, his brothers Cody and Caleb were brought in to be body doubles and do voice work for him. I was impressed by how seamlessly this worked. Overall, this film does what it meant to do, no more, no less. Three additional follow-up films are in the works, which leaves me feeling uncertain. The stunts in this film teetered on the line between extremely impressive and ridiculous; I think that in order to keep the franchise going, they will have to keep trying to top themselves and they will cross over into “ridiculous” territory quickly. We will have to wait until 2017 for the final word on this. VERDICT: See, if you’re already a fan. You will not be disappointed. Posted in 2015 New Releases, Action Films | Tagged 2015 films, action films, Paul Walker, Vin Diesel | Leave a comment Kids For Cash (2013) Photo: SenArt Films starring: n/a Directed by: Robert May Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and strong language Kids for Cash is a documentary about the eponymous scandal in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania that involved judges Mark Ciavanella and Michael Conahan. The two were accused of taking kickbacks (to the tune of $2.16 million) to send teenagers to a privately run juvenile detention facility that they had a business interest in. All told, about 3,000 kids were adjudicated as delinquents, found guilty, and sentenced to years-long sentences for sometimes trivial offenses. One of the teenagers in the movie was sent to juvenile detention for creating a MySpace page that made fun of a vice principal. Another was caught at a party where underage drinking was happening, and an officer planted drug paraphernalia in his vehicle so he could be arrested. In each case, the teen’s parents waived their right to legal counsel and were sentenced in a matter of minutes. The documentary uses the “talking head” approach and it does so to great effect; you get to meet several families who were affected by the scandal, as well as others involved in the case (notably, the co-founders of the Juvenile Justice Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). Mark Ciavarella, former President judge and juvenile judge, had once been lauded for his “Zero Tolerance” policy post-Columbine. However, studies have shown that children are not “little adults” and should not be treated as such when it comes to punishment. “Zero Tolerance” has by and large been a failure in the United States, as well, since juvenile incarceration rates continue to increase (they have been up 165% since 1990). Both the accused, Chiavarella and Monahan, are allowed to tell their sides of the story, instead of just being demonised in vignettes and soundbites, as some filmmakers are wont to do *cough Michael Moore COUGH* Whether they deserved what happens in the end, I will leave for the viewer to decide. I will say that watching this film was an extremely emotional, wrenching experience. Many people are not aware of how the juvenile justice system works in the United States, and just how difficult it is to get out of it once one is in. This film is a must watch for every parent. VERDICT: See. Educate yourself. Posted in 2013 Films | Tagged 2013 films, American justice, documentary | Leave a comment Get Hard (2015) Photo: Warner Brothers Pictures Starring: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart,Alison Brie, Craig T. Nelson, Tip “T.I.” Harris Release Date: March 27th, 2015 Directed by: Etan Cohen Rated R for sexual content and crude language throughout, male nudity, drug-related material Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are the creative geniuses behind comedy website Funny or Die. McKay also served as a producer on this film. Those expecting something along the lines of their usual brand of humour (the requisite crude toilet jokes that resonate well with teenage boys) will be surprised by “Get Hard.” Whether that is a pleasant surprise or not… well, I’ll leave that to the viewer. This time around, Will Ferrell is James King, a millionaire hedge fund manager convicted of securities fraud. He is sentenced to 10 years hard time at San Quentin and given 30 days to get his affairs in order. Used to a life of luxury and creature comforts, King panics: how will he survive being on the inside? He decides that he needs someone with experience, someone who can teach him the ins and outs of prison life, someone who knows how to “get hard”: the guy who washes his car every week, Darnell Lewis (Hart). There’s only one problem: Darnell has never actually been to jail. Due to his insulated, privileged upbringing, King assumes that he has. Darnell, however, is more than happy to let him believe this, as the money made from being King’s jail mentor will mean a nicer house and a better life for his family. Hijinks and hilarity ensue as James King gets daily lessons in “getting hard”. This film is much like any other Will Ferrell vehicle: Ferrell overacts with gusto, sobbing hysterically (and hilariously) after finding out his sentence and demonstrating his penchant for physical humour and crass jokes. He is definitely in his element in “Get Hard.” Hart, a comedy natural, portrays Darnell’s bravado with ease. Unlike most Ferrell films, this one seems to be somewhat of a commentary on the way the richest people in America tend to get away with heinous crimes, while poorer people (often minorities) are statistically more likely to be incarcerated at least once in their lives. However, it doesn’t quite count as a satire. Rapper and sometimes-actor T.I. does a solid turn as Darnell’s gangster cousin Russell. The ending is rather predictable and somewhat rushed, but overall I found “Get Hard” quite enjoyable. Easily offended people will cringe at the male nudity and racist jokes interspersed throughout the film. VERDICT: See, if you’re a fan of Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, and/or FunnyorDie.com. Otherwise, don’t waste your time. Posted in 2015 New Releases, comedy | Tagged 2015 films, comedy, Kevin Hart, Will Ferrell | Leave a comment Photo: DreamWorks Animation Starring: Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Matt Jones Directed by: Tim Johnson Rated PG for mild cartoon action and some crude humor DreamWorks Animation’s latest effort is the story of Oh, an alien misfit on the run for making one too many mistakes. Oh (Parsons) is a member of the alien race known as the Boov, who excel at running away from their enemy, the fearsome Gorg. When the Boov invade Earth and relocate all humans to their new home in Australia, teenage Gratuity ‘Tip’ Tucci (Rihanna) is left behind. Brought together by circumstance, Tip and Oh must learn to overcome their differences and discover what the real meaning of “HOME” is. First, the accolades. The visuals are, for lack of a better word, fun. The candy-coloured Boov (who change colours to match their emotions) are a visual treat and will delight the children in the audience. The story, while familiar and simplistic, is surprisingly full of heart. Steve Martin is delightfully malicious as the pompous Captain Smek, leader of the Boov and wielder of the Shusher, a wooden staff with an egg-shaped stone on top used to “shush” anyone who disagrees with him. Parsons’ Oh is endearing and at times comical. The standout performance, for me, was Matt Jones’ Kyle. Adult moviegoers may remember him from his “Breaking Bad” days (he played the character of Badger). His raspy delivery and eventual transformation were just plain winning. Now, the bad. While kids under 10 will be enchanted, adults will probably be bored. The soundtrack, which was composed entirely by Rihanna, is very gimmicky and at times does not match the film at all. As a matter of fact, Tip’s character often feels like a teenage version of Rihanna, complete with Barbadian heritage. Parsons also has a very (ahem!) distinctive voice. Coupled with the jumbled English and chirpy delivery, it can get annoying rather quickly for those not already fans of Parsons. Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez (who plays Tip’s mother) deliver passable, but not spectacular performances. VERDICT: RENT. It will make a fine addition to your DVD library alongside “Frozen.” Cinderella (2015) Posted on March 21, 2015 by Matti S photo: Disney Starring: Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter, Holliday Grainger, Sophie McShera Directed by: Kenneth Branagh Rated PG for mild thematic elements Welcome to the era of a kinder, more diverse Disney. Thanks to films such as “The Princess and the Frog”, “Tangled”, “Brave”, and more recently “Frozen,” the archetypal Damsel in Distress is rapidly becoming extinct. Today’s Disney princess is a combination of wit, sass, charm, and independence. We are also seeing more people of color in Disney films; before, the cast was typically white. (One notable exception being “Song of the South,” a film Disney just wishes everyone would forget about.) At the same time, Disney seems to be stuck in a creative rut. Slated for release in 2016 is a live-action remake of “The Jungle Book”, which the studio previously did in 1994. Other reboots of animated classics, “Dumbo” and “Beauty and the Beast” are in development. “Cinderella” covers no new ground, plot-wise. Save for a few minor changes (I won’t spoil them for you), this is the same story you’ve seen before: Cinderella’s idyllic country life is destroyed when her mother suddenly falls ill and dies. Her father, a merchant (Chaplin) marries a widow who has two spoiled daughters, Drisella (McShera) and Anastasia (Grainger). After he dies of an illness while away on a journey, Cinderella’s stepmother sends away the servants, and Cinderella is forced to do all the housework. While she tries her best to “be kind, and have courage” as her dying mother had admonished her, one day she breaks away from the house and rides into the woods. There she has a chance encounter with the Prince, but she does not know who he is. After this meeting, the prince decides to have a ball that includes every eligible girl in the land, in the hope of seeing her again. If you’re an adult over the age of 25, you already know how this ends. Lily James portrays Cinderella with aplomb; she reminded me of a young, blonde Natalie Portman with her wide-eyed wonder and curiosity. As in the original film, she can communicate with animals, like her beloved mice, but there are no talking animals here: these CGI mice only make unintelligible squeaks. The chemistry between her and Madden’s prince is palpable and spellbinding. Helena Bonham Carter’s turn as the fairy godmother is all too brief; still she manages to steal the show in the little screen time she has (she also serves as the narrator.) The costumes and sets are lush and elaborate; doubtless Cinderella’s blue ball gown will spawn a thousand Made in China lookalikes to the delight of little girls everywhere. The only performance with which I found fault was Blanchett’s: though she was adept at portraying the icy cold bitterness she felt towards Cinderella, I did not find her nearly cruel enough to be convincing. VERDICT: Kids and Disney fangirls alike will enjoy this film. However, if you’re looking for an adult version of Cinderella with bite, I recommend “Ever After” starring Drew Barrymore. Posted in 2015 New Releases, Family Friendly Films | Tagged Cinderella, Disney, Lily James | 2 Comments The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013) Photo: Studio Ghibli starring: (English voice cast) Chloe Grace Moretz, James Caan, Darren Criss, Lucy Liu, Beau Bridges, James Marsden, Oliver Platt Release Date: November 20th, 2013 (US) Directed by: Isao Takahata Rated PG for thematic elements, some violence, partial nudity This visually astounding, lushly animated film from Studio Ghibli tells the story of an elderly childless bamboo cutter (Caan) who discovers a tiny princess in a bamboo stalk. Convinced that the child is a blessing from heaven, he rushes home, and he and his wife (Steenburgen) decide to raise her as their own. She grows at a rapid rate (much faster than normal) and soon befriends the neighbor children, in particular Sutemaru (Criss) , an older boy whom she thinks of as a big brother. Though she is quite content with her country life, her father has bigger plans for her: Upon discovering a heap of gold in another bamboo stalk, he decides to build a splendid mansion in the capital, where his daughter will live and train to be one of the nobility. However, Kaguya (Moretz) does not take to princess training very well. Though beautiful and intelligent, she is very willful and is a constant thorn in the side of her mentor, Lady Sagami (Liu). Before long marriage proposals from the five most powerful men in the country begin rolling in. Princess Kaguya refuses to marry them unless they can perform impossible tasks. I won’t give away the ending, but I will say that it will leave you speechless. I recommend the original Japanese version to the English dub. While Chloe Grace Moretz is a fine actress, her voice does not suit Kaguya. Also, this film will be enjoyed by those who already like anime or Studio Ghibli’s work; those unfamiliar with Japanese culture may be confused by some of the themes. After all, it is based on a Japanese folk tale called “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter” There is also a brief scene where a bare breast and nipple is shown (breastfeeding); while not seen as offensive in Japan, some parents may find this offensive. Young children may also lose interest since the film has a long runtime and there are stretches of the film where little happens. Use your best judgment when deciding if this is a good family film. VERDICT: Worth a watch for the animation alone Posted in Japanese films and anime | Tagged 2013 films, animated films, Studio Ghibli | Leave a comment Still Alice (2014) Posted on March 8, 2015 by Matti S Starring: Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth Release date: October 13th, 2014 (US) Directed by: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland Photo: Sony Pictures Classics Dr. Alice Howland (Julianne Moore) has a successful career, loving husband (Alec Baldwin), and three grown children (Kate Bosworth, Kristen Stewart and Hunter Parrish). She is a renowned linguistics professor at Columbia University. When she is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, her entire world comes crashing down. As she faces losing her memories and identity, her family must overcome their differences to be there for her. Moore’s acting is superb (she did win the 2014 Oscar for Best Actress, after all). As the film chronicles her deterioration and struggle to complete even the most basic activities of daily living, Moore’s Alice remains brave and sympathetic to the end. Though the film mostly focuses on Alice’s perspective and largely neglects the rest of her family’s, for the most part, the cast deftly overcomes this void. Husband John immerses himself in work because he cannot deal with the loss of his wife, whom he says is “the smartest woman I’ve ever met.” Icy oldest daughter Anna rather hard to read; it is not that Bosworth’s performance was lacking,she just does not have much in the script to work with. Youngest son Tom is rarely seen. Notable also is Kristen Stewart’s performance as Lydia, Alice’s youngest daughter with whom Alice is not on good terms. Though her trademark deadpan delivery, grunts, and expressionless eyes are present, the way that Alzheimer’s brings her is closer to Alice is poignant. We see her go from surly, struggling actress to devoted caregiver. “Still Alice”‘s only flaw is the music: generic, sad instrumentals that sound more at home in a Lifetime movie. The cinematography is spellbinding. Grainy, out-of-focus flashbacks to Alice’s childhood, as well as blurring the environment when she is having an episode, really give the viewer a sense that Alice’s life is slowly bleeding away. The reality and cruelty of her illness are driven home. Most of us do not like facing our own senility and mortality. “Still Alice” does a splendid job of illustrating this point. It’s definitely worth watching for Moore’s performance alone. VERDICT: SEE IT. Posted in 2015 New Releases | Tagged Alzheimer's disease, Julianne Moore, Oscar winner, Still Alice | Leave a comment

A Culture of Life or Death? Posted on October 22, 2019 October 22, 2019 by Matt Jo In honor of National Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity Pro-Life vs Anti-Abortion: is there a difference? It’s the same as saying, “I’m not pro-choice, I am anti-life.” Anti-life sounds worse, which is why the pro-choice wording was chosen to place the focus on the rights of a woman instead of on the life of the unborn fetus. Not a baby, but a fetus, because it makes it less human. It’s a war of words for one side and a war for morality on the other. The newest argument against pro-lifers is the accusation that people who are fighting to end abortion cannot call themselves pro-life. If these people really cared about life, they would care about life after birth. The continued accusation is that since pro-life groups only focus on ending abortion, they are simply anti-abortion but do not care about the child once it is born. These pro-life groups prevent abortions from happening but do not enable life after. This is a heavily loaded accusation with many assumptions made and hypocrisy from the accusers. You can read more about this idea from a previous blog here. I’ll simply say here that accusing pro-lifers of not doing enough once the child is born is basically admitting that pro-choice people don’t care about the child after it’s born either, because their whole stance is simply to eliminate the baby to begin with and therefore there is no child to care for after birth. Sign up for my email list and get a free book sample here. Pro-life verses anti-abortion, what is the difference? The left would have you think there is one, but in reality they are just reinforcing the pro-life position. If all I care about is making abortion illegal and not about the life once it is born, argumentatively, it is still better than abortion. All the left is saying, in their own words, is that since we don’t care about the quality of life after birth then we should abort the baby. The quality of life after birth cannot be a justifiable reason for aborting the baby. We do not use this measurement anywhere else in life, accept when it comes to euthanasia, which is another discussion to include. Another topic has to be suicide. In fact, suicide is on the rise and as we are seeking to fight against this disease, we are seeking to reinforce a person’s value in life and their quality of life as a means to treat them. Herein lies a contradiction in our society. We are saying that there are circumstances in which a person can decide for themselves or someone else, when their life would be better terminated then lived. Except when it comes to suicide, it is labeled a disease. However the reality needs to be that either killing is okay or it is not okay. This is the faulty thinking with pro-choice groups and the consistency with Christian values. The Christian view point is that it is never okay to take your own life, take the life of an innocent unborn child or allow a person to alleviate their own suffering either because of a sickness or because of a psychiatric disorder. Without having to get into too many offshoots of the argument like a DNR, or if a person is declared brain-dead, let’s keep the discussion to a society focused on life or death. If euthanasia is permissible and abortion is permissible then there is no reason for suicide to not be acceptable. The answer to life’s problems is death. That is the lie our society has bought into as truth, however, our society knows it is absurd to say suicide is permissible. If a person has decided their own quality of life is not what they want, then why can’t they take their own life? Why can’t we provide adult abortion facilities where people can be peacefully put down? Why not provide safe ways for people to commit suicide on their own terms? Purchase a copy by clicking the image above. The reason is because the desire to take your own life is associated with irrationality and a psychosis. As a society, we define the desire to live as normal. However, we muddy the water when it comes to someone who knows they are going to suffer and die due to cancer or some other illness. We are either a society focused on the value of living or we are not. Maybe a solution to our suicide problem lies within this change in values. We need to value life in all forms and stop saying the quality of life is a defining factor in abortion and euthanasia. Let me make myself clear, when suicide becomes permissible and acceptable in our culture, we are doomed. We will have officially crossed a line that we cannot come back from. Some think we have already reached that point, but I still think this is our last stronghold for reasoning. Once suicide is permissible, we no longer have any standing point for reason for which to argue from. Our culture of death will become all consuming, and the human logic will reach its epitome and our culture will regress more than it ever has. If I were to create a dystopian society, that is a prediction for our future, it will be voluntary suicide provided free of charge by a government that has manipulated the people into devaluing life and leaving power in the hands of the political oligarchy. Pro-Life exhibit 10/22 I am pro-life in all it’s forms. This is a life we fight for, that people have died for and that God has seen fit to give us. May we treasure this life and all of its challenges. May we not judge the quality of one’s life as a means to end their life. Life, in and of itself, is a miracle and we need “To seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” Micah 6:8 Matthew J. Diaz Author Bio here Home page here Posted in CultureTagged abortion, anti-abortion, Life, pro-choice, pro-life God is love, but what is love? (Que the music) Kanye West: Don’t Shoot the Messenger

Asking for Directions Weekly Wisdom Coach Blogs By: Brandon Conner A man was sitting on his porch in front of his house one day when he saw a car approaching in the distance. He didn’t recognize the car, so he figured it must be someone from out of town. As the driver neared, he rolled down the window and asked the man “Can you tell me how to get to town?” The old man, having lived there his entire life, was quick and eager to direct the driver on precisely the best way to get there. “It can be a little tricky if you’re not from ‘round here,” he explained, “but with those directions I just gave you, you can’t get lost.” The driver thanked him and headed on down the road. The old man felt a smug sense of satisfaction in knowing that no one could have possibly given better directions than he just did. So you can imagine his surprise when he saw the driver pulling up again a little while later. “You gave me the wrong directions earlier!” the driver said. “I told you I was trying to get to town! I thought you knew I meant Jonestown, but you gave me directions to Carson…” I see this same thing happen all the time with coaches and their athletes. A new face shows up to the gym, lost on the road of fitness, if you will, asking the “old man” (trainer) for the best course of action. Often times, we, as coaches, are all too willing to give our opinions on the best way to do this or that, without ever really taking the time to find out exactly what that person is trying to achieve! My experience with nutrition, dieting, and cutting weight has proven that I can take a 180 lb man, and help him lean out to 170 lbs in a few weeks for a competition… but, if he is a hard-gainer, who has been trying to reach that 200lb mark, isn’t he going be frustrated if he follows my “surefire” plan to success?!? This leads to a lack of trust between coach & athlete, and even if the misunderstanding is eventually worked out (which many times it never is…), valuable time will have been wasted in the process. Seems like an exaggeration maybe, but you get the idea. Members, athletes- be direct with your coaches in what you want, and what you expect. It’s what you’re paying them for! Never shy away from letting the people you’ve trusted to direct your fitness goals know about changes, updates, or detours in your journey. Coaches, trainers- be more inquisitive in dealing with your athletes/members in what their goals are. Only after clear-cut, reasonable goals are outlined and agreed upon, can a plan of action be formed. The trust and bond that is built through this process, as clients reach their goals and you see that your plan of action does indeed work when followed, is invaluable to building your gym & your community as a whole.

Article: Brachymyrmex patagonicus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), an emerging pest species in the southeastern United States. MacGown, J. A. (Joseph A.) Hill, J. G. (JoVonn G.) Deyrup, M. A. (Mark Amidon) Brachymyrmex patagonicus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), an emerging pest species in the southeastern United States. Florida Entomologist

old-retro-antique-vintage-163136 Published December 16, 2018 at 1280 × 960 in old-retro-antique-vintage-163136

US Secretary of State Highlights Moroccan King’s ‘Far-Reaching’ Reforms April 30, 2021 Khalid Al Mouahidi 0 U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has highlighted the “far-reaching” reforms undertaken in Morocco under the leadership of King Mohammed VI. This came during […] Mozambique: The World Bank grants 100 million dollars for the north of the country April 30, 2021 Steven Addamah 0 Two days after the announcement of the suspension of the gas project of the French group Total in the northeast of Mozambique, the World Bank […] Senegal: The Court of Justice of ECOWAS orders the end of the electoral sponsorship system April 30, 2021 Geraldine Boechat 0 This system requires candidates for various elections to collect the sponsorship of 1% of the electorate to run. During the 2019 presidential election, only five […] Côte d’Ivoire: Six FPI leaders return from exile before Laurent Gbagbo’s return While the return of former President Laurent Gbagbo is expected in Côte d’Ivoire, the Ivorian People’s Front announced in a statement issued Wednesday, April 29, […] Chad: African Union mission in N’Djamena to promote dialogue An African Union mediation mission is in N’Djamena. A mission led by two leading figures. Leading this mission are Bankole Adeoye, the new Peace and […] The EU disengages financially from Eritrea The European Union is preparing to reallocate 121 million euros of development aid intended for Eritrea in favour of other projects in the Horn of […] South Africa: Ramaphosa testifies before anti-corruption commission President Cyril Ramaphosa spent the day before an anti-corruption commission. The Zondo Commission has been charged since 2018 with investigating suspected fraud and corruption within […] Niger: Suspected March 31 coup leader arrested in Benin Captain Sani Gourouza was arrested in Benin and handed over to Nigerien authorities. He is the alleged perpetrator of the coup attempt that shook Niamey […] Chad: Presidents Macron and Tshisekedi call for a peaceful transition The repression of the demonstrations and the violence were condemned yesterday in Paris by the French and Congolese presidents. Felix Tshisekedi, who holds the rotating […] Mali: Tribute to the dean of veterans, who died at 100 The dean of Malian veterans and officially 100 years old, Master Corporal Kaba Doumbia passed away this Monday, April 26. Recipient of the Silver Medal […]

Susan R. DiGiovanni, M.D., 21st Annual Faculty Excellence Awards Program, presented at 2019 Kontos MSB Auditorium Women in Science, Dentistry, and Medicine Professional Achievement “WISDM” Award Colleague Anna K. Vinnikova, M.D., Associate Professor of Nephrology, marvels at all that Dr. Susan DiGiovanni is able to accomplish in her many roles. “I suspect that she has acquired a magic “time-turner” from her beloved Harry Potter series and “makes” extra time to fit everything she does in her day!” Dr. DiGiovanni, M’84, H’89, came to VCU in 1980 as a medical student, and stayed to complete her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Renal Medicine. She was elected to AOA in 1983. After fellowship training, Dr. DiGiovanni entered private practice for two years. Looking for a different type of challenge, she won an intramural research training award and spent four years as a Staff Fellow in the Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Upon completing this fellowship, she returned to VCU as an Assistant Professor, serving as a staff physician, teaching, and continuing her research on kidney function. Over time, she realized she especially enjoyed the time she spent teaching, and gradually shifted her focus to education. In 2010 Dr. DiGiovanni, having led many aspects of medical education, including serving as Course Director for the M2 Renal Course since 1999, was selected as the SOM Assistant Dean for Medical Education, Pre-Clinical Curriculum. In 2011 she was promoted to Professor of Medicine. In 2015 she became Associate Dean for Medical Education, and later that year, assumed the role of Interim Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education. In 2017 Dr. DiGiovanni became Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education and Student Affairs for the School of Medicine. In 2019, she took on a new role as Associate Dean for Quality Improvement and LCME Accreditation. Renowned for her ability to teach difficult concepts, Dr. DiGiovanni received Outstanding Teacher Awards for the M2 Renal Course for 15 years. She has served as the Director of Education and Nephrology Fellowship Program Director since 2005, leading the program through successful accreditation and expansion of educational offerings. In 2011 Dr. DiGiovanni received the SOM Leadership in GME Award for her work directing the Program. Dr. DiGiovanni has mentored medical students in Project HEART groups since the program began in 2005, as well as dozens of students, housestaff, and fellows. Dr. DiGiovanni’s leadership ability is also evident in her clinical service. She has served as Medical Director for the Renal Clinic since 1998. An advocate for underserved patients, she pioneered the use of telemedicine to provide renal care to imprisoned patients. She served as the Medical Director of the VCU Division of Nephrology Greensville Department of Corrections Dialysis Unit from 2001-2006, and the Leigh Street Dialysis Unit from 2003-2005. Dr. DiGiovanni serves as a site visitor for the LCME and from 2007-2010 she served on the item writing and test review team for the American Society of Nephrology. Since 2009 she has been a Review Panel member for the American Society of Nephrology NephSAP CME self-assessment publication. Dr. DiGiovanni completed the VCU Postbaccalaureate Graduate Certificate in Medical Education (TiME) program in 2014. Dr. DiGiovanni was inspired to go into medicine by her father, who worked as a janitor at Queens Hospital Center, NYC. He would come home and talk about all of the interesting things he had seen during the day, fascinating his young daughter and greatly influencing her decision to go into medicine. This background is evidenced in Dr. DiGiovanni’s special empathy for learners who come from atypical backgrounds. She is a role model demonstrating respect for all members of the healthcare team, and dedication to providing quality medical care for all.

Be a better programmer while still having a life: part 9 Posted on 2017-08-28 in becoming a better programmer, best practices, career, development, making stupid arguments look stupid, unsolicited advice Don’t reinvent the wheel! I’ve touched on this before, but it definitely merits its own post. A huge part of becoming a better developer is understanding when you don’t need to write new code to solve a problem. The more code you write, the more code you have to maintain, the more chances you have to screw it up, and the more time it takes to write it. So before.. Read More

Dangerous to ignore bloggers, survey claims Posted on May 10, 2006 by jjn1 Bloggers and internet pundits are exerting a “disproportionately large influence” on society, according to a report by a technology research company. Its study suggests that although “active” web users make up only a small proportion of Europe’s online population, they are increasingly dominating public conversations and creating business trends. More than half of the internet users on the continent are passive and do not contribute to the web at all, while a further 23% only respond when prompted. But the remainder who do engage with the net – through messageboards, websites and blogs – are helping change the national conversation, say researchers. “We’re seeing this growing,” said Julian Smith, an online advertising analyst with Jupiter Research and author of the report. “The strongest part of their influence is on the media: if something online suddenly becomes a story in the local press, then it matters.” This entry was posted in Blogging, Media ecology by jjn1. Bookmark the permalink.

How To Write Off Sales Taxes No hay comentarios en How To Write Off Sales Taxes File & Pay Taxes Sales Tax Returns Made Easy For Small Businesses What Should You Do With Your Paycheck Stub? Otherwise, you’ll be faced with a mountain of receipts that must all be added up when you prepare your tax return. When the U.S. was still a British colony in the 18th century, the English King imposed a sales tax on various items on the American colonists, even though they had no representation in the British government. This taxation without representation, among other things, resulted in the Boston Tea Party. This, together with other events, led to the American Revolution. Therefore, the birth of the U.S. had partly to do with the controversy over a sales tax! How much taxes are taken out of a $1000 check? Paycheck Deductions for $1,000 Paycheck For a single taxpayer, a $1,000 biweekly check means an annual gross income of $26,000. If a taxpayer claims one withholding allowance, $4,150 will be withheld per year for federal income taxes. The amount withheld per paycheck is $4,150 divided by 26 paychecks, or $159.62. Your total deduction for state and local income, sales and property taxes is limited to a combined, total deduction of $10,000 ($5,000 if married filing separately). Businesses that offer health insurance, dental insurance, retirement savings plansand other benefits often share the cost with their employees and withhold it from their pay. Depending on the type of benefit and the regulations that apply to it, the deduction may be pretax or post-tax. A paycheck is a directive to a financial institution that approves the transfer of funds from the employer to the employee. A pay stub, on the other hand, has no monetary value and is simply an explanatory document. Traditionally, employees received printed checks in person or by mail, but more often today, the money is electronically deposited into a bank account. Some employers may also offer optional alternatives to paychecks, such as paycards, which can be advantageous to unbanked workers. How much are your employees’ wages after taxes? These taxes will be reflected in the withholding from your paycheck if applicable. California also does not have any cities that charge their own income taxes. However, sales tax in California does vary by city and county. This won’t affect your paycheck, but it might affect your overall budget. Based on the information from Form 2441, Jon and Mary will subtract $4,000 on their Virginia return – the expenses on which they based their credit. Part-year residents should complete the computation using only the deductions paid for while Virginia residents. Under legislation enacted by the General Assembly, Virginia’s date of conformity to the federal tax code will advance to December 31, 2020. TurboTax can help you with determining your eligibility, calculating the deduction and reporting it on all the correct forms. Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Loans are offered in amounts of $250, $500, $750, $1,250 or $3,500. Approval and loan amount based on expected refund amount, eligibility criteria, and underwriting. If approved, funds will be loaded on a prepaid card and the loan amount will be deducted from your tax refund, reducing the amount paid directly to you. Tax returns may be e-filed without applying for this loan. Fees for other optional products or product features may apply. Debt taken on which is considered origination debt or purchase debt has tax-deductible interest. However if a portion of the mortgage was used to withdrawl cash which was not invested into improving the basis of the property then interest accumulated on that portion of the debt is not tax-deductible. Laws and regulations change frequently, and are subject to differing legal interpretations. Accordingly, neither the publisher nor any of its licensees or their distributees shall be liable for any loss or damage caused, or alleged to have been caused, by the use or reliance upon this service. Discount must be used on initial purchase only. CTEC# 1040-QE-2355 ©2020 HRB Tax Group, Inc. Severe penalties may be imposed for contributions and distributions not made in accordance with IRS rules. How long do you keep my filed tax information on file? On the other hand, VAT tends to be regressive; that is, it takes proportionately greater amounts from those with lower incomes. Also, the cascading tax is harmful to new and marginal business activities, likely to set off inflationary tendencies, and is detrimental to exports. For more information about or to do calculations involving VAT, please visit the VAT Calculator. Compare what you paid in sales tax for the year to what you paid in state, local and foreign income tax for the year. Here’s how the sales tax deduction works and how you can determine the best route for you. The Charles Schwab Corporation provides a full range of brokerage, banking and financial advisory services through its operating subsidiaries. Answer a few questions about yourself and large purchases you made in the year of the tax return you are completing. Order check stock from an office supply store or the bank that has the business payroll account and print the checks each pay period. US Mastercard Zero Liability does not apply to commercial accounts . Conditions and exceptions apply – see your Cardholder Agreement for details about reporting lost or stolen cards and liability for unauthorized transactions. The tax identity theft risk assessment will be provided in January 2019. The tax identity theft risk assessment is based on various data sources and actual risk may vary beyond factors included in analysis. Price for Federal 1040EZ may vary at certain locations. Emerald Cash RewardsTMare credited on a monthly basis. Rewards are in the form of a cash credit loaded onto the card and are subject to applicable withdrawal/cash back limits. In contrast, a tax credit would deduct $5,000 from the amount of taxes you owe or would give you $5,000 if you owed no taxes. For 2020 the FICA limit is on the first $137,700 of income. On his Presidential campaign, Senator Joe Biden proposed also imposing the payroll tax on every dollar of income above $400,000. Current Los Angeles mortgage rates are displayed below. Given the current low-rate environment, you may be able to save thousands by locking in today’s low rates. After plugging in all of this information, you can determine the tax benefit of your home, which will help you determine the amount you are really paying for your mortgage each month. At what age is Social Security not taxable? At 65 to 67, depending on the year of your birth, you are at full retirement age and can get full Social Security retirement benefits tax-free. So if, for example, your sales taxes in 2021 amounted to $3,000 and your property tax was $11,000, you can only deduct $10,000, period. If you live in a state that doesn’t have a sales tax, then the income tax deduction is probably for you. The same goes for people in high income-tax states, Riker says. Conversely, if you live in a state with no income tax, the sales tax deduction will probably be the better choice. Offer valid for tax preparation fees for new clients only. A new client is an individual who did not use H&R Block office services to prepare his or her 2016 tax return. We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. The Revenue Act includes provisions for charging penalty and interest if a taxpayer fails to pay a tax within the time specified. This link is to make the transition more convenient for you. You should know that we do not endorse or guarantee any products or services you may view on other sites. For your protection, take a moment to carefully review their policies and procedures, as they may not be the same as those of H&R Block. When the local tax base is the same as the state tax base and there is just one local sales tax rate throughout the state – The local sales tax amount can be included with the state table using a combined rate on the same items. Pay stubs generally show how an employee’s income for a particular pay period was derived, along with line items of the taxes withheld, voluntary deductions and any other benefits received. Further specifics may be required by state or local governments. The Colorado state sales tax rate is currently 2.9%. Depending on local municipalities, the total tax rate can be as high as 11.2%. In general, taxpayers with sales tax as their only deductible expense may find that itemizing deductions is not worth the time. Itemizing deductions also involves meticulous record-keeping and can be tedious work because the IRS requires the submission of sales tax records, such as a year’s worth of purchase receipts. Anyone who plans to itemize should be keeping detailed records, as it will be very helpful in determining the amount of sales tax paid. Sounds serious, but all this means is that if you recently made some big purchases — new appliances, a car, travel or lots of furniture, for example — you may have paid a lot of sales tax during the year. You’re limited to no more than a $10,000 deduction, regardless of whether you claim income taxes or sales taxes. This drops to just $5,000 if you’re married but filing a separate return. Property taxes is capped at $10,000 ($5,000 if married filing separately). For more information on vehicle use tax, and/or how to use the calculator, click on the links below. For sales tax registration, Colorado switched systems in October 2010. According to the Colorado salestaxdeductioncalculator Department of Revenue, all businesses must be using a number known as the new Colorado Account Number, which is eight digits. Numbers obtained prior to October 2010 are seven digits. Report your sales tax deduction on Schedule A. In the section entitled “Taxes You Paid” be sure to check the box indicating your choice to deduct state sales tax instead of state income tax and enter the amount of your deduction. You and your spouse must both itemize, or you must both take the standard deduction if you file your federal taxes using the married-filing-separately status. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. If you contributed more than $4,000 per account during the taxable year, you may carry forward any undeducted amounts until the contribution has been fully deducted. Information and interactive calculators are made available to you as self-help tools for your independent use and are not intended to provide investment advice. We cannot and do not guarantee their applicability or accuracy in regards to your individual circumstances. All examples are hypothetical and are for illustrative purposes. 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Remote sellers will have to use destination sourcing to determine sales tax rates. While most taxable products are subject to the combined sales tax rate, some items are taxed differently at state and local levels. Be sure to apply the correct sales tax rate to your sale. This includes overtime, commission, awards, bonuses, payments for non-deductible moving expenses , severance and pay for accumulated sick leave. In California, these supplemental wages are taxed at a flat rate. Bonuses and earnings from stock options are taxed at a flat rate of 10.23%, while all other supplemental wages are taxed at a flat rate of 6.6%. ← Основные Направления Развития Цифровых Финансовых Услуг → Голова И Плечи В Трейдинге

Home Food & Drink February 2: Feliz Día de la Candelaria! February 2: Feliz Día de la Candelaria! Candlemas Day celebrates the presentation of the baby Jesus in the temple, and is the conclusion of the festivities that begin with Christmas or the birth of Jesus Christ, and continue with the arrival of the Magi, who bring him presents (act symbolized with the children who are in the Rosca de Reyes). In Mexico, the day of the Candelaria is celebrated every February 2; the purification of the Virgin is celebrated, and the child God is dressed and taken to the church to be blessed. Later on, those who found the child in the Rosca de Reyes on January 6th, have to buy tamales for the rest of the family. known as the Feast of Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary since traditions at the time considered a woman “impure” until 40 days after childbirth. Candles, which are considered a symbol of the Virgin Mary’s purity, became a hallmark of the observance (hence the name, “Candelaria”). The feast day is celebrated around the world, with each culture adding its own traditions. While the feast day is fully rooted in Christianity, some Candelaria traditions in Mexico date back to before the arrival of Spaniards on the continent. The importance of tamales on Candelaria along with the beverage atole—both of which are made from corn—comes from the importance of maize to Indigenous Pre-Hispanic populations. In fact, in a surprising coincidence, even the date of Feb. 2 coincided with celebrations in the Aztec calendar to ask the gods for rain and a bountiful harvest. rosca de reyes Previous articleAMLO announced that all air-cargo operations will be moved to the new AIFA airport in CDMX Next articleMexican airports registered 20.6 million international air travelers during 2022 The Agave Festival 2023 is coming to Mazatlan, Sinaloa

2nd Vote Advisers Dan Grant Explains the Dynamics of the Partnership for Carbon Financial Accounting Act Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed 2nd Vote Advisors Dan Grant in studio to explain how banks, Congress, and Democrats are colluding to create a barrier for new competition through legal legislation. Leahy: We are joined in studio by our good friend Andy Ogles, mayor of Maury County, and also Dan Grant, head of 2nd vote Advisors. Andy, I just want to bring you in here for a second. What do you think of all this stuff he’s talking about here? Ogles: Well, it’s amazing because I think people do want options. They want choices because so many of these corporations are going woke and you’ve got your banks now that are leveraging their resources to work against We the People. Leahy: It’s crazy. They’re trying to crush small businesses by putting all these regulations, all these ESG regulations that cost money. And it’s a barrier to entry to new competition. And it’s anti-American. And that’s what Larry Fink and BlackRock and all these Democrats running in Congress and the regulators are trying to do Dan. Grant: And that’s the goal. So let me tell you a little bit about how they’re trying to do it. So the banks are all announcing that they’re joining the Partnership for Carbon Financial Accounting right now. Leahy: I got a headache already. Carbon accounting? Is that a new kind of accounting? Grant: Is that going to impact Tennesseeans? And I’m here to tell you that it is absolutely going to do it. And this is how they’re doing it. So 110 of the largest banks in the world have joined this. The third had their press release a couple of months ago. And basically what they’re doing is they are reporting the carbon footprint of their customers, of their loan portfolios. Leahy: Of their customers. Grant: Of their customers. Leahy: It’s none their business. Grant: So what they’re doing as an industry group is they’re saying, okay, this customers carbon footprint we do not like. They are going to raise the pricing of those loans. And ultimately what they’re going to do is… Leahy: Is that legal? Grant: It’s legal. And they’re doing it. And ultimately, what they’re going to do is they are going to throw these companies out of the bank. Well, you can sit there and hear that and say there are 4,500 banks in this country, big deal. They’re going to go to a smaller, medium-sized bank. And I would say, au contraire mon frere. That is not going to happen. Because what they’re doing is these ESG regulations. Leahy: ESG. Environmental, social governance. Translation, left-wing junk. Grant: Right. So the Partnership for Carbon Financial Accounting, this industry group is voluntary for these large banks. Leahy: Like we’re talking Bank of America, we’re talking Wells Fargo. We’re talking to all these big banks where most people do their banking. Grant: So what they’re doing is they are doing the societal good. They’re raising loan pricing on bad companies with high carbon footprints and throwing them out of the bank. Leahy: This is anti-free market! Didn’t Adam Smith talked about the invisible hand of the market and it’s that invisible hand that ends up in the best good for all the economy. Andy, I see you wanted to jump in here on this. You’re a free-market guy, right? Grant: That’s not what they’re saying to Congress. I can promise you, these banks are not going to Congress saying exactly what you said. What they’re saying to Congress is we are doing this for the good of society. These customers we’ve thrown out of the bank are going to small and mid-sized banks now. Those money-grubbing midsized companies are not looking out for the greater good of society. They need to be regulated. So what is voluntary at the large corporate level is regulatory at the small and mid-size companies. Leahy: Are those regulations in effect now? Grant: The House just passed the Corporate Governance Improvement and Investor Protection Act. Leahy: Okay, let me just say whenever the Democrats pass a law that says X, you can be sure that it’s actually going to accomplish not X. That’s an example. Grant: No, no, no. Maxine Waters was out there last week disagreeing with you, Michael. And she said, “It is surprising that to this day, there are no explicit ESG requirements and our investors are left to piece together the story of a company’s material risk with insufficient information.” And I will tell you, if there is a material risk to any publicly traded company, it must be disclosed. I’ve been doing nothing but working with the SEC and attorneys for years on these ETS’s. And if there’s a material risk, it needs to be in writing. But Maxine Waters, she’s here to help. She’s from the government. And she’s going to tell you that there is a whole new risk cloud out there that you need to be aware of. Leahy: And the government needs to regulate it. Grant: That’s right. Leahy: And in other words, crush small businesses, small banks. That’s the plan. This is scary. Now for those listeners who want to do something about it, one of the things they can do is they can buy your ETFs. Grant: Right. Leahy: Exchange-traded funds. Now walk me through it. We talked about one, which is like the Second Amendment. Let’s talk about the pro-Second Amendment fund. Describe what that fund invests in. Grant: There’s a corporate scale of one to 5, 1 and two Liberal, 3 neutral, four or 5 conservatives. And what we’ve done, we’ve rated all publicly traded companies, and we stick to mid and large-caps. So larger U.S. companies, nothing small-cap for now. Leahy: When you say a mid-cap company, that would be a company with maybe half a billion in sales? Grant: It’s more market cap driven. Leahy: Market value? Grant: So it would probably be 2 billion and up. Leahy: In value. That’s a mid-cap. So anything 2 billion and up is something that we would consider. Leahy: So my company Star News Digital Media would not be a mid-cap company. Grant: You’d probably be a large-cap. (Laughter) A 100 billion and up. Leahy: We will be a mid-cap company someday. (Laughs) Grant: It’s mostly intangible unfortunately for you but highly valued nonetheless. We’ve rated these companies on a scale of one to five. And we’ve done that on issues that conservatives care about. The First Amendment, Second Amendment, and life. And that is how we issue our security. We have a Second Amendment fund and it’s not necessarily companies that are out there supporting the Second Amendment. Leahy: It’s companies that aren’t hurting it. Grant: Aren’t hurting it. Leahy: The rating would be either three neutral? Grant: Three or four or five are going to be eligible. Leahy: Now, there are 1500 companies that you look at? Grant: So the S&P 500 is a large-cap. There are 400 that are mid-cap. So we look at the S&P 900 for our funds. Leahy: Of those 900 how many are three, four, or five on the ratings? Grant: I would say about 600, probably. Leahy: That many? I’m surprised. Grant: 90 percent of those are neutral. Leahy: A three. Grant: So there are very few companies that would rate a four or five to give you a sense. Leahy: Do you invest in three, four, and fives? Grant: We invest in three, four, and five. Leahy: So I want to buy this. So what do I do? Grant: Let’s say you have an E-Trade account or a Robin Hood Account You put in the ticker symbol EGIS. Leahy: So I go to EGIS. Leahy: I want to buy it because I like what you’re doing. How much does it cost? Grant: So the share price today is probably about $30 a share. Leahy: So I could buy one share for $30. Grant: And if you didn’t like it the next day, you could sell it. It is a very liquid stock. You’re not buying it and you’re stuck with it. Leahy: So I could buy today. Grant: You can buy it today. Leahy: One share for 30 bucks or more. And it’s liquid. Leahy: But it’s liquid. It’s improved, hasn’t it? If I would have bought this when you started this, where was it? Grant: So we launched the two funds publicly on November 18. By the end of the first quarter, Egis was up 20.8 percent compared to the S&P 500 at 10.7. And the other fund, LYFE which is a fund that supports life, obviously pro-life. The ticker LYFE, it was up the point versus the S&P 500 at 10.7 points, I think. Leahy: And you got more of these coming, right? Grant: We do. We’re launching more funds. Leahy: When you launch the next one, tell us. But I think what I’m gonna do, I think I’m going to go after the show and I’m going to go buy myself some EGIS. Grant: That would be great. Leahy: That’s what I think I’m going to do. And we’ll track it. I think it’s going to do well personally. Grant: We don’t have to be the size of Larry Fink to be effective. A guy like me can call a lot of these companies and say, hey, we are an owner. Leahy: You know, one thing that I don’t like that’s going on in Congress right now is the efforts that a lot of these companies that are influenced by Larry Fink’s ESG left-wing junk are then sending letters to Congress. Andy, we saw this story at The Tennessee Star today. Over 70 companies signed a progressive groups letter supporting the ‘For the People Act.’ Tell us why that struck a nerve with you. Ogles: This For the People Act has to do with voting. Leahy: By the way, let me just say they name it the For the People Act. But the real name is the Political Corruption Act. Ogles: That’s right. They stole an election, and now we have all these audits going on. And so what’s plan B what’s plan C? How else can we try to influence elections? And so what these 70 companies are trying to remove, you have to be able to prove who you are to vote. And it names race as an issue. But it says, working-class people. They say this in their press release are barriers to voting. Now, wait a second. If you’re working class, I’m assuming that you have a job. In order to get open a bank account, you need identification. To have utilities, you need identification. All the basic things that we have to do day in and day out require a Photo ID. So why wouldn’t when you go vote, you’d be required to have a photo ID. Because you know what? I want to make sure that my vote as Andy is cast by me. And so if someone just shows up at the ballot box and says, well, I’m Andy, and I want to vote, I want to be able to them to turn them away. And so this idea that this is a barrier to voting is nothing more than more this virtue signaling and PC have gone awry. Leahy: Dan Grant, head of 2ndvoteadvisers.com with these ETS. Electronic exchange-traded funds. Leahy: See this is the guy that’s been doing this for a while. I stumbled through exchange-traded funds. Okay, so that’s one thing you do. 2nd Vote Advisers Dan Grant: ‘Companies Should Be Inspired by the First Amendment’ Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Grant of 2nd Vote Advisers to the studio to discuss his recent talks with red-state treasurers and the potential to divest in corporations that do not promote American values. Leahy: In studio with our good friend Mayor of Maury County Andy Ogles and Dan Grant, another good friend with 2ndvoteadvisers.com. I’m so excited about this. I’m so excited. Now you’re talking to some red-state treasurers, right? Grant: Yes. Leahy: Tell us why. What is it that the red state treasurers have? Grant: Well, it’s pretty interesting, actually. So actually, we were just in the Australian Financial Review, which is The Wall Street Journal in Australia. And the reason we resonate with red-state treasurers and Australia is they’re heavily reliant on fossil fuels. Leahy: Yeah. Fossil fuels have created the energy of America that’s cost-effective energy. Leahy: And they’ve made a lot of improvements on environmental issues. But the Larry Fink’s of the world who want to tell everybody else what to do and what’s virtuous or not have declared fossil fuels are not virtuous. Grant: Which is a problem if you are a red state treasurer and your state’s economy is dependent on fossil fuels. The main companies in the state are dependent on it. The main industries in your state are dependent on it. I had lunch with a red state treasure a week and a half ago, and this gentleman controls over $70 billion in assets. And he was telling me exactly what I just said. They are under attack. That week alone, Exxon lost three board seats to a small hedge fund called Engine No. 1. Engine No. 1 really didn’t know much stock, but they put a slate of directors out there. And then Engine No. 1 went to Vanguard, BlackRock, and some of the other large ones. Leahy: Vanguard is like the number two. Grant: Number two. And got enough votes to actually put three activists on the board. Leahy: Now they like solar, solar, solar. Fossil fuel bad. Grant: They are not saying, let’s go pump more oil out of the Gulf. (Leahy laughs) I can promise you that. Leahy: I say bring that all on. Bring it on. Bring it on. (Chuckles) Grant: Exxon is under attack. That same week, Shell lost a very important case in a Dutch court, which basically is making Shell diversify out of 45 percent of its fossil fuel business. Leahy: Shell is a Dutch company? Grant: Shell is a Dutch company. Leahy: Nothing says free markets like I don’t know, a European quasi-socialist government like the Netherlands. Grant: Let’s follow that example. Leahy: Because it’s working so well. Grant: What could go wrong? Leahy: (Laughs) You are very good. That was good. Grant: And then lastly, the same week, Moody’s came out with a report saying 40 percent of companies represent an environmental threat. 40 percent of companies in the United States represent a threat. Leahy: What are they talking about? Grant: Well, what they’re talking about is regulations. They’re talking about what Maxine Waters is talking about. Ogles: A point that we kind of danced around earlier is this idea that these large corporations are putting in these layers and layers of regulations to stifle competition. Ogles: Because they don’t want you and me to start a business. They don’t want the small guy to become a big guy or gal for that matter or a mid-size company that becomes larger. And so this has nothing to do with the environment. This has nothing to do with carbon footprints or whatever. They are literally trying to put other people out of business. Grant: You’re right Andy. The government can’t control small businesses so what they want to do is regulate it. They can control large businesses. If large businesses can then make small businesses less competitive by piling on taxes through regulations, that’s what they’re going to do. And that is exactly what they are doing. You don’t think Maxine Waters really cares about the Investor Protection Act, do you? Leahy: So in terms of the red states, I think we’re talking. You don’t have to name any, but I will. So red States that have heavily in their portfolio, the fossil fuel companies. Obviously, Texas would be the big dog that would be there. But Oklahoma would have them. And the Dakotas. North Dakota and South Dakota, New Mexico, and Arizona. All of those. New Mexico is not exactly a red state. Andy? Ogles: One of the things that when Facebook was censoring the president, I sent a letter to the governor of the Speaker of the House and Lieutenant governor saying that the state of Tennessee should divest itself of any shares of Facebook and Twitter. Why? Because these are big companies that have become social activists. They don’t represent Tennessee values. By the way, I never got a response to that letter. But that’s something that Florida has done. Again, what would Ron DeSantis do? Florida has taken the steps to divest itself. And these huge investment funds States control red states and all states. They control a lot of money. If I dump my few shares of Facebook, it has zero impact. If I cancel my Facebook account, it has zero impact. But if you have a state that has $50 or $60 billion under management and they say, you know what, Twitter? We don’t like what you’re doing to Conservatives on your platform that moves the needle. So I applaud 2nd Vote for what you’re doing. Leahy: And Dan Grant, last minute of the program, you got 30 seconds. Sum up, 2nd Vote Advisers. Why should you go there? Grant: Because we believe companies should be inspired by the First Amendment. Companies should not be trying to over-regulate and trying to stifle the First Amendment. Jack Dorsey of Twitter should not be dumping Trump because he can do it. The First Amendment protects individuals from the government only, not from corporations. But corporations should be inspired because that is what makes our society great. 2nd Vote Advisers Co-Founder and CEO Dan Grant Offers an Alternative to Corporate CEO’s Forced to Adopt Leftwing Idelogies Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Grant of 2nd Vote Advisers to the studio to discuss their alternative for Fortune 500 corporations who want stay out of the politically correct ideology promoted by left-wing asset management firms. Leahy: I’m just so excited about our guest today because you’re going to learn something about how to fix America right now. And one of the problems with America is embodied by a guy you’ve never heard of folks. Listen to this guy’s name. He’s aptly named. His name is Larry Fink. F-I-N-K. And he’s very aptly named. He’s a very powerful guy, really powerful guy. He’s ahead of a group, the biggest money manager in the country, BlackRock. They manage, what, $9 trillion? Grant: $9 trillion. Leahy: $9 trillion. And he’s pushing all this leftist claptrap. There’s a claptrap that he’s pushing. And he wants in his mind, there are good sources of virtuous energy. And then there’s evil. And so in his mind, natural gas, oil, coal, that’s evil. But solar wind, that’s virtuous. And he’s created all sorts of incentives for CEOs who just want to keep their jobs and get paid $10 million, $20 million a year to kind of be figureheads, moving along with the left. There are all sorts of pressures with his regular messages to them about what he wants to see. This guy is running the policy of many Fortune 500 companies today, and it is, in my view, Dan Grant, a disgrace. What do you think? Grant: I think, Larry, he’s a representative of the asset management industry as a whole. BlackRock is the largest. But if you look at all of the leading banks, all of the leading asset managers, investment managers, they’re following this philosophy. And if you went to the BlackRock website, you would find what they call their stewardship team. And that sounds great. Leahy: Well, there’s a biblical concept, stewardship. Grant: Sure. They adopted the term. And what they will brag about on the website is last quarter, the stewardship team from BlackRock visited 482 companies and their boards, their management teams, and said, hey, listen, guys, we’re owners were big owners of your company. And if you don’t start making acceptable progress towards hitting these ESG metrics that we have laid out, Leahy: ESG. Environmental social governance. And some of these metrics are ridiculous, right? They basically, take bad leftist policies, they are the metrics. Grant: So they’re the largest asset manager in the world. They go to these management teams and say, you need to start doing more to implement our definition of good. You need to start forcing that definition on your suppliers, your vendors, and ultimately, your customers. And if you don’t, we will start voting you out. And they are doing it. Leahy: They’re voting them out. And basically, you got to accept their version of diversity, equity, and inclusion. You got to embrace Critical Race Theory in the workplace which is perhaps one of the most divisive things that are out there. Now, people listening to us, you work for a large company, they’ve got diversity, equity, and inclusion. And if you go in, you’re forced to sit through the training. They’re telling you stuff that you know is wrong. But what are you going to do? Are you going to say you’re violating my rights and lose your job? That’s what’s going on. Grant: My company from a practical perspective, 2nd Vote Advisers, we’re looking at what they’re doing and we’re saying, what is the cost to these companies at the end of the day? What is the cost of a diversity and inclusion program? I mean, it sounds great. But JP Morgan, for example, a couple of months ago announced a 30 billion dollar capital commitment to diversity and inclusion and closing the racial gap. Leahy: (i.e. dividing people). That’s what those programs do. Grant: You read the press release and you look at it and it’s like, okay, their funding, additional mortgages, small business loans, and that all sounds great. And the top 10 banks all have very similar programs, multi-billion dollar programs. But nowhere in that press release is the actual cost. They’re not talking about the underwriting criteria for these types of loans and for these types of mortgages? A friend of mine was seriously being considered to be the CEO of Fannie Mae back in the Great Recession. Leahy: Tell people what Fannie Mae is and why it matters. Grant: It’s one of the government-sponsored entities that will essentially buy up mortgages. Leahy: It’s the Federal National Mortgage Associations Administration. It’s a quasi-public organization. Grant: Back in the Great Recession, both of the GSEs were about to fail. And the reason they were about to fail is they allocated 10 percent of their capital to subprime loans. But that 10 percent represented about well over 50 percent of at-risk. Leahy: Why did they allocate those 10 percent of subprime loans? Grant: Because they wanted to do something for the social good. Leahy: Because it would be good. Grant: It would be good. Leahy: Virtue signaling. Grant: So to bring it back to JP Morgan and this 30 billion and the top 10 banks, what they’re doing, what is the actual cost? Nobody knows. Third Bank just announced a $2.8 billion program, and they’re investing in a bank in Detroit, which doesn’t have the best background. And yet they’re going to allocate a lot of capital to this bank in Detroit. And that bank in Detroit is going to be putting that money to work. Well, how successful is that going to be? Leahy: I guess we’ll find out. Leahy: But let me come back and say, okay, so these big money managers like Larry Fink. F-I-N-K. Big Larry Fink, that guy. They’re forcing companies to do all this politically correct stuff that’s costing a lot of money. Let’s say you have some assets that are currently under management. What can 2nd Vote Advisers do to help out? Grant: The first thing I would tell you is we are not going to do what BlackRock is doing. We are not going to be visiting companies and their boards and saying, hey, guys, we want you to implement our definition of good. Leahy: Threatening them basically, you must do our version of lacking good or we’re going to whack you and we’re going to get rid of you. Grant: That’s right. So what we’re doing is we are actually voting our shares with our beliefs. Companies should not be into social justice engineering. So we are telling CEOs to do that. And I feel like we’re actually giving CEOs a reason to say no to Larry. Larry, right now, and all the big banks, all the asset managers, as I mentioned, are behind it. Leahy: He’s kind of a tyrant when it comes to dealing with CEOs who are just quivering when his stewardship team walks in, they start to wonder, what can we do? What can we do? How can we not make them upset? How can I keep my job? Grant: So what I hope to do is give these CEOs a reason to say no to Larry. I want them to say, Larry, listen, I hear what you want, but I got Dan Grant from 2nd Vote Advisers, and he wants us to do something completely different. We’ve gone to our board, and we’ve decided to just stay out of the whole thing altogether and focus on our company and profits and let the individual decide where they want to put their philanthropy and charity. Leahy: This Larry Fink guy at BlackRock manages 9 trillion dollars of money. Where does that money come from, by the way? Grant: It comes from you and me. Leahy: Private individuals. Grant: Private individuals. If you’re in a pension plan if you’re a teacher if you’re a policeman if you’re an individual investor. These guys have hundreds upon hundreds of exchange-traded funds and mutual funds. Leahy: So they’ve got 9 trillion under management. So 2nd Vote Advisers, what do you have under management? Grant: Well, we started only a few months ago, and unfortunately, it takes a company like ours, a startup, to do what we’re doing. So I mentioned we started in 2000. Leahy: You started with zero. Grant: We started with zero. We now have two publicly traded exchange-traded funds. Leahy: Tell us what an exchange-traded fund is. Grant: It’s very much like a mutual fund. So you can go on, you can put the ticker symbol in. And one of our tickers is EGIS and it’s a Second Amendment fund. Leahy: Which ticker do I go to? Grant: If you are with a Morgan Stanley or any broker and you want to buy a stock, you put the ticker symbol in and you hit buy. So it is a liquid stock. Leahy: Can I do it online myself? Grant: Absolutely. Leahy: Where would you go? Grant: I have an E-Trade account. Leahy: Put in EGIS I could do it right now if I wanted to buy. And what’s the fund do? Investing in gun companies? Grant: Well, no. So what we’ve done is we have rated the S&P 1500. And we have different issues that Conservatives care about. One of the issues that Conservatives care about is the Second Amendment. 2nd Vote Advisers CEO and Co-Founder Dan Grant Discusses Stakeholder Capitalism Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Grant of 2nd Vote Advisers to the studio to discuss his background, their mission and the threats of stakeholder capitalism and environmental social governance. Leahy: Batten down the hatches because we’re about to light it up in studio. With us, Dan Grant with the 2nd Vote Advisers and we’re going to learn all about them. I am very excited about this. If you are frustrated and you want to do something to stop the wokeness in Fortune 500 companies, you got to talk to Dan Grant. Dan Grant has an option for you. In-studio with us also, our good friend from that bastion of freedom in Maury County, Mayor Andy Ogles. Good morning, Andy. Ogles: Good morning. Yeah, I’m intrigued as well. When you have Coke, Coca-Cola getting woke and you have all these companies. Look, if you make 10 issues… Leahy: You mean Woka-Cola? Ogles: It’s like I don’t give a crap what you think about my politics. Just make good sneakers, right? Just make good running shoes, right? And stay out of my politics. Leahy: Don’t lecture to me about how bad America is because it’s not bad it is great. Dan Grant, where have you been? Why has it taken so long to get 2nd Vote Advisers up and running? And Let’s get you going. Tell us about 2nd Advisers on the web at 2ndvoteadvisers.com. What’s the idea, who is behind it, and what are you doing? Grant: Sure. Great to be here. Thanks for having me, Michael. The research part of the company started in 2012. My partners in the business, Dave and Diane Black. Diane was in Congress for many years. Leahy: Ran for governor. Grant: Ran for governor, ran the budget committee. Dave, her husband then started a very successful drug testing company. I met Dave over 10 years ago when I was a banker at JP Morgan. We got to know each other fairly well. And Dave being a prominent conservative, one day he was checking out at the grocery store and the clerk asked him, do you want to donate to a charity? Which he did. And they walked out and Diane looked at him and said, why did you do that? That charity you just donates a lot of money to Plan Parenthood. And they’re very strong pro-life supporters. And Dave said, I had no idea. And that got him thinking, what else don’t I know? And this was back in 2012 before a lot of this corporate activism really came to the public forefront. So he started a research company called 2nd Vote. And they score companies and they’ve been doing it now for nine years. And the scale is one through five. So one means you’re liberal, two is leaning liberal, three is neutral for conservative, and five conservative. They’ve scored the S&P 1500. And you look at it today, and we now realize he’s really scoring companies on this stakeholder capitalism, Michael, is what they’re doing. Leahy: It used to be in the olden days when people really understood capitalism, it was all about maximizing shareholder value. Leahy: Now, you got to be politically correct, because if you’re not some left wing Liberal who’s running a big investment bank or a hedge fund like BlackRock, they’ve sent you a note and said, you got to bow the knee to critical race theory and global warming. You got to do all this stuff that’s stupid or else we’re gonna kick out. Grant: Well, it’s unfortunate, right? I think this country, the economy that’s driven or wealth and success under attack and it’s under attack by what is called stakeholder capitalism. So you ask, where have we been? I’ve been in the financial services industry my entire career. I have been around, but it really does take a small startup company like ours to do what we’re doing because the big banks I worked for, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan. Leahy: They’re lefties aren’t they? Grant: They are. Leahy: They’re very much far left. Grant: Well, they’re all fully vested in this theme. Leahy: I blame the business schools. Because I graduated from the top business school many years ago in 1981 at Stanford Business school. And they were talking about the concept of corporate governance and stakeholder capitalism there. But it was just their sort of advisory. Now you’ve got these guys at BlackRock sending out these missives on. They call it ESG. Environmental social governance. Grant: Which is the largest investment theme in the world. There are trillions of dollars behind it. So your listeners know there’s shareholder capitalism, which is a corporation that should be run for the benefit of shareholders. Leahy: The owners. Grant: Right. The owners, which I would agree with. But we are not sticks in the mud. If you’re a shareholder capitalist, corporations for many, many years have supported traditional charity. Helping the needy, the sick, and the poor. That is something that corporations have done for a long, long time. But now you have the World Economic Forum, Claus Schwab the stakeholder capitalists. Leahy: The Davos crowd. Grant: The Davos. And guess what? Their definition of good, they’re saying corporations should no longer be run solely for the benefit of shareholders, but for the good of all stakeholders. Leahy: And the good is defined by these elitist leftists who are running these big hedge funds. And they don’t think the same way you and I do. Grant: What’s a stakeholder? Leahy: It’s somebody that exists. That’s it. Photo “Daniel Grant” by 2nd Vote Advisers. Senior Fellow of Real Clear Foundation Rupert Darwall Sees the Polity of Businesses Becoming Armed Tools of Political Agendas Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Senior Fellow at the Real Clear Foundation, Rupert Darwall to the newsmakers line to discuss his recent article and defines the design of ESG. Leahy: We are delighted to welcome to our newsmaker line from across the pond, Rupert Darwell, a senior fellow at the Real Clear Foundation. He just released a study on capitalism, socialism, and a thing called ESG. And if you haven’t heard about it, you got to listen up. It’s very important what he’s written. Rupert, thanks so much for joining us this morning. Darwall: It’s my pleasure, Michael. Leahy: ESG, it sounds like a food additive, but it’s much more dangerous. Tell us, what does ESG mean? And why should we care about it? Darwall: ESG is environmental, social, and government. It’s a form of investing. It’s meant to be for the clean, moral, pure types that want to make the world a better place. And it’s a bit of a con, really, because what it says on the outside is ESG investing, you’re doing well by doing good. So you’re going to make more money by doing the things that are going to make the world a better place. But actually, it’s all about that at all. It’s politics by other means. It’s the politicization of business and investing. And you’ll say goodbye to those higher returns because that’s just sales chatter. But fundamentally, it’s about turning capitalism into something very, very different. And it’s also about political power. It’s about giving financial oligarchs on Wall Street and in the big state pension funds like CalPERS in Sacramento and the Neivers New York pension funds, enormous amounts of political power of business. Leahy: Yeah, that’s exactly it. We’ve noticed, of course, I guess the publicly traded corporations, I don’t know, 90 percent of them seem woke beyond repair. They’re always preening about some moral issue, and it’s just highly destructive it seems to me. When did this really start being a thing? Darwall: Well, there was a phase of it, I think, in the 1970s because Milton Friedman wrote a fantastic article saying the role of business is judged by how much money it makes for shareholders. It’s about profit. Because if you’re a good business creating and innovating things in the market that customers want, you’ll do well and that kind of thing. It kind of then went through the 80s and 90s and then receeded. But it’s really come back with a vengeance now. And you may remember, a couple of years ago, the Business Roundtable issued that 181 CEOs signed the Business Round Table statement on stakeholderism. The businesses are meant to serve a wide variety of interests and demoting the stockholder. So it’s really come in very powerfully. And, of course, the so-called climate crisis, this existential threat to life on earth kind of thing, businesses have got to emit zero. So it’s really kind of taken business and particularly financed by storm might say. Leahy: I don’t know what your background is other than your finance guy in London and you write about it. I’m a graduate of Stanford Business School. I have an MBA from Stanford way back when. And what I’ve noticed is the ideas that are taught in business schools today seem much more socialist at the highest level than they were when I was in school. Tell me what you think about this. You have a generation of left-wing socialists now that are influencing these hedge funds like Black Rock and are serving on corporate boards and are in the marketing departments and the finance departments of Fortune 500 companies and they’re forcing that ideology that they’ve grown up with upon these publicly traded companies. Do I have that right or is there another element to it? Darwall: I think that’s a very important aspect of it. I would also point to there’s also kind of a revolving door between the corporate affairs department of large corporations. At the end of the Obama administration, you saw a load of Obama administration officials exiting the federal bureaucracy and jumping into the C-suites of corporations. For example, you mentioned Black Rock. One of the Black Rock guys is now a very senior economic advisor in the Biden administration. So it’s kind of this revolving door. It’s this intertwining of business and politics. And in my view, the business of business, the business of business is business. It’s not politics. It’s not politics by other means. But what we’re seeing is polity of businesses becoming armed tools of political agendas, which I think is very dangerous for democracy, because these questions should be decided through the ballot box and through the Constitution. The United States has a brilliant, perfect Constitution, if you like, of representative democracy. And the second danger to capitalism because as businesses become woke, they become less innovative and doing less of driving the things that make living standards rise and which makes capitalism the greatest economic system there’s ever been. Leahy: The title of your study is Capitalism, Socialism, and ESG. But I look at this interconnection between the very large, publicly-traded corporations and government and politics. And to me, the ism that comes to mind is more a form of fascism. What’s your thought about that? Darwall: Corporatism, because both socialism in its extreme form and fascism, but they both see that the political ideology must trump everything and every aspect of society. And particularly economic ones should be the tools of the state. Yes, there is. You are absolutely right. It’s a form of corporatism. It’s very nasty. It’s unrepresentative, as I say, it’s about usurping, the Democratic prerogatives of the people through the ballot box. Leahy: The other element of this to me, for free markets and capitalism to work, the capital markets have to work for all sizes of companies. Large companies and small companies. And of course, startup companies, small companies, entrepreneurial companies, that’s where most innovation does occur. It seems to me that the rise of ESG, environmental, social, and governance standards among larger corporations has kind of made the capital markets much more difficult for small businesses and those that are providing innovations. Do you see that as well, or am I just looking at it from a small business lens? Darwall: No. I think what happens is that large businesses call for large woke businesses if you like. When they embrace this agenda they say, well, our business model could be under threat from startups, therefore, because we’re doing what the politicians want and because what Democrats in Washington want, we need protection from startups. Inevitably you get distortions in markets. You have you know what economists call rent-seeking behavior and businesses trying to protect themselves from businesses that are unencumbered by ESG and are free to perform as they want. I think you’re absolutely right. It’s a big threat to the layer of new businesses which really have driven growth and innovation. Leahy: The other thing is to look at alternatives to ESG. Is this just a huge group think among hedge funds and Fortune 500 companies? Is there anybody in that world that you see right now that is not embracing ESG? And what consequences are they facing? Darwall: I would say corporate CEOs are very exposed to proxy battles. If they put their head above the parapet, they’re likely to have a shareholder and stockholder revolt at the next annual general meeting. So they’re quite nervous individuals. They have to go with the flow. The greatest economist of capitalism was Schumpeter. He wrote that an incredible book, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. And in that, he described the publicly traded corporation as capitalism’s vulnerable fortresses for exactly this reason in that you have a split between ownership and control. But I think the ESG thing because it’s such a distortion of the capital markets, there will be people who come in and contrarian investors who can make lots of money out of the fools who follow the ESG sales pattern. Because when you have people investing for non-financial reasons, they make mistakes. They’re the easy ones you can pick off. I think there’s an aspect of it that this is set up so that more savvy investors at some point will make a great deal of money from the investors chasing the fools gold of ESG investing on the basis that they’re going to do well by doing good, which is, as I say, is complete junk. (Commercial break) Leahy: Rupert, you mentioned before that ESG actually doesn’t perform well financially, and it’s a bit of salesmanship, if you will, for the left. And you mentioned that perhaps some more savvy investors will come up with contrarian views. I just sent you an email that includes some information about just such a group based here in Nashville, as it turns out, called 2nd Vote Advisors. And basically, they manage funds and they have private funds that are exchange-traded funds. One is focused on pro-life. The other is focused on Second Amendment-type issues. They say that without 2nd Vote Advisors as a counterweight to existing asset managers, a progressive ESG agenda will continue when investors can rest assured that we will never vote proxies in support of ESG shareholder initiatives. I don’t know if you’ve heard of 2nd Vote Advisors, but it’s almost as if you predicted they would come into existence. Darwall: It does sound like that. The smart investors will. When I say smart investors, investors that have got their feet on the ground, and they’re the best ones will see this as an opportunity. Because what will happen is that they will dump lowly rated ESG stocks, which means that they’re cheaper for others to buy. There’s that thing that Ben Graham, the Warren Buffett guru, said, in the short term, a stock market is a voting machine, and in the long term, it’s a weighing machine. And at the end of the day, what will happen is it will be the cash flows that companies generate. The ESG investing movement is creating a massive investment opportunity for smart investors. Leahy: But besides 2nd Vote Advisors, is there anybody promoting these contrarian options to ESG investments? Darwall: That’s one of the things that’s needed to happen because what you’ve got is the big three index providers, ETF index providers led by Black Rock. You’ve got State Street and Vanguard. Those big three, which Black Rock is the largest asset manager in the world have gone woke. Larry Fink is leading the charge on ESG, climate, and on stakeholderism. He has threatened encumbered management to vote against them if they don’t bow to the God of ESG. That means that if you don’t subscribe to that view of politics and that is what it is, it is essentially politics and ideology, you need to find the ETF provider who will vote your proxies the way that you want and not the way Larry Fink wants. I think in time you will see alternative providers. The market should respond in the way that people who want politically free investing can have that demand satisfied. But as yet, I haven’t seen those ETF providers come over the horizon. America is still the most dynamic economy in the world, the freest economy in the world, and that over time that will happen. There will be a market reaction against this. Leahy: How is it that a guy like Larry Fink, who is, in essence, a financially sophisticated left-wing ideologue, how is it that we have so many guys like that now? Darwall: He was a bond trader who correctly spotted the diverse portfolio and index investing. These are both low costs and over time give very good performance. And he’s ridden that. And now he’s made as much money as he can ever hope to. And he’s got the whiff of political power in his nostrils. And sitting in as chairman and CEO of Black Rock, he has the best of both worlds of having immense financial power on Wall Street and also access to every political leader he ever wants. So there is a lot of that. There’s something that he said. Every year he writes to corporate CEOs just telling them what to think. And last year he wrote to them and said all this disclosure stuff, ESG and climate disclosure, and so forth. He says the goal cannot be transparency for transparency’s sake. They normally say, well, the market needs more transparency and more data. Then he went on to say disclosure should be a means to achieving more sustainable and inclusive capitalism. Now, that is politics. That is pure politics and nothing to do with boosting investor returns or anything like that. This is the guy acting as a politician wielding political power. The proxy votes that are embedded in ETF index funds, he’s stripping the proxies out of them, and he’s casting them according to his ideological prejudices. Leahy: The founders, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, didn’t agree on a lot. But one thing they did agree on that if an aristocratic manufacturing class ever arose in America, it would be bad for the constitutional Republic. We have now this aristocratic leftwing financial class, and they have no constraints. I think what has arisen here with guys like Larry Fink is exactly the kind of aristocratic modern feudalism that Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison would have absolutely loathed. Darwall: I absolutely agree with that. These Wall Street oligarchs are essentially usurping, the prerogatives of the Democratic and constitutional political state. That’s exactly what’s going on. This is a parallel government that is not really accountable to anyone and certainly not accountable to voters. When Larry Fink talks about inclusive capitalism, he’s actually talking about exclusive capitalism, insider capitalism.

Florida House Rep. Randy Fine Talks Recent Florida Legislation of Big Tech, Critical Race Theory, Pro-Police, and Anti-Rioting Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Florida State Representative Randy Fine to the newsmakers line to discuss some of the Florida legislation that is going through the last days of session and how his state is leading the way. Leahy: We are joined on the newsmaker line by state Representative Randy Fine of Florida. Good morning Representative Fine. Fine: Good morning. Happy to be here. Leahy: We are delighted to have you on here. I’m going to give you some news you may not know. As you know, we own and operate several state-based conservative news sites. And two weeks ago, we launched The Florida Capital Star. Floridacapitalstar.com. Right there, based in Tallahassee. We’ve got a crew of three folks here writing about what you guys are doing in the Florida state Legislature and what Governor DeSantis is doing. We are delighted to have you on here. Fine: Well, we appreciate you getting the good word out on all the good work we’re doing down here. Leahy: So your legislative session is about to wind up, I guess tomorrow is that right? Fine: That’s right. We have a 60-day session by Constitution every year, and tomorrow will be the 60th day. Leahy: So every time I turn around, you guys are passing legislation that should be viewed as a model by other States. What would you say are the top accomplishments of this session of the Florida state legislature? Fine: I think number one, we will again pass a balanced budget, which we do every year while adding to our reserves. I like to tell people we do more than balance our budget. We actually put money in savings. That’s always our most important priority. But policy-wise, we’ve passed the most aggressive anti rioting, pro-police legislation in the country to make sure Florida never looks like Portland or Seattle. And we are also close to passing legislation to really hold Big Tech accountable for the way that they manipulate our data and the way that they censor and treat Conservatives. Leahy: I looked at our website, floridacapitalstar.com, and I can see you had a couple of other bills. The Florida House passed a bill banning vaccine passports. Fine: We did. We did. The governor feels very strongly that people should not have to prove that they have been vaccinated in order to go into particular businesses. And so that bill passed the Florida House overwhelmingly yesterday. Leahy: The other thing I’ve been hearing about is that Governor DeSantis has said we’re not going to be teaching critical race theory in Florida. And I’ve also seen that apparently there are some bills out there that would provide bonuses to teachers in the Florida public school system that follow and take advanced training on the Constitution and civics. Where does that bill stand? Fine: I’m actually the chair of K through 12 appropriations, so I set the budget. We’re very very aggressive on that front. Number one, minimizing the teaching of the hatred of America and that America is bad and everything that we do is bad. And that’s really what critical race theory says. Basically, let’s be critical of America and view everything through a racist lens. We’re focused on celebrating America. We’ve passed multiple bills this year that focus on increasing civics as well as reminding people about what makes America great through creating new content to show folks portraits in patriotism, and to remind folks about the evil that’s involved in socialism and communism. Leahy: So is there an incentive program for teachers that get special training on civics and related projects? Is that in the works? Has that been passed or about to be passed or under consideration? Fine: We haven’t passed anything to provide incentives for it. But we’re doing one thing better. We’re going to require the teaching of this stuff in schools. So you’re not going to get paid extra to do the right thing. We’re going to expect you to do it as a condition of your job. Leahy: How will that be monitored? Because one of the problems, we interview members of the Tennessee General Assembly all the time, and they have an idea about what’s being taught in the schools and often their idea of what should be taught and what is being taught is very different from what’s actually being taught. Fine: Well, that’s a great question. So we passed other legislation this session that increases the availability of classroom materials to parents so the parents can see what’s going on. And we have very active parents in our state. But one other thing that we’ve done is that is sort of related to keep the schools honest is we have passed the largest expansion of school choice in the United States this year. So we’re creating opportunities for all of our Florida families if they so choose to take their child if they’re not happy for any reason out of a government-run school and to put them into a different school. Leahy: Tell us how that school choice program expansion will work. Here in Tennessee, this is something that we’re very interested in. We have had a few fits and starts in that Arena. And we look to Florida, as many States do, as a model. Fine: We have hundreds of thousands of students already taking advantage of private school choice here in Florida. We’ve expanded that this year to say any family of four making $100,000 a year or less can get a voucher equivalent to what the state is paying the school to teach your child. You can get a voucher and take that to a private school. That’s what you want to do. But in addition, we have a very expensive program for families of children with special needs. Whether they can get their money not only to go to a private school but if that child would be better off at home with specialized therapies and other kinds of products and services they can use it for that. So that is for special needs programs and middle-class programs. Leahy: For a middle-class parent there, what’s that work out to be? About $7,000 a child? Fine: That’s exactly right. It’s right around $7,000. And it changes from year to year. We’re talking about the income-based scholarship. Leahy: Right. The income-based scholarship. But any parent down there with $100,000 or less can qualify for those voucher payments. Is that right? Fine: So to make it simple, you make $99,000 a year. You’re a family of four with two kids in school, you can get $14,000. to send your child to a private school. Leahy: Wow! And so I’m guessing that there are a lot of parents that are likely to line up to take advantage of that. Fine: There are. But the fact of the matter is by having this accountability, our public schools and our charter schools have gotten better. So some parents go, well, hey, we appreciate that we have this option. It makes my government-run school have to do a lot better to keep me from leaving. So everybody wins. Whether you’re going to a private school or whether you’re going to a charter school, which is a public school, or whether you’re going to a government-run public school. That increased competition benefits everybody. Leahy: So how are teachers in Florida responding to all this? I know the teachers’ unions, particularly up here in Tennessee, are pretty hostile to these kinds of policy changes. What’s the case down in Florida? Fine: Well, teachers’ unions hate them, but teachers don’t necessarily because whether you’re teaching in a private school or a government-run school or charter school, they is still a job for you. But I don’t do this job for teachers unions. I do this job for children. I do this job for parents. And those folks overwhelmingly like these programs. But if you are a teacher in a government-run school, Florida has raised our minimum teacher salaries to among the highest in the country at $47,500 which is a pretty good salary for a job where you get 14 weeks a year off. Leahy: So you are likely to wrap up tomorrow. Do you think you’ll be there until midnight? How long will it take to get all the business done? Fine: We can’t vote under our Constitution until 12:06 tomorrow on our budget. We have to actually give 72 hours after we print the budget before we vote on it. So I think sometime mid-afternoon. And by the way, I’m in my fifth year in the legislature and this will be the first time in those five years that we actually end on time. Leahy: Ah. Do you give Governor DeSantis credit for that or the leadership? Fine: I give everybody credit. I give credit to Governor DeSantis. I give credit to President Wilton Simpson, who’s the President of our Senate, and Speaker Chris Sprowls, my Speaker. I think they’ve all worked really well together to get the job done. Leahy: So Saturday morning, you’re going to wake up and the session will be over. Is your job as a state representative over, or do you just turn the page to some other sorts of activities? Fine: Well, it won’t be over, unfortunately, because we have to come back in two weeks to do a special session on casinos in Florida, which really isn’t a basic function of our regular session. But beyond that, I’ll go home, and I’ll start to talk to folks about the work that we did up here. And I’ll also get to know my family again. I’ve hardly seen them for the last two months. Leahy: So do you stay up in Tallahassee during most of this time or do you go back and forth? Fine: It’s a Monday to Friday job, and I live a six-hour drive away. So I’m lucky to get home for 24 to 48 hours every weekend. Especially when session gets busier. Leahy: That’s a big personal sacrifice. What’s the toll on your family life? Fine: It’s a lot. You get to a point of week six or seven of session where you think of home as more Tallahassee, and then you’re visiting your family. And then it’s sort of like re-entry as people have described it. And I’m not trying to compare this to being in the military, but people describe it as you sort of have been deployed for 60 days and then you go through the reentry process when you get home. But I’ve now been through it four times, and I’ll get through it again. It takes a big big toll on your family because you’re just gone and it’s very busy when we’re up here. Leahy: Well, thanks for all the hard work that you’re doing for the folks in Florida State Rep. Randy Fine. Background Photo “Florida Capitol” by DXR. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Home Photography Articles The Rotoloni Report 3: This is War! The Rotoloni Report 3: This is War! January 31, 2019 March 11, 2020 Articles / Photography Nikon is not only one of the most successful camera companies of all time, but they also have one of the most fascinating histories of any modern company, in any industry today. In 2017, Nikon celebrated it’s 100th anniversary with a pretty cool anniversary website (which has since closed) and a series of “anniversary” products that collectors could buy adorning specific logos and insignias commemorating the occasion. For any company to exist for 100 years is a great occasion and not something that happens often, and if you’re someone like me who loves history, you might wonder what kind of stories there are to tell over the past century. What was the company up to in 1917 when they were first formed, and what kinds of cameras did they make? You might guess that Nikon had some really interesting folding cameras or large format plate cameras to compete with the German models of the time. A selection of logos used by Nippon Kogaku in their earlier years. The reality is, Nikon’s early history is quite different than you might expect. For one, the company wasn’t always called Nikon, it’s original name was Nippon Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushiki Kaisha, or Japan Optical Industries Co., Ltd. It didn’t even officially become Nikon until 1988. The name “Nikon” didn’t appear on a consumer facing product until 1948 with the release of the original Nikon 35mm rangefinder camera. Prior to 1948, Nippon Kogaku was almost entirely a supplier for the Japanese military, most specifically it’s navy. A pair of Victor 8×20 binoculars made in 1911 by Fujii Lens Seizo-sho. Nippon Kogaku was officially formed as Japan’s primary optical company on July 25, 1917 after the dissolution of at least 3 prior companies, Iwaki Glass Seizo-sho, Tokyo Keiki Seisaku-sho, and Fujii Lens Seizo-sho. Prior to 1917, Japan was in a state of rapid industrialization and a great priority was placed on developing a military presence in the Pacific region. Soldiers fighting in the First Sino Japanese War between 1894-1895. Japan, being largely an island nation, invested heavily in it’s navy, referred to as the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ability for Japan to exert control over the Pacific region heavily relied on the performance of it’s Navy which gave them a lot of influence over Japanese industry. Between 1894 and 1945, Japan would participate in 3 significant wars with neighboring China and Russia, relying heavily on imported submarines, military ammunition, and optics from various Western countries. At this time, Germany was considered the leader in the optics industry with quality cameras and lenses developed by companies like Zeiss, Voigtländer, AGFA, and others. The Emperor of Japan decreed that Japan should reduce it’s reliance on imported goods and become more self-reliant. For optical products such as submarine periscopes, rifle scopes, and other lenses, Japan struggled to match the quality of the products being produced in other countries. Early Japanese optics companies were unable to duplicate the precision parts and lenses that the Germans were already producing. An illustration of Nippon Kogaku’s first headquarters in 1917. By 1917, World War I was well under way causing Japan to lose it’s link to Europe and it’s supply of optical goods. The Imperial Japanese Navy needed to find a way for Japan to develop a self-reliant optics industry. As a result, each of the three biggest Japanese optics companies combined forces to make one single Japanese optics company which became Nippon Kogaku. The plan worked, and by coordinating all of the country’s top minds together, working for a common goal, Nippon Kogaku was able to bridge the gap in quality between Japanese and German products. After the conclusion of the first world war, Germany’s economy was in shambles, and many of the technicians and engineers that once had jobs in German optics companies became unemployed and were desperate for work. In 1921, eight German engineers were hired by Nippon Kogaku with a contract to last no less than 5 years. Of the eight Germans, the two most significant were Heinrich Acht who was principal engineer of product design, and Professor Max Lange, who was in charge of optical lens design. Not much is known about where each of these eight German engineers might have been employed prior to coming to Japan, but it was likely not difficult to convince them to relocate to Japan and work for an otherwise unproven optics company. After the expiration of the original 5 year contract, Heinrich Acht would remain employed by Nippon Kogaku for another 3 years. These examples of 12.5cm Anytar lenses were mounted in Compur shutters and can be seen in Nikon’s museum in Tokyo. During their stay in Japan, the eight German engineers helped expand Nippon Kogaku’s product portfolio to include telescopes, binoculars, and aerial photographic lenses. Their first photographic lens was a direct copy of the 4-element Zeiss Tessar lens called the Anytar. The Anytar’s design was overseen almost exclusively by Heinrich Acht during his stay in Japan. After his departure, the Anytar continued to be refined, until eventually reaching or even exceeding the quality of the original. The Anytar lens was only made in pre-production form and never sold to the public. The only known copies are in the Nikon Museum in Japan. First Success Over the course of the next 10-15 years, Nippon Kogaku’s ability to produce lenses, rangefinders, and other equipment grew tremendously, and in some cases exceeded the performance of the German product the Japanese had hoped to copy a few years prior. Yet, despite their rapidly increasing capabilities, hardly anyone outside of the Japanese military knew about it. With only one exception, Nippon Kogaku’s sole customer was the Japanese military, specifically the Imperial Japanese Navy. Nippon Kogaku had no commercial or retail sales, there was no marketing department, they did not have a distribution network, simply, no one knew of their existence, not even the Japanese people. One of the side effects of primarily making military products, the concept of cost was rarely an issue. Nippon Kogaku had no sales goals or competition to keep up with. When they were assigned a goal, they worked hard at it until it was right, no matter the cost. The demand for extremely high quality products for military use, combined with an immense sense of national pride, resulted in extremely well made products. Perhaps foreshadowing a future in consumer products, the one exception where Nippon Kogaku ventured into the consumer realm was an agreement in the mid 1930s with another Japanese company called Seiki Kōgaku Kenkyūjo, or Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory who was working on what would become Japan’s first 35mm interchangeable lens rangefinder camera. The camera, eventually named the Hansa Canon was Seiki Kogaku’s first commercial product and bore the name “Canon” for the first time, a name which in 1947 the company would adopt. Nippon Kogaku designed the lens mount, rangefinder, and shutter for the Hansa Canon. The name “Nippon Kogaku” appears on the bottom of the lens mount. Image courtesy Peter Dechert. Unlike Nippon Kogaku, Seiki Kogaku was a very small shop, started by a modest repair technician named Goro Yoshida, Yoshida’s brother-in-law Saburo Uchida, and a third man named Takeo Maeda. Together, the three men worked on the mechanical design of the camera, but lacked experience with lens and rangefinder design. Realizing that consumer cameras could benefit both civilian photographers and the military, the Imperial Japanese Navy tasked Nippon Kogaku to help companies like Seiki Kogaku design the optical rangefinder, lens mount, and lenses for the new camera. An advertisement from 1935 for the Hansa Canon with perhaps the first mention of a Nippon Kogaku product. It might seem strange today to think that two primary competitors like Nikon and Canon would collaborate together on a project, but back then the Japanese had a more unified approach in which companies would work together for the betterment of the Japanese people. Even without that philosophy, keep in mind that Nippon Kogaku would not have seen Seiki Kogaku as a competitor. Nippon Kogaku exclusively made products for the Japanese military, not for consumer consumption. It’s partnership with Seiki Kogaku allowed the Japanese military access to future products for military use. Shortly after the Hansa Canon’s release in 1936, Nippon Kogaku, along with the rest of Japan became increasingly focused on the Second Sino-Japanese War. On, July 7, 1937, Japan would declare war on the Republic of China over it’s interests in the Pacific Region. This was the second time Japan aggressively battled it’s neighbor, claiming control over land in Manchuria and coastal China. Aided with support from the Soviet Union and the United States, this war would eventually merge in with the rest of World War II when Japan famously attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Although a terrible act, Japan’s involvement in these various conflicts meant that companies like Nippon Kogaku who supplied the military, were given near unlimited resources and funding to develop and refine new and existing products. Prior to the war, Nippon Kogaku already had an excellent understanding of optics design and quality control, but the demands of war pushed them to even higher standards. Nippon Kogaku was put under enormous pressure by the Imperial Japanese Navy to refine and improve nearly every optical product. At the time of it’s inception in 1917, Nippon Kogaku employed approximately 200 workers at a single manufacturing plant, but by 1945 had expanded to over 25,000 workers at 24 different facilities. Nikko branded products such as this pendulum altimeter were produced by Nippon Kogaku for the Japanese military. There were other Japanese optics companies at the time such as Tokyo Kōgaku K.K. (later Topcon), Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō K.K. (later Minolta), Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō K.K. (later Pentax), Riken (Ricoh), Konishiroku (Konica), Fuji, and a few others, but Nippon Kogaku was by far the largest and most sophisticated of them all. Making nearly every type of optical instrument used by the Japanese military, they made periscopes for submarines, aerial cameras, rifle scopes, binoculars, bomb sights, optical rangefinders, loupes, surveying equipment, and other products. Nippon Kogaku’s methods for glass refinery were one of the ways they were able to succeed at making such high quality optics. What would end up being two of Nippon Kogaku’s biggest achievements were significant advancements in refining the raw materials needed to make glass for their lenses and lens coatings that would improve clarity and contrast. The processes for cultivating, refining, grinding, polishing, and annealing (cooling) the glass used in it’s lenses gave them a level of clarity and sharpness as of yet not achieved by the Germans. The other was new advancements in lens coatings that would reduce flare and improve clarity. Both advancements in glass production and lens coatings had tremendous benefits in both optical rangefinders and periscopes mounted to Japanese submarines. Nippon Kogaku made it’s first periscope in 1918 and these early designs were simple copies of existing German designs, but like everything else the company made, they continued to improve the designs, far exceeding the originals which they were based off. The most common style of periscope built by Nippon Kogaku during this time was a 10 meter long periscope that used 33 individual glass elements. Each time light passes through a piece of glass, no matter how well refined it is, some light loss will occur. But when you pass light through 33 different pieces of glass, the amount of lost light is dramatic. This limited their usability to daylight hours when there was enough sunlight to overcome the light loss. This optical diagram shows all 33 element used in Nippon Kogaku’s 10 meter Type 3 Periscope. Illustration used with permission from Dr. Jeff Alexander, and originally sourced from “Japanese Optics” U.S. Naval Technical Mission to Japan, p.42. To reduce light loss, Nippon Kogaku developed two different methods for lens coatings, the first was a chemical method in which glass was treated with nitric acid, but the second was called an ‘evaporation method’ in which a mineral called cryolite is evaporated and deposited onto glass surfaces in a vacuum. When performed to the internal elements within the periscopes, light loss was reduced, improving usability to lower light times such as dawn and dusk. This illustration shows how a rangefinder can calculate the distance of objects at varying distances by comparing the images coming in through two different windows of known distance apart. Lens coatings improved optical rangefinder design too. An optical rangefinder is a device in which light travels through two different windows separated by a known distance and through a combination of mirrors or prisms, is converged into a single image. The variation in the two images entering each of the two windows can be used to calculate the distance of the viewed image. The accuracy of an optical rangefinder is heavily dependent on the quality of the glass used and the coatings on them to eliminate optical anomalies such as diffraction. Nippon Kogaku’s standard rangefinders prior to the war came in a variety of sizes, from 1.5 to 15 meters in length. The larger the rangefinder, the more accurate it can be, especially at great distances. All Japanese naval vessels used various types of rangefinders in what was called their fire-control systems to aid in accurate deployment of artillery and other munitions. A 1/10th scale model of the Battleship Yamato in the Yamato Museum. Photo courtesy Peter Chordas. The long horizontal area on the mast of the Yamato is the Nippon Kogaku 15 meter rangefinder. In the late 1930s, the Imperial Japanese Navy had begun work on a new generation battleship which would eventually be called the Yamato-class battleship. In total, only two were ever built, the Yamato and Musashi (a third was built but converted to an aircraft carrier). Weighing over 70,000 tons, each Yamato-class battleship had three 18.1 inch turrets that were said to out range the gun systems on battleships made by any other country. In order to accomplish this goal, the artillery systems on these ships required a level of precision and accuracy henceforth not seen before and with the use of Nippon Kogaku’s new capabilities, a new 15 meter rangefinder system was created that allowed them to accurately target enemies up to 35 kilometers away. Nippon Kogaku’s glass production and lens coatings provided benefits on all types of optical products, not just periscopes and rangefinders. Warship binoculars received upgrades as well, some weighing as much as 70 lbs each, and requiring a tripod or fixed mast to be used. Hand held binoculars were issued to every single officer in every branch of the Japanese military. Nippon Kogaku’s lens coating technologies were continually improved throughout World War II. They worked on various other types of night-vision technologies that gave them the edge in night time warfare. The United States and other Allied powers developed advanced warning technologies such as RADAR in the early 1940s and rapidly deployed these to the Pacific fleet allowing them to detect incoming aircraft far before they could be seen. The Opana Radar Site on the island of Oahu, famously detected the impending attack on Pearl Harbor before it happened, but the warning went unheeded, but nevertheless, the system did work. The Japanese hadn’t yet developed their own RADAR technologies, so they were at a disadvantage in this regard, however their superior night vision capabilities allowed them more precision during night time or low light skirmishes. The American fleet would often have no problem detecting that Japanese aircraft were approaching, but they couldn’t actually see them. The Japanese on the other hand were able to hit their targets and get away in the cover of nightfall before the Americans could accurately locate them. Nippon Kogaku made many examples of battleship binoculars like these 12cm ones. The Japanese military had quite a few advantages in the early part of the war, due in part to the equipment and technologies built by companies like Nippon Kogaku. Things started to change by 1944 when American forces were able to disrupt the supply of raw materials that were needed to resupply the Japanese military. American bombing raids became more successful at damaging and destroying factories that were producing items for the Japanese war effort. Optics factories for Nippon Kogaku, Fuji, and others were relocated into mountainous areas inland, and in some cases inside of caves. During surveys of Japan after the war, American occupation forces discovered many half built caves and other structures with equipment stored and seemingly ready for use. The Americans were quite aware that the Japanese had an excellent production system for war supplies and optics equipment, they just didn’t know much about who made them. It is said that on occasion when a Japanese war ship was captured, officers would find binoculars and other optical equipment and marvel at how well they were made. Compared to the German made binoculars and lenses that the American officers had, the Japanese models were superior, which turned them into sought after war souvenirs. V-J Day signified the end of WWII and the beginning of a new era of Japanese industrial supremacy. Rebirth of Nippon Kogaku Japan announced it’s surrender on August 14, 1945, halting all Japanese military and manufacturing. Many of Nippon Kogaku’s factories were damaged or destroyed. The remaining workforce became idle, awaiting instruction from the American occupation forces. The first American forces arrived on the island on August 28, 1945, with General Douglas MacArthur following on August 30th. US President Harry Truman signed an order on September 6th that set two objectives for Japan, the first was to establish a Democratic and pro-United Nations government, and the second was to strip the entire country of all war production and capabilities. The Imperial Japanese Navy and all of it’s resources were effectively eliminated and all military capacity was in sole control of the US and British occupation forces. Prior to the start of World War II, the United States was increasingly aware of instability in the Pacific region, not just with Japan, but also with China, Korea, and the Soviet Union. US presence in territories such as the Philippines, Guam, Midway Island, Australia, and the Hawaiian Islands was done as a direct consequence of wanting to maintain stability in this region. After the war, the Americans quickly realized the benefit of having a controlling interest in Japan who they identified as a very valuable future ally. Unlike the Allied Occupation in Germany, the Soviet Union was left out of the division of power and the Americans felt that without their influence, they could gain a stronghold in the Pacific. In order for the Americans to leverage Japan’s vast work force and ideal geological location, they quickly put into action ways in which they could restore Japan’s economy, albeit with American influence, and help them get back on their feet. The Japanese people were badly affected by the war. Food and medicine was in short supply. Diseases such as cholera, typhus, and smallpox ran rampant. Sewage systems were heavily damaged causing severe sanitary issues and allowed for other various bacteria and diseases to spread uncontrollably. General Douglas MacArthur was in charge of the Allied efforts in post war Japan to identify ways to rebuild Japan’s economy. In the days following Japan’s surrender, President Truman appointed General Douglas MacArthur as the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, or SCAP for short. His job was to establish an office called the General Headquarters, or GHQ that would establish a new economy, oversee welfare programs for Japanese citizens, rebuild infrastructure, housing, hospitals, cultivate crops and food resources, among other things. Shortly after Allied occupation of Japan, GHQ surveyed all of Japan’s industrial and manufacturing industries in an effort to see which ones could resume making things that could be sold to help rebuild the Japanese economy. Most factories that built wartime goods were shut down and leveraged in other ways. Nippon Kogaku, with such a large workforce, had impressed upon GHQ that despite their role in aiding the Japanese military during the war, might still be useful in a civilian capacity. The company was ordered to put together a list of potential future products that could be built and sold to provide income. In total 15 working groups were created and by September 1945, a list of 38 potential products including things like telescopes, surveying equipment, projectors, clocks, spindles, lights, calculators, and even surgical equipment was created. Despite having no experience creating items for the civilian market, the first two products to be approved for production were eyeglasses, and a line of binoculars that Nippon Kogaku had made during the war. The reputation of these binoculars from American personnel who had captured them on Japanese ships during the war had earned them a reputation as world class products, so it made sense to resume production on a commercialized version. Nippon Kogaku’s workforce at this time was a mere 1725 workers, down from over 25,000 shortly before the end of the war, but true to Japanese culture, the company worked hard and did their best to use their previous experience in building their new products. A schematic of what the Nikoflex TLR might have looked like. Since none were ever made, this drawing is the only clue to what might have been. By April 1946, only 8 months after Japanese surrender, Nippon Kogaku’s factories were producing camera lenses, five different types of binoculars, a pocket telescope, a microscope, a water level, land-use and astronomical telescopes, and several types of spectrographs. In September 1946, work began on two new types of cameras, a medium format twin lens reflex style camera, and a small 35mm coupled rangefinder camera with a focal plane shutter. The smaller rangefinder camera was chosen for production and given the name “Nikorette”. A production run of 20 prototypes were completed in late 1946 and given the name “Nikon”. A combination of supply shortages and Nippon Kogaku’s desire to create an entirely new camera from the ground up caused delays in bringing the camera to market. Nippon Kogaku’s experience during the war meant they had no difficulty creating lenses and the rangefinder system for the camera, but they struggled in several other areas. It is said that when deciding upon the features of the new camera, Nippon Kogaku looked at both the Leica III, and the Zeiss-Ikon Contax and picked the best features from both cameras. The new camera would share a similar body design, including removable camera back, and bayonet lens mount from the Contax, but would have the horizontally traveling shutter and simpler rangefinder system from the Leica. The lens mount on the Nikon rangefinder is nearly identical to the one on the Zeiss-Ikon Contax. There are two bayonet mounts, an internal and external. The Contax mount was a German design that was notoriously complicated and this caused many production problems. Nippon Kogaku had experience with this mount, creating their own version for Seiki Kogaku in the 1930s for the Hansa Canon, but still struggled with the complexity in their new camera. In addition to the mount, they also had problems with the shutter. For one, the precision required to get the shutter timings right required a very precise amount of tension, which required a quality spring, something the Japanese did not have experience with. After trying various different designs, Nippon Kogaku decided upon a spring made of Swedish steel, as the Swedes had great experience in precision watches and other spring loaded devices. The rubberized coating on the cloth shutter was also a problem too. Nippon Kogaku experimented with coatings made by a huge number of companies, including Kodak, a company that made parachutes, and even a rubber boot manufacturer. This was one thing that changed more than once after sales of the camera had begun, so there can sometimes be a huge variance in the quality of the coating seen today. Finally, the process for plating the body of the camera was a huge problem as supplies of chromium were extremely limited and required advance approval from GHQ. Early Nikon rangefinders have been seen with at least 4 different chrome finishes. Some are very shiny and smooth, others are coarse and dull. If you had multiple cameras and tried to swap parts from one camera onto another, the finish likely would never match up. This English language ad is likely from 1949 and identifies Nippon Kogaku as “Japan Optical Co. LTD”. As they had with pretty much everything they had ever done prior, Nippon Kogaku did not give up and in March 1948, the camera was ready for sale. But to whom? In the years since it’s foundation in 1917 through the end of the war, no one knew who Nippon Kogaku was. Nikon was not a household name. The Japanese camera industry was still in it’s infancy, and anyone outside of Japan who wanted a professional level camera would not have taken anything made by an unknown Japanese company seriously. The Japanese people were still largely suffering from the war, unemployment was high and people didn’t have a lot of money to spend on frivolous expenses like a new camera. Even if they wanted to, the goal of the GHQ was to bring money into Japan, and selling things to it’s own people would not accomplish that. In the first few years the Nikon rangefinder was produced, almost all models were sold for export. Of course things got better. The experience gained by Nippon Kogaku as a supplier of military goods helped enable them to overcome its initial postwar difficulties and initiate production in a relatively short time frame. Added to its knowledge base in the fields of optical glass and photographic lens production, prior successes in lens coating left Nikon well positioned to enter the U.S. and European camera markets by 1950. This Nikon I, serial number 60924, was the third produced and oldest surviving Nikon camera known. It sold in 11/2016 at auction for €384,000. In April 1946, a soft optical coating was applied to the surfaces of the lenses inside the barrels of its Nikkor lenses to improve the transmission of light through the instruments. Cryolite was initially used, as it had been during the war, but by 1948 the primary ingredient was changed to magnesium fluoride, and the anti-reflective coatings were substantially hardened. Together these improvements enabled corrections to the optics through the addition of more optical elements without compromising the transmission of light like in their early periscopes. The coatings also played a role in significantly reducing internal reflections or ‘flares’, which improved the performance of the company’s large aperture and wide-angle lenses. All told, these chemical coatings of the internal surfaces of Nippon Kogaku lenses were the key feature that enabled them to quickly surpass German lenses in their optical performance after the war. The continuum of their technological research had clearly not been broken by the company’s abrupt transition to consumer production. Nippon Kogaku was able to capitalize directly upon its successes in the war and modify them to suit the needs of its new markets despite the nearly total evisceration of the company’s manufacturing base. By the mid-1950s, the superior quality of Nikon’s photographic lenses and cameras came to be recognized worldwide. A large part of the information from this article is credited to various discussions I’ve had with Nikon historian and President of the Nikon Historical Society, Robert Rotoloni, but I also must credit the excellent work by Michael Wescott (Wes) Loder and his book “The Nikon Camera in America, 1946-1953”, an online article by Hans Braakhuis called “The History of Nippon Kogaku 1600 – 1949”, and finally one more by University of British Columbia student Jeff Alexander PhD called “Nikon and the Sponsorship of Japan’s Optical Industry by the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1917 – 1945”. The Complete Nikon Rangefinder System is a massive 528 guide to the history of the Nikon rangefinder. Michael “Wes” Loder’s Nikon Camera in America is another great historical resource. Each of these four sources did far more work digging into the history of Nippon Kogaku than I ever could do on my own. In fact this entire article is merely an amalgam of all that information dissected and pieced back together for you to read. If you find the history of Nippon Kogaku interesting, I strongly recommend checking out either of Robert or Wes Loder’s books. Robert has autographed copies of his book available if you are interested. You can contact him directly by sending an email to rotoloni at msn dot com. Finally, while I was in the midst of writing this article, I participated in Episode #51 of the Classic Lens Podcast with Robert Rotoloni where we discussed many of the same topics presented in this article. If you would rather hear this information straight from the source, I highly recommend checking that out as well. Japan / Nikon / Rotoloni Previous PostNikon and the Sponsorship of Japan’s Optical Industry by the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1917 – 1945 Next PostRecommended Reading 2/1/19 Kurt Ingham January 31, 2019 at 10:24 am 4 years ago Somewhere I have a Nippon Kogaku trench periscope- a WW2 era copy of a British WW1 design. Johnny Sisson Fantastic addition to the Rotoloni Report series, Mike! It was great having you and Bob on the Classic Lenses Podcast to hear his stories about Nikon’s history. This deeper-dive is a fantastic read! Frank Peele January 31, 2019 at 1:53 pm 4 years ago Fascinating historical insight — thanks! One suggestion: the article’s credibility suffers from basic grammar issues that a spell checker could have prevented. For example, the use of “it’s” instead of the correct “its” occurs 19 times (no, I didn’t count them, but a run through spellcheck highlighted every one). Just to be clear, “it’s” is short for “it is”. “Its” is the possessive pronoun needed in these 19 instances. Does this matter? Whether producing precision machinery or crafting a well-written article, correct use of the right tools (like spellcheck) counts. Great historical information — thanks again! Thanks for the feedback Frank. I like to think of myself as an amateur at this. I do the best I can, but I dont want to be too perfect, otherwise people would expect perfection every time! For what its worth, WordPress does not auto detect its as being incorrect. Im not saying it isnt, it just doesnt catch it like you suggest! 🙂 Francisco Mora Villate July 9, 2020 at 12:50 pm 3 years ago Invaluable information compiled in this article for us. Thanks a lot !!!.I wait for your next !!!.

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Not only will you be able to decorate your home for cheap, but you’ll also get great deals on top-quality decor. So, what are you waiting for? Scroll down and take a look! Places to Find Cheap Home Decor Decorating your home can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. This blog post contains information on places to find cheap home decor. You can find cheap home decor online, in stores, or even from specific brands. Additionally, certain tips and tricks are provided to help you save on your home decor purchase. So whether you’re looking for a new piece of furniture or just want to spruce up an existing room, this blog has the information you need! When it comes to decorating your home, there are many affordable and unique options out there. One great way to find great deals is by shopping online. There are many websites that offer great deals on a wide range of affordable home decor items, from furniture to appliances. 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You can find affordable options online, in department stores and furniture stores, and even during online flash sales. When shopping, be sure to compare prices and look for discounts that are even greater than usual. Keep an eye out for online home decor events, as these tend to offer even more amazing discounts on home decor products. So, whether you’re in the market for fresh flowers or wall art, there’s a great deal for you on the cheap! Where to Find Cheap Home Decor in Stores When decorating your home, it’s important to keep costs low. Luckily, there are many places to find cheap home decor in stores—look for clearance sections, used furniture sales, and closeouts. Be sure to read the descriptions carefully before making a purchase so you know what you’re getting. Many times, store employees can help you find the exact item you’re looking for. If you don’t want to shop in stores, there are also online options available. So whether you’re looking to decorate your home in-store or online, be sure to explore all your options! You can also find great deals on affordable home decor items in stores. Look for furniture, appliances, and accessories at big-box retailers like Target, Walmart, Ikea, and Home Depot. In addition, many department stores have low-priced sections that focus on home decor. And last but not least, don’t forget about discount websites like Groupon and LivingSocial! How to Get Discount on Home Decor Buying home decor can be expensive, but there are ways to save money. One way to get discounts is to check online retailers for discounts. Compare different stores before making a purchase to find the best deal. Ask sales associates for help finding the perfect product for your needs – they’re always happy to help! Additionally, consider using coupon codes or deals that are available only during specific times of the year. There’s no reason to miss out on great discounts when you can take advantage of them! Tips for Finding Cheap Home Decor Here are a few tips to help you save money when shopping for affordable home decor: research the prices of various items before shopping – sometimes you can find great deals on high-quality items by comparing prices online. look for sales – oftentimes, stores will offer discounts on home decor items during the holidays or other special events. be patient – it can take some time to track down a good deal on affordable home decor, but it’s worth the effort! remember to compare prices – it’s important to be informed about the different prices offered by various retailers before making a purchase. consider Accessories as Well as Furniture and Appliances – not only can accessories add personality and color to your home, but they can also save you money. For example, cheap wall decor items like prints or paintings can be a great way to spruce up a room without spending too much money. shop online – not only can you find great deals on home decor items, but you can also save shipping costs by shopping online. take advantage of coupon codes and free shipping offers – in addition to finding affordable home decor items, sometimes stores offer special promotions that include free shipping. And finally, don’t forget about discount websites like Groupon and LivingSocial! These sites offer deals on a variety of home decor items, ranging from wall art to furniture. So be sure to check them out regularly when looking for affordable home decor items! Thanks for reading our blog! In this article, we have listed some great places to find cheap home decor. Whether you’re looking for decor online or in stores, we have you covered. Make sure to check out the article for more information. Our goal is to assist you in saving money on your home decor purchases! The Best Places to Buy Cheap Decor Online – Tips to Save Money Blog, Decor Discount, Store Decluttering your home can seem like an insurmountable task, but it doesn’t have to be! By reading this blog post, you’ll learn about the many places to buy cheap decor online. From furniture to wall art, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for at one of these stores. And don’t forget – there are always discounts available on decor, so be sure to check out the deals regularly! Why Buy Decor Online Decorating your home is a big expense and can be a daunting task. Why not take the hassle out of it and buy decor online? There are many advantages to doing this, including the fact that you can be sure of the quality and authenticity of the products. Online stores often have a greater selection than traditional retailers, so you’re guaranteed to find what you’re looking for. Better yet, shipping is usually faster than at a brick-and-mortar store, making it an ideal option for busy shoppers. So what are you waiting for? Start shopping for decor online today! 10 Best Places to Buy Cheap Decor Online Decorating your home can be expensive, but there are many great online stores that offer cheap decor. Whether you’re looking for decor for your home or office, these stores have you covered. Some of the best places to shop for cheap decor include HomeGoods, Ikea, and Target. Make sure to read the reviews first to find the best deals and discounts. With so many stores to choose from, it’s easy to find the perfect decor for your home or office! Here are 10 of the best online stores for cheap decor: How to Save Money on Decor Shopping Credit: architecturaldigest.com There are a number of ways to save money on decor shopping, depending on your budget and needs. Compare prices online: One way to save money on decor is to compare prices online. Use Google Shopping for example. You can find great deals by searching for offers and discounts from different stores. Shop at secondhand stores: Another way to save money when decorating is to shop at secondhand stores. This option can be especially helpful if you have limited funds or don’t want to spend a lot of time hunting for deals in traditional retail outlets. Secondhand stores often carry high-quality decor at prices that are lower than what you would pay at a retail store. Compare coupon codes: You can also save money on decor by using coupons. Look for online stores with special offers and enter the relevant coupon code when checking out. Shop during sales: One way to save even more money on decor is to shop during sales. Many stores offer discounts or free shipping on qualifying purchases, so it’s important to check the sale entries regularly in order to snag the best deals. Check price adjustments often: One of the best ways to get the best deals on decor is to check price adjustments often. Many online stores adjust prices frequently, so it’s important to check for updated listings. This way, you’ll be alerted if any of your desired items drop in price. Compare shipping costs: When shopping for decor, it’s important to consider shipping costs as well as the actual prices of items. Oftentimes, standard shipping charges can be expensive compared to other options (such as buying an item directly from a store). Shop bundles and samplers: Another way to save money when purchasing decor is by shopping bundles and samplers. This approach allows you to purchase larger items that can be used in multiple spaces, saving you money on each individual purchase. Check store reviews: One way to get an idea of what other shoppers think about a particular decor retailer is by reading customer reviews online. This information can help you make an informed decision when purchasing decor, as well as avoid potential scams or low-quality products. Compare prices across different online stores: Finally, one way to save money on decor is to compare prices across different online stores. This approach can help you find the best deals on specific items or bundles of items. When shopping for decor, be sure to check the sale entries regularly and compare prices across different online stores. So, whether you’re looking to spruce up your home for a short period of time or for years to come, make sure to take these tips into account. Happy decorating! Decorating your home is a big expense and with so many great online stores to choose from, it can be hard to save money on your decor purchases. In this blog, we’ve outlined the 10 best online stores for cheap decor that will have you decorating your home for cheap without sacrificing quality. So what are you waiting for? Start shopping now and save money on your decor purchases! The Best Places for Cheap Home Decor in the USA Who doesn’t love a good deal? And who doesn’t love home decorating? Well, this blog post is all about the best places for cheap home decor in the USA. Whether you’re on a budget or just looking for some affordable and easy ways to spruce up your home, you’ll be sure to find what you’re looking for on this list. From furniture to wall art, accessories, and even flooring, there’s something for everyone on this list. So go ahead and take a look—you might be surprised at just how much cheap home decor you can buy! Top Best Places to Buy Cheap Home Decor in the USA There’s no need to break the bank to decorate your home—in fact, there are plenty of great places to buy affordable home decor. From furniture and accessories to home accents and accessories, these stores have everything you need to spruce up your home on a budget. Whether you’re a decorating novice or a seasoned pro, these stores have you covered. So go ahead and decorate to your heart’s content! Here are some of the best places to buy affordable home decor in the USA: Credit: adweek.com If you’re looking for a variety of affordable furniture and accessories, look no further than The Container Store. This store specializes in home goods and has everything from wall art to bedding to kitchen appliances. Plus, their prices are consistently reasonable, so you can afford to get creative with your decorating! Credit: homegoods.com HomeGoods is another great place for affordable furniture and home accents. From flooring to lamps and mirrors, you’ll find everything you need here. And like The Container Store, their prices are always reasonable. Credit: tjx.com If you’re looking for affordable home decor that’s stylish and modern, then TJ Maxx is your go-to store. From bedding to wall art and furniture, this store has everything you need to spruce up your home in a hurry. Plus, their prices are constantly changing, so there’s always something new on sale! Credit: wikimedia.org Kohl’s is another great place to buy affordable home decor—from lamps to mirrors and even furniture, this store has it all. And like TJ Maxx and The Container Store, their prices are always changing, so you’re sure to find something on sale! Credit: walmart.com Walmart is another great option for affordable home decor – from furniture to bedding and wall art, you’ll find everything you need here. Plus, their prices are consistently reasonable, making it a great place to start your decorating journey. Credit: etsy.com If you’re looking for unique and affordable home decor, then Etsy is your best bet. From accessories to furniture and bedding, this online marketplace has it all. And unlike some of the other stores on this list, Etsy’s prices are often lower than what you’ll find in most retail stores. So if you’re creative and want to save money at the same time, Etsy is definitely worth checking out! How to Find the Best Deals for Cheap Home Decor Credit: pbimgs.com When it comes to decorating your home, it can be tough to keep costs low. But don’t worry, there are a number of great places to find cheap home decor online. In addition to major online retailers, there are also smaller boutiques and stores that sell designer brands at discounted prices. Keep an eye out for sales and coupons, as they often offer significant savings on designer brands like Pottery Barn and West Elm. When it comes to finding the best deals for cheap home decor, online shopping is the way to go! What to Look for When Buying Cheap Home Decor When it comes to decorating your home, there’s no need to break the bank. You can find great deals on home decor online, in local discount stores, and even at thrift stores. Just be sure to take into account the quality of the items before making a purchase. When it comes to quality, it’s important to consider things like the materials and how well the design is executed. Once you’ve got a good idea of what you’re looking for, head over to online stores like Amazon or Walmart and peruse the different options. Be sure to check out the reviews too, as this can give you a better idea of what to expect in terms of quality. As for price, don’t be afraid to spend a little more than you might think. Cheap home decor is usually high in quality, so you’re getting your money’s worth! What Should You Watch Out for When Shopping for Cheap Home Decor Looking for affordable home decor? Look no further! In this blog post, we’ll be sharing with you the best places to find affordable and high-quality home decor. First and foremost, make sure to check the quality of the materials used in the furniture and accessories. Sometimes low-cost home decor is made with low-quality materials that can eventually start to show signs of wear and tear. Additionally, be aware of defective or damaged products that may be returned for a full refund or exchange. Finally, compare prices before making a purchase to get the best deal possible. Don’t forget to take advantage of online discounts and coupons! Happy shopping! What are Some of the Cheapest Places to Get Home Decor When it comes to home decor, there’s no need to break the bank. You can find great deals on popular designs at online stores in the USA. Some stores also offer free shipping on orders over $50, making it easy to get everything you need in one go. However, read the reviews first, as some people mistakenly believe that cheaper products are of lower quality. With a little bit of effort, you can decorate your home in style without spending a fortune. After reading this blog, you will know where to find the best deals for cheap home decor in the USA. Whether you’re looking for furniture, accessories, or decor, our list has got you covered. Plus, be sure to read through the tips listed below to make sure you’re making the best decisions when shopping for home decor. Happy shopping! Places to Buy Cheap Home Decor Online – Cheap and Quality Products It’s that time of year again—decorating time! But with the holidays coming up, prices for all things home decor are going to go way up. Don’t worry, though, because this blog post is here to help! Starting off, we’ll tell you about the best places to buy cheap home decor online. Not only will you be able to save lots of money on everything from furniture to rugs and wall art, but you’ll also be able to find high-quality products at affordable prices. So keep reading and find the perfect decor for your home at a fraction of the cost! Places to Buy Cheap Home Decor When decorating your home, it’s important to save money wherever possible. That’s why shopping for cheap home decor online is a great option. There are a variety of places to find quality products at affordable prices, including Amazon, Walmart, and Home Depot. Make sure to read the reviews first so you can be sure you’re getting a good deal. Some of the best deals on home decor are on high-quality pieces that would cost more at a regular store. Be sure to compare prices before making a purchase to get the best deal possible. H&M is the perfect place to buy cheap home decor. Not only does the store sell high-quality products at affordable prices, but you can also find everything from furniture to curtains and flooring. In addition to periodic sales, H&M offers free shipping on orders over $50 (US). So whether you’re looking for something small or large, you’ll definitely be able to find it at this popular store. Just be sure to compare prices before making a purchase – sometimes the same product can be cheaper at different stores! Credit: cookielaw.org If you’re on the hunt for affordable home decor items, look no further than Wayfair. This online store offers a wide range of stylish and high-quality furniture, rugs, housewares, and accessories at prices that can’t be beaten. Plus, free shipping is always included on orders over $50, so there’s never any reason to go without what you want! Looking for cheap home decor? HomeGoods is the place to go! This store has a wide variety of products, from furniture to accessories. The quality of the items usually falls within the average range, which means that you can usually find something affordable and pretty decent-looking. In addition, discontinued products are always great finds at HomeGoods – so there’s never a dull moment when shopping here! The Home Depot is a great place to buy cheap home decor because they have a wide variety of products. You can find quality items at the store, even if you are looking for cheaper prices. Furthermore, you can find rugs, curtains, and furniture there too. What’s more, their selection of decorative items is great! Amazon is a great place to buy affordable home decor. You can find everything from furniture to kitchenware on Amazon, so you’re sure to find the perfect item for your needs. Keep in mind that quality doesn’t always mean the lowest price – make sure you read reviews first before making any purchases! Shipping is free for Prime members, so it’s an easy way to get your hands on high-quality items at a fraction of the cost. How to Know If the Product You Are Purchasing is of Good Quality When it comes to home decor, there’s no need to spend a fortune. With a little bit of research, you can find great deals on quality products. Before you buy anything, be sure to read the reviews and ratings. Additionally, look for independent ratings and review sites that specialize in home decor products. Next, compare the prices and features of different products to find the best fit for your needs. If you still have doubts, don’t hesitate to contact the company directly for more information. With a little care, you can save money on home decor products and have beautiful home decor that you love! The Best Ways to Shop for Cheap Home Decor Online When it comes to decorating your home, there’s no need to break the bank. You can find great deals on quality home decor online, and we’re here to share some of the best ways to do it. Some of the best places to buy cheap home decor online include Amazon and Wayfair. Make sure to read the reviews before making a purchase, as sometimes one retailer will have cheaper prices but lower quality products. It’s also important to be cautious when comparing prices, as sometimes one retailer will have cheaper prices but inferior products. Once you have a good idea of what you’re looking for, compare both price and quality before settling on a final choice. That way, you won’t end up with an inferior product that costs more money! Shopping for home decor can be expensive and time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be! By checking out the blog, you’ll be able to find some great places to buy cheap home decor online. All of the products featured are of great quality and will help you decorate your home in style at a fraction of the cost. Make sure to bookmark the blog and come back regularly to find new and amazing deals on quality home decor!

November 24, 2022 @ 8:30 am - 9:30 am

We Spent a Below-Freezing Night With Officials Counting Those Who are Homeless. Here’s What We Saw. A homeless encampment located on North 6th Street between West Michigan Street and West St. Paul Avenue in 2018. (NNS file photo by Max Nawara) By Devin Blake and PrincessSafiya Byers This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org. Temperatures were below freezing throughout the night, and it snowed off and on. Around 10:30 p.m. Jan. 25, eight teams, totaling 23 people, piled into vehicles and exited the parking lot of the Housing Division of the Milwaukee County Department of Health & Human Services. The reason for the late night: to count how many people who were: Living outside. Unsheltered. In tents. At bus stops. Under bridges. It was the night of the annual Point-in-Time Count, a night where people experiencing homelessness are counted. “This may very well be my favorite night of the year just because it is such a huge opportunity to have everybody out at one time and be able to cover every area,” said Beth Lappen, downtown outreach coordinator with the Housing Division. In Milwaukee, the count is planned and executed by the Milwaukee Continuum of Care, or CoC. The CoC’s members include both the city and county as well as 100 other organizations that provide housing services. The annual Point-in-Time count produces aggregated data that supports CoC planning efforts and is used as evidence to gain additional funding for homeless services from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD; the State of Wisconsin; and other sources of private funding. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development mandates the count be done every year, on the fourth Wednesday of January. The count is used to help determine the ratio between need and supply of housing resources, said Nancy Esteves, the homeless management information systems manager for the Institute for Community Alliances, a nonprofit based out of Des Moines, Iowa, that helps manage data for the CoC. Providing this data is one of the conditions of receiving federal funding for housing and homelessness-related programs. Milwaukee County receives about $11 million a year of this funding, Esteves said. In 2021, the city received national recognition for seeing an extreme decrease in unsheltered people sleeping outside. The count of 17 people — a 70-percent decrease from the previous year — was the result of expanded street outreach, the use of funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act; efforts to reduce evictions; emergency hotel placements; and allowing Clare Hall on the Saint Francis de Sales Seminary grounds to be used for temporary shelter. Eric Collins-Dyke, the assistant administrator of supportive housing and homeless services at the Housing Division, said the count “gives more of a clearer picture of the true nature of the issue over a yearlong span.” Counting the people Collins-Dyke and his van colleagues that night were tasked with counting people on the southeast portion of the city and surrounding suburbs, including Oak Creek. In the van with him were Shelly Sarasin and Nick Tomaro. Sarasin is the co-founder of Street Angels Milwaukee Outreach, which helps people experiencing homelessness and provides them with food and basic hygiene items. Tomaro is the emergency preparedness environmental health director for the City of Milwaukee Health Department. “It’s space that we started to get involved with during the pandemic and now are just kind of expanding that involvement,” Tomaro said. “Homelessness is a public health crisis. … I think it’s very important that health departments are involved in this work.” “When you look at unsheltered homelessness, it’s an emergency in the sense that you’ve got a lot of very vulnerable people exposed to extreme elements outside.” About halfway through the night, the three walked under a bridge at West Kinnickinnic River Parkway and South 31st Street and encountered four people: a man and woman who identified as a couple and two male friends who said they have known each other for many years. They all asked for food, and the couple asked for sleeping bags. About a week after the count, Collins-Dyke discussed the night. “They’ve had a long history on the street,” he said. “They’ve all been on and off the street, in various housing programs, struggled with using consistently and, you know, have tried really, really, really hard to stay healthy and address those things from a harm-reduction standpoint, with the support of the outreach teams.” All four were able to get a hotel room within 24 hours with the help of the Housing Division. A lot of it, Collins-Dyke said, was a matter of luck. “I’m really glad we connected with them because of how cold it got those next few days. They were just ready to go. It was sort of like perfect timing,” he said. Not only does a bed inside meet obvious immediate needs, it also helps outreach workers know where to find their clients, Collins-Dyke said. “It’s helpful to know that they’re in one spot consistently and have a tiny bit more stability to be able to have those conversations longer term,” he said. “They have a lot of things they have to do during the day to survive, like getting food, potentially showering, getting to appointments. So, now we know where they are all the time.” The goal for service providers at this stage is to pursue long-term housing and other needed services with the person, such as medical care, mental health services and substance abuse treatment. Sarasin and Tomaro both said there’s one specific obstacle that has not adequately addressed by the CoC: people with pets. “It is one of the biggest barriers to shelter and housing,” said Sarasin. Pets are like people’s family on the street, she said, and “we would never ask families to separate. Why should we make people who have pets separate?” Tomaro, a former veterinarian, said he helped advocate for people to be able to bring their pets into a warming room with them this year – “the first year that’s ever happened,” said Sarasin. “It has resulted in a lot of people not having to sleep outside because of that barrier. That’s important.” Tomaro said during the count he encountered a man with four dogs that night as well as someone with three cats. In addition to people with pets, Tomaro said he also noticed people sleeping in their cars. “I don’t think that’s always acknowledged,” he said. “It’s a little bit more difficult for people to kind of visualize sometimes.” Altogether, the outreach teams visited close to 200 different sites throughout the night, said Collins-Dyke. In the southeast region alone, 19 people were counted, more than the total numbers for both 2021 and 2022. Collins-Dyke attributes several factors to the jump, including a warmer-than-normal winter, “a stagnancy of housing resources” and insufficient numbers of housing navigators, staff who are specifically tasked with helping a person go through the lengthy and bureaucratic process of applying and qualifying for housing. The official numbers of the count will be released in March by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. All three providers were appreciative of each other’s work and recognized that all of the gaps and shortcomings in the system can only be overcome through collaboration. “Our trio and collaboration – county, city and nonprofit – showed how well we can work when we break down the silos,” Sarasin said. “The three of us have been intent with each other on doing so.” Here’s how you can help You can support the organizations that make up the CoC. These organizations include Community Advocates, Guest House of Milwaukee, Hope House, Outreach Community Health Centers and many more agencies. The Continuum of Care seeks volunteers yearlong. You can keep tabs of the organization on its Facebook page. If you need housing assistance, you can seek help through rent assistance programs being administered by Community Advocates and the Social Development Commission. You could reach out to the Milwaukee Rental Housing Resource Center, or RHRC, for other housing issues. Officials can be contacted at info@renthelpmke.org or 414-895-RENT. Popular Interests In This Article: Devin Blake, Eric Collins-Dyke, Homelessness, Point-in-Time Count, PrincessSafiya Byers Safety Concerns Mount at Psychiatric Hospital Contracted to Serve Milwaukee County Residents Big Waiting List Points to Dire Need for Subsidized Housing in Milwaukee. Here’s What you Need to Know. Students Get Into the Act-Literally-Thanks to Black Arts MKE Here’s What you Need to Know About Medical Costs Once the Public Health Emergency ends NNS Spotlight: ‘We Train Them Into a Job’: How Ezekiel CDC Transforms Homes, Neighborhoods and Lives

Magway’s history is closely related to that of other areas of central Myanmar. Its position alongside the Irrawaddy River has connected the Region to Sagaing and Mandalay upstream, as well as Bago, Irrawaddy and Yangon downstream, for centuries. During the first millennium, the Region was inhabited by Pyu people, a Tibeto-Burman population that dominated the central Myanmar flatlands at the time. When the Burma Kingdom of Pagan emerged in the late 9th century, the Region began to form part of the core areas of the Burmese culture and civilization. The areas that now belong to Magway Region later formed part of the Third Burmese Empire and were ruled by the Konbaung Dynasty, which was the last dynasty that ruled the kingdom from 1752 to 1885. Magway is the capital city of the Magway Region (formerly Magway Division) of Myanmar and situated on the banks of the Irrawaddy River. The Myathalun Pagoda, where many pilgrimages across the country go there, the beauty of Magway, located in the north of the city, is the landmark of Magway. Magway Region is famous for the cultivation of sesame and many kinds of nuts. Besides, there is Beikthano, an ancient city that was built 2000 years ago, where the Phyu lived, and now in ruin. There are many sightseeing and interesting places to visit in the Magway region for local and international travelers. Some of them are situated in the Magway, Salay, Pakokku and Tha Yat townships. Popular points of the region Interesting places in the Magway region for the foreign travelers and locals are; Myathalung Pagoda, Shwe Ku pagoda, Tantkyitaung Pagoda, Shin Bin Maha Laba Man Temple, Yokesone monastery, Sasanayaunggyi monastery, Beikthano ancient city, Salay building, and Min Hla Fort. Moreover, there are many others; such as Min Buu Shwe Sat Taw, Phaung Taw Oo Pagoda, Sandaku monastery and Shwe Sat Taw festival is very popular. Myathalun Pagoda Magwe Myathalun Pagoda is located on the bank of Ayeyarwaddy River in Magwe, about 532km (331 miles) from Yangon. According to legend, the pagoda was originally built by a wealthy man from Magwe named Thubawga. The original height of pagoda was 15.6 meters (52 feet) and it was extended to 24.6m by Bagan’s King Saw Lu (1077-1084), who enshrined 120 relics and seven gold Buddha images inside it. The pagoda was damaged by an earthquake in 1847 and later rebuilt to its present height of 31.2m. Being the largest shrine in the region, the Mya Tha Lun Pagoda is attractive with its gleaming gilded stupa. The pagoda’s scenic beauty overlooking the riverbank makes a big impression on travelers. Mya Tha Lun Pagoda festival lasts from the 15th of October to the 2nd of November. There are many fascinating activities held in the festival such as Buddhist chanting in the early morning of nearly two thousand monks and the lightening of nine thousand candles. Beikthano Beikthano situated in the irrigated Magway Region, near present-day Taungdwingyi. In the era of the Pyu city-states, it was a city of considerable significance, possibly a local capital replacing Sri Ksetra. Today the modest village is noted for its hot springs and archaeological sites. Beikthano, Hanlin, and Sri Ksetra, the ancient cities of the Pyu Kingdom were built on the irrigated fields of the dry zone of the Ayeyawady River basin. They were inscribed by UNESCO on its list of World Heritage Sites in Southeast Asia in May 2014 for their archaeological heritage traced back more than 1,000 years to between 200 BC and 900 AD. Beikthano with direct land access to the well-watered Kyaukse plains to its northeast is the oldest urban site so far discovered and scientifically excavated site. Its remains—the structures, pottery, artifacts, and human skeletons—date from 200 BCE to 100 CE. Named after the Hindu god Vishnu, the city may be the first capital of a culturally and perhaps even politically uniform state in the history of Burma. It was a large fortified settlement, measuring approximately 300 hectares inside the rectangular (3 km by 1 km) walls. The walls and fortifications along it measured six meters thick, and are radiocarbon dated to a period between 180 BCE and 610 CE. Like most subsequent cities, the main entrance of the walls led to the palace, which faced east. Stupas and monastic buildings have also been excavated within the city walls. In October 1996, Beikthano, Hanlin and Sri Ksetra were proposed to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This proposal was approved by UNESCO in the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee held in May 2014 in Doha, Qatar. According to the UNESCO report, the Pyu Kingdom prospered for over 1,000 years between 200 BC and 900 AD. All three sites are inscribed under Criterion (ii), (iii), and (IV) covering an area of 5,809 hectares (14,350 acres) with a buffer zone of 6,790 hectares (16,800 acres). The integrity assessment by UNESCO of the three sites is: "The completeness and reliability of dated archaeological sequences from the site, with the radiocarbon dates derived from intact architectural features dating back to 190 BCE, provide scientific proof of the entire one-thousand-year period of occupation of the cities, and reinforces paleographic dates provided by inscriptions in Pyu script on artifacts excavated at the site". Shwe Ku Pagoda It is said that the Shwe Ku Pagoda was built by the King A Laung Si Thu, who was legendary in the history of Myanmar. It is located in one of the big cities in the Magway region, in Pakokku. It is famous for the wooden carving artwork, which was craved over 100 years ago. Tantkyitaung Pagoda Tantkyitaung Pagoda located across the Ayeyarwady River in Pakokku District, Magway Division, Myanmar (Burma) is a prominent Burmese Buddhist pagoda near the historic city of Bagan, believed to enshrine four tooth relics of Gautama Buddha. It was built by King Anawrahta in 397 ME on Tantkyi Hill, where the royal white elephant bearing the tooth relics rested for the second time, after it sat at a place, market by Shin Myethna Thettawshay Pagoda, then at a place where heavy rains fell, market by Shin Mogaung Pagoda, and at a place where the elephant mustered its strength, market by Sin Min Thwin Pagoda. Tantkyitaung Pagoda is 90 feet (27 m) high with a base of 60 feet (18 m). Its nine tiers of umbrella contain a silver vane and the diamond bud. It has been renovated in successive periods. It has an image of Lord Buddha, a statue of Ananda and that of the forest guardian. A look down from the pagoda platform reveals the head of a dragon protruding from the walling down below. It is said that the tail end of this likeness of the dragon is around the site of Shwezigon Pagoda. Mann Paya Buddha image The Mann Paya Buddha image is one such relic, a don’t-miss sight of the upper Dry Zone that most people have never heard of. Legend has it that local villagers spotted the hollow wooden statue – nearly 20 feet tall – floating downriver after heavy flooding in1888. They rescued it from the waters, dragging it ashore and coating it with gold lacquer. Nobody knows for certain who carved it, but its style suggests an origin date of around 1300 AD. The Mann Paya is believed to be one of the only lacquered Buddha images in the country and certainly the largest. Visitors used to be able to enter the statue via a portal around the back, but caretakers have barred the gate in recent years to preserve structural integrity. You can still peer into the depths of the Buddha, however, to see slats of wood stretching up into the darkness behind the eyes. Yokesone Monastery Yokesone Monastery is a historic Buddhist monastery in Sale, Magwe Region, Myanmar. The wooden monastery, which dates to 1882, is known for its abundance of woodcarvings which depict scenes of the Jataka tales. The monastery was constructed with 153 teak posts, each more than 3 feet in diameter, which hold the building up about 10 feet above the ground, during the time of King Thibaw. It housed monks from its construction until it was transformed into a museum in 1996. Aside from the carvings, guests can also view an ancient Buddha image and utensils of the Yadanabon 19th century period. Additionally, the museum houses a plethora of unidentified sculptures, a large throne once used by leading monks, as well as an old wooden box that served as carriage for clergy members. Behind the monastery in a small building, work from the famous Burmese playwright and poet, as well as favorite bard in King Mindon's court, U Ponnya, also hailing from the area, are on display. Sasanayaunggyi Kyaung The monastery and meditation center Sasanayaunggyi Kyaung, 0.3 miles north of Paya Thonzu, is a stop-off point for day-trippers. It features a lovely 19th-century glass armoire with painted Jataka panels and 400-year-old scripture in Pali inside. The monks are usually happy to show you around, and always appreciate a donation for their on-site school. Salay House In 1906 the British Empire was fully in control of the Ayeyarwaddy River from the north of Bhamo to the southern seaport of Rangoon. Commerce ranging from precious rubies to old-growth teak flowed north to south along the river. Just before the turn of the century oil was discovered in the region just south of Bagan. This new commodity brought great wealth to the farmers and landowners of Salay and led to a "building boom" of Burmese-Victorian architecture in the town. Dedicated on August 19, 1906, the Salay House was born in this era of prosperity. Today the Salay House allows visitors to experience the world of a British-Colonial trading company - the Ayeyarwaddy Royal Trading Company (ARTco). This restored riverside warehouse is filled with antiques to recreate the flavor of this historic time period. Learn and explore how British-Burma operated with displays and information panels or simply relax on the Salay House's outdoor deck with a snack or beverage. Min Hla Fortress The 150-year old Minhla Fortress was constructed in 1860-1861, during the era of Kanaung Mintha Gyi (Prince of Kanaung). A stone inscription at Minhla Fortress by the Department of Archaeology stated, “The structure was built with the help of Komoto Perry and Moli Naryi, the French and Italian engineers by young Myanmar men who had returned from studying abroad” The fortress is built in a shape of a square box, and the red bricks which were used for construction were 15 inches long and 6 inches thick. In the backland of Minhla Fort is an entrance on the land and also a vacant plot with green grass. Along the four sides of the walls, there are 21 rooms which include rooms for the officers, troops and storage rooms. There are two brick staircases in the interior to which are connected to the second level of the fortress and these staircases are at the north and south sides of the fortress. Four furlongs north of the Minhla Fortress lays the telegraph office. The telegraph office used during the time of the Myanmar monarchy still stands today, located in the northern wing of the fortification and is recorded as one of the oldest in Myanmar history. Although wooden bargeboards were seen on the red zinc roofing of the telegraph office, nothing else in this 16 square feet room. At present, the Minhla Fortress and the telegraph office are under the care of the Department of Archaeology. Upon your budget and preferred transportation, you can reach Magway by car, air or boat. It is around 378 miles from Yangon by waterways and 330 miles by road. When to visit Mgway State The best time to visit Myanmar is between November–February. During the cool season, it offers warm temps with relatively dry air – but keeps in mind this is peak tourist season, so expect crowds and higher prices. However, the Mgway State is located in the dry zone of the country and so, you can expect a sunny days at any time.

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Questions to Ask a Girl on the Internet If you’re buying woman on the web, here are a few inquiries to ask her. They’ll help you understand her better and find out even more about her personality. These questions can lead to a date, or to a even more meaningful relationship. Here are some examples of flirty problems you can ask a female https://elitemailorderbrides.com/sri-lanka-women around the internet: 1st, ask about her favorite occasions in her life. These kinds of questions can help you discover some of her hidden positive traits or maybe even her sex-related anxieties. They could also help you to get a feel for her role-playing inclinations. You’ll have better success with these queries if the young lady can easily answer them honestly. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to begin your dating journey! It’s important to understand that a good dialog is not really about how anyone looks, but regarding who you are being a person.

HomeReadsKoreanChinese-Canadian pop... Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu sentenced to 13 years in jail for rape and other charges According to media reports, a Chinese court has reportedly sentenced the Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu to 13 years in jail. He has been sentenced on charges including rape. Beijing’s Chaoyang District Court said Wu was given 11 years and 6 months for a 2020 rape, and 1 year and 10 months for the “crime of assembling a crowd to engage in sexual promiscuity” in a 2018 incident in which he and others allegedly assaulted two women they had gotten drunk, as per the media reports. The court said in an online statement, “According to the facts … the nature, circumstances and harmful consequences of the crime, the court made the above judgment.” This means, Wu was given a combined 13-year sentence for the crimes he did. The singer, and former K Pop star would be immediately deported after serving his time. The reports further revealed that he was first detained in July last year, a month after a 19-year-old student accused him of raping her when she was 17. She had also said that he had raped other young women. But Kris denied the allegations at that time. After he was detained in July, the police conducted an investigation in response to comments online that he “repeatedly lured young women” to have sex, said the reports. Also read: Balming Tiger, group of alternative K-pop artists discusses future plans and "SEXY NUKIM" with RM of BTS. Although Kris is a Canadian citizen, but since he was born and grew up in China, he was tried in China as per Chinese law. In China, the crime of rape incurs punishment between 3 to 10 years of imprisonment however, in some cases, the accused is sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty as well in some egregious cases. Paris Hilton recounts an unpleasant encounter with Harvey Weinstein when she was just 19 Girish Shukla • 21 days ago Harvey Weinstein receives 16-year prison term in rape case Jafar Panahi protests against his extended detention, by taking up hunger strike The forthcoming French Oscars will not include anyone who has been charged or punished for sexual abuse Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is guilty in a LA courtroom of three counts of sexual assault

Report: Jeff Hoffman could be a first-round pick despite Tommy John surgery By D.J. ShortMay 8, 2014, 7:08 PM EDT East Carolina University pitcher Jeff Hoffman was long mentioned as a potential top-five pick in next month’s First-Year Player Draft, but he’s expected to fall on the board now that he’s headed for Tommy John surgery. However, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman hears that it’s still possible he’ll be selected in the first round: Hard-throwing right-handed pitching prospect Jeff Hoffman lost his chance to be a top-four pick in next month’s MLB draft of amateurs, after news hit that Hoffman needed Tommy John surgery. However, scouting directors still suggest it’s possible he could be a first-round pick, and possibly even a top-10-15 pick. Scouting directors also suggested that teams with multiple high picks might be more likely to use a pick on Hoffman, who still is seen as having a high ceiling but will come with the small question of surgery results. The situation is akin to highly-regarded right-hander Lucas Giolito, who was picked No. 16 overall as a prep pitcher two drafts ago by the Nationals. There were concerns with him over a UCL that required Tommy John surgery as well. Teams with multiple early picks might be more willing to take the gamble, as they also have the draft pool money attached to those picks. With that in mind, teams like the Blue Jays, Royals, Red Sox, and Astros are worth watching. The Royals found themselves in a similar situation last year, when they took left-hander Sean Manaea with their competitive balance pick amid concerns about his hip. They could get creative again this year. Hoffman, 21, had a 2.94 ERA and 72/20 K/BB ratio in 67 1/3 innings this season prior to being shut down. According to Clint Longenecker of Baseball America, the 6-foot-4 right-hander has “easy mid-90s velocity and two offspeed pitches that show at least plus potential in addition to above-average control.” Follow @djshort

11/21/2022 onwards November 21, 2022 onwards

Livingston County, in the northern part of the State, is bounded north by Grundy, east by Linn and Chariton, south by Carroll, and west by Caldwell and Daviess, and contains 333,952 acres. Population in 1840, 4,325; in 1850, 4,247; in 1860, 7,417; in 1870, 16,730, of whom 15,774 were white, and 956 colored; 8,793 male, an4 7,937 female; 15,376 native, (6,597 born in Missouri) and 1,354 foreign. In 1828, a French trading post was established at the mouth of Locust Creek, in the south-eastern part of the county, but the occupants were so annoyed by depredations from roving bands of the Iowas, Sacs, Foxes and Kickapoos that the post was abandoned until 1833, when the Indian title to the land was extinguished. This county was settled by hardy and resolute emigrants from the older counties of Missouri, as well as from Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and other States. On the night of the 12th of November, 1833, memorable to the early settlers of Missouri as "the time when the stars fell," Elisha Herriford pitched his tent on Medicine Creek, 8 miles east of where Chillicothe now stands. On the same night the Austins, Blands, Lees and McCroskeys camped on Shoal Creek in the south-western part of the county. Soon after, Samuel Todd and the Stanleys, with others, settled on Grand River, where Utica now stands. The Blacks, Leepers, Legates, Davises, Martins, Drydens and others settled on Indian Creek in the north-western part of the county. Some adventurers who settled on Medicine Creek, opened a trade chiefly in whiskey, with the Indians, and the result of this traffic was the Heatherly War in 1836 (for particulars of which, see Clay Co. p. 150). The county was organized in 1837, and named in honor of Edward Livingston, Secretary of State under President Jackson. The commissioners located the county seat on land owned by John Graves, Esq., who was appointed county seat commissioner. He also erected and kept the first hotel. The first county court was held 5 miles north of Chillicothe, at the house of Joseph Cox, who, with Wm. Martin and Reuben McCroskey were the justices. Mr. Cox, at whose log cabin the first circuit court was also held, boarded the court, jury, litigants, lawyers and witnesses, without charge, setting long tables in the shade of trees near his cabin, ladened with corn-pone, butter, and venison cooked in every style known to the pioneers. Austin A. King was the first circuit judge, and Thomas R. Bryan the first county and circuit clerk. John Graves, Solomon Bargdoll and Judge Hudgins, all pioneers and veterans of the war of 1812, are still living in the county. The first mill (horse power) was built by Brannock Wilkerson, 4 miles north of where Chillicothe now stands, and Samuel Todd built the first water mill at the present site of Utica. In 1838, the citizens of Daviess County were driven from their homes by the Mormons, and took refuge in this county. Col. Jennings, with a squad of militia, attacked the "Saints" at Horn's Mill on Shoal Creek, near the south-western corner of the county, killing about 30 of them. Several of the militia were wounded. Adam Black, who is now a member of the county court, went to Jefferson City with a petition asking for the removal of the Mormons. Gov. Boggs called out the militia, under the command of Gen. John B. Clark and Gen. Lucas, of Independence; but the removal of the Mormons prevented further violence. Dr. John Wolfskill, who was one of the early State Senators from this district, is still living in the southern part of the county. Numerous instances might be mentioned of the early establishment of civil law-how the irrepressible Sam. Thompson, the first constable, levied on a calf, and a certain justice of the peace issued a writ for the arrest of a dog charged with stealing meat. About the year 1842, a steamboat ascended Grand River, during high water, as far as the forks of the river, 3 miles west of Chillicothe. Only 2 trips were made. Prior to the building of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Rail Road, the people traded at Brunswick. Goods were freighted by ox-teams back and forth. There was no organized Confederate army in this part of the country during the late war, but the people were frequently alarmed by the guerillas under Joe. Kirk, whose men, on one occasion, being hotly pursued by a large force of militia, became separated, and one part were cornered in the bend of Grand River, about 7 miles from Chillicothe, and compelled to swim the river under fire from the enemy, losing one man, several horses, arms, etc. Soon after this, while Joe. was negotiating for an exchange of prisoners, his men attacked a squad of militia, killing 1 and wounding 8 or 10. Mr. Kirk has now settled down to quiet life, and is postmaster at Spring Hill. Physical Features>br /> The surface is gently undulating or rolling, with but little broken land. The course of the rivers is from the north and west toward the south and east. Grand River runs through the county and with its affluents waters every portion of it. The principal tributaries from the north and west are Indian and Lake Creeks, Thompson's Fork of Grand River, Honey, No, Crooked, Medicine, Muddy and Locust Creeks, the latter forming part of the eastern boundary. On the south are Mound and Shoal Creeks. Many fine springs are found in the western part of the county. The most broken portion is in the western part, on the south side of the West Fork of Grand River, extending from a half to three-quarters of a mile from the river, at which distance the hills attain an elevation of 225 feet; southward it is gently rolling. North of Chillicothe the surface of the country is elevated, generally about 155 feet above Grand River; everywhere else the surface is gently undulating, and lies well for beautiful farms. The bottoms of Grand River and Shoal Creek are flat, often wet, and are from two to three miles in width, flanked on one side by low bluffs, and on the other rising almost imperceptibly, by gentle slopes, to the neighboring uplands. The bottoms of Medicine Creek are from one to one and a half miles in width; those of the other streams are much narrower. Those on the west side of Grand River, in the north-west corner of the county, have scarcely any bottoms, but very steep bluffs. The county is well supplied with good timber, the best and most abundant being between the east and west Forks of Grand River, where the growth is black, white and red chestnut, pin and laurel oak, maple and sugar-maple, sycamore, cottonwood, black walnut, linden, shell-bark hickory, pecan, white and red elm, ash, red-bud, mulberry, dogwood and cherry. In other parts of the county most of the timber is confined to the streams. The prairie generally extends over the ridges and across the wide flat bottoms. The soil throughout most of the county is dark and rich, from one to two feet in depth, except in the broken portions where it is light brown, often sandy, and only a few inches in depth, but well adapted to fruit-culture and grazing. The Agricultural Productions are chiefly corn, wheat, oats, potatoes and tobacco, but the soil is good and produces anything suitable to the climate. This is almost entirely a stock-growing county and blue grass is well suited to the soil. Fruits do well, apples, pears, cherries, plums and grapes are certain crops, also the small fruits. The Mineral Resources are mainly confined to coal. The workable coal fields may be divided into two parts, the upper lying on and near Grand River, west of Utica, and including two or three thin seams, the lower lying along and near Grand River below Bedford in the southeast corner of the county, including about three beds. These seams are partly developed, being only mined for local consumption. Building stone abounds and fire-clay underlies most of the coal seams. Mineral paint of, seemingly, good quality is also found. The Manufacturing Interests are included in the description of the different towns. Valuation of the county per census of 1870, $7,000,000.* There are 53 miles of railroad, of which the Hannibal & St. Joseph has 27 and the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern 26. The Chillicothe & Des Moines Rail Road has 15 miles of road-bed graded. The Exports are stock, wheat, corn, tobacco, etc. Educational Interests The public schools are in a flourishing condition. During 1873 $14,339.34 were appropriated to educate 6,476 children. Livingston County Places in 1875 Asper, a post-office 13 miles south south east of Chillicothe. Avalon, 10 miles south south east of Chillicothe, and 6 miles south west of Bedford, was laid out in 1870, and has a population of about 100. It is situated on the high prairie near Mound Creek, surrounded by fine farming lands. The academy here, controlled by the United Brethren, cost about $10,000. Avalon has 1 wagon and 1 harness shop, 3 stores and 2 hotels. Bedford, 10 miles south east of Chillicothe, on the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern Rail Way, situated on the south bank of Grand River, was laid out in 1843, and is in the center of a fine tobacco- growing region, has an abundance of timber and coal in its vicinity, and is well supplied with water power. It contains 1 steam flouring-mill, 2 steam saw-mills, 1 wagon shop, 1 agricultural and 2 tobacco warehouses, 6 stores, 2 churches-Baptist and Methodist, and 2 school-houses, one of which is for colored children. Population about 300. Blue Mound, (Mound Creek,) a post-office 10 miles south south east of Utica. CHILLICOTHE, the county seat, has a beautiful and healthy location near the center of the county, on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Rail Road, 130 miles from Quincy, 95 miles from Kansas City, and 76 miles from St. Joseph, and is on the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern Rail Way, 215 miles from St. Louis. It was located as the county seat in 1837, on land owned by Jno. Graves and incorporated in 1855. Population in 1860, 994; in 1870, 3,979; present estimate, 4,000. The superior railroad facilities make it an important shipping point for stock, grain and produce. Convenient to this place may be found coal, sand and limestone, also timber of a superior quality, and water power in abundance. It has 1 foundry, 1 woolen, 1 planing and 2 steam flouring-mills, 1 cooper, 7 wagon and 3 carriage shops, 1 brewery, 1 wine, 1 vinegar, 1 mineral water, 1 candy, 1 patent medicine, 3 cigar, 3 furniture and 2 washing machine manufactories (the patents for the latter procured by resident citizens), 1 broom and 1 tobacco factory, 1 book bindery, 2 gunsmiths, 2 marble and 3 lumber yards, about 60 stores, 6 hotels and 5 agricultural and 3 tobacco warehouses. The city has fine public buildings, the city hall and market-house costing $31,000. It contains 10 churches-M. E. Church, M. E Church South, Baptist, Presbyterian, Congregational, Catholic, Episcopal, Christian, colored Baptist and colored Methodist-aggregate value of buildings, $45,000. There are 5 public school buildings, costing $10,000; 2 select school buildings, worth $16,000; 1,300 children of school age; average attendance in public schools, 700. It has 2 newspapers-The Constitution, published by T. B. Reynolds & Co., and The Tribune, by E. J. Marsh & Co. Assessed valuation of real and personal property, $1,572,875.50; bonded indebtedness of the city, $53,000- subscription to C. & B. Rail Road; rate of city tax for all purposes, 11 mills on the dollar. Cream Ridge, a post-office 9 miles north north east of Chillicothe. Dawn, 6 miles south of Utica, was laid out in 1853, is surrounded by a fine farming region, known as the "Blue Mound Country," which is being rapidly developed by an industrious Welsh colony, and has 1 flouring-mill, 1 woolen factory, 2 wagon shops, 6 stores, 1 hotel, 1 public school building, costing $1,400; 1 Presbyterian church, worth $4,000. Population about 160. Farmersville, 14 miles north of Chillicothe, laid out in 1870, has a high and healthy location on the prairie, and is surrounded by excellent farming lands. It contains 1 public school, 1 hotel, 1 wagon shop and 3 stores. Population, about 125. Gordonville, a post-office 13 miles north east of Chillicothe. Mooresville, on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Rail Road, 10 miles west south west of Chillicothe, is situated on a high and rolling prairie, well supplied with good springs of water. It was laid out in 1860, and has 1 hotel, 1 church-Christian, 1 steam flouring-mill, 1 steam saw-mill, 1 wagon shop, 1 tobacco warehouse and 5 stores. Population about 200. Mound Creek-See Blue Mound. Muddy Lane, a post-office 16 miles north west of Chillicothe. Sampsell, in Grand River Bottom, west of Indian Creek, on the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern Rail Way, 9 miles west of Chillicothe, contains 1 store. Shoal Creek, a post-office 9 miles south of Chillicothe. Spring Hill, 8 miles north west of Chillicothe, and 5 miles south east of Sampsell, was laid out in 1848, is surrounded by heavy timber, and, as its name suggests, is well supplied with springs. At one time this was one of the principal business places in the county, but the building of railroads has drawn much of the trade to other points. The only tannery in the county is located here. It has 1 public school, 1 Methodist church and parsonage, 1 hotel and 1 store. Population, about 130. Utica has a fine location on Grand River, and on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Rail Road, 5 miles south west of Chillicothe. It was laid out in 1839, and contains 1 public school (cost of building $5,000), 2 churches-Baptist and Episcopal, 1 saddle and harness shop and 4 stores. Population, about 1,000. Wheeling, east of Medicine Creek, on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Rail Road, 10 miles east of Chillicothe, laid out in 1866, contains 1 public school, 2 hotels, 1 plow and 1 wagon shop and 5 stores. Population, about 150. *Assessed valuation in 1873 $4,662,551. Taxation, $1.40 per $100. Total debt of the county $180,298.99, of which $150,000 is railroad debt. This page was last updated Monday, 24-Aug-2015 22:53:42 EDT.

Business 2.0: Third Screen Column archive Nokia: Smart phones, few U.S. buyers The world's largest mobile phone maker has had a tough time selling to American consumers. But that could soon change, writes Business 2.0's Michal Lev-Ram. By Michal Lev-Ram, Business 2.0 Magazine writer August 10 2007: 4:31 PM EDT Sign up for the Third Screen e-mail newsletter (Business 2.0 Magazine) -- Life as the world's largest maker of cell phones isn't half bad for Nokia. The Finnish giant sold more than 100 million handhelds worldwide last quarter, leading to near-record profits. Company shares are trading at their highest level in four years. In India alone, one of the world's fastest-growing mobile markets where an estimated six million people buy their first cell phone every month, Nokia commands a 55 percent market share. In Europe, it's 45 percent. Nokia's N95 has been a hot seller in Europe. Will American consumers embrace the $750 phone too? More from Business 2.0 Live chat: your new online salesperson The hijack-proof truck Server farm goes solar Fastest Growing Tech Companies Video More video In fact, Nokia (Charts) is No. 1 in nearly every corner of the globe, except one: The United States, where it holds less than 15 percent market share. "Nokia has definitely struggled in the U.S.," says Avi Greengart, a principal analyst with research firm Current Analysis. The roots of Nokia's also-ran status here are unique among major wireless players. Part of the problem is technical: The company doesn't make a whole lot of phones that work on U.S. networks -- and those that do use slower technology. At the same time, wireless carriers haven't been all that eager to stock store shelves with the high-priced phones that Nokia specializes in (and that sell like hot cakes overseas). That's because American consumers haven't been all that willing yet to pay top dollar for phones when, thanks to heavy carrier subsidies, they can basically get them for free. But Nokia may not be a minority player for much longer. Motorola's disconnect Stymied by U.S. wireless carriers, Nokia has begun selling "unlocked" phones, which are devices that can work on any wireless network, directly to consumers. All users need to do is remove the SIM card from their old phone, insert it into a new one, and -- voila -- start dialing. They either pay their existing carrier for service or sign up with a different carrier and pay month-to-month. The point is, consumers are no longer limited in their choice of phones to those offered by carriers. But American consumers aren't used to buying their phones this way and Nokia hasn't yet been able to get the message across that they can. "In Europe, people are used to it," says Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director at Jupiter Research in New York. "But consumers here are not accustomed to purchasing unlocked, unsubsidized phones -- many don't even know they can transfer their SIM cards." That could soon change. The Federal Communications Commission has just cleared the way for consumers to buy any cell phone they want and then pick a wireless provider. Without getting bogged down in the details, the FCC announced last week that a portion of the 700MHz spectrum it plans to auction next year will be available for "open access" to devices and services. This means that whoever buys that spectrum has to let any device use it (for a price, of course). Nokia's biggest push into the U.S. market has been its N95, a huge hit in Europe and available here since April. The phone, which is unlocked, is packed with cool features, including a 5-megapixel camera, GPS service, and a full-fledged music player. Samsung's identity crisis Shailendra Pandey, an analyst with research firm ABI Research, estimates that Nokia sold as many as 450,000 N95s in the United States in the second quarter -- about 30 percent of the phone's worldwide sales during the same period. That's not a bad start, considering the unsubsidized N95 sells for a whopping $750 and is only available to North American buyers through Nokia and a handful of online and on-the-ground retailers. But it's only a start. The tech blog GigaOm.com reported Thursday that Nokia is planning to release this fall a new version of the N95, which will work on a type of high-speed network, called HSDPA, that is basically available only in the United States. The faster network should boost sales of the N95, which is seen as one of the biggest competitors to the new Apple iPhone. Indeed, Apple's (Charts, Fortune 500) foray into the mobile phone market could help Nokia as American consumers get used to the idea of paying full price for high-end phones (the iPhone costs $499 or $599, depending on the memory). "One of the things that Apple has demonstrated is the willingness of consumers to pay upwards of $600 for a phone," says Gartenberg. "Nokia needs to capitalize on the rising tide." Bill Plummer, vice president of Nokia's multimedia group in North America, says the company is focused on reaching its ideal customers: tech-savvy consumers who are the first to embrace new technologies. To that end, Nokia last month started a viral marketing campaign featuring videos of jealous laptop computers attacking N95-wielding consumers. The message: Cell phones like the N95 are replacing laptops. Will we all scream for touchscreens? Nokia is well-positioned to seize more U.S. market share, but the company needs to move fast. Motorola (Charts, Fortune 500), the world's third-largest device maker, has been struggling lately after failing to come up with a popular successor to its blockbuster RAZR clamshell phone. What's more, while Apple may be helping Nokia convince Americans to buy pricey phones, it's also a serious competitor. Apple CEO Steve Jobs told investors recently that he expects to sell 1 million iPhones this quarter, and rumors abound that the next generation devices are on their way. Meanwhile, LG is reportedly planning soon to launch its pricey luxury phone, the $800 all-touchscreen Prada phone, in North America. And let's not forget the Gphone, Google's rumored move into mobile phones. While it's speculated that Google is planning to release a low-cost device that won't compete directly with the iPhone or the N95, the fact that a software company sees opportunity in mobile hardware indicates just how competitive the business is getting. For Nokia, there's no time to lose. Internet use worldwide: Interactive map The world's hottest startups (outside the U.S.) Dialing into cell phones with ads What killed E3 SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT | | REPRINT Barnes & Noble stock soars 20% as it explores a sale Why it's time for investors to go on the defense

Family, Money Matters The biggest mistake people with kids make when starting a work-from-home business Chances are you know someone that has an at home business. If it’s not you, a handful of your friends or, at the very least, […]

You are here: Home » Arriving at the attorney’s office, Bev and I walked toward the door and a construction worker opened the door for us and greeted us warmly. The scene within the room we entered reflected the kind of chaos one sees in rooms that are undergoing significant renovation. Yet, with my life being in a state of indescribable disruption, the out­-of-control atmosphere of this anteroom was strangely comforting. And the chaos of that room , rather than being disruptive made me feel even somewhat comforted in that it seemed to be saying to me, “It’s not your life alone that is in a state of confusion.” We then made our way into the attorney’s office area – a world apart – one in which the message was: “You’re safe now.” I was given a cup of coffee, which tasted great. This was followed by the main event as we met Keith who guided us through the protections available to us at this critical point in our lives. As I sat there between the different parts of our session, I carefully studied the architecturally rich environment in which we found ourselves. It was impossible to successfully absorb it’s richness – the aged tan bricks with their stark black crevices separating them one from another. Our activities in that room were rapid-paced but thorough just the same and they left me with the conviction that we had come to the right place and to the right person, someone who convinced me that he cared ..

C.G. Gordon Moss Lecture 2023 Longwood University (Radcliff Hall) 310 Buffalo Street, Farmville, VA This year’s Dr. C.G. Gordon Moss Lecture will feature Dr. Melvin Patrick Ely, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Humanities in History at William & Mary and author of C.G. Gordon Moss Scholars Program Applications Due 2023-2024 The C.G. Moss Scholars Program at the Moton Museum is a collaborative program with Longwood University and commemorates the legacy of Dr. C. G. Gordon Moss, who served as a Moton Community Prayer Breakfast – April Moton Museum 900 Griffin Blvd, Farmville, VA Join us for a gathering reflective of our shared hope and active commitment to community building. Begins at 7:30am. Free and open to the public, all are welcome to attend. May 2 @ 7:30 am - 8:30 am Moton Community Prayer Breakfast – May The Moton Museum is available to rent for private, public and non-profit functions. Host your event at Virginia’s civil rights National Historic Landmark today. For more information on facility rentals, The Moton Museum hosts many events throughout the year.

Living “no limits” Culture & disability Accessible web: the new EU directive 1 November 2016 2 March 2018 Nowadays, the Internet has a central role in our lives. Information, shopping, bureaucratic procedures, job, social interactions, movies and TV series, music: there are so many things we use the web for, saving time, money and energy. So, it’s essential to invest seriously in an accessible web. The right to access the Internet is being included in the Constitution of many countries and, in the last years, Italy started a path towards this directions as well, coming to define the “Declaration of the Rights on the Internet”, a document where you can read, among other things: Accessing the Internet is a fundamental right of the person and a condition for his full individual and social development. Each person has equal right to access the Internet in conditions of parity, in technologically appropriate and updated ways, in order to remove each and every economic and social obstacle. We have presented many initiatives aiming to guarantee an accessible web to all the users. A few days ago, the European Parliament approved, with a landslide majority, the “Directive about the web accessibility”, a law that specifically aims to allow everyone, including elderly and disabled people, to easily access the web, paying particular attention to the public administration websites. The directive particularly applies to the websites and apps for mobile devices of: public administration offices, courts, police departments, public hospitals, universities and libraries. These institutions will have to give and regularly update a “detailed accessibility declaration” about the compliance of their websites and mobile apps with the directive, including an explanation of any inaccessible content part and detailing the reason why they aren’t accessible too. Moreover, the users must have the opportunity, through a feedback feature, to point out any issue and request for information about the inaccessible content. This is a needed action, since, today, in the EU live about 80 million of people with a disability or difficult to access the web. The directive will enter into force within 20 days from the approval and the member States will have, since then, 21 months to comply with it. Then, within a year, all the new websites of the public administrations went “live” in the EU must be accessible. The existing websites will have 2 years to comply, while the mobile apps will have 33 months. Not such a short time, indeed, mostly if we consider how quickly the web evolves. But this directive represents, however, an important step forward towards a web that could be accessible for everyone, thanks to the efforts of the EDF (European Disability Forum). Posted in: Useful info | Tagged: accessibility, accessible web, app, European Union, Internet “Intouchables”: when friendship overcomes barriers Advertising and diversity: is something changing? Follow Move@bility on Twitter FOLLOW MOVE@BILITY ON FACEBOOK! Read the latest Articles Work and disability: what if we change perspective? Sanremo 2021 and the narration of disabilities “Inclusive Revolution”, a conference about work and inclusion FOLLOW MOVE@BILITY ON INSTAGRAM

IP Man 4: The Finale Blu-ray Review IP Man 4: The Finale starring Donnie Yen marks the end of the popular martial arts series. The 4K, Blu-ray and DVD arrives on April 21st and On Demand on April 7th. 03/30/2020 Blu-ray Reviews, Blu-ray Rundown, Quick Hit Reviews Tagged with: Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins Review: xXx: Return of Xander Cage 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Review xXx: Return of Xander Cage, like the first movie, is technically not good but with that had over this entry was a sense it was competently made and was for sure this was a good 8-10 years too late. Having said that, they seem to be set up for a truly fun fourth movie. 05/07/2017 4K UHD Reviews, Blu-ray Reviews, Screen Caps Tagged with: Deepika Padukone, Donnie Yen, Ice Cube, Nina Dobrev, Ruby Rose, Samuel L. Jackson, Toni Collette, Tony Jaa, Vin Diesel Review: Rogue One – A Star Wars Story BD + Screen Caps Rogue One is a solid entry into the Star Wars saga and while it’s not as strong as either the Original Trilogy or The Force Awakens both in story structure and characters, it’s still one hell of an entertaining sci-fi action-er especially a fantastic third act which more than makes up for its flaws. 03/28/2017 Blu-ray Reviews, Featured Review, Screen Caps Tagged with: Alan Tudyk, Ben Mendelsohn, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker, Jimmy Smits, Mads Mikkelsen, Star Wars Review: The Lost Bladesman DVD The Lost Bladesman is your typical and middle-of-road martial arts flick tolerable for Donnue Yen as well as the story based on a historical figure, but little else. 10/29/2016 DVD Reviews, Quick Hit Reviews Tagged with: Donnie Yen Shanghai Noon/Shanghai Knights Blu-ray Review Noon and Shanghai Knights are both fun movies if not a bit forgettable even with Jackie Chan’s amazing fight sequences and stunt work. Even so, as buddy comedies go, Chan and Owen Wilson share good chemistry making both film a breeze to watch on a slow Saturday afternoon. 05/02/2013 Blu-ray Reviews, Quick Hit Reviews Tagged with: Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Owen Wilson, Shanghai Knights, Shanghai Noon

Save Money and Time: How To Perform Paintless Dent Removal On Your Vehicle Often, people want to make their vehicles look new, but do not want the effort or cost of repainting them. There are a variety of ways to remove dents from your car without having to paint it. In this blog post, we'll discuss some of the methods for painting-free dent removal San Diego. What can you do to remove a scratch? By using tape or pliers There are many methods to get rid of a car scratch. The most straightforward method is to use pliers or heavy-duty tape like duct tape. Clean the surrounding area of the dent with the help of a damp cloth. After that, put the pliers' end onto the dent and pull gently but firmly inwards. If that doesn't work it is possible to use heavy-duty tape such as duct tape to cover the dent and lift it up from under. This works great for small to medium-sized dents. Another alternative is paintless dents removal San Diego. This involves the use of specially-designed tools that remove the dent from the panel's interior. This is a more complicated process but doesn't require any painting so it's more likely that your car will be damaged. If you're not confident in attempting either of these methods yourself, you can always take your car to professional repair. Boiling water is a great way to eliminate dents from your vehicle without coloring it. Place the water into a saucepan and boil it for about two to three minutes. Then, put the car's dent with the pot for 2 to 3 minutes. Then press the metal back in place with your hand or spoon. It is also possible to put hot water directly into the dent if it's accessible enough, but take care not to burn yourself. It's a fast and effective method that's popular with people who need to fix car dents fast. It's simple to implement, so long as you exercise caution. However, boiling water could cause the metal to stretch if it's not used correctly. However, boiling water is among of the best methods to remove paintless dents from your vehicle. Utilizing Dry Ice Dry ice is a great option to remove scratches from vehicles without having to paint the dents afterward. Put a small piece of dry ice on top of the dent, and let it cool until it shrinks off the surface of the car. Then, you should be able to remove any metal pieces which remain beneath the car's surface. This method is best for large dents that require more force to get rid of than using pliers or tape. It is essential to ensure that dry ice doesn't get into contact with the car for too long to get rid of the paintless dent. The dent can be removed and the affected area be then sanded or painted if needed. Dry ice is a fantastic method of removing paintless dents in San Diego without resorting to expensive repairs. How Do You Get Dents out of a car Without painting it? Make use of a vacuum cleaner as well as a bucket You can remove many types of dents from your car without repainting or respraying by using a vacuum cleaner and bucket. This repair method can be applied to the body of your car made of plastic or metal. This process uses the suction created by the vacuum cleaner to suck out the dent from the inside. You'll need to make tiny holes in the bodywork, in a place which will be later covered with a trim or mudguard. Inject the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner into the hole and switch the nozzle on. The bucket should be placed on top of the dent so that the vacuum pushes it outwards. Place the bucket on the area you are working on until it draws the dent outwards. You can then apply Bondo or another type of filler to fill in the gap left by the nozzle. If needed, you may remove the area and paint it. Make use of a hair dryer You may feel tempted to take your vehicle off the road when it's got a tiny scratch or ding. Even a minor dent could affect the value of reselling your car. There's a simple method for minor dents to be removed without having to resort to expensive auto body repair. All you need is a hair dryer from your home. For several minutes, heat the hair dryer in the dent. Use your hands to push gently and pull on the dent until the dent pops out. To remove the entire dent, heat may be required. After the dent is removed, your car will look good as new. It won't cost you an excessive amount of money on repairs. Paintless Dent Removal is possible with just some tools and supplies and no expensive body shops! There are many options that can be used, such as tape, dry ice, boiling water, and pliers. Why should you pay for something you can do at home? Do not reach for the paintbrush the next time your car gets an abrasion. Utilize one of these three methods to remove the dent and keep your car looking its best or go to paintless dent removal San Diego. The following locations offer PCH Dent Repair- Mobile Paintless Dent Removal services: Vista, CA, USA; San Luis Rey, Oceanside, CA, USA; Carlsbad, CA, USA; Cardiff, Encinitas, CA 92007, USA; Escondido, CA, USA; South Oceanside, Oceanside, CA 92054, USA; Bressi Ranch, Carlsbad, CA, USA; Fairbanks Ranch, CA, USA; Oceanside, CA, USA; San Diego, CA, USA; Del Mar, CA 92014, USA; Encinitas, CA, USA; San Marcos, CA, USA; Rancho Santa Fe, CA, USA; Aviara, Carlsbad, CA 92011, USA; Leucadia, Encinitas, CA 92024, USA; Ocean Hills, Oceanside, CA, USA; Poway, CA, USA; Mira Costa, Oceanside, CA, USA; Solana Beach, CA, USA PCH Dent Repair- Mobile Paintless Dent Removal 6353 Corte Del Abeto Suite 106, Carlsbad, CA 92011 https://www.pchdentrepair.com/ https://www.google.com/search?q=PCH+Dent+Repair-+Mobile+Paintless+Dent+Removal&kponly&kgmid=/g/11rd25qmm https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=ChIJ900JekMA3IARGBnDlnsVguc https://www.google.com/maps/place//data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80dc00437a094df7:0xe782157b96c31918?source=g.page.share https://www.facebook.com/pchdentrepair https://www.instagram.com/pch_dent_repair/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqHUBqtaYsDMEE-wcIHHIuA https://twitter.com/dent_pch https://www.linkedin.com/company/pch-dent-repair