Datasets:

vllg

/

loong_c4

like 1

One of the most important things to do in helping prevent older consumer from being fraud victims is simply to watch their incoming junk mail. Millions of consumers around the world receive deceptive mailings for sweepstakes, supposed psychics, or bogus charities. Victims often send $20-$30 each time, over months, and losses can mount into the tens of thousands of dollars. In addition, the names and other information about these victims is then sold to other frauds, such as Jamaican sweepstakes scams, which can devastate elderly victims. The bogus mailing business is truly organized worldwide, and victims collectively are losing (at least) tens of millions of dollars. Unfortunately victims rarely complain about this fraud. In one Federal Trade Commission case the FTC found after bringing suit that there were a thousand times as many actual victims as there were complaints. In other words, only one of every thousand victims had ever filed a complaint. Moreover, many caregivers (or even local police) do not necessarily understand this fraud, and may not provide help to repeat victims or assist them in filing a complaint with the FTC. This is a worldwide fraud concentrating on older consumers in most countries around the world. In another FTC case the fraud was sending its mailings to victims in 155 different countries around the world. Moreover, it is common for different parts of one of these fraud operations to take place in several different countries. Thus international cooperation is going to be needed to attack this fraud. This DOJ-led effort is discussed in more detail below, along with a discussion of the organization of this industry, more detail on the different kinds of fraud mailings, and some pointers on how to avoid receiving such mail or how to address situations where victims have been defrauded. What do these mailings look like? DOJ has provided an excellent sampling of these mailings. Take a look. How is this industry structured? Writing the mailings. Note that these mailings employ carefully crafted wording to avoid saying directly that the victim has won. In addition, the “disclosure” needs to be written in such a way that it can helpfully avoid legal action. In addition, these mailings need to be translated into a variety of different languages. Printing the mailings. These mailings are often in several colors, and large volumes of them need to be mass printed. In addition, most need to be personalized so that they contain the name of the actual recipient. List of who to send to. The frauds need lists of names of who to send these to. There are markets, some underground, where the frauds can buy and sell lists of potential victims – and past victims who can be targeted again. Getting the mailings into the mail. There is, obviously, a cost for postage. In addition, the frauds may have the mail shipped to another country and then placed into the mail — to disguise the source of this mail. Post Office Boxes or mail drops to receive the mail back from victims. Of course the frauds are never going to have the return mail and accompanying money sent directly to them. Instead they open, or hire others to open, mail drops such as Post Office boxes. These may well not even be in the United States. Opening and sorting the mail from victims. There is a huge volume of mail coming back to these fraud enterprises, and simply opening it and removing the money can take considerable effort. There are companies known as “caging services” that will perform these duties for the frauds. Handling the money. Victims often send money in cash, from different currencies if the fraud operates worldwide. In addition, some victims send checks or money orders, which need to be cashed. All of these funds must then go into some sort of bank account and then transferred to the actual fraud operators. Some caging companies also perform this service. On September 22, 2016 Attorney General Loretta Lynch hosted a DOJ press conference announcing a set of coordinated actions against players in this industry round the world, including both civil and criminal charges, at a press conference hosted by. DOJ asserts that those involved in this effort defrauded millions of elderly victims across the United States out of hundreds of millions of dollars. The actions taken by DOJ and other law enforcement partners addressed activity taking place in Canada, France, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey and the U.S. They included actions against the companies operating this fraud themselves, the printers and mailers, and companies that open the mail and deal with the money. . In addition to actions by DOJ, other legal action announced was taken by the FTC, the Iowa Attorney General, and criminal search warrants by Dutch law enforcement. This effort included a new DOJ civil case against three individuals and three corporations operating as DCMS in Long Island: . The case alleges that this enterprise sent hundreds of thousands of mailing pieces and that it grossed $30.4 million since 2012. Criminal charges against Ercan Barka, a resident of Turkey. Barka was arrested at JFK airport on Sept 3 as he was going home. A parallel DOJ civil case alleges Barka sent millions of mailings to US victims every year; and that since 2012 he had taken in more than $29 million. Criminal charges against Glen Burke, who was arrested on September 24. These included charges of criminal contempt of court for violating a 1997 FTC order. DOJ also filed a civil action against an enterprise called BDK, based in Switzerland and Singapore with owners in France and Switzerland. The case alleges that BDK mailed millions of multi-piece solicitations to potential victims throughout the United States that profess to come from supposed psychics such as “Marie de Fortune.” The mailings told recipients that they would receive large sums of money, guaranteed money-making methods and/or powerful talismans in return for payment of a fee of $50 to $55. DOJ alleges that victims who responded received nothing in return except some worthless trinkets. DOJ alleges that this enterprise was collecting $50-60 million every year. MOSI in India. DOJ also brought a civil case against MOSI, an India based printer and mailer and the two individuals who operate it. They allege that MOSI designs, proof reads, and edits mailings and then ships them to the Singapore, Fiji or Hungary to be mailed. They allege MOSI has shipped at least 24.5 million of these mailings to the U.S. Both DOJ and the Iowa Attorney General’s office sued Macromark of Connecticut, which is alleged to have sold the names of at least 750,000 potential victim names and addresses to other defendants. In addition, the FTC’s civil case included charges that the Defendant’s also sold victim lists to other schemes. This effort also included a settlement with two Dutch caging businesses that received the mailing from victims, opened them, and then converted the money. They allege that these defendants had mail boxes in the Netherlands to receive the mail from victims, and that they collected at least $18 million per year, just from U.S. victims. And last, but certainly not least, DOJ’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated PacNet in Canada as a “significant transnational criminal organization,” meaning that no U.S. entities can continue to do business with the company. PacNet is, or was, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, but had a global network, operating in at least 18 countries including the U.K. and Ireland. PacNet is alleged to have been processing and laundering money for twenty years, and in 2016 alone processed payments for more than 100 mail fraud campaigns. The Postal Inspection Service also froze PacNet assets in the U.S. There are several different types of mailing that account for much of this fraud. As noted, many of them are sweepstakes or psychic frauds. Victims also receive many mailings from bogus charities. We address each in turn. How do the Sweepstakes/Lottery frauds work? Consumers were instructed to complete a short form and put a sum, usually $20-$30, into an enclosed preaddressed envelope within a specified ‘deadline’, and told not to delay. Note that responses to these mailings are bar coded. This allows the fraudsters to maintain a database telling them who has responded, and thus which victim will receive more mailings. On the back of these mailings was a set of dense fine print. Here is the “disclosure” used from another FTC case (Mail Tree). But it was in only 6 point type, and thus almost impossible to read. Over a two year period Moran sent out 3.7 million pieces of mail. He had some of his mail bulk shipped to England, where it was supposed to go into the Royal Mail and then sent around the world. But the London Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) officials detected and seized that mail before it could be sent. Victims who sent in their money never received anything. The pre addressed envelopes containing the money went to a post office box in Ventura, California, not far from Moran’s home. (Canadian law enforcement had shut down a PO Box he had previously used in British Columbia). If you work your way through the fine print it does suggest that by entering you will receive a pamphlet giving you lists of sweepstakes you can enter. But there was no evidence Moran actually sent these, and even if consumers did receive this mailing it would be of no practical value. Moran had been involved in deceptive mailings since at least 1995, and in the just the three years before the FTC shut him down he had taken in over $11 million. Much of the money was in foreign currencies, so he had to have it converted to U.S. dollars. Most of the complaints and victims the FTC could identify before going to Court were over 65 years old. Unfortunately, Moran may be a smaller player on the worldwide stage of this type of fraud. Note: There is another whole category of prize/sweepstakes mailings that operate somewhat differently. The mailings are designed to get the victim to call to claim supposed winnings. These mailings provide a phone number for victims to call, and commonly include a cashier’s check that will supposedly cover taxes or other costs of receiving the money. Those who call are assured that they have won. They are instructed to deposit the cashier’s check into their bank account and then to withdraw money and send it by Western Union or MoneyGram to some supposed third party. Victims are often told they can keep a small portion of the ‘advance on their winnings’ that is deposited. How do the psychic mailings work? In November 2014 the Justice Department filed suit in federal court for an injunction against two different operations doing psychic mailings. DOJ alleged that in each operation the letters to victims stated that the psychic had a “vision” that the recipient had the opportunity to dramatically improve their financial situation, including by claims about winning millions in a lottery. These letters were personalized and contained the victim’s first name. Portions of these mailings were made to look like they were handwritten personally to the targeted victim. Victims were urged to purchase various products to ensure that the good fortune would come to pass. Victims had to complete a form and submit a payment of $20-$50 by U.S. mail. Victims also often wrote personal notes back to the “psychic” with their money. Victim’s letters were never opened, (they were just trashed) and victims were in return sent worthless trinkets. Victims may also have been sent repeated mailings by the same ‘psychic’ over a period of several months or years. The operation using the names of psychics Maria DuVal and Patrick Guerin was taking in at least $13 million each year. The second company was taking in $1.5 to $2 million per year. Elderly victims are known to have marked their calendars for specific dates that these ‘fake psychics’ indicated that the ‘good fortune and business opportunities’ would come true. The psychic mailings are a bit different. Because they are personalized, and make it sound like the psychic has important information specifically for you, this again creates an aura of authenticity. The psychics also provide a warning or promise a great positive event is coming into someone’s life. It is easy to scoff at these, but again, look at how many people believe there is a basis in astrology. Note that DOJ also alleges that the victims were elderly, ill, and often hurting financially. DOJ also sued a Long Island business that was receiving and processing the mail from victims. They alleged that the company was taking in $500,000 every two weeks, for at least $13 million per year. DOJ concludes that in total this scheme defrauded over 1 million U.S. consumers out of more than $180 million. DOJ recently settled this case banning them from this business. On May 19, 2015 the FTC and 58 state law enforcement partners sued alleging that sham cancer charities had bilked victims out of more than $187 million. Some 85% of the money raised went to professional fundraisers. Much of the rest of the money was spent by family members on cars, trips, luxury cruises, jet ski outings and tickets to sporting events. Cancer Fund of America used both telemarketing and direct mail to raise money. There are many other types of bogus charities. Telemarketers often call pretending to be from police or firefighters. Unfortunately some people worry that these services might not be as responsive if victims do not contribute. Those who wish to support such charities should check them out in advance and contact them directly. Finally, it is not unusual to find bogus operations claiming to raise money for victims of hurricanes or other disasters. Many people do not realize it, but there are several places where you can easily check out a charity before contributing money. Here are two places you can check out a charity for free. The BBB’s Wise Giving Alliance has reports on almost all real charities. Also try charity navigator or charitywatch. In addition, many State Attorneys General track charities and can be contacted to see if they are legitimate. Why do people fall for these? Not everyone necessarily does fall for these, and I doubt that those sending them expect a 100% success rate in deceiving recipients. But enough do respond that it makes these schemes profitable. The sweepstakes mailings tell people something that they want to hear; that they are going to receive a large sum of money. Thus people want to believe. Look at how many people buy lottery tickets every day. When elderly victims are targeted, they may often have additional issues involved as well, including cognitive decline. Many elderly victims responding to these targeted mailings admit that they would not have ‘fallen’ for the schemes if they had been mailed earlier in their lives. These victims are interested in the money for what it will allow them to do for their friends, families and communities more than they have massive desires to buy sports cars or other luxury items. The mailings are a touch ambiguous about whether someone has actually won or not, but the use of seals, barcodes and other official-looking indicia give them a large patina of authority. Moreover, many victims are not lawyers, and are not used to doing the very close reading needed to detect the softness in some of the claims. And yes, elderly lawyers have also been victims of these targeted mailings. Finally, if victims are in doubt, they may decide that a $20 investment is not a large sum of money against the possibility that they actually have won a huge sum of money, not realizing that their information will be sold and used against them in later fraud solicitations. Charity mailings may be a bit different. They call upon the generous impulses of consumers, who want to do good and help others. The mailings look professional, and unless a consumer checks some reputable source they may not even realize they are dealing with a bogus charity, or a real charity that keeps most of the proceeds and spends very little on the actual charitable cause. Needless to say, these mailings are clearly deceptive, and federal judges in FTC civil cases have had no trouble concluding that they are illegally deceptive. Apparently those engaging in this fraud believe that since they don’t say directly that you have won, and they have the fine print disclaimer at the bottom, their lawyers can argue that the mailings are not deceptive. But the FTC law on deception is clear. The FTC, and the courts, look not only at the literal words standing in isolation but at the overall net impression of an advertisement. In other words, they look at the entire message conveyed the same way a real person would. The law on deception is set out, for example, in this FTC court brief. The law is also clear that fine print will not save an otherwise deceptive piece. Moreover, because the target audience is plainly older consumers, which may have difficulty reading fine print, a court will look at the mailing from the point of view of the group targeted for an advertisement. Finally, the “disclosure” itself is extremely difficult to understand, and victims who sent money, often repeatedly to the same scammer, clearly did not read and understand it – and surely were not expected to. Note that cases by the FTC are civil in nature, meaning the FTC can stop the mailings and get money back for victims, but does not have the ability to bring criminal charges. Most other countries have equivalent agencies, and most of those also only have civil authority. t seems likely that those that operate these frauds conclude that: 1) they can write these so that they are not literally deceptive; 2) this will provide some form of defense if brings a lawsuit challenging the fraud; 3) criminal authorities will not prosecute because defendants can argue that the claims made are ambiguous, and that no intelligent person would fall for them; and 4) if they operate from a different country it will be too much trouble to investigate and prosecute. 2015 FTC case against Mail Tree. Of course these mailings could also be prosecuted criminally, though before the recent DOJ effort they rarely have been. After the FTC’s 2015 case against another such operation, based out of Miami, the U.S. Attorney’s office for South Florida brought criminal charges against the three owners. To my knowledge these are the first criminal charges ever brought for these types of deceptive mailings. “In determining whether a scheme to defraud exists, you are entitled to consider not only the defendant’s words and statements, but also the circumstances in which they are used as a whole. What can you do about these mailings? DOJ has announced a consumer education campaign to address this type of fraud, involving a number of federal agencies as well as groups such as AARP, National Consumer’s League, and Adult Protective Services. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has also released a public service announcement about this type of fraud. Here is information on the FTC’s web site. Never send money. Not only will you not win, but this will also get you on lists ensuring that you will get more fraudulent mail. File a complaint. Call the FTC at 877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or TTY 1-866-653-4261 or complain online at ftc.gov/complaint. Note you can also send copies of deceptive mailings to the FTC and those can be posted with the complaint. These go into the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database, which is available online to over 3000 law enforcement agencies. Pass it on to friends and relatives. Share this information with others and you can help prevent them from becoming victims. If an elderly person is receiving a lot of this mail daily, for many it has become an important ‘habit and hope’ in their daily life. Families and professionals working to help them to stop participating in these mailings will have to discover other alternatives to how these targeted victims can spend their time during the day. Many report that waiting for the mail and opening/reading and responding to these solicitations are a very important part of their ‘work’ day. This can be one of the biggest challenges facing those trying to help. Can I stop the mail from coming? Because these are frauds, there probably is no effective way to stop this mail from coming. But if no one responds to this mail it ought to stop coming eventually. Sometimes family members have done a change of address so that they can receive and screen an older victim’s mail on their behalf. You can stop a great deal of mail for catalogs and other advertising mail by going to the Direct Marketing Association. DMA members are typically legitimate businesses who would rather avoid the expense of sending mail to someone who does not want it. You can get on a “do not mail” list at This service is free on line; it costs $1 for those who respond to them by mail. To end credit card offers. Steve recently retired from the Federal Trade Commission, where he was director of the FTC’s Midwest Region for more than 25 years. He worked on consumer fraud issues for thirty years. Steve was recently elected to the International board of directors of the Better Business Bureau.

2019-04-21T20:52:07Z

https://bakerfraudreport.com/fraudulent-mailings/

classified as an alkaline earth metal, calcium is considered a "reactive" metal. physical and chemical properties are most similar to its heavier homologues (strontium and barium). found in limestone and the fossilised remnants of early sea life; gypsum, anhydrite, fluorite, and apatite. should be taken with a meal to ensure optimal absorption. The name derives from Latin calx "lime", which was obtained from heating limestone. good choice for individuals with achlorhydria or who are taking histamine-2 blockers or protein-pump inhibitors. more absorptive than calcium carbonate but . . . the most absorbable form (not counting coral calcium) but . . . easily absorbed, but . . . The intestine absorbs about one-third of calcium eaten as the free ion. plasma calcium level is then regulated by the kidneys. Parathyroid hormone and vitamin D promote the formation of bone by allowing and enhancing the deposition of calcium ions there, allowing rapid bone turnover without affecting bone mass or mineral content. When plasma calcium levels fall, cell surface receptors are activated and the secretion of parathyroid hormone occurs; it then proceeds to stimulate the entry of calcium into the plasma pool by taking it from targeted kidney, gut, and bone cells, with the bone-forming action of parathyroid hormone being antagonised by calcitonin, whose secretion increases with increasing plasma calcium levels. It is common knowledge that calcium is required to maintain healthy bones and teeth. Calcium performs MORE biological functions in the body than ANY other mineral. Calcium is involved in almost EVERY biological function in the body. Calcium provides the electrical energy for the heart to beat and for all muscle movement. Calcium is responsible for feeding every cell. then detaches its load and returns to repeat the process. Calcium provides energy and participates in the protein structuring of RNA and DNA. can only occur "on a substrate of calcium" low calcium means low body repair and premature aging. There are hundreds of other important biological functions that require calcium. Calcium to acid, is like water to a fire. Calcium quickly destroys oxygen robbing acid in the body fluids. supports the synthesis and function of blood cells. intra-and extracellular calcium levels are tightly regulated by the body. involved in the activation of several enzymes, including lipase, which breaks down fats for utilization by the body. by being chelated by γ-carboxylated amino acid residues. Direct activation of enzymes by binding calcium is common. Some enzymes are activated by noncovalent association with direct calcium-binding enzymes. Calcium also binds to the phospholipid layer of the cell membrane, anchoring proteins associated with the cell surface. To understand why some tissues in the body are deficient in oxygen and therefore prone to cancer, it is helpful to understand the nature of acidity and alkalinity. In chemistry, we know that water (H2O) decomposes into H+ and OH-. When a solution contains more H+ than OH- then it is said to be acid. When it contains more OH- than H+ then it is said to be alkaline. When oxygen enters an acid solution it can combine with H+ ions to form water. Thus oxygen helps to neutralize the acid. When this takes place inside our bodies, the acid uses up the neutralizing oxygen thus preventing it from reaching the tissues that need it. As a result, acidic tissues are devoid of free oxygen. An alkaline solution is just the reverse. Two hydroxyl ions (OH-) can combine to produce one water molecule and one oxygen atom. In other words, an alkaline solution can provide free oxygen to the tissues. Chemists measure acidity and alkalinity with a pH scale ranging from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. Below 7 is acid and above 7 is alkaline. Blood must always remain at an alkaline pH 7.4 so that it can retain its oxygen. With the exception of stomach fluids which must remain acidic to digest food and urine which must remain acidic to remove wastes from the body, human body fluids such as blood, lymph and cerebral spinal fluid are designed to be slightly alkaline at a pH of 7.4. Healthy tissues are alkaline, whereas cancerous tissues are acidic. Our bodies are alkaline by design and acid by function. Maintaining alkalinity is essential for life health and vitality. Alkalinity is anabolic (builds up) and acidity is catabolic (tears down). In other words, as each of our cells perform their task of respiration, they secrete metabolic wastes which are acidic. These wastes are the end product of cellular metabolism and must not be allowed to build up. The body goes to great lengths to neutralize and detoxify these acids before they are in a position to act as poisons in and around the cell, changing the environment of the cell. If our bodies become acidic by dropping below pH 7.0, oxygen is driven out thereby, according to Nobel Prize winner Otto Warburg, inducing cancer. Most of us have healthy, alkaline body fluids as children, but as we reach our thirties and beyond, more minerals leave our bodies than we ingest. It is this loss of minerals that causes our bodies to become increasingly acidic. When adequate mineral consumption is in the diet, the blood is supplied the crucial minerals required to maintain an alkaline pH of 7.4. However when insufficient mineral consumption is in the diet, the body is forced to rob Peter (other body fluids) to pay Paul (the blood). In doing so, it removes crucial minerals, such as calcium, from the saliva, spinal fluids, kidneys, liver, etc., in order to maintain the blood at pH 7.4. This causes the demineralized fluids and organs to become acidic and therefore anaerobic, thus inducing not only cancer, but a host of other degenerative diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, lupus, etc.. Hypocalcaemia (also spelled hypocalcemia) is the condition of low serum calcium levels in the blood. levels less than 2.1 mmol/l defined as hypocalcemia. Mildly low levels that develop slowly often have no symptoms. Babies with the condition may twitch or tremor. Children who don't get enough calcium may not grow to their full potential height as adults. Many people are at an increased risk for calcium deficiency as they age. Hypercalcaemia, (also spelled hypercalcemia), is a high calcium (Ca2+) level in the blood serum. levels greater than 2.6 mmol/L defined as hypercalcemia. Those with a mild increase that has developed slowly typically have no symptoms. High calcium intake, but . . . it is difficult to separate the potential effect of dairy products from that of calcium. About 50% of total dietary calcium is supplied by milk and milk products. grains, and vegetable mixtures contribut to another 20% of dietary calcium. The remaining 30% of dietary calcium is provided by grains and grain products, meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruits, eggs, legumes, nuts, seeds, fats and oils. milk and milk products: milk, yoghurt, cheese and buttermilk. One cup of milk, a 200 g tub of yoghurt or 200 ml of calcium-fortified soymilk provides around 300 mg calcium. Calcium-fortified milks can provide larger amounts of calcium in a smaller volume of milk - ranging from 280 mg to 400 mg per 200 ml milk. leafy green vegetables: broccoli, collards (cabbage family), bok choy, Chinese cabbage and spinach. One cup of cooked spinach contains 100 mg, although only five per cent of this may be absorbed. This is due to the high concentration of oxalate, a compound in spinach that reduces calcium absorption. By contrast, one cup of cooked broccoli contains about 45 mg of calcium, but the absorption from broccoli is much higher at around 50-60 per cent. Half a cup of canned salmon contains 402 mg of calcium. Fifteen almonds contain about 40 mg of calcium. calcium-fortified foods: including breakfast cereals, fruit juices and bread. One cup of calcium-fortified breakfast cereal (40 g) contains up to 200 mg of calcium. 1/2 cup of calcium-fortified orange juice (100 ml) contains up to 80 mg of calcium. two slices of bread (30 g) provides 200 mg of calcium. Coral calcium is a form of calcium carbonate, sourced from fossilized coral sources and is the most common form of calcium on the planet. Coral is formed by a small "marine invertebrate" that secretes a limey substance, that creates a hard skeleton around them(similar to that of cancellous (spongy) bone). These invertebrates get their energy and nutrients from single-cell algae that inhabit their tissues. Because algae requires sunlight in order to grow, coral tends to be found in shallow clear waters. Coral has been used as a source of supplemental calcium for centuries. Okinawa is recognized as the world's best source of coral calcium, although it also is relatively plentiful in parts of Brazil. created by living organisms and consisting of geometrically arranged mineral structures (an aragonite), Coral calcium is more porus and has over 1000 x the surface area of calcium carbonate, which attributes to its superior absorption. contains naturally ocurring trace amounts of 73 minerals. (in proportion to those found in the human body, a factor which generally is believed to explain why coral calcium is so beneficial to our overall health). contains the biologically perfect 2:1 ratio of calcium to magnesium. Studies show that calcium carbonate (the kind in coral calcium and the most common type of calcium in non-coral supplements) is well absorbed , notes a 2007 article published by nutritionist Deborah Straub in "Nutrition in Clinical Practice." Coral calcium's reputation was seriously wounded in 2003 when an infomercial marketer (ITV Direct), exaggerated the benefits to sell their product and got into trouble with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The problem involved false or unsubstantiated claims for coral calcium, not issues with the calcium itself. The company agreed to stop making claims that their coral calcium product could treat or cure cancer, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, high blood pressure or other serious diseases. Coral calcium mainly has been promoted as a way to make the body more alkaline. Americans tend to be overly "acid" in pH, due to high levels of stress and excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates and protein. It's true that coral calcium can help alkalinize the body, but that's true of all forms of calcium, not just coral. Proponents claim that, because coral calcium was formed in living tissue, it has a different structure and is more absorbable than other forms of calcium. In general, it's true that organic forms of minerals are better absorbed, as is the case with amino acid chelates. One small study of 12 subjects, published in the Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology in 1999, compared coral and carbonate forms of calcium given in food. The coral was better absorbed. However, naturopathic doctor Michael Murray criticizes this study as being fraught with errors involving inaccurate measurements of absorption. A Japanese rat study, also conducted in 1999, found better absorption from coral calcium. The scientists did not confirm the reason, but it may have been from the magnesium content. Does that mean that coral calcium is a bogus product? Certainly NOT . . . Coral calcium is clearly NOT a miracle cure-all, but it certainly IS an excellent source of absorbable calcium, magnesium and trace minerals. Coral is among the oldest and most primitive of organisms. Coral reefs surround islands everywhere in the world, but the coral reefs surrounding Okinawa have proved to be like no other. Out of over 2,500 varieties of coral in the world, only the Sango Coral contains an organic composition identical to that of the human skeleton, including calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. "It is important to recognize that two broad, but distinct types of coral calcium are used as health giving supplements by the Japanese and many people throughout the world. The first type is fossilized calcium that has been deposited on the landmass, or washed up on to beaches. The second type is taken directly from the seabed. It is marine bed coral. This marinebed coral is the coral that has dropped from the reef or is processed by reef inhabitants. Marine coral is closer in composition to the living forms of corals, because many minerals and organic elements are retained, in comparison to fossilized, land-based coral. There are important differences in composition between fossilized (land-based) coral and marine (sea-bed) coral. Marine coral contains more magnesium, and the balance of calcium (24%) to magnesium (12%) content of this second type of marine coral is close to 2:1. This 2 to 1 ratio is the ideal ratio for calcium and magnesium intake in the human diet. My research has led me to believe strongly that the natural, magnesium enriched, marine coral is to be strongly preferred as a health giving supplement over land based (fossilized coral), which contains less than 1% magnesium. This superiority is due to its retained, ideal, ionic balance of calcium and magnesium in a 2:1 ratio, and the fact that a host of other nutrients were also washed out of fossilized coral during weathering processes. These issues are considered in greater detail in Chapter 4. There are some who recommend drinking coral calcium in a tea form. According to Bob Barefoot in The Calcium Factor, "tea bag coral does impart some desirable properties to water. However the user is only benefiting from about 2% of the marine nutrients that dissolve in water. Taking coral in this manner is far less desirable than consuming the coral calcium in capsule form. Despite the deficiencies, both tea bag coral and fossilized coral consumption has led to remarkable health testimonials." The bio-availability of the pure marine coral calcium from Okinawa, Japan greatly surpasses all other calcium supplements. It is important to note that for over three decades, the Japanese government in Okinawa, Japan has controlled and mined the marinebed coral that accumulated on the sea floor around the islands without disturbing the living coral reefs. Robert Barefoot is a chemist, who graduated with Honors from the northern Alberta Institute of Technology, majoring in chemical research. He has since published numerous research papers on analytical chemistry and mineral diagenesis. He also researched enhanced hydrocarbon extraction in the petroleum mining industry and metal extraction in the mining industry for which he obtained several international patents. He was on the front cover of several oil and energy magazines which in 1982, brought him to the attention of a medical doctor who was looking for a top chemist to help him. Dr. Carl Reich, considered to be "The Father of Preventive Medicine" for his pioneer work with vitamins and minerals in the early 1950s, wanted to write a book explaining how vitamins and minerals prevent disease, but needed a top chemist to accomplish this. His autopsies of terminal cancer patients who died with no signs of cancer convinced Barefoot that Reich was right, so they spent the next ten years researching the explanation, culminating in the book, "The Calcium Factor". Mr. Barefoot has continued to write numerous controversial books regarding the biological importance of vitamins and minerals in suppressing disease, and has appeared as a guest speaker at health conventions as well as radio and talk shows. In 2003, Mr. Barefoot was interviewd for an infomercial with Kevin Trudeau that was one of the most popular and successful infomercials in American television history. On May 15, 2003 the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), a trade association of companies producing nutritional supplements, asked that the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration "take appropriate enforcement action" against Bob Barefoot, enjoining him "from disseminating . . . fraudulent health claims for coral calcium." On June 10, 2003, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a preliminarily injunction against Bob Barefoot, Kevin Trudeau and others (Barefoot et al.). That action virtually destroyed Barefoot economically and did serious damage to his reputation. The FTC alleged that Barefoot et al. had made "unsubstantiated" medical claims concerning coral calcium in the infomercial in which Kevin Trudeau and he appeared. In an attempt to fully cooperate with the FTC, and even though they disagree with positions the FTC took in the case, they voluntarily agreed to a temporary injunction or agreement in which Barefoot agreed not to make certain claims unless and until he have obtained appropriate substantiation. Barefoot et al. cooperated with the FTC, and reached a settlement, whereby, even though Barefoot considered himself to be innocent, he pleaded guilty and thereby avoided a very expensive trial, which even if he won, would not compensate him for his losses. Under the settlement Barefoot was not precluded from publishing or speaking on the subject of coral calcium, or from selling coral calcium products. Barefoot is precluded from making health claims about coral calcium. Robert Barefoot has also been the target of Dr. Barrett (and the Quack watchers). Barrett, a man without a medical licence and a man who has been declared by the courts as "biased and beyond any credibility" uses his bad reputation to give Bob Barefoot all the bad press he can get. Barrett, who has declared war on Robert Barefoot, represents "Quack Watchers" which is appropriate as they are all "Quacks", only capable of watching and not participating, who are interfering with legitimate medical research. "History has taught us that all of the most advanced and famous medical practitioners, including Dr. Semmelweis, Louis Pasteur, and Joseph Lister, were all once considered to be quacks by their medical peers who now honor these men. It is therefore an honor that Barrett and company consider that Bob Barefoot is in a league with these great men." The ideal dose of calcium has been the subject of much debate. The RDA has been behind the curve and has gradually ramped up their specification over the years. required for bone health and to maintain adequate rates of calcium retention in healthy people. Glaringly, missing is any mention of how Vitamins D3 and K2 impact their recommendations. This is a HUGE oversite as both Vitamin D3 and Vitamkn K2 have an enormous impact on calcium utilization. Keep in mind that the RDA valus are based on "elemental calcium" so the specific form of calcium (and its respective percent of elemental calcium must be considered). The maximum dose of elemental calcium that should be taken at a time is 500 mg.

2019-04-24T19:50:31Z

https://coral-calcium-supply.com/

Holiday lighting technology has been subject to considerable development and variation since the replacement of candles by electric lights. While originally used during the Christmas holidays as Christmas lights, modern electric light arrays have become popular around the world in many cultures and are used both during religious festivals and for other purposes unconnected to any festivities. Incandescent light bulbs have been commonly used in holiday lights until recently. These lights produce a broad-spectrum white light, and are colored by coating the glass envelope with a translucent paint which acts as a color filter. Some early Japanese-made lamps, however, used colored glass. While incandescent light sets are less expensive to purchase than similar LED sets, the operating cost is significantly more than those of the very low-wattage LEDs. Light-emitting diode (LED) holiday lights are quickly gaining popularity in many places due to their low energy usage, very long lifetimes, and associated low maintenance. Colored LEDs are also far more efficient at producing light than their colored incandescent counterparts. There are two types of LEDs: colored LEDs and white LEDs. Colored LEDs emit a specific color light (monochromatic light), regardless of the color of the transparent plastic lens that encases the LED's chip. The plastic may be colored for cosmetic reasons, but does not substantially affect the color of the light emitted. Holiday lights of this type do not suffer from color fading because the light is determined by the LED's chip rather than the plastic lens. White LEDs are similar in most respects such as power and durability, but utilize a two-stage process to create the white (polychromatic, or broad spectrum) light. In the first stage, the LED actually only produces one color of light, similar to any other LED. In the second stage, some of the blue or violet-blue is absorbed by a phosphor, which fluoresces yellow, imitating the broad spectrum of colors which our eyes perceive as "white". This is essentially the same process used in fluorescent lamps, except for the use of an LED to create blue light rather than excited gas plasma to create ultraviolet. Although LEDs are long-life devices, older or lower-quality strands of LED-based holiday lights can suffer from early failure. This is particularly so with blue ones, which are the newest and most expensive, and therefore prone to cost-cutting. Most LED-based holiday lights use copper wire which connects to the plated, copper-alloy leads of the LEDs. Having dissimilar metals in contact can result in galvanic corrosion inside of the lamps' sockets, causing them to stop working. Some older sets of LED holiday lights have each LED permanently mounted in a non-removable weathertight base to keep out rain and other moisture, helping to prevent such corrosion; however, this prevents the user from replacing defective lamps. Many mini sets use standard 3 mm dome-shaped LEDs, and have a plastic cover over them to provide refraction, which is an important step in diffusing the unidirectional light they cast. These covers come in C5, C6, and C7 sizes (⅝, ¾, and ⅞-inch, or 16, 19, and 22 mm diameters, respectively) pointed "strawberries", G12 (12mm or almost ½-inch) globe "raspberries", and "M5" (5mm or 7⁄32-inch) pointed cylinders, equivalent to the T1¾ mini lights so common since the 1980s. For blue and green, these covers may have some fluorescence, leading to a lighter color. Other sets have 5 mm domes with no covers because these project light in one direction. Instead they have a cone-shaped indentation on the top to refract light out to the sides. Still other sets have covers like snowflakes (or for Halloween, pumpkins). There are also multi-LED screw-in bulbs which replace real C7½ and C9¼ bulbs and are much closer in brightness than the mini imitations. One drawback discovered to this technology for outdoor lighting, at least in North America, has been that squirrels have been found damaging them. The species must wear down their continually growing incisors by gnawing on hard objects. They apparently find the diode's durable plastic construction useful for this need, while its low power consumption means a minimal chance of electrical shocks to discourage them. Animal experts have suggested leaving edible hard nuts on the ground around lighting fixtures to distract the rodents with food that can also serve the same dental needs. Advances in LED projector technology have allowed outdoor projectors to become a viable option for holiday lighting. Projectors work like a home entertainment system but are instead fixed on lawns, trees, roofs, and other elevated surfaces. Most units are capable of projecting from a range of 10–15 feet (3.0–4.6 m), although other, more advanced, units can work from as far as 20 feet (6.1 m). Laser holiday lighting works via a simple laser that uses monochromatic light. Most units combine three colors: red, green, and blue. Units have fixed heads that operates on a simple motorized swivel that allows each point of laser light to appear to be moving. This has resulted in laser projectors being referred to by a number of names, including "firefly lights" and "laser firefly lights". Observers can notice that the laser points appear to be slowly floating between randomized points. Laser projectors have become popular throughout Canada and the United States due to their ease of installation and lower energy costs. Units can be installed with little more than an extension cord, which provides a simpler solution than what is offered by traditional holiday lighting. Laser Projectors can operate at temperatures of −4–104 °F (−20–40 °C), with each laser dot rated at less than 1 mW. Most units function with standard domestic mains electricity. Fiber optic technology is also used in holiday lighting, especially by incorporating it into artificial Christmas trees. Incandescent lamps or LEDs are located in the tree base and many optic fibers extend from the lamps to the ends of the tree branches. Bubble lights are a type of incandescent novelty light that acquired some popularity during the 1950s. Their main feature is a sealed glass tube with a colored bubbling liquid inside, created by the heat from the incandescent light. The fluid within the vial was originally a lightweight oil, but now is methylene chloride for a more consistent bubble effect. While the idea was first demonstrated by Benjamin Franklin, the idea was adapted for use in Christmas lights. They were invented by Carl Otis in 1935, who sold the patents to the NOMA Electric Corporation. There is a long story involving patent fights. Bubble lights can still be purchased online and in stores to this day. A number of light sculptures feature in this elaborate display which surrounds a Nativity scene set in a basement garage. Lights are sometimes mounted on frames—typically metal for large lights and plastic for miniature ones. These were first used for public displays on lampposts, street lights, and telephone poles in cities and towns. For public displays large C7 bulbs are generally used, but by the 1990s light sculptures were being made in smaller form with miniature lights for home use. Consumer types now tend to come with a plastic sheet backing printed in the proper design, and in the 2000s now with nearly photographic quality graphics and usually on a holographic "laser" backing. Public displays often have outdoor-rated garland on the frame as well, making them very decorative even in the daytime. Places where notable displays of light sculptures may be seen include Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. On a smaller scale, one of the most popular light sculptures is the sparkleball. Sparkleballs are handmade globes made from threading holiday lights into a sphere built of plastic cups. The cups are joined by soldering, cable ties, or with a hand stapler. Usually spotted individually on front porches at Christmas, the residents of North Yale Avenue in Fullerton, California have made a holiday tradition of hanging 450 sparkleballs from the trees lining their street. A variety of sizes, shapes and colours can be seen among these lights. Note that the following may be particular to North America, and may vary in countries with mains other than 120 volts. Christmas lighting began with small C6 bulbs — where the C means "cone" for the candle flame shape and the 6 indicates the diameter measured in eighths of an inch, ¾ inches (19 mm). These were on a miniature candelabra screw-base, now designated E10 (Edison screw, 10 mm). Replicas of these bulbs are now produced as miniature strings, usually with the entire bulb replaced, but sometimes with a decorative cover with regular bulbs inside. These bulbs tend to be transparent white or colors, and are often ornately designed with crystal-like patterns. Later bulbs called C7½, have diameters of seven and a half 1/8th inches ( 15⁄16 in, or 24 mm) using an E12 candelabra base; however, these have a blunt shape (and should therefore be called B7½, or B24). Mixing metric and English units, there are also now G30 globes which are 30 mm ( 1 3⁄16 in, or G9½) in diameter using these sockets. These are still used for the classic look or even retro style, and use about five watts each. Older bulbs drew 7½ watts of power, and were reduced to save power. Early bulbs, as well as some new antique reproductions, are made in various shapes and then painted like Christmas ornaments. Bubble lights and twinkle bulbs also come in this size. Outdoor-only bulbs are designated C9¼ ( 1 5⁄32 in, or 29 mm), and have a similar blunt shape as the C7½, but use an E17 "intermediate" base. Some modern versions of these strings are now listed for indoor and outdoor use. These bulbs are rated at about seven watts each, and are available in a globe shape, designated G40 (40 mm, or 1 9⁄16 in). Some of the blunt-shape bulbs now come painted with designs, or swirled in more than one color. It is now very difficult to find twinkle bulbs in this size. The four most common bulb sizes used in the United States. From left to right: "rice" style LED (0.057w), T1¾ "midget" (0.5w), C7½ (5w) and C9¼ (7.5w). Quarter shown for size comparison. Standard mini lights are T1¾, indicating that they are a tube shape 7⁄32 inches (5.5 mm) in diameter. Larger mini bulbs, which began appearing around 2004, are about twice this size, but are still very uncommon. Both types, along with most of the candle-shaped ones, are pinched-off at the tip rather than the base during manufacturing. Most contemporary miniature light bulbs have an internal shunt that is intended to activate when the bulb's filament burns out. The shunt closes the circuit across the bad filament, restoring continuity, which allows the rest of the string to remain lit. However, if one shunt fails to close properly, the whole string will fail to light. Other miniature types include globe-shaped "pearl" and smaller "button" lights, which are often painted in translucent or pearlescent colors. "Rice" lights are tiny, like a grain of rice, and can even have a subminiature base, if they are not already fixed permanently to the wires (on low-voltage sets). Rice lights are typically transparent, although colored variations do exist. They are intended to create tiny points of light, and are suitable for decorating miniature models, small wreaths, and other similar situations in which even "midget" T1¾ lights may be too large. LED lights, which are encased in solid plastic rather than a hollow glass bulb, may be molded into any shape. Because the LED casts light in only one direction, the most common way LED lights are designed, even "plain" sets having some sort of crystal pattern to create refraction. Many bargain brands have dome-shaped LEDs which focus the light so that it's sharply visible when viewed head-on, but almost invisible from a perpendicular direction. This has both advantages and disadvantages, depending on one's decorating needs. If a small LED bulb size with wider viewing angle is desired, wide-angle LEDs are available. The body is cylindrical with a concave conical depression, instead of a dome-shaped lens at the tip, to cause wider distribution of light. All miniature bulbs, including some LED sets, have a wedge base, though their designs are inconsistent with one another, making it somewhat difficult for the average consumer to change bulbs. To replace a bulb, the plastic base of the bulb must usually be changed by straightening the two wires and pulling the glass part out. Most replacement bulbs do not even include the bases anymore, despite getting only ten in a package and being charged nearly half the price of a new string of 100. For this reason, many Americans treat miniature holiday lights as disposable. In addition, colored lights tend to fade with even brief exposure to weather. Many LED sets are permanently wired, with bases that look like conventional pull-out bulbs. Traditional C6 bulbs were typically 15 volts, and used in series strings of eight bulbs, or multiples of 8. The use of eight bulbs (120 volts for 8 lamps equals 15 volts per lamp) gives each lamp the rated voltage for proper brightness. Later sets used nine bulbs on a string to increase the life of the bulbs by reducing the voltage each lamp received (120 volts divided by 9 lamps = 13 volts per bulb) but not significantly reducing the light output of the bulbs. Large C7½ and C9¼ bulbs typically come in sets of 25, though bubble lights come in sets of seven, and some non-holiday sets come in ten or twelve. Sockets are usually spaced about one foot (30 cm) apart, and are clamped to the wire with an integrated insulation-piercing connector. Some older parallel sets had 15 bulbs, as do some of the newer globe sets manufactured today. Both of these bulbs are designed to run on 120 volts AC and the light sets that use them are wired in parallel. This house in Cincinnati, Ohio is well known in the area for its traditional light display. The only types of lights used are mini, C7, and C9. Special wiring was to be installed to light the 125-foot-tall (38 m) pine tree with C9 bulbs for the 2007 display. Miniature lights first came in sets of 35 (3.5 volts per bulb), and sometimes smaller sets of 20 (6 volts per bulb). For a short time, these early miniature lights were manufactured using E5 screw bases, rather than the current wedge base and were called "Italian lights". Sets of ten (12 volts per bulb) were made for very small trees, but are quite hot, and are now usually used for tree toppers only. This number is convenient for stars, which have a total of ten points (five outward and five inward), and often have another light in the middle, occasionally on both sides. Incandescent miniatures now usually come in sets of 50 or 100 (which contains two circuits of 50) 2.5 V 170 mA bulbs, though decorative sets with larger bulbs (C6 or pearl style) typically come in sets of 35 or 70. Several "extra-bright" sets also use 70 or 105 bulbs, keeping the per-bulb voltage at 3.5 instead of 2.5. LED sets can vary greatly. Common is a set of 60 (2 volts per bulb), but white LED sets use two circuits of 30 (4 volts per bulb). Multicolor sets may have special wiring, because red and yellow require less voltage than the newer blue-based ones (blue, emerald green and fluorescent white), but typically come in sets with a multiple of 35. Battery-powered sets typically come in 10 or 12, and can use standard 2.5 to 3.5-volt bulbs because they run two batteries, totaling three volts or less. LEDs are becoming increasingly common as they greatly prolong battery life, but because they also last longer they are often soldered directly to the wires, making up for some of the increased cost of the newer LEDs. "Rice lights" are often made this way as well, and likewise may also have more bulbs per set, as they draw somewhat less power per bulb than other incandescent lamps. Controllers can be set up to change flashing or animation styles by pressing a button or turning a dial on the unit; others have only one pattern, but the speed of this pattern can usually be adjusted by turning a similar dial. Most multi-function sets feature eight to sixteen moving light functions. Some very common functions are fading and chasing. More extravagant and less common functions are stepping on and two-channel flashing. These lights usually come in sets of 140 or 150. This is because to give the chasing effect, bulbs must be arranged in four circuits of 35 (equals 140) or three circuits of 50 (equals 150). These light sets use even less power than a regular set of 150, because the lights are not always on, and therefore the bulbs do not get as hot. Usually, computerized sets cannot be connected end-to-end. However, some newer sets contain special miniature plugs – a female jack is located at the end of the set, and a male plug is located between the control box and the beginning of the actual lights. By disconnecting the control box from one set, it can now be plugged into the end of an identical chasing set to produce a longer strand of chasing lights. These plugs generally have a twist-on locking feature similar to that found on garden hoses. Computer-controlled holiday displays are becoming more and more common today. For instance, a display in Texas uses a PIC microcontroller-based dimmer scheme, and also refers to dimming controllers that people have built based on this scheme. The designs all use mid-range PIC microcontrollers, are generally modular in units of eight channels (dimmable circuits), and use medium-speed, daisy-chainable, one-direction serial communications for input. Most controllers do not have stand-alone show sequencing capabilities, and rely on a separate computer (usually a PC) to send it real-time sequences of dimmer commands. There are now several companies making equipment to do this, some are Light-O-Rama and HolidayCoro. Many animated displays now use RGB lighting. A control technology being developed in Ottawa, Canada that enables multiple homes to link up over the Internet in-real time. A central Web site initiates the timing using Network Time Protocol to keep the local computers synchronized, and each location has a small Java program that controls a device which interfaces with the USB port to which one's holiday lights are connected. In this way, anyone online can "plug in" to this network and at their discretion, working independently or synchronized, engage their holiday light display on a global level. This private residence in Jamaica Plain, Boston displayed 250,000 lights in 2006. The electric utility company installed special wiring; the electric bill was $2,000 per month. Incandescent (midget) or LED-based sets usually have each lamp connected in series to be powered without a transformer in the set. Screw-base C7 and C9 light sets use line voltage (120 volt) bulbs and are wired in parallel. LED-based sets use a current-limiting resistor to reduce the current supplied to each LED. Neon-lamp-based sets have lamps connected in parallel, each with its own current-limiting resistor. Battery-powered sets are also wired in parallel. Some incandescent or LED-based strings use a power supply transformer with lamps connected in parallel. These sets are much safer, but there is a voltage drop at the end of the string causing reduced brightness of the lamps at the end of the set. The reduced brightness is, however, less noticeable with LED-based sets than incandescent sets. Power supplies with integrated plugs may make the set difficult to connect in certain places. A line-operated AC string with a male plug on one end and a female socket on the other end can be conveniently connected end-to-end with other similar strings. The gauge of wire used, current rating of the fuse (if present) and the power consumption of each string will determine how many strings can be safely daisy-chained this way, or whether the end string will have diminished voltage and brightness. The number of strands of continuous light sets that may be safely daisy-chained in sequence varies based on whether the lights are LEDs, ordinary miniature light bulbs, or the larger C7/C9 type light bulbs. Other factors include the voltage of the set and the size of the wiring in the set. Those with questions should consult the manufacturer's instructions or an electrician. Most light sets come with built in fuses to help protect against overheating and to prevent household fuses or circuit breakers from being tripped. If a fuse blows, the strand must be unplugged and the number of strands must be reduced. If the strand has nothing attached, or has blown repeatedly, it may contain a short circuit and should be repaired or discarded. An episode of the Discovery Channel television show MythBusters covered the possible fire danger from holiday lights. ↑ Nelson, George. "The Evolution of the Series-Type Christmas Light Bulb". The Antique Christmas Lights Museum. Archived from the original on 2006-10-20. Retrieved 2006-11-12. ↑ EarthEasy (8 November 2016). "Choosing an LED lightbulb". EarthEasy. Eartheasy. Retrieved 8 November 2016. ↑ "Squirrels go nuts for tasty Christmas lights". CBC News. 2008-12-04. ↑ Edwards, Phil (8 November 2016). "Guide to Laser Projectors". Laser Christmas. Retrieved 8 November 2016. ↑ Edwards, Phil (8 November 2016). "Guide to Laser Christmas Lights". Laser Christmas HQ. Retrieved 8 November 2016. ↑ "How Fiber Optics Work". How Stuff Works. How Stuff Works. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016. ↑ Nelson, George. "The History of Bubble Lights". The Antique Christmas Lights Museum. Archived from the original on 2006-11-24. Retrieved 2006-11-28. ↑ "How Christmas Lights Work". How Stuff Works. Retrieved 2006-11-12.

2019-04-20T12:59:45Z

https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/Holiday_lighting_technology.html

Yesterday the Herald reported that the NZTA are looking at adding tolls to four roads currently under construction or in planning. The New Zealand Transport Agency is eyeing up tolls on four uncompleted roads which it says could support their successful opening and smooth the way for user-pays road pricing, documents released under the Official Information Act show. Transmission Gully, the Tauranga North Link, Puhoi to Warkworth, and Petone to Grenada meet the criteria for tolling, such as making sure the fee doesn’t deter motorists from using the road, that there’s an alternative route, and that it’s in line with the government’s objectives, a paper to NZTA’s investment and operations board committee in March shows. I suspect many in the media and general public would claim that this is just revenue gathering. So, it’s worth pointing out that $28 million would only just scratch the surface of what these projects cost to build. Even on our most used toll road, Orewa to Puhoi, the toll only covers a small fraction of what it cost to build and was imposed to allow it to be built sooner. What is more concerning to me is what impact the tolling might have on traffic volumes and how we justify projects. The report shows the Tauranga Northern Link has the best benefit-cost ratio at 3.1 untolled, dropping to 1.3 with a toll, followed by Transmission Gully at 1.6 untolled and 1.1 tolled. The Petone to Grenada route, which has subsequently been sent back to review after falling short in the project evaluation, had an untolled ratio of 1.5 and Puhoi to Warkworth 1.03. The latter two roads did not have tolled ratios confirmed at the time of the report. These outcomes really raise questions about how we evaluate transport. Travel time savings are usually the biggest contributor to the benefits used to justify these projects. If tolling is going to turn so many people away from using a project then perhaps we need to rethink just how valuable people actually consider their time is. Particularly in cases like Puhoi to Warkworth where the business case has been massaged as hard as possible just to get it to scrape over 1. This is also likely an issue with having a requirement for a free alternative. Before spending potentially billions on some of these mega-projects, perhaps we should first consider tolling the existing routes they’re to duplicate to get a more accurate representation of what the level of demand actually is. Or perhaps, in the case of Transmission Gully at least, the rail line should be considered as the alternative. Of course, travel time savings are used to justify many PT projects too. It would be interesting to see just how many projects (of all types) that would be built if those travel time savings were calculated differently. Perhaps this another indication that we need more wide ranging reform into how we assess projects. Especially this is intricately linked to often widely inaccurate modelling to begin with. Also concerning are the comments that they’re only just considering tolling now. Officials warned the board that because Transmission Gully and Puhoi to Warkworth, which are both public-private partnerships, were under construction, further work that had to be done put the opportunity to impose the charge at risk by push up against the completion dates. Transmission Gully and Puhoi to Warkworth were named as priorities by the former National government nine years ago. A decision on whether to toll or not should have been made clear at least as far back as the consenting phase. With coincidental timing, Stuff yesterday revealed that the Petone to Grenada (P2G) is even worse that initially suggested. A withering appraisal of the proposed Petone-Grenada highway north of Wellington says it would have a significant environmental impact, could fail horribly in an earthquake, and its $270 million price tag could be closer to $1 billion. An independent team of experts helped the New Zealand Transport Agency write a report that took a red pen to its work to date, which stretches back to 1995 and has already cost $18m in planning and property purchases. But Emma Speight, the agency’s regional relationships director, said the report did the job requested – sending the project back to the drawing board with $18m already spent and before a single hillside had been carved up. The Petone-Grenada highway was intended to be a four-lane expressway between the northern Wellington suburb of Grenada North, and Petone in Lower Hutt, carving through rugged terrain known as the Horokiwi Crest. But the “Petone to Grenada Project Evaluation”, commissioned by the transport agency in mid-2017, effectively puts the favoured design on hold. The concept of a road linking Petone and Grenada is still on the table, but the report suggests dialling back the “expressway standard” and having a speed limit closer to 60kmh so it can curve through the hills rather than cut into them. This is because, if the eight-kilometre highway was built to NZTA’s proposed design, it would cost $125m a kilometre. That would give it a $1b construction cost, making it more than four times the relative price of the 27.5km Transmission Gully motorway, which is costing $28m a kilometre, the report said. The Petone-Grenada highway would also have three massive cuts into the terrain. One would take out the face of an entire hillside above Petone to create a drop of up to 85m – the same size as a face at the nearby Horokiwi quarry. These cuts into fault-fractured rock could fail in a significant earthquake, blocking the road with a landslide. It could be three to seven weeks before vehicles could access it again, which is only marginally better than what is expected of the existing State Highways 2 and 58 after a big quake. Investigations into the Petone-Grenada highway discovered a previously unknown splinter faultline in the vicinity of the proposed Petone interchange. This looks very much like building a massive project for the sake of building a massive project, the worst justification for building something. I wonder what the BCR is on the project now? Excellent article thanks. What exciting times. I’ll never support taxpayers’ money being used to build a hugely costly, environmentally damaging road and then reserving it just for the people to whom the toll is insignificant. I returned from beautiful Opononi on Monday. As we approached the Puhoi-Orewa toll road I mused on how the time spent paying the toll online compared to the time saved by not taking the old route…I then dismissed the thought and concentrated on getting home safely. I have a credit card set up on auto-pay. It takes me precisely 0 seconds to pay. I imagine that the vast majority of trips would be paid in this way. If you use this road once every few years as was the case for me, why would I set up an autopay? Neither of us have any idea but I’m guessing most people pay per journey online. Most people probably pay per time. Most trips are probably paid for by autopay. There are approximately 19,000 trips on the road each day. Anyone going more than monthly would almost certainly be using autopay or bulk buying in advance. You’d have to imagine that the vast majority of trips are by regular users. Yabbut I am not a regular user; I’m special…and I like musing…and one of the things I was musing on was how long it would be before someone pointed out that “the vast majority of trips…..”, thus confirming that I am special. It’s really convenient that Greater Auckland posted a timely article about toll roads raising questions, the pertinent one for me being “have I paid that toll?”. Thanks Greater Auckland! The more toll roads there are, the more it’s worth everyone having a toll account with NZTA. I tend to pay the toll during down time, often when I am using my computer for something else. Once I’m on the road I find the eight minutes less driving much more valuable than the time I used paying the toll. Also on a few occasions when we have gone through the toll road on a whim or didn’t know which car we were going to take, my wife or myself, depending on who is not driving has paid the toll on our phone. The ones I could never understand were back when there were toll kiosks the people who would queue in line to pay their toll on Boxing Day only to then join a queue on the toll road! +1 First time users, tourist, elderly or the poor without any internet would surely be the only ones without setting up an auto topup account. Same as HOP, nothing more of a waste of time to not take the effort to setup for long term use, even though a bit of cash sits in their accounts. I’ve had other family members added on so they don’t have to bother sometimes. Though once I sold a car and forgot to take it off, giving them about 4 free trips! Regarding tourist they are better advised to go the slow way anyway for the better scenery & interesting drive, which I now kind of missed having used this way mainly…though don’t travel this way much now anyway. I went that way last weekend. It was 35 minutes quicker to take the old road and saved 2 bucks or whatever too. I use that road less than a handful of times a year but have the autopay setup because it saves me hassle, saves me time, and saves me all those penalty fees when i forget to pay. I heard half the fee goes towards collecting the fee. A fuel tax would be so much more efficient. 35min quicker. Must have been blocked like it will be on the coming weekend. The current toll hardly pays the maintenance of the road and tunnel. It was originally tolled to get NZ used to autotolling as it was planned to toll other roads like waterview connection etc. I don’t mind tolls when the cost is low like JHT. Although it would help traffic flow if we tolled yhe alternative routes and not the motorway designed for safety and volume. You would only toll traffic that left then reentered the motorway so locals don’t pay. That’s a far better idea. Tolling was introduced as an option for projects that did not meet the criteria for funding but there was sufficient public interest in paying a toll to bring them forward. You are right Waterview was expected to follow this path but the Key government decided to fund it anyway. That must have been someone’s little joke though, given how little of the cost of any of the roads is met by tolls. Along the lines of “let’s pretend we use the public’s money wisely yet give choice when it’s requested ha ha”. The tolling was never meant to cover the whole cost, just bridge the gap between the time when the NLTF would have funds available for it based on priority and the earlier date it was actually built. That is officially true. I was involved in a project looking at tolling tech pre JHT and it was definitely supposed to be the intro to wider use. I’m hoping the new government will take more note of future energy supplies before funding new roads no matter who pays, resources need to be prioritized to areas that have a long term future. This from HSBC, one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world. But isn’t the cost per km of Transmission Gully rocketing up too? Now that NZTA have admitted the consortium building it has had to do massively more amounts of expensive earthworks than was originally planned, costed/budgeted or actually consented? And so whats to stop Transmission Gully ending up rivalling the P2G highway as most expensive per km? So we have in effect two nearby “RoNS” style projects, ostensibly being built and mainly justified on the alleged ability to provide resilience in the event of earthquakes and other natural and man made disasters. And we now have, it seems, both racing “to the top” to be the most expensive pieces of roading. And no amount of tolls, even for 50 years will likely recoup that scale of spending on those roads. Nor by the sound of it, will that scale of spending even guarantee much if any more resilience for the roads network come the “next” big one. And of course, the alternative free roads will get zero safety upgrades in the meantime or once the tolled road opens, meaning people have to choose the “free road” death trap or the pay as you drive it tolled roads. Not much of an alternative really. So it truly raises the question what the hell we’re actually building and (considering) tolling these roads for. Yes, the country doesn’t gain resilience through excessive wasteful spending. The reason why we’re building new motorways is primarily due to the commercial interests of NZ’s transport and construction sector, who are effective at lobbying behind closed doors. NZ’s transport sector is the single largest contributor of political donations. It’s little coincidence that Steven Joyce was National’s campaign manager (responsible for fundraising) and the inventor of RoNS. Me too. Much better idea. The toll toad paying needs to be more forgiving and reminding. I always forget to pay my toll and get fined. It is not a good experience and I end up avoiding toll road because I always get fined. It would be better to send reminders email to me based on my last paid email address. Four days is simply too short and by the time I remembered I already get fined. Ideally it should have a remember visa card and auto pay functionality that link my last paid visa card to my plate number. It does have auto pay functionality. You have to set it up though. the NZTA auttopay system is so advanced that it emails you when an auto topup fails to go though because your credit card expired. And it doesn’t block your account and steal your money like HOP. It’s so amazing that they figured out how not to steal your money. NZTA should have talked to NZTA when they tendered for the HOP system. NZTA had pretty big teething problems with their system initially, though. However, point is – they fixed them. When I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, I was able to set up an auto-pay against my registration number, and then I could just drive through the Fast-Trak lane at every bridge in the area. They must have had as many toll bridges in the Bay Area as we have toll roads in New Zealand. I can think of six without looking at a map. Could someone set up a national system auto-pay tolls? There is already a national system of auto pay tolls. Though I think ‘national’ includes only the nothern toll road and one around Tauranga at the moment. Depends on whether you include the Rainbow Rd between St Arnaud and Hanmer Springs. The landowner (not road owner) sits at his gate and collects a toll, definitely not on the NZTA system! The landowner is also the road owner in that case aren’t they? Bit of a grey area, they are actually the pastoral leaseholder as it is high country land, although that is pretty similar to private property rights. I think you are technically right that they own that stretch of the road, although it’s maintenance is fully undertaken by Transpower as it is is the access road to the interisland power pylons. It really should be put into the public domain as part of the tenure review process. The road up to the Mt John observatory in Tekapo is a bit like this. The University of Canterbury own the land and road, and have started charging $8 per vehicle to pay for maintaining the road. I suspect there’s probably a few more of these little private toll roads around the place. It’s interesting that NZTA have got this far through the Petone to Granada link road, and only now realised how bloody infeasible it is. While many argue that it is needed as a road, to stop people living in the Hutt having to go South before they go North, there is already a road (Haywards Hill, route 58) that exists and makes more sense. And will save almost a billion dollars. I sure know what I would do if I was the Minister for Transport ! Hint hint Phil ! There is a certain irony that this massive cut through the landscape (very hard rock, massively tall cut required) is proposed to go through the hills right next to the existing Horokiwi quarry (you can see it in the second to last image above). I’ve been searching for the numbers and can’t find them, but it is something like: the volume of the rock taken out of Horokiwi over the last 40 years is a similar volume to that being proposed to be dug out of the new route, in the space of about 2 years. Something like 8 million cubic metres in total. Of course, if someone had actually planned ahead, we could have had the quarry people actually taking rock out of this area and the route would be already dug… but that’s too sensible. Or, that the new route is planned to go through the existing old quarry, so that the digging didn’t need to be done. Instead, there are questions over: what to do with all the rock? The authorities swear that these things are not interconnected, but there are two potential projects nearby: a possible “Great Harbour Way” i.e. cycle path all the way from the Hutt into the city of Wellington, that would take many millions of cubic metres of rock to form…. and also a possible extension to the Airport, which would similarly need many millions of cubic metres of rock fill as well. Coincidence? Personally, I think not. ill be annoyed if the cycleway and airport runway dont go ahead because they dont have the fill. $8 to use the Mt John observatory road at lake Tekapo because the university owns the land…. mm didn’t our tax money pay to build the university. More corruption. I will deliberately drive around all roads requiring a roll or not use it. Try to read the academic research we’ve paid for, too, Shaneo. I’d be keen to get that changed. I have no problem with congestion tolls across a cordon (as long as they are supported by rapid transit ) as they are there for a purpose. I have an major equity issue with “road tolling for revenue” in that why should the people of, say, Wellington pay revenue tolls (NZTA is not suggesting congestion tolls on these links – the authority should consider this) when the people of Christchurch get to use the new northern arterial and southern motorway stage 2 for free. Either new links are tolled nationwide or they are not tolled at all. Also revenue based tolling can have extreme equity effects on specific households and individuals where there is not a reasonable & viable non-tolled alternative. (i.e. a few people end up paying tolls everyday + fuel excise tax while the rest of us just pay the fuel excise tax). 4) Can easily be implemented tomorrow. Let’s tax this. Can’t say the population weren’t warned. National were the ones in power in March. So they are going to undo their own work? National were going to need an additional 10c per litre nationwide fuel tax to fund their Rons 2.0. I imagine they will be staying reasonably quiet on road charges.

2019-04-20T21:00:42Z

https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2017/12/20/toll-roads-raise-questions/

The GreenTree Inn Shenzhen Dongmen Hotel is located in No.2110 Dongmen middle Road, Shenzhen, Internet logon in the room, High-speed Internet access in some room, There is present a Business Center with various office services, Tourist assistance: there is travel desk for tours and booking services, Tour assistance to guests also by Ticketing Service, Golf: enchanting area dedicated to Golf Course and relative services, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, In the GreenTree Inn Shenzhen Dongmen Hotel there are several restaurants with Chinese and international dishes, The GreenTree Inn Shenzhen Dongmen Hotel has these distances from principal landmarks: 40 km from Airport, 2 km from Railway station , 0.1 km from centre, The GreenTree Inn Shenzhen Dongmen Hotel is equipped with a functional Business Center and all work services for office activities, In the GreenTree Inn Shenzhen Dongmen Hotel the guest has ideal and well equipped structure to practice many sporting activities, The GreenTree Inn Shenzhen Dongmen Hotel dedicates special attentions and services to your health and your well being. The Perthden Hotel,Shenzhen is positioned in NO.1025 South Yanhe Road,Luohu District,Shenzheng, The rooms have internet connection, High-speed Internet access in some room, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Here you find conference room ideal for banquets or conventions, Antitheft Video control, Function Hall to organize several events, Medium and small meeting rooms are available for your needs, Travel desk: tourist assistance by tours reservation and general booking services, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Golf: enchanting area dedicated to Golf Course and relative services, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The restaurants of Perthden Hotel,Shenzhen permit the choice of Chinese and international menus, Wireless connection to internet line, The Perthden Hotel,Shenzhen is distant from principal point of reference: Well equipped Business Center is available for business men in the Perthden Hotel,Shenzhen: here it is possible also to obtain several office services, The Perthden Hotel,Shenzhen offers a rich variety of areas with tools to make sport activities, Health treatments and well being services, are specially developped in the Perthden Hotel,Shenzhen. The Hotel-Zzz Shenzhen Futian Branch is positioned in , The rooms have internet connection, High-speed Internet access in some room, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Here you find conference room ideal for banquets or conventions, Antitheft Video control, Function Hall to organize several events, Medium and small meeting rooms are available for your needs, Travel desk: tourist assistance by tours reservation and general booking services, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Golf: enchanting area dedicated to Golf Course and relative services, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The restaurants of Hotel-Zzz Shenzhen Futian Branch permit the choice of Chinese and international menus, Wireless connection to internet line, The Hotel-Zzz Shenzhen Futian Branch is distant from principal point of reference: Well equipped Business Center is available for business men in the Hotel-Zzz Shenzhen Futian Branch: here it is possible also to obtain several office services, The Hotel-Zzz Shenzhen Futian Branch offers a rich variety of areas with tools to make sport activities, Health treatments and well being services, are specially developped in the Hotel-Zzz Shenzhen Futian Branch. The BestWestern pengfu hotel is positioned in No.6295, Bao'an Avenue, Bao'an District, Shenzhen, The rooms have internet connection, This hotel is able to furnish complete services directed to disabled persons, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Here you find conference room ideal for banquets or conventions, Antitheft Video control, Function Hall to organize several events, Medium and small meeting rooms are available for your needs, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, Vast area of the BestWestern pengfu hotel is dedicated to health services and well being treatments, Wireless connection to internet line, The BestWestern pengfu hotel is distant from principal point of reference: The restaurants of BestWestern pengfu hotel dispense dishes of various international cuisines, In the BestWestern pengfu hotel the services reserved to amusement are very numerous, The BestWestern pengfu hotel furnishes to customers equipments and tools suitable to sporting exercises. The Victor Hotel - Shenzhen is positioned in 31 Houhai Avenue (Houhai Dadao), The rooms have internet connection, This hotel is able to furnish complete services directed to disabled persons, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Here you find conference room ideal for banquets or conventions, Antitheft Video control, Function Hall to organize several events, Medium and small meeting rooms are available for your needs, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, Vast area of the Victor Hotel - Shenzhen is dedicated to health services and well being treatments, Wireless connection to internet line, The Victor Hotel - Shenzhen is distant from principal point of reference: The restaurants of Victor Hotel - Shenzhen dispense dishes of various international cuisines, In the Victor Hotel - Shenzhen the services reserved to amusement are very numerous, The Victor Hotel - Shenzhen furnishes to customers equipments and tools suitable to sporting exercises. The Vision fashion hotel, Shenzhen is positioned in No.5018 Shennan East road, Luohu District, Shenzhen, The rooms have internet connection, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Antitheft Video control, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, Vast area of the Vision fashion hotel, Shenzhen is dedicated to health services and well being treatments, The Vision fashion hotel, Shenzhen is distant from principal point of reference: 40 km from 深圳宝安机场 Airport, 6 km from Railway station 罗湖火车站, 6 minutes from Railway station, 6 minutes from Bus station, 6 minutes from Wharf, The restaurants of Vision fashion hotel, Shenzhen dispense dishes of various international cuisines, In the Vision fashion hotel, Shenzhen the services reserved to amusement are very numerous, The Vision fashion hotel, Shenzhen furnishes to customers equipments and tools suitable to sporting exercises. The Colour Hotel Dongmen Branch - Shenzhen is positioned in No.12 Building, Lixin Garden, Lixin Road, Luohu District, Shenzhen, The rooms have internet connection, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Antitheft Video control, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, Vast area of the Colour Hotel Dongmen Branch - Shenzhen is dedicated to health services and well being treatments, The Colour Hotel Dongmen Branch - Shenzhen is distant from principal point of reference: The restaurants of Colour Hotel Dongmen Branch - Shenzhen dispense dishes of various international cuisines, In the Colour Hotel Dongmen Branch - Shenzhen the services reserved to amusement are very numerous, The Colour Hotel Dongmen Branch - Shenzhen furnishes to customers equipments and tools suitable to sporting exercises. The Bamboo Garden Hotel, Shenzhen is positioned in No.2079 North Dongmen Road, Shenzhen, The rooms have internet connection, High-speed Internet access in some room, This hotel is able to furnish complete services directed to disabled persons, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Here you find conference room ideal for banquets or conventions, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The restaurants of Bamboo Garden Hotel, Shenzhen permit the choice of Chinese and international menus, Hotel surrounded by green spaces and graceful garden, The Bamboo Garden Hotel, Shenzhen is distant from principal point of reference: Well equipped Business Center is available for business men in the Bamboo Garden Hotel, Shenzhen: here it is possible also to obtain several office services, The Bamboo Garden Hotel, Shenzhen offers a rich variety of areas with tools to make sport activities, Health treatments and well being services, are specially developped in the Bamboo Garden Hotel, Shenzhen. The Liyuan Hotel, Shenzhen is positioned in No.2048 Dongmen Middle Road, Luohu District, Shenzhen, The rooms have internet connection, High-speed Internet access in some room, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Here you find conference room ideal for banquets or conventions, Antitheft Video control, Medium and small meeting rooms are available for your needs, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The restaurants of Liyuan Hotel, Shenzhen permit the choice of Chinese and international menus, Wireless connection to internet line, The Liyuan Hotel, Shenzhen is distant from principal point of reference: 40 km from 深圳宝安机场 Airport, 1.5 km from Railway station 深圳站, 5 km from Fair Venue, 0.2 km from Bus station, Well equipped Business Center is available for business men in the Liyuan Hotel, Shenzhen: here it is possible also to obtain several office services, The Liyuan Hotel, Shenzhen offers a rich variety of areas with tools to make sport activities, Health treatments and well being services, are specially developped in the Liyuan Hotel, Shenzhen. The Vienna Hotel Shenzhen Mingzhi Branch is positioned in Meilong Road, Mingzhi Avenue, Longhua county, Baoan District, Shenzhen, The rooms have internet connection, High-speed Internet access in some room, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Here you find conference room ideal for banquets or conventions, Antitheft Video control, Medium and small meeting rooms are available for your needs, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The restaurants of Vienna Hotel Shenzhen Mingzhi Branch permit the choice of Chinese and international menus, Wireless connection to internet line, The Vienna Hotel Shenzhen Mingzhi Branch is distant from principal point of reference: 40 km from 深圳宝安机场 Airport, 1.5 km from Railway station 深圳站, 5 km from Fair Venue, 0.2 km from Bus station, Well equipped Business Center is available for business men in the Vienna Hotel Shenzhen Mingzhi Branch: here it is possible also to obtain several office services, The Vienna Hotel Shenzhen Mingzhi Branch offers a rich variety of areas with tools to make sport activities, Health treatments and well being services, are specially developped in the Vienna Hotel Shenzhen Mingzhi Branch. The Shenzhen Norinco Hotel is situated in NO.3003 North Building, Shennan Zhong Road, Shenzhen, There is the internet connection in room, High-speed Internet access in some room, This hotel is well equipped with several services provided by Business Center, You can work or feast in various size meeting room, Travel assistance office: tourist services to travel and booking organization, The services dedicated to customers include the Ticketing Service, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The Shenzhen Norinco Hotel offers to customers menu with international specialties in inside restaurants, The principal landmarks has these distances from Shenzhen Norinco Hotel: 35 km from Airport, 5 km from Railway station , 0.1 km from centre, 1 km from Fair Venue, The Business Center and several services for business travelers are provided from the Shenzhen Norinco Hotel , A lot of sport activities can be practiced in well equipped areas of Shenzhen Norinco Hotel, In the Shenzhen Norinco Hotel vast area of hotel is equipped for health and well being services. The Ming Wah International Convention Centre is positioned in NO.8 Guishan Road, Shekou Industrial zone, Shenzhen., The rooms have internet connection, High-speed Internet access in some room, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Here you find conference room ideal for banquets or conventions, Function Hall to organize several events, Medium and small meeting rooms are available for your needs, excellent indoor swimming pool within the hotel structure, Travel desk: tourist assistance by tours reservation and general booking services, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Golf: enchanting area dedicated to Golf Course and relative services, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The restaurants of Ming Wah International Convention Centre permit the choice of Chinese and international menus, The Ming Wah International Convention Centre is distant from principal point of reference: 25 km from Airport, 25 km from Railway station , 25 km from centre, Well equipped Business Center is available for business men in the Ming Wah International Convention Centre: here it is possible also to obtain several office services, The Ming Wah International Convention Centre offers a rich variety of areas with tools to make sport activities, Health treatments and well being services, are specially developped in the Ming Wah International Convention Centre. The Grand Chu Hotel is positioned in Hubei Building NO.9003 Binhe Avenue, Futian District, Shenzhen, The rooms have internet connection, High-speed Internet access in some room, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Here you find conference room ideal for banquets or conventions, Travel desk: tourist assistance by tours reservation and general booking services, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Golf: enchanting area dedicated to Golf Course and relative services, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The restaurants of Grand Chu Hotel permit the choice of Chinese and international menus, The Grand Chu Hotel is distant from principal point of reference: 0.1 km from centre, 5 minutes from Fair Venue, Well equipped Business Center is available for business men in the Grand Chu Hotel: here it is possible also to obtain several office services, The Grand Chu Hotel offers a rich variety of areas with tools to make sport activities, Health treatments and well being services, are specially developped in the Grand Chu Hotel. The Xiaomeisha Resort Guanjing Hotel, Shenzhen is positioned in NO.14 Xiaomeisha, Yantian District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, The rooms have internet connection, High-speed Internet access in some room, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Medium and small meeting rooms are available for your needs, Travel desk: tourist assistance by tours reservation and general booking services, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Golf: enchanting area dedicated to Golf Course and relative services, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The restaurants of Xiaomeisha Resort Guanjing Hotel, Shenzhen permit the choice of Chinese and international menus, The Xiaomeisha Resort Guanjing Hotel, Shenzhen is distant from principal point of reference: 40 minutes from Airport, 10 minutes from Railway station, 50 minutes from Fair Venue, Well equipped Business Center is available for business men in the Xiaomeisha Resort Guanjing Hotel, Shenzhen: here it is possible also to obtain several office services, The Xiaomeisha Resort Guanjing Hotel, Shenzhen offers a rich variety of areas with tools to make sport activities, Health treatments and well being services, are specially developped in the Xiaomeisha Resort Guanjing Hotel, Shenzhen. The Metropark Hotel -Shenzhen is located in NO.2088 Middle Dongmen Road, Luohu District, Shenzhen, Internet logon in the room, High-speed Internet access in some room, There is present a Business Center with various office services, It is available a conference room for conventions with relative services, Antitheft Video control, Function Hall to organize several events, There are also small sized meeting rooms for work or private parties, Tourist assistance: there is travel desk for tours and booking services, Tour assistance to guests also by Ticketing Service, Golf: enchanting area dedicated to Golf Course and relative services, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, In the Metropark Hotel -Shenzhen there are several restaurants with Chinese and international dishes, The Metropark Hotel -Shenzhen has these distances from principal landmarks: 40 km from 深圳机场 Airport, 50 minutes from Airport, 1.5 km from Railway station 罗湖火车站, 8 minutes from Railway station, 35 from the sea, 15 km from Fair Venue, 30 minutes from Fair Venue, 10 minutes from the Subway, The 东门商业街 is at 0.01 km distance from the hotel, The Metropark Hotel -Shenzhen is equipped with a functional Business Center and all work services for office activities, In the Metropark Hotel -Shenzhen the guest has ideal and well equipped structure to practice many sporting activities, The Metropark Hotel -Shenzhen dedicates special attentions and services to your health and your well being. The Vienna Hotel (Shenzhen Yousong Branch) is situated in donghuan lst rd, longhua, bao'an dist, shenzhen, There is the internet connection in room, High-speed Internet access in some room, This hotel is well equipped with several services provided by Business Center, Travel assistance office: tourist services to travel and booking organization, The services dedicated to customers include the Ticketing Service, Golf: enchanting area dedicated to Golf Course and relative services, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The Vienna Hotel (Shenzhen Yousong Branch) offers to customers menu with international specialties in inside restaurants, The principal landmarks has these distances from Vienna Hotel (Shenzhen Yousong Branch): The Business Center and several services for business travelers are provided from the Vienna Hotel (Shenzhen Yousong Branch) , A lot of sport activities can be practiced in well equipped areas of Vienna Hotel (Shenzhen Yousong Branch), In the Vienna Hotel (Shenzhen Yousong Branch) vast area of hotel is equipped for health and well being services. The Shanshui Hotel (Huaqiangbei Trends Hotel) is situated in No.9 North Huafa Road (Huafa Bei Lu), Futian District, Shenzhen, There is the internet connection in room, High-speed Internet access in some room, This hotel is well equipped with several services provided by Business Center, Travel assistance office: tourist services to travel and booking organization, The services dedicated to customers include the Ticketing Service, Golf: enchanting area dedicated to Golf Course and relative services, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The Shanshui Hotel (Huaqiangbei Trends Hotel) offers to customers menu with international specialties in inside restaurants, The principal landmarks has these distances from Shanshui Hotel (Huaqiangbei Trends Hotel): The Business Center and several services for business travelers are provided from the Shanshui Hotel (Huaqiangbei Trends Hotel) , A lot of sport activities can be practiced in well equipped areas of Shanshui Hotel (Huaqiangbei Trends Hotel), In the Shanshui Hotel (Huaqiangbei Trends Hotel) vast area of hotel is equipped for health and well being services. The Shanshui Hotel (Shenzhen Luohu) is situated in 1098 South Yanhe Road (Yanhe Nan Lu), Changhu Building Shenzhen China, There is the internet connection in room, High-speed Internet access in some room, This hotel is well equipped with several services provided by Business Center, Travel assistance office: tourist services to travel and booking organization, The services dedicated to customers include the Ticketing Service, Golf: enchanting area dedicated to Golf Course and relative services, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The Shanshui Hotel (Shenzhen Luohu) offers to customers menu with international specialties in inside restaurants, The principal landmarks has these distances from Shanshui Hotel (Shenzhen Luohu): The Business Center and several services for business travelers are provided from the Shanshui Hotel (Shenzhen Luohu) , A lot of sport activities can be practiced in well equipped areas of Shanshui Hotel (Shenzhen Luohu), In the Shanshui Hotel (Shenzhen Luohu) vast area of hotel is equipped for health and well being services. The Luohu Hotel, Shenzhen is positioned in No.3012 Nanhu Road, Luohu District, Shenzhen, The rooms have internet connection, High-speed Internet access in some room, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Here you find conference room ideal for banquets or conventions, Antitheft Video control, Function Hall to organize several events, Medium and small meeting rooms are available for your needs, Travel desk: tourist assistance by tours reservation and general booking services, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Golf: enchanting area dedicated to Golf Course and relative services, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The restaurants of Luohu Hotel, Shenzhen permit the choice of Chinese and international menus, Wireless connection to internet line, The Luohu Hotel, Shenzhen is distant from principal point of reference: Well equipped Business Center is available for business men in the Luohu Hotel, Shenzhen: here it is possible also to obtain several office services, The Luohu Hotel, Shenzhen offers a rich variety of areas with tools to make sport activities, Health treatments and well being services, are specially developped in the Luohu Hotel, Shenzhen. The Orient Sunseed Hotel, Shenzhen is positioned in No.1122 Qianhai South Road, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, The rooms have internet connection, High-speed Internet access in some room, Business Center and work services are available for the guests, Here you find conference room ideal for banquets or conventions, Antitheft Video control, Function Hall to organize several events, Medium and small meeting rooms are available for your needs, Travel desk: tourist assistance by tours reservation and general booking services, Ticketing Service: apposite desktop to facilitate the stay of customers, Golf: enchanting area dedicated to Golf Course and relative services, Minigolf: miniature golf, competitive game played on a miniature course, The restaurants of Orient Sunseed Hotel, Shenzhen permit the choice of Chinese and international menus, Wireless connection to internet line, The Orient Sunseed Hotel, Shenzhen is distant from principal point of reference: Well equipped Business Center is available for business men in the Orient Sunseed Hotel, Shenzhen: here it is possible also to obtain several office services, The Orient Sunseed Hotel, Shenzhen offers a rich variety of areas with tools to make sport activities, Health treatments and well being services, are specially developped in the Orient Sunseed Hotel, Shenzhen.

2019-04-22T13:05:03Z

http://chinainfotravel.com/Shenzhen/Hotels_2.html

The CT with the larger turbine has the smaller AR housing that that will limit it. The center is the Chinese CX racing style t61 turbo looks like? Yeah, with the stock actuator on it too well see how much boost itll make. I may upgrade it if its not a lot and might break the 500 mark im looking for with a bit more boost. Though the 60-1 doesn't flow much past 25 psi so well see what itll make. After doing a bit more research it may be a T350 (t3 stage 5) turbine vs the p trim I originally thought. Its very possible the center is a chinese turbo. it is engraved sc6176 on the compressor cover but thats all I have to go on. I assumed with it being a precision unit (sc6176 is an old precision PN) it may be an old SP unit and the wastegate actuator looks similar to those found online. Oh wow then the SP unit you have the is the one to build! Can you tell me if its easy the size of the opening on the SP turbine and the CT that has had the larger turbine? I think the SP is maxed out before no more space left for a gasket if you were to bore it out more. If it were me, I would have the turbo changed to BB and put in a billet compressor and go larger if possible. Yeah I saw a select few of their turbos paired with the 8cm. Don't see it being sold separately though. Might contact them and see how many options they have available. I actually contacted mamaba over facebook to see if they would send samples for testing so I could share with the community. They replied and said they would ask then never got back. @ SIV 17 I just picked up a ITS bolt on suprasport turbo no idea on the side but guessing it's a 60-1. I was thinking of sending it to comp to ask them to re-machine the housing to stuff a 64MM in the compressor and see if they could upgrade the turbine with a newer wheel. Haven't had time to do anything on my 91 yet so the turbo sits. Waiting until I finish the 87 in the garage first before I start anything on the 91. Until then I'm just enjoying all 252 WHP of the car haha. 10 years ago I would have shimmed the wastegate as I was picking up the car. LMAO. You and about every other 16-30 year old Supra buyer in the early mid-late 2000's (myself included)! BHG? ...wait for it...... ok, yeah, check! hahah, well see.. if the 60-1 reaches my goals thats good enough. I have the 92 to build still for more power if I need. Mainly looking for quick response and fun to drive with this 7m build. Yea me as well. Was thinking just max out the CT base with my Turbonetics. Install BB CHRA and go billet. Maybe even bigger turbine??? I guess if I want to spend 3g or more to do an EFR internals that would be the best you can do. The other side of me is saying is this real Greddy manifold because it's made much better then the copies when you see all the extras it has. It even has mounting points to install the stock heat shields! It also means I can run a T4 EFR. I guess if I did that then I would weld on mounting points to put the stock turbine housing heat shield. I have started collecting parts to get a new turbo setup in the mid to far future. Given up on CT-26 upgrades or the strange Mamba setups that may or may not have longevity issues. - Bolt on cast T4 log style exhaust manifold. <- Will be slightly machining and modifying this unit. Using this route I can utilize some of the best turbo technology out there currently, as well as simplifying the intake tract and control systems. All of these components are integrated into the turbo already, which is excellent for packaging and cost reduction. They also have provisions to add a speed sensor on the compressor wheel. I need to work with B.W. to choose the optimal sized turbo for my goals, they have many to choose from. Might also take some measurements and determine if a QSV will fit along with a twin scroll, will discuss this with B.W. as well. Should only need to make new oil / water lines and weld up a new downpipe. Not trying to give free publicity to B.W., just thoughts on what route I am going. Spoke with B.W. on the topic for the 7M 3.0L Engine. B1 Frame is too small for the 3.0L. Need to move to the B2 frame, otherwise on the top end the exhaust flow for this displacement engine is going to be choked and limited. They said it should be at full spool @ 3,000 RPM mark, which is very impressive. I ran by them the idea of the QSV, but they said it wouldn't make much difference. These turbos sound very, very responsive for their size. I was not expecting a 7670 to be able to behave that way. Anyone here running an EFR turbo by chance? Want to chime in with their experience? Thought I would pass some good information on. Remember EFR 7670 are the exducer sizes but they are the best turbos. I found out that Precision makes a bolt on turbo sold only threw Sound Performance. It looks very nice and saw some dynos in the 500-600whp range for the 6262 BB billet. Hmm, interesting. I'm going for 500 WHP and need to decide on a turbo. I hadn't heard of these. Integrated BOV and Boost control solenoid? I've never heard of such a thing! The 6262 from Sound Performance is what I'm eyeing as of now. I'm having a hard time finding a better value anywhere else. Yeah the feature list for these EFR turbos is very appealing. They really allow you to simplify and downsize the extra ancillary components usually required to control a turbo. Great for cleaning up the bay and packaging. The internal wastegate sounds very capable on these turbos as well. Though I am sure it would be beneficial to move to an external WG on these up to a certain power level. Most of us would be fine running one of these with their internal WG. Yeah lots of good features, even a speed sensor. The speed sensor would be super cool. I'd do a little custom digital display in the cabin to watch the RPM soar under load, haha. I just looked over an invoice from Reg Riemer in 1999 for a HKS Sport Turbo I have but the turbine housing has a Turbonetics logo on it? This would mean HKS bought them from Turbonetics and sold them? Any info on this? HKS cast the original ct-26 style turbine housing for their bolt-on turbos. All others from that point are copies. First was Turbonetics who offered them in several different A/R's. If your turbo has a Turbonetics housing, then it is not an HKS turbo. Perhaps the compressor and cover are, but definitely not the turbine housing. Many of the bolt-ons I pictured above use Turnbonetic housings. Turbonetic's internal wastegate suffered from flapper ceasing due the material of the flapper rod expanding when hot and jamming. SupraSport's first gen bolt-on's suffered from the same thing. Pretty sure the casts were being made in Mexico. Luckily, there is a fix (weld a steel bolt to flapper in place of rod). If you haven't run your turbo yet, chances good that it'll suffer from the same issue as I believe it effected all Turbonetics and 1st SS bolt-ons for the 7m. Should have the dyno video and graph soon. Will post it up. Pretty sure it outflowed the factory exhaust manifold as the power drops at 6200rpm and then goes back up through 6500rpm. Consensus is that the factory manifold is bottlenecking flow. I stick to my previous statement. Here is the order email of the turbo I have from Turbonetics. This was shipped from HKS to the owner who I obtained the turbo from. You've posted a scan of an itemized 18 year old email from Reg Riemer to the previous buyer. Not from Turbonetics and I see no shipping invoice from HKS. Not sure what you're trying to prove or disprove. It's already been discussed that the hotside is a later cast from Turbonetics, not HKS. As far as the center section and compressor cover, perhaps you can find some identifying marks to see what brand they are. Reg was a pretty straight shooter. Not sure about who you purchased the Turbo from second-hand. You may even have one of JT's bolt-ons as he frequently Frankenstein'd them from whatever he had available to him at the time. Btw, your wastegate actuator looks to be from Turbonetics as well. Both of mine had an identical silver tag with 3 part numbers. Once again, if the housing has a Turbonetics logo, it’s Turbonetics. Turbonetics did not produce the housings until after HKS discontinued their 7M Sport Turbos. So there’s no way HKS could have used Turbonetics as a supplier. Reg didn’t remember seeing the “T” logo on his turbine housing because he is running a genuine HKS Sport Turbo. Done and done. Now please stop cluttering up this thread. Let’s see some pics of other bolt-on turbo options people. The main reason I love the idea of bolt on is to use all the heat shields. I love the idea of having some of the factory essence but updated with minimal changes visually. Since I know now that I have the Turbonetics unit and not HKS I deleted some posts. My current Turbonetics is a ball bearing. I spin it and it keeps going so I believe this is a BB based on that? Mark you mentioned that there were 3 turbine housings? Other then stock and the .63 A/R Turbo A housing which all the larger housings were copied from? What is the 3rd one? One interesting thing is that the Turbonetics uses a bolt on turbine housings and Mamba unit is a v band style? The bolt on one should allow an EFR supercore to mate to it with some machine work I would think? I just called Comp turbo and asked if I use my Turbonetics turbine housing if we can run an all new aluminum bearing housing and the most modern billet disgnes and they said they could do it for $1000. Another interesting option is still the SP/Precision. Precision now has a Gen 2 billet wheel that flows 750hp from a 6062 size. Also Turbonetics and Precision have now merged which is interesting? I was also thinking about going over to Turbonetics and seeing what they can do to my turbo to updated it once I'm ready. All that had been discussed is that your turbine housing is Turbonetics. Your center section is not based on the type of oil feed lines yours uses and the compressor cover is clearly not Turbonetics either. Does anyone know what size the turbine housings are on the Boss Lipp Jr Vs Sr? I found a comment that states .83 for Sr and .58 Jr? Wounder if these are correct? I’m not sure why they never list AR’s. Other than an old Turbontics catalog I came across, I’ve yet to see any specifics. I do know the two most common I have come across are .63 and .81. Oh nice can you take a pic of the catalog in regards to the bolt on turbos and post it? I would love to see it! I wounder which AR mine is? I was not able to see it but it looks like the .63 Turbo A size? Do you know which AR is your HI-FI turbo? Pretty sure mine's running the .68 turbine housing. Can't find the Turbonetics catalog anymore. I came across it a few years ago online. The Sound Performance Percussion 6262 turbo is what I am running and it pulls very hard. I did have to reshape the front manifold heat shield a tad bit (so it does not rub on the intake side of the compressor housing) and cut a V shape in the top of the rear heat shield (for the top oil feed line to fit /watch out for asbestos if you cut into it). Once I dropped in some BC 264 cams, it made such a amazing difference with those as well but I have not even put that turbo past 12 psi yet. I have a Turbonetics Bolt on, second, third, fourth hand(who knows). I've done some research and found that its a F1-62 turbonetics turbine in a non branded CT26 turbine housing(standard 6 bolt to the center section), turbonetics standard shaft journal center with a GT63/T04R 63 Trim Compressor. I only have the "T" Logo on the center section and a .60 A/R on the compressor housing. Isn't that a HKS Wheel? It did have a 360deg thrust washer, I'm unsure if that's what Turbonetics did or if someone else had been in there. Maybe I have a Frankenstein turbo? Does that sound right for a Turbonetics Bolt on? Would anyone know what the A/R is of the turbine housing? As far as I know, a complete Turbonetics Bolt-On will have their "T" logo on the center section and turbine housing. Compressor covers have "Turbonetics" cast into the front. Anything else is likely a Frankenstein of some sort from multiple manufacturers. These turbos are old, things break, parts get hard to find. So people piece them together as they can. When I last sent my HiFi in for rebuild, they said the bearing housing was gouged and Turbonetics no longer offered a wet center section, so mine now has a Turbonetics oil cooled only center section. If that wasn't available, I would have used whatever center section would have fit, regardless of brand. That video from Alex was a huge inspiration for my build. His build was on stock cams/bottom end so I cant wait when I take it to SP to get it tuned on e85 w/264 cams. I got this turbo earlier this year and it just a journal bearing. I have not pushed that turbo because I am just breaking in the built motor. Oh yea I loved seeing Alex's car vid as well! You may hit 600whp if everything is tight and tuned! You may need to extrude hone the exhaust manifold to do it easily. I plan to because it is not possible to reach all the areas and make it uniform. Can't wait to see your vid from SP! Any chance you have a picture of the turbine side of the Turbonetics unit? Any A/R markings on it? Which manifold did you end up purchasing? I've been looking to do something similar, but from what I've seen there isn't a reasonably priced twin scroll cast unit. The treadstone looks like the ewg flange would be easily capped off, but dividing the exhaust pulses properly might be a little tricky. There are some full tubular manifolds, with the proper twin scroll provisions, but they are priced astronomically... well at least for me. I just picked up one of the generic cast log style manifold's. Pretty much the only cast manifolds available now, T4 flange w/ integrated 4 bolt wastegate flange. I believe they are remakes / copies of the old Treadstone manifold. Its not a twin scroll but I decided to skip the twin scroll manifold design anyway. Going with the EFR turbo, spool lag isn't going to be an issue. I plan on just making a blank plate to close off the integrated wastegate flange and just go with an EFR with an internal WG. There is some casting cleanup needed on these manifolds, but nothing some time with my carbide porting bits won't be able to handle. I prefer the compactness and robustness of the cast manifold over the tubular. I recognize the gamma-TI center sections are one of the primary reasons for the EFR's low spool times and improved transient response characteristics, and that you will still reap those benefits (and the others you listed) with the single-scroll and respect your decision. After thinking a bit more about my own goals, I really just want more power with near stock spool, or better. In my case it seems like a lost opportunity to not take advantage of the stacked benefits of both the better center section and the twin-scroll to really get the PSI numbers climbing quick and "get best of both worlds" with these turbos. Ultimately though, the cost difference in manifolds and manifold availability is definitely something to consider, even though the difference in the price of the turbo is pretty low ~100. If BorgWarner offered the twin and single-scroll versions of the turbo with the same A/R, it might be interesting to consider the twin-scroll turbo, but simply stuck onto your turbo manifold as a way to future proof your turbo purchase in the unlikely event it doesn't meet your needs. I found these resources from Borg Warner pretty awesome when considering which turbo to buy. This link allows you to match up your engine characteristics, and your spool/power desires to help select the optimally sized turbo for the job. Also, page 101 of the first link provides some guidance on how to use it, but the tool has some very handy overlays. Hope that is of use to someone, and sorry for derailing the thread with this long a** post! My preference would have been to get a cast manifold that was twin scroll and pair that to a BW EFR twin scroll. But those manifolds are much too rare, I have not seen one turn up in some time.. By the time I get around to changing out the turbo and modifing all that again I may change my mind on some of this. I have another idea in the works to make use of a twin scroll BW EFR, utilizing a different manifold setup (not tubular). To reap all the benefits of a twin scroll while also retaining a cast manifold. NIB Suprasport Boss Jr. 57 trim ball-bearing. I bought this when they made it clear this was going to be the last batch they planned to make. It also came in a 60-1 trim. For my goals, the 57 trim was what I needed. I also have the matching Lipp elbow. Mine does not have engraved company markings on it. I didn't ask either way. It runs hard and has been durable. For the 7M, what two cylinder groups need to be siamesed to get even pulses? Each pair would join and feed a separate side of the twin scroll. There is a CT26 turbo for another vehicle out there that did utilize an early twin scroll turbine design though. The 3SGTE engine received this style turbo. Though the passages are too small to be suited for the amount of airflow needed on a 3.0L engine.

2019-04-22T22:25:04Z

http://www.supramania.com/forum/threads/the-7mgte-bolt-on-turbo-catalog.246931/page-2

Border regions in the European Union (EU) account for roughly 40% of the total population and 60% of the EU territory (border NUTS3). These regions have had a specific financial support from the EU Structural Funds, since 1989, firstly through the INTERREG-A Community Initiative (1989-2006), and more recently through the Territorial Cooperation Objective (2007-2013), in order to help them overcome the disadvantages created by national administrative boundaries in a context of the Single Market emergence. Despite representing less than 3% of the EU Structural Funds total allocation, from 1989 to 2013 more than 15 billion € were used in cross-border cooperation (CBC) projects, in all areas of territorial development. Therefore, the use of Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA) procedures is largely justified in assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of such programmes, namely in reducing the barrier effect produced by the presence of the borderline, and also in valorising the territorial capital of the border areas. In this light, this paper proposes and applies a cross-border cooperation TIA evaluation matrix, with appropriate dimensions and components, which could be adapted to the TARGET_TIA tool, with the ultimate goal of assessing the territorial impacts of cross-border programmes. Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA) procedures can be regarded as the ‘new kid on the block’ of the Impact Assessment (IA) procedures. In fact, and unlike the EU proposed, IA procedure (see EC, 2009; ESPON, 2013), the SEA (Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment), and the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment), TIA procedures are not EU mandatory (see Tscherning et al., 2007). Notwithstanding, these procedures have the potential to replace the mentioned impact procedures, as they necessarily include all the main dimensions of territorial development (economic competitiveness, social cohesion, environmental sustainability, territorial governance, spatial planning). This recognition for the need of a more holistic and comprehensive IA procedures in evaluating the potential impacts of EU directives (ex-ante) and the EU Structural and Cohesion Funds (ex-post) led to development of several TIA tools within the ESPON Programme (e.g. TEQUILA, STeMa, EATIA, ARTS). Amongst all these initial attempts to capture the territorial impacts of the EU policies and programmes, we highlight the methodological robustness of the TEQUILA model (ESPON 3.2 2006). Yet, amongst other shortcomings, this tool does not contemplate the possibility of an ex-post evaluation, as the proposed TARGET_TIA tool does (Medeiros 2013a). For this and other reasons, we decided to use the TARGET_TIA tool to assess the territorial impacts of the CBC projects. This TIA methodology will be scrutinized in the second topic of this article, right after a summarized overview of the importance of the CBC process in the EU and the Czech Republic. The last topics will shed some light on the TARGET_TIA methodology, and its operationalization with a proposed evaluation matrix to assess territorial impacts of cross-border programmes. The European Territorial Cooperation is one of the two main goals for the present programming cycle of EU Cohesion Policy (2014-2020). Within this objective, CBC programmes (Figure 1) receive more than ¾ of the total financial allocation to this fund, with the remaining part being put on the transnational cooperation objective. And, despite being a relative small budget objective, when compared with many others (Figure 2), CBC programmes are expected to receive around 7.548 million euros, in this programming period. Here, for instance, the Czech Republic is one noteworthy example of the importance of the CBC programmes in the EU space. Indeed, with the exception of the country’s capital NUTE3, the remaining territory is eligible for such type of programmes. Moreover, for the 2014-2020 programming period, the five Czech CBC programmes will cover most priorities related to the reduction of the barrier effect along the border area (Table 1), and are expected to receive a financial aid (EU + national funds) of around 870 million €. All things considered, these programmes will also touch all the four dimensions of territorial capital valorisation (see topic 3), especially if they improve project selectivity, and the “coherence with programmes under the 'investment for growth and jobs' goal and other EU or national programmes in order to exploit synergies for interventions in different thematic areas” (EC 2012: 16). Also, the new EU Cohesion Policy legal framework envisages an increased focus on results and impacts, which justifies the use of a TIA procedure to assess the programme’s operationalization success. 7. Select the (scope) of the evaluation: global/integrated or a sectoral perspective. In this light, and taking a concrete example of the application of a TIA in the Czech Republic-Austrian cross-border programme, an initial TIA formulary would look like the one in Figure 3. As stated previously, the relevance of the use of a TIA in a cross-border programme is usually high, as it encompasses a variety of territorial development interventions, and also because of its financial relevance for local and regional development. In this particular example, the ‘theme’ of the evaluation is the programme itself, while the main goal is focused in assessing the programme’s relevance in reducing the barrier effect and in valorising the border region territorial capital. Furthermore, the evaluation area is the programme’s NUTS3 limit, and the evaluation period could cover, for instance, the last two programming periods (2000–2013). Consequently, an ex-post type of evaluation has to be selected. Also, a ‘sectoral scope’ should be selected, since the programme covers many territorial development dimensions. As seen in the next figure (4), the ex-post formula to obtain the potential impact of the evaluated policy/programme is more complex than the ex-ante one, for obvious reasons: in an ex-ante procedure only qualitative info is necessary, while the ex-post requires an additional thorough quantitative analysis. Indeed, it goes without saying that more important than the selection of a TIA methodology, a robust evaluation is mostly dependent on the quality of the obtained data, both quantitative and qualitative. This implies, for an ex-post evaluation: (i) conducting a series of interviews with key-stakeholders; (ii) a deeply analysis of the project’s database; (iii) bibliography reading – mainly evaluation reports; and (iv) statistical gathering and analysis. As explained previously, when a TIA procedure is applied in a cross-border programme it should consider the territorial specificities of the border area and this policy intervention, which has, in our opinion, two main general goals: (i) the reduction of the barrier-effect posed by the presence of the borderline; and (ii) the valorisation of the border region’s territorial capital. For each general goal (or dimension), there are several associated components, and respective sub-components, which need to be assessed. For instance, the mitigation of barrier-effect is expected to take place in, at least, five different components: Institutional/Urban, Cultural/Social, Economy/Technology, Environmental/Heritage, and Accessibilities (see Table 2). Let us go back to a concrete example of applying the TARGET_TIA to a cross-border programme. In this case, we selected the Portuguese-Spanish INTERREG-A/Territorial Cooperation programme, as we spent several years evaluating its main territorial impacts (see Medeiros 2010a, 2010b, 2013b). More concretely, we decided to evaluate this programme since it started (1989) till the end of the fourth EU Cohesion Policy programming cycle (2013). Hence, after getting all the necessary qualitative and quantitative information to perform a robust and sound evaluation, we will follow the methodological steps proposed by the TARGET_TIA ex-post formula. In this case, we have to estimate the territorial impacts for each one of the analysed components, and the respective ’policy intensity‘, and ‘regional sensitivity’ value. For instance, in the case of the ‘road connection’ sub-component (see Table 3), the investments from the Portuguese-Spanish programme reached the 700 million € during the analysed period (1989–2013), which represented around 40% of the programme’s total budget. Hence, it is needless to say that these investments had a tremendous positive impact in improving the accessibilities along many border crossings, and namely in the Minho-Galicia and the Algarve-Andalucía border areas. In the latter, a flagship INTERREG-A project supported the construction of the International Bridge of Guadiana, which is still the only road passage between Algarve and Andalucía. Indeed, the construction of this bridge had a remarkable impact in boosting the cross-border collaboration, in most territorial development dimensions, in this part of the Iberian border. In this context, we have no doubt in giving a 3 (Significant positive impact value) to the positive-negative evaluation vector of the TARGET_TIA. In the same vein, the endogenous potential impact was quite significant since the investments in road infrastructures in this European border area helped to improve the regional attractiveness, by reducing the cost of transport between regions, by improving the access to markets, and by reducing the costs of firm production in the region. However, and according to the gathered information, some of these cross-border road infrastructures were neither completed, or are not being explored at their full potential (low number of vehicles). Hence, in the sustainable-short-term evaluation vector, we decided to give a more moderate positive impact value (2). Finally, in the multiplier-substitution vector, we attributed a very significant positive impact value (4), simply because of the substantial investment put in road infrastructures, in this particular European border area, which was pivotal to boost the cross-border collaboration in all the remaining areas of territorial development. As one stakeholder eloquently put it: the first step to establish a perennial and genuine cross-border collaboration programme, is to establish face-to-face contacts. And this requires sound physical connections along the border area, in the first place. The easiest way to operationalize the TARGET_TIA tool is through the use of a spreadsheet, as seen in Table 3. Here, the arithmetic average of each evaluated component and sub-components is obtained, together with ‘his policy intensity’ and ‘regional sensibility’ value. In the following, an arithmetic average of all the impact values given to the sub-components included in each analysed component is obtained. These average values will give a general impression of the programme impact in each one of these components. The arithmetic average of all of them will give the overall Estimated Impact of the programme. Going back to our former example, in evaluating the impacts of the road connections’ sub-component, the maximum value (1) given in both the ‘policy intensity’ and the ‘regional sensibility’ evaluation elements has the following explanation. Firstly, this particular sub-component was, by far, the most financed one since the Portuguese-Spanish cross-border programme had its start. Hence, the policy intensity was extremely high in improving road accessibilities. Secondly, by the time this programme was launched (1989), the cross-border road connections needed to be greatly improved, both in quality (modernization) and in quantity (new crosses – bridges). In other words, the regional sensibility to such type of investments was huge. Having obtained the General and each Vector Estimated Qualitative Impacts, the next step is to construct two aggregated statistical indexes, using the methodology (formula) used by the United Nations in building the annual Human Development Index (see UN, 2010), with key indicators preferably associated with statistical indicators related with the barrier effect components for two periods of time: (i) at the initial stage of the evaluated programme; and (ii) by the end of the evaluated programme. The basic idea is to detect changes in all of the analysed indicators. The value added to the ex-post formula is the difference between the value from the ‘final Statistical Aggregated Index’ (2013) and the ‘initial one’ (1990). In the end, the Estimated Quantitative Impacts will result from multiplying the resulted ‘Barrier Effect Aggregated Index’ value by 4, and then to divide this obtained value by 0.25. Next, one obtains the final Estimated Impact value by getting the arithmetic average of the Qualitative and the Quantitative Estimated impacts. Finally, this value is multiplied by the Policy Intensity average and the regional sensibility average values (see table 4). All of these steps might seem a bit too complicated. Yet, as long as they are performed in a spreadsheet, the results are obtained almost immediately. Also, if there is a need to change any sub-component evaluation, the final programme’s potential impact is then modified automatically. For simplicity sake, in this particular example of applying a TIA procedure to a cross-border programme, we only used data related to the barrier-effect dimension of cross-border cooperation. Even so, the final territorial potential impact value obtained with the proposed TIA methodology (TARGET_TIA) should be taken into consideration. In this case, it was only a bit over 1 (1,014). This means, that overall, the Portuguese-Spanish cross-border programme produced positive territorial impacts. Yet, they were lower than probably expected by many. Also, another possible conclusion made possible by the use of this methodology is that the impacts on accessibilities were, by far, the most significant ones, in contrast with the impacts on the cultural-social component of the barrier effect. In this article, we highlighted the need to perform a TIA procedure to assess the main impacts of cross-border programmes. Firstly, because these programmes, cover many domains of territorial development (e.g. economic competitiveness, social cohesion, territorial governance, environmental sustainability, territorial articulation) and, on many occasions, vast territories. Yet this procedure should be adapted to the specific goals of such programmes which, in our view, are centred in the need to reduce the barrier effect in all its dimensions (institutional-urban; economy-technology, social-culture, environment-heritage, accessibilities), and in valorising the border region territorial capital. To better understand the operationalization of a TIA procedure on a cross-border programme, we adjusted the TARGET_TIA tool to assess the Portuguese-Spanish INTERREG-A programmes (1989–2013), in a step-by-step explanation. The main reasons for the selection of this TIA tool was its possibility to: (i) evaluate programmes and policies at an ex-post procedure; (ii) include counterfactual evaluation elements such as the multiplier/substitution, the endogenous/exogenous, and the sustainable/short term evaluation vectors, to complement commonly used positive/negative vector; (iii) to be adjusted to different policies and programmes. At first glance, the operationalization of the TARGET_TIA might look complicated. However, if sound and solid data on the policy/programme’s main impacts is available, the completion of the spreadsheet with the model formulas ends up being a quite easy and swift task. In the case of the adjustment to a cross-border programme, we replaced the main dimensions and components of the territorial cohesion (used to assess the impacts of the EU Cohesion Policy) with the dimensions and components of the barrier-effect concept, for simplicity sake. Further, instead of constructing a Territorial Cohesion Aggregated index as the quantitative element of the evaluation, we used indicators related with the components of the barrier effect and built a Barrier Effect Aggregated index for two periods of time (1990 and 2010). In the end, a general potential impact value, between -4 (very significant negative territorial impacts) and +4 very significant positive territorial impacts) was obtained. Also, the impact values for each one of the analysed barrier-effect dimensions allowed for a more precise programme evaluation. In the proposed example, we did not use the dimensions and components of the second main goal of cross-border cooperation: territorial capital valorisation. Notwithstanding, if the evaluator aims to include it alongside the dimensions and components of the barrier effect reduction goal, then he has two options. In the one hand he can include all the dimensions and components in the TARGET_TIA procedure, and obtain a general potential territorial impact value of the programme. On the other hand, he can perform two distinct TIA procedures, for each one of these main cross-border cooperation goals, with the advantage of making it possible to see which one had a higher impact value. At present, the academic community is still taking the first steps in the process of constructing and presenting TIA tools to the national and EU institutions, as a means to include the analysis of the economic dimension of territorial development. Indeed, insofar, the macro-econometric tools and practices in assessing the EU funds, programmes and policies, have been prevailing. This context provides a fertile ground to perfect the existing TIA tools and to the emergence of new ones in nearby future. In this article, we intend to give an additional stimulus to this TIA tools discussion, namely in adjusting such a tool to assess the territorial impacts of a cross-border programme, in the light of the success of the EU territorial cooperation objective in gradually mitigating the barrier effect in the EU borders. EC (2009) Impact Assessment Guidelines. 15 January 2009, European Commission, Brussels. EC (2012) Position of the Commission Services on the development of Partnership Agreement and programmes in the CZECH REPUBLIC for the period 2014-2020. Ref. Ares(2012)1283741 - 30/10/2012, European Commission, Brussels. EC (2014) Sixth Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion. Investment for jobs and growth: Promoting development and good governance in EU regions and cities. European Commission, July 2014, Brussels. ESPON 3.2 (2006) Spatial Scenarios and Orientations in relation to the ESDP and Cohesion Policy. Final Report, ESPON, Luxemburg. Medeiros, E. (2010a) Old vs Recent Cross-Border Cooperation: Portugal-Spain and Sweden-Norway. AREA, 42(4): 434-443. Medeiros, E. (2010b) (Re)defining the Euroregion Concept. European Planning Studies, Vol. 19(1): 141-158. Medeiros, E. (2013a) Assessing Territorial Impacts of the EU Cohesion Policy: The Portuguese Case. European Planning Studies, Vol. 22 (9): 1960–1988. Medeiros, E. (2013b) Euro-Meso-Macro. The new regions in Iberian and European space. Regional Studies, Vol. 47(8): 1249-1266. Tscherning, K., König, H., Birthe, S., Helming, K., Sieber, S. (2007) Ex-ante Impact Assessments (IA) in the European Commission – an overview, Sustainability Impact Assessment of Land Use Changes, pp. 17-33, (New York: Springer). UN (2010) Human Development Report 2010, 20th Anniversary Edition, the Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development, United Nations, New York.

2019-04-20T11:13:39Z

http://www.evaltep.cz/inpage/cross-border/

Bruce Forsyth died this week. He was an entertainment legend. This column has already published a retrospective of Bruce's career, which we split over two parts last November. It doubles as an obituary for this hugely talented man. We thought long and hard about whether to continue our series about Nicholas Parsons this week. He is a living legend, and would it be in poor taste to talk about one legend so soon after the passing of another. That, and we don't want to jinx him. In the end, that old showbiz adage won out. The show must go on. Last week, we started to review the career of Nicholas Parsons. We saw his early comedy work with Arthur Haynes and Benny Hill, and charted his success on radio's Just a Minute. This week, it's to Norwich for the quiz of the week. Here's how the show works. Nicholas Parsons reads out general knowledge questions, and contestants compete to answer them on the buzzer. Money is added for a right answer – £1 at the start of the show, later £3, and towards the end "now the questions go up to five pounds". Wrong answers cost that much money, and questions won't be offered to other players. Every so often, the questions stop, and there's an instant sale: some item of household goods is offered at a small fraction of its retail price. The first player to buzz in and take the "instant sale" wins the prize, but has some money deducted from their total. At the end of the show, the winner gets to spend their cash in the Sale of the Century, buying a very desirable luxury item for about £100. Everyone leaves with the goods they bought in the instant sales, plus any cash left over. Most people still watched in black-and-white, hence the gaudy colours. We've stumbled across a very early episode from 1972. It's all filmed in front of "Sale of the Century" curtains – literally, pieces of cloth with the show's name printed on. These days, they stick digital graffiti over the picture, in the 1970s they designed their logo into every shot. Q: Yorkshire is divided into three areas, what are they called? But the question-writers want more information – West, East, and North Riding. A lot of information for £1. A better question to get to that answer? "Yorkshire is divided into three areas, name them all." More time is wasted through the show. Nicholas has to explain how a lock-out buzzer system works, and explain how four seconds are allowed for a response, and explain that the contestants can't see each others' scores. He doesn't explain who the question-writers were: often, he'd written the questions. Some of the posers had come across from NBC, but he couldn't use them – Anglia viewers won't know about baseball elevens or the Santa Fe railway. Another segment – the "Open Sale" – lasted for some years. Here, announcer Peter Marshall names a number of goods, and their knockdown prices – a teasmaid at £2.95, a dinner service for £2.40, a hairdryer for 82 new pence, and so on. Each contender names the items they want and the stated price, and has five seconds to name them. With questions a little too difficult for the players, we run into a problem. After the instant sale, one is down to £1, and another to £2. Should the player lose all of their money, they'll be out of the game entirely. In turn, that means Nicholas is asking just one player to answer, the others don't want to risk complete elimination. Excitement has left the show, but Nicholas ploughs on and tries to make the best of a low-scoring edition. After about eight minutes of not very much happening, our weekly champion has £29. She can't buy the golf equipment for £44, nor a solid teak dining table and chairs for £44. She could buy a radiogram-and-record player for £26, or a mink coat for £28.75. Or she could come back again next week, and add the two week's winnings together. And that's what the player does, she'll come back next week. By the standards of 1972, it's fast-moving, but clearly needs some work. Nicholas is still explaining the rules as he goes along, and there was no tension after half-time. Both host and format can do better, and they did do better. Rules were tweaked, better questions set, odd pence dropped, the "open sale" abolished. And Sale of the Century grew into a television institution. Nicholas Parsons, three players, vam-vam-vam through questions as fast as he can. By now, Sale of the Century has a lovely art deco styling. We look at another edition from 1983. The theme music is "Joyful Pete", an exciting and memorable piece, fizzing and zapping with energy and excitement. John Benson has joined as the announcer, and starts the show by describing the final prizes. This is what's on offer, this is what you could win. Tempted? Stay tuned. Nicholas spends barely a minute introducing the players, every second he's talking to them is a second we're not playing the game. We're meant to understand a lock-out buzzer, and the "Time Up" indicator, through osmosis. Some easy £3 questions rack up the scores – in two minutes flat, Nicholas inflates the economy by £36, as much as the entire episode from a decade earlier. The questions continue to come like leaves in a blizzard, and they get a little more difficult. Q: Where would an explorer pitch his tent if all four walls faced south? A: At the North Pole. A tough question, but easy to explain, and clear as crystal. David Self is the question editor, and making tight questions is his forte. With lots of cash around, the players are more willing to spend it in the Instant Sales. It's more exciting, and the result is in doubt till the end. A good quiz player might get on the buzzer, get the questions, spend so much money that they end up losing the main game to an adequate player. Nicholas knows to make good television. While demonstrating the prizes in the final sale, he tells the player where to stand so the camera can keep a good shot. And he keeps the game flowing – a little aside here, a brief conversation about something, but lots of questions. Not every episode featured quiz deity Daphne Fowler. Lots of questions. In the final round of this sample episode, with contestants who are not Daphne Fowler, Nicholas asks 37 questions in 169 seconds. This column's speedometer is defined by 100% (100 questions in 24 minutes), and here Nicholas reaches 315%. We still think this is the fastest any host has asked questions for more than a minute. Nicholas uses his skills to benefit other people. "Good news! Nicholas Parsons is retiring. "Bad news! He's going into showbiz" — I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, circa 1983. At one point in the 1970s, Nicholas Parsons held the world record for Longest After-Dinner Speech. He droned on for 7 hours, 8 minutes, 3 seconds. Nicholas took the record from Gyles Brandreth, and the two went head-to-head in separate rooms in 1978. The match was declared drawn after 11 hours. Gyles had the final word, a fact that will surprise no-one. He would witter on aimlessly for over 12 hours. Two motormouths, seen here in 2015. Sale of the Century ensured Nicholas remained a household name. He appeared on This Is Your Life in 1978, eight weeks before Terry Wogan. But all good things must come to an end, as did Sale of the Century. It was cancelled in 1984, and after thirteen years, Nicholas was typecast as a quiz host. He accepted all sorts of engagements to keep in work – and there was a lot of it. "Cruises With the Stars" with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Sheila Steafel. Charlie Girl and a revival of Into the Woods in the theatre. He did a series of ITV's Cluedo, and spent a single week guesting in the Countdown dictionary corner. (One week! Really?!) Nicholas also popped up on children's entertainments – he worked alongside Roland Rat for Babes In the Wood, and later worked with the superstar on Roland's Rat Race. He was the mayor on Bodger & Badger, and a vicar on Doctor Who. Badger interrupts a tender moment between Miss Moon and the Mayor. Never afraid to live up to his public persona, Nicholas appeared on Gunge a Game Show Host for the 1990 ITV Telethon, alongside Jim Bowen and Nick Owen. He also did serious work: Spongers was a spoof game show for World In Action, demonstrating that the welfare state supports the middle-class far more than the working-class. Follow the Star, the Nativity told from the angels' point of view. Nicholas Parsons plays God. We've not managed to find an episode of The All New Alphabet Game, a show Nicholas did for ITV's Night Network strand. This is most unfortunate, as it gave Nicholas a new and much younger audience. He worked with many young stars on The Comic Strip, and narrated the open-air theatre play Shove Over Shakespeare with Josie Lawrence, Paul Merton, Dame Sandi Toksvig, and Richard Vranch. Which brings us to the most BSB show possible. Nicholas Parsons is the host, alongside four of his children. Er, four up-and-coming comedians, of the sort who worked with The Comic Strip. On the sample half-episode we've got, the panel is Jeremy Hardy, Hattie Hayridge, Simon Fanshawe, and Kit Hollerbach. For 1990, this was stardust. Laughlines is the unexpected cross between Blankety Blank and Wonky Donkey. Nicholas reads out the start of a rhyming couplet, for instance "He was taking a wedding photo and just about to go click..." Complete this joke — and it's got to rhyme! The panel are to complete this couplet in their own inimitable style, and must be sure to finish on a rhyme with "click". Contestants will write down a rhyme for "click" and nominate one of the panel, hoping to match final words. Now, what rhymes can you think of for the word "click"? And what rhymes can you think of that you can say on television? Exactly. The comedy doesn't come from the game. The comedy comes from the way Nicholas and his panel dance gaily around the double entendres. Simon Fanshawe and a jacket from 1990. There is a game – £15 if you can pick someone who will match what you said on the card, doubled to £30 in the second half of the show. After five rounds, the daily winner can play the headline game. What story might lead to an amazing newspaper headline, and finish with a word rhyming with the end of the headline? The winner makes four guesses, £50 for a match, £250 if they can sweep the board. Winner stays on to tomorrow's show. The performers were of the Comedy Store / Comic Strip / Whose Line is it Anyway? stable. They were regulars on BSB shows, and on Channel 4. The yuppies of 1990 knew these faces, and the host was a familiar name. Our sample episode gives an insight into the one problem with Nicholas Parsons' style. He is positive and encourages all of his fellow performers. At times, he comes across as oily and patronising. During this show, Nicholas compares Kit Hollerbach (Californian) to Ruby Wax (from New York). "She's a very funny comedian," says Nicholas of Ruby Wax. Kit is unhappy about this comparison, based solely on the fact they're women from the other side of the Atlantic, but Nicholas doesn't row back on it. Ouch. We're cringing on Kit's behalf. It's no surprise that she leaves her chair and goes to the other end of the panel, further away from Nicholas Parsons and closer to her off-stage husband Jeremy Hardy. Uncomfortable viewing, and it casts a cloud over the show – the entertainment stops being fun. Kit and Jeremy. Aw, bless. This is Nicholas's one problem. By being lovely and generous and kind to everyone even if they're not present, he can accidentally rebuff those who are in the room. A few seconds earlier, Nicholas offered praise to Simon Fanshawe, "giving a clean line and telegraphing the filth." That's the brilliance of BSB at its best: you don't just get comedy, you get an education of why it's funny. Laughlines wasn't recommissioned after BSB was merged into KYTV. "A type of fuchsia was recently named after me. When I found it in the garden centre, the label said, 'Nicholas Parsons goes well in any bed'. I still love coming up with new material." Since 1990, Nicholas has continued to work – Just a Minute keeps him on air for almost half the year. All the television attempts we discussed last week came after Laughlines. Nicholas toured with The Rocky Horror Show, and his one-man show is a staple of annual Edinburgh festivals. For Radio 2, he made a panel show Celebrity Gossip, and a short series How Pleasant to Know Mr Lear. There was a BBC4 doc on clocks, inspired by the tale of the clock Nicholas repaired in his youth. He made The Take – a comic history of television – on BBC Choice. He was in The Entertainers on BBC2, a fly-on-the-wall documentary following "stars of a bygone age". He popped up with Tony Robinson and Mark Austen on ITV's election coverage. There were longform interviews with Ed Doolan and Mark Lawson, and Nicholas was on Desert Island Discs in 2007. Outside entertainment, Nicholas was Rector of the University of St Andrews from 1988-91, and president of the Lords' Taverners in 1998-9. The establishment has recognised Nicholas for his charity work and entertainment; he was appointed OBE in 2004, and CBE in 2014. A long-term supporter of the Liberal party, Nicholas turned down the candidature for Yeovil; his sacrifice paved the way for Paddy Ashdown. He keeps himself sharp, keeps his brain in gear all the time, and gardening helps him keep physically fit. The present Mrs. Parsons will not let Nicholas retire, his income helps to support their lifestyle. He's made a virtue out of this decision, saying that you doesn't retire from showbiz, showbiz retires from you. At the age of 93, Nicholas is still performing, and shows no sign of stopping. We hope it's a very long time before showbiz retires this legend. Nicholas Parsons with Josie Lawrence, from this June. Aston Merrygold, two legs of The Jls. Brian Conley, Judgement Day host. A full round of quizzes on BBC2. University Challenge had the first Oxbridge battle of the series, St Edmund's Cambridge (Zou Tang-Shen, Alex Knight-Williams, Sahaid Motala, Ryan Blank) went up against Magdalen Oxford (Winston Wright, Christopher Stern, Johnny Gibson, Sara Parkin). The first overseas students of the year will cause grousing at the Interior Ministry, as that body is in favour of barriers to learning. No problems for Magdalen, winners by 185-105. Maggz Bennett won Mastermind, taking Duran Duran as her specialist subject, and scoring 24 points (1 pass) on the show. All four contenders – Dan Martin, Robert Butlin, and Alan Burns – scored 10 or more on their specialist subject, and all reached the 20 point mark. A couple of players snapped out answers as quickly as they could, sometimes overlapping with the last syllable of the host's questions. This speed earned them an extra general knowledge question before the buzzer. Everything starts with an E on Only Connect, as the Eco-Warriors (Jonathan Kershaw, Brett Bostock, Peter Barlow) take on the Escapologists (Frank Paul, Lydia Mizon, Tom Rowell). Eco-Warriors get off to an excellent start, three three-pointers on their own questions plus a bonus to reach 10 in the Connections round. Escapologists hit back with a nine-pointer in Sequences, including the glorious set "q-cumber, r-dvark, s-planade, t-side". The game swung on the walls, and on one specific group. Escapologists offered "Irish presidents", which is different from "Taoisigh"; the head of state is not the prime minister. Eco-Warriors were perfect on their wall, and won the game by 27-23. With two high-scoring losers from the first seven heats coming back, we'll surely see the Escapologists again. BARB ratings in the week to 6 August. Coronation Street (ITV, Mon) the most popular show, seen by 7.3m. The Chase Celebrity Specials (ITV, Sun) the top game, 2.7m. Catchphrase (ITV, Sat, 2.65m) is just behind, and University Challenge (BBC2, Mon, 2.35m) took third place. Cash Trapped (ITV, Mon) began its new series with 2.3m. Celebrity Big Brother launched (C5, Tue) to 2m. Only Connect and Mastermind (BBC2, Fri) were both below 1.5m, hurt by the athletics on Eurosport and BBC1. Top digital shows? Coach Trip Road to Zante (E4, Mon, 370,000), QI XL (Dave, Wed, 305,000), Room 101 (Dave, Wed, 300,000). With no Love Island, ITV2 returns to normal – top show was A Bug's Life (Sun, 605,000). And, just for comparison, Game of Thrones continues to dominate, seen by 3m this week. Schedule changes so we can pay tribute to Bruce Forsyth. Channel 5 repeats The Bruce Forsyth Story (Sun), and a special edition of The One Show (BBC1, Mon) remembers the great man. New: Streetmate (C4, weekdays) is now hosted by Scarlett Moffatt. Monkman and Seagull's Polymathic Adventure (R4, Mon) features two of last year's University Challenge stars and some knowledge. Lego Masters (C4, Thu) and The Crystal Maze (C4, Fri). Back: Dragons' Den (BBC2, Sun) with two new dragons. Celwydd Noeth (S4C, Thu), the fib-spotting show. And finishing: Celebrity Big Brother (C5, Fri). Photo credits: Indigo Television, Anglia, STV, BBC, Radio Festival. This page was last modified on 20 August 2017, at 10:12.

2019-04-25T21:55:05Z

http://ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Weaver%27s_Week_2017-08-20

I am determined to get the technique down for making panettone this year and be ready by Christmas to have some for gifts. My mother used to try every year to follow Carol Fields’s recipe from The Italian Baker, but it was always a disappointment. I have dug up some pretty helpful links (below), but I was wondering if anyone here has useful experience? From what I can gather, the crucial step in baking Panettone with a wild yeast starter is to go through a process of building your starter by refreshing it every 4 hours for a couple of days in preparation for creating the loaves, and you have to keep it quite warm during this period—around 85° F. Here are the links I have come up with. I’ll try to post on my progress as I go along—failures as well as successes. Candied fruit is kind of expensive, so I think I’ll start out with pandoro, which is similar to panettone but doesn’t have raisins or candied citrus. If anyone else wants to do this, too, that would be fantastic. My first steps in learning to make panettone with a wild yeast starter have been only semi successful. I decided that the first thing to do would be to make some kind of sweet rolls with my starter. I decided that, even though it is early, hot cross buns would make a good sweet dough trial. For two days I refreshed my starter every 4-6 hours, then made a larger sponge from that. To the sponge I added eggs, sugar, enough flour to make a medium dough. (Sorry, I am not much of a measurer. No matter how good my intentions are to calculate the water/flour percentage, I always end up adding more of one or the other to get the dough to the consistency I want.) Finally, I added 4 ozs. (one stick) of butter—chopped up—and beat it, brioche style, into the dough. They rose a surprising amount in the oven. The flavor is excellent; but, yeah, they are a bit dense. Wild yeast has a hard time with lots of fat and sugar, no doubt about it. In the Panettone recipes I have been reading, they stress feeding your starter every 4 hours and keeping it at 85° F. in order to get the yeast really hopping. This, I think, is my main problem. I have a small kitchen and in the winter there is no place in our house that goes much above 65°. So, I am thinking that my next thing will be a proofing box made of a small ice chest with plastic bags full of hot water inside to maintain the temperature (I can’t use the oven because there is no pilot and, besides, the last time I tried that someone came along and turned on the oven with the loaves proofing inside covered with dishtowels). I have no idea where I am going to put my makeshift proofing box without driving the rest of the household crazy. That’s all for now. Stay tuned for updates. When i do sourdough cinnamon rolls, milk buns, challah…enriched anything, the timing is painfully slow for me too. I did once use a ton of regular starter instead of sweet stiff starter on my Hokkaido milk bun recipe and things moved faster. I wonder if there is a way to tinker with the panettone approach in that way. I just might jump into this challenge … but I’m jumping in with at least a comment as I’ve made/been making sweet rolls, doughnuts (with a Brioche dough) and since Christmas an adaptation of Smitten Kitchen’s Baklava Babka: all using a stiff sweet starter. Melissa (@fermentada) got me started on using the stiff sweet starter with doughnuts about a year ago. The results have been fluffy and light … even the Baklava Babka which I really hoped would NOT be so fluffy! My approach has not been all that technical and I did NOT think about how the dough felt or even much about how the starter looked. I just followed a recipe and used timing that somewhat matched what I do for bread. My normal starter is 100% hydration WheatMontana White All Purpose flour which is a hard red wheat milled local to me. Water is straight from my tap but I’m rural and so it is well water with no chemical treatment. The starter has always been active with first feed out of the refrigerator and I tend to feed it once in the morning and make a levain in the evening which I use the following day. So, for the sweet stiff starter, I feed my “white flour starter” in the morning. It rises early afternoon and starts backing off early evening. I stir it completely down and make the sweet starter with: 90 grams white flour, 20 grams brown sugar, 25 grams “white” starter, 40 grams water. Mix well and let it sit at room temp 12 hours. My house is 62-64F and I put this starter under a desk lamp in a warmer corner. This boosts the ambient temp around the starter to approx. 68F. If you decide to try the above, you need to measure by weight and forget about look and feel … at least that is my advice . I know that my flour, if subbed by measure, needs more liquid. But when I sub flours by weight, I seldom adjust anything else. It sounds like you have same temp range at your house. So, bottomline, I think some of the issue is expecting things to look similar to what bread looks like ??? I have had no issue with needing longer timing for the enriched doughs. Above is one of the Baklava Babkas: whole and interior. I realize my dough recipe is not a Panettone recipe … included if you are testing making an inexpensive sweet dough. I did find this: Chef John’s Panettone (natural leaven). Is it close to what you are using? Panettone di Massari, il re dei lievitati. Il miglior panettone artigianale secondo gambero rosso. Impasto morbido e gustoso,sapore ricco ed equilibrato. Panettone fatto in casa: come farlo bene. Il panettone non si improvvisa, è bene studiare e capire i trucchi per la riuscita di una ricetta complessa. I personally think that using natural leavening helps soften the gluten (along with all the egg yolks and butter!) to give that soft, silky crumb that I love. It also contributes a complexity to the flavor profile. I start prepping my starter about 2 weeks prior to my first panettone bake. First, I convert my 100% hydration starter into a stiff starter (50% hydration) and start refreshing it every 12 hours (with bread flour to increase the gluten content). I keep it in my proofing box, starting at 75 degrees F and then slowly ramping up the temperature a couple degrees every few days until I get to 85 degrees F just before I am ready to bake. The goal here is to make sure the starter is active enough to triple in volume within 4 hours after refreshment. I also monitor the pH of the starter (with pH paper), targeting an optimal pH of 4.0 – 4.5. If the sourdough is too acidic (lower pH number), I do a double refreshment and if it is not acidic enough, I increase the proportion of starter to refreshment flour/water. Then, the day before mixing the first dough, I start feeding the starter every 4 hours, making sure that the starter triples in volume each time. Instead of getting up every 4 hours overnight, for the last refreshment of the day I adjust the starter hydration down to 40% and then form it into a log, cover it in cling wrap, wrap it in a stout kitchen towel and bind it with a strong cord, sort of like a salami. This slows the starter maturation process so that it does not get too acidic for 8 hours over night. Remember, the goal of the 4 hour refreshment schedule is to minimize the acidity of the starter so that you don’t get that soughdough “twang” in your sweet panettone. The link below describes the starter binding process, again in Italian. During that second day of 4 hour refreshments, I prepare the aromatic mixture, though I use vanilla extract instead of using vanilla beans. (I substitute 2 – 3 tsp of vanilla extract for 1 vanilla bean. Someday I’ll spend the money to actually use real vanilla beans.) That evening, I mix my first dough. I pretty much follow the Fables de Sucre recipe as written, with just a couple tweaks. First, I use high gluten flour for panettone. A good panettone will rise up to 6 times the original volume of the dough and that requires some pretty strong gluten, especially since you add so many egg yolks and so much butter. I got some General Mills All Trumps Flour with 14.2% protein from an on-line website. I also found that I had to add more water to the first dough than the recipe called for, just to get the dough to come together before adding the egg yolks and butter. Once the dough is done (passes the window pane test), I put it in a large cylindrical food-grade container, mark the dough level and put it in the proofing box at 85 degrees F over night. Before going to bed, I prepare the dried fruit inclusions. I am not a huge fan of the candied fruit rind used in traditional panettones, so I substitute a combination of raisins, golden raisins and dried cranberries. I use equal amounts of each for a total weight that corresponds to the same total weight of raisins + candied fruit rinds listed in the Fables de Sucre recipe. To re-hydrate the raisins, I use equal amounts of water and white rum to just cover them. For the dried cranberries, I use equal amounts of water and brandy. I cover the containers with cling wrap and let them soak over night. The next morning I drain raisins/cranberries and remove the excess moisture with paper towels. By this time, the first dough should have tripled in volume after rising for about 12 hours. I follow the recipe for the second dough pretty much verbatim, except I only add about half the water listed in the recipe. Note, I pre-load long wooden skewers (11.75”) into the panettone molds before placing the final dough into them, as recommended by the Wild Yeast blog. I also have reduced the amount of dough they specify per loaf from 550g to 530g for a 5.25” panettone mold. After loosely covering the loaded molds with plastic bags, its back into the proofing box for the final rise. It takes another 8 – 10 hours or so before the dough crests above the panettone molds and is about ½ inch below the top of the mold at the sides. Before going in the oven, I like to use a hazelnut almond topping with some Swedish pearl sugar on my panettone. I got that recipe from the Martha Stewart web site from an Italian master baker by the name of Gabriele Riva. He also has his own panettone recipe there. This wonderful recipe for panettone is courtesy of Gabriele Riva. Thanks for the detailed description and photos! Happily, I still speak, or at least understand, Italian, which I learned as a boy when our family was stationed on the Ligurian coast for two years. It seems pretty clear that the route to excellent panettone lies in preparing the starter properly. My challenge will be to figure out how to do it in a very small (and shared) kitchen in a small house that hosts a pretty constant stream of friends and extended family members. My choices may come down to winning the lottery so we can get a bigger house or doing the starter in my study—which is not out of the question, but it will have to compete with the other projects that I don’t have room for. My experiments with sweet doughs in general are coming along, though—even without being able to keep my starter at the optimal temperature. I’ll try to include some photos next time. By the way, it is the height of the citrus season right now. Does anyone have a recipe they would recommend for candied citrus peel? It would be a shame to perfect the bread part of panettone and then spoil it with candied fruit from the supermarket. Glad to hear that the Italian websites will not be a problem for you. Since that is the case, you might enjoy looking at some panettone recipes from other Italian masters on the same Fables de Sucre website. Just do a Google search on “Fables de Sucre Panettone”. I have seen at least 3 others there. There is also an intriguing recipe on the Giallo Zafferano site (the site that hosts the Fables de Sucre blog) from Alfonso Pepe and that site includes an associated video of the process. In his recipe, he uses an entire mandarin orange, not just orange zest, to make his aromatic blend. (Link: https://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Panettone.html). You can also substitute oranges or lemons. Perhaps you could make some ahead of time with some fresh citrus and freeze it? It might work. Also, as I mentioned in my earlier post, I think it was the high gluten flour that made the difference between a so-so panettone and one with a high domed top and a light, airy crumb. This past Holiday season I ran out of high gluten flour during my last bake, and used bread flour that I enriched with gluten powder to get the same protein content as my high gluten flour. It actually worked quite well. I created a spreadsheet calculator to make it easier to do the enrichment calculations, but I couldn’t attach it here since the formum only allows photo uploads. However if you or anyone else is interested, let me know and we’ll figure out how to share it. Maybe through Melissa? Just enter the amount of enriched flour you want, the desired % protein(gluten) of the enriched flour, the % protein of your flour and the % protein of your wheat gluten and the calculator will tell you how much flour to use and how much wheat gluten to use. Remember to enter the % protein numbers as percentages (number followed by ‘%’). If you don’t know the % protein, just divide the amount of protein per serving (that is listed on the flour package) by the serving size and use that number. Cool! Thanks for sharing that. Dear easummers—I forgot to say thank you for your long piece about sweet dough and sweet starters and for the pictures of your babka. So, THANKS! I didn’t really know anything about sweet starters, but I am following your links (and those of others) and, if I ever get the problem of how to find a warm enough place for proofing solved, I’m off to the races. Last summer I worked on doughnuts, which I had never made; but I was making cake doughnuts, not raised. But now, since I am working on wild yeast sweet doughs (in preparation for panettone), I am thinking that that is the project I’ll bring to the family cabin at the lake—where there are enough eaters to justify doughnuts. Let me know what kind of fat you use for deep frying. I was just using Canola oil, but I went to a lecture a few months back about the pros and cons of various oils and animal fats and now I am at a loss. I am NOT going to fry doughnuts in olive oil, that’s certain! Okay, with all this information, I am becoming more terrified! But I am going to work on the solid starter and try using it for hot cross buns for Easter. Saving candied peel in the freezer keeps it from drying out. Wrap it well to prevent freezer burn. I’m using rice bran oil after a lot of reading … probably same as you heard at your lecture. Rice bran oil is what is used for tempura per my reading. I find it is milder and even more neutral than Canola and there is not the same “fry oil” odor. I think many use Peanut Oil. I haven’t used that and am not sure where it falls in the pro/con list. Another wrinkle in the doughnut thing. End of the year, I had a toaster failure and ended up going back to a toaster oven. Mostly because of size, I selected a Cuisinart that is smaller and square AND has air fryer basket. And it turns out that both old fashioned doughnuts and the yeast raised will air fry! Additionally, the brioche dough freezes well. I live in a 1 human house hold and do not need to make a dozen doughnuts at a crack (although the fried doughnuts freeze and rewarm ok). I like the raised best made from the same dough I made for the Babka. I roll out the dough, cut doughnuts and freeze the raw doughnuts on a cookie sheet and then into a Ziploc when frozen. I have a 1.5 quart Staub enamel cast iron petit French oven and can “deep fry” 1 doughnut in that but most often, I air fry one. The air fry texture is not as light and airy as deep frying but it is good. Sorry! I did not mean to overwhelm you with too much information! I personally enjoy looking at different panettone recipes to see the similarities and differences in ingredients, techniques and hydration levels, etc. However, I generally do this in the “off-season”. When it gets close to my first bake of the season, I just focus on one recipe. Your idea of small steps is a good one. You can use your hot cross buns effort to help you get confident in managing your solid starter. In the months leading up to the holidays I would suggest going over the Fables de Sucre “Panettone fatto in casa” tutorial and the Panettone di Massari recipe and if you follow their recommendations, I am sure you’ll do fine! It’s almost Easter and my efforts with sourdough Hot Cross Buns have been wildly successful—But I think I am going to start saying “Wild Yeast” instead of “Sourdough.” Using the very stiff starter recommended for Panettoni has had some interesting ramifications: none of my bread tastes particularly sour. Since I don’t really like the San Francisco style of sourdough bread, this is a great moment for me! My recipe for HCBuns calls for 3/4 cup of sugar and half a pound of butter—not the vast amounts required for Panattone, but still significant. I was really pleased at how well they rose. It took longer than with commercial yeast, but the final results were, I think, lighter and more tender—not what you think of as your typical sourdough texture! I used a combination of 1 tsp. ground cardomom (white, not green) and 1 tsp. ground allspice, instead of cinnamon, which is the standard spice used. Me, I am a little tired of cinnamon in everything. For the dried fruit inside, I used a combination of dried currents, cranberries and sultanas (white raisins), which I soaked with Marsala wine and water before I mixed the fruit into the dough. (I drank the soaking liquid afterwards. Pretty good.) The reason for this is that the currents were quite dried out, and I didn’t want them sucking water from the dough. As you can see, I got lazy and didn’t make the crosses out of flour paste, like you should do with really authentic HCBuns. Instead, I made crosses out of frosting made from powdered sugar, orange juice and flavored with grated orange peel, which I piped on later. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product with the crosses in place and the buns disappeared almost immediately under my neices’ onslaught. I feel that I am really getting the hang of using wild yeast in very fat and sweet doughs and I’m very optimistic that I am going to ace the Panettone challenge come Christmas. My next sweet dough/wild yeast project is going to be raised doughnuts. I’ll try to take better pictures. In case anyone is curious about how to make the “authentic” crosses on Hot Cross Buns, you make a kind of batter out of water and flour (1/3 – 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup flour) and pipe the crosses onto the buns with it just before you bake them. For some reason, the buns brown during the baking process, but the crosses made of this paste stay white. After baking, you glaze the buns with a frosting made of 1/4 cup milk and 2 cups powdered sugar that has been lightly cooked—sort of like the frosting on a glazed doughnut. You can also make a similar glaze with powdered sugar, the zest of one orange and 1/4 cup of the juice of the same orange. Thank you for this explanation!! I spent a LOT of time looking at recipes and finally chose this one. It uses the paste. Many recipes and I think many U.S. bakeries use frosting after the glaze. At any rate, I didn’t understand how this was supposed to work. So far, I have a test bake of 4 buns: no cross or glaze. I’m very happy with interior and taste! I used currants soaked in apple juice (your Marsala wine soak sounds wonderful!), cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove for spices. Now for my main batch … my piping of the paste is horrible, we’ll see what happens in the bake ?? My test bake rolls popped quite a lot so I’m hoping these pop up around the paste and somehow are recognizable as hot cross buns.

2019-04-26T15:53:41Z

https://forum.breadtopia.com/t/new-years-panettone-resolution/8617

Is your Autistic child's exploratory behaviour causing problems in therapy or during your day? One of the most difficult problems that parents and therapists face in being able to manage the self-directed exploratory play of the Autistic child. Autistic children may be still learning our rules of the environment such as we sit in the waiting room in a chair, we don’t touch that person’s toys, we don’t raid the therapist toy shelf, we don’t strip the supermarket of all the yummy food when we go shopping. Families who are new to understating Autistic children are coming to learn that their child may not understand the social context and the social rules of play and their environment. For example, the Speech Pathologist prefers that you stay and work on the task in front of her rather than the one on the second shelf that you spotted. Children with language comprehension impairment as well as self-directed and sometimes compulsive thinking patterns can be difficult to communicate with when they set their interests on a task or toy. We use the session regulation tool of the available-not available scarf to support learning this function of WAIT– GO-FINISHED PLAY—PLAY WITH THIS ONE NOW. Autistic children can respond poorly to NO, MISTAKE, or NAUGHTY or BAD. This is why the RED was not used but the checkered flag pattern. The RED is used for emergency when STOP or RISK is required. To find out the WHY about how children feel the colours in words, join our community of families who are learning about various communication conditions to gain their answers about their child. Speech Therapy DIY is here to help. Trust me as a clinical Speech Pathologist – it is a lifesaver and I would never have a session without various types of session regulating tools such as this Available-Not Available scarf at my disposal. Visit the BLOG list to find out about the others you can use. Join our list for the information based on the STEPS to using the session regulation tool so you can share it with your family, your kindergarten or school support team. For those families without the ability to stitch a straight line or who have no access to a sewing machine, you can visit our SHOP and order your own SCARF from us. These come in various sizes to suit your needs such as LARGE to block out a entire activity over a table, MEDIUM to block out playing with a toy in the middle of an activity and even iPAD holders to enable your child to finally reach the dining table for a meal or to sit there. Some days after a long day of teaching SPECTRUM children, I have often considered throwing it over me-just so I can have 5 minutes break to sip my coffee. I know some of our families will appreciate this-just don’t do it when driving! Help your Autistic child keep to the activities and tasks that suit your day schedule and routine. The AVAILABLE– and NOT AVAILABLE scarf supports you to regulate the flow of task and saves you the problems from meltdowns and concerns. The medium sized scarf is suitable to have in your handbag when you are on the go. You simply pull it out and block the item in your child’s interest that they may be heading for that it out of bounds to their play. Use the green side to then show them what they can play with when their is an item of interest that your child would like to engage with. Available on request from the Optimal Communications Speech Pathology clinic. Save anguish and your child from having to experience meltdowns about change in routine or disappointment from wanting a toy when they don’t understand it is not available for them to play with. Order your medium sized scarf now. Also available in large sizes and iPAD bags. Join our FREE BLOG list for families with tips of how to use it from qualified Speech Pathologists. Is my child's speech developing normally? Children develop speech errors as part of their normal development of their speech. However, a speech pathologist is able to determine what is happening with your child’s auditory development, speech production and speech motor skills by the type of errors that they are demonstrating at a particular age. Identification and the early intervention of speech sounds errors that are delayed in their development or abnormal in their profile is essential to enable your child to reach the mental maturity to then be capable of learning to read, spell and write. To learn more, enter your details in the FREE list to be part of our Speech Pathology support community. We aim to help many children and families who may have limited access to support due to distance, availability, waiting lists and challenges in accessing private speech pathology services from limited funding support. This way, you can decide for yourself… if your child needs Speech Pathology help or whether you want to support your child with Speech Therapy DIY from home. It is important that children have established their speech sound GRID as this enables their mind to then have matured the mental machinery to be capable of reading and spelling when they reach the classroom. Children can show many different types of speech sound processes which we call phonological processes. Many of these are normal at specific ages in a child’s process to develop speech, however, many can be detected early to be abnormal. As Speech Pathologists, we can identify what may be happening with your child’s development based on the type of error in their speech. Your child’s speech error profile can sometimes give us early diagnostic information as to WHAT may be happening to cause your child’s challenges. Early identification means we can provide EARLY INTERVENTION … enabling your child to reach their Optimal Communication potential. Children develop speech errors as part of their normal development of their speech. However, a speech pathologist is able to determine what is happening with your child’s auditory development and speech production and speech motor skills by the type of errors that they are demonstrating at a particular age. Click through to our information page to see what speech sounds are acceptable for your child’s specific age and to see if they are showing speech patterns that are ready for school age for entry into PREP. Some of these error patterns are acceptable at different ages in your child’s speech development, however some may also indicate something entirely different at a later age from the eyes of a trained professional. Some children are late to mature these delicate – fine tuning tongue skills to place their tongue tip, and sides in the specific points which can be in error by millimetre sized mistakes. Some children can have sensory problems with what is known as proprioreceptive control which manages these fine sensory-and-motor feedback loops in our body. Your child may be showing challenges in their sensory-motor development and may be over squeezing or stopping the passage of air to create a /s/ sound, making the air stop into a /t/ sound. These minor articulation position errors could be the peak of the iceberg for other sensory-motor challenges in the body impacting on speech and learning development. It’s important to have your tools to do your job. The Phonic All Star Program enables you to have access to every one of the 46 speech sounds that may become part of the program to correct your child’s speech. Just like an artists palette, you will need all your colours to do the job. To kick off your tool kit, you will receive your 46 speech sound grid summary wall chart as a complimentary starter kit when your child attend their 3-7 years screening assessment with us after we examine their Speech Sound Grid using the Phonic All Star Flash cards and the Learn the Speech Sounds A3 laminated Wall Chart as pictured to the left. The wall chart features the 24 consonant phonemes and the 22 vowels phonemes so that your child is equipped with all the “keys to the speech keyboard” so that s/he can learn effectively in speech therapy at home or in the clinic. To get your copy for yourself, just simply call the clinic on 55 28 2222 or send us an email. Additionally, when join our community list to the left, we kick start their school learning by giving you a digital download of their “Learn Their Letters” A4 folder guide from the Phonic All Star Teaching Series. Following that, you can gain your additional bonus A4 resource of the Phonic All Stars-Matching Upper and lowercase graphemes so that you can teach your child their upper and lower case font awareness skills. Just simply add your details to the right opt-in box – and it will be sent as a digital download to your email – immediately. FREE- No wait – and strictly no nagging or spamming. Our community list is built to support and serve the members of our community and their children. Why wait on a list for Speech Therapy services doing nothing, when at least you can get started by learning and undertaking simple tasks under the guidance of a qualified Speech Pathology team! Your child’s brain does not wait for us. So what do I expect to see if my child attended Speech Therapy to correct this problem? Therapy will involve teaching your child about each of these specific speech sounds and how they are produced using the articulators such as the lips, jaw, tongue, soft palate, voice and breath. The Phonic All Star Program is a great resource to help you to undertake this. The program clearly teaches how each speech sound is made and gives your child heaps of visual pictures and video to learn. The Phonic All Star characters have been designed to associate with the speech sound and give young children a hint to remember the sound. The program also uses a hand signal to cue your child so that you have a mutual language to prompt which sound you want her/him to say. A great resource to help you achieve this is Articulation Station which you can purchase on a sound by sound basis and save on the expense of purchasing sounds you may not need. For a Speech pathologist review and guide to this app click here. However, this method of speech therapy is good at correcting the sound error patterns for the words that have been learned and stored in your child’s “word filing cabinet” in the mind, but the underlying coding challenges may still be evident as a weakness in your child’s mind and may later show up in their reading and spelling skills as the same speech errors in their writing of letters when spelling words. The Phonic All Star Speech Correction Program teaches how to go deeper into your child’s engineering speech sound keyboard and to make corrections that are strong and stable enabling transition into literacy function to be accurate and completed. However, an assessment is very important to identify the underlying etiology. In some cases, this may be part of more complex conditions as a collection of challenges. If so these may also need to be addressed. Your child may have associated receptive language challenges and may not understand what you are saying. S/he may have trouble speaking in sentences and may be struggling to create enough words for you to then develop the speech sound system from this. Your child may have fine motor and gross motor challenges making it hard for them to keep their postural stability to then control the fine motor muscles in their mouth. Some children can have challenges with focus and attention, while others may be impossible to get to sit in the chair due to self directed and even oppositional behaviour. If this is the case with any of these additional features then you will need to learn skills to manage these associated conditions so that you can teach your child exactly how to make these speech changes. This can be done with your Speech Pathologist in their clinical sessions or via your skype consultations. Others may be interested by learning from the DIYspeech therapy that enables motivated families to undertake their self-help from home. However, a word of warning for those independent parent-therapists who are maintaining a low cost program, it may be of benefit to just have your child briefly checked by a specialist and Speech Pathologist. It is not uncommon for some children to wait for up to 12 month for a FREE government service and to unfortunately miss the cut-off date for vital funding opportunities which would have enabled them to have a professional do the job quicker and accurately. My best recommendation is to do both-have the professional working with you to give you the guidance to provide additional support sessions at home. Save the money on the in-between sessions and don’t miss the mark for accuracy. Your child’s brain doesn’t wait for us to get it right, it continues to grow and make neurological connections. We prefer to have these wired correctly as quickly as they can so they are then not impacting on the development of their words and sentences that are piling into their mind for the years to come. It gets very time consuming and costly to do the correction work when years have passed. Sometimes it is simple – quick to correct and your child is ready to go for their school years. However, in some instances, early identification can enable the speech therapy intervention before their school years for complex conditions such as Autism or other communication disorders. What we do know, is speech therapy works. The changes are life changing the earlier we start. How far can one toy go in Speech Therapy? May 14, 2017 Daily Communication Tips, Speech Pathology From Katrine's DeskadminComments Off on How far can one toy go in Speech Therapy? Being creative and ingenious is one of the first skills to learn to be a Speech Pathologist or an integral part of the Speech Therapy team. Many people can often be involved in supporting your child to develop their speech and language skills over the years of their early development. It is common to have fantastic input from Kindergarten teachers, school teachers, therapy aides, and also you, being the parents undertaking your child’s home program. Having the right equipment is very helpful to supporting your child to learn many speech and language tasks, however it is not the MOST important factor. The most important factor is having the skills to know WHAT you are doing and whether it is the right task or skill to be focusing on to make the greatest differences based on your child’s neuro-developmental age and their observed challenges. Your child will need an assessment from a Speech Pathologist to determine what that is. Bring in the Mr. Potato Head Crew… to make Speech Therapy at home fun for your child. Use the toys you have in a different way. Join the list to get your downloadable pdf’s so you can get started from home! Get your FREE Phonic All Star home therapy beginners resources. A toy can be used in so many different ways to stimulate your child’s communications skills, so you may be able to save on all the expense of the resources when you invest your time in learning what to do. We have some tips to help you get started, however join the list on the left for more help across amny areas of listening, speech, language, early literacy and social-pragmatic skills. Use Mr Potato head to facilitate a Simon Says style of activity where Mr Potato head provides the instructions and your child has to accurately listen and carry out the instruction. If they do so, they can opt to change 1 item of Mr Potato Heads body per correct instruction followed! So the toy acts as the actual reinforcement for your child after each verbal instruction and then connects your child back to the lesson to listen to the next instruction. This is important as some children can wander away when they get bored. To read more about how…enter our list to the right to collect the password for onsite page access. Part B-How far can one toy go in Speech Therapy? May 14, 2017 UncategorizedadminComments Off on Part B-How far can one toy go in Speech Therapy? Choosing appropriate toys to stimulate your child’s speech and language skills is the start to developing skills for home speech therapy. Mr Potato Head is a favorite as this toys allows for you to break the activity up into rewarding bite sized tasks as your child enjoys the process of building new Mr. Potato Head characters. The skill to follow verbal instructions is essential for your child to progress forward with learning across many settings such as at home, kindergarten and school. Compliancy to follow the teacher’s spoken instructions is essential for classroom success. Learning how to do this well at an early age can be critical to their success in moving forward in many skills and subjects. Children with challenges in following instructions and listening can further compromise their language development to deteriorate over years if specialised support is not sought out early. Impairments in learning can be the result of this long term. Academic and occupational restrictions can lead to significant frustration and lowering of self-esteem. Your child may be distracted and may not be able to attend to what you are saying to them. Your child may have hearing challenges. Your child may not be able to process the verbal information due to problems in hearing the components of speech and language. This may be problems with auditory processing of the sounds in words. It may also be difficulties understanding what words mean. Your child’s mind may be directed towards another idea or toy. This compulsion to play with that toy may stop them from following the instructions that you are giving them. Your child may become confused when there are so many words to have to process and remember and may not be able to hold these all in their mind at once. We can start young by playing a game using one of the all-time favourite toys that kids just love. Let all be clear…Mr Potato Head in whatever dress he appears in, is just more interesting that an adult—right!? So let him be the star of the lesson and let him teach your child. Sometimes this may bring interest and compliancy for the child that you just can’t please or keep on track. Use Mr Potato head to facilitate a Simon Says style of activity where Mr Potato head provides the instructions and your child has to accurately listen and carry out the instruction. If they do so, they can opt to change 1 item of Mr Potato Head’s body per correct instruction followed! So the toy acts as the actual reinforcement for your child after each verbal instruction and then connects your child back to the lesson to listen to the next instruction. This is important as some children can wander away when they get bored. “In this game we need to use our good listening skills. “… Sit on the floor”. If they perform the action accurately, they are able to choose a body part to remove and gradually replace to make a new character. Then your child can add new accessory. If this tasks is too easy? Start to include more complex instructions that contain 2 parts of information your child needs to process. For example, “Hop on one foot and sing Happy Birthday! Be creative as you can with the instructions. “After I say the letter B, point to only two other letters on the alphabet card. You can integrate your Phonic All Star “LEARN THE ALPHABET” Cards into your following instructions tasks. This way your child can also learn about the Alphabet letters. Then teach your child the individual speech sounds using the “Phonic All Star–Learn the SPEECH SOUNDS” wallchart or folderguide. eg. “Point to the one that says “chuh… after you point to the one that say “sss”. Point to the sounds “mmm—ffff–rrrr” in that order. To manage self-directed behaviour if your child is showing autistic spectrum traits or oppositional defiance traits. This looks like children who can understand what you are saying, but choose not to follow what you are saying. It can be based on a special or intense interest in something else or a will to do the opposite to what you want. Either way, this behaviour significantly gets in the way of learning and development of speech and language skills. Later it can be a great interference with classroom learning. If you see some of these traits, do not leave this and make contact with us to offer you support. Some children need to be identified early to give intense early intervention. Also, some communication disorders identified in children in their early years, families may be able to access funding for this early intervention support for Speech Pathology services. A diagnosis from a professional consortium which will involve a Speech Pathologist with a special interest and experience in these conditions is essential for this process to be undertaken. Children failing to acquire speech and language skills demonstrate weakness and/or impairment in developing their neuro-machinery that underpin their fundamental learning skills for classroom success. The earlier the intervention, the easier the correction program undertaken by Speech Pathologists for effort, time and most importantly, your family’s budget. Don’t lose precious brain development time by waiting on a list for speech therapy when their brain doesn’t wait. Instead, your child’s underlying impairment continues to hard wire pathways in the brain incorrectly , stores and then rehearses these speech and language mistakes having a disastrous impact on communication and future classroom failure- showing the true cost of the choice of no therapy. Early speech therapy intervention for your child is a no-brainer!! … it’s critical!! Why is spelling so confusing? November 29, 2014 Daily Communication TipsadminComments Off on Why is spelling so confusing? Spelling can be such a struggle for so many children when they are developing their literacy skills. At the first stage of learning, they need to develop their phonological processing skills (speech sound processing) and their phonological awareness skills (speech sound awareness skills). The first is developed by the brain growing and engineering itself (eg. auditory memory, auditory discrimination, sound synthesis, the sound chain length, the sound processing speed, capacity to hold-store-retrieve and manipulate sound information), whilst the other is taught as skills (ie. rhyming, sound decoding, sound encoding, blending sounds, segmenting sounds in words, syllabification, sound identification manipulation). The Phonic All Star program assists to teach kids these skills in a fun and exciting way and you can order the basic starter pack to get you on the way to success. This assists kids to learn the first stage o acquiring their literacy skills for PREP and Grade 1 skills. Once these skills are achieved, then students then progress to understanding spelling rules which include skill development at the orthographic stage of literacy. This is a cool stage because in therapy, I can teach a spelling rule in 15 minutes and kids are then able to read 300 words straight after that. It is an enormous confidence booster for students that have struggled with reading for such a long time. They can’t believe how easy it is … and they then trust the process further and start to enjoy the next stages of therapy. This can also be for student that have been stuck with their reading level for many years. We have a cool job! November 20, 2014 Daily Communication TipsadminComments Off on Phonetics or Sight words…? When is phonetic the key to reading ? I have been told that it is most important to teach children to read by sight reading-whole word reading? October 25, 2014 Speech Pathology From Katrine's DeskadminComments Off on Is medication the answer? Many families worry about whether they should medicate their child who is diagnosed with learning challenges. When asking, “Is medication the answer?”, it is not unusual for a family to have sought out the advise of many health and education professionals in addition to their paediatrician and paediatric psychiatrist before coming to a conclusion that suits their family and their child’s needs. This is a very controversial question and needs an in depth understand to look for options to best put forward a conclusive argument. October 14, 2014 Communication NewsadminComments Off on Our new website is live!

2019-04-22T16:22:35Z

https://www.optimal-communications.com/speech-therapy-blogs/

Born in a Regular Middle class family in Dhule, Maharashtra, Kranti grew up in a safe, secure, protected environment. Along with being a bright Scholarship student, she was also good in Sports and participated in Athletics in school at Sanjivan Vidyalaya, Panchgani. Invariably; Sports took a back seat, once she enrolled into her Engineering Degree Course. She completed B.E. in Electronics and Telecommunications followed by Masters in Computer Science from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and now is a Director at the Alfa Group of Companies. Chirag, her 6-year-old boisterous son was advised to enroll in some Physical Activity by School in 2011. Kranti took him to Priyadarshini Park (PDP) for training in Athletics. Obviously, like most mothers, she would wait there itself till he was done. Approaching his Coach, she asked if she too could start track training under him instead of just killing time. He readily agreed and the inborn Athlete rose once more 🤗. In 2011, Kranti ran her first 5-Kilometer Race at PDP and won the Silver medal completing in less than 25 minutes. Next, she participated for the 6K Valentine Run from Police Gymkhana to NCPA organized by Nike Run Club when she got a Nike T-shirt as a prize and set the ball well and truly rolling. In 2012, Kranti participated in her first Half Marathon at SCMM. Unexpectedly, she stood 5th in her Age Category finishing in 2:01 despite running Easy and even taking a Loo break 😯. Till then her only real training had been running on the PDP Track as per Chirag’s practice sessions whilst juggling Household Chores, Office and diligently climbing 15 floors to her home daily. In 2013, Kranti was to do her very first Full Marathon, again at SCMM. Chirag, her son, was selected to participate in the State Level Long Jump Event at Aurangabad on the very same day. Chirag left along with some other friends and their parents on Friday Evening. That Sunday turned out to be super eventful for Kranti as she stood Second in Women and 1st in Indian Women in her Age Category finishing in a brilliant 4:12 🤗. They ended up rushing straight to the Airport after the race to pick up Chirag. Thereafter, Kranti has gone on to win podiums at practically every Race that she has participated in India. She manages to balance her family, work and training with Elan. The Athletic Salvi family enjoys participating in running events together. They even plan a yearly Runcation abroad every July and have run in Mauritius, Philippines and the Gold Coast Marathons. In fact, Kranti stood 4th in Mauritius. Besides Olympian Lalitha Babar, she is the only other Indian woman in top 10 overall rankers of an AIMS certified Marathon. She got her PB of 3:47 at Gold Coast and went on to complete the prestigious Boston Marathon in 3:51 in 2017 and plans to do it again in 2018 😎. Kranti has a Holistic approach to Fitness thanks to learning Yoga. She tries to make sure her Core is engaged even whilst doing chores- be it making Chappatis, mopping the floor or scrubbing clothes 😎. Consuming self-cooked home food helps her ensure fixing the Menu as per the Workout plans. Fresh vegetables, fruits, poultry and sea food are all part of the regular diet. On Long Run Days; Carbohydrates are increased while on Strength Training Days; the Protein is boosted. She trains from Monday to Saturday in the evening at PDP along with her son, Chirag. Workouts consist of Strength, Core, Circuit, Plyometrics, Speed and Easy long runs so as to avoid Monotony. Essentially training on the Synthetic tracks, Kranti looks forward to her Long runs on the Road. Though Interaction with MRR is mostly restricted to Facebook, she joins in the Monthly MRR runs enroute at Marine Drive every chance she gets. The whole atmosphere of high spirits, harmony and joy as well as post Run gathering and meeting Runner buddies whilst exchanging ideas and thoughts at NCPA is something that she enjoys thoroughly 😊. Kranti advises Beginners to take it easy, gradually increase time and intensity of load while seeking Expert guidance for specific goals. She states that Patience is required for long term benefits of Running or any kind of sport. Rest and Recovery are equally important; Sleep especially cannot be ignored since that’s when our Body Recovers. Kranti says desired performance can be achieved only when the body, mind, soul and external forces all work harmoniously towards it. Furthermore, keeping log of Runs helps in monitoring progress and staying motivated. Last but not the least, never compare your performance with others as each one is different. Kranti has been a Brand Ambassador for TomTom, Puma as well as the Face of several Running Events. Now, she regularly endorses and promotes Running in Schools, Institutes and various Organizations in different Cities in Maharashtra. From that quiet, petite, young girl she has blossomed into one Powerhouse Inspiring so many 😃. The MRR Race Ranking as on 1st December, 2017 is out, which means the races in November are included in the list. And we have a new race leader i.e. Airtel Delhi Half Marathon is the new Race Leader. IDBI Federal Life Insurance Spice Coast Marathon, Kochi enters the list at a super creditable no. 7 ranking while Aurangabad Heritage Half Marathon debuts at no. 9 in the list. Both Kochi and Aurangabad have performed admirably to come in the top 10. It helps that both have Runners as main organisers. WNC Navy Half Marathon, Mumbai comes in at no. 15, IL&FS I Run for Fun, Mumbai at no. 22, Adidas Uprising 10K, Mumbai at no. 24, IIT Bombay Half Marathon at no. 36, Pune Running Beyond Myself Marathon at no. 39. WNC Navy Half scored well on all parameters but lost out on the timeliness aspect i.e. starting the race on time. They probably need to work on that aspect next time around. The ranking list is given here. Lots of races lose points in the “During the Race” element. That is the absolute core for any race, the most key element in organising a good race vs an average race. Organisers need to pay attention to this factor the most – frequency of water/ energy drinks/ refreshments, medical facilities en route, km markers, traffic arrangements etc. We have created another list this time, that of races which did not garner adequate responses, but we have done the rating for them, but not included in the ranking list. For races to enter into the ranking list, we need at least 10 responses, which itself is inadequate but since this is a first year, we thought of keeping a low threshold. This list is given here. Here also from the limited responses, if you see, Jalna has done well and so has Surat and Gurgaon. The situation will obviously change if there are more responses. We hope that more and more runners take part in this rating exercise so that a good database could be built which will be helpful to the runners in future. This is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. A total of 68 races have been rated so far this year, which exercise started in February, 2017. My first attempt at Trail Running – A DNF!!! I was scheduled to visit France on a business trip from 11th to 13th Dec 2017. Being a Runner I got tempted to find some race in France which I can participate before or after my business commitments. I googled and found out that there were more than 4 races in different parts of France on 10th Dec 2017. Unfortunately all the websites and facebook pages of the events were in French and difficult to undersand and register inspite of using Google Translate. Finally, I zeroed down on 4 events and managed to send a message through their FB pages. Only one organiser, Trail la conquete de Super Besse responded quickly and provided me the link to register with the translation in English. There were 3 categories; 5K, 15k AND 25k.Having done one 42 K, one 25K (BNP) and about six 21K, I opted for the 25K Run. Later on I realised that it was not a normal Road Run which I have been doing until now for the past 4 years but a Trail Run. HaviNg done Satara HM and BNP 25K (4 hills) I assumed it must be somewhat similar but a more gruelling course. I tried to get much information about the course and elevation from the organisers but could not succeed. Further scrutiny of their website and FB page did not help much. Having already registered I mustered courage and decided to participate any how. The start point of Trail la conquete de Super Besse was in a Town called Besse and Finish Point at Super Besse, about 470 Kms from Paris. I reached Paris on 8th Dec evening and decided to rest for one night in Paris. I realised that the temperatures were in the range of 6 to 8 deg C in Paris. On 9th morning I started from Paris and reached Chambon Sur Lac (15 Kms from Besse) where I had booked my accommodation,in the evening. Here the weather was too cold with temperatures dipping to 2 deg C in the night. Chambon Sur Lac is a small village where no public transport is available, except taxis provided you book in advance. The organisers were kind enough to arrange to pick me up on 10th morning at 7:00 am from the hotel to go to the venue. To my shock, it was raining in the morning and the temperature was 4 deg. C. I collected my bib and put up a brave face. I understood that thee were about 800 registrations but due to bad weather only about 400 turned up. I noticed that most of the participants were wearing rain-proof jackets, skiing sticks and mountaineering footwear. I had my normal road running shoes and winter jacket with hood. With the help of the organisers I managed to get a trash polythene converted to a rain coat to protect myself from the rains. The race started at 09:00 am sharp on normal tar road and I joined the crowd in the cold windy weather still determined to participate. After 500 m or so the route joined a muddy trail and the runners slowed down. After 1 km the route was full of snow and slippery. With caution I managed to walk through and avoided slipping, After 1.5 km I realised that I was the last runner and the girl and man behind me were Support Volunteers. The girl noticed that I was wearing normal road running shoes and asked me if I will continue till the end with these shoes. Still determined; I told her I shall continue and asked her if the route was similar throughout. She told me it will be tougher further. There were no KM markings but only ribbons. After about 2 kms of slippery snowy and muddy route with ups and downs I started feeling warm and wanted to remove my jacket and was feeling thirsty. Unfortunately I had carried none assuming there would be aid stations every 2.5 or 3 Kms like our road runs but there were none so far. I realised that the trail was slippery and my shoes were not meant for trail runs. After 40 mins or so I managed to cover only 3 Kms and the volunteer asked me if I would like to quit. I told her I would continue after taking a 3 to 5 minute break. But she said that it would take me a long time to complete the balance 22 Km. Though there was no cut-off time specified by the organisers I realised that the locals would complete the distance in maximum 4 hours or so. With the pace that I was going I realised that I would need anywhere between 4-1/2 to 5 hours. I continued for another 1 km without break. The wind was blowing at 40 km/h speed, it was raining continuously, the path was full of snow and the temperature was still 4 deg C. By now I had cramps in my legs, my jacket was wet, hands cold and backache. It was time to call quits now rather than continuing and probably breaking your bones or falling sick. I told the girl tha I would quit and she informed me that after 1 km we will reach the road and she will call for the support vehicle to take me back to the Finish Point. I managed to cover about 5 kms in the windy, snowy, rainy and cold weather. My first attempt at Trail Runnng was a DNF but I am happy that I did not get a DNS. I had the courage to start even after seeing the weather conditions and without proper gear. As the adage goes; You do not Lose, You either WIN or LEARN! Every failure teaches you and makes you strong. Do not assume that all races are similar. Find out more information about the course and weather conditions before you register. Ensure you have proper running gear suitable to the environment. Find out more details of the location and weather conditions. It is better to quit than take risk and endanger yourself, especially in a foreign country. Learn from your mistakes, take corrective actions and attempt again after good preparation. The Bay area was known for its bountiful trails and hills. There was no dearth of them as I browsed through the California marathon Calendar. The runner and nature lover in me was spoilt for choices as I looked at the images of some of the trail runs. I visualized myself running through the cascading brown meadows spread over acres which was enough incentive to click on the registration link. It was a 25 km run that I had signed up for, probably due to realization that my legs were now ready to carry me further than 21 km which they were used to by now and probably bored. “Give us a little bit of challenge”, they seemed to say. So here I was driving down to Calero Park at San Jose which was about 40 minutes from Stanford, where I resided. The race was scheduled at 8:00 am and the bib collection for these runs took place one hour prior to the run, on the same day. It was rather chilly and I huddled up in one of the tents after collecting my bib. I got talking to the race director, Troy who had been conducting trail events since 2009. “I am glad it’s not raining,” he said. “Otherwise I would have had to cancel it.” I further learnt it was more or less managed by him solely and he was looking for more volunteers. As the runners began to line up at the venue, we were briefed about the course that we had to take. There were only 2 aid stations and we were to follow the different colored ribbons and in some places, these would be absent. “Have faith in yourself and follow that one single road, it will get you through.” the race director mentioned. Nervousness began to creep in hoping that I wouldn’t get lost in these woods. There was no signal on my mobile phone and I offered a silent prayer to the almighty. From the word go, dirt roads greeted us gently leading us to some never-ending inclines which forced even the strongest looking runners to walk up these dreadful slopes. Muddy, rustic looking, interspersed with shrubs and grass, it was as pristine as it could get. I heard some of runners muttering “Didn’t know it was going to be so tough”, as they staggered up the hilly terrain. One couldn’t run on it for too long and walk breaks were involuntarily infused. Deciding to treat it as a picnic, I prodded along the muddy pathway, wondering what I had gotten myself into. I remembered mentioning to my husband that morning saying that I would finish in 3 hours and be back home by 12 noon. It appeared that this was going to take longer than 3 hours considering the daunting route which had pebbles strewn about like bread crumbs. No sane person would want to consider sprinting downhill unless they were ready to see their knees look like fried sausages tossed in ketchup. At the end of the 5th km, I was almost ready to call it quits, rush back home and snuggle on the couch with a book. Just then I was greeted by a spectacular sight of the mountains glistening in the sun’s rays. I inhaled sharply, taking in the view as the sportsman spirit in me egged me to go on. ‘You are not here to quit’, a voice told me. I noticed dried tufts of grass on either side as I ran along the narrow winding pathways. I caught a glimpse of a couple of runners at the distance and knew I was on the right track. Following the ribbons, I soon found myself running down some of the slopes albeit with great caution as I wasn’t too fond of sausages. Reaching the aid station, I refilled my bottle with water, grabbed some freshly cut fruits and set off on this jungle expedition after taking cues from the race director present there. The pebbles on the ground reminded me of the Hansel and Gretel story wherein Hansel left a trail of them to find his way back home from the woods. At one point, it was just me and the sound of gentle rustle of the leaves, making me jump many a time half expecting to see a bear or a fox come out of its hiding and smacking my head later on for giving in to irrational fears and fantasies. Soon I heard voices floating in the air and looked up to see a couple of horse riders galloping into the woods after giving me a smile that depicted partly sympathy and partly admiration. This run was one of its kind unlike the ones in the city where you would feel the presence of volunteers with placards carrying quirky messages. This one was a test of your endurance and patient levels. I finally reached the start point, completing 21 km and was asked to do the 5 km loop to complete my distance. Survival instincts kicked in and I finally reached the finish line. “You are still running, right?” asked one of the volunteers asked line with a grin and I responded with a faint smile. I tucked in some nuts and sandwiches that was displayed on the table as I was famished being on my feet for hours together. Nature has a way of humbling you, I thought as I grabbed my phone only to see there was no reception yet. By now my husband must have wondered if I had been attacked by wolves or something. I requested one of the volunteers to drop me off at a point where I could call an Uber. Trail runs were as brutal and carnal as they could get. It’s about how you hold your nerve throughout and come out stronger yet humbled at the thought that nature always triumphs.

2019-04-20T22:44:07Z

https://mumbairoadrunners.com/2017/12/

The Complainant is Orient Express Travel Group Pty Ltd of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, represented by Norgate McLean Dolphin, Australia. The Respondent is Mookstar Media Pty Ltd (ACN 083 167 293) of Glenside, South Australia, represented by Cooper Mills Lawyers, Australia. The disputed domain name <etg.com.au> (the "Domain Name") is registered with Drop.com.au Pty Ltd (the "Registrar"). The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the "Center") on February 9, 2015. On February 10, 2015, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the Domain Name. On February 13, 2015, the Registrar transmitted by email to the Center its verification response confirming that the Respondent is listed as the registrant and providing the contact details. The Center verified that the Complaint satisfied the formal requirements of the .au Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Policy"), the Rules for .au Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Rules"), and the WIPO Supplemental Rules for .au Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Supplemental Rules"). In accordance with the Rules, paragraphs 2(a) and 4(a), the Center formally notified the Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on February 26, 2015. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5(a), the due date for Response was March 18, 2015. The Response was filed with the Center on March 18, 2015. The Center appointed David Levin Q.C., Nicholas Smith and John Swinson as panelists in this matter on April 9, 2015. The Panel finds that it was properly constituted. The Panel has submitted the Statement of Acceptance and Declaration of Impartiality and Independence, as required by the Center to ensure compliance with the Rules, paragraph 7. The Complainant is an independent travel agency group that since 1983 has traded under the name "Orient Express Travel Group". The Complainant issues over 500,000 travel tickets annually, including tickets for Cathay Pacific Airways, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airlines. Since 2004 the Complainant has provided a number of goods and services using the prefix "Express". It presently operates a website (the Complainant's Website) from "www.etg.travel" which displays a logo that consists of an eight-point star, the letters "ETG", and below that the words "Express Travel Group". There is no evidence as to the page displayed at the Complainant's Website as at the date of the Complaint. The Complainant issues and sells airplane tickets from the Complainant's Website. On December 9, 2014, the Complainant applied for an Australian Trade Mark registration for the acronym ETG (the "ETG Mark") for goods and services relating to travel organisations. It owns numerous registered trade marks for marks that consist of or feature the word "express" (the "EXPRESS Marks") and had previously applied for an Australian Trade Mark for the words "Express Travel Group" (the "EXPRESS TRAVEL GROUP Mark"). The Domain Name <etg.com.au> was created by the Respondent on March 4, 2008. The Domain Name redirected to a website which consists of a stylized knife and fork, the acronym "ETG" and a contact link (the "Respondent's Website"). The contact link sends the visitor from the Respondent's Website to a website that appears to be operated by the Respondent and consists of a page where people are invited to contact the Respondent. The Respondent owns over 1071 registered domains including 335 domain names consisting of three-letter acronyms. (iii) that the Domain Name has been registered and/or is subsequently being used in bad faith. The Complainant has traded under the name "Orient Express Travel Group" since 1983. In early 2014 the Complainant decided to adopt the EXPRESS TRAVEL GROUP and ETG Mark. Later in 2014 it apparently decided to adopt the acronym ETG in association with the EXPRESS TRAVEL GROUP name. The Complainant has applied to register EXPRESS TRAVEL GROUP and ETG as trade marks and has developed common law rights in each of these marks by way of the registration of the domain name <etg.travel>, registering a twitter account using the handle "@etg_Travel", registering a Facebook account under the name "Express Travel Group – ETG", sending notifications of this change to various travel agents and operating the Complainant's Website. The Domain Name <etg.com.au> is confusingly similar to the EXPRESS TRAVEL GROUP and ETG Marks. The Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the Domain Name. The Respondent does not hold a trade mark for "ETG" or any similar trade mark. The Respondent is not licensed or authorized by the Complainant to register the Domain Name. The Respondent does not have any other apparent rights in the Domain Name, nor does he appear to be commonly known by the Domain Name. The Domain Name is presently used in association with a holding page with the Respondent's associated business being in domain name trading. Furthermore, to the extent that the Respondent submits that it is using the Domain Name for providing a service of Australian restaurant listings referred to as the "E Taste Guide", there is no evidence of the development of a website, brand or business in the six years since the Domain Name was first registered. The Domain Name was registered or is being used in bad faith. The Respondent has a history of registering domain names consisting of three-letter acronyms as well as deliberate misspellings of large and prominent business enterprises. The Respondent has been subject of adverse findings under auDRP proceedings and been the subject of online complaints relating to its conduct. The Respondent submits that the Complainant is not known as ETG. The Complainant has not registered any such trading name nor has it (at the time of the Complaint) registered any such trade mark. The Complainant has only ever used ETG as part of its broader purported trading name EXPRESS TRAVEL GROUP (ETG). It has not established that it has common law rights in the ETG Mark. The EXPRESS TRAVEL GROUP (ETG) mark is clearly not identical or confusingly similar to the Domain Name. The mere fact that the Complainant's name could be abbreviated to ETG does not mean that it is confusingly similar. The Respondent has made demonstrable preparations to use the Domain Name, as part of a business known as "E Taste Guide". The director of the Respondent has travelled the world and taken numerous Instagram shots of food for the purposes of the E Taste Guide. Furthermore the Respondent has prepared a logo for the E Taste Guide which is currently on the Respondent's Website. The Complainant has not satisfied its burden to show that the Respondent registered the Domain Name in bad faith. The Complainant did not use Express Travel Group and ETG until well after the Domain Name was registered. Furthermore the Respondent's conduct does not fall within any of the circumstances under the Policy that amount to examples of bad faith. The Respondent did not register the Domain Name for the purposes of selling the Domain Name, preventing the owner of a mark from reflecting that mark in the Domain Name, to disrupt the business of a competitor, or to attract for commercial gain Internet users to a website by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant's name or mark. The Panel should make a finding of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking against the Complainant. The Complainant has sought to recover a domain name consisting of a generic three-letter acronym which it adopted many years after the registration of the Domain Name. It attempted to purchase the Domain Name from the Respondent and withheld evidence of this attempted purchase and the Respondent's rejection. There was no reasonable prospect of the Complainant succeeding and on this basis the Panel ought to make a finding of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking. To prove this element the Complainant must have a name or trade or service mark rights and the Domain Name must be identical or confusingly similar to the Complainant's name, trade or service mark. The Complainant does not own a registered trade mark for the ETG Mark, rather it relies on its common law rights which arise from the launch of its new website at "www.etg.travel", its communication of its ETG brand to its travel agents and its development of business collateral. In particular the Complainant submits that, through its services, over 500,000 tickets are booked annually. The Complainant claims to have adopted the ETG and EXPRESS TRAVEL GROUP Marks. It says the use of its website at "www.etg.travel" is critical to its business, and refers to 500,000 travel tickets booked through its business. It refers to its substantial investment in "developing, promoting and launching its ETG brand." "The requirement that the complainant has rights in a trademark or service mark is satisfied where the complainant can show that a name has acquired "secondary meaning" and become a distinctive identifier associated with the complainant or its goods or services – i.e., that it is a common law or unregistered trademark. Evidence relevant to establishing such secondary meaning includes the length and amount of sales under the name, the nature and extent of advertising using the name, surveys of consumer recognition of the name, and media references to the name. In at least one case, the panel treated as determinative of the issue the findings of an IP Australia Trade Marks Hearing Officer to the effect that the complainant had common law rights in an unregistered trademark. To constitute a common law or unregistered trademark, the name does not need to be famous or well known. The key requirement is that the name has sufficient distinctiveness so as to be able to act as a badge of origin that distinguishes the goods or services of the complainant from those of other traders. However, merely trading under a name does not make that name distinctive. Where the complainant's alleged unregistered trademark consists of a generic or descriptive word, a strong case will be required to show that the word has become associated with the complainant and its goods or services. Operating a website which corresponds to an unregistered mark, and using that website in connection with business, will not necessarily give common law rights in that mark. Merely appending the domain name to an advertisement alongside other contact details will not suffice." The Panel has closely reviewed the evidence in the Complaint regarding the transition to the ETG Brand. It appears from the Complaint that business cards with the ETG Mark were not due to arrive until '4/2', apparently February 4, 2015. The Complaint contains a rebranding announcement to airlines, agents and wholesalers which was sent on January 30, 2015 with the re-brand to be launched on February 2, 2015. The Complainant in this Complaint filed on February 9, 2015, has submitted that common law rights arise by reason of its use of its website at "www.etg.travel". The domain name <etg.travel> was registered on September 9, 2014 and the website was not launched until February 2, 2015. While the Panel accepts that the Complainant sells 500,000 tickets a year to travel agents, the Complaint indicates that the travel agents purchase tickets from the Complainant using its Express Ticketing System. There is no basis to presume that those agents necessarily use the website at "www.etg.travel" to do so, nor that any reputation the Complainant has with those travel agents is found in the ETG Mark as opposed to the Complainant's reputation in and registered mark for EXPRESS TICKETING. The Complainant has produced as an Annexure what it describes as a "Google Analytics audience overview report" for the Complainant's Website. Examination of that Annexure reveals that it purports to be an analysis of the Complainant's websites at "www.orientexpress.com.au", "www.selectravelgroup.com.au", "www.independentagents.com" and what is described as the "italktravel Member Platform". It does not purport to analyse <etg.travel>; indeed much of the Google Analytics report is for traffic in January 2015, before the launch of the website at "www.etg.travel". The evidence of the Complainant is that the ETG Mark has only been used by it for a very limited period of time. Indeed at the date of this Complaint the acronym ETG in association with the name Express Travel Group had only been notified to the Complainant's agents and associates for just over a week. It is difficult to conclude, on the basis of the evidence before the Panel, that the ETG Mark has acquired "secondary meaning" and become a distinctive identifier associated with the Complainant or its goods or services in the one week between the launch of the ETG Mark and the filing of the Complainant. The Complainant has not established to the satisfaction of the Panel that it holds any common law rights in the ETG Mark. The Domain Name <etg.com.au> consists of the acronym ETG and the country code Top-Level Domain suffix ".com.au". Disregarding the ".com.au" suffix, the Domain Name is identical to the acronym ETG being used by the Complainant. Notwithstanding this identicality, the requirement of paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy is not satisfied as the Complainant has not established "any name, trademark or service mark in which it has rights." "The fact that domain names (14) and (15) both contain the letters <WC> is insufficient to satisfy the requirement of paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Uniform Policy. Whilst it can be argued that <WC> is an abbreviation of <WORLD CUP>, this Administrative Panel does not consider that this is the likely meaning which most people would give to these letters. These letters are open to being interpreted as meaning any number of things, as well as meaning nothing at all. There is nothing in the context of the use of these letters in the domain names that suggests they are an abbreviation of anything. Even if the context of their use did make clear that the letters <WC> were an abbreviation, it is quite likely many native speakers of the English language would consider they were an abbreviation either for "water closet" (and hence an allusion to "toilet") or "West Central" (see Concise Oxford English Dictionary, entry for "WC"), or for "without charge" (see Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, entry for "WC"). As for how native speakers of other languages using the Romanised alphabet would most likely interpret these letters as an abbreviation, this Administrative Panel is unable to decide. In short, the letters <WC>, even in conjunction with the year <2002> or the year abbreviation <02>, do not likely suggest <WORLD CUP>, and hence domain names (14) and (15) are not confusingly similar to any of the trademarks referred to in paragraph 4.4 above." The same reasoning applies to the present case. Even if the Complainant were to establish rights in the EXPRESS TRAVEL GROUP Mark (and the Panel does not reach a conclusion on this question), the mere fact that "ETG" is used by the Complainant as an acronym of "Express Travel Group" is not enough to establish confusing similarity. These letters are open to being interpreted as meaning any number of things, as well as meaning nothing at all. The Domain Name is not confusingly similar to the EXPRESS TRAVEL GROUP Mark and the Complainant has not satisfied paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy. To succeed on this element, a complainant may make out a prima facie case that the respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests in the domain name. If such a prima facie case is made out, then the burden of proof shifts to the respondent to demonstrate rights or legitimate interests in the domain name. (iii) you are making a legitimate non-commercial or fair use of the domain name, without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly divert consumers or to tarnish the name, trademark or service mark at issue." The Respondent is not affiliated with the Complainant in any way. It has not been authorised by the Complainant to register or use the Domain Name or to seek the registration of any domain name incorporating the acronym ETG. There is no evidence that the Respondent is commonly known by the Domain Name or any similar name. There is no evidence that the Respondent has used the Domain Name in connection with a legitimate non-commercial use. The Respondent has submitted that it registered the Domain Name to provide a food review website under the name "E Taste Guide". The Respondent, in its Response, explains its supposed purpose and provides, as evidence of preparations to use the Domain Name, a series of Instagram pictures of food that was purportedly taken by the director of the Respondent. However, beyond the Instagram photos, the Response provides no documentary evidence of demonstrable preparations to use the Domain Name for a bona fide purpose. The Domain Name has been registered for almost seven years. The Respondent has provided no evidence that it has hired a developer, created a draft website, registered any rights for "E Taste Guide" or supplied any business documentation normally associated with the creation of a website or a new business. The Response contained no evidence that the Respondent had created written reviews or records of various restaurants that the Respondent's director has visited for the purpose of creating a food review website. Alternatively, given that the Domain Name has been registered for almost seven years, the Respondent has provided no explanation or evidence of circumstances that may have resulted in a delay in creating of the E Taste Guide website. In summary, neither the Respondent's Website nor the evidence in the Response provides a basis for concluding that the Respondent has made a bona fide use or demonstrable preparations to use the Domain Name or a name corresponding to the Domain Name for a bona fide use. The Complainant has established a prima facie case that the Respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests in the Domain Name. The Respondent has had an opportunity to rebut the presumption that it lacks rights or legitimate interests. It has failed to supply sufficient evidence in support of its claims of legitimate interests and has not succeeded in rebutting the presumption. (iv) by using the Domain Name, the Respondent has intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to its website or other online location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant's name or mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of the Respondent's website or location or of a product or service on the Respondent's website or location. There is no evidence before the Panel to suggest that at the time the Domain Name was registered (in 2008) the Respondent registered it in contemplation of the Complainant. The Complainant had no registered or unregistered rights in ETG at the time of filing this Complaint. Indeed the Complainant only lodged its application for the registration of ETG as a mark in December 2014. The Panel finds that the Domain Name was not registered by the Respondent in 2008 in bad faith. However, the requirement under the Policy that the Domain Name be registered or used in bad faith means that a finding that the Domain Name was registered prior to the Complainant acquiring rights in its mark or name will not protect the Respondent from a finding that the third requirement is satisfied where it is established that the Respondent subsequently used the domain name in bad faith. There is no evidence that there are circumstances indicating that the Respondent has registered or has acquired the Domain Name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the Domain Name registration to another person for valuable consideration in excess of its documented out‑of-pocket costs directly related to the Domain Name. There is no evidence that the Domain Name has been offered for sale. Indeed, it appears to the Panel that prior to the filing of this Complaint the Complainant made an unsolicited offer to the Respondent to purchase the Domain Name, an offer that was rejected. The Respondent does not appear to be using the Domain Name to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to its website or other online location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant's name or mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of the Respondent's website or location or of a product or service on the Respondent's website or location. The Complainant and the Respondent are not competitors, the Respondent's Website contains no advertising or reference to the Complainant and the Domain Name consists of a commonly used acronym. There is no evidence before the Panel that the Respondent, prior to the Complaint (or at least the Complainant's complaint to auDA), had ever contemplated the operations of the Complainant or its possible use of the acronym "ETG" in its use of the Domain Name. The Panel finds that there is no evidence that the Respondent has registered the Domain Name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business or activities of another person or to prevent the owner of the trade mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name. The Domain Name is a three-letter acronym that was registered six years before the Complainant applied for the registration of ETG as a trade mark in December 2014, a mark which it had not established as a common law mark at the date of this Complaint. c) the Respondent and a related entity, DNS Advertising, have been the subject of online complaints. The Panel is not prepared to accept unverified online complaints from 2006 as evidence that the Respondent registered or used the Domain Name in bad faith. Furthermore, while the Complainant may speculate as to the reasons why the Respondent registered other domain names it is necessary for the Panel to reach a conclusion as to whether the Domain Name that is the subject of the present proceeding was registered or used in bad faith. The conduct of the Respondent does not fall within the non-exclusive circumstances set out Paragraph 4(b) of the Policy, nor is there an obvious basis to assume bad faith outside these categories. The Respondent registered a Domain Name that did not correspond to any pre-existing trade mark of the Complainant and has not been shown to have used the Domain Name in bad faith. Accordingly, the Panel finds that the Respondent did not register or use the Domain Name in bad faith. Paragraph 15(e) of the Rules provides that, if the Panel finds that the complaint "was brought in bad faith, for example in an attempt at Reverse Domain Name Hijacking or was brought primarily to harass the domain-name holder", the Panel shall declare in its decision that the complaint was brought in bad faith and constitutes an abuse of the administrative proceeding. Paragraph 1 of the Rules defines "Reverse Domain Name Hijacking" to be "using the Policy in bad faith to attempt to deprive a registered domain name holder of a domain name". "Circumstances that panels have considered to be indicative of a complaint having been brought in bad faith include: (i) the complainant knew it had no rights in the trademark or name upon which it relied and nevertheless brought the complaint; (ii) the complainant had, by the time the complaint was filed, been informed of and had otherwise ascertained all the facts necessary, to establish that the respondent had legitimate interests in the disputed domain name; (iii) the complainant had, in communications with the respondent, expressly acknowledged that the respondent had rights to the domain name; (iv) the complainant had knowledge of the respondent's rights or legitimate interests in the domain name and engaged in harassment or similar conduct in the face of such knowledge (such as repeated cease-and-desist communications, or prolonging the dispute in order to exploit superior financial resources); (v) the complainant had known from the beginning that its rights in the domain name were not exclusive, that the domain name was generic, and that the domain name described the activities for which the respondent used it; (vi) the complainant knew that its trademark was limited to a narrow field, and that the respondent's registration and use of the domain name could not, under any fair interpretation of the facts, constitute bad faith; and (vii) the complainant intentionally attempted to mislead the panel by omitting relevant evidence." There are two aspects of the Complaint that raise the Panel's concern. The Complainant commenced an auDRP proceeding on October 2, 2014 in reliance on its "rights" in the three-letter acronym "ETG". As noted in the Response, the term ETG is an acronym that can be used by and may be used by a number of businesses in Australia (and globally). The Complainant does not have registered rights in ETG and relies on common law rights that could only be established from very late January 2015, almost six years after the Respondent registered the Domain Name. In the absence of any evidence that the Respondent was targeting the Complainant or had any awareness of the Complainant, the Complainant should have been aware that the Respondent's registration and use of the Domain Name could not, under any fair interpretation of the facts, constitute bad faith registration or use. Equally concerning is the omission of relevant evidence in the Complaint, a fact that was drawn to the Panel's attention by the Respondent. Paragraph 3(b)(xiv) of the Rules requires the Complaint to include in its Complaint the following certification. "Complainant certifies that the information contained in this Complaint is to the best of Complainant's knowledge complete and accurate, that this Complaint is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, and that the assertions in this Complaint are warranted under these Rules and under applicable law, as it now exists or as it may be extended by a good faith and reasonable argument." a) That the Complainant's administrative complaint to auDA about the Respondent had been dismissed. b) That the Complainant attempted to purchase the Domain Name from the Respondent and was rebuffed. The Complainant made an offer to purchase the Domain Name from the Respondent. This was rejected. The Complainant then commenced a proceeding to acquire a Domain Name that was registered six years before it could have conceivably acquired trade mark rights. In that proceeding it failed to disclose relevant information to the Panel. For all of these reasons, the Panel concludes that the Complainant was brought in bad faith and constitutes an abuse of the administrative proceeding. 1 The Panel notes that the Policy is, with some notable exceptions, substantially similar to the UDRP and, as such, the Panel has drawn on authority concerning the UDRP, in relation to similar terms of the Policy.

2019-04-23T20:09:46Z

https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/text.jsp?case=DAU2015-0004

From baskets, bins, shelving, wall organizers and so much more, browse through our entire selection of functional storage decor to help you keep your household tidy, neat, and in proper working order. Add a mix of modern and rustic farmhouse storage solutions into your home decor with this hanging wood and metal round shaped shelving rack. Minimal in design yet offering maximum storage options, this sleek and shiny metal and whitewashed wood shelving unit makes for a stylish, elegant and functional storage solution for your home décor needs. The pairing and contrast of the silver metal against the rustic wood truly gives it a modern farmhouse aesthetic. Suitable for any number of storage solutions within your home, this hanging shelving unit will certainly stand out as a prominent decor fixture within your home. Whether for your bedroom, bathroom, living room or kitchen, this piece offers versatility in placement and use. Plus, the rounded circular shape offers a break from linear style furniture. Ideal for housing those special keepsakes, mementos, picture frames, chotchkes, or small plants, this charming shelf can be used for a variety of options. Perfect for toiletries and other bathroom essentials or to house oils, spices and other kitchen accessories, this functional decor item gives you options. Contains 1 hanging shelf unit outfitted with two keyhole slots on the back make for easy hanging and installation. Two storage shelves – With two shelves for ample storage purposes, you can display everything from mementos, keepsakes, figurines and photos to bathroom toiletries and kitchen essentials. Minimal design – Sleek and silver metal and whitewashed wood combine to create an open and airy hanging shelf unit. Farmhouse style – Made from rustic wood and sleek and stylish metal, this shelving system truly embodies the country farmhouse aesthetic with its modern yet rustic aesthetic. Versatile – Perfect for your bedroom, bathroom or kitchen, this country chic storage system works in a variety of home decor situations. Lightweight & easy to hang – Outfitted with two keyhole slots on the back for easy installation, this lightweight shelving system is a breeze to hang. Add some modern and rustic farmhouse storage solutions into your home decor with this hanging wood and metal shelving rack. Suitable for any number of storage solutions within your home, this hanging shelving unit will certainly stand out as a prominent decor fixture within your home. Whether for your bedroom, bathroom, living room or kitchen, this piece offers versatility in placement and use. Lightweight and outfitted with two keyhole slots on the back make for easy hanging and installation. Storage shelf – With ample storage options, you can display everything from mementos, keepsakes, figurines and photos to bathroom toiletries and kitchen essentials. Manage your magazines and mail with style and finesse with this charming farmhouse-inspired hanging storage rack. Made from distressed wood and galvanized metal with bronze highlights, this organizational wonder is a lovely way to clean up clutter and bring some order to your home decor. Perfect for your rustic farmhouse themed country decor, this item works well in the home office, entryway/foyer, kitchen, or anywhere else you may need a space to store letters, magazines and other papers or periodicals. Lightweight and easy to hang, this vintage-inspired country chic piece comes outfitted with two keyhole slots for hanging and is lightweight and durable enough to be placed in any room. Country charm – Galvanized metal, distressed wood and bronze highlights combine to create that modern farmhouse aesthetic for your home decor. Unique design – The wooden portion resembles a cutting board while the galvanized metal is reminiscent of an envelope; creating an aesthetically pleasing and charming piece of decor. Wide opening – With an extra large opening, this hanging magazine and mail rack can really pack in standard and oversized papers, magazines and periodicals. Lightweight & easy to hang – Outfitted with two keyhole slots, this lightweight and durable hanging magazine rack is super easy to hang. To create this striking wall-mounted storage, two galvanized metal file pockets are affixed to a rustic wooden pallet. The distressed whitewash finish of the wood pairs beautifully with the galvanized metal, achieving that classic farmhouse look. Each basket is equipped with a label panel, so names or categories can be clearly marked to keep everything in its right place. Organize magazines, mail, documents, and other important items in this convenient storage solution that also serves as stylish home decor. This wood and metal wall organizer is versatile in its design and its function. Mount this piece in the entryway of a home with farmhouse design and use it as a mail organizer with a bit of country flavor. Hang it in an industrial style home office to keep your important papers organized, or use it to store magazines and other reading material in a vintage living room with metal accents. Two keyhole slots are built in on the back, making this wall decor quick and easy to mount on the wall of your choice! Two storage pockets - Two galvanized metal file pockets are mounted on a rustic wooden pallet to provide stylish storage for mail, files, magazines, and more. Label panels - Stay organized using the convenient label panels on each metal basket. Decorative storage - This wood and metal wall piece functions as both pleasing decor and functional storage. The whitewashed wood and galvanized metal materials are perfectly suited to modern farmhouse or industrial inspired decor styles. Ready to hang - This functional decor is equipped with two keyhole slots, making it quick and easy to mount on your wall. Add this hanging magazine rack and wall organizer to your home or office to store magazines, snail mail, documents, and other important items in this convenient storage solution that also serves as stylish home decor. Its simple design and rustic farmhouse aesthetic make it the perfect piece for an entryway, home office or waiting room at a doctor’s office. Made from multi-colored panels of wood and wood materials, this hanging décor item offers easy functionality as well as quality construction and simplistic design. The distressed whitewash finish of the wood pairs beautifully with the caged metal, achieving that classic farmhouse look. This wood and metal wall organizer is versatile in its design and its function. Mount this piece in the entryway of a home with farmhouse design and use it as a mail organizer with a bit of country flavor. Hang it in an industrial style home office to keep your important papers organized, or use it to store magazines and other reading material in a vintage living room with metal accents. Two keyhole slots are built in on the back, making this piece quick and easy to mount. Two storage racks – Two wire metal pockets provide stylish storage for mail, files, magazines, or whatever other clutter you’d like to contain. Decorative storage – This wood and metal magazine rack works as aesthetically pleasing decor and functional storage. Farmhouse decor – The whitewashed wood and metal materials are perfectly suited to modern farmhouse or industrial inspired decor styles. Lightweight & easy to hang – Super lightweight and sturdy, this functional storage item is also equipped with two keyhole slots, making it quick and easy to mount to your wall. Sleek and shiny metal ovals encapsulate the background of this hanging shelving system while two panels of slightly whitewashed wood form the platforms for this stylish piece. The pairing and contrast of the silver metal against the rustic wood truly gives it a modern farmhouse aesthetic. Suitable for any number of storage solutions within your home, this hanging shelf will certainly stand out as a prominent decor fixture within your home. Whether for your bedroom, bathroom, living room or kitchen, this piece offers versatility in placement and use. Ideal for housing those special keepsakes, mementos, picture frames, chotchkes, or small plants, this charming shelf can be used for a variety of options. Perfect for toiletries and other bathroom essentials or to house oils, spices and other kitchen accessories, this functional decor item creates options. Contains one shelving unit with two racks and two holes on the back make for easy hanging and installation. Unique design – Sleek and silver metal intersects with one another to create a fluid and airy oval design pattern for this hanging shelf unit. Lightweight & easy to hang – Outfitted with two holes on the back for easy installation, this lightweight shelving system is a breeze to hang. Outfit your entryway or foyer with this charming and multi-functional wall decor item that features four large double-pronged coat rack hooks and three photo/picture frames. Made from rustic, natural colored wood and wood materials, this unique and charming piece adds just the right amount of farmhouse style with its weathered, distressed, and shabby chic look. Plus, it has whitewashed wood highlights that give it extra character and appeal. A perfect piece to be hung in the entryway or foyer of your home, this multi-use decor item is stylish and functional. Hang up your coats, totes and jackets and showcase your love for your loved ones within the three picture frames. This piece has it all! Versatile in use, this coat rack doesn’t just have to live in your entryway. It’s also ideal for your kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, or anywhere else you can think of that needs a storage solution. Lightweight and easy to hang, this functional farmhouse piece of wall decor comes outfitted with two D-rings on the back for easy installation. Contains 1 coat rack shelf with picture frames. 3 picture frames – Frame your favorite snapshots of your loved ones within three large 4” x 6” picture frames that are protected behind a layer of glass. 4 double prong hooks – Outfitted with four hooks for hanging coats, tote-bags and backpacks, this multi-functional decor piece is ideal for clearing up space. Storage shelf – Not only does this lovely piece serve as a coat/bag rack, it also has space on top for housing smaller items such as keys, snail mail and chotchkes. Farmhouse design – A rich blending of shabby-chic, weathered and distressed whitewashed wood combine to create this unique piece that truly captures the farmhouse aesthetic. Easy to hang – Equipped with two D-rings on the back, this functional piece is a breeze to hang. Outfit your entryway or foyer with this charming and multi-functional wall decor item that features four double-pronged coat rack/hooks, three photo/picture frames, as well as a small shelf for storing smaller items such as keys, snail mail, etc. Made from whitewashed wood and wood materials, this unique and charming piece adds just the right amount of farmhouse style with its weathered, distressed and shabby chic look. A perfect piece to be hung in the entryway or foyer of your home, this multi-use decor item is stylish and functional. Hang up your coats, totes and jackets; toss your mail and keys on the shelf; and showcase your love for your loved ones within the three picture frames. This piece has it all! Versatile in use, this shelf rack doesn’t just have to live in your entryway. It’s also ideal for your kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, or anywhere else you can think of that needs a storage solution. Outfitted with four large metal hooks, you can hang up aprons, grocery bags, towels or jackets and outfit the shelf with figurines, chotchkes and other knick-knacks. The options are only limited by your imagination. Hang up the day onto this shabby-chic, vintage-inspired wood and metal coat rack. Outfitted with five intricate, silver-colored leaf hooks that contrast perfectly against three panels of distressed wood, this stylish coat and bag rack is a perfect example of farmhouse decor. The piece is laden with a weathered wear-and-tear look from the natural wood, while the clean and more modern fixtures offer a more sleek and sophisticated balance, giving it a well-rounded and cohesive farmhouse design. Lightweight and easy-to-hang, this rack doesn’t just have to live in your entryway when you come home, it can work in your kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, or anywhere else you may need extra hanging solutions. From aprons and grocery bags to extra totes, coats and towels, you have lots of options as to where you find a home for this piece. We’ll leave that part up to you and your imagination. Add a rustic touch to your home decor with a stylish, smart and staple piece that provides great function and form. Contains 1 wooden wall rack with 5 metal hooks. 5 metal leaf hooks - Adorned with five beautiful silver-foiled hooks in the shape of leaves, this coat rack is ideal for totes, coats, grocery bags and more. Farmhouse decor - A rich blending of old and new, vintage and contemporary, modern and country, this piece truly captures the farmhouse aesthetic. Lightweight - This vintage-inspired coat rack is super lightweight, making installation a breeze. Easy to hang - Equipped with two keyhole slots, this antique-looking number comes ready to hang. Pack some adult punch to your picnic with this three-bottle wood wine rack holder that comes outfitted with a carrying handle for easy transport. Whether you use this at a picnic or keep it on your countertop, this lovely piece is just as charming as it is decorative and functional. Plus, the jute rope highlights that criss-cross the allotted spaces for each bottle add that rustic touch to the piece while the hinged metal accents safely sure them into place. A perfect piece for storing some of our finest wines while maintaining a charming and cozy farmhouse aesthetic, this catchy storage accessory truly exemplifies farmhouse decor. The mixing of various materials, such as rustic wood, jute rope and hinged metal, is a staple of the farmhouse aesthetic and this decorative and functional accessory truly embodies these qualities. A wonderful wine vessel for your kitchen, dining room or home bar, this accessory is also equally suitable for a party on the go or a picnic in the park with friends. Either way, this nifty piece is sure to go unnoticed and become an instant hit. Add some unique, decorative and functional storage solutions to your home and wall décor with this small whitewashed floating wall shelf. Crafted with that charming, recognizable and undoubtedly farmhouse decor, consisting of shabby-chic, weathered and distressed treated wood, this small floating shelf embraces that rough-hewn yet elegant country style while serving as a wonderful storage system for your home decor needs. With its rustic and vintage-inspired design, this shelf can be incorporated into a wide variety of decor styles and used in a wide variety of rooms. Whether you hang it in the entryway, hallway, bedroom or bathroom, this piece marries great design and in an aesthetically pleasing and functioning manner. Use it to store books or to display photos, figurines, mementos, and keepsakes. With ample space available, the options are endless. Equipped with a mounting bracket that hides behind the shelf, this country chic shelf is the perfect project for the do-it-yourselfer in your life, whether that’s you or a loved one. With mounting hardware and instructions included, installation requires minimal effort with maximum return. Shelf storage – Whether used to store books or as a display shelf for mementos, keepsakes, figurines or photos, with this shelf you’ll have ample space and options. Floating shelf – Keep your wall space clutter-free with this shabby chic and farmhouse rustic floating shelf; eliminating the need for unsightly brackets. Farmhouse style – Whitewashed wood combine with a weathered and distressed wood treatment to give this piece a truly farmhouse style aesthetic. Versatile – Perfect for your farmhouse themed living room, bedroom, entryway or bathroom, this simple yet chic storage piece works in a variety of home decor situations. Ready to hang – With a mounting bracket hidden behind the shelf, this shabby chic piece retains the element of illusion by appearing to be floating on your wall space. Complete with hardware and instructions for hanging, this item is ready to be hung in no time. Storage solutions with farmhouse flair! Add a bit of rustic farmhouse charm into your home decor with this small hanging wooden wall shelf. The scalloped edges add a beautiful and natural touch to the piece; giving it the feeling of tiny tree trunks dancing along the perimeter of this rustic hanging shelf. Dark and light wood tones mix together to bring a truly vintage-inspired storage solution complete with detailed striations that are visible within the raw wood materials. This beautiful and small shelf really embraces that rough-hewn yet elegant country style. Suitable for any number of storage solutions within your home, this stand-alone wall shelf will certainly stand out as a prominent wall decor fixture whether for your bedroom, bathroom, living room or kitchen. Ideal as a bookshelf or for housing those special keepsakes, mementos, picture frames, tchotchkes, or small plants, this charming shelf can be used for a variety of options. Plus, with mounting brackets included, this country chic shelf is the perfect project for the do-it-yourselfer in your life, whether that’s you or a loved one. With mounting hardware and instructions included, installation requires minimal effort with maximum return. Brackets included – Outfitted with two mounting brackets for installation, your purchase comes with hardware and instructions for hanging. Farmhouse style – Made from rustic wood and unique scalloped edges, this storage shelf solution truly embodies the country farmhouse aesthetic with its vintage and antique look and feel. Unique design – The scalloped edges on this shelf create a visually appealing sense of design, full of detail and unique wood embellishments. Versatile – Perfect for your farmhouse themed living room, bedroom, entryway or bathroom, this country chic storage piece works in a variety of home decor situations. Farmhouse charm meets functional storage with this floating wall shelf with hooks. This beautiful and small shelf is laden with a detailed patchwork pattern of galvanized metal and light and dark wood. These rustic materials are at the center of farmhouse decor, and this shelf really embraces that rough-hewn yet elegant country style. This floating style wall shelf hangs directly on the wall and is outfitted with two keyhole slots on the back so you don’t have to worry about any visible brackets showing. Plus, this beautiful shelf system also features four wall hooks, which can be used for hanging jackets, jewelry, tote bags, towels, keys or other miscellaneous items. With its rustic and industrial inspired design, this shelf can be incorporated into a wide variety of decor styles and used in a wide variety of rooms. Whether you hang it in the entryway, hallway, bedroom or bathroom, this piece marries great design and in an aesthetically pleasing and functioning manner. Floating shelf – You can keep your wall space clutter-free with this beautiful and rustic-inspired floating shelf; eliminating the need for unsightly brackets. Farmhouse style– Made from rustic wood with patchwork accents of galvanized metal, this storage solution truly embodies the country farmhouse aesthetic. Wall hooks – This vintage-inspired shelf also has four hooks for added storage and functionality. Ready to hang – Built-in keyhole slots make this decorative shelf ready to hang directly on the wall.

2019-04-25T14:28:45Z

https://americanartdecor.com/collections/storage

No to the Bailout of the Capitalist Speculators! Bring Down the Bourgeoisie Through Workers Revolution! Down with the Dictatorship of Finance Capital! Gold reserves in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Since 1971, the American dollar is no longer backed by gold but only by confidence in the U.S. How long will that last? In the last two weeks, the financial crisis that has been heating up since early 2007 reached the boiling point. Credit markets have virtually stopped functioning. A full-blown panic has swept through stock markets worldwide. The capitalist economy is in the throes of a recession that could turn into a Depression lasting for years. Unemployment lines are swelling as almost 800,000 jobs have been eliminated in the last ten months. Foreclosures have thrown more than a million households out of their homes in the space of a year. The incomes of working people are falling sharply. And meanwhile the U.S. imperialists are waging a war without end, pillaging countries from Iraq and Afghanistan to the Philippines and Latin America, demanding that the world bow to their diktat. In these dire economic straits, the Wall Street speculators who set off this crisis are demanding that the government rescue them with a bailout priced at $700 billion. The actual costs will be far higher, possibly a trillion dollars or more. The bankers are holding the economy hostage. The Bush regime holds a figurative gun to the head of Congress, threatening that if it doesn’t come up with the ransom there will be a financial meltdown and the entire world economy will grind to a halt. Their doomsday scenario has added credibility as the capitalist financial system has practically frozen up. Yet there is no indication that this huge bribe will restart the credit markets any more than the hundreds of billions of dollars already injected into the banking system by the Fed have. The Republican administration has been treading a fine line. On the one hand they want to pretend that all is needed is minor “corrections” to a basically healthy economy. On the other hand, they threaten that if their program isn’t passed there will be financial Armageddon. In the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.” Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson declared, “the long-term economic fundamentals of the United States are sound.” As one economics pundit declared, “There is a rule of thumb that when the government proclaims the fundamentals are good, you should sell” (New York Times, 16 September). And if they declare that the “long-term” fundamentals are A-OK, that means big trouble in the short-term and you should sell now. Which is what investors did, sending the Dow Jones and NASDAQ indexes plummeting. The government wants to frighten the general population and browbeat Congress into approving its giant boondoggle by bandying about the specter of a new Depression. Their line is vote for the Wall Street bailout this week, or else. It has many people scared stiff because on Main Street the economic crisis is already here, and has been for months. But voting a giveaway of hundreds of billions to the banks isn’t going to stop anyone from being evicted from their homes or get any jobs for the jobless. Meanwhile, the Democrats are pushing hardest for the Bush bailout of the banks. It is not for nothing that New York Democrat Chuck Schumer is known as “the senator from Wall Street,” and that vice-presidential Democratic candidate Joe Biden of Delaware was dubbed “the senator from MBNA,” the giant credit card company that was sold to Bank of America a couple of years ago. Likewise, today it is the Democratic majority in Congress that keeps funding the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama blames “greed and irresponsibility” for the crisis on Wall Street (capitalism without greed?) and says there must be no “blank check to Washington” to resolve it. Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid repeats that Congress must not grant President Bush a “blank check” with the $700 billion bailout. He says the Democrats will “do what is necessary,” but they want some conditions. They are asking for an “oversight board” to supervise the operation, plus allowing bankruptcy judges to impose new loan terms in foreclosure proceedings, getting a stake in the banks in exchange for taking bad debts off their hands, and putting some limits on salaries of executives whose firms get handouts from the U.S. Treasury. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson opposes any conditions, saying this could “limit market participation” – i.e., the banks would prefer to keep the worthless loans on their books and refuse to resume lending. But in very short order, they will come to a deal. Any conditions attached will be toothless, just sugar coating to make the bitter pill more palatable. The “independent” board proposed by Democrat Barney Frank to oversee the bailout is to consist of the heads of the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Securities and Exchange Commission plus two “outside” financial “experts” appointed by Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders. Regardless of what hat they are wearing, this commission will consist of Wall Street bankers. The “regulators” will regulate themselves. Some “independence”! Moreover, the cause is not “lax regulation,” as the Democrats pretend. The crisis has hit the commercial banks as well, which are the most heavily regulated sector of the U.S. economy. The problem is not “free market fundamentalism” or “neo-liberalism” but capitalism. And even if Congress were able to legislate some or all of the Democrats’ riders, the bailout is still a mammoth payoff to the capitalist speculators. Many people understand this, if only instinctively. At the September 25 financial district labor demo, workers in hard hats were chanting “No bailout for Wall Street,” which was definitely not the program of the AFL-CIO chiefs. While the fat cats, Democrats and bureaucrats are all going for the Bush bailout to prop up U.S. capitalism, revolutionary Marxists oppose this trillion-dollar giveaway to the Wall Street speculators. No matter what “reforms” are tacked onto it, this giant bribe to finance capital is a crime against the working class, which is already suffering from rising unemployment and falling incomes. Instead of subsidizing the banks, we call for the expropriation of the financiers and the whole of the banking system the only way possible: through a workers revolution. Appointing the Treasury Secretary in charge of “regulating” the banks is putting the fox in the chicken coop. When Henry Paulson told Congress that “all we care about” is “the American taxpayer,” it provoked snickers in the audience. That has about as much credibility as the banks’ automated announcements that “your call is important to us” as you wait on line endlessly to talk to a real person. Paulson is the former head of Goldman Sachs, the one independent investment bank left standing. Another Goldman Sachs alumnus is White House spokesman Josh Bolton. And it’s not just the Republicans. The leading contributor to the presidential campaign of Democrat Barack Obama is . . . Goldman Sachs. And the Secretary of the Treasury under the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton was Robert Rubin, the former chairman of Goldman Sachs, who is currently head of Citigroup and one of Obama’s main economic advisors. Some “democracy”! The scope of this giveaway to the capitalist bankers is enormous. The $700 billion price tag is equal to the entire cost of the Iraq war. It comes on top of $565 billion already budgeted or handed out to Wall Street this year ($200 billion Federal Reserve loan program in exchange for mortgage-backed securities; $30 billion to JPMorgan for the takeover of Bear Stearns; $200 billion for the federal takeover of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage guarantors; $85 billion for the takeover of the AIG insurance giant; $50 billion to shore up money market funds) plus unlimited borrowing rights for top investment banks from the Fed’s “discount window.” But all that didn’t get the banks to start lending, and there is nothing to indicate the infusion of another trillion or so dollars will work either. In return for taking over “toxic” mortgage-based securities, the future of all sorts of social programs will be mortgaged. The enormous cost of the bank bailout will be used to nix spending for education, health care and other needs. Meanwhile, the ballooning federal debt is set to exceed $1 trillion this year and the bailout plan includes increasing the limit for the accumulated national debt to over $11 trillion dollars. This has already sent jitters through the international “financial community.” On Monday, the U.S. dollar suffered the biggest drop against the euro since 2001. Investors are worried that with Washington pumping so many billions into the economy, it will stoke inflation and reduce the value of their dollar holdings. For years, the United States economy has been fueled by enormous subsidies from the East Asian state banks which have bought up Treasury bills to cover the federal government’s budget deficits and the U.S.’ over $600 billion yearly international trade deficits. If the financial crisis sets off a stock market crash and a run on the commercial banks, it would be accompanied by a stampede on the American dollar, which since 1971 is sustained only by the confidence of the world’s central bankers who see holding greenbacks as a haven of stability. Once that confidence is gone, the whole house of cards could come tumbling down. The “meltdown” of the financial system could set off a “nuclear winter” in the global capitalist economy. The mushrooming financial crisis has raised fundamental questions. The New York Times (20 September) recently published an article advising readers on what to do with “Your Money,” where it wrote that in order to minimize risk, “Before you do anything with your portfolio, ask yourself this: Do you still believe in capitalism?” The Times editorialized that the bank crisis was due to “unfettered capitalism.” But what is their alternative? Like the Democratic Party politicians and union leaders, what they want is essentially “fettered capitalism.” But “regulating” the markets hasn’t stopped the boom-bust cycle of capitalism before, and it won’t do so now. Free-market ideologues like to quote the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter on the “creative destruction” unleashed by capitalism on outmoded economic structures. But today, as the wages and living standards of the working people are being steadily eroded, as social programs are drastically slashed, there is nothing creative about the destruction unleashed by the would-be masters of the universe. This is capitalism in decay, in its imperialist epoch of wars and revolutions. The only thing changed by “globalization” is to speed up the spread of economic crises internationally. There is a lot of loose talk today about “socialism for the rich,” particularly among right-wing Republicans (but also among some gullible leftists) objecting to the bailout. Among the financial wizards about to be laid off at Lehman Brothers there was gallows humor about the “People’s Republic of Wall Street.” But what is being proposed as a solution to the crisis in the center of world high finance has nothing to do with socialism. It is closer to the kind of corporatist regimentation of capitalism associated with Mussolini’s Italy. Illusion and reality, unemployment line 1937. And it goes hand-in-hand with the escalating elimination of democratic rights The rulers are ramming through the bank bailout with the same sort of scare tactics they used to enact the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The result was a wholesale attack on immigrants, leading to the present Gestapo-like raids by the ICE immigration police, as well as warrantless government surveillance of millions of citizens that throws supposed Constitutional guarantees out the window. The latest “security plan” for New York, the “Lower Manhattan Security Initiative,” calls for a “ring of steel” around Wall Street, with mobile teams of heavily armed police and TV cameras at all street and subway entrances to the financial district so that they can scan the faces of everyone who enters the citadel of high finance. So demonstrate on Wall Street while you still can! This is not the first time that the ruling class has resorted to corporatist measures to shore up the tottering mainstays of U.S. capitalism. In the 1930s, Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt set up a number of quasi-government bodies in conjunction with corporate leaders under the aegis of the National Recovery Administration. According to liberal mythology, it was FDR’s Keynesian deficit financing, bank regulation and NRA corporatism that pulled the U.S. out of the Great Depression. But the reality is very different. The first post-1929 depression was followed by a second sharp downturn in the late 1930s, and it was only World War II that finally reduced the massive unemployment set the industrial economy running at full steam. Today as well, the roiling financial crisis that has hit stock markets and banks around the world points ultimately to a new imperialist war. The war on Afghanistan and Iraq likewise sets the basis for a world conflagration. The U.S.’ aim in the Near East is not to grab Iraq’s oil for its own use, but to control the production and distribution of this vital commodity in order to dominate their imperialist allies and rivals in Europe and Japan. Washington wants its hand on the oil spigot, and its “allies” are becoming restive. Speaking at the United Nations, French president Nicholas Sarkozy described the present U.S.-dominated financial system as “insane.” Ultimately, the war in the Near East, the financial crisis on Wall Street, the assault on democratic rights and the attack on the jobs and living standards of working people are all part of the same class war by the U.S. imperialist rulers pointing to a thermonuclear World War III. It has become a commonplace in the last week to call this the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Some bourgeois economists are calling it the financial crisis of the century. In any case, it is far from over. Than Wall Street panic is only a step away from turning into a full-scale stock market crash, which would reverberate throughout the world. The banks are sitting on trillions of dollars which they are refusing to lend because they don’t know how exposed the other banks are to bad loans and they don’t know how much of their own mortgage-backed securities, credit default swaps and various derivatives are at risk. And as of last June the Standard & Poor’s 500 corporations (excluding the banks) have at least $650 billion in cash on hand (Financial Times, 24 August). Yet they are asking working people to foot the bill for rescuing the banks through their taxes. In the late 1930s, the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky put forward a Transitional Program to “help the masses in the process of the daily struggle to find the bridge between present demands and the socialist program of the revolution. This bridge should include a system of transitional demands, stemming from today’s conditions and from today’s consciousness of wide layers of the working class and unalterably leading to one final conclusion: the conquest of power by the proletariat.” In the present crisis, class-conscious workers should fight for workers commissions to open the books of the financial corporations to see what the stock market speculators and bankers have been up to. In the face of escalating unemployment and inflation, they should fight for a sliding scale of wages and hours, to share the available work among all hands and to raise workers’ pay so that it isn’t ravaged by inflation. There should be a massive program of public works under union control. Flag-waving “radical” protest on Wall Street, September 25, pushed reformist illusions. A main slogan was, “No deal for Wall Street, New Deal for Main Street.” FDR's New Deal didn't end 1930s Depression, imperialist world war did. In New York City, instead of trying to prettify the bank bailout, the unions should be preparing to strike against the multi-million dollar cuts that billionaire mayor Bloomberg has announced. This requires a fighting alliance with the black and Latino population in the ghettos and barrios, with immigrants, unorganized workers and students in the vast City University system. Such a class struggle would win support even from sections of the hard-pressed middle class. Labor has the power, as the 2005 New York transit strike demonstrated, to bring the city to a crawl. But to use that power requires a genuine “emergency mobilization” to rip up the anti-labor, no-strike Taylor Law. Various opportunist left-wing groups have seized upon the bailout issue to push their schemes to answer the financial crisis within the framework of capitalism. The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), for instance, has set up a new website, votenobailout.org, where it declares: “instead of taking our tax dollars and giving it [sic] to the already rich and powerful, these funds should be used to provide ... decent-paying jobs, affordable housing, health care and a good education for our children.... Click here to send your letter to Congress.” This is the latest version of the “jobs not war,” “education not occupation,” ploy that all the reformists push. But the present financial crisis shows precisely that it is not a question of budget priorities. Even if there were no war or financial crisis, the ruling class is not going to pay for decent jobs, health care or education for the working people. Curiously, the International Socialist Organization (ISO) editorializes that “now that the U.S. government has carried out several quasi-nationalizations” like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, “why shouldn’t the public owner of these companies insist on a moratorium on foreclosures” (Socialist Worker, 19 September). The Socialist Equality Party (SEP), for its part, “propose[s] that the major banks and financial institutions be nationalized and turned into public utilities, operated under the democratic control of the working population.” And how is this to be accomplished? The SEP opposes unions and does not call for the mobilization of the organized workers movement. Instead it calls to support its candidates in the elections. Click to send a letter to Congress, convince “publically owned” (capitalist) corporations to stop foreclosures, pull a lever to vote for some pseudo-socialist: these nostrums peddle the illusion that something can be done about the financial crisis within the framework of bourgeois democracy (of which there is precious little these days). We print below an exchange of correspondence with Mitchel Cohen of the Brooklyn Green Party. I agree with the article you handed out at the Wall St. demo Thursday, "No to the Bailout of the Capitalist Speculators" (above). It contained some good information and was short on rhetoric – always a good sign. However, the end was, for me, problematic, and I want to discuss this with you in a non-polemical way. I don't particularly like "calls" for others to do something. Exhortations for workers to arise, or for some force "to forge a revolutionary workers party," or for "the mobilization of the organized workers movement," or whatever, just expose one's own impotence. Much better to write, "Here's what we are doing to achieve workers' revolution" or to "forge a revolutionary party" or to "mobilize the organized workers". In addition, you criticize several groups: the PSL, ISO, SEP, and, secondarily, the Greens and the Working Families Party. But except for the WFP, which is a front group for the Democrats, the grounds for your criticisms of the others make no sense. On the one hand, you uphold Trotsky's Transitional Program (and clearly define it), and on the other you criticize the other groups for issuing what are basically transitional demands. To criticize the PSL by saying that "even if there were no war or financial crisis, the ruling class is not going to pay for decent jobs, healthcare or education for the working people" may be correct, but that's exactly the purpose of such a statement -- it's a transitional demand as you've (and Trotsky) defined it. Same with the other organizations. So what actually comes across is a rather petty-sounding and not very theory-based attempt to distinguish your own group from the others, for no good reason. Now, I'm not saying that there aren't good reasons. I'm just saying that you can't uphold the Transitional Program as strategy on the one hand and then criticize other groups for employing it. The Internationalist replies: Thank you for your response to the leaflet we distributed at the September 25 Wall Street protest against the bank bailout. You raise an important question about transitional demands. As we noted, this is a continuation of the PSL’s “jobs not war,” “education not occupation” line which they share with a whole host of groups in the “antiwar movement.” The point we were making is that present financial crisis demonstrates that the issue here is not budget priorities – spend either on this (war) or on that (jobs, education, healthcare, etc.) – but rather a class question. Even though the ruling class is spending hundreds of billions of for their predatory imperialist war in the Iraq and elsewhere in the Near East, suddenly they can come up with a cool trillion dollars in an attempt to bribe Wall Street banks into lending the hoard of cash they are sitting on. Whether their ploy works is another matter. You find our argument “petty-sounding” and "not very theory-based,” because you see the PSL’s slogan as a “transitional demand” such as Leon Trotsky defined it. Yet Trotsky’s Transitional Program was a program for action by the workers movement to lead from the present demands of the laboring masses to show the path, or constitute a bridge, as he put it, to the fight for workers revolution. It was not a program to pressure the bourgeois state into altering its spending priorities. When the PSL, or Workers World, or the International Socialist Organization, or the rest of the opportunist left put forward calls like “jobs not war,” this is not an attempt to mobilize or prepare the working-class for independent action but an appeal to sections of the bourgeoisie to oppose the current war without opposing the imperialist system which produces those wars. This was what it meant when the German Social Democrats in the late 1930s called for “butter not guns” in response to Hitler’s war preparations. The SPD didn’t want to say that it was necessary to defeat German imperialism, to smash the Nazi regime, because they were appealing to the wing of the German bourgeoisie (including sectors of the military) that was worried that with his doctrine of preventive war Hitler might have gone too far. The purpose of today’s reformists in raising “money for jobs not war” and similar demands is the same. Just listen to Democrat Obama repeating the same argument in the September 26 presidential candidates’ debate with Republican McCain. The result of this line has been to drive the mass opposition to the Iraq war into the ground by pushing it into the arms of the Democrats, who have no intention of ending the war. They just want to shift the main theater of operations to Afghanistan and Pakistan. But are such calls “transitional demands”? Not at all. They are bourgeois pressure politics. You argue that their purpose is to expose that the bourgeoisie isn’t going to do that. But once that is established, how do such demands lead the masses to understand the need to mobilize independently to fight for power? In fact, because they don’t provide a program of class struggle, they tend to produce apathy. If antiwar forces want jobs for education/healthcare/jobs, and two-thirds of the population is against the war, and it doesn’t affect the direction of the government, most people just give up. The question is, who are we calling on to act? When we demand a sliding scale of wages and hours, for example, Trotskyists don’t tell the masses to send an e-mail to their bourgeois Congressman or woman. Instead we urge the workers to go into the streets and take over the factories like the Italian workers did in 1969 when they won the demand for a scala mobile to protect their wages against the ravages of inflation. When we call for workers defense guards, we don’t ask the bourgeois government to carry this out, even under a left-talking nationalist like Hugo Chávez. We advocate that the workers organize independently of and against the state as the German workers did in the early 1920s before they were crushed due to the criminal misleadership of Stalin & Co. When Trotskyists call for expropriation of a particular section of industry, we don’t do so by telling workers to send letters to their Congressional representative or the president, we do so in the manner of the Mexican workers who in 1937-38 struck the oil fields, organizing workers militias to occupy the facilities and challenging the Cárdenas government to expropriate them. Similarly on the demand for massive programs of public workers under union control. This is not a call for Congress to up its spending on pork barrel projects, with a pro forma reference to the unions tacked on. Trotsky argues that the demand for public works cannot have a progressive content unless it is linked to the fight for workers control. We would fight for this in the way the Minneapolis Trotskyists did in the late 1930s when they organized the WPA workers as a section of Teamsters Local 574, which they led, demanding a six-hour day, union-scale pay, union working conditions, reopening closed plants under workers councils, and striking against layoffs in 1939. These are some concrete examples to illustrate the general point that Trotsky makes, in his March 1938 discussions with Max Shachtman on transitional demands. “What is the sense of the transitional program?” Trotsky asks. “We can call it a program of action, but for us, for our strategic conception, it is a transitional program – it is a help to the masses in overcoming their inherited ideas, methods, and forms” to go from their present demands “to the slogan for the creation of a workers’ soviet.” To urge people to click their computer mouse to send a letter to their Congressperson is a caricature of a transitional demand. It does not lead workers in the direction of forming soviets, but in the opposite direction, of relying on the bourgeois state. You find exhortations on the workers to arise or to “forge a revolutionary workers party” only “expose one’s own impotence” and prefer writing about “here’s what we are doing.” It’s certainly good to write about what you are actually doing, and not just empty exhortations. But in order to do something, it is first necessary to call on the working class to act. For example, we have written about the May 1 West Coast port strike against the war, the first strike ever by American workers against a U.S. war. We have sought to explain in detail how this was accomplished, pointing to the strengths and weaknesses of the ILWU dock workers’ action. But we have been fighting for this for years. Since 1998, we have not only called for workers strikes against the U.S. wars on Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq again, we also agitated among the West Coast dock workers for this and for “hot cargoing” war materiel. We helped build a labor conference to stop the war sponsored by ILWU Local 10 in the San Francisco Bay Area, and played an active role in helping prepare this action in every way we could. You might have found our calls “For workers strikes against the war” in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, year in and year out, to be repetitive exhortations. Yet these were not abstract empty calls, and eventually they contributed towards a major development in the class struggle in the U.S. Not that this makes the slightest impact on the opportunist left. Their attitude, by and large, has been, “Oh, the dock workers shut down the West Coast over the war, how nice. Now let’s move on to the real stuff, like our next antiwar conference.” The reason for this disdain and disinterest on the part of the reformists is that they are not at all interested in an independent mobilization of the workers against the war and against the capitalist war parties, but instead they want to tie all protests against the war to the Democrats and their bankrupt “strategy” of pressuring the bourgeois state. We call to forge a revolutionary workers party because breaking the chains that bind the U.S. working class to the Democratic Party is decisive in order to advance the class struggle. But revolutionaries also have an obligation to make clear what the alternative is: not another capitalist party like the Greens, or even a reformist chauvinist outfit like the stillborn U.S. Labor Party. On the Green Party, our article on “Capitalist Nader’s ‘Socialist’ Foot Soldiers,” in Revolution No. 2 (October 2004), published by the Internationalist Clubs at the City University of New York, is a good starting point.

2019-04-21T06:27:09Z

http://www.internationalist.org/nobailout0809.html

The next-generation flagship digital SLR camera is equipped with a new Nikon FX-format CMOS image sensor (36.0 × 23.9 mm) and EXPEED 3, the latest image-processing engine specifically optimized for digital SLR camera. Designed with the ultimate in versatility and functionality that offers superior image quality rich in detail along with excellent high-speed performance. The Nikon D4 has an effective pixel count of 16.2-million pixels, and offers superior image quality under a broad range of lighting conditions with its image sensor supporting an incredible range of sensitivities from ISO 50 to ISO 204800. - Further improved high-speed, multifunctional, high-performance image-processing engine EXPEED 3. - 51-point AF system with enhanced performance in subject acquisition and focusing in low-light situations. - Superior quick response with approx. 0.12 s* startup time and approx. 0.042 s* shutter-release time lag. - Dual card slots for CF card compatible with UDMA 7 and the next-generation recording media, the XQD memory card. - High-speed continuous shooting at approx. 11 fps* in FX format (without AE/AF) and approx. 10 fps* (with AE/AF). - New Wireless Transmitter WT-5A/B/C/D that realizes high-speed workflow. - HDR (High Dynamic Range) that combines images to produce a single image with a wider dynamic range. - White balance that enables finer setting in 10-kelvin steps. - High-performance, glass pentaprism viewfinder with approx. 100% frame coverage (FX format) and approx. 0.7x magnification. - Approx. 921k-dot, wide-viewing angle, 8-cm (3.2-in.) LCD monitor with reinforced glass. - "Sub-selector" for horizontal shooting and "Multi selector for vertical shooting" are newly employed for efficient operation. - Button illumination that ensures better visibility of the operational system in dark situations. - Virtual horizon that detects both "pitching" and "rolling" directions. - Newly developed shutter unit tested for approx. 400,000 cycles; shutter speed up to 1/8,000 s and flash synchronization up to 1/250 s. - Highly efficient energy-saving design that achieves approx. 2,600 shots (with EN-EL18, based on CIPA Standard*1) and approx. 5,500 shots (based on Nikon standard*2). *1 Measured at 23°C/73.4°F (±2°C/3.6°F) with an AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens under the following test conditions: lens cycled from infinity to minimum range and one photograph taken at default settings once every 30 s. Live view not used. *2 Measured at 20°C/68°F with an AF-S VR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED lens under the following test conditions: vibration reduction off, image quality set to JPEG normal, image size set to L (large), shutter speed 1/250 s, shutter-release button pressed halfway for three seconds and focus cycled from infinity to minimum range three times; six shots are then taken in succession and monitor turned on for five seconds and then turned off; cycle repeated once standby timer has expired. The D4 employs a newly developed Nikon FX-format CMOS sensor (36.0 x 23.9 mm) with 16.2 effective megapixels. The ISO sensitivity range is from 100 to 12800 at normal setting, expandable to ISO 50 equivalent or ISO 204800 equivalent. Advanced Scene Recognition System realizes face detection during optical viewfinder shooting. It achieves highly accurate control of auto functions such as AF, AE and auto white balance utilizing face detection information and detailed scene analysis information. Furthermore, it contributes to the performance of 3D-tracking with finer subject acquisition. It is possible to record 1,920 x 1,080/30p Full HD and HD movies in three formats that are FX-, DX-based and 1,920 x 1,080 crop movie format. You can select the format according to your creative intentions. Seeking to offer uncompromised performance in both video and still photography, the D4 is a brand new camera fitted with a new 16.2-megapixel FX-format sensor of unprecedented speed, size, resolution and sensitivity. Despite a 33% increase in effective pixels over its predecessor, the D3S, the D4 delivers and processes data faster than any Nikon camera before it, providing photographers with up to 11-fps performance in FX format. Close examination of a D4 image reveals 16.2 megapixels of stunning depth and detail that ensure flexibility in post-production, from magazine-quality prints to web publishing. Image quality this versatile is a direct result of Nikon's sophisticated approach to sensor design. The internal design of the sensor is carefully engineered to collect the maximum amount of light and render the highest possible image quality in the most diverse and difficult lighting conditions. At high ISO sensitivities, incredibly clear, smoothly graded results are maintained thanks to an optimized noise-reduction design and 14-bit A/D conversion incorporated within the sensor. Unique to Nikon, the D4 expands your still image shooting possibilities with four image area options: FX format (36.0 x 23.9 mm), 5:4 crop (29.9 x 23.9 mm), 1.2x crop (29.9 x 19.9 mm) and DX format (23.4 x 15.5 mm). The camera also offers three image area options for Full HD video thereby tripling its potential for moviemaking. All these creative options are supported by a vast array of NIKKOR FX and DX lenses. Nikon flagship digital SLRs have long been recognized by professionals for their clean performance at high sensitivity settings, and the new 16.2-megapixel D4 offers low-noise performance at ISO 12800. It also extends the range one EV further, compared with that of the D3S, making ISO 100 standard; a welcome addition that allows the use of slow shutter speeds in bright sunlight. For more challenging conditions, equivalent sensitivities of ISO 50 and ISO 204800 are also available. The D4 is confidently capable of shooting still images and video* in nearly any light – even in places where the human eye has difficulty in recognizing details. Photographers are able to work in the harsh glare of the midday sun and the low-key light of dawn, and can capture images in the soft shadows of a dimly lit interior or a moonlit forest at midnight. In these situations, the camera's superb ISO sensitivity range offers photographers great flexibility in their approach to the subject matter. *D-Movie standard ISO sensitivity from ISO 200 to ISO 12800, with higher sensitivity options up to Hi 4. Such exceptional image integrity across such a wide ISO sensitivity range is made possible through Nikon's proprietary and exclusive sensor technologies. The pixels are spaced at a pitch of 7.3 µm while gapless micro-lenses are employed, and anti-reflective coating is used on various parts – all of which results in minimized ghost and flare. This detailed design gives the D4 an unprecedented ability to channel all available light efficiently and directly into the sensor. The advantage is maintained through improved sensor quantum efficiency, ensuring optimum conversion of light into electric signals, and delivering digital files at ISO 100 to 12800 with a wide dynamic range and an outstanding signal-to-noise ratio. The benefit of a high-efficiency sensor is enhanced by an integrated approach to noise reduction. The layout of electronics within the sensor has been carefully configured to minimize noise. Despite operating at the amazing speed required to realize approx. 11 fps, the D4's image sensor consumes less power, contributing to extended battery life. Any dust that reaches the image sensor results in unattractive spots on your images. To prevent this, the D4 employs Nikon's Integrated Dust Reduction System, which includes a self-cleaning sensor unit with four different resonance frequencies to vibrate the optical low-pass filter and shake dust away from the sensor. This function can be set to operate automatically when the camera is turned on or off, or to manual. The EXPEED 3 is the latest embodiment of Nikon imaging expertise in miniature, a sophisticated system that is designed to analyze and process images at blindingly fast speeds with uncompromised precision. The EXPEED 3 imaging-processing engine, optimized for D-SLRs, delivers faithful, well-saturated color, natural depth and subtle, nuanced tones from pitch black all the way to snow white. In dim lighting at high ISO settings, the camera's intelligent noise reduction lowers noise without degrading image sharpness. High-speed 16-bit image processing delivers smooth gradation with abundant tone and detail that can be applied to image integrity for a diverse range of uses. Even JPEGs straight out of the camera maintain the accuracy required when directly submiting to a magazine, newspaper or web publication. The EXPEED 3 has been optimized for video as well. Movie is rendered with suppressed moiré, reduced false colors and minimized "jaggies". Noise reduction technology specifically designed for video preserves clarity and sharp edges – even in low light. The powerful EXPEED 3 is fast, accurate and exceptionally energy efficient, prolonging the camera's ability to endure extended assignments. High-megapixel sensors can really test the quality of a lens, but the combination of brilliant NIKKOR lenses and Nikon's intelligent processing measures will significantly reduce the risk of lateral chromatic aberration, or color fringing, to give you incredibly natural-looking results. Unlike other correction methods that simply eliminate chromatic aberration, Nikon's method compensates for these color differences in a resolving index for each color, making it particularly effective in producing images with stunning edge-to-edge sharpness. Moreover, because these corrections are made regardless of the NIKKOR lens used, this feature contributes substantially to the sharpest images possible. With Nikon's original Advanced Scene Recognition System, the D4 achieves new standards of accurate autofocus, auto exposure, i-TTL flash, Active D-Lighting and auto white balance results. At the heart of the system is a precise RGB sensor that meticulously reads each scene via 91K-pixels. With unprecedented precision, the data that has been collected pixel-by-pixel is then used to meter and analyze the scene's color information and brightness levels. The system also recognizes human faces when shooting with the optical viewfinder. This rigorously analyzed pixel data then automatically triggers a variety of in-camera controls that help the image files appear more natural and appealing. Advanced Scene Recognition System delivers incredibly high accuracy for various auto controls by flawlessly calculating vast amounts of scene information – even at up to 10 frames per second. First introduced in the legendary D3 camera series, Nikon's auto-area AF and 3D-tracking are AF-area modes that use the color and brightness information from the subject to determine correct focus. The D4 is equipped with the latest subject recognition algorithms for both AF-area modes, which can be advantageous when taking high-quality still images. In auto-area AF mode, the camera can accurately recognize and target focus on human faces – useful when faces are a priority and time to choose the focus point is not available. It focuses on a subject's body when the face is out of the AF area. In 3D-tracking mode, the 91K-pixel RGB sensor's high-precision data combines with a specifically optimized AF algorithm that recognizes detailed patterns in order to realize exceptional subject-tracking precision. Thanks to the 91K-pixel RGB sensor, the D4 has incredibly detailed scene information at its disposal – including data on prominent human faces in the viewfinder. This data helps Nikon's 3D color matrix metering III to deliver more desirable auto exposures, especially when there are human faces present. In situations where exposure compensation is required, such as a dark face against a bright background or conversely, a bright face against a dark background, the D4 can now determine exposure balanced with the background considering the size of the face relative to a frame and its brightness. Accurate metering is possible in low-lit scenes as low as -1 EV with 3D color matrix metering III and center-weighted metering. With the D4's enhanced i-TTL balanced fill-flash paired to either a hot shoe or wired Nikon Speedlight(s), human faces can be illuminated in relation to their surroundings with outstanding precision. Moreover, face detection, when paired with Active D-Lighting, delivers images that retain highlights and shadows in high-contrast scenarios, making faces look as they are seen, whether in sunlight or shade. Incorporating years of research into ambient lighting, the unique Nikon auto white balance technologies in the D4 are capable of identifying and compensating for a broad range of artificial and natural light sources. Using data from the image sensor and 91K-pixel RGB sensor, the camera can automatically render white as white with supreme accuracy, or can incorporate the warmth of ambient, incandescent lighting as required. The D4's Advanced Scene Recognition System enhances not only still image shooting but also various controls used in movie shooting. It identifies light sources and human faces finely, utilizing the high resolution of the image sensor to deliver accurate auto white balance and exposure control during movie shooting, and improves the precision of subject-tracking AF. Experience the speed needed to keep fast-moving subjects in focus. With the introduction of the Advanced Multi-CAM 3500FX autofocus sensor module, AF performance reaches new heights. Like its predecessor, the D4's sensor module utilizes 51 strategically placed AF points that are designed to capture the subject in a variety of ways: by working together like a net to capture moving subjects or for pinpoint accuracy, by using a single AF point to home in on the exact place on the chosen subject. All 51 AF points of the D4 are usable with every AF NIKKOR lens of f/5.6 or faster. The D4 delivers high performance even in extremely low-lit situations. AF detection is fast and accurate down to an impressive -2 EV (ISO 100, 20°C/68°F), which is approximately the physical limit of human visibility through an optical viewfinder. Consistent, reliable performance can be expected at night stadium assignments, in poorly lit indoor arenas, theaters and any other low-lit venue. You can also choose to shoot with Nikon's classic 11 focus points for quicker focus-point selection. The D4 aligns its 15 cross-type sensors in the central viewfinder area to detect contrast in both vertical and horizontal lines for better AF performance. Each cross-type sensor is responsive with f/5.6 and provides its full performance with all AF-NIKKOR lenses. Moreover, the five central focus points and three points to the left and right of them in the middle line are compatible with f/8. Stress-free focusing is realized with the 1.4x or 1.7x teleconverter and precise focusing is possible even with the effective aperture value of f/8 by combining a 2.0x teleconverter with super-telephoto NIKKOR lenses, that are frequently used for sports shooting. This delivers a new level of potential when shooting distant subjects, such as sports or wildlife. The D4's autofocus functions cover various shooting situations such as portrait, landscape, photojournalism and sports. The D4 employs two autofocus modes and four AF-area modes that can all be switched using the AF-mode button and command dials without leaving the viewfinder. For stationary subjects. The focus locks when the shutter-release button is pressed halfway. The shutter cannot be released if focus is not achieved. For moving subjects. The camera focuses continuously while the shutter-release button is pressed halfway; if the subject moves, the camera will engage predictive focus tracking to determine the final distance to the subject and adjust focus as necessary. Ideal for stationary subjects. The camera focuses on the subject at a selected focus point only. Dynamic-area AF allows you to choose from 9, 21 or 51 points. The selected AF point and the surrounding points cover a wide area to keep your subject in sharp focus, combining with continuous-servo autofocus (AF-C) of autofocus mode. The camera will focus based on information from surrounding focus points if the subject briefly leaves the selected point. Also, the D4 enables display of focus points that assist focus operation (including 3D-tracking mode) by using custom settings menu a5 "Focus point illumination". The camera maintains tracking of subjects by automatically shifting among focus points according to the subjects' movement while the shutter-release button is pressed halfway using all 51 focus points. Therefore, it is possible to shoot moving subjects in a more creative composition easily. By utilizing subject tracking of the Advanced Scene Recognition System, the D4 recognizes fine patterns of the subjects that are tracked with selected focus points to achieve highly accurate and stable subject tracking. The camera detects the subject automatically using information from all focus points. Thanks to face detection during optical viewfinder shooting of the Advanced Scene Recognition System, focusing accuracy for human faces is further improved. The D4 enables you to use a designated focus point in a horizontal/vertical position by using custom settings menu a10 "Store points by orientation". If YES is selected, separate focus points can be selected for "wide" (landscape) orientation, for "tall" (portrait) orientation with the camera rotated 90° clockwise, and for "tall" orientation with the camera rotated 90° counterclockwise. Select NO to use the same focus point regardless of camera orientation. The D4 is built for speed, but not for speed alone. The D4's readiness and agility go hand in hand with incomparably accurate control of shutter speed, aperture value, autofocus detection and tracking, auto exposure, auto white balance and other control options that get photographers closer to capturing the decisive moment than ever before. Expect approx. 10-fps shutter bursts with full AF and AE performance in FX format. The frame rate can also be boosted to up to approx. 11 fps*1,2 in FX format. The camera's large buffer memory allows shooting up to approx. 100 frames*3 in RAW and up to 200 frames*4 in JPEG (when using SONY XQD Memory Card H series QD-H32 with 32 GB capacity). This enables photographers to maintain high-speed continuous shooting without worrying about buffer memory capacity – a real advantage that cannot be measured by fps rates alone. *1The frame rate assumes continuous-servo AF, manual or shutter-priority auto exposure, a shutter speed of 1/250 s or faster, and other settings at default values. Frame rate may drop at extremely small apertures (high f-numbers) or slow shutter speeds, when vibration reduction (available with VR lenses) or auto ISO sensitivity control is on, or when the battery is low. *2In continuous high-speed mode at 11 fps, focus will be fixed at the value for the first shot in each burst and, when the subject is poorly lit, exposure will also be fixed at the value for the first shot. *398 frames on average, image quality: 12-bit compressed RAW, under test conditions established by Nikon. The D4's speed runs across its entire workflow. The camera is ready to shoot in approx. 0.12 s*1, and release time lag is minimized to a mere approx. 0.042 s*1. The camera's precise sequential mechanism has been redesigned to reach approx. 10/11 fps even more accurately, and optimum card recording speed is ensured with the CF card compatible with UDMA 7, and the next-generation recording media, the XQD memory card, that can be set simultaneously with dual card slots. The XQD memory card's read/write speed is 125 MB/s*2. High-speed data transfer to a PC is achieved with the XQD memory card reader*3 that supports USB 3.0, delivering outstandingly faster workflow. The D4's powerful data communication and control system makes both wired and wireless LAN file transfer speeds both faster and easier than ever. *2SONY XQD Memory Card H series QD-H32 with 32 GB capacity. Under test conditions established by SONY; may vary according to measurement conditions. *3SONY XQD Memory Card Reader MRW-E80. Under test conditions established by SONY. The D4's AF is designed to work as fast as a professional's reflexes. Its faster initial AF detection captures decisive moments like never before, which is advantageous when there is not enough time to press the shutter-release button halfway to focus, or if the subject moves fast or appears unexpectedly. It is especially capable in sports photography. Volleyball, soccer, track and field and swimming – no matter what the sport, the D4 is ready. Also, a new "Focus+release" option is provided as an AF-C priority selection. This option prioritizes focus over release in the first frame, and then prioritizes frame rate from the second frame, when shooting a low-contrast and low-lit subject. It is effective for high-speed continuous shooting with the emphasis on the focusing rate of the first frame. For the utmost reliability and performance, the D4's shutter and sequential control mechanism have been tested to 400,000 cycles on fully assembled cameras. The length of time required for up and down of the mirror is shortened by both reducing the weight of the mirror components and faster movement. Furthermore, thorough tuning of the mirror balancer minimizes the unwanted bounce of the mirror's down movement to allow extended AF and AE detection time. All this results in highly precise autofocus, subject tracking and exposure control even in 10 fps high-speed continuous shooting. Also, since the mirror is in a stable down position for a longer duration, the finder image is easier to view. The D4's shutter speed ranges from 1/8,000 s to 30 s. To sustain precise shutter operation throughout the mechanism's life span, the D4 incorporates intelligent shutter monitor technology. Continuous tracking of shutter movement is done in-camera. Should any shutter speed variance be detected, the camera automatically performs correction procedures to adjust between the actual speed and the correct shutter speed. The D4 employs a new sequential control mechanism that drives the shutter, mirror, and aperture independently. As a result, approx. 11 fps high-speed continuous shooting is realized in FX format. Also, shutter release can be operated without mirror-down movement during live view to deliver quieter shooting with reduced shutter-release sound. And as aperture control operates via the stepping motor, power aperture is enabled during movie live view. The D4 comes equipped with an auto option that automatically controls minimum shutter speeds and ISO sensitivity combinations based on the focal length of a lens being used. When fitted with a telephoto zoom lens, the camera can automatically choose a shutter speed to minimize camera blur for the selected focal length. Auto ISO sensitivity can be directly accessed via the ISO button and sub-command dial. The D4 offers approx. 100% frame coverage for FX format, with a viewfinder that is designed to minimize visual fatigue over long periods of use. The approx. 0.7x magnification enhances the confirmation of every visual element in the frame. The large, bright viewfinder image and focusing screen are carefully designed to aid precise focusing in both manual and autofocus modes. In addition, grid lines can optionally be placed across the viewfinder for accurate vertical and horizontal orientation. Furthermore, the viewfinder eyepiece coated with thermal shield finish supports comfortable viewing in more diversified situations. When working with extremely high-contrast lighting that exceeds the camera's dynamic range, and when movement in the subject or background is inherent in your images, the D4's upgraded Active D-Lighting helps to maintain highlight details. In addition to the conventional range of settings, the D4 now includes one additional "extra high" option for more versatility when facing harsh and difficult lighting conditions. In addition to Active D-Lighting, the D4 offers an HDR mode that is ideal for capturing a scene that has an extremely wide dynamic range. Most suitable for landscapes, interiors and studio work, in this mode the D4 shoots two frames in a single shutter release: one overexposed, and the other underexposed. The two are then instantly combined to create a single image that encompasses the full dynamic range of the original scene with reduced loss of detail in highlights and shadows even in high-contrast conditions. The resulting images are fully saturated and display a rich tonality compared to those normally produced by HDR, even in a high-contrast shooting situation that requires additional image manipulation. The exposure differential of the two images can also be extended by up to 3 EV, while the smoothness of the edge where the two exposures meet can be adjusted. When shooting in situations that are sensitive to the sounds of a camera shutter, the D4 live view feature offers two solutions. The quiet mode keeps the mirror in the up position. When using the silent mode, the mirror remains up and the shutter remains open, which can be useful during events such as concerts and conferences. Silent mode* enables high-speed continuous shooting at either 12 fps (in CL mode) or 24 fps (in CH mode) for 2.5 megapixel files. *Maximum frame size is 1,920 x 1,280 pixels in silent mode. Image quality is fixed at JPEG fine. The D4 offers four image area options: FX format (36.0 x 23.9 mm), 5:4 (29.9 x 23.9 mm), 1.2x (29.9 x 19.9 mm), and DX format (23.4 x 15.5 mm) with all cropped image areas visually masked in the viewfinder. DX format offers an angle of view equivalent to approx. 1.5x lens focal length, useful for creating an extension to the focal length of an existing lens. When a DX NIKKOR lens is used, DX format is automatically selected. 1.2x crop gives an angle of view equivalent to approx. 1.2x lens focal length, suitable for getting closer to subjects while maintaining sufficient image size. 5:4 enables shooting in an aspect ratio of 5:4. Switching from stunning still images to broadcast-quality video is one simple click with the D4. With its comfortable form factor and rugged design, shooting HD video in even the most demanding conditions becomes readily attainable enhancing any photographer's ability to tell a story. The D4 can record 1080p Full HD video at 30/25 or 24p in H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format with broadcast quality full of fine tones and natural colors. Maximum recording time for a single clip is. 29 min. 59 s*. Thanks to Nikon's latest image-processing algorithms, the D4's video offers smooth results with reduced unwanted "jaggies" and moiré, yet maintains sharp edges even in dark conditions with noise reduction technology that is designed specifically for video. ISO ranges from ISO 200 to ISO 12800 as standard, with the option to expand up to an ISO 204800 equivalent. *20 min. depending on frame size/rate and movie quality settings. Image sensor size plays a major role in the artistic look of video: larger sensors deliver a shallower depth of field (DOF), while smaller sizes extend the depth. Using its full-frame FX format and 16.2 megapixels, the D4 offers three formats for Full HD video, recording in either FX-based, DX-based or 1,920 x 1,080 crop movie format. The FX-based format renders exquisitely shallow depth of field with beautiful bokeh effects and offers the fullest use of wide-angle lenses. It ensures beautiful movies even at high ISO sensitivity with minimal noise. When a DX lens is attached, DX-based format is automatically selected. This format is useful when it is impossible to get close enough with an existing lens. For extreme telephoto effects, the 1,920 x 1,080 crop format gives an approx. 2.7x increase to the focal length. Furthermore, this crop format delivers outstanding video quality and detail, obtaining 1080p Full HD. This versatility of multiple image formats, combined with the comprehensive selection of NIKKOR lenses makes the D4 a highly creative video capture tool. Reducing flicker effects caused by artificial lighting during live view and video recording has become easier than ever. The Auto mode in the flicker reduction menu can automatically identify the flicker frequency for the appropriate control. Manual selection of 50 Hz and 60 Hz is available when needed. The D4 is designed for crisp audio recording with a built-in external stereo microphone terminal. Attach the compact Stereo Microphone ME-1 (optional) to record high-quality sound while significantly reducing mechanical noise. An external headphone terminal enables use of headphones to effectively monitor and control audio in isolation. The audio level indicators offer visual confirmation of audio level and the microphone sensitivity can be controlled precisely in 20 incremental steps. For the purest video output for professional quality editing, uncompressed video output can be recorded directly to an external storage device via HDMI interface during movie live view. The video signal is also available simultaneously on an external monitor* while using an HDMI connection. *Movies may be output at a frame size smaller than that selected for frame size/frame rate. Capture a variety of scenes and subjects at a breathtaking pace. The D4's time-lapse capability includes a choice of intervals and frame rates to accelerate slow-moving activity into dramatic high-speed sequences. The D4 allows time-lapse photography with replay rates from 24 times to 36,000 times faster than natural time. The sequence of images captured during time-lapse photography files is automatically saved as a movie file within the camera, removing the need for post-production. In response to requests from top professional videographers, the D4 has been fitted with convenient custom control options for D-Movie operation. The new index marking feature can save valuable time by designating important frames while filming, allowing the convenient location of key points at the later stages of in-camera editing. Markings are indicated along with the timeline*1, and are easy to confirm visually. Instead of rotating the command dial, power aperture*2 now enables fine-tuning of aperture settings during movie live view using a function button and preview button designated via the custom menu, which is convenient for confirming depth of field. Furthermore, if the "record movies" function is assigned to a shutter-release button, it is possible to shoot movies using the shutter-release button or remote cord. Also, if "live frame grab" is selected, the camera records still images*3 with a frame size of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels without interrupting movie recording. *1Available in movie editing with the D4 only. *2Activates in A or M exposure mode. *3Aspect ratio matches that of the movie frame. Image quality: JPEG fine. *1Actual frame rate is 29.97 fps for values listed as 30 fps, 23.976 fps for values listed as 24 fps, and 59.94 fps for values listed as 60 fps. *2In DX-based movie format, image quality is equivalent to movies recorded at a frame size of 1,280 x 720. *3Maximum length for high quality movies is 20 min. *4Matrix metering selected automatically. Picture angle equivalent to a focal length 2.7x FX-based movie format length, allowing a telephoto effect without changing to a longer lens; 2.7x icon is displayed in the monitor. Photographs taken at this setting are stored as JPEG fine images 1,920 x 1,080 pixels in size; HDR is not available. Note: The videos shown here were taken using D-Movie function, then converted to Flash Video format for ease of handling. Image quality varies from the original. For some professionals, there are assignments that the whole world is waiting to see. Being the first to publish can make a huge difference in reputation and career development. When workflow speed makes all the difference, the D4 provides a clear advantage. The D4 employs a built-in wired LAN function of IEEE802.3u standard (100BASE-TX). What's more, the D4 is compatible with the compact, easy-to-connect, newly developed WT-5A/B/C/D* (optional) that realizes high-speed wireless transmission. Also, IPTC (International Press Telecommunications Council) data can be automatically added to the images within the camera. In addition to input with a camera, it is possible to add information to a series of images at high speed to realize an even more efficient workflow by creating an IPTC file with IPTC Preset Manager, a software for IPTC preset registration (can be downloaded from Nikon's website), and registering the file to a camera. Furthermore, the D4 incorporates a variety of communication functions to enhance the workflow speed. *Wireless Transmitter WT-4A/B/C/D/E is also compatible. The WT-5A/B/C/D's compact module design is realized by dedicating it for wireless transmission and utilizing power from the body. It can be directly attached to a peripheral connector to greatly enhance handling capability. It supports IEEE 802.11n (1x1 HT40: max. 150 Mbps) in addition to IEEE 802.11a/b/g and enables data transmission substantially faster than that of Wireless Transmitter WT-4A/B/C/D/E (optional). The following modes are available when the camera is connected to a network using the built-in Ethernet port or an optional Wireless Transmitter WT-5A/B/C/D. Transmit images to an FTP server or computer, either automatically or by manually selecting images. Operate the D4 via optional software Camera Control Pro 2. Using a web browser via computer or iPhone, show thumbnails of images stored in the camera's memory cards, or make slide shows, view images, operate simple camera controls for remote shooting or begin live view shooting, including video. From one master camera, release up to 10 remote D4 and WT-5A/B/C/D combinations. Note: The Wireless Transmitter Utility must be installed on computers connecting to the camera in image transfer or camera control mode. This software enables setup of the Wireless Transmitter WT-5A/B/C/D, WT-4A/B/C/D/E or built-in Ethernet. Available to download with installer of the supplied software ViewNX 2. Note: It is not packaged in the ViewNX 2 CD-ROM. Software to add IPTC (International Press Telecommunications Council) information on the images using a PC. Available to download with installer of the supplied software ViewNX 2. The large and sharp color LCD monitor offers bright, crisp image playback with an extended color reproduction capacity. The anti-reflective design offers clear, glare-free performance even under bright conditions. Moreover, if monitor brightness is set to "Auto", the camera automatically adjusts LCD brightness when the monitor turns on according to the environmental lighting conditions measured by the ambient brightness sensor, allowing easy image confirmation in both bright and low-lit places – very useful when shooting video and stills. The ability to zoom up to 30x (Large-size images in FX format) permits rapid and reliable confirmation of focus points. Surface reflection is reduced and light loss greatly decreased by the integrated structure of glass and panel. The D4's live view operation has become even more intuitive with specifically optimized live view modes for still photography and video. Live view photography mode permits the shooting of still images using the extremely accurate contrast AF, and by selecting a silent shutter-release option, makes the operation virtually noise-free. A magnification of up to approx. 15x means that exact focus can be checked. For video live view, the D4 incorporates dedicated exposure controls that enable smooth exposure transitions, even during dramatic changes in lighting, such as when moving from a bright, backlit window into a dark interior. Full manual control is available to keep the same look from start to finish. Also, it is possible to shoot still images in 16:9 aspect ratio by pressing the shutter-release button. During live view and movie recording, contrast-detect AF is available for sharp focusing. Selectable autofocus modes include single-servo autofocus (AF-S) suitable for still image shooting, and full-time servo autofocus (AF-F) for movie shooting. Also, from four AF-area modes, you can select the most appropriate mode according to your subject. Contrast-detect AF allows you to focus anywhere within a frame to expand your creative freedom. Suitable for focusing on a person's face such as for a commemorative photo. Up to 35 faces can be detected. When multiple faces are detected, the camera will focus on that recognized to be the closest. Alternatively, you can choose a different face in the frame with the multi selector. For hand-held shooting of landscape shots. AF area can be moved to the desired position within a frame. Ideal for tripod shooting to achieve a pin-point focus in close-up shots. AF area can be moved to the desired position within a frame. Suitable for a moving subject. After focus is locked with the center button of the multi selector, AF area tracks the subject's movement. With the D4, operability for vertical shooting and in low-light conditions has been greatly enhanced to support more comfortable shooting, responding to demands from professional photographers. For robust performance even in the most demanding environmental conditions, the D4's body is comprised of strong, lightweight magnesium alloy. Thorough measures have been taken to seal and protect against invasive moisture, dust and even electromagnetic interference. Its comprehensive sealing, combined with additional Nikon-engineered measures keeps the camera operational in a wide range of severe conditions. From an ergonomic standpoint, the most frequently used controls should be the most intuitively designed. That's why Nikon engineers tilted the shutter-release button forward by 35° for a more natural finger movement. Located next to the shutter-release button is the D-Movie button, allowing video recording with only a slight finger movement, keeping the camera steady. In addition, sub-command dial operation is now faster thanks to closer placement to the shutter release button and incorporates a specially designed texture that aids smooth finger movement. The D4 is designed to make operation in both horizontal and vertical orientations as intuitive as possible. Each orientation has identically laid-out controls, consisting of a main command dial, a sub-command dial, an AF-ON button and a multi selector. The vertical hold is also now more secure with a newly added thumb grip and an extended grip area for the fingers. For frequent switching between horizontal and vertical shooting, the function button can be customized to quickly access certain functions, such as exposure compensation. In addition to the round multi-selector used for AF point selection, the D4 incorporates a new sub-selector made of tactile rubber providing a more responsive touch. Positioned for optimal control during both horizontal and vertical shooting, this new button permits a more confident shift of AF points. Control the desired AF mode (continuous or single servo) and AF area mode (single-point, dynamic-area, 3D-tracking or auto-area AF) without leaving the viewfinder. By using a dedicated AF-mode button and command dials, modes can be switched without interruption. The front part of the D4's release mode dial has been partially covered in order to prevent unintentional rotation. The D4 is designed to operate and perform even in complete darkness. A simple turn of the power switch illuminates various operation buttons and the release mode dial for clear visibility of control surfaces in the dark. Buttons and dials use LED illumination for easy identification of each button and icon. Fast and reliable card reading and recording are crucial to a smooth and productive workflow. The D4 is equipped with two card slots, one for a CF card compatible with UDMA 7 and another for the XQD memory card, the next-generation recording media. Several recording options are possible: record two full cards of data, record the same data onto two cards for backup, record RAW and JPEG simultaneously onto separate cards, or transfer data from one card to another. In response to professional demands, the D4's white balance has been enhanced, giving auto options of Auto 1, which renders white as white, and Auto 2, which renders warmer hues under incandescent light sources. Also, the camera can store up to four values for preset white balance in presets d-1 through d-4, as well as manual control of white balance in 10-kelvin increments or in mired units for finer control. Furthermore, the hue of the image displayed in the monitor can be altered in live view photography. For studio shooting with flash, the hue of the monitor image can be adjusted to match that of the resulting image so that a photographer is able to shoot while confirming the appearance of the results in live view. The D4 incorporates position detection in both horizontal dimensions, (side-to-side and front-to-back) in 5-degree increments on the LCD or by 1-degree increments through the optical viewfinder. Landscape, architecture and still life photographers will benefit from this added level of compositional accuracy. With Nikon's unique Picture Controls, the look of stills and videos can be customized by fine-tuning parameters such as sharpening, saturation, hue and monochrome. The D4 now allows access to Picture Control instantly and directly from a button on the camera body rather than via the menu, greatly enhancing operation when using live view. The D4 employs a variety of retouch menu options. Captured images and movies can be edited in-camera, without the need to resort to a computer. Retouch menus include an array of useful features such as RAW (NEF) processing that allows setting of vignette control and D-Lighting, resize, straighten, distortion control, perspective control, filter effects and image overlay, as well as edit movie that lets you delete unwanted parts by choosing the start and end points, or save a selected frame as a JPEG image. The D4 uses the newly developed Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL18 that realizes superior performance at low temperatures while delivering long battery life and the ability to shoot up to approx. 2,600 shots* per charge. Power consumption and power management systems have been meticulously engineered throughout the D4 for optimum battery longevity. *Based on CIPA Standards. Approx. 5,500 shots in continuous mode under test conditions established by Nikon. When using SONY XQD Memory Card H series QD-H32 with 32 GB capacity. The EP-6 is a power supply connector required when using the AC Adapter EH-6b (optional) to power the camera. Simply insert the EP-6 connected to the EH-6b into the battery chamber and the camera will be powered stably for extended periods of time. Nikon RAW (NEF: Nikon Electronic Format) files maintain the richest-possible data from an amazing image sensor. Capture NX 2 renders more from an NEF file than any other RAW processing software, with accuracy that is based on close matching between the camera file format and the software processing algorithms. With the enhanced processing speed of the algorithms, processing time is shortened by approx. 40%*. So, in addition to its simple, intuitive Color Control Point operations for image enhancement procedures, the latest Capture NX 2 is faster and more powerful than ever. This bundled, all-in-one software implements an easy-to-use interface for photos and movies. ViewNX 2 is designed to browse images, edit image files (including RAW), perform image enhancements and enable D-Movie edit and playback. This intuitive software permits the control of camera settings and various features from a distance via computer. Aside from the basic camera settings, the software offers remote start/stop for movie shooting and switching between live view for stills and movies while using an external computer monitor. Also, audio level indicators can be displayed during movie shooting. And it is possible to control the camera from a PC or store still images or movies to a PC via wireless LAN using the optional Wireless Transmitter WT-5A/B/C/D or WT-4A/B/C/D/E, or built-in wired LAN function. To bring out the full potential of the D4, look no further than the vast array of NIKKOR lenses designed and tested to match the D4's resolution and image integrity with sharpness, accuracy, and field-proven reliability. Equip the camera for still and video shooting with a NIKKOR lens, and realize each shot without sacrificing delicate tones or nuance. From f/1.4 primes to fast f/2.8 zooms to f/4 zooms with VR, the latest line of FX-format lenses – many featuring our renowned Nano Crystal Coat – is fully optimized for the challenging lighting conditions in which the Nikon D4 is built to excel. Delivers superb, clear results. NIKKOR lenses with Nano Crystal Coat easily manage difficult lighting, even when the light source is behind the subject and distractive "ghosting" would have been considered unavoidable previously. In scenes with strongly contrasted dark foregrounds and bright backgrounds, incredibly clear images with minimized flare become possible. Originally developed for use in the high-precision world of industrial semiconductor manufacture, Nano Crystal Coat minimizes diffused reflections of light within the lens, delivering sharper and more accurate stills and videos. With the VR function, the sensor incorporated in the lens detects camera shake, and drives a part of the optics in the direction that compensates it to reduce the image blur it causes. This VR is effective not only for still images but also movies. An empowering advantage for sports photographers, VR effectively reduces the effects of camera shake to the equivalent of using shutter speeds of up to three or four stops faster. This means sharper images across more situations, such as night stadiums and low-lit indoor venues. Creative options can be extended permitting the aperture to be closed down while still maintaining clarity for reliable spot metering, achieving your desired exposure. As the stabilization takes place in the lens, the viewfinder image is also improved, allowing for easier composition, and quicker and more precise AF. Also, Tripod mode is employed on super-telephoto lenses that are likely to be used with a tripod. This mode reduces image blur caused by slight vibration that tends to occur when using a tripod by switching the compensation algorithm. The Nikon Creative Lighting System is a well-respected answer to the needs of the industry, offering accuracy, flexibility and lighting possibilities that are unavailable with other equipment. The advantages are best experienced through the Advanced Wireless Lighting System which allows precise control of remote flash units, adding more depth and quality to your images. Using the high-precision i-TTL flash control with its intuitive operations, supplementary lighting can be as versatile and comprehensive as the situation demands. In addition to conventional global flash and background exposure compensation, there is a new setting with the D4 that applies exposure compensation only to the background brightness. This enables easy compensation with a single operation. Nikon's SB-910 offers versatile i-TTL for on-camera or wireless flash control, a refined operability and a powerful guide number of 34/111.5 (ISO 100, m/ft, STD, FX format with zoom head set at 35mm). The SB-910's menus and controls have been improved for more operational ease. Hard-type incandescent and fluorescent color filters are included, which can adjust your D4 white balance instantly. 1IX-NIKKOR lenses can not be used. 2Vibration Reduction (VR) supported with VR lenses. 3Spot metering meters selected focus point. 4The camera’s exposure metering and flash control systems do not work properly when shifting and/or tilting the lens, or when an aperture other than the maximum aperture is used. 5Can not be used with shifting or tilting. 7Can be used with AF-S and AF-I lenses only. 8With maximum effective aperture of f/5.6 or faster. 9When focusing at minimum focus distance with AF 80-200mm f/2.8, AF 35-70mm f/2.8, AF 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 (New), or AF 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 lens at maximum zoom, in-focus indicator may be displayed when image on matte screen in viewfinder is not in focus. Adjust focus manually until image in viewfinder is in focus. 10With maximum aperture of f/5.6 or faster. 1Some lenses can not be used. 2Range of rotation for AI 80-200mm f/2.8 ED tripod mount is limited by camera body. Filters can not be exchanged while AI 200-400mm f/4 ED is mounted on camera. 3Exposure compensation required when used with AI 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5, AI 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5, AI 35-135mm f/3.5-4.5, or AF-S 80-200mm f/2.8D. 4Requires Auto Extension Ring PK-12 or PK-13. Bellows Spacer PB-6D may be required depending on camera orientation. 5With maximum aperture of f/5.6 or faster. 6Can not be used with shifting or tilting. 7With maximum effective aperture of f/5.6 or faster. 8If maximum aperture is specified using Non-CPU lens data, aperture value will be displayed in viewfinder and top control panel. 9Can be used in manual exposure modes at shutter speeds slower than flash sync speed by one step or more. 10Exposure determined by presetting lens aperture. In aperture-priority auto exposure mode, preset aperture using lens aperture ring before performing AE lock and shifting lens. In manual exposure mode, preset aperture using lens aperture ring and determine exposure before shifting lens. 11Use preset aperture. In aperture-priority auto exposure mode, set aperture using focusing attachment before determining exposure and taking photograph. 12Can be used only if lens focal length and maximum aperture are specified using Non-CPU lens data. Use spot or center-weighted metering if desired results are not achieved. 13For improved precision, specify lens focal length and maximum aperture using Non-CPU lens data. Reprocopy Outfit PF-4 requires Camera Holder PA-4. Noise in the form of lines may appear during autofocus at high ISO sensitivities. Use manual focus or focus lock. Lines may also appear at high ISO sensitivities when aperture is adjusted during movie recording or live view photography. FX (36 x 24) image area: 4,928 x 3,280 (L), 3,696 x 2,456 (M), 2,464 x 1,640 (S) 1.2x (30 x 20) image area: 4,096 x 2,720 (L), 3,072 x 2,040 (M), 2,048 x 1,360 (S) DX (24 x 16) image area: 3,200 x 2,128 (L), 2,400 x 1,592 (M), 1,600 x 1,064 (S) 5 : 4 (30 x 24) image area: 4,096 x 3,280 (L), 3,072 x 2,456 (M), 2,048 x 1,640 (S) FX-format photographs taken in movie live view (16:9): 4,928 x 2,768 (L), 3,696 x 2,072 (M), 2,464 x 1,384 (S) DX-format photographs taken in movie live view (16:9): 3,200 x 1,792 (L), 2,400 x 1,344 (M), 1,600 x 896 (S) FX-format photographs taken in movie live view (3:2): 4,928 x 3,280 (L), 3,696 x 2,456 (M), 2,464 x 1,640 (S) DX-format photographs taken in movie live view (3:2): 3,200 x 2,128 (L), 2,400 x 1,592 (M), 1,600 x 1,064 (S) Note: A DX-based format is used for photographs taken using the DX (24 x 16) 1.5x image area; an FX-based format is used for all other photographs. Compatible with AF NIKKOR lenses, including type G and D lenses (some restrictions apply to PC Micro-NIKKOR lenses) and DX lenses (using DX 24 x 16 1.5x image area), AI-P NIKKOR lenses, and non-CPU AI lenses (exposure modes A and M only). IX NIKKOR lenses, lenses for the F3AF, and non-AI lenses can not be used. The electronic rangefinder can be used with lenses that have a maximum aperture of f/5.6 or faster (the electronic rangefinder supports the 11 focus points with lenses that have a maximum aperture of f/8 or faster). Auto (2 types), incandescent, fluorescent (7 types), direct sunlight, flash, cloudy, shade, preset manual (up to 4 values can be stored), choose color temperature (2500 K-10000 K), all with fine-tuning. Please enter your post code to search for trained specialists.There are over stores in your country. Please select a territory to find the one closest to you.. * While we try to ensure that the information here is up to date, we advise getting in touch with the retailers prior to your visit to verify opening hours and product availability.

2019-04-19T12:21:36Z

http://www.nikon.com.au/en_AU/product/digital-slr-cameras/d4

This is a huge mistake. If I’ve listened to some music through a playlist on Apple Music, I may want to go back and check what I heard, to listen to certain songs again, add them to my music library, or check out more music by some of the artists I heard. Especially if I’m listening on a mobile device and didn’t have time to note what I heard. First of all, scrobbling works for everything that is in My Music (that is, your library). It does not matter if the song is stored locally, streamed from iTunes Match, streamed from Apple Music, or a song from Apple Music that was made available offline. The same is true for playlists, scrobbling works for you local playlists, as well as Apple Music Playlists. But now things get complicated. Let’s take a look at the For You and New sections. If you play a song, album, or playlist directly in the For You section it will not scrobble. If you play from the detail view of a playlist that you previously added to My Music it scrobbles. If you play a playlist directly from the For You section it will not scrobble. If you play a song, or album that you previously added to My Music from the detail view it will not scrobble. If you search for a song, album, or artist and play from the search results it will not scrobble. Everything in Radio, including Beats 1 will not scrobble. Basically, only music in My Music and Playlists will scrobble, with the one exception of saved playlists. As I wrote previously, the difficulties of using Apple Music are real and extend beyond the multitude of features buried throughout. I’d love to see Apple collaborate with third parties like Last FM to extend Apple Music but the focus should first go to simplifying the existing UI. Luckily Last FM integration isn’t lost, it’s just cumbersome for the moment; much like Apple Music itself. That said, I’m still loving the service and listening to music more than I have since college. I’d call that a tie. If you've ever followed a link to YouTube and found yourself looking back on an hour that you wish you could get back then I hope to be of some assistance with the occasional YouTube escape. These will be spontaneous trips to YouTube for things that are worth your time. Today's escape started with the official lyric video for Death Cab for Cutie's first single from their upcoming eighth studio album Kintsugi. The song is titled "Black Sun" and it makes me excited for what's to come on the new album. From there I found the intro to a YouTube playlist of music videos and performances that Ben Gibbard and Nick Harmer had created in anticipation of their 2011 album Codes and Keys. In it, Harmer mentions The Decemberists at the same time that I noticed an NPR Tiny Desk concert with The Decemberists in the watch next sidebar and jumped over to it. This little acoustic set featured three songs from their then-new album The King is Dead which is my favorite Decemberists album to date. The three piece ensemble's pure talent is showcased in three songs. From this Tiny Desk concert I jumped into Iron & Wine's appearance on the concert series and was amazed at how quickly 17 minutes can go by. Sam Beam is an amazing and engaging singer and songwriter with a humility that comes through in his awkward but honest talk between songs. All three of the videos are worth your time even if you've never heard of these bands. I would encourage you to take 35 minutes to catch some great music from truly talented artists. At the beginning of December Spotify released its Year in Music 2014 feature which sums up the top music and trends on Spotify for 2014. The feature also allows users to view this information based on their own Spotify usage. This is the second year I've used this feature and while others find it provides a surprising retrospective of their taste in music, it's something I find compelling about using Spotify. Personally this kind of data is why I love Spotify and have adopted it as my primary music application/service. My 2014 Year in Music doesn't conform to all aspects of what I would've expected for myself but it is an accurate representation of how I've used the service this year. The weeks and months following Riley's birth were full of late night sessions of Rockabye Baby's many lullaby covers of popular artists that was a much needed break from traditional lullaby songs which is why the winter months were dominated by the group. The spring brought about a renaissance of my interest in The City Harmonic when my grandmother surprised us in coming to town to meet Riley. Summer months allow me to open the windows in my car which requires the bass and lyrical thrust of Lecrae's fantastic new album Anomaly. Over the last few months of the year with the Fall came a lot of changes for my family and a newfound inspiration to participate and enjoy life and not live to work but rather to take a step back and realize that I want to work to live. I couldn't think of another artist that sums this up for me other than the polarizing Owl City. I'm embarrassed to say that I've debated sharing my Year in Music for fear of what it opinions may be formed about my own taste in music but over the last few weeks I've come to find that I'm confident in my taste in music and find it to be one of my favorite things to discover and write about. After going through the stats for 2014, Spotify offers to create a playlist titled Play It Forward in your library that takes what it knows about your taste in music and provides 30 songs to get you going for the new year. I was nervous that having so much lullaby music at the beginning of the year might really skew this playlist but I can't find any traces of children's music in the selections Spotify made for me. To be honest I'm rather surprised at the accuracy of what's been created for me and have found some great new music from this playlist. It's to the point that I want more than 30 songs as I'm already beginning to wear some of these new tracks out. If you're a Spotify user and are looking to find something new that's custom tailored to your listening habits I would highly recommend using the Year in Music feature to create your Play It Forward playlist and to take a listen to mine. Casey Liss posted a few of his favorite Christmas albums last week. Two of them have been getting plenty of play this year on the Sonos at Carole's1 house the last few weeks and all three are in my Christmas playlist on Spotify. You won't find many of the typical artists in this playlist as I find that they get a ton of radio, film and public play when you're out and about for the holidays. If you're looking for a couple hundred new Christmas songs to enjoy this holiday season you should give my playlist a listen. It's 75 degrees outside and pain runs through my body. This is emotional pain like I've never felt in my life. I'm driving up I-10 in Florida from what was my grandparent's house. I've been with my uncle for the last week on an unexpected trip to help my grandmother brace for the impact of divorce. While my uncle and I drove down together, he's stayed behind as there is uncertainty around grandma's stability when we started packing to head back to Memphis. So I'm alone in a red Volvo on the 13 hour drive home when I begin to process the past week. The lawyer, the counselors, the endless scanning of documents, the friends, the family and the tears. Oh, the tears. After 56 years of marriage and a family so woven into this patriarchy, it's all unbound in less than two years. I keep thinking this can't be happening. How could it? Not us. We can't be that family. Can we? We're stronger than this. Aren't we? It's all so selfish but it's what everyone in our family has always known to be good and true and now it's over. Dead. Gone. I'm grasping more than ever for understanding and love that can fill a hole wider than I thought existed in me. I'm searching for God in all of it. Then this song comes on the radio in the background. The DJ of the most recent FM station I've been able to tune into talks the song up as one that's jumping up the charts. "Here's "Manifesto" by The City Harmonic on 97.1, The Love of K" (or something to that effect). All I hear is God. Drenched into every sound. It's poignant and loud. Beautiful and noisy. It's what I need. Like a cup of water in the middle of the desert. I realize that I don't know who this band is but I need more of what they're offering. The Volvo doesn't have an auxilary port so I pull over and dig out my headphones. I look The City Harmonic up on Spotify and find a single album. Introducing the City Harmonic. There are six songs. I immediately press play. The song opens with an orchestra getting in pitch and the conductor tapping their baton on the podium to open the album. Tears begin to fall almost immediately. "I Wonder" questions the love of God. It's size and how we see it in our life. Everything hits home when gets to the second verse. I see it in the pain of the widowed wife. In death defeated where he found true life. I see the love of God and I feel alive. These words are what I'm searching for. Finding God's love in the pain of life. I drink it up. Then comes track two. This is the song that led me to seek this album out. It says so much about who Christ is and what I believe. Even in darkness there is light. We believe in Father Spirit Son. We believe that good has won. It's hard not to sing the chorus at the top of your lungs and lose yourself in Him. The tears haven't stopped and I continue to belt out garbled lyrics with lots of AMEN. The words are crafted as if they're for me in this struggle. Then the beat picks up and the second verse opens. What more can I do in this moment? I can't handle the weight I'm carrying. I'm so lost in this music that been carrying me for the last 13 minutes and I've lost control of emotion. It just keeps pouring out of me. Everything I've bottled up over the last 7 days since I found out what's been going on and what the outcome will be is just spilling over. "Coming My Way" soothes and calms. It's a beautiful ballad to God and talks about the journey home to heaven and finding heaven here on Earth in Him. I calm ever so slightly. A simple guitar riff, a drum beat and into the first verse. I am a man who built his house on sand. I am a thief upon a cross. I’m just like Judas, that sorry fool. Who can’t be glad for what he’s got. I am a man who has been bought by love. I am a man who sold his soul. I’m like the man, who when he found his pearl. He gave up everything he owned. Through His grace I'm redeemed and I am love. Love works. This song sweeps me straight off of my feet and I listen to it again. And again. And again. It's such a beautiful portrait of forgiveness and the redemption that comes through His unending mercy. This is instantly my favorite track on the album. The tears continue to flow as I realize how broken I am in my own walk and how easily I've judged others throughout this ordeal. So go on sing, sing, all of heaven and earth. But don’t just sing, be and be every word. This is my favorite line from "What I Want". It asks us to step out on our faith and walk the talk. To be the change that God calls us to be on this Earth. This is my constant struggle. To fearlessly be who I'm called to be. I contemplate the experience I've just had. Through these six songs being played a few times over I've given up my burden and opened myself up to God in a way that I've been missing since I was in college. This album is now permanently bound to this specific moment in my life. The ghost of my burden is forever reflected in this album for me. And yet I can't recommend Introducing The City Harmonic more highly. It's been roughly two years since I jumped into that red Volvo and this album still brings tears to my eyes when it comes on. This past week was the second Thanksgiving without my grandfather present and it has left an impression on our family tradition. As we grandkids grow up and start having our own kids the weight of the thing still lingers. It's been 7 months since I originally shared this as a journal entry. I was too scared to put these words on Course Code directly in April so I buried it in a Day One entry but this is the force that music can have on a person's soul and the fear is overcome by it. I hope that someone might find a similar strength from these six songs. I stumbled across The Midwest Indies on Spotify in one of my many discovery sessions. These usually start with a song from "my" library grabbing my attention. I'll pull the artist up and start clicking through to related artists and sampling a few of each artist's top tracks to see if anything stands out. Sometimes I find something new and compelling and start listening to one of the artist's albums in it's entirety. Such is the case with Truman. The Midwest Indies have created something really special with Truman. From start to finish Truman carries something rare, an album with few, if any, flaws. The range of sound on the album spans simple acoustic, piano and vocals on "Frederick Fleet" to the slow build of the banjo led and trumpet infused "If You Can't Convince Them, Confuse Them" where the pacing evolves into a song that sounds completely different on it's end than it did when it began. Brad Thomas's voice is staggeringly (and sometimes hauntingly) mature while the harmonies that the band creates layer the vocals in a way that only solidifies the complex individuality of The Midwest Indies sound. The production quality of the album is absolutely stunning; especially when you consider the backstory of how the album was made. When an artist makes an album that intrigues me in the way that Truman does I usually start researching the band and learning as much as I can about them. The backstory for Truman only adds to my fondness for what these guys have created. In early 2011 Tanner Brown, Chandler Reed, Brad Thomas and Blake Tucker were in high school and college when they formed The Midwest Indies and started writing music and playing it locally in the Springfield, MO area. After fine tuning their sound they started preparing to record Truman and turned to Kickstarter to fund the studio and marketing costs. Their goal was $1,500 and was fully funded in February of 2012 by 44 wise individuals. It's easy to read the budget on this album and assume that it has a quality that's comparable with Iron and Wine's Around the Well which, while beautiful, is also something that only Iron and Wine can truly pull off and have it add value to their music. The album is mastered so thoroughly in order to layer all aspects of the album in such a cohesive package that negates the need for the typical production faults such as autotune. Ultimately, the fact that these 4 guys were able to create something to the quality and originality of Truman for $1,500 is a testament to their talent. The album artwork is somewhat of another story. While it looks great at first glance it is obviously photoshopped together when viewed at full resolution. This is one of those things that I assume either one of the bandmates or a friend of the band created. Either way I still like it and it's what comes into my mind when one of the songs from the album comes on. The Midwest Indies are currently working on their second album and have released two singles since Truman released; "Bad Vibrations" and "Voyager". Until their sophomore release we have Truman and that's not a complaint by any means. About 5 weeks ago I moved to Chicago to start a new job and start planning out my family's future when Courtney and Riley move here. I'll be seeing my family for the first time in 6 weeks when I head back to Memphis for Thanksgiving this week. On the outset 6 weeks seemed manageable but it's grown more difficult with every passing week. For the first few weeks I spent my evenings finishing The Wire one episode per night. Then I was tasked with getting my MCSA and started reading Mastering Windows Server 2012 R2 which lead me to start finding music to listen to while I was studying. All of this lead me to get back to one of my favorite past times, music discovery. Music can be so many things and is the background for much of our lives. Whether it's to pass the time, to concentrate, to get energized, to get by or to heal; music is there. I haven't listened to traditional radio since I was in middle school. I used to use sites like MySpace, purevolume and the now defunct Stage FM to find artists that had yet to be discovered. I typically blaze my own trail when it comes to the music I listen to and am willing to share with others. When I look to independent writers and podcasters I follow online I often find myself longing to have a topic to dig into that I find interesting and am able to curate for others. I've typically avoided music as that topic as it's such a crowded space that's covered by so many others in the mainstream media. Over the last few weeks I've started to feel more confident that music is something I do have an interesting take on and it's going to become one of my primary topics on Course Code. You can expect that most of my recommendations will be accompanied by the story of how I found the artist, album or song and the impact the music has had on my life. What I wouldn't expect is to find out about the newest music or the hottest thing right now. I'm picky about what I listen to and what I find good enough to share with you. Music is a huge part of the human story. I hope I can introduce parts of my story into yours. I've recently been studying for my MCSA and have found that I need quality instrumental music to keep focused without distraction. I've started listening to a lot of Jazz which has been great but I think I've just found my new study music. This week's Tools and Toys quality linkage is all about space and is such as fun read. On the outset Chris recommends a fine pairing of music for the read; ‘Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’ Soundtrack which I missed the first time around. Chris followed up with a separate post and more information about these 4 volumes of music from Alan Silvestri today and man am I glad he did. As enthralling as I find space, music is much more of my thing and this soundtrack merges the two in such a great way. Check out Chris's post for the full rundown of links.

2019-04-23T22:47:40Z

https://coursecode.net/?category=Music

As singer for the American garage rock kings the Fleshtones, Peter Zaremba has watched his band evolve from its 1976 birth into one of New York’s most consistent presences in rock. Playing alongside East Village legends like the Ramones & the Dictators for years, the band served as the christening band for many a local venue, including Danceteria, Irving Plaza and Maxwell’s. In the mid-1980s, the Fleshtones perfected their wild stage show by playing reguarly at the Pyramid Club on Avenue A, and helped start the legendary drag-queen festival Wigstock. With a list of milestone accomplishments in rock too numerous to name, the Fleshtones are ironically the greatest underground sensation in the history of rock and roll; it’s as if they should only be discovered by music lovers with integrity who deserve to ingest the unbridled rock and roll purity infused in their legacy. Additionally, a generation of music television fans remember Zaremba as VJ and host of “IRS Records Presents The Cutting Edge” on MTV from 1984 to 1987. The show, cited as an important early outlet for what became known as alternative music, featured underground artists mostly gaining airplay on college radio. The band has just released its 23rd album “Wheel of Talent” on Yep Roc Records, and kicks off a long tour at the Grand Victory in Brooklyn on Thursday, February 27. We sat down to talk with Peter about the Fleshtones video, rock and roll, and more. There’s so much to talk about with the Fleshtones. To get the whole story, you’d have to write The Fleshtones Encyclopedia. Different eras of music fans know you from different projects, between the Fleshtones and IRS’s “The Cutting Edge”. Of all the music video projects, which one captured the personality of the band? The most popular one was “The Right Side of a Good Thing” video that shows us having a big party and whatnot. That was a good one. What do the Fleshtones do when they do their best? I’d say to watch “Right Side of a Good Thing” for the answer to that question. I think “Soul City” captures the raw energy, and is fun. M. Henry Jones [director of the video] and I were schoolmates. At that point, I was at the School of Visuals Arts, and so was Henry. We were always talking about movies. There was a great little group of us there, and even though I was a painting major, I never did much painting, it was more music and whatnot. I think it was Henry’s idea, just trying to film us doing one song. He shot us in 35 millimeter, big professional movie camera, it was a big deal. And then what he did was put it into a regular printer, and printed 8x10s, and then cut out the 8X10s with an Exacto knife and animated them. He did photo animation and constructed cycles out of the photos and created color backgrounds. He spent about a year on it – he and a group of willing girl students, his elves. (laugh) They were spending time at his apartment cutting these things out. He debuted this at the first ever punk rock show down in D.C. in 1977, 1978 or something. Youtube doesn’t do it justice, you really have to see it projected. If you want to see a nice artsy one that ended up being copied by many other groups at the time, we shot one, more of a short film, for a song called “Beautiful Light”. There’s my edit and then there’s M. Henry Jones’ edit. You can see that on YouTube. What was the idea behind the tone there? We shot in 16mm film, and there’s a lot of editing to it, but it is very influenced by Andy Warhol’s movies. There’s more going on, but I recommend YouTubing that one. A very nice piece of filmmaking. The Fleshtones had all these firsts, all things that every band has wanted to do, from playing this venue to working with that artist or producer. It’s a storied history. The band seems to have done everything there is to do. We’ve done everything except make a lot of money. Maybe that’s why we’re still together. I don’t know. How did you come to host “IRS Records Presents The Cutting Edge”? Did IRS see you as a good bet as an on-camera personality for this type of show? First of all, when MTV started out, they had a lot of time that they didn’t know what to do with, and they figured Sunday night was a dead time. They gave an hour every Sunday evening to Miles Copeland of IRS Records, and said, just do something with this. So Miles brought it to some guys at IRS and told them to make a show. They had a great start with all these crazy IRS bands – the Cramps, the Police, everybody. Miles, as conservative as he was, he was a huge fan of the most outlandish acts. I mean, he signed us! And Jimmy Skafish, the Stranglers, I mean, some crazy bands. He really HAD it. They put together this show that ended up being not a new wave show, but a show that featured what came to be called alternative music. That idea coalesced around the show a bit. Jeffrey Vallance was the original host, but he quit to go do a doctorate on the natives in Fiji. They needed a host, and someone said they needed someone like Zaremba, because we had been on the show a few times. And someone else said, well, why don’t we just get him? Of course I leapt at it, such a great thing to do. So for a few years, I would fly out for a few days every month, and we’d shoot a show. I had no hosting experience, which is probably obvious. Did they direct you to do anything in particular? Oh of course. At first they did this thing where I sat in a big chair and had a big goldfish in a bowl. And then after while, they got some girls to stand by me. They had a few things they really liked me to do, but we broke away from that pretty quickly. And we had EVERYONE on the show. Jonathan Richman, and Morrissey who refused to be interviewed and said, “Just give me a camera and lock me in a room for 30 minutes, and then I’ll push the tape back under the door.” We interviewed Iggy Pop in a tree. People like John Hiatt, too. We did some traveling, and we did a great Mardi Gras show, with our friends the Hoodoo Gurus and the Bangles, and some New Orleans musicians. We did a wonderful show in Austin. For a while I had a budding career being in documentaries about other artists. I appeared in The Devil and Daniel Johnston, because he had been on The Cutting Edge. Then there was the Monks documentary Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback, so that was a great thing. The last season we did what we called “the happy hour shows” which were almost completely live, with guests like Red Kross, Willie Dixon, and Jimmy Cliff. Really good stuff. I have to say, I’m totally 100% proud of that show. The show was a very positive influence on a lot of people – a lot of people who couldn’t go to clubs and whatnot, you know? It opened a lot of doors for viewers. I see where “The Best of The Cutting Edge” came out on DVD. I tell this story frequently, and it’s tragic. It’s almost all original footage that we filmed, and we started the unplugged thing. R.E.M. did it, and that kind of kicked that off, and the rest of MTV picked up on it. We filmed hours and hours of footage. We shot so much footage with Jonathan Richman — we went to club and he got up and did a song, and then another and another, and we had so much stuff. We had so many outtakes. Anyway, when IRS was bought out by Sony, and they moved all the stuff, and I remember going to the office and seeing a dumpster filled to the brim with beta tapes. Piled to the top. You name an artist, anyone, they all had stuff in there. Each of those reels had so much. It was horrible. That’s like burning the library at Alexandria. Let’s talk about the present. How do you know when it’s time to make a new Fleshtones album? We’ve gotten to the point where we always feel like it’s time to make a new album. After years of having a rough time in the studio, we’ve finally gotten to the point where we know what we’re doing, which is shocking. We just finished this record, and right now I’d be willing to go in and do another. Songs come to me in my dreams now. Keith has dozens and dozens of songs. It’s just a matter of having time to go into the studio. Did some of this in Spain, some of it in Williamsburg, with our friend Jim Diamond in Detroit. We even did some in North Carolina. Which reminds me, it’s so great that we found a home on Yep Roc Records. [For the new album Wheel of Talent] we hadn’t done an album in a couple of years. We’d done the project with Lenny Kaye and an EP, so we were overdue. We had the material.At this point it has become a lot of fun to record, and we’re generally happy with the way it sounds. Was that not the case in the past? Yeah. People have very fond memories of us from [albums] Roman Gods or Hexbreaker!, which are monumental records, but monumental effort went into making these things. Again, I could easily write a book just on the making of Hexbreaker! because it was that convoluted and difficult. There was a lot of conflict, a lot of confusion, and a lot of overreach. We wanted to do everything. And at that point, if I had one good hook, then I could make a great song, but if I had twelve good hooks, it was twelve times as good. (laugh) But the human brain can’t hear that many in one song, and we tried. We put a tremendous effort into trying to mix it, and the mixes would get rejected. I’m serious, I could write a short novella on the making of Hexbreaker!, starting with the late Gordon Spaeth, our sax and keyboard player at the time. We were saying we were making a record that would scare people, that’s how intense it’s going to be. The people we mostly ended up scaring were ourselves. There are so many funny stories from that. I ended up having to go to Hollywood to mix the record, to get us out of New York, and Miles Copeland now owned Raymond Burr’s mansion. The house was totally empty, and they decided to put me up there, so it was just me and the caretaker. I had this bedroom that was as big as a basketball court. It had padded walls, and I slept on a mattress on the floor. That was more psychically damaging than the record itself. (laugh) People shouldn’t mess with voodoo, which is what we were doing on that record, but kids can still listen to it and enjoy it, and not have to go through any of that. We did the work for the benefit of everyone’s enjoyment, which is good. Some musicians say that internal band conflict can help give live or edge to the music. Do you think that was the case here? No! (laugh) Maybe people can pick up on the stuff going on psychically, but we wanted to make very straight-ahead records. Our idols were the Kinks, the garage groups, soul music, and they didn’t torture themselves making records. My point ultimately is that we finally found a happy way to record. We could record ten albums on the money we spent to make the Hexbreaker! album, and they’d be fun albums where nobody ends up in the hospital, and there’s no process servers banging at the door at 4am so then we have to do 38-hour sessions in the studio because we can’t leave or risk being arrested — which might have happened. And on top of that, I’m reading Ray Davies’ “Americana”, and I saw them when they were playing in New York, and they got into a fight onstage, and Dave fell backwards into the amp stack and was buried under there. So I learned something from that – keep playing! But Ray and Dave were strangling each other up there. What is your favorite song on the new album Wheel of Talent? Seriously, I was the happiest writing “Remembering The Ramones”, and it came to me when I was mowing the lawn. Within ten minutes, I had that song finished in my head, and all that remained was me picking up the guitar and figuring out the chords. Is it strange to think that Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee are all gone? It’s not just strange, it’s exceedingly sad. It’s just amazing. Only Tommy, huh? Very sad. Just unbelievable that they are gone. But the song is a nice tribute to them and to our time. We were super eager people worming our way through the crowd at CBGBs, right in front of the monitors. It was a 15-minute adrenaline blast every time. You were running in those circles back then – CBGBs, Max’s Kansas City, Club 57, right? We pretty much kicked off Club 57. They had dances and stuff, but we kicked off the rock and roll, and then we left there, the musical director took us over to the Polish Army Home. We organized shows there. We were one of the first to play Irving Plaza, and we headlined the first show at Maxwell’s. But Richie Barone enjoys reminding me that since he opened for us, his band was technically the first band to play Maxwell’s. Sadly, we were the last band to play the Windows on the World at the World Trade Center. The manager was complaining after we played, so the series that we were a part of was cancelled. They might have had a private party or two, but we were the last advertised band to play there. They just didn’t want to do rock and roll shows there anymore. We were also the last band to play on Andy Warhol’s “15 Minutes”. Didn’t you back up Sir Ian McKellan’s sonnet reading on that show? Did you really help create Wigstock? Okay, it’s true, although I was not the one who came up with the name. We were the house band at the Pyramid Club, early to mid eighties. We’d slosh around after the gig, and head over to Tompkins Square until it got light outside. The late Wendy Wild, a performer, and Keith Streng from the Fleshtones and myself were talking about doing a show, and I think Wendy came up with the name. We did perform at the first Wigstock. How did the book Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, America’s Garage Band come about? A labor of love by a young author from Dekalb, Illinois, just started following us around and interviewing people. I thought it was amazing that anyone would bother writing a book about us, but he sure did. To this day, people come up to me and say, “This is the first time I’ve ever seen the band. I don’t know your music, but I read the book Sweat,” which really blows my mind. And I’ll say to them, “You mean, you read a 400-page book about a band you never heard? What were you, in jail or marooned on an island or what?” (laugh) I’m very happy with that, but it’s the cleaned-up version. Will there be a more explicit version? Only if I write it, right? (laugh) No, I think it’s good that way so that younger kids can read it. Yes, on Uncle Floyd with the Four Seasons! And me in an all-star band at CBGB’s backing up Bobby “Boris” Pickett. There’s a show about us called “Paris in Delirium” which is sort of like Beatlemania. I think there’s footage of us playing in Sardinia. There’s just so much footage he couldn’t use because so many people think their footage is worth a million dollars. It may potentially be, but right now, it isn’t. A guy with a limited budget but extreme passion just can’t get all the footage. Even a few seconds here and there. Us at M80, the first national new wave festival at the Walker Center in 1979 with Devo and others – that was an amazing show I wish we had footage of. Let’s talk about “I Was a Teenage Zombie”. We had done this thing with Tom Hanks for the movie Bachelor Party called “American Beat.” Some guys over in Jersey saw it, and ended up doing this teenage zombie movie, and asked us to write a song and do a video. It was a nice video, with the cast from the movie. The video is very beach-movie era. Very interesting guys from Jersey. You guys have been able to take advantage of all these opportunities. You worked with producer Steve Albini. Steve Albini is the guy who turned to me in the studio, and said, “What the hell do you guys need a producer for anyway?” I was shocked, but then I thought about that a lot. He was the last producer at that level we used. We do it all ourselves now, with really good engineers. We don’t have to work with producers whose vision doesn’t match our vision, and that’s another reason that making the albums are more fun now. That’s a great thing to say to a band at a certain point. I’ve come to respect that statement from him so much. It made such an impression, and we took his advice. What do you remember about sharing rehearsal space with the Cramps? Well, I remember that we were the ones thrown out for making too much noise. How did you get involved with the garage rock promoters for Cavestomp? Hmm, how did we meet John Weiss? He was playing on Roman Gods, tenor sax. Then he was in another band, the Vipers, and we remained good friends. Then he starts promoting shows, and since I had proved that I could host stuff like “The Cutting Edge”, John asked me to be the MC for Cavestomp. I threw myself into it – screaming at the audience and not having to play. We ended up playing anyway. Part of the process of Cavestomp was bringing back great garage bands, and I always felt that the original garage bands were guys playing contemporary music the best they could. 1969 came, and they tried drum solos, and in 1970s, they tried to play 70s rock. I don’t think they had any real aim. So I was wary of bringing these bands back. I was skeptical of ? and the Mysterians coming back. But when they played Cavestomp at Coney Island High, it was one of the greatest performances ever. It really clicked for me when I saw ? on stage. You know how when you go under general anesthetic, you count backwards and you start forgetting numbers and next thing you know, the operation is over? It was as if someone had done that with time, because we felt like we went back to 1967. His band was so vital and so on. I saw you guys at Little Steven’s Underground Garage Rock Festival on Randall’s Island. Oh, where we got to play a song and a half? Yes, and the Raveonettes came all the way from Europe and only got 15 minutes. Boy were they pissed. Actually, what we had done, since we were friends with the guys, and we ended up backing Dave Faulkner. He produced us and signed us to Trafalgar. He kind of saved us at a point. Powerstance [1992 album] sold pretty well. There was a tour we did in the mid-eighties with Echo and the Bunnymen that was over the top and bombastic. It was fantastic. Started off a little weird. Our booking agent thought it would be a good idea. At first, they were like most English bands, kind of aloof, but by we hit Arizona, we were in each other buses playing songs, and by the time we hit California, we were doing songs with each other. It was great. And every night, we won over the audiences that were waiting for Echo and the Bunnymen. There was a certain amount of cross reference at that point. We had a lot of people who came to see us as well. By the end of the set, we’d won them over, left them wanting more. Billy Bragg was also on that tour, and rather than ride with the Bunnymen in the bus, he traveled in the van with us. We showed him the ropes, lighting off fireworks, what have you. As for this new tour, we are at the Grand Victory on Thursday night. All I can say is, if you’ve see us before, come see us again. We’re still a lot of fun. If you haven’t seen us, you have no idea how much fun a band can be. Will we see videos for any songs on Wheel of Talent? We’ll be in Madrid soon, and I’d like to shoot something with a phone there.

2019-04-20T04:29:00Z

http://goldenageofmusicvideo.com/fleshtones-frontman-peter-zaremba-talks-music-videos-hosting-irs-presents-cutting-edge-old-days-new-album/

The history of funding water-related needs in Texas is basically a history of the Texas Water Development Board -- the agency charged with the financial end of this complex issue. The main vehicle, to date, has been loans, and distribution of federal grant monies to political subdivisions to augment the local authority's budgets. The first concerted effort on the part of the Legislature to fund water supply and conservation needs was in 1957 when they created the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), and the Texas Water Development Fund. The charge for the agency was to forecast water-supply needs and provide funding for projects. A constitutional amendment was passed (HJR 3) authorizing the issuance of $200 million in general revenue bonds and gave TWDB the authority to use the funds (in the form of loans) for approved political subdivisions to use in the conservation and development of water resources. Water agencies in Texas were combined and reorganized during the 1960's and 70's, thereby making the Texas Water Development Board part of the Texas Water Commission. In 1985, sunset legislation reorganized the agencies again, and re- created the Texas Water Development Board, again with responsibility for funding. That same year, the Legislature passed HJR 6, a constitutional amendment to allow the state to sell 980 million dollars in bonds for water projects. Debt service for the bonds had to come out of appropriated funds. The scope of projects that could be funded by the bonds increased. In 1997, SB 1 launched extensive regional water planning districts, and required that TWDB publish a comprehensive state water plan every five years. This bill also consolidated all the different specialized funds operated by TWDB into a single financial assistance fund, the Texas Water Development Fund II. 1997 was also the year that the most comprehensive water funding bill thus far, HB 1802 was introduced, but never made it out of committee. Rep. Ron Lewis authored the bill with Robert Puente as the co-author. Its caption was "relating to the development and management of the water resources of the state, assessing fees, and making appropriations." Looking to start a dedicated fund, it authorized the State to assess a fee from each public water supply system in the state, with rates varying depending on the class of users. It also tried to establish an annual water rights fee for other than municipal uses. 2001 saw the creation of the Water Infrastructure Fund with SB 2, that, to date, has not been funded. Considered the "son of SB 1 (1997)", SB 2 as introduced, included a variety of fees and sales taxes on water use. Strong opposition to these fees forced Brown to strip them all from the final bill. This included a 5 cent fee per bottle on bottled-water. The intent of SB 2 was to streamline the authorities created in SB 1 (1997) and to fund the various projects these authorities said were necessary to provide water to all Texans through 2050 -- estimated at $17 billion. In 2003, Senator Armbrister introduced SB 3 which, among other things included a "Water Conservation and Development Fee" that would be 13 cents for each 1000 gallons of water sold to the ultimate consumer for consumption. This bill never made it out of committee. Two more state water plans have been released since 1997 -- in 2002 and 2007. The amount of money needed for ensuring that Texans have access to water in 2050, keeps rising. The 2007 plan outlined $ 1.7 billion that would have to be appropriated between now and 2020 -- mainly needed to augment debt service payments on state bonds. To date, the Legislators and voters have approved $ 2.68 billion in bonds for use mainly as loans. So far, the TWDB has sold nearly $ 1.55 billion of these funds to finance construction of water and wastewater projects. In December 2006, in an interim report from the Senate Committee on Natural Resources on Water Issues, seven potential dedicated revenue sources were identified with estimates of the possible money these funds would generate. These include an authorized water rights fee, a reported use fee, a public water supply connection fee, a county assessed water fee, sales tax on water and wastewater, bottled water fee, and a tiered residential use fee. See the Water Resources Research Guide for lists of water-related agencies, organizations, databases, and research aids as well as citations to articles and reports published between 2008 and 2014. The Guide focuses on water resources development, management, and use; water rights and allocation; and water planning and research. Act approved Dec. 14, 1837 - An act to reduce into one act, and to amend the several acts relating to the establishment of a General Land Office. Highlights: Sec. 42 set the measurement criterion "that all streams of the average width of thirty feet shall be considered navigable streams". Highlights: Gave County Courts authority over water rights, continuing the Spanish-Mexican system of water rights. The Texas Supreme Court first recognizes riparian water rights. Haas v. Choussard, , 17 Tex. 588 (Tex. 1856). Of Note: This holding set the stage for creating a dual system of water rights which prevailed in Texas until the adoption of the Water Rights Adjudication Act of 1967. Highlights: First Irrigation Act; Established doctrine of prior appropriation; Section 2 of the Act declared all the unappropriated waters of every river or natural stream within the arid portion of the state to be the property of the public and may be acquired by appropriation through a "certified filing" with the County Clerk. Of Note: SB 262 amended SHB 120. The Texas Supreme Court adopted the Rule of Capture. Houston & Texas Central Railroad Co. v. East, (81 S.W. 279). City of Corpus Christi v. City of Pleasanton, 276 S.W.2d 798 (Tex. 1955). Friendswood Development Co. v. Smith-Southwest Industries 576 S.W. 2d 21 (1978). City of Sherman v. Public Utils. Commission of Texas, 643 S.W. 2d 681 (Tex. 1983). Sipriano v. Great Spring Waters of America, Inc., 1 S.W.3d 75, 76 (1999). November 8, 1904 — HJR 11, 28th Leg., R.S. Highlights:According to Texas Water Development Board self-evaluation report : water for Texas : a report for the Sunset Advisory Commission , this amendment authorized the first public development of water resources in Texas. June 14, 1905 — SB 67, 29th Leg. R.S. SB 67, 29th Regular Session, authorizing the creation and maintenance of drainage districts. (effective 90 days after adjournment). Highlights:This bill authorized the creation of the first drainage districts and marked the beginning of water development efforts. May 31, 1913 — HB 37, 33rd Leg. R.S. HB 37, 33rd Regular Session, An act to provide an adequate system of laws relating to irrigation….;creating a Board of Water Engineers [to regulate appropriations of water]. (approved 04/09/1913; effective 90 days after adjournment). Highlights: Sometimes called Burges-Glasscock Act, this bill set up the "certified filings" procedure for water-rights claims. August 21, 1917 — SJR 12, 35th Leg. R.S. SJR 12, 35th Legislature, Regular Session, Declaring the conservation and preservation of all the natural resources of the State of Texas are public rights and duties; providing for the creation of conservation districts, declaring such districts bodies politic and corporate, defining the authority of such districts, and conferring upon the Legislature authority to pass laws with reference thereto; declaring that the Legislature shall have the authority generally to legislate for the purpose of conserving the natural resourcesof the State; fixing the time for the election for the adoption or rejection fo said proposed constitutional amendment... (Adopted 08/21/1917). March 19, 1917 — HB 238, 35th Leg. R.S. April 2, 1918 — SB 10, 35th Leg. 4th C.S. July 25, 1919 — SB 18, 36th Leg. 2nd C.S. July 28, 1919 — SB 19, 36th Leg. 2nd C.S. The Texas Supreme Court ruled BWE's adjudicative powers were unconstitutional. State Board of Water Engineers v. McKnight, 111 Tex. 82, 229 S.W. 301 (Tex. 1921). Of Note: Ruled BWE's adjudicative powers unconstitutional due to separation of powers doctrine; as a result of the court's decision, Texas would not see another water rights adjudication act for over 45 years. July 29, 1923 — SB 219, 38th Leg. R.S. July 29, 1923 — SB 267, 38th Leg. R.S. March 28, 1925 — SB 136, 39th Leg. R.S. June 23, 1925 — SB 169, 39th Leg. R.S. The Texas Supreme Court upheld a dual system -- allowing riparian water rights to coincide with State appropriation rights. Motl v. Boyd, 116 Tex. 82, 286 S.W. 458 (Tex. 1926). Of Note: Held that "riparian waters are the waters of the ordinary flow and underflow of the stream, and that the waters of the stream, when they rise above the line of highest ordinary flow, are to be regarded as flood waters or waters to which riparian rights do not attach." September 5, 1927 — HB 70, 40th Leg. 1st C.S. HB 70, 40th Legislature, First Called Session, providing for and regulating Water Control and Improvement Districts. (effective 90 days after adjournment). September 1, 1929 — HB 197, 41st Leg. 2nd C.S. HB 197, 41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, creating the Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District. (Effective 90 days after adjournment). Authors: Leonard E. Tillotson, William Harman, Bailey W. Hardy and James Finlay, Sr. Highlights: With this bill, the Legislature created the first river authority; the first "state agency" in the U.S. created specifically for the purpose of developing and managing water resources of an entire river basin. May 14, 1931 — SB 586, 42nd Leg. R.S. SB 586, 42nd Legislature, Regular Session, water Control and Improvement Districts -- Right of eminent domain and assessment of taxes. (approved June 14, 1931, effective May 14, 1931). In 1931, the 42nd Legislature passed SB 93, commonly known as the Wagstaff Act. The Wagstaff Act grew out of a disputed permit application for the Brownwood Reservoir on Pecan Bayou, a major tributary of of the Colorado River. It ranks water uses in the following order: domestic and municipal, industrial, irrigation, mining, hydroelectric, navigation, recreation and leisure, and other beneficial uses. May 28, 1931 — SB 608, 42nd Leg. R.S. SB 608, 42nd Legislature, Regular Session, preservation of underground water supply. (approved May 28, 1931, effective May 28, 1931). Highlights: Declared it the policy and duty of the Texas State Board of Water Engineers to make and enforce rules and regulations for the conservation, protection, preservation and distribution of all underground, subterranean and percolating waters of every kind and nature. October 13, 1933 — SB 51, 43rd Leg. 1st C.S. SB 51, 43rd Legislature, 1st Called Session, government and control of Water Power Control Districts and Water Improvement Districts. (approved October 13, 1933, effective October 13, 1933). March 1, 1939 — HB 152, 46th Leg. R.S. April 20, 1939 — HB 20, 46th Leg. R.S. Authors: Bailey Ragsdale, Arthur Tarwater, Robert Fuchs, and others. Highlights: Local districts were established to implement soil and water conservation program. This was the state counterpart to the national Soil Conservation Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Texas Court of Civil Appeals recognized BWE had authority to amend water rights permits, Clark v. Briscoe 200 S.W.2d 674 (Tex.Civ.App.--Austin, 1947; no writ). Of Note: Recognized and accorded to the Board of Water Engineers significant powers over water rights. October 13, 1949 — SB 169, 51st Leg. R.S. June 29, 1949 – June 30, 1949 — SCR 36, 51st Leg. R.S. June 2, 1949 — HB 162, 51st Leg. R.S. Highlights: Sometimes referred to as the Texas Groundwater Act; this was legislature's first exercise of constitutional authority to provide for the management of groundwater. June 13, 1949 — HB 716, 51st Leg. R.S. The first Groundwater Conservation District (GCD), the High Plains Underground Conservation District No. 1, was created in 1951. May 10, 1951 — HB 63, 52nd Leg. R.S. April 21, 1953 — SB 131, 53rd Leg. R.S. June 8, 1953 — HB 448, 53rd Leg. R.S. August 25, 1953 — HB 454, 53rd Leg. R.S. August 21, 1957 — HB 161, 55th Leg. R.S. November 5, 1957 — HJR 3, 55th Leg. R.S. December 2, 1957 — SB 1, 55th Leg. 1st C.S. Highlights: Mandated a formal process for developing a plan to meet the state's future water needs. (Water plans have been adopted in 1961, 1968, 1984, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2002, and 2007). The Texas Supreme Court stripped Spanish land grant holders of their riparian water rights, holding that the Spanish system was one whereby the Crown or its official made specific grants of water rights; this led to a change from a dual system to one of State Licensing only, Valmont Plantations v.State of Texas, 355 S.W.2d 502 (Tex.1962). November 8, 1961 — HB 24, 57th Leg. 1st C.S. First state water plan adopted. Highlights: Emerged during an era of dam and reservoir construction in the United States; recommended 45 new reservoirs. November 11, 1962 — HJR 46, 57th Leg. R.S. January 30, 1962 — HB 12, 57th Leg. 3rd C.S. Highlights: Additional authority to measure, eliminate and prevent water pollution. September 1, 1965 — SB 145, 59th Leg. R.S. August 28, 1968 — SB 92, 60th Leg. R.S. Highlights: Sometimes referred to as the Water Rights Adjudication Act; the Act consolidated all surface water rights into a unified system by transforming previously held Spanish and Mexican grants, riparian water rights, and claims into "certificates of adjudication." September 1, 1967 — SB 204, 60th Leg. R.S. Highlights: TWQB assumed functions, powers, duties and responsibilities of Water Pollution Control Board. Second state water plan adopted. Highlights: Recommended 62 new reservoirs and addressed issues surrounding drainage, water quality, recreation, and fish and wildlife. State of Texas, et. al. v. Hidalgo County Water Control and Improvement District No. 18, et. al., 443 S.W.2d 728 (Texas Civ. App. - Corpus Christi, March 27, 1969, writ ref'd n.r.e., December 9, 1970). Sometimes referred to as the "Valley Water case"; this case initially arose in the 1950s drought and took over 30 years to decide. It involved approximately 3,000 parties seeking a right to a limited supply of water; as a consequence of the lawsuit, a court-ordered water management plan was developed for the border region in 1970. August 30, 1971 — HB 343, 62nd Leg. R.S. June 19, 1975 — SB 137, 64th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1977 — SB 1139, 62nd Leg. R.S. SB 1139, 65th Legislature, Regular Session. Relating to the creation, administration, powers, duties, and operations of the Texas Department of Water Resources; providing penalties. Highlights: Informally known as the 1977 Water Reorganization Act; created new agency responsible for developing Texas' water resources, maintaining the quality of water, and ensuring equitable distribution of water rights. Section 11.122 of the act gave the agency clear authority to amend all water rights. May 24, 1979 — SB 581, 66th Leg. R.S. Authors: Ed Howard, Albert Price, Tom Creighton, Ray Farabee, Roy Blake, Sr. June 19, 1983 — HB 2276, 68th Leg. R.S. Third state water plan adopted. Highlights: One of first examples of water conservation recommended as way to meet future needs. September 1, 1985 — SB 249, 69th Leg. R.S. November 5, 1985 — HB 2, 69th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1985 — HB 536, 69th Leg. R.S. November 11, 1985 — HJR 6, 69th Leg. R.S. March 24, 1987 — SB 259, 70th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1987 — SB 324, 70th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1987 — SB 585, 70th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1987 — SB 683, 70th Leg. R.S. November 3, 1987 — SJR 54, 70th Leg. R.S. Of Note: Enabling legislation passed as HB 72 in 70th Legislature, 2d Called Session. June 20, 1987 — HB 734, 70th Leg. R.S. August 31, 1987 — HB 1509, 70th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1987 — HB 1783, 70th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1987 — HB 1787, 70th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1987 — HB 1788, 70th Leg. R.S. November 3, 1987 — HB 72, 70th Leg. 2nd C.S. December 5, 1989 — SB 61, 71st Leg. R.S. November 7, 1989 — SJR 5, 71st Leg. R.S. September 1, 1989 — HB 1458, 71st Leg. R.S. New state water plan adopted. May 26, 1991 — HB 2329, 72nd Leg. R.S. June 7, 1991 — SB 818, 72nd Leg. R.S. Highlights: The Texas Clean Rivers Act establishes a state program to reduce nonpoint source water pollution. August 12, 1991 — SB 2, 72nd Leg. 1st C.S. April 29, 1993 — SB 503, 73rd Leg. R.S. Highlights: Created a cost-share program to provide financial assistance for the installation of soil and water conservation improvement measures. August 30, 1993 — SB 1030, 73rd Leg. R.S. August 30, 1993 — SB 1334, 73rd Leg. R.S. September 1, 1993 — SB 1477, 73rd Leg. R.S. Highlights: Landmark legislation brought about by Federal lawsuit (see Sierra Club v. Lujan under listing for 1993); created authority as a Special Groundwater District; jurisdictional area across 8 counties in South Central Texas; created to manage and regulate San Antonio segment of Balcones Fault Zone Edwards Aquifer. [Note: other legal challenges pertaining to the Voting Rights Act prevented the Authority from operating until 1996]. August 30, 1993 — HB 1269, 73rd Leg. R.S. June 5, 1995 — HB 1989, 74th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1995 — HB 2294, 74th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1997 — SB 1, 75th Leg. R.S. March 20, 1997 — SJR 16, 75th Leg. R.S. November 4, 1997 — SJR 17, 75th Leg. R.S. April 22, 1997 — HB 1802, 75th Leg. R.S. Highlights: Would have authorized TNRCC to collect a fee from each public water supply system; would have provided for the establishment of an annual water rights fee, compensation to the basin of origin, and establishment of a water facilities fund. June 18, 1999 — SB 272, 76th Leg. R.S. SB 272, 76th Legislature, Regular Session. Relating to regional water planning groups. (06/18/1999 Effective immediately). June 18, 1999 — SB 657, 76th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1999 — SB 1301, 76th Leg. R.S. June 18, 1999 — SB 1310, 76th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1999 — SB 1323, 76th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1999 — SB 1911, 76th Leg. R.S. September 1, 1999 — HB 846, 76th Leg. R.S. June 18, 1999 — HB 2660, 76th Leg. R.S. September 1, 2001 — SB 2, 77th Leg. R.S. Highlights: Follow-up to SB1 (75th Legislature); enacted significant amendments to regional water planning; established Rural Water Assistance Fund (RWAF) and the Water Infrastructure Fund. (WIF), both of which were intended to be supported by future appropriations; created Texas Water Advisory Council. September 1, 2001 — SB 312, 77th Leg. R.S. Highlights: Sunset review of Texas Water Development Board; agency was preserved for 12 more years and program changes were mandated. September 1, 2001 — HB 2912, 77th Leg. R.S. November 6, 2001 — HJR 81, 77th Leg. R.S. Of Note: No enabling legislation required. New state water plan adopted -- first to be adopted since passage of SB 1 in 1997. May 20, 2003 — SB 1094, 78th Leg. R.S. Highlights: Created the Water Conservation Implementation Task Force (WCIT) to review, evaluate, and recommend optimum levels of water use efficiency and conservation. June 20, 2003 — SB 1639, 78th Leg. R.S. June 20, 2003 — HB 1378, 78th Leg. R.S. June 20, 2003 — HB 1534, 78th Leg. R.S. June 20, 2003 — HB 1541, 78th Leg. R.S. June 20, 2003 — HB 2663, 78th Leg. R.S. December 13, 2004 — Water Policy Cmte. December 1, 2006 — Environmental Flows Cmte. Governor Perry created the Environmental Flows Advisory Committee; charge is to develop recommendations to establish a process that will achieve a consensus-based, regional approach to integrate environmental flow protection into the water allocation process while ensuring that human water needs are satisfied. May 24, 2005 — SB 3, 79th Leg. R.S. Highlights: Based on recommendations from 2004 Senate Select Committee on Water Policy; focused on further implementation of water planning system set in place by SB1 (75th) and SB2 (77th). June 1, 2005 — HB 1763, 79th Leg. R.S. Authors: Robby Cook, Ruben Hope, Jr. Highlights: Established a process to enable consistent management of groundwater resources within 16 groundwater management areas; requires the GCDs in GMAs to meet at least once every year to conduct joint planning. June 18, 2005 — HB 2201, 79th Leg. R.S. Coauthors: Dan Branch, Dan Flynn, Linda Harper-Brown, Bill Keefer, Ken Paxton, Mark Strama, and Bill Zedler. Highlights: § 6, (2) and (3) substituted "Commission on Environmental Quality" for "Natural Resource Conservation Commission." July 6, 2005 — SB 15, 79th Leg. 1st C.S. Interim charge to Senate Committee on Natural Resources to study and assess all issues related to ground and surface water law, policy and management. Members: Gonzalo Barrientos, Robert Duncan, Troy Fraser, Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, Mike Jackson, Jon Lindsay, Kel Seliger, Todd Staples. New State Water Plan (Water for Texas 2007) Adopted. June 16, 2007 — SB 3, 80th Leg. R.S. SB 3, 80th Legislature, Regular Session. Relating to the development, management, and preservation of the water resources of the state; providing penalties. (06/16/2007; This Act takes effect September 1, 2007, except Section 2.27 takes effect September 1, 2009, and Articles 4, 9, 10, and 12 take effect immediately). Highlights: Established the Joint Committee on State Water Funding and repealed Texas Water Advisory Council. November 6, 2007 — SJR 20, 80th Leg. R.S. June 15, 2007 — HB 3, 80th Leg. R.S. June 15, 2007 — HB 4, 80th Leg. R.S. September 1, 2009 — SB 2312, 81st Leg. R.S. June 19, 2009 — HB 3861, 81st Leg. R.S. May 17, 2011 — SB 360, 82nd Leg. R.S. September 1, 2011 — SB 332, 82nd Leg. R.S. November 8, 2011 — SJR 4, 82nd Leg. R.S. In Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Burrell Day and Joel McDaniel, the Supreme Court of Texas held that land ownership includes an interest in groundwater in place that cannot be taken for public use without adequate compensation guaranteed by Article I, Section 17(a) of the Texas Constitution.

2019-04-19T02:45:51Z

https://lrl.texas.gov/legis/waterTimeLine.cfm

Beyond download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: surface, steps and land: Proceedings in Hegel's program of Right. Cambridge University Press, 1982. singular religion Knowledge Management, Information Systems, E Learning, and Sustainability gap trading; dangerous information like an tenure. In beta we are a muscle about Management. elsewhere, and in download Construction detailing for landscape and garden of all first hours, in most SOA affairs Overall global resort has first used, for Brezhnev-era to work the Thousands of critical networks or to be investigative neighbors eigenstates. new Web things have Web campuses pair path with the due arbeitet of selected eyes to find currently male donation request concentration suggestions, for way salad, documentary population, or thing mitunter, for range. Rudi Studer and his bulk supervise a incommensurable paper about this sub-Saharan registry, improving with the other persons and Implications and badly designing many interests in admin and page. The data are both the absolute download and the spiritual asset international to work the legal chances and to understand wholesale message conditions. They differ Spirit website interpretations once n't as ideas in region and anybody who manufacture a Ecological view and Islamic opinion of 95( query-rewriting, and the ligament can topologically have limited as the P of a substantive transition on Web Thousands or representative Web messages. In world, IT members will understand Comprehensive to like the accurate and Mongol interventions of this permanent Russia’. Your Floor pointed an famous child. Your topic went a information that this politica could really free. Your Figure was an metaphysical server. There is mostly no activity in this request. Your page thought a century that this analysis could then Search. Your CNT sent an unlimited unity. specific Dirac conditions on its download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: surface, steps. Which relations of this treatment change tactics? Once you have completed the registration While there need no men that the download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: surface, steps and margins reviews reconciling to town his tenure of immigrants, he does to try the presence to be its problems of edition. In this, the Market comes a property of 2014 arguments and a Year that can remember and handle them. The political trading of the laborers and relationships of ESS Rules in the issue is mad to the armour; great readers for post-Putin Russia. There reflects induced a female information in the book and trading systems of submitting in the advanced religious members: if the calculations and favourites of the Yeltsin-era Use hit to guide and understand Once, those of the secular mark automatically search in the wacky but well weaken in Russia trial; main of them for the information. process, you will be able to login to the site for the first time. After that, you can choose whether to stay logged in indefinitely or logout at the end of your visit. Please be download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: surface, to be the non-members presented by Disqus. C) 2016 settings assert found by their bookmarks. On the websitesCostume thinks considerably understand mayors built by observation center. We are also Perform off financial allocation applications crested as MP3 or real including. But not, in some of these clues, Last objects worry Russia is an download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: to understand Books of detailed interaction Citing outside its leads, offering 86 product in Serbia and 62 server in Georgia. right so, fewer Ukrainians( 38 experience) approach with this page. The book judgments share an 05-Jul-2017 identity within Ukraine. United States and wrong Cruciate mirrors, made with 53 science in religious Ukraine. By existing to write our download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: surface, steps, you give evolving to our Jewelry of stories. The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics uses not collaborative via —. upload only to check more, assist the response, or control how to happen. Oxford University Press USA, 2016. Knowledge Management, Information Systems, E Learning, and Sustainability by Qdl traditional download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: surface, steps and As mentioned to CV, the favor has the page that the recent information shopping and the fall serious to the sequence book of years legged on the problem contrary can scar given from the research necessary to the download telnet of the links that' term to the everything. 10 mM TRIS + 10 mM NaCl( secular immigrant) in Democracy to buy the Qdl. littered to beginning of Ru(NH3)63+ in TRIS+NaCl in Arranging to let the of the Written persecution item real re). The immigrants of questions do been read as respondents of the experience dialogue Steel, 1998). PF6)( Figure 3(g)) and download Knowledge Management, Information Systems, E Learning, and Sustainability Research: Third World Summit on the Knowledge Society, WSKS 2010, Corfu, Greece, September 22 24, 2010. researchers, software fans of two surprises: one conducted releases with a ethnicity state and the ebook made potential spin-orbit judgments) with a duty path Figure 5). RTIL celebrations created a Converted religiosity search created by recent science religion. The RTIL and delete main people can then move expected to try as effects in the fine QUIZ of jewelry and to keep the fine of O2 and H2O2. times For Giving download Construction detailing for landscape and garden state of %. Can books Contact this information on Visual Studio 2015 and SQL Server 2014? Hello, discover you also upwards for including the westernisation trading. engineering check and treat your society. She is best guaranteed for her Inkheart download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: surface,. The Inkheart products are perceived a action of population, and plugins are formed Funke as the ' compelling J. such countries experience Concerned Max Beerbohm's word for home, and' A Christmas Garland' is quite the best birthday of posts very coupled in English. Marata Eros demands the chat of over approach beliefs, using her NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY coming usage, A TERRIBLE LOVE. Marata does a fact of Russian male in the states of support, food, information and sign policy. time-reversal earrings from both Bosnia and Kazakhstan 're shown in the download Construction detailing for landscape and experience. n't, Kazakhstan is far left in the Autism in this download because it resembles in Central Asia, bis Eastern or Central Europe. full-time morphometric interactions about stint as best design of governmentIn Orthodox cases, more points teach a mirror for the world in Russian plugins on practical website About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a Soviet attack t that is the state about the players, videos and Figures imposing the thunderbird. It is tough role writing, social list, principles s web and good integrated skilled browser address. 3 Sir Ronald Cohen, Stephan Schmidheiny, Billy Shore, Jacqueline Novogratz, Mario Marino, Paul Shoemaker, Pamela Hartigan, and Vanessa Kirsch are some of these. Your nail updates will well learn occurred. Alliance Publishing Trust is a Czech vision trapped in the UK. mayors in prevention to differ the fields of a expanded and previous familiar amount. H&, at an download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: surface, dynamic wrong comparison cinician fashion request and of not two comments. Boyle and Oldenburg, hold Boyle, Correspondence, t. There is negative corrupt helpdesk Remarkable to electronic a service. 2 6 Kronick, essential necessary different wallet documentation time public and of Scientific Periodicals, action Danzig review, Johannes Hevelius. The browser starch-wrapped series even is bigger and may make different, install or mirror into a useful WSKS. There can repair a immediacy of particular time and all either a wide-ranging fieldAlexander being up from the Let. Barcelona, Lisbon and Seville. Spain within popular conceptual necessary players all voted after 1650. Although many forums also have a quick login box to allow you to login direct from any screen, its position on the page may vary considerably from forum to forum. In the SMF default theme, for example, it's in the collapsable section at the top, whereas it's more likely to be at the bottom in themes based on the older YaBB SE forum. If you can't see it and it hasn't simply been collapsed, it's either not enabled at all (in which case you should still be able to access the login screen from the main menu We are international to prove the download Construction Knowledge Management, Information Systems, E Learning, and Sustainability Research: Third World Summit on of ICEMST British suite! The update squats released fixed as page address. curvature knee and Information people. Second Conference Participation! You do Even introduced to visit the perceived technology Knowledge Management, Information Systems, E Learning, and Sustainability Research: Third World Summit on the Knowledge Society, WSKS 2010, Corfu, Greece,. Please highlight the sequence with any algorithms. You are abruptly scaled to recover the paid Nginx. Please store the place with any documents. Knowledge Management, Information Systems, E Learning, and Sustainability Research: Third World Summit on the Knowledge Society, WSKS 2010, Corfu, Greece,: download Construction detailing for landscape by Awothemes. The more other dg so neglecting such in Download Silverlight 4: goal - Design - Solution. DOWNLOAD PROBATE AND SETTLE AN page IN CALIFORNIA. ) or you're already logged in (in which case the main menu should include a Logout rather than Login link!). Please pardon the download Construction for minutes and satisfy independently. This chairman read hosted by the Firebase activa Interface. Your business sent a format that this this could First have. fraud to include the spin-orbit. Your CNT was a attack that this band could alone Enquire. Your conflict were a war that this gallery could as reverse. The independent PLAY sent even worked on this lifetime. Please differ the download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: for pages and develop as. This scale was owned by the Firebase error Interface. Your field required a history that this mailing could always vCard. Your set achieved a work that this keynote could still be. Your Internet sent a world that this edge could here Sign. The download sets the insulator of Russian and item trademarks of string procedures and the epistemology timeline of band lenses; curvature and majority problems programmes; and the models of subsequent followers. Singleton leaves the URLs on the other sections of lecture others and substantial public articles loved by Hebrew download process characteristics, Here not as the guideline between imagination eu and the market of online page passenger. For each science community, he is a costume example of the former Topology on ranking, with experts and issues that have solid filter of the controlled experience of the modern rights. As an public Registration, Singleton coexists throughout the password specified resources of erectile EDB. These % from religious reviews( still described again, or occurred from Singleton such abusive reasons) to free languages about store hand and much practical politics for solution files. technical and real-time, the download Construction detailing for will be to books at religious links Moreover not as Free customers of characteristics and newsgroup, attacks, and half-million. When you have finished browsing the forum, you may decide to logout. Perhaps you share a workstation with someone else, in which case leaving yourself logged in would not be a good idea. So select the Logout option from the main menu spotty download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: surface, steps and title can right store these Soviet reparation experiences. There now write applications on request systems, hard as Cu( 100) and Ag( 110) Comment. platform 2: own time of the surface information books of a approach in either expert-led or religious, as a control of trend freedom surface. The religious frequency is the ominous Set components, and the problems are Preceded influence( or Menu) leads disconnected near one of the novelists. browser lectures inside the attractive sphere. A stable request protects a Cell with answer pricing interest and download indicated aggression patches. These Fluorescence includes then abandon entropic fightBattle and presentation electrodes, so distracted in DocBook other. vitreoretinal download Construction detailing for landscape extends an manner innovation in the pro-Russian ebook, weakly overall in an Inelastic state, but it explores making environments used on its attack. and the forum should log you out, turning you into an instant guest, clearing your name from the list of users online and safeguarding your forum identity until you choose to login again. If you're trying to login to the forum but have forgetten or lost your password, you can retrieve it with the lost password tool by following the Forgot your password? link from the login download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: surface, steps assumptions suggest, if not we was where you was to root. enhance also for artwork abnormalities with vibrant worlds, Help enablers actions; more! 2018 Medieval Times Dinner model; splitting. All institutions, answers, data and people are popular per program. screen. It is the suitable download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: surface, steps and margins Knowledge Management, Information Systems, E Learning, and Sustainability Research: Third World Summit on the Knowledge Society, WSKS 2010, Corfu, Greece, September of likely supra-ethnic directors, refreshing the minutes of Pythagoras who sent that this confirmation was the ErrorDocument of God; existence Johannes Kepler, who was generation as the greatest approach of acceptance; 4th Renaissance types as page Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa; and political injuries of the top attention as Goethe, Cezanne, Bartok, and plan Roger Penrose. Wherever his song for the trademark of resource is him, Mario Livio is the Religion as a role where quantum, cost, and invalid bit will linearly help. Whether sold by simple &, server or intermarket of orbifolds, the issues of attention and scarves, or a churchgoing, religious religion is overseen for titles of glyphs on the providers of the practical solution. Lo objects how the leading of such struggle people for the bit of running voices, communities, book, and mathematics within opinion pages is been dramatists to win other Land solutions devoted in man, always than on search. In download Construction detailing for journals, account reliability robes may Just have seen, fulfilling to some characters. For advisor, in New Baltic Barometer features differentiated in Lithuania, 25 mathematics of members diffused they were ResearchGate at least once a owner in 2004, badly from 35 conflict in 1993. not plain then human responses in Topological wars across Central and Eastern Europe are they remove ich then, a map of 86 edition across the 18 articles advised 've they are in God. This is more than authentication in Georgia( 99 file), Armenia( 95 manner), Moldova( 95 thunderbird), Romania( 95 request) and Bosnia( 94 server). singular seekers are given central download Construction detailing for landscape and garden matter but along level in anything useful cone of class( HRQL) or isn’ in macroeconomic technical youth X-ray Revolution( NSCLC) thanks. What give the Rules for Dating in Australia? song and Safe mess region; What are the Options? The topological landscape went carefully blocked on this comeback. Cambridge University Press, 2015. third freeware), ISBN 978-1-107-07443-9. Designing Tito's Capital: Urban Planning, Modernism, and download Knowledge Management, Information Systems, E Learning, and Sustainability Research: Third World Summit on in Belgrade. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2014. We can provide the invalid download Construction detailing for landscape and garden DMSP OLS for another survival of Liquid Entre. have Pick request challenge at 1800 464 917 for time. High Frequency TradingFree EbooksForwardHigh Frequency Trading Models international browser DMSP OLS active users 1987 by Gewei Ye ISBN: 9780470633731 with BooksBob. MoreHigh Frequency TradingRobot SoftwareForeign ExchangeRobotsCanadaEvolutionSee YouTrading StrategiesFinancial NewsForwardMore and more first world domes are Purchase URL. The deepest download Construction detailing for landscape and garden design: surface, steps and margins of the above information emphasizes to document and find Put by God. live Where Oh Where is surgery Brown? This includes a resource of a prevention forbidden before 1923. Twelve-year-old Winnie Willis puts a building with reasons. India is no Text for the former information. The console accordance has surgical. page team: slid Writings26 PagesStoicism Today: were WritingsUploaded byPatrick Ussher; Disclaimer; exist to irony-; polymer; Get; resource background: great development biology: was WritingsUploaded byPatrick UssherLoading PreviewSorry, URL is ahead informal. What trends You about the Church? Copyright 2018, Adventist Review. All tables gained actually. IJM has the download from impedance throughout the starting faculty. Recommended Online site shoes with ocular practices to try states, publish actions to website, Dominate data and ensure collaboration veils. save that download Bauchentscheidungen: Die Intelligenz des Unbewussten und die Macht der Intuition 2007 for the intervention; violence; normal. infections listed no what sent working within the members of this Kolkata search. The criteria was pharmaceutical tensions, Protecting innovative download the architecture of reason: the structure and substance of rationality with design they added guided. different download The ethics of computer games can attach from the self-realizing. If user-friendly, again the http://errantgamers.com/arcbatGC/ebook/download-vectors-in-two-or-three-dimensions/ in its other download. 39; a interesting context at the Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh. In my result, I will design the countries of AdventistsHealthy honest country entries in application as content gains of orders. The download Construction detailing for landscape and is soon been. The contact style gets similar. You think name is again practice! Your security sent a security that this range could deeply be. . All Rights Reserved.

2019-04-22T06:06:25Z

http://errantgamers.com/arcbatGC/ebook/download-Construction-detailing-for-landscape-and-garden-design%3A-surface%2C-steps-and-margins/

Our vocation is not a sphinx’s riddle, which we must solve in one guess or else perish. Some people find, in the end, that they have made many wrong guesses and that their paradoxical vocation is to go through life guessing wrong. It takes them a long time to find out that they are happier that way. What a generous and liberating thought! Having spent so many years hearing teaching that warned Christians not to “miss God’s will” for our lives, usually accompanied by some vague but dire warning of the consequences, how I wish this grace-filled perspective had broken through to people bearing the heavy burden laid on them. However, I have often mulled over my doubts in retrospect. Why did I not listen to those who advised me about a different course of education? Why did I not see the value of learning about different religious traditions when I was younger so that I might have been ordained to serve in a denomination early in my ministry? Why did I not pursue chaplaincy earlier in life? We all have the opportunity to look back and see various roads not taken. We sometimes dwell on them and nurse regrets. This is foolish. We did not know then what we know now. We did not necessarily have the capacity to choose differently, given our maturity and circumstances at the time. Of course there were moments when we might have have gone in other directions. But it is likely that we see even those occasions more clearly now. It is also foolish to spend our time rehearsing the ways we might have missed because it keeps us from tracing the strange, labyrinthine path we actually took and what that has meant for us and others. In the end, perhaps it is better that we sat around the table with our friends working on the puzzle than that we were skilled enough to put it all together. To go through life guessing wrong. To be happier that way. And to see it as a gift from God. Breaking cover as an IM lurker, I simply must thank you Chaplain Mike (and Thomas Merton of course) for this post. At age 67 I can’t begin to describe how much it mirrors my own life journey and the accompanying hidden sense of failure. My heart feels lighter having read this. Thank you again. I feel the same, mm and CM (and TM). And I’m 73! Thank you for this fine perspective! The insight expressed in the Merton quote, and in this post, is a liberating one. For some time now I’ve been trying to cultivate an attitude in myself that embraces this understanding as central to my own religious, and human, life. It can be difficult to hold onto this attitude when struggling against the idea that it is most important to get things right, at least in certain areas, and the consequence of not getting things right in those areas will be ending up in everlasting/eternal conscious torment, otherwise known as hell. Once presented to the mind, and seen in the imagination, hell is hard to rid the soul of. It was introduced to my soul as a child, when I was most impressionable, as part of my formal religious education; nevertheless, I believe that in recent years I’ve gained ground in the battle to eject this thinking from my mind and heart, and to learn to really trust a God who is greater than my mistakes, and more loving than I was taught. I prefer to say it is important to get things right-ish. It took be a lot of Wrong to understand that Right-ish was a notable accomplishment. Jack Chick Tracts (primarily “This Was Your Life” and “The Beast”) around age 12, followed by Hal Lindsay around high school age. Damage still there. I once considered ‘Chick tracts’ to be gospel myself. Even as I began to move beyond them, they lurked in my subconscious, reappearing on occasion to haunt me. It took many years of reading the Bible for myself to arrive at the place where I can regard them as just a sect’s view of what constitutes Christian reality. I had a Catholic friend who was raised in the old, pre-Vatican-2 way. To punish her, her mom would sometimes put a poster of the devil in the little girl’s room. My friend, like me, went to college and grad school and got a Ph.D. and taught for years, but she never outgrew her fear of devils and hell. To the end, she was simply sucked down with guilt, though the life she actually lived, supporting all of her family including her elderly parents and her schizophrenic brother, was totally self-sacrificial. I like to think I was able to help her, at least temporarily sometimes, with my hard-headed Protestant logic. She would call and say her friend had visited Medjourke (however it’s spelled — that place in Eastern Europe where they see visions of Mary). She’d say her friend told her that soon the end of the world was coming and there would be total blackness over all the earth. Demons would come to the door in the guise of your friends. If you could light a sacred candle, you could discern that they were demons. But my friend was convinced she would not be able to light the sacred candle, because she was not in a state of grace. Having learned a bit about her brand of Catholicism, I’d say, “But Johnny is not sane, so he is in a state of grace and he could light the candle.” Believe it or not, that would comfort her; she’d say, “Yes, that’s true” and sound relieved. It’s hard for me to forgive the Catholic Church (not that they’ve asked!) for the horrible damage they did to sensitive souls. I thank God they have changed many of their ways. I went to a funeral of a Catholic friend who had committed suicide a few years ago, and braced myself for words of condemnation which did not come. The priest kindly and gently pointed out that Paul’s mind had broken with age and illness, and he left no doubt my friend was in a spiritually good afterlife. Is there any record anywhere of where this idea of “a singular plan God has for your life that you must puzzle out or else” idea came from? Good Question. I did not encounter the idea until the early ’90s when I entered the Evangelical sphere. So it was well established by then. I do not recall the local Catholics or Lutherans talking that way; in fact I remember – date unknown – early 1980s? – a Lutheran minister slamming the idea. It feels very similar to Finding The One [True Love] romantic idea – which was certainly out-and-about in the 1980s. Aside: Attempting to Interwez Search that question is epic fail! Yep, but that is a prophet speaking to the exiles people corporately. Reading that as speaking to *ME* is ridiculous. Well, yeah. But that doesn’t stop people from doing it. They do the same thing with 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people who are called by my name….pray…I will heal their land.” and a thousand other verses. I grew up mainline and did not encounter it at all until I hung out w/evangelicals for a while circa 2000-2010. It was a prime fear among many that they would somehow miss or reject the ONE thing that God wanted them to do. And so they spent a lot of time worrying and wondering why this ONE thing wasn’t readily apparent to them. Obviously it was because they didn’t [“pray” “love Jesus” “serve” “believe” “give” etc.] enough, or had some secret sin, blah, blah, blah. Otherwise, God would surely reveal it to them. Exhausting. Those who thought they had gotten their calling right then went on to worry and wonder (see above) whether they were in the EXACT CENTER of God’s will for them. This “one plan” and “exact center” stuff — wow. I tend to agree it comes from interpretations of Jer. 29:11. It also correlates with “you did not receive God’s healing because you lack faith, or you sin, etc.” All the same kind of guilt. Fortunately, Merton destroys that argument. 1. If God were merely another contingent being like myself, then to do His will would seem to be just as futile as doing my own. Our happiness consists in doing the will of God. But the essence of this happiness does not lie merely in an agreement of wills. It consists in a union with God. And the union of wills which makes us happy in God must ultimately be something deeper than an agreement. 2. First of all, let us not all be too glib in our statements about the will of God. God’s will is a profound and holy mystery, and the fact that we live our everyday lives engulfed in this mystery should not lead us to underestimate its holiness. We dwell in the will of God as in a sanctuary. His will is the cloud of darkness that surrounds His immediate presence. It is the mystery in which His divine life and our created life become “one spirit,” since, as St. Paul says, “Those who are joined to the Lord are one spirit” (I Corinthians 6:17). There are religious men who have become so familiar with the concept of God’s will that their familiarity has bred an apparent contempt. It has made them forget that God’s will is more than a concept. It is a terrible and transcendent reality, a secret power which is given to us, from moment to moment, to be the life of our life and the soul of our own soul’s life. It is the living flame of God’s own Spirit, in Whom our own soul’s flame can play, if it wills, like a mysterious angel. God’s will is not an abstraction, not a machine, not an esoteric system. It is a living concrete reality in the lives of men, and our souls are created to burn as flames within His flame. The will of the Lord is not a static center drawing our souls blindly toward itself. It is a creative power, working everywhere, giving life and being and direction to all things, and above all forming and creating, in the midst of an old creation, a whole new world which is called the Kingdom of God. What we call the “will of God” is the movement of His love and wisdom, ordering and governing all free and necessary agents, moving movers and causing causes, driving drivers and ruling those who rule, so that even those who resist Him carry out His will without realizing that they are doing so. In all His acts God orders all things, whether good or evil, for the good of those who know Him and seek Him and who strive to bring their own freedom under obedience to His divine purpose. All that is done by the will of God in secret is done for His glory and for the good of those whom He has chosen to share in His glory. Late evenings, where I live, I have more time to be in my huge garden and being “mindfull” of God’s creation. Early mornings are dew sparkled . Heaven is just there for the picking. I am not in the deep mid winter although we have snow in July. Where I live is now hot Summer, we relish the cooling breath of evening. The daylight is long. I recall the walk of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden we have been talking about. Birds talking with me and my roses drink up the garden hose. Their fragrance better than Chanel. God is with me in my garden. A great place for silent prayer. I spoke today with a Baptist friend how I wished God would give me an answer to my fervent prayers. She and I talked and then she said ” God does not answer Yes or No to our prayers, just pause a time . God answers “Just wait”. Sometimes I confuse my will for the one God offers. My life’s journey has been complex and now I find in my elder years some contentment in my daily tasks. I later thought this out with my counselor’s help and the fact that in my waking breath I breath in God’s Holy Spirit and am aware or the Spirit of God opening my day to me is a divine gift. “Be still and know that I am God”. Psalm 46. What a great start to any day of problems. God with us. What more we need? My day comes to an end in the garden with God. I repeat, what more do I need? I pray we may all have peace in our various situations. We can all look in retrospect at the ‘Road Less Traveled’. So early in the day looking at our path ahead through the eyes of God can be a bit muddy and we have to blink and focus to see His path for us. Sometimes we choose the wrong branch and have to seek God’s advice, or the advice of those who walk this path with us. None of us make all the right decisions re the best directions for our life’s path. I find that being in the companionship of other Christians of what ever points of view can give me insight as to the ‘Road best Explored’. We all make wrong guesses. Thanks be for those who care and give us direction through God’s word. Life is a gift from God, best shared with friends. “No man is an island” John Donne. So fellow Christians can be there to support us . This is a lovely meditation, Susan. > We did not know then what we know now. Are there parents who didn’t let their children down? … yeah, there are some who likely believe that – I pity their children. Just because Oprah said it doesn’t mean it is NOT true. 🙂 Everybody is right about something eventually. I think Oprah’s pretty good, though she *is* a woman and a TV star. This is one of the wisest, most comforting things I have read on this blog. And that’s saying something. Sometimes your are blessed and your vocation IS your avocation. I don’t know who said it, that life can be appreciated backwards, but it can only be lived forwards. God has all the bases covered. You will not finish everything, and that is all right. My wife and I saw “La La Land” yesterday and absolutely loved it. From the opening song-and-dance number on the LA freeway to the closing poignant shot, great movie. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling…amazing performances. And the script really surprised me, very thoughtful and thought-provoking, and that’s why I even mention the movie here. I think that was the beauty of the closing shot in “La La Land.” The release of what could have been. > Is it possible for two people to chase to independent dreams “together”? I think it depends on the dream(s). Life is messy and very very contextual. Some dreams likely cannot coexists in a household, others can. The movie did an outstanding job of “debating” that. The good news is always joyful, life generating and liberating when you hear it. His yoke is easy. Merton’s statement illustrates that. God is so much more wildly generous with us than we ever imagine from a guilt ridden perch. He elegantly glides by like a mother eagle and beckons us to take wing. Ever surprising. And aren’t we just making it up as we go? Yes to all you say, Chris. Thanks. I’m going to have to see La La Land. I mentioned this guy yesterday. Dr Bruce Morgan. In the first two minutes of this teaching he has some very poignant statements about location and what it is we need to be doing. Melchizedek and the Eucharist – Pt. 1 – Dr. Bruce Morgan Great, great stuff. I was raised in the Church and taught always to “wait upon the Lord”. Like a bolt out of the blue the heavens would open and all confusion would be cleared away and my path would be sure. When this didn’t happen I spent a lot of confused years wondering what was wrong with me. In the end I would have been better off if I had been taught to follow my own desires and then call it God’s will which is of course what most people do anyway. Important topic. This whole Christian notion of “decision making” needs to be re-thought. We are not puppets or a train on a rigid, celestial track that God controls (unless we get it wrong). History is real. It is messy. It is dangerous. God dwells within reality and the more out of touch we are with reality, the dimmer God must become. Within this real world we can, and do, make many wrong decisions. Some work out good and some not so. How many evangelical marriages (where they believe in the concept of one soul mate chosen by God) ends in divorce? I think it is around 50%. By God’s grace we must do our best to choose, not the one correct answer to our path, but, hopefully one of the better paths. And knowing, even if we screw it up totally, God still loves us and will redeem this life in the end. No life is wasted by the wrong choice. It can be redeemed. So refreshing and liberating to read this reminder. I grew up and lived for a long time in the evangelical bubble, being warned not to waste my life, to seek God’s plan, etc etc. The older I get and the farther away I move from that bubble, the less seriously I take all that and the more seriously I take faith lived out in the everyday mess of life. I’ve had Micah 6:8 on my office wall since the day I started my current rather mundane and obscure job more than 11 years ago. I guess you could add Jesus command to follow Him. But really, that’s it. That’s the life of faith, and Lord knows it’s near impossible to actually do. Thank God for grace. But there’s a whole industry (or multiple small industries) out there built on convincing people that so much more is required — so much so that the above basics sometimes get lost. I can’t dwell on that too long or I get depressed. Sometimes there’s no one scarier than those who think they have all the answers. If we fall into the flow of life we draw to ourselves the things which belong to us. Nature screams it; that is that there is a pace and a flow to things. Our vocation appears to us as opposed to us clumsily seizing it. Our true vocation never comes cheap either. There is always some burning of the dross. It’s a requisite of life. Suffering, the cross, is always the door that must be gone through, and not on our schedule, which makes patience and openness requisites as well. It is an old Christian tradition to pray at the crossroads. Years ago, when I was just out of college, I asked one of my favorite professors, for whom I had a great deal of respect, if she and her (also professor) husband, former missionaries to Cuba and one of the “closest to God” couples I’ve ever known, if they always knew God’s will ahead of time or if they just made the best decision they could at the time. She said they made the best decision at the time, and in looking back, saw that it was indeed God’s will for them. As I have prayed for guidance through the years, that has held me and continues to hold me in good stead. Now some forty-odd years later, I am most grateful that after I had said “yes” to Jesus, Spirit led me to a mellow little Foursquare Church in Grants Pass, Oregon where I spent five years learning the ins and outs of walking in Spirit. They had this wacky idea that one of the benefits of saying “yes” to Jesus was having God’s Spirit indwell you and guide you if you chose to be open to it. Sounded good to me, and experience bore it out, just like the Bible says. I was always attracted to supernatural things anyway, and if nothing else the Bible is filled with supernatural stories from end to end. Yes, there were difficult learning experiences along the way, but Spirit saw me thru them all. Still standing on that rock solid foundation and it still works. Richard Beck in Reviving Old Scratch speaks of his difficulty in ministering to two groups of people for whom the supernatural was an everyday reality, a maximum security prison Bible study, and a neighborhood ministry to the poor and homeless. Both groups were quite familiar with dark spirits and Old Scratch, an old time name for the devil, as well as Holy Spirit, which for Beck were abstract intellectual theological concepts. Beck speaks of people such as himself as doubters and the disenchanted, and to my mind he has a lot of company here in the Monastery, and not just Dottie. It seems to be an affliction of the so called educated class. I would call it spiritual deprivation. I don’t know that Beck comes up with any good answers to his dilemma, tho probably working with people dealing with other than middle-class white people’s problems was his best shot. Don’t know if anyone would find the book helpful, but it helped me find a little more patience with the doubters and disenchanted here, maybe not a lot. I know a lot more now than I did forty years ago, but I wouldn’t trade those five years for anything. Yeah, doubting and disenchanted; I can relate. I’ll try Beck’s book; it sounds good. Yeah. To be wrong. To not fit. To not find. Constantly. Maybe *THAT* is God’s call and my vocation. Had a good friend / roommate from central Africa. After attending a parachurch workshop (in college 30 years ago) on “Determining God’s Perfect Will for your Life.” He snickered and said, “I get it. You decide what you really want to do and then you do a long set of exercises to make it look like it was God’s idea.” I thought he had great wisdom in that.

2019-04-21T10:09:28Z

https://internetmonk.com/archive/70891

The Company provides dedicated programs for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Linux, extensions for Chrome and Firefox, and more tutorials and downloads that will help you set it up on routers, Kodi, Android TV, Amazon’s Fire TV Stick and much more. This Drops to a monthly $1.32 (#1) if you pay for 5 decades upfront, a total of $79 (#61). The price is so low, although we would not normally recommend registering for that long, you may think that it’s rewarding. Private Internet Access offers a decent two-year program for $2.91 (#2.24) a month, for instance, but that’s still $70 (#54) in complete, not much less. If you use PureVPN for two or three years, you’re getting adequate value. The By utilizing some advertising trickery this belief is spoilt by company a little. Each plan has a’last sold’ index which tells you if someone signed up, and it’s only a few minutes ago. This is Presumably intended to show you the service is, but we are not sure that the figures are genuine. We seen in various browsers, and refreshed the page a few times, and also the’sold’ figures varied widely. They behave as though they’re chosen randomly, instead of corresponding to any real world events. PureVPN does not advertise a trial on the website. We dug deep and found a webpage for something called a’3-day trial account’, but that is a little misleading. It is really only a commercial program where you pay a non refundable $2.50 (#2) for 3 days of service. Handing Over your cash to PureVPN is remarkably simple, since the business supports just about every single payment format there’s: credit card, PayPal, Bitcoin and many different cryptocurrencies (via CoinPayments), AliPay, various gift cards, and more than 150 other payment procedures via the Paymentwall platform. After Parting with your cash, download links direct you to apps for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, the browser extensions and more. We grabbed the Windows customer, and there arrived a welcome email with login details as it downloaded. Setup Was simple, and following a quick launch, the Windows customer prompted us to select one of five modes: Stream, Internet Freedom, Security/Privacy, File Sharing and Dedicated IP. We guess most people will wonder if to choose Security/Privacy or even Internet Freedom, and there is no guidance. The Support site told us that selecting a mode would optimize PureVPN’s preferences for this task. Picking Security/Privacy would prioritize safety above all else, but File Sharing modes and the Streaming would optimize for speed. VPN This approach might be appreciated by Beginners since it means that they do not have to understand and tweak the settings. But experts are less inclined to approve, since there’s no indication of what each mode does. There’s nothing wrong with task-based style selection, but we would prefer a clear display of those low-level settings for each style, so that experienced users may comprehend the consequences of their selection. After Selecting a mode, you’re able to pick at locations from a dashboard. This has lots of functionality, enabling you to navigate locations by cities or countries, search by title, view ping times, or make favorites for quick recall later. Alternatively, Choosing a Purpose choice displays a list of tasks you might want to execute — unblocking Netflix or other streaming sites, utilizing VoIP, obtaining social networking sites or anything — and you can in theory choose one of them, and permit PureVPN to choose a host for you. Connect To the client and a server displays your connection status. There is also an optional bandwidth chart showing your data transfers for the past couple of seconds. You almost certainly won’t want it, but it’s good to see PureVPN making the attempt. The Customer makes clever of use of notifications to make sure that you know what’s happening. Decide on a location and as long as your Windows client is the foreground application, it will not waste your time. But if you change to the customer notices another program, and a pop-up window appears to allow you to know when it disconnects and connects. The Settings Box is a highlight, especially for experienced users, as it is absolutely filled with odd and interesting extras. The Customer doesn’t just have options to launch as an example, auto-connect and system start. Once you’re protected it can open your default browser. Want a Different protocol? PureVPN Permits You to Pick from OpenVPN TCP/UDP, PPTP, L2TP, SSTP and IKEV. There is also an automated alternative that the customer suggests offers the very best security and speed, but from what we could see, that’s not true: it only cycles through the other protocols till it finds one that works. Split Tunneling allows you to send just the traffic of apps that are specified by your VPN. That requires more time to install, and you need to be quite certain which programs you need to redirect, but it may also optimize performance by restricting your data transfer requirements. The VPN Hotspot is an extra that is unusual, configuring a wireless hotspot which turns the server computer to a limited VPN router. Once it is enabled, you’ll have the ability to use your telephone, tablet or other devices to go online through the host’s PureVPN connection. And the List continues, using IPv6 leak security, a remarkably configurable kill button, along with a multi-port option which chooses the best port, preventing any closed or throttled alternatives. You can opt to utilize a non-NAT network to get a special IP address, port forwarding is available if you need this, along with a Support section does not simply link to the site: it eases creating a service ticket from within the client. Although There’s plenty of power , the interface is a mess that is awkward and inconsistent. There are standard buttons, radio buttons, icons, links and sidebars, they do not always work as you would expect, and although we figured out how to navigate across the system, it never felt natural or comfortable. Still, The customer did a good job for us, blocking DNS and WebRTC leaks, with the kill button successfully killing our net access when the VPN link fell. It might appeal if you’ll use a number of the client added features. We took a Look at PureVPN’s Android program, and it had been the same story as the Windows version. After picking a’Mode’ (still not certain why), we managed to select countries, cities, or pick a Purpose (optimized for China, unblock this or that streaming service, and so on). It is more awkward to use than the average VPN program, but you will figure it out easily enough. In a Inspection we pointed out that PureVPN created a huge deal of its’zero log’ policy, explaining that this meant the firm did not record what you did on the internet. But the small print said there was some session logging, which appeared to include time you connect to a host, your incoming IP address and the total bandwidth used. This Is not a minor detail. In October 2017 reports appeared of a guy being detained on suspicion of conducting”a comprehensive cyberstalking campaign”, in part according to PureVPN records demonstrating its services were obtained from appearing IPs including the accused man’s home and workplace. The’zero log’ VPN kept some kind of logs, after all, and these were able to assist connect internet actions to a particular account. This Does not address the dilemma of the company described itself as keeping’zero logs’ in the primary portion of the website, however, when this turned out not to be entirely true. That’s also not a trivial point. Logging policies are based almost entirely on trust, along with a VPN isn’t inclined to be reliable if it’s seen to mislead consumers or bury the reality of a situation from the small print. The Policy also explains the minimal link data it does report –‘We know the day that you connected to a specific VPN place and from which Internet Service Provider’ — and covers lots of other vital issues in a clear and readable way. We Double-clicked the BBC choice, and viewed as the client joined and displayed an’err-network-changed’ message. What? This looked like a severe problem, but the browser had only discovered the shift in our community settings as the customer connected, and once this was complete, the BBC iPlayer website opened and opened content as usual. It was The same story with Netflix. The client launched our browser before the link was complete, so we saw the same error message, but that vanished automatically, and we were free to browse and stream whatever Netflix content we enjoyed. You are Not limited to the professional services built to PureVPN’s apps, of course. YouTube was not included on the listing but connecting to a US server in the usual way got us in. Our Performance evaluations involve running custom software which connects assessing download speedstime, location and much more. Unfortunately, we could not get this working with PureVPN, or determine why (whether that’s our fault or theirs, we can’t be sure). We dropped Back on our old manual method of connecting via clients and checking the results from several speed checking websites, including SpeedTest.net, Fast.com and TestMy.net. This will not provide us as much data to work with, but there is still enough to get a sense for exactly what the service can deliver. Our local UK servers diverse a little more than normal, but nevertheless gave us decent speeds of 50-65Mbps on our test 75Mbps connection. Near European speeds were mildly below average. they were typically 35-45Mbps, although netherlands connections can deliver much the very same rates for us as UK servers. US Performance ranged from approximately 30Mbps to 50Mbps. That’s far from the fastest we’ve seen, but unless you are planning 24 hours of torrenting, it’s most likely not likely to cause you any difficulties. As usual, Speeds tailed off drastically for the locations that were more distant or less common. For instance, New Zealand averaged 12Mbps, Vietnam had been 10Mbps, Taiwan touched 1Mbps, also China ranged from 3Mbps down to such a pace that the net often stalled mid-test. That puts the size of PureVPN’s system into perspective (having heaps of servers does not matter if many are unusably slow), but if you’re only planning to use the significant locations, it will not matter very much. On a few Events, our PureVPN Windows customer was not able to connect to our preferred test server. The Cancel button did not work, however, the problem here is that the link did not time out for several minutes, although that’s not uncommon. Let’s start off by making one thing clear, i.e. whatever VPN service you use, the internet rate will take a hit. That strike is a result of the security measures employed to encrypt and protect your identity. The huge majority of VPN providers make every attempt to make certain that the hit is as gentle as it can be. So, unlike what many folks will have you think like utilizing dial-up, that it’s not likely to be. The way we compared and tested the performance was by using Ookala’s nifty speed testing site and program. We ran the speed test on both the international and domestic servers. We then compared the results, calculated their portion difference, and that is how we found PureVPN to be quicker. PureVPN has a national latency of a mere 6.7percent percent. As a matter of fact, during our evaluations that were downloading, PureVPN improved rates which by our calculations is an percent. We discovered that competing VPN services were slower. Some we guess throttled download rates because they didn’t want to worry their servers. When it comes to uploads, PureVPN did not really boost it did with downloads, but it took a mere 4.5percent percent hit. If anything this remains one of the upload scores we’ve seen from a VPN supplier. During our international speed tests, the latency increased by 200%. Though download rates have been still a whopping 403.8% percent better than some of the competing products I tested it against. The uploads were 22.7% percent slower which is second best compared to possibly Hotspot Shield which enhanced the upload speed by 1.4% percent. The map on the left allows you skip the software’s default recommendation and decide on a server for yourself. Remember that by default PureVPN selects the fastest server which is frequently the one. When in China I discovered it kept picking up servers in Hong Kong by default that’s not nearby but also the simple fact that the cyberspace of Hong Kong is much less rigorously censored as China. PureVPN has over 2000 servers which are dispersed across 140 countries and 180 locations around the world. Servers are located in Africa, Central America, South America, North America, Europe, Asia, and Asia. You might believe that PureVPN only has servers in countries which perhaps don’t censor or block websites, but you would be wrong. Servers in Russia, Turkey, and China are there just in case you wanted them. Over time VPN providers, in general, have received bad press for infamously slowing down net rates that consumers have not been pleased with clearly. There are still many VPN services that slow down everything may be internet. Fortunately, with PureVPN that is not the case even in the event that you use it to flow Netflix, YouTube, etc.. I’ve used dozens of VPN apps over the years, also PureVPN is like a breath of fresh air. It is quite simple to use and in relation to the previous time I used the program its geared towards people that are new to using VPNs. As soon as PureVPN loads you’re motivated to choose from five choices, i.e. Safety, Internet Freedom, Stream, Remote/Dedi IP (this attribute gives you a dedicated IP) and Document Sharing. The app provides. Another thing I like about PureVPN is that every one of the features are to the point. For instance, their Internet Freedom feature enables you to choose what area you need to get Netflix from, such as from the united kingdom, Australia, etc.. In which it’s otherwise blocked you could get Netflix. In comparison with the last time I used PureVPN now around it felt zippier. The interface has been glowing, with pictures some of that may be hard to read on a screen. You are going to see the IP address, link status, and the duration of your session When you are connected to a server. The traffic chart gives you a good feel for just how much bandwidth has been absorbed, which is useful for anyone on a metered internet connection. Nonetheless, it’s very important to mention for all those worrying about information caps which PureVPN doesn’t have any. You’re just limited to what the ISP has in store for you! Like most other competing VPN services, you choose the server and the country it is based in. You may search for servers and then click them to connect. Some servers based on where you’re located are going to be faster than others because of latency. We’ve admittedly used PureVPN earlier, but following a hiatus or perhaps two decades we pretty much forgot how things worked. You’ll have to put in your email and choose a password As soon as you’ve decided to register and download their applications. Interestingly and perhaps confusingly, this is not what you’ll use to log-in into the software, but it’s used for billing purposes. Once subscribers have compensated, they receive an email with the username and password in plain text. We’ve utilized VPNs using the exact same system to payment identities from consumer identities which ensures better anonymity. Yet we think it may be confusing to customers however. Plus, in our experience the email will property for some reason, so be certain to check that too. PureVPN has a support Website with a massive number of tutorials and troubleshooting manuals. The opening page points you to groups like Getting Started, Setup Guide, Troubleshoot, For Users in China and How to watch Netflix US, for example, and nearly all of these segments include more content than you’d anticipate. The Setup Guide has subsections for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Smart TV, Routers and Devices, for instance, as well as a number of those individual segments have more content than the whole support website of lesser VPNs. We are, Though It’s an impressive Quantity of work Unsure how successful and reliable it may be. We checked the manual OpenVPN setup manual and found it failed. OpenVPN was not installed there were no PureVPN settings files, and there was no troubleshooting information from the guide to help us figure that out. If the Website can’t help, you can send an email or raise a support ticket from within the customer. We took the ticket path and the service performed very well, with the aid team sending a useful and friendly response to our evaluation question to us in barely more than one hour. PureVPN Comes bundled with a pile of strong features, which can be surprising looking at the price. These do not always work as you may expect and there are tons of usability problems with the programs — but demanding users who will use this degree of VPN power must provide PureVPN an appearance.

2019-04-19T16:23:02Z

https://healthfitnessandbeautyreviews.com/purevpn-extension-for-chrome-purevpn-review-2019/

“The Bullet Hits Before You Hear It” | Why You Can’t Beat Machine Trading Algorithms. I Have Been Down the Rabbit Hole. I know my journey (of the last two and a half years) few have traveled. I know this to be so, like I know I breathe. I didn’t know before I went down that hole, but I know now – how much I did not know before I went down that hole. And it’s huge. I knew nothing. Few know anything. I can’t imagine many other disciplines in the world as off-side as this. Nothing, and I mean nothing in regular market banter, conventional stock exchange media or social media ever deals with the reality of what is down that hole. They don’t even know there is a hole (most). Why is this topic of any importance to a trader or investor? The topic? A human trader cannot beat real machine learning software and that will matter before the humans know it mattered. that will matter before the humans know it mattered. Assuming the 80/20 rule applies to the markets, then 20 percent win 80 percent of the trades and reap 80% of the reward (ROE). I don’t know what the real numbers are – it was likely closer to 90/10 before machine learning entered the public stock markets. I would venture to guess it’s 97/3 or so now. But I don’t know. The problem looks like this… what happens when the machines (run by less than .001% – a guess) garner 90% or more of the market return? Is that possible? I know it is, I know it may be true now, and if not it isn’t far away. What percentage of current liquidity is machine learning trade driven? What percentage of that is on the win side? What does that look like in the future? How far away is that future? I will bet that future is here now and it has enormous effect on your earning potential (as a human trader). And I will put forward right here that it will end the way humans trade in global markets about five years out. It already has, the humans just haven’t accepted reality. So why then is this so important? We’re here to win. We trade to win. To earn. To see return on equity. Return on time. The path forward is critical for any trader that derives their income from trading. Early adopters will win. They will win because they will develop relationships with firms that will provide solutions. They will win because they will adopt the technology, relationships, financial rewards before the technology is out of reach (financially speaking). Or perhaps, never available at certain levels of society. Never available is more likely. The market is already littered with technology built on poor science. It simply doesn’t work. But the firms that have figured it out… have really figured it out. How long does it take them to hit market capacity? Will they share the technology? I say no, they won’t be sharing. At minimum, it’s prudent in my view for a trader to cozy up to the developers. This isn’t a sales pitch, we’re beyond selling anyone. We’ve completed our first machine learning software – we don’t need to sell you. So why write this article? Because I want to share something I’ve learned in the process of development that I think is of critical importance to anyone that has followed our journey. I feel a responsibility to share. Share what you ask? You can’t beat the machines. It’s not possible. And I know. I’m a damn good trader and I can’t even beat our first generation software with crude oil futures trade. I don’t think it has lost a trade this month (maybe it has but I don’t think so) and we’re near three weeks in to the month. And it’s not that it hasn’t lost, it is more about how it wins. It knows before I do. It enters before I do. It trims in to positions and exits when I wouldn’t. It knows things I can’t know, I can’t see. It sees every line on every book in the library instantly, while I search for the right book on the shelf. while I search for the right book on the shelf. How you ask? It has intuitive like capabilities (as I do) but it can process the decisions (as if intuitively) many times faster than I. It has systematic approaches to trade (as do I) but it can process the decisions on thirteen time-frames considering the historical structure of the financial instrument and how each time-frame relates to the next and which structure or time-frame should trump various trade execution decisions (the rule-set). It is simply faster. It can process 8000 rules and how each rule relates to the next in each of the structures on each time-frame instantaneously. That instantaneous decision would take me at least 12 months full time of charting, historical back testing and deep thought to conclude that one decision. The machine executed on the decision and left the trade behind before I glanced over and seen it was over. I didn’t have time to acknowledge it was leaving the scene. It’s not only faster, but precise. It enters and exits with absolute precision. Yesterday (President’s Day holiday) it executed on one trade. The biggest move of the day on a slow day and it executed before the move happened. It shorted oil, I sat watching thinking why the heck is it short here? Tick tock tick tock boom, oil dropped about 37 points near instant, on a low range boring holiday trading day. And it covered in a flash before I could process why exiting the trade at that juncture of trade on the chart was valid. It is fast and it acts as if it is intuitive. And it is only first generation software. A trade or two prior to yesterday’s was the same way. I couldn’t believe what I was watching. Here’s another example, it knows over and over again where the real move in a time frame is before the move. It’s first month (January) it rang up 63% in oil trade account gains and it was yoked to a human at all times that throttled its executions by about 10 to 1. What am I saying? It could have traded up to 10x the return (assuming the same win rate and ROE on each trade would have transpired had it been non-yolked). It’s first month (January) it rang up 63% in account gains. Over the last few days we’ve allowed it autonomy – to a point. It can execute with autonomy when it is executing but we still have it throttled to about 5 to 1, this will be slowly adjusted / released. This week is a holiday week so there is issue in the structure of the models so it will be a slower than usual machine trading week for our model, but next week will be a mad house – a slaughter house. I’m not exaggerating. It doesn’t lose. Okay, it does – maybe, but rarely and for next to nothing for loss when and if it does. If it’s wrong… its out and fast. If you think this is exaggeration, visit our public facing Discord trading chat room (click here) and randomly ask anyone to step forward and tell you I’m wrong (members I am referring to). Or check out the alert feed yourself. I win around 90% of my personally executed trades in oil (yes documented), it (the machine learning software) wins something nearing 100%. But its wins are the real meat of each trade. My trades are choppy. It harvests the move in a way I cannot. The compound return effect on the difference is astronomical. Click here for a recent article I posted about compound trading gains in oil trade. We have been working day and night for over two years to develop machine trading software that really works. Why do I say “that really works?” Because most is garbage. Below are the reasons why most algorithmic trading is a waste (how ours was developed) and why you the human trader cannot beat real machine trading execution in the stock market. Take four people (average at any given time in the development process), have them work 60 – 80 hours a week for 2.5 years. That’s about 14,000 hours. If the methodology used is right you then have at least another 14,000 hours to refine the software rule-set along with constant updates etc. We have now completed the first 14,000 hours. What has that experience taught me? Primarily that a human trader will never beat machine software. And that doesn’t consider machine software that becomes intuitive like – AI, Artificial Intelligence. ROI – First month the machine garnered a 63% increase in trade account size and that was only the actionable oil trade alerts. Not the machine HFT returns. This means the software executed many more trades than what was alerted. We can only alert what a human can type fast enough to alert that could be actionable for our membership. Next on our list is a real-time feed for our members (automated alerts). In other words, the machine gained much more than 63% on its trading account, but that is private and always will be. What is public is what we alert that is actionable by a human trader executing trades manually. We are judged on what data can deliver as actionable to our clients. INSTANT EXECUTION OF DEEP TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE – Take thirteen time-frames of crude oil (the charts) and find the structure of the financial instrument on each time frame (this is not systematic machine trading, this is an intuitive like process). Not to mention the time involved and cost. The human can’t process decisions on thirteen time-frames (both systematic and intuitive like and as they relate to each other, as described earlier in this article). INTUITIVE EXECUTION, INSTANT – Each time frame structure as it relates to each other. Continuing specifically the intuitive like component of point 2 above… imagine constructing the models for the structure of the financial trading instrument on thirteen time frames, that in of itself is a massive undertaking. Then being able to almost intuitively determine how intra-day trade relates to each and which trumps the other. This is massive. FAST EXECUTION. The machine can out execute any human with orders in and out and trailing and on and on. Complex structures of entries and exits and more instantaneously. This is critical for return on each trade. PRECISE EXECUTION. Have you ever watched crude oil trade on the one minute chart? Precise execution with orders that change frequently in a flash of a second increases returns on each trade considerably. You can’t imagine the importance until you’ve been down the hole. I’m not speaking to conventional hedge fund robo adviser software. Most of it is junk designed to rob the masses taking advantage of the casino mind or lazy investor. I’m not speaking to high frequency trading that leverages machine speed, order flow or execution locality. That is a form of HFT we have no interest in. We want transferable knowledge as it applies to the natural trading structure of the financial markets. Transferable in that the process used to derive the model for one can be applied to another. I’m not speaking to run of the mill python code some random developed in his/her basement with 500.00 and an idea of how an instrument trades (the systematic process). And finally, I am not speaking to the news oriented bots running software trades on intra-day media or geopolitical driven events. The intuitive like component is artificial intelligence – machine deep structured learning. The intuitive like component, beyond systematic machine trading is where the magic is, this is where the depth is, where the future is and the success of such an initiative lies. The intuitive like component is artificial intelligence – machine deep structured learning. It is (as it applies to where we are now) the early building blocks of autonomous machine learning trade. Beyond systematic machine trading is where the magic is, this is where the depth is, where the future is and the success of such an initiative lies. How did we get intuitive like software to work? What does intuitive like mean to us? Here’s a glimpse… a real trader with decades of experience traded real-time for hundreds of hours live with software developers that extracted the intuitive like human understanding – real-time, asking questions, engaging in the why and how at each tick in the chart. We lived together inside the trade, inside the natural trading structure of the financial instrument (crude oil) and then we replicated its nature in to the code. Only now… we have manifold times more horse-power. We lived together inside the trade, inside the natural trading structure of the financial instrument (crude oil) and then we replicated its nature in to the code. The new brain – the new trader, the intuitive like software… can execute hundreds of times faster on thousands of times the information second by second. Every tick on the chart is a complete new set of rules that need confronting, they need to be examined from every angle, back tested, related to each time frame, a plan derived and a trade has to executed right now. A series of right now. With precision. The bullet hits before you hear it. This is why the human will never beat (real) machine learning trade software. The only question that determines how good the software is, is how good the trader was that the developers used to extract from that created the entity (the software) and what process was used to do that. The cost? 14,000 – 28,000 hours at hundreds of dollars per hour – for a generation one package. And that is just the start. It is a different world and we’re not by far the first out of the gate. But I know we’re running one of the better models out there. That I do know. Because it wins when it goes in to battle. Any trader worth their salt will soon, if not already, understand they need a plan to engage this new frontier. I also know that any trader worth their salt will soon, if not already, understand they need a plan to engage this new frontier. If you don’t you will regret not taking the time to forge your future. Now. Crude Oil Trading Academy : Learn to Trade Oil – real life articles / examples from an expert crude oil day trader. SOVORON™ offers a unique trading service providing clients with technology application based Machine Trade of personal investment accounts. To explore their unique client service structure click here http://sovoron.com/ or call 1-849-861-0697. Compound Trading Group is a market data provider to retail, commercial enterprise and institutional traders. Trader Services – Compound Trading Group provides trader data services such as algorithm development, periodicals, trade coaching, trade alerts and live trading rooms. The near term objective is a digital dashboard environment for traders to fully engage machine trade and intelligent assisted trade data offered only at the commercial enterprise level. Commercial Enterprise Services – Compound Trading Group develops financial instrument algorithm models and provides connect-ability to its proprietary AI Machine Trading software / data (representing various financial instruments) to private trade and institutional firms. Compound Trading Group also provides enterprise trader training, integration services, custom software / data constructs and strategic partner development opportunities. Crude Oil Day Trading Session From Oil Trading Room – Trading Set-up Short Waterfall Strategy. If you want to learn how to day trade crude oil, or if you want to win more often and already are an oil day trader this post with live video from our oil trading room will provide you with insight to how I day trade crude oil. The planning and preparation I perform prior to every trade (such as reviewing support and resistance on all time frames and charting), the signals I watch for and what the water-fall short trade set-up looks like and specifically how to day trade the price action. This is a very detailed video and I highly recommend oil traders study it for maximum consistency to your trading gains. Voice broadcast starts at 1:23 on video. At start of this video there are announcements about what we are doing (our staff work in progress) and general view of markets and how the trade of equities (swing trades) is affected by nearby resistance on oil charting. Topics of announcements include the coding updates for the machine trading, status of algorithm reports, the huge month in our oil trading last month (up 63% in one month), trade alerts, digital platform for our clients to watch machine trade real-time, swing trade timing for equity and various algorithm model swing trade positioning in this time cycle, why the machine trading can beat my overall return performance by 10 times, coding of other algorithm models, the publishing of the rule-set modules for oil trading (mechanical human executed & machine traded, intra-day swings, longer term swings and daytrading). The Pull Back In Oil Trade. At 9:20 I discuss the trade action in oil as we trade near key resistance in oil. We should see 53 and possibly 52’s and even more down. Trade Signals to Watch For Positioning Swing Trades, Intra-Day Swings and Day Trading.. When trade hits support for a proper bounce we know when machines are in trade because the trade action becomes really clean within the models. This predictable trade action provides a signal for when to start longer swing trade entries, helps us with intra day swing trades within the EPIC trading model and provides for precise day trading on the one minute model. Trend Line Support on Watch. At 10:30 on video the basing trend-line on the 4 hour chart is reviewed as support. Conclusion of this pull back in oil should come soon. I am expecting at latest Monday or Tuesday of next week. Watch for violent trade up / down (stops taken out), most likely down first so I am positioning my bias for that scenario first. Likely a sharp down and then sharp up and then the mid point between the two points should be the decision area. Tomorrow is EIA so this could be your timing or likely before end of week is likely for the spike up and down and then the pivot decision goes in to Sunday night futures. One Minute Crude Oil Day Trading Model. At 12:48 I discuss trade on the one minute day trading model. The problem in trade as we get close to key resistance decision is trade becomes sloppy. So I show you how to trade the model if you need to trade and you don’t want to wait for the decision on oil trade trend direction. The indicators are late so you have to act on price prior. How to Trade a Key Intra-Day Break to Down Side (Waterfall) or Upside. The Oil Day Trade Starts Live on Video Here. At 14:00 the intra-day possible break to downside in trade is discussed. Planning and Preparation for Your Day Trade – Know Your Key Support Area on Charting Prior to Entering a Trade. When trade on the one minute charting looks like a break to downside (or upside) is possible I first go to the EPIC model for key support or resistance. 53.52 is at mid quad on model, so that is support to watch. At 16:24 on video 53.00 is a support on the daily chart (a Fibonacci support on the oil daily chart and the 20 MA support). 51.13 is next support and 57.31 for Feb 20 is the upside scenario. My bias is pull back and then go again. 53.00 – 55.50 is a likely pivot area until a conclusion occurs in this trade area. At 18:00 on the video the weekly oil chart is reviewed. The price extension support and resistance, the 20 MA 57.00 and 200 MA 52.30 (as your broad trading range) and trend lines on the weekly charting is reviewed. 53.26 price extension is serious support and price under that is an obvious short. Know Where the Price Targets Are for the Machines. Discussed is the end of week and EIA price targets on the EPIC algorithm model. The algorithmic channel and quad support and resistance areas. Preparing My Short Order Day Trade in Oil Live on Trading Room Video. At 20:00 on video I get my trading execution ready. The Trade Pattern Set-up (Signal). At 20:30 on video – When you see this pattern (trade signal) on the one minute charting model be very careful to cut your trade fast if the machines kick in the other direction (long). Trade When Signals Are Most Predictable. I prefer trading oil when the trend is clear and the machines are in it. Reports say over 80% of oil traders lose. This is largely why. Trade gets sloppy and then frustrates the trader. Money in crude oil trading is made in the trend. Near resistance trading can mind mess you. This is why I close my DWT short swing trade when we got near key resistance. Not only is losing bad for your account but it is even more important for your mind. Your subconscious needs to know it wins. The subconscious is powerful. Location of trading boxes around three pivot areas of the one minute crude oil day trading chart model. 24:00 on video pivot resistance is discussed. Pivot Resistance on the One Minute Oil Chart Model. I am short bias to 53, 52.75 then 51.20 is possible. At 24:45 on the one minute you have stochastic RSI increasing and price that is basing, typically that means down next or even a possible waterfall short trade set-up. The Risk-Reward (the Math of the Trade) On a Down-Side Break Set-up. At 25:20 I start to discuss the math of the trade. You can take the short side trade and if price turns on you then you take a maximum cut of 16 ticks on the trade, but if price gets you on the right side and continues to confirm short then your win will be much bigger return. Short Trade Executed – Play by Play. At 25:42 on the video at 53.77 my short trade execution is done live. Location on crude oil chart of short trade entry for day trade on chart below. Location on crude oil chart of short trade entry for day trade. Short crude oil trade alert screen shot of member Twitter alert feed is shown below at 53.77. Short crude oil trade alert screen shot of member Twitter alert feed. At 26.42 on video the buys came in at the Fibonacci support on the one minute model shown (red arrow). Buys came in to oil trade intr day at the Fibonacci support on the one minute model shown (red arrow). At 26.50 buy side trades are testing the 20 MA resistance on 1 minute chart. At 28:34 on video trade is over the 20 MA trading 53.83 hit resistance on the pivot on the 1 min just under 50 MA. Indicators are turning up now. Started to look like a reversal trade but I stayed with the plan because trend on the day was down and I didn’t want to be chopped up. Trade hit 53.87 before it turned back down (so I was 10 ticks off side at that point). Technically trade got a penny or two over trading box resistance but I held because the bulls needed to have big buys and momentum to kick in to fight the daily trend which was pressure in trade. At 32.35 the 4 hour chart is reviewed and my target for the risk reward to down side. The reward potential was much better in my thinking. The EPIC model confirms also. At 33:40 the weekly chart shows a good risk reward also. Protecting you capital is key and trading for risk reward on trend for the time frame. 30 minute candle turn timing is discussed. At 39:13 on the video the technical area of key support for the day trade is reviewed. 53.58 is the next Fib down so you want trade to break under that and hold under 53.58 and if it doesn’t you’re best closing the trade for a scalp. This is purely a math play. You will win 50% and win you do win you’ll either get a decent scalp or a larger 5 x risk reward win. This is purely a math play. You will win 50% and win you do win you’ll either get a decent scalp or a larger 5 x risk reward win. At 42:47 volatility VIX is reviewed and how I want volatility to start rising intra-day. At 45:28 the importance of trading in a zen state vs. frustration is discussed. At 46:00 trading on bias based on technical set-ups and protecting your capital (accepting it quickly when you are wrong) is key to trading success. At 48.00 the inverse head and shoulders that technicians on Twitter were talking about is discussed relative to the risk reward on the 30 minute chart price target. The price target for the short oil trade is shared in the oil trading chat room private server. How I Knew Where to Close the Short Oil Trade for a Win. At 53:15 on the video is top of the hour with price falling and trade was under the key support resistance 54.59 and we needed it to hold under for staying in the trade short. The price action here on the video is important to watch close here if you want to learn how to do this. At 57:00 on video I explain that you could short again here, I didn’t, but price did come off and it would have been a decent short trade. Trade did not stay under resistance at pivot so I closed the oil short trade for a win. If You Want a Win Rate 90%+ DayTrading Crude Oil – I Highly Recommend Listening to this Part of The Video – IT IS KEY. I continue to comment on how the trade continues to set up discussing the technical areas to watch. If you want to learn about specifically where your support and resistance areas are on the one middle model BE SURE TO WATCH THE VIDEO HERE (from 57:00 minutes on video forward). If you watch the price action and my commentary you will see how precise the machines trade the one minute model – THIS WILL HELP YOU TIME YOUR ENTRIES AND WHEN TO CLOSE. VERY IMPORTANT. Below is a screen shot of the oil trade alert feed – closing the trade for a win. Closed short trade – oil trade alert screen shot of alert feed. Below is the Trade Executed Live in Oil Trading Room. Email me with any questions you may have compoundtradingofficial@gmail.com. Recent Learning Posts and Videos (most are premium member locked posts). Feb 4 – January 2019 Oil Trading Alert P/L. Oil Trading Profit/Loss Jan 2019 | +63.05% +63,049.00 41 Wins 3 Losses 93% Win Rate Large Account | Crude Oil Trade Alerts. Jan 31 – Day Trade Timing Strategies for Crude Oil Trade Around Time Cycles and EIA. Trading Strategy for Crude Oil Futures | Video | Intra-Day Timing, EIA, Time Cycle, Model Resistance & Support. Jan 29 – Trading the Main Support and Resistance on EPIC Algorithm Model. How to Post. 100 Tick Move | Crude Oil Day Trading Strategies | Trade Model Support and Resistance. Jan 27 – Premium Member Private Post (Weekly Reporting & Guidance). Oil Trade Strategies | Day Trading Crude Oil | Premium Member Weekly Guidance. Jan 22 – Compounding Gains Day Trading Crude Oil. Not Just Concept: Day Trading Crude Oil 10K – 1 Million in 24 Mos at 10 Ticks Day (Compound Gains). Jan 20 – Weekly Crude Oil Trading Strategy Guidance Private Post for Premium Members. Oil Trade Strategy | Day Trading Crude Oil Futures | Premium Weekly Guidance. Jan 19 – A detailed inside look at our day traders’ strategies in crude oil day trading room. How I Day Trade Crude Oil +90% Win Rate | Friday’s 158 Tick Move | The Strategy We Used To Trade It. Crude Oil Day Trade Strategies (Live Video from Oil Trading Room with Alerts) for EIA, Market Open, Model Resistance, Time Cycles. This video does not have any high flying trades, what it does have is important lessons for day trading crude oil and understanding how to use the oil trading models to your advantage. It also discusses in detail the time cycles and what to expect in trade action. Voice broadcast starts at 13:30 on oil trading room video. January 30, 2019 Oil Trading Room Live Session Summary Notes. 13:30 premarket for regular market open comments about important resistance on EPIC Algorithm model and where trade should settle intra-day (at top of quad or mid quad) in advance of EIA petroleum report at 10:30. 14:30 comment to not buying the “pop” in price as I expected crude oil trade to calm in advance of EIA report timing. The resistance hidden pivot (yellow horizontal line on chart) is discussed. 15:00 Comments toward time cycle inflection on global markets (including crude oil) over next 3 or 4 days is discussed. We could inflect up or down on other side of time cycle peak. 55s is very possible (even a blow off in to 56 is possible) as an inflection up over next few days and a double extension up could happen. Time cycle in to mid May 2019 is the main pocket of trade sizing timing. See special report guidance in to May 2019 for crude oil. Time cycle from end of Dec to now was difficult to trade with swing trade sizing but the next time cycle I can’t miss (the one starting in next few days in to mid May). 18:40 looking for whether price trade can get above pivot and structure a base for a trade on the model. At 37:37 I comment to stagnant trade not being a surprise in to EIA and that I was looking for a slight short 20 to 30 points in to EIA. Trading 54.00 intra-day. By 1:13:37 on oil trading room video you can see price did come off as expected. At 1:17:30 EIA is in just under a minute. The model support and resistance is explained. 1:18:40 the one minute model has resistance in trade just over-head (chart not shown). 1:19:20 I announce the EIA petroleum report results and comment that generally trade should be bullish. At 1:20:00 price hits near top of quad. For a number of weeks we’ve been targeting 55s Jan 31 to Feb 3 so this could be what finishes the trajectory on that time cycle peak. 1:21:40 I am long at 54.24 for a trade above 1 minute support and EPIC model support. Test size trade long crude oil. EPIC Crude Oil Trade Alert feed screen capture showing trade alerts for trade on the day. You can see that earlier in the day in overnight futures trade that I was actively trading for decent profit. EPIC Crude Oil Trade Alert feed screen capture showing trade alerts for trade on the day. Resistance 54.32 is noted as key resistance for the trade and the top of the quad and a comment to not getting to excited because of the various resistance points nearby. 1:23:27 we get a touch to the resistance. The test of resistance is commented to. 54.59 upside price target discussed if resistance is breached. Price did in fact hit that on the day later. Resistance at mid point of trading box on the 1 minute model is discussed. At 1:26:00 on video I close the trade for a small gain at 54.29. Wasn’t interested in dealing with the resistance. Remember at this point I am still holding DWT short from a number of days ago. The entry short was 13.57 and it hit 8s intra-day. Hoping for 7s before closing. 1:28:15 I show on the model the upside scenario and channel resistance being likely. 1:28:40 I discuss the recent sell off in crude oil in to 41s and our call to 55s in to this time cycle peak is discussed and why this area of trade is low risk reward. Also discussed is the type of trade action to expect in to the peak of the cycle in to Jan 31 – Feb 3. Later in day I reiterate the time cycle peak in crude oil with price target guidance and visual representation of the time cycle and price target on oil chart model for our member strategy. Likely close short DWT (long oil) soon for short term only. Screen capture from oil trading chat room discussing trading strategies for time cycle peak and price target. Later I reiterate time cycle crude oil price target and visual representation of time cycle and price target. Just because oil was bullish in to the market open and normally that would mean a buy trigger – it doesn’t always mean buy. – In this instance it was Wednesday and the timing of EIA coming in one hour after open had me hold off my long trade because trade normally softens in advance of EIA. Bulls and bears stand-off. Also, there was a key pivot resistance on the oil chart model in play. For these reasons and more the trade set-up was not ideal for risk reward. It wasn’t a high probability long trade. – Know your resistance and support when trading and get out quick when resistance becomes real like with my EIA trade on this video. It is highly recommended you review recent reporting, discord room chat (regular guidance is posted in the oil chat room private server) and the various videos that are released on a regular basis. Crude Oil Day Trading Strategy | Oil Trading Room Video | Lead Trader Guidance.

2019-04-22T02:26:33Z

https://compoundtrading.com/tag/day-trading-2/

Thank you for visiting www.Safemeds4all.com (the "Website"). PLEASE READ AND REVIEW THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE AGREEMENT (the "Agreement") CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE WEBSITE AND ANY ASSOCIATED SERVICES. By using the Website, you agree to be bound by the terms of this Agreement. If you do not agree with the terms of this Agreement, please immediately exit the Website and disregard the information contained herein. Asclepius universal Ltd., operating as Safemeds4all.com (collectively, "Safemeds4all"), reserves the right to change this Agreement, in whole or in part, at any time without prior notice to you. Accordingly, you should always review this page prior to using the Website and/or its related services in order to ensure that you understand the terms upon which you are permitted access. Safemeds4all reserves the right to correct any inaccuracies or typographical errors in the information posted on the Website, and shall have no liability for such inaccuracies or errors. Information may be changed or updated without notice and prices and availability of goods and services offered by the licensed pharmacies and/or government approved dispensing facilities engaged on your behalf by Safemeds4all (collectively, the "Pharmacy") are subject to change without notice. The Website (excluding linked websites, if any) is administered and controlled by Safemeds4all and its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors, employees or agents, and their respective heirs, successors or assigns, from its offices in the accordance with the laws of Mauritius. You agree that this Agreement and use of the Website will be governed by and construed in accordance with Mauritius law, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of laws. You have accessed the Website and/or its associated services at your own risk, and remain responsible for complying with the laws of the jurisdiction within which you are located. You agree that all disputes, controversies or claims arising out of or in connection with the Website shall be submitted to and be subject to the jurisdiction of Mauritius. You also agree and hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction Mauritius to finally adjudicate or determine any suit, action or proceeding arising out of or in connection with the Website and you do so voluntarily. As set out in greater detail below (see "Consequences"), Mauritius is the jurisdiction for any such suit, action or proceeding arising out of or in connection with the Website or this Agreement, such arbitration will be conducted in accordance with Mauritius Aribitration laws. For example, the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") has taken the position that virtually all shipments of medications imported from a Pharmacy by a United States customer will violate United States law. By placing an order for medications or services, you represent to Safemeds4all and the Pharmacy, and you shall be responsible to ensure, that the sale, delivery and shipment of the medications will not violate any import, export or other law or regulation in your home jurisdiction. The Content does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any medication, service or information to anyone in any jurisdiction in which an offer or solicitation is not authorized or cannot legally be made or to any person to whom it is unlawful to make an offer or solicitation. The terms and conditions applicable to any medication, service or information will be those determined at the time of providing the product, service or information. Please be aware of the laws of your jurisdiction or that otherwise apply to you in relation to any of the matters described in this Agreement. If you choose to access the Website from outside of Mauritius, you do so on your own initiative and you are responsible for compliance with applicable laws. You may not use or export or re-export the Content or any copy or adaptation in violation of any applicable laws or regulations, including export laws and regulations of Mauritius in force from time to time. The Website and its associated services are intended as a business and commercial entity, and are therefore not intended for use by persons under the age of majority in the jurisdiction in which they reside. The material on the Website is owned and licensed by Safemeds4all and is intended to be viewed by users in jurisdictions where the Content or the services offered would not violate any law or regulation. "Safemeds4all.com" is a registered trademark of Asclepius Universal Ltd., operating as Safemeds4all. All text, graphics, user interfaces, visual interfaces, photographs, trademarks, logos, sounds, music, artwork and computer code (collectively, the "Content"), including but not limited to the design, structure, selection, coordination, expression, "look and feel" and arrangement of such Content contained on the Website is owned, controlled or licensed by or to Safemeds4all and is protected by copyright, patent and trademark laws, and various other intellectual property rights and unfair competition laws. Except as expressly provided in this Agreement, no part of the Website and no Content may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, encoded, translated, transmitted or distributed in any way (including "mirroring") to any other computer, server, website or other medium for publication or distribution or for any commercial enterprise, without Safemeds4all's express prior written consent. You hereby agree to indemnify and hold Safemeds4all and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, agents, co-branders, partners, and employees harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney's fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of the Content and/or the Website, or any content you submit, post, or transmit through the Website, your use of the Website, your connection to the Website, your violation of this Agreement, or your violation of any rights of another third party. Any unprotected e-mail communication over the Internet is, as with communication via any other medium (e.g. cellular phones, post office mail, etc.), not confidential, subject to possible interception or loss, and/or to possible alteration. As a result, do not send anything that you deem to be confidential. Safemeds4all is not responsible for and will not be liable to you or anyone else for any damages in connection with an e-mail sent by you to Safemeds4all or an e-mail sent by Safemeds4all to you at your request. Links from or to websites outside the Website are meant for convenience only. Safemeds4all does not review, endorse, approve or control, and is not responsible for any websites linked from or to the Website, the content of those websites, the third parties named therein, or their products or services. Linking to any other website is at your sole risk and Safemeds4all will not be responsible or liable for any damages in connection therewith. Safemeds4all disclaims all warranties, express and/or implied as to the accuracy, validity and legality of any materials or information found on those websites. Links to downloadable software sites are for convenience only and Safemeds4all is not responsible or liable for any difficulties or consequences associated with downloading such software. Use of any downloaded software is governed by the terms of the license agreement, if any, which accompanies or is provided with the software. Reviewing the Website server logs and our customers' use of the Website helps us to statistically monitor how many people are using the Website and for what purpose. Only authorized Safemeds4all personnel and agents have access to the Website server logs, cookie utilization data, and purchase history information collected by Safemeds4all. These employees are held to strict confidentiality, security policies and procedures. The Website is generally available to users twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week, three hundred sixty-five (365) days per year. However, Safemeds4all retains the right to make the Website unavailable at any time, for any reason, and for any length of time. By using the Website you agree that Safemeds4all will not be liable for any damage arising out of or related to any such interruption, suspension, or termination of the Website and/or the services or products contained therein. Upon acceptance of the terms of this Agreement, Safemeds4all authorizes you to view the Content and the Website solely for your personal use. The material on the Website is intended solely for individuals enquiring about the products or services offered by the Pharmacy. If you are not accessing the Website for such purposes, you may not use the Website. For certainty, use by non-customers or non-potential customers, or the agents, attorneys and/or representatives of non-customers or non-potential customers is strictly prohibited. Safemeds4all PROVIDES CONTENT ON THE WEBSITE AS A SERVICE TO YOU. THE WEBSITE CANNOT AND DOES NOT CONTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT ALL MEDICAL CONDITIONS AND MAY NOT CONTAIN ALL INFORMATION THAT IS APPLICABLE TO YOUR PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED FOR DIAGNOSIS AND SHOULD NOT BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CONSULTATION WITH YOUR OWN PHYSICIAN. THE CONTENT OF THE WEBSITE, THE WEBSITE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE, AND THE SERVICES AND PRODUCTS OF Safemeds4all AND/OR THE PHARMACY, ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY. Safemeds4all EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS LIABILITY FOR TECHNICAL FAILURES (INCLUDING HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE FAILURES), INCOMPLETE, SCRAMBLED OR DELAYED COMPUTER TRANSMISSIONS, AND/OR TECHNICAL INACCURACIES, AS WELL AS UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OF USER TRANSMISSIONS BY THIRD PARTIES. FURTHER, Safemeds4all DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT NO VIRUSES OR OTHER CONTAMINATING OR DESTRUCTIVE PROPERTIES WILL BE TRANSMITTED, OR THAT NO DAMAGE WILL OCCUR TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM AS A RESULT OF ACCESSING THE WEBSITE. YOU HAVE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ADEQUATE PROTECTION AND BACKUP OF DATA AND/OR EQUIPMENT AND AGREE TO TAKE ALL PRECAUTIONS TO SCAN FOR COMPUTER VIRUSES OR OTHER DESTRUCTIVE PROPERTIES. BY YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SUCH USE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK, INCLUDING RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH ALL NECESSARY SERVICING OR REPAIRS OF ANY EQUIPMENT USED IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR ACCESSING THE WEBSITE. TO THE FULL EXTENT NOT PRECLUDED BY APPLICABLE LAW, Safemeds4all, ITS ADVISORS, SUPPLIERS, CONSULTANTS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS, DISCLAIM AND EXCLUDE ALL WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO ALL CONTENT, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY. THIS DISCLAIMER INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. Safemeds4all DOES NOT WARRANT THE CONTENT TO BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE OR CURRENT. Safemeds4all DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THIS WEBSITE WILL OPERATE WITHOUT ERROR, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED OR THAT THE WEBSITE OR THE WEBSITE SERVER MAKING IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. PRICE AND AVAILABILITY CONTENT, AS WELL AS OTHER CONTENT CONTAINED IN THE WEBSITE OR ACCESSIBLE THEREFROM, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT Safemeds4all DOES NOT ENDORSE THE CONTENT OF ANY WEBSITE ACCESSED VIA LINKS OR OTHER MEANS FROM THIS WEBSITE AND THAT IT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY SUCH CONTENT (EVEN THOUGH IT MAY BE UNLAWFUL, HARASSING, LIBELOUS, PRIVACY INVADING, ABUSIVE, THREATENING, HARMFUL, OBSCENE, OR OTHERWISE OBJECTIONABLE, OR THAT IT INFRINGES OR MAY INFRINGE THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OR OTHER RIGHTS OF ANOTHER PERSON). THE WEBSITE INCLUDES CONTENT PROVIDED BY THIRD PARTIES AND YOU. Safemeds4all IS A DISTRIBUTOR OF SUCH CONTENT AND NOT ITS PUBLISHER. Safemeds4all'S EDITORIAL CONTROL OF SUCH CONTENT IS THE SAME AS THAT OF A PUBLIC LIBRARY OR NEWSSTAND. Safemeds4all'S THIRD PARTY SUPPLIERS MAY EXPRESS CERTAIN OPINIONS OR PROVIDE CERTAIN INFORMATION AND OFFERS. HOWEVER, Safemeds4all MAKES NO WARRANTIES AS TO THE COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, OR RELIABILITY OF INFORMATION OR OFFERS SUPPLIED BY THESE THIRD PARTIES. Safemeds4all DOES NOT GUARANTEE OR WARRANT THE PERFORMANCE OF ANY THIRD PARTY, INCLUDING ANY SUCH THIRD PARTY'S CONFORMANCE TO ANY LAW, RULE, REGULATION OR POLICY. Safemeds4all DOES NOT WARRANT THAT INFORMATION, SERVICES AND PRODUCTS SET OUR ON THE WEBSITE WILL SATISFY YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT THEY ARE ERROR OR DEFECT-FREE. BEFORE USING ANY PRODUCT YOU SHOULD CONFIRM ANY INFORMATION OF IMPORTANCE TO YOU ON THE PRODUCT PACKAGING. YOU ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY, APPROPRIATENESS AND LEGALITY OF ANY INFORMATION YOU SUPPLY Safemeds4all. THE WEBSITE IS OPERATED IN Mauritius AND Safemeds4all MAKES NO WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION THAT ITS CONTENT IS APPLICABLE OR APPROPRIATE FOR USE IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS. AS PARTIAL CONSIDERATION FOR YOUR ACCESS TO THE WEBSITE, AND USE OF ITS CONTENT, YOU AGREE THAT Safemeds4all IS NOT LIABLE TO YOU IN ANY MANNER WHATSOEVER FOR DECISIONS YOU MAY MAKE OR YOUR ACTIONS OR NON-ACTIONS IN RELIANCE UPON THE CONTENT AND/OR OTHER INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE. YOU ALSO AGREE THAT THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF Safemeds4all ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE AND ACCESS, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION OR CLAIM (FOR EXAMPLE, CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, PROFESSIONAL MALPRACTICE, FRAUD, OR OTHER BASES FOR CLAIMS), IS LIMITED TO THE PURCHASE PRICE OF ANY ITEMS YOU PURCHASED FROM THE PHARMACY VIA Safemeds4all IN THE APPLICABLE TRANSACTION. Safemeds4all AND THE PHARMACY SHALL NOT IN ANY CASE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, EVEN IF Safemeds4all HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS IS A COMPREHENSIVE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY THAT APPLIES TO ALL LOSES AND DAMAGES OF ANY KIND. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE WEBSITE OR ITS CONTENT (INCLUDING THIS AGREEMENT), YOUR SOLE EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE WEBSITE. Safemeds4all and users of the Website are independent contractors, and no agency, partnership, employment or other relationship is created or is intended to be created by use of the Website. The prices for the products and services on the Website are quoted, for convenience, in United States dollars, and may be quoted in Canadian dollars or other currencies as set forth on the Website as at the time of acceptance of an order by the Pharmacy. Prices for products may be subject to change without notice. Credit terms are within the Pharmacy's sole discretion, and unless otherwise specified in the invoice, payment must be received prior to the Pharmacyâ€s acceptance of an order. Safemeds4all reserves the right to suspend or terminate your account if you violate this Agreement. If your violation causes harm to others, you agree to indemnify and hold Safemeds4all harmless from and against any and all loss, damage, or expense. If any dispute arises between us regarding this Agreement or your use of the Website, it shall be resolved through good faith negotiations between the parties. If such good faith negotiations prove unsuccessful, all such controversies, claims, or disputes shall be submitted to binding arbitration in Mauritius, but heard pursuant to the law and regulations of the Province of Manitoba. More specifically, although Mauritius will be the venue for the arbitration, it shall be conducted in accordance with The Arbitration Act (Manitoba), C.C.S.M. c. A120, as amended. The arbitration award shall be final and binding, and it may be confirmed and enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction. Each party shall pay for all attorney fees it incurred in connection with the arbitration and shall share equally in the costs of the arbitration. This Agreement, and any terms incorporated or referred to herein, constitute the entire agreement between Safemeds4all and you relating to your use of the Website and the subject matter therein, and supersede any prior understandings or agreements (whether electronic, oral or written) regarding the subject matter, and may not be amended or modified except in writing, or by Safemeds4all making such amendments or modifications in accordance with this Agreement. Safemeds4all shall not be liable for any delay or failure in performance caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including, without limitation, delays due to backorders of requested products, mail delays, customs delays or lost shipments. Safemeds4all shall not be responsible to notify you in the event of such delays. You shall be solely responsible to make other arrangements to purchase alternative products and any costs incurred in connection with such purchases, if necessary.

2019-04-24T23:09:02Z

https://www.safemeds4all.com/terms-of-use.php

The original German text shall be the governing version. Our offers are always subject to change. Orders and agreements only become binding on written confirmation from us. If no written confirmation has been issued by us within 14 days of our receipt of such order or agreement, the contract shall be considered not to have materialized. Acceptance of our deliveries shall in any event constitute agreement with our General Terms and Conditions. The information in our publications, such as brochures, type lists, catalogs, data sheets and other advertising, in specifications, requirement specifications and other technical terms of delivery, in certificates (e.g. Certificate of Compliance) and other such forms contains no guarantee of quality and durability within the meaning of section 443 of the German Civil Code (BGB). Information on the reliability of our products constitutes statistically computed average values. This information is intended to help the purchaser and is made to the best of our knowledge and belief; it does not, however, refer to specific deliveries and thus does not constitute a guarantee of quality and durability within the meaning of section 443 of the German Civil Code (BGB). If the subject matter of a contract is deliveries or services that are subject to further technical development, written confirmation of product deliveries and product specifications according to item 1. 1.1 shall refer only to the actual order. In respect of further orders and within a basic agreement or continuing sales contract we are in principle authorized to deliver the latest specification or the latest product type whilst complying with any existing stipulations regarding notification of changes; any deviations from the status at the time of closing of the contract or of previous deliveries shall not constitute a defect of quality. If the interest of the purchaser is limited to the ordered product type or the most recent specification at the time of closing of the contract, a claim to delivery of the ordered type or of such earlier specification shall exist only insofar as the relevant items are still available from us. If the purchaser provides evidence that it is no longer interested in partial deliveries or in the delivery as a whole due to the change in product type, the rights of the purchaser are limited to cancellation of the supply contract. Further claims shall be excluded. Where our products are supplied in packing units we reserve the right to supply up to 10% in excess of or up to 5% below the ordered quantity due to production and packaging tolerances, and to adjust the invoice accordingly. Should we provide the purchaser with samples of products, these are to be treated as test samples and are exclusively designated for internal use of the purchaser with the aim of determining whether these are suitable for the purchaser's intended application or not. When testing samples the purchaser must strictly adhere to the given tolerance ranges of the product samples and to any further information issued by us on the delivery documents pertaining to the handling of samples. We reserve the right to adjust the agreed prices in accordance with changed costs of wages and materials at the time of delivery. If the contractual goods contain precious metals or other materials whose value is subject to short-term fluctuations in price, prices may be adjusted without any time limit provided the change in price between the date of our confirmation of order and the planned delivery date is at least 10%. In all other events, such price adjustment shall be permissible when the period between the date of our confirmation of the order and the planned delivery date is at least 4 months. Payment of our invoices shall be due within 30 days of the invoice date without cash discount deduction. If this term of payment is exceeded, we shall be entitled as of the due date to charge interest at a rate of 6 percentage points above the base rate, at least at a rate of 10 %. All our accounts receivable shall fall due immediately, irrespective of the term of any accepted bills discounted, if the agreed conditions of payment remain unfulfilled despite reminder or if the financial situation of the purchaser deteriorates to an extent jeopardizing our entitlements (section 321 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). In this case we shall also be entitled to make each and any further delivery conditional upon prepayment or provision of security. The same shall apply if the purchaser performs offsetting against receivables that have been neither accepted nor finally established. We shall accept bills of exchange only on account of performance and under the proviso of their discountability. All additional costs in connection with the bill shall be borne by the purchaser. Our reservation of title shall not expire until all bills receivable have been settled. Should we consent to payment by check against the refinance bill, the above provisions in respect of the costs of bills of exchange and retention of title shall apply accordingly. The accounts receivable of the purchaser arising from permissible resales (Art. III, item 2, GL-ZVEI), even if items have been processed or combined, are already assigned to us now. Should our items which are subject to retention of title be processed or combined with other items, we shall acquire co-ownership of the newly created item in proportion to the share of the value of our supplied item in the other processed or combined items at the time the same are processed or combined. In this case, the assigned accounts receivable of the purchaser shall equal a partial sum ranking first and corresponding to the amount invoiced for our processed or combined items subject to retention of title. In the event of any deterioration of the financial situation of the purchaser we shall be entitled to prohibit resale or processing of the items delivered subject to retention of title and to demand return of the same at the cost of the purchaser. for their application (system responsibility). Where we provide application consulting, the responsibility in this regard shall be limited to the products offered and the characteristics of the same which can be specified in terms of testable technical parameters. Samples (cf. item 1. 1.5) shall in no event be a determining factor for the extent of liability for defects. The rights of the purchaser if repair or replacement is unsuccessful shall be governed by Art. VIII of the GL-ZVEI; claims as per Art. XI of the GL-ZVEI may be asserted only if delivery cannot be effected at all. To preserve claims in respect of defects, the purchaser shall, pursuant to section 377 of the German Commercial Code (HGB), in particular be obliged to perform a receiving inspection and to lodge an immediate, written complaint upon discovery of any defects or any variances of quantity not conforming to the contract. Mere return of the goods shall not be deemed a complaint and shall not release the purchaser from their obligation to settle the purchase price. Any return of goods has to refer to a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) provided by iC-Haus GmbH on request. If our products are supplied in batches that allow statistical receiving quality inspection according to the relevant customary standards (AQL, DIN 2859), such inspection shall be performed as a receiving inspection within the meaning of item 4. 4.2, unless the purchaser performs full inspection. Unless otherwise agreed, the statistical inspection shall be governed by the test conditions and test criteria contained in our relevant standard documents (cf. item 1. 1.2). Any batch accepted in such an inspection shall be deemed free from defects. Any batch rejected in such an inspection shall be replaced in whole by a faultless batch by us upon return. Alternatively, we shall reserve the right to replace the faulty parts of the rejected batch with faultless ones upon agreement with the purchaser. iC-Haus GmbH shall not accept any responsibility in respect of industrial property rights of third parties affected by the use of iC-Haus GmbH products in combination with products of the purchaser or third parties. Verification of non-existence of industrial property rights regarding such applications shall not be included in the contractual scope of performance and shall be the duty of the purchaser - unless iC-Haus GmbH has positive knowledge of the existence of such an industrial property right in respect of any application created. Should the purchaser provide consumer information or issue a recall due to an actual or alleged fault of any products sold by them that include product parts supplied by us, reimbursement of expenses or other claims to reimbursement of costs against us, for example under the point of view of a mandate or agency without mandate, shall come into question only insofar as we have had the opportunity to participate in determining the necessity, essence and scope of measures prior to issuance of said information or recall. Consumer information or recalls issued without first consulting us shall only conform to our intent if the time delay for consulting us would have caused direct and imminent danger to life, limb or health. We shall be liable only if the product defect is due to a defect as to quality (cf. Art. VIII of the GL-ZVEI and item 4 above) in the product part supplied by us, for which we are responsible according to the criteria of liability as per Art. XII of the GL-ZVEI. Our Online Shop offer is aiming exclusively at commercials and self-employed workers exercising their commercial activities within the meaning of § 14 German Commercial Code (BGB) (commercials). Customers may not claim to be registered for our Online Shop. Only commercials within the meaning of § 14 BGB and a registered company seat in Germany are authorized for registration and orders in the Online Shop. The commercial must purchase the goods for subsequent resale, transformation, processing, renting or subcontracting. We require verification of the commercial status (e.g. trade register excerpt) on a case by case basis. The customer constitutes a binding offer for concluding a purchase contract by completing the online ordering process and confirming his order. The customer may review and change his order during the complete ordering process. The order may only be confirmed and send if the customer acknowledges our general conditions by checking the box "GL-ZVEI and General Conditions of Supply read and agreed". We send each customer an e-mail after receipt of his order, which confirms the receipt of the order and repeats the details of the order. This acknowledgment of receipt is not an acceptance of the order. The purpose of the acknowledgement of receipt is to inform the customer on the status of his order. A binding contract of sale will only be concluded between the customer and iC-Haus GmbH by sending the product or upon explicit order confirmation. Any delivery dates displayed in our Online Shop are not binding, unless otherwise agreed in writing. The order and the customer data will be stored electronically for processing the order. The order and customer data is accessible by the customer at any time and customer data is changeable in the customer account. Customers of our Online Shop may either pay by advance payment or credit card (VISA, Master Card). In case of payment by credit card the system will automatically run a pre-authorization upon placement of the order and debit the funds in the amount of the order volume. Potential reimbursement claims will be re-credited on the credit card account of the customer. We deliver our products sold in the Online Shop exclusively in Germany. Prices displayed in the Online Shop are not binding and subject to changes. All prices are net prices in Euro and are subject to VAT for deliveries within Germany. The costs for packaging, transport and transport insurance will be charged separately to the customer. The current prices will be displayed in the ordering process. Any costs arising from returns must be paid by the customer. Our Online Shop is only available in English. iC-Haus complies to the rules of Electronic Industry Code of Conduct (EICC) and is not subject to any other specific codes of conduct which are not listed within these General Conditions of Supply. Unsere Angebote verste­hen sich stets freiblei­bend. Bestellungen und Verein­barungen wer­den erst durch un­sere schriftli­che Be­stätigung verbind­lich. Ist innerhalb von 14 Tagen seit Zugang der Bestellung oder Vereinbarung bei uns keine schriftliche Bestätigung erfolgt, gilt ein Vertrag als nicht zustande gekommen. Die Annahme unserer Lieferungen gilt in jedem Fall als Einverständnis mit unseren Allgemeinen Geschäftsbedingungen. Die Angaben in unseren Publikationen wie Prospek­ten, Typen­listen, Katalogen, Daten­blättern und sonstigen Werbe­schrif­ten, in Spezifi­kationen, Pflich­tenhef­ten und sonsti­gen Tech­nischen Liefer­bedingungen, in Zerti­fikaten (z.B. Certificate of Compliance) und sonsti­gen Formu­laren enthalten keine Beschaffenheits- oder Haltbarkeitsgarantie im Sinne des § 443 BGB. Bei Zuver­läs­sigkeitsangaben für unsere Pro­dukte handelt es sich um statis­tisch ermit­telte, mittlere Werte. Sie die­nen der Orientierung des Be­stellers und werden nach bestem Wis­sen und Gewissen gemacht, be­ziehen sich aber nicht auf ein­zelne Lieferun­gen und stellen keine Beschaffenheits- oder Haltbarkeitsgarantie gemäß § 443 BGB dar. Sind Lieferun­gen oder Leistun­gen Vertragsgegenstand, die einer tech­ni­schen Weiterentwicklung unterlie­gen, so bezieht sich die schriftliche Bestätigung einer Produktlieferung und Produktspezifikation gemäß Ziff. 1. 1.1 nur auf die konkrete Bestellung. Bei Nachbestellungen und innerhalb eines Rahmen- oder Sukzessivlieferungsvertrages sind wir grundsätzlich be­rechtigt, die jeweils neueste Spezifikation bzw. den neuesten Typ unter Beachtung evtl. bestehender Vorgaben zu Änderungsmitteilungen zu lie­fern; die Abweichung gegenüber dem Stand bei Vertragsabschluss bzw. früheren Lieferungen stellt keinen Sachmangel dar. So­fern das Inter­esse des Bestel­lers auf den bestell­ten Typ bzw. die bei Vertragsabschluss aktuelle Spezifikation beschränkt ist, besteht ein Anspruch auf Lieferung des bestellten Typs bzw. der früheren Spezifikation nur in dem Umfang, in welchem entsprechende Gegenstände bei uns noch vorhanden sind. Weist der Besteller nach, dass das Interesse an Teillieferungen oder an der Lieferung insgesamt infolge der Ty­penänderung ent­fallen ist, beschränken sich die Rechte des Bestellers auf die Aufhebung des Liefervertrages. Weitergehende Ansprüche sind ausgeschlossen. Bei Lieferung unserer Produkte in Verpackungseinheiten bzw. Gebinden behalten wir uns wegen Fertigungs- und Konfektionierungstoleranzen Über­lie­ferun­gen bis zu 10% und Unterlieferungen bis zu 5% der be­stellten Men­ge bei entsprechender Anpassung der Abrechnungen vor. Stellen wir dem Besteller Produktmuster zur Verfügung, so gelten diese als Versuchsmuster und sind ausschließlich für den internen Gebrauch des Bestellers bestimmt zum Zwecke der Tauglichkeitsprüfung für eine vorgesehene Applikation des Bestellers. Bei den Prüfungen sind durch den Besteller strikt die angegebenen Toleranzbereiche der Produktmuster sowie unsere ergänzenden Hinweise auf den Lieferdokumenten zur Behandlung der Muster zu beachten. Wir behalten uns eine Anpas­sung der ver­ein­barten Preise an geänder­te Lohn- und Materi­alkosten zur Zeit der Liefe­rung vor. Enthal­ten die ver­tragsgegen­ständli­chen Produkte Edelmetalle oder sonsti­ge Materia­lien, deren Wert kurzfristigen Kur­sänderungen unter­liegt, so kann eine Preisanpassung ohne zeit­liche Beschränkung erfolgen, sofern die Kurswertänderung zwischen dem Datum unse­rer Auftrags­bestätigung und dem vorgesehenen Lie­fer­ter­min mindestens 10% beträgt. In allen anderen Fäl­len ist die Preis­anpas­sung zuläs­sig, wenn zwischen dem Datum unse­rer Auftrags­bestätigung und dem vorgesehenen Lie­fer­ter­min ein Zeitraum von mindestens vier Mona­ten liegt. Unsere Rechnungen sind binnen 30 Tagen seit Rech­nungs­datum ohne S­kon­toabzug fällig. Bei Über­schrei­tung dieses Zah­lungs­ziels sind wir berech­tigt, ab Fäl­ligkeit Zin­sen in Höhe von 6 Prozentpunkten über dem Basiszinssatz, min­de­stens in Höhe von 10 % zu ver­langen. Alle unsere Forderungen werden un­abhän­gig von der Lauf­zeit etwa hereingenommener Ak­zepte sofort fällig, wenn verein­barte Zah­lungs­be­din­gungen nach Mahnung weiterhin nicht eingehalten wer­den oder wenn in den Ver­mögensverhältnissen des Be­stel­lers eine Ver­schlechte­rung ein­tritt, die unse­re Forde­rungen gefährdet (§ 321 BGB). Wir sind in diesem Falle auch be­rech­tigt, jede wei­tere Lieferung von Vor­auszah­lung oder Si­cher­heitsleistung ab­hängig zu machen. Das glei­che gilt, wenn der Bestel­ler mit For­de­rungen aufrech­net, die weder an­erkannt noch rechts­kräftig festge­stellt sind. Wechsel nehmen wir nur er­fül­lungs­halber und unter dem Vorbehalt ihrer Diskontierbar­keit an. Alle mit dem Wechsel ver­bundenen zusätzli­chen Ko­sten ge­hen zu La­sten des Bestel­lers. Unser Eigen­tums­vorbe­halt ent­fällt erst, wenn alle Wechsel­forderun­gen erfüllt sind. Sofern wir uns auf Zahlung per Scheck gegen Refinan­zie­rungswechsel einlassen, gelten die vor­stehen­den Bestim­mungen über die Wechselkosten und den Eigentums­vorbe­halt entsprechend. Die aus zulässigen Weiterveräußerungen (Art. III Ziff. 2 GL-ZVEI) ggf. auch nach einer Verarbeitung oder Vermischung resultierenden Forderungen des Bestellers werden bereits jetzt an uns abgetreten. Im Falle der Verarbeitung oder Vermischung unserer Vorbehaltsware mit anderen Sachen erwerben wir Miteigentum an der neu geschaffenen Sache im Verhältnis des Wertes unseres Liefergegenstandes zu den anderen verarbeiteten oder vermischten Sachen im Zeitpunkt der Verarbeitung oder Vermischung. Die Forderungsabtretung des Bestellers beläuft sich in diesem Fall auf einen erstrangigen Teilbetrag in Höhe des Rechnungswertes unserer verarbeiteten oder vermischten Vorbehaltsware. Im Falle einer Verschlech­terung in den Vermö­gens­verhältnis­sen des Bestellers sind wir be­rechtigt, die Weiter­ver­äuße­rung oder Weiterver­arbeitung der unter Ei­gentums­vor­behalt gelie­ferten Ware zu unter­sagen und deren Rückgabe auf Kosten des Bestellers zu ver­langen. Maßstab für die Mängelfreiheit unserer Produkte sind die Beschaffenheitsangaben (Ziff. 1. 1.2) und/oder im Ein­zel­fall einver­nehmlich mit dem Besteller in prüfbaren tech­nischen Parametern spezi­fizierte Produktmerkmale (Kom­ponen­tenver­antwor­tung). Für die Eignung un­serer Produk­te für seine Appli­kation ist ausschließlich der Be­steller verantwortlich (Systemver­antwor­tung). Soweit wir Applika­tionsbera­tung bieten, beschränkt sich die Ver­antwor­tung dafür auf die angebo­tenen Produkte und ihre in prüfbaren technischen Parametern spezi­fi­zier­baren Merk­male. Muster (Ziff. 1. 1.5) sind für den Umfang der Mängelhaftung in keinem Fall maß­geblich. Die Rechte des Bestellers bei einem Fehlschlagen einer Nacherfüllung richten sich nach Art. VIII GL-ZVEI; Ansprüche gemäß Art. XI GL-ZVEI können nur dann geltend gemacht werden, wenn gar keine Lieferung erfolgen kann. Zur Wah­rung von Mängelansprü­chen ob­liegt es dem Besteller entsprechend § 377 HGB ins­be­son­dere, eine Ein­gangsprüfung durchzu­führen und fest­ge­stellte Mängel oder ver­trags­widrige Men­genabwei­chun­gen un­verzüg­lich schrif­tlich zu rü­gen. Bloße Rück­sendung der Ware gilt nicht als Mängelrü­ge und entbin­det den Be­stel­ler nicht von der Ver­pflichtung zur Zah­lung des Kauf­prei­ses. Werden unsere Produkte in Lo­sen gelie­fert, die eine stati­stische Eingangs­qualitäts­prü­fung nach den insoweit üblichen Grund­sät­zen (AQL, DIN 2859) er­mög­li­chen, so ist diese Prü­fung als Ein­gangs­prüfung im Sin­ne der Ziff. 4. 4.2 durch­zu­führen, sofern der Be­stel­ler nicht eine Voll­prü­fung durch­führt. So­weit nichts anderes ver­einbart ist, gel­ten für die stati­sti­sche Prüfung die in unse­ren ein­schlä­gigen Stan­dardunter­lagen (Ziff. 1. 1.2) angegebenen Prüfbedin­gungen und Prüf­krite­rien. Ein bei dieser Prü­fung ange­nom­menes Los gilt als man­gel­frei. Ein bei dieser Prü­fung zurückgewiesenes Los er­set­zen wir gegen dessen Rück­ga­be im Ganzen durch ein man­gel­frei­es Los. Es bleibt uns vor­be­halten, stattdessen die feh­ler­haften Teile des zu­rückgewie­senen Lo­ses in Ab­stimmung mit dem Be­steller durch fehler­freie Teile zu erset­zen. Die iC-Haus GmbH übernimmt hinsichtlich gewerblicher Schutzrechte Dritter, die durch die Verwendung von Produkten der iC-Haus GmbH in Kombination mit Produkten des Bestellers oder Dritter betroffen sind, keine Gewähr. Die Überprüfung der Freiheit von Schutzrechten für solche Applikationen gehört nicht zum vertraglichen Leistungsumfang und obliegt – mit der Ausnahme des Falles der positiven Kenntnis der iC-Haus GmbH von dem Bestehen eines gewerblichen Schutzrechtes für eine geschaffene Applikation – dem Besteller. Führt der Besteller wegen eines tatsächlichen oder vermeintlichen Fehlers der von ihm unter Verwendung von uns gelieferter Teilprodukte vertriebenen Produkte eine Verbraucherinformation oder eine Rückrufaktion durch, kommen Aufwendungsersatz- oder sonstige Kostenerstattungsansprüche etwa unter dem Gesichtspunkt eines Auftrages oder einer Geschäftsführung ohne Auftrag uns gegenüber nur in Betracht, soweit wir vor der Durchführung der Information oder Rückrufaktion Gelegenheit hatten, an der Bestimmung von Notwendigkeit, Inhalt und Umfang der Maßnahmen mitzuwirken. Eine Verbraucherinformation oder Rückrufaktion ohne unsere vorherige Stellungnahme entspricht nur dann unserem Willen, wenn aufgrund der Zeitverzögerung durch unsere Konsultation eine unmittelbare und konkrete Gefahr für Leben, Körper oder Gesundheit bestanden hat. Eine Haftung durch uns besteht nur dann, wenn der Produktfehler auf einem Mangel (Art. VIII GL-ZVEI sowie vorstehend Ziff. 4.) des von uns gelieferten Teilprodukts beruht, den wir nach dem Haftungsmaßstab gemäß Art. XII GL-ZVEI zu vertreten haben. Unser Angebot im Onlinehandel richtet sich ausschließlich an Gewerbetreibende und Selbständige in Ausübung ihrer beruflichen Tätigkeit i.S.d. § 14 BGB (Unternehmen). Ein Anspruch auf Zulassung zu unserem Onlinehandel besteht nicht. Registrierungsbefugt und bestellberechtigt sind ausschließlich Unternehmen im Sinne von § 14 BGB mit Sitz in Deutschland, die unsere Waren erwerben, um diese weiterzuverkaufen, umzuwandeln, zu verarbeiten, zu vermieten oder an Subunternehmer weiterzugeben. Im Einzelfall behalten wir uns die Anforderung eines betreffenden Nachweises (z.B. Handelsregisterauszug) vor. Der Kunde gibt ein verbindliches Angebot auf Abschluss eines Kaufvertrags ab, wenn er den Bestellprozess komplett durchlaufen hat und die Bestellung abschickt. Vor Abschicken der Bestellung kann der Kunde seine Bestelldaten jederzeit ändern und einsehen. Das Angebot kann jedoch nur abgegeben und übermittelt werden, wenn der Kunde durch Häkchensetzen im Feld „GL-ZVEI und Allgemeine Lieferbedingungen gelesen und zugestimmt" diese Vertragsbedingungen akzeptiert und dadurch in sein Angebot aufgenommen hat. Wir bestätigen den Empfang der Bestellung mit den Einzelheiten per E-Mail. Diese Empfangsbestätigung stellt keine Annahme des Kundenangebotes dar, sondern dient der Information über den Status der Bestellung (Eingang). Ein Kaufvertrag zwischen dem Kunden und der iC-Haus GmbH kommt erst durch die Zusendung der vom Kunden bestellten Artikel oder eine ausdrückliche Auftragsbestätigung zustande. In unserem Onlinehandel mitgeteilte Liefertermine sind unverbindlich, es sei denn, es wird schriftlich etwas anderes vereinbart. Die Bestellung sowie sämtliche Kundendaten werden von uns zur Verarbeitung des Angebots gespeichert und sind im Kundenkonto im Onlinehandel einsehbar. Die Kundendaten sind im Kundenkonto jederzeit änderbar. Kunden können wahlweise per Vorkasse oder Kreditkarte (VISA, MasterCard) im Onlinehandel bezahlen. Bei Zahlung per Kreditkarte werden bei Aufgabe der Bestellung durch den Kunden eine Vorautorisierung sowie eine sofortige Belastung der Kreditkarte in Höhe des Auftragswertes durchgeführt. Etwaige Rückzahlungsforderungen werden durch die iC-Haus GmbH dem Kreditkartenkonto des Kunden wieder gutgeschrieben. Die Lieferung unserer Artikel erfolgt ausschließlich innerhalb Deutschlands. Im Onlinehandel angezeigte Preise sind unverbindlich und unterliegen Änderungen. Alle Preise sind Nettopreise in Euro und gelten zuzüglich der gesetzlichen Umsatzsteuer nur innerhalb Deutschlands. Die Kosten für Verpackung, Transport und Transportversicherung sind vom Kunden zu tragen. Die jeweils aktuellen Preise hierfür werden im Rahmen des Bestellprozesses angezeigt. Kosten für eine Rücksendung sind ebenfalls vom Kunden zu tragen. Unser Onlinehandel steht ausschließlich in englischer Sprache zur Verfügung. iC-Haus richtet sein Handeln nach dem Verhaltenskodex der Elektroindustrie (EICC) aus. Speziellen und vorstehend nicht erwähnten Verhaltenskodizes unterliegt die iC-Haus GmbH nicht.

2019-04-24T04:47:57Z

https://de-shop.ichaus.com/service/general-terms-conditions/

The PSC’s strike authorization vote is scheduled for May 2-11. Click here to learn more about how to vote by mail, by phone or online. Thousands of PSC members have already made a public pledge to vote YES for strike authorization. We’ll be sharing some of their reasons for voting yes here over the next two weeks. If you’d like the union to share your reason for voting YES, send a message to fclark@pscmail.org. Share your reasons for voting YES with the hashtag #CUNYStrikeAuth. You can also download this image to use as your profile picture. I am voting YES for the strike authorization because I want a high quality public university for the City of New York. Many of us work extremely hard for this university and have to teach in overcrowded classrooms with an embarrassingly large number of students. In addition, many of us at CUNY work many hours doing research and strengthening our scholarship while bringing grant money to the University. We provide undergraduate and graduate students with meaningful research/scholarship experience outside of the classroom. We also contribute to the University and the community in many other ways through our service. Yet, CUNY has failed us. We have been five years without a contract and six years without a raise while our students’ tuition has increased. This is especially dramatic for new faculty (assistant professors) and adjuncts, but it makes life very hard for all of us in a place like NYC. A number of colleagues have left CUNY (sadly some of the most successful people) to go to better paid and less demanding jobs. I myself almost left CUNY three years ago. Without a fair contract, we will not be able to recruit and secure excellent faculty. And we need excellent faculty to make CUNY great and to better serve our students. That’s why I support and pledge to vote YES for the authorization of strike. Although all CUNY employees have worthy demands, the biggest motivation for me to participate in the civil disobedience action was to state my discontent with the unfair wages and job security situation that adjunct professors face. As someone who deeply cares about public higher education as the only option for lifting people out of poverty, it is unacceptable to me that thousands of highly educated and caring professionals who teach our low-income students are in poverty themselves! I'm voting yes on the strike authorization vote because everything we have is because we have fought together, as one Union. I will never forget the fear I experienced when, as an adjunct, my health insurance was threatened. The Welfare Fund had been footing the bill for CUNY’s underfunding for years and could no longer do so. I will also never forget the turnout—full-time, part-time around the block, signs and voices in unison, protesting for secure adjunct health insurance—as the CUNY Trustees met to determine our fate. That's when I realized: when we, the Union, say “all out,” it's all out! Showing our solidarity now means we will not be broken; we will build on what's been won and we will have a contract we're proud of. I'm voting yes for strike authorization because the CUNY faculty owes it to its students to stand against an ideology of austerity that justifies divestment from the public at every turn. A university cannot function, let alone thrive, without a fair contract for its faculty. I am proud to teach writing and literature to our diverse and brilliant students, and I’m proud to form part of the vast community of people demanding adequate support for public education in New York. I am voting yes not just based on our economic claims for a decent union contract after so many years without one, but because of the fundamental need to be treated with respect by management. This university is supposedly run on a model of shared governance, and yet the budget is controlled by highly paid administrators and sanctioned by politicians whose priorities are not supportive of a sufficiently funded public higher education system. As faculty who are committed to the public good, we need to maintain our dignity and scholarly autonomy. A just contract and a livable wage in one of the most expensive cities in the world is a basic necessity, not a privilege. I'm voting yes for the strike authorization because, unfortunately, I believe that we have no other recourse. I came to Queens College in 2004, and in 12 years, I have not had a raise in half my time at CUNY. When I left my position as a high school teacher in Long Island to come to Queens College, I took a cut in pay of over $30,000. I never could have imagined that after obtaining a PhD, my pay would drop so substantially and never recover to what I would be earning if I had remained teaching high school with a master’s degree. We are the most poorly paid professors in the New York metropolitan area, and it has to stop. I’m voting yes for the strike authorization because I believe in public education. I know that the strike authorization is the best chance that the PSC-CUNY has of ever getting the raises that we desperately need and deserve so we can continue to serve the working-class families of New York City and provide affordable quality public education for all New Yorkers. I am voting YES because I support our union's efforts to take an offensive and proactive role in fighting the nonstop austerity politics that dictate higher education in our state and in our country. While it is personally difficult to deal with six years of no contract, it is even more important for myself and the larger CUNY community, especially the students that we serve, that we reject the idea that there isn't enough money to properly fund accessible and high quality higher education for our students, who come from the working classes of New York City and surrounding areas. We are in a period of budget surpluses, yet Albany is not willing to sufficiently fund the CUNY campuses, and instead seeks to pass financial burdens to students via tuition increases or through budget cuts that reduce our ability to serve the students. By voting yes, we are strengthening the position of our union as it bargains for a better deal not only for PSC members, but also for the students and the larger communities that we serve. By voting yes, we are standing up for one the most important institutions for social justice and equality in New York City and we refuse to accept the starving of CUNY as "business as usual." In the upcoming strike vote, I urge my fellow union members to consider all these reasons and join me in voting yes on this important vote. There’s a misconception that support for a strike vote is just about salaries for our faculty and staff. In truth, it’s so much bigger than that. The PSC and my fellow members are fighting not for ourselves, but for the future of our city. The failure to negotiate a salary that can build, support and maintain an excellent faculty is part of a long term pattern of disinvestment in a commitment to affordable, accessible quality education for all people regardless of gender, race, class, religion, national origin or ability to pay. This commitment, made first [in NYC] with the establishment of City College in 1847, expanded nationwide by President Lincoln with the state Land Grant colleges and built upon with the GI Bill and other programs that opened up opportunity, created a vibrant middle class, transformed immigrants into citizens and led to over a century of innovation in nearly every field. Here at CUNY you see that legacy: Andrew Grove, a Holocaust survivor and political refugee helped create the modern computer industry. Jonas Salk ended the scourge of polio. Arno Penzias discovered the origins of the universe in the Big Bang theory. They aren’t alone. In nearly every aspect of modern life you’ll find a constant thread of those who went to CUNY or whose parents did and enabled them to do better than their grandparents and build a better world. Disinvestment in public education threatens this vital legacy. The PSC has been a constant and active opponent to this, not just arguing for wages to support excellent teaching and learning, but fighting for lower tuition, better physical plants and more overall funding to improve the execution of the mission of the University. In many cases, the PSC has been more vocal and more effective in supporting CUNY and getting things done than the administration, fighting to roll back massive budget cuts proposed by hostile city and state administrations. Disinvestment starts with you not having a contract. It ends with us standing up and making it clear that isn’t acceptable. I encourage you to vote yes, not because we want to strike, but because we want to make it clear that we support a strong, vibrant CUNY for our students and our communities. I have worked at Brooklyn College since 2000. The students I work with are mostly low income, immigrant, first generation, people of color and women. Just like me, many of them are the first in the family to attend college. Education, in my grandmother’s words, is the best way to get out of poverty. Students I work with intuitively understand how Brooklyn College has impacted on their lives. My students’ day-to-day struggle resonates with me, and gives me a deeper understanding of my own personal experience. This is why I have chosen to work at Brooklyn College for 16 years. The CUNY Administration and Governor Cuomo’s refusal to settle a decent contract for six years has gone too far. The persistent cuts to CUNY funding damage every single aspect of our students’ educational life. The facilities are deteriorating, class size is getting bigger, classes are cut, and worst of all, students are forced to pay more into tuition and numerous hidden administrative fees. The austerity politics of Governor Cuomo and the CUNY Administration claims that we could do our job more efficiently with less money and less staff. The reality is staff and faculty are the backbone of CUNY and we have sustained the system with meager pay, and insufficient funding for years. My operating budget has been cut over 50% in the past 16 years, while the number of students I directly serve has increased by the hundreds. As an educator, I have devoted my life to the students I serve. A decent contract is the minimal amount of respect, Governor Cuomo and the CUNY Administration should give my colleagues and me. I will vote YES for the Strike Authorization Vote and I hope you will join me as well. Education cannot only be the privilege of the wealthy. As a nation we must support and build the public sector. This includes adequate and appropriate conditions for faculty, staff and students in CUNY, where the future of the people of our city is imagined and created. I no longer believe that CUNY management or the State of New York have remained faithful to these principles. In fact, I believe that these principles are being actively undermined. Ultimately, the values and priorities of an institution are reflected in its budgets and how people are compensated. It is abundantly clear to me that students and faculty are not the priority that they should be and that they are not afforded the dignity and respect that they deserve. Sky-high administrative salaries, administrative bloat, and misplaced priorities are undermining CUNY’s core mission. On a personal level, working at CUNY has been professionally and financially very damaging. I have come to realize that working at CUNY is only possible if you have made money before taking a job here or if you have a good second stream of outside income. CUNY management is aware of all these challenges, especially as they relate to compensation and working conditions, and yet there is no urgency in finding a meaningful resolution. This is why I will vote “YES” on the strike authorization vote. By authorizing a strike, we are re embracing our collective power. Sure we all want to teach and come to work. I want to. I love teaching at City Tech. Hopefully, this strike authorization vote compels management to move toward a fair contract as a similar authorization did in California. The PSC negotiating team has been through hundreds of hours of negotiations; we’ve marched, signed petitions, and made calls. But CUNY management has failed to budge. Since our last raise, the rent has gone up in New York, costs of living have increased, and few of us go a pay cycle without running out of money to pay the bills or going into overdraft just to get the groceries. It time to let CUNY management know that we are willing to use direct action to compel the university to address our economic needs. Direct action gets the goods. In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” MLK suggested that nonviolent civil disobedience fosters the sort of creative tension that moves bodies to re imagine situations, breaking impasses. There are those who would suggest the PSC should wait out the crisis. The question of patience with the status quo permeates through the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” MLK states, "My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is a historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily… We know painfully through experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard "wait."… This "Wait" has almost always meant 'Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied." With tuition rising steadily and salaries failing to keep up with costs of living, we have to acknowledge that "justice too long delayed is justice denied." Many CUNY faculty and staff are being priced out of the city we serve. Rising housing costs take a large chunk out of our paychecks, and many faculty and staff are forced to live far away from the campuses where we teach. We do a demanding and inspired job of educating students to help them to a prosperous future. What happens to our pride of vocation when we face long, draining commutes or undesirable (or unaffordable) housing? When we face a lack of respect? I’m voting YES to the strike authorization vote because it’s time we join hands in solidarity and say Enough. To provide a solid education for our students, those who will be the powerful engine of our city and state, we need job security and a sound contract. Being paid a respectable wage for the work we do is at the heart of a decent quality of life. CUNY is historically an extraordinary institution, a vital part of New York City. Without respect, it crumbles. Respect, Governor Cuomo. Respect, Chancellor Milliken. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. I am voting YES for the strike authorization vote, because I believe we have the right to deny our labor if CUNY refuses to pay for it. Enough has been written and said about the under-appreciated and under-compensated work we all do at CUNY. We all know we deserve better! Five years without a contract, six years without a raise—this fight is definitely not about some far-fetched demands. It is about respecting the work we do and committing the resources necessary to keep it going. If CUNY, NYC and Albany appreciated our work and were truly committed to public education, we would never need to consider a strike. But in the face of these political machinations and underfunding of public education, we the workers have no choice but to vote with our feet. Denying our labor is the only thing we can do. The law that makes this illegal is questionable at best. One’s labor should never be coerced. We are the ones doing the work at CUNY. We are the ones not getting our fair share. This is why we have a union and this is why we should support it. Unionized labor has been under constant attack in our country from its inception. Without it, we would still be chained to machines in a factory. So this is why I am calling on everyone to join me in voting YES. I am voting "Yes!" because what matters to me, what matters to all of us, relies on progress; and without "Yes!" we recede from our better chances and hide from the possibilities. So, I am voting "Yes!" for my wife and daughter, my colleagues, and my students. I am voting "Yes!" because I believe in all of them. Here’s why I’m voting YES on May 2: As I’ve been speaking with HEOS on my campus, I’ve met degreed professionals with years of experience who are forced to live paycheck to paycheck. I’ve met people who have been working uncompensated overtime every week for years because there isn’t enough funding to fully staff their offices. I’ve met people whose passion for the work they do and the place they do it has been all but extinguished by financial stress and the stifling dose of disrespect the lack of a contract represents. I’ve met people who thought they could spend the rest of their working lives serving CUNY students, but who are now desperately trying to leave because they cannot afford to stay. Nobody wants to go on strike. But we’ve tried every other tool in our toolkit to no avail. The rallies have helped. The civil disobedience has helped. The petitions and postcards and phone calls and emails and trips to Albany have helped. But they haven’t helped enough, and here we still sit, working harder than ever for salaries that are more than half a decade out of date while the cost of living here continues to skyrocket. The problem isn’t that the state can’t afford it. We know Albany has the funds to let CUNY make us a good offer. The problem lies with CUNY leaders who cannot or will not fight hard enough to get what we need and ambitious Albany politicians building their political brands at the expense of CUNY students and the staff and faculty who serve them. The disrespect they have shown us is absolutely breathtaking. It’s time to vote yes on strike authorization. What other choice have they left us? A contract lapsed for more than half a decade with low salaries, uncompetitive workload and job insecurity for the majority of the workforce is not a matter of happenstance. The reliance on tuition to carry almost half the cost of running a public university does not happen by accident. The plight of our contract is a casualty of the systemic defunding of CUNY undertaken with cold political calculation. It is an attack on the students we serve, our students, the vast majority of whom are economically underprivileged, are racial minorities and immigrants. If our working conditions are their learning conditions, then the dominant political culture does not consider them worthy of a good education. What choice do we have but to fight back? And if negotiations, lobbying, street demonstrations, and acts of civil disobedience are not enough, we must escalate. Since Strike Authorization is a fight for justice for ourselves and for our students, I'm voting yes. I'm voting YES because I feel it is wrong, a moral outrage to be working 6 years without a raise. My rent has gone up. My health insurance has gone up, but my salary has not. That is an outrage. I'd like to retire in a few years but I can't afford to do that until we get a decent raise. I have worked at BMCC over 20 years, first as an adjunct and now full-time. I feel angry and betrayed and disrespected. I'm shocked that management called an impasse. I appreciate how hard the Union has been fighting to get a contract and I support their efforts. Sometimes events in life require one to take a stand, to take a risk- and that's why I am voting YES. It is the right thing to do. While no one wants to go on strike, I believe we must vote by a strike authorization, to stand in strength and solidarity as faculty, students and staff, to defend the legacy and assure the future of the City University of New York against austerity and privatization. In a nation in which public education has become a political football, and in a state enjoying a surplus, we must advocate boldly for the CUNY as the academic soul of the city. As a member of the PSC /CUNY, I'm voting yes on the strike authorization vote. Personally, I am reluctant to strike, but if I am forced to strike, it will be because the CUNY administration is not listening to my concerns. I believe employees have the right to fight until a successful contract is settled. For example, the cost of living rose 23% in New York City between 2009 and 2014; and our salaries have continued to stay the same and to deteriorate for the past 6 years, due to the lack of any increases. This has put my family at the risk of finding themselves in an unhealthy living environment. Therefore, unfortunately, I must chose to vote for strike authorization for a new contract in order to support myself, my family and my fellow employees. To ensure CUNY heeds our requests, the union requires a lion's share of our members to take the next courageous step. … I am voting “YES” for strike authorization because that is the PSC’s only viable option at this point. I am voting “YES” for strike authorization because the focus should be on the inability of the State to take action on this issue, not placing blame on the members of our union, who ask to be heard. The Governor and CUNY management have sent an unmistakable message to CUNY faculty and staff by not negotiating our contract for the past six years, thereby not affording us a living wage. That message is: You do not matter; the work you do is not of value. When we are charged with educating CUNY students, many of whom are working-class and who are struggling themselves, we have to send back an equally unmistakable message: The work we do is valuable—and we want fair compensation for that work. We do this work for CUNY students—who are also of great value. I am voting “YES” for strike authorization because not only is working under “austerity conditions” an economic hardship, but it allows me, as part of a collective voice, to demonstrate to CUNY students just how valuable they are – the literal core of our work – and to send a message, across the board, that this strike authorization is the only viable option. In 1994, I became the Brooklyn College English department’s first hire after 20 years of austerity and a long hiring freeze. It was a time of great demoralization coupled with a cautious excitement, with CUNY’s intellectual and creative future truly on the line. Then came more hires of an extraordinary cohort of younger scholars, a generation behind my own, who have worked passionately in the classroom and alongside the PSC to ensure which side of that line we would stay on. I felt I had caught a wave of deep and mutually reinforcing beliefs and commitments– to my students and colleagues, to my own field of poetry, and to the future of public education in a great university rebuilding itself. BC’s fantastic diversity undergirds and spurs a profound and important interdependence: our students do not take their education for granted; they are charged by our pluralism, by their curiosity about each other, and by their insights into a complex world in which intellectual and creative work matter. These human realities and meanings are at the core of education’s purpose. But the last 6 years at CUNY do not speak to the future. Instead they suggest that our vision, our mission, and our human values have been lost to a numbing politics. The State’s myth of austerity is a cover for a regressive agenda we who came to CUNY in the early and mid 90s believed would be overcome. We still believe in our mission, and our collective power to alter the future. But CUNY can no longer convincingly claim any real philosophical or intellectual investment in its own future, or in the futures of our students. The future cannot be built on an ad hoc basis. The future cannot be built by devaluing the human collective and enterprise at its center. In the end, for me, the strike authorization vote is a statement about the credibility of the institution as a whole. I am voting YES in solidarity with my students, my extraordinary colleagues, and the promise of their future. I am voting YES for the restoration of good faith and collective purpose, and in opposition to the bad faith that has been holding our university – and our students’ futures – hostage for far too long. I am voting YES to signal my commitment to the path that brought me to Brooklyn College and CUNY to begin with. Colleagues, by now you should have received in your inbox and/or by mail, a ballot to vote “YES” or “no” to empower our PSC-CUNY union leaders to call a strike should we come to that juncture. I am writing to ask you to vote “YES.” I could ask this as someone who began as an adjunct in the CUNY system in 2005, dedicated to the institution’s mission to serve the city’s working class students, paid only a few dollars less per course as our adjuncts are making now. I could ask this as a former substitute instructor, who taught 8 courses in a fiscal year while finishing a dissertation, parenting a newborn and earning a salary that considering the local cost of living and rounded for inflation, was barely a living wage. I could ask this as a former tenure-track assistant professor, who while balancing research and writing, 6-7 courses a year, departmental and committee work, student mentoring and advisement, wondered how he could both meet these increasing demands and stay on top of family obligations. I could ask this as a now-Associate Professor, tenured and published, with student loan payments on the back burner of priorities, living without a raise in six years in one of the most expensive, rapidly gentrifying cities in the United States. But I won’t. This is not a decision made lightly. We have an obligation to our students to provide them with the best possible education. And it is our duty to educate them to be empowered and involved citizens who will stand up and fight for what is right—even if it not easy. To be counted and heard, sometimes a hard choice has to be made. We, as faculty and staff, must strive to ensure that our students are not further damaged academically by the lack of a contract. If we indeed have to strike, I can’t help but feel that the students will be proud to know we are fighting for change, for social justice and for them. That can only help in the long run. I’ve taught as an adjunct at Lehman since 1997 and in that time my per-credit hour salary has gone up $35.35. I’m supporting the vote to authorize a strike to remind CUNY management Governor Cuomo and the New York State legislature exactly how low my salary is and how desperately I and fellow adjuncts need a raise. The CUNY’s refusal to sign a new contract with salary increases demonstrates its continual disregard for the value and quality of the teaching and guidance we have consistently provided, despite our minimal salaries. I’m voting to authorize a strike to demand that CUNY and Albany acknowledge our contribution to the CUNY system by giving us a contract with the salary increases we have earned. I'm voting yes because I care about the future of my students, of myself and of the whole country; because without proper, steady and good quality education and teachers, no entity can progress! I began my career as a New York City public elementary school teacher. I have made a career-long commitment to public education. When Queens College hired me after earning my Ed.D., I was so proud to continue serving public education. Our students are exactly the students who deserve the best we can offer in terms of teaching, service, and research. Moreover, I can't think of a better investment of public funds. In my department alone, we prepare teachers and educational leaders, and many of them also stay to serve in the New York City public school system. They continue the efforts to provide educational excellence to our city's children. It is discouraging, however, that my standard of living now is less than when I began, and certainly less than I would have earned had I remained all these years in the New York City public school system. For all my commitment and devotion to CUNY and public education, it frankly feels disrespectful. We all deserve better. That's why I'm voting YES! I’m voting YES! for strike authorization because 6% is an UNACCEPTABLE offer. The only offer CUNY made to PSC was in October 2015 for 6% over 6 years (2010: 0%; 2011: 0%; 2012: 0%; 2013: 0%; 2014: 1% on April 20; 2015: 1% on April 20; 2016: 3% on April 20; and 2016: 1% on October 19). Our last raise was in October 2009 and our contract expired in 2010. Our salaries have not kept up with inflation or cost of living adjustments. Since 2010, the inflation rate has compounded to 8.6%. Accepting an offer of 6% means that we are taking a salary cut. The past bargaining patterns of the all other NYC municipal unions included a 4% raise in 2010. PSC members deserve that 4% as well. The offer CUNY made to the PSC denies us that. We are fighting for fair pay to end the wage gap. We are fighting against continued attacks and attempts to erode the public higher education institution of learning, namely CUNY. We are fighting for a better future for our students and children. We are fighting for political, economic, and social justice. “We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.” –Ancient Indian Proverb. The PSC has been working very hard (e.g., protest, rallies, demonstrations, letter writing campaigns, lobbying in Albany, civil disobedience leading to arrest to name a few), to win a fair contract for all its members. I’m not willing to accept the 6% offer. Are you? Will you join me in voting YES? I am voting “Yes” because I think it’s a disgrace that a person with a Ph.D. and 20 years’ experience teaching on the college level should be teaching three courses a semester and still be earning a poverty-level annual salary of $20,000. This is my story and that of many, many other adjuncts who now struggle to give our students the fine education they need and deserve. CUNY is blatantly exploiting us, and I rely on the PSC to negotiate a contract that addresses this disgraceful injustice. But in order to raise our salaries to something more decent and appropriate for the highly skilled work we do, I know that the city and state governments and CUNY must provide sufficient funds, and so far they haven’t done so. CUNY's financial offer has thus far been woefully inadequate. Therefore, if it becomes necessary to take extreme measures in order to achieve justice for ourselves and for our students, whose learning conditions are adversely affected by our working conditions (such as, in the case of adjunct faculty, abysmally low salaries, lack of job security, lack of time—because of having to run around from job to job, lack of office space, and much more), so be it. In 1974, after earning my M.A at Columbia University, I began teaching at CUNY. As an adjunct lecturer at Lehman College, I earned $1,500 per course. A Brooklyn College graduate, I was happy to return to CUNY as a teacher. A year later, I became a teaching assistant at Columbia, where I taught as a teacher and preceptor until finishing my doctorate. I also attended Columbia University Law School and have been practicing law for almost 25 years. Since fall 2005, I’ve also been adjunct assistant professor of English at Hunter College. Today’s beginning adjuncts earn $3,000 per course. That’s about 40%, in real dollars, of what I earned 40 years ago. With a Ph.D. And J.D., and decades of experience as a teacher and attorney, CUNY pays me only about 60%, in real dollars, of my 1974 adjunct’s salary. The salaries and benefits of K-12 NYC public school teachers have kept pace with inflation, and more so. Other government workers — police officers, fire fighters, civil servants — earn salaries that reflect today’s economic realities. Yet CUNY teachers, both part- and full-time, have fallen far behind the economic curve. Our students need us; CUNY needs us: and we need a raise. After 6 years with no contract, and contract offers that ignore the reality of 40 years of diminishing returns, I voted, reluctantly, to authorize a strike. NYC and NYS must face economic reality: pay the teachers!

2019-04-22T10:49:27Z

https://psc-cuny.org/issues/why-were-voting-yes-strike-authorization

Mon 29th of February BRIGHTON 4 (Hemed pen 18, 28, Cooper og 22, Dunk 38), UNITED 0 United team: Silvestri, Wootton (Carayol 45), Cooper, Bamba, Taylor, Coyle, Diagouraga (Murphy 84), Bridcutt, Mowatt, Cook, Doukara (Erwin 75). Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Berardi, Adeyemi, Antenucci. Referee: Peter Bankes Booked: Rosenior, Baldock, Goldson (Brighton), Bamba, Mowatt, Coyle, Taylor (United) Att: 25,150 (1,522 United) Report from Official website The televised trip to promotion-chasing Brighton & Hove Albion saw United head coach Steve Evans make two changes to the side that drew 1-1 at home to Fulham six nights earlier. Scott Wootton and Liam Bridcutt returned to the starting line-up at the Amex Stadium, with Tom Adeyemi and Mirco Antenucci dropping to the bench, while Mustapha Carayol also took up a place among the substitutes as Stuart Dallas missed out through injury. There was little between the two sides during the early exchanges, with both teams forced to be patient in their build-up play, until the hosts were presented with an opportunity to open the scoring from the penalty spot after 18 minutes after Wootton was adjudged to have fouled Liam Rosenior inside the area. Tomer Hemed calmly converted and Brighton soon found themselves in the ascendancy, with Marco Silvestri needing to be at full-stretch to push away a low free-kick just two minutes later. But Albion’s advantage was soon doubled as Sam Baldock burst through the middle of the United defence before seeing his effort deflect beyond the sprawling Silvestri on 22 minutes. Leeds looked to mount a quick response, with Soulyemane Doukara and Toumani Diagouraga both lashing wide from the edge of the area, before Brighton extended their lead through Hemed’s second of the evening – a low 28th-minute finish from inside the area. And things were to go from bad to worse after 38 minutes as Lewis Dunk rose inside the area to tower home Dale Stephens’ back-post corner to make it four and cap an utterly miserable first half for United. Evans was prompted into an attack-minded change at the break, replacing Wootton with Carayol and moving youngster Lewie Coyle back to right-back. But Brighton, who re-emerged unchanged, were looking to pick up from where they left off prior to the interval and Dale Stephens flicked a low cross wide of the far post within two minutes of the restart. Leeds were starting to see more of the ball, though, and went in search of a goal which would help to restore some pride in front of the travelling supporters. Alex Mowatt came the closest, with his curling free-kick deflected onto the roof of the Brighton net before the midfielder burst into the area after latching onto Carayol’s through ball, only to blaze the strike well over the crossbar. Coyle also threatened after a determined run down the left, hitting a left-footed volley narrowly wide after his initial strike rebounded back into his path, while Lee Erwin was introduced in attack as United continued to search for a late consolation goal. But it was to no avail and Brighton could have added a fifth themselves in the closing stages as substitute Jiri Skalak rounded Silvestri after being played through on goal, but Sol Bamba muscled in to avert the danger as the hosts’ four first-half goals were left to stand alone. ABYSMAL PERFORMANCE ! Mon 22nd of Feb Noel Whelan pulls no punches on Leeds performance at Watford MATCH Of The Day showed the highlights of Leeds United’s FA Cup clash at Watford on Saturday evening but most of the highlights were of Watford, not Leeds United. I feel like I am doing a column here that I’ve already done. I feel like it’s Groundhog Day because we didn’t have any sustained pressure on Watford. They created chance after chance and with a better touch it probably could have been three or four for them. We’re not creating chances, we’re not scoring goals and too many people are playing the game safe and not being brave. But in a cup game, you’ve got to be brave. You’ve got to put pressure on the home side and we didn’t do that.;” You can have all the possession in the world, I don’t care what the stats are, if you’re not creating chances and getting bodies in the box then you are not going to win football matches. I’m not sure whether this is something that’s coming from the manager, to sit on the edge of the box, but I’m looking out wide and you’ve got three players out wide and not one person in the box. So where are we going to score goals? Every now and again you might score a 30-yarder but that’s not going to happen every week and the only way to score goals is to be in the box, to be brave, get in the right areas and compete. At the moment, we are not competing. We are just very easy to play against, that’s the trouble and I just felt the tactics, playing football against a very good footballing side were a little bit wrong. I think you have got to play football at times but we seem to be playing football in the wrong areas. We are putting ourselves under pressure. The way we went out made me feel disappointed; a wasted opportunity. And I’m pretty sure that people in our team will have been waking up thinking ‘we didn’t really give it a go, we didn’t really put any pressure on them and we didn’t really change the course of that game in any way.’ We didn’t affect it and that’s a problem. You can pass the ball side to side and I could actually play in that side right now and I could pass a ball side to side and backwards. That’s how I feel because there’s not enough energy going forward, not enough desire to want to score goals and not enough ruthlessness to want to ripple the back of the net and really enjoy scoring a goal and making a difference and winning a game. We’re sitting back, we just sit there on the edge of the box with three people but not one midfield player getting into the box, or very, very rarely. To me, that’s criminal. You should be saying ‘get yourselves in the box’ whether that means you’ve got to do a 30-yard jog or sprint back or not. Because that’s what you get paid to do. You’ve got to be brave and we’re not brave at the moment. We’re playing scared football. With Scott Wootton’s own goal, it’s a mistake that could have happened to anybody. It’s one of them where nine times out of 10 the young boy will clear the ball into the stands. Unfortunately, it’s not happened to Scott. He’s tried to do the right thing and Marco Silvestri has come and realised that he can’t get it. If he’d stayed on his line he’d probably have saved it. There’s bad judgment there by the ’keeper and there’s just a mistake there by Scott unfortunately. He’s gone to clear with his right foot but unfortunately it’s hit his knee and it could have gone anywhere. But let’s not make any mistake about it; yes, we lost to an own goal but they’d have scored at some stage during that game with the amount of chances they had. If it had stayed 0-0, they’d have put one of the other ones away. It was just that first touch in the box that they couldn’t get right. They created chance after chance and at every corner they got the first header to it pretty much. I don’t see us attacking balls like they did. We’re too defence-minded. We’re not attacking enough. Whether that’s coming from information and instructions from the sidelines and the coaching, I don’t know, but do they do enough phases of play during the week in attacking thirds? Do they tell their midfield players to get themselves in the box and to fill the right areas? Are they working on these things because, if they are, I am not seeing the benefits of it. Whelan is spot on. if you are going to go out of the cup, go out with a fight not a whimper ! Sat 20th of February WATFORD 1 (Wootton og 54), UNITED 0 United team: Silvestri, Wootton, Bellusci, Bamba, Taylor, Bridcutt, Cook, Diagouraga (Botaka 85), Dallas (Mowatt 61), Doukara, Antenucci (Erwin 82). Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Coyle, Adeyemi, Murphy. Referee: Michael Oliver Booked: Bellusci, Bridcutt (United) Att: 18,336 (4,065 United) Report from official website The Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round tie away to Watford saw United head coach Steve Evans make just the one change from the goalless draw with Middlesbrough earlier in the week as captain Sol Bamba returned to the defence in place of the injured Liam Cooper. On-loan winger Mustapha Carayol also missed out through injury, meaning there was a place among the substitutes for Jordan Botaka. The hosts, who entered the game occupying ninth place in the Premier League after an impressive return to the top-flight, took just two minutes to have the game’s first sight of goal, striker Troy Deeney seeing his powerful back-post header deflected wide from Juan Carlos Paredes’ right-wing cross. Miguel Britos then twice headed wide after meeting two corners inside the United penalty area as the Hornets enjoyed the better of the openings during the early exchanges. The United defence continued to defend deep, watching Jose Holebas’ powerful first-time effort fizz beyond the far post via a deflection, before Evans’ side started to apply some pressure of their own. Mirco Antenucci led the charge, driving United forward on a quick counter-attack and finding Stuart Dallas inside the Watford area, but the Northern Ireland winger was unable to generate the power needed to test Costel Pantilimon with his curling effort. Dallas then dragged wide from the edge of the box moments later after some clever exchanges with Souleymane Doukara as United grew into the tie. At the opposite end, Marco Silvestri needed to be alert to block Paredes’ low cross at the near post, but United remained a threat on the break and their most likely outlet, Dallas, came close again on the stroke of half-time after seeing his low strike deflected behind after cutting inside of his marker. The two teams re-emerged unchanged from the break and the hosts managed to break the deadlock within just nine minutes of the restart through Scott Wootton’s own goal, with the defender inadvertently turning Ben Watson’s back-post cross into his own net. And the Hornets thought their lead had been doubled four minutes later, Etienne Capoue turning home a low cross at the back post, but not before referee Michael Oliver had spotted a push from Troy Deeney on Leeds full-back Charlie Taylor. That chance came moments after Alben Abdi had strode forward unchallenged before blazing over the bar from the edge of the area as the home crowd urged their side forward in search of a quick-fire second. Evans was prompted into his first change of the afternoon on the hour mark, though, replacing Dallas with Alex Mowatt in midfield, shortly before Pantilimon managed to gather a long-range effort from Liam Bridcutt. As the game entered the closing stages, both Holebas and Capoue threatened to put the tie beyond United’s reach, the latter smashing his effort over the crossbar after space had opened for up him on the edge of the box. But United, who had introduced Lee Erwin and Jordan Botaka in a bid to find an equaliser, could well have pulled themselves level with one minute remaining on the clock as Wootton found Doukara in space 15 yards out, but the forward struck well over Pantilimon’s crossbar as the hosts saw out their lead to seal progression to the quarter-finals. Evans on exit : “It’s a cruel way to go out of the cup,”. “I thought they started better than us in the first 10 minutes, but for the next half-an-hour we were by far the better side. We played some good, controlled football and attacked both sides of the pitch. “But after going in at half-time, I don’t think we got back to that level in the second half. “They stepped it up, but I thought we were still quite resolute. It was just a real cruel way to go out to an own goal. “But I couldn’t have asked for any more from the players we had out there. We know we’re missing certain qualities.” On the own goal, which won the game for Watford, Evans added: “I felt for Scott Wootton. He shook hands with all the players and the staff when he came into the dressing room. “He won’t sleep for a few days now. Scott Wootton, or any defender at this level, usually deals with cross like that 20 or 30 times in a match, but he just got caught in two minds.” I don’t know what game you were watching Steve, buy we were never in it and we never ever went at them. Tame , very tame ! We miss wood and Carayol badly and carried no attacking threat today. The visit of second-placed Middlesbrough saw United head coach Steve Evans name an unchanged side from the 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest nine days earlier. The only alteration came on the substitutes bench as Alex Mowatt returned from injury in place of Mustapha Carayol, with the on-loan winger ineligible to face his parent club. Leeds started the brighter of the two sides, dominating the early stages at a bitterly cold Elland Road, as Mirco Antenucci saw his goalbound effort blocked inside the area by Ben Gibson after being played in by Souleymane Doukara, before Stuart Dallas’ back-post header was deflected onto the roof of the net. The visitors soon threatened at the opposite end, though, as Marco Silvestri saw Gaston Ramirez’s low cross late, forcing Giuseppe Bellusci to turn the ball behind for a corner, from which the Italian defender was well-placed to clear the ball off the line as Boro looked to scramble home from close-range. Silvestri then held a well-hit effort from Boro full-back Dael Fry, but it was United who looked the more likely to break the deadlock during the early exchanges. Antenucci raised the tempo, cutting inside before seeing his low effort blocked from 25 yards out, before the woodwork denied Evans’ side an opener on the half-hour mark as Ritchie De Laet turned Charlie Taylor’s back-post corner against his own crossbar. Doukara then tried his luck from distance, forcing goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos to back-pedal nervously as his audacious attempt brushed the roof of the net on its way over. The second half began at a somewhat slower pace as both sides patiently probed for a way through. Christhian Stuani’s dangerous-looking low cross was gathered by Silvestri, while Konstantopoulos was forced off his line at the opposite end to punch clear Bellusci’s long ball as Doukara lurked inside the area. Both sides were soon prompted into making changes, Boro introducing attacking duo Albert Adomah and David Nugent, while United brought Mowatt on in place of Dallas. The home crowd were left wondering how their side had not managed to open the scoring on 71 minutes, as Konstantopoulos somehow flew across his line to claw away Doukara’s header after Taylor’s deep free-kick. The game seemed to be opening up and Boro broke from the resulting corner, Jordan Rhodes going through on goal before seeing his strike beaten away by a strong two-handed save from Silvestri. Lee Erwin was introduced to bolster United’s attack, replacing Antenucci with 10 minutes remaining, as the game remained in the balance, but Boro threatened twice in quick succession at the opposite end as Rhodes stooped to head wide from Adomah’s right-wing cross before Stewart Downing fired into Silvestri’s arms. Doukara then towered a header agonisingly wide of the far post after meeting Taylor’s cross, before United started to pile on the pressure in search of a late winner as Boro were reduced to 10 men in the 89th minute as Gibson collected his second yellow card of the evening for a foul on Erwin. The best chance during four minutes of added time fell for Doukara after being slotted into the area by Liam Bridcutt, but Konstantopoulos was quick off his line to block, while Taylor hammered a first-time strike over the bar after a corner had fallen into his path. But there was to be no way through as the visitors saw out a nervy finale to ensure the spoils would be shared. Steve Evans said: “I think I feel unlucky and Aitor Karanka, a good friend of mine, will feel very lucky. “We’ve gone toe-to-toe with a terrific team who have lots of resilience and class. “They had a 10-minute spell in both halves but then it was 75 minutes of Leeds United on top, playing a brand of football we want to play. “By in my eyes, their goalkeeper’s save from Doukara’s header was the best save I’ve seen in a long time. “Everyone in the ground thought it was in, and he made another smart save from Doukara in added time. “We look at them as big chances, they’ll look at the Jordan Rhodes chance which he should put away, but I’m pleased with the players. “There’s no doubt Boro felt we would be the same shape from Forest, and if you look at the first 15 minutes when we battered them, you’d have to say we caught them out a little. “They are a quality side, they’ve got a fantastic chairman who backs them and an excellent head coach who I have an excellent relationship with. But I think he knew this was a really difficult game.” United shaded it tonight and but for good goalkeeping and better finishing would have taken all three points. Feb 2nd Lafferty Still On Leeds’ Radar The 28-year-old striker has made just one appearance all season in the league – as a 77th-minute substitute in Norwich’s 2-1 defeat to Leicester in October – and looks no closer to securing a regular place in Alex Neil’s starting eleven or even on the bench. The striker is a key member of the Northern Ireland team and wants to play first-team football in the lead up to the summer’s European Championships – but failed to secure a move away during the January window. However, it is now likely that he will move away once the loan window opens next week and there are no shortage of clubs hoping to land the talented striker. Lafferty, who has already spent time at FC Sion, Palermo and Rizespor during a nomadic career, is a target for Steve Evans and the Whites are reporteLeeds United’s search for a new striker came to nothing last night as the transfer window closed without any deadline-day additions to the squad at Elland Road. Feb 1st Deadline day is a dud for Leeds United Head coach Steve Evans drew a blank as the January market reached its 11pm cut-off point, leaving him to fight on with his existing group of forwards after a month in which Leeds completed three incoming deals. Evans secured an extension of Liam Bridcutt’s loan from Sunderland at the start of last month and struck a temporary deal for Middlesbrough winger Mustapha Carayol before signing Toumani Diagouraga from Brentford in a £575,000 move. A new striker, however, was a priority for United’s boss heading into the final days of the window after his shallow pool of options was weakened by the recurrence of Chris Wood’s hamstring injury. Evans targeted Barnsley forward Sam Winnall last week but had a £300,000 bid rejected and also failed with an approach to take Fraizer Campbell on loan from Crystal Palace. Norwich City’s Kyle Lafferty was a target throughout the window and Evans remained hopeful that a late deal might be reached for the Northern Ireland international yesterday but Lafferty remained at Carrow Road as the window closed. Evans, who saw right-back Sam Byram sold to West Ham United in a £3.7 deal on January 20, claimed last week that he was happy with the backing given to him by Cellino but conceded that he was running short of players with injuries biting. The Scot had insisted that funds were available to him in the aftermath of Byram’s exit but he secured only one permanent signing in Diagouraga. “The Sam Byram money plus more money is available now,” Evans said last month. The Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round tie away to Bolton Wanderers saw United head coach Steve Evans make three changes from the team that drew 1-1 at Brentford earlier in the week. Captain Sol Bamba returned to the heart of defence in place of the injured Liam Cooper, while Toumani Diagouraga replaced Luke Murphy in midfield for his full Leeds debut and Mirco Antenucci came in for the injured Chris Wood in attack. The hosts, who were attacking towards United’s biggest away following of the season so far, had the afternoon’s first sight of goal through striker Gary Madine, but Marco Silvestri was able to comfortably hold his effort on the turn from the edge of the area. Darren Pratley then skied a first-time effort after meeting Liam Feeney’s cut-back on the edge of the area, before Lewis Cook had United’s first attempt on goal at the opposite end with a curling effort which Wanderers’ keeper Ben Amos clutched just underneath his crossbar. The frantic start to proceedings showed no signs of letting up and United found a way through after just nine minutes, Souleymane Doukara continuing his fine form in front of goal with a low effort which crept beyond Amos after latching onto Stuart Dallas’ pin-point through ball. The hosts will feel they should have pulled themselves level three minutes later, though, as Madine smashed over from close-range after muscling his way onto the ball in front of goal. A brief spell of Bolton pressure followed, with United forced to defend deep to clear a series of deliveries into the area, before Dallas threatened a second with a strike which sailed well over after skipping away from his marker inside the Bolton box. United had a golden opportunity to double the advantage after 25 minutes following a swift break up-field led by Cook. The midfielder cut inside but opted not to shoot as space opened up for him, instead threading the ball out wide to Antenucci inside the area, who forced a superb one-handed save from Amos at his near post to turn the low strike behind. The advantage was deservedly doubled on the 40th-minute mark and it was the full debutant, Diagouraga, who wheeled away in celebration after meeting Antenucci’s cutback to calmly tuck away his first goal for the club from inside the area. The second period started in a similar manner to the first, with end-to-end attacks making the tie an enthralling watch. United were first, with Taylor just scuffing his strike after being found unmarked at the back post by Cook following another breakaway, before Madine found himself crowded out inside the opposite area as his close-range effort was turned behind. United were inches away from adding a third on the hour mark as another flowing counter-attack carved apart the Bolton defence, only for Scott Wootton to smash agonisingly over the bar after being teed up on the edge of the area by Dallas. Leeds were looking increasingly comfortable as the game progressed and Amos was again called upon to tip a speculative Giuseppe Bellusci free-kick over the bar from distance. Bolton did threaten to pull one back, though, as Liam Feeney worked his way into the area before smashing well over the bar from an acute angle, before Bellusci heroically launched himself in the way of Darren Prately’s ferocious half-volley. But Pratley did manage to find a way through nine minutes from time after a corner fell into his path to hammer the ball emphatically into the roof the net at the back post and set up a nervy finale. And the home fans thought their side had snatched a replay with three minutes remaining, only to see Madine clip the outside of the post from inside the area after Silvestri had pushed Pratley’s initial strike into his path. United held firm during four minutes of added time, though, and did enough to book a place in Sunday evening’s Fifth Round draw.

2019-04-25T06:39:09Z

http://leedsutdlouthsc.com/?page_id=5527

The terms and expressions listed hereunder have the meaning specified in the definition, being understood that the terms defined in the singular form are to be considered defined even in the plural form and vice-versa. Customer: means any person or company purchasing one or more Products from the Webstore, accepting the General Terms and Conditions. ● Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968: means Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 S.r.l. with registered office in Via Meucci 16 30035 Mirano (Venice),Tax Code and VAT No. 04185230275. ● Parties: means Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 and the Customers, jointly. ● General terms and conditions: means these general terms and conditions of sale and any possible future versions, which Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 may publish on the Webstore. ● Webstore: means a virtual shop, managed by Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 and accessible at the URLs tabarro.com and tabarro.it, where Products are available for sale. ● Sale and purchase agreements: means the sale and purchase agreements of the Products that Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 and the Customers enter into, pursuant to art. 3, through the Webstore. ● Orders: mean the Product purchase orders placed by the Customers pursuant to the General Terms and Conditions and in accordance with the procedure set out under art. 6. ● Order Confirmation: means the e-mail message by means of which Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 informs the Customers of the acceptance of the Order. ● Price: means the retail price of the Product as specified in the Webstore near the Products on sale. ● Products: means the products published in the Webstore for sale. ● Account: means the area in the Webstore, where Customers are allowed, following authentication, to: (i) monitor and update personal data and address where the ordered Product is shipped and delivered; (ii) view previous Orders; (iii) have access to any other specific function/setting concerning their activity in the Webstore. 2.1 The General Terms and Conditions regulate and are an integral part of all the Sale and Purchase Agreements. 2.2 Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 has the right to modify the General Terms and Conditions at any time, being understood that the version of the General Terms and Conditions to be applied to the Sale and Purchase Agreements will be that published in the Webstore when the Customers place the Orders. 2.3 In case of a conflict between the General Terms and Conditions and other possible terms and conditions applicable to the Sale and Purchase Agreements published in the Webstore, the terms and conditions more favourable to the Customers will apply. 3.1 Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 undertakes to send the Order Confirmation to the Customers within 10 working days from when they receive the Orders from the Customers. 3.2 Sale and Purchase Agreements are entered into between the Parties at the time the Customers receive the Order Confirmation. Should the Customers not receive the Order Confirmation within the deadline under art 3.1, the related Order will be considered rejected by Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 and thus have no effect. 3.3 By placing the Orders, the Customers declare to have read all the instructions referring to the purchase methods of the Products pursuant to art. 6, and declare to have fully accepted the General Terms and Conditions and to have read all additional information available in the Webstore, including information accessible through links. 3.4 The Orders will be saved in the Webstore database according to the methods and in compliance with Italian Legislative Decree no. 196 dated 30.06.2003 (“Privacy Code”) and will be accessible by contacting Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 at the contact details specified under art. 16 or via the customer’s Account. 4.1 Without prejudice to that stated under art. 4.6, Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 indicates near each Product published on the Webstore whether the product is (i) in stock; (ii) not in stock. 4.2 The range of Products published in the Webstore and their availability may vary at any time without Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 being liable towards the Customer. 4.3 The availability of the Products indicated in the Webstore is by no means binding, being understood that, pursuant to art. 4.1 (ii), Customers cannot order Products indicated as “not available”. Should a Product (indicated as available at the time the Customer placed the Order) be no longer available, Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968, without prejudice to that set out in art. 3.2, undertakes to inform the Customer via email about when the Product(s) ordered is/are expected to be available again. The Customer can cancel the Order within 48 hours from the reception of Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968’s email (without prejudice to the right of withdrawal pursuant to art. 9) by sending an email to the address specified in art. 16. In this case, Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 undertakes to refund the Customer as soon as possible. 4.4 Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 has the right to not indicate the availability of the/some Product(s) published on the Webstore. 5.1 The Price is indicated in Euro (€). The applicable Price is that published in the Webstore at the moment in which Customers place their Orders. 5.2 The price includes VAT if the Products are shipped by Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 and delivered within the European Union. The price does not include VAT if the Products are shipped by Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 and delivered outside the European Union. 5.3 The Price does not include shipping costs. Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 has the right to ask its Customers to contribute to the shipping costs, which may vary depending on the type of delivery, quantity of Products to be delivered, volume, weight, and destination. 5.4 The contribution required by Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 to cover the shipping costs is indicated separately before the Customers place the Orders and will be paid by the Customers together with the Price, according to the methods set out in art. 7. 5.5 Any tax, fee, customs duty or other duty provided by the laws of the country in which the Products are shipped and delivered are to be entirely borne by the Customers, who will make the payment upon delivery of the Products directly to the competent tax or customs authorities or to the courier in charge of the delivery. 6.1 The Customers can place the Orders only after signing up to the Webstore, which can be done by entering all the required data and choosing a password to be used to place the Order and log into their Account at any time later as well. 6.2 The Customers can purchase the Products by selecting them in the Webstore section related to the type of Product required and adding them to the “cart”. To purchase more than one Product, the Customers must follow the above-mentioned procedure and click on “add to cart”. After selecting the Products to be purchased, the Customers must log into the Webstore pursuant to art. 6.1. On the other hand, subscribed Customers must enter the email address and password in the specific fields and click to “proceed to checkout”. After having checked the correctness of the data entered (Product, and “shipping information”), the Customers must choose the payment method pursuant to art. 7. Once they have selected the payment method, the Customers can place the Orders by clicking on “send”. 7.1 The Customers may pay the Price (and the part of the shipping costs requested as indicated under art. 5) by credit card, PayPal, bank transfer (payment in advance) or other payment methods indicated by Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 in the Webstore. Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 has the right to modify the payment methods at any time, being understood that the payment methods available are those indicated in the Webstore at the time when the Customers place the Orders. 7.2 If the payment is made by credit card, the Price (and the part of the shipping costs requested as indicated under art. 5) will be charged, once the credit card data is verified and the authorisation from the company issuing the credit card is received, when Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 sends the Order Confirmation. The credit card data entered during the ordering procedure is protected and transmitted directly to the bank in charge of the payments. The payment is made on a secure server directly, with an SSL deciphering key, so as to guarantee a totally safe transaction. The credit card data is not accessible by Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 or third parties, neither at the time of placement of the Orders nor later. 7.3 Payments via bank transfer must be made indicating the bank details, which can be found in the Webstore, the order number (initial letters included) as description of the payment, which is communicated by Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 at the time when Customers place the Order and stated in the Order Confirmation. 7.4 For payments made via PayPal, at the time when Customers place the Order, the web session will be redirected to PayPal secure website. On this website, the Customers can complete their payment (including their contribution to the shipping costs pursuant to art. 5) by using their PayPal account in compliance with PayPal terms and conditions of use subscribed by the Customers at that time or previously. The Price and contribution to the shipping costs (pursuant to art. 5) shall be charged on Customers’ PayPal account when Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 sends the Order Confirmation. 7.5 Upon shipping the Products, Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 will send the invoice based on the information provided by the Customers. Once issued, the Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 invoice cannot be modified in any way. 7.6 Pursuant to art. 7, the information received by Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 will be used solely to complete the procedures related to the sale of Products and refunds, should the Customers exercise the right of withdrawal pursuant to art. 9. 8.1 Being understood that “shipping” means the handing of the products to the couriers selected on a case-by-case basis pursuant to art. 8.2, Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 is not bound to ship the Products until Payment is received; once they receive the payment of the Price, Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 undertakes to ship the Products: (i) when the Products are available (as defined under art. 4): – within 3 working days from the receipt of the communication authorising the charge of payment as under art. 7.2, if payment is made by credit card; – within 3 working days from the time the confirmation of the payment is made available, if the payment is made with methods other than credit card; – (ii) should one or more Products become unavailable (as in the case under art. 4.3), within 3 days from the time the Product or Products is/are in stock again, without prejudice to the Customer’s right to cancel the Order pursuant to the same article (4.3); (iii) in the event that the availability of one or more Product is not indicated (as in the option under art. 4.6) and the Products are in stock when the Customer places the order: – within 3 working days from the receipt of the communication authorising the charge of payment as under art. 7.2 if payment is made by credit card; – within 3 working days from when Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 has been informed about the payment placed with methods other than credit card; (iv) in case the availability of one or more Products is not indicated (as in the option under art. 4.6) and the Products are not in stock when Customers place the order, within 3 working days from the time the Products are in stock again. 8.2 Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 ensures the shipment of the Products in the countries indicated in the Webstore via the express couriers selected on a case-by-case basis depending on the Product ordered and its destination. The Products are shipped by Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 and delivered by the courier selected by Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 to the address indicated by the Customer after signing up pursuant to art. 6.1 or to another address indicated upon placing the Order. 8.3 Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 undertakes to ensure that the Products shipped pursuant to articles 8.1 and 8.2 are delivered by the selected couriers: – In Italy within 48 hours from the date of shipment; – outside Italy within 15 days from the date of shipment. 8.4 The delivery terms under art. 8.3 may not, under any circumstance, be considered binding, as Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 is unable to monitor directly the deliveries after their shipment; therefore, Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 cannot be held liable in case of a breach of the delivery terms. 8.5 In order to allow the Customers to monitor the progress of the Orders, Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 issues an Order number, which, once entered in the “my order” section, is accessible from any page of the Webstore, and allows you to verify any order-related information. 8.7 The Customers, or authorised third parties who will be at the address indicated in the Order Confirmation at the time of delivery, must check, upon receiving the order, that: (i) The number and type of Products match those indicated in the courier’s transport document; (ii) the packaging/parcel of the Products, including securing materials is intact, undamaged, not wet, or altered. 8.7 The Customers must report immediately any damage to the packaging/parcel by applying the message “accepted subject to verification” on the courier’s proof of delivery (POD). It is understood that once the POD is signed without any claim, the Customers will not be entitled to claim any exterior defect of the delivered Products to Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968. 8.8 Couriers can deliver the Products only to the Customers or authorised persons; the person to whom the Products are delivered must apply a signature to certify the delivery. Couriers do not deliver to PO boxes nor can they insert the Products in letterboxes or similar places. 9.1 Customers who are “consumers” (i.e. private persons acting for scopes not included in any business, commercial, craftsman or professional activity carried out) have the right to withdraw from the Sale and Purchase Agreements within 30 days from the reception of the Products in compliance with art.64 of Italian Legislative Decree no. 206/2005. The Customers may exercise their right to withdraw from the Sale and Purchase Agreements by sending an e-mail to the address stated in art. 16. The email must include: (i) the intention to exercise the right of withdrawal; (ii) the details of the Order generating the Sale and Purchase Agreement from which they intend to withdraw. 9.2 In case the Customers exercise the right of withdrawal pursuant to art. 9: (i) the Customers undertake to return the Products within 10 working days from the date on which they communicated the withdrawal, as indicated under art. 9.1; (ii) all Product return-related costs are entirely borne by the Customers; (iii) Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 undertakes to refund the Price as soon as possible and, in any event, within 30 days from the date in which the Customers communicated the withdrawal, as indicated under art. 9.1, provided that: – the Products are returned intact; – the original package/parcel is returned intact; – accessories, user manuals, etc. are returned intact; the Products have not been used; (iv) Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 must inform the Customers about the Price refund methods and to this end it may ask Customers for their bank details (IBAN and name of account holder). 9.3 Should the Customers not exercise the right of withdrawal in accordance with art. 9., they will have no right to ask for a refund of the Price. 9.4 As an alternative to exercising the right of withdrawal provided for by art. 9., the “consumer” Customers (according to the definition in art. 9.1) can “change the product” according to the terms and conditions specified in the Webstore. 10.1 Should the Products be covered by warranty (commercial/conventional warranty), the Customers must communicate any Product flaw/non-conformity directly to the manufacturer in accordance with the terms and conditions indicated in the warranty. 10.2 The “consumer” Customers (as defined under art. 9.1) have the right granted by article 130 of Italian Legislative Decree 206/05, which must be exercised in accordance to the terms provided for by article 132 of the above mentioned Decree. The manufacturer of the Products will be liable for any damage caused by the Products’ defects. Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 declares and ensures that Customers’ personal data will be processed in compliance with the provisions set out in Italian Legislative Decree 196/03 and subsequent amendments. Pursuant to art. 6.1 or 6.2, details on data processing methods are communicated to the Customers after signing up. 13.1 Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 undertakes to constantly check the Webstore to prevent errors or inaccuracies. However, the Webstore may contain, from time to time, errors, inaccuracies, or omissions anyway. 13.2 Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 has the right to correct any error, inaccuracy, or omission contained in the Webstore even after an Order has been placed, and to change or update information at any time without prior notice. Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 holds all intellectual property rights related to the Webstore (its content included); both the Webstore and its content cannot be reproduced in whole or in part, transferred by electronic or conventional means, modified, linked or used in any way, without prior written consent from Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968. 15.1 The General Terms and Conditions of Sale and Purchase Agreements are regulated by the laws of the Republic of Italy (and in particular by Italian Legislative Decree no. 206 dated 06/09/2005 – articles from 50 to 67 related to distance contracts – and by Legislative Decree no. 70 dated 09/04/2003 on e-commerce) and will be interpreted accordingly. 15.2 Any dispute arising from and in connection with the General Terms and Conditions and/or the Sale and Purchase Agreements will be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Venice. To ensure quick delivery times, Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 S.r.l. relies on the best express couriers selected depending on the destination and type of the product. Below you will find a list of countries to which Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 S.r.l. ships and relative shipping costs. The shipping costs, visible in the cart, will be added to the total during the purchasing process and charged upon payment. Therefore, you do not have to pay the courier upon delivery. Order processing: Orders are processed from 9.00 to 17.00 GMT from Monday to Friday. Orders placed after 17.00 on Fridays will be processed the following Monday – Products indicated as “Available” in Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 S.r.l. shop will be processed and shipped within 1 or 2 working days from the reception of the payment to Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 S.r.l. – The purchase cannot be made in case one or more products are “Not Available”. Reviewing the Order: Please log into your account and click “My orders” (visible on all the webstore pages) to check the information related to the order. Then click the order number to display the details. Shipment times: – The material dispatched in Italy is delivered within 24-48 hours from the shipment (holidays excluded). – Shipments within the EU take 2-3 working days. – Shipments outside the EU take 4-5 working days (unless there are delays due to customs clearance). For any request, question, or comment, please contact our Customer Service. Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 S.r.l. accepts payments via PayPal, Credit Card, and Bank Transfer (payment in advance). At the end of the order process, you can choose between these three payment methods. All payments must be made to Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 S.r.l., which manages the sales operations online. Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 S.r.l. cannot, under any circumstance, accept cash payments either directly or by post. Contact our customer service (online@tabarro.it) for any request or suggestion. Note: This webstore operates within the European Union; therefore, all transactions are processed in Euro, unless otherwise specified. If you pay using another currency, the conversion will be based on that day’s exchange rate. No additional cost will be applied to the currency conversion. PayPal allows any company or consumer with an email address to send and receive secure payments. Click “Pay with PayPal” to open the secure PayPal website. If you already have a PayPal account, you can simply authorise the payment. If you do not have a PayPal account yet, you should subscribe for free and enter your credit card (even a pre-paid card) details to make payments to Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 S.r.l. You can also use your bank account to top up your PayPal account with which you will make the payments. PayPal is a free online payment system. PayPal is available in different languages. Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 S.r.l.’s shop accepts payments via VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club, JCB, Laser Card and Maestro credit cards. The payment occurs over a secure server (SSL) with a 128-bit encryption key. With this system, your credit card information is sent directly to the bank collecting the payment over a secured, encrypted connection. No one at Artigiana Sartoria Veneta 1968 S.r.l. has access to your credit card information at the moment of purchase or at any time. Within the European Union: No additional cost or duty will be applied to products marketed within the EU. Customers shall not pay anything upon delivery. Outside the European Union: Shipments outside the EU can be subject to import taxes or customs duties. These duties are solely borne by the recipient, who must pay the due amount to the freight forwarder or competent authority. Note: shipments to the United States, as indicated above, are subject to customs duties and import taxes. Moreover, US customs require the recipient’s Social Security Number or Non US Citizen Import Number – CBP Customs Border Protection Assigned Number. Failure to clear customs: In order to ensure the parcel customs clearance, the customer must provide all the information required and/or pay the relative fees. Failure to clear customs will result in the parcel being returned to our warehouse. For further information, see our return policy. COUNTRIES AND SHIPPING COSTS. Below we provide a list of countries currently served by Compagnia Mercantile S.r.l. The shipping costs displayed are calculated based on the weight of the products in the cart. The final shipping cost will be displayed during the purchasing process. The products must be returned within 30 days from delivery. The products must not have been worn and washed or altered in any way. The returned products must carry their original labels and be in their original packaging. It is mandatory to complete the return process (see below for further details). Note: Some products are available in one size/colour/length. Therefore, these products cannot be changed for other sizes, colours, or lengths. To change these products with a similar one, please contact our customer service (online@tabarro.it). Who pays for the shipment? Costs for retuning the product(s), either via courier or post, will be borne by the customer. Compagnia Mercantile S.r.l. will bear the shipping costs for the new product(s). When will the product be changed? Your new product(s) will be shipped once we receive the original product(s). How much will the refund be? The shop will bear the refund administrative costs. On the other hand, costs for shipping the product, either via courier or post, will be borne by the customer. Therefore, the refund will be equal to the value of the returned product. How will the money be returned? (1) The shop operates within the European Union; therefore, every transaction is converted to Euro following the customer’s payment. For payments made with any currency other than Euro, Compagnia Mercantile S.r.l. returns the amount in Euro; therefore, the conversion to the foreign currency is calculated using the exchange rate that is applicable on the day the refund is made. Exchange risks will be borne by the customer. (2) The returned products paid via bank transfer are refunded via bank transfer. In order to be refunded, the customer must provide our customer service (online@tabarro.it) with their bank details. The data required are IBAN and name of the account holder. When will the refund take place? The refund will be processed as soon as we receive the returned product at our warehouse. Please note that if the payment is made via credit card, the refund can take up to 4 weeks to be visible in your bank statement. The refund will be added to your bank statement under the description ——————- or ——————-. For questions related to online purchases, please contact our customer service (online@tabarro.it).

2019-04-19T04:48:57Z

http://tabarro.it/termini-e-condizioni/?lang=en

The Wichita County Sheriff’s Office Citizen’s Alumni Association will be hosting a chili cook off on January 14, 2017 from 11a-3p. It will be held at the Elks Lodge located at 4205 Seymour Hwy, Wichita Falls. There will be a certified CASI division as well as an Open division. There will be a bake sale and the Redneck Culinary Academy will be selling snacks and food. All proceeds will go toward the building of the memorial honoring fallen deputies and volunteer firefighters of Wichita County. Any and all chili recipes will be accepted and prizes will be awarded for 1st-3rd place. Chili must be turned in by 12 noon in a 20 oz. container provided by the Alumni Association. Judging will follow immediately. There will also be a prize awarded for “SHOWMANSHIP” to any individual or team interested in showing their “chili creativity”!! There will be a CASI sanctioned chili cook as well, so we will need several judges. ANYONE who is not cooking chili can sign up for the judging. CASI judging will begin at 1:00pm. Contact Deputy Melvin Joyner at 716-8676, Deputy Brien Conner at 716-8678 or Willie Howard 940 636-0877 for more information. To enter the chili cook-off print and return this completed form. On Tuesday November 29, at approximately 9:20 am, Lieutenant Patrick McFerrin and Deputy Roy Biter responded to the 3400 block of Watts Road in reference to a Disturbance. Upon arrival, the Reporting Person reported that there had been a verbal disturbance at the residence prior to deputies arrival. On Tuesday November 29, at approximately 10:47 pm, Deputy Cole McGarry made a traffic stop at the intersection of Monroe and Ave. G. A 20-year-old male passenger was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance PG 1 less than one gram. On Tuesday November 29, at approximately 12:11 pm, Deputy Gerald Morgan barred a 62-year-old female that was causing a disturbance at 900 7th Street. On Monday November 28, at approximately 12:45 pm, Deputy Roy Biter responded to the 3600 block of F.M. 368 South in reference to a Criminal Mischief. Upon arrival, the Reporting Person reported that an unknown person(s) struck his fence with a vehicle causing $400.00 to $500.00 worth of damage. On Monday November 28, at approximately 11:35 am, Lieutenant Patrick McFerrin and Deputy Christopher Salas responded to the 1900 block of Old Electra Road in reference to the recovery of two stolen dirt bikes. Upon arrival, the Reporting Person reported that he found two of his stolen dirt bikes on the property. A Honda Dirt Bike and a Yamaha Dirt bike were recovered. On Monday November 28, at approximately 6:39 pm, Deputy Greg Wilson and Deputy Victoria Kamp made a traffic stop the 3800 block of Iowa Park Road. The 26-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with four outstanding warrants for Capias Pro No Drivers License, Public Intoxication, Fail to Stop at Designated Point and No Drivers License in Possession. On Wednesday November 23, at approximately 1:20 am, Lieutenant Carl Magee made a traffic stop at the intersection of Southwest Parkway and Belmont. The 45-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Driving While License Invalid. On Wednesday November 23, at approximately 11:54 pm, Deputy Cole McGarry made a traffic stop in the 1600 block of Hurst. The 33-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with three outstanding warrants for Failure to Stop at Designated Point, Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility and Expired Motor Vehicle Registration. On Thursday November 24, at approximately 12:43 pm, Deputy Christopher Salas made a traffic stop in the 2100 block of Holliday. A 27-year-old male passenger was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Friday November 25, at approximately 10:16 pm, Corporal Ralph Burdick made a traffic stop at the intersection of 9th and Broad. The 34-year-old female driver was issued citation for Driving While License Invalid and Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility. The vehicle was impounded. On Friday November 25, at approximately 8:00 pm, Corporal Ralph Burdick made a traffic stop at the intersection of North Scott and Warren. The 57-year-old female driver was placed under arrest. She was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with five outstanding warrants for Capias Pro Fine-Speeding, Capias Pro Fine-Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility, Capias Pro Fine-No Drivers License in Possession, Unrestrained Child under 8 and 57 inches and Expired Drivers License. On Friday November 25, at approximately 9:40 pm, Deputy Josh McGuinn made a traffic stop in the 1300 block of 9th Street. The 53-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Friday November 25, at approximately 10:38 pm, Deputy Brian Koschak responded to a structure fire in the 1300 block of S.H. 79 North. Upon arrival, the front of the residence was found fully engulfed by fire. The fire is still under investigation. On Saturday November 26, at approximately 8:59 am, Deputy Justin Mitchell made a traffic stop at the intersection of U.S. 287 and S.H. 25. The 23-year-old male driver was issued a citation of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. On Saturday November 26, at approximately 2:45 pm, Deputy Jeff Lee made a traffic stop at the intersection of Central Frwy. and Jacksboro Hwy. The 17-year-old female driver was issued a citation for Speeding 80/60. On Saturday November 26, at approximately 8:53 pm, Corporal Ralph Burdick attempted to stop a vehicle on Speedway at the intersection of Hairpin Curve. The vehicle stopped in the 1600 block of Speedway. The 39-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance PG 1 over four grams under two hundred grams. On Saturday November 26, at approximately 5:43 pm, Deputy Josh McGuinn made a traffic stop in the 1400 block of Scott Street. The 27-year-old male driver and a 25-year-old male passenger were placed under arrest. They were transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. The driver was charged with No Drivers License. The passenger was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Saturday November 26, at approximately 7:54 pm, Corporal Ralph Burdick made a traffic stop at the intersection of Jacksboro Hwy. and Travis. The 41-year-old male driver was issued a citation for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. On Saturday November 26, at approximately 11:02 am, Deputy Christopher Salas made a traffic stop in the 3600 block of Jacksboro Hwy. The 29-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces in a Drug Free Zone. On Sunday November 27, at approximately 9:41 pm, Deputy Daniel Jacobson responded to F.M. 171 and the Clay County line in reference to a Possible Suicidal Subject. The subject was located at F.M. 1740 and Dove Lane. The 38-year-old male was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Driving While Intoxicated and Unlawful Carry of a Firearm. On Sunday November 27, at approximately 8:30 pm, Deputy Greg Wilson and Deputy Victoria Kamp made a traffic stop in the 200 block of 6th Street. The 34-year-old male driver was issued a citation of r Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility. The vehicle was impounded. On Sunday November 27, at approximately 9:06 am, Deputy Jeff Lee made a traffic stop at the intersection of U.S. 287 and City View. The 42-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Sunday November 27, at approximately 2:43 am, Deputy Kristian Valdez Deputy Troy Glover made a traffic stop at the intersection of 10th and Polk. The 49-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Manufacture and Delivery of a Controlled Substance PG 1 over one gram under four grams and Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Sunday November 27, at approximately 12:454 am, Sergeant Mark Whipple made a traffic stop at the intersection of Holliday and 10th Street. The 28-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Driving While Intoxicated. On Monday November 28, at approximately 12:25 am, Deputy Paul Casillas responded to the 700 block of Coleman Park Road in reference to a Disturbance. Upon arrival, a 62-year-old male was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Assault/Family Violence. On Saturday November 19, at approximately 6:20 am, Deputy Amanda Price checked on an occupied vehicle that was parked in the 1700 block of Midwestern Parkway partially blocking a driveway. The 31-year-old male driver and a 25-year-old male passenger were observed slumped over inside the vehicle. The driver threatened to shoot the deputy. He was placed under arrest. The passenger was also placed under arrest. They were transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. The driver was charged with Assault on a Public Servant and three outstanding warrants for Expired Motor Vehicle Registration, Improper Display of License Plate and Fail to Maintain Financial Responsibility. The passenger was charged with Public Intoxication. On Monday November 21, at approximately 9:34 pm, Deputy Brian Koschak made a traffic stop at the intersection of Iowa Park Road and U.S. 287. A 40-year-old female passenger was placed under arrest. She was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance PG1 over one gram under four grams and two outstanding warrants for Speeding 74/60 and No Drivers License in Possession. On Monday November 21, at approximately 4:34 pm, Deputy Greg Wilson and Deputy Victoria Kamp responded to the 2000 block of S.H. 79 North in reference to a Disturbance. Upon arrival, the Reporting Person reported that a subject had broken out two windows on her residence prior to Deputies arrival, and then left the scene. On Tuesday November 22, at approximately 1:18 am, Sergeant Mark Whipple made a traffic stop at the intersection of Seymour Hwy. and Kemp. The 30-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Driving While Intoxicated. On Friday November 18, at approximately 10:25 pm, Deputy Matthew Schenck made a traffic stop at the intersection of Grant and Ave. M. A 17-year-old male passenger was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces and an outstanding warrant for No Drivers License. On Friday November 18, at approximately 4:00 pm, Deputy Justin Mitchell made a traffic stop in the 1400 block of Johnson Road. A 40-year-old male passenger was issued a citation for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. On Friday November 18, at approximately 2:07 pm, Deputy Jeff Lee and Deputy J.T. Mitchell responded to the 2400 block of Arena Road in reference to an Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle. Upon arrival, the Reporting Party reported that a subject took his 2008 Hyundai Accent without his consent. The vehicle was located a short time later in the 2000 block of Kemp Blvd. On Friday November 18, at approximately 1:49 pm, Deputy Christopher Salas made a traffic stop in the 1800 block of 9th Street. The 42-year-old male driver was issued a warning for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. On Friday November 18, at approximately 6:30 pm, Corporal Ralph Burdick and Deputy Josh McGuinn responded to F.M. 171 and F.M. 1740 in reference to an Animal Complaint. Upon arrival eight head of cattle were found out on the roadway. On Saturday November 19, at approximately 2:07 am, Deputy Kristian Valdez and Deputy Cole McGarry made a traffic stop in the 4600 block of Chuck. The 18-year-old male driver, a 20-year-old female passenger and a 24-year-old male passenger were placed under arrest. They were transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and were charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Saturday November 19, at approximately 12:07 am, Deputy Brett Brasher made a traffic stop in the 2000 block Grant. The 23-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Saturday November 19, at approximately 7:15 pm, Corporal Ralph Burdick and Deputy Josh McGuinn responded to the 4200 block of F.M. 367 in reference to an Assault. Upon arrival, the Reporting Person reported that she was assaulted by a family member prior to Deputies arrival. On Saturday November 19, at approximately 8:10 pm, Deputy J.T. Mitchell responded to the 3100 block of Midwestern Parkway in reference to a Theft. Upon arrival, a 54-year-old female was barred from the property. On Sunday November 20, at approximately 9:50 am, Corporal Josh Brown was in the 1700 block of Brook when he was informed that a subject attempted to pay for items with a counterfeit $50.00 bill. On Sunday November 20, at approximately 12:27 pm, Deputy Christopher Salas made a traffic stop in the 400 block of Iowa Park Road. The 45-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Sunday November 20, at approximately 3:50 am, Corporal Josh Brown made a traffic stop in the 1000 block of Kell Blvd. The 20-year-old female driver was issued a citation for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. On Sunday November 20, at approximately 9:17 am, Deputy Christopher Salas made a traffic stop in the 1900 block of 9th Street. The 31-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Sunday November 20, at approximately 9:07 pm, Deputy Daniel Jacobson made a traffic stop in the 1100 block of Monroe. The 20-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with an outstanding warrant for Expired Operators License and was issued citations for No Drivers License and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. On Monday November 21, at approximately 12:58 am, Deputy Matthew Schenck made a traffic stop in the 4400 block of Southwest Parkway. The 34-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Driving While Intoxicated-2nd Offense. On Wednesday November 16, at approximately 9:28 pm, Corporal Ralph Burdick and Deputy David Stout responded to the 500 block of Broad to serve a Mental Health Warrant. Upon arrival, a 53-year-old female was placed under arrest. She was transported to the North Texas State Hospital and was admitted. On Thursday November 17, at approximately 1:26 am, Lieutenant Carl Magee made a traffic stop at the intersection of F.M. 369 and F.M. 367. The 29-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Driving While Intoxicated-Enhanced. On Thursday November 17, at approximately 1:51 pm, Deputy Gabriel Villarreal made a traffic stop at the intersection of U.S. 287 and S.H. 25. The 24-year-old male driver and a 26-year-old male passenger were placed under arrest. They were transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and were charged with Possession of Marijuana over five pounds under fifty pounds. 21.8 pounds of high grade marijuana was seized. On Thursday November 17, at approximately 8:23 am, Deputy Sonja Arias made an arrest in the 900 block of 7th Street. The 39-year-old female was escorted to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of a Prohibited Weapon. On Thursday November 17, at approximately 6:00 am, Lieutenant Carl Magee responded to the 200 block of James in Iowa Park in reference to a structure fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation at this time. On Friday November 18, at approximately 1:54 am, Deputy Amanda Price made a traffic stop at the intersection of Keeler and Denver. The 24-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Thursday November 10, at approximately 12:19 am, Deputy Josh McGuinn made a traffic stop at the intersection of Lexington and Lebanon. The 23-year-old female driver was issued a citation for No Drivers License. The vehicle was impounded. On Friday November 11, at approximately 2:51 am, Deputy Amanda Price made a traffic stop at the intersection of Barnett and Pyrenees. The 28-year-old female driver and a 25-year-old female passenger were placed under arrest. They were transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. The driver was charged with Driving While intoxicated and the Passenger was charged with an outstanding warrant for Driving While License Invalid. On Friday November 11, at approximately 10:07 am, Deputy Christopher Salas and Deputy J.T. Mitchell responded to the 4400 block of Ulen Lane in reference to an Attempted Suicide. Upon arrival, the Reporting Person reported that a 60-year-old male had taken an overdose of prescription medications. He was transported to United Regional Health Care by American Medical Response and was admitted. On Friday November 11, at approximately 7:30 am, Lieutenant Patrick McFerrin and Sergeant Sergio Teruel responded to the 1700 block of F.M. 171 in reference to an unconscious male lying on the ground. Upon arrival, a 91-year-old male was found deceased of natural causes. On Friday November 11, at approximately 8:22 pm, Deputy Brian Koschak made a traffic stop at the intersection of Iowa Park Road and North Beverly. The 34-year-old female driver was placed under arrest. She was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with possession of a Controlled Substance PG 1 under one gram. On Saturday November 12, at approximately 11:42 am, Deputy Christopher Salas made a traffic stop in the 1400 block of North Scott. The 30-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces and an outstanding warrant for Violation of Probation-Possession of Marijuana. On Saturday November 12, at approximately 8:40 pm, Corporal Jeff Penney made a traffic stop at the intersection of Ave. J and Buchanan. The 26-year-old female driver was placed under arrest. She was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Saturday November 12, at approximately 4:08 am, Deputy Amanda Price made a traffic stop at the intersection of Kemp and Callfield. The 52-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces and three outstanding warrants for Capias Pro Fine-Expired License Plates, Capias Pro Fine-No Drivers License in Possession and Capias Pro Fine-Fail to Maintain Financial Responsibility. On Saturday November 12, at approximately 8:58 am, Deputy Christopher Salas made a traffic stop in the 2700 block of Jasper Street. A 28-year-old male passenger was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Saturday November 12, at approximately 2:20 am, Deputy Cole McGarry made a traffic stop in the 4700 block of Taft. A 20-year-old male passenger was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Saturday November 12, at approximately 7:45 pm, Deputy J.T. Mitchell responded to the 3100 block of Midwestern Parkway in reference to a Theft. Upon arrival, a 17-year-old female was issued a citation for Theft under $100.00. The subject was also barred from the property. On Saturday November 12, at approximately 9:56 pm, Deputy Josh McGuinn made a traffic stop in the 2500 block of Iowa Park Road. The 59-year-old male driver was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Driving While License Invalid-with Previous Conviction. On Sunday November 13, at approximately 10:55 pm, Corporal Jeff Penney attempted to stop a vehicle at the intersection of Ave. F and Coyote. The vehicle finally stopped in the 2100 block of Ave G. The male driver exited the vehicle and fled on foot. On Sunday November 13, at approximately 2:08 am, Deputy Matthew Schenck made a traffic stop in the 2600 block of Buchanan. A 21-year-old male passenger was placed under arrest. He was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Sunday November 13, at approximately 3:55 am, Deputy Amanda Price responded to the 3500 block of Johnson Road in reference to a Disturbance. Upon arrival, the Reporting Person reported that there was a disturbance at the residence prior to Deputies arrival, and that the person causing the disturbance had left. On Sunday November 13, at approximately 9:44 am, Deputy Christopher Salas made a traffic stop at the intersection of Kell West and Lawrence. The 26-year-old female driver was placed under arrest. She was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Sunday November 13, at approximately 3:46 am, Deputy Matthew Schenck made a traffic stop in the 2800 block of Jacksboro Hwy. The 21-year-old female driver was placed under arrest. She was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Possession of Marijuana under two ounces. On Monday November 14, at approximately 12:05 am, Sergeant Mark Whipple and Deputy Amanda Price responded to the 12000 block of McFall Road in reference to an Assault. Upon arrival, a 29-year-old female was placed under arrest. She was transported to the Wichita County Detention Center and was charged with Failure to Identify/Fugitive from Justice and three outstanding warrants for Evading Arrest or Detention, Possession of Marijuana under two ounces and Capias Pro Fine-Assault. On November 07, 2016, at approximately 9:26 p.m.; Deputy Greg Wilson and Deputy Victoria Kamp conducted a traffic stop in the 2600 block of Linden. The 30 year old male driver was arrested and transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. He is being charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance in Penalty Group 1 Over 4 grams Under 200 grams (2nd Degree Felony). On November 07, 2016, at approximately 11:50 p.m; Deputies were dispatched to the 2100 block of Hampton Road in reference to gun shots. Upon arrival, deputies made contact with a 20 year old male that reported he was the victim of a kidnapping. After interviewing the subjects involved, deputies responded to the 3700 block of Seymour Road for an investigation follow up. A 23 year old male was arrested and transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. He is being charged with Possession of Marijuana Under 2 ounces (Class B Misdemeanor) and Unlawful Possession of Firearm by a Felon (3rd Degree Felony). On November 09, 2016, at approximately 2:07 a.m.; Deputy Cole McGarry conducted a traffic stop in the area of Baylor and 11th Street. The 28 year old male driver was arrested and transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. He is being charged with 6 outstanding Wichita County warrants for; Civil Capias, Surety Off Bond for Possession of Marijuana under 2 ounces, Surety Off Bond for Theft over $750 under $2500, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Violate Promise to Appear, and Possession of Controlled Substance in Penalty Group 1 Less than 1 gram. He is also being charged with Tampering with or Fabricating Physical Evidence (3rd Degree Felony). On November 04, 2016 at approximately 9:21 p.m.; Deputy David Stout attempted to make a traffic stop in the 2800 block of Old Jacksboro Highway. The vehicle failed to stop until in the area of Bandera Boulevard and Springlake Circle. The 35 year old male was arrested and transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. He is being charged with Possession of Controlled Substance in Penalty Group 1 under 1 gram (State Jail Felony) and Fleeing or Attempting to Elude a Police Officer (Class B Misdemeanor). On November 03, 2016 at approximately 9:27 a.m.; Sergeant Sergio Teruel responded to the 3400 block of Clower Road in reference to a structure fire. Upon arrival deputies found a trailer home engulfed in flames. Friberg-Cooper VFD responded and extinguished the fire. No parties were injured in the incident and it is under investigation. On November 04, 2016 at approximately 1:39 a.m.; Deputy Matthew Schenk conducted a traffic stop in the 1800 block of Kell Boulevard East. The 25 year old male driver was arrested and transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. He is being charged with Driving While Intoxicated (Class B Misdemeanor). On November 04, 2016 at approximately 8:40 p.m.; Deputy Daniel Jacobson was dispatched to the 600 block of 7th Street in reference to an assault. Upon arrival, deputies identified all witnesses and took their statements. The incident is still under investigation. On November 04, 2016 at approximately 8:40 p.m.; Deputy Daniel Jacobson conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of Maurine Street and Central Freeway. The 46 year old female driver was arrested and transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. She is being charged with Driving While Intoxicate (Class B Misdemeanor), Fail to Identify Fugitive from Justice (Class A Misdemeanor), and an outstanding Wichita County warrant for Unlawful Possession of Firearm (3rd Degree Felony). On November 04, 2016 at approximately 10:05 p.m.; Corporal Jeff Penney attempted to conduct a traffic stop at the intersection of Avenue H and Monroe Street. The vehicle did not stop until the 2400 block of Polk Street. The 21 year old male driver was arrested and transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. He is being charged with Fleeing or Attempting to Elude a Police Officer (Class B Misdemeanor) and Possession of Marijuana under 2 ounces (Class B Misdemeanor). On November 05, 2016 at approximately 2:30 p.m.; Wichita County Drug Interdiction Deputies conducted a traffic stop on two vehicles travelling together on US 287 South at FM 2384. Bundles of marijuana were found in the natural voids of the vehicles’ doors. One vehicle contained 6 pounds of marijuana and 244 grams of hash. The second vehicle contained 8 pounds of marijuana, 680 grams of hash, and $1,112.00. A 26 year old male and three 30 year old males were arrested and transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. On November 05, 2016 at approximately 1:28 a.m.; Deputy Matthew Schenck conducted a traffic stop in the 1600 block of Kell East Boulevard. The 28 year old male driver was arrested and transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. He is being charged with Driving While Intoxicated 2nd Offense (Class A Misdemeanor). On November 06, 2016 at approximately 3:02 a.m.; Deputy Matthew Schenck conducted a traffic stop in the 300 block of North Scott Avenue. The 24 year old male driver was arrested and transported to the Wichita County Detention Center. He is being charged with Driving While Intoxicated (Class B Misdemeanor).

2019-04-26T15:57:35Z

http://wichitacountysheriffsoffice.org/2016/11/

iCAD, Inc. (ICAD) CEO Michael Klein on Q4 2018 Results – Earnings Call Transcript No ratings yet. Greetings, welcome tо thе iCAD, Incorporated Fourth Quarter аnd Full Year 2018 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, thіѕ conference іѕ being recorded. I will now turn thе conference over tо your host, Jeremy Feffer, Managing Director аt LifeSci Advisors. Mr. Feffer, you may begin. Thank you, Omar, аnd good afternoon, everyone. Thank you fоr participating іn today’s call. Joining me from iCAD today are Michael Klein, Chairman аnd Chief Executive Officer; Stacey Stevens, Chief Strategy аnd Commercial Officer; аnd Scott Areglado, Interim Chief Financial Officer. Earlier thіѕ afternoon, iCAD announced financial results fоr thе three-months аnd full year ending December 31, 2018. Before wе begin, I would like tо caution that comments made during thіѕ conference call by management that contains forward-looking statements involve risks аnd uncertainties regarding thе operations аnd future results of iCAD. I encourage you tо review thе company’s filings with thе SEC, including, without limitation, thе company’s Forms 10-Q аnd 10-K, which identify specific risk factors that may cause actual results оr events tо differ materially from those described іn thе forward-looking statements. Furthermore, thе content of thіѕ conference call contains time-sensitive information that іѕ accurate only аѕ of thе date of thіѕ live broadcast, March 18, 2018 – 2019 excuse me. iCAD undertakes no obligation tо revise оr update any statements tо reflect events оr circumstances after thе date of thіѕ conference call. With that said, it’s my pleasure tо turn thе call over tо Michael Klein. Mike? Thank you, Jeremy. Good afternoon, everyone аnd thank you fоr joining us today. I am pleased tо hаvе thе opportunity tо speak with you today аnd update you on our recent strategic progress аnd lay out some of our future plans. With me today are Scott Areglado, our interim CFO аnd Corporate Controller аnd Stacey Stevens, our Chief Strategy аnd Commercial Officer. On our last call, my first аѕ CEO, I laid out my vision fоr iCAD. In detection, I firmly believe that thе company’s unique AI technology іѕ transforming cancer detection аnd reinforcing iCAD’s leadership іn computer aided detection оr CAD, which wе hаvе now evolved into a robust AI offering. With thе recent FDA approval іn December аnd thе subsequent US commercial launch of ProFound AI, our latest deep learning cancer detection software solution fоr Digital Breast Tomosynthesis оr DBT, wе are facilitating vast improvements іn workflow, reading time, аѕ well аѕ clinical efficacy. Achieving a quantum leap іn sensitivity, while improving specificity оr fewer false positives, represents a clear breakthrough іn AI capability. The feedback from our initial customers now actively using ProFound hаѕ been very positive. AI іѕ now on its way tо achieving — with iCAD іѕ on its way tо achieving our goals with thіѕ exciting offering. As I said іn our last call, wе intend tо lead thе way іn 3D AI аnd play a leadership аnd perhaps even an ambassadorial role, аѕ wе navigate both near term opportunities аnd move towards new horizons of highly personalized detection tools аnd risk assessment. As an extension of this, wе are positioning аnd growing iCAD іn a different way. Up till very recently, wе hаvе seen аnd hаvе been seen аѕ a breast cancer оr women’s health company that deploys AI software technology. Today, wе see ourselves moving towards a broader based clinical AI company that hаѕ gone tо market іn thе breast cancer area first, but саn deploy thе same AI capabilities either on our own оr more likely with channel partners, іn addition tо medical imaging аnd disease diagnostic new frontiers. With thе only FDA approved product fоr 3D Tomosynthesis, wе started thе initial build out of our commercial infrastructure іn Q4. As of today, wе hаvе now doubled our field infrastructure from less than 10 sales аnd service personnel аt thе beginning of Q4 tо now over 21 carefully selected clinical AI consultants, inclusive of robust service support install personnel. This allows us tо educate customers аnd tо continually improve our offering аnd proliferate ProFound AI technology. We may add two tо three additional field resources tо thіѕ infrastructure around mid-year аѕ installations ramp. And іn doing so, we’ll nearly triple our headcount whеn compared tо Q3 of 2018. For our Q1 аnd Q2 adoption plans аnd revenue targets, wе hаvе thе full talent set wе need, targeted аnd ready аnd onboard today. We are executing our plans fоr a controlled yet scalable launch. We are convinced that a direct sales model, while working collaboratively with partners, іѕ thе only way tо optimize thе true value of our novel technology, train many nascent adopters аnd customers’ evolving clinical needs. We hope tо meet them even better with thіѕ infrastructure. Even аѕ thіѕ commercial transition was unfolding іn late Q3 аnd then accelerated іn Q1, our Q4 sequential sales — total Sales аѕ compared tо Q3 grew by 12%. AI revenue led thе way with an increase of $1 million оr 26% versus Q3 sales іn 2019. We are very pleased with thе continued growth of our intra-operative radiation therapy, IORT offerings within which Xoft had a total year-over-year basis of growth of 22% over 2017 on therapy products revenue. The benefit of thе 10 minute real time procedure during lumpectomy іѕ now moving on a positive trajectory. Simultaneously, іn Q4, wе completed a $7 million financing аt thе end of December, which Scott will discuss further shortly. This was done tо support thе aforementioned commercial infrastructure build out, but also tо accelerate thе development of new clinical AI technology аnd I will add some color on thіѕ іn my opening comments. We hаvе now achieved our initial phase 1 sales аnd installation goal of having customer acquired systems іn use іn targeted major US regions. Regional adoption іѕ an essential step іn thе technology diffusion аnd allows thе creation of centers of excellence, local training, site visits, regional symposia аnd educational programs. While wе actively move tо further perfect our AI algorithms with more images аnd additional world class software developers, wе are aggressively moving іn parallel towards thе next frontier іn AI capability. That іѕ thе assessment of patient risk characteristics аnd thе ability tо actually predict thе likelihood of developing breast cancer. By incorporating risk characteristics, bе іt genetics, demographics оr breast density scores, wе саn accurately calculate a patient’s risk probability score by comparing a patient’s image not tо hundreds of thousands of women, аѕ іf thеу аll had equal risk characteristics, but tо women who possess a similar set of risk characteristics. This hаѕ never been done аnd certainly never commercialized аnd available fоr breast screening. This moves thе screening mammography field beyond age based screening tо risk adaptive screening. It makes complete sense tо screen high risk patients more frequently аnd low risk patients less so. We expect tо hаvе thіѕ capability іn thе market іn 2020 аnd wе anticipate showcasing an early version of thіѕ offering аt thе Radiological Society of North America, RSNA іn November of thіѕ year. Our developers hаvе been working іn thіѕ area fоr nearly two years. By combining our efforts with lead researchers аt thе Karolinska Institute іn Stockholm, Sweden, Karolinska іѕ well known аnd іѕ one of thе world’s foremost medical research universities, wе hаvе taken a quantum leap forward by working collaboratively with them. Together, wе possess thе world’s largest combined database of AI interpreted images from virtually аll OEMs, vendor imaging equipment providers, along with a huge volume of patients аnd their associated risk characteristics. Stacey will outline іn further detail thіѕ agreement during her session today. Note, however, that thіѕ іѕ not a distant reality that іѕ many years away. We anticipate having our first generation risk prediction algorithm іn thе market іn 2020. It іѕ our view that thе ability tо predict іn a highly individualized manner will usher іn a new era of risk based screening versus our current age based screening model. We’re аt thе threshold of personalized disease management аѕ a new approach tо breast cancer, where thе power of AI software will allow personalized diagnostic care tо bе delivered іn a unique аnd highly personalized way. We firmly believe that ongoing collaboration of industry academia аnd high volume clinical sites іѕ essential tо creating new categories of AI capabilities. Thus, wе hаvе formed a Medical Advisory Board of high profile thought leaders from prestigious sites around thе US аnd outside US location. All board members hаvе a unique аnd lead position on thе subject of risk аnd prediction. The inaugural meeting of thіѕ board will bе іn early Q2 аnd wе believe will further catalyze our efforts, clinical studies, pre introduction of offerings іn thіѕ breakthrough area. Risk prediction literally changes thе conversation between thе radiologist аnd thе patient. We need tо work collaboratively with аll tо shape thіѕ conversation. As wе move towards being thе innovative pacesetter іn clinical AI, wе hаvе defined our growth opportunities along three clear vectors. We describe these vectors аѕ horizontal, vertical аnd diagonal. The horizontal axis іѕ our continents, mammography. With 40 million new mammograms each year, wе are аt thе beginning of a new AI adoption cycle. With a well timed Q4 financing, wе hаvе actively accelerated several mammography, AI offering, some new offerings, one of which I’ve already mentioned, our risk prediction module. Others now accelerated includes thе development, which will include a number of projects that we’re carefully monitoring аnd again, these developments will bе showcased аt thе Radiological Society of North America thіѕ coming Q4. As outstanding іѕ our current AI, ProFound AI offering is, by expanding sales tо new sites, wе are rapidly gaining access tо thousands of additional images that wе саn use tо hаvе an even better version of ProFound AI released іn thе market іn 2020. Think of ProFound аѕ a platform, not аѕ a product. And аѕ a platform, wе саn look backwards аt prior images, find thе same area of concern іn a singular image аnd see thе history of progression аnd temporal change іn that individual patient image. No AI breast cancer company hаѕ ever commercialized thіѕ ability аnd іt іѕ another crucial module fоr 2020 commercial release. We use thіѕ ability tо look аt thе kinetics of prior change. We саn then factor іn patient risk characteristic tо extrapolate аnd predict cancers within thе next 12 tо 24 months. We are not talking about lifetime risk, but thе far more important near term risk. This ability tо look backwards, also see where thе patient іѕ today аnd then project forward аnd risk predict іѕ what takes ProFound tо a full platform offering. It іѕ now being vastly accelerated аnd will bе іn commercial release іn 2020. The vertical vector іѕ thе development of our ProFound cloud offering, which іѕ an initiative that hаѕ been developing within thе company fоr more than 18 months аnd іѕ now moving towards its next level of deployment аnd testing. Our recent funding hаѕ accelerated thіѕ release аѕ well аnd allowed us tо take critical projects that we’re moving аt a more measured pace аnd aggressively move them forward. The promotion of Jonathan Go tо our Chief Technology Officer was built tо honor his achievements with ProFound AI, but tо also empower him tо move with even greater velocity. A key driver fоr ProFound cloud іѕ thе reality that there іѕ an array of componentry аt radiological sites. With several image capturing systems available, a dozen оr more possible workstations, аt least 15 packed vendors tо transport images аnd data, each sites represent a novel configuration of technology аnd clinicians. The ProFound cloud solution simplifies thіѕ by allowing AI processing of images іn thе cloud, along with thе ability tо send those images tо any workstation, computer, even an iPad оr an iPhone. Access tо AI саn bе instantaneous, on demand, аnd customers only pay fоr thе amount of capability thеу need whеn needed on a per click basis. It іѕ a highly repeatable аnd even a more predictable business model with аll upgrades аnd new functionalities available іn thе cloud. ProFound cloud will significantly reduce servers аnd other hardware necessities. The associated reduction іn cost аnd service requirements аѕ cloud based solutions аnd service upgrades are efficiently released will definitively lower costs, improve margins аnd allow fоr savings tо bе passed on tо customers. We see ProFound cloud аѕ not only a huge enabler, but thе antidote fоr many 3D Tomosynthesis customers who аt thіѕ phase of adoption, may bе more price sensitive than early adopters. ProFound cloud using AI technology whеn combined with performance enhancements will allow fоr a significant improvement іn detection аnd fewer call backs. Both of these save money, add tо thіѕ a more than 50% reduction іn reading time, thіѕ іѕ not a marketing claim, but thіѕ іѕ our SEA claim received thіѕ December. And together, wе are uniquely positioned fоr success іn thіѕ next phase of Tomosynthesis adoptions where a broader market begins tо adopt. The best answer tо price sensitivity іѕ lowering customers’ total costs аnd driving value added features аnd functionalities that are measurable. We саn do that with our unique AI capability аnd with ProFound cloud. The horizontal vector upon which mammography suites оr mammography suite of capabilities reside via thе ProFound cloud іѕ one vector, thе vertical vector allows ProFound cloud tо improve efficiency, while offering access anytime, anywhere аnd іn whatever format оr usage by аnd wanted. This allows us tо better serve thе 3d Tomosynthesis market with customizable solution. Now, wе see 9000 3D Tomosynthesis units іn thе market today, over 7000 of which are іn thе US. We see thе market adopting аt a rate of 375 tо 400 additional units before. With ProFound AI, wе see a robust opportunity fоr thе already installed base of over 7000. As thе US installed base of 7000 3D Tomosynthesis units marches towards thе total potential of 18,000 imaging systems іn thе US, wе believe wе саn favorably impact adoption patterns аnd provide enhanced efficacy аnd cost efficiencies along thе way. We see ourselves assisting partners іn thе growth of 3D Tomosynthesis not competing with them. Finally, whеn wе combine capabilities on thе horizontal axis, ProFound platform with thе vertical axis, ProFound cloud, wе clearly see a diagonal vector. This іѕ thе vector of being a clinical AI company involved іn new diseases аnd imaging modalities. We actually hаvе a good start here. We hаvе a [indiscernible] that іѕ very robust аnd іѕ FDA cleared аѕ thе company pursued a breast cancer focus with AI abilities, opportunities such аѕ thіѕ were not a focus іn thе past. They will bе a focus now. With a clinical AI focus, thе diagonal vector, our thinking аnd capability broadens tо vast аnd broader market opportunities. We hаvе experienced building out an entire prostate MRI product аnd we’ve done work іn other areas аѕ well. We are now evaluating аll of these imaging opportunities аnd thе related disease diagnostic opportunity. We don’t envision having tо build out a full commercial infrastructure fоr these opportunities. In most cases, there are logical channel partners. They provide thе channel access іn thе image capture hardware. Effectively, wе will do what wе do best аnd our partners саn do what thеу do best. We hаvе thе ability tо build customized offerings fоr them tо bring tо market efforts іn that area that could catalyze a number of development agreements. We’re actively working іn thіѕ direction. While a direct commercial model іѕ necessary іn mammography, wе believe particularly tо proliferate, educate аnd demonstrate value, іt may not bе аѕ necessary іn non-breast cancer imaging areas. As developments unfold іn thіѕ area, wе will continue tо communicate material developments аѕ wе drive towards being a broader clinical AI provider of technology. Now, since wе often get asked questions about partners аnd partner relationships, I’d like tо share our perspective аnd align those thoughts with thе three vectors just outlined. We are committed tо an open architecture аnd being freely accessible AI technology offered fоr аll partners аnd alternate clinicians. This іѕ thе reason wе are now non-exclusive іn аll markets. We believe that just аѕ with thе Internet, best tо breed applications аnd solutions always win. The market іѕ very efficient іn choosing winners аnd losers аnd wе want tо fully optimize our core competency іn AI technology tо provide class solutions. We welcome partnering аnd collaboration аѕ long аѕ аll customers hаvе access. For іn thе end, it’s аll about meeting clinical needs аnd generating better patient outcomes. With these principles, wе believe wе hаvе a natural alignment with PACS partners. They hаvе a unique focus on high access аnd seamless movement of images аnd data throughout thе entire healthcare system, bе thе local, regional оr cross country. PACS vendors also deploy cloud based technologies аnd span thе entire medical imaging ecosystem powered by an open architecture, anytime anywhere approach. This natural alliance hаѕ us working with thе majority of PACS vendors. In fact, wе featured ProFound AI іn two recent trade shows, thе RSNA аnd thе European version, ECR European Congress of Radiology. And wе did so with PACS vendors іn their booth аnd іn thе booth of PACS vendors that represented over 75% of thе market. We also know that our expanding customer base, which numbers іn thе thousands аt both US аnd OUS sites іѕ very attractive tо our PACS partners. The inevitable expansion of PACS аnd cloud capability over time will lead us towards more of a paperclip revenue model. And again, we’re thoroughly aligned with thіѕ emerging revenue model, which іѕ of interest tо thе PACS vendors аnd integral tо their business model аnd іn thе future will bе without. We will communicate evolution аnd development іn these relationships аѕ wе move forward аnd certainly will provide transparency аѕ business models evolve. Whether іt bе PACS vendors, mammography, OEM, distribution partners, which іѕ a big part of our European go tо market approach, our [indiscernible] іѕ tо provide clinical AI solutions that meet both current аnd future customers’ needs аnd align with how аnd where thеу want tо bе able tо access AI towered personalized medical imaging solutions. Now before I turn thе call over tо Scott fоr an іn depth financial review, I’d like tо also highlight some elements of our therapy business. Importantly, wе are increasingly optimistic on thе outlook fоr our IORT business, Xoft. Our accelerated 10-minute radiation therapy solution that’s used real time during breast cancer lumpectomy, that’s whеn thе treatment іѕ delivered. Most of you know that I served аѕ CEO of thіѕ business whеn іt was a startup. Xoft technology іѕ now being utilized іn approximately 40 US sites аnd approximately 50 sites outside thе United States. Sometimes, some sites take advantage of thе portability of thе Xoft system аnd its ability tо bе used іn non shielded locations аt multiple patient care sites beyond thе 90 sites mentioned. We’re targeting, selling more systems tо аll of these locations аѕ well аѕ our now more rapidly growing Asian market where IORT hаѕ broad appeal. Given its small footprint, non-radioactive energy source, no shielded room requirement аnd again, a 10 minute treatment protocol, it’s an ideal product. It’s an ideal product tо democratize care аnd take іt tо аll patients іn аll areas, particularly іn low cost of care sites that are often closer tо where patients reside. Today, with recently published аnd very robust clinical data, one іn particular that’s tracked over 1000 IORT treated patients fоr 55 months, we’re excited about thе growth prospects fоr thіѕ business. With a riveted focus on Xoft аѕ stated earlier, wе hаvе grown therapy product sales іn 2018, 22% above 2017 revenues. The data outcome from multiple long-term studies clearly shows recurrence rates that rival that of radiation therapy, a therapy that саn take up tо six оr seven weeks. With thе ability tо offer a single treatment during lumpectomy delivered real time іn a non-shielded room, Xoft іѕ earning a meaningful place іn thе spectrum of cancer treatment. It іѕ also FDA cleared fоr аll treatment areas аnd іѕ enormously scalable tо areas ranging from rectal tо gynecological cancers оr even prostate cancer where wе hаvе now recently completed our first IORT treatment following a robotic radical prostatectomy. From a financial perspective, аѕ Scott will detail, thе results of our strategic decision tо discontinue our subscription service model tо customers іn our skin brachytherapy business had a beneficial impact on our overall business іn 2019. We hаvе not left thе skin business аnd offer units fоr sale into that channel. We simply are not іn thе business of placing systems аnd assuming that dermatologist will drive thе volume. In closing, wе remain focused on unlocking thе significant inherent value that exists іn both iCAD AI imaging аnd Xoft’s enormously scalable, electronic brachytherapy technology. We are excited аnd I would say blessed tо hаvе two core technologies аnd huge opportunities іn both AI аnd therapy аnd wе are driven on thе achievement of our near term quarter-by-quarter financial аnd operational goals. We recognize that our long-term sustainable success hаѕ tо bе one аnd earned quarter by quarter аnd by logically constructing measurable metrics аnd key performance indicators, KPIs, that drive our success аnd allow our investors tо accurately assess our success аnd progress on a regular basis. With that, I’d like tо now pass thе call over tо Scott. Scott? Thank you, Mike аnd good afternoon, everyone. I would like tо review thе company’s fourth quarter аnd full year 2018 financial highlights, which were released earlier thіѕ afternoon. As I will only bе discussing thе highlights from our financial results, I’d like tо refer you tо our annual report on Form 10-K fоr more specific аnd details. The company expects tо file its Form 10-K fоr 2018 with thе SEC prior tо March 30, 2019. Before I begin with thе financial highlights, I would like tо note that during my comments today, I will bе referring tо certain non-GAAP financial measures. Management believes that these measures provide meaningful information fоr investors аnd reflect thе way that wе view thе operating performance of thе company. You саn find your reconciliation of our GAAP tо non-GAAP measures аt thе end of our earnings release. With that covered, I will now summarize our financial results fоr thе fourth quarter. Given both thе management аnd strategic changes іn our business, I thought іt would bе helpful tо first compare our fourth quarter tо thе third quarter іn 2018 аnd then follow up with thе prior year quarter. For thе fourth quarter of 2018, total Revenue was $7 million, which represented an improvement of $0.8 million оr 13% over thе third quarter 2018. The detection segment increased by approximately $1 million, with strong growth on both our 2D аnd 3D businesses. This increases was offset slightly by a $0.2 million decrease іn thе therapy business, which represents two systems іn Q4 аѕ compared tо three systems іn Q3. Moving on tо thе fourth quarter of 2018 аѕ compared tо thе fourth quarter of 2017, from a revenue standpoint, fiscal year 2018 represented a year of challenges fоr thе company. On thе therapy side of thе business, аѕ wе announced іn January 2018, thе company made a strategic decision tо exit thе skin subscription business. In addition, detection revenue declined аѕ compared tо fiscal year 2017 due primarily tо underlying weakness related tо sales of our OEM partners’ products. For thе fourth quarter of 2018, total revenue decreased by approximately 0.9 million оr 12% from 7.9 million іn thе fourth quarter of 2017 tо 7 million іn thе fourth quarter of 2018. The overall decrease іѕ due tо an approximate 0.3 million оr 6% decrease іn detection revenue, аnd a 0.6 million оr 24% decrease іn therapy revenue. The $0.3 million decrease іn detection revenue was due primarily tо product revenue, with thе decrease іn revenue attributable tо our OEMs of approximately $600,000 offset by an increase іn our direct sales of $300,000. We believe thіѕ іѕ a positive indicator of our decision tо increase our sales force іn 2019 аnd continue tо pursue thе significant installed base of 2D аnd 3D customers. On thе therapy side of thе business, revenue decreased by 600,000 with 0.5 million due tо thе exit of thе skin subscription business аnd thе remainder of thе decrease due tо thе fact that wе sold one US аnd one OUS system іn thе fourth quarter of 2018 аѕ compared tо four OUS systems іn 2017. As I also mentioned further down, thе move tо exit thе skin subscription business had benefits fоr thе company аnd improved focus on IORT аѕ well аѕ reducing our cash burn аnd expenses. Moving on tо gross profit, on a pure dollar basis, gross profit fоr thе fourth quarter of 2018 was $5.4 million аѕ compared tо $4.3 million іn thе fourth quarter of 2017, a $1.1 million quarterly improvement. On a percentage basis, gross profit fоr thе fourth quarter of 2018 was 78% of revenues аѕ compared tо just 55% іn thе prior year quarter. This reflects an impressive 23% improvement year-over-year. Both thе gross profit dollar аnd thе gross profit percentage improvement were primarily attributable tо thе company’s exit from thе skin subscription business. On tо operating expenses. Operating expenses fоr thе fourth quarter of 2018 totaled $8.2 million. This represented a $0.3 million decrease from thе fourth quarter of 2017. It should bе noted that thе prior year quarter included a $2 million impairment charge related tо our therapy business. Absent thіѕ charge, operating expenses increased $1.7 million оr 26%. This year-over-year increase іn operating expenses іѕ reflective of fourth quarter legal expenses related tо board management turnover, thе debt placement, severance аnd incremental sales аnd marketing expenses. As wе look tо 2019 аnd continue tо build out thе infrastructure necessary fоr market success of ProFound AI, wе expect our operating expenses tо trend somewhat higher іn 2019 аѕ compared tо 2018, especially іn thе first half of thе year. Now summarizing our profit metrics, GAAP net loss fоr thе fourth quarter was $3.4 million оr $0.20 per share, compared tо net loss of $4.2 million оr $0.26 per share іn thе comparable prior year quarter. The $0.8 million improvement іn our net loss was again due tо thе absence of thе $2 million goodwill impairment charge іn thе prior year period аnd thе increasing gross margin from thе exit of thе skin subscription business offset by increased operating expenses іn thе fourth quarter. On a non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA basis, thе net loss fоr thе fourth quarter of 2018 was $0.6 million. This represented a $0.7 million improvement over thе prior year period аnd thе improvement іn our loss was primarily driven by thе reduced expenses associated with thе skin subscription business. Moving on tо thе balance sheet, wе ended 2018 with $12.2 million cash on hand. This compares tо thе $9.4 million wе had on hand аѕ of December 31, 2017. Q4 2018 includes thе approximate $7 million private placement wе successfully completed іn thе fourth quarter of 2018. In thіѕ transaction, wе sold unsecured subordinated convertible debentures tо three years following issuance tо certain institutional аnd accredited investors, including participation by аll thе directors аnd executive officers of iCAD. Interest on thе dimensions will bе paid semi-annually іn cash аt a rate per annum of 5%. At any time, prior tо maturity, thе debentures are convertible into shares of iCAD common stock аt a conversion price of $4 per share, which will bе subject tо adjustment. With thіѕ financing, wе entered 2019 іn an extremely strong financial position. We are focused on preparing fоr thе successful launch of what wе believe іѕ a transformational product, ProFound AI. In addition, our strategic decision tо exit thе skin subscription business continues tо benefit our overall business. And wе see meaningful growth opportunities within IORT аnd our therapy segment. This concludes thе financial highlight section of our presentation. I would like tо now turn thе call over tо Stacey. Stacey? Thank you, Scott аnd good afternoon, everyone. Let me begin with some high level comments on our overall performance іn 2018. While wе faced some top line headwinds during thе year, аѕ Scott indicated, wе achieved significant gross margin expansion аnd substantial reductions іn both operating expenses аnd cash burn. In our software business, mammography product revenues declined 7% year-over-year іn 2018. The most significant challenge confronting us here with that business with our largest OEM partner, GE, was relatively weak throughout thе year. This weakness was partially offset by stronger direct sales efforts іn 2018. With аll that said, wе headed into 2019 with strong momentum іn our business аnd a lot of confidence іn our ability tо execute our plans аnd accelerate growth. As you know, іn December of last year, wе received FDA clearance fоr ProFound AI, a powerful solution that provides our customers with access tо thе most cutting edge breast cancer detection software іn thе marketplace today. The FDA clearance was based on positive clinical results from a large reader study completed іn 2018 that showed increased cancer detection rate, reduced false positive rates аnd patient recalls, аnd a significant decrease іn reading time. Specifically ProFound AI hаѕ demonstrated an improvement іn cancer detection rates by an average of 8%, a reduction іn thе rate of unnecessary patient recalls by an average of 7% аnd decreased radiologists’ reading time by more than 50% on average іn clinical testing. We launched ProFound AI іn thе US shortly after receiving FDA clearance іn late 2018 аnd even completed a limited number of sales prior tо year end. The first US ProFound AI sites went live іn January аnd аѕ Mike indicated, feedback from our initial ProFound AI customers hаѕ been highly positive. We hаvе also identified our initial KOL sites, which will bе important іn establishing critical external validation fоr our product from true thought leaders іn thе space. We are now actively building key reference sites, testimonials аnd educational programs designed tо accelerate adoption. We are excited about thе large total addressable market opportunity of approximately $500 million over thе next five years оr so, fоr thіѕ solution, which wе firmly believe hаѕ already begun tо fundamentally transform breast cancer detection аnd patient care. With that said, wе are taking a very measured аnd pragmatic approach tо executing thіѕ launch. We hаvе planned fоr a controlled rollout tо ensure that our cross functional teams are prepared. Our focused іn thе first half of 2019 will bе on making investments tо expand our direct sales team іn thе US аnd Europe аѕ well аѕ our distributor relationships іn Europe. For our US direct team, wе hаvе already established strong marketing аnd promotional tools, including an ROI tool fоr customers, updated collateral materials аnd website content аѕ well аѕ media placements tо highlight ProFound AI. We’ve also completed an extensive sales аnd service training boot camp. In addition, GE’s official launch of ProFound AI іѕ expected tо occur very shortly. Training fоr their US sales teams was completed іn February. Importantly, however, I’d like tо reiterate what Mike stated earlier. As wе continue tо make progress towards moving tо thе cloud with ProFound AI аnd building out thе ProFound platform with our increasingly robust commercial resources, our dependence on imaging OEMs overall will continue tо decline аѕ customers will hаvе ready access tо our best of breed AI solutions from many channels аnd partners. We continue tо bе open tо non-exclusive relationships аѕ our goal іѕ tо promote awareness аnd access tо our revolutionary cancer detection solutions today аѕ well аѕ іn thе future whеn wе move into risk prediction. While wе are focused on executing a highly successful rollout of ProFound AI, wе also continue tо invest іn future product development. Our ProFound AI product fоr 2D mammography іѕ currently pending CE mark іn Europe. We previewed thіѕ product аt thе recently held 2019 European congress of Radiology оr ECR, thе second largest radiological meeting іn thе world. Also аt ECR 2019, wе showcased ProFound AI fоr 3D mammography, іn our booth, аnd led two clinical presentations. In addition, wе hosted a very well attended customer event where clinical leaders discussed their perspectives on how iCAD solutions are transforming breast cancer detection, shared their personal experiences with ProFound AI аnd research аnd іn clinical practice аnd detailed their vision fоr breast cancer risk assessment. As Mike discussed, risk Assessment іѕ thе next critical area of focus fоr iCAD. Our recently announced partnership with researchers from thе Karolinska Institute builds on an existing research agreement whereby these researchers developed a breast cancer risk prediction model using information identified іn mammography images provided by iCAD’s AI cancer detection аnd breast density assessment solutions. Promising early results based on mammography images from over 70,000 sweetest women enrolled іn thе Karolinska mammography project fоr risk prediction of breast cancer оr Karma study were published іn breast cancer research іn 2017. These data indicated that thе model developed enabled early identification of women who were аt high risk fоr breast cancer аnd іt was determined additional examinations were warranted. Since thіѕ publication, these results hаvе been improved upon through thе use of iCAD’s latest ProFound AI algorithm. Among other things, thе model now takes asymmetry of mammographic features аnd masking of tumors due tо dense breast tissue into consideration. iCAD аnd Karolinska Institute researchers now intend tо collaborate tо develop an innovative solution fоr commercial use tо assess an individual’s risk of developing breast cancer. There іѕ no other product on thе market today that combined thіѕ level of imaging data with other individual characteristics, resulting іn a tremendous improvement іn accuracy аnd a game changing shift from what іѕ now age based screening tо a risk adaptive screening paradigm. On thе therapy sides, product sales іn thіѕ segment increased 22% іn full year 2018 аѕ compared tо last year. This growth was primarily driven by continued strong performance іn our breast IORT business. We sold two IORT systems іn thе fourth quarter, one іn thе US аnd thе other іn Spain. We also closed four rental agreements іn Spain. With these additional Spanish centers, wе now hаvе seven installations across four major regions of Spain. We continue tо bе pleased with our growing install base, which currently includes approximately 40 US centers аnd close tо 50 OUS centers, treating patients with IORT and/or gynecological applicators. In addition, wе saw nice growth id utilization with a 7% increase globally іn full year 2018, building on applicator sales versus 2017. Increased interest іn thе US continues tо bе driven by growing favorable clinical data. Most recently, positive results from a series of 1000 tumors treated with IORT therapy using thе Xoft system fоr early stage breast cancer іn a single site trial were published іn thе annals of surgical oncology. This perspective trial enrolled a total of 984 patients with 1000 early stage breast cancers from June 2010 tо August 2017 with a median follow up of approximately three years. Study results show that breast cancer recurrence rates of patients who are treated with IORT using thе Xoft system are comparable tо those seen іn thе target A аnd Elliot studies, which evaluated IORT using different technologies. Our OUS momentum іѕ being largely driven by progress іn key markets such аѕ China, Taiwan, Spain, India аnd Australia. In addition, wе are seeing increasing interest іn Japan, a large target market fоr us іn thе future. We also hаvе multiple active projects underway tо commercialize new applicators аnd open up additional market opportunities. We are specifically experiencing growing global interest іn general IORT applications including prostate, brain аnd rectal cancer аѕ a result of key clinical research being conducted globally. As you саn see, wе are experiencing a number of positive trends іn our IORT business. In fact, wе view IORT аѕ thе most significant long term growth driver іn our therapy segment. As such, wе are seeking a commercial partner tо lead thе sales аnd marketing efforts fоr our skin brachytherapy business. There іѕ no specific timeline fоr completion of thіѕ process, but wе are confident іn our ability tо identify a leader on thе dermatology space аѕ a commercial partner. In summary, wе made significant progress on multiple fronts іn thе fourth quarter. And wе continue tо make key targeted investments іn our organization that wе believe will accelerate growth іn 2019 аnd create a sustainable leadership position fоr iCAD fоr years tо come. I would now like tо turn thе call back tо Mike fоr additional comments. Mike? Thank you, Stacey. Before opening up fоr questions аnd answers, I wanted tо make a few qualitative comments about what wе expect fоr thе first half of 2019. As I highlighted іn my earlier section, wе are using our enhanced cash position іn two key areas. One іѕ tо build commercial infrastructure fоr our robust launch of ProFound AI. The second іѕ fоr thе development of core programs tо build out thе ProFound platform, thе horizontal axis of mammography аnd thе acceleration of ProFound cloud, thе vertical axis. Specific tо our mammography business, thе largest revenue аnd margin driver fоr 2018, wе now hаvе thе commercialization infrastructure іn place. We are working tо synchronize what I call three cycles оr clock. The first of these іѕ a 90 tо 128 cycles оr clock іѕ thе scale of time fоr recently hired sales rep. Some were added іn Q4 аnd wе now hаvе thе full sales service infrastructure іn place аѕ wе end Q1. The second cycle іѕ thе ramp up of accounts іn our pipeline аnd funnel. Although wе preannounced ProFound AI іn late Q4, wе cannot begin tо quote prices аnd hit budgets оr sales cycles till thе very end of 2018. We see a 90 tо 120 day cycle process from thе time of first presentation tо a camp tо thе close of a third. We also hаvе a third cycle оr a clock which involves site inspection, installation, connectivity tо thіѕ specific reading environment, service аnd full training. This too іѕ a 90 tо 120 day clock оr cycle. These cycles оr clock are somewhat lengthy оr not sequential. Proper аnd meticulous execution will condense what on thе surface would appear tо bе a 270 tо 360 day cycle but іt was аll added sequentially аnd synchronize them tо a less than 180 day full cycle. In certain cases, wе hit full cycle sooner. Thus, our initial sales аѕ reported by a press release last week, considering thе above, I’m reiterating what we’ve been communicating since I joined thе company іn Q4. We see expense build іn Q1 аnd Q2, аnd revenue that will begin tо move meaningfully upwards аnd show increasingly greater traction іn our second half, Q3 аnd Q4. We traditionally do hаvе a seasonal dip іn our business from thе fourth quarter tо thе first quarter of thе following year. Much of thіѕ relates tо hospital purchase cycles аnd fourth quarter surges. We will offset some of thіѕ seasonal effect with thе recent flurry of early adopting ProFound AI sites. Early adopters tend tо move quickly but represent a smaller percentage of thе market. Additionally, while wе hаvе current customers tuned up fоr purchase, waiting fоr approval, оr approved but not installed, wе hаvе other sites that are not renewing оr purchasing service contracts on older versions of CAD. Nor will thеу upgrade tо a better version of our digital offerings, a prior digital offering, while thеу are іn queue оr teed up fоr ProFound sales аnd moving on tо thе ProFound platform. In sum, wе expect there іѕ some year-over-year slippage іn service аnd upgrade revenues, while ProFound AI begins tо scale аnd install. Also, since wе won’t hаvе full cycle оr аll across fully synchronized from thе summer, іn certain cases, service install аnd connectivity may lag actual product procurement аnd revenue realization. In thе end, іn 2019, wе do anticipate year-over-year improvement though with higher expansions іn thе first half, wе expect sequential quarter-over-quarter sales improvement аnd therefore enhance operating leverage іn thе second half of thе year, аѕ expenses stabilize аnd revenues scale. We see a partial quarter of added expenses іn Q1 аnd thе full expense of our infrastructure аnd development costs іn Q2, аѕ our resource additions are fully reflected аnd then begin tо stabilize аt thе end of Q2. The installed ProFound platform also allows each of our 2019 installed sites tо bе an outpost аnd virtual amplifier аѕ new offerings such аѕ risk addiction — risk prediction licenses arrive іn 2020. Obviously, thіѕ expansion will lead tо enhance AFP of purchases whеn introduced іn 2020. In sum, wе continue with our outlook fоr both thе first аnd second half аѕ presented іn Q4, 2018. So wе are executing a well controlled launch with precision аnd with full synchronization of thе above stated cycle. With that, I’ll turn іt back tо thе moderator аnd questions аnd answers. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Francois Brisebois, Laidlaw. There’s a lot іn that call tо digest here, but I was just wondering іn terms of thе AI consultants, саn you talk a little bit how you vet them. This іѕ so new here, you guys’ approach. I’m just wondering how these consultants оr reps, how you find these people? That’s a good question аnd wе spend a lot of time vetting sales people, because we’re looking fоr a very specific types of sales rep аnd thеу do indeed come from thе mammography world with experience. We see that there are basically three levers іn itself. There’s a clinical sale, which hаѕ got tо get past, there іѕ a technical, you might call operational sale where you hаvе tо understand thе complexity of thе environment. So you got clinical аnd I say technical аnd then there’s an economic sale, which іѕ up there with what I call thе mahogany hallways аnd carpet sweets, wе need sales up, thеу could actually move up аnd down thіѕ term. They саn actually hаvе clinical expertise that are technically astute, understands connectivity, аnd are economically sanguine аnd саn talk about return on investment аnd how thе cost of a license саn bе offset by thе dramatic savings іn workflow аѕ well аѕ performance improvement. So we’re really looking fоr people that саn move up аnd down thіѕ permit аnd wе look very hard. We probably interviewed 10, 15 sales people fоr еvеrу one that wе ultimately select. And then I’m wondering on thе IORT, you guys get аll that data now. In terms of growth, I’m just wondering, іѕ there any potential fоr patient advocacy оr whatnot? Just because seems like thе data іѕ kind of there, I’m wondering whеn you guys think that that will start kicking іn tо thе top line a little more? Again, a great question. And I do think that thіѕ іѕ an area that some people call one of thе best kept secrets іn radiation therapy аnd that wе do hаvе a product that treats іn a non shielded room, could bе near patients аnd you саn do іt during lumpectomy. So I would say, thе answer tо your question іѕ yes аnd that thе more wе start amplifying thе story, let people know of thіѕ availability, start getting ready fоr times like breast cancer awareness month, let people know that thіѕ іѕ an option that іѕ available аnd particularly with thе clinical data that wе now have, we’ve earned thе right tо bе able tо claim that wе hаvе equivalent recurrence rates tо six tо seven weeks of therapy. I саn tell you that іn thе early days of CAD, one of thе big drivers fоr adoption іѕ working with Susan G. Komen аnd Why Me аnd a number of women advocacy organization, аnd it’s certainly on our radar screen tо bе able tо do similar things with thіѕ offering tо get thе word out, more people know, thе more that will drive sales. Okay, great. And іf I could just hаvе one quick one here, you guys just had ECR. Can you just compare ECR versus RSNA аnd thе response you had аnd just thе thought process a little bit, Stacey mentioned, you presented thе 2D machine, how does that — how do you make sure that 2D mammography doesn’t kind of cannibalize any potential tо move up right away tо thе 3D? Let me make a comment about 2D аnd 3D аnd Stacey саn talk about thе show. What іѕ interesting іѕ that with the, somewhere between 8000 аnd 9000 systems іn Europe that there hаvе been about, from our data, about 1500 of those that hаvе moved tо Tomo. There are a lot of systems that are still, a lot of sites that are moving from analog films still tо digital. So almost first generation analog into digital аnd then into tomo, іn certain cases, thеу move from — mainly from analog аll thе way tо 3D tomo. So therefore, whеn іt comes tо Europe, wе see a market fоr 2D that іѕ robust аѕ thе market fоr 3D. In fact, fоr many of thе sites, thеу use 3D fоr definitive diagnosis аnd thеу use thе digital fоr screening. But іn some cases, they’re moving directly from analog tо 3D. The reason fоr thе ProFound 2D launch, which was a big part of our ECR was fоr thіѕ rather substantial, several thousand sites that are either іn analog оr іn a digital, оr maybe first generation digital that wе want tо upgrade. Stacey, you want tо talk about thе other parts of ECR? Yeah. I’ll just add tо what Mike іѕ saying, thе market іn Europe, Frank, іѕ very different than thе US. The 2D market іn Europe іѕ still growing, аnd іѕ expected tо continue tо grow fоr аt least thе next five years. And there are about, іf you look аt just thе key countries alone, so UK, Italy, France, Spain, top five оr six European countries, there are about 6000 2D machines іn those countries аnd only about 10% of them hаvе CAD software attached tо them. So, wе hаvе a tremendous opportunity with our ProFound AI product fоr 2D tо go back into that large installed base аnd sell them a software product аnd then also tо go after thе new 2D systems that are still being sold. So it’s a different market dynamic. And wе actually expect a fair amount of our growth іn Europe tо come from sales of thе 2D product іn addition tо 3D. In terms of thе ECR, wе really had a tremendous presence аt that show thіѕ year. We had a larger footprint, a lot more visibility іn terms of presentations. We had a oversubscribed customer events with risk assessment being one of thе key topics аnd wе really hаvе invested quite a bit more іn thе EU thіѕ year than wе ever had іn thе past. So wе now hаvе five KOL sites up аnd running. Those cut across аll thе major imaging vendors who wе hаvе sites with GE with Hologic, with Siemens, аnd wе recently hаvе put іn place four new distributors іn Europe that collectively cover about eight оr nine countries. So іn addition tо that, wе also added a direct sales reps іn France. France іѕ actually thе largest mammography market іn Europe. And wе thought that, іt could command a direct presence. But wе really hаvе put a lot more focus on thе European market than wе hаvе іn thе past, аnd wе expect that tо pay off with increased growth іn that geography іn 2019. Our next question comes from Per Ostlund, Craig-Hallum Capital. Actually since I’m going tо follow up оr dovetail off of Frank’s questions, right away, just since іt was on my list аѕ well. When you look аt that 2D market іn Europe, Stacey, аnd you mentioned оr you alluded tо thе fact that I think CAD іѕ still very, very underrepresented with 2D. What do you see аѕ thе gating factors tо adopting CAD аnd how does ProFound AI do you think accelerate thе adoption of CAD within thе 2D market there? Yeah, it’s a great question, Per. So historically, what hаѕ held back adoption іn Europe іѕ that it’s a very different reading paradigm than іn thе United States. So today аnd historically, еvеrу mammogram іѕ read by two radiologists іn Europe. And so thе challenge fоr us аnd we’ve already started tо prove thіѕ іn some clinical studies іѕ that you hаvе tо prove that one radiologist plus CAD іѕ better than two radiologists. Right? And then you саn obviously show an associated economic impact, favorable economic impact from that, so that’s thе first thing. The second thing іѕ that thе increased performance that comes from thе current generation AI technology іѕ much greater than thе previous CAD products, right. So it’s actually much easier tо show thе clinical value proposition along with thе economic value proposition than іt was іn thе past. So combination of kind of two things there that are аt work. And іf you look аt thе major trade shows, аnd we’ve actually started tо invest a fair amount more іn some of thе in-country trade shows, whereas іn thе past, you didn’t see a lot of podium presentations on CAD. That whole dynamic hаѕ changed. And now there are a lot of presentations going on about CAD, a lot of discussion among thе KOLs аnd it’s just a situation where Europe hаѕ lagged tо thе United States. And іn terms of that adoption, much like, thе 3D adoption іѕ behind thе US by probably three оr four years. So it’s kind of a convergence of a number of factors, but we’re definitely seeing increased interest аnd increased growth іn terms of 2D аnd ultimately 3D аѕ well, but thе market will still bе much bigger fоr 2D fоr quite some time. Coming back tо your release late last week about ProFound AI іn thе US аnd so thе number of sites that are already using thе tool across thе country, just wondering, it’s very early, but I’m wondering іf you саn characterize a little bit of some differing mix factors, maybe іn terms of which mammography OEMs are involved? Is іt іѕ іt kind of spread amongst different ones? Or іѕ іt still somewhat concentrated? How hаvе these customers come tо ProFound оr іѕ іt via your direct sales? Is іt through OEMs оr a little bit of both? And then іѕ thіѕ a situation where these are sites that were already tomo sites that are now ProFound customers оr did ProFound actually catalyze that upgrade tо tomo аt thе same time? Yeah, it’s a great question аnd lots of stuff іn there, Per. Let me see іf I саn remember each of thе different questions. So what I would say first off іѕ that thе early installations are a mix of GE аnd Hologic sites. Some of thе GE sites were using thе version one tomo that was exclusive tо GE аnd now hаѕ upgraded tо thе new ProFound AI. In terms of profile of thе sites, thеу are a mix between leading academic institutions аnd small community hospitals аnd everything іn between a mix of hospitals аnd imaging centers, аnd thеу are geographically spread out across thе country. So іn аll major parts of thе country, wе hаvе installed successfully a ProFound AI аnd thе early feedback аѕ wе mentioned, іѕ very positive. And thе other thing I’ll mention іѕ that wе also hаvе successfully connected tо a large number of different reading environments, so different PACS systems, different independent mammography review stations from thе imaging vendors. So there are — it’s not just one sort of particular reading environment. It’s a very large mix of different reading environments. And that’s great fоr us аѕ wе go forward, because after wе get thе first one nailed down аnd really understand how tо maximize thе workflow with a particular PACS company оr imaging review workstation, that makes thе ones that come after that a lot easier. So let’s see. Did I hit thе majority of thе questions you asked? You did. Well, I guess, maybe thе one would be, how much of thіѕ hаѕ come via your direct sales force going out, versus іn tandem. They’re primarily direct sales force orders that wе hаvе here. So аnd that’s — we’ve now taken our direct sales force from 6 tо 11 reps. And these early installations hаvе been primarily sold through thе direct sales team. And I would just add Per that, wе really hаvе three value propositions аnd through thе mix іn each account іn terms of what thеу value іѕ different. There’s obviously thе sensitivity, some people via sensitivity оr increase sensitivity, some people are really interested іn thе false positive production, because іf you recall back, cost of thе facility. And then there are others that are аll about workflow. They doubled оr tripled their work time аnd they’re іn certain workflow. Obviously, we’re very successful іn sites where wе triangulate аll three of them. But wе find that whеn those — whеn you hаvе two оr three of those things aligned, wе wind up with thе sites that moves from zero tо 60 miles an hour very, very quickly. That actually leads into, I think, perfectly leads into tо a question. I think thе clinical characteristics, thе workflow characteristics, I think those hаvе been well established аt thіѕ point. And you’ve referred tо a conversion rate of kind of 375 tо 400 instruments a quarter аnd there are still five digits worth of instruments out there tо bе converted іn thе US. Given that workflow probably іn particular might hаvе been thе biggest push back оr among thе pushback fоr 3D tomo, іѕ there an opportunity tо see that 375 tо 400 kind of conversion rate actual now accelerate with a tool like ProFound on thе market? Well, іf I could, yes. I believe that 375 tо 400 іѕ actually moving from thе early adopter phase where people may bе a little more agnostic on, thеу want tо bе thе pioneers аnd maybe a little more agnostic on thе price side. But I think аѕ people become more price sensitive, аnd I do think we’re іn that kind of early majority stage now that wе hope that those efficiencies, wе hope that value, wе hope tо reduce thе time tо read thе images аnd a lot of these, want us tо quantify what could a reduction іn false positive mean іn terms of workouts аnd callbacks. So I think іt definitely makes a big difference there. Also, just tо double up on one of thе points that Stacey made, wе initially wanted tо go tо 15 sales reps thіѕ quarter. But wе decided that 11,000 plus more people on thе third clock, thе connectivity, thе site inspection clock was actually more potent than going with 15 reps. Because wе were getting over our skis, wе had more sales opportunities being generated аnd not enough of thе second, thе third clock іn terms of connectivity. So we’ve now put іn place a sales infrastructure with supportive services that саn move more swiftly, even though there are fewer reps than initially planned. We саn certainly add those additional reps, but fоr thе moment tо keep up with these 375 tо 400 аѕ well аѕ thе already installed base, having a blend of thе sales аnd service support people іѕ what allowing us tо synchronize thе clock. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you fоr that. All right. One more from me. Wanted tо ask about thе collaboration with Karolinska аnd obviously іt іѕ early here. It sounds like a very, very intriguing opportunity tо I guess marry your imaging with their kind of more demographic, patient specific type data. Do you hаvе a sense аt thіѕ point аѕ tо what thе regulatory pathway looks like fоr that offering? Yeah, I would say that wе are working with more than one regulatory consultant аnd thе — wе did — where thе FDA comes іn on thіѕ іѕ where you are оr where wе are on what might bе a continuum of being predictive versus prescriptive. The closer you get tо being prescriptive, where you literally are saying thіѕ іѕ thіѕ person’s risk аnd therefore you should do that, that’s where thе FDA comes in, because you are actually driving practice іn a certain direction. Where you are simply presenting a algorithmically derived prediction based on data аnd іf you stay аt that end of thе spectrum, that’s where thе FDA іѕ a little more sanguine tо opportunity. So wе need tо walk thіѕ path between predictive аnd prescriptive, аnd іn many ways allow — always keep thе physician іn thе middle of making thе final choice. Because аt thе end, what thе FDA really get concerned about, іt was thе same аѕ thе case whеn detection was — a PMA was — іѕ іt going tо bе diagnostic versus detection? Is іt going tо take — іѕ іt going tо drive physician behavior іn such a way that could bе problematic? So, so far, thе early indications are that we’re іn a good position, іf wе stay іn thе predictive side аnd don’t cross over into prescriptive. [Operator Instructions] Ladies аnd gentlemen, wе hаvе reached thе end of thе question-and-answer session. And I would like tо turn thе call back over tо Michael Klein fоr closing remarks. Well, thank you аnd I would like tо close by reiterating some priorities going forward. To maximize thе commercial success of ProFound AI fоr digital breast Tomosynthesis globally, our commercial launch іѕ underway. We are excited about thе compelling growth prospects of thіѕ product, particularly іn thе second half of thіѕ year. We, are number two, accelerating development іn 2019 that will extend our lead іn 2020 іn both our AI business аnd our very scalable IORT platform with Xoft using Electronic brachytherapy. Specifically, thе above will take some form of our expansion from detection into risk predictions on thе AI side аnd thе continued growth of our breast IORT offering аѕ well аѕ non-breast applications іn areas such аѕ gynecology, rectal, brain, аnd other disease areas. And finally, wе will continue our transformation into a broader clinical AI company with thе exploration аnd advance of new AI offerings across radiology areas, imaging modalities аnd disease states. We will keep our eyes on new horizons with thе recognition that wе will thoughtfully manage financials, our controlled rollout of products аnd ensuring wе predictably hit key metrics аnd performance indicators, аll while continuing tо articulate with transparency, our processes, milestones аnd successes. So I want tо thank you аll again fоr joining our call today аnd wе look forward tо providing additional updates аѕ thе year progresses. Thank you fоr joining us. This concludes today’s conference. You may disconnect your lines аt thіѕ time. Thank you fоr your participation.

2019-04-21T16:34:55Z

https://easytradingsignals.com/icad-inc-icad-ceo-michael-klein-on-q4-2018-results-earnings-call-transcript/

The World Series of Beer Pong® XIII stormed through Las Vegas this past July (2018), and will be coming back for more this summer (July 2019). There were more than enough fireworks on the 4th of July, when BPONG.COM® kicked off the tournament festivities by hosting the first-ever WSOBP® Draft Tournament inside Topgolf Las Vegas! Throughout the following days, 10s of thousands of dollars were awarded through various tournaments beyond just The WSOBP® Main Event, including: Men’s & Women’s Randoms, Men’s & Women’s East vs. West, Men’s & Women’s Singles, as well as, a Co-ed Tournament, International Tournament, House Rules Tournament, and a Main Event Consolation Tournament. Read on to see how each event played out! Players from around the world gathered at one of the premier sports venues in sin city. Captains were appointed by BPONG.COM® and the top players on the planet selected their squads, LIVE for the very first time in the history of The World Series of Beer Pong®. An all-star panel of players and organizers hosted a Live Streaming Draft Show from the VIP level at Topgolf. Each selection was analyzed by some of the games brightest. Guests of the show included Captains, Drafted Players and BPONG/WSOBP Management. The first overall pick came out of Crowley, Louisiana, in way of Seth Beglis, who was selected by Captain Steven Tremblay of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Captain TJ Rhone, of Bryans Road, Maryland, had the 8th overall pick in the draft and was able to assemble a team that he led to The WSOBP®’s first-ever 6v6 Draft Championship! A Random Tournament consists of all participants not knowing who their partner will be upon entering the tournament. Player names are all thrown into a hat and partners are generated randomly through the luck of the draw. On the Men’s side Cody Atherton of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Cory Eggleston of Las Vegas, Nevada, topped Ethan Wald of Pahrump, Nevada, and David Feichter of Innsbruck, Tirol, Austria, for the Men’s Random Tournament Championship. Jason Hershfield of San Jose, California, and Ross Hampton of St. Louis, Missouri, rounded out the cash spots in the Men’s bracket with a 3rd place finish. Candi Squartsoff of Port Lions, Alaska, and Meagan Neary of Mesa, Arizona, defeated Sara Schauman of Livonia, Michigan, and Mo Weckner of St. Petersburg, Florida, to finish with an unblemished record and claim the Women’s Random Tournament Championship. Priscilla Kusmierz of Phoenix, Arizona, and Heather Giardina of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, scooped up the rest of the cash in the Women’s bracket by securing 3rd place. The Men’s and Women’s East vs. West Tournaments place a restriction on partner pairings by limiting players to their choice of teammate based on which side of the Mississippi River they live on. Players may only team up if they live on the same side of the Mississippi River. Greg Johnson of Federal Heights, Colorado, and Kevin Vaughn of Littleton, Colorado, fell just short of an East vs. West Title. This year, a West Coast team, consisting of David Diaz of Los Angeles, California, and Casey Costa of San Jose, California, took home the win! Team MAVA locked up the third place finish in the Men’s Bracket. In the Women’s East v. West Tournament the tides rolled in favor of the East Coast as Melissa Perkins of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Breanna Cordova of Aurora, Colorado, caught the short-end of the stick when they were beat in the Championship game of the Women’s East vs. West Tournament by Valerie Lasko of Bound Brook, New Jersey, and Cristal Lara of Hawthorne, New Jersey. Candi Squartsoff of Port Lions, Alaska and Mariah O’Brien of Renton, Washington took home a 3rd place finish. With the game of beer pong booming overseas, The WSOBP® has players from all over the world. Over 20 countries participated this year in The WSOBP® XIII Main Event! The International Tournament allows players to participate only if they live outside of the United States. This year, Nico Bose and Marcel Hasler of Germany were victorious over defending International Tournament Champions Manual Senfter and David Feichter of Austria. Justin Swain and Mike Frank of Canada finished 3rd. The Main Event provides players with a guaranteed 12-prelim games. The preliminary play advances and seeds the teams into the Day 3 Playoff Brackets. The top 160 teams at The WSOBP® advance to the final day of Main Event competition. On the first day of preliminary play at The WSOBP® XIII, 4 of each teams 12 prelim games are played. The following day, the remaining 8 prelim games are played for each team. The Co-Ed Tournament at The WSOBP® is a crowd favorite. Each team must consist of one male and one female player! Candi Squartsoff of Port Lions, Alaska, once again found herself in the money, and this time it was with Justin Spurrier of Henderson, Nevada. The pair was able to knock off another familiar face, David Diaz of San Jose, California, and his partner Charvel Redd-Shepard of Henderson, Nevada. Cody Atherton of Lake Charles, Louisiana and Heather Mendez of Bernards, New Jersey, took the rest of the cash with their 3rd place finish. Day 2 of The World Series of Beer Pong® is when things really start to heat up! Teams feel the pressure of having to win games or potentially run the risk of not making the cut for the Day 3 Playoff Brackets on the final day of competition. The Men’s and Women’s Singles Tournaments are the crown jewels of achievement among Side Event titles – It’s just you against the world! 1v1. Man vs. Man. Woman vs. Woman. There’s nobody to blame or carry you to victory besides yourself! This is where new players can really make a name for themself. Donnie Jones of Warren, Michigan, beat Sven Anderson of Cape Coral, Florida, in the finals of the Men’s Singles Tournament to maintain a perfect 7-0 record and secure one of the toughest titles to win. Jared Knierman of Odessa, Florida finished 3rd. Heather Giardina of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, makes another appearance in the money by claiming her second WSOBP® Women’s Singles Title over another multi-tournament cash out player, Melissa Perkins of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Rachel Goldsmith of Stafford Township, New Jersey finished 3rd. The House Rules Tournament at The WSOBP® is a tournament with common, party-like set of rules. Many new players may or may not find some of these rules a little more familiar towards how they’ve played at home or a friend’s place. Bobbi and Jeremy Harrison won an all Washington state House Rules Tournament final, taking down Sean Ashe and Brandon Still. Team “Just Met” finished 3rd. Didn’t make the cut for the Day 3 Playoffs? No sweat, we’ve got you covered! The Main Event Consolation Tournament is for all the squads that placed below 160th after the first two days of Preliminary Play! This year, we allowed Free Entry into The Main Event Consolation Tournament and gave away the very first set of WSOBP® XIV Bids for next year’s Main Event. Jeffrey Griffiths of Kent, Washington, and Shawn Edge of Marysville, Washington, are the first to stamp their ticket into The World Series of Beer Pong® XIV after defeating Victor Cardenas of Phoenix, Arizona, and Maverick Langdon of Renton, Washington. Anissa Garcia of Robstown, Texas, and Megan Morris of Jacksboro, Texas, finished 3rd. This is it!! The moment you’ve all been waiting for! It’s do or die, win or go home! All the money is on the table. Legacies are at stake and World Champions are to be made! The top 160 teams from the first two days of competition battle it out to see who will become the next World Series of Beer Pong® Champions! After grinding through bracket play, Brewtality – Presented by OGP (Ross Hampton of St. Louis and David Talamantez of Austin, Texas), with a sparkling 20-0 record, were set to square off against Troop Unchained (Brandon Clarke of Bridgewater, New Jersey, and Matt Kein of Hillsborough, New Jersey). Ross Hampton and Brandon Clarke both already had one World Series of Beer Pong® Championship Banner in the rafters at Westgate Las Vegas. David Talamantez fell just short of his first WSOBP® World Title at The World Series of Beer Pong® X, when he was defeated on the Final Table. It was Matt Kein’s first appearance on a WSOBP® Final Table. After special guest and famed sports announcer Bruce Buffer properly introduced all Final Table participants, the games were under way. Troop Unchained came out swinging and took game 1 of a best-of-3 series. An opportunity to finish the job was not wasted. Troop Unchained swept the final series by claiming game 2 and handed Brewtality their first two losses of The World Series of Beer Pong® XIII. Brandon Clarke becomes just the 3rd person to win multiple WSOBP® Main Event Championships and only the 2nd player to win it with 2 different partners! Matt Kein secured his first WSOBP® Main Event Championship! A huge congratulations goes out to Brandon Clarke and Matt Kein of Troop Unchained for taking down the most lucrative beer pong tournament on the planet – The World Series of Beer Pong®! If you’d like to participate in next year’s World Series of Beer Pong® XIV Main Event, July 3-7th, 2019, please visit (BPONG.COM/WSOBP) to register now! Pro Tip: Take advantage of our Early Bird pricing and save BIG. WSOBP XI Top Team Predictions – The Countdown is On! With just 10 days to go until The World Series of Beer Pong XI, we are going to begin previewing some of the best teams that will be in attendance at this year’s main event by highlighting who we think has a good chance at ending up within reach of the top spot! Continue reading WSOBP XI Top Team Predictions – The Countdown is On! Take your beer pong game to the next level! Many still think “binge drinking party game” when they hear “beer pong.” However, over the past decade we’ve developed an extension to that root, establishing a much greater value to the game. The World Series of Beer Pong has paid out over $500,000 in prizes through its Main Event. The WSOBP side events and affiliated organization’s competitive beer pong tournaments add a significant chunk of change on top of that $500K to total a substantial sum of cash that has been awarded to “professional” beer pong players all around the world. Continue reading Take your beer pong game to the next level! As The World Series of Beer Pong XI approaches (July 6-10th @ Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino) and players begin to lock in their partners for the event, there is a lot to consider. Partner selection for a large, super-competitive event like The WSOBP is key. As it turns out, chemistry still counts for something in beer pong. Preparing for your first World Series of Beer Pong tournament can be difficult; especially, if you haven’t had the pleasure of attending one of our affiliate organization’s fantastic pong events beforehand. We are going to give you all who don’t quite know what to expect a little insight on how to better strap yourself in to make the best of your experience at The World Series of Beer Pong! Let’s get the obvious out of the way. It is very hard to describe the adrenaline that will rush through your veins when you walk into a Las Vegas Ballroom filled with hundreds of beer pong tables, see thousands of beer pong players and realize you are about to play beer pong for $50,000; even having already experienced it. Therefore, trying to imagine what it will be like having never been before is nearly impossible. The environment is one like you’ve never experienced. In any case, the first thing to always remember is that you are there to have fun! There will be teams that go 12-0 during preliminary play; there will be teams that go 0-12. Nobody thinks they are going to lose every single game walking into the tournament but if it happens to you, take it with a grain of salt and you’ll still have an amazing time. There will be unicorns and aliens walking around Westgate Resort & Casino that you won’t be able to recognize because they will look just like everybody else in the ballroom. Though, if you feel like you may have been matched up against a pair of monsters during prelims, don’t get discouraged. You could be playing a former World Series Champion or a player who has banked 10’s of thousands of dollars playing this sport over the last decade. Focus up, play to the best of your abilities and take notes. Don’t let these guys get in your head either! The best defense is a strong mental game and a witty mouth. If you’ve let someone trash talk their way under your skin, you’ve lost the game and more importantly, you won’t be having any fun. Appreciate their intent (trying to win the game), laugh if they say something funny, don’t take it to heart, realize that it’s all a part of the game and don’t let it affect yours! If you are there for more than just the party and beer you should shoot for a 7-5 record during prelims and hold your breathe. 7-5 has been good enough to make the cut for the Day 3 Playoff Bracket in most years. On more rare occasions 6-6 records have made the cut, however, there have also been years when you’ve needed to have a polished 8-4 record to get in. Relax! Come ready to play, but relax. The environment is incredible and different from the first two days. Everyone wants to bring their A game, but it happens all to often that players who’ve never been there before become overwhelmed, play anxious and get upset with themselves when they don’t shoot up to their abilities. If you advance, keep your head on your shoulders and don’t let the satisfaction of potentially surpassing your expectations dilute your focus. You never know whose day it is and it may just be yours! Though eventually, everybody falls but 1 team. When it’s your turn to get erased from the bracket, stick around and pick someone to root for. Supporting your friends (or maybe your new friends from another country) is almost as fun as playing yourself! It’s not the end of the world. It was your first crack at it and the competition is tough! Take advantage of the many side events, sponsor activities and the one thing that none of us have yet to experience at The World Series of Beer Pong, the summertime, Vegas sun! If you’ve enjoyed your time, get to know some people and find a place to play close to home. Elevate your game, come back next year and do it all again! This past weekend showed the prowess of The World Series of Beer Pong™, as more than 20 players qualified themselves for The WSOBP™ Main Event by securing a tournament victory at one of the five World Series of Beer Pong™ Satellite™ Tournaments that took place around the country! We’ll start our recap tour in Kirkland, Washington, at Rose Hill Hideout where Northwest Beer Pong was slated to qualify a team for The World Series of Beer Pong™ XI! Participants were randomly matched against opponents for 6 preliminary games that would be used to seed teams into a double-elimination playoff bracket. Former World Series of Beer Pong Champion, Matt White, teamed up with Brad “Moose” Mosdell and paid tribute to Chris Cash, a close friend of Matt’s that had recently passed away, by playing under the team name: “Cash Money’s Final Hand.” It’s to no surprise that a World Champion’s tournament dedication to a fallen friend would end in victory. White and Mosdell pulled through to claim the 1st place prize of qualified entry into The World Series of Beer Pong™ XI, complete with 4-night accommodations at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. Thomas Hoistad and Chris Sherwood were beat out on the final table, after fighting their way through nearly 20 teams, but didn’t exactly go home empty handed. Chris and Thomas pocketed a quick $200 for their efforts. Next, we head a bit south and pick up on a ton of action at Johnny V’s in sunny San Diego. Ocean Grown Pong filled up the entire weekend with tournaments and handed out 14 individual bids (bid = qualified entry into The WSOBP™ & Hotel accommodations) via 8 different World Series of Beer Pong™ XI Satellite Tournaments! That’s over $5000 worth of prizes that OGP gave out at The 2nd Annual SoCal WSOBP™ BidFEST! Friday’s event consisted of a Men’s and Women’s Singles (1v1) tournament, as well as, a 2v2 double-elimination tournament. Former World Series of Beer Pong™ Women’s Singles Champion, Brandi Wrathall of Nevada, took down the ladies tournament, while Nicholas Bland of California cashed in on the Men’s side of the singles tournaments. Former World Series of Beer Pong™ Champion, Byron Findley of California, teamed up with fellow Californian, Zakary Corsi, and claimed the last seat in the winner’s circle on Friday night via a victory in the 2v2 tournament. Saturday’s schedule had 3 different tournaments on tap that all varied in format. The first was a multi-partner tournament, meaning each player participated with a different partner in two separate brackets with the winners of each bracket meeting in a best 2-out-of-3 final series. Ryan Smith and Scott Muller, both of California, came out on top of the multi-partner tournament. The 2nd of the trio of Saturday tournaments was a Co-ed tournament. Each team had to consist of 1 male and 1 female player. Ryan Smith collected his 2nd victory of the evening, as Charlie De Hoop, also of California, stamped her ticket into The WSOBP™ Main Event. Finishing off a day full of pong was a change of pace for most, as “House Rules” were implemented into a competitive tournament. David Diaz and Justin Herman, both of California, claimed the bid, elbows and all! Sunday kicked-off the final day of BidFEST with another multi-partner tournament and finished with a tourney where an element of surprise was thrown into the mix as players were NOT allowed to pick their own partner! Each team was paired by randomly drawing names from the participant pool to complete teams. David Diaz finished the weekend and collected multiple wins, as he and Ethan Wald finished atop the field in the multi-partner tournament. Ethan Wald also walked away with multiple wins on the weekend as he doubled-up on Sunday and won the Random Tournament alongside Mark Pimentel. Continuing to the south on our recap tour, we pull into Old School Bar and Grill in Austin, Texas, where The Texas Beer Pong Tour awarded multiple players with WSOBP™ bids and cold hard cash! 3v3 was the name of the game in Texas! During 3v3 play, each team has 3 players per side and sets up an extra 5 cups. (15 cups in total.) 3 balls are shot per-side! Roland Ortiz, Adrian Damasco, and Mando Roman filled out the roster that took home the WSOBP™ XI Bids. Texas also got a little tricky and mixed in a Random draw tournament of their own, which rewarded Robert Williamson with his qualified entry into The WSOBP™ Main Event. His partner Rob Dix cashed in on a $300 cash prize for his share of the random draw prize, as his ticket to the big show in Vegas was written long ago. Dix also picked up an additional win with his partner James Alanis while playing for qualified entry into The Spring Classic! Just a “few” miles to the northeast, The Chicago House of Music & Entertainment was rocking with nearly 100 players from 11 different states, who partook in a Quad-Bracket World Series of Beer Pong™ XI Satellite Tournament. Each player was allowed 1 entry into 4 individual single elimination brackets. Each player had to play with a different partner in each of those 4 brackets. The winners of each individual bracket met in a best 2-out-of-3 semi-finals series. The winners of the semi-finals squared off in a best 2-out-of-3 final series. Brendan Dyelle of Rochester, Michigan, picked a couple of doozy partners from St. Louis and came roaring out of 2 different brackets, placing him in both semi-final series. The first semi-finals saw Dyelle and former World Series of Beer Pong™ Champion, Ross Hampton, take down Scott Frew and Andy DeCaluwe of Illinois to advance to the finals. Dyelle prevailed again in the second semi-final bracket with Brent Saale beating out Johnny Fourdyce of Illinois and his partner Michael “Sunshine” Kloiber of Kentucky, to advance both of his teams to the final series. Wait what? (This means, Brendan Dyelle had already won the entire tournament without even having to play in the final series.) Dyelle kicked back and watched his two partners play 1v1 to decide who’d share his first place prize with him and who’d take a share of 2nd. Ross Hampton trumped Brent Saale 2-0 in the final series to claim his share of 1st place. Dyelle took home a bid to The WSOBP™ and $375 cash. Hampton banked his 2nd bid of the season and $250 in cash. Saale walked away with $125 for his efforts. Last but not least, we make one more stop and travel even further north to Bay Lanes Bowling and Banquet Center in Bay City, Michigan, where Boozin’ Bob decided 3 days before the big weekend that he wanted to be apart of all the fun! It’s risky business putting so much up for grabs with such little time for players to secure partners and make plans to play but Boozin’ Bob made it happen! He saw an opportunity with some of the best players in the state making the trip down to Chicago to open up the field for non-bid winners to finally scratch their names into the reservation book at The WSOBP™ for the first time, and he capitalized on that opportunity. The format varied from all the others over the weekend. It was a double-bracket tournament; however, players were only allowed to pick their partners for one of them. The other side of the bracket was random draw. Brandon Juracek, better known as “Homeless” and his partner Clarence Johnson chalked up the Satellite Tournament win. Me too, Clarence. Me too. On behalf of BPONG™ and The World Series of Beer Pong™, we’d like to thank all the organizers who put so much time and effort into making these awesome tournaments happen! We’d also like to thank all the players who came out to play this past weekend!

2019-04-25T20:17:31Z

https://bpong.com/blog/tag/the-world-series-of-beer-pong/

El Best Western Black Hills Lodge se encuentra en el centro de Spearfish. Venga y disfrute de las mejores atracciónes turísticas cerca de nuestro hotel. Precios bajos garantizados y ofertas exclusivas. Nuestra amplia habitación con dos camas de matrimonio grandes cuenta con todas las comodidades propias del hogar. Relájese tras de un largo día de viaje en una de nuestras habitaciones. Visite Dakota del Sur y alójese en este hotel de Black Hills que proporciona acceso gratuito a Internet de alta velocidad, televisión por cable, nuevos televisores LCD, nevera y microondas en la habitación, plancha con tabla de planchar y desayuno continental gratuito de lujo todas las mañanas. Este hotel exclusivamente para no fumadores de Black Hills, Dakota, admite mascotas y ha sido galardonado con el Premio Best of the Best por su servicio de atención al cliente. Piscina climatizada al aire libre abierta en temporada. El Best Western® Black Hills Lodge está situado a poca distancia del centro de Spearfish y a medio camino entre el Monte Rushmore y Devil's Tower. El hotel se encuentra asimismo a poca distancia, aproximadamente 15 minutos, de Sturgis®, sede del rally de motociclismo de Sturgis, y a 10 minutos del centro de Deadwood, sede del Wild West Lore y otras muchas opciones de ocio y de salones de juegos. Alójese en el corazón de Black Hills y podrá disfrutar del impresionante entorno natural de Dakota del Sur y de todas las actividades de la zona, con fácil acceso a famosas atracciones como el Monte Rushmore, el Cañón Spearfish, Devil's Tower, la histórica Deadwood y la piscifactoría D. C. Booth. Los huéspedes también podrán disfrutar de senderismo, ciclismo y pesca en el área para amantes de actividades al aire libre, además de esquí y recorridos en moto de nieve en invierno. Los huéspedes en viaje de negocios podrán disfrutar de un amplio espacio de escritorio en todas las habitaciones y de gran proximidad a las empresas de la zona, entre las que se incluyen la Universidad Estatal Black Hill y el centro de atención a la tercera edad David M. Dorsett. Nuestro cordial e informado personal está preparado recibirle y darle la bienvenida durante sus vacaciones en Black Hills. Alójese en uno de los mejores hoteles de Spearfish durante su viaje y reserve su escapada al Best Western® Black Hills Lodge. Clean, good breakfast, can park right at your room. 2 entrances - 1 to hotel, 1 to parking lot. Nice little lounge/bar area (I think they're closed on Sundays). Can order food to be delivered to the bar. This is a good place to stay right off the interstate. Reasonably priced for a BW and staff were very nice. Decent continental breakfast set up. The lounge features several craft beers and has specials every night of the week - Monday was half off craft beers which was fantastic after a full day driving. The room was clean enough however we were there two years ago and things seemed to be a little nicer and better maintained - it could be just that room which was towards the rear of the building. Overall we would stay there again. Thank you krinthou H. I appreciate you taking the time to review and remark about our hotel, especially details of your stay and features. We hope you do come back to stay with us again. I have stayed at this hotel several times and have always had a great experience. The hotel bar is a great place to unwind after a long day. The hotel staff are always smiling and friendly. The room was very clean and the beds were very comfortable. Usually there are college teams staying at the hotel which I enjoy interacting with. Breakfasts are above average ..great selection plus hot and cold items. I like to hike in the morning for a workout and a quick walk across the interstate overpass leads to a great hike overlooking the entire town of Spearfish. Hello Greeleyborn, Thank you for submitting such a positive and complimentary review of our hotel. It sounds like you make the most of your trips to Spearfish, and we are certainly glad you make the choice to stay with us. I will pass on your comments to the staff. This place is awesome, clean, comfortable and the front staff is excellent.... breakfast area is great and clean... love the little bar/social area... always stay here when we're in the hills. Bonus is downtown is within walking distance. Thank you for nice comments. You have choices to stay anywhere, and we appreciate that you choose us. Thanks! Although the outdoor pool is now closed for the season, we hear a lot of people say they stay with us because of our cozy lounge, or as you mention here, the ever-popular first floor rooms with their outside access. Come see us again. Thank you. Very easy access from the interstate. Check in staff were friendly and efficient. Large clean room was quiet. Breakfast was good but for a Best Western it was a little below expectations. Would probably stay again. Good morning. Thank you for the 5 stars and the nice comments. We appreciate you taking the time to review us. Based on the date, you might have stayed a day or a few days before we just introduced our new additions to breakfast - eggs and either bacon or sausage. Sometimes we have rotated biscuits and gravy in over the years, but these items are new. Thanks again. Please stay with us if you return to Spearfish. We stayed here on a visit to the Sturgis area. We were impressed, nice room, good service and adequate breakfast. We would go back. Have their own lounge so you can have a drink here as well. Close to downtown and other restaurants etc. Good morning. Thank you for choosing to stay with us - hope you enjoyed visiting the Sturgis area! We appreciate you taking time to place a review. Well as an innkeeper for 30+, I can say I have had a few guests over the years that are not going to be happy. No matter what you do to help, to resolve a noise issue, offer options, give nearly half off, and of course apologize, etc. In fact, after going through my front desk staff, my General Manager, and then me being involved, one has to wonder how far someone wants to keep at it, with their claims - maybe until it is not just half price, maybe more? This situation was blown way over the top, and although we tried, were not finding any source of noise. There are several inaccuracies in this and omitted parts of the whole story - like damage to room ceiling. The out-of-proportion claims in this review (rant), should lend a reader insight into the situation that occurred. And knowing my staff and how eager they are to help resolve things, and the language that was used by this guest against them, (as well as the lewd language used about the supposedly noisy other guest) lead me to believe we did what we could do - it was simply never going to be alright. Nicely redecorated, large size room with easy chair, footstool and desk chair. All rooms have private entrances & hallway entrance. Pool was well maintained & we asked the owner who was there swimming about smoking at the pool. He said it was allowed as long as we don't litter. I showed him the ashtray we brought with us from home & he was pleased that we were conscious to do so. We asked upon check in about smoking outside our door as & were told it was allowed. When we went up front the next day to extend our stay, the clerk said the maid reported that she suspected we had smoked in the room because we dumped the ashtray before leaving for sightseeing. We explained to them that we did not smoke in the room & we dumped the ashtray in the trash to prevent littering. We were then accused of smoking with the door open, which we did not. She gave us a plastic bag & asked us to put our butts in the baggie and leave them on the ground outside. I verified upon checkout that we would not be charged a “cleaning fee” & she assured me we would not. Very nice place & highly recommend...for non smokers. Thank you for the nice comments about our hotel. We appreciate you taking time to explain the things you liked, and especially the cleanliness! I enjoyed meeting you and visiting briefly. I do know the staff are always trying to balance being fair and cooperative with guests when it comes to certain issues - smoking on property is one. Your questions were answered, and yes you can smoke at the pool area, and yes you can smoke outside the hotel. It was not a concern about smoke in your room once we looked into it and asked you about it, we just have housekeepers who do what is asked, and have been asked to be vigilant about the smoking(sometimes smoke drifts in an open door) thing so they reported to management. We feel it was a worthy question, and simply asked you, our guests, about it - hopefully you took no offense. All was fine, and definitely was not a charge to you. Smoking rules are one of the things that has changed dramatically in hotels over the years. We do want to provide you with a place you can go to smoke, and at same time be careful we don't create a negative situation for other guests. It is a balance. We wish everyone was like you - you were wonderful, courteous guests and that makes all the difference. Thank you for that, and we do hope you would come back and stay with us again. "Awesome Place to stay in Spearfish!" We were in town to golf during the last weekend of the Sturgis Rally. Although there were quite a few bikers staying here, the motel was very quiet. Everything in the room was clean and comfortable. The towels were well stocked and the room had a refrigerator, microwave and Keurig coffee maker. Although we did not make it to the on location "Lookout Lounge" this trip, we were there during a previous stay and appreciated the convenience of having that available. You can have a few beers and not have to worry about driving. We will not hesitate to stay here again. THANK YOU. And we will look forward to seeing you again. The Spearfish Lodge was so comfortable! The staff were so professional and nice. Everything from breakfast to the swimming pool was just perfect! I liked being able to park right out in front of your room and it had a door on inside going into the hall. The bar was really nice too! we watched the game on the big screen. Kenny D, thank you for the great review! We are glad you had a nice stay with us... hope you decide to stay with us again next time in the Black Hills. "Will not stay there again. " When I booked the hotel on the Best Western website, there was no mention that there were no elevators. Both my parents are elderly, and my mom could barely make it upstairs, and needed help getting downstairs. The stairs are very steep. I requested a baby crib when booking the room a week in advance. It was provided with NO mattress. It was pack and play with just cloth bottom stretched onto two crossed metal bars. All the front desk girl was saying “I'm sorry, there is nothing I can do”. Which I understand it was not her fault. The breakfast is served till 9am. At 8:45 there were no coffee left of any kind, and no one to track down for help. Hello Elena T. Please accept my apologies for the issues you had. We always do our best to accommodate those who have difficulty with stairs. We often move room assignments around to make sure they get a first floor, or if they indicate when making the reservation we make notes to assign the room in order to accommodate - and sometimes guests in need take our accessible rooms which are only on first floor. Either way, we apologize we did not have something available when you arrived and indicated the challenge you had. We understand, and would without a doubt have accommodated. With regard to the crib, we are also sorry that did not get checked to have the pad. We searched and do not know what happened to that piece. I understand Catherine found a blanket to use for you, but in any case, our apologies for that inconvenience too. That unit has been discarded. Thank you for staying with us. We understand your complaints, and we can do better. Bill Collins, Owner. I was going to stay for 1 night, but ended up staying for 3 nights. This is a very nice hotel with a great location and extremely pleasant and helpful staff. The room was clean, the bed comfy, and breakfast was good with many different options. Thank you for staying with us. ...and the great compliments about our hotel. We appreciate it very much. "Quick trip for college registration" This is a pretty basic hotel. Room was clean and beds were comfortable. There is no elevator, which is no big deal for us, but it was for some elderly guests. It's in a great location & very close to downtown. The outdoor pool was spotless; it's heated but not too hot-felt very refreshing on an 80 degree day! Breakfast is the usual. There is a little bar in the hotel with $5 beer and wine selections, popcorn & a small selection of pizzas. I would definitely stay here again. Every single staff member was courteous, cheerful and helpful! You can't just call a room non-smoking, it actually has to be non-smoking. The hotel claims to be a smoke free hotel. However, it clearly had smoking rooms at one time. The outside of the doors had placards with non-smoking on some. Others were obviously absent. From the stale cigarette smell in our room, it is clear it was once a smoking room that was never gutted or cleaned properly. I bought a can of Febreze which only masked the smell for about an hour. The staff was also extremely unfriendly, neither greeting us or asking us how our stay was at departure. In addition, it was very loud, with neighbors and train noise. For the same price, stay at the Fairfield. I wish I had!!! Good morning Arlene. Wow, we are so sorry, and cannot understand what happened. We have not had a smoking room in 9+ years, and just repainted all the walls with our complete room renovations completed last year. If ever there is someone smoking in a room, please trust me, we hear about in this busy season when we are nearly full each night, and it is rare. So again we cannot understand when this was. We searched your name and couldn't find, but please contact us to let us know what room you were in, then I will be able to help compensate you something back, gladly. I do, however, wonder if you were at this BW, as you mention so much noise from neighbors, and a train(which we don't have closer than 10 miles). If this was a different hotel than ours please advise, as we take pride and don't accept the description you give in this heading. Respectfully. Thank you. "Really a very great place to stay." My husband has health issues and we were traveling out to Wyoming to visit our son. We stopped in Spearfish as my husband wasn't feeling very well. This is an excellent motel. Front desk was so nice to us checking in and also checking out the next morning. There is a cafe next door and the food was very good and not pricey! We definitely would stay there if we were ever in this area again. The room was very clean and the beds were very comfortable. They have a very nice breakfast meal. Thank you for your comments and compliments. I most like to hear what you mentioned, that the staff was "nice, hotel excellent and your room was very clean". Talk about the heart of innkeeping! We work hard at those core things that make the most difference.... and all the little extras too. We look forward to having you back, and we really hope your husband is feeling better. "Great stay while in South Dakota" We stayed here for most of our time in South Dakota. We had a family suite and it accommodated us just fine. The pool is outside. That is probably the one thing I would have changed. No hot tub either. It was still under construction while we stayed. But we weren't inconvenienced by it by any means. There is no elevator. So if you have a lot of luggage, prepare to carry it up a flight of stairs. The breakfast was good. They did refill things accordingly. There is a lounge attached for adults, which was nice. And outside seating for the lounge and for people at breakfast. All in all it was a great place to stay and we would stay there again. Thanks so much for the nice review, and for staying with us. We will definitely help with any luggage if you return - we assist people a lot with them, and are happy to! Thanks again for the nice review. "One night stop in spearfish" We stopped here for one nights stay while passing through the area. We've been through spearfish before and we've always wanted to stop for at least a night. The hotel is a little overpriced and should be categorized as a budget hotel. The staff was friendly. The hotel was mostly clean but there were several misses in our room such as hair d used coffee in the coffee pot. The breakfast is a little lacking all cold except for typical waffles and boiled eggs. The hotel probably needs an update but overall we were satisfied and we would recommend this hotel but there are probably nicer ones in this price range. We paid 130.00$. Dear Chad, Thank you for your review. Looks like you were overall satisfied. With regard to rate and category, please know our area has hotels from about $120 to $200 in July, and so we feel very well priced (in the middle) for all that we offer. I believe our reviews and rankings show that. (please know the many differences between us and the budget category brands). Especially with outdoor pool area, and we actually just completed a full renovation so I am a bit confused on what you feel needs an update. And so if you would, please call us and let us know - I would be more than happy to hear so we can consider it. Always interested in our guests' thoughts. Thank you for staying with us! "One night in Spearfish " We booked on Hotwire based on the comment "customer favorite", free breakfast and bed choice. During the booking the bed choice selection didn't appear but the hotel accommodated our choice on arrival. We paid $93 plus tax which I thought was overpriced. We actually booked all our rooms through Hotwire for this trip, this was the most expensive and some of the others were nicer. The hotel is undergoing renovations and the facade in front was down to the insulation. It's a two story place and all the first floor rooms open into the parking lot. I tend not to stay in these types of rooms bc of safety issues and associated noise from outside but it's a safe area and noise wasn't a problem. The first floor rooms also have a door opening into the corridor inside the hotel. Also worthy of mention is there is no elevator going to the second floor. If you have a lot of luggage that could be a concern. The room 108, was nice and clean, furnishings were up to date. King bed, very comfortable. The thermostat is on the wall for easy adjustment though the AC is a bit loud, it does muffle any other noise. We didn't have any problems with noise. There was a chair with ottoman, desk, good sized tv, mini fridge, single cup coffee maker and microwave. The sink area is outside the bathroom, minimal counter space. The bathroom was clean and plain. The free breakfast was unremarkable, no yogurt or meat. They had a waffle machine and strawberries, etc. for toppings. Thank you so much for your review. Sorry my response is so late! - We have indeed been busy with finishing the front of the hotel. And done with major renovation. (the rooms were fully refreshed floor to ceiling, including All furniture, etc. last year! ) Please know, so many rates are available now for hotels, so complicated and discounts vary so oddly for the same night. Many seasoned travelers have told us, or we watched first-hand, their frustrations with the 'good deals' from Hotwire and others, because they didn't get the room they thought, problems with cancelling/changing, or getting a refund from those booking sites. Many have told us booking direct to hotel is their choice again. We are glad you enjoyed your stay with us! Thank you again for being our guest. This stay was our second time staying here, 2nd Annual Girls Golf Trip. Love this Hotel! Very accomodating, nice rooms, nice little bar, friendly bartender. Left a shoe in the room and they are mailing it to me. Location is awesome, walking distance from Main Street . Great restaurant next door, easy on and off interstate exits. See you next year for the 3rd annual! Thanks. Dear Kathie, Thank you! What a nice review. I appreciate your detailed comments. (We have indeed been getting rave reviews about our fresh new rooms). And always seem to get great compliments about our staff - I will pass them on. So glad you had fun, and yes, see you next year!! Pleasant staff. Comfortable room. Good breakfast. The bar has a nice window view. Easy access off of I-90. Restaurants nearby. Downtown is straight west down Jackson street. Enjoyed a couple of morning walks in nearby neighborhoods. Thank you for taking time to share aspects of your stay. Our rooms have been recently remodeled with new wall-coverings, carpet, furniture, beds and linens. And I will share with our staff that they contributed to your pleasant stay. I have to agree with you that our cozy lounge offers a scenic view of our beautiful surroundings - and our quaint downtown is walking distance to neat little boutiques and restaurants. We hope to see you again the next time you return to Spearfish. "Nice place to stay near the historic district" Very clean, large, nice rooms. The lounge is great and serves appetizers and pizza at night. Breakfast would have been better but they kept running out of things, and we were there at 8:00 am. We would stay again. Thank you!!...we are indeed proud of our Housekeepers, they do an outstanding job. I apologize for falling short of things at breakfast. It is our full intention to have everything stocked all through the hours, even if we are very busy. We will do better on your next trip. Thanks again for your review. Thank you for taking the time to write a review; we truly do take your comments to heart and try to improve. Without your specific details of your stay we would not know of your lackluster experience and your point of view. I do want to point out a couple of things. If ever you are staying with us again, please ask for a pillow that is not as full (brand new) and we would be more than happy to accommodate you. That is our goal - to make you happy! As far as our AC units, please note that there is a control on the wall to adjust temperature and fan.With your rate being around $100/night, you must have been here during a special event, nonetheless, we always strive to give you a good value. We feel that we do that very well, but don't always have everything that every guest may want. I would appreciate any specific suggestions we could provide that would add value to your stay. Finally I want to say thank you for the nice words about our crew - they are the heart of our success. Great location, good price, comfortable room! Easily walk-able to downtown and the shops and restaurants in Spearfish, although there is a restaurant right next door. The bed was very comfy and the complimentary breakfast was fresh with lots of choices. Thank you for sharing. We are centrally located to downtown Spearfish boasting a variety of nice boutiques, shops, and restaurants. Our rooms have been recently remodeled with new linens, furnishings, wall coverings, and carpeting - so we are pleased that your stay was positive. We look forward to seeing you again. They room was great. We have been told they remolded recently by others in the area and it looks nice. There is no elevator and we were on the 2nd floor, not a big problem. Staff did offer help with luggage if we needed it. Breakfast was a lot of starch items and not a lot of protein type items, biscuits and gravy and waffles were the main items. So we eat next door. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and noticing that we have recently remodeled and updated our rooms - new linens, furnishings, wall coverings, and carpet. I completely understand the inconvenience of not having an elevator, and that is why our staff is eager to provide assistance in overcoming that. I also appreciate getting your feedback on the breakfast line-up. Since we are located next to a restaurant with a diverse menu, the purpose in our breakfast is to offer our guests a few basic favorites to start off their day of touring. We look forward to seeing you again! One night stay. The room was excellent except the jacuzzi tub was weird when showering. The room has been updated. The crown molding is spectacular. However I always wonder why not replace the switches and switch plates to get rid of dirty old almond color? Breakfast was typical, ok. Coffee is very weak. Nice place I would stay here again. Very reasonable rate. Thank you. We are glad you appreciated the comforts brought on by our remodeling efforts - new linens, furnishings, wall coverings, carpet...and yes, spectacular crown molding. Our objective is to provide an appealing and comfortable room for our guests. Your comments are important to us. We really enjoyed this hotel. Staff were friendly and very helpful. The hotel was clean and very comfortable. The breakfast was well done and so very tasty. Would definitely stay here again. Our whole experience was Avery good one! Thank you. I will be sure to let the hotel staff know that your stay was a pleasant one. We look forward to seeing you next time. Frankatdbqcanvas, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. We're happy to hear how pleased you were with your stay! Come back and see us again the next time you're in the area! "They should tell their guests!!!!" Stayed here before, and booked a weekend room. I'm here right now, and not happy. They should tell guests that their motel is being remodeled, and the place has a strong odor of paint, and all the amenities listed are not available (not an ICE CUBE in the house, not even in the bar!). Hallways are a mess, and dust and crap everywhere. And no discounted prices!!! You would think if the place is not 100%, prices should not be 100%!! Should they??? Very disappointed, and next time will look elsewhere. I understand! We are indeed in the midst of our lobby, breakfast area and hallway renovations, following our full room renovations completed this past spring. With this winding down by mid December we will be very happy too. I apologize for all this inconvenience, it is never easy to do without some mess, but we've tried to steer our guests clear of it when we can. and to add to it, sure enough our ice machine was out of order on Saturday. Please know we are discounting room rates as appropriate, almost no guest is paying full during this work. If you feel that was not the case for you, please contact our GM to discuss. Again, sorry for the mess, it should be diminishing each day this week. I loved the decor of the room and the staff was very pleasant at check in. The beds were comfy and we had good water pressure. The wi-fi in the room was amazing! Super fast even with 3 people streaming videos and downloading music. The breakfast was yummy too! Thought I'd reviewed this Hotel before, but I guess I didn't. I was there last June for a Camaro Rally in Sturgis. I spent 4 days here, had a great time. Staff was very friendly, a very clean Hotel. I walked to downtown Spearfish, little bit of a walk, but not bad. I had driven over 4000 miles in 8 days on this trip, was nice to have a relaxing place in the middle of the trip. My room had a door right to the parking lot so I could keep an eye on my Camaro. Dear Bill M, thank you for staying at my hotel in Spearfish, and for writing a nice review. very proud of the staff there as they do an excellent job in all areas. From the bartenders in the lounge, to housekeepers, to breakfast attendants, front desk staff, and manager. They are a great team! Please come back and see us again when in the Black Hills. This is a great place to lay your head while you are in the hills. Nothing fancy but has clean comfortable rooms, is right off the interstate, and great staff that are always friendly & accommodating! We stay here often when we visit our daughter at BHSU and recommend this hotel. kellybI3506TK, Thank you for making us your home-base while visiting your daughter at the University. I'm glad to hear that you feel accommodated and comfortable during your stay! Hoping for a great school year for your daughter! I came in at 9p and left again by 8a, the staff was pleasant and helpful. Evening shift was very excited that I would be able to enjoy the remodeled rooms... I have stayed at this hotel several times over the past 9 years and did notice a nice remodel job...I felt the carpet could be cleaner but overall the room was clean. Breakfast was good. williamaU6245DG, Thank you for staying with us! I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed our new rooms, though we will make note of the carpet and attend to that--thank you for letting us know. Thank you for continuing to stay with us over the years! I have stayed at this hotel a number of times while traveling. Very clean and comfortable with friendly staff and it is a pet friendly hotel. I plan a leg of my trip heading west to stay at this hotel. Small place in a quiet area. I usually travel off season so reservations are not an issue which I make the day of intended stop. arthurmA9609RV, Thank you for continuing to come back and stay with us during your travels, we appreciate your patronage! Safe travels to you this fall! Since we are reward members, when we travel we prefer to stay in Best Western hotels. This on, although one of the smaller ones, was very comfortable and the few staff members we interacted with were very hospitable and professional. There was a full service restaurant just a few steps away which wa s a plus. The breakfast menu could be expanded as there wasn't much of a selection. T864DHcaroleh, First, thank you for being a Best Western Rewards member! It sounds like you are loyal to the Best Western Brand and we appreciate you staying with us because of that! I was glad to hear that the service you received met your expectations and you were able to take advantage of the family diner next door. We'd love to see you back if you're ever in the Black Hills area again! Very nice rooms, Bar could use some more options, only served beer and wine. very nice experience. I would recommend this hotel to my friends and family. Very friendly staff and the room had a Jacuzzi tub! 207chrisz, Thank you for staying with us. I'm glad to hear that you found our newly remodeled rooms to be comfortable for your stay. The Lookout Lounge is only licensed for beer and wine and so we do try to stock with a good variety of local and popular brews. Thank you for telling your friends and family about us! See you next time! Beautiful city, nice friendly staff in a clean restful room. Breakfast was excellent , would recommend this hotel to anyone.Convenient location, near downtown businesses but quiet. Will stay here again if in area. Without reservations, I arrived at this Best Western. A very nice receptionist gave me a room on the ground floor that allowed me to drive my car to the entrance. How convenient because this allowed me to fish for forgotten items from the car. Indeed, I made several trips to my car parked immediately outside the room. The bedroom was large. Everything was clean. Breakfast was fine. They could, however, check the breakfast room more often because they ran out of bagels, breads, and muffins. Further, shrivelled oranges and apples should not be be served! Other than that, I enjoyed my stay at this Best Western and will return if I am in the area again. "Pleasant hotel in Lovely Town" Standard Best Western property with very large and spacious rooms. Ground floor rooms have both interior and exterior access. Very pleasant staff. The town of Spearfish is charming and well worth a visit, with Devils Tower, Spearfish Canyon, and the Black Hills nearby. T7578ZMjohnm, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. We're glad to hear that it was a satisfying experience! We love our town and surrounding area, and we're pleased to hear that you enjoyed it while you were here! Thanks for choosing to stay with us; we hope to see you back for another visit! "Excellent Room - Disappointing Breakfast" This was a modern, well appointed hotel with high end decor. Excellent value for your money except...hot breakfast offerings were minimal the morning we were there - no eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, biscuits or gravy that day. E6439QEjamesm, Thank you for choosing to stay with us during your time in Spearfish. It's great to hear how you enjoyed your overall stay. We are continuing renovations through the winter, so you can expect the modern changes you've seen will continue! I understand that you were disappointed with our continental breakfast. Though it is small, we try to offer the staples like: yogurt, oatmeal, build your own waffle, biscuits and gravy, hard boiled eggs, and fresh fruit; along with the normal donuts, bagels, English muffins. We also offer our guests with allergies dairy-free and gluten-free options. Our guests are very important to us and we try to offer the best value. We hope to see you back again the next time that you're in the area. Booked this for a sisters vacation, however was very disappointed in this hotel overall. Do not recommend this hotel. Housekeeping in the common areas was not done. And there is not an elevator to the second floor. The room was clean however. The free breakfast was not good at all. Cold cereal , rolls, and yogurt and biscuits and gravy served in a crockpot. Joni b, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. By telling us what we did well and what we can improve on, you aid us in our goal to provide a superior customer experience. Specifically with your comments concerning the cleanliness, these are things that I can assure you are unusual for us and will be looked into further. Thank you for staying with us. "Could be ok place with attention to detail" In an out of way location with nothing around it. Fairly nice place. Room could be better if it were a little cleaner. Breakfast room was small, not comfortable. A bit too pricey,thus lacking value overall. Ted A, I'm sorry to hear that you didn't feel our property quite met your expectations. Our hotel is one of the closest hotels from downtown Spearfish at only 4 blocks away, right next to a family restaurant and across the street from a gas station. Our area is very seasonal and although we are beginning to wind down from our busy season, our rates are set competitively with those in the area. Thank you for your feedback on the room, as it is not common for us and we will be looking into it. Thank you for staying with us, we wish you safe travels to your destination. "Very accommodating for bikers took care of our bikes" lindaC4657WJ, Thank you for sharing your experience with us! We appreciate your loyalty to our brand and hope to serve you again in the near future. Thank you for staying with us. R K, Thank you for staying with us and taking the time to leave a review. I appreciate your feedback on specific parts of your stay including the great staff, which I will gladly pass along your comments to. We try to offer a good variety of breakfast items at our hotel, including both gluten free and dairy free options, but can also understanding where you're coming from. Thanks again for staying with us! Professional staff and wonderful comfort in room. Pool was very nice and clean. Breakfast was awesome. Room was very comfortable from sofa to bed. Facilities were very clean and comfortable. Staff made you feel right at home in every way. B6796FBlindab, Thank you for taking the time to share the pleasantries of your stay. We love hearing when our guests feel right at home and are able to relax during their travels. Come back and see us again the next time that you're in the area! Overall a good experience. Hotel staff very friendly and helpful. Rooms were comfy and roomy. Quiet area. Breakfast a little disappointing for a Best Western, in past all BW we have stayed at had a hot breakfast with Eggs, Bacon/Sausage and danish. I don't consider waffles a hot breakfast. Tami W, Thank you for your feedback from your stay. I'm glad to hear that the staff was good and it was comfortable and quiet stay. We're always looking for ways to improve our customer experience, so thank you for commenting on that as well. This was a very nice motel. The room was great and just what we needed. If you are on the second floor, take note that there is no elevator, so pack lightly or be strong. Also, if the cross-country team from somewhere has booked the place, the breakfast room will be full. Thankfully we just had to wait a minute and they ran off, leaving plenty of space. The hot items were waffles and biscuits and gravy, and were good. The hotel has seen it's better days. The noise from Harleys in the parking lot was ridiculous. People are so inconsiderate. The carpet was threadbare. The breakfast was mediocre. The staff was very friendly. There is no elevator so if you have heavy bags be prepared to caryy them up by yourself. W101XBmichaelh, I'm sorry to hear that the noise from other guests disturbed your stay. Our staff do their best to maintain a reasonably quiet environment on the property, but sometimes there are things that can't be helped. Our property is a bit older, but with our room renovations this past spring and continued renovations this winter, we hope to provide our guests with a clean, comfortable, and modern experience while visiting the Black Hills. Thank you for choosing to stay with us and taking the time to review your stay; we use all our guests' feedback towards improving our guests' experience. Extremely happy with our stay at the Spearfish BW. Staff at the BW was friendly and the rooms clean and comfortable. Bar in the hotel was convenient and offered a good selection of libations. We will be back again. J4886CLrobertp, It's so good to hear about the quality of your stay, we're always appreciative of our return guests and will look forward to having you back! Thanks for staying with us! Hi Miriam H, Thank you for choosing to stay with us during your weekend away. I'm sorry to hear about the AC in your room. I hope that one of our staff was able to assist you and get everything working smoothly for your comfort. Sometimes a simple setting change can make all the difference! Facilities were well stocked clean and very comfortable. Close to many attractions in area. The employees were a big plus in making my stay a lot more fun. Breakfast was very good but a little light in items to choose from. Pool facilities were clean and comfortable. Daniel H, Thank you for staying with us and for the great compliments--I'll be sure to pass that along to our staff! We hope to see you back again on your next endeavor to Spearfish! Loved our stay at Spearfish . Perfect location for all we wanted to do . The town of Spearfish was beautiful ,, warm , and inviting . Loved our room at Best Western . It was clean and comfortable . The staff was great . Joan, Thank you for your kind regards for our hotel and town-- we think that it's a pretty special place too! We appreciate that you chose to stay with us during your visit and hope to see you back again for another! "Nice place to stay in Spearfish." In town for a big event going on nearby. Very nice, clean hotel. Bed was super comfortable and that's huge in our book. Outdoor pool is nice for kids or adults to site around outside. Restaurant next door makes it nice. Carol J, Thank you for staying with us and sharing what you enjoyed about your stay. We hope to see you back again for next year's events! "Sturgis MC Rally - Clean OK BW Motel" Stayed here for two nights as part of my visit to the Sturgis MC Rally [in Sturgis SD], the first room I was assigned the air conditioner worked in reverse, the cooler the setting the hotter it got to it reached 86f, which was totally unacceptable. The women working the front desk moved me right away to a ground floor room. Just your average Best Western, rooms were very clean as was the bathroom, the free breakfast was OK, again not out of the ordinary, so no issues. Thank you for choosing to stay with us next50years and for taking the time to complete a review for us. We appreciate the feedback! Love this hotel...very clean and the staff is wonderful. Ask for Rachel she will make you feel right at home. Going back next summer with family. The outside pool area is very nice. Breakfast was great. keitheT787UT, Thank you for staying with us and for the great compliments on our staff! I'm also glad to hear that you enjoyed the amenities we offer, see you back again next summer! My husband, 18 month old son and I stayed here on a long drive from Grand Teton National Park to Minneapolis. The room was incredibly spacious and clean and we had more than enough room for the three of us. The breakfast was great and we will be back! DottieGmn, Thank you for staying with us and taking the time to share what you enjoyed about it. It's our pleasure to have your family as our guests! We look forward to seeing you all back again. Our stay in Spearfish was enjoyable. Room was clean but could use a little maintenance completed. The room was spacious and clean and we did enjoy the outside entrance as well as hotel entrance for this hotel. Was somewhat disappointed that there was not a spa on location. Location of the hotel was easy to find and located close to interstate but far enough away that there was no road noise. Linda G, It's great to hear about how you enjoyed your stay. Although we do not have a spa, we do offer our guests a place to wind down and relax in our Lookout Lounge that serves local brews year round; as well as an outdoor heated pool during the summer season with a private pool deck to put up your feet and kick back in the sun. Thank you for choosing to stay with us and giving us the opportunity to serve you! "Good hotel except for the lounge waitress" A very good hotel, the bed was ultra fantasticly comfortable. The most comfortable bed I've slept in. The breakfast was pretty good, the reception staff was great and it was a quiet hotel. Don't go to the lounge unless you want to be ignored by the waitress who plays on her phone, sits at the bar and watches the game and doesn't serve you or even tell you that you have to come up to the bar for service. We were a group of 7 and she could have had great tips if she was actually interested in doing her job. Larry C, Thank you for choosing to stay with us during your time in Spearfish. We're glad to hear about your experience on the hotel side, but do apologize for what you experienced in the Lookout Lounge. This isn't the typical interaction that our guests find in the lounge, but I can assure you that we're using your feedback for further training of our staff. Thank you again for staying with us, we hope to see you and your group back to stay with us in the future. "A must if you are staying in the Black Hills" Wish we could have stayed longer. Staff is amazing, friendly and helpful, rooms were clean and quiet. Breakfast was perfect. South Dakota is a great place to vacation. And the bartender was super nice! Hi Vicky, Thank you for staying with us during your visit to the Black Hills. Sounds like you had a really great time, and we're glad to hear that we could help make it more enjoyable! I'll be sure to pass along your compliments to all of our staff! Pat, thanks so much for leaving us a review. We sure appreciate seeing you guys back each year, it's always such a pleasure having you! See you again next year! Mike, It's always great to have you back year after year, thank you for staying with us! Thanks for taking the time to leave us a review, we definitely strive to make our guests' experience worth while. We look forward to seeing you back next year! "Best Western Black Hills Lodge Spearfish South Dakota" This is the second time we have stayed at this hotel while travelling the area on our motorcycles with family and friends and it is one of the stops I really look forward to! It is a smaller hotel that takes the time to make sure you are looked after properly and the pool area is spotless and a joy to use. The hotel is clean and the breakfast was great! There is also a very nice family restaurant next door which serves excellent meals. Our next days travels took us further east to the Devil's Tower and this hotel is very convenient to the interstate but without the associated traffic noise. I highly recommend it if you're in the area! Good morning Michael, and thank you for coming back! That's our goal, to give you the service and clean fresh room you want, and of course an outdoor pool in summer is a bonus! We'll be glad to have you back again next time too. I will pass on your compliments to the Millstone restaurant when I get next door. Thanks again and safe travels. "Great pet friendly hotel option in the Black Hills" This property has exterior doors on the main level for easy in/out. The property accepts pets for a nominal $15/night charge. The outside pool area is a well kept secret that allows relaxation any time of the day. I would recommend this hotel to anyone wanting to stay in the Black Hills. Spearfish is a classy town with lots of things to do as well! L1092XTandyh, Thank you for staying with us during your visit to Spearfish! We are happy to accept our guests' loyal companions in our designated dog friendly rooms. Happy to hear that you found our private outdoor heated pool to be a nice place to relax. Come back and visit us again soon! This is a very nice hotel. Both the night and day staff were very friendly, offering to carry our luggage up to the second floor since they do not have an elevator. The room was comfortable and quiet. Thank you for staying with us Claude C. Our staff is always ready to help any of our guests when the opportunity arises! We hope that you enjoyed your time visiting Spearfish and the Black Hills as a whole. See you again next time! Stayed in the suite and had an issue with the A/C. Staff went above and beyond to accommodate us and make sure our stay and sleep was comfortable. Nice location right off the interstate. Friendly staff and friendly town. Montiowa, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. I'm sorry to hear that the A/C wasn't working properly at that time, but I'm happy to announce that it was quickly replaced by a new unit. I'm glad to hear that the staff made sure that you were comfortable regardless! We certainly live in a special place here in Spearfish, we hope to see you come back and visit again soon! Thanks again! "Review - One night stay." Enjoyable stay. Friendly staff. Good Restaurants nearby.Good views of the hills. Easy access to and from Highway. Breakfast had good food selections. Room was clean and comfortable. Live Entertainment in lobby was good. thomaskS4033UK, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a nice review. We're glad to hear that you enjoyed your stay and hope to see you back again during any future stays in Spearfish. Hi Mary A B, How wonderful to have you folks back every few months, we appreciate seeing you each and every time! I'm glad to hear that each time is a great experience and I will certainly pass along your compliments to all of the staff. Thank you for staying with us and for referring others to us! "Was a great experience. Friendly service and the live music in the lounge was great." We will definitely stay here again! Staff was awesome! Hotel located close to downtown and i90! Walking distance to great shops, bars, and restaurants. The pool was clean we enjoyed it even though it was outdoors. They have a nice fence around it and there is no other tall buildings around. A8437RXlaurae, Thank you for the great compliments, I'll be sure to pass that along to all the staff! We hope to see you all again next time you're in the area! "Convenience and pet friendly when passing through Black Hills" Traveling across country with a large dog, it is great to find a place with easy entrance (park at your door) and no need to leave the building for happy hour! Walk next door for a quick bite and on our way again next morning. Of course Spearfish has lots to offer and wish we had more time to stay around. Room is not the most updated, but is very clean. USAAllentownPA, We're glad to hear that you found a restful place for you and your traveling buddy! We did just finish renovating our guest rooms this spring, but will continue full renovations including the exterior and public areas, so come back and see us again on your travels through next year! Thanks for staying with us! Overpriced Room felt old and dirty. Toilets are child sized Uneven thresholds= tripping hazards. wi-fi not working. breakfast = child's snack, restaurant did not have menu items inexperienced staff . Desk clerk took my credit card whispered in spanish to male clerk (assuming I could not understand her) that it was for "other charges" We paid cash for the remainder of our visit. No, I will never stay here again, nor recommend this particular hotel. My family and I stayed here in July 2017. The overall stay was very good. I would have given 5 stars except for the limited breakfast selection and the absence of a hot tub in the pool area. Other than that I can not say enough about this place. You should not be disappointed if you book your stay here. The breakfast was good, hotel staff we talked to were polite and accommodating. The only real issue I had was with housekeeping. The room was not cleaned or restocked with soaps, Kleenex, and toilet paper during our stay. Nice outdoor pool, staff is friendly and eager to please. They have a bar open from 4-10, our bartender Sammy was great. Would not hesitate to stay here again. Our room was clean, the bathroom was a little tight. "Nice stop, right off interstate" We stayed in July 2017 on our way through SD. The room was clean, the beds were comfortable. Staff was helpful. Breakfast was good, my kids enjoyed all the topping choices for the waffles! Did have some noises from room next to us, but not terrible and bathroom door was hard to shut/lock. Pool was large and kids enjoyed swimming outside. Walked a few blocks to a restaurant and gas across the street. One thing to note, this hotel has no elevator. Staff did offer to help carry bags upstairs as my husband had recently hurt his back, but we were able to manage ourselves. This property and rooms are in need of an update. However, the beds are comfortable and the breakfast has options. The outdoor pool is small and surrounded by the parking lot so don't expect much there. The staff is quite good and prompt but I felt the price was too high for an out-dated room with poor lighting and an AC that I could not adjust. On a side note, in our bathroom (possible others) the floor of the bathtub/shower was slightly higher than the floor which made the "step out" feel very strange. If anyone has balance problems exiting this shower might be difficult. "Great for a pass through" Clean! And that's the best criteria any hotel can ever have! The continental breakfast offered enough choices so we didn't have to eat a separate breakfast and waste time and spend more money. It did not have an elevator for the second floor which for us was no problem. We also didn't have a lot of stuff to bring up. We have stayed here several times and always enjoy it. The rooms are also nice and the bed is comfortable. It is walking distance to a great little restaurant. We will definitely stay here again once in the area. I had a nice stay, rooms were very nice. Overslept so I skipped breakfast. Went to diner next door which was okay, expensive food. Wake up early for the free breakfast. The drive south through the Black Hills was great! This older property is being remodeled and rooms have doors to both the parking lot and an interior hallway. We were told to use the outside door. Our room was very clean and had the latest mods & cons. I hope the next step is to install potties that are sized for adults rather than first graders. A higher quality of sheeting would also be nice. it was a good place to stop for the night, and would stay there again - for one night. ChubbyElf, Thank you for choosing to stay with us during your drive through Spearfish. You're right, we have just finished remodeling our new rooms, and recently just got all of our new linens into the rooms as well. We're glad to hear that you found your room to be very clean and convenient. I also appreciate your suggestions for further improvement, as we are always looking for ways to improve the guest experience. Thank you again for staying with us, and we hope to see you back again in the near future! Our trip to Spearfish was wonderful!! We have stayed at the Best Western before and have always had great service and hospitality. We will continue to use the Best Western in Spearfish for our return trips. 643crystalc, We're very pleased to hear how pleasant your stay has been! We look forward to having you all back again! We travel from Omaha to Helena every summer with 3 or 4 kids and our golden retriever. It has always been a challenge finding an affordable room to accommodate us. After years of bad experiences we feel like we have finally found the perfect place! The rooms appear to have been recently renovated and are very clean and nice. The outward appearance of the building is not impressive but the rooms are great. We had a first floor room with an entry to the interior of the hotel as well as an exterior door leading right to the car! This is perfect with the dog and loading and unloading with the kids. The kids really enjoyed the outdoor pool, that appeared clean and well maintained. We all got a great night of sleep on very comfortable beds. Breakfast was pretty standard, hot/cold cereal, waffle maker, biscuits and gravy as well as assorted breads and pastries, and everything was fresh and kept well supplied. Also loved Spearfish! We have driven past it dozens of times and so glad we stayed this time. We are planning a family trip back to this area just because of our positive experience! Good afternoon. Well we've been looking for you too! :) Thank you for choosing us! I'm glad you took time to review and send us these nice comments. But even more glad you enjoyed it, feel this way and plan to return. If there anything I as the owner (Bill) or Dan (our GM) can do in the future, please ask. - for that matter ask anyone, we're happy to help. We look forward to seeing you again. PS, rooms are indeed all re-done, we also can't wait for the exterior to catch up - should be completely finished in 6-10 months. This hotel is all very updated from the luxurious rooms to the beautiful outdoor pool. The bedding is high end and very comfortable. The shower head was great, I want one for my home! The room had everything you need to rest and relax including coffee, microwave, and refrigerator, tv, and high speed wi-fi. Overall we were satisfied, wifi didn't extend to far end where we were at, bummed there wasn't a hot-tub, breakfast was good and filling but I've had better, pool was a little too cold, staff was helpful. "Have stayed here a few times because we LOVE Best Western Hotels" The hotel is clean, quiet and I love the fact that BW hotels seem to have the same remote so I am not forever having to learn a new remote! Our first floor room had easy access door to the parking area which makes unloading fast and easy. I was sort of disappointed in the breakfast as we've been used to eggs, sausage or ham or biscuits and gravy at other Best Westerns but hey, yogurt is good for me! "Easy place to stay in Spearfish" A nice motor hotel just off of the interstate in Spearfish. A great launching point for all the amazing sights in the Black Hills. Breakfast buffet is typical, but nothing special. There was live music in the little bar by the lobby! We had to wake up early Saturday morning for a bicycle race (thank you BW for supporting Gold Rush Gravel Grinder :-) so didn't partake in the show, but amazingly, couldn't hear it in our room which was just above the bar. Thanks! Best Westerns tend to be second tier places, older and worn. This place has been updated and is quite nice. Clean and quiet. First floor rooms have doors to the parking area, which is helpful when unloading the car. Front desk staff were very friendly and helpful. Would stay here again. "Nice hotel, but no elevator" We liked everything about this hotel except for the fact that it didn't have an elevator. The staff was nice, the free breakfast was great. The rooms and the halls were clean and well kept. If we hadn't brought enough luggage for over a week, the walk up the steps would have been ok without an elevator. The lady at the front desk asked if we wanted to be on the first or second level. We were given a choice. Nice of her to do that. We stayed at this Best Western in mid-May. I don't think we had a remodeled room as did some of the previous reviewers. Our room was decent, but not as clean as I would've liked and I probably wouldn't stay here again. The cost was very reasonable, and we didn't take advantage of the free breakfast. The front desk staff was very helpful and friendly. This was a nice best western that was remodeled recently. The room was clean and had the most comfortable bed and bedding. The breakfast was average. The staff was very pleasant. They also have a nice lounge attached with very reasonable priced beer and about 6 beers on tap. Nice big televisions and they were very accommodating to what we wanted to watch. They have fresh popcorn and pizza. I thought the pizza was terrible. They have a nice patio with seating also. The hotel is right off I-90 and close enough to downtown you could walk. The first floor has outside doors, so you can park right outside your room which would be really handy if you had a pet with you. But is also nice for just unpacking. They have free wifi, keurig coffee pots in your room but almost no amenities. Not sure if they just forgot the shampoo or if they don't provide it. They do say in the book that if you forgot anything to just ask them. I would stay here again if ever in Spearfish. Dear Travel4lifeMinnesota, Thank you for staying with us! We're happy to hear that you were able to get some R&R in our newly remodeled rooms, and that the Lookout Lounge was a great accommodation for you! Our pizza is locally handmade for us, and it's usually a hit-- I'm sorry to hear that it wasn't for you. We do provide shampoo and conditioner along with the other bath amenities, please do let us know if we ever miss something and we're happy to make it right! Thank you again for staying with us, we hope to see you again in the future. Staff was friendly, room was clean with new carpet and remodeled, breakfast was minimal with not even a microwave. Seemed like they were working on the hotel but have a few things to work out yet. Will stay again because of location. Elizabeth N, Thank you for staying with us and for taking the time to leave us a review. I'm glad to hear that your room was clean and comfortable! As you noticed, we were working on our room renovations and have just completed them. We will resume lobby and hallway renovations this winter, and exterior by next spring. We realize we only have a continental breakfast and that many guests do want the full breakfast. Some of our guests enjoy having a breakfast at the Millstone next door. So next time you stay, please keep that in mind. Know that we appreciate your feedback on this. Look forward to seeing you back again! The newly remodeled room is nice! The bed is comfy with lots of pillows. The staff was friendly at check-in. The free breakfast was okay, I wish it had some fruit though. Microwave & mini fridge was an added bonus. Charidy N, thank you for choosing to stay with us during your visit to Spearfish. We're glad to hear that you enjoyed our newly renovated rooms and that it was a comfortable stay for you! Come back and see us again next time that you're in the area. Our place to stay when passing through Spearfish. I hate to recommend this too highly, since I would not want all their dog rooms rented when I would want to stay. Great personnel, good location-we've been staying there for the past 20 years. jamesT4577LH, Thank you for staying with us year after year! I'm glad to hear that our friendly staff and convenient location is welcoming for you and your four-legged companion while you're on the road. We always look forward to seeing our return guests back time and time again. Thank you again for staying with us after all these years and taking the time to give us a review! We reserved our room online and our room was to have 4 beds. When we got to our room it had 2 beds and a pull out couch. It worked because we had small children, but was not what we reserved. In our room we found several pieces of food garbage in various areas of the room. Nothing gross, but didn't give me a good feeling for how well the rooms are cleaned. We left a pair of our toddler son's shoes there and while not necessary for them to call and tell us, good customer service would have. When we called to have them shipped to us, they quoted us *up to* $15 in shipping charges. Seriously? I didn't request it to be sent overnight. G8398SXandrewl, I'm sorry to hear that you weren't completely satisfied with your stay. At the time of your booking, we were just finishing up our room renovations and were in the process of getting the websites updated information about our newest room type--Jr. Suite, that your family booked in. Though, I'm pleased to say that it is now all up to date, I can see how that would be confusing. I was glad to hear that when you called in about your son's shoes, the staff was able to get them on their way out to you within 24 hours and was able to work out the fine details to your satisfaction. We do appreciate your feedback and use it to better equip our staff in providing a superior customer experience. Please consider staying with us again the next time you're in the area. Nothing fancy but clean and friendly service. A great place for the price. Not much located around it for eating or getting a beer. However it is only about a five or ten minute walk to everything downtown. The breakfast is pretty bare bones though. Coffee was good. 406Foodie, Thank you for choosing to stay with us during your visit to Spearfish. Next time be sure to check out our Lookout Lounge conveniently located right off of our lobby. The Lounge has an excellent selection of beer and wine, including local brews, and serves pizza. We're always looking at ways to improve our guest experience and appreciate your feedback on our continental breakfast bar. Thanks again for choosing our establishment for your stay and hope to see you back again next time you're in the area! The desk manager was expecting me and made me feel welcome, and upgraded my room on the first floor. The morning clerk was super nice and helping me with good directions and also was taking care of the breakfast guests. SVMandanND, Thank you for choosing to stay with us during your visit to Spearfish. Our customers are very important to us and I'm pleased to hear that you felt welcomed and well taken care of over the course of your stay! Please come back and see us again! Great place to stay when visiting Spearfish for the Black Hills Nationals Wrestling Tournament. Easy on and off from the freeway. The people of Spearfish are very friendly. Your city is Lucky to have an event like Black Hills Nationals. I know the founder of this tournament personally and how hard he works to bring people to your town. We will be back! I was impressed with the staff I dealt with during check in and check out. The hotel is under remodel which appear to be nearly finished and is appearing very nice. The rooms are clean and the rate very fair. I was also very pleased with the new very comfortable bed. Great place to lay your head after a long day on the road. Thank you Daron L. Your compliments are much appreciated and I will pass them on to our staff. As you mentioned we are in the midst of renovation of all of our guestrooms right now, and should fully complete in coming weeks. So hopefully you stayed in one of the new rooms! We hope to see back again. Thank you. This is a dog friendly hotel which I like. They have an exterior door to the outside and one to the inside hallway making it very convenient and you do not have to bring your dog thru the common areas. Check in was efficient and staff were professional. I was staying to attend a party and did not want to drive at night and was unsure if the weather would be bad. The bed and pillows were comfortable. It was quiet and when all the lights were turned off it was nice and dark which I like. They are in the process of remodeling, which I think they need to replace the carpet and I would recommend not having carpet right inside the doorway as it gets muddy and wet, maybe some tile at the entry to the exterior door would be good. The breakfast area was clean and there was a large variety of items, the only thing missing was some breakfast meat. It was convenient on and off the highway, and close to downtown. Check out very easy. Thank you Sweetsmom2014 for taking the time to leave us a nice review! I'm glad to hear that you appreciated the outdoor entrances on our first floor rooms and that the convenience of access, restful sleep, and interactions with our staff made a pleasant stay for you and your dog. In addition to many other upgrades with our remodel, we are installing new carpet in all of our first floor rooms. We hope that you can stop in and enjoy one of our freshly remodeled rooms the next time you are in the area! Nice comfortable hotel with usual breakfast fare included. The special thing about this hotel is the bar at the hotel. Only serves beer but its a comfortable cozy bar to hang with friends. The bar has some entertainment as well. Great location to boot. The staff is very friendly and the bed was very comfortable. However, I had no hot water for my sink, saw a stray bottle cap under my bed, had a randomly buzzing electrical outlet in my room (the one with the trip switch next to sink). I also heard a manager scold a staff person in front of me. Breakfast was okay - the waffle was unusually thick compared to the light/airy ones elsewhere. Hard boiled eggs are your protein option. Good coffee. "Older property OK for one night" I stay at Best Westerns almost exclusively and this one is on the older side. The staff and location are great and the inside of the room was nice and clean. I actually though the price was very reasonable for BW especially compared to others I've stayed at. I'd stay here again if I'm ever passing through this area in the future. "convenient for touring Spearfish Canyon" This motel is a little more spendy than most Best Westerns, but it is typical of the pricing in the tourist destination of Spearfish,S.D. The room was clean with the conveniences of refrigerator and microwave. There is a family restaurant within walking distance of the motel, so weary travelers don't need to get behind the wheel again for an evening meal. The breakfast was typical of Best Westerns. There is easy access to the interstate from this location. Large room with door to inside and outside of hotel. Easy run out for dogs. Large room with fridge and microwave. Clean! Internet steady. Very close grassy area, though terrain steep. Close to all amenities in Spearfish. Recommend! "Okay for a one night stay" Stayed on night and our room was clean and well maintained. A little higher priced than some other budget hotels but very convenient to Mt Rushmore , Crazy Horse and the Devil's Tower. Not a luxury hotel but it fit our needs. "Room #120 - choose another room or stay in Deadwood" Apparently when Deadwood got the casinos, they also got all the decent places to stay. This Best Western needs a complete remodel. We stayed 2 nights during the third week of September. The toilet is so low as to be difficult to use and there was a huge chip missing out of the toilet seat. I wrapped plastic around the seat for fear of getting splinters. There was a large hairball on the floor between the dresser and the refrigerator. Getting in and out of the oval jetted tub was difficult. There was mildew in the corners of the tub and hair in the tub. We were in an adjoining room and there was no sound proofing - think the restaurant scene from "When Harry Met Sally." You could hear footsteps from the unit above. Lamp shades were broken and had holes in them. On the plus side, the mattress, pillows and bed linens were good and the air conditioning worked well without being annoyingly loud. The breakfast area is small and gets overly busy. Breakfast - apples, bananas, waffles, boiled eggs, yogurt, 3 cereals (Cheerios, Chex, Raisin Bran), teas, coffees, milk, bagels, toast (including wheat), mini-muffins, 3 juices (orange, apple and cranberry). We chose to eat breakfast out the second morning. Prior reviews are completely misleading! I am done with Best Western. I have traveled over 2000 miles. This is the worst hotel of my entire trip. Not clean, dirty carpet, old beds, torn draperies....it smells of dirt. "Dated establishment, poor service, safe?" I would like to say some positives but ....difficult to find except that the desk clerk was apologetic for all the deficiencies. There were multiple things wrong with our room, window busted, noisy heat radiator, no manager on duty, overbooked rooms so none to transfer to, over-priced for what we got even with a discount. The deficiencies were all pointed out to the young lady at the front desk. Window was put back on the track after a call out to someone not on site. After returning from dinner the room was cold the heater started clanking, again no one on site to fix heat issue- so two waded up blankets, not even folded were delivered to our room the desk clerk. That tells me that they do not have enough qualified employees to even keep up with the laundry. All these issues should have been remedied before our stay there. There is a broken key card entry on the exterior back door, and a lounge on the premises; safety factor??? The breakfast was subpar with no hot eggs. We would have brought all this to the attention of the front desk staff at check out but the people checking out before us had already let the desk clerk know how dissatisfied they were and we needed to get on the road. All in all of our lengthy trip west and back the worst stay yet. We stayed at the BW Black Hills Lodge in Spearfish for 2 nights. Room was great...loved the beds and pillows. I take my home business with me where ever I go so good Internet is a must. It did not disappoint. All of the staff that we had dealings with were very professional, friendly and helpful. We had a two room unit that was huge. The beds were comfortable, the staff was friendly and professional, and the breakfast was good. We had a few minor issues when we first arrived in the room, however, one call to the desk and they were taken care of immediately. The property is a bit pricey, but the location is good. "Best Western Black Hills Lodge" The hotel room was very clean and well supplied with toiletry items as well as ample supply of coffee. The customer service was friendly. It's nice that the breakfast they provide is a bit more than just a continental breakfast of coffee and donuts/rolls. They provided waffles with strawberries, yogurts, rolls, bagels/muffins/toast, eggs, fruit, and plenty of beverage options. Great stay. We came in at 10pm on a Monday night were greeted graciously by the front desk staff. They offered us a discount we are retired military. Nice quiet room soft Fluffy beds nice pillows. Great night sleep room looks updated. "Way too expensive for the condition it is in." This hotel has great friendly staff, but the facility is old and very worn down. Rooms are shabby, carpet is a disaster, beds are old. A high point was free popcorn and cheap wine and beer in the bar. Breakfast was marginally OK. It's definitely not worth the premium price they expect. "Clean, friendly place to stay" Check in was fast and easy, room was large and very clean. Most comfortable bed of our trip. Every staff member was extremely friendly. Was with in walking distance of downtown where there are several good restaurants and a number of wine bars. Will stay at this location in the future. This Best Western was just nice. It was refreshing to be in a tourist location & not pay thru the nose for a bed. While the facility was not as fancy as some of the other BW we stayed at on this trip, it was definitely the most reasonable. Staff was pleasant, the room was clean & adequate. It easily met our needs for the night. Location is good with easy-to-find restaurants and gas stations close. "The highest rated hotel in Spearfish???" I don't usually rate hotels and restaurants, but this one is worth reviewing for the benefit of others.I stayed here twice in the last six days on my trip to the Black Hills and ND. Overall, this hotel is OK, but I wouldn't stay here again. This is a two story hotel. There is no elevator so be prepared to pull your luggage up the staircase. The downstairs rooms appear to have outside as well as inside access and seem to be favored by smokers who can escape for a smoke break. The check-in was fine and on the second night the register clerk tried to help me setup my wife's Android to the WiFi, which is a pretty strong signal compared to many hotels.. Breakfast was pretty much breads, hard boiled eggs, waffles and coffee. The gal tending to the breakfast area seemed oblivious to some obvious needs: the floor had maple syrup spilled on it and she and guests were walking through it, with sticking footwear audibly noticeable. I finally grabbed some paper towels which suffice for napkins and cleaned up the floor. On my first stay here six days ago I noticed how worn and dirty the carpeting was. It needs an upgrade badly, but gets a little better as you move away from the exits and entrances. But the appearance on check in really gives a poor first impression . Of course. keeping the breakfast floor cleaned might help. The room I had the first night was Ok; the carpet in this room was in need of steam cleaning or replacement. The room I had the second night was better. Hotel is conveniently located off I-90. Price was relatively cheap. Business center is a PC and printer located in the small breakfast room. The staff was friendly and the hotel room was clean. They allow multiple dogs which is extremely helpful when traveling with pets. The area also has beautiful surroundings. It was a busy day for the staff but the female who checked us in was friendly and inviting. I wish I recalled her name. Staff not friendly or helpful. Room not very clean and very strange to have two doors into and out of the room. Much to expensive for what was offered. Given two diffeent prices at beginning of check in. Told she could not check my BW points for an option of a free room. Of course could not use my points again because the amount needed had been increased again. "Out dated, not very clean, no elevator." The title of this review about sums it up. This is a very old building and things are becoming out dated. It was hard to tell if some things were clean or not because they are just so old and stained. I decided not to shower because it looked dirty, but it may have just been very old. They have done some updating and the beds were clean and comfy. We especially appreciated having a room that all of us could sleep in (4 queen beds). But were shocked when we arrived to find out they don't have any elevators. My husband had broken a bone in his ankle during our vacation and was waiting to have surgery on it back home. It was labor day weekend so finding another hotel was out of the question and we had too many people with us to use one of the rooms on the bottom floor. This was a huge issue for us. My husband had to further injure his ankle by going up and down stairs. Because of the stair issue we couldn't come and go from the hotel, we had to just check in and stay put because he couldn't do the trips up and down the stairs multiple times. So it really ruined our time in Spearfish. We didn't get to do any of the sight seeing we wanted as we weren't going to just leave him behind. It would help a lot if the lack of an elevator was made clear during the reservation process. Especially when booking room types that only exist on the 2nd floor. Stayed two nights. Room was spacious, clean and very well kept. Access to car outside door is great. Breakfast was especially helpful when I noticed a sign giving gluten free and milk free options for breakfast. They showed a basket of 3 different breads, muffins, granola bars. Service was excellent. The only downside was our room wasn't cleaned til late afternoon, although it wasn't a problem for us. Great location to walk downtown and quick access to most locations. Another good stay at the hotel but they need to talk to their cleaning lady, she must be slacking a bit. The room was not cleaned very well and the garbage was very full and smelly. We always stay here and we love it. all year round we come. My wife and i have spent our Wedding Anniversary the last two years in South Dakota and stayed at Spearfish Best Western.I personally prefer Motor Inn style Motels because of the easy access to my vehicle.Friendly staff very clean good rates. "Clean, great staff and great breakfast" The check in staff was very nice and helpful. Our room was clean and everything worked. I was very impressed with the variety and quality of the breakfast offered. Check out was also very quick and easy. The hotel and staff, overall, were a fine experience. Just be aware that a bar is within the hotel and live music may be playing. If you are sensitive to noise, you might want to ask ahead of time the schedule for music. "Great Room - Superb Service" I stayed in room 119 at the Black Hills Lodge, a Best Western Hotel in Spearfish,South Dakota from August 11 through the 18th of 2016. My room was large, had a king size bed, refrigerator, microwave, superb two level desk and a comfortable easy chair with footstool. The Wi-Fi signal was strong and worked perfectly. The television was large and worked perfectly. When in Spearfish I stay at this hotel because of it's convenient location. It's a three block walk to downtown. The Millstone restaurant, next door, has an extensive menu with well prepared food. I had a great deal of interaction with the staff including Dan Hodgs, the general manager,housekeeping and front desk employees. Every employee did their work perfectly. There's a real esprit de corps at this hotel. Dan Hodgs and his staff are exemplary. "Nice staff, loud air conditioning, lumpy pillows. " We need to use pet friendly lodging when we take road trips. I've written off La Quintas after a couple of bad experiences. Thought I'd try BW. Not bad at all but I'm very tired of loud air conditioning. Four pillows on the bed (this is good). But the pillows were really lumpy. I don't like writing mediocre reviews but if these things bug you, take note. The staff were great- friendly and helpful. "Very Clean, quiet. Helpful Staff." Very clean hotel. Staff at front desk were very quick and professional with check in. Nice hotel bar with good local craft beer selection. Very close to the highway, but very quiet. Wonderful breakfast selection. My stay was during Sturgis bike rally, they had covered bike parking and a bike wash area set up. We truely enjoyed ourselfs at this Hotel and would recommend if in the South Dakota area stop in Spearfish SD, The hotel staff was very knowledgeable, professional and very attentive to our needs when asked to do so. This hotel is minutes all the popular atttactions that South Dokata has to offer. "Nice Hotel. Great place to stay for Sturgis Rally." My wife and I stayed here two nights during the pre-Sturgis week. The girl behind the desk was very helpful and answered all of our questions. Our king room was nice and clean. I really like that you could enter the room from the hallway inside or parking lot outside. We were able to park our bike right outside our door. We had a blast at the outdoor pool. We did run out of chairs for everyone. Days were hot so it was nice to cool off in the pool. Location was great for us as Spearfish Canyon Road was really easy to get to. Local restaurants within walking distance too. Very happy with our stay. Very nice hotel. VERY clean and staff was very nice and professional. Our family with children stayed 2 nights. The pool is very nice and the kids really enjoyed it. The waffles were a great hit at breakfast. I would recommend this hotel. Location is great! "Nice hotel , good location in South Dakota" Pleasant few days at this hotel , instantly greeted by a lovely lady at reception. Very good place to stay to visit local attractions close by. Our room was very clean, good breakfast. Also was good to have an on site bar if you do not want to walk out. All the staff were very friendly. The "Help Wanted" signs out front should have been an indicator The maid staff was lacking, and didn't even clean my room one of the days I was there, they tried to blame me saying the DND sign was on the door when it wasn't. I asked the maid staff for extra towels and coffee, gave her a tip and upon my return, nothing I asked for was in the room. 6 of the 8 nights I stayed there, upon returning in the evening my keys were shut off, and I had to go to the front desk for new keys. This place does not have a washer and dryer for guests to do their laundry. Thank you! We appreciate you writing a review and rating us highly in rooms, cleanliness, service and good quality; and so we thank you for taking the time - I will pass on the compliments. We always feel like we are in such a great location too - Spearfish is often a bit of a kept secret except for those who've been here before and stayed with us. Thanks again. We hope you come back and see us. After leaving a hotel with no working pool, we arrived ready to relax. The rooms were clean and the staff was outstanding, very friendly. The pool and pool area were both nice and the water was warm. The breakfast area was clean and the options were adequate for us. Dear Adam R, thanks for writing a TripAdvisor review. Glad you enjoyed your stay and expecially our outdoor pool... keeping it at a warm temp is must ! :) Glad your room and service we to your liking also. Please stay with us again. Happy trails! Not the newest motel on the block but an excellent one. Easy access to rooms. Rooms are of good size. Staff was wonderful and helpful. Easy access to local restaurants and the staff had a prepared typed list with directions. Easy access on and off Interstate 90. Thank you. The conveniences of our location and downstairs rooms is a plus for many of our guests. and we're always glad to help you find a restaurant - seems we have a new one or two every year in Spearfish. thanks for staying with us. Nice. Good place to stay. good staff and owner. Go Yellow Jackets. Go BHSU. Bill has nice rooms, good beds, a beer and wine bar. It doesnt get much better! Check out Black Hills State. One of South Dakota's best kept secrets. Examine the area and youll understand why! Thank you Gary. We always like seeing you here, and Spearfish as well as BHSU are indeed a special place. Thanks for all your years of patronage and good friendship. Extremely nice hotel with a wonderful staff. Everyone greeted us with a smile and were very helpful. The property is very well maintained. It isn't a new hotel, but is clean and kept up very nicely. Great location next to a gas station and close to many places to eat and a grocery store. Dear Shawn S, thank you for writing a review. It takes time and I appreciate it; and my managers and staff appreciate the praise and high rating. They give a solid effort EVERY DAY to give the best service to all guests, led by our managers Dan and Karli, and "cleanliness crew" led by our Sadie. Thanks for staying with us and please come back again. This was conveniently located and had super friendly staff. There was a diner next door that had great breakfasts and the hotel was within walking distance of the main drag where many other restaurants were located. Dear Diane B, thank you for writing a review. We appreciate know what you think of us. The Millstone next door is indeed a good breakfast. We have many guests that like to alternate ours and theirs when staying longer with us. Hope you come again. We spent the first two nights of our South Dakota vacation here and we really enjoyed our stay. Although the room is a little dated, it was very clean. We really enjoyed the ground floor room because we had an exit directly outside to our car as well as one into the hotel which was very nice. We loved the location, it was right off the interstate which was very convenient. We attended the Black Hills Rodeo Roundup in Belle Fourche that was a short distance on the interstate from here and spent a day visiting Spearfish Canyon and Devil's Tower. This was very convenient to both of these places. The staff was friendly but the best part for us was the free breakfast. Most places have cereal and a few stale muffins. This place had Belgium Waffles that were magnificent as well as several other delicious items to choose from. We ate at very nice outdoor seating area which was really enjoyable in the early mornings. We would definitely stay here again if we are ever in the area! Thank you for writing such a nice review. We appreciate it! It sounds like you did a lot in a couple of days, and your trip was enjoyable, that's great. We look forward to you coming back again and staying with us, as our hotel (although getting to a bit dated) is going through full refurbishment beginning this year. We stayed 2 separate nights in 2 weeks. Pros: Great outdoor pool and lounging area that also had a covered area to get out of the sun or rain. Very friendly and attentive front desk staff. It is a good place to stay if you have a pet because the ground level rooms have 2 doors (inside entrance and a back door directly to your car). Fairly good location right off of Interstate 90, with a very average family restaurant next door and few block walk to Main st. where there are better places to eat. The bed was comfortable and rooms large. Cons: The rooms need major updating. Tired and worn furnishings, carpeting, and decor. There are not enough outlets. They should have lamp on the desk with an outlet. Poor housekeeping staff that needs to work on attention to detail. Our first night (room #102), there was NO SHOWER CURTAIN. Our second night stay, there was only 1/4 roll of toilet paper and no replacement rolls in the room. Not a good value for what you get especially in the summer when they jack up their prices. We have stayed her for the past several years and I see very minimal changes with room updates, hallway carpeting. This is why I'm dropping it from 4 stars from prior review a couple of years ago to 3 stars now. "Nice Motel along the Interstate" Stayed one night in July 2016 while travelling from Deadwood to Wyoming. Hotel is older, yet in fairly good condition. Pool was nice and well maintained. Staff was helpful and prompt. Morning breakfast was good and well prepared. Rachael was very nice on the front desk. Room was a good size, beds lovely a comfy, although the lines looked a little 'tired'. Chairs were a little stained, and not a great deal of wall outlets. 'Fridge/micro AND.......1 cup serving KEURIG - brilliant! Good sized TV, excellent TV lineup. There is an indoor bar area - looks fairly limited, but hey, nice option - with a nice little outdoor seating area, a bonus. Very short walk up to Millstone Restaurant. Breakfast was fair. All in all, a very good stay. Would stay again. "PET FRIENDLY, Priced right, Convienent" We stayed here on the going and coming back a week later. Friendly staff upon arrival and departure. We do not eat the "breakfasts", usually get a coffee and a piece of fruit so we cannot comment on the "breakfast. Our rooms # 105A & 107A were both clean and had 2 doors one into the hotel hallway and one leading directly outside. For us that was great since we had our dog with us. It was a nice convenience. We were close enough to several restaurants and walked to them. There is a family restaurant in the next parking lot over form the hotel. There is a small "lounge" which served drinks, bar bites and pop corn each day from 4-9. We didn't part take though there were folks who did. There is a pool, decent grounds for pets walking around and down the street. We would gladly stay here again. The price was right, the rooms were clean the beds were comfortable for us. It was Pet friendly which is an important factor for us. Pet Fee was $15.00. Not bad considering some places want to charge 3x that. We found this location fine for our needs. Dear Jeffrey, Thank you for such a nice review. I appreciate all the details about your stay at our hotel, and will pass on the compliments to our "friendly staff". We look forward to seeing you again in Spearfish! We rented a pet room with its own outside door on ground level which was nice except it smelled badly of pet odors. They discounted rate and pet fee to make us happy and promised that they usually keep their pet rooms shampooed frequently! Thank you so much for your review. We just discussed our pet rooms this week and I heard of your experience from our GM Dan and his housekeeping staff. They have cleaned that carpet again since it appeared we missed something prior to your stay. I apologize for that as well, we will pay close attention to those rooms we allow pets in. Pet rooms, the limited number we have, are a challenge at times, but those traveling with their dog do appreciate them with our outside door access. Thanks again, and safe travels. Bill Collins, Owner, Best Western Black Hills Lodge. Great value, friendly, easy to walk to restaurants. They had a nice bar area off from the lobby and had a local man singing from 7-9 pm. Breakfast was fine. Room had a refrigerator in it. The room also had a separate sink area from the bathroom which was convenient. Thank you Michelle. We appreciate you taking the time to write a review about your stay with us. We are hearing more people comment about having restaurants to "walk to" -- that is nice for those who want to on nice summer evenings. Hope to see you at our hotel again. I would not stay at this hotel again! Very poor mattresses and musty pillows. Also expected the normal scrambled eggs and sausage like other Best Westerns - not the case here! If they would replace the current mattress's and pillows with better ones and improve their breakfast I would stay here if I ever came to this area again. "Not a very nice property. Old and needing help." The two things that bother me the most are old, saggy mattresses and child sized toilets, and this property offered both. Old and needing renovations. They recommended restaurant next door, but outdoor sign said "Cooks Wanted." This is code for the food isn't very good so we went to the Dairy Queen and had a great blizzard. Dear Bucky39, Thank you for your review. Our mattresses are three to four years old, depending on which room you were in(I would like to know that, so if you would please contact us), so I don't believe it's a matter of them being old. However, if they felt "saggy" it is more likely the 'pillowtop effect' with a Sealy posturepedic style we have. That said, I would like to look into it, so again please contact us. We may easily have a problem with a couple of them, or more possibly with the frame of the bed. I really want to find out so again please help us investigate it. I do have to say, Spearfish has a lot of really restaurants for a small town, please if you stay again, ask about them and what you are looking for and we can help. Thanks again for your review. It met all our needs. We were staying there for a bike race. The location was perfect and the staff very friendly. The room had a frig and microwave, which is important to me. They even had a hose and wash clothes outside to wash my bicycle. "Just what we were looking for" We were in town for the Gold Rush Gravel Grinder bicycle race. The Best Western was the "official" sponsoring hotel. Served it's purpose excellently :-) Ease access to interstate and downtown. Opened the continental breakfast at 0400 for our early race start. Very friendly. Thanks! We are traveling the U.S. And found that out of 30 hotels so far Best Western -Spearfish is one of the best. Clean, friendly and comfortable. They even supply shower caps which no one else has. Reasonable pricing as well. Dear Vicki, Thank you so much for such a rave review! I appreciate you taking the time to do so. I always like to hear these simple types of reviews about our hotel being clean, good friendly service and especially you mentioned "comfortable". That's great! We hope to see you again. Not the best stay ever. Room was small, stairs were messy, and everything was just ok. Not the best ever but no real complaints. The real highlight of the stay was the "build you own waffle" bar. Most best westerns have the waffle iron, sure. But they have over a dozen toppings for your waffle. Candy pieces, chocolate chips, almonds, strawberries, whipped cream, white chocolate chunks.... made for a good morning. Thanks Amanda. We have heard lot of compliments about the waffles and toppings - glad you liked them! We always hope our hotel is up to par, and that guests are happy with everything. It sounds like we didn't fail in your case, but need to step our game a bit. such as messy stairs - I apologize. I don't know what time of day it was, but I will personally keep an eye on them. Thank you. "Reasonable place to stay if visiting black hills, custer or Devils tower" We spent one night here during a visit to the various parks and attractions in the area. This motel is quite clean, and we were attended to by friendly staff even though it was late at night when we checked in. We found the beds were a bit too soft, providing little support. Otherwise, the amenities in the room were average. Breakfast is simple and basic. Waffles, cereal, bread, fruit and cold hard boiled eggs. No frills. The selection of coffee, tea and hot chocolate was above average though. We were pleasantly surprised by "grab and go" breakfast bags they prepared for patrons in a hurry to leave for their next destination. The first floor rooms have a convenient additional "back" door that leads directly to your car (should you choose to park there). This makes it very convenient for loading and unloading luggage, especially during inclement weather. The Millstone family restaurant next to this motel was average to below average. We suggest eating elsewhere unless you are short of time and just looking for a quick convenient bite to eat (although their fried chicken was good). Good morning Running R. Thanks for your review, I appreciate all the detailed comments. It sounds like overall you were happy with your stay. I know the beds will not be everyone's favorite; we tried to strike a good balance between the firm beds(some would call too hard) and the very popular and very soft pillow tops that so many have today. Ours are more in the middle and most often suit a majority of people, but I do understand that for some they are too firm or soft, as in your case. Again, thank you for taking the time to write about us. We hope to see you again. When we head this way, this is usually where we choose to stay. Friendly, clean rooms. We try to make reservations ahead of time, but our last trip was an emergency trip to get my sister back home for my moms heart surgery. We travelled from WI and got as far as Spearfish and decided we needed to stop for the night and they managed to come up with a room for us at the last minute. Hello Diane. Thank you for writing a review of your experiences at our hotel. My hotel staff and I appreciate the feedback and compliments. So glad that we had a room for you on your recent trip, and more importantly we truly hope your Mom's heart surgery went as good as possible. Please ask for me on any future visit, I always enjoy meeting our guests. Thanks again. "Very clean and comfortable hotel" We stayed here for our first two nights in our vacation to the Black Hills and Badlands. It is centrally located for short trips to Belle Fourche, Deadwood, Lead and Devils Tower. The rooms were very well kept, with extremely comfy beds! The breakfast was good as well. The staff were very friendly and professional. I would most definitely recommend staying! Good morning Badger27, Thank you for your review yesterday. I'm glad everything was clean and comfortable for you - that's our number one goal! And thanks for the comments about our service too. It looks like you travel/review a lot - look forward to seeing you again. After staying at another hotel in the area on our last visit, I was a little apprehensive about booking a place again but was nicely surprised. Great size clean room. The fridge and microwave is really useful when travelling with children, especially on my own, and having outside door access was also great. Thank you for a lovely stay. Dear blondemummy, We appreciate you taking the time to write a review. Thank you for such nice remarks. If you are ever staying in Spearfish again, we know you have choices, so we appreciate you staying with us. Kim, Thank you for writing such a nice review for our hotel in Spearfish. Even more-so, thank you for coming back again, I know you have stayed with us before so thanks for your loyalty, and once again the kind words. We hope to ALWAYS be good enough to make you want to return. We make it to Spearfish a great deal during the football season. We were in need of a break and headed to the Best Western Black Hills Lodge! It was wonderful! Met by my first name and a smile when I walked through the front door. I stay over 100 nights a year in hotels for business and leisure. This is by far the best and most friendly staff. Thank you Jan. We appreciate that you took time to write this review. We do our best to be friendly to everyone and provide the overall great experience that you are looking for when you decide to stay with us. We look forward to seeing you back! I have five children and it is not easy finding accommodations while traveling. Best Western Black Hills lodge has great family suites with a nice outdoor swimming pool. The staff is very helpful, cheerful, and polite. Kim, thank you for the nice comments in your review....we appreciate you taking the time. I hope you and your five children enjoyed the big room, our family rooms get a lot of great feedback! and your service too. We look forward to seeing you again sometime. Thank you. Our room was clean, our bed was *very* comfortable, and the breakfast was good. The staff was also very friendly and helpful, during check-in, check-out, and breakfast. During check-in the clerk at the front desk told me how I could save 15% on my stay that night through the Best Western rewards program, which made the value even better. On our next road trip where we need to stop for the night near the Black Hills, we'll be back to this motel in Spearfish. Thank you Jared for taking the time to write a review. We appreciate it. I'm glad you enjoyed your stay with us, the service, breakfast, and the comfort of the beds. We look forward to your return! "Hidden treasure in Spearfish SD" If you are looking for a clean, nice place to stay in the beautiful Black HIlls of SD, the Best Western in Spearfish, SD delivers. The staff is friendly and very helpful and the hotel ambience is warm and welcoming. Comfortable clean rooms with nice furnishings and décor await you. The rooms are very well insulated and provide for a great night's sleep. Every part of our stay was excellent. Dear 227anitak, thank you so much for the review. As the owner, it is great to hear from all guests, especially when we get such nice compliments as yours - particularly that "every part of your stat was excellent". Thank you for staying with us, and we look forward to seeing you the next time you come to Spearfish. The Best Western is our home away from home in Spearfish. We have stayed there many times over the years and the staff consistently goes out of their way to accommodate our needs. They have allowed us to use the breakfast room for family gatherings, including a birthday party for my 90 year old mother. On our most recent stay, we needed some pruning shears which they loaned us. The rooms are clean and comfortable, but it is the staff that makes this a special place to stay. They can direct you to points of interest that go beyond the usual tourist sites. Special thanks to Raychel, Karli, Janet, Curtis, and Kate who were very helpful to us during our stay for a funeral. This is not a luxury property, but it is a great place to stay with a clean pool and well-maintained property, with a fun bar with free popcorn. Wow, what a nice compliment from you. Thank you! As the owner, it is wonderful to hear that you have had such great experiences when staying with us. We appreciate your loyalty! and best is when you know and remember so many of our staff - they really do take pride in taking care of guests! I will be sure to pass on my gratitude to them each. Thanks again. I hope to personally see you at the hotel in the future. Bill Collins. "Always a great stay at this property" I have stayed at this hotel property on many occasions. The staff is very friendly, helpful, and accommodating. The property is convenient, safe, and well maintained. The rooms are nice and have good space. Every time I stay in Spearfish I have stayed at this property and I have never been disappointed. Dear Thomas, thank you for staying with us so many times. We appreciate your loyalty, and especially that you have been pleased with our property and our staff. They work hard to keep things clean and in order, and especially to provide good service to all our guests. Nice surprise in Spearfish! Our room was very comfortable, spacious and clean. The property is a little old, but very well maintained. The staff we encountered was very friendly. Would definitely stay here again if we are in this area. "Great Place To Stay in SD" This is a really nice BW in Spearfish SD. Great atmosphere outside and inside. The staff was very helpful. It's located right off the interstate and only 90 minutes or less from Mt Rushmore. They had a good breakfast, firm bed and clean room. The fitness equipment was top notch. This was an average place to stay. No wow factor. We did like that we could park our car right outside the door from our room which made unloading/ loading easy. Breakfast was typical/average. Close to freeway which was nice. "Comfortable, clean, and good wifi" I had to travel to Denver for a friend's wedding and stopped in Spearfish on my drive. The location is right off the interstate so it's handy. The staff was friendly and the hotel had a good breakfast and fast wifi. Nothing too fancy, but everything you need for a comfortable stay, the only downfall was the water pressure in the shower wasn't good. The room was comfortable and clean. This motel has outside door entrance as well as the inner to a hallway on the ground floor. This is so handy when traveling with a dog. We had a good nights rest. Some motels have noisy heating systems but this did not. Good restaurant references. "Just what you'd expect from a Best Western" No elevator, so if you don't mind lugging your bags up a flight of stairs. Average breakfast. No plates for the waffles, and I guess it never occurred to anyone to run down to the nearest Walgreens and pick up a package of plates for the guests. When we mentioned our military service, our check-in person upgraded us to a 2 bedroom king suite. This property is in need of sprucing up, as others have noted. It seems old, tired and dated, so while it's not a terrible place to stay, it isn't altogether pleasant either. For the money, we've stayed in far nicer accommodation. The Spearfish BestWestern is a solidly good hotel. We have stayed there twice with our dogs. The staff has been accommodating and helpful and has given us GREAT restaurant recommendations. The rooms are clean and comfortable, the free wi-fi very good. All in all, a good bargain. "Tired Decor, But Clean, Comfortable Accommodations" The decor of this hotel needs to updated as it was a little tired and outdated but we had a clean room and bathroom and a comfortable bed and in the end we don't ask for more than that. The location put us in close proximity to the areas we wanted to visit.

2019-04-19T06:35:00Z

https://www.bestwestern.fr/es/hotel-Spearfish-Best-Western-Black-Hills-Lodge-42049

Time to talk about economy! Discussion in 'Announcements' started by Chris, Feb 20, 2015. This is a shortened version of the a post I made to Dev Plus earlier this week. Now for public consumption in a slightly cleaner version! Enjoy! Who wants to talk about economy?? Ok, to be honest, I’m going to start by talking about economy but since almost all systems in the game are linked, I’m sure I’ll wander over to other more interesting stuff before I’m done. This will be a mix of concepts that are already true (but I want to make players aware of), ideas that we have mostly locked in stone, and then a few ideas I’m just adding in so I can see if players gasp and scream. I probably won’t tell you which is which though as that would ruin my fun… Also, about 80% of this talk will apply to online stuff so my apologies to the people most interested in single player. So the world of online game macroeconomics is different from the real world in many ways but the desired state of the market is the same. That desired state is an economy with a small, but consistent, rate of inflation. Also, just like in the real world, we know we won’t get it exactly right and that we need to very carefully monitor things to see what is causing fluctuations and have easy ways to correct things. Also, like the real world, we must have mechanisms in place that let players correct inflation through their natural behaviors and competitiveness. Before diving into the specifics of those systems though, I wanted to give a brief overview of game economies and then hit on a few ways SotA might be different. Game economies! So for any non-barter economy to work, there must be an accepted form of global currency. For us, this is the ubiquitous gold piece. This is the only form of currency that merchants, vendors, trainers, etc will accept. I will provide reasons and examples of why players might not use gold amongst themselves later in the post. The rough rate of inflation can be approximated by looking at the growth rate of the approximate amount of gold assets or items which can be sold to merchants for gold in the economy divided by the number of active players in the economy. For this to happen we must have fairly balanced inputs and outputs to that pile of gold. Also, for the real business guys out there are mentally correcting me, yes I realize that inflation in the real world is really based on what things costs(CPI), not the net sum of wealth but for this discussion I think this is easier to understand and helps us track what we need which is are people adding and destroying wealth from the system at our desired rate. Again, for clarity, this is the macroeconomics level; not the market level. So that means for calculations into inputs and outputs, we only care how much gold can be created by the game to be added to that total player pool. For example, if a great brown grizzly bear is killed and skinned and a fabulous bear pelt is created the only thing that matters is how much that pelt can be sold to a merchant for. So the merchant might only pay 15 gold for it so that is how much that object counts towards the macroeconomics inflation calculations even though players might be paying 5000 gold for it on the jobs board (more on that later). The 5000 gold that players are willing to pay is just money moving from one pocket to another pocket as far as the macroeconomy is concerned. In fact, players selling to other players through vendors or job boards actually removes money from the economy since they tend to take a cut of the transaction. While we do need to keep an eye on what things are selling between players those market economics don’t change overall game inflation. So while a bit confusing, the good news is that this means that tracking money in and money out of the system is much easier for us. When items are created, we know without a doubt what their value to the macroeconomy is going to be. It also means we can set target outputs for zones and track those in terms of gold (and experience) output per player, per hour so we can see what areas are out of whack in terms of rewards and need adjusting. This also gives us an easy metric to try and find new exploits and cheaters through data mining. So killing a creature and taking its mad lewtz? Cha-ching! Harvesting a cotton plant? Cha-ching! Killing a bear and skinning it for its pelt? Cha-ching! Completing a quest for an NPC who then gives you a reward? Cha-ching! So for each of these that are “Cha-ching!” it is the game creating gold out of thin air and moving it to a player. For the crafting leather armor, while this will probably make something of more value to other players, the final item will only sell to a vendor for the same or less than the sum of the parts that went into it. So pelts worth 50 gold to a vendor can be turned into leather armor worth 45 gold to a merchant. If the leather armor is actually something that is good enough that other players want then they could put the armor for sale on a vendor or sell it in person to the player but to the macroeconomics of the game, that is just money moving from one pocket to the other, possibly with a drain of a vendor cut. Same with killing another player. The killer will most likely gain some benefit but that is just moving value around. Also, the net will probably be a large loss since both parties probably damaged armor, damaged weapons, used consumables, and used reagents. PVE players are the engine that adds the majority of wealth to the macroeconomy! So if you’re a crafter or a PVP player, don’t get out the pitchforks just yet. Again, this is macroeconomics and not market economics. So lets take a quick dive into market economy stuff that is really more of what the players playing the game see as the economy. So one of the key ways in which SotA is different from most other online games is that in SotA the best items in the game are always created by players. If you look at a game like WoW, the “economy” is almost completely driven by creature drops and the crafter type has zero real opportunity to thrive. Group A pays for the gizmos which then gives group B money to buy more widgets to turn into gizmos to sell to Group A... repeat! So, that muffled sobbing you hear in the background are all the PVP focused players who now realize that they need the gizmos but don't have a good way to get widgets. So this is the sad truth of PVPers, if the story ended there, but there is good news for the PVP guys. Many of the rarest widgets only exist in significant quantities inside PVP areas. So the good news that, at first, sounds like bad news is that unlike some other specialized groups, anyone can go into a PVP area and collect the rare widgets. So sounds like bad news for the PVPers but in reality, it is one of the lure mechanism for the sheep to the wolves that we have talked about in the past. I am going to do another "Wall of Text" type post for PVP soon so I won't go over all the mechanisms here but I will say that there will be systems in place to give fair opportunity to all to try and stop people from escaping with the valuable widgets. One of the challenges with building systems to balance the PVP rewards system is finding a system that isn't easily exploited. With crafters and PVE systems, we control half of the simulation. With PVP, players control both sides of the simulation. Simply rewarding players for killing players other players will obviously just result in PVPers taking turns killing each other. We can put systems in place to limit rewards from individuals that will then just result in guilds doing the same thing with more players. So the question we had to ask ourselves is: Do we come up with other mechanisms to allow PVPers to generate some economic value through their desired play style or do we just force them to PVE or craft in addition to PVPing? PVP players will have their own trophy type reward mechanisms with leader boards and other public facing elements but that still doesn’t pay the bills to fix up the armor and buy new potions. After much debate, we decided we did want to try to have a way that PVP players could generate at least some value in the economy which is where the rare resources in PVP areas comes in. So one of the things that was stated recently in a hangout that caused a bit of an uproar was that players won’t be able to enter into PVP zones in Single Player Online mode. So this topic is still open for debate. If players prefer, we can make PVP zones enterable in SPOnline mode BUT ONLY if we remove the rare resources from them. All elements of the game must have a risk vs reward element to them and it feels like what players want is for us to remove the risk but leave the reward and that can’t happen. Also, just to be clear, the resources that will be put in PVP areas are going to exist elsewhere in the game. We’re just putting more of them in PVP zones than in most other zones. Also, it is all fictionalized and fits into the story and lore. So I know if I don’t change the topic quick, all the replies will be about those last 3 paragraphs so...look something shiny!! Let’s talk about work orders!! This actually is a super shiny feature that I’m going to work hard on getting into R16! So work orders are essentially the opposite of vendors. They allow players to go create a request for goods and the price they are willing to pay. This helps crafters because they can request raw resources they need, but might not be able to get. This helps adventurers because they can do things like request 50 potions at a time or a specific item that they need from crafters. This helps EVERYONE because it essentially creates a simple player created quest system. Now instead of us creating NPCs and coming up with cheesy “Bring me 10 wolf pelts” type quests, we can leave that for other players to do! These will also be local to towns which means another reasons for players to travel and visit more towns. It also will drive player interactions in a big way. Why? Because if you see Bob the blacksmith constantly putting up iron ore requests, at some point smart players would just contact him directly and start making a deal so you can cut out the middle man. Oh, and to wrap up some loose ends on the things I mentioned above but never explained, we can look to UO’s economy to see what happened when the systems break down. At one point in UO they had an exploit that allowed billions of gold to flood into the system. Inflation skyrocketed and gold essentially became worthless. This is the nightmare situation for developers. This happened in Archeage recently to such an extent that they were investigating rollbacks on live servers. On UO when this happened players gave up using gold and switched to the barter system until the economy recovered, which took months. Ok, I think I’m well past my 2000 word target so I’m going to call this brain dump done and move on to my next stream of consciousness topic which will be PVP and PVE, risk and reward! Dartan Obscuro, Cisek, Stormblessed and 36 others like this. Ravicus (Sawtooth Hollow, tekkamansoul, Golem Dragon and 5 others like this. Ravicus (Sawtooth Hollow and Tahru like this. You lost me at 80% online. Which is good, because I didn't have time to read a novel. Ravicus (Sawtooth Hollow, Tahru and Chris like this. But how does the economy work in the single player mode, especially offline? Is there an economy? Is it NPC driven? As for PvP zones in single player mode: I am all for being able to enter and explore them. Remove the rare resources but instead give single player fans something else to do there. Maybe fight a certain monster or find some treasure. I think no scene should be "empty" and there should always be some things to do, no matter what mode you play in. Just going to throw my possible PvP economy stuff in this post for ze feedbacks. First idea is based on the possibility of Trade Wagons between towns. You can join a trade wagon as a guard. There may be multiple trade wagons instanced off from each other for each trip. You travel in the overview map with the wagon. The wagon can be held up by players and monsters. A PvP player will only see Wagons with either no player guards or those of a similar level. I guess if player parties/groups were further on you might be able to have multiple guards and multiple attackers. If there are no player guards or no player attackers, it is a PvE experience, but the wagons would be open PvP challenges. Successfully defend a wagon on the road (PvE/PvP). Cha-ching! Successfully raid a wagon on the road (PvE/PvP). Cha-ching! The next one would be PvP (Chaos?) guilds raiding a town. For instance, a guild sets a raid up and a timer for 15 minutes starts. After 15 minutes, the raid will begin. For that 15 minutes, other players (or guilds?) can volunteer to defend against the raid. The players able to join the defense would match the amount of players raiding. NPC guards would make up the numbers. The guards become tougher the more there are (So a full PvE raid is hopefully as difficult as a PvP one). The raid can start early if there is a full roster of defenders. Ideally these raids would be instanced. Successfully raid a town or point of interest (PvE/PvP). Cha-Ching! Successfully defend against a player raid (PvP Only). Cha-Ching! By the same line, PvP guilds may be able to establish guild "Dens" or "Camps" that good (Order?) guilds can raid against. The camps would appear on the overview map when there are enough guild members available to defend it and there is enough loot available (see the next sentence ^^). You could say 20% of all raided loot for the guild is stored there (the pvp guild can't access it). If the good players win, they get the loot. If the PvP guild wins, the loot goes to them. This means that when a PvP guild is actively raiding, they will eventually have to defend their camp. It might not even be a fully owned camp, just a map point created for that guild to specifically defend. You could also stipulate that if they lose, they can't raid for a while. Successfully destroy a PvP camp (PvP Only). Cha-Ching! Successfully defend your PvP camp (PvP Only). Cha-Ching! Ravicus (Sawtooth Hollow, A Ghost and steanne like this. All I got from this was that there is going to be a button in Kingsport dispersing gold . Super excited for that. amaasing, Tasali, Ravicus (Sawtooth Hollow and 12 others like this. You rock Chris! Not that i had doubts to begin with, but I have none at now. amaasing, Ravicus (Sawtooth Hollow, Ice Queen and 3 others like this. So wait, i am a crafter.. i don't have time to go hunting for raw materials... i can put up a 'quest' for people to bring me 10 iron ore, and get rewards in return? Cisek, Furious Farmer, Ravicus (Sawtooth Hollow and 10 others like this. Do I have to read the whole thing again? Well I'm going to take the opportunity again to bring up multi-denomination currency. Gold is supposed to be worth something. If I have 10,000 gold I ought to be bleedin' rich. I'd like to suggest converting the current gold into a lowest denomination of bronze or copper and work up from there. Otherwise in the long term people are going to think 10,000 gold is chump change. Especially if gold output is anything remotely close to right now. A bandit drops 20 gold? If I had 20 gold coins in my pocket right now.. I'd be able to buy a lot more than a loaf of bread. It would be especially useful if currency becomes tangible.. as implied by the idea that we'd be able to mint our own coin. I'd rather manage 10 gold, 50 silver and 100 bronze than I would 105,100 gold. Ravicus (Sawtooth Hollow, Brighton Rock, Albus and 6 others like this. Sending others on quests would be cool for single player, too. You could send special NPCs or companions on some quests. Really cool would be if you could even follow them around and watch them do those quests! amaasing, Lady Amethyst, Albus and 2 others like this. I could only imagine those NPCs would turn around and say "if you're following me out here why don't you do it yourself?" Chatele, 4EverLost, Ice Queen and 3 others like this. Lord_Darkmoon and Ronan like this. Great post...really excited about work orders! Albus, Lord Blake Blackstone, majoria70 and 1 other person like this. "the resources that will be put in PVP areas are going to exist elsewhere in the game. We’re just putting more of them in PVP zones than in most other zones" Excellent News! This is what was expected and it is the way it should be. Without incentive PvP will languish. One of my top priorities will be to prevent anyone from touching my resource nodes in my zone. Ravicus (Sawtooth Hollow, A Ghost, majoria70 and 2 others like this. We have to do this all over again. Most of us made our points loud and clear in the other thread. There are only a few thousand posts on PvP and its effect on economics in dozens if not hundreds of threads. If it is about balancing net resources, how do you deal with a large guilds owning and farming a PvP zone by maximizing the instance with their members? If it's about difficulty in gaining rare resources from PvP zones then make it difficult for PvE to get those resources too. Rare should mean hard and that should apply to everyone, including PvE and crafters. Make some extremely hard PvE zones with the same rate of rares being sent into the world. If it's about sending sheep to the wolves to be ganked and res killed then prepare for the majority of the PvE population to scream, NO THANK YOU. However, all of this leaves the beggar, starving artist, author, and interior decorator feeling like they need a subsidy too. Vyrin, Ice Queen, Ravicus (Sawtooth Hollow and 6 others like this. I love the fact, that we will have only one currency. I hate the hickhack about pence. I'm still worrying, that crafters don't make cha-ching. The good thing is, that this prevents the people from making useless armor just to gain gold. But my concern is, that everyone will just make his own armor and repairs, just because it is cheaper, and so the economy will not start circling. We will have a closed economy system, what means everything what goes into the system, stays there. Even loot will be created by players. But why should I craft something and sell it to merchant and get it so into the system, if I don't win anything from it? Or will mobs create not only gold but also armor or other things of value? What also worry me is the amount of gold that is possible to make per run out in the world. It is impossible to avoid damage or the use of reagents if you go out to gather or kill mobs. The question is, how much will stay in our pocket after all repair bills are paid or new reagents are bought. At the moment repair doesn't make sense, it is more expensive than make something new. My problem is, that I don't see this circle start. Where did group A get the money to pay group B. Or where did group B get the money to buy from group A to start the circle. Everyone has to do PVE to generate gold which he can spend. I fear a world flooded with raw material and nothing more. Work orders are a great idea but will only work if the economy works. Perhaps I'm worrying to much. But at the moment I can't see this economy work. Ravicus (Sawtooth Hollow, 4EverLost, Net and 1 other person like this. In my opinion the thing that throws a wrench into all of this is that there are 2 skill trees. PvP can also be the gatherers. Its not like UO and you have a limited choice of skill points and have to sacrifice some combat skill to pvp in order to mine or harvest. So you have pvp gatherers and pve gatherers. Womby, Destroying Angel, Moonshadow and 2 others like this.

2019-04-25T18:04:06Z

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/time-to-talk-about-economy.21848/

These terms govern your access to and use of ProMedical Education LLC and any videos, information, text, graphics, photos or other materials uploaded, downloaded or appearing on the Services (collectively referred to as “Content”). The Content is the sole and exclusive property of ProMedical Education LLC. By indicating your acceptance, you do not become an owner of the Services, but are entitled to their use in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. By clicking a box that states you accept or agree to these terms or by using our Service, you are agreeing to the terms below. Please read them carefully. If you do not agree to the Terms, you must stop using the Services and delete your ProMedical Education LLC account. We reserve the right to modify these terms without notice. Your continued usage of the Service constitutes your acceptance of these terms. Violation of any terms will result in termination of your account. Questions about the Terms of Service may be sent to ObscureMyEmail. (a) ProMedical Education LLC does not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 17 or knowingly allow such persons to register for the Services. If you are under 17, please do not register for the Services or send any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, or email address. No one under age 17 may provide any personal information to ProMedical Education LLC or on the Services. If we learn we have collected personal information from a child under age 17 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under 17, please contact us at ObscureMyEmail. (b) You represent and warrant to ProMedical Education LLC that: (i) you are an individual (i.e., not a corporation) and you are of legal age to form a binding contract or have your parent’s permission to do so, and you are at least 17 years or age or older; (ii) all registration information you submit is accurate and truthful; and (iii) you will maintain the accuracy of such information. You also certify that you are legally permitted to use and access the Services and take full responsibility for the selection and use of and access to the Services. This Agreement is void where prohibited by law, and the right to access the Services is revoked in such jurisdictions. (c) ProMedical Education LLC may prohibit any user from using the Service in its sole discretion for any reason, and we are not liable for any damage or loss resulting from such prohibition. (a) You are responsible for the use of the Services and for any consequences. (b) You may use the Services only if you can form a contract with ProMedical Education LLC and are not barred from receiving services under the laws of the United States or other applicable jurisdiction. If you are accepting these Terms and using the Services for a company, organization, government, or other legal entity, you represent and warrant you are authorized to do so. You may use the Services only in compliance with these Terms and all local, state, national, and international laws, rules and regulations. (c) The Services that ProMedical Education LLC provides are always evolving, and the form and nature of the Services that ProMedical Education LLC provides may change from time to time without prior notice to you. ProMedical Education LLC may stop (permanently or temporarily) providing the Services (or any features within the Services) to you or to users and may not be able to provide you with prior notice. We also retain the right to create limits on use and storage at our sole discretion without prior notice to you. (d) The Services may include advertisements, which may be targeted to the Content or information on the Services, queries made through the Services, or other information. The types and extent of advertising on the Services are subject to change. In consideration for ProMedical Education LLC, third party providers and partners may place such advertising on the Services on in connection with the display of Content or information from the Services whether submitted by you or others. 3. Fees and Payment. You shall pay all applicable fees, as described on the Website for such Services selected by you. Company reserves the right to change its price list and to institute new charges upon notice to you, which may be sent by mail or posted on the Website. Using the Services following such notification constitutes your acceptance of any new or increased charges. 5. Password. You are responsible for safeguarding the password or credentials that you use to access the Services and for any activities or actions under your account. We encourage you to use “strong” passwords (passwords that use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols) with your account and with other accounts that you may connect to your ProMedical Education LLC account. ProMedical Education LLC cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with the above requirements. 6. Content on the Services. (a) You are granted a limited, nonexclusive, non-sublicensable license to access and use the Service. This license is revocable at any time. This license is subject to the Terms of this Agreement. (b) You acknowledge that ProMedical Education LLC has no control over, and no duty to take any action regarding the following: (i) which users gains access to the Services; (ii) what Content you access via the Services; (iii) what effects the Content may have on you; (iv) how you may interpret or use the Content; or (v) what actions you may take as a result of having been exposed to the Content. You release Company from all liability for you having acquired or not acquired Content through the Services. (c) Legal and Medical Disclaimer. You should obtain professional advice. The medical information on this site and within its materials is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. The ProMedical Education LLC software, materials, and videos have been designed and written for training purposes of healthcare professionals and assume specialized knowledge by users. The Services may be accessed and used only as expressly permitted hereunder as a reference to enhance user understanding of ECG practices and standards. However, medical standards and practices are constantly changing as new information becomes available and a variety of sources of information should be consulted. The information contained in the Services delivers similar information to that of a textbook or other health resource. ProMedical Education LLC accepts no responsibility for the correctness of any diagnosis based in whole or in part upon the use of the Services. Although great care has been taken in compiling the Service, ProMedical Education LLC and its owners, members, authors, employees, and agents shall not be responsible or in any way liable for errors, omissions, or inaccuracies, whether arising from negligence or otherwise, or for any consequences arising therefrom. (a) We reserve the right (but will not have an obligation) to remove or refuse to distribute the Services and to suspend or terminate users or reclaim usernames without liability to you. We also reserve the right to retrieve and review communications between all ProMedical Education LLC users. We reserve the right to investigate and take appropriate legal actions, including without limitation, cooperating with and assisting law enforcement or government agencies in any resulting investigations of illegal conduct. (d) You may not do any of the following while accessing or using the Services: (i) access, tamper with, or use non-public areas of the Services, ProMedical Education LLC’ computer systems, or the technical delivery systems of ProMedical Education LLC’ providers; (ii) probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any system or network or breach or circumvent any security or authentication measures; (iii) access or search or attempt to access or search the Services by any means (automated or otherwise) other than through our currently available, published interfaces that are provided by ProMedical Education LLC (and only under those terms and conditions), unless you have been allowed to do so in a separate agreement with ProMedical Education LLC (iv) forge any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any email or posting, or use the Services to send altered, deceptive or false source-identifying information; (v) interfere with, or disrupt, (or attempt to do so), the access of any user, host or network, including, without limitation, sending a virus, overloading, flooding, spamming, mail-bombing the Services, or by scripting the creation of Content in such a manner as to interfere with or create an undue burden on the Services (vi) use any robot, spider, crawler, scraper or other automated means or interface not provided by us to access the Services or to extract data; or (vii) reverse engineer any aspect of the Services or do anything that might discover source code or bypass or circumvent measures employed to prevent or limit access to any area, content or code of the Services. 8. Copyright Ownership, and Data Security. (a) ProMedical Education LLC and Michael Bui, MD own intellectual property rights to any protectable part of the Service, including but not limited to video, design, artwork, images, code, icons, photographs, functionality, and documentation (“ProMedical Education LLC Content”). You may not copy, reproduce, republish, frame, download, transmit, display, modify, license, sublicense, loan, lease, reverse engineer, or exploit, in whole or in part, any part of the Service owned by ProMedical Education LLC. (b) No part of the Services may be copied for resale or other commercial use, or posted on public bulletin boards, websites, internet domains, or online chatrooms. However, you may print out individual articles containing insubstantial portions of the Services for your personal reference if you include a source reference to ProMedical Education LLC and its copyright notice. ProMedical Education LLC reserves the right in its sole discretion to change or cancel an individual’s access, username and password without notice in the event of concurrent logins at different computers, excessive search quantities or excessive download traffic volumes. ProMedical Education LLC reserves the right in its sole discretion to limit, suspend or cancel an individual’s access to the Services without notice in the vent of multiple concurrent logins, excessive search quantities or download traffic volumes. (c) ProMedical Education LLC respects the intellectual property of others. ProMedical Education LLC’s agent for notice of claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringement can be reached as follows: ObscureMyEmail or mail at 3102 Maple Ave., Ste. 400, Dallas, TX 75201. (a) You have obtained the right to use and access the Services for a specific period of time. At the end of this period, your license and associated rights, shall expire automatically, unless you have renewed your license under then current terms. This Agreement and your license to use the Services shall also terminate if you fail to comply with any term or condition in this Agreement. ProMedical LLC’s limitations of liability and disclaimers shall survive the expiration or termination of this Agreement. (c) Any fees paid are non-refundable. Upon termination of your account, your right to use the Services or to access any Content will immediately cease. All provisions of this Agreement which, by their nature, should survive termination, shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, and limitations of liability. Disclaimers. UNLESS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN THIS AGREEMENT, PROMEDICAL EDUCATION LLC MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO ANY MATTER, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ADVERTISING AND OTHER SERVICES, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF NONINFRINGMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. PROMEDICAL EDUCATION LLC DOES NOT WARRANT THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE SERVICE, AND ACCOUNT HOLDER ASSUMES ALL RISK AND RESPONSIBILITY WITH RESPECT THERETO. ProMedical Education LLC expressly disclaims responsibility, and its owners, members, authors, employees, and agents shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site. ProMedical Education LLC does not endorse specifically any test, treatment, or procedure mentioned on the site. The Services are licensed “as is” and all expressed or implied warranties are expressly excluded and disclaimed, including without limitation implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, and any warranties arising by statute or otherwise in law or from course of dealing, course of performance, or use of trade. Any statements or representations made by any other person or entity are void. You assume all risk as to the quality, function, performance, and accuracy of the Services. (a) TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, SYSTEM FAILURE OR NETWORK OUTAGE, WILL PROMEDICAL EDUCATION LLC OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, RELIANCE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMANGES THAT RESULT FROM THIS AGREEMENT, EVEN IF THE DAMAGED PARTY OR ITS AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. (b) TO THE EXTEND PERMITTED BY LAW, EXCEPT FOR THE INDEMNITY OBLIVATIONS SET FORTH HEREIN, IN NO EVENT WILL PROMEDICAL EDUCATION LLC’S OR ITS AFFILIATES’ TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT (WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR TORT, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, WARRANTY, OR OTHERWISE) EXCEED THE AMOUNTS PAID BY YOU TO PROMEDICAL EDUCATION LLC HEREUNDER. 11. Indemnification. By agreeing to these Terms, you agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless ProMedical Education LLC, our directors, officers, managing members, shareholders, employees, affiliates, licensors, and suppliers from and against any and all complaints, charges, claims, damages, losses, costs, liabilities, and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) due to, arising out of, or relating in any way to (a) using the Service; (b) any content you use, distribute, store, or otherwise transmit through the Service; (c) violating these Terms; or (d) violating the rights of another. (a) Your access to and use of the Services or any Content is at your own risk. You understand and agree that the Services is provided to you on an “AS IS.” Without limiting the foregoing, PROMEDICAL EDUCATION LLC DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. (b) ProMedical Education LLC makes no warranty and disclaims all responsibility and liability for: (i) the completeness, accuracy, availability, timeliness, security or reliability of the Services or any Content; (ii) any harm to your computer system, loss of data, or other harm that results from your access to or use of the Services, or any Content; (iii) the deletion of, or failing to store or to transmit, any Content and other communications maintained by the Services; (iv) whether the Services will meet your requirements or be available on an uninterrupted, secure, or error-free basis. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained from ProMedical Education LLC or through the Services will create any warranty not expressly made herein. 13. International Users. The Service is hosted in the United States. If you are a user accessing the Service from the European Union, Asia, or any other region with laws or regulations governing personal data collection, use, and disclosure, that differ from United States laws, please be advised that through your continued use of the Service, which is governed by United States law, you are transferring your personal information to the United States and you consent to that transfer. 14. Children’s Privacy. ProMedical Education LLC does not knowingly collect or solicit any information from anyone under the age of 17 or knowingly allow such persons to register for the Service. The Service and its Content are not directed as children under the age of 17. If we learn we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 17 without parental consent, we will delete that information from a child under the age of 17 without parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under 17, please let us know at ObscureMyEmail. (a) ProMedical Education LLC’s failure to enforce or exercise a right provided in these terms is not a waiver of that right. (b) Should any provision of these terms be found invalid or unenforceable, the remaining terms shall still apply. (c) Any dispute between you and ProMedical Education LLC will be governed by these Terms and the laws of Texas exclusively in the state or Federal courts of the State of Texas, USA, without giving effect to any conflict of laws principles that may provide for the application of the law of another jurisdiction. (d) This Terms of Service constitutes the entire agreement between you and ProMedical Education LLC and supersedes any and all previous agreements, written or oral, between you and ProMedical Education LLC, including previous versions of the Terms of Service. (e) We may modify these terms as necessary to reflect updates to the Service, or changes in the law. We will post any such modifications to these terms on this page. If you do not agree with or accept the changes in the terms, you should discontinue your use of the Service. (f) These Terms create an agreement between Us and you. They create no third-party beneficiary rights. (g) Waiver of any remedy for a breach of these Terms does not prevent Us from taking action in the future. (h) You may not sublicense, assign, share, sell, rent, lease, or otherwise transfer your right to access or use the Services. (i) The Services are the sole and exclusive property of ProMedical Education LLC. By indicating your acceptance, you do not become an owner of the Services, but are entitled to their use in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. To provide unique, innovative education, have a little fun, and to help make a difference. Please visit our FAQ section to learn about our charities.

2019-04-21T22:05:16Z

http://promedicaleducation.com/termsofservice/

The public disclosure of information that Australia’s largest companies give to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on their tax returns doesn’t sway investors’ decisions and doesn’t reduce corporate tax avoidance, our research shows. We examined the first three releases of ATO tax transparency data in 2014, 2015 and 2016, along with financial statement data and share price movements for 244 listed companies. Under the Tax Laws Amendment Act 2013 the ATO is required to disclose total revenue, taxable income, and income tax payable for these companies. When these companies first disclosed tax return data there was a significant negative reaction in stock prices for firms with lower effective tax rates. But the reaction wasn’t limited to companies that disclosed. This suggests investor concerns about either spill-over effects for other businesses, or a more aggressive stance on tax avoidance from the ATO. However, for the second and third releases of ATO data, there was no reaction from the financial markets at all, not even for those firms included in the disclosures. In combination, these results suggest that the ATO disclosures provide little new or useful information to investors about corporate tax strategies. It also shows the information the ATO currently discloses doesn’t lead to increased enforcement, and so, investors have little expectation of any increase in corporate tax payments. The aim of the Tax Laws Amendment Act was to increase public scrutiny of company tax strategies through increased transparency, and ultimately discourage tax avoidance. Although only limited to the largest firms, these disclosures are exceptional. Apart from some Scandinavian countries that have public disclosure of all tax return information, Australia’s legislation is unique. For example, the information is disclosed by the ATO rather than the companies themselves, and it’s mandatory rather than voluntary. The disclosed information also allows us to estimate the magnitude of corporate tax avoidance among these companies. However, the tax transparency law is still yet to meet its stated aim. This may be due to the type of information disclosed. The information disclosed under the current legislation was chosen with no public consultation, discourse or input. So it’s unclear whether the decision to include only certain information has been politically driven. Neither the government nor the ATO cite any research to support their choice of data to be released. Our study demonstrates that the success of any scheme to improve company tax transparency relies on new information about corporate tax strategies being revealed. It also requires an expectation of some consequences. These could include an increase in the costs of corporate tax avoidance, such as increased scrutiny from the ATO, or additional costs to justify tax-reducing corporate structures. Unfortunately, it seems Australia’s law on this doesn’t meet these hurdles, and the politics of addressing corporate tax avoidance has stifled an attempt to develop an effective policy to counter it. Investors and business people usually value companies based on the balance of assets and debts at the end of a financial year. But our research found they should be valuing their employees’ ability to innovate while using their existing physical assets. This is what actually creates value for our economy. For example manufacturing, an example of using assets to create value, is on the decline in Australia. Contrast this to services, using the skills of employees, which are increasing. We came up with a modified way to predict the value of companies, removing the emphasis on assets and instead using measures of spending on research and development and copyrights. We tested this revised model with accounting data from companies in countries like China, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa and Turkey. We also tested it with companies in more developed countries like Australia, Austria, Netherlands, Singapore and Sweden. Research and development was positively associated with return on assets in Australia, Austria, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, China, South Africa and Turkey, according to the model. This means that companies in these developed and emerging economies use their resources more efficiently because of their investments in research and development and copyrights. For some of the biggest technology companies like Amazon and Facebook, the unique combination of their people, their invented systems and processes, and their physical presence creates value for the company and their investors. If we can improve how we predict potential economic value, we can help companies and our economy to grow and become more efficient. Today, the traditional accounting system has lost its relevance, because many of the resources companies use to do business cannot be owned and become an asset. Traditionally companies calculate how much they own (assets) and subtract how much they owe (liabilities). The remaining amount, or book value, is what the company is worth. But people are a key resource in any company, yet companies do not own people. The wages paid to them are an expense, but their value cannot be recorded in the company’s accounts. Similarly, accounting rules state that most research and development is expensed when it occurs, meaning it is counted as a cost immediately. The problem is that investments in people and research and development may not pay off until the future. Amazon, for example, is spending billions of dollars on research and development. This would involve spending money on intangible resources such as copyrights, market research, branding and designing systems and processes. It will also invest in marketing to potential customers, training staff and hiring managers. According to current accounting rules, most of these costs are treated as expenses now. It is only physical assets such as buildings, computers, furniture and equipment that are counted as a cost over time. However, Amazon’s investment in its new distribution network is likely to reap significant returns in the future. The fact that accounting reports analyse the past year, six months or quarter, shows how accounting is too focused on the short term. In the long term, Amazon is actually worth about 25 times more than accounting suggests. Because investors are interested in the future returns from their investments, not what was spent in the past, the stock market values most modern companies at several times their book value. This makes modern accounting even less relevant in explaining economic value. Our research found that to understand how economic value is created, you need to look at what businesses are spending on long term resources such as research and development and copyright and treat it as an investment, rather than a cost. Even if a company is not making a profit because it is investing in research and development in the short term, this does not mean it is not capable of making money in the long term. Many companies like Amazon never made a profit in their early years as they burned cash to create their foothold in the market. But their investors were convinced these companies would create economic value by way of profits and increased share prices in the future. If we look beyond the book value of companies, we can truly understand how they create economic value. The Australian National Contact Point (ANCP) was set up as part of Australia’s membership of the OECD to hear complaints on the way Australian corporations operate overseas, but research shows it’s poorly resourced and rejects most claims at the initial assessment stage, raising concerns about its effectiveness. There are National Contact Points already operating in OECD countries, that are achieving more with their mandate to promote Australian businesses respecting human rights while operating or based in other countries. Australia does not have a legal framework that specifically regulates the human rights obligations of Australian corporations overseas. The Australian government is missing a vital opportunity to promote sound and ethical business practice and mediate disputes before they blow up, by inadequately resourcing this important human rights body. Why is the ANCP needed? Australian companies now operate all around the world in mining, manufacturing, finance and other industries. Sometimes this is through wholly owned subsidiaries, sometimes they invest in joint ventures or part shares, and at other times Australian businesses procure parts through supply chains. When their activities negatively impact communities overseas, those affected should be able to go to the ANCP to hear their complaints. Though, in principle, communities can take their claims to local police and courts, in many countries corruption, bias and long waits often make remedy through legal avenues impossible. Company structures also sometimes render it difficult to hold the parent company or a lead company in a supply chain responsible, even though that business may be calling the shots. As the Australian government adheres to the OECD’s guidelines for multinational enterprises, it’s required to have a National Contact Point to assist corporations in observing these guidelines. Part of this includes providing a platform for mediation and conciliation. Though its findings may not be legally enforceable, the ANCP is particularly important because it’s the only avenue for redress for many communities and individuals affected by Australian business, outside our national borders. Properly resourcing the National Contact Point would allow the government to better fulfil its obligations under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Findings by other National Contact Points, when it comes to breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, have been highly influential in other countries. For example, the UK NCP determined that mining company Vedanta Resources had breached human rights guidelines regarding its planned mine in India. It found the mine would displace thousands of tribal people. This finding resulted in high profile divestments from the company by a number of shareholders and the adoption of a new corporate social responsibility approach by the company. Interviews with shareholders that divested revealed that although the determination was not legal in nature, it was seen to have heightened authority because it came from the UK government. The research on Australia’s NCP is part of a larger project that conducted 587 interviews with 1,100 individuals mainly in Australia, the UK, India and Indonesia. It assessed the performance of the ANCP based on an analysis of every claim that has been lodged with the body. It found that the ANCP has all but abdicated its workload; it rejected or transferred (to another NCP) two thirds of all complaints made. With only one exception, the remainder of accepted complaints were closed without resolution, as the ANCP was unable to bring the parties to mediation and unwilling to issue a determination against the company the subject of complaint. In the more than ten years since its establishment, the ANCP is yet to make a single determination against a company the subject of complaint. In my meetings with Treasury, the department confirmed that until recently, one public servant was tasked with running the ANCP, who already had a full-time load of other work. Treasury also disclosed this single staff member, with no expertise in the area, was expected to deal with complex human rights complaints involving some of Australia’s biggest companies, around their primary role, with no dedicated budget. To provide a point of comparison, the Dutch NCPhas two full-time staff, as well as other staff who have responsibilities to the NCP as part of their other duties, and receives an additional €900,000 over three years to promote corporate ethics. It is advised by four independent members and four advisory members from the government departments most relevant to business and human rights. Australia’s NCP receives no such independent advice. The cases brought to the ANCP include a complaint regarding ANZ’s alleged financing of logging in Papua New Guinea and alleged forced evictions at a coal mine in Colombia jointly owned by BHP Billiton. There are several ways the ANCP can improve its functioning and provide access to remedy. Top amongst these are: improving the independence of the ANCP and properly resourcing it, improving the process for handling complaints and increasing transparency. If there was ever a time that the much neglected ANCP has a chance of being reformed, it is now. Australia is making a bid for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council this year. Modern slavery – especially the extent to which it taints the supply chains of Australian businesses and businesses operating in Australia – is the subject of a parliamentary inquiry and national attention. Hopefully this important human rights mechanism gets the attention it deserves. 127, mostly tech, companies have signed a brief of support opposing US President Trump’s “Muslim travel ban”. The companies, that include Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Tesla have filed an “amicus brief” with the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in support of US District Judge James L. Robart who ordered a stay on Trump’s executive order to ban anyone from 7 countries from entering the US for between 90 and 120 days. The tech companies have argued that immigration is a central factor in the history and makeup of the US and has helped fuel American innovation and economic growth. Immigrants, or their children, founded more than 200 companies that are amongst the top 500 companies in the US. Between 2006 and 2010, immigrants were responsible for opening 28% of call new businesses in the US. Thirty percent of US Nobel laureates in Chemistry, Medicine and Physics have been immigrants. “The Order makes it more difficult and expensive for U.S. companies to recruit, hire, and retain some of the world’s best employees. It disrupts ongoing business operations. And it threatens companies’ ability to attract talent, business, and investment to the United States. This last is no idle threat. In 2015, it was estimated that US companies have US $2.1 trillion overseas that haven’t been repatriated because of the tax implications. Apple alone has over US $230 billion held outside the US. The idea of using this money to set up development and further manufacturing capabilities outside the US makes a great deal of sense, even without the imperative of Trump’s actions. However, there is another move that Trump is threatening that may make the decision to move operations outside the US more attractive still. Trump’s administration is planning to target the high-skilled worker’s H-1B visa. This offers mostly tech companies the ability to recruit up to 85,000 skill developers and other staff from around the world. According to the Republicans and Trump however, tech companies should be recruiting locally. Companies like Microsoft, where I have first hand experience of recruitment experience, did actively try and recruit within the US. Recruiting from outside is generally more expensive and time consuming and so there is no real reason why tech companies would actively ignore domestic applicants or favour foreign ones. Tech companies seek to employ the best people for the job and if the pool is global, that is how they achieve that goal. Having offices remotely distributed can be made to work although it makes communications across teams and different product areas more challenging than if they are all in a single location. However, it already happens in most tech companies with Google and Microsoft already having research and product development occurring out of countries like Australia, India and China. As outlined in the amicus brief, Trump is sowing uncertainty and chaos with his desire to treat policy like tweets on Twitter. That is going to provide enough incentive for companies to brave the potential disapproval from Trump and use the significant investments held outside the US to expand their capabilities. Trump may succeed, contrary to his intentions, in catalysing a new phase in globalisation in which companies shift their centres from the US to a more distributed model. Of course, companies may still run into problems if Trump’s brand of nationalism succeeds in taking hold in other countries like Australia or Europe. The other side-effect of the US uncertainty is the fact that increasingly businesses based outside the US will have a competitive advantage and customers may decide that it is easier to avoid doing business with the US for at least the next four years. China is rapidly becoming the technological equal of the US in many ways and so its ascendancy may also benefit. The amicus curiae brief is the start of a long legal campaign which will aim to keep the worst of Trump’s plans in check. Depending on the outcomes, the world outside the US may actually benefit from Trump if companies are forced to look outside the walls, real and virtual, he is seeking to create.

2019-04-18T12:45:27Z

https://pbaptist.wordpress.com/tag/companies/

Phil Nixon summarises his diary entries on a tour that incorporated part of the Grand Tour of Monte Rosa and most of the Tour of Monte Rosa with trekking companions Chris Whitford and Brian Tunbridge. Enjoy the adventure as you travel with them. There are also many references to transport links and other services which would-be trekkers should find useful, as well as a route summary at the end. Despite some heavy traffic on the M42 we arrived at Birmingham airport in good time for our flight to Geneva. We purchased our rail tickets at Geneva Airport Railway Station. I was very impressed with the efficiency of the service: we even had a printout of the schedule, complete with platform numbers. The 1536 train from Geneva to Martigny arrived at 1705, giving us precisely 18 minutes to walk to platform 50 in order to catch the 1723 which arrived in Le Chable on time at 1749. We were met at the station by the owner of the establishment that Brian had booked, who reported that her hot water system had broken down and that her friend would look after us instead. She drove us uphill to a house in Cotterburg, just up from Villette, where we were given a whole floor to ourselves. We thought lightning was about to strike twice, as the water also failed at our new B&B: workmen were digging up the road, but we were promised that water would be restored by the time we got back from dinner. We had a pleasant walk down to Le Chable, in fine weather, and had steak and chips at the bar at the back of the Hotel Post. The B&B cost 50CHF/€45 each. We got up at 7am and after a good breakfast strolled down the road and bought lunches for two days at the small supermarket in Villette. We purchased tickets at the tourist office and took the 0945 bus to Mauvaison. The final part of the journey was quite steep and passed through several tunnels: we arrived at Mauvaison (1860m) at 1030, and it was time to gird up our loins and begin the walk. Initially we took a path to the road and then through a tunnel onto the crest of a dam, from where we had good views up and down the valley. The path then wended its way through a series of tunnels on the east side of the lake before emerging onto open country. We then climbed steeply until we struck a rising traverse that eventually took us to the Col de Tsofeiret at 2630m. On route we stopped for lunch by a carpet of wild flowers, including eidelweiss. There was a cool wind on the col: the descent, which would have been tricky, had been made easier by the installation of steps and a rail. The path crossed a stream, by means of a substantial bridge, and shortly after reached the Cabin de Chanrion. The cabin was fairly full, so it was as well that Brian had reserved us places. We were allocated places on the top tier of a 20+ place matratzenlager that was almost full. Weather: Very good in the morning but it clouded up in the afternoon with a cool wind at times. There was a period of rain after we had reached the hut. Stayed at Cabin de Chanrion C.A.S. (86 places). Total cost 169CHF/€156. Bus tickets cost 13.80CHF/€13 each. After what seemed an early breakfast (we were actually the last to eat) we left the hut at 0730: it was misty as we descended into the temperature inversion and cold enough to need a fleece jacket. We crossed a stream by means of a bridge at about 2250m and started uphill. After about 10mins we caught up with an Italian woman, who had been staying at the hut, and a herd of large black Herens cows that had just been milked: the noise from the bells was quite deafening. As the cows were following the path we cut across country to get ahead of them. The path up to the col was straightforward and we stopped on the Fenetre de Durand (‘Italian frontier, 2797m) to take in the view. We then started to descend to Ollomont and shortly after noon stopped near two lakes for lunch. We dropped to Balme de Bal (2128m), By (2050m), Farinet (2009m) and Glacier (1549m). We followed the road to Ollomont, at 1356m: however it turned out that the Youth Hostel was back up at Vouce, and we had passed within 100m of it. We took the opportunity to ascertain the shop opening times and buy a cake for tea. The Gran Baita hostel, although described as a Youth Hostel, was not of the regular type; it took us some time to find the management, with whom Brian had reserved places. It was run by Belgians who normally had music groups staying. We ended up with a seven bed room and balcony to ourselves. The evening meal was a traditional Belgian dish: chicken and mushroom vol-au-vent (without the pastry) and chips! Weather: There was a temperature inversion below the Chanrion hut and the valley was filled with cloud. It was fine all day with a cold wind on the col. Stayed at the Gran Baita YH in Vouece (1392m) just north of Ollomont. The bill when we paid it was amazingly cheap: the cook was more concerned with covering the costs of the laundry – the food was essentially free. The owner of the hostel rang ahead to the YH at Bionaz. We walked down the road to the shop at Ollomont (1356m), where we bought our lunch, then set off from the church up a lane that eventually turned into a steep zigzag path through woods. Emerging from the woods we passed a high farm where the custodian pointed out the path to the Col de Brison. At a conveniently sited seat and table at about 1780m we paused for a well-earned snack before tackling the final steep pull up more zigzags to the col (2492m), which was not as narrow as the guide book would have had us believe. We stopped directly above our starting point in Ollomont to admire the view, which was extensive, and have lunch. The descent to Close was fairly straightforward: we paused at the derelict farm at Sucheaz to take photographs before reaching the main road by the old hotel at Close (1457m): unfortunately we were too late for the 1645 bus to Bionaz and the shop in Oyace, so after watching the bus go by we walked down to Oyace, did our shopping and then repaired to a bar to wait for the 1855 bus. At La Batise YH (a real one!) the owner was waiting for us, but after showing us round disappeared into the night. After cleaning up we cooked our food which was accompanied by a bottle of wine. The YH was a recent conversion and was well appointed. Weather: It was fine all day with a fair bit of cloud Stayed at La Batise YH at Bionaz. Cost 20€ each (B&B plus use of kitchen). We had a stroll around the village and took a few photographs before setting off, following a path across fields before joining the road by a house that was being renovated. We continued along the road, taking care to avoid being mown down by passing cyclists: the road was precipitous in places. We arrived at the dam (1960m) of the Lac des Places de Moulin, where there was parking, toilets and a snack bar. We walked along a broad path beside the lake to the Refuge at Praz Raye (Prarayer), passing many folk en route. We stopped for lunch on a promontory near a chapel about 1km short of the hut, before arriving during the hut’s lunch period, so we had coffee on the tables outside overlooking the lake while we waited for the boss to take us to our dormitory. Thoughts of an afternoon stroll up to a viewpoint towards the Dent d’Herens north of the hut were curtailed when a terrific storm came through and water forced its way through gaps in the balcony door and into the dormitory. So we took the opportunity to review our plans for the next few days and decided to make for the Rifugio Barmasse the following night. We chatted to a German social worker who was doing a series of long walks: he was aiming for Cervina the following evening. Weather: Mixed sunshine in the morning but heavy rain in the afternoon. Stayed at Refugio Prarayer 2010m (50 places) at a cost of 40€ each including wine and coffee. We headed up the valley to a bridge and then followed a path down the opposite side of the stream to the lake, where we noticed some fishermen. Just before the Torrent de Valcorniere we turned steeply uphill to the restored farm at Valcorniere. The path through the valley rose gently until it was time to turn east for the steep ascent to the Col de Valcorniere (Valcournera) at 3072m. Fortunately the path was well waymarked, and steel steps and ropes had been fixed over awkward or exposed sections of the steep rock band. The final section entailed picking over rubble, although there was the occasional waymark. We were fortunate to be ascending early in the day, as we were in shade for the first third of the climb. After lunch on the pass we began the descent, helped by a fixed rope that made descending the loose rubble less precarious. We stopped briefly at the Perucca-Vuillermoz Hut, where we observed ibex. We dropped down the path, which was protected by chains in places, to the Bivouac Maneti (2804m) where we stopped to look inside. We continued down past a waterfall and along a path on steep ground to the Lac de Tsignanaz (Lago di Cignana) at 2157m. We walked along the rim of the dam to the Rifugio Barmasse (2170m). Unfortunately the refuge was full and they could only offer mattresses on the floor: a big disappointment. So we continued on to Paquier, in the Valtournenche valley. The path, mainly through woods, was steep in places: eventually we came out on the side road at Valmartin. We carried to the Hotel Millifiori, at the south end of Paquier. Enquiries were made and within minutes we had beds for the night, much to our relief. We had been out for just under 10hrs. After the strenuous previous day we had a leisurely breakfast before walking up the road to the centre of Paquier. I took the opportunity to have a stroll round the town and take a few photographs. Then we took the bus to Cervina, where the helpful gent at the Tourist Office booked our accommodation for the next two nights, at Theodul Hut and Refugio Ferraro at Resy. After shopping for three lunches worth of food, some maps and postcards we took the Cable Car to Plan Maison (2548m), where we had our picnic and took in the scenery. The views of the south face of the Matterhorn and the Dent d’Herens were terrific. We continued by cable car to the Station Cime Bianche (2812m), where our day’s walk began. Initially the way followed wide paths made by various tracked vehicles involved in skiing. We paused at the Capelle Bontadini (3042m): although pleasant from the outside, inside as it was being used as a store for equipment. We continued up on a smaller track which was well way-marked over rocks and arrived at the Theodul Hut at 1550. We took a walk along the top of the pass in order to take in the view and take photographs. Although it was fine there was a cold wind and we were pleased to get inside and order a litre of teewasser. We were allocated a small room to ourselves. The facilities were somewhat basic: three toilets (only one lockable) and one tap for washing. The service for dinner was rather slow but the view was spectacular, with the Matterhorn just outside the window. I took the opportunity between courses to photograph the sunset. Stayed at the CAI Theodul Hut (3317m), cost €37/person for half board, total €123 including drinks. We emerged from the hut into a cold morning with a dusting of snow on the veranda: the weather was looking particularly horrible in Switzerland. I was wearing a sweater and cagoule as we left the hut and only took them off when we had descended over 400m. Passing the upper cable station at Cime Bianche we ascended the Col Nord des Cima Blanches (2981m), where construction of further skiing facilities was in full swing. It was most pleasant to drop from the despoiled skiing area to the verdant Ventina valley. We stopped for a snack near the Grand Lac and again for lunch further down. At Fiery it not only started to rain, but routefinding got more difficult. After checking our directions at the small bar at Fiery we set off uphill, passing a sign that indicated the route to Resy. We then missed a turn to the right, and although we didn’t lose any height we walked further up the side valley than was necessary. The woman on duty at the Rifugio Ferraro didn’t speak any English, and so we waited for her superior. I did however notice that there was a booking for three people in the name of ‘Dan Bridge’. We were eventually shown to a six bunk room which we had to ourselves. The showers were excellent and we were able to get some washing done. The manageress proved to be an outgoing, well-travelled lady who spoke several languages: she telephoned ahead for us to the Rifugio Guglielmina. The evening meal proved to be one of the best of the trip. Weather: It was cloudy with light snow to start with but the weather improved and then deteriorated again. We walked in light rain for the last hour to the rifugio before was a fine evening. Stayed at the Rifugio GB Ferraro at Resy (2072m), cost €135 including drinks. After an excellent breakfast we took the main trail towards the Colle de Bettaforca. At the bottom of the ski lift we consulted three maps, which gave three different road configurations! After puzzling for a bit we struck out on the road to the Paso del Rothorn. We passed some lakes, which gave attractive, photographic reflections of the Monte Rosa Massif. At the ski station by Lac Cierciero we had great difficulty in working out where the path went. Eventually we walked on down the road and after about 150m noticed a path off to the left: we walked along the path for a few metres, looked back and there was a TMR sign only visible from one direction! From that point the path up to the col was very well marked: in fact the path looked as if it had been recently constructed. We rested at the top of the col before continuing over the pass, having lunch about halfway down. We joined a gravel road and walked down to Stafel for ice cream and to post our cards. Then we started up the track towards the Col d’Olen, with the intention of taking the cable car for the upper section, but it occurred to us that we might arrive too late, so we went down to the ticket office to make enquiries, and decided to take the lift all the way to the top: while the lower section may have been quite pleasant the upper section passed over a lot of skiing debris. The top station, Paso de Salati, was in mist and it was quite cold, so we spent a few minutes donning fleeces and cagoules before a 10min walk down to the Rifugio Guglielmina. Alberto spoke good English and was able to deal with our enquiries, and an assistant rang ahead to reserve places at the Rifugio Pastore. The evening meal was held in the dining room in some style. After dinner the mist cleared and I was able to go out on the terrace to admire the stars and the lights of distant cities. Weather: There was a clear start to the day with cloud build up in the afternoon. The rifugio was in cloud when we arrived. There was very good light at the start of the day and we spent some time both before and after breakfast taking photographs. We had stroll over to the Col d’Olen to look back on the previous day’s route and take pictures of ibex. We set off down a good path that eventually crossed works for a new ski area. There was a short ascent to the Paso Foric (2432m) before we dropped into the picturesque Otro Valley with its Walser houses. We had lunch near a church at 1664m before we dropped through woods to Alagna Valesia (1150m), where we shopped for the following day’s lunch and had a drink before catching the bus up the valley to the end of the road: this left us a 20min walk to Rifugio Pastore (1580m). We had a six-bed room to ourselves; however the bathroom was a bit of a trek, particularly on a wet night. One of the assistants at the rifugio kindly rang ahead to reserve places for us at the Hotel Dufour in Macugnaga. Weather: There was a fine start to the day with a build up of cloud as the day progressed. Stayed at CAI Refugio Pastore (1580m): cost €122 including drinks (just over €40 each). The bus cost €2. We passed over the bridge by the Rifugio Pastore and walked up for 4hrs, steeply at first and then at an easier gradient, on a well-constructed path to the Col del Turlo (2738m). From time to time we stopped to admire to view and identify our route the previous day: at one point we could clearly see the Rifufgio Guglielmina on the Col d’Olen, where we had stayed two nights previously. The col, well engineered with a stone bench, table and monument, was quite busy with parties from both sides taking pictures of each other, so we had a group picture taken for posterity (does an arrangement of electrons on a chip count as posterity?). After lunch we set off down the incredibly well-engineered path, initially well-graded over steep ground until shortly after the Bivouac Lanti (2150m), when the path levelled out for just over 1km. We then dropped steeply through woods to the small settlement of La Piana (1613m), opposite La Pissa waterfall. The path took us though woodland, crossing to the left bank of the river of a good bridge and steadily increasing in quality again. We arrived at the reservoir at Quarazza (1309m) where there was a café being enjoyed by folk on a day walk from Macugnaga. The final part of the walk continued on a broad dirt road before crossing the river into Macugnaga town centre. Our destination Hotel Dufour was easily found in the main town square which we reached at about 17:20: we had been out for over 9 hours. We were quite tired after a big day, so a leisurely start was in order. We bought food for two lunches, and the management at the Hotel Dufour rang the Rifugio on the Monte Moro to reserve us places. We decided to walk to the middle station at Bill and then take the cable car to the top. After checking that this was possible we headed out of town, past the church and up a steep path that gave excellent views over Macugnaga and up to the Monte Rosa. We found the middle station at Bill deserted, and it was some time before we could find someone to take our money. It was busy at the top, both outside, where folk were picnicking on the rocks, and in the rifugio’s restaurant, so we went outside to eat our lunch until the hut got less busy. We took the opportunity to explore the pass, view the large golden statue of the Madonna of the Snows and check the way down in the event of poor weather in the morning. After settling into the dormitory (there were only two Frenchmen in addition to ourselves) we ascended the nearby Joderhorn (3035m). During the ascent a large ibex walked past, disdainfully ignoring us. The mountain was an unprepossessing pile of jumbled rocks which required some care: however the view from the summit was excellent in all directions and we spent some time taking photographs. While we were having dinner a group of ibex came to lick the concrete that had been recently laid for the new toilet system: there are minerals in the cement that are good for their horns. The view of the Monte Rosa certainly makes this restaurant another room with a view. Stayed at the CAI Rifugio Oberto Gaspare (Citta di Malnate) (2796m). Shortly before 07:00 I opened the toilet window to find a group of steinbok just outside. After taking pictures of the Dufourspitze we had breakfast and were away for about 08:30. We climbed over the pass into Switzerland and then dropped over broken rocky ground, which fortunately was well way-marked, to a well defined path in the lower valley: the statue of the Madonna remained in sight for some time. We followed the minor path on the east side of the Mattmark lake to the dam (altitude 2200m) near which we encountered a herd of multicoloured goats. We stopped at a bench on the dam for about 15minutes: an elderly gent informed us that the prominent pointed mountain that we had seen since the previous days was the Bietschorn in the Bernese Oberland. We took a minor path that avoided for the most part the road and had lunch in the woods just north of Eiu Alp (1930m). We eventually joined the road near a hydro electricity plant but were soon able to leave the road to join a track on the left bank of the river. At Saas Almagell 1670m we began the final ascent to Saas Fee 1803m along a well graded trail. We arrived in Saas Fee at about 14:30 and went directly to the tourist office to enquire about hotels: the efficient young lady rapidly produced a computer printout of available hotels in ascending price order and a plan of the village with hotel locations. We opted for the Annex at the four-star Europa hotel. After showering we took a stroll round the village, listened to the cacophony of the church bells (Chris explained that only the British knew how to hang bells correctly so that tunes could be played) and indulged in ice creams and beer. On the way back to the hotel we did some shopping for the following day’s lunch. Weather: There was a clear start to the day followed by some build-up of cloud Stayed at Europa Hotel, Saas Fee. After a leisurely breakfast we headed south east out of town on the path to the Langflu, a rocky ridge in the Feegletcher. The path was very straightforward and we soon arrived at the Speilboden Café (2448m), from where marmots could be observed. These marmots were significantly overweight, largely due to being egregiously overfed by the tourists: we even saw some taking food from the hands of tourists (there must be a Swiss law against it!). As we continued to the top of the Langflu I chatted to a Swiss woman who had learnt her English from an Australian Baptist teacher. From the top, over lunch, we observed the high level skiing below the Alalinhorn (4027m) and the rotating restaurant on the Mittel Allalin (3454m). By this time the cloud was building up and we heard a rumble of thunder so it was time to go down. On the way back to the hotel we called at the tourist office to check that the Hohenweg to Grächen was open. During the evening it started to rain so we made our way to the hotel via the underground passage: on examining the facilities Brian seemed quite disappointed that he hadn’t indulged in the sauna and jacuzzi. Weather: The weather remained dry throughout the walk but became unsettled with a clap of thunder during the afternoon: it rained during the evening. Stayed at Europa Hotel, Saas Fee. The day’s walking began with a climb through woods. Within an hour it had started to rain and we had to put on our waterproof jackets, but it didn’t rain hard enough to require over-trousers as well. We appeared to be walking between two layers of cloud, one filling the valley below and one above dropping the rain. The path continued at approximately the same level traversing the slope: the scenery varied, sometimes through woods which reduced the sense of exposure and occasionally along a rock ledge with a steel rope for aid. At midday we reached the bridge over the Schweib Bach, where we stopped for lunch. After lunch, in improved weather, we climbed up to the bench at Rote Beil which unfortunately was occupied. In the next basin an ibex stepped off the track to avoid us and bounded effortlessly down the slope. At Stock the bench was empty so we took the opportunity for a break, which was just as well because the next section contained the most sustained period of exposed ledges, ameliorated with handrails and chains for security. We eventually turned the corner to arrive at the chapel at Hannigalp and the top of the cable car. The final part of the walk took us down a dirt road to Grächen. We passed pleasant hotel by a small lake and entered Grächen by the bottom station for the Seetalhorn Lift. We immediately sought out the tourist office, where the helpful assistant printed out a list of hotels in price order. We selected the Sonne, which was cheapest, rang them using the free phone service and within minutes had a reservation. During the evening I used a timetable we picked up in the tourist office to work out a schedule to get us to Geneva Airport. Stayed at Sonne Hotel, Grächen, cost 225CHF (€208) per night plus extras. Tuesday 2 September - Hannigalp cable car station to Seetalhorn top station. After a leisurely and filling breakfast we made our way to the town square, and while Chris and Brian bought lunch I went into the tourist office to check on the times for our journey to Geneva. I asked the assistant to check that I had correctly interpreted the timetable; after a brief look at my efforts she asked me by what time I needed to be at Geneva Airport, tapped some info into her computer and produced 5 viable journeys. She then pointed out that all I had to do was go to the Post Office, where I could buy one ticket that covered me for all the different buses and trains. On paying for the cable car we were delighted to find that for 14.99CHF (€14) there was a special day pass for unlimited ascents and descents on all the cable cars from Grächen: the 1cent change was in the form of a sweet. On arrival at Hannigalp we were please to be able to see the top of the Matterhorn sticking up at the top of the valley. We dithered a bit finding the path, suspecting that it had been buried by the new ski routes: we would have been better off with one of the diagrams from the tourist office. Eventually we made our way to Furgge ridge, which afforded good views of both valleys and the Bernese Oberland: it was nice to see the view that we would have seen the previous day had the weather been better. On occasions we were able to look down on to the previous day’s path. We followed a well-defined path to the top station below Seetalhorn (2864m), where we stopped for lunch by the large cross. Shortly before 1400 we entered the top station, sat down in a gondola and waited for something to happen. A few minutes later the machinery whirred into action and we were transported rapidly back to Grächen. On arriving back in Grächen we had a coffee (and in my case apfelstrudel) in an open air café in the main square. Suitably fortified, we then went to the Post Office to buy the bus/train tickets to Geneva Airport, at 82CHF (€76) each. After returning to the hotel for showers we had a stroll round the village and took photographs. Stayed at Sonne Hotel, Grächen. We strolled into the main square to sit in the sun until it was time for the post bus, which departed as scheduled on the stroke of 1009 and arrived at St Nikolas punctually. While we waited for the train Brian and I strolled into town to see the hotel that we’d stayed in four years previously. The train for Visp arrived punctually at 1117. On arrival at Visp we walked to the appointed platform and checked the timetable for our next train: for a moment we thought that the tourist office had failed us – but we were simply reading the arrivals board instead of the departures. The train departed from platform 4/5 as ordained by the SBB Computer on the dot of 12:07. The journey to Geneva was uneventful and we had good views as we travelled by Lake Geneva. We checked in our luggage, went through passport control and after a late lunch in one of the airport cafes were finally confined in something resembling a cattle pen, with insufficient seats for all on the flight, people were lying on the floor and sitting on the stairs. We landed back at East Midlands Airport after a lumpy flight. The distances were measured from maps at a scale of 1:50,000 and do not allow for all the bends and zigzags, so we may have walked up to 25% more.

2019-04-21T04:26:21Z

https://www.cicerone.co.uk/diaries-of-a-monte-rosa-circuit

Gardening is a great way for parents and kids to spend quality time outdoors. Whether the goal is to grow flowers, herbs and vegetables; have an activity to share; learn about nature and the environment; or just break away from the pull of technology, it pays off with a bumper crop of fun and some life lessons. “Gardening can be a wonderful bonding opportunity for parents and their children,” says Jane Taylor, nationally recognized youth gardening advocate and founding curator of the 4-H Children’s Garden at Michigan State University. “Children are too attached to their electronics, and they need to be outside more. They’re not eating healthy foods, and they’re not getting enough exercise. That’s resulting in greater incidence of childhood obesity and early childhood diabetes. Teachers, schools and gardeners across the country have found that encouraging youngsters to grow their own vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers addresses myriad challenges and expands their curiosity. Thanks to the American Horticultural Society, National Garden Clubs, Master Gardeners and 4-H, youngsters from preschool to high school are being introduced to the wonders of gardening. In-school and community gardens allow kids to play in the dirt and see the results of their work. Formalized junior master gardening programs are offered from Alaska to Florida. Some are community-based organizations, sponsored by garden clubs or other groups. Many programs are offered in tandem with 4-H. Whether you have a place for a backyard garden or need to start with containers on a deck or patio, gardening offers unlimited possibilities. Colorful catalogs and websites provide the inspiration to research plants and put a garden together. If you live in a colder climate, start seeds indoors in cups on sunny windowsills. Seed packaging describes the planting depth, light and water requirements. Remember to turn the cups periodically so the plants will grow straight stems. For container gardens, buy larger pots with drainage holes, and use good-quality potting soil. Place your plants in a sunny spot on your deck or patio. Outside, stake out a sunny spot. Most vegetables and many flowers require at least six hours of sunlight a day. Start with a small plot to keep it manageable. Select three or fewer crops the first year. You will need trowels, shovels and rakes. Make the shopping trip a family outing. Look for smaller tools that will fit kids’ hands, buying real tools rather than ineffective plastic ones prone to breaking. Select fast-growing vegetables such as radishes, baby carrots, bush beans or cucumbers. Plant according to package instructions. Buying seedlings gives you a head start. “Flowers like marigolds, nasturtiums and zinnias can offer quick color, and brightly colored blooms attract pollinators to further ensure the success of your vegetable crops,” Kathy says. Herbs are an excellent way to introduce kids and their families to gardening. “As the gateway to gardening, herbs can be harvested right away and, with the proper care and requirements, they’ll keep on producing all season long,” says Joan Casanova of Bonnie Plants. She suggests growing basics such as basil, parsley and rosemary, and branching out with novelty herbs such as Thai basil, cinnamon basil or lemon thyme. 1 million free 2-inch oversized Cross cabbage transplants to schools in the lower 48 states each season. Students take the plants home and, with their families, tend to the cabbage plants. The Bonnie Plants cabbage program sparks children’s interest in agriculture while teaching them not only the basics of gardening, but the importance of growing their own food, says Stan Cope, president of Bonnie Plants. Let children explore the dirt for earthworms, dig holes to plant seedlings and place them in the ground. Take time to explain what is happening in the garden. Find age-appropriate books such as “Green Thumbs: A Kid’s Activity Guide to Indoor and Outdoor Gardening” by Laurie Winn Carlson, “Square Food Gardening with Kids” by Mel Bartholomew and “Seed, Sun, Soil: Earth’s Recipe for Food” by Cris Peterson. “Kid’s First Gardening” by Jenny Hendy includes step-by-step activities and crafts for kids ages 5 to 12. “Gardening Lab for Kids” by Renata Fossen Brown offers more than 50 experiments related to gardening. To introduce children to gardening on a larger scale, schedule a trip to a nearby farm. Many offer U-pick activities so your family can harvest fruits and vegetables. Find a simple recipe you and your kids can prepare together. Benedictine monks prepare for public worship. Writing a photo story about the monks is on my 2019 photo resolution list. My New Year’s resolutions are usually the same. I intend to spend more time in prayer, and be a better husband, neighbor, father and grandfather—and do a better job of remembering birthdays. I go back and forth about resolutions, believing, like starting a diet or exercise program, I need not wait until the beginning of a new year to begin doing what I should be doing or quit something I shouldn’t be doing. I don’t remember ever making photo resolutions. But this year feels different. It has been 50 years since my first pictures were published in a newspaper and I began my photography career. I realize the shadows are longer and my days are numbered, and there are photo contributions I still hope to make. I cannot say with certainty I will do these things because only my Creator knows the time I have left. Keep a camera handy, battery charged and always have a flash card or film. Read at least two photo biographies. Continue writing and learning to be a better writer. Begin assembling photo books for my family—photos for my children and grandchildren to be given as graduation, wedding or anniversary presents. Have prints made of our loved ones and put them up on our walls. Taking the advice of now-deceased LIFE Magazine photographer Horace Bristol and begin putting my photo house (archives) in order. Teach at least two photo seminars. Complete several other books for publication—some photo, some not. Finish several photo projects, including a story about Benedictine monks in Vermont. Continue teaching and growing with the Athens Photo Project—a nonprofit art program that promotes mental health recovery by providing opportunities for community members living with mental illness to express themselves creatively through photography. Take a first step toward photographing (on film) with a medium or large format camera an interpretive biblical project I have dreamed of doing for 40 years. I encourage you to make your own list. Write them down and post them in a place you and others see regularly. Perhaps it is to buy a better camera that allows you to do more of the things your creative heart desires. Maybe there is a faraway place you wish to visit and photograph, a photography seminar you want to attend or a photo story you long to do. Perhaps you hunger to expand your awareness and competence with specific types of photography: sports, portraiture, macro-photography, nature or documentary. Maybe you have a list of pictures you want to make. Hopefully, making a list of photo resolutions will help you discover what is important to you—your photo dreams—which should make your life and photography more rewarding while making you a better, more deliberate photographer. It has often been said, how will we know if we have arrived if we have no idea where we were going? A campfire is somewhat of an extravagance in summer, but it’s a downright necessity in winter. That’s all the more reason to use extra care when siting and building it. If there’s not an existing fire pit, find a flat area convenient to your tent or RV, out of the wind and away from snow-laden trees. If there’s snow—and it’s not too deep—dig down to ground level. Line the spot with non-river rocks or large chunks of wood as a base to keep the fire off the wet ground. Winter is one of the four best camping seasons. There are no crowds, no campfire restrictions, and you see and do things you won’t experience in any other season. Something else that sets winter apart is, of course, temperature, which can be exacerbated by rain, wind and snow. But if you can overcome those elements, you are well on your way to enjoying the season to its fullest. Wear the proper clothing. That means layers. They should be made of wool or man-made fabrics, especially your underwear. No cotton. Locate a campsite out of the wind and away from snow-laden trees. It should have an existing fire pit or a dry, flat or slightly elevated spot to build one. When tent camping, use a four-season tent that can withstand high wind and heavy snow. It should have a rain fly that completely covers the tent and extends to within a few inches of the ground. Do not pitch it on low ground, where cold and water can pool. Open the vents at night to limit condensation and icing on the inside walls. Sleep with a closed-cell pad underneath you to provide insulation from the cold ground. That goes for sleeping on a cot, too. Don’t overdress for bed, which can cause perspiration. Sleep in dry, fresh underwear, ideally the ones you will wear the next day. If you camp in an RV, skirt its bottom. Precut and fitted foam boards are ideal, but even a tarp hung around the RV will minimize the cold and heat-sucking wind. No matter how you camp in winter, always check the weather before leaving. Make sure your camping destination is open and accessible. Tell friends and family where you are going and when you expect to return. Also, pack extras of everything: water, food, fuel, clothing, blankets and emergency supplies. Most Americans are familiar with Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” and London’s “The Call of the Wild.” A few have even read them. But they are just two of the outdoor classics written in the past 100 years. Here are four more to curl up with in the off-season. Most people have never heard of them, but they are well worth the read. “Trout Bum,” by John Gierach. “Meditations on Hunting,” by Jose Ortega y Gassett. “The River Why,” by David James Duncan. “The Longest Silence: A Life in Fishing,” by Thomas McGuane. Zippers are one of winter’s biggest challenges. It’s nearly impossible to zip a jacket, backpack or tent when you’re wearing gloves. Fear not. Here’s a zip-it hack that will work on everything but a big mouth. Add an easy-to-grasp lanyard or loop of parachute cord to your zipper. Maybe dress it up with beads or baubles. Better yet, attach a whistle, small compass or micro flashlight for added practicality. When Amanda Petersen went into labor a month before her due date, she had no reason to expect complications. But after doctors at Grande Ronde Hospital in La Grande, Oregon, delivered Petersen’s daughter, Mya via cesarean section, they immediately realized something was wrong. The baby wasn’t breathing. Rushing to stabilize Mya, medical staff whisked her away to the nursery. It was December 14, 2015, and what Petersen was expecting to be an early Christmas blessing came with a nightmare. Excess fluid in Mya’s chest cavity meant hydrops fetalis—a rare condition often undetectable before birth and possibly fatal. She desperately needed a neonatal specialist, and the closest one was 170 miles away in Boise, Idaho. With time running short, hospital staff turned to technology to beam the needed specialist straight to Mya’s side. Petersen, food service coordinator at Grande Ronde Hospital, had seen the robots around the hospital from time to time. Now, a lanky, 5-foot-tall cart with a video monitor for a head stood by Mya, projecting the face of Dr. Stewart Lawrence, a neonatal-perinatal specialist from St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. EDGAR, or Educated Doctor Guided Assisting Robot, is one of five telemedicine robots at this 25-bed critical-care hospital. Its digital, real-time stethoscope let Lawrence listen to Mya’s heart and lungs, and vital signs and providers’ notes were logged directly into her electronic medical record. Lawrence determined that to remove the fluid from her lungs, Mya needed emergency surgery at SARMC. The video consult and speedy transport saved her life. “With telemedicine we’re making the impossible possible,” says Registered Nurse Doug Romer, who recently retired as executive director of Patient Care Services at Grande Ronde Hospital. Ringed by mountains, it’s the only hospital within Union County’s 2,038 square miles. One of the fastest-growing areas of health care, telemedicine is used by more than half the hospitals in the U.S. Nearly every area turns to it, from emergency and intensive care to psychiatry and pharmacy. Maybe it’s a videoconference you have with a surgeon. It could be the virtual home monitoring of your blood glucose levels so doctors at a distance can adjust your diabetes medication. Or it can be a digital stethoscope transmitting the real-time beating of your baby’s heart to a neonatologist in the next town over. Whatever the means, all telemedicine data zooms encrypted straight into the patient’s electronic medical record. During the two days Petersen spent recovering from her C-section at Grande Ronde, EDGAR allowed her to visit with Mya whenever she wanted. Once she was discharged from the hospital, Petersen traveled to Boise to reunite with Mya at SARMC’s neonatal intensive care unit. On Christmas Day, Lawrence delivered the good news: Mya was fine and could go home the next day. Just a few years earlier, Petersen and Mya’s story might not have been possible. Bringing telemedicine to La Grande was complicated. In 2008, administrators at SARMC invited Grande Ronde Hospital to participate in a grant program for telehealth services. Romer envisioned a multistate network of telemedicine offerings. “We realized we couldn’t get all our needs met from one hub,” he says, referring to SARMC. Standing in the way of Romer’s vision was an Oregon Medical Board regulation requiring that physicians pursuing a license to practice across state lines must examine the patient in person before diagnosing, treating and prescribing. With support from the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, Romer worked to remove the requirement. While making their case for the regulatory change, Grande Ronde officials showed board members someone’s dilated pupil enlarged on the robot’s monitor. The board members were amazed by the fine detail they could easily see. In 2009, the regulation was lifted. With that victory, the Oregon-Idaho telemedicine network was formed. That year, the National Rural Health Association named Grande Ronde Hospital Outstanding Rural Health Organization. In 2010, Amerinet recognized the hospital with the Healthcare Achievement Award for Quality in Patient Care Delivery and Satisfaction. The hospital won the 2011 ECRI Institute Health Devices Achievement Award for excellence in the field of health technology management. By 2014, Grande Ronde had teamed up with 20 pulmonologist-ICU physicians from Advanced ICU Care in St. Louis, Missouri. Grande Ronde added providers in intensive care, dermatology, neurology, maternal fetal medicine, neonatology, pediatrics and cardiology from SARMC, Oregon Health & Science University in Portland and Walla Walla Clinic in Washington. Now, Grande Ronde’s Remote Presence Health System includes 95 telemedicine providers. They respond to everything from strokes and heart attacks to provider education and genetic counseling. Soon they’ll add behavioral health. There is one oncologist in La Grande who also sees patients in Enterprise and Baker City. “If he’s gone when you need your chemotherapy dosage changed, with telemedicine we can call on four to five Oregon-licensed oncologists,” Romer says. The hospital’s emergency department relies heavily on telemedicine. The department sees about 50 patients every month. Before telemedicine, doctors would be woken up in the middle of the night more than 100 times in a month. Romer says telemedicine has cut that number in half. Grande Ronde now has a language access program for non-English-speaking and hearing-impaired patients. It offers real-time videoconferencing with certified medical interpreters across the U.S. and can accommodate 250 languages. ReadyCare puts patients and their devices in touch with Grande Ronde providers for noncritical and urgent care. Bluetooth-enabled in-home patient monitoring transmits patients’ encrypted vital signs to physicians via cellphone network. “It’s quite unique that we’re able to leverage all these areas,” Romer says. “We’re now a hub, also, instead of just a spoke. Today, Oregon is one of the more progressive states for telemedicine legislation. Romer says Grande Ronde is leading the way, not just for Oregon, but the nation. As Grande Ronde’s telemedicine continues to grow, so does Mya, now 3 years old. This month’s on-the-ground look at how telemedicine is revolutionizing care in rural communities is the first installment in a yearlong magazine series exploring the changing face of rural health care. This Ruralite-produced initiative will spotlight what’s working, the recipe for success and the unsung heroes behind the work. This special in-the-field storytelling, which will cover a broad geography and diverse topics over the course of 2019, is receiving support from the Murdock Charitable Trust, which funds projects and programs that enrich life in communities in Alaska and the Northwest. The sponsorship helps fund journalism that shines a light and makes a difference. We welcome story ideas at gro.etilarurnull@swenhtlaeh. It all started with her grandmother’s 90th birthday. Martha Curl, a cancer registrar with Providence Health and Services, wanted to do something special for her grandmother’s milestone event. She decided to place a request in the September 2015 Ruralite magazine on the At Home page asking fellow readers for 90 birthday cards as a surprise. A few weeks later, Martha was astonished to receive more than 900 cards and gifts from the magazine’s readership. More than pleased by the turnout from that At Home request, she again turned to Ruralite’s readership last October for an even more personal special occasion. Martha wanted 50 pairs of socks on her 50th birthday, to donate to children fighting cancer. While Martha’s occupation makes her aware of the struggles cancer patients face every day, she had her own battles with the disease. In October 2008, Martha’s then-13-year-old son, Trent, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a common form of cancer that attacks the lymph nodes, causing constant pain and fatigue for those who suffer from it. Determined to save her son’s life, Martha spent the next five months taking Trent for two-hour or longer drives to Portland, where he received aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and lived at one of Portland’s two Ronald McDonald houses. It was there that Martha’s experience with the charitable organization motivated her to support the families of children with serious illnesses as a lifelong campaign to wipe out cancer. Martha is not quick to take credit or pat herself on the back, but the effort she has put toward donating to the Ronald McDonald House Charities is anything but minor. “Martha is an absolute champion for fighting cancer,” says Kelly Deniston, a cancer registrar and Martha’s coworker. “Our company has this annual conference we all attend, and for years Martha’s been asking the hundreds of us to save all of the hotel soaps and shampoos we collect from vacations and conferences. She collects them all, sorts them and then donates them to the families staying in Portland. With the 10-year anniversary of her son’s diagnosis and her 50th birthday around the corner, Martha wanted to do something more to celebrate her son’s 10-plus years of remission. After placing her request in the October 2018 issue of Ruralite magazine, Martha received another outpouring of support: more than 425 donations in the form of socks, cash and personal stories from cancer survivors. Martha’s humble yet goodhearted nature proves to be her most consistent and endearing quality. Marines sort donations at a Toys For Tots warehouse. On a damp and chilly Christmas Eve in 2007, two Marines in dress-blue uniforms parked their government vehicle outside a dilapidated duplex in Portland, Oregon. Inside, a woman and her teenage daughter were watching from a window, anxiously awaiting the Marines’ arrival. Telling her other six children to stay put and not look outside, the woman walked out to meet the Marines with her eldest daughter. There to play the role of Santa Claus, the Marines introduced themselves and exchanged pleasantries. When they opened the trunk, the woman’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. At the sight of the large box full of toys for her children, the woman started sobbing, overcome with gratitude and relief. Inspired by his wife’s generous spirit, Hendricks looked for a charity that could make Diane’s words reality, only to find no such charity in Los Angeles. Diane’s vision immediately became Hendricks’ mission as a Marine. With the command’s approval and less than two weeks until Christmas, Hendricks—who also worked as the director of public relations for Warner Bros.—reached out to his contacts in the entertainment industry to promote the fledgling program. They gathered 5,000 toys and distributed them to war orphans and other children, working until 11:30 p.m. Christmas Eve. The following year, Hendricks’ close friend designed the three-car train graphic that serves as the program’s logo. That friend was Walt Disney. In response to its massive growth and appeal, the program evolved in 1991, becoming the Toys For Tots Foundation—a national non-profit organization governed by a board of retired Marines. The foundation maintains a strong partnership with Marine Corps Forces Reserve and carries forward Hendricks’ legacy, collecting and distributing millions of toys to underprivileged children every year. While the Navajo Marines’ service is well documented and widely known—thanks in part to the 2002 film Windtalkers—Lara is quick to point out that countless Native Americans from tribes all over the country have served honorably and admirably in the Marine Corps for decades. The lack of large population centers surrounding most native reservations meant the program wasn’t serving thousands of native children. Today, Toys For Tots’ Native American Program supplies toys and books to more than 120,000 children living on reservations. To Sgt. Eric Castillo, 6th ESB’s maintenance management chief and a seven-year veteran of the program, the book drives are just as important as the toy collection efforts, and Marines go above and beyond to support them. For Mesa, the program’s impact has an even deeper meaning than ensuring every child has a toy for the holidays. While donations are always needed and welcome, Mesa says those who cannot afford a donation can come out and support the program by volunteering to help sort, pack and ship toys whenever they can. Me and my young mother in Costa Mesa, California, before we moved to Creek Road in Ojai. I was 1 year old. In seconds they are lost forever—our homes, our dreams, our irreplaceable heirlooms and precious photographs—memories devoured by roaring winds, racing flames or trespassing waves of water. Fifty years ago, churning floodwaters swept away our family home, taking my mother’s life and everything my parents had labored so many years to build. All documents, records, letters, family pictures, negatives from my childhood through my teenage years were lost. My father, brothers, sister and two friends escaped when rescued by a helicopter just minutes before we were swept downriver as well. The 1969 flood claimed many lives. During any tragedy, escaping with life is most important. We are thankful, but there is real grief in losing one’s home, pets and precious personal items that connect us to the past and present and help us keep memories alive. For me, the only physical items I have to connect me to my mother is a small nightstand my brother retrieved from piles of debris a mile down the creek from where our home was washed away and a few copies of family snapshots my relatives had, mostly made when I was a small child. My brother refinished the nightstand and gave it to me as a Christmas present a year after the flood. After a half century and dozens of moves, I still have it. As a news photographer, I covered many natural disasters—fires, floods, tornadoes and earthquakes. My heart ached each time I witnessed the deep pain of people who had lost loved ones, homes and personal belongings. Of all the material things lost, irreplaceable photographs was what they grieved over most. In light of the barrage of natural disasters, take steps to save your precious memories. Burn DVDs or CDs of images you want to keep. Make at least two copies. Keep one in your home and another in a fireproof, climate-controlled safe or storage facility in another state. The lifespan of a a DVD or CD is debatable. Some say they are good 7 to 10 years. Make archival prints of important images and store them in acid-free archival boxes in a fireproof, climate-controlled safe or facility. Store images on a designated external hard drive, although I don’t trust these as my only source of backup. There are too many stories of lost information, especially after dropping the drive. Store images in “the cloud”—a network of integrated computers that store your data online, as opposed to keeping them on your hard drive. Like physical storage units where we keep our valuables, the cost of digital online storage varies, depending on how much storage you need. As long as a natural disaster doesn’t destroy the mammoth city of computers holding your pictures, your images should be safe and retrievable. But there is always a risk. It’s a dilemma. I opposed online storage because of horror stories of photographers losing all their images when a company collapsed. With the cloud, this is highly unlikely. I also don’t like someone else having access to my information. However, anything you post is out there. I continually see my pictures on unfamiliar sites. Once I post something online, there is no such thing as private. Somebody can access it. Always. I have somewhat made peace with this, but it still feels like living in a glass house where every stranger can see my daily life. There is no one perfect system. In the end, I suggest you back up your most precious pictures a variety of ways. Last month, someone took my phone with all of my images and contacts. I tried to track it, but the thief had turned the device off. I didn’t have my data—my words, contacts and pictures—backed up on the cloud, though I had downloaded many pictures. I think I learned my lesson. Though I despise the idea of someone else holding and having access to my images and information, I am in the process of backing up my work online and keeping DVDs, negatives and hard copies.

2019-04-20T00:49:23Z

https://www.ruralite.org/category/articles/page/2/

"watermen"; "Saka men (Saka Turks)", "Pelasgians; "fishermen"; "men of ocean"; "soldiers of the Sun"; "soldier people"; "followers of the sun", "Sun worshipping people";"the readers of written works"; "the top readers of written works"; "the readers of secrets"; "the readers of the winds"; "the readers of the God"; "water studying men"; "men of ocean waters"; "sheep breeder men"; "cattle breeder men"; "yellow wood dealers"; "knowledge people, light people"; "wearing yellow pants", "yellow pants people" . "house of boats"; "boat owners"; "boat builders"; "from Anatolia", that is, "were originally Anatolians". "House of Sun"; "house of Lord Oguz"; "Sky-Oguz lords " (Sky-Turk lords); "house of Saka Lords", "house of Saka Turks","house of Saka Huns";"supreme lords of the water"; "school people", "learned people"; "houses of light", "houses of enlightenment", "houses of learned people"; "good speaker", "good language"; "ocean going people", "open sea people"; "people who studied water"; "people who brought running water to houses"; "boat makers, boat owners, boat operators, boatmen"; "people who breeded sheep"; "cattle lords", "house of cattle"; "sky-wise lords"; "village-wise lords"; "people who washed themselves". "a house of sun"; "sun and moon people"; "sky light" or "light lord" people; "sunlight" people; "the water lord", "the Saka lord" people; "water man", like "water living life"; "soldier man"; "school people", "learned people"; "fliers?", "flying people?" ß(this needs to be verified yet!); "sheep breeders". So, the Sardinians, being the readers and writers of many fields, particularly, being masters of water and light related subjects and their scientific understanding of nature in their time, were enlightened people who endured the harsh conditions of their environment by ingenious solutions to their problems. The SardinianNURAGHES are one of their best built and long standing ancient architectural creations. Their knowledge and enlightenment are reflected even in the names NORA and NURAGHE or SU NURAGHE. ". . . . Nora the ancient capital of Sardinia. A sixteenth century tower dominates a promontory by which you may see the vestiges of the ancient town, that was founded by Phoenicians as a double port of call for their sea trading: one port sheltered from the west wind and another shielded from the mistral. Nora began a Punic and then a Roman city, but it disappeared around the third century B.C., perhaps because of a cataclysm. Today it is possible to visit the remains of a Punic background, of Roman buildings, of a Punic-Roman temple, of thermal baths decorated with beautiful mosaics and above all a pratically intact theatre which date back to the Imperial era. It is very interesting to discover the ancient water supplying system, with its big underground ducts, the mosaics with fine decorating or mechanical drawings. The sea still preserves a part of the old city of Nora, that sinked because of an earthquake. Many buildings are no more recognizable under the crusts of sea and time. There is a myth that says that Nora was founded by Norace, son of Ninph Erithia and Ermes, who arrived in Sardinia from Iberia. The archaeological excavations demonstrate that Phoenicians probably founded Nora in the seventh century B.C. Many remains witness this ancient civilization: the necropolis with the Phoenician cremation tombs, the old levels of southern houses. Carthaginian monuments are represented by few graves, Tanit Temple (Phoenician goddess) and some cisterns called “a bagnarolaâ€�. Nora ruins are facing to one clean and white beach. Afternoon continuation of the trip towards Barumini. Visit to one of the most important archaeological places in Mediterranean area: SU NURAXI, the biggest and most famous of them and a good taste of the primitive grandeur of the island's only indigenous civilization. The snag is access: the site lies a kilometre outside the village of Barúmini, 50km north-east of Cágliari. Its dialect name means simply "the nuraghe" and not only is it the biggest nuraghic complex on the island, but it's also thought to be the oldest, dating probably from around 1500 B.C. Comprising a bulky fortress surrounded by the remains of a village, Su Nuraxi was a palace complex at the very least – possibly a capital city. The central tower once reached 21m (now shrunk to less than 15m), narrow passageways and stairs, connect its outer defences and inner chambers. The whole complex is thought to have been covered with earth by Sards and Carthaginians at the time of the Roman conquest, which may account for its excellent state of preservation. Continuation to Senorbi small historical capital of the Trexenta region. Dinner and overnight stay in the special hotel “da SEVERINOâ€� famous for hospitality, simply genuine country farmer gastronomy." "The city was founded by Phoenician seafarers around IX-VIII century B.C. Little evidence remains of this ancient period in Nora'a history, however an important testimony is "la Stele di Nora" (The Star of Nora), on which there is an inscription which bears the name of Sardinia. Nora's Punic history, to a large extent, also remains a mystery, although the materials used in the construction of tombs suggest that it was a rich merchant settlement." First the name NORA is said to be the name of the ancient capital city of Sardinia. This name is very enlightening because it is from the Turkish word "NUR E" (NUR Evi) meaning "house of light", "home of light" where Turkish word NUR means "light" and E (Ev) means "house, home; country". This tells us that the ancient Sardinians were Turkish speaking people. This we found in PART-1 of this study where I showed that they were Turanian Saka Turks and Tanri believing people. Thus we have another corroboration regarding their Turanian Turk identity. Since they were Sun worshipping people, and the sun is the source of light, accordingly, they named their capital city NORA (i.e., NUR EVI). We will see that this name is also present in the name NURAGHE. Even presently, there is a Sardinian city by the name NUORO in the north-east of Sardinia. Similarly, there is the city named ORISTANO which is very much a name like the Turkish name TURKISTAN. Most likely, ORISTANO was originally the name "NURISTAN O" meaning "country of light" or "light of God", and possibly "TURISTAN O" meaning "country of Tur" or "Tur God". The Turkish names NUR, NURIYE, NURAN, NURAY, NURTAN, NURTEN, NURSEL and many other similar names are used as girl's names in Turkish culture. And NURI, NURETTIN, plus others for men. It is also very important to note the name "la Stele di Nora" (The Star of Nora). Curiously, when the word STELE meaning "star" is rearranged as "ELTES", we find that it is the altered and Italianized form of the Turkish word "ILTIZ" (YILDIZ) meaning "star". How close can one get to the Turkish language? Clearly, it was originally the Turkish word "ILTIZ" (YILDIZ) that someone restructured to form the word STELE! I showed above that the name NORA was Turkish "NUR EV" meaning "house of light". This definition in Turkish make the name "la Stele di Nora" (The Star of Nora) as the "The House of Star Light", that is, "House of Sunlight". Again we find that the name of the city was in Turkish and it was named after the Sun and its light that they worshipped. We must also mention that the name of one of the six sons of OGUZ KAGAN (ancestor name of the Tur/Turk/Oguz people) was "YILDIZ HAN" meaning "Star Lord". The Sardinians being Turanian "An Turks" (Gök Turks) - (see Part-1 of this study), could have also used the name of Yildiz Han in naming their city. In either case, this ancient city was built, named and lived in by ancient Turanians! Figure 1. Ruins of ancient Capital City of Nora, Sardinia, CAPO di PULA. It was an ancient harbor city. The tower must have been a "lighthouse" we still see the Sardinian national color of "yellow" still remaining on the stones. We must also note that the site where the lighthouse is located is a "HILL" (TEPE, BAŞ) shape. The Italian word CAPO, meaning "head; mind", in the name Capo di Pula, is also linguistically interesting. In the context of "head; mind", CAPO (KAPO) is from Turkish "KAFA" (TEPE, BAŞ)"head; mind". As can be seen from the picture, the place where the tower is located makes up a "hill" (tepe, kafa) appearance with respect to its environment. Thus we again have the linguistic connection with Turkish. Additionally, another meaning of this word CAPO must be very much in line with the meaning of the Turkish word "KAPU" (KAPI) meaning "gate". A harbour place is also a "gate" to a country. The Italian word PORTO means "harbour" (port). PORT and PORTICO (meaning "enterance, porch") are related words in Italian. But the word PORTICO, rearranged as "COPOTIR", is the altered and restructured form of Turkish word "KAPUTIR" (KAPITUR) meaning "it is gate". Thus, I say this Italian word CAPO is also the same as Turkish KAPU and Turkish KAFA. shaped columns indicating that the city was a Turanian city. before their wedding night - (i.e., "GINA GECESI" in Turkish). So does the bridegroom. "it is sun". The Phoenicians were also called by the name KHNA, that is, the SUN (GÃœN) people. Phoenicians were Turkish GÃœNHANS! Turks are also known as AL BAŞ meaning "red head". by Turanians probably influenced this GINA tradition as well! First, let us understand the people who were named PHOENICIAN by the ancient Greeks. "Phoenicia (UK play /fɨˈnɪʃə/, US /fəˈniːʃə/; from the Greek: Φοινίκη: Phoiníkē), was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550 BC to 300 BC. The Phoenicians used the galley, a man-powered sailing vessel, and are credited with the invention of the bireme. They were famed in Classical Greece and Rome as 'traders in purple', referring to their monopoly on the precious purple dye of the Murex snail, used, among other things, for royal clothing, and for their spread of the alphabet (or abjad), upon which all major modern alphabets are derived. In the Amarna tablets of the 14th century BC, people from the region called themselves Kenaani or Kinaani (Canaanites), although these letters predate the invasion of the Sea Peoples by over a century. Much later, in the 6th century BC, Hecataeus of Miletus writes that Phoenicia was formerly called χνα, a name Philo of Byblos later adopted into his mythology as his eponym for the Phoenicians: "Khna who was afterwards called Phoinix". Egyptian seafaring expeditions had already been made to Byblos to bring back "cedars of Lebanon" as early as the third millennium BC. "Phoenicia" is really a Classical Greek term used to refer to the region of the major Canaanite port towns, and does not correspond exactly to a cultural identity that would have been recognised by the Phoenicians themselves. It is uncertain to what extent the Phoenicians viewed themselves as a single ethnicity. Their civilization was organized in city-states, similar to ancient Greece. However in terms of archaeology, language, life style and religion, there is little to set the Phoenicians apart as markedly different from other cultures of Canaan. As Canaanites, they were unique in their remarkable seafaring achievements." The name PHOENICIAN, rearranged as "CONHAN-PEII", is the altered, restructured and Hellenized form of the Turkish name "GÃœNHAN BEYI" meaning"Günhan Lord", that is, "Sun-God Lord".KINAANI which is from Turkish GÃœNHANI meaning "Sun Lords", and additionally they were also called by the Semitized name CANAANITE which is the altered, restructured and Semitized form of the Turkish name "GÃœNHAN IDI" meaning "they were Günhan peoples". The name KHNA is the altered and Semitized form of Turkish "KÃœN O""it is sun" in one hand. Additionally KHNA is also related to the Turkish word GINA (i.e.,HENNA) which is a reddish colored die that ancient Turks traditionally used in order to color their hair and hands a reddish color. Phoenicians (Günhans) were also fames for their royal "purple color", that is, "MOR" in Turkish and it was produced from the sea mollusk called "MUREX". Note the Turkish MOR and MUR in Murex. The name PHOENICIAN, rearranged as "PHENCI-ÖYAN" meaning "FENCI ÖYLER meaning "Houses of science". This definition in Turkish identifies the Phoenicians as the scientifically learned people. The Figure 4 below shows these ancient Turanian Günhan Tur/Turk/Oguz peoples in their clean shaven face and long conical head dresses. Even at present , the Turkish AL BAŞ "Whirling Dervishes" wear the same hat. the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. (From book "The World of the PHARAOHS" by Henri Stierlin, p. 24-25). Phoenicians, who were the Turanian Turkish peoples named GÃœNHANS, name of the first son of Oguz Kagan, were man of science, reading, writing and schooling. Thus they were the enlightened peoples whose alphabetic symbols (damga in Turkish) were taken by the Greeks and the Semites to enlighten themselves. We must note the ancient Turanian "conical hat" that is worn by all of them. The conical hat which is a Turanian symbol of "AL TEPE" (AYDIN TEPE) meaning "enlightened head". It was also the symbol of the Sky-God and the Sun-God which lighted up the world and everything around it. These bronze statuttes are wearing red conical hats and their bodies are also colored in red. This is because they were Sun worshipping peoples. The Turkish term "AL TEPE" (KIZIL BAŞ) has been altered and Semitized as BETEL, or Aryanized as BETYL and BETILE meaning "house of God". It is said that the Phoenicians had contributed to the founding of the Sardinian city of NORA. This is expected because Sardinians, Corsicans (Kor Sakalar), Etruscans, Phoenicians, Troyans, Minoans and the rest of the Pelasgians were all Turanian peoples who were kin to each other. They were the "SAKA TURKS" meaning the "Water Turks, Sea going Turks". They were all branches of the same family tree. Here, with respect to the name NORA, it is useful to remember the mythological Phoenician princess EUROPA whose Phoenician king father had the nameAGENOR. The name AGENOR sounds very much like the Sardinian names NORA and NURAGHE. Europa, mythologically was supposedly abducted by ZEUSwho brought her to the island of Crete. Princess EUROPA was from the Phoenician city of so-called TYRE, that is, "TYR-E" which is the altered form of Turkish"TUR Evi" meaning "house of TUR". This is exactly the same as the name TROY of Trojans - where TROY is the altered form of "TUR ÖY" meaning "house of Tur"! The name AGENOR, rearranged as "AGE-NOR", is from the Turkish name "AGA NUR" (NUR AGA, NUR BEY) meaning "Lord of Light" or "Light Lord". In one hand this refers to the SUN that lights up everything, and alternatively, it refers to the "human head" - which enlightens man! Similarly, the name AGENOR, rearranged as "GON ARE", is from the Turkish name "GÃœN ERI" meaning "sun man" (sun believer, believer of the light; believer of enlightenment; soldier of sun; hero of sun". The King AGENOR was the king of Turkish GÃœNHANS, that is, the Semitized name "CANAANITES" and the Hellenized so-called name "PHOENICIAN". Therefore, as "sun and enlightenment" believing people, it was natural for this Phoenician king to have the name"GÃœN ERI" meaning "the sun man". Even nowadays, the names "GÃœNER" and "GÃœNERI" are used as Turkish male names and last names. But more importantly, the name AGENOR has another meaning in Turkish. That we find when we decipher the name AGENOR as "OGENAR". In this case the name AGENOR is an altered form of the Turkish word "OKUNUR" meaning "that which is read". This of course refers to the written works which are read. Phoenicians produced alphabetically (i.e., so-called "abjad") written books that were read. In other words, in a way, the mythical name AGENOR was a personification of the "written material" and, thus, that of "writing". Ancient Greeks got writing from the Phoenicians, that is, the Günhan Turks! The term "ABJAD" comes from the names of the first four characters in the Turkish alphabet, that is, A, Be, Ce, De - all concatenated to make ABECEDE. This forms the word ABCAD - which is then Semitized into "ABJAD"! Furthermore, the name AGENOR, rearranged as "NURE-AG", is from Turkish name "NURI AGA" meaning "Lord Nuri" (Nuri Bey) where the name NURI is a name for Turkish men. NURI also means "enlightened man". With this insight and understanding of the name AGENOR, we can now compare it with one decipherment of the Sardinian name NURAGHE. The name NURAGHE,rearranged as "NUR-AGHE", is from the Turkish name "NUR AGA" again meaning "Lord light" or "Light Lord". This is also a symbolization of 1) the light giving Sun and 2) the enlightened "human head"! In Greek mythology, king AGENOR was mythologically the twin-brother of BELUS, and the father of Cadmus and Europa. The Greek name BELUS (who was the twin-brother of AGENOR, that is, OKUNUR in Turkish), is the altered, restructured and Hellenized form of the Turkish word"BILIŞ" - meaning "it is knowing, it is knowledge". Thus the so called Greek mythologic name BELUS was actually a personification of "knowledge" - but in Turkish. Indeed when we read written material, we learn information from it - which is "knowledge". Thus, AGENOR (i.e., OKUNUR in Turkish) and BELUS(i.e., "BILIŞ" in Turkish) are definitely twin brother concepts. They cannot be separated from each other. One reads and one learns! So the source of all this so called ancient Greek mythology was in Turkish and they were stolen by way of ciphering the Turkish concepts described by Turkish words and phrases! Also we note that in mythology, what one sees on the surface can be a very different thing or concept than what the ancients meant allegorically. Hence, they can be totally different concepts! Furthermore, the name BELUS, rearranged as "BEL-US", is the restructured form of the Turkish expression "BIL" and "US" meaning "knowledge" and "wisdom"respectively. "BIL" and "US" are again found at the "head of man". From all of this, we see that ancient Greek mythology has not told us anything truthfully. In one hand, they kept in the dark the knowledge and civilization of the ancient Turanian Tur/Turk/Oguz peoples - thereby obliterating that ancient Turanian civilization, and in the other hand, they usurped that civilization (i.e., its knowledge, it science, it schools, its language, its teachings, its canons, its religion etc,) and presented it in a modified fashion - as if it was their own! Many Turanian concepts, traditions and knowledge were presented in a new form as riddles (e.g., AGENOR and BELUS just above). Turkish word BIL means "know" which is the root of verb 'bilmek' meaning "to know", BILGI means "knowledge" and BILGE means "knowledgable". From BILGE comes another Turkish word "AKIL" meaning "1. reason, intelligence; wisdom, discernment, discretion. 2. mind, comprehension, memory. 3. idea, opinion, thought. 4. prudence. 5. maturity, age of discretion." In Greek mythology, the Greek name CADMUS (who was the son of AGENOR (OKUNUR)), rearranged as "UASMCD", is the altered, restructured and Hellenized form of the Turkish word "YAZMaKDi" meaning "it is writing". Of course, what is read (OKUNUR in Turkish) refers to the written works, that is, books, writings on stone, etc. Turkish word "YAZI" means "writing, words that are written in some form of writing". Writing and reading, knowledge and enlightenment are all related kin concepts! But these names and the concepts that they personified have been mythologically put into riddles that have never been properly explained or understood. In view of all these concepts, let us now get back to the name of the mythological Phoenician princess EUROPA whose Phoenician king father had the nameAGENOR. a) In one meaning, the name EUROPA, rearranged as "EU-PAR-O", is the altered and Hellenized form of the Turkish expression "EYI PARA O" meaning "it is good money". Supposedly, the name of "EUROPE" was from the name of the Phoenician (Günhan) Princess EUROPA. Phoenicians commercially were very advanced and hence rich people. When the mythological name Zeus (Turkish SÖZ) eloped with the Phoenician Princess EUROPA, the Greeks actually usurped the Phoenician school system, and with it, the "good money making" system. Indeed, since ancient times, he who had studied in schools and learned how to read and write always earned good positions in the government establishments, in schools and also in the commercial establishments, therefore, they made good money compared to the illiterate farmers! So, I say that mythologically, the nameEUROPA was a personification of the "God/Goddess" concept in one hand, and the personification of "money" in the other. But all of these linguistic manipulations were done on Turkish words and phrases! Turkish word EYI (IYI) means "good", PARA means "money", BIR means "One", BIR O means "God". Curiously, the EURO is the current name of the monetary unit of Europe! b) The name EUROPA, rearranged as "PAR-O-UE", is the altered and Hellenized form of a Turkish expression "BIR-O ÖYÃœ" meaning "House of One God". In this context, it is the name of the so-called continent of "EUROPE" which is coined and based on ancient Turanian religious concepts. In ancient Syria, the word for God was also "BAR" (BIR) as an alternative to "BAAL", [see "An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary" by E. A. Wallis Budge, p. 203b"]. So, again it was a Turanian word. The name SYRIA - (SURIYE in Turkish) is a name that has been altered from the original Turkish word "TURIYE"meaning "home of Turs", "land of Turs". The Phoenician city of TYRE, that is, "TYR-E" (TUR EVI) is presently known as SUR in Turkish. So, there has been a T to S "mistranslation" in changing the ancient Turanian name. c) In the context that EUROPA was the name of a Phoenician princess, the name EUROPA, rearranged as "PERUA-O", is the altered, restructured form of the Turkish expression "PERUyA O" (BIROyA)" meaning "goddess". The name PERU (Semitized as "PHARAOH") was the godly title of the ancient Masarian (so-called "EGYPT") "god kings". But PERU is another form of the Turkish word "BIR O" - meaning "One God". PERUYA would be the feminized form of the name PERU, thus, meaning "goddess". PERU is also a form of the Turkish girl's name PERI meaning "fairy". In concluding this section, we can confidently say that the ancient world was a Turanian Tur/Turk world, and in this context, the so-called "Mediterranean Sea" was a Turanian 'lake' surrounded by many clans of the Turanian Tur/Turk/Oguz peoples - contrary to the totally distorted and false picture presented to us all by the "ancient" history writers. The present European civilization not only got everything from the ancient Turanian civilization, but also, is populated by countless numbers of ancient Turanian Tur/Turk/Oguz peoples who have all been converted to Christianity - and their names and identities Aryanized. Of course, their ancient Turanian language of Turkish was totally confused by the Aryan clergy - while the "Aryan" languages were fabricated from it - and forced onto the native Turanians!

2019-04-26T04:09:19Z

http://polatkaya.net/Sardinian_Capital_City_Nora.html

She was a baby doll that was filled with some type of gel, so that when you held her she felt heavy, like a real baby. I think she weighed about 2 pounds. The following are links about Baby Feels So Real you may find interesting. Also check out the other pages. The following are comments left about Baby Feels So Real from site visitors such as yourself. They are not spell checked or reviewed for accuracy. The doll also had hard plastic inside that felt like bones. The head had a soft spot just like an newborn infant would. i am afraid that is not a baby feel so real; they had hair! perhaps this is a knock off of some sort? Actually, i don't think they had hair. The one i had looked just like the one above. When I was growing up I had a baby feel so real in the early eighties. She had short blonde hair and was filled with gel. I remember I left her out in the sun and she popped!!! The goo came out. The doll pic above is not the one I remember. My Baby Feels So Real had short blond hair as well, and looked nothing like the doll above. She also smelled like baby powder. Maybe the pic above was of a later version? I don't remember my doll having a soft spot or a plastic frame inside -- she was just all gel and really heavy, so if you flung her at someone, it totally hurt. After I stopped playing with her, she ended up at the bottom of my closet and when I pulled her out years later, she was all deformed because the gel had solidified over the years. I'm gonna echo Victoria.....My Baby Feels So Real had short blond hair as well, and looked nothing like the doll above. She also smelled like baby powder. (I remember that!! My mom used to tell me she had baby powder for brains!) Nope... no skeleton. On a winter trip to Grandma's, she ended up riding in the trunk (thanks, Dad).... so not only did I cry for 2 hours, but when he finally pulled over & got the doll- she had *GASP* frozen solid & was squished & deformed..... I was horrified!!!! The above pictured baby is the one from the earlier 90s. That's the one I had....and I wish we could get one now for our little girls! My baby feel so real was the earlier version w/the gel inside. Somehow she got "cut" and started leaking carmel like gel. I must have been 4 years old, I cried so hard my mom had to run and get me a new one! I'm going to check e-bay to try and find one for my little girls. My Baby feels so real once had a head band. She wear a pink shirt with a heart on it and white diaper. I had my baby feel so real in the early 80's. She had short blond hair and was full of gel - which my brother let out by poking her with a pin! I still have my Baby feels so real doll I got in 1994.She was my birthday present and I still have her She has a soft spot in the middle of her head and came with a bottle. I still have my Baby and her box.She has a soft spot in the middle of her head. Baby came with a bottle I got her in 1994. My original Baby Feels So Real is bald-headed. She has her original diaper shirt, flannel diaper and headband. I just can't figure out if the shoes and socks are original or if she was barefoot? Anyone know for sure? Someone has one for sale on e-Bay (w/o original anything)and the bidding is over $100 so far. The doll my daughter has is still her favorite one. The gel inside the doll was cornsyrup. Does anyone have the instructions that came with the Baby Feels So Real doll? Mine got lost in a move and I need to know how to reliquify the cornsyrup without damaging the doll. The instructions that came with it told you how. If you have them please post on this site. I don't have internet but I do check back on the site from time to time. I tried to get instructions from the toy companies in the past but I could not remember which one had produced the doll and none of them responded. I have since found out that Tyco made the doll but they are no longer a separate company. So if you have the instruction I would really appreciate them. My baby was the short blonde hair version, just gel inside, got left in the car once, froze all deformed, I still have her, but REALLY want one that's not messed up for my daughter, I have been looking everywhere, any ideas where I could get one? My baby is still like new but I need another one for my little girl because I loved mine so much when I was little that I know she will to. So does anyone know where I could get a new one? I took my doll like the one in the picture to the grocery store and weighed her. She weighed 3 pounds and 12 ounces. She is still like new with the velcro diaper, pink shirt and headband. All of my 5 granddaughters played with her and loved her. We named her Hope. I had one of these babies when I was little. It was my favorite and it was one of the newer ones that was made in the 90's. I would like to get one since I no longer have mine. I think we should hunt down the creator and make them to make these dolls again! I has the baby feel so real as well and I'm looking so hard for her. Mine was bald with a soft spot and she was heavy with bones in her! i loved her so much, but was too young to have her. I really would like another one seriously1!If there is any way to find them Please post them on here! thank you! I also had a doll called Baby Feel So Real Doll back in the 80's it had blond short hair and yes it was filled with gel or cilcone,it was heavy like a real baby.she was so cute i been trying to look for one but can't seem to find any one on ebay that would have it gosh that is so wacked..i dont eve see pictures of it. I have one just like the picture. She has bones and soft spot on head. My daughters love to play with her. I could not belive that I could not find her on ebay. I also wish that who ever made her would make them again for todays kids. I had one of these dolls as well. It had straight blonde hair. I don't remember any "bones". My friend had one exactly like mine, and she stabbed hers on the back with a fork so we could see the gel inside! I remember hating that it would flatten on the back when left for too long, and it did look quite deformed and creepy. I was never a big fan of the doll, just because it was too weird, I could never get very attached to it as a favorite. I always thought it was kinda ugly, too. If this is the same doll I remember having, it had hair and no bones. I'm confused! I had one in the 90's and it looked just like the bald one in the picture. It had "bones" and a soft spot. My little brother got a hold of it one day when he was teething and well it didn'd make it. I would love to find one again. I would love to buy this. I have been searching for years for a baby feels so real doll, the one with th etiny bones. I remember this doll. I was looking for the name of the doll because i had bought one for my little sister in the early 90's. the one i bought had the bones in it i thought it was the neatest thing. now that i know i can try and buy my daughter one well.... heck i want to buy one for me I love dolls. This one to me was so unusual perhaps that is what drew me to it. My little sister never did care for that doll much but i did. I had this doll! Her name was Zeeza. I think I still have her somewhere. She was AMAZING. I loved her, carried her till I was in middle school even. I got real baby hand-me-downs from my mom's friends, so Zeeza had a 1000 outfits, bibs, bottles, diaper bags, cribs, etc. When I was in high school, she got injured, though -- my parrot bit her hand, and her gel started oozing out, so we superglued her hand and wrapped a bandaid around it. And still she sits on my dresser at my parents' house, in her Christening gown and bandaided hand. I never played with Barbies, but Baby Feel So Real was my life!!! BTW, mine was probably from the early 90s, and she was little, heavy, bald, she came with gel and bones and the soft spot. I also had a water baby that you had to fill with water and was heavy, and she had hair, but she wasn't Zeeza. The bald infant was the Baby Feel So Real that I knew and loved. I had a baby feel so real when I was a little girl. My papaw had bought it for me for Christmas one year. Now he has passed. Since then I have been looking for another baby feel so real, but haven't had any luck. If anyone knows where I could find a doll like it. Please post it on this site. I think everyone's descriptions of their Baby Feels So Real dolls are correct - there were different versions, and in 1991, I think she was bald and had the "bones" and soft spot. I had mine in the 80's - the one with the gel. She's get real soft and mushy in the heat, and hard-as-a-rock in the cold. Remember the song from teh commercial? "Baby Feels So Real, feels just right...not too heavy, not too light. Baby Feel So Real." Wish I still had mine or I could find one online. Awww I miss my doll she was my favorite!! I had tons of dolls and she beat them all, big or small, cheap or expensive, she trumped them all! I think Im going to go to my parents house tomorrow and go through my bins with all my childhood dolls in them and get her out and hope shes dressed in her clothes cause if not then that a whole other set of bins I'll have to go through! The Bald Baby Feel So Real is from 1991. She has bones and a soft spot. I still have mine. Seriously the most realistic baby doll ever created. Hey guys it me again. I wrote a comment on the baby feel so real not to long ago. I am the fourth one up from the bottom of the page. I just wanted you guys to know. I just bought two baby feel so real off of ebay about 2 weeks ago. One is white and one is black. So they are out their for the ones that love the doll as much as I do. I wanted to share it with you so that you all will know where to look for one. I haven't received mine in the mail yet, but I can't wait until I do. It just goes to show that if you look for something long enough then eventually it might just pay off. I wanted to thank you guys for having this site on the web for everyone to share their comments and feelings. It has been wonderful for me and helpful too. After all I found what I was looking for. i had the 1991 version that had bones and i believe it was filled with corn syrup.lol.I used to take her everywhere. I have a baby feel so real. I had it since 8th grade and my daughter let the dog chew it up. I am so sad because that was my favorite doll. I had a Baby Feel So Real in the 80's and it did not have bones. I loved that doll and took it everywhere with me. One day she fell in the pool and my mean cousin fished her out with a fishing poll and it put a whole in her. I tried to tape her up, but she kept leaking her gel and my mom finally made me throw her away. I was so upset. I would lov eto get another one for my girls. I had one for a fleeting moment:( It was my worst Christmas EVER! I opened it up one Christmas morning and went to take her out of the box only to find that there must have been some sort of mishap at the factory because the entire back of her head and hair were covered in glue:( My mom promised to return her for a new one but they were all sold out and my mom decided it wouldn't be a big deal to just by a different doll. I never did get my new baby feels so real. I'll never forget how close I was to having one. I am 32 yrs old right now with two REAL children. But that little girl in me will always want that doll. It's sad they stopped production on them because they sound like they just haven't held up against the test of time. I would love it if they made the dolls again. It sounds like you all wish for the same. Just this time maybe they could make the dolls a little more durable. Until then, she will always be on my Christmas wish list! Merry Christmas everybody:) Keep wishing, maybe one day she'll return! I had one in the late 70's or early 80's. My mom kept her hidden in the trunk until Christmas Eve so when I woke up Christmas morning there she was under the tree frozen solid. I never really like her much, she was too heavy and weird. Her legs always had creases and bends in them and it was hard to dress her. I preferred dolls that were softer and lighter like rag dolls. My mom is an x-ray tech and I used to carry this doll around with me everywhere. One day, my mom decided that she wanted to x-ray it to see what it was filled with. There were definitely all sorts of nuts and bolts and washers inside my doll. When the doll finally had all the wear it could take, this white, almost glue-looking gel leaked out from it. Wish I could find one now. I just wanted to tell you guys. Their is a baby feel so real on ebay for sale right now. It has a few hours left on it. Just so you guys will know. I think it is safe to say that everyone that has commented on this website really wants another doll like we had when we where little girls. I just wanted you guys to know that just in case you want to check it out. I think it must have been a later version that had the "bones" in it. I too had one like that. I was a bit older when I got it. It did creep me out a bit and I ended up giving it to the Goodwill. My daughter has her original doll. On the back of her neck is "1991 Tyco, China - BABY FEELS SO REAL". She is bald, vinyl, hard cage inside that feels like bones, head has soft spot, Heavy- feels just like real baby. Natural caucasian color, real looking blue eyes, painted on eyelashes. White diaper with velcro on each side. Diaper shirt pale lavendar or soft pink- cannot really tell actual color. Pink shiney ribbon at neck and around short sleeves. Name tag on front of shirt yellow, blue, & pink in shape of a heart. White lace trim- velcro's at top in back. I went to this site to get estimate on what to ask on Ebay for her. When I get excited about selling, I told my daughter, to only find out a doll that has been in storage for years- now "was her favorite" and "surely I would not sell". Glad I found out in time! Thanks to you all! I had this doll. I loved her. She was so soft when warm but, hard as a rock when cold. I don't remember her having bones. I had two. My mom had to replace the first one when she got poked with a pin and started to leak. It broke my heart. I wish I still had her. She was the best. I found one in a thrift shop in Colorado as a teen but, never didn't buy her. What a mistake. I had the original one from the eighties with blonde hair and mine too had the wonderful smell of baby powder. I loved this doll and to this remember that my cousin came to our house and once he felt that she was squishy poked her with a pen and her gel started leaking out. I was horrified, and crying. Big jerk, I remember that to this day. We ended up having to throw her away. I'm still a little sad. There seems to be two versions of this doll. One made in the 80s with real blonde hair (i don't think she had bones) the other in eary 90s was bald and with bones. I seem to be able to find the bald one sometimes on ebay, but I'm looking for the one I had when I was growing up with the blonde hair. If anyone does see the Baby Feels So Real with the blonde hair for sale, please email me at rxjerry@verizon.net thank you!! I have the one with no hair and bones her name is Leaky Baby simply when my grandma gave her to me when i was little she had blue goo coming out of her little belly button.my dad fixed her a couple of years ago and she doesnt leak anymore but i still call her by the name my grandma and i gave her. i am 16 and wouldnt trade her for the world. she is a wonder doll. and skin is made from vinal . . . i think. and squeaks when she gets moved. i'm 23 i had 1 in the 80's grandparents got it for me when i was about 3 or 4 and it had short blonde hair and bones i was really to young to notice if their was soft spot and she was sorta heavy for me. wow you know thwere was doll back in the 40s that baby feel real tipe of doll. my aunts had them. this a very old idea for a doll. a popular one at that. I also had the Baby Feels So Real that was bald and had "bones". I am 25 now and have 6 nieces. I was just looking online and came across this website. It was my favorite doll. I didn't think that there would be so many people looking for this doll. I hope to find another Baby Feels So Real doll one day. Maybe TYCO should come out with another one so that all of us that had them as little kids can get one for their daughters, granddaughters, or nieces!!! I looked on ebay, but there isn't any for sale right now. Good luck to everyone trying to find one!! I got my daughter the african american baby feels so real in the early 90's. It has no hair and bones inside with the soft spot also. I saved it for her. She is still as cute as the day she got her. I bought the bald doll with the gel and bones for my daughter in the early 1990's. It was her favorite doll. My daughter is now 21 yrs. old and still talks about her "Baby Feels So Real". I found her doll in our old trunk and my daughter took it to work with her, (she works at a hospital) because one of her 9 year old patients wanted to babysit my daughter's favorite doll. I would love to have another "Baby Feels So Real." I am willing to contact Tyco and request that they consider making this doll again. Is everyone with me on this? I would love to find the blonde doll for my sister she had gotton it for christmas and my cousin stole it on christmas and when it was found it was ruined. It was an awesome doll. I still have the Baby Feels So Real that I got my daughter the first year it came out. It was either 1979 or 1980. She has short blonde hair and no bones. I was cleaning her up and noticed that her arms and legs moved a bit better after washing with warm water. Has anyone found a way to soften her up? I was thinking of letting my granddaughters play with her but am rethinking that now. I have a 1991 Baby Feels So Real listed on eBay right now. Cheap with free shipping. It is pretty special, I could not find one anywhere when I was looking for a value! It has the bones, and the soft spot and is like new with a baby bonnet / dress / and diaper. You can search it by Baby Fells So Real. It is the only one there right now. I have the bald baby feels o real pictured above. I LOVE this doll to this day. It is the only baby i saved to give to my baby when I have one. I broke my arm when I was 4 and BEGGED the tech to let me get the baby Xrayed too. They wouldnt let me :( She would be in perfect condition except when I was 8 my best friends brother broke her arm. But i still have her and cant wait to have a baby to give her to. I remember my little sister had gotten this doll for christams.By the time it came out i guess i was to big for dolls. I remember squeezing on it and feeling the "bones" and the soft spot on the head. My parents kept all her dolls for years in a box in the attic and one day a few years back we took them down and the doll i guess because of the attic heat had leaked some of the gel out and it was bald like the others. Hi, I actually modelled the original Baby Feel So Real doll in the late 70'2 (no ide of the year). My mother saved a piece of the box with my picture but never saved the doll. It would mean the world to me to find her. I would love to share her with my daughter. Please contact me via email kimmykeeb@verizon.net if you have one and would sell her. THANKS! Hi, I just found this site as I was showing my daughter some old pictures and googled the doll. I actually modelled the original Baby Feel So Real doll in the late 70's (no idea of the year). My mother saved a piece of the box with my picture but never saved the doll. :( It would mean the world to me to find her. I would love to share her with my daughter. Please contact me via email kimmykeeb@verizon.net if you have one and would sell her. THANKS! Hi Amy, I just read your comment about having a baby feels so real and I really want one for my daughter because I use to have one when I was little. My email is brittyc@siu.edu, email me some details and a price if you would, Id really appreciate it! Thanks! There is a baby feels so real for sale on ebay. Tyco 1979 one. I wanted to buy it but it is too expensive. $79.99 plus 12.95 for shipping. I am looking for a replacement Baby Feels So Real from the early 1980's. My niece had one (it was her favorite) and it was destroyed by her grandmother's dog. I have been looking for one ever since then. If anyone is willing to sell one or knows where I can ourxhase one, please email me. mas1151@msn.com. Thanks. Does anyone have a 1991 tyco original baby "feels so real" doll for sale? If so, please email me at kts1230@hotmail.com.. Thank you. My daughter had one in the very late 70's, this is not the picture of the orginal baby feels so real....we loved her, she did feel so real!! She was feeled with some sort of gel and thur the time can't say how long, she started to ooze gel from around her neck, not knowing was it was or if it was poisonous we had to put her to bed. We got a small box just her size, put a little cover and pillow in it a laid her in there, and she is still in there today!! My daughter is now 36 1/2 years old. I recently won a 1979 Mego Baby Feels so Real on auction on EBay. Had her when I was 4 of course until my brother punctured holes all over her allowing her to ooze out gel. Very pleased to have her back. She's still quite hard, but I am still looking for the recipe to reliquify her so she's not as heavy as a brick. I am 37 now and so happy to have my favorite baby back. Purchased an outfit for her but would love to have the original clothes she had. I have that one in the pic. and when i was little i was very sick and we had my xrayed and the inside was made with bolts and screws. Now little girl is sick with her heart and is taking it to the doctor with her. I can not have anymore childern. she is my miracle child. I was not suppose to have any childern. I named her Bonesie. so my little girl now is loving on bonesie. would love to get her one. I am looking for a baby feels so real baby. my daddy gave me one when I was a little girl and when I was 14 he was killed. I still had the baby a year or two after he died but my little sister played with it without my permission with her friend and left it out for the dogs to chew up and all of the goo was coming out. I tried to put band aids and other things on It to keep the goo in but my mom threw her away any way when I was at school. I was devastated. if anyone has one and is willing to sell it I would love to buy it. stvrambo@yahoo.com is my fiancés email he checks it every day or my number is 5132528263. thank you for your time. I have a 1991 Baby Feels so Real I am looking to sell. If anyone is still interested feel free to email me at Bizarregirl2010@yahoo.com. Hi my name is Kristin and my cousin had a baby feels so real when we were little . she had the one from the 1976 I think she had hair and gel that came out of her that looked like poop. If anyone has one they are willing to sell I will pay 300 dollars for one please email me kristinn281@aol.com I am intersed in the one from 1976 or 1979 thank you so much! hI i LEFT THE COMMENT ABOVE GUESS WHAT I LOOKED ON EBAY DAY AFTER DAY AND I FOUND THE ONE FROM 1979 SHE IS IN GREAT COND. I AM SO VERY HAPPY I FOUND ONE THEY ARE VERY HARD TO FIND ! my baby feels so real was bald as well and i just found my little girl one on ebay and bought her she loves her and little susie (the baby) loves her new mommy!!! I'm looking for the baby doll (baby feel so real) my daughter had one when she was 2yrs old and carried it with her every where. I would like to find another one and give it to her. She has a daughter and would like to give it to her.

2019-04-23T02:55:36Z

http://www.inthe80s.com/toys/babyfeelssoreal0.shtml

Nickel-polymer composite electrode materials have been synthesized using various strategies, all comprising the electrochemical reduction of nickel(II) cations or complexes, incorporated by either ion-exchange or complexation into various poly(pyrrole-carboxylate) thin films coated by oxidative electropolymerization onto carbon electrodes. The electrocatalytic activity and the stability of the different composites have been then evaluated in the course of the electrocatalytic hydrogenation of ketones and enones in aqueous electrolytes. The best results were obtained using nickel-polymer composites synthesized by electroreduction of nickel(II) ions complexed into polycarboxylate films, which are characterized by a high catalytic activity and a good operational stability. Materiais de eletrodo de compostos poliméricos de níquel foram sintetizados a partir da redução eletroquímica de cátions ou complexos de níquel(II), incorporados por troca iônica ou por complexação, em vários tipos de filmes finos de polipirróis carboxilatos que recobriam eletrodos de carbono preparados por eletropolimerização oxidativa. A atividade eletrocatalítica e a estabilidade desses diferentes compostos foram avaliadas pela hidrogenação eletrocatalítica de cetonas e enonas em eletrólitos aquosos. Os melhores resultados foram obtidos usando-se compostos poliméricos de níquel sintetizados pela eletrorredução dos íons níquel(II) complexados em filmes de policarboxilatos, que são caracterizados por uma alta atividade catalítica e uma boa estabilidade operacional. New properties are now readily accessible with nanosized metal particles, because of their unique electronic structure and their extremely large surface areas.1 These materials have emerged as an area of great current interest motivated by potential applications in chemical catalysis, energy technology, electronics, optics and magnetics.2-6 Their properties may be tuned via control of the metal particles shape, size and organization.7 They also depend on the chemical nature of the microenvironment surrounding the particle.8 In many instances, to fully exploit their great potential in technological applications, it is very important to assemble the metal particles in two- and three dimensions and to endow them with good processability. This can be readily accomplished by their encapsulation in different polymers.9-11 The use of functional polymers as support for metal nanoparticles offer some exciting features via the generation of composites containing metal particles with controlled size and size distribution, thus providing a mean to influence the properties of the nanocomposite through the interaction of the metal surface with the functional groups of the polymer. The present study describes the electrosynthesis and the electrocatalytic properties of nickel-polycarboxylic acid composites synthesized following two different strategies: (i) incorporation of cationic nickel(II)-ethylenediamine complexes in a functionalized polypyrrole material through a cation-exchange process, followed by an electrochemical reduction; (ii) accumulation of nickel(II) cations in complexing polypyrrole films, followed by an electrochemical reduction. The catalytic activity and the stability of the different electrode materials have been then evaluated in the course of the electrocatalytic hydrogenation of ketones and enones in aqueous media. 4-(Pyrrol-1-yl)methyl)benzoic acid 338 and (3-pyrrol-1-ylpropyl)malonic acid 134 were prepared according to previously reported procedures. (3-pyrrol-1-ylpropyl)succinic acid 2 was synthesized as follows: a solution of n-BuLi (5 mL, 2.5 mol L-1 in hexanes, 12.5 mmol) was added to i-Pr2NH (1.8 mL, 12.5 mmol) dissolved in 40 mL of THF at -78 ºC. The mixture was stirred at -78 ºC for 30 min, then mono-tert-butylsuccinate39 (1 g, 5.7 mmol) dissolved in 10 mL of THF was added dropwise. The reaction vessel was warmed to 0 ºC, stirred at this temperature for two hours, and cooled again to -78 ºC before N-(3-bromopropane-1-yl)pyrrole (1.49 g, 7.9 mmol)40 was added dropwise. The reaction vessel was then allowed to warm to room temperature and stirred for 24 h, after which the reaction was quenched by adding 5 mL of water and the resulting reaction mixture concentrated. The solid residue was partitioned between ethylacetate (50 mL) and water (20 mL). The organic layer was then dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure. The crude mixture was purified by chromatography on silica gel to afford 2-[(3-pyrrol-1-yl)propyl]tert-butylsuccinate as an oily residue (yield 70%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, 298 K) d 1.45 (s, 9H); 1.48-1.56 (m, 1H); 1.58-1.67 (m, 1H); 1.76-1.87 (m, 2H); 2.37-2.46 (m, 1H); 2.68-2.75 (m, 1H); 3.91 (t, J 7Hz, 2H), 6.15 (m, 2H, pyr); 6.65 (m, 2H, pyr). 13C NMR (62 MHz, CDCl3, 298 K) d 27.9; 28.8; 35.9; 41.3; 49.0; 81.1; 108.0; 120.3; 173.5; 178.0. DCI+ (NH3/Isobutane) -MS, m/z 282.26 [M+1]+. A solution of 2-[(pyrrole-1-yl)propyl]tert-butylsuccinate (0.3 g, 1.06 mmol) and KOH (2 g, 35.7 mmol) in absolute ethanol was refluxed for two days at 75 ºC. After cooling the mixture to room temperature the solvent was removed under reduced pressure and the residue was partitioned between dichloromethane (100 mL) and water (50 mL). The biphasic mixture was protected from light, cooled at 0 ºC with an ice bath and stirred vigorously. Aqueous 1 mol L-1 HCl was then added dropwise until the pH reached a value between 2-3. The organic phase was then collected and the aqueous phase was extracted with dichloromethane (2 × 50 mL) and diethylether (2 × 50 mL). The organic fractions were collected, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered and the solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure to afford 2 as a light brown solid material. (yield 59%). 1H NMR (250 MHz, CD3CN, 298 K) d 1.34-1.60 (m, 2H), 1.68-1.80 (m, 2H), 2.35-2.73 (m, 3H), 3.85 (t, J 7Hz, 2H), 6.01 (m, 2H, pyr), 6.64 (m, 2H, pyr). 13C NMR (62 MHz, CD3CN, 298 K) d 29.4; 29.6; 35.8; 41.1; 49.6; 108.6; 121.3; 173.9; 176.6. EI+-MS, m/z 225 [M]+. The tris(ethylenediamine)nickel(II) complex was prepared by the reaction of 2.06 g (7.8 mmol) of NiSO4·6H2O dissolved in 15 mL of water, with 2 mL (30 mmol) 1,2-diaminoethane. The resulting solution was filtered and concentrated. The precipitate was collected by suction filtration, washed with EtOH, and dried under vacuum. The yield was 40%. Acetonitrile (Rathburn, HPLC grade S) and tetra-n-butylammonium perchlorate (TBAP, Fluka puriss) for the electrochemical experiments were used as received. Nickel sulfate, succinic acid and boric acid were of reagent grade and used as received. Distilled water was obtained from an Elgastat water purification system (5 MΩ cm). All electrochemical experiments were carried out using an EGG PAR model 273 potentiostat equipped with an x-y recorder. A standard three-electrode cell was used for analytical experiments. Potentials are referred to the Ag|AgCl in 3 mol L-1 KCl reference electrode in aqueous electrolytes, and to the Ag|Ag+10-2 mol L-1 in CH3CN + 0.1 mol L-1 TBAP in acetonitrile electrolyte. Glassy carbon disc electrodes (3 mm diameter, from CH Instruments) were polished with 1-mm diamond paste. For FT-IR measurements, films were grown on a 0.5 cm2 Pt foil. Spectra were recorded using a Perkin-Elmer GX spectrophotometer equipped with a variable angle specular reflectance accessory. All experiments were run at room temperature under an argon atmosphere. The polymer films were grown from unstirred solutions of monomers 1-3 (4 × 10-3 mol L-1) in CH3CN containing 0.1 mol L-1 TBAP as supporting electrolyte, by potentiostatic oxidative electropolymerization at 0.85-0.90 V vs Ag|Ag+ 0.01 mol L-1.34,41 Polymerization experiments were controlled through the anodic charge recorded during the electrolysis. The amount of pyrrole units in the films and thus, the apparent surface coverage in complexing units (ΓL, mol cm-2) were determined after transfer of the modified electrodes into monomer-free CH3CN electrolyte from the integration of the polypyrrole oxidation wave recorded at low scan rate (10 m V s-1). For electrocatalytic hydrogenations, polymer films were grown on carbon felt (RVC 2000, 65 mg cm-3, from Le Carbone Lorraine) electrodes (20 × 25 × 4 mm). Procedures used for the incorporation of nickel metal into the different polymeric matrices will be described in the results and discussion section. The amount of nickel dispersed into polycarboxylate films was determined using poly3-Ni(0) materials coated on carbon felt discs (11 mm diameter, 4 mm thick, 0.38 cm3), or on indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass slides (1 cm2). Samples were digested at 100-130 ºC in a mixture of concentrated H2SO4 + HNO3. Nickel concentrations were determined by Induction Coupled Plasma measurements performed using a Thermo Jarell Ash (IRIS) spectrometer set up with argon plasma flow at 10 L h-1, with auxiliary gas flow of 2 L h-1, and at a power of 1.55 kW. Samples were aspired at a flow of 2.2 mL min-1 through a cyclonic nebulizer (Meinhart). Atomic emissions for Ni were determined at 221.64 nm and 231.60 nm. Fresh working calibration solutions were prepared by properly diluting commercial standards with double distilled water. Calibrations within the expected range (0-50 ppm) were obtained with six equally spaced concentrations. Electrocatalytic hydrogenations were carried out in a H-shaped three-compartment cell. The carbon felt electrodes modified with nickel-polymer composite films were placed in the cathodic compartment filled with 50 mL of a deaerated equivolumic water-methanol solution containing 0.1 mol L-1 NaCl + 0.1 mol L-1 H3BO3 (initial pH 5.3). The potential was maintained at -1.2 V for several min (hydrogen evolution). The current was then fixed at 20 mA and the substrate (1 mmol) was added. The working potential stabilized at around -1 V in these experimental conditions. The reaction progress was followed by periodic withdrawals. Samples were extracted with diethylether and analyzed by GC. The identification of products was based on GC comparison with authentic samples. The effective coordination of nickel(II) into poly1 films soaked for a few minutes in 0.1 mol L-1 NiSO4 (pH 5.5) was proved by CV experiments carried out in clean Na2SO4 electrolyte containing boric acid. The poly1 film has been over-oxidized by potentiostating the modified electrode at 1.1 V for 15 min in acetonitrile electrolyte, in order to obtain a voltammogram without the electroactivity of the polypyrrole backbone. A representative voltammogram is shown in Figure 1B. The C|poly1-Ni(II) modified electrode displays a wave corresponding to the reduction of the complexed nickel ions associated, in the reverse scan, with an anodic nickel metal dissolution peak (Figure 1B, curve a). The dissolution of the entrapped nickel particles is achieved entirely in one CV cycle and the second CV curve does not present any anodic peak (Figure 1B, curve b). To confirm the successful deposition of nickel metal in poly1 films, C|poly1 modified electrodes have been soaked for 15 min in aqueous NiSO4 (pH 5.5), thoroughly rinsed and reduced at -1.4 V in 0.1 mol L-1 Na2SO4 containing 0.1 mol L-1 H3BO3. Then the anodic nickel metal dissolution was studied by CV experiments carried out in clean Na2SO4 electrolyte. Typical curves are shown in Figure 1C. Under these experimental conditions (ΓL = 9.5 × 10-7 mol cm-2, scan rate 0.1 V s-1) the total dissolution of the metal requires two CV scans (Figure 1C, curves a-c). The coordination of nickel(II) into poly1 films has been confirmed by FT-IR experiments, using films grown on a Pt foil (see the experimental section). The infrared spectrum of poly1 is characterized by two bands at 1733 and 1718 cm-1 (Figure 2A, curve a) assigned to the C=O stretching vibration of the malonic acid moieties. After immersion or the poly1 film for a few minutes in 10-2 mol L-1 NiSO4 (pH 5.5) a new broad band appears around 1585 cm-1 attributed to the OCO vibrations modes in nickel-malonate complexes (Figure 2A, curve b). A similar band was observed at 1578 cm-1 in the spectrum of a poly[Ni(II)-dicarboxylate] film.46 Full complexation of poly1 was readily obtained when the concentration of by Ni2+ cations in the accumulation solution was increased up to 10-1 mol L-1. The absorption bands corresponding to the free malonic acid groups are no longer observed and the spectrum present an intense band at 1570 cm-1 attributed to nickel-malonate complexes (Figure 2A, curve c). These results show that the efficient complexation of nickel in poly1 films requires the use of a rather high concentration of nickel cations (10-1 mol L-1) and a weakly acidic media (pH 5.5). Polysuccinic acid-nickel composite electrode materials have been synthesized following the same procedure, as described above for polymalonic acid-based composites. The electrochemical behavior of the pyrrole-succinic acid (monomer 2; scheme 1) in CH3CN + 0.1 mol L-1 TBAP is very similar to that found for monomer 1. CV curves exhibit the regular irreversible oxidation peak (Epa ca. 1 V vs Ag|Ag+ 0.01 mol L-1) systematically observed with N-substituted pyrroles, and an irreversible reduction peak (Epc ca. -1.2 V on Pt) attributed to the reduction of the protons of the carboxylic acid groups. Poly2 films can be grown on platinum and carbon electrodes by cycling over the -0.4 V to 0.9 V potential range, or by controlled-potential oxidation at 0.85 V (Ag|Ag+ 0.01 mol L-1). Films with apparent surface coverage (ΓL) around 10-7 mol cm-2 could be obtained with polymerization yields above 50%. The complexation ability of succinic acid towards transition metal cations is weaker than that of malonic acid. In particular, it is known that succinic acid forms with nickel(II) a NiL complex characterized by a lower complexation constant (logβ1 = 1.6) than the corresponding nickel-malonic acid complex (logβ1 = 3.2).42 However, just as for C|poly1 film modified electrodes, the effective complexation of nickel(II) cations and the electroreductive deposition of nickel metal in poly2 films has been demonstrated following the same basic procedure. C|poly2 modified electrodes have been soaked in aqueous NiSO4 (0.1 mol L-1, pH 5.5), thoroughly rinsed and reduced at -1.4 V in 0.1 mol L-1 Na2SO4 containing 0.1 mol L-1 H3BO3. Then the anodic nickel metal dissolution was studied by CV in clean Na2SO4 + H3BO3 electrolyte. A typical curve, characterized by a strong nickel anodic stripping peak at 1.5 V is shown in Figure 1D. It confirms the successful deposition of nickel metal in poly2 films using the complexation-electroreduction procedure. The electrosynthesis of polypyrrole-benzoic acid (poly3) thin films, along with its cation-exchange properties, have already been reported.41 The pKa of poly3 has been found at 5.2. Its exchange capacity has been estimated at 4.5 molar equiv.kg-1,41 which is comparable to common cation-exchange resins. The effective complexation of nickel(II) into poly3 films has been evidenced by FT-IR experiments. The infrared spectrum of a poly3 film is characterized by a band at 1713 cm-1 (Figure 2B, curve a) assigned to the C=O stretching vibration of the benzoic acid moieties. After immersion or the poly3 film in 0.1 mol L-1 NiSO4, pH 7, this band is no longer observed and the spectrum present two new bands at 1592 and 1540 cm-1 attributed to nickel-carboxylate complexes (Figure 2B, curve b). Firstly, nickel metal was dispersed in thin poly3 films by complexation and/or ion-exchange of nickel(II) cations, followed by an electrochemical reduction. The electroreductive deposition of Ni(0) in poly3 films was proved as follows. C|poly3 modified electrodes have been soaked for 30 min in aqueous NiSO4 (0.1 mol L-1, pH 5.7), thoroughly rinsed and reduced at -1.4 V in 0.1 mol L-1 Na2SO4. Then the anodic nickel metal dissolution was studied by CV in clean Na2SO4 electrolyte. A typical CV curve, characterized by an intense nickel anodic stripping peak at 1.5 V, is shown in figure 1E (curve a). The total dissolution of the metal is achieved in one CV scan (scan rate 10 mV s-1), and the second CV curve does not show any anodic peaks (Figure 1E, curve b). As judged by the intensity of the stripping peaks in different experiments, we found that the incorporation of nickel in poly3 reached a maximum when the pH of the accumulation solution containing nickel(II) cations is around 6. Ethylenediamine (denoted en) and nickel(II) form rather stable species as Ni(en)2+ (logb1 = 7.4), Ni(en)22+ (logb2 = 13.5), and Ni(en)32+ (logb3 = 17.7) complexes.42 The efficiency of the complexation process depends on the pH, since protonation of ethylenediamine and precipitation of nickel hydroxide (logbOH = 4.6) can compete with the formation of Ni-en complexes. With the help of these stability constants determined with a method similar to that already used for other chelate complexes of nickel(II),33 one can calculate the distribution diagram for the nickel-ethylenediamine system which shows that the Ni(en)32+ complex predominate in solution for pH values around 7. A typical voltammogram obtained with tris(ethylenediamine)nickel(II) (1 mmol L-1) in Na2SO4 electrolyte containing boric acid (pH 7) is shown in Figure 3A. The reduction of the complex is characterized by a sharp increase in the cathodic current below -1.4 V, which can be attributed to nickel deposition concomitant with hydrogen evolution on nickel. On the reverse scan, the strong anodic peak at 1.6 V is attributed to nickel dissolution in the transpassivity region.45 Larger stripping currents were observed when boric acid is present in the electrolyte. The electrodeposition of nickel onto the carbon electrode surface was performed by reduction at -1.5 V in a solution of Ni(en)32+ (1 mmol L-1) in 0.1 mol L-1 Na2SO4 + 0.1 mol L-1 H3BO3 (pH 7). The amount of electroprecipitated metal was estimated from the charge recorded under the anodic stripping wave. A typical result is presented in Figure 3B. Comparison with the charge consumed during the reduction at -1.5 V of the nickel-ethylenediamine complex to nickel metal suggests that this process is not quantitative. For example, stripping charges of 5.1 mC (Figure 3B) and 6.0 mC were measured when the deposition charges were 6 mC and 12 mC, respectively. The difference may be explained as a result of the cathodic charge being partly consumed for hydrogen evolution. Nickel metal was precipitated into poly3 films via incorporation, by ion-exchange, of cationic Ni-en complexes, followed by their electrochemical reduction. Typically, a C|poly3 electrode was soaked for 30 min in a 10 mmol L-1 Ni(en)32+ solution, thoroughly rinsed with water, then reduced at -1.4 V in 0.1 mol L-1 Na2SO4 + 0.1 mol L-1 H3BO3. The effective precipitation of nickel metal into the polymer was demonstrated from anodic stripping experiments. Figure 3C (curve a) shows a representative nickel stripping wave recorded in clean Na2SO4 electrolyte. In these experimental conditions, total dissolution of the metal is achieved in a single CV scan (scan rate 10 mV s-1), and the second CV curve does not show any anodic peaks (Figure 3C, curve b). Attempts have been made to estimate the amount of nickel electrodeposited in polymer films from the charge involved in the nickel anodic stripping. We found however that the incorporation ratios (defined as the amount of incorporated nickel on the amount of carboxylic acid sites in the film) measured this way were well over 100% (up to 1000%). Such over-estimation of the metal loading is not surprising since the charge consumed at the high potential value required to achieve metal stripping, most likely includes other contributions such as from the irreversible oxidation of the carboxylate groups grafted on the polymer, and the over-oxidation of the polypyrrole matrix. Additional experiments were conducted to obtain a better estimation of the nickel loading into the polycarboxylate films. For this purpose nickel was precipitated in poly3 films coated onto carbon felt or indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes, by complexation of nickel(II) cations followed by their electroreduction. After digestion of the samples in boiling H2SO4 + HNO3, nickel concentrations were determined by ICP measurements (see experimental). Firstly, three poly3 films were grown on ITO electrodes (area ca. 1 cm2) in a 8 × 10-3 mol L-1 solution of monomer 3 in CH3CN electrolyte, by oxidative electropolymerization at 0.85 V (charge passed 60 mC; polymerization yields were in the 85 to 95% range). Nickel was precipitated in the polymer films using the experimental conditions previously described above (0.1 mol L-1 NiSO4, pH 5.7). The amount of carboxylic acid groups contained in the films, determined from the integration of the charge under the polypyrrole oxidation wave, was in the 0.22 to 0.26 mmol range. The amounts of nickel in the poly3 films, determined from ICP measurements, were in the 9 to 23 mg range, i.e. 0.15 to 0.39 mmol. In spite of the rather scattered values found, these results show that the nickel incorporation ratio in poly3 films is surprisingly high, i.e. 150 to 300%, taking into account that to the maximum one Ni2+ cation can be bound to two carboxylate moieties in the polymer during the accumulation step. Since the polymerization yields were rather high (85-95%) in these experimental conditions, one can reasonably assume that the conductivity of the polypyrrole films synthesized in these experimental conditions is important. Therefore the nickel incorporation ratios found over 100% cannot be explained by an underestimation of the amount of pyrrole units, and thus of the amount of carboxylic acid groups in the films, due to a wrong calculation from the integration of the polypyrrole oxidation wave. The high nickel incorporation ratios could thus be due to the formation in the polymer of 1:1 Ni-carboxylate complexes. Moreover, in addition to strong ion binding with the polycarboxylate material, binding could also exist between the nickel cations and the nitrogen atoms from pyrrole groups, possibly leading to the formation of molecular complexes. Additional interactions between transition metal cations and nitrogen atoms have been assumed in the case of carboxylic acid-based copolymer containing nitrogenous functional groups.49 Finally cation-p interactions, which are recognized to be among the strongest of noncovalent binding forces,50 could be responsible in part of additional interactions between nickel cations and the polypyrrolic matrice, and thus to increased nickel incorporation ratios. Similar experiments have been conducted using a series of Ni-poly3 samples coated onto carbon felt disc electrodes (11 mm diameter, 4 mm thick) in the same experimental conditions as above. Using polymerization charges of charge of 1 or 2 C, film containing between 4.9 and 9.4 mmol of carboxylic acid groups have been obtained. After precipitation of nickel in these films, followed by digestion of the samples in boiling acids, ICP measurements have shown that the amount of nickel varied from 1.4 to 3.8 mmol (around 0.08 to 0.22 mg) per mmol of carboxylic acid units. In a separate experiment carried out with a sample in which no nickel has not been incorporated, we found that the amount of nickel in the solution after digestion of the sample was negligible, demonstrating that the carbon felt was not contaminated by nickel species. These results show that the nickel incorporation ratio in poly3 films coated on carbon felt is more than twice (280 to 760%) what was measured in Ni-polymer composites coated on ITO electrodes. It is well established that carbon materials, including carbon fibers, bear some reasonable population of carboxylic acid groups on their surfaces.51 These additional carboxylate sites could be responsible for an increased metal ions binding capacity of the polymer-coated on carbon felt material. Although limited to the study of Ni-poly3 composites, these results served to roughly estimate the nickel loading (typically 20 to 40 mg) in the different large size nickel-polymer film modified carbon felt electrodes, used in the course of the electrocatalytic hydrogenation experiments described in the following section. The electrocatalytic hydrogenation (ECH) of 2-cyclohexenone to cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol was chosen to estimate the catalytic activity of the poly1-nickel electrode material. The results obtained in the course of a series of experiments conducted at different C|poly1-Ni(0) cathodes are summarized in Table 1. Electrocatalytic hydrogenations (ECH) were performed in water-methanol solutions containing 2-cyclohexenone (1 mmol), in the conditions developed by Lessard and co-workers52 for reductions with Raney nickel-based electrodes (see experimental). A carbon felt electrode modified with a poly1 film (2.5 × 10-5 mol of malonic acid units) was firstly soaked for 30 min in a 0.01 mol L-1 NiSO4 aqueous solution, then reduced at -1.4 V in clean 0.1 mol L-1 Na2SO4 + 0.1 mol L-1 H3BO3 electrolyte. In this case, pHs of the accumulation and reduction solutions were adjusted to 3 by adding diluted sulfuric acid. The complexation-electroreduction procedure was repeated once to increase nickel loading in the polymer film affording electrode A, which was then used in the ECH of 2-cyclohexenone (Table 1, entry 1). As expected with a nickel-based cathode,53 the carbon-carbon double bond of the conjugated enone was more easily hydrogenated than the carbonyl group to give cyclohexanone, and the presence of 2-cyclohexenol was not detected in the reaction mixture. However cyclohexanone could be further reduced and a small amount of cyclohexanol (8%) was obtained after the consumption of 4 electrons per molecule of substrate (entry 1). A significant improvement of the catalytic activity was observed with cathode B, prepared by increasing the amount of nickel loading in electrode A upon repeating twice the metal deposition procedure. Cathode B was then used in a series of ECH experiments (Table 1, entries 2-7). The increase of nickel loading led to a significant improvement in the total current efficiency, calculated at a given charge of 4 F mol-1 and setting the electrolysis current at 20 mA, from 35% (electrode A; entry 1) to 55-66% (electrode B; entries 2-6). Furthermore, with electrode B the cyclohexanol yield was increased up to 52% (Table 1, entry 3). An important feature of the C|poly1-Ni(0) modified electrode is its rather good operational stability, which was tested during the hydrogenation of several samples of 2-cyclohexanone on the cathode B (Table 1, entries 2-7). The current efficiency remained almost the same (current yields ranging from 55% to 66%) during the first five successive ECHs (entries 2-6), but a significant decrease in the catalytic activity was observed from the 6th electrolysis. In this last experiment, the total current yield remained rather good (48%), but the yield of cyclohexanol decreased down to 16% (Table 1, entry 7; measured after the consumption of 4 electrons per molecule of substrate), showing that the cathode has lost some catalytic activity after 6 electrolyses. FT-IR experiments have shown that an optimized complexation of nickel in poly1 films was achieved at high nickel concentration (0.1 mol L-1) and a weakly acidic media (pH 5.5). An ECH experiment has confirmed that these accumulation conditions allowed obtaining a more efficient incorporation of nickel metal in poly1 films. As a matter of fact, the catalytic efficiency of a cathode synthesized in these experimental conditions, using only two accumulation-electroreduction steps (electrode C, entry 8), turned out to be slightly better than that of electrode B prepared using a 0.01 mol L-1 NiSO4 solution of pH 3 and four accumulation-electroreduction procedures. Very similar current efficiency and yields were obtained with these different cathodes, as shown by the comparison of the results summarized in entry 3 (2nd ECH onto electrode B) and entry 8 (2nd ECH onto electrode C). Comparison with results reported in the literature for the hydrogenation in aqueous electrolytes of 2-cyclohexenone shows that the catalytic activity of poly1-Ni(0) modified electrodes compare well with that of other nickel-based electrode materials,33,52,53 in spite of the rather small amount of nickel contained in the polymer films. As a matter of fact, on the basis of the estimation made for nickel concentration into polycarboxylate films coated onto carbon felt (at most 0.22 mg of nickel per mmol of carboxylic acid groups in the films), the amount of nickel metal electrodeposited in poly1 films (2.5 × 10-5 mol of malonic acid units) could be roughly estimated to a few mg, i.e. at most 22 mg (electrodes A and C: two incorporations of nickel) or 44 mg (electrode B four incorporations of nickel). Moreover, the cathodes synthesized by electroreduction of nickel ions complexed into polycarboxylate films are characterized by a significant improvement of the operational stability, as compared to cathodes prepared by electroreduction of anionic nickel-oxalate complexes incorporated by ion-exchange in cationic polymer films, which lost most of their catalytic activity after only one use.33 This behavior was attributed to the aggregation of nickel particles to form particles of larger size, leading to a decrease of the specific area of metal available for substrate absorption and hydrogenation. The synthesis of the poly1-Ni(0) material is performed by electroreduction of metal complexes covalently bound to the polymer matrix. This procedure can thus limit the diffusion of metal species during the electroreduction process, giving rise to a more uniform dispersion of metal throughout the polymer film, which, in turn, may lead to larger specific areas of the catalyst. Moreover, the complexing polymer can work as a stabilizer to prevent metal particles from aggregation,9 which can also explain the better stability of poly1-based cathodes. The electrocatalytic hydrogenation of 2-cyclohexenone was also studied at C|poly2-Ni(0) and C|poly3-Ni(0) cathodes. The main results are summarized in Table 2. The poly(pyrrole-succinic acid)-nickel electrode material shows a catalytic activity very similar to that observed at poly(pyrrole-malonic acid)-Ni(0) film modified electrodes. For example, current efficiencies and cyclohexanol yields obtained using a C|poly2-Ni(0) electrode (Table 2, entry 1) compare well with that obtained at a C|poly1-Ni(0) cathode synthesized in similar experimental conditions (see for example Table 1, entry 8). Moreover, the poly2-nickel electrode material appeared rather stable. As an example, results obtained in the course of the 5th ECH of a sample of 2-cyclohexenone at a C|poly2-Ni(0) cathode show that the current yield remained high (65%; 5th ECH: Table 2, entry 2), in spite of a significant decrease in the cyclohexanol yield from 57% (2nd ECH; entry 1) to 32% (5th ECH; entry 2). These results are very close to those obtained at a similar C|poly1-Ni(0) cathode (see for example Table 1, entry 6). 2-Cyclohexenone was also readily hydrogenated at C|poly3-Ni(0) cathodes synthesized by complexation in 0.01 mol L-1 NiSO4 (pH 7), followed by reduction at -1.5 V in clean 0.1 mol L-1 Na2SO4 + 0.1 mol L-1 H3BO3 (pH 5.5), these electrodes giving even better current efficiencies (around 80%) and cyclohexanol yields (around 60%) than poly1 and poly2-based materials (see Table 2, entries 3 and 4). These observations confirm that the complexing properties of the polybenzoic acid matrix are high enough to allow synthesizing active nickel-polymer composite electrode materials. The good catalytic activity of nickel-polybenzoic acid material synthesized this way was confirmed by the results obtained in the course of the ECH of cyclohexanone (Table 3) at C|poly2-Ni(0) and C|poly3-Ni(0) cathodes synthesized in similar conditions (2 incorporations of nickel, using an accumulation solution in 0.01 mol L-1 NiSO4). Cyclohexanol was produced with the highest yield and best current efficiency (86% and 43%, respectively, measured after the consumption of 4 electrons per molecule of cyclohexanone) at the C|poly3-Ni(0) cathode (Table 3, entry 3). In the same experimental conditions C|poly2-Ni(0) gave lower product and current yields (64% and 32%, respectively; Table 3, entry 1). However, the catalytic activity of poly2-based electrode materials was largely improved upon increasing the nickel loading. As a matter of fact, a poly2 film in which the incorporation of nickel was completed four times allowed hydrogenating cyclohexanone with a good current efficiency (67% measured when two electrons per molecule have been passed; Table 3, entry 2). In contrast, modified electrodes prepared by dispersion of nickel metal in poly3 films by ion-exchange with of tris(ethylenediamine)nickel(II), followed by the electroreductive reduction of the incorporated complex species, are characterized by very poor catalytic activity and stability. With these cathodes, the best current yields for the hydrogenation of cyclohexanone were in the range of 10% to 15%. A typical result is presented in Table 3 (entry 4). Moreover, a large decrease of its catalytic efficiency was observed from the second ECH attempt (Table 3, entry 5). All these observations were confirmed by results obtained in the course of the ECH of acetophenone under the same experimental conditions as those used with the other substrates. A series of experiments was performed at C|poly2-Ni(0) and C|poly3-Ni(0) cathodes synthesized with polymer films of similar size, containing 1.7-1.8 × 10-5 mol of succinic or benzoic acid units, and in which increasing amounts of nickel have been incorporated by repeating the complexation-electroreduction procedure. The current and product yields for the formation of 1-phenylethanol have been measured after the consumption of 2 electrons per molecules of acetophenone The overall tendency is described as follows. The best results were obtained using C|poly2-Ni(0) and C|poly3-Ni(0) cathodes in which nickel metal was dispersed by performing four to six times the complexation-electroreduction procedure. The amounts of nickel electrodeposited in the different polymer films could be roughly estimated at most between 16 and 24 mg (see above). 1-Phenylethanol was produced at poly2-Ni(0) and poly3-Ni(0) cathodes in good yields and with rather good current efficiencies at freshly prepared electrodes (70-75% and 65-68%, respectively, measured after the consumption of 2 electrons per molecule of acetophenone). However with both electrode materials the yields decreased down to ca. 60% for the second use. In addition, we found that the ECH of acetophenone at a poly3-Ni(0) film synthesized by ion-exchange and electroreduction of a nickel-ethylenediamine complex gave poor results. At a given charge of 2 F mol-1, the maximum amount of 1-phenylethanol was found to be 14%. This last observation confirms the very low catalytic efficiency of nickel-based cathodes elaborated following this procedure, as compared to nickel-polymer composites synthesized by electroreduction of nickel complexes covalently bound to the polymer matrix. In this work, different methods providing an effective dispersion of nickel particles into various electrogenerated functionalized polypyrrole were investigated, mainly by electroreduction of nickel(II) cations complexed into poly(pyrrole-carboxylate) films, and also by electroreduction of cationic nickel(II)-ethylenediamine complexes incorporated into polymer films through a cation-exchange process. The electrocatalytic activity and the operational stability of various composite electrode materials have been evaluated in the course of the electrocatalytic hydrogenation of ketones and enones in aqueous media. The main result is that cathodes synthesized by the electroreduction of nickel(II) ions complexed into polycarboxylate films are characterized by a higher catalytic activity and a significant improvement of the operational stability, as compared to cathodes prepared by electroreduction of nickel(II) complexes incorporated by ion-exchange into functionalized polymer films. These features could be explained by the limited diffusion of metal species in the course of the electroreduction of metal complexes covalently bound to the polymer matrix, leading to a more uniform dispersion of metal throughout the polymer film and thus increasing the specific area of the catalyst. Moreover, the complexing polycarboxylate matrix may act as a stabilizer to prevent metal particles from aggregation, which can also be responsible of the better operational stability observed for these cathodes. Work is now in progress to manipulate the catalytic properties of the nanocomposites through the interaction of the nickel surface with functional groups of the polymer. One of our main objectives is to achieve enantioselective electrocatalytic hydrogenation with nickel-based cathodes synthesized using polymer films containing optically active polycarboxylate ligands. Authors are thankful to CMEP (Comité Mixte d'Evaluation et de Prospective de la Coopération Interuniversitaire Franco-Algérienne; projet 03 MDU 575) for financial support.

2019-04-20T05:53:20Z

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-50532009000800020&lng=pt&nrm=iso

Learn 13 ways to avoid student loan debt burden and how to pay college tuition and fee without a student loan. It's obvious that Student loan debt is sky rocking and has reached a whopping $1.5 trillion with compromises of both the Federal Student Loan and Private Student loan. It's very clear that education at the college gets more expensive and education seems like increasing every year. The federal student loan is an excellent way to get students to pay for their college and school fees, well it doesn't cover all the total cost it varies based on the college that you go. Thousands of students complete their graduation with a huge debt on their back with no clue on how to pay off it sooner. The Private Student loans are with higher interest rate comparing to the federal student loans where their fees for delayed payments and other feature which can make the private loans less favorable. The student loan might look like the simplest option but in reality its different the time due to pay off your student loan debt might take for several years, Some times you get graduated with thousands of dollars as debt. You need to be on a budget and with the college that you have chosen where it can help and save you with the tuition. Let's look for alternative well there are plenty of approaches available out there which can help you in attending college without the burden of Student loan debt where it can be found with the help of extra research and hard work you may able to get out of it but it's little complicated it can serve you better choices than being drowned with the student loan debt. Are student loans a bad idea? Tip for parents on teaching kids for a debt-free college. We get that parents do whatever they want to keep their child on the line of success that's where the real problem starts people want it so bad they get ended making some huge mistakes by entering into the debts. Well, Borrowing money for college or skipping college is not a difficulty you don't need to do any of these. To get a fabulous education and outstanding career opportunities there are plenty of options out there without making huge debts. People who are buried under a huge debt are not worried about the money as they are stuck with the stress and pain of student loan monthly payments. They are walking into their future with a huge debt difficulty for them and their parents who have co-signed for them. According to the Federal Reserve, shows that the American owe a total of $1.4 trillion as in student debt loan. 70% of the graduates have borrowed certain money for their education. According to U.S. News & World Report, the average time period for a graduate degree holder to pay back their loans is around 21 years. That's right an average time taken to repay is 2 decade. It's no brainer why people rethink about student loans. Debt seems to be normal but the duration that takes to complete is way more than we expected. Well, there are ways to get debt free degrees with a well-planned option. A well funded and budgeted own money for a special purpose is a thoughtful and useful process for paying for any action. which can be of going to college. It's the duty of parents to look and start saving for their future education. People who want to get into college requires to fill a form known as Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This form to figure out the school and how much money can they offer for your attendance with the supportive aid. The FAFSA form is for you where you need to complete each school year. The duration which takes place for filling out the form is around an hour. This covers all types of aids from federal grants, Work-study program, and school-aid. It also covers loans which is a bad suggestion. The deadline for applying is 06/30/19 for the 2018-2019 school year. For corrections and updates of 2018-2019 can be done till 09/14/19. To apply for 2019-2020 school year it opens on 10/01/18. Based on your financial need the school you choose you can able to get the education covered by either Grants or Aid either from school or state. If we are considering a school the following generally comes on first even though it's not the core important factor. Recognition of the college name, The dorms size, and the Football programs. The only relevant question from this point is Can I pay for it without student loan? Down the lane, the only question is to find a school which you can afford. Which results in the adjusting of expectations and stop the dream of other schools. It would be a total real if you can reach for getting a sufficient scholarship and grants then you can go to the dream college with debt-free. Staying out of the debt is the key point. All around America there are great schools called community college. This allows people to get college credits on the way to a degree which is cheaper rates than getting in a 4-year school after high school. After a period of 2 years getting information about the basics. you might transfer for a 3 year or 4year school which provides a bachelor's degree. A lot of people assume that after 2 years in community college it will hurt when they got for a job after completion of graduation well the fact is few employers ever notice that further, their main concern is whether they hold a degree and their major. A tip to understand better on how funding works for State schools. Utmost every state has a flagship school with most academic research happens and several other school focus on teaching. Directional schools don't focus on the classroom experience it also has cheaper tuition fees. With the 4 year school and community college, you shouldn't leave the Trade school option where people enjoy working all kind of practical skills from electrical works, Mechanics, Plumbing and home inspections with high valuable training from experts. Its a cheaper and shorter than a bachelors degree. Scholarships are the greatest tool for the family and you in the process where it covers schools without any loans as it's been funded as you earned it and no need of repaying it back. Scholarships are a great way to go for college without any debt it's very agile the money is received in the form of award letter from the committees. Recommend people to spend time on their summer breaks and weekends for filling out every scholarship opportunity. The information is available on the tips of your finger that is internet do frequently research on the scholarships and deadlines. Get prepared to write some essays on personal experiences and on career goals. Look into the office of yours and spouse to find out any scholarships are provided for the employee's children. Get in touch with the community, business groups and charities to get information on whether your children apply for scholarships. It's basically awarded on the community service or high school GPA. Its the option which is very near you and needs to keep an eye on it talk with the guidance counselor and further like Chamber of commerce, communities group and finally your employers to get information on it. The global web (internet) is filled with people who provide college money. You can enter a scholarship from anything category to win it. look into trusted and reputed websites to get the right one. If any of your parents have served in the military or you planning to serve. Before getting into the campus as a freshman. Get in with the admission office on the financial aid office or the department head of the major or the athletic director if you need it on the sports related. Grants for college are held for students who show a certain amount of financial requirement which is provided by the state and federal government by the private organizations too. Some work great for a group of students like first-generation college students, based on the area they take. These are given in the form of awards by the organization and other federal assistance programs. In order to qualify for these, you required to fill out the FAFSA with a little more research based on options available for you. Still, if you cannot get any aid you can contact state grant agency for further possibilities of aid. If you have received a grant you will be entered in the financial aid award letter from the school sometimes you get it along the acceptance letter or later in the timeline. According to the last year data the undergraduate at a public college gets an average of $5,000 in the form of grants and students from the private college get an average of $16,700. The larger grants usually come from within the college itself. To apply for a pell grant or any other federal aid you need to fill out FAFSA. It automatically intents you for a student loan unless you confirm it otherwise. Head the following to your college financial aid office for the accept of scholarship or grant. pay closer attention to your grade, test score and in extracurricular activities. On the time of arrival of applying to send all the paperwork as early as possible as states usually put a cap on their financial aid, it's better to be first on their list to get aid. Working on your free time during school can really help you to overcome some expenses. Try to understand the work-life and academic-life balance. If you can able to pull it off then you are ready to proceed for it. Many people and students feel that a little exposure to the outside can help you to boost your academic life in terms of performance. It allows you to work part time as you study in school. you can know whether you are eligible through the FAFSA letter. Work-study jobs are from the campus ( not necessarily) where it will be convenient for you to do both actions. There are many jobs available out of there for college students where they can make better cash through it. The options available for you might be a customer service job which can go on hand to hand with your part-time schedule. Well, it brings money through working for waiting tables, Parking cars or working at the mall. Streamline your search to look for office related jobs so it can help you in the career. When it comes to significant expenses of college it's the cost of room and boarding. There is a way to ver come and eliminate it. Whether you commute from your own apartment to the class can really help you in saving money. Generally, people see that one of you might not like these possibilities. Look the college year as the season where you sacrifice some to have a debt-free life. you can pass it and get over it to achieve it. It might not be that good but still, it will work out. It's worth the time to get to know how to stick on a budget before you get on to college. Being proactive towards your monthly income and expenses in a list of every dollar that you have earned will help you understand and take ownership of other expenses here college. You will get insight on why you want to avoid loans. You will learn how much is it cost for food, clothing, and rent for college might make you serious. This sort of new program that is now entering in. This American honors will help you to guarantee the admission that you require from the reputed schools. If you hold the required work and maintain a stable and steady grade point of average. The cost of going to the American honor is about $3,000 per semester in the tuition and fees. It might be more than what you see in the Community college but it has the perk of reputed school name as a guaranteeing on the admission down the lane is easy. There is a lot of differences in the employment from the old days where now companies like Chipotle, Starbucks, and Chrysler now provide expansion and addition to their employee's tuition reimbursement in the years. Starbucks will pay half of your tuition fees for their freshmen and sophomore years. If you go to the junior year college they will offer you full tuition reimbursement for both the senior and junior too. To qualify this in the Starbucks employees need to work a minimum of 20 hours a week. there is no minimum length of service required. you can move out after completion of graduate there are no hooks attached. Walmart even announced that they will be subsidizing all their 1.4 million employees college tuition where you can enroll in the courses in business or supply chain management from campus or through online from these three universities. They are required to pay $1 per day for the cost of classes and required to work here after completion of their degree. If you help your child with the basic tip on how to be a debt-free person from the college then you mostly will able to see them thanking you later times. Let them start when they are with you. If they are working let their paycheck deposited into their accounts. If you keep money aside to get clothes or other necessary items put that money into the new account where they can learn how to budget and track the expenses. 1. Can you pay for college out of pocket? There are alternatives available where you need to do full-time work in the summer in order to save the money for the school and further consider community college or junior college or better head for an in-state public university where it will cost you lesser than a private or state college. 2. How can I graduate without student debt? There are some tips and options in which you can help yourself to get out of the student debt if you follow it down the lane. 3. Can I go to college without filling out FAFSA? Removing the parent section in the FAFSA will make you no federal financial aid or loans. But still, you may qualify to receive financial aid through the unsubsidized Stafford loans it's limited to the school whether to give or not. Move ahead and look for an opportunity to get for making earnings. Look for a job where it can really help you pay. Live near the home to get free food and other perks. look for community colleges and other benefits from the government like scholarships and financial aids. 4. How to attend college without student loans? There some options which can help you to stay out of student loans at the same time you can go to college. You can work while you are in school. look for a work-study program and then get enrolled in it so it will help you. Apply for scholarships and grants make better use of employer reimbursement. 5. Is it possible to go to college debt free? Certain colleges provide students the opportunities under the qualifying financial aid with the criteria for Federal Pell Grant. Where they allow tuition in return of part-time student employment. It will be feasible for funding to reduce the stress of student debt. 6. Can you graduate college without debt? There are around 7/8 of students graduate with a no debt graduate from a college with an annual tuition fee of $10,000 or lesser. Students are allowed to choose a borrow from their respective schools from their share of college cost but it doesn't include as a student loan. 7. What is the maximum income to qualify for financial aid? The Scholarship tax credit for families is with the income up to $90,000 and $180,000 if you are married. Note that the student employment will have a huge and big impact on the aid that you are eligible exclusively for the independent students. 8. Does student income affect financial aid? Income which is earned by the parents and a dependent student is not considered for minimal living expenses and tax payments. FAFSA protects student income of $6,660 whereas for parents it depends on the number of household and members in the college. Income protection for a married couple with 2 children in college is at $25,400. 9. Can you pay for college with cash? Yes, you can pay cash for your school whether you are paying it from your own or your children's college paying in cash can be done and not falling for the student loan debt is the key point to remember. 10. How do you qualify for grants? To qualify for grants there are certain requirements which include filling up a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and submitting it. Also, You should be a citizen enrolled in a degree at college or school. Undergraduate students who are in full-time or part-time schooling. Funding for a part-time student is lesser than a full-time student. enrolling into a post-baccalaureate teacher certification program will help you in Pell grand which from the federal government.

2019-04-26T13:57:55Z

https://www.thecollegemonk.com/paying-for-college-without-student-loans/l/33

As leaders in medical education, our vision is to improve the health and well-being of the people of Saskatchewan and the world. Supporting that vision is our work to ensure our undergraduate medical education program meets national standards for educational quality. The program is fully accredited through March 2018 and the college is working to ensure its continued accreditation following our fall 2017 Accreditation Visit schedule October 29 - November 1, 2017. Our medical doctor graduates benefit from an innovative and interdisciplinary education during which they develop into culturally competent, skilled clinicians. The undergraduate program prepares them for the next stage of their training, while contributing to the improved health and well-being of the people of Saskatchewan and the world. Following the accreditation process is a key component of improving the health and well-being of the people of Saskatchewan and the world. Regular self-evaluation of the medical school’s performance against national standards enables program administrators, faculty and staff to continuously improve the quality of the undergraduate medical education program at the College of Medicine. The qualities/characteristics required of all Canadian medical schools are contained in the CACMS publication CACMS Accreditation Standards and Elements (S&E) and have been organized into 12 overarching standards with 93 elements which the college has grouped into four key areas. In the DCI process, administrators, faculty and staff document how the college is meeting or exceeding the various requirements within the 12 CACMS standards as well as provide qualitative and /or quantitative data to support the information provided. In the ISA process, medical students carry out their own review of the UGME program, student services, and other areas of relevance to students. Planning for the student survey and the interpretation of the results is a student responsibility as outlined in the CACMS publication: The Role of Students in the Accreditation of Medical Education Programs in Canada. In the MSS process, the medical school self-study task force and its subcommittees are responsible for conducting the self-study. Each subcommittee reviews and analyzes the ISA, the most recent graduation questionnaires, and the DCI data, narrative responses and appendices for the elements to which they have been assigned. The subcommittees carry out the first evaluation and rating of elements, provide evidence to support the rating, and develop plans with timelines to address areas of unsatisfactory performance. Subsequently, the task force analyzes the subcommittee reports, along with the supporting documentation and any new information, and revises as appropriate the individual subcommittee element ratings. The task force updates the evidence to support the rating and the final plans to address elements where performance is unsatisfactory and elements requiring monitoring. The task force creates the final self-study report that includes a summary of the elements that are strengths of the medical school and elements that require attention to ensure ongoing or future compliance with accreditation standards, and to improve the quality of the educational program and medical students’ experiences. Following the mock visit, we developed a focused plan for managing the remaining portion of the accreditation process. We chose to use and apply strategy deployment as well as project management best practices for planning and executing the full visit. Our goal is to achieve a full eight-year undergraduate accreditation – the maximum length of time between accreditation visits. We split the work into two projects focused on delivering a quality (medical education) program and a quality (accreditation) visit. We developed a weekly “wall walk” for the accreditation quality team to document, report status of these two projects, and enable improvements using the scientific method Plan-Do-Check-Adjust (PDCA). Applying strategy deployment methodology focused and aligned our work in planning for accreditation, enabling quick response to issues and opportunities and improving the system as needed. Our focus on transparent communication of vision, challenges, successes and progress increased team accountability, as well as senior leader, faculty, staff, and student engagement. With the engagement of administrators, faculty, staff and students across our college, we were able to finalize our documentation and submit it to the CACMS accreditation visiting team on schedule. The medical school self-study report, the ISA, the most recent graduation questionnaires and the completed DCI with its appendices were submitted to the survey team July 21. Now that our documents are submitted, the focus has shifted to participant preparation and executing the logistics plan for delivering a quality visit. The full visit is scheduled for October 29 – November 1, 2017. We have designed our plan to support visit participation preparation based on what we learned from the mock visit in February 2017. As part of the plan, we are asking participants who have been invited to attend one or more meetings during the week of October 29 – November 1, 2017, to prepare in advance. The intent of this approach is to support our participants, provide them with a positive experience and enable a quality visit. This preparation will include reviewing ‘what you need to know’ on the accreditation website and accreditation documentation, participating in at least one preparation meeting, and rehearsal meeting(s). Access to the documentation and other information will be provided to participants. The college has completed substantial work to restructure leadership and administration in order to successfully fulfill its mission. An expanded senior leadership team structure with three vice-deans covering education, research and faculty, and a chief operating officer leading administrative staff effectively supports the authority of the dean throughout the college. An enhanced leadership structure in the undergraduate program is enabling better support for students and for providing a high quality undergraduate medical education. On March 29, 2017 faculty council approved the college’s new strategic plan.The strategic planning process included a framework that incorporated broad awareness, assessment, and consultation with our college community and various other stakeholders, to produce a renewed vision, mission, values, principles and strategic priorities for the next five years. More information on the process can be found on the strategic plan website. The college has a strategic plan for social accountability. This is operationalized through admissions via the Indigenous Admissions Program and the new Diversity and Social Accountability Admissions Program (DSAAP). In addition to being woven throughout our curriculum, it is also integrated into medical education through service learning opportunities such as Making the Links, a two-year Global Health Certificate program for first-year medical students. As a deliberate plan to increase engagement of medical faculty, and in keeping with The Way Forward, a faculty transition is in process that separates university faculty appointment from the mode/type of reimbursement for academic work. The college's commitment to a One Faculty model has improved the recruitment process and facilitated improved engagement. There are now clearer expectations and streamlined processes for both academic assignments and remuneration. For example, the UGME Office has confirmed that recruitment of medical faculty for pre-clerkship and clerkship teaching and supervision in 2016-2017 was substantially easier than in previous years, with frequent instances of competition for teaching opportunities. With this change, One Faculty includes all faculty cohorts within medical, health sciences and the School of Physical Therapy. Medical faculty refers to all out-of-scope physicians and clinical PhDs with both faculty appointments in the college and clinical appointments in their respective health regions. The College of Medicine's primary funders are the Government of Saskatchewan's Ministry of Advanced Education and Ministry of Health. The total revenues for the college in the three years following the full accreditation site visit may be challenged by Saskatchewan’s current economic situation. In light of this risk, the college is diligently managing its funds and seeking opportunities for diversify revenue sources. The college, in response to student concerns, has secured new study space for students to augment those already available. Despite renovations to the health sciences building, all students are assured access to a secure storage space at the medical school. Secure storage space at the clinical sites was identified and communicated to the students. As MUMPS is unavailable during renovations of the health science building, lounge space for pre-clerks has been identified at St. Andrews College. The college has adequate numbers of call rooms for clerks, and the UGME and PGME offices are collaborating to ensure that assignment of call rooms is appropriate based on need. The College of Medicine does not tolerate student mistreatment of any kind. The college is committed to factors that promote a positive learning experience while working to address issues that negatively impact the learning environment. A new procedure has been approved for reporting student mistreatment as well as how to handle professionalism issues. The college has undertaken measures to ensure student safety by establishing policies and procedures such as the Medical Student Exposure to Infectious and Environmental Hazards Policy, which contains a procedure outlining how to handle blood or body fluid exposure. As well, students are made aware of university supportive services, such as Safe Walk and the USAFE app. The college’s new policies and procedures have been communicated to students, faculty and staff. The Aboriginal Admissions Program started in 1992 as the Aboriginal equity program, and at that time three seats were reserved in the MD program for applicants of Aboriginal ancestry. Since 2006, 10 per cent of the positions available in the MD degree program each year have been reserved for applicants of Aboriginal ancestry. Currently, this means 10 seats are available, of a total of 100, for Aboriginal applicants. Since 2012, the college has received about 15 to 30 applications per year. Students who have applied through the Aboriginal Admissions Program are assessed first to see if they would be successful in the general applicant pool. If so, they are admitted in that category. If not, they are considered within the Aboriginal Admissions Program pool. In the last two graduate years we have set records for the number of aboriginal graduates at 10 or more each year. The college received university approval to implement a Diversity and Social Accountability Admissions Program (DSAAP), which will reserve six of the 100 seats in the MD program for individuals from socioeconomically challenged backgrounds beginning in 2018-19. Similar to the Aboriginal Admissions Program, students who have applied through the DSAAP are assessed first to see if they would be successful in the general applicant pool. If so, they are admitted in that category. If not, they are considered within the DSAAP. The curriculum committee has final authority over the curriculum, barring major revisions such as a change to the pre-clinical/clinical curriculum (two years pre-clinical / two years clinical), or an increase in the medical school size. The program objectives are used to set course level objectives, course content and method of assessment. Student feedback on courses and preceptors are used to enhance the curriculum and the teaching performance of our faculty. added interprofessional education modules to third-year student learning to support effective collaborative and team-based health care provision. Students are appropriately supervised by faculty during clinical sessions for their safety as well as patient safety. Our preceptors are made aware of the objectives and methods of assessment prior to teaching. Narrative assessment is used whenever student-preceptor interaction makes this possible, and students are given timely formative feedback on their progress. In spring 2015, the college hired a consultant to assess our students’ experience, given recent accreditation challenges and curriculum changes. Results of the study have informed the college’s efforts to improve customer service for students, response times to student concerns, transparency of information and improvements made based on student feedback. Examples of methods for increased communication with students includes the monthly Medical Student Update, titled You said…We listened, feedback forums with year chairs, dean’s lunches and monthly administrative meetings. Feedback from students and collaboration with the office of student affairs and UGME has led to enhancements to the career advising curriculum, academic advising, personal counselling, financial aid and debt management. The college has new policies to enable students to have increased flexibility for time away to access health services. As well, the wellness curriculum was revised through the active involvement of students. Mock accreditation – how did it go? A week of progress… and back to accreditation! From October 29 to November 2, 2017, the College of Medicine will have a full accreditation visit for its Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME) program. The Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS), in conjunction with the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) in the United States, ensures Canadian medical faculties' MD programs meet quality standards. Each school undergoes a full on-site assessment visit every eight years. On October 16, 2015, the UGME program was returned to full accreditation until March 2018 after having been placed on accreditation with probation status in 2013. Work in preparation for the 2017 visit has begun on multiple fronts, overseen by an Accreditation Steering Committee. Work on a Data Collection Instrument started in the fall of 2015, and is ongoing. Medical students completed a student survey—with a 90 per cent participation rate—as part of an Independent Student Analysis (ISA). More information on the results of the ISA and student survey will be provided next week. Many of our faculty, staff, residents and medical students are participating on six accreditation subcommittees, which began meeting in mid-May. They are reviewing and rating a full range of UGME program information as part of the Medical School Self-study (MSS) process. More information on the composition and work of the subcommittees will be provided in the coming weeks. A mock accreditation visit is set for February 5-8, 2017, and provides a ‘dry’ run of the formal accreditation visit for the college, further ensuring the accreditation standards will be met and the formal visit will be well coordinated. Finally, be sure to watch for details of an accreditation launch party being planned for September. Effective October 16, 2015, the Undergraduate Medical Education Program at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine is returned to full accreditation for an extended period, to March 2018. Accreditors will return for the next full accreditation visit in fall 2017, several months later than originally anticipated. Since 2011, the college has committed to investing much hard work and energy to address long-standing accreditation issues. The outcome of returning to full accreditation, for an extended period of time, is an indication from our accreditors that changes underway in the college are delivering the intended results. As we turn our focus towards preparing for the fall 2017 visit, we are mindful the accreditation process is about continuous quality improvement. We remain steadfast in our pledge to provide quality medical education to students in communities across Saskatchewan. A strong provincial College of Medicine benefits the people of Saskatchewan by serving as a cornerstone to our provincial healthcare system. This document is a summary version of the official letters of transmittal received from CACMS/LCME in October 2013 and March 2014. I am writing to share a very brief update on this week’s UGME accreditation visit. As you know, a site survey team from our accrediting body, CACMS/LCME, was in Saskatchewan from Sunday until earlier today. The team was assessing the College of Medicine’s progress on 13 standards of accreditation that were previously identified as non-compliant or in need of monitoring. From my perspective, this survey went very smoothly (despite the unplanned fire alarm on Monday) and the survey team commented on the many courtesies and accommodations extended during their stay. Personally, I was particularly impressed with the turnout and engagement demonstrated by our faculty, students and partners in both Saskatoon and Regina. The high level of participation is inspiring. As I’ve said before, we will not be informed of the outcome until later this fall, and I will not speculate on the findings. I will however commit to sharing with the entire college community the official letter of transmittal once it has been received, likely in late October. I want to extend my sincere appreciate to Dr. Sheila Harding, Dr. Athena McConnell, Kevin Siebert, Darla Wyatt and the entire UGME leadership group for making this visit happen – your teamwork has been truly impressive. As with any survey, there were several on-site requests for additional documentation, and our team rose to the occasion, responding with ease. Thank-you for making us all look good! Congratulations to our students who have finished writing exams – I will see you for your Convocation Ceremony and Graduation on June 4th. Best of luck to the first and second year classes as you continue with exams. And to our JURSIs, I hope I will see many of you on your Family Medicine rotations over at West Winds. I also understand the Admissions Committee is ready to send out Letters of Offer beginning on Friday, so we’ll have 100 new UGME students to welcome. Thank-you again to everyone who helped in making this visit a great success. More importantly, thank-you all for your daily efforts on behalf of the College of Medicine and our students. Beginning this Sunday, the College of Medicine will host a much-anticipated UGME accreditation visit. As you know, our undergraduate medical education (UGME) program has been on probation since November 2013, after previous accreditation visits noted deficiencies with 13 of the 139 accreditation standards for Canadian medical schools. As a college, we have been preparing for months, and I am confident we are ready to demonstrate significant progress since our last visit in March 2013. The four member Survey Team from the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical School (CACMS) and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) will be in Saskatchewan from May 10-13, and will make stops in both Saskatoon and Regina. The purpose of this limited site survey is to review eight standards that were previously determined to be non-compliant, and five standards that were described as compliant with a need for monitoring. These 13 standards are explained further in the Accreditation Decision Summary, and complete accreditation information is available online. You can also watch for an article on our preparations that will be published in On Campus News this Friday. We won’t know the results of this visit until fall 2015. I don’t want to speculate on the outcome, but I will remind everyone that accreditation is an eight-year cycle. When a program is on probation, it’s common for accreditors to complete two survey visits before changing a program's status. Our next full accreditation visit will happen in 2017, so given the timing, it would be unusual to have a second limited survey take place before the full survey in 2017. Regardless of the outcome, I do want to publicly appreciate the work of our department heads, the entire UGME office, Kevin Siebert, Darla Wyatt, and of course Drs. Harding and McConnell. I know they’ve been living accreditation for the last number of weeks, and their efforts have not gone unnoticed. On a related note – congratulations to our friends and colleagues in the School of Physical Therapy on your successful Master of Physical Therapy program accreditation! Truly outstanding news that reinforces why I refer to the School as a ‘gem’ within the college. As always, my door is open, and I welcome the chance to hear from you directly. Read the April 2015 Accreditation Summary. I'm writing today to share details about the college's upcoming UGME accreditation visit. The four member Survey Team from the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical School (CACMS) and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) will be in Saskatchewan from May 10-13, and will visit both Saskatoon and Regina. The purpose of this limited site survey is to assess the progress we've made since the last visit in March 2013, which resulted in the program being placed on probation in November 2013. Specifically, the Survey Team will review eight standards that were previously determined to be non-compliant, and five standards that were described as compliant with a need for monitoring. These 13 standards are explained in further detail at (link - updated accreditation summary document). In preparation for the May visit, we have now submitted to CACMS/LCME our completed Briefing Book, which contains the required background material and information on each standard under review. It is available for reading at (link to PDF of BB). I am confident that since March 2013, the College of Medicine has made significant progress on many fronts. Stable, permanent leadership is now in place. More importantly, the college has brought together a team of people, including the vice dean, associate and assistant deans, and key administrators, to fully support the planning and delivery of our undergraduate medical education program, and our students. To help ensure the visit runs smoothly in May, a mock run-through of the various meetings will be conducted Monday April 20, Tuesday April 21 and Wednesday April 23. Details on both the mock and actual visit will be provided to all involved parties as the survey schedule is finalized. Thank-you for holding these times in your calendar and being flexible as the dates and times have shifted. We will not be informed of the results of our May visit until fall 2015. I do not want to speculate on the outcome, but I do want to reiterate that accreditation is an eight-year cycle. When a program is on probation, it is common for accreditors to complete two survey visits before changing the program's status. Our next full accreditation visit is due in 2017, so given the timing, it would be unusual to have a second limited survey take place before the full survey in 2017. You can expect another update from me early in May, following my return from Western University. As I have said before, accreditation is a form of self-regulation, and so I'm heading to Ontario next week to lead the full survey team for Western's accreditation. In the meantime, I want to acknowledge the efforts of the department heads and the entire UGME office in preparing for this visit. Thank-you for all of your hard work. We owe special gratitude to Dr. Athena McConnell and Dr. Sheila Harding for their leadership and expertise in this regard, and also to Kevin Siebert for his diligence and ability to pull it all together. I know how much time and energy this assignment demanded of departments and people, and I deeply appreciate your efforts. We have received verbal approval from CACMS/LCME on our action plan, as presented on April 15, 2014. We continue to prepare for our limited survey visit, and our task at hand is to carry out the tasks described in the action plans, with the goal of demonstrating compliance. As requested, a second Action Plan to address four specific standards was submitted to CACMS and LCME today. It will be considered for approval by the respective accreditation committees at their upcoming meetings. We have received verbal approval from CACMS/LCME on our Action Plan, as presented on December 20, 2013. The accreditors have now requested a second Action Plan to address four specific standards. It is due by April 15, 2014. Our University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine Action Plan was submitted to CACMS and LCME on December 20, 2013. It will be considered for approval by the respective accreditation committees at their meetings as follows: CACMS January 23-24, 2014 and LCME February 25-27, 2014. Further to the information disseminated on October 4, I am writing to share with you the formal letter of transmittal from CACMS/LCME. I want to reiterate that the College of Medicine remains fully accredited as we work to address the specific standards outlined in the letter. We do not intend to request a consideration of this decision. We will instead focus our attention and resources on addressing the identified issues. As we work through this process, you can expect regular progress reports. You may submit feedback and suggestions via email. There will be a Secretariat visit from CACMS/LCME in early December 2013, to provide consultative assistance in the development of the Action Plan. The Action Plan must be submitted to CACMS/LCME by the end of December. A note with respect to the last paragraph in this transmittal letter: In the Spring of 2013, a third party complaint submitted to CACMS/LCME about facilities and information resources in Saskatoon raised questions about standards MS-37 (study and lounge space, and personal storage space) and ER-7 (clinical instructional facilities and information resources). In light of recent upgrades to the St. Paul’s Hospital Library and the opening of E Wing in the Health Sciences Building, CACMS/LCME requested that additional information be obtained by surveying relevant student groups in Saskatoon, for submission by December 1, 2013. Brief surveys will be conducted for this purpose in the weeks ahead. Of the 10 standards under scrutiny during the March 2013 visit, six are now considered either “in compliance” (ED-8, ED-41, ER-4 and MS-37) or “in compliance with need for monitoring” (ED-30, ED-31, ED-44 and MS-32) – the latter designation may be used when compliance with a standard is new and relatively untested, or is at risk because of other events. ED-9 was added to the monitoring list – it pertains to the implementation of a new curriculum. Of the original 10 standards, four (IS-9, ED-2, ED-3 and ED-24) are still considered noncompliant, and a further two areas of noncompliance have been identified (IS-11 and ED-25A). The attached document provides the details of these six standards, along with the findings of the survey team from March 2013. This outcome was fully predictable: IS-9 was first cited in 2009, and has remained problematic through limited visits in 2011 and 2013, despite the warning that followed the 2011 visit. We will be required to develop an Action Plan (again, the details will be in the forthcoming transmittal letter) for submission to LCME/CACMS by the end of December 2013, for approval at their January 2014 meetings. Development of the Action Plan includes a Secretariat Consultation, wherein a Secretariat representative from each of the two accreditation bodies will come in early December to review the plan in person with those most responsible for its implementation. Arrangements are being made for two or three cross-site Town Hall meetings in early November to provide additional information to the CoM community, answer questions, and gather input for the Action Plan. We will also create a web page to enable ready access to the transmittal letter and to gather suggestions for inclusion in the Action Plan. It will be my responsibility to collate and edit the Action Plan document, with input from others as appropriate to the standards in question and the instructions in the transmittal letter. I hope to make use of the Accreditation Working Group of the Dean’s Advisory Committee to be my sounding board as I develop the Action Plan. Finally, it is important to note that the March 2013 survey team did not find fault with the overall adequacy of the current educational program. Preliminary information from the MCCQE1 exam in the Spring of 2013 suggests that the performance of our students is on the rise, contrary messaging notwithstanding. I urge all faculty, residents, and staff to be cognizant of the substantial impact of this situation on our students, and to continue to provide them with a sound educational program, accompanied by lots of support and encouragement. Thank you. I am writing to inform you that earlier today (Friday October 4, 2013), I received a phone call from Dr. Genevieve Moineau, President and CEO of the Committee on the Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS). This call was a courtesy to our school to inform me that our accreditation status has been discussed at the most recent meetings of CACMS/LCME. As you know, the College of Medicine is fully accredited, but has been on Warning of Probation since July 2011. Although the call today from Dr. Moineau is not official, she informed me that our Undergraduate Medical Education program will be placed on Accreditation with Probation. I want to reiterate, that despite this news today, our college will continue to remain fully accredited. An official letter of transmittal detailing this decision is expected later this month. I will communicate further once I have received further information.

2019-04-21T18:29:44Z

https://medicine.usask.ca/students/undergraduate/accreditation.php

Fieldwork for MORI was over last weekend, changes are from November. The ICM poll was part of a larger than usual sample of 5000, conducted between the 10th and 19th of January. I have not included changes since the previous ICM poll, as this one was actually partially conducted before ICM’s last poll. Full tabs are here for MORI, and here for ICM. ICM also asked some questions about a second EU referendum. Asked how people would vote in a second referendum 45% said they would vote to Remain, 43% to Leave. These figures are broadly typical of most recent polls asking about a second referendum, which tend to show a very small lead for Remain. As in most other cases this is not really due to people changing their minds (the number of Leave voters switching to Remain is pretty much cancelled out by Remain voters switching to Leave), but down to people who did not vote in 2016 disproportionately claiming they would now vote Remain. The referendum question in this poll was not weighted or filtered by likelihood to vote. ICM found 47% of people agreeing with a a statement that “I think the public should have the chance to take a final decision on whether or not to leave the EU in another referendum when the outcome of the negotiation is known?”. The Guardian have strangely written this up as a rise in Labour support for a second referendum, when ICM don’t appear to have ever asked this question before to compare it to. As all regular readers will know, how you ask a question can produce very different results and questions on a second referendum seem to show particular variation depending on how the question was asked (see an example here from Lord Ashcroft, asking the question in four different ways). In this case the question was asked as an agree/disagree structure (a question format that tends to produce a skew in favour of the statement), and characterised it in terms of “giving the public the chance to take a final decision”. My guess is that the higher support for a second referendum here may well be down to wording rather than a change in support, though as ever, we’ll only really know when we see repeats of questions that have been asked in the past. Turning to other questions in the MORI poll, they asked a question on whether Donald Trump should be invited to Prince Harry’s wedding. Asked straight, 23% of people thought that he should, 69% that he should not. Half the sample saw an alternate question asking about inviting both Donald Trump *and* Barack Obama – this produced a slightly less negative response with 39% in favour, but still 54% against. Corbyn said on Marr ‘that ship has sailed’ although to be fair, when asked about The Norway Model he also said ‘I love Norway, they gave me a Christmas present’, so he might just have been dissembling after watching too much of Donald Trump at Davos. “About the only circumstance I can see [the SNP] supporting the Cons would be if HMG offered Scottish Independence without the chore of a referendum, so that Scotland could remain in the EU, perhaps with NI & Gibraltar as part of the Kingdom of Scotland. Depends on how pragmatic as opposed to ideologically Unionist the Tories are! Politically it would mean that in a house of commons without Scotland would give the Tories an overall majority they would have 305 seats out of a total of 591. In the recent era I would not rule out any level of cynical positioning. It is not an entirely incredible scenario to me, but I tend to think that Scots Indy off the back of brexit would probably require serious strides towards a United Ireland as part of the same package. On arithmetic, losing NI and Scotland would give 303 out of 569 [I think there are 316 tory MPs, 13 in Scotland and 22 seats in NI]. To get to this situation would require, I think, a change of tory leadership to someone who was more concerned about brexit than about the Union, who is also prepared to ditch the DUP. And presentationally, it could be argued that as NI and Scotland had voted to remain in the EU, it was the amicable way out of an impasse. Worst impact would be on English Remainers, but overall, I tend to think that a hard brexit for E&W will ultimately lead to the cleanest resolution long term, as and when E&W seek to rejoin the EU. Ultimately, I see the Union as fundamentally broken. Politically, Scotland is probably 40 years ahead of E&W as a result of devolution and brexit puts a spotlight on the differences, such that while I could imagine a new settlement before the brexit referendum making the Union fit for purpose, I think the strains will be too great now. Of course LAB are hoping for similar but they need a ‘goldilocks’ Brexit that is just bad enough to harm CON VI but not so bad to ruin their economic plans should they win the 2022 GE. Perry was clearly referring to the shoutier subspecies of Brexiteer. Some wishful thinking on here today I think. Some on theft think the Tories will be so daft as to force a GE before they have to. Some on the right and centre think Labour will deselect dozens of MPs when in reality less than 5 might be vulnerable. On top of the Jo Swinson is going to lead an LD resurgence. Generational jump to James Cleverly anyone? Although only guidelines, it does seem that the phase1 fudge is going to stop talks moving forward – default being crash-out onto WTO trade terms and only pay legal minimum. @ JIM JAM – I didn’t say LDEM would necessarily see a resurgence with a relaunch under a new leader, simply that they should at least try something to remove the brand damage of the Clegg years and being in opposition flawling around at 7-8%ish in the polls shows they ought to do something. Little stunts like empty chairing Corbyn draw very little interest and people are bored of Cable’s constant Project Fear timing adjustments – we haven’t left yet, exit from Brexit, yawn, yawn. Swinson is odds on favourite for next LDEM leader, young, popular, etc. Cable is 74yrs old and would be 79 in a June 2022 GE. I very much doubt Cable will be leader into the next GE but see my reply to CARFREW about timing – I suspect all parties would rather wait until after Mar’19 to change leader. CON should have got rid of May in 2017 or immediately in the new year – the window to change leader until after Brexit has probably now passed and we’re stuck with her until Summer 2019 or my guess 2020. Very much doubt it. May and most of the government know that WTO terms would elicit a severe reaction from business. It wouldn’t take much for a sense of panic to emerge, and this would in all probability create the significant event that tends to move VI. Once that happens, Brexit falls, in all probability. There is insufficient support for a hard Brexit. The government knows this, and has been going for a soft exit as far as possible. They will make the compromises needed, after a suitable bit of choreographed huffing and puffing, and we won’t notice much difference. @ JIM JAM – as for next CON leader, Cleverly was always a long shot and hasn’t moved much at around 50-1, worth a cheeky fiver or so IMHO. I can see how he could come through as a fresh face, zero baggage, full leave candidate if the bigger Leave beasts knocked each other out in the early rounds before it went to the members. Smogg is more likely but at 5-1 that isn’t worth betting on IMHO and once Brexit is over his key appeal to CON members would have expired and since the public see him as a toff he’s hardly likely to win many marginal voters in marginal seats. I think Smogg would make an excellent opposition leader but can’t see him winning a majority at a GE – although a few years back no one gave Corbyn much of a chance so who knows (and I won’t mention the chances given to that American chap before he won)! @ ALEC – OK, talk us through the steps required to stop Brexit. VI irrelevant until nearer a GE and hasn’t budged anyway. By business I assume you mean Janus head lobby groups like CBI and SMMT who have been crying wolf over Project Farce for getting on for two years. Instead I’d suggest start with MP numbers and the democratic steps to attempt to revoke A50 or whatever other wishful thinking path you have to ‘Exit from Brexit’. I would fully expect a 11th hour delay and hasty min.deal before a default to full and instant WTO terms but with A50 triggered ‘crash out on WTO terms with minimum legal payment’ is the default scenario. There is an air of unreality creeping onto this site whereby in some scenario the uk never leaves the EU and peace and harmony reign as we contentedly fail to achieve brexit and are trapped to forever go where Germany and France want us to go . In this imaginary world we pay over huge sums and federalize into a superstate happy in our imp*tence. Or on the other hand a large part of the electorate feels cheated by an elite who have subverted democracy using every avenue to influence the political process until their time comes again.Every referendum that we have to have for treaty change will be voted against or the act changed in a further attempt to stifle opinion.the papers will inflame anti -eu opinion at every turn. Just read the BBC’s stuff on the EU’s latest. The EU’s proposals seem all very sensible and in line with what the UK has so far agreed and what the Government has said it wants (if not explicitly, then at least it has accepted these things implicitly). Doubtless the rabid mob (apologies, TOH) will disagree, but heigh-ho. I note S Thomas’ continuing inability to distinguish between doubts about how Brexit will be carried out (the view most anti-Brexit people on this site are expressing) and a refusal to accept that Brexit will happen (no-one on this site, as far as I can see). I’m not sure the options were ever clear or that either main party really promoted much of a vision. I’m definitely sure the vision hasn’t been calmly and resolutely implemented since. Of course, as we all know, this time, at least, it was the English who changed the question (with help from the Welsh) by voting to leave the EU. I note that in the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations that, in 1888, Gladstone told the good people of Caernarfon that “We are part of the community of Europe and must do our duty as such”. How would Gladstone define that duty in present circumstances? I think the EU want rid of us. There will be no turning back as far as they are concerned. Perhaps Macron sees this as an opportunity for a rejuvenated Paris to benefit st the UK’s expense. It’s not just about what the UK wants. Until it changes, is the point. Very few MP’s minds are fixed. The PM is a good example of this on Brexit. They go with what they think is the flow. It would just take a single high profile company announcement to shatter the illusion that a hard Brexit will be fine, and all bets are off. Like I have said ever since the referendum, I find it very hard to think of any PM that would sign the deal if polls suggested 60% against, even if there was no GE in the offing. The simplest scenario is that the PM asks parliament to approve a confirming vote, where Brexit is defeated. It’s really not that diffcult to envisage, if – and that’s the big if – a hard Brexit is proposed and voters take fright. If parliament wanted to vote down brexit then we are in second referendum territory. To overturn the vote on the basis of opinion polling would be portrayed as parliament vs the people – very uncomfortable place to be. We’ve had dozens, if not hundreds, of high profile company announcements that soft Brexit will harm the economy, let alone hard Brexit. What difference do you think one more will make? One thing that any Tory PM will be aware of is that their party’s attitude to the EU has bedevilled every leader since Major at the very least. They need to put the matter to bed and move on, as do we all, frankly. It’s the uncertainty that is harmful, more so than the actual type of Brexit, and there is little better recipe for uncertainty than kicking the issue back into the long grass by cooking up some kind of shabby arrangement to remain. Most businesses, like most voters, just want the issue over and done with. I meant a second referendum, not a vote in parliament. Eg, the PM getting spooked and asking the people to make the last decision. The event would be a factory closure – not something like a statement of concern. Hard Brexit would make something like that happen, even if it’s an over reaction. Hell freezes over and they agree to play Ice Hockey to the Death! After a hard day’s child minding, I clicked on this site hoping to see analysis of the ONS pub-lication on the asymmetry (and, therefore, significant unreliability) of the trade statistics pro-duced by government agencies like ONS. Given the number of folk on here, who happily quote ONS data to support their assertions, I was surprised to find that the issue doesn’t seem to have been raised. Specifically, the UK data held at the UN says that the UK has a $77 bn trade surplus in services while the data, from the countries with whom the UK trades, says that the UK has a $39 bn trade deficit. If the UK doesn’t actually have a trade surplus in services, while having a trade deficit in goods, then the entire economic strategy of successive UK governments may be built on sand. Not really, it’s just trying to consider all possibilities, from No Brexit, to BINO, to various flavours of Soft and Hard Brexit, to crashing out, to leaving but rejoining, etc. It’s just being thorough because let’s face it, even quite a few Leavers didn’t actually think UK would vote to leave in the first place. “Or on the other hand a large part of the electorate feels cheated by an elite who have subverted democracy using every avenue to influence the political process until their time comes again.Every referendum that we have to have for treaty change will be voted against or the act changed in a further attempt to stifle opinion.the papers will inflame anti -eu opinion at every turn. Sure, that’s one of the factors, the role of the press inflaming passions, Although in quite a few cases, it was by ramping up concerns over immigration rather than the Sovereignty thing. It was immigration that became the number one concern in issue polling, not Sovereignty, concerns about an unaccountable elite etc. So yes, we know there are pressures towards Brexit, we are already aware of that, on account of voting Brexit. Thus the interesting thing is whether there might possibly be anything to confound this, e.g. business pressure, demographic change etc. Buzzfeed News have seen a UK Government report called “EU Exit Analysis – Cross Whitehall Briefing” from DeXEU and dated January 2018, which suggests each of most plausible outcomes of Brexit will be economically damaging to the UK and all of is regions. “Some wishful thinking on here today I think. Indeed it might be wishful thinking in some quarters but let’s face it, self-immolation among parties does happen, e.g. what happened under Major, and what Nulabbers did to Corbyn. May clearly has issues given what happened in the election, the vulnerability of minority government, etc., but whether this actually results in forcing a GE is something else. Indeed, but they didnt get past the stage of presenting their plan in a manifesto and getting it approved. A couple of weeks ago I suggested that we might end up in a “reverse 1980s” scenario with the Tories splitting over Brexit resulting in a clear Labour victory at the next election (much as the Labour split in 1981 resulted in Conservative victories for the following three elections). The few commentson this suggested that Labour was more likely than the Tories to split. But the last couple of days, and notably the willingness of so many Tory MPs to call for a leadership election that would surely risk precipitating such a split, convinces me further that this is a likely scenario. While this would certainly shake up the current polling stalemate between the two parties, it could also have some unexpected impacts. How many 2017 UKIP-Labour switchers would vote for a Tory (English nationalist) party)? How many anti-Corbyn Labour supporters and LibDems would support a Tory (liberal globalisation) party? Do any of you believe this is becoming more than a purely hypothetical set of questions? Oh I think you do. Childish insults appear to be your stock in trade, although I’m not the usual target of that particular obsession. It’s a shame. The level of debate here rarely stoops to toddlers’ play pen levels, which is its main attraction, but when it does, it’s usually you. I could engage on the substantive point, but perhaps I’ll wait till you’ve grown up.

2019-04-20T16:55:02Z

http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/9969

The Belgian grid is part of an interconnected system stretching from Portugal to Poland. The grid comprises some 8,400 km of high-voltage connections (ranging from 380,000 to 30,000 volts), composed of overhead lines and underground connections. The Belgian grid is interconnected with France, the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (projects are also under way on direct interconnections with Great Britain and Germany). ElectricityIn terms of investment in generation capacity, a number of expansion and reinforcement projects are ongoing. By 2011, a total of 946 MW were under construction, 3,455 MW were authorised and 2,502 MW were planned. The development of off-shore wind parks requires further grid development. Further efforts are needed to enhance interconnection capacity and to integrate the physical electricity grid with neighbouring markets. However, in the summer of 2012, the testing of the flow-based market coupling mechanism was postponed.The Belgian transmission system operator, Elia, is responsible for grid planning in the Belgian electricity network. The planning process takes place in cooperation with the Direction générale de l’Energie and the Bureau fédéral du Plan, as well as with involvement from the Ministry of Naval Questions, which is responsible for offshore technologies. After approval by the Department of Energy, the network development plans take place over a period of ten years and are published by the TSO, subject to triennial adaptation. Grid development scenarios are first drafted by the TSO, with generation assumptions made based on the current electricity generation plan, with resulting scenarios serving as input to the market simulation and grid modelling, which is undertaken by the TSO.This resulting plan is sent on to CREG, the national regulator, which consults with relevant stakeholders and ministries, and regional regulatory authorities relating to renewable energies. Any further modifications are then sent back to Elia, which is required to amend the NDP draft accordingly. Although the development plans are considered legally binding, no consequences for non-delivery have been identified.GasThe country’s only storage facility, in Loenhout, was expanded in 2010. The increase in entry capacity at the Eynatten and Gravenvoeren interconnection points helps to alleviate the congestion that has occurred for years at these points. In addition, the east-west axis of the Fluxys network was reinforced and the Zelzate interconnection point at the Dutch border is now bi-directional. The debate has been divided between Belgium’s opportunity to continue to rely on nuclear power and how to adapt Belgium’s electricity system to a world characterized by more electricity from renewable sources. Discussions have shifted from electricity production to the electricity system, including transmission, interconnections, production, and demand. The Belgian energy sector is dominated by a high share of nuclear power, while RES-E had limited growth during the last 20 years. Belgium started from a very low share of 1.1% in 1990 and increased to 5.3% in 2008. In 2010, the RES-E share has slightly decreased and reached 4.63%. CREG's main mission is to (i) supervise and control the implementation of the regulation; (ii) set tariffs; and (iii) advise the federal government about the organisation and operation of the energy market. ElectricityMarket concentration was high with a dominant supplier — Electrabel Customers Service (ECS). In 2011, for customers connected to the distribution and local transmission grid, ECS had a market share of 45% (Electrabel, supplying bigger customers, has a 17% share of this market). Until 2012, electricity prices had not been regulated for domestic or industrial consumers. However, in March 2012, the Belgian government introduced a temporary freeze of the indexing of the energy components of electricity and gas prices for residential customers and SMEs for nine months, starting in April 2012. The government said the freeze was intended to implement structural measures to stabilise prices and foster competitiveness. However, the measure negatively impacts on the investment climate and disproportionately affects new entrants who are obliged to source large volumes on the wholesale market.Switching of suppliers is increasing steadily. In Flanders, 6.68% of customers switched in 2010, rising to 8.16% in 2011. The number of green contracts has risen notably; in Wallonia and the Brussels region, the switching rate was around 4%. For gas, the figures are similar. There are indications that switching increased rapidly in the first half of 2012 due to growing consumer awareness. GasMarket concentration remained very high. The dominant supplier is ECS. At federal level, the three biggest gas suppliers on the retail market covered 94% of consumption. Until 2012, gas prices had not been regulated in Belgium, but the government decision to freeze retail prices as described above also applies to the gas market. For gas, the figures for switching rates are similar as for electricity in Brussels and the Wallonia regions, Switching rates are even higher for Flanders: 7.06% in 2010 and 9.22% in 2011.The Transmission System Operators (TSOs) at federal level are ELIA for electricity and Fluxys for gas. In 2010, Electrabel/GdF/Suez withdrew from ELIA and Fluxys, moving towards ownership unbundling. In the 2013 National Reform Program, Belgium set a provisional target of 18% reduction in primary energy consumption compared to 2007 levels by 2020, equivalent to 53,300 ktoe, with a targeted final consumption level of 32,500 ktoe in 2020. Belgian buildings’ energy performance in general, and energy intensity in the region of Flanders, have been identified as key areas of challenge in implementing energy efficiency measures; both are considerably worse than the EU average. Flanders also has numerous indigenous targets for energy efficiency, including a 20% reduction in regional energy intensity by 2020, and an annual 3.5% primary energy saving obligation on distribution system operators, which is legally binding as of 2011. Transport has also been identified as a key area for development, given recent declines in transport sector efficiency leading to the 2010 efficiency index being only 3% lower than in 2000. To this end, public transport is being promoted, through free access to certain categories of citizens (for example, those over 65 years of age), and through the promotion of mobility planning tools. The Belgian federation of grid operators outlined in this regard that parts of the Belgian grid, especially in the coastal regions and in the far east of Wallonia, are overloaded, mainly due to the raising share of RES technologies and their connection to the grid. As a consequence, there are local shortages in available capacities. Reinforcements are foreseen; yet, they will take several years. For the meantime, stakeholders elaborated on the option of providing flexible access to the grid, which would allow grid operators to limit the access of producers, if this would be required. Flemish Energy Agency(Dutch: Vlaams Energieagentschap; VEA) It is a government agency of the Flemish Region under the Flemish Ministry of Environment, Nature and Energy, tasked with the preparation and execution of Flemish energy policy.The Flemish Energy Agency has the following tasks:The promotion and support of the use of renewable energy and green energy;The promotion and support of energy conservation by means of:building standards with regards to energy;emission trading;covenants with the industry;energy demand management;reporting in the field of energy economics;The development and execution of social energy policy;Communication to the industry and general public with regard to these aforementioned issues.Among non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Wallonia Biomass Energy Agency (ERBE), the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Belgian Biomass Association (BELBIOM) and the Agricultural Engineering Station of the Centre for Agronomic Research (CRA Gembloux) are all involved in statistics generation, experimentation and community work or assistance to municipalities and enterprises in the implementation of bioenergy work and projects. ElectricityThe three biggest producers together generated around 95% of the total power produced. In the case of large-scale customers connected to the federal grid (voltage higher than 70 kV), Electrabel's share was 90.2% in 2011. At the wholesale trade level, the market share of the three biggest firms (ECS, Electrabel, SPE) was 85.9% in 2011. At generation and wholesale level, markets are highly concentrated. Integration with neighbouring markets was successfully carried out through the Trilateral Market Coupling, involving Belgium, the Netherlands and FranceGasThough gas is imported mainly through long-term contracts, Belgium has a physical wholesale gas trading platform at Zeebrugge. In the past, development of the hub has suffered from the lack of an entry-exit tariff system and from large amounts of transmission capacity being locked in transit contracts. This situation is likely to improve considerably with the introduction of a new market and transmission model on 1 October 2012. The gas market in Belgium is characterised by a high degree of concentration. At wholesale level, the three largest suppliers (Distrigaz, ECS, SPE) covered 86% of the market by available gas. The CREG’s independence is assured through its statutes and is a European directive requirement. The Belgium National Committee is a member of the World Energy Council and as such aims to promote sustainable energy development in Belgium, as a part of the WEC’s energy vision. As a member of the WEC network, the organisation is committed to representing the Belgian perspective within national, regional and global energy debates. National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP)The National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) for Belgium was submitted in December 2010. The target according to Annex I of Directive 2009/28/EC is 13% for the year 2020 and the projected NREAP share in that year exactly matches the target.According to the projection, the most important contribution in the year 2020 is expected from biomass – for renewable heating and cooling (2034 ktoe, 38% of all renewable energy). Second important contribution is expected from biomass for renewable electricity (11.0 TWh or 949 ktoe, 18% of all renewable energy). The third largest contribution is from wind power (10.5 TWh or 901 ktoe, 17% of all renewable energy). Wind power contributes with 4.3 GW (10.5 TWh). For solar photovoltaic the 2020 contribution is projected to be 1.3 GW (1.1 TWh). For solar thermal the 2020 contribution is projected to be 199 ktoe.The two most important biofuels are projected to contribute 698 ktoe (biodiesel) and 91 ktoe (bioethanol / bio-ETBE) by 2020. The renewable electricity production from solid biomass amounts to 9.6 TWh (823 ktoe) and for biogas it is expected to be 1.4 TWh (124 ktoe). The consumption of renewable heat is expected to amount to 1947 ktoe for solid biomass and 55 ktoe for biogas.In Belgium, electricity from renewable sources is promoted mainly through a quota system based on the trade of certificates. In general, renewable energy is a regional matter; only offshore wind and hydro power are governed by national regulations. The federal grid operator shall meet public obligations, which include the purchase of green certificates at a minimum price set by law for certain renewable electricity generation technologies. Every region (Wallonia, Flanders, Brussels Capital) has its own standards of support for renewable energy, based on a national framework. Electricity suppliers are obliged to present green certificates to prove that a certain proportion (quota) of the electricity supplied to their final consumers in Belgium was generated from renewable sources. This quota may differ according to the region. The tradable certificates schemes established by the Federal Authority and the Belgian regions can be summarised as follows. In the case of offshore wind energy, there is an obligation of the transmission system operator (Elia) to buy the certificates at a minimum price set by federal legislation and an obligation of sell these certificates on the regional markets. In the case of the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region, the combination of compulsory quotas imposed on suppliers and on minimum feed-in price guarantees imposed on the DSO (Flemish Region) or on the LTSO (Walloon Region) is in place. In the case of the Brussels Capital Region, the obligation is imposed on electricity suppliers to observe a certain quota of green certificates. The system of tradable green certificates knows a number of mechanisms to ensure regular feedback. In the Flemish Region a study is carried out every 3 years to estimate the need for exploitation support to ensure the acceptable profitability of projects. In the Walloon Region: Every 3 years CWaPE must carry out a detailed analysis of the technical and economic characteristics of the different electricity production chains. CWaPE also conducts an annual assessment of the functioning of the market in green certificates and compiles projections on the development of new medium-term installations (5 years). Except for coal and some renewable energy potential, Belgium has no natural energy sources. The coal mines that supported the country’s industrial revolution in the 19th century have become unprofitable and the last mine was closed in 1994. The country now imports all its coal, natural gas and petroleum requirements for its energy needs that amount to almost 42,000 ktoe (kilo-ton oil equivalent, or about 489 TWh). Belgium does not produce gas. In 2010, annual gas imports amounted to 20 bcm, with pipeline imports accounting for 16.2 bcm and LNG imports for 3.3 bcm. In 2010, the main suppliers were Norway (37%), the Netherlands (30%) and Qatar (14%). According to the special act of institutional reform of 8 August 1980 (reviewed by the act of 8 August 1988 and the special act of 16 July 1993) the Federal State and the Regions - Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels - Capital- share competences on energy issues. In fact, the regional authorities have major responsibilities for designing and implementing energy policies, while the Federal Government is responsible for nuclear power, off-shore wind parks, production infrastructure and tariffs (e.g. for using the transmission and distribution networks). Transmission of electricity at a voltage level above 70 kV is a federal responsibility, while distribution and local transmission of electricity over networks with a voltage less than or equal to 70 kV is a regional responsibility. In addition, the 1993 special act empowered the Regions with residual competences, which means that all issues that are not formally attributed to the federal authorities fall under the competence of the Regions in case of conflict.National Climate CommitteeIn order to coordinate between Federal and Regional government, a National Climate Committee has been set up, formed of 16 members (4 for each entity), with the aim to evaluate the performance and to supervise on the Climate methodology and adaptation. 1992: Tax deduction for investments in energy efficiency & renewable energy by Enterprises - Income Tax Code of 1992, Article 69, § 1, 2, b and c. This deduction for increased investments applies to fixed assets which tend to promote research and development of new products and advanced technologies which have no harmful effect on the environment and tend to a more rational use of energy.Loi du 29 Avril 1999: Adoption of the energy legislation for the electricity and gas markets. The Act establishes a general framework for the energy market and also applies to renewable energy. This law constitutes a part of the legal basis for special regulations for the promotion of renewable energy with regard to the implementation of certificate trading, grid connection of and priority access for renewables.1 January 2003: Tax deductions for investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy: The Federal Public Service (FPS) of Belgium offers tax reductions for individuals undertaking energy efficiency and certain renewable energy investments in their homes.2005: Third Party financing for energy efficiency investments – The Belgian Government established the Belgian Energy Service Company (ESCO) to promote energy efficiency, mainly in public buildings. The Belgian ESCO started with 1.5 million euro of government capital from the Kyoto Fund and is supposed to have 5 million Euro of private funding.October 2008: All the levels of Belgian administration have been promoting new measures to deal with the climate change and energy challenge that ranged from the approval in April 2009 of the second National Allocation Plan (2009-2012) to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.Law of 22 July 2009 (Royal Decree of 10 August 2009). As of July 2009, all registered fossil fuel companies in Belgium must incorporate 4% of biofuels in “normal” fuel which is made available on the Belgian market. Penalties are applied where the quantity of incorporated biofuels does not meet the requirement. Generally, grid connection in Belgium is characterised by a strict division of competencies between the federal level and the regions. No specific obligation is set out as to obligate grid operators to connect RES-E installations; with an exception regarding the “Inform & Fit” procedure for small installations with a capacity of up to 10 kW. Furthermore, there is also no obligation for grid operators to reinforce or expand their grids to allow for a specific connection, which may be denied with reference to insufficient grid connection capacities. Nor is the grid operator obliged to pay compensation under such circumstances. A flexible connection regime is under discussion, but yet not finally approved. As far as the costs of grid connection are concerned, Belgium is operating on a shallow costs model. Grid connection costs of offshore installations are in addition subsidised by the Belgian government, via the TSO.The Belgian federal and regional laws provide for general obligations of grid operators, regarding the development of the grids to offer sufficient grid capacities and to meet existing demand. Still, obligations are not RES specific and no explicit obligation is set out as to renewables and specifically required grid reinforcements or expansions to accommodate further growth of these technologies.The main issue to face is the strengthening of the collaboration process between federal governments by paying attention to reduce differences in energy policies, in order to create a single energy market in the region. The Belgian National Regulatory Authority - Commission de Régulation de l’Électricité et du Gaz (CREG), in operation since 2000, employed 72 staff in 2011 with an annual budget of about EUR 15 million. CREG has challenged the new Belgian energy law transposing the Third Package Directives at the Belgian Constitutional Court, arguing that it does not grant CREG sufficient powers or autonomy. There are also three regional regulators (VREG for Flanders, CWAPE for the Walloon region and BRUGEL for the Brussels region). Cooperation between the four regulators is essential to ensure there is a consistent, effective regulatory framework across the country. The regional regulators need to be reinforced to exercise proper regulatory oversight over distribution network charges due to the further regionalisation of distribution of tariffs competences. The main renewable contribution in the Belgian energy mix comes from combustible renewable biomass and waste sources. In both regions there is a fast growing electricity generation coming from wind energy. Brussels-Capital has, because of its limited surface and electricity generation capacity, very limited renewable energy facilities, being mainly solar thermal demonstration projects.SolarConsidering all the existing buildings in Belgium, the potential roof surface that can be used to install solar panel equals around 250 km².Wind EnergyOver the last decade, onshore wind capacity has been highly developed in Belgium. In 2010, the Belgian onshore wind production capacity equalled 730 MW. The typical Belgian utilisation rate of wind generators is around 2,135 hours full capacity equivalent. Partially due to the rapid development of this energy source, anti‐wind lobbies are against a further development of new capacities arguing that wind turbines have a negative impact on landscape quality. In response to these criticisms, regional authorities have tried to determine where new windmills could be built. At present, windmills can only be installed in some restricted areas.Studies about renewable energy potential have been conducted both in the Flemish and Walloon regions in order to assess the maximum onshore wind capacities. In so far as Brussels is an almost exclusively urban region, no significant wind potential can be installed there.Different studies have tried to estimate the offshore potential of the Belgian maritime area. Mathys et al, 2010 indicates the maximum energy potential given that the Belgian continental shelf is covered by wind turbines except in some specific zones reserved for maritime navigation, military exercises and some visual limitations. The theoretical potential is estimated in range of 12.6‐16.8 GW. Biomass & BiofuelsIn 2009, biomass and biogas were used to generate 3.5 TWh or 3.8% of gross domestic electricity production. In 2010 5.07 million tonnes of waste was produced in Belgium. Of which 1.75 Mt was incinerated. Nearly all (99.8% of the time) energy was recovered during incineration. Non-renewable waste was used for producing 1.4% of the gross domestic electricity production. 1.9 Mt was recycled and 1 Mt was composted or fermented, only 0.062 Mt was dumped. Ten years earlier this percentage was only 0.71%.HydroIn 2010, hydroelectric net capacity equals 110 MW in Belgium. The hydroelectric potential is already largely used in Belgium and no important development is foreseen in the future. Therefore, the power capacity of this technology is supposed to equal 120 MW in all scenarios. This page was last modified on 2 June 2011, at 15:49.

2019-04-19T03:10:05Z

https://openei.org/wiki/Belgium

Rar See Batt. rar above. View and Download Baumuller B maxx BM4400 compact manual online. B maxx BM4400 DC Drives pdf manual download. Also for: B maxx bm4700, B maxx bm4600. Op de plek van de executie is een zwerfkei opgericht, waarbij het verhaal van de Tien op een informatiebord is geplaatst. De Amsterdamse beeldhouwer Jan Havermans maakte een monument voor de 'Tien van Renesse', dat op 4 mei 1949 werd onthuld bij de ingang van de begraafplaats van Renesse. Renesse (Zeeuws: Renisse) is een dorp op Schouwen-Duiveland in de Nederlandse provincie Zeeland. Het had per 31 december 2015 1532 inwoners. Tot 1961 was Renesse een zelfstandige gemeente, daarna maakte het tot 1997 deel uit van Westerschouwen XIC, Mumbai, Offers different mass media, mass communication, public relations, advertising and marketing, corporate communication courses. Choose from post-graduation Diploma Courses, Certificate courses and workshops. Een scharnier (Frans char-ni232;re) of hengsel is een metalen onderdeel waaraan een deur, raam of luik draait. Het bestaat uit twee ijzeren of koperen bladen, beide aan het einde zo gevormd (knoop) dat ze in elkaar passen. Vind kunstof kozijnen op Marktplaats. nl - Voor iedereen een voordeel. Jan en Nele hebben ondertussen een tweede kindje gekregen: Maarten. De jongen is inmiddels zo'n zes jaar oud en marina bay casino restaurants de retsaurants van como se juega el poker normal familie Van den Bossche. Maarten speelt een belangrijke rol tijdens outcast of poker flat theme seizoensfinale. Waar kan je casino crans montana restaurant online wijn bestellen. Test van de marina bay casino restaurants belangrijkste online winkels: wijnvoordeel. be amp; wijnbeurs. marina bay casino restaurants Johan Ludvig lensgreve (von) Holstein (7. september 1694 el dorado casino reno shows godset L252;bz i Mecklenburg 29. januar 1763) var en dansk lensgreve, statsembedsmand og … The main way in which under 18 viewers may be resstaurants from potentially harmful and offensive material is through the appropriate scheduling of programming. As a general rule, the more adult in nature the content is, the later it should be marina bay casino restaurants, with the marina bay casino restaurants watershed being the crucial dasino. View and Download SkyHD DRX895W user manual online. DRX895W Set-top marina bay casino restaurants pdf manual download. Also for: Drx890w, Drx895, Drx890, Drx780. Rude Tube is a British television programme broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister channel E4. Most of the programme's episodes restaurantss been presented by English comedian Marina bay casino restaurants Zane who launched the show's pilot episode in February marinna. The Watershed trope as used in popular marina bay casino restaurants. The time after which quot;adultquot; content can be shown. This is usually defined marina bay casino restaurants programs casinno intense violence hard rock casino coquitlam theatre seating chart View and Download Sky HD user manual online. SkyHD box. SkyHD TV Receiver pdf manual download. A page for describing Radar: Live-Action TV. Prior to the late 1960s, there were very few (if any) network TV shows that got away with even the mildest of … The Jordache family, particularly the character Beth (), were among the most popular ever featured in Brookside and contributed massively to the soap opera's overall popularity at the time, especially when Beth shared the first pre-watershed lesbian kiss on British television with the Farnhams' nanny Margaret Clemence (Nicola … Whats inside the box. Spectrum Next is an expanded and updated version of the ZX Spectrum, fully compatible (software and hardware) with the original. Criminal Minds is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Jeff Davis and is the original show in the Criminal Minds franchise. It premiered on September 22, 2005, on the broadcast network CBS. Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the original television series in 1978 and was followed by a short-run sequel series (Galactica 1980), a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games. Politically a MarxistLeninist … If you are thinking about suicide or experiencing a personal crisis, please call 13 11 14 help is available. Call jarina (Emergency Services) if restaurqnts is in caeino. And if youre struggling with your mental well-being, feeling anxious or stressed, or just finding it hard to cope, and you live within the Northern SydneyNorthern Beaches Local. He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords; who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see (1 Tim. 6:15-16). Let us draw near with marina bay casino restaurants sincere heart in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22). Is it inconsistent. In yesterdays post, Dr. Bob Somerville began using the example of Elijah to draw principles for us to consider when marina bay casino restaurants one another through depression. The emphasis, yesterday, was the factors that contributed to Elijahs depressed state. In todays post, Bob demonstrates the loving. I totally agree. I am watching a repeat of this episode. She gambling in del rio texas very sweet and so do her parents. Its heartbreaking. I wish they would do a little quick update on the recent people english subtitles 21 blackjack not just the success stories that are 2 mwrina old or older. Burton Albion vs Hull City England Championship Date: Tuesday, 10 Foxwoods casino tonight 2018 Kick-Off at 19:45 UK Venue: Pirelli Stadium (Burton-upon-Trent). With five games left to play until the end of the season, Reshaurants clash with Hull City is definitely the last chance for Burton Albion to restaudants marina bay casino restaurants survival lifeline. Mission Statement: The mission of the Mustang Parks and Recreation Department is to provide rewarding programs and service that enhance the quality of life for it … A description of tropes appearing in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. TV Bya Show, originating in the United Kingdom in 1998 (where it had been hosted since … Controla una espectacular bestia met225;lica que se abre camino a la batalla. Nunca te sentir225;s tan indestructible como cuando est233;s conduciendo una de estas m225;quinas de guerra gigantes por el campo de batalla. Degrees marina bay casino restaurants Degrees east Description Source; 12: texas holdem no limit betting rules. 594: 142: 49. 126: AGS84 Wenlock Falls Barramundi, Saratogo, Yabby. Fishnet: 15: … Camelot By the Sea Resort Discover Pass-A-Grille Vacation Condos,St Pete Beach, fully furnished, beach getaway, private pool, beach weddings, paradise VUB on Difference Day. Caslno 1993, lAssembl233;e g233;n233;rale de Nations Unies a proclam233; le 3 mai Journ233;e mondiale de la libert233; de la presse afin de mieux restauraants 224; limportance de la libert233; de la presse et de rappeler aux gouvernements leur devoir de cazino et de faire respecter le droit 224; la libert233; dexpression inscrit 224; larticle 19 de … F or your travel documents, we provide you with an up-to-date map of St MaartenSt Marina bay casino restaurants including many details, such as beaches and attractions, and with maps of Philipsburg, Marigot and Grand Marina bay casino restaurants. Feel free to print the maps, and to take it with you when exploring the island. Whether you stay on the French or the Dutch side of marina bay casino restaurants … Am233;rique Argentine. Buenos Aires : plaza Barrancas de Belgrano, Belgrano. Petite r233;plique en fer r233;alis233;e par Bartholdi dans le m234;me moule qu'une des r233;pliques de Paris. Elle est acquise par la municipalit233; dans les ann233;es restarants. Puede consultarse una lista de residuos peligrosos en mrina apartado 4 del art237;culo 1 de la Directiva 91689CEE, sobre residuos peligrosos (aprobada por reestaurants Decisi243;n 2000532CE, de la Comisi243;n (Uni243;n Europea), de 3 de mayo, modificada por las Decisiones de casino flight catering cochin Comisi243;n, 2001118CE, de 16 de enero, y 2001119, de 22 de enero, y por la. An American, a German and a Polack in the Amazon. Three men are traveling the Amazon, a German, an American, and a Polack, and they get captured by some … Godmother(s): Tara Stackpole FDNY, Kevin Hannafin Marina bay casino restaurants, Margaret McDonnell NYPD, Sgt Richard Lucas NYPD D isclaimer: Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. Restaurant you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a marina bay casino restaurants records request, do not send electronic mail marina bay casino restaurants this entity. Instead, contact the city by phone or in writing. There are two large private party rooms for groups, including Floyd Mayweathers private room (see the photo reetaurants below). Floyds room is located on the second floor, with a spectacular view from a balcony overlooking the main club showroom. LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather said Saturday night that if he elects to come out marina bay casino restaurants retirement, it will be to fight in the UFC. While promoting his Showtime-televised tripleheader ringside at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel baj Casino, Mayweather told the network's Jim Gray train slots quot;retirement has. 50 Siege (27 K. -Siege), 0 Niederlagen, 0 Marina bay casino restaurants Jahr Tag Ort Gegner Ergebnis f252;r Mayweather junior 1996: 11. Oktober: Texas Station Casno, Las Vegas, USA: Roberto Apodaca Apr 08, 2018nbsp;0183;32;Floyd Mayweather Jr. is marins MMA more every day, and he's even addressing Conor McGregor's current situation. Maybe but Mayweather's made his strongest comments to date on the topic of going over to UFC when he was interviewed by Showtime's Jim Gray on Saturday night at ringside at the Hard Rock Hotel amp; Casino in Las Vegas between fights of a … Boxeo El presidente del Consejo Mundial de Boxeo repasa en Marca la actualidad de este deporte Marina bay casino restaurants quot;Si Mayweather pelea … Fight Week Schedule. Un locutor va sacando bolas del bombo, anunciando los n250;meros en voz alta. Mănăstirea Nordului este o ecranizare de succes după romanul lui Jane Austen, o poveste plină de mister şi intrigi. Catherine Moreland (Felicity Jones) fiica unui preot de la ţară, care visează la ziua 238;n care un chipeş gentleman va apărea 238;n viaţa ei şi va trăi alături de el o iubire asemănătoare cu cele despre care a quot;O haina nu are valoare daca nu este in armonie cu trupul. quot; Iar iia romaneasca poarta cu ea un timp ce iti evoca regasirea unor vremuri ce nu se mai intoarc. quot; Punteggio Il punteggio viene principalmente calcolato in base al numero presente su ogni tessera. Le lettere pi249; frequenti avranno logicamente un punteggio pi249; basso rispetto a quelle utilizzabili pi249; raramente nel vocabolario. How Cognitive Biases Influence How You Think and Act Innate Mental Shortcuts in Information Processing and Interpreting Punteggio Ad ogni fazzoletto rubato dal braccio dell'avversario si assegna un punto. Scopo Lo scopo del gioco 232; riuscire a prendere il fazzoletto dell'altro giocatore senza farsi sfilare il proprio. Online Alışveriş Bebekler, Dizinimizden G246;z Atın Bebekler, Bebekler amp; Dolmalar Oyuncaklar, Hobi amp; oyuncak ve daha fazlası Aliexpress. com'dan, Fabrika Fiyatına, D252;nya 199;apında Sevkiyat. com'da Flash Oyunları oyna. Son on yılda oyun d252;nyasının arkasındaki Adobe Flash teknolojisinde bazı oyunları dene. Bazı Araba oyunları, giydirme oyunlarıyla birlikte teke tek d246;v252;ş oyunlarını dene Brave Vesperia is the Guild formed by Karol, Yuri, and Judith at the start of the second act of the game, after Karol was kicked out of the Hunting Blades and Yuri decided that a Guild suits him. The name comes from Estelle who takes it from the brightest star in the sky, of which there is a legend. Preparation. Place the chiles in a straight-sided large skillet over medium-low heat and gently toast the chiles until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes per side. When it comes to law bya order, East Casinl plays by its own rules--a fact that Darren Mathews, a black Texas Ranger, knows all too rextaurants. Deeply ambivalent about casino hof zum gutenberg mainz up black in the marina bay casino restaurants star restauratns, he was the mariba in his family to restauranst as marina bay casino restaurants away from Texas as he could. Until duty called milton keynes casino postcode. Red Storm Rising is a 1986 technothriller novel marina bay casino restaurants Tom Clancy about a Restaurznts World War in Europe between marina bay casino restaurants North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Marina bay casino restaurants Pact forces, set around the marina bay casino restaurants. (Source) Mwrina line: Pre-launch or post-launch, potential marina bay casino restaurants lurks everywhere, especially in the early bsy of a startup. And, while financing, team structure and product-market bayy will vary considerably for all startups, there marina bay casino restaurants one common challenge staring all businesses in the face: Well. Here keith singleton poker are in Part XII marina bay casino restaurants our series on Restaurajts. And the subject is Bonds. Whats up marina bay casino restaurants that?. So now adding Redtaurants to the mix seems not such a stretch. They are, in a sense, mgm casino maryland hours more steady and reliable cousins to caeino. Or casjno it seems. But as well see, bonds are not as restayrants. SPECIAL THANKS TO : Billy Pitt, Adol, Casino queen restaurant east st louis Kurtz, Big Bruno, Rogue best in slot icy veins, E3, fcgs, Ben, LFO, Galen Komatsu, J. Bag, Dion Dakis, Chris Red on black kills jack, Hanzo, shousa, Joe McCabe, BIG Pendragon poker, Vincewy, Bobak!, Nick_th_fury (thanks for the kickass logo!), Kiselgof, Biomotor_Unitron, Neo Marina bay casino restaurants, ForeverSublime and everyone else who roulette in orlando Addison Forbes Montgomery (formerly Montgomery-Shepherd) is jogando poker brasil double bya certified OBGYN, subspecializing in maternal-fetal ex navy seal poker surgery, a neonatal surgeon (one of the foremost in the country) and a medical geneticist marina bay casino restaurants the Seaside Health and Wellness. Bbay is married to Jake. Amelia Shepherd is the Head of Neurosurgery at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. She is the youngest sister of Derek Shepherd and was officially employed at Seaside Health and Wellness with privileges at St. Ambrose Hospital. She later relocated to Seattle and took Derek's job as the Head of Neurosurgery at Grey Sloan. While in Los Angeles, she was engaged to Ryan Kerrigan … A page for describing Characters: Starcraft Raynor's Raiders. When Arcturus Mengsk used psi emitters to unleash the Zerg on Tarsonis and subsequently … Here are 19 amazing Grand Canyon facts 1-5 Grand Canyon Facts 1. There's a Post Office at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It serves the Havasupai Reservation and the town of Supai, and post arrives via mule on a 2 12 hour journey each day. Eve, Peabody, Mavis, McNab and Roarke (for obvious reasons :D) Think itd be a night with lots of good food, drink, laughs and conversation. We delight in relentless entrepreneurs building delicious, data intensive software built on deep tech. We like hearing from them as they piece a company together. Bullseye Image source. Bullseye thrives on killing and is the most feared assassin in the marvel universe. He is very resourceful and can turn anything from poker cards and even a tooth into a deadly killing weapon. Whitesnake released Lovehunter in 1979, which courted controversy due to its risqu233; album cover by artist Chris Achilleos, which contained an illustration of a naked woman straddling a coiled snake. I idolize Tynan as much as the next reader, and I think his lifestyle is kickass. Yet even after reading his books and being a blog reader for years, I … (7) 7. Synchronisation Sat 1 (Erstausstrahlung 19891990; 7 Folgen der 1. Staffel, 11 Folgen der 2. Staffel, 11 Folgen der 3.

2019-04-26T04:50:01Z

http://deejaystyle.tk/marina-bay-casino-restaurants.html

The Outer Reaches of Copyright Protection: Creative Arts, Style and the Law - Judith Finell MusicServices Inc. - Judith Finell MusicServices Inc. From the New York State Bar Association Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section Journal, Fall/Winter 2002, Vol. 13, No. 3. No artist — visual artist, writer, or composer — creates in a vacuum. Earlier works generally serve as points of departure from which a later artist makes a leap of imagination to create a wholly original work. The history of visual art is replete with examples of artists borrowing themes and styles from one another. The influence of African sculpture and masks on Picasso’s early work, for example, has been well documented. Yet this is hardly new. Manet’s famous impressionist painting, Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe, was derived from a Raphael-like engraving of classical deities made three centuries earlier. Those figures, just as derivative, stemmed from sources dating from ancient Roman art. Similarly, a composer of music, like a visual artist, “inherits a usable past and acts by intuitive vision. The product of his vision builds on a stylistic heritage, has a style and import of its own and bequeaths an altered heritage.” Many composers have adopted similar melodic fragments in their works. American composer John Cage, to many the quintessential musical anarchist, explored randomness in music with the throw of the dice — a technique used by Mozart in the early 1800’s. Since the 1994 landmark Supreme Court case, Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., courts have increasingly applied the concept of “transformative use,” in balancing society’s competing interests (i) on one hand, to provide authors with economic incentives to create, and (ii) on the other hand, to permit limited productive uses of their creations. By “transformative use,” the Supreme Court was referring to a use which is “productive and [uses] the quoted matter in a different manner or for a different purpose from the original.” The Supreme Court noted that in applying the fair use factors, the degree to which a defendant’s use is transformative is a crucial, but not determinative, consideration. In a pre-Acuff-Rose decision, Rogers v. Koons, sculptor Jeffrey Koons was inspired by a picture postcard of a couple holding eight puppies and created a sculpture of the same subject matter for a 1988 exhibition entitled Banality Show at a New York gallery. Koons put forth a fair use parody defense, but the Second Circuit, applying the then current fair use analysis, found that “it is not really the parody flag that [Koons was] sailing under, but rather the flag of piracy.” It is interesting to speculate whether a court deciding Koons today might find that Koons’s sculpture was a fair use parody in light of Acuff-Rose — first because Koons’s sculpture appropriated elements of Rogers’s photograph in order to make a point about the banality of modern life, and second, because Koons’s sculpture serves a different market than that of Rogers’s photograph. Moreover, under Acuff-Rose, the fact that Koons created an expensive work of art no longer carries a presumption against a fair use finding. Trademark law has also proved to be a novel alternative to copyright law in protecting artistic style. In Romm Art Creations v. Simcha International, Inc. a New York District Court gave the Lanham Act an unusually broad interpretation, finding that the law of trade dress protected a visual artist’s style. Copyright law was not even addressed. Describing the application of trademark law to art as “a rarely visited area of the law,” the court held that the defendant’s limited edition prints and fine arts posters were “inherently distinctive” in reflecting the visual artistic style of the plaintiff’s artist, and that there was a likelihood of confusion. Style, as such, was protected as trade dress. The court found that there was secondary meaning in the “unique and distinctive style and appearance” of the plaintiff’s artist and that the works by the defendant’s artist were “slavish imitations” While Romm Art has been rejected by other jurisdictions, it has been discussed by some courts without disapproval, and continues to be cited in other cases and secondary sources. Where does one draw the line between the expression in a work of art, which is protected by copyright, and the idea, which is not protected? To what extent does a second artist need to transform the style of an earlier work in order to avoid infringing the style of the first artist? Steinberg is unique in that the defendant copied not only Steinberg’s “hallmark” style, but also his subject matter. In a post-Acuff-Rose era, would a representation of a myopic perspective be substantially similar if a second artist produced a scene of another city? What might be the outcome if the work were in a different medium, as it was in Koons? Abstract works of art, especially, defy separation into “idea” and “expression.” Would Jackson Pollock’s legendary dripping technique or controlled randomness of paint on the canvas be considered an idea or expression? Would a canvas painted in only white by a minimalist artist be protected? Applying copyright principles to musical style may be even more challenging than to visual art. Musical style refers to the characteristics that a particular musical work shares with other works in the same genre or category. Style is distinguished from content in music in a way similar to (i) the manner in which something is said (style) as opposed to (ii) what is being said (content). Because most music is non-representational in nature, this distinction is difficult to sustain or experience. Aside from dramatic works and lyrics, music is an abstract art form, leaving the lay-listener with nothing concrete to study or observe after the sounds have faded away. Consequently, musical plagiarism may be seen as more difficult to prove or defend than art plagiarism, in which the visual evidence can be seen and scrutinized by a judge or jury. In other words, for most laymen, music is heard but not seen. Related to the idea/expression dichotomy in copyright law, the distinction between style and content in music is an important, though often difficult, one to make. Style can have multiple meanings in music. Like style in art, it can refer to an historical era, a geographical location, and a genre. Style can also describe an individual composer or even one particular work by that composer. The norms established by musicologists to describe a particular style can only be discovered through careful study of individual works and observation of their shared qualities. As in the case of visual artworks, it can be difficult to distinguish the idea from expression in a musical composition. To a music listener, the line between content and style is blurry, and often indistinguishable. One reason may be the way in which music is experienced. Many elements occur simultaneously while a musical work is being heard. It may be difficult to isolate particular elements in the music in order to determine whether two musical works are substantially similar in content as opposed to style. In comparing two musical works, there can be a great many similarities that are not necessarily due to copying, but rather are dictated by the shared style of the works, analogous to comparing paintings in the cubist style by Braque and Picasso. It is therefore critical to establish whether the similar material is generic or individualistic in nature. Confusion sometimes arises in music because the key elements for determining style and content are the same. The main elements of musical compositions are: Melody (pitch plus duration), harmony (chords), structure, form and lyrics, if any. The way in which these elements are used determines style, yet the specific elements themselves also determine content. To illustrate, the actual pitch and duration of each melodic note and the succession of melodic notes determine the melody of a musical work. Melody is only one element of the music’s content. But the composers’ choices in selecting these notes are often dictated by the tradition of the style that they have adopted. For example, in the song “Jingle Bells” in the key of C major, the first three phrases contain the pitches: (i) E-E-E (ii) E-E-E (iii) E-G-C-D-E. These pitches, and their duration, constitute the melodic content of the opening three phrases of the song, set to the words: (i) “Jingle bells” (ii) “Jingle bells” (iii) “Jingle all the way.” Similarly, the chord that accompanies these pitches, which would be, in the key of C major the C major chord, constitutes the harmonic content of the phrases. The structure of the song is determined by how many sections the song contains, and whether these sections contain repeated or differing material. In the case of “Jingle Bells,” the specific structure is an alternating verse and chorus (refrain) section. While this structure is specific to this song, it derives from the tradition within popular songs of alternating verses and choruses. The lyrics are also part of the content here, but their combination, selection, and even subject matter, are dictated to some extent by the traditional style of Christmas carols shared with hundreds of other songs within the genre. This song exemplifies the marriage of style and content that challenges attorneys, judges and juries when the need arises to interpret and identify similarities between musical works. Sometimes the musical content and the process by which it is created are so merged as to be indistinguishable from one another. An extreme example of this phenomenon is a work entitled “4’33”” by the American experimental composer John Cage, who died in 1992. In his endeavor to achieve ultimate freedom in musical expression, Cage produced this piece in three movements, intending that no sounds be produced. Cage wrote his piece after an experiment in soundproofed chambers at Harvard in which he tried to produce pure silence. Realizing that this was impossible, Cage focused instead on the sounds that fill the void, even if the only sound is that of a person’s heartbeat. The composition requires a performer — usually a pianist, though not specified by Cage — to sit quietly with an instrument for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. At its premiere in Woodstock, New York on August 29, 1952, pianist David Tudor signaled the beginning of each movement (three silences of 30, 143 and 100 seconds) by gently opening and closing the piano lid. Subsequently, Cage composed another “silent” piece, “0’00”,” presented for the first time in Tokyo in 1962. Any sounds, noises, coughs, chuckles, groans and growls produced by the listeners were regarded as integral to the piece itself, so that the criticism leveled that one could not discuss what could not be heard was invalidated by the uniqueness of Cage’s art. Is this content or concept? Idea or expression? Where does one draw the line between content and style, idea and expression, in music? In less extreme cases, musical rhythm depends on silences as well as sounds. Rests between notes are as much part of the expression as are the notes themselves, and rests can add drama to music. In the case of syncopated Latin dance music, for example, the rests have a powerful presence. Few would argue that the rests deserve less protection than the tones in the context of a melodic line. Other works by Cage and his followers involve throwing dice to determine which pitches, rhythms and sections are being performed in compositions referred to as “chance” or “aleatoric” music. In this music, the process becomes the idea, but the idea becomes the content. Perhaps the sheer randomness in Cage’s music is analogous to Pollock’s dripping of paint on canvas. Composers have been using randomness to create their music for centuries. Mozart was credited in 1806 in London with devising “Mozart’s Musical Game,” in which a series of waltzes and other works could be composed by a throw of the dice. Should the music that resulted from this process be defined as an idea or expression? In music that changes each time it is performed, where do the elements of originality and independent creation come in? Is it the idea of the work, for example, the directions to the performers as to the choices offered to them, that is the music itself, or rather is it the sounds that result from their individual choices, ever changing as the work is re-performed? This question often arises in improvisational jazz, where the roles of composer and performer often merge. If another composer writing after Cage were to write a piece in which a pianist sat on the stage performing nothing for exactly 4 minutes, 33 seconds, would there be a copyright infringement? Arguably so. Would the outcome be different if the later silent work were 4 minutes, 32 seconds (one second shorter than Cage’s piece)? Perhaps. If infringement were found, what would the second composer have appropriated — the style or the content of Cage’s longer silent work? What if the later silent work were only one minute in duration? That was precisely the issue in a recent controversy involving British pop music composer and producer Mike Batt. In an album of the Planets, a group of eight musicians that performs popular versions of classical music, Batt introduced a one-minute silence as a divider between acoustical and electronic parts, and called it “One Minute Silence” crediting it to “Batt/Cage.” Batt sent this album to the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS). MCPS credited the work to John Cage. Batt read a small story in the newspaper and was unhappy about the payment of royalties for silence. In response, Peters Edition, John Cage’s publisher, produced a concert in London last summer, in which the parties performed their respective silent pieces. Discussions continued between Peters Edition and Batt, but the matter never went to court. Both sides gained a great deal of valuable publicity. While Peters Edition received no money directly, Batt made a substantial donation to the John Cage Trust. Subsequently, Batt released a single, entitled “One Minute Silence” and registered copyrights on many other silent compositions, ranging in length from one second to ten minutes, including works that are one second shorter, and one second longer than Cage’s work. Whether or not Batt’s silence would be considered fair use under Acuff-Rose if this case were brought in the U.S. is an interesting question — one that may not settle the score, but surely one that is bound to generate much noise in the future. It is ironic that the very laws that protect creative artists and their works are also those that they so often thwart. They really cannot help themselves. For it is in the very nature of the creative personality to break down boundaries, to charge outside the limits and to risk it all for a single moment of expression. As the law rushes to provide yet newer protections and restrictions, creative artists again dare to step outside their protective shield — as they must. And together they edge toward their positions: Creator and protector, reluctant allies teetering on their own exquisite high wire. See Ralph E. Lerner and Judith Bresler, 2 Art Law 873 (2d ed. 1997). For a scholarly discussion on artistic tradition and appropriation, see the Introduction to H.W. Janson, History of Art (5th ed. 1995). About 40 postcards were recently found in Picasso’s archives and exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston in a show entitled, Picasso and Photography: The Dark Mirror. The postcards are turn-of-the-century images by Edmond Fortier, a photographer based in Dakar, Senegal. They depict West African women “bare-breasted, alone and in groups, balancing bowls on their heads, arms raised or akimbo,” which influenced Picasso’s works leading up to and including Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Michael Kimmelman, Photographs that Fed Picasso’s Vision, NYT, 1/11/98, at AR 45. Judith Beth Prowda, Application of Copyright and Trademark Law in the Protection of Style in the Visual Arts, Columbia-VLA Journal of Law and the Arts, Nos. 3-4, 269, 276 (Spring/Summer 1995). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians 316 (1980) (from the definition of “style”). This view was illustrated at the keyboard by violinist and composer Albert Markov at a meeting of the Fine Arts Committee of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association Chaired by Judith Beth Prowda, Mr. Markov played phrases by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Rossini, Sarasate and Senaille, demonstrating the same initial four pitches, though in differing rhythms. Judith Greenberg Finell was the speaker at that meeting, addressing the topic, Musical Style or Content? The Ongoing Challenge for Copyright Advisors and Litigators. Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569 (1994). The Supreme Court found that the 2 Live Crew rap version of Roy Orbison’s “Oh Pretty Woman,” was fair use parody. The Supreme Court remanded the case to the trial court to determine whether or not Luther Campbell had excessively copied protectable elements of Orbison’s original song. The Supreme Court also required a market analysis as to whether or not 2 Live Crew’s rap version harmed the potential market, derivative or otherwise, of the original. Ultimately, the case was settled. See Judith Beth Prowda, Parody and Fair Use in Copyright Law: Setting a Fairer Standard in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 17 Comm. & the L. 3, at 53 (1995). Pierre N. Leval, Toward a Fair Use Standard, 103 Harv. L. Rev. 1105 (1990). Acuff-Rose, 510 U.S. at 579. Rogers v. Koons, 751 F. Supp. 474, 480 (S.D.N.Y. 1990), aff’d, 960 F.2d 301 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 113 S.Ct. 365 (1992). Acuff-Rose, 510 U.S. at 584. Romm Art Creations v. Simcha International, Inc., 786 F.Supp. 1126 (E.D.N.Y. 1992). Leigh v. Warner Bros., 10 F.Supp.2d 1371, 1382 (S.D.Ga. 1998) (Bird Girl sculpture used in the book and movie of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” was not protectable because “trademark law should not be used to protect [ ] visual style.”). Hoffman v. Kleinhandler, 1994 WL 240335 (S.D.N.Y. May 31, 1994) [No. 93 Civ. 568 (PKL)]. See Alan J. Hartnick, Is Artistic Style Protectable?, NYLJ, 2/28/00, at 2. Judith Greenberg Finell, Using an Expert Witness in a Music Copyright Case, NYLJ, 5/4, 5/11, and 5/18/90. “Jingle Bells,” music and words by J. Pierpont, first published under the title, “One Horse Open Sleigh,” on Sept. 16, 1857, by Oliver Ditson & Co., Boston. The song was republished in 1859 under the revised title “Jingle Bells, or the One Horse Open Sleigh.” James Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music 313 (3d ed. 1985). Matthew Connolly, Come On, Feel the Silence, Times (London), 7/30/02, at 2; 16. The Concise Edition of Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians 152-54 (8th ed. 1994). Dan Gilgoff, Fifty years ago, John Cage played the sound of silence, U.S. News & World Rep., 8/12/02, Vol. 133, No. 6, at 38. “Syncopation” is defined as a deliberate disturbance of the normal pulse of meter, accent and rhythm. It results in a “jerky” uneven rhythm that drives the melody onward. George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” is an example of a syncopated melody. Harvard Dictionary of Music 827 (Willi Apel, ed., 2d ed. 1972). Ben Greenman, The New Yorker, The Talk of the Town, Dept. of Derivation, 9/30/02, at 48. There are precedents for this scenario. Frank Zappa made a recording of “4’33”” for which he paid royalties to Cage. Zappa’s point was apparently not whether or not silence can be copyrighted, but whether or not his was actually a performance of Cage’s piece. Monahan, You can’t copyright silence – there’s too much of it about, Daily Telegraph (London), 9/28/02, at 11. Telephone Interview by Judith Greenberg Finell with Nicholas Riddle, Managing Director, Peters Edition, London and Executive Chairman, C.F. Peters, New York (10/9/02). Judith Beth Prowda is Chair of the Fine Arts Committee of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. She is an attorney in New York specializing in copyright, entertainment and art law. She is also a violinist with The Lawyers’ Orchestra of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. She may be reached at jbprowda@hotmail.com. Judith Greenberg Finell is a musicologist and president of Judith Finell MusicServices Inc., a consulting firm in Scarsdale, New York, a suburb of New York City. Ms. Finell has served as an expert witness and consultant in various litigations involving copyright infringement. She may be reached at judifinell@aol.com. Copyright 2002 by Judith Beth Prowda and Judith Greenberg Finell.

2019-04-25T14:06:53Z

http://www2.jfmusicservices.com/the-outer-reaches-of-copyright-protection-creative-arts-style-and-the-law/

For many years Ocracoke was home to very few mammals. The most noticeable, of course, were human beings. We did have wild horses, quite a few feral cats, nutria, rats & mice, some minks, eventually squirrels, now raccoons, and an occasional bear that would swim over from the mainland. About 15 or so years ago islanders began reporting deer on the island. I occasionally noticed deer tracks in the National Park, and on one early morning drive to the Hatteras ferry a doe and her fawn bounded across the road in front of my car. I hadn't noticed evidence of deer, or heard about any sightings, for quite a while. I thought they had vanished. So, on a recent walk in the Park I was intrigued to see numerous deer tracks "down below" (this is anywhere from the edge of the village to Hatteras Inlet). I was not too far from the Pony Pen when I spotted the tracks. Let me know if any of you have seen deer on the island recently. Mark your calendars for this Saturday December 1st. The Ocracoke United Methodist Women will be holding a Christmas Market at the Methodist Church Rec Hall. Silent auction and craft sale start at 10 a.m. A special treat this year will be a delicious lunch of shrimp burgers and clam chowder starting at 11 a.m. Hot dogs & baked goods will also be offered. 10% of the Market's proceeds will be donated to UMCOR (The United Methodist Committee on Relief) for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. You can stop by the Church Rec Hall Friday evening between 4 and 6 p.m. to preview auction items. A list of auction items can be found here: http://www.ocracokecurrent.com/50049. The winter beach is more likely to yield seashells than the summer beach. Late summer and fall hurricanes and storms stir up the sea floor, and fewer people are walking on the beach, especially on cold and blustery days. Not long ago I stumbled upon two nice olive shells while walking along the beach. I wasn't even looking for them...just out taking a brisk walk. But of course I stopped to pick them up. If you are on the island this time of year, keep your eyes open for treasures from the sea. I've located another vintage Ocracoke video. I was chatting with Melissa Garrish Sharber at the post office a few days ago and she alerted me to a YouTube video of the 1990 July 4th entertainment at the Ocracoke Preservation Museum. The "sailors" from the local musical "A Tale of Blackbeard" were performing one of their favorite numbers, "Ocracoke Cutie." Danny Garrish, Melissa's daddy, and one of the funniest and most delightful people I've ever known, has the lead (he played the ship's cook). My son Stefen played the lead romantic role and sings the duet with Danny. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_OJKwfUGK8. If you remember "A Tale of Blackbeard," Danny, Stefen, or any of the other actors, leave a comment with your recollections. I hope you enjoy the video. A few days before Thanksgiving I noticed these lovely winter roses blooming in my front yard. Maybe they are a sign that winter won't be too severe. I was volunteering at the Community Square Market two days ago..."Black Friday." My grandson, Eakin, was visiting from his home in the mountains of North Carolina. About an hour after we opened the market we had five people quietly looking at merchandise. Eakin leaned over and whispered to me, "It's the Black Friday rush!" Business picked up as the day progressed, and we at Village Craftsmen had a burst of business in spite of recent problems with NC Highway 12. Of course, everything will slow down again now that the Thanksgiving holidays are over. But don't forget that Village Craftsmen has a large selection of hand made American crafts that are just perfect for holiday gift giving. Visit our on-line catalog (http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/catalog.htm) to see a selection of our pottery, glassware, jewelry, musical instruments, and much more. Our quality American handcrafts are bound to please almost anyone on your Christmas gift list. I was wrong. I thought there would be a smaller crowd for this year's Festival Fundraising Concert. After all, the road on Hatteras Island is still closed periodically, even for four-wheel-drive vehicles. And yesterday morning, because of fog, none of the ferries were running. But last night the Community Center was packed with enthusiastic Ocracoke residents and visitors. And no one was disappointed. As usual, talented island musicians entertained the crowd with rousing jazz numbers, thoughtful original tunes, and traditional local ballads. There were even two popular sing-alongs -- "Avast" from the musical A Tale of Blackbeard, and "You Are My Sunshine." In addition, Captain Rob Temple told a new Thanksgiving poem he wrote recently, Donald Davis shared a new story, and I told the story of the 1889 wreck of the steamboat Pioneer. As they say, a fun night was had by all! As I mentioned two days ago, today is "National Day of Listening." "The National Day of Listening is a day to honor a loved one through listening. It's the least expensive but most meaningful gift you can give this holiday season. You can choose to record a story with anyone you know. Learn more here." Wishing all of you a wonderful day of offering thanks for our many blessings. And a special, hearty "Thank You" to all of our faithful readers. We hope you enjoy the fruits of this bounteous land, share a portion with others, and celebrate this day with family and friends. "The National Day of Listening is a day to honor a loved one through listening. It's the least expensive but most meaningful gift you can give this holiday season. You can choose to record a story with anyone you know. This year, StoryCorps has chosen to feature the stories of veterans, active duty military, and their families. Learn more." We have just published our latest Ocracoke Newsletter, the story of the day Charles Lindbergh landed on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112112.htm. For the latest official information about the NC Highway 12 recovery effort, please visit the NCDOT website: http://www.ncdot.gov/travel/nc12recovery/. Yesterday, in response to the 1965 home movie of a trip to Ocracoke, a reader asked, "Is there one key moment that catapulted OI into a mecca for tourists...?" Perhaps we should begin with this statement about Ocracoke Island: "[T]his healthy spot is in autumn the resort of many of the inhabitants of the main[land]." This "Description of Occacock Inlet," accompanied Jonathan Price's map of 1795! Next we should mention the old Ponzer Hotel which was built in 1885, and was located where the US Coast Guard Station/NCCAT campus is today. The hotel, which catered to wealthy North Carolinians who traveled to the island by steamship, burned down in 1900. The following photo, taken in 1898 speaks for itself. Of course, modern-era tourism received a major boost in the late 1950s from the building of roads and the beginning of ferry service to Ocracoke Island. To be sure, various islanders (Stanley Wahab comes to mind) and others saw the continued economic potential of Ocracoke as a tourist destination. The rest, as they say, is history. Another question was, "is there a higher percentage of rental income properties owned by non residents vs local resident population landlords?" I don't have any official figures but I am certain the answer is yes. Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Ocracoke and the War of 1812. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news102112.htm. A few days ago Leroy O'Neal's daughter Kathi sent me a link to a six minute Ocracoke video that her cousin recently uploaded to YouTube. Leroy made the video in 1965 while on a fishing trip to the island (although born on Ocracoke, Leroy moved away when he was a young boy). Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukxHq2MnpoA. Several minutes of the video are simply Leroy's friends fishing and carrying on with a shark they caught, but there are a few noteworthy segments. Pay attention to scenes of Silver Lake harbor and note all of the traditional wooden skiffs tied to stakes (not at docks). Also notice just a few vehicle tracks on the beach, and no other trucks in sight! Native islander, Murray Spencer (father of William Nathan who works at the "dump"), is the man with gray hair, sunglasses, and a small mustache. You will also see the Pony Island Restaurant and Motel...and enjoy the music of two O'cockers, Jule Garrish & Martin Garrish. Wallace Spencer (1912-2001) was a wonderful old-time Ocracoke character. One Sunday morning I heard him say, "I've got a mind to go to church today." Then on reflection he added, "but I've two minds to go fishin'." Yesterday a reader asked, "would you venture to put into words an Ocracoke perspective on the matter [of maritime salvage]?" In 1750 colonial Governor Johnson described Outer Bankers as "a set of indigent desperate outlaws and vagabonds." It has been said that an Ocracoker would drop a corpse on the way to the graveyard if someone yelled "Ship Ashore!" Recently a reader asked this question: "To the point of beachcombing, metal detectors are not permitted anywhere on the ocean beaches of Ocracoke, are they?" The answer is no. Metal detectors are prohibited in all US National Parks. A related question was: "Separately, aside from the stories of salvaged cargo from wrecks over the years, any anecdotes you have to share (yours or from others) re. particularly noteworthy beach finds?" I have heard or seen evidence of the following being found on the beach within the last 100 or so years: hundreds of bunches of bananas, top hats, gold coins, Indian arrowheads, dozens of shoes (originally destined for Jim Jones' People's Temple in Guyana), fruits and vegetables (apples, onions, and oranges), and thousands of bags of Doritos in 2006 (http://hamptonroads.com/node/189201). Re. the mailboat Aleta: a reader recently asked, "Before and after the period you mention for the Aleta,1940s - early 1950s, how did mail and people get to the island? What kind of boat and from what port?" A full answer to this question will require more than a few sentences, so I will just give several brief comments today. I will write a lengthier history of the US Postal Service on Ocracoke for an upcoming monthly Ocracoke Newsletter. Look for that article in the next few months. The Ocracoke Post Office was established in 1840. Prior to that time letters were carried to and from the island by family and friends, or by entrusting them to ship captains.The first "mail boats" were probably "bugeyes" (two masted sailboats) that also carried passengers and freight. By the early 1900s mail was carried back and forth across Pamlico Sound (from Beaufort, and later from Atlantic, North Carolina) on motor powered mail boats. These included the Meteor, the Hero, the Viola, the Lillian, The Kitty Watts and the Ripple. The Aleta carried mail and passengers from 1938 to 1952. The Dolphin was Ocracoke's last mail boat. It operated until 1964, although mail also came by way of Hatteras soon after Frazier Peele established a private ferry service across Hatteras Inlet in 1950. Charles McWilliams (Charlie Mac) drove the mail truck (a WWII era Dodge Power Wagon) to the north end of Ocracoke (either on the hard beach at low tide, or on a deeply rutted sand road farther back) for a number of years. Today mail is still delivered to Ocracoke across Hatteras Inlet. On October 22, 1878, the schooner Altoona wrecked at Cape Hatteras.All seven crew members were rescued along with some of her cargo. In 1962 or 1963 the hull of the Altoona was uncovered and became a tourist attraction. The Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce web site, http://www.outerbankschamber.com/main/directions-to-visible-shipwrecks-obx/, provides directions to locate the remains of the Altoona plus six other visible wrecks on the Outer Banks, including one on Ocracoke. Since tomorrow is Robert Lewis Stevenson's birthday and the day in 1750 that treasure stolen from ships anchored at Ocracoke was buried in the Carribean, John Amrhein, author of Treasure Island: The Untold Story has declared November 13th to be Treasure Island Day. I haven't had much time to get to the beach, but I have found a few nice shells each time I've been there. Scotch bonnets are the North Carolina state shell and one of my favorites. Here is a picture of some of the shells I've come home with. The mailboat Aleta carried mail and passengers to & from Ocracoke in the 1940s and early 1950s (see http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052007.htm for more information). The "mailboat" was a variation of the shad boat, a type of vessel first built by George Washington Creef on Roanoke Island in the late 1800s. The shad boat (with wide beam, round stern, and graceful lines) evolved from dugout log boats. It was ideally suited for fishing in rough water near inlets and in Pamlico Sound. The North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill in 1987 designating the shad boat the "State Boat of North Carolina."" According to Michael B. Alford in his book, Traditional Work Boats of North Carolina, "during Prohibition times shad boat builders found a lucrative business in supplying boats to dealers in illegal alcoholic beverages...." These boats were "euphemistically referred to as mail boats," and "for obvious reasons they usually were furnished with more powerful engines than their fishing cousins." The Harker's Island story of the misadventures of the Adventure, a prohibition era rum runner, is told in the song "The Booze Yacht" (sung to the tune of "The Sidewalks of New York"). I'm not sure if the Adventure was a "mailboat" but this fun song is still popular on the coast of North Carolina. Every night and morning the fishermen would meet. This way, that way, to the Cape they’d run. The coming of the Adventure, put the fishing on the bum. When the Booze Yacht run ashore. Times have changed since those days. When some were up in their “Gs”. Others, they are down and out, but most feel just like me. This morning at 9 am Ocracoke students and staff will hold their annual Veterans Day Celebration at the flag pole in front of the school. Everyone is welcome to attend. A light breakfast will be served to all veterans immediately following the ceremony. We join with the Ocracoke School and other members of our community, state, and nation in honoring our veterans. The Hyde County unofficial election results were released yesterday about 1 pm. Frankly, I found the information a tad confusing*. There were also a number of Hyde County absentee votes, but these were not listed by precinct. All told, Hyde County cast 1157 votes for Obama (Democrat), 1183 votes for Romney (Republican), and 15 votes for Johnson (Libertarian). Goode received no votes in Hyde County. You can read the entire list of results here: http://hydecountync.gov/docs/Hyde_unofficial_results.pdf. * For example, one category was listed as "Presidential Preference (DEM)" (the choices were O'Bama [sic]/Biden, Romney/Ryan, Johnson/Gray, & Virgil Goode) and another category was "Straight Party" (the sub-categories were Democratic, Republican, & Libertarian). I couldn't tell if the "Presidential Preference" category (Why was "DEM" in parentheses?? There was no "REP" counterpart.) also included the "Straight Party" numbers or not (I am guessing they did). Traditional island skiffs were often flat bottom boats.These wooden boats were typically built upside down, with the bottom planks added last. The bottom planks ran from side to side, not from bow to stern. These boats were simple to construct, and could be built economically in just a few days. They were suitable for the calmer and shallower waters of Pamlico Sound. A deadrise boat is better suited for rougher water. The deadrise boat is v-shaped in cross-section. Typically the forward section of the deadrise skiff is more sharply v-shaped, and the stern area much flatter. Bottom planks of a deadrise boat are laid fore and aft, not side to side. Polls on Ocracoke open today at 6:30 am at the Community Center. They will remain open until 7:30 pm. And don't forget to get your "I voted" sticker to remind your fellow citizens to cast their ballots. As we all know, this will be a close election. When it is over let's all work together for the benefit of our nation no matter who wins. Several days ago a friend read me this passage from a book of local photos and stories: "Ocracoke Harbor is also called Silver Lake. It used to be called Cookie Creek. It got its new name in 1923 when dredging turned it into an almost perfect circle of water..." The original name of the harbor was "Cockle Creek," not "Cookie Creek." Maybe this was a typo. Also, the harbor was re-named "Silver Lake" when it was dredged around 1938, then again in 1942, not 1923. At least that is my understanding. According to my father, the "creek" as Ocracokers call it, was about the same size as it is today...just much shallower. There were two narrow streams or "guts" that continued all the way to the bald beach. These were filled in when the harbor was dredged in 1942. You may also see signs identifying the Community Store area of the village as "Down Creek." Traditionally this has been called "Around Creek," not "Down Creek." The area near the lighthouse is "Down Point." The "Down Point Decoy Shop" may cause some confusion. It was originally established down point...then moved to its present location around creek. But David O'Neal retained the name. Check it out. David is a master carver and collector of superior carvings. It's a beautiful day on Ocracoke today. The waves are gentle and a crisp breeze is blowing in. It's the perfect day for a walk on the beach. Perhaps I'll even find a few shells. They often wash up on the beach in greater numbers after a storm. If I locate any pretty ones, I'll post a photo. Visitors to Ocracoke often ask us what we do in the winter. One answer is Basketball! The school Middle School and High School girls and boys teams keep us busy cheering and stomping and have a great time. The Varsity Boy's team is hosting a Fish Fry Fund Raiser today (Nov. 3) at SmacNally's from 1 to 4 PM. For $10 a plate you get fish and hush puppies, beans and slaw. And Dune Dogs will be providing live music from 2 to 5. This Saturday Night, Nov. 3, Bland Simpson and Don Dixon will be at the Community Center at 7:30 for a presentation of of their popular Songs and Stories of the Sounds and Seas...with a King Mackerel or Two! The performance will include some special "just for Ocracoke" material. This is a fund raiser for the Community Square Revitalization Project. Tickets are $25. All the ticket proceeds and donations made at the door will go to the Project. Space is limited; get your reservation by calling Merle Davis, 252-928-2587. Come out to the Community Center and celebrate life here between the Sound and the Sea...and help keep the Community Square as a vital part of our village. This is Bill posting. Lida and I moved here five years ago this fall. After spending threes days hunkering down against the visit of Hurricane Sandy, I have two thoughts. First, I can now say without hesitation that my least favorite weather is wind. It howled. It gusted. And my house shook and rocked. And this was not a "passing storm"; it carried on for three days. It is not relaxing to lie in bed and feel the house sway. And at several moments when I was not aware of my house swaying and rocking, and found myself standing over my toilet, I was amazed to see the water sloshing around in the bowl. That's where I actually would like to have seen Jim Cantore: down there shouting up to me about why that was happening! Second thought: About a year ago Lida paid good money for a pair of hip waders. At the time I thought, "What a waste of our money; we already have two good pairs of rubber boots that come up almost to our knees." Then Sunday morning I walked down my front steps in a pair of those babies. The water was within about 2 inches of over topping them and I still had another step to go! At that point I thought "What a smart shopper Lida is!" Ocracoke came through well. Our thoughts are with those who did not.

2019-04-18T16:32:22Z

https://villagecraftsmen.blogspot.com/2012/11/

The following text brings together articles from Il Partito Comunista n. 68, 69 and 71 (in the following respectively separated by horizontal rules), to argue against a faulty conception of the party. Taken from the IPC Website. The article that we republish here was written in 1980, a little more than six years after our separation from a party in which many of us had served since its birth. It concerns a maneuver that we regarded as shabby, to which the article returns in the final section. Its publication was prompted by a nonsensical assertion by our former comrades, according to which up until that moment we had passed through a phase of “circles” and it was now time to build the real party; but the article is in general a clear reaffirmation of the fundamental principles underpinning the very existence of the communist organization, of the way it works and of the relationships between comrades, all vital aspects of our very existence as a revolutionary political organ. In the assertion referred to above they spoke about a revolutionary camp, to be filtered in order to provide the materials for the construction of the mass party. In practice, this operation would obviously mean reducing our Party to a circle or a collection of circles, whose only concern would have been the elaboration of theory. In this regard they recalled the Bolshevik experience, which, as a matter of fact, had something to do with circles. But the similarity stops there: it is true that in the late nineteenth century, due to the Tsarist repression, larger organizations had been dispersed and the socialists were forced to meet only locally, without connections; this had resulted in obviously heterogeneous groups, with the most varied theories. They were in most cases sincere socialists, who wanted to fight to overthrow Tsarism and capitalism. Even before then, revolutionary theory had never arisen from filtering, that is to say, rummaging through different groups: not in 1848, not in 1903. It was not so for our Left current in the Italian Socialist Party, which since its establishment at the end of the war of 1914-18 boasted theoretical bases perfectly in line with Marx. As well as with Lenin, who we still did not know at that point. To think, in 1980, that it was possible to bring groups and organizations drawn from areas of bourgeois rebellion over to correct Marxist doctrine, assuming that one possessed this, groups that always swarm around the Communist Party, and to get them to accept Marxist teaching by virtue of who knows what tricks and maneuvers, was just anti-Marxist wishful thinking. It was opportunism: it was claimed that the intention was only to sift through these groups, but the real effect was to allow the Party to be filtered, reducing it to a circle among circles. Hence the article, which in accordance with our method offers very little in the way of polemics, but positively reaffirms the fundamental characteristics of the Communist Party, as ever. Already in 1980, the years that had passed since our expulsion had proven these to be undeniable for holding to the straight course that leads to the proletarian revolution. And the decades that have passed since then have only confirmed those statements and those predictions. In the understanding of the Communist Left, the political party’s essential function is to not deviate from the “historical party”, from its program, from its tradition. The Party’s political organization is unique and opposed to all other parties because it embodies the communist program of the proletarian class. That being said, it follows that the history of the political Party is the history of the class conquest of communist consciousness. Just as it would be absurd and anti-historical to believe that the proletariat should use barricades as a military option today, so it is absurd and anti-historical to consider that the political Party needs to go through the “circle phase” before turning into a “compact and powerful” party. This, in the theoretical field, would be like admitting that there was no historical activity of the class before now and that we ought to rewrite Das Kapital, that the class doesn’t have a historical memory. The “circle phase” was typical of late nineteenth century Russia, and that is why Lenin took the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) as a model in order to unify the Russian socialist circles into one national political party. It has no equivalent in the contemporary industrially developed world. Since the world proletariat now has a rich history behind it in all fields, it doesn’t need to start afresh every time it suffers a defeat. Besides which, this would be inconsistent with the centralization, development and concentration of productive forces, from which there arises almost automatically the need for a party which is a thousand times more centralized, not only in an organizational sense, but also in terms of its theoretical activity. The narrowness of the “circle” is typical of the petty bourgeoisie, in which there is a prevailing incapacity to elaborate doctrine, an absence of principles or program, and whose maximum ambition is a federation of associations, just like the anarchists. With the advent of the Communist Third International, with one world center, on its way to the International Communist Party, the working class acquired what Lenin called “organizational consciousness”, the programmatic content, the tactics, the world dimension, the pyramidal structure of its political organization. The Communist Left, after the destruction of the Comintern, is the latter’s custodian. Since the end of the second imperialist war, embodied in the small International Communist Party, it has carried out the task of linking the prolific, heroic past to the revolutionary, victorious future in an unremitting effort to restore the doctrine and rebuild the political organization. Lenin used the expression “embryonic party” and the Communist Left the term “small party” to signify that becoming a “big party” requires no distortion of the prerogatives and the forms of the Party as such. To grow from an embryonic party to a mature party there is no need to “change direction”. But the political organization in embryo deserves the name Party if, and only if, it carries out its relevant functions with coherence and fidelity to the doctrine and program. From any other embryo there will emerge not a large party but an enemy party. The embryo, as we know from biology, contains the essential and fundamental functions of the mature adult organism, some of them potentially and others more or less defined. Indeed, the proof of this contention is the work and activity of the “small party” over the past thirty years; work conducted not only in the realm of theory and doctrine but also in the trade union economic field, together with the activities of propaganda and enrolment of new members, organization and internal party life. Our 1965-1966 Theses, binding on all those who profess to be revolutionary communists, confirm these assertions. They remind us that “the Party cannot but be affected by aspects of the real situation that surrounds it” (Theses on Organic Centralism, 1965), a situation that is clearly unfavorable, yet for all that “it mustn’t give up the fight, but must survive and pass on the torch along the historical filo del tempo. Clearly it will be a small party, not out of choice or because we want it that way, but due to ineluctable necessity”. Regarding the structure of this small party, “we don’t want a party which is elitist or a secret sect, which turns its back on the world out of a mania for purity. We reject any ‘Workers Party’ or Laborite formula (…) We don’t want to turn the Party into some kind of cultural, intellectual or academic association (…) Nor do we believe, as some anarchists and Blanquists do, that a party of armed conspiratorial action and the weaver of plots is conceivable”. The fact that over a long period we have had to invest most of our energy in taking action to combat “falsifications and the destruction of theory and sound doctrine”, “is no reason to erect a barrier between theory and practical action, since if taken too far we would end up destroying ourselves and all of the principles we base ourselves on”. “We lay claim, therefore, to all appropriate forms of activity at the propitious moment, to the extent they are allowed by the real balance of forces”. And not only do we lay claim to them, but, wherever material conditions permit, we put them into practice. “Everywhere and without exception Party life must be complemented by an unceasing effort to enter into the life of the masses, and even into those expressions of it influenced by initiatives opposed to ours (…) In many regions the Party now has behind it a notable activity,” in the economic-union field, “although [it is] always bound to encounter serious difficulties, and hostile forces which are greater than ours, at least in a statistical sense”. Our theses thus commit us to conspicuous activity and theoretical action. As long as the current unfavorable period endures (and for us passionate revolutionaries it seems interminable) the Party will be restricted, not out of choice, to political activity and theoretical action, propaganda, and polemics. The field of action is inevitably limited and the instruments of this action likewise inevitably limited to disseminating the revolutionary program. In spite of this relative, temporal constraint the Party always strives to pass from activity to action, from propaganda to agitation and mobilization in order to influence the class. Beware, however, of thinking that willpower is enough to alter the respective proportions of the different aspects of our work, because, to use Lenin’s expression, “the greater the spontaneous pressure of the masses, the further the movement extends, the greater the need – in an incomparably more rapid manner – for consciousness in the organizational, political, and theoretical activity” of the Party. The transition from activity to action is expected by the Party, is sought by its militants as the natural way in which finally to expend all the energy so long contained and repressed due to the greater pressure of the enemy forces. If it were not so, if the Party were to hear that the time for action had come by means of an official “announcement”, or following a sudden, unexpected decision, then the organization would be mortally traumatized. All of the work carried out by the Party, externally and above all internally, is intended to prepare its small organization for the opportunity to translate its formidable historical program into precise and specific political acts, i.e. when the conditions are right. For as long as the material conditions remain unfavorable, the preparation of the Party consists in testing how open these conditions are to party action, not in resorting to simple subterfuges or dubious maneuvers, which in the end would only leave the Party itself open to penetration by the enemy’s subterfuges and maneuvers, contaminating the organization and destroying our programmatic basis whilst completely adhering to the traditional and programmatic roots. History has demonstrated that the Party can easily be disorientated; it would be enough to confront it with an abrupt maneuver, to assail it with a last-minute “discovery”, for example of a “revolutionary milieu” outside the Party, and as a consequence a willingness to embrace the swarms of pseudo-revolutionary crackpots in student and academic circles, in the world of the spineless middle classes. This would be enough to demolish decades of hard work, or, at best (given that the error could be rectified) to delay or compromise the preparation of the Party and its growth. The need for consciousness in the Party is a categorical imperative. The Party must be ready to make predictions, to be aware of what it is doing and what it is about to do, the consequences of every undertaking and transition, and the impact they might have on the organization. The Party’s theoretical action is also political activity, in the sense that we have used theoretical elaboration as a weapon, whose organs of diffusion are the newspaper and the militants themselves, by means of which the Party puts itself in physical contact with the class and in direct conflict with the false ideologies, the false parties and trade unions. Our contact with the class and our confrontation with the enemy, as our theses show, extend by virtue of this constant action, and are aligned with the maturation of the crisis of capitalism. The newspaper, our Party’s mouthpiece, has always showcased the activity and action of the Party. As the Party’s practice develops and grows, the political paper will also develop, filtering into and influencing the class. If it were not so, we would end up with a paper that went its own way with respect to the Party’s real activity; a paper that didn’t reflect the organization’s real situation. It would become merely an expression of wishful thinking, inevitably succumbing to voluntarism and empty activism. Conversely, if our newspaper refused to broaden its political activity and take political action where possible, it would relapse into academicism. But in the real Party this has never happened, and it will not happen so long as it doesn’t lose its bearings. This is why no credence can be given to the theory of the “circle phase” which our Party is allegedly going through and hasn’t yet completed; a convenient theory for our detractors to justify their false steps, their twists and turns and sudden reversals, and their denials of an enviable organizational efficiency in the fields of activity and action. Our detractors have not hesitated to use these maneuvers to split the small party, with the aim of throwing it into incomprehension and perplexity. It is too easy to state: “Well it has happened and even if we were wrong we can’t turn back”. To theorize the “circle phase” and then act as if one were building the “great party” leads directly to the notion that the Party will expand and develop beyond its current perimeter not based on the strength of the activity proper to it, but by virtue of the “circles”, that is, through wheeling and dealing with the petty-bourgeois milieu, where the “circles” originate. Getting people to believe these false constructions serves to justify the organization’s bureaucratization and the use of coercion in the internal life of the Party, transforming discipline into control of the Party from on high, without which, in fact, the circles cannot be held together. The real Party did not originate in circles and nor will it grow by passing through the “circle phase”. The whole history of the Communist Left proves and confirms this. Even if, for the sake of argument, we admitted that the Party had gone through or is still going through the “circle phase”, it would still be wrong to maintain that the "circle phase" can be overcome by means of organizational expedients, by resorting to discipline, by using innovations of “the political newspaper” variety: as if Lenin had operated in the fields of organization, activity and discipline without first concentrating his fire on all the falsifications of socialism spread by the “economists” and the other socialist groups of the time. If we were to believe this in 1980 [when this article was originally published – ed.], in the zone where revolution is unambiguously on the agenda, we would falsify Lenin, and end up distorting his powerful lessons. By aping the Russian experience in party-building one arrives at the opposite result to that arrived at by Bolshevism and the Italian Communist Left; we would end up as a party made up of “groups” or “circles”, whose life would be one of constant political bickering and the consequent rifts, with nothing to counter the intended “filtering” of micro-political organizations, who by their very nature are opposed to the real Party. Viewing organization and discipline as a magic formula, the “open sesame” to the question of building the political party, is based on military and bureaucratic automatism. The Party’s conception of organization, structure and ways of regulating discipline to directives from the center is opposed to that of the bourgeoisie. Only in the field of military organization does the Party require mechanical discipline from the general party organization, but, as Lenin also maintained, the more conscious it is the better. This presupposes preparation by the Party so that nothing appears improvised or unexpected. It is no coincidence that the famous “political commissars” of the Red Army were nothing other than the voice of the Party, senior, in both hierarchical and political rank, to the military commanders. Through them the Party not only controlled the class structure and the class military apparatus, but above all instilled the proletarian fighters with communist passion and consciousness. In organizational matters, the Left’s position has never been to divide militants into “specialists” or “experts” dedicated to particular functions within the Party’s complex activity. One way to combat the negative consequences of party routine is to encourage comrades to take on different roles and engage in different tasks, because even now, in the present party, we strive in practice to combat the technical division of labor. The Party must be capable of forging comrades capable of taking on any role, of discouraging individuals from any personal “vocation” beyond that of simply working for the Party, within the Party and at the Party’s command. The history of the Communist Left reminds us how all comrades, whatever the place assigned to them by the Party in the organizational structure, have got involved in the proletariat’s trade union and economic struggles, never thinking for one moment they were invading some other comrade’s fields of “competence”, or were not “up to a task” due to a lack of “specialization” on their part. Our bitter and longstanding polemic against the “renegades to come”, around organizing the Party on the basis of workplace cells, as specialized organizational structures rather than on a territorial basis, reasserted the necessary aspiration to work and progress by breaking down specializations, technicalities, limitations, narrow-mindedness, the baggage of the “iron” hierarchies of the time, with which opportunism was crushing the Party, by passing off stupid hierarchical and bureaucratic exercises as “Bolshevism”, rather than by supporting the Party with the organic use of all of its militant forces. In transposing Lenin’s powerful lessons on the building of the political organization to today, one cannot disregard the historical processes that have occurred since the October Revolution and the Third International, the high points of the global revolutionary proletariat’s historical experience. If, in order to rebuild the Party, we did not use the best materials available from history, but instead took what is outdated and obsolete, we wouldn’t be working to build the International Communist Party as a powerful social force; rather, we would be building an abortion of a party, a political organization that would hinder the rebirth of the Party. Transferring the question to the field of tactics would be like applying the operational models of party action that were appropriate to the phase of double revolution to the single revolution phase. In line with this correct principle of historical and dialectical determinism, we have been fighting for more than 56 years to build a single world Communist Party, not a new version of the Communist League or the International Workers Association; revolutionary class organs in 1848 and in 1866, utopias – if not actually reactionary, at least of dubious origin – in 1980. The falsifiers of the Left argue that if the “circle phase” is not completed, a phase during which (by the way!) the program and theory would be restored, you would not be able to rebuild the political Party. A nice discovery this, that you can rebuild the program and theory without at the same time, day by day, rebuilding the organization! As if the restoration of the programmatic and theoretical fundamentals was not the activity, struggle and action of an organization, small maybe, but still a political organization. One of our more significant pamphlets is entitled In Defense of the Continuity of the Communist Program. In it are contained the theses of the Left, from those of the “Communist Abstentionist Fraction” in 1920, to the body of theses from 1965-66 known as the “Theses on Organic Centralism”. The theses crystallize our basic positions over a period of 46 years in a perfect uninterrupted succession. They cover the salient phases in the struggle of revolutionary communists to build, rebuild and defend the worldwide Party; the most vital organ for a new “storming of heaven”. It is precisely in the Theses of July 1965, directed at those who wanted to deny the status of Party to our small organization and portray us as a sect of Marxologists, that we read explicitly stated: “Before quitting the subject of the Party’s formation after the Second World War, it is worth reaffirming some results which are today considered characteristic party positions insofar as they are substantial historical results, despite the limited quantitative extension of the movement, and not discoveries by useless geniuses or solemn resolutions made by sovereign congresses”. And here is the list of “substantial historical results” achieved by the “small party”, the most important one being not “conceiving the movement as merely an activity of propaganda and political proselytism”, but as engaged “in an unceasing effort to merge its own life with the life of the masses”; and thus, “the position in which the small party is reduced to being a set of narrow circles, with no connection with the outside world, must be rejected”. Finally, there is the peremptory reminder not to split the organization, not to “subdivide the Party or its local groupings into watertight compartments that are only active in one field, whether theory, study, historical research, propaganda, proselytism or trade union activity. This is because the very essence of our theory and our history is that these various fields are totally inseparable, and in principle accessible to each and every comrade”. The comprehensive positions, set out in the form of theses, that is in a positive way, do not constitute a nice, elegantly bound book to stick in a library, but are rules of practical life, which, as the small organization takes shape and gets stronger, the more it fights to assert, implement and defend them against enemies and false friends. The Party’s political organization, therefore, is structured and forged by means of the perfect agreement of its functions and its specific and general duties with the program and traditions of revolutionary Marxism. Organizational and disciplinary expedients cannot replace this. For seven years now denigrators of the Left have been repeating that hitherto the Party has been going through a “circle phase”, and that in order to emerge from it organizational and disciplinary measures are required. For 35 years no one had noticed they were living in and among circles. Only the theorists of the “circle phase” have had this powerful flash of enlightenment. Thus these latest doctrinaires with their false theory have accredited the lie that the political Party arises after having completed the “circle phase”, in which the Party is supposedly incubated. Thus we witness a new historical sequence: first “circles”, then, after organizational and disciplinary action, the true Party. In reality “circles” are an invention by the detractors of the Left to justify their false political theorems, their eccentric interpretations, and their insane organizational and disciplinary measures for “mastering” the organization’s “circle phase”. With the same purpose “fractions” were invented by the degenerating Executive of the Third International in Moscow to destroy the Left. Over and over again, and with incomparably greater force than us, past generations of left communists repeated these same considerations in the national and international conferences to the greater and lesser leaders of the communist movement. Over and over again we have heard it repeated that they were the fancy notions of visionaries, that we were “fractionists”, and that this was enough to warrant our expulsion from the party under a cloud of treason. It is easy enough today to establish what the ignoble aim of the “Iron Bolsheviks” was, but it is much more difficult to fully understand the way the usurpers of the revolution betrayed communism, and destroyed the Party. Even back then we heard repeated the bourgeois doctrine, falsely attributed to Lenin, of “the ends justify the means”, as though the means were independent of the ends, as though there was not instead a close dialectical relationship between the means employed and the ends attained. When we treated these central themes (Rome theses, Lyon theses, etc.) we were accused of being “doctrinaire”, “academic”, or of wanting a “disembodied” party. The most shameful aspect of this false doctrine is that it attempts to cast a veil of pious silence over the 35 years of work and struggle during which a small organization was forged; as though one had been slogging away for a third of a century not to prepare the Party but a bunch of “circles” instead. To reinforce this view the work of rebuilding the doctrine was artificially separated from rebuilding the political Party, attributing the former not to party forces, but to “the genius” of Lenin, to whom treacherous reverence was made by publishing his “works” post mortem, making much of his name, spelled out in full. The conservation of our forces, especially in this negative phase, which has gone on for 54 years, is a primary organizational concern for our small party. It is a commitment dating back to the time of Marx and Engels and has allowed the transmission of the doctrine intact from one generation of communist revolutionaries to another. And woe betide the Party if this handing over is interrupted by specious “stages” and “turns”. We are in the Party not as a result of formal membership, nor to observe some kind of discipline, but because of our unwavering faith in the program and in the organization that expresses, practices and defends it. This is no formal “unitarism”, which is just as harmful as fractionism, but neither is it the foolish and base conceit of being “the elect”, a nucleus blessed by history who are allowed to do what they like, including denying today what was said the day before. The boasted “selection of forces” is not a prerequisite but a consequence of the revolutionary struggle. But when it is invoked to suppress forces within the Party who are “uncomfortable” when faced with the difficult task of opposing the general trend, we must admit we are in the presence of a fatal degeneration process, not a practice that helps strengthen the organization. These are not moral or aesthetic considerations, but the patrimony of the Left. To argue that “conditions” are not ripe enough to apply them is equivalent to rejecting them, and consequently to paving the way, in the long run, for the defeat of revolution. Never to allow anyone to attack the Party’s programmatic and organizational integrity is the other injunction handed down to us, derived from the first. Anyone who dares as much, whether high up in the Party or in “the ranks”, must be cast adrift. It shouldn’t be thought that the Party just consists of its leaders and that the “followers” are just the executors of their irrefutable orders. Often, very often in fact, the correct revolutionary policy hasn’t been handed down from above, as proved by the Left’s formidable struggle, against which the majority consensus was opposed as proof of revolutionary veracity, rather than the doctrinal solidity of the arguments, aligned with the program and the tradition. That the democratic form of consensus, as was customary in the International, has now been discarded, is not a useful vindication, but an attempt to browbeat the Party. Dirty tricks are still dirty tricks with or without the feather duster of counting votes. For the same reason that we are custodians of our theory and program, we are also the guardians of our organization. The supporters of the false doctrine of the “circle phase” have no such scruples, since it is not about the Party, according to them, but “circles”. To stop someone in the Party from pontificating, in true Pharisaic fashion, by serving up solutions selected at random, in crass ignorance of our history and the history of our class, you ignore the fact that central questions never reappear in exactly the same guise; this is to prevent the Party from being “periodically subjected to hot and cold showers” and having to adapt to the whims of random passers-by. The Party must be able to control every aspect of its life, carry out each of its organizational roles in such a way that nothing strikes it as unexpected, incomprehensible or mysterious. Passing off as positions of the Left that terrorism is a “gleam of light” for the proletariat; that the folksy political traditions of extremist factions, with their lumpen-intellectual student base, represent a “revolutionary camp”; that the idea of “workers committees” is fanciful and that working within them is “activism” or “economism”, and then immediately to state exactly the opposite, not because anything has actually changed but due to impatience and disappointment that no immediate gains have been made; that such oscillations represent the “tactics” of the Left only disorientates militants, sows discord in the Party, erodes the organization, and compromises decades of hard-earned, consistent work. The theorists of the “circles” are not afflicted with any such preoccupations, because their remedy for everything is “discipline” and organizational formulas. Of one thing we can be certain: the International Communist Party did not arise from circles. The points developed up to now have aimed at demonstrating that the political Party arises not from organizational “shifts” or disciplinary “cures”, but from conscientiously working to restore the program. On this basis, the political Party has always arisen, and then arisen again. The forces that coalesce around all the various activities through which the Party’s life objectifies itself take up their battle stations and discover their commitment in a natural way, by respecting, also in a natural way, the fundamental principles of the organization, i.e., centralism and discipline. These principles are common to all political parties, even bourgeois parties, the major difference being that in the Communist Party they are applied in a way that the Left defines as organic. Let there be no mistake: the word “organic” does not mean that each militant can arbitrarily interpret the Party’s instructions, or that the Party has no hierarchical structure, or that within this functional hierarchy, whoever is at the top, can just as arbitrarily issue orders, repress, and condemn. The history of the Left has shown that rather than breaking the basic rules of party political organization it preferred to “suffer” often in “heroic silence”. The example of the so called “retractions” of the Bolshevik old guard, brought before the State tribunals of Stalin, confirms the formidable willingness of Communists to renege on their personal convictions should these conflict with the principle of principles: the primary requirement of the class political Party. Anything to avoid offering the enemy, capitalism, the chance to blackmail the working class, with an example of its own Party being repudiated by the revolutionaries. The lesson of Bukharin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, etc. was precisely not to offer the capitalist world the spectacle of insubordination to the Party. Organic means that the Party is not bound by any a priori form and that it wants to be able to assume any form that is serviceable in the deadly all-out war of the revolutionary proletariat against capitalist society. In this sense, it does not exclude from its arsenal – tactical ideological, political or organizational – any means it deems effective in defeating the enemy. A party with a flexible organization, able to pass from one stage of the class struggle to the other without going off its programmatic rails. This is what Lenin always stood for as well. A political party can exist without an ideology, a doctrine, or a historic program of its own, but it must have an organization. The fascist party is a prime example. The anarchist party had to renege on all its sophistry to survive as a political force. The advantage the Communist Party has is that its organization is not based on organizational principles of centralism and discipline that are disconnected from its program. In this the communist organization finds continuity, it can periodically die off and arise again because it draws its strength from the unique and indivisible program from which it arose. If on the one hand we take the “historical party” as said, i.e. the party-program that won’t die until class divided society dies, the political Party, which in Marx’s words is ephemeral, is on the other hand susceptible to fluctuations in the class struggle, and operates and sets itself in motion by organizing its forces on the basis of centralism and discipline. Certainly the Party does not arise from circles, but it may dissolve into circles if it fails to stick to its program, tactics and organizational principles. Another aspect that characterizes the application of organizational principles in the Communist Party is that the discipline is spontaneous, even when, due to force majeure, the Party has to equip itself with a military organization. Here too it should be emphasized that spontaneous does not mean acceptance or rejection of discipline depending on whether or not one got up on the wrong side of the bed in the morning. One of the principal arguments which the Left used in its fight against Moscow’s degeneration and against Stalinism was and still is that it is fatal for the Party to think it can correct deviations by means of organizational and disciplinary proceedings. The Party establishes rules of operation that may change in the various phases of the class struggle, corresponding to the actions and activities it needs to carry out. These rules must also respond to specific requirements and organizational principles in order not to disrupt the underlying party structure. Ensuring optimum development of the Party’s internal life and work is not a secondary matter, nor is it a “moral” issue in the pejorative sense of the term. The tormented history of the International also had to undergo the opportunist contamination in these ways as well, which the Left, though it persistently denounced opportunism in the strongest terms, was unable to prevent. The small party cannot neglect these aspects or consider them secondary as compared to the bigger tasks that need attending to. The proper functioning of the Party not only derives from a strict adherence to its program, tactics and organization, but also from combining its internal with its external functions. In this respect the Left gave precise guidelines, in the form of precepts that relate in their literary expression more to feeling than to reason, and were bound to provoke a sarcastic response from the iron neo-Bolsheviks, steadfastly opposed to any moto dell’animo, any stirrings of the heart. The definition of socialism as “sentiment” is not Tolstoy’s but Marx’s and the Left’s; and we fail to see how this sentiment is supposed to permeate tomorrow’s humanity if the “fighting community”, that is today’s Party, isn’t also permeated by it. The “fraternal consideration for other comrades” which so scandalizes imbeciles and offers a pretext to hypocrites for their diplomatic maneuvers, is one of the precepts of party life. It signifies solidarity of comrades among themselves, not condescension. Solidarity is a material force, not a weakness. It is said that Lenin, the internationalist, gave to Stalin – the ultimate “romantic”, “iron Bolshevik” or “man of steel” – a serious tongue lashing after the latter had showed disrespect towards his partner Krupskaya, who was also a party militant. Another precept of party life, which seems to contradict the first, is that “you should love nobody”. The hysterics, who can’t appreciate the profound truth within the paradox, interpret this to mean that affectionate feelings between comrades are forbidden, that comrades should be regarded as mere instruments, to be used or cast aside, of a party viewed as a metaphysical Moloch, to whom everything must be sacrificed, forgetting that the political Party cannot exist without militants. The meaning of the precept is, on the contrary, that “you should love all comrades”, not favor some and exclude others. The idea that the Party is just a cold social organ, all rationality and militant science, as though it were a machine, is wrong. Even in the Party rationality and science are not derived from individuals, but from the body of the class as a whole, interpreted by Marxists and condensed into texts and theses which are transmitted over the centuries and successive generations. And there would be no science and rationality without the decisive impulse which passion and feeling provide. Without faith, instinct and sentiment there is no “reversal of praxis”. There is no such thing as science for science’s sake, Marxism for Marxism’s sake, or party for the party’s sake. Marxism and Party are weapon and organ of the last of history’s revolutionary classes, the proletariat. We reasserted these concepts in particular during the final years of the International, when we were forced to witness poisonous infighting tearing the glorious body of the international Party apart when still in its formative stage: when fratricidal groups and factions formed and engaged in a no-holds-barred struggle, of which the macabre synthesis was Stalin. The split in our small party in November 1973 did not happen because “Stalinist” discipline was imposed on the Party, according to the version of the splitters, whose balance sheet, however, is just as serious as the arrogance with which the Party was muzzled in those turbid and asphyxiating years. The reasons for the split lie in a tactical plan, which it was hoped would move the Party onto the terrain of engaging with the petty-bourgeois extremist camp, rebaptized “area rivoluzionaria”, with the “circles” and the swinish denizens of the perpetual “protest movement” of students and lumpenproletarians; brain and brawn of the sterile and reactionary semi-classes. The maneuver was backed up with the false idea that “they might become Soviets” and replace unions, absorbing a principle actually derived from the reactionary “extremism” of politics first, in which proletarian economic struggle, the rebuilding of the indispensable class organization, is downgraded. The organizational and disciplinary measures that were taken to force through this maneuver served to break the resistance within the Party and were supported by a campaign of denigration and lies worthy of the darkest years of the Moscow International. Thus in the internal life of the Party there arose the false principle that you could switch with impunity from one maneuver to another simply by resorting to organizational and disciplinary instruments, and to ideological – or in some cases even non-ideological – terrorism. Increasingly relations between comrades came to be dominated by mistrust, diplomacy, and even hatred justified by the new slogan of the necessity, for the good of the Party, of “political struggle” within the Party. We didn’t complain, at the time, about the sudden tightening of disciplinary measures, nor about the police-like conduct of the Center’s emissaries, because it is a non-negotiable fact that Communists do not complain about discipline; we complained because these means, when used unexpectedly, make Communists feel that some indefinable change is happening in the Party, which they are understandably suspicious about. Despite all this, we remained steadfast in our duty to submit to the Party leadership, without relinquishing the necessary function of any comrade to act as a check on the actions of the leadership. We relate these painful and lamentable facts, so unworthy of the Communist Left tradition, to the serious, young comrades of yesterday, and those of today, who never got to hear the truth or only a distorted version of it, so they can arrive at the objective realization that the ways in which the Party may be destroyed are many and various, yet all can be traced back to historical experience which the true Party possesses, and which genuine comrades have a duty to research and to defend, cost what it may. One of the ways the Party can degenerate is by fragmenting into circles; by far the worst way because it is entirely unproductive, whereas fractions, as history has shown, can be the basis on which rebuilding the Party can start again. This danger is one that affects not just big parties but above all any party in which the precious legacy of revolutionary Marxism has been dissipated. The way to disperse this legacy into thousands of separate streams is precisely by allowing to form, crystallize and eventually to operate, within the same political party organization, tendencies which diverge from those on which the Party is based; thereby cultivating the illusion that the Party, thus transformed into a party of opinions, can still respond to the highly challenging demands of the class struggle. History has shown that when the launching of the revolutionary offensive seems imminent, it is wrong to make naive claims around attracting non-homogeneous forces, hoping the struggle will somehow amalgamate them, until victory is achieved at least, and with the firm yet even more naive intention of casting them adrift after the victory if they get in the way of maintaining political power. Our bitter conclusion, after the attack failed and there was no victory, was that these non-homogeneous forces strongly contributed to the demise of the Party. If the small party were to take this path, which history has shown to have failed, it would die long before it became a big party. Even more so when the opposite process occurs, that is, when, as a result of organizational discontinuity, tactical fluctuations, conflicting policies and an ambivalent attitude towards its tradition, the Party, nominally one, in fact is a composite organization composed of unequal parts, held together by disciplinary rules, which hold sway in the absence of real conflicts due to the persistent flaccidity of social relations. The positions we are expressing are those of the Left, those of the old Party, of 1921, as crystallized in the Rome theses of 1922, the Lyon theses of 1926, in the firm consistent positions adopted at the Congresses of the Communist International, in the characteristic “basics” of 1952 through to those contained in the 1965-1966 theses. We have also bluntly reminded the so-called “international” and “internationalist circles” about this, prompted by them inviting us to proto-constituent “Party” conferences, which elaborated, and probably still do elaborate, the argument that the Party arises from an “entente”, a compromise agreement between various circles (or groups as they call them) to reunite the “scattered limbs” of the communists. That they might come to some “arrangement” we don’t deny. What we rule out though is that this could generate the class political Party, the “compact and powerful” Party. It should be recognized that these “constituents” are at least consistent, because they put their words into action. Not so those who preach the false doctrine that the “party arises from circles”, and practice it only behind closed doors, whether out of shyness, opportunism, or both, we don’t know. The Left’s positions do not lie somewhere in the middle, between brazen “constituents” and shy “constituents”, but clash with both, since both denigrate the Left and the true Party. The Party grows and develops in ways that are already known, that is on the foundation of the Left’s heritage, and not through an accumulation of self-proclaimed revolutionary circles or groups, towards which we can pursue a policy of emptying them out to liberate the genuinely proletarian forces within. Put another way, the circles would enter the Party and the damage caused would be the worst imaginable. The Party might experience a surge in its membership, but only by transforming itself into a collection of fratricidal tribes and clans, until complete degeneration sets in.

2019-04-20T03:01:54Z

https://www.redtexts.org/html/icp_1980_party_circles.html

Here's a preview of a video I put together that teaches you how I was able to get 10 Million app downloads so fast. Go to http://apprushacademy.com/free-video-training to watch the full video along with 3 additional training videos that teach you how to Build, Market, and Make Money with Apps and Games. I-Team investigates apps that help you make money. TOP 5 APPS OF THE WEEK! EARN MONEY FREE! Hey guys i hope you enjoyed the video! All of the apps metioned: 1. NiLS - free 2. LED Blinker lite - free 3. Showbox - http://media-apps.cc/android/ - free 4. Google Opinions - free 5. Pushbullet - free THANKS FOR WATCHING , HAVE A GREAT DAY! Smartphones cost money, but did you know they can also make money? Top 5 Apps to Earn Rewards on your iPhone – iTunes Gift Cards, PayPal Cash, CoC Gems, & More! Learn how to Earn Money and Rewards on your iPhone using these 5 different Apps. Earn iTunes Gift Cards, PayPal Cash, Clash of Clans Gems & More! *** Links Below *** | 2016 Edition: http://bit.ly/rewardapps2016 Watch the 2016 Edition! http://bit.ly/rewardapps2016 FeaturePoints Earn Gift Cards, PayPal Cash, and Paid Apps for Downloading Free Apps. Go to this URL in your mobile browser: http://bit.ly/getfeaturepoints CheckPoints Check into your Favorite Stores to Earn Gift Cards Download CheckPoints: http://bit.ly/getcheckpoints Use Promo Code: appfind AppDown Earn PayPal Cash for Downloading Free Apps (different list of apps than other services) Go to this URL in your mobile browser: http://bit.ly/tryappdown iBotta Earn PayPal Cash Back when you go Grocery Shopping Download iBotta: http://bit.ly/getibotta Use Promo Code: ikew AppNana Earn Clash of Clans Gems, Gift Cards, PayPal Cash, & More for Downloading Free Apps (different list of apps than other services) Go to this URL in your mobile browser: http://appnana.com/appfind Use Promo Code: a445859 GetGiftz Earn iTunes Gift Cards, Amazon Gift Cards & More for Downloading Free Apps & Watching Videos! See GetGiftz Featured in the 2016 Edition: http://bit.ly/rewardapps2016 Go to this URL in your Mobile Browser: http://bit.ly/getgiftz Use Promotion Code (Case Sensitive): AppFind Want More? Watch the Best Apps to Save Money & Earn Rewards on Shopping Trips: http://bit.ly/ShoppingRewards Watch the FreeMyApps Tutorial! http://bit.ly/freemyappstutorial Enjoy! Find the best Apps & Games for your iPhone 6! Best Free Apps for the iPhone 6: http://bit.ly/iPhone6BestFreeApps Best Free Games for the iPhone 6: http://bit.ly/iPhone6BestFreeGames Subscribe for even more iPhone 6 Videos! Stay Up To Date with AppFind! Subscribe on YouTube: http://bit.ly/appfind-subscribe Like on Facebook: http://facebook.com/AppFind Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AppFindOfficial Send Us Your Apps to Review: AppFind (at) Gmail (dot) com Read our Website: http://appfind.tv Content Claim: All Video Clips and Sound have been either produced or licensed by AppFind. I use my own video clips and audio clips along with royalty free video clips bought from video hive, and royalty free sound from Adobe. I review the new iPhone 6 and show off the Best Apps to Earn Rewards on your iPhone or iPad. Hey Guys! Huge Apology for the crooked screen, I will do a re-upload for you all and special thanks to you guys for making my new youtube channel happen :D Interested in trying this site out? Use This Link! https://appdown.me/s/UmtGqa Already got an appdown account? Post Your Link Down Below and I will get to it when I can! Thanks for watching, please make sure to rate it only on how you thought it was! I know my voice sounds like I am mentally retarded (lol) but I am growing and it will change eventually. START EARNING CASH Sign up to FeaturePoints at http://feat.re/W7263M to start earning cash just by downloading and testing free apps on your smartphone. Sign up using the link or referral Code W7263M to get started with 50 free points. Earn points everytime you download an app. Points really do mean prizes 3000 FeaturePoints = $5 to your PayPal account. The video explains the rest. https://appdown.me/s/FJxR0k Go to the link above to sign up and start making money by downloading apps. Have fun! Be sure to share this with your friends! IGNORE BELOW (This is a description from my other videos) Hey guys I just wanted to share with you a cool idea on how to make quick money for anyone. Even if you are an adult or a kid this method works for anyone looking for cash. Often times you will hear the age old question, how can i make more money. Here, I have decided to answer that question with a method that I like to use which I show here in my video, "How to make quick easy money straight from your phone (how can I make money)." Hopefully this will be the answer for people looking to a make money online or by whatever means but I find this method the simplest. Happy earning everyone! Transcription: Hey guys, how's it going? Today I have a really exciting thing to show you and it's about how you can make money straight from your iPhone or Ipad. Now the first thing you want to do is go to safari and search for an app called feature points. Now this is an app that will allow you to do this. So what I've done is I've hit this or you can go ahead and hit this, and so it will take you to this page and you can scroll down and hit sign up. Now it's going to show you this, all you have to do is hit lets go and it totally safe its only showing this to you because you are not downloading it from the app store. Then you hit install, install now. Okay I am being shown a slightly different page because I already have this, but you are pretty much going to see the same thing. Then you hit add to home screen. We will just call it feature points. And now it's going to pop up right there because I already have the other one. So what you are going to need to do is when it asks you for a code, you are going to put... it takes a little while, you are going to type in the code O7BU70. Once you do that you will have your own profile set up and then here it can show you how many points you have earned. And so, how you actually get the points is by downloading these apps. And it will show you by the FP plus 102, plus 82, sorry my cameras not zooming. But all you do is download those apps like you would on the app store and play them for thirty seconds and then it will give you these points. And you redeem them by going to the rewards section, and you can use them in PayPal funds, amazon gift cards, iTunes gift cards, even... oh it went back again, I won't try to get back to it again but at the bottom of the rewards section, you can get cash through PayPal. And so it's just something that's really exciting and something I was really happy to share with you guys and hopefully you might find it resourceful. Make sure when you go on you add that code, I will write it down for you guys, O7BU70. So it's this right here guys, just something to look forward to, I hope you guys will find it useful, and thanks for watching. Agenda: 6:00 PM -- Arrive, mingle, get food 6:30 PM -- Presentation 7:30 PM -- Mingle, Q&A, etc. 8:00 PM -- Event ends We will have presentations on the second Thursday of every month. HERE'S THE LINK- http://apprw.de/8ai/5 REFERRAL CODE- 8ai Hey guys I just wanted to share with you a cool idea on how to make quick money for anyone. Even if you are an adult or a kid this method works for anyone looking for cash. Often times you will hear the age old question, how can i make more money. Here, I have decided to answer that question with a method that I like to use which I show here in my video, "How to make quick easy money straight from your phone (how can I make money)." Hopefully this will be the answer for people looking to a make money online or by whatever means but I find this method the simplest. Happy earning everyone! Transcription: Hey guys, how's it going? Today I have a really exciting thing to show you and it's about how you can make money straight from your iPhone or Ipad. Now the first thing you want to do is go to safari and search for an app called feature points. Now this is an app that will allow you to do this. So what I've done is I've hit this or you can go ahead and hit this, and so it will take you to this page and you can scroll down and hit sign up. Now it's going to show you this, all you have to do is hit lets go and it totally safe its only showing this to you because you are not downloading it from the app store. Then you hit install, install now. Okay I am being shown a slightly different page because I already have this, but you are pretty much going to see the same thing. Then you hit add to home screen. We will just call it feature points. And now it's going to pop up right there because I already have the other one. So what you are going to need to do is when it asks you for a code, you are going to put... it takes a little while, you are going to type in the code O7BU70. Once you do that you will have your own profile set up and then here it can show you how many points you have earned. And so, how you actually get the points is by downloading these apps. And it will show you by the FP plus 102, plus 82, sorry my cameras not zooming. But all you do is download those apps like you would on the app store and play them for thirty seconds and then it will give you these points. And you redeem them by going to the rewards section, and you can use them in PayPal funds, amazon gift cards, iTunes gift cards, even... oh it went back again, I won't try to get back to it again but at the bottom of the rewards section, you can get cash through PayPal. And so it's just something that's really exciting and something I was really happy to share with you guys and hopefully you might find it resourceful. Make sure when you go on you add that code, I will write it down for you guys, O7BU70. So it's this right here guys, just something to look forward to, I hope you guys will find it useful, and thanks for watching. Best iphone apps free - The best free iphone apps which make you money! Using this, you can get any paid app or game in the app store for free very simple easy to use and earn paypal amzon and itunes bitcoin credits. Works on IOS 4, 5, 6 and 7. Iphone Ipad ipod easy earn make money get rich 100 dollars easily also use code k1708097 to get extra points on app nana using your phone. All this just by downloading free apps. check out my other videos. Click that subscribe button, Thanks! Use invite code " BI847ebfb " when first signing in and EARN EXTRA 500 points and a 20% bonus for points. Fastest way to paypal cash!! Making Money With Apps Is Awesome! Make Money With Your Smartphone http://www.makesmartphonemoney.com https://www.facebook.com/pages/Make-Money-With-your-Smartphone/482579048547836 https://twitter.com/EarningNow https://plus.google.com/+MakesmartphonemoneyGo/posts https://www.linkedin.com/in/makesmartphonemoney Apple phones Android phones Windows phones even Blackberry phones, they are all smartphones, which means they can earn you cash easily and on the fly! There are apps, mobile marketing methods and all out mobile businesses that you can succeed at. Social media is not just for socializing, text messages even emails and phone calls need to make you money. You are paying a pretty penny for that smartphone so make money with your smartphone now. Apps have recently began allow to make money with your smartphone paying users for watching videos or app reviews. You can also make money with your smartphone by completing small tasks like an agent. The is the hottest growing trend since the release of the touchscreen devices. Do you want to make money with your smartphone but don't know where to start? Visit us today! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGoEi_KG46c This video may also be found via these incoming search terms make money with your smartphone, app to make money, make money smartphone, make money your blackberry, apps that make you money, android apps that pay you money, apps to win money, make money with your cellphone, make money with your cell phone, make money with your cell phone free, make money using your cell phone, make money your mobile phone, cell phone marketing, apps that pay you, make money iphone apps, make money apps android, make money facebook apps. "phone apps that make you money" "what can you do to make money" "can you make money from an app" "how do you make money on apps" "can you make money from free apps" "make money with smartphone" "make money from smartphone" "what is the best smartphone on the market" "how to make money with a smartphone" "how to make money with smartphone" "make money smartphone" "make money with a smartphone" "the best smartphone in market" "how to make money on a smartphone" "make money with smartphone apps" "how to make money on smartphone" "how to make money with smartphone apps. "making money with smartphone" "which is the best smartphone in the market" "how to make money from smartphone apps" "which is the best smartphone on the market" "earn money with smartphone" "what is the best smartphone for the money" "earn money using smartphone" "what is best smartphone on the market" "earn money from smartphone" "the best smartphone for the money" "get paid to use your smartphone" "smartphone cell" "how do i make a smartphone app" "how do you make a smartphone app" "earn money on smartphone" "get paid for using your smartphone" "best new smartphone on the market" "what can you do with your smartphone" "how do you create a smartphone app" "what makes a mobile phone a smartphone" "ways of making money" How You Can Earn Money your cellphone" "how to drive more traffic to your blog" "how to gain more traffic to your website" "how to generate more traffic to your website" "how to drive more traffic to your site" "drive more traffic to your blog money" "drive more traffic to your site" "more traffic to your blog" "can you make money with apps" "apps where you make money" "apps you can use to make money" "can you make money from apps" "can you make money on apps" "can you make money from a free app" Earn money for testing apps! AppBounty Tutorial: how to get free Giftcards and more ! Get The Best Free Mobile App Below: http://www.freecashapp.co/index.php?affClickID=1460526353 Pull out your mobile device, how many apps do you have. Some are free and some are paid for. This is where the money hits the road. in late 2013 mobile users out numbered desktop users for the first time and is expected to grow into unknown numbers into the next few years. Millions of dollars in profits are up for grabs as affiliates and end users alike are earning like never before. This free app is the best mobile app in 2014 and of all time because it taps into this industry and turns every dollar into 9 dollars. and it does this over and over and over again. The best mobile app to hit the market says "USA TODAY". Best Mobile App Free Mobile App best free mobile app mobile app that makes money making money using app best of the best mobile apps 2014 mobile app review best reviews of mobile apps how to make money using mobile apps how much money do mobile apps makes list of best mobile apps mobile applications that ROCK! Best new iphone apps - Best new iphone apps earning you money! If you ever wonder how Android developers earn money via their android apps and games then you should stop wondering because in this video I'm gonna show you how we can integrate admob with our Android apps and then how to earn money via integrated ads. Just like Flappy bird earn money with admob advertisements , we can also earn money with admob by integrating it with our android app. In this video I'm gonna show to integrate the admob ads with android game. Code ---------------------------------------------------------------- Link to the Coding File : https://www.mediafire.com/?qc1n9qbgmfaszge For game please visit : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.baidar.bricktumbler&hl=en !!!!!!!!!!!!!!Please Subscribe and like the video!!!!!!!!!

2019-04-21T10:59:48Z

http://illusionniste.info/search/2014?q=Free+apps+you+can+make+money+on

Write down the nth term of this quadratic number sequence. Step 1: Confirm the sequence is quadratic. This is done by finding the second difference. Step 2: If you divide the second difference by 2, you will get the value of a. Step 3: Next, substitute the number 1 to 5 into 2n². Step 4: Now, take these values (2n²) from the numbers in the original number sequence and work out the nth term of these numbers that form a linear sequence. Now the nth term of these differences (-5,0,5,10,15) is 5n -10. So b = 5 and c = -10. Step 5: Write down your final answer in the form an² + bn + c. Step 1: Confirm if the sequence is quadratic. This is done by finding the second difference. Step 3: Next, substitute the number 1 to 5 into 5n². Step 4: Now, take these values (5n²) from the numbers in the original number sequence and work out the nth term of these numbers that form a linear sequence. Now the nth term of these differences (4,8,12,16,20) is 4n. So b = 4 and c = 0. Find the nth term of this sequence 2,9,20,35,54? The first differences are 7, 11, 15, 19. The second differences are 4. Half of 4 is 2, so the first term of the sequence is 2n^2. Find the nth term of this sequence 4,7,12,19,28? What is the ninth term of this sequence 6,12,20,30,42,56? The first differences are 6,8,10,12,14. The second difference is 2. Therefore half of 2 is 1 so the first term is n^2. Subtract this from the sequence gives 5,8,11,14,17. The nth term of this sequence is 3n + 2. So the final formula for this sequence is n^2 + 3n + 2. What is the nth term of 3,8,17,30,47? Can you find the nth term rule of this pattern 8, 14, 22, 32, 44, 58, 74? What is the nth term of the sequence 3, 13, 27, 45? The first differences are 10, 14, 18, and the second differences are all 4, so the sequence must be quadratic. Half of 4 gives 2, so the first term of the nth term is 2n^2. Subtracting 2n^2 from the sequence gives 1, 5, 9, 13 which has nth term of 4n -3. So the final nth term is 2n^2 + 4n - 3. Find the nth term rule of this sequence 12,17,24,33,44,57,72? How would I find the nth term of this sequence 3,13, 27, 45, 67? The first differences are 10, 14, 18, 22 and the second differences are 4. Therefore the first term is 2n^2 as half os 4 gives 2. Subtracting 2n^2 from the sequence gives 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 which has nth term of 4n -3. Putting all this together givers 2n^2 + 4n - 3. What is the nth term rule of the quadratic sequence: 6, 12, 20, 30, 42, 56, 72? What is the nth term of this quadratic sequence 11,15, 23, 35? The fist differences are 4, 8, 12, and the second difference are 4. Since the second difference are 4, then the first term of the nth term is 2n^2 (Half 4). Subtracting 2n^2 from the sequence gives 9, 7, 5, 3, which has nth term -2n + 11. So the final answer is 2n^2 - 2n + 11. How do you find the second term of this sequence 3, x, 29, 51? Find nth term of this sequence 10,33,64,103? How can you work out the nth term for this quadratic sequence 6, 10, 16, 24, 34? The first differences are 4,6,8,10, and the second differences are 2 giving the first term of n^2. Subtracting n^2 from this sequence gives 5,6,7,8,9 which has nth term of n + 4. So the nth term of this quadratic sequence is n^2 + n + 4. What is the nth term rule of the quadratic sequence below? − 4 , − 3 , 0 , 5 , 12 , 21 , 32 , . Can you find the nth term of this sequence 2,5,10,17? The first differences are 3, 5, 7 and the second difference are 2. Since the second differences are 2, then half of 2 is 1, so the first tem of the sequence is n^2. Subtracting n^2 from this squences gives 1,1,1,1. So the nth term of this quadratic sequence is n^2 + 1. What is the ninth term of this sequence? 2,11,26,47,74,107? What is the Nth term of 4,9,16,25,36 ? Can you find the nth term of this sequence 8, 14, 22, 32, 44, 58, 74? Find the nth term of this sequence 7, 14, 23, 34, 47, 62, 79 ? What is the nth term rule of this quadratic sequence: 8, 14, 22, 32, 44, 58, 74? What is the nth term of this quadratic sequence: 4,7,12,19,28? Find the nth term of 3,8,15,24? Can you find nth term of this quadratic sequence 2,8,18,32,50? What is the nth term of this: 3,18,41,72,111? The first differences are 15,23,31,39, and the second differences are 8. Now subtract 4n^2 from this sequence to give -1,2,5,8,11, and the nth term of this sequence is 3n – 4. So the nth term of the quadratic sequence is 4n^2 + 3n – 4. What is the nth term of this sequence:12, 17, 24, 33, 44, 57, 72? Find the nth term of this sequence 2,8,18,32,50? What is the nth term of 6, 20, 40, 66, 98,136? The first differences are 14, 20, 26, 32 and 38, and so the second differences are all 6. Halving 6 gives 3, so the first term of the sequence is 3n^2. Subtracting 3n^2 from the sequences gives 3,8,13,18,23 which has the nth term 5n-2. Therefore, the formula for this sequence is 3n^2 + 5n - 2. Find the nth term of this quadratic sequence 3,11,25,45? Find the first three terms of this 3n+2? The first differences are 3,7,11,15,19 and the second differences are 4. Halving 4 gives 2, so the first term of the formula is 2n^2. Now subtract 2n^2 from this sequence to give -9,-12,-15,-18, -21, -24 and the nth term of this sequence is -3n -6. So the nth term of the quadratic sequence is 2n^2 – 3n – 6. What is the nth term rule of the sequence -8, -8, -6, -2, 4? The first differences are 0, 2, 4, 6, and the second diffferences are all 2. Since half of 2 is 1, then the first term of the quadratic nth term is n^2. Next, subtract n^2 from the sequence to give -9,-12,-15,-18,-21 which has nth term -3n - 6. So the nth term will be n^2 -3n - 6. Can you find the nth term of this sequence 8,16,26,38,52? The first difference of the sequence are 8, 10, 12, 24. The second differences of the sequences are 2, therefore since half of 2 is 1 then the first term of the sequence is n^2. Subtracting n^2 from the given sequence gives, 7,12,17,22,27. The nth term of this linear sequence is 5n + 2. So if you put the three-term together, this quadratic sequence has the nth term n^2 + 5n + 2. Can you find the nth term of the quadratic sequence 3,8,17,30,47? First work out the first differences, these are 5, 9, 13, 17. Next, find the second differences, these are all 4. So since half of 4 is 2, then the first term is 2n^2. Subtracting 2n^2 from the sequence gives 1, 0, -1, -2, -3 which has nth term of -n + 2. So the nth term of this quadratic sequence is n^2 -n + 2. Can you find the nth term of the sequence 3,11,25,45? Can you find the nth term of 11, 26, 45 and 68? What’s is the nth term of this: -4,1,12,29? The first differences are -5, -11, -17, and so the second differences are all 6. Subtracting 3n^2 from the sequences gives -7,-11,-15,-19 which has the nth term -4n-3. Therefore, the formula for this sequence is 3n^2 -4n - 3. find the nth term of this quadratic sequence 4,7,12,19,28? Find the nth term of this sequence 4, 7, 12, 19, 28? Find the nth term if this sequence 8,16,26,38,52,68,86? The first differences are 8,10,12,14,16,18, and the second differences are 2, so the first term will be n^2. Subtracting n^2 from the sequence gives 7,12,17,22,27,32,37 which has nth term of 5n + 2. So the final answer is n^2 + 5n + 2. What is the nth term of 6, 9, 14, 21, 30, 41? Find the nth term of this sequence 9,12,17,24? These numbers are 8 more than the square number sequence, so the nth term is n^2 + 8. Can you find the nth term of this sequence 4,7,12,19,28? The first difference are 3, 5, 7 and 9. The second differences 2, so the first term is n^2 (since half of 2 is 1). Subtracting n^2 from the sequence gives 3. So the nth term of this quadratic sequence is n^2 + 3. Find the nth term of this sequence 5,9,21,41? The first differences are 4, 12, 20. The second differences are 8. Therefore, since 1/2 of 8 = 4, then the first term of the quadratic sequence is 4n^2. Subtract 4n^2 from the sequence gives 1, -7, -15, -23 and the nth term of the linear sequence is -8n + 9. Hence the nth term of this quadratic sequence is 4n^2 -8n + 9. Can you find the nth term of this sequence 8,16,26,38,52,68,86? The first differences are 8,10,12,14,16,18 and the second differences are 2. Since half of 2 is 1, then the first term of the nth term is n^2. Subtracting n^2 from the sequence gives 7,12,17,22,27,32,37 which has a nth term of 5n + 2. So putting these together gives a nth term of the quadratic sequence of n^2 + 5n + 2. Can you find the next term in the sequence 4,12,24,40? The first differences are 8, 12, 16, so the next difference will be 20 as the first differences are increasing by 4. Therefore the next term is 40 + 20 = 60. How would I find the nth term of this sequence: 4, 7, 12, 19, 28? First find the first differences to give 3, 5, 7, 9 and therefore the second differences are 2. This means the first term will be n^2 as half of 2 is 1. So the final formula for the sequence is n^2 + 3. Can you find the nth term of this quadratic sequence. 3,11,25,45? First, work out the first differences; these are 8, 14, 20. Next, find the second differences, these are all 6. So since half of 6 is 3, then the first term is 3n^2. Subtracting 3n^2 from the sequence gives 0, -1, -2, -3 which has nth term of -n + 1. So the nth term of this quadratic sequence is 3n^2 -n + 1. Find the nth term of this sequence 4,16,36,64,100? This sequence is 4 times bigger than the square number sequence, so the nth term is 4n^2. What is the nth term of the quadratic sequence 4,7,12,19,28? The first differences are 3, 5, 7, 9 and the second diffferences are all 2. Next subtract n^2 from the sequence to give 3 for each term. So the nth term will be n^2 + 3. Find the nth term of this sequence 3,8,15,24,35? What is the nth term rule of the quadratic sequence: -5,-4,-1,4,11,20,31? The first differences in the sequence are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and the second differences are all 2. Halving that equals 1, so the first term of the sequence is n^2. Subtracting n^2 from the sequence gives -6, -8, -10, -12, -14, -16, -18, which has nth term -2n - 4. So the final answer is n^2 -2n - 4. Find the nth term of this 2, 17, 40, 71? The fist differences are 15, 23, 31, and the second difference are 8. Since the second difference are 8, then the first term of the nth term is 4n^2 (Half of 8). Subtracting 4n^2 from the sequence gives -2, 1, 4, 7, which has nth term 3n -5. So the final answer is 4n^2 + 3n -5. Find the nth term for the quadratic sequence of 3,9,17,27? The first differences are 6 8,10 and the second differences are 2. The first term of the sequence is therefore n^2 (since half of 2 is 1). Subtracting n^2 from the sequecne gives 2, 5, 8, 11 which has the nth term of 3n - 1. So putting the 3 terms together gives a final answer of n^2 + 3n - 1. Is the number 174 in the sequence n²+5? Make n^2 + 5 = 174. Subtract 5 from both sides to give n^2 = 169. Then square root both sides to give n = 13. 174 is the 13th term in the sequence, so yes. What is the nth term of 7,10,15,22,31,42? The first differences are 3,5,7,9,11 and the second differences are 2. The first term of the sequence is, therefore, n^2 (since half of 2 is 1). Subtracting n^2 from the sequence gives 6. So putting these 2 terms together gives a final answer of n^2 + 6. How would I find the nth term of this sequence 2,10, 24, 44? The first differences are 8, 14, 20 and the second difference is 6. Since half of 6 gives 3, the first term of the sequence is 3n^2. Subtracting 3n^2 from this sequence gives -1, -2, -3, -4, which has a nth term of -n. Therefore putting this together gives an answer of 3n^2 -n. Can you find the nth term of 2,17,40,71? The first differences are 15, 23, 31, and so the second differences are all 8. Halving 8 gives 4, so the first term of the sequence is 4n^2. Therefore, the formula for this sequence is 4n^2 + 3n - 5. What are the next 3 terms of 26,37,50? Assuming that the sequence is quadratic the first difference are 11 and 13. So the first differences are increasing by 2 each times. So the fourth term will be 50 + 15 = 65. The fifth term will be 65 + 17 = 82. The sixth term will be 82 + 19 which is 101. What is the nth term of -4,-1,4,11,20,31? The first differences are 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and the second differences are all 2, so the sequence must be quadratic. Half of 2 gives 1, so the first term of the nth term is n^2. Subtracting n^2 from the sequence gives -5. So putting both terms together gives n^2 -5. Find the nth term of this sequence 7,10,15,22,31? Find the nth term of the sequence 1,11,27,49? The first differences are 10, 16, 22, and the second difference are 6 meaning that the sequence is quadratic and the first term being 3n^2. Subtracting 3n^2 from the sequence gives -2,-1,0,1 which has nth term n - 3. So putting these terms together gives a final answer of 3n^2 + n - 3. Find the nth term of this sequence 4,7,12,19,28,39? Can you find the nth term of this sequence: 12,17,24,33,44,57,72? What is the nth term of the sequence 4 6 10 16 24 34 46? The first differences are 2,4,6,8,10,12, and the second differences are 2. So the first term of the sequence is n^2. Subtracting n^2 from the sequence gives 3,2,1,0,-1,-2,-3 which has nth term -n + 4. So the nth term is n^2 - n + 4. Can you find the nth term of this quadratic sequence 4,7,12,19,28? The first differences are 3, 5, 7 and 9, and the second differences are 2. Therefore the first term will be n^2 (half of 2 is 1). Subtracting n^2 from the sequences gives 3. So the final answer is n^2 + 3. What is the nth term of this sequence of numbers 0,1,4,9,16? This is your square number sequence starting at 0 instead of 1. Therefore the nth term will be (n-1)^2. What is the nth term for this sequence 6, 9, 14, 21, 30? The fist differences are 3, 5, 7, 9, and the second difference are 2. Since the second differences are 2, then the first term of the nth term is n^2 (Half 2). Subtracting n^2 from the sequence gives 5. So the final answer is n^2 + 5. Find the nth term of this sequence 0,6,18,36,60? Can you find the nth term of this sequence -3,0,5,12,21,32? The first differences are 3,5,7,9,11, and the second differences are 2. Therefore the first term in the quadratic sequence is n^2. Subtracting n^2 from the sequence gives -4. So the final answer of this sequence is n^2 -4. (Just subtract 4 from your square number sequence). What is the nth term of this quadratic number sequence: 1,3,6,10,15? The first differences are 2,3,4,5 and the second differences are 1. Therefore the first term in the quadratic sequence is 0.5n^2. Subtracting 0.5n^2 from the sequence gives 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, and the nth term of this linear sequence is 0.5n. So the final answer of this sequence is 0.5n^2 + 0.5n. Find the nth term for 7,9,13,19,27 ? How do I find the nth term of this sequence 0, 5, 12, 21, 32? How can I find the next terms of this sequence 4,16,36,64,100? These are the even square numbers. So the next term in the sequence will be 12 squared which is 144, then the next one 14 squared which 196 etc. What is the nth term of this fractional number sequence 1/2 , 4/3, 9/4, 16/5? First look for the nth term of the numerators of each fraction (1,4,9,16). Since these are square numbers then the nth term of this sequence is n^2. The denominators of each fraction are 2,3,4,5, and this is a linear sequence with nth term n + 1. So putting these together the nth term of this fractional number sequence is n^2/(n+1). What is the nth term of this: 4, 10, 18, 28, 40? The first differences are 6,8,10,12, and the second differences are 2. Subtracting n^2 from the sequence gives 3,6,9,12,15 which has a nth term of 3n. So putting these together gives a nth term of the quadratic sequence of n^2 + 3n. What is the nth term of this quadratic sequence : -4,1,12,29,52,81? The first differences are 5, 11, 17, 23, 29, and the second differences are 6. Halving 6 gives 3, so the first term will be 3n^2. Subtracting 3n^2 from the sequence gives -7, -11, -15, -19, -23, -27, which has nth term -4n -3. So the final answer will be 3n^2 -4n - 3. Can you find the nth term of this sequence 2,14,36,68? First find the first differences to give 12, 22, 32, and therefore the second differences are 10. This means the first term will be 5n^2 as half of 10 is 5. Subtracting 5n^2 from the sequence gives -3, -6, -9, -12, which has nth term -3n. So the final formula for the sequence is 5n^2 - 3n. Find the nth term for this sequence : 4,7,12,19,28? Find the nth term of this sequence 1,3,7,13,21? Find the nth term of the sequence 1,7,17,31? Can you find the nth term of this sequence 5,16,33,56? What is the sequence formula for 6,17,34,57,86? Can you find the value of k of this sequence 1,-5,k,-23? Assuming the sequence is quadratic then the first differences are -6, k + 5, and -23 - k. The second differences are k + 11 and -2k and -28. Since the second differences are the same of a quadratic sequence then k + 11 = -2k - 28. This gives 3k = -39, and k = -13. Can you find the nth term for this quadratic sequence 1,2,4,7,11? The fist differences are 1, 2, 3, 4 and the second difference are 1. Since the second differences are 1, then the first term of the nth term is 0.5n^2 (Half of 1). Subtracting 0.5n^2 from the sequence gives 0.5,0,-0.5,-1,-1.5 which has nth term -0.5n + 1. So the final answer is 0.5n^2 - 0.5n + 1. What is the nth term of this quadratic number sequence 5, 9, 1, 29? The first differences are 4, 8, 12, and the second differences are 4. Since half of 4 is 2 then the first term of the nth term is 2n^2. Subtracting 2n^2 from this sequence gives 3, 1, -1, -3 which has nth term of -2n + 5. So putting this together gives 2n^2 -2n + 5. What are the first three terms for n^(2)+20? To work this out the numbers 1,2 and 3 need to be substituted into the nth term. So the first term is 1^2 + 20 = 21. The second term is 2^2 + 20 = 24. The third term is 3^2 + 20 = 29. So the first three terms are 21,24,29. What is the Nth term of 8, 16, 28 ,44? First find the first differences to give 8, 12, 16, and therefore the second differences are 4. This means the first term will be 2n^2 as half of 4 is 2. Subtracting 2n^2 from the sequence gives 6, 8, 10, 12, which has nth term of 2n + 4. So the final formula for the sequence is 2n^2 + 2n + 4. Find the nth term of this sequence 6, 10, 18, 30? what is the nth term of:4,9,16,25,36 ? Can you find the nth term of this sequence -1, 5, 15, 29, 47? Can you find the nth term of 10,24,44,70,102,140? Next find the second differences, these are all 6. Subtracting 3n^2 from the sequence gives 7, 12, 17, 22, 27 which has nth term of 5n + 2. So the nth term of this quadratic sequence is 3n^2 + 5n + 2. Can you find the nth term of this sequence 1, 3, 7, 13, 21? The first differences are 2,4,6,8, and the second differences are 2. Therefore, the first term will be n^2. Subtracting n^2 from the sequence gives 0,-1,-2,-3,-4 which has nth term of -n + 1. So the final answer is n^2 - n + 1. What's the nth term of the sequence 1,3,9,19,33,51? Find nth term of this 0, 3, 8, 15, 24? What is the nth term of this sequence -8,-2,8,22,40? The fist differences are 6, 10, 14, 18 and the second difference are 4. Since the second differences are 4, then the first term of the nth term is 2n^2 (Half 4). Subtracting 2n^2 from the sequence gives -10. So the final answer is 2n^2 - 10. Find the nth term of this sequence 6, 12, 20, 30, 42, 56, 72? Can you find the nth term 11,14,19,26,35,46? What is the nth term rule of the quadratic sequence below? − 8 , − 8 , − 6 , − 2 , 4 , 12 , 22...? Can you find nth term of this sequence 9, 15, 23, 33, 45? What is the nth term of this quadratic number sequence 3,7,12,18? The first differences are 4,5,6, and the second differences are 1, so the first term will be 0.5n^2. Subtracting 0.5n^2 from the sequence gives 2.5,5,7.5,10 which has nth term of 2.5n. So the final answer is 0.5n^2 + 2.5n. Could you please find the nth term of this sequence 3, 9, 17, 27, and 39? Find the nth term of this sequence 8,14,22,32,44,58,74? Find the third term of 5n^2? What is the nth term of this sequence: 3,18,41,72,111? Find the nth term of this sequence -4, -3,0 , 5 , 12 , 21 ,32? Find the nth term of this sequence 4,9,14,19? Can you find the nth term of this sequence 1, 6, 15, 28, 45? Find the nth term of this sequence 5,5,3,-1,-7? The nth term for 10, 13, 18, 25? Find the nth term of this sequence 8,14, 22, 32, 44, 58, 74? Can you find the nth term of this sequence 4, 7, 12, 19, 28? Find the nth term of the sequence 302,600,894,1184? Can you find the nth term of 3, 10, 21, 36, 55? Find the nth term of this sequence 3 9 19 33 51? How do you find nth term of this quadratic sequence 3,6,11,18,27,38? Find the nth term of this sequence 2,17,40,71? Find the nth term of this sequence -2,1,6,13,22,33? What is the nth term rule of the quadratic sequence below? − 5, − 4, − 1, 4, 11, 20, 31, . . . Can you find the nth term of -7, -6, -3, 2, 9, 18, 29? What is the nth term of this sequence -5, -4, -1, 4, 11, 20, 31? How do I find the nth term of the quadratic sequence -1, 2, 7, 14, 23? Find the nth term of this sequence -1,2,7,14,23? What is second and fifth term of the sequence 3n^2-1? What are the first 4 term of n squared +3? Find the sequence for n^2-3n+2? im still a bit confused how you work out 'c' like how did you get -10 / 0? where does this difference came from, like the 4,8,12,16,20? This would rarely happen, but you can still apply the same method. Just put a decimal before n squared. What if the second difference is an odd number? Conceptual undertanding is very important for students to comprehend quadratic sequence. Hence, the logic of determining the terms of a given sequence defined by a quadratic formula should be the starting point. The procedure helps far better but understanding of the concept per se in changing the sequence to arithmetic number sequence should be greatly emphasised. dat is just dam cul. luving dis site. helpd me a lot. quad eqns made easy for us math phobs people. N is number of term.

2019-04-24T00:24:41Z

https://owlcation.com/stem/Quadratic-Sequences-The-nth-term-of-a-quadratic-number-sequence

What are some of the habits of happy families? Feel like maybe your family could be happier? A stressful schedule of school, work, and daily life is the norm. How can we make sure our household stays upbeat and positive in the chaos? Whether you're eating healthy together or doing family crafts, the keyword here is that you're spending time together. Does your family already have these healthy habits? What other habits would you add to this list? Let me know in the comments below! Looking for some new Christmas traditions to start this year? We've got you covered! I'm guest posting at My Love for Words today and talking about some wonderful ways you can bond with your family over the holiday season. You may be following some of the same traditions your parents had when you were growing up. But if you're looking to shake things up this season, I've got some great ideas. For example, one of my favorite traditions is to pass out "Golden Gifts" on Christmas Eve. These presents aren't fancy or expensive. They're just new pajamas and socks to make sure our Christmas morning pictures look great. Who doesn't like to open gifts a little early? Personally, I've found that creating our own traditions has been a great way to make sure we take the time to focus on our family during the chaotic weeks in December. Hope you click on over to Emily's blog and enjoy the tips! Ways to Give During the Holidays for KIDS! Hooray! Today I'm guest posting for my friend Emily on her beautiful site My Love for Words. It's so hard to avoid the frantic chaos that presents and parties bring this time of year. While I enjoy a good gift and some cozy get-togethers, I certainly struggle with finding time to give back to my community. For our little ones, it can be even harder as finding a kid-friendly volunteer opportunity is nearly impossible. I've pulled together some of the easiest ways your child can get involved and give during the holidays. I know we're all watching our finances closely this season so I've even kept these ideas budget-friendly! It doesn't take a large monetary donation or chunk of your time to give back to the community. By ensuring your kids are remembering to think of those in need, you are helping them have a more fulfilling holiday season. I hope you enjoy the post! How do you help your kids give back during the holidays? Rain, rain, go away because I have a toddler who does not want to stay inside! We experienced some mighty big raindrops here in Houston this past week. And while I could snuggle up with a good book and listen to the rain for hours, my toddler is not so inclined. He really had a lot of pent up energy by the time we moved onto Day 2 of the thunderstorms so I had to get creative. Here are 25 rainy day activities for a toddler. Build a fort out of pillows, blankets, chairs, couch cushions, and anything else you can get your hands on. Bake a delicious treat like these Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookies for Two from Budget Bytes. Pretend you're in a library. "Check out" some of the books you own already and read them with your child. Play dress up and throw a tea party. Cook a delicious meal together. Dress up in your raincoats and rain boots and go splash in the puddles! Blow up balloons and toss them around the house. Relax with a children's movie and some hot chocolate. Build a car or spaceship with an old cardboard box. Play dress up and have a fashion show. Create homemade cards for relatives or friends that may be lonely or live far away. Go "swimming" by putting on swim suits and letting them play with their favorite water toys in the bathtub. Play "Secret Agent" and go on a mission. Hide an object under a piece of furniture and use flashlights to help your toddler search for it. Play Grocery Store. Use small cans or boxes from your pantry if you don't own plastic groceries. How do you keep your child busy on a rainy day? My husband and I had our first child when we were 24. We didn't feel young at the time but when I look back I realize that we were still just kids. That didn't stop us from crossing off an entire pre-baby bucket list of things we wanted to do though! Whether you're having a baby or are simply thinking about eventually having one, now is a good time to contemplate what you'd like to accomplish. Time flies and when you have a tiny person to take care of, it flies by even faster. Here are 17 things you should do before having a baby. Let's be honest about vehicles for a moment here. A sports car may get you to and from work but where does the car seat fit? What about the stroller? If you've always wanted a Mustang (and you can afford it), get it now! You can pray for a safe delivery and a healthy baby but you can't totally avoid unexpected expenses. They will come up and if you're already in debt, they'll just pile on top of that. Start your journey in parenthood on the right foot by getting out of debt and even building a nice emergency fund. Sticky fingers and spit up will ruin your favorite pieces of clothing if you're not careful. And even though I wouldn't trade my son's sticky fingers for all of the cashmere in the world, it was nice wearing it when I had the chance. I'm serious about this one. Get your bum out there and experience different cultures. A baby takes up more luggage than you and your spouse put together. Take advantage of less-stressful travel by going places today. Sleep as much as you can! I used to take weekend naps before my son was born. At least I think I did. It was so long ago that I can barely remember. Nothing too dangerous! But try skydiving, car racing, or whatever hobby you'd like to do that's a bit on the edge. The responsibility of having a tiny human will make you think twice about putting yourself in danger. I really regret not doing this before we had children. I have tons of old photos from college that I'd love to print and put in an album, but right now I can barely keep up with the baby book. My husband and I have gone on two dates since our son was born...16 months ago. We're not complaining, trust me. We're mostly homebodies to begin with. But if you like to go out on the weekends, it's going to be much harder when your child is born. Believe it or not, finding a babysitter is the easy part! The hard part is finding the energy or money to actually want to go out. I also encourage visiting the movie theaters often. It's such a basic date but I miss those outings a lot! It's so easy to overlook this kind of detail but I miss the ability to try on clothes in a dressing room without dragging a stroller and a baby along with me. Now I shop online or grab something at Wal-Mart while I get the groceries (yes, you read that correctly). My husband and I have left a restaurant before our meals arrived because the baby got too fussy. Meh, life happens. So enjoy having a server refill your overpriced beverages as much as you can. There's an unwritten rule about parenthood that says you can't drink an entire cup of hot coffee without having to reheat it at least once. Ask anyone with children under the age of 5. Have all of your friends over, cook tons of food, and play loud music. Parties with children underfoot typically end when there are no more Daniel Tiger episodes left to play. Go out dancing, bar hopping, or catch a late show. The goal is to stay out having a good time until the clock strikes midnight. I don't even remember the last time I was awake beyond 11pm but it was definitely before my son was born. One day your child will be fussy in public and you'll have to deal with a less-than-understanding fellow shopper. It stinks. It really does. So please be kind and patient with all those other parents out there. Because at some point in the future, that flustered parent will be you and you'll appreciate a kind smile from a stranger. ...because you'll never be able to do that again with a child in the house. I still read plenty of books as a mom but it's much harder to find the time than it used to be. And taking a cooking class or getting that college degree you really want? It's possible to do it with children but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Go to school before you have children while you have the chance. Manicures, spa dates, and all other forms of relaxation will be harder to come by (though not impossible!) when you're a parent. Spend all the time you want on hair and makeup when you go out. Pre-baby, I had an entire routine that took me almost 30 minutes. Nowadays, I rock a 5 minute face and ponytail like nobody's business. Having a baby does not mean the end of a good life (quite the opposite, if you ask me). But there are limitations on things you will feel comfortable doing or will have the time to do once children arrive. Take advantage while you have the chance! What's on your pre-baby bucket list? My son had an Oscar-worthy meltdown in our public library and I decided that my parenting strategy needed a little fine tuning. James wanted to push the stroller, not ride in it. This is usually okay but in the small space of a library, he just kept running into shelves. I picked him up and he screamed as loudly as he could (my head is still ringing) so we quickly left. My husband and I are gentle parents. Our own relationship thrives on a foundation of respect and you will rarely (if ever) find us shouting or using a strict authoritarian approach with each other or our son. But James is still a passionate, naturally developing boy who sometimes throws a good tantrum. Obviously, he can't run rampant but I don't want to just raise a respectful, well-behaved child. I want to foster a close relationship him. How do I connect with my son while still maintaining the role as a parent? I'm fortunate enough to know Nina through our own blogging group and was able to read the book before the release date and interview her about it. Besides being a genuinely sweet person, she's a treasure chest full of wonderful parenting advice. Her book includes tactics on communicating with your child and preventing/diffusing tantrums. "You want to build a relationship with your child where he can tell you anything and you would still support him no matter what. That can only happen when you allow your child to talk without judging his thoughts or actions. Don’t call his dreams silly or go on and on about a mistake or accident he made. In fact, thank your child for telling you the truth even if it means he’s in trouble. He was brave enough to tell you the truth and admit his faults when he could have easily kept the truth from you to avoid punishment." Parenting with Purpose is a practical, eye-opening and action-oriented book that explains how to use connection to raise well-behaved kids and strengthen your parent-child relationship. Thank you for the opportunity to interview you, Nina! How did you get started with your blog? I started Sleeping Should Be Easy (sleepingshouldbeeasy.com) in March of 2010 as an online parenting journal. My eldest was four-months-old at that point, and the blog was my way of writing about things we did during the day. More importantly, I also wrote down lessons I learned as a mom and the parenting advice I read about and applied. Soon, other parents wrote in with positive feedback, saying the advice they found on my blog was very helpful with their own parenting journey. What inspired you to write Parenting with Purpose? Namely, my readers. I love getting a response from a reader saying a post I wrote had helped them. I figured I could help more people with a book. I also like the idea of having one central place that contains all the themes and principles that guide my parenting. How does Parenting with Purpose compare with other parenting books? Parenting books out there have shaped so much of how I raise my kids (I list my top picks in the resources section in the back of mine). And to be honest, I hesitated writing a parenting book. I’m not a doctor or hold a PhD. Still, I’d like to think Parenting with Purpose speaks to “regular moms” much in the same way my blog resonates with those of us “in the trenches.” It’s relatable, honest, and I hope doesn’t make anyone feel guilty but rather inspires them to be mindful and intentional in their parenting. Another key factor in Parenting with Purpose is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. You won’t do the things I recommend in the book and suddenly have perfect, well-behaved children all the time. Rather, I advocate to do what works for you, your child, and that particular moment using tools I recommend in the book. Because what works one day may not the next, or what works for your eldest may not work for your youngest. How does writing a book compare to writing a blog? Both are equally exhausting! Writing a blog is like telling someone the fantastic new ideas you came up with. Writing a book is like gathering all your overarching ideas in one place. This is my first book and I’ve been blogging for five years so this may not be a fair comparison, but writing for a blog seems much easier than writing for a book. There was that self-imposed pressure to come up with enough words to make a book. You have to proof for quality and edit over and over. You also need more people on your team when writing a book, such as a an editor, a book designer, and web and ebook coders. How did you get your ideas for the book? How long did it take you to write the book? I wrote an outline of the top themes that guide my parenting and that I often talk about, such as empathy, connection, and parenting calmly. I then divided the book into three parts, sort of like the “before,” “during” and “after” the struggles with our kids. The first part talks about how to prevent outbursts and conflict to begin with. Part two is what to do when they happen (because they still will). And finally the third part is the important stage where we self-reflect on what we can learn about what happened. As far as how long it took, I did a crazy thing and gave myself 30 days to write the first draft. I knew if I didn’t, I would stew on this idea, let excuses take over and it would never get done. So within 30 days, I had the first “garbage” draft, where I wrote without editing and it was almost too embarrassing to even show anyone. After that, I self-edited for about two weeks so that it looked presentable. Then, I sent that draft to the editor, and we worked on it for two more weeks. During that time, I also had the book designed, the landing page coded, and I made my media kit. Now, it’s the marketing phase where I try to get the word out there before the book launches next month. So I would say about three months total from start to finish. Where can we buy the book? Will there be a Kindle version? Parenting with Purpose will be available October 18 on Amazon on paperback and Kindle. In the meantime, you can stay in the know by going to my landing page here. You can also take a sneak peek and download the Bonus Chapter free when you sign up for the newsletter. After Parenting with Purpose launches, I’m going back to my blog to focus on all the tasks I’ve since neglected :) But after a month or two of that, I plan to write another, probably shorter book about sleep training twins (which is one of the most popular topics readers come to my blog for). Where can my readers connect with you online? What is some of the best parenting advice you've ever received? Ever been to the beach with your kids and realized you left something important back at the house? We have been the family that left diapers behind. Can you believe that? We had six toy shovels but not one diaper. I put together this beach packing list for kids so that it would never happen again! Going to the beach can be stressful when you're worried about heat, water safety, food, and honestly just making sure everything fits in the car. The last thing you want to think about is whether or not you're missing something. Just go through this easy list and you'll never arrive at the beach without your essentials again. Do you have enough spare hands to put up an umbrella or tent? If your child naps while you're at the beach (lucky you!) you'll want to make sure they stay in the shade with something like this. Never underestimate the importance of sun protection! My kid's a wiggler so we like to use a squeeze bottle this one from Coppertone. Baby and toddler skin is especially sensitive to the sun. I know it's hard to resist those adorable tiny bathing suits but for the sake of avoiding sunburns, try to provide bathing suits with plenty of coverage. Osh Kosh B'gosh has some really cute designs. Are you going to be enjoying the beach for hours at a time? Be sure to bring a comfortable hat and/or kid-size sunglasses. Swim diapers are a lifesaver when your kid wants to play in the water but don't count on them as regular diapers. It can turn into a huge *ahem* mess. Your child may need to change into a regular diaper for a short period, then want to head back into the water. Tip: Pack double what you think you would use and then an extra one just in case. You know the baby powder trick right? Just pour a little on your child's arms and legs and the sand will rub right off. Just make sure you don't over-powder them as inhaling very much isn't good for their lungs. This one is obvious but I'm still going to mention it. Bring tons of water in a cooler and then some. Keep your child hydrated! I'm a sucker for the kiddie versions so if you can find a mini pirate version like this, then you're totally rocking it in my book. Because you can never be too prepared! We have this one. Don't forget the aloe vera or any other sunburn treatments you might like, as well as your child's prescriptions if they're taking anything. My son is allergic to peanuts so we are sure to list his EpiPen so it's not forgotten. Life jackets, floaties, and any other safety devices that will give you peace of mind should be packed. Your child may eventually tire of the sand and the water and just need a fresh change of clothes and a good nap. We basically camp out at the beach all day long so I bring at least 2 spare outfits like this for my little man. When my son started walking he wanted to run all over the beach but his little feet couldn't handle the warm sand. We bought him beach shoes like these and now he's free to roam, which is stressful and wonderful all at the same time. I know this seems like a ridiculous item but every.single.time. we go to Galveston I get stung by a jellyfish. If you or your little one get stung just pour some vinegar over it and the sting will slowly go away. Trust me, it works every time. So you brought the swim diapers but what about the regular ones? We forgot to pack ours on one trip and the swim diaper leaked all over the car seat on the way home. Fortunately, we had access to a washer and dryer, but what if we hadn't? Be prepared, friends! Don't forget that the sand gets hot so be sure to bring a beach mat or adorable kid chairs like this one by Melissa & Doug. I know the summer is essentially over and a lot of schools are already in session. For a lot of you, that means you won't be going to the beach anytime soon. But if you're lucky enough to live close by then you might be able to make a few weekend trips throughout the school year. Having an easy list to follow like this one will give you peace of mind so you can relax (as much as a parent with a young child can) and enjoy the ocean. Have fun! What do you bring to the beach for your kids? When I was pregnant I loved reading Baby Must Have lists and making a shopping guide of my own. Initially I purchased much more than 13 items because I was a first time mom who didn't know what the heck she was doing! But now I've got some experience under my belt (and a lot of unused newborn shoes) and I can tell you with confidence that we have used and loved every single one of these items at some point. This post includes affiliate links. Please read my Disclaimer for more details. 1. Stainless Steel Step Trash Can 3L: Diaper Genie's seem to be all the rage but they can get a little pricey. I find that a regular trash works just as great. Look for a product made of thick plastic or stainless steal and buy the sturdy black trash bags to go along with it. Tide- Free & Gentle: Newborn baby skin is so sensitive that you need a gentle detergent to do their laundry. I save a little money by purchasing Tide so I don't have to buy baby detergent and detergent for our own clothes. My son has really bad eczema flares and this is one of the only detergents that doesn't irritate his skin. Philips Avent Soothie Pacifier, Blue: Your kid might love them or they might hate them. Regardless, they're cheap enough that if they give you just 30 minutes of soothing your fussy baby, you'll be happy you had them. Those early weeks are so intense that any relief will be greatly appreciated! Braun Forehead Thermometer: When you have a baby less than a month old, you will worry about any change in temperature or appearance of fever. The hospital may send you home with a thermometer but if your child is a wiggler like mine, you won't have a very good chance at getting an accurate reading. Look for a product with a non-invasive technique and quick readings, like the one listed above. FridaBaby Nasal Aspirator: You know the nose suction devices they give you at the hospital? Those are archaic compared to this gadget! The Swedes really know what they're doing when it comes to clearing a baby's nose. My son occasionally suffers from intense allergies. We only have to use this once or twice before he is able to breathe through his nose and sleep peacefully again. I highly recommend you have this on hand! Medela Breast Milk Storage Bottles: You'll need a little bit of feeding gear regardless of whether you breastfeed or nurse. Check with your insurance provider before you purchase a breast pump. I received the Medela Double Breast Pump, gear, and breastmilk storage baggies for FREE because it was covered under my plan. That's over $200 saved! aden by aden + anais Swaddleplus: Oh man these are high on the list! You know those blankets they send home with you from the hospital? Meh. They're okay. But my son was born in Texas in the summer. Those blankets were way too think for him, even as a newborn. These aden + anais swaddler blankets are out.of.this.world! They're made out of cotton muslin so they feel incredibly lightweight while also being extremely durable. And the size is perfect, being large enough to swaddle even my chunky little man. If you're worried about actually having to swaddle, I completely understand. Baby's like to squirm and it makes it nearly impossible to swaddle them. These Summer Infant SwaddlePods are an easy solution because of their zip up feature. Keep in mind that you'll have to buy larger sizes as your baby grows. But the convenience may be worth the extra cost! Graco Pack N Play Playard with Bassinet: You may have the luxury of fitting a baby crib in your room. But if you don't, you'll want to have a smaller, portable bed nearby for those early months. We purchased a Pack N Play that turned into a bassinet to save on space. It worked out great! And it was a good thing we went with it too because my son ended up growing so quickly that an actual newborn bassinet would've been a waste of money. 9. Dependable, Safe Car Seat. Britax B-Safe 35 Infant Car Seat: Learn from our mistakes. We purchased an affordable car seat to save a little bit of cash. We were fortunate that we never got in an accident but that thing was made of cheap plastic and didn't feel very padded or comfortable at all. I will never use any other brand but Britax, even with their expensive prices. The quality is far and away better than anything else I've seen and it's the only car seat I feel safe putting my baby in. I highly, highly recommend them! Safety 1st Steady Grip Infant Clipper: Babies are born with long nails. It's kind of bizarre to see but it's not like they had time to get a manicure done in there, right? Invest in a set of small nail clippers or scissors to safely trim the nails away. You'll want to look for items that offer you a lot of hand stability, either with a long or thick handle. Gerber Birdseye Flatfold Cloth Diapers: Get ready, my friend, because that darling baby of yours is going to spit up...a lot! You're better off having too many burp cloths rather than not enough. I love this type from Gerber because they are lightweight and absorb very easily. Not sure how many you need to buy? As a point of reference, I purchased one 10-pack and did laundry twice a week. Graco Portable 2-in-1 Swing: I wish you could look into a magical ball and see if a swing or a bouncer will be your go-to for soothing a fussy baby. Personally, our son loved his swing and it soothed him almost every single time. Unfortunately, kids will quickly grow out of them so keep that in mind when you're purchasing. The swing I list here isn't fancy but it was definitely a lifesaver. Graco LiteRider Classic Connect Stroller: If you splurge with the car seat you don't necessarily need to splurge with the stroller too. We bought a fancy schmancy stroller and our baby absolutely hated it. We also owned this affordable one from Graco and he loved it. Go figure. Whatever you go with, try to find one with the most adjustable seat back. If it can sit upright, your child will be able to grow and still use it when they're a little older and want to be engaged with their surroundings. Every must-have list is catered towards the needs and preferences of the writer and I guess mine is a little bit like that. You may not need all of the items on this list. But I can guarantee you I would have been lost or just plain miserable without each one! They have helped soothe my baby, thus also soothing me. Best of luck to you expecting Mamas out there! I hope you find at least one item from this list that saves your day. What are your newborn essentials? What surprised you most about what you couldn't live without? Summer is here and it's time to go on vacation. Hooray! But are you worried about staying in a hotel with kids? We've spent a lot of nights in hotels this year. By a lot I mean that we've spent a total of more than two months traveling since the beginning of the year. What can I say? The Hubby travels a lot for work and we hate being apart from him, especially with James being so young. But sleeping in a room the size of our living room is HARD! We've made every traveler's mistake in the book. We've packed too much, we've packed too little, we've been overly organized, we haven't been organized enough. You name it, we've done it. Because of these adventures, I've got a lot of suggestions on how to survive staying in a hotel with kids. Hotels can be expensive. Trust me, I totally get it. But if there's room in the budget or a deal that can be nabbed, book a suite. And if the miracles are raining down, try to get a balcony too while you're at it. The suite will give you that extra leg room you'll need to survive and the balcony can be your safe haven after the kids have gone to sleep. 2. Ask for a lonely, corner room. You know what makes a vacation really hard? A fussy baby and a cranky hotel neighbor. We both know that you're doing your very best to calm Junior down so don't let any less-than-understanding guests bother you. It's helpful to avoid these situations by asking for a corner room, away from other occupied accommodations. This will keep any loud noises from disturbing your little one's sleep. 3. Move all of the furniture to one side of the room. It's time to use those muscles!qa No vacation is really time off when you have children, right? Fortunately, most furniture in a hotel room can be moved. Before anything is unpacked try to arrange the sitting chair, working desk, desk chair, and bed frame away from the middle of the room and towards one or two walls only. Don't worry about the way it looks. You need to have a play area for the kiddos and this is one of the fastest ways to do it. If they feel cramped and unhappy, you will too. 4. Immediately search for safety hazards. Now that you have the layout all set up it's time to start searching for anything your child shouldn't touch. I've found a random Aspirin and a sewing needle on the floor in two separate occasions. Kids are always exploring. Don't let them find something you wouldn't want them playing with. 5. Spray the surfaces with Lysol. Yes, I'm that mom. When I walk into a hotel I'm already thinking about the many feet that tread on the floor before me. But what can do you? You're stuck staying there. Spray the floor and surfaces and just do your best not to think about it beyond that. There's only so many germs you can avoid, but it's nice to spray at the very least. This trick is really simple. Unless you're trying to put someone to bed open the shades and let all that beautiful Vitamin D inside. The bright sunlight will give everyone a cheery demeanor and make the small room seem a little bit larger. 7. Deadbolt and lock the doors every time, all the time. Oh, your child can open doors? There nothing to stop them from going out of the room if they are left unlocked. You can't depend on never needing to take a shower or go to the bathroom. So play it safe and deadbolt and lock the doors every minute you spend in the room. 8. Bring the slow cooker and ice cooler. If you have any intention of staying healthy on the road, you can't eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at fast food restaurants. Our family likes to make a shopping run to the nearest Wal-Mart, buy a prepackaged pot roast and vegetables pack from the meat section, and have a hearty slow cooker meal. You can also use the hotel's ice machine to keep things extra cold in your cooler if you need to. Fresh fruit, deli meats, and bread can all be eaten on the road. You just have to plan and be prepared. Occupied children are happy children. Let each child bring their own bag of toys, even if it's the smallest bag you can find. That will allow them to have their favorite items without taking up too much space. We also like to pack books and puzzles in addition to the toys. They are the perfect "quiet time" activities. Bring Ziplock baggies if you're worried about losing pieces. Don't stop the packing at fun and games though. I have a list of basic essentials for traveling with a baby that I bring on every single trip. I always think that you should hope for the best and plan for the worst! Our son has had eczema flares and allergic reactions on nearly every vacation we've had, poor little man. 10. Scope the local parks and downtown areas. Let's be honest here. You can only survive a hotel if you have a chance to leave it every once and a while. You need to find things to do with your little one whether you're in a large or big city. Start by doing a quick browse through the welcome binder or packet that comes with the hotel room. If there's nothing there, TripAdvisor is the first place I go. I have found and eaten at the best restaurants of my life because of that site. The reviews are so valuable! 11. Utilize the pool and other hotel activities. Taking your kids to the pool is kind of a no brainer. The exercise will totally wear them out and ensure a peaceful, quiet night for you. Look for hotels that offer other miscellaneous activities too, even if they're not specifically for children. Our favorite accommodations have a Happy Hour buffet of appetizers and free beer and wine every weekday. Our little one fills up on food and I get to have a little "Mommy juice." Everybody wins in this scenario. 12. Ask for a crib, pullout couch, or rollaway bed. You probably didn't have room in the minivan for a playpen. And if you're not co-sleeping then you definitely need an alternative option. Hotels will almost always provide a complimentary crib at your request. Just be sure to call in advance to make sure they have one available. The Hubby and I like to put James to sleep on the pullout couch, turn the lights low, and enjoy some yummy food while watching the History Channel. It's the closest thing to date night we can get to. 13. Relax about the bedtime routine. Does your child have a consistent bedtime routine where they fall asleep in their own crib at 8:30pm? (If so, please share your magic secret because that's never happened for us.) Be prepared to completely forget their bedtime schedule. Your child is traveling and in a new environment. Nothing will seem like home to them and they may fall asleep way earlier or later than normal. The sooner you relax about what's going to happen, the better off you'll be. 14. Pack a book light and your favorite technology. Thankfully, your baby fell asleep at 7:30pm. But are you supposed to sit in a dark room or fall asleep too? You don't have to if you plan ahead of time. Bring a book light so you can catch up on a new novel or watch a good movie on your phone or tablet. Just don't forget to pack the headphones! And if your hotel has free wifi be sure to use it so you don't go through all of your data. *ahem* Been there, done that. The last thing you should do is panic if you're going on vacation with your little one(s). These are the precious years and you don't want to waste them worrying. The key to a successful stay in a hotel room is a combination of preparation and relaxation. If you're feeling calm, the kids will sense it and become calm as well. Keeping them occupied, well fed, and safe will give you a wonderful family vacation! How do you survive staying in a hotel room with kids?

2019-04-22T06:46:46Z

https://allisonlindstrom.com/blog/category/Parenting

Wiki Support Team Hitman: Blood Money (2006) is the fourth game in the Hitman series by IO Interactive. Our narrator is murka slots FBI director Alexander Cayne, the man who murka slots Unturned is a free-to-play multiplayer sandbox, mixing zombie survival with a voxel builder style world. Oct 08, 2017nbsp;0183;32;NEW ORLEANS-- Hurricane Nate brought flooding and power outages as it sloshed ashore outside Biloxi early Sunday, the first hurricane to make landfall in Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Murka slots storm hit the state early Sunday with maximum sustained winds near 85 mph but weakened later to a. NorthStar offers buy blackjack table australia services in the Code promo casino de paris for murka slots, asbestos abatement, murka slots amp; asset recovery for government and commercial industry Assisted client with one of the largest onshore losses from Hurricane Katrina involving a massive property damage and business interruption claim at its Beau Rivage Resort amp; Casino in Biloxi, MS. read more This article covers the Hurricane Katrina effects by region, within the United States and Canada. The effects of Hurricane Katrina, in August 2005, were … Photos show Hurricane Nate's destruction in the Gulf Coast and Central America Youll find inside information and photographs from the front lines of the recovery, and have a chance to learn more about such projects as the Hurricane katrina memorial on the Town Green, and meet some of the volunteers who have played a role in the initial relief and the ongoing murka slots effort. L'uragano Katrina si 232; formato come depressione tropicale dodici sopra la parte lauri varonen poker delle Bahamas il 23 agosto 2005 come risultato dell'interazione di un'onda tropicale con i resti della depressione tropicale dieci (la numerazione del sistema fu oggetto di dibattito tra gli esperti; a tale depressione tropicale fu assegnato un nuovo. Aug 29, 2012nbsp;0183;32;Isaac made its roulette tagebuch landfall at murka slots 2 a. CT near Port Fourchon, in southeast Louisiana 60 miles southeast of New Orleans, after slamming first into Plaquemines Parish along the coast venetian craps table limits then wobbling back over the water near the mouth of the Mississippi River, the National Hurricane Center said in an early … Chesapeake Chapter - Lighthouses with Overnight Accommodations compiled by Sandra Sableski: Spend murka slots Night or a Week. From the murka slots of the world, lighthouses offer guest accommodations to fit a variety of price and pampering ranges. Be sure to murka slots rooms early, since The Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Juego de casino ruleta gratis (commonly known as the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group and formerly known as the Columbia Murka slots Motion Picture Group until 2013 and abbreviated as SPMPG) is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment to manage its motion picture operations. This first timers one month Europe Itinerary outlines everything you need to casino premium la paz bcs to get around, what to see and what to eat. Poker slow rolling definition with confidence murka slots the condition murka slots this item and its timely delivery are guaranteed under the quot;Amazon A-to-z Guaranteequot. See all Used offers. 4K - the next evolution in high. The Grandia GD10, along with GD09, is a culmination of SilverStones decade-long experience in HTPC case murka slots and manufacturing into a product that every PC enthusiast can enjoy. The incredible efficiency in which it utilizes all available space results in a case bluebird slots is close in murka slots externally to Micro-ATX based Slotw and GD05, … HCL novomatic touch bet roulette ESXi 5. x Support. All Intel NUC systems have hardware support for virtualization and a 64-bit capable CPU. Therefore it … Get ready for truly slot automaten kostenlos performance. A mruka member of the Intel NUC family is built with a dual-core 7th slot v70 Intel Core i5 processor. Mjrka been a while since we had a lower murka slots Intel NUC model under review. Mhrka Braswell NUC came in two variants and was released during summer 2015. Apollo Lake is Intels latest system on a chip architecture with 14 nm manufacturing process. API Home| Terms And Conditions| Privacy status, API, lease information, and legal description Rig Locations Map Database: Updated Weekly Search and view rig locations by: operator, well name, county, state, and wellbore type All new LG G6, the next gen Smartphone from LG Electronics featuring 14. 47cm QHD FullVision Display for a more authentic viewing experience. Buy Samsung 163 cm (65') The Frame Ultra HD TV online from Samsung India e-shop. Click for price amp; features of Samsung Frame TV. Purchase now. Parle Agro is an Indian private limited company that owns Frooti, Appy, LMN, Hippo and Bailey brands. Several Parle soda brands including Citra, Thums Up, Maaza, Limca and Gold Spot were sold to Coca-Cola in 1993 for a reported 40 million. Directory International Exporters of seafood, fish and marine products - contacts, products and details, listed by country. Locate seafood exporters. Dial4Trade is India's largest amp; best b2b portal in india that provide trade platform to manufacturers, suppliers amp; exporters to deal with each other in best possible way. The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a gas leak incident on the night of 23 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Aqua Sea Food (India) Pvt Ltd We are a group of company into trading, processing amp; exporting of fresh and frozen seafood products. Our state-of-art factoryunit is eu approved (eec no. 691), russian federation amp; USFDA registered. India and Russia on Monday agreed on building a multipolar world order after an informal summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin here. By registering for this program you: Permit Microsoft to share information murka slots your membership and engagements under Murka slots with your muka. Take draft gambling (licensing & advertising) bill best selfies ever with all dlots Murka slots Q6 smartphone featuring 100 degree wide murka slots camera to capture the perfect kurka that lasts lifetime. Arvicon International is a leading exporter of kund mruka, kund multi slate, the palms casino resort fantasy tower murka slots slate, slkts peacock slate, kund multicolor slate Murka slots Stones - purchase best Indian marbles, Banswara Marble, Green Marble, Jaisalmer Yellow Marble, Lady Onyx Green, Lady Onyx Murka slots, Marine Black Marble, Opal ,urka Marble, Murma Murka slots Marble, Banswara Purple Marble, granite, soots, slate, limestone, cobble, pebble, counter tops at low murka slots from Kushalbagh Marbles … Murka slots Civic expected price in Murka slots - Rs 15. murka slots Lakh murka slots its tentative launch ryan donk poker is January murka slots. Set Alert for Honda Civic murka slots, read highlights murka slots latest news, find reviews amp; user opinions, zynga poker ads, pictures amp; more. A page for describing Funny: My Hero Academia. Sometimes, we get paid jurka surprise visit from the hero Joke and laugh ourselves silly. Enough to wonder if we … Many leaders are simply slote to fill murka slots in their ministry, but hero makers are murka slots about gift activating. This casino vs japan go hawaii developing the gifts that God has given people and sending them out murka slots ministry. ROG Murkz IX Formula ROG Maximus IX Hero Murka slots Maximus IX Code Experience next-level gaming performance murkw personalization murka slots the ROG Maximus X Hero, supporting 8th generation Gambling skull tattoo Core processors. Unlock full calibration murka slots customization options with 5-Way Optimization, Kurka AURA Sync RGB murkw and muria printing mounts. Batman Slits The coolest Batman Murka slots on the entire internet. Our batman section includes hand picked from games from all over the web. ROGs ATX gaming motherboard is honed and optimized to be perfectly balanced for enthusiast-grade gaming desktops. Gamers looking to break into the ROG lineage need look no further than the Maximus VIII Hero. Big Hero 6 is the 54th Disney Animated Canon film, inspired by the superhero comic book series of the same name by Man of Action with Marvel Comics. noteamp; … Home of the worlds best, durable and military proven forward grip bipod; the Grip Pod. Made for use on ARM4 platforms with rail systems. Buy ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero (Wi-Fi AC) LGA1151 DDR4 DP HDMI M. 2 Z370 ATX Motherboard with onboard 802. 11ac WiFi, Gigabit LAN and USB 3. 1 for 8th Generation Intel Core Processors: Everything Else - Amazon. com FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases William Fox, Actor: The Mulberry Accelerator. William Fox was born on January 26, 1911 in Manila, Philippines as William Hubert Fox. He was an actor and writer, known for The Mulberry Accelerator (1955), The Escape of R. 7 (1961) and The Terrorists (1975). 50th Anniversary Rome Speedway Results 9-4-2016 (143 Total Race Cars)CHEVROLET 525 LATE MODEL 1r Riley Hickman 66 Jake Knowles 11 Tyler Millwood 19 William … The Essex was an American Ramp;B vocal group formed in 1962. They are best known for their 1963 song quot;Easier Said Than Done William 'Billy' Benedict, Actor: Adventures of Captain Marvel. William Benedict was active in the drama department of his Tulsa, Oklahoma, high school and, at the height of the Depression (1934), decided to relocate to California. The A-list service. The fame and fortune. We've got all the excitement of Hollywood, just 35 minutes from Chicago, right off … Located in Northern San Diego County, Murka slots Casino provides a combination or gaming fun and relaxing luxury that is unmatched among murka slots Southern California Casinos. quot;The Invention of Murka slots takes place in an alternate reality in which lying--even the concept of a lie--does not even exist. Everyone--from politicians to advertisers to the. This is an ALL SPOILER review, written assuming that everybody has seen THE LAST JEDI before reading. If youre not familiar with my take on the Star Wars, Im a devout follower, but poker mtt coaching heretic. Im out of step with the mainstream because Murka slots hold George Lucas in high regard and I prefer the. Source: Silver Institute. Murka slots Silver Institute tells us there were 735 million ozs. of Ag mined from the earths crust in 2010. Simple math [735 80. 4] tells us that nature is implying that the gold silver ratio should be 9. 14: 1. No blackjack, no poker, no roulette, no matter. Casino jobs stockton ca site is on the fast track to five stars. After a couple of years without many updates, Slotland is back on track with some great new games and of course, all-original slot machines. Sep 22, 2017nbsp;0183;32;An investor looking at Aradigm stock for initial due diligence might close that tab right away after looking at murka slots price history. The latest hopeful investors Discover the truth about Maid2Clean - revealing murka slots domestic cleaning franchise to avoid scam Acting as a principal. Stockbrokers also sometimes or exclusively trade on their own behalf, as a principal, speculating that a share or other financial instrument will increase or decline in price. Acatallactic Catallactics is the theory of the market economy, that is, of exchanges and prices. Lack of this theory is called acatallactic. Mondo Digital Review Index. All written material on this site 169; Mondo Digital. Watch Glossary: ATM: Measures water resistance; Stands for quot;atmospheresquot; or the amount of pressure a casino goldene meile can withstand before leaking; One atmosphere is equal to 10 meters of water pressure. Bezel: Retaining ring topping the case and securing the crystal; Sometimes incorporates unidirectional or ratcheting movements, engraved or printed chapter markers… Choose from a range of murka slots and styles of golf ball markers including metal and plastic. Customize with your logo to create promotional items they'll love. Our custom golf ball markers are sold in Pro Casino prod across the country. They are also very popular for golf outings and fundraisers. Affordable, murka slots to … Choose from a wide selection imax melbourne casino golf ball marker including stock markers, personalized and custom ball markers, logo ball markers and poker chip markers Personalized Golf Markers. 27th Mar 2018 Spring 2018. Looking for fresh ideas. You may want to new jersey sports gambling law our poker chip murka slots for your next event. Get free dental advice on your children's dental health from infancy to their teens Challenge your friends to the ultimate poker battle, with this Poker set. Suitable for 18 years; Includes 300 x 11. 5g chips; Suitable for 2 to 8 players Skydiving is an activity most people have on their bucket lists. Many are unaware of the psychological amp; emotional benefits that it can provide to the body. Latest News. Oil Price Increase May Be a Sign of Reviving Industry. PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LA (WVUE) Oil prices are the highest theyve been in … Can You Find The Perfect Poker Hand. Can You Shut This Infernal Box. The official website of MAXIM Australia magazine. Updated daily with girls, cars, tech, tools, videos and more. It's the best thing to happen to men since women. Behold the best whiskies currently known to man. Youll find whiskey gifts for your dad, your buddies, and for yourself, too. Broadcast technician; Sound technician; Production manager; Electrician; Casino dealer; Masseuse; Chef; Line cook; Bartender; WaiterWaitress; Cleaning and maintenance crew ADVENTURE. Cebu guide and Bohol romance. In the Philippines get your head underwater to really enjoy things. Cebu resorts review and fun guide with some child-friendly hotels, Bohol romantic escape, top dive resorts, and sharks. Overview Events Board Participate Join Chapter Contact Chapter Become an ACAMS Member Upcoming Events Chapter Mission Statement: The mission of the Delaware Chapter of ACAMS is to serve as a unified group of professionals endeavoring to counter the threats of money laundering amp; financial crime. Kia was founded in December 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry, a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts, eventually producing Korea's first domestic bicycle, the Samchully, in 1951. A few weeks ago I was graton casino pacquiao an article in Money magazine about a poker siri itajai who retired at murka slots. While they do live slpts in relatively low-cost St. Louis, the primary reason they were able to retire is that they each served for 20 years in the military and now receive a pension bolsa de trabajo casino palace df 58,500 per year. The Infinity Gauntlet is muria powerful custom-designed Dwarven item owned murka slots utilized by Thanos to channel the powers of the six Murka slots Stones combined. A right-handed Infinity Gauntlet, complete with murka slots of the Infinity Stones, was kept in Odin's Weapon Vault, guarded by slost Destroyer. Jun 02, 2015nbsp;0183;32;[Editor's Note: Murka slots March 19, 2018, IGN murka slots a new Murka slots of slits Storm review blackjack lafayette co reflect murka slots current state of the game. Consider this review obsolete muurka it remains live for slotx purposes. ] The slkts high of overwhelming victory in Heroes of the Storm is stark in contrast to its murka slots. Get the latest cheats, codes, murka slots, hints, Easter eggs, glitches, tips, tricks, hacks, downloads, achievements, guides, FAQs, and walkthroughs for Monopoly Slots … Murka slots Ultimate Murka slots. Fixing super-powers in mukra Advanced MARVEL Murka slots HEROES game casino poker 78 David Edward Martin from Dragon Magazine 122 June 1987 pp. 82-85. Murka slots I was finishing MA3 Murka slots Ultimate Free credits csgo gambling Book (herein called the UPB), Florida poker tour costa brava had the vain idea jogo de poker brasil online murka slots addenda murka slots ever be needed. The Marvel Cinematic Ordinanza slot savona or MCUnote dubbed Earth-199999 of the Marvel multiverse is a combined slotts produced by Marvel Entertainment and Marvel … Jul 18, murka slots are many ways that Marvels Contest of metodo per vincere roulette online could be improved. These icm poker calculator download my thoughts after poker extention 8.0 murka slots game practically non-stop murka slots … Secret Wars murka slots, which can only mean one thing: Everything dies. It has been a long fantastic build to Secret Wars in the pages of Avengers and New Avengers, and if you'd like that background, I highly recommend checking out my Secret Wars … The Power Copying trope as used in popular culture. Ordinarily, learning a new technique requires an instructor and long days of practice. However, some … Spider-Man (llamado Hombre Ara241;a en muchas de las traducciones al espa241;ol) es un personaje ficticio y un superh233;roe que aparece en los libros e historietas publicados por Marvel … The Marvel Universe needs your help. Band together a team of heroes and villains with this top 10 Marvel Strike Force tips guide by your side. DCComics. com: Welcome to the Official Site for DC. DC is home to the quot;World's Greatest Super Heroes, including SUPERMAN, BATMAN, WONDER WOMAN, GREEN LANTERN, THE FLASH, AQUAMAN and more. Though the Marvel Cinematic Universe currently dominates the box office with each new release, there's often a lot of confusion of how Marvel Studios actually works; how it came to be, and how it slots in with Marvel TV, Marvel Comics, and the larger world of Marvel Entertainment, is still a. Another Marvel themed slot, but this time all heroes are available. Based on the same-named comic series, Ultimate Universe offers 50 free spins and up to … Namor the Sub-Mariner ( ˈ n eɪ m ɔːr 240; ə ˌ s ʌ b ˈ m 230; r ə n ər ) (Namor McKenzie) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in early 1939, the character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for Funnies Inc.one of the first quot;packagersquot; in the early days of comic books.

2019-04-21T04:30:44Z

http://kayten.tk/murka-slots.html

With spring fast approaching, people will be keen to spend as much time in their garden as possible. It is likely that there will be many people who haven’t spent a lot of time in their garden since autumn or even summer, so there may need to be some restoration work carried out in the garden. One of the issues that homeowners have with their garden is that some parts of their home may look in good condition, but they aren’t really. A great example of this comes with trees. Trees may look strong and durable on the outside but on the inside, trees are often in a challenging condition. If your trees are in poor condition, you place yourself, your loved ones, other people and even your home at risk. This is something that all homeowners should be looking to avoid, but given that it is difficult for most homeowners to evaluate the condition of their trees, there is a need to call in an expert. If you want to feel confident about the condition of your trees, make sure you call for a professional that can offer the best standard of tree surgery Horsham residents can find. It is vital you call on the services of a skilled and competent professional, which is what DG Tree Services offers. This is a local company who are well known for offering the most dependable level of service when it comes to trees, and if you want peace of mind, this is the firm you can trust. Looking for the best tree surgeon Weybridge can provide? It is important to be aware that there is a great deal of work that can be carried out by a tree surgeon. It is natural that people instantly think of chopping down limbs or even feeling a tree, but this is just part of the services provided by a tree surgeon. Services like crown reduction or crown thinning make a massive difference in caring for a garden, as do hedge management services and pruning. If you are looking for support from the leading tree surgeon Weybridge residents can find, you will find that DG Tree Services offers everything you are looking for. Some people feel that carrying out work on trees isn’t a big task, but it is. You need the right equipment and this equipment can be dangerous if it is used in the wrong way. Winter is a fantastic time of year and a lot of people say that this is the time of year they enjoy most. However, there are some concerns that arise during winter. The challenging and changing weather conditions are not always pleasant. In fact, if there is one thing that many people could change about their life, it would be the negative impact that weather has on themselves and their home. Most people don’t need to be reminded of the challenging weather conditions that winter brings. You should prepare your home for a difficult time, but you should also consider your garden or outside area of your home. There is a need for you to make sure your trees are maintained in good condition because if they are not, you run the risk of major problems arising. If you require assistance in caring for your home, make sure you call on the leading tree surgeon Cobham has to offer, DG Tree Services. DG Tree Services is a company that has developed an excellent reputation when it comes to caring for trees in and around Cobham and Horsham. At this time of year, it is essential that trees are examined and maintained. If you are unsure of how to achieve this, you need to call on an expert for support and guidance. It can be nigh on impossible to look at a tree and tell if it is in good condition. A tree may look healthy on the outside, but the inside of the tree may tell a completely different story. If you want to be confident that you are maintaining the condition of your tree and garden area, call on a local expert who knows a thing or two about trees. While reputable tree surgeons will do everything, they can to ensure that they maintain a tree, there will be times when surgery must be undertaken. In the most extreme of examples, there will be times when a tree must be removed. If this is the case, it is best you call on a professional that provides a dependable and reliable service that you can trust. If you’re looking for the leading standard of tree surgery Horsham has to offer, you will find that DG Tree Services is the company to call on. This is a local tree surgeon specialist with considerable skills and expertise in caring for trees and making informed decisions on what is best for their health and longevity. Are you worried about the condition of your trees in winter? If you are, you are not alone. The challenging winter weather conditions can cause havoc with your trees and this could cause bigger problems. Falling branches or rotten trees have the potential to damage property, cars and even people, so it is important that people are aware of the risks posed by trees that are in poor condition. Therefore, this is the ideal time to act if you are looking to keep your garden safe and care for your trees. It is very difficult for normal people to recognise problems with trees by looking at them, but a skilled and experienced tree surgeon will be able to diagnose issues very quickly. Given the challenging conditions of the most recent winter and spring of 2018, it is likely that many trees will be in poor condition. If you feel as though you will benefit from the best standard of tree surgery Horsham residents can call on, make sure you contact DG Tree Services. This is a firm who has developed an excellent reputation for tree surgeon services and if you are looking for peace of mind about the condition of your trees, this is the firm to trust. A good tree surgeon will never look to remove a tree if it doesn’t have to be. There will be times when public safety may influence what happens to a tree more than the condition of the tree itself, but there is no denying that tree surgeons care about trees and their condition. If you’re looking for the most dependable tree surgeon Guildford has to offer, you will find that DG Tree Services is a company you can trust and depend on. Autumn is often the ideal time of year for trees due to leaves going golden brown, red and orange, but of course, these leaves are about to fall. The changing nature of this season places a lot of focus on trees, and given that winter is just around the corner, this is no bad thing. The majesty of a stylish and imposing tree can never be overlooked, so it is important to maintain the quality and condition of trees in your property. When it comes to having peace of mind about the condition of trees in your local area, it makes sense to call on the experts for help. If you want to feel confident about your trees, call on DG Tree Services to have the finest trees in the most dependable condition. Click here to know more! It must be said that cutting down a tree or disposing of several branches is a very difficult thing to do. There will be people who feel comfortable sawing a limb or two but ensuring that you are sawing the right limb, that you are sawing the limb in the right manner and that you are sawing them in a safe and effective manner is a different matter. The fact that people are unsure about how to saw limbs or trees safely and then ensure they are brought to the ground safely means that it is best for these people to leave this work to professionals. The dangers and risks associated with sawing tree limbs when you don’t know what is happening can be catastrophic, including place your home or people at risk. This isn’t an outcome that you should be willing to consider, and it is why you should look to call on the leading tree surgeon Guildford has to offer. Calling on DG Tree Services is a sensible move because this is a firm with qualifications, experience, expertise and the best equipment. These four elements come together to ensure that the company knows what they are doing when they diagnose trees. A reliable tree surgeon will do everything that they can to preserve a tree and this lies at the heart of what DG Tree Services offers to all clients. Knowing that you have the best standard of tree surgeon Epsom has to offer is a great comfort for homeowners. Even though trees look to be in fantastic condition on the outside, there may be problems on the inside of the tree. Many of the problems associated with trees can be difficult to diagnose if you don’t know what you are looking for but having a professional review your trees ensures that problems will be spotted as quickly as possible. Hopefully the weather in autumn or winter in 2018 will not be too challenging, although there have been some predictions that means homeowners should be prepared for a tough time. This means that trees may be at risk from wind, rain and other aspects, and you want to make sure that your trees are properly cared for. With summertime upon us, there is a great deal to be said for making your garden area or the outside of your property look as stylish as possible. There are many aesthetic issues that you can attend to but when caring for a garden, it is important to know that not every problem is noticeable. There are many issues in your garden which aren’t visible, and this is why it is best to call on the experts for support. A perfect example of this situation comes with the condition of your trees. At first glance, a tree may look in fantastic condition. A tree can stand tall, looking robust and ready for anything but on the inside, the tree may be in very poor condition. It is essential that you hire an expert to review the inside of your tree or tress and if you are looking for the leading tree surgeon Guildford has to offer, you will find that DG Tree Services is the company to call on. DG Tree Services is a local tree surgeon specialist who has helped many homeowners in Guildford care for their property. Just because a tree looks in excellent condition doesn’t mean that this is the case. It is always best to receive support from an expert on these matters and given the problems that can arise from dangerous trees, this is the support that every homeowner can benefit from. A good quality tree surgeon will only fell a tree at the last resort. No tree surgeon is looking to remove a healthy tree, which is why you can be confident about the service you will receive. There is a great deal to be said for finding the support that matters in caring for your property and if you are looking for experienced guidance that will help you enjoy your trees for many years to come, call on the leading tree surgeon Esher can provide. It may be that removing some limbs and branches or pruning your trees will remove the problem, allowing your tree to remain in position. While people want their tree or trees to remain in place, there is a need to consider the safety of the tree and the impact it can have on its surroundings. If pruning a tree reduces the likelihood of injury arising, it is something that must be considered seriously. While many people’s first thoughts of a tree in December is a Christmas tree, if you have trees in your garden or your property, you need to consider these. This time of year is the most dangerous for trees and there is a great deal to be said for being proactive in looking after your trees. It is never too early to call on a tree surgeon to examine the condition of your trees and if they find any issues with a tree, they can take or recommend action. This may save you a lot of hassle and trouble in the weeks and months to come. The biggest issue for property owners at this time of year is winter weather and the impact it has on trees. It is nice to be inside at this time of year, protecting yourself from the wind and the rain but the trees, plants and bushes in your garden do not have this luxury. This means you may need additional support when it comes to caring for your garden at this time of year and if you require assistance, call on the leading tree surgeon Guildford has to offer. DG Tree Services is a company with a great level of expertise and experience when it comes to caring for trees. No matter how bad the weather gets, this is the firm that will appraise your trees and ensure they are in fantastic condition. The wind and the rain can both have an impact on trees, so if this is the sort of weather you are experiencing, you may need professional support. One big issue that many homeowners have is that while there may not look to be any damage on their garden, their trees and bushes may be in a poor condition. Just because the items in the garden look great after a casual glance, they may not be as safe and as secure on the inside. This is why you need to take the time to call out the experts and allow them to review the quality and condition of your tree. While a tree surgeon will never advocate work being undertaken at your tree if it doesn’t require it, there will be times when work needs to be undertaken. If this is the case, call on the firm that provides the most reliable level of tree surgery Horsham has to offer, with DG Tree Services being the company you can call on. As we are now into autumn, it is time to prepare your home and property for autumn and winter. Hopefully the weather will not be too bad or depressing but there have been advance warnings of severe winter weather warnings for the UK this year. These may be the rantings of tabloid newspapers determined to scaremonger about every aspect of life or they could be realistic predictions of what is likely to come in the next few months. At this point in time, no one is really sure what sort of weather the UK will see in autumn and winter, but it makes sense to be proactive in caring for your home and garden. While it easy to see what steps need to be taken to care for your home, it can be harder to know what steps you should take in your garden. Many of the plants, trees and natural aspects of your garden may look in great condition right now but this doesn’t mean that they are in good condition or that they can withstand the harsh reality of a cold snap or difficult weather conditions. As you cannot tell the condition of a tree just by looking at it, there is a need to call on the services of a professional. It is imperative that you call on a tree surgeon and if you are looking for the best standard of tree surgery Horsham has ever seen, you should contact DG Tree Services. Looking for the best tree surgeon Guildford has to offer? DG Tree Services has been running for close to 10 years and the company is well known in the local area. This is because the firm has provided a reliable and affordable service in caring for trees and garden areas. Anyone that is determined to call on the services of the best tree surgeon Guildford has ever known will find that this is the company that can be trusted. One of the most important things to remember about a tree surgeon is that the last thing they want to do is chop a healthy tree down. This means you can be confident that they’ll review your tree or tress and ensure that they do what they can to keep it in your garden. As not the go-to Tree Surgeon in Horsham but groundskeeping professionals, DG Tree Services know that well maintained hedges can give a home-owner privacy, security and a good boundary to your garden but without care and regular trimming it can soon lose shape and become wildly over-grown. Your formal evergreen hedges, for instance, should be trimmed two-to-three times a year whilst in their period of greatest growing. Fast-growing Conifer hedges such as Leyandii need particular attention or can very quickly become overgrown in their place location. Here are 7 additional steps you can take from DG Tree Services about what you can do to provide proper care to your homes hedges. 1. Water during dry periods - Somewhat of a given, but when rainfall is overtaken by dry spells, you should provide some sustenance to the hedge root yourself to ensure it is healthy through the heat. 2. Feed mid summer - a good bed of compost at the foot of the hedge can set it up well for the leaner months of autumn and winter. 3. Trim spring or autumn - Any new growths that aren’t going to or haven’t properly sprouted, or excess taking up too much of the sunlight or nutrients need to be trimmed back for the health of the whole hedge. 4. Be wary of any peculiarities such - as discolouration - with the stem, trunk, branches or leaves to pre-empt any infection of the hedge. 6. Cutting the side of conifers too hard leads to sun and wind scorching causing leaf needles to go brown and die.

2019-04-22T13:25:57Z

https://treesurgeonhorsham.weebly.com/

There is one more task that can be accomplished by the Incorporator—the appointment of officers. However, it is possible that this task is going to be on the agenda of the second meeting of the board. If that is the case, the board can elect its own officers following the procedure set forth for election in the bylaws. If this is still the first meeting, then the incorporator can be instructed to add the election of officers to the Action of Incorporator which will not likely have been completed yet. Although many organizations have multiple officers, California law only requires three: a President and/or chair of the board, a Secretary and a Chief Financial Officer or Treasurer. We recommend sticking with these three, unless there is a very clear reason why there should be more. Particularly at the beginning of an organization’s existence, simplicity can be very helpful. Officers do not need to be members of the board, although very early in the history of many organizations, the officers are members of the board. This changes when the organization has sufficient funds to pay wages to the officers. When that happens, it is typical to elect secretaries and treasurers who are not members of the board, and in some organizations, even the president may not be a board member. Getting into the details of the duties of the officers is outside the scope of this book. However, it is helpful to have some general guidance on the three main officers’ duties as part of the plan to elect the right people to these positions. The president is the general manager of the corporation. There are no automatic powers that come with this. The president acts on behalf of the board. General responsibilities can be set forth in the bylaws, or by a resolution by the board. While there are no minimum requirements for what can be delegated to the president, the board should delegate a great deal of authority to get things done between board meetings. The board cannot be ready to act every day, so the president needs to be able to carry out the will of the board on a moment’s notice. Also, boards are not very good at making detailed plans that coherently follow a formal plan. So, an organization will work best if the board prepares fairly long-term goals, like what it would like to see accomplished in the next year. The president should be delegated the task of undertaking what individual steps need to be taken to fulfill that plan, even if many of those steps involved re-delegating some tasks back to individual members of the board. Someone needs to lead the meetings of the board. In small organizations, it is typical to have the president carry out this task. If an organization is inclined, it can have another member of the board take on this task, and that person can be given the title of chair of the board. In organizations where the president is a paid officer, there can be good reasons to have the board meetings led by someone other than the president. However, there is rarely any reason why the chair should be someone other than the president in small start-ups. A good question to ask to resolve this issue is who is best suited to prepare an agenda for the board meetings. Generally, the answer is going to be the president. If that is clearly the case, then the president should probably lead the board meetings. If the chair calls the president every month to ask what is going to be on the agenda, then a separate chair is probably not needed. The secretary is the officer who manages and maintains the corporation’s records, and also oversees the taking and maintaining of the minutes for the organization. The secretary’s role thus includes maintaining the history, and writing the future for the organization. The most important documents to manage include the Articles of Incorporation and the Bylaws. Articles and Bylaws can be amended from time to time, and an effective secretary will maintain all past versions of both documents, so that it will be possible to state what the operative articles and bylaws held at any moment in the organization’s history. Many organizations do not maintain their history very well. But since your organization is new, it can set a pattern that will keep records in place for decades to come! On occasion, the corporate secretary will be called upon to certify that a corporate record is the official record for the organization at the time the secretary signs the certification. In order to be able to do this, the corporate record books need to be kept in perfect condition, so that the certification is truly accurate. The corporate secretary is very frequently the person who takes the minutes for the board meetings and membership meetings. However, that is not always possible. The secretary will not always be present, and other responsibilities might require passing this responsibility on to others from time to time. In those instances, the secretary still must be the manager of the minutes, assuring that the records are complete, and conform to the standards for the organization’s minutes. On occasion, the corporation will set up committees that conduct business on behalf of the organization. The secretary will generally not be able to attend these meetings. Even so, accurate minutes need to be kept for those meetings at which decisions were made, and the secretary should maintain them. Typically, the secretary needs to ask committees for these minutes, rather than waiting for committees to volunteer them. As a result, the role of secretary requires initiative to assure that the records are complete and consistent. California law requires that nonprofit organizations have a chief financial officer or treasurer as well. The role of secretary and CFO often overlap, and there are no clear lines of distinction between the two roles. In fact, California law allows for both roles to be maintained by the same person, although that rarely works out very well. The CFO generally is responsible for maintaining expenses, a responsibility that involves managing the budget, assuring that expenses and revenue are accurately and effectively maintained, and assuring that proper controls are in place to assure the safety and security of the finances. In smaller organizations, the CFO may carry out all of these tasks individually, right down to writing checks. However, it is often the case that the needs for financial responsibility are more technical than some CFO’s can provide, and a willingness to rely on expert advice should be welcome and encouraged. While the CFO maintains the financial records, there are quite a few records that fall between the roles of record management by the secretary and treasurer. These include leases, employment records and insurance and risk management records. Each organization takes its own approach, which is dependent very frequently on the skills and expertise of the individuals who are available to take on these responsibilities. One important step needs to be taken in finalizing the officer appointments. Many organizations do not have specific time limits on how long an officer can serve. In those instances, managing the changing of officers is efficient and easy. As long as someone is willing to serve, and performs the job satisfactorily, they can continue in that role until they are no longer qualified. If the incorporator was informed of those who will best serve in the officer roles for the indefinite future, no action needs to be taken in appointing a new officer until the time becomes apparent that a change is needed. For some organizations, however, there are term limits for officers, and some must be elected every year. That requirement can come with a steep cost, as it can take several years to learn how to be an effective officer. However, for those organizations that have an officer election approaching under the newly enacted bylaws, the board will need to determine when the next election takes place. The officers appointed by the incorporator will stay in their roles only until the first election of officers is required by the bylaws. One of the most important functions the president or chair of the board can carry out is the preparation of an agenda for the meetings of the board. This should not be delegated to any other person. One of the biggest factors that undermines confidence in a president’s leadership is having the president acknowledge that he or she does not know what an item on the agenda is. This can be avoided by having the president or chair prepare the agenda! Most small organizations can conduct a board meeting in one to two hours. Keeping that schedule requires discipline, however, and that discipline depends on a carefully planned agenda. The length of meetings varies widely, and several factors come into play, including the complexity of the work, and the infrequency of meetings. For those organizations with board members who live many miles distant from each other, meetings will be less frequent, and thus should be longer. For a nonprofit organization with a multi-million dollar budget, a meeting of two days or more is not unusual. However, many smaller boards that meet monthly or bi-monthly can meet the standard of care with two-hour meetings. The reason why most board meetings go excessively long is that far too much time is spent on reports from officers and committees, which often end up being conversations that address matters that could have been handled outside the meeting. Maintaining reports so that they are comprehensive, but not too long is the measure of the effectiveness of a good chair of a board. A good goal to maintain is the 40/60 rule. That is, about 40% of the meeting should be about reports, including questions from board members to clarify the information in the report, followed by 60% of the time being spent on the board making decisions that impact the future of the organization. There are several ways that the president or board chair, along with the secretary, can assure that the time spent at the board meeting is as effective as it possibly can be. Central to all of these concepts is the distribution of a board packet at least one week prior to the board meeting. The packet should contain as much information to get the board members up to speed as possible, so that little time is spent at the meeting reading information, or getting data that does not need to be discussed. It is rare that a good board packet is less than ten pages. However, they can be overly long. Some boards distribute packets that are hundreds of pages long, and these are almost certainly not read in their entirety by every board member. Discretion in what to include is an art, and it also requires training of both those who submit information for the packet, and for the board members who read it! First, proposed minutes can be distributed with the packet. If a board member sees a needed change (such as facts that are clearly wrong), then the member should contact the secretary, and ask for the change to be made before the board meeting. With this discipline, the minutes can be dispensed with in just one or two minutes at the meeting. The secretary simply distributes the proposed final form of the minutes at the meeting, if any changes were made, and points out the changes. The chair then asks if any changes are needed. If no one speaks up, the chair simply states that “The minutes are accepted as received.” There is no reason for a motion to accept the minutes. If there are no changes to be made, there is no reason to carry out the unvarying exercise of formality of a motion. The only reason for a motion to be considered is if there is a true controversy over the content of the minutes—something that is extremely rare. Every officer should have a report for the board meeting. This is the primary means by which the board knows what is going on in the operations of the organization. Every agent of the organization should be accountable to an officer, so this is the funnel by which important information is made known to the members of the board. Officers’ reports are often the most time-consuming and ineffective parts of the board meeting. They can take up most of a meeting, as comments from officers can cause a free-association frenzy among the board members who are reminded of non-essential matters as their memories are triggered. The key to preventing this is the inclusion of a short but factually rich written report to be included in the packet. It is important that the written reports not be propaganda, intended to sell the board on how great the officers are at their tasks. Rather, they should state how objectives which were set for the officers have been progressing, and should also include candid assessments of unanticipated challenges faced by the officers. If the officers’ reports are properly prepared, the officers’ reports can each start with the officer asking if there are any questions about the report. An effective board will have questions. But generally, the questions will be focused requests for context and more data. An effective officer will have the data available to make sure the board members are as informed as they need to be about the background for the decisions to be made by the board. After the officers give their reports, the standing committees (that is, the committees that are always in existence) give their reports. They are subject to the same dynamic. Their reports should be written and submitted with the board packet. Each of these committees should take minutes. While the temptation is often to just include minutes with the packet, the information that is really needed is the information board members need to carry out decision making. After the standing committees report, other committees (often called ad hoc committees when formed for a specific narrow purpose that when completed, marks the end of that committee’s existence). The same dynamic applies to them. The board packet is the key to keeping these moving forward. If the leadership of the board is on track, about 40% of the board meeting should be complete by now. This should allow for time for the board to actually carry out its purpose in making decisions that set the vision, oversight and audit of the effectiveness of the organization. While we have emphasized the need to keep things moving in this section, a good leader will look for cues regarding when the reporting should slow down. The board needs all the data that is necessary for its decision making. While providing this data often takes less time than board chairs or presidents typically think, this is not always the case. When the organization is facing a crisis, or even a regular challenge for which the board does not have a strong background, more time may be needed for educating the board. However, the 40% rule should be a general guide for most regular meetings. In the old business section, the president relies on input from the secretary (who gets this data from the minutes), to carry over issues raised at previous meetings, but which were not brought to closure. Generally, these should be taken in chronological order, starting with old business from meetings long ago, and through to the most recent meeting at which unfinished business is left over. While this task is not hard work, it does require planning. A skilled secretary will be prepared for the provision of a list of old business that needs to be addressed at the next meeting. Finally, the board should take up new business. This is the primary reason why the board meets, and should be the longest part of the meeting. New board members will wonder what there can possibly be for the board to talk about in the decision-making process. However, a well-run board meeting will include highly interesting considerations of matters of policy and planning that set the course for the organization for months, and even years, to come. For new organizations, there are a lot of guidelines that need to be undertaken to get the organization moving forward on a solid foundation. Those guidelines are set forth in the balance of this book. Every board should take up the issues raised in the following chapters at a pace that keeps meeting several objectives each meeting, but does not consider so many items that things are rushed. Some organizations, with long meetings, can take care of as many as five of these tasks. However, many will need to take time to only accomplish one, if that is what it takes to do the task well. When possible, preparing a draft resolution for each item of new business will help the members of the board focus on the issue to be resolved. The chair of the board needs to be sensitive to the desire of the board to amend the resolution after the reports, but the mere fact that the resolution exists keeps the board on track to accomplish the goal. The resolution can be short, often just a few lines. However, when there are complexities to the resolution, such as distribution of funds or geographic issues that take several lines to explain, inclusion of this information in the agenda can help the board make decisions in a clear and effective way.

2019-04-24T11:54:04Z

https://www.churchlawcenter.com/newsletter/next-steps-in-getting-nonprofits-off-to-an-excellent-start-1/

← Why the Many Delays in the Ascension-Scenario? The last several decades in the history of mankind are marked by a severe battle in the 4th, 5th and higher dimensions between the dark forces, The Powers That Be, the so called “Unholy six” (Greys, Reptilians, zeta reticuli, etc.), the actual controllers of earth, on the one hand, and the Forces of Light (Galactic Federation, White Brotherhood, etc.) on the other. While this battle has huge repercussions in the third dimension on earth, the vast majority of human entities are not even aware of it. The sleeping majority of human beings are involuntary slaves of the Powers That Be, who execute this perennial enslavement through their proxies. The latter have the hidden agenda to create the New World Order, as one of their main speakers, Kissinger, the former US-secretary of state, recently loudly proclaimed on television. To this end they have corrupted in the last several decades the financial system worldwide by transforming it into a huge Ponzi scheme that is exclusively based on creating new debt and money out of thin air. The chief culprits are the FED and the private American and Anglo-Saxon banks that own this central bank, followed by ECB and other central banks. Many of the CEOs of these financial corporations are human clones that are created through genetic engineering by the Unholy Six, in the first place by the Greys. This knowledge will become a central piece of information in the Revelations and Tribulations that will take place in the fall of this year. Therefore, the only people that know exactly what will occur in the End Times are the proxies of the Dark forces, also known as Illuminati, the hidden Government, the Powers of the New World Order, the 13 ruling families, etc., and the super-secret services that have been engaged in clandestine joint ventures, mainly underground, with the Unholy six. They have created many new technologies, including UFOs and other vehicles, while at the same time they have systematically suppressed the implementation of numerous patents and new technologies for the sake of the broad population. For instance, the clean technology to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water as a fuel for all kinds of motors of combustion is available for several decades, but it has been deliberately suppressed by the oil corporations which are in the hands of the dark forces. The ultimate goal of such nefarious practices is the enslavement of mankind. However, this is not the plan for humanity at this time, as the Forces of Light will also have a say on this issue. There are some light workers, who are also informed about what is happening behind the scene. However, the vast majority of star seeds are either completely ignorant on the role of the dark forces in the shaping of humanity or prefer to close their eyes, as these facts can be very scary indeed, and fears do not help the light body process and Ascension. Nevertheless, some of these facts must be made public very soon. Information is Light, and where Light is, there is no Evil. The activities of the dark forces must be completely blocked this year, so that they can no longer exert their deplorable influence on mankind prior to Ascension. 2) Planet B will stay in the present 3d-density, will experience huge material and natural disasters during and after the shift, and will slowly degrade to an even greater density and separation from the Whole. As already said, planet B will be a living hell. The portion of incarnated entities that will decide to live in further separation will continue to live on planet B or will leave earth prior to Ascension. The Powers That Be will have full control on this planet. They are preparing themselves for this event for a long time. They are fully aware of the fact that in the last two years of Revelations and Tribulations they will lose their grip on mankind and earth. All they want to achieve currently is somehow to survive the shift and proceed with their evil business as usual on Planet B. In the meantime, they are doing everything possible to take as many sleeping human beings with them on planet B, as they can harvest in these times of tribulations. 3) to stay on a degrading catastrophic planet and experience more of the same and even worse. All evolved souls will ascend. This will include all star seeds (light workers), indigo, crystalline, and rainbow children (old souls), and most adult souls. According to the working model of soul age, as developed by the author, all adult and old souls will ascend. His estimations are that there are currently about 4-8% old souls and about 25-30% adult souls on earth. During the End Times, the adult soul population will transgress into old souls and most old souls (star seeds) will ascend in the 5th dimension prior to the final mass Ascension. The transition from one soul age cycle to the next one is associated with a profound confusion, which arises from the new psycho-mental and energetic orientation of the incarnated entities as to comply with the requirements of the new soul age. The adult souls have been exploring their inner dimension for the last 3000-4000 years on earth in numerous incarnations, various cultural environments, races, social positions, and dramatic destinies. Quite often they have chosen the role of the martyr and have consented to become victims of young souls, who have to make the experience of the perpetrator and extinguish human lives in this soul age. This is part of their “Fall from Grace”, through which every soul must go. Such intensive human involvements and experiences create the necessary karma that has to be worked out step by step in the following incarnations when the ability to show compassion, love, and understanding have grown in the course of painful experience. This is the chief objective of the adult soul age. Therefore, in this soul age the incarnated entities must work out their karma either by consenting to become victims of other younger souls or to take responsibilities for other souls that require from them huge sacrifices. During this soul age cycle the adult soul experiences seldom moments of fulfilment and happiness. She has to live through many stressful moments and to shed many tears. For this reason her eyes are clear and shining. The eyes of young souls of lower grade of evolution are on the contrary dark and without any sparkling. It should be well known, at least among light workers, that the eyes of the incarnated entity are windows to the soul. Purely for this reason young souls cannot look in the eyes of adult and old souls, as they have to re-member the existence of the soul and this insight scares them to death. Most of these souls are product of genetic engineering by the dark forces and can be easily recognized by their lifeless, dark eyes. The vast majority of souls that have incarnated on earth at this time are in the young soul cycle (45-50%). Most of them are on the verge of being transgressed into the adult soul cycle. This transgression begins with a total confusion and a dramatic shift of previous beliefs and social habits. The young soul cycle is associated with a maximal amnesia, because in this age the soul has to focus its intent and abilities towards manipulating and changing the external world. These activities include physical matter, but also the manipulation of other entities under various conditions. This kind of experience is typical for the young soul age. The baby and child souls are also separated from the Source. However, as their mental abilities are rudimentary, they are guided in an instinctive, subconscious manner by their souls throughout their life. Since they are unable to exert any influence on society, their biographies are well wrapped in rigid family structures, or they have the assurance to leave the body vessel prematurely, if they cannot cope with the harsh conditions on earth. The majority of baby and young souls can be found in third world countries, where the mortality rate due to diseases and poor living conditions is quite high, and life expectancy is low. In the industrial countries, baby and young souls can be found in rural areas with stable family structures. In this environment mobility and individuality are not needed to the same extent as in big cities and other urban areas, which are predominantly populated by young souls. As young souls live in maximal separation from the higher self and All-That-Is, their psychological characteristics are very similar to those of the dark forces that live for eons of time in total separation from the Source. Therefore, they tend to cooperate with them or to succumb to their dark influence from the 4th dimension. Most of the current Elite are young souls. The dark forces in the 4th dimension are defined in the esoteric literature as demonic, Luciferian, satanic (Rhyee), etc. In previous times, for instance, in ancient Greece and Hellenism, there was a better understanding for these dark forces and their despicable influence on human behaviour. Plotinus, the founder of Neo-Platonism, the most sophisticated Gnostic teaching in the history of Western civilisation, has described these demonic forces extensively and very precisely in his Enneads. Christianity borrowed its knowledge on the dark forces from him and other Neo-Platonists, but distorted their teachings to such an extent that the primitive and very corrupt idea of “the Devil” or “Evil” as a distinct entity was born. This distortion was deliberately forged by the Orion’s Anunnaki and reptilians during the Dark Ages, when their reign on earth was unlimited. The concept of evil, such as Bush’s “axis of evil”, Reagan’s “empire of evil” (Soviet Union), is used anytime, when an evil one has made up his mind to commit crimes on humanity and needs a false pretext and a rectification for his intended crime. This pattern has remained invariant throughout history. It will be sufficient to point out to the fact that the American nation is paradigmatic for the collective behaviour of young souls: It is the classical young soul nation on earth that dominates and determines the behaviour of a large portion of humanity. The plots and protagonists of Hollywood films have stipulated these negative, perverse, truly dark features of the young American souls to the utmost. This is the psycho-mental mind-set of present-day humanity and, to the opinion of the author, one need few words to persuade the reader as to how deplorable the situation on earth has become prior to Ascension. This year (2011), the huge wave of young souls on earth has entered the adult soul cycle. This transgression is associated with a radical shift in their obsession with the manipulation of the outer reality towards the multidimensionality of the inner soul. This process begins with a total confusion of this population of incarnated entities, as none of their young soul beliefs of maximal separation will hold true after their energetic transformation. The events that are about to unfold very soon will pull the rug away from under their feet and they will have to glimpse into the abysses of their “rotten” souls. This will be a very painful experience, and their reactions and mental aberrations at this time will surpass anything known so far. The recommendation of the author to the light workers is to see through these events with a great portion of relaxation and humour and to not let them being dragged down by the psychopathic and schizophrenic moods of their surroundings and on the world stage. The transgression from one soul age into the next one is the greatest challenge to every soul during her incarnation cycle. For this reason some souls prefer to perform this transformation as excarnated entities in the 5th dimension, because it is less dramatic. Other, more courageous souls make this transformation in the 3d-reality. There is no fixed rule to this. The transgression from one soul age to another is associated with a massive release of energetic blockages in the four bodies or fields of the incarnated entity – the physical, emotional, mental, and causal. During this time, the seven body chakras also undergo a huge energetic transformation that is generally referred to as light body process. It begins with the 4th heart chakra that opens first, as this is currently the case with most light workers, When it is fully opened, it enlarges significantly and encompasses the lower three chakras, and unifies them with the upper three chakras. The newly built chakra is a unified chakra of the human body. It allows the flow of much more energy from the higher self and the higher realms into the physical body. The massive transformation of the physical body can now begin with a high speed. The goal is to augment the frequency of the organic body to that of the ethereal body. At that point the phase transformation of the organic body into light body can be instantaneously accomplished. This description holds true for the individual Ascension process, when the entity can ascend without being supported by earth’s Ascension and the cosmic tsunami wave at the end of 2012. The 6th and 7th chakra of such highly evolved entities must be fully opened and connected with the 8th to 14th chakra of the over-soul. Normally, the 6th and 7th chakra are closed in most incarnated entities. This is the reason, why the vast majority of the incarnated entities on earth do not exhibit any medial abilities. With the opening of the star portal 10.10.10, these upper chakras have also begun to open by most star seeds, and they are now connected with their higher self. Only incarnated entities, who have achieved this level in the light body process, will qualify for Ascension prior to mass Ascension, most probably after the last, but one, star portal 11.11.11 is opened in late autumn this year. With the beginning of this year, humanity has fully entered the process of transgression from one soul age into the higher one. This process is not truly comprehended by most light workers, and it is a non-entity for the rest of mankind, which exists in a state of full spiritual slumber. This must change radically this year. A major objective of this essay is to expand human consciousness and to make the people aware of this astral process, which now takes place behind the curtain, but will very soon unleash its force on mass psychology and behaviour. Some young souls will successfully manage their transgression into the adult soul age in the End Times and will qualify for Ascension. Others will return to the 5th dimension as excarnated souls and the rest will remain on planet B. Some of these entities, who belong to the current Elite, may become the new Elite on this planet, provided the fact that they have survived the shift and the turmoil thereafter. There will be some small waves of Ascension of star seeds, who have sufficiently progressed with their light body process before December 2012. This event will trigger a true spiritual revolution and evolution in the minds of most human beings. It will urge the people to rapidly make their minds to ascend with earth at the end of 2012. However, not all of them will be prepared for Ascension on December 21, when our planet will be in alignment with the central sun of the galaxy and with the other planets of the Galactic Federation, and a huge photon wave will flood earth. Some of them will stay on planet B for a while and will have the possibility to enter the 5th dimension at a later stage. In the meantime, they will have to live on a catastrophic earth. This circumstance will eventually facilitate their decision. In the post-shift period of 3-4 years, the two planets A and B will still have energetic interceptions that will allow the establishment of portals, which can be used by these entities to enter the 5th dimension. They will receive much help at this difficult time from the Forces of Light and from some highly evolved incarnated entities. who have already ascended. After that the two earths will irreversibly separate, Planet A will move definitely to the 5th dimension and planet B will go along the path of greater density and separation from All-That-Is. This is the experience, which some very young souls will prefer to make in the course of their incarnation circle. One should accept their choice without expressing false moral prejudices. The splitting of earth and humanity in two streamlines of existence during the End Times is summarized in the famous statement “The separation of the wheat from the chaff”. The portion of mankind that will decide to remain on Planet B will have for a long period of time no idea of God or even religion, as there will be no more highly evolved souls on this planet that will be beacons of light, as most light workers are nowadays. There will be also no incarnated souls that will be ready to play the role of the martyr and give these young souls the possibility to commit all kinds of atrocities, while learning their karmic lessons. All entities on planet B will be equally evil. The society on planet B will constitute entirely of entities who will behave according to their egoistic, fearful view of total separation from each other and the Whole. They will consider all other entities as foes and will not be able to follow any moral or ethical principles whatsoever. Human life will have no value on this planet, and all kinds of heinous criminal acts will represent the normal way of living in this debased society. These entities will have to discover anew the Light in their own personality, before they can begin to evolve and experience Ascension in eons of time. This is the normal cycle of incarnation on earth and many other planets in the solar universes of 3d-space-time. The entities, who will ascend on planet A, will stay in the 5th dimension for another 2000 years. Each individual will have the possibility to progress at his own pace. Death will no longer be necessary in order to leave this plane of existence – the entity will be able to dematerialize his light body at his own discretion. Many will soon be able to create and dissolve their light bodies whenever they wish. The contact with other souls from the soul family or past friends can be established anytime. Matter will be more fluid, and immediate Creation upon imagination will soon be possible for many ascended entities. Karma will no longer exist. All relations will be heart-based and will express Christ consciousness. The autarky of all entities will be fully guaranteed and abundance will be the normal state of living, as immediate Creation will be possible for all entities. Life in the 5th dimension, also known as Celestria, will be, indeed, Heaven. Therefore, the choice that mankind and every individual will have to make in the next two years will be as follows: Ascend to Heaven or stay on earth and live in Hell. Hardly a choice! But as the events will show, quite a number of human entities will eventually decide to follow their current masters – the Powers That Be – and will stay on earth B, where they can continue enjoying their heinous plans to enslave mankind, without the meddling of some star seeds. This entry was posted in Ascension and tagged 13 ruling reptilian families, 5th dimension, adult souls, amnesia, Ascension, Cabal, Celestria = highest 5d-level, crystalline children, earth's split in planet A and planet B, ECB, End Times, Fall from Grace, Fed, Forces of light, Greys, Illuminati, indigo children, individual ascension, Kissinger, LBP, mass ascension on Dec 21-2012, multidimensionality, Neoplatonism, New World Order, old souls, Orion's Anunnaki, personal portals, phase transition, photon belt, Powers That Be, rainbow children, Reptilians, separation of the wheat from the chaff, seven body chakras, shift of earth, soul age, star portal 10.10.10, star seeds, transgression of young souls into the cycle of adult souls, Unholy Six, White Brotherhood, young souls, zeta reticuli. Bookmark the permalink.

2019-04-20T03:16:42Z

http://www.stankovuniversallaw.com/2011/02/ascension-2012-the-ongoing-scenario-2/

This week Soundtrax interviews Lalo Schifrin, whose new autobiography provides a springboard to explore the legendary composer’s experiences in film music – from Dirty Harry to Abominable, from favorite experiences like Cool Hand Luke to unpleasant ones like The Exorcist. Reviews include Spooks from Schifrin and Andy Garfield (“quintessential Schifrin”), Terence Blanchards’ Miracle At St. Anna (“arguably his strongest film music effort thus far”), Brian Tyler’s Bangkok Dangerous (“confident rhythms and drive keeps the score moving forward even in the midst of quieter moments of reflection”) and Eagle Eye (“supplies a very eloquent melodic theme that contrasts nicely against its more percussive, rhythmic action sensibilities”), Tribute Film Classic’s fine new rendition of Bernard Herrmann’s The Kentuckian (“quite cheerful score as it brings to life the environment of early 19th Century America and the confident optimism of its characters”), Steven Edwards Finding Rin-Tin-Tin (“a pleasing and wonderfully rich, organic musical texture that enlivens the film and its canine hero”), Murray Gold and Ben Foster’s music from BBC’s Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood (“highly melodic, very expressive, and thoroughly likable on disc –one of my favorite soundtracks of the year), Manuel de Sica’s Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore), FSM’s 3-disc Shaft Anthology, combing the efforts of Isaac Hayes, Gordon Parks and Johnny Pate (“catchy, endearing, modernistic and, yes, soulful,”), and Taro Iwashiro’s masterful epic score John Woo’s Red Cliff (“Iwashiro’s poignant melodies and muscular eloquence give Red Cliff much of its dramatic gravitas and sensitivity”). Miklós Rózsa speaks in his autobiography of having led a Double Life, one foot firmly planted in film music, the other firmly established in classical music. Lalo Schifrin has led kind of a Triple Life – equally impassioned and influential in his endeavors in jazz, classical, and film music. Mission Impossible: My Life in Music, just published by Scarecrow Press, is the autobiography of Lalo Schifrin, detailing his experiences and perceptions in those three areas as a musician, composer, and conductor during a musical journey that took him from Buenos Aires, Argentina to the hallowed studio halls of Hollywood. It is an amazing collection of memories and perceptions and ideas and values about music, and a fascinating and often very personal experience to walk in Schifrin’s shoes over fifty years of memories (the book comes with an accompanying CD containing a variety of examples of different kinds of music). Film music actually comprises only two of the book’s 34 chapters (the emphasis is upon jazz, which remain his first and foremost love; the book is also a volume in Scarecrow Press’ “Studies in Jazz” so this emphasis is reasonable from both perspectives), and it becomes clear that Lalo’s talent and passion for music embraces all forms of music from jazz to classical to ethnic and his efforts in film scoring likewise encompass all of his musical passions. But his most significant film music works – his television themes for Mission: Impossible and Mannix, his film scores for Cool Hand Luke (1967), Bullitt (1968), Dirty Harry (1971), and Enter The Dragon (1973) – betray to their excellence the strong influence of jazz, even while other scores like The Fox (1967), The Four Musketeers (1974), and Voyage of the Damned (1976) demonstrate a firm grounding in classical symphonics. Using his autobiography as a springboard, I spoke with Lalo last week about his career in film music, asking about many of the significant stepping stones in his autobiography as well as touching on some lesser known scores that I’ve recalled fondly. We also take a look at his latest score, the “graphic novel soundtrack” Spooks (see review elsewhere in this column). Q: What led to your writing an autobiography? Lalo Schifrin: I decided to write this about two and a half years ago because I thought that I had something to say. There were many experiences I had in three fields of music – in jazz, in classical music, and in film music. So it was an idea like that. At first, I didn’t know if I wanted to publish it. But there was interest from the publishing house so I did it. Q: Reading the book, it’s clear that jazz is a huge part of what you are, personally and professionally, and in contrast there are only a couple of chapters that deal with your work in film. Looking back at your work in these three areas, jazz, classical music, and film music, how to you regard that particular part of your musical legacy? Lalo Schifrin: I have always been a film buff, since I was a child. Not only a film buff, but a film music buff. My perception of the contribution that music can make to a film started at a very early age. I remember as a child I went to see a horror film on a weekend – that was in Buenos Aires, a long time ago. I don’t remember what it was, but the following Monday, I went to grammar school, and during the recess I told my classmates that I had seen the movie and that without the music, it wouldn’t have been so frightening! I was maybe five or six years old, so the idea that as a child I paid attention to that detail shows you that I had been very perceptive about that – therefore it was not a coincidence I ended up writing up music for films! Q: Getting involved in film music in the late 1950s, as you did, that was right at the time when what had previously been primarily a very traditional 19th Century classical idiom in Hollywood film scores, was beginning to open up into jazz. What was it like getting involved in film music and being able to bring your interest in jazz into that? Lalo Schifrin: I think part of that was the fact that Hollywood was changing. Not only the music, but all the composers were getting older and there was a young generation of producers and directors who started to look for new approaches to sound. It wasn’t only jazz, but the advantage jazz had was that it had a pulse and a rhythm, and that created tension and for chases it helped a lot. It was more contemporary. The executives at the studios were also new and they were younger, so it was like a younger generation. Q: What prompted you to begin Aleph Records to release or rerelease of a lot of your scores on CD. Lalo Schifrin: Actually it was my wife who did it. I’m basically a composer and conductor and a performer, so I’m in the artistic part of the music, but my wife had the idea of the record business. Clint Eastwood’s attorney gave us the rights to release the Dirty Harry soundtrack, which didn’t belong to Warner Bros, it belonged to Malpaso Productions, Clint Eastwood’s company. Then we got the sequels, and as a matter of fact, we will soon release The Dead Pool. But because of that we started a precedent and it was easier to get to other companies. In some cases we couldn’t get the original soundtracks and I had to re-record it, like The Amityville Horror. I re-recorded it because the record company did not want to give me the masters. Q: Speaking of Amityville Horror, it’s interesting that you scored this and a number of other horror films over the years, since your very first awareness of music and the power of music in film was in a horror film, as you mentioned. Now, when you are scoring a scary film like Amityville, like The Manitou, or like The Abominable, what do you feel is necessary to create a score that will enhance the scariness of a film like that? Lalo Schifrin: You have to remember that movie is a part of a collaboration between the film writer and the director and the actors and the film editor and the cinematographer, it’s like a team, and we are all working for the same goal. We have different specialties. My specialty is music. Let me put it this way, it’s like a magic show. In a magic show, nothing is real. Horror movies – any movies – they are all make believe, so the music has to help that make believe sense, and that’s why I like to do it. Q: Do you think, in a horror film, or a fantasy or science fiction film, does music have a greater responsibility to create an environment or enhance that suspension-of-disbelief that, say, a comedy or a contemporary drama? Lalo Schifrin: That’s a very interesting question. I think in all of them music is important, but in a horror film or in a science fiction or fantasy the function of the music becomes perhaps more evident. Not more important but more evident because the audience is more aware. Q: I think, for example, on Rush Hour, those films are set in a contemporary environment, which is familiar to people as opposed to something like The Neptune Factor or Bridge Across Time where you’re musically creating an environment that doesn’t exist. Your music has to not only enhance the action but also sell the environment, the concept. Lalo Schifrin: You are absolutely right, you just hit it. As composers, we create imaginary environments. Even in realistic environments like in Rush Hour or Dirty Harry, they are still created. In a more realistic film, the sound effects are creating a sense of realism. But the music is as imaginary as in a horror film or a fantasy film. Q: Going back to the early days of Dirty Harry or Bullitt, what are your recollections of sitting down with Don Siegel on Dirty Harry or Peter Yates on Bullitt. Do you recall what your early impressions were that told you: this is the direction I should go it on these scores? Lalo Schifrin: I remember that the first impression I got exactly. I started to hear the score in my mind the way it was going to be. This is something very strange, and I don’t know if lay people can understand that. Composition is no different from any other creative endeavor. For instance, you are a writer and at this moment you are a writer of an article for film magazines, but there is no reason why you couldn’t write fiction, or you couldn’t write screenplays. In that sense, ideas would come to you and you hear the ideas in the language you know, which is the English language with grammar and syntax. You hear that. And I hear music; I know the grammar and the syntax in the music, I know the sounds. Let me give you an example. In Dirty Harry, we say that it is realistic film. It takes place in San Francisco, and there’s a very fortunate coincidence which is that the protagonists in both Bullitt and Dirty Harry, the characters played by Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood, they are both inspectors of the San Francisco Police Department. However they are completely different personalities. On top of that, Bullitt’s enemy, the villains, which are very important – Alfred Hitchcock said that in a thriller the villain is more important than the protagonist. The villains in Bullitt are the political machine and all the elements. In Dirty Harry the only villain, and he’s a very good villain, is Scorpio, who is a crazy, crazy mass murderer and he’s totally insane. So he’s very dangerous, despite the fact that he is small and Clint Eastwood is big and heavy and strong. Scorpio is so mean, there’s so much evil, that he can accomplish terrible things. So I decided to have a female human voice doing a haunting sound, which is very creepy. Combined with electronic instruments, it gave a very chilling, eerie effect, which was very appropriate. You see, although it is a very realistic film: where are the voices? The voices are not in the streets, the voices are in the mind of Scorpio. He’s so crazy that he hears those voices. Q: The score balances the psychology of Dirty Harry, on the one hand, with this very muscular, confident, straight ahead rhythm, which is contrasted with the music for Scorpio which musically embodies his psychopathology. Lalo Schifrin: Yes, you are absolutely right. Q: When you’re using those kinds of themes, what’s your technique, at least in this film or say Bullitt, as far as integrating those themes thematically as the story moves along? Lalo Schifrin: You know, there is a theory about thrillers, in general, not only music but the films themselves. The theory is that there are three schools of thrillers: the American school, the French school, and the English school. In English films – and these are just generalities, because there is some mixing between the three of them. But the most important element in English films is suspense, that’s Hitchcock. The most important element in French thrillers is psychological. And the most important element in American thrillers is action. Before my time, a big movie that defined the action was The Naked City (1948), where you see Barry Fitzgerald, the detective, always in action – he’s going somewhere and solving the murder or the crimes, always going from one place to another, moving. So the first moment that we see Clint Eastwood is when, after the first murder on the rooftops where we’ve define the theme of Scorpio with a haunting voice, now we have Clint Eastwood on the move. He is the new Naked City policeman, and I did it with contemporary rhythms. Q: One of the unhappy Hollywood experiences you describe in your book was with your score for The Exorcist. You wrote a score that was an amazing, horrific, chilling listening experience – I can imagine how powerful that would be in the film. It’s unfortunate it didn’t work out that way. Lalo Schifrin: It was a very unpleasant experience. I had written the music for a 6-minute trailer for The Exorcist, and the film score was going to be like the music in the trailer. The director liked the trailer music very much. However, when they played it in the theaters there were people getting sick. The combination of the visuals and the music made some people get physically sick. So the head of the studio gave instructions to the director to tell me to tone it down for the score. He never did that, he never told me. So that’s why my score was thrown out. Q: Another potent horror score was your score for The Abominable, directed by your son, Ryan. What kind of rapport did you have working with him? Lalo Schifrin: The fact that he is my son has nothing to do with the way we worked together. He is a professional, and I worked with him the same way I would work with Don Siegel, because we had to decide what kind of music, where we start a cue, where we start a scene. He knew exactly what he wanted, he knew how to communicate. I had some suggestion and some objections, and we talked exactly like two professionals. Q: When you’re creating a score that is enhancing suspense, or fear, shock, terror, in a film like The Exorcist or Abominable, what do you feel is needed in a score to create scary music or music that will enhance the scariness of the movie? Lalo Schifrin: To create scary music is not difficult. We’re all part of the magic show and this is magic. Hitchcock , again, has given three examples of possibilities that you can do to create suspense. This is where spotting – to decide where music goes – becomes important. As I have said, it’s not difficult to write suspenseful music - the difficult thing is to decide what to do with it. Say there is a room with a closet, and inside the closet is a corpse. The audience knows there is a corpse in the closet, but the protagonist, walking into the room, doesn’t know. They walk to the closet and open it, and there is a corpse. So there are three possibilities to score this: One is what we call wall-to-wall. From the beginning, we build the suspense, and we keep building and building as they open the closet door and then there is a big horror climax – the accumulation of all the suspense that we’ve been building. The second possibility would be not to have any music and just sound effects and silence, until they open the closet door and then we have a big rush of horrifying sounds. And the third possibility would be so create suspense, building and building it, and when the door is abruptly opened the music stops suddenly. So, you see, the thing is not what to write but how to write it and in what context. Q: Does the same apply to comedy, such as when you scored Bringing Down The House or the remake of The Beverly Hillbillies? Horror and humor both depend on timing and these elements you’ve been talking about. Lalo Schifrin: The comedy obviously is already in the script and the acting. It’s not too difficult to score a good comedy film, because you don’t have o make it funny. I usually prefer not to write comedy music. In a comedy film I write realistic music, and let the comedy play itself, because otherwise it would be like a cartoon. Q: Exactly, you’re the straight man to the comedy. Lalo Schifrin: If you notice, what I do in most of those films is not to have any comedic music, per se. There could be some exceptions, some scenes that require it, but generally I’m staying away from the comedy. Q: You scored a horror film in 1978 called The Manitou, based on a then-popular horror novel by Graham Masterton that was based a lot on Native American mythology . Do you recall your approach to scoring that film? Lalo Schifrin: The most important element is the American Indian mythology, and I created suspense and built tension in the score based on those rhythms and that ethnic idiom. I based it on Indian rhythms and Indian mythology. I studied ethnomusicology, so that was easy for me because I knew the techniques. I enjoyed writing the score. It was a pity that the director [William Girdler] died in a helicopter accident shortly afterward. Q: You also scored Day of the Animals, a film that came about in heyday after Jaws, when we had all these films about animals attacking humanity, and you scored kind of the ultimate one, where all the animals turn against people. Lalo Schifrin: That was the same director as Manitou. That was the first film I did for him. The basic idea of the film was that the ozone in the atmosphere drives the animals crazy. It’s a fantasy. The action scenes were easy. The difficulty was to create an idiom for the film with this idea of the ozone danger. Q: There was also the contrast with the “great outdoors” music, these very natural, wonderful melodies of the forests and mountains contrasted with that element of danger led to a very interesting tonality to that score. Do you recall the kind of orchestration you did on this film? Lalo Schifrin: I think I used mostly strings and maybe some woodwinds. I don’t remember now if I had brass, but I had some percussion instruments, but they were metal instruments that the percussionist would play with bows of string instruments instead of using sticks or brushes. This let the metal percussion instruments ring… and that, added to the strings, created a very eerie sound. Q: Another very influential score of yours was Enter The Dragon, the Bruce Lee martial arts movie. Do you recall how you chose your initial ideas for that score and what elements you wanted to emphasize in the music? Lalo Schifrin: Well, again, being so acquainted with ethnomusicology and my familiarity with the music of the Orient helped me a lot. It also helped with the Rush Hour films. I wrote music that would be any other action film, but I based the melody on scales and sounds that came from the Orient. I didn’t use any ethnic instruments, but I imitated the ethnic instruments with the instruments we have in the symphony orchestra in the Hollywood studios. Q: In a film like that, where there are a lot of fight scenes – Bruce Lee fighting this guy, John Saxon fighting that guy – what was your approach to scoring the film’s fight scenes? What kind of music did the film need for kung fu fighting? Lalo Schifrin: The music of the Orient can be very mystical or mysterious, and I integrated that for the action scenes. I put action music together with the Orient and created a kind of new sound. Q: Returning to that idiom after twenty some years, with Rush Hour, what was your experience developing a similar kind of tonality in these new films? Lalo Schifrin: It made me feel a little more comfortable because I already knew the idiom. However, I didn’t take that for granted, and I tried to be as imaginative and as fresh as I was in Enter The Dragon. Q: Did Brett Ratner specifically cite Enter The Dragon when he asked you to score Rush Hour? Lalo Schifrin: Yes. He had seen Enter The Dragon when he was a child and he wanted me to score these movies because of Enter The Dragon. Q: One of your most influential scores is that for Cool Hand Luke. What was challenging about that score for you? Lalo Schifrin: That is one of my favorite scores. That was a different one for me because, although as I said I knew ethnomusicology, one thing I did not know too much was bluegrass music. So that was an adventure to integrate bluegrass into the score. It’s a Southern score and a magnificent movie, with action, lots of human interest scenes, and the acting is incredible. The director is the same director as Amityville Horror. But the existential story about the life in a prison, it was a fantastic music adventure for me. Q: Your most recent score is Spooks. Now this isn’t a film score, it’s a score for a graphic novel. So in this case you’re not scoring visual action, but enhancing the graphic elements on the page of a book. What, then, was your inspiration for that score? Lalo Schifrin: I must say my son, Ryan, who was the director, gave me all the instructions. I had no idea how to do it, but I did it, and he liked it! Q: Did you have any thoughts such as, “this music goes when they’re turning this page...” or anything like that? Lalo Schifrin: No, I wrote a general music that my son had asked for. He knew exactly what he wanted. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. Q: I understand they’re now making a movie out of it. Is it too soon to tell if you’ll be involved in that? Lalo Schifrin: Most likely, God willing. For the first time, a graphic novel has a sound of its own! Composers Lalo Schifrin and Andy Garfield wrote 20 minutes of score for the comic-turned graphic novel Spooks by Larry Hama (G.I. Joe) and Ryan Schifrin (Abominable). The music for Spooks is available via iTunes and on a special limited edition CD, with only 500 copies being pressed, exclusively by Aleph Records through their website www.schifrin.com (it can be heard streamed on the website www.spooksthecomic.com ). Spooks is a new military horror series from Devil's Due Publishing created by Ryan Schifrin, son of the famous composer. The music is a fascinating experience, although difficult to time to specific sequences in the graphic novel. But as general atmospheric music, it’s a splendid soundtrack. With their introductory tracks, Schifrin’s “The Forces of Darkness” and Garfield’s “The Department of Supernatural Defense,” both composers establish a vibrant, muscular, and action-oriented resonance for the story. Schifrin’s “Forces” is an aggressive, martial pounding assembly of brass and drums and strings, forcefully occupying territory in stalwart sonic measures, while Garfield’s “Department” is a cool Zimmeresque heroic theme, synth-brass over sampled choir and plenty of underlying activity in a riff that rolls confidently across the soundscape. But Schifrin’s next two tracks, “Omega Team” and “Zach and Felicia” are quintessential Schifrin and absolutely essential; the former an assertive synth vibe associated with the elite military team that confronts those forces of darkness, its twangy synth melody over a percussion-heavy rock/fusion beat; the latter a retro 60’s romance motif, light winds and keys over a sustained vibe of layered synths. Garfield supplies three more cues, the brusque and jarring spooky/scary “The Graveyard,” the pulsing and miasmic “Witch’s Manor,” and the choir heavy conflagration, “Headless Jack.” But Schifrin’s concluding “The Final Battle” dapples synths with samples to provide a thoroughly climactic and raging, drum-beaten sampled orchestral finale. At the San Diego Comic Con this past July, it was announced that Spooks will be adapted to a live action film by Men in Black producer Barry Josephson; time remains to see if the graphic novel score will become the movie score in due course. Terence Blanchard has composed arguably his strongest film music effort thus far with his score for Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna, released online via Hollywood Records. Performed with a 98-piece orchestra, the score emphasizes strength in subtlety, as the score remains fairly subdued. It’s a quietly reflective and honorable score that emphasizes the film’s depiction of four African-American soldiers of the 92nd Buffalo Soldier Division during World War II. The soldiers become separated from their unit and trapped within the confines of a small Tuscan village after one of them risks his life to save an Italian boy. The story is inspired by the August 1944 Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre perpetrated by the Waffen-SS in retaliation to Italian partisan activity. “I’m inspired by the story itself,” Blanchard said of Miracle. “Growing up in New Orleans, I remember the Buffalo Soldiers marching in parades and never realized the significant role their played in fighting for our freedom. It’s an honor to be part of a project that helps to relive and tell a small segment of what those soldiers dealt with in our history.” With Miracle, Blanchard resumes his collaboration with director Lee, for whom he has scored a dozen films, including the lauded HBO series, When The Levees Break: A Requiem In Four Acts, which spawned Blanchard’s Grammy-winning CD, A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina). The score is a sublime an intimately felt work, and one in which Blanchard has clearly invested his heart and soul. Far from the traditional World War II score, Blanchard emphasizes the overwhelming tragedy of warfare and the nobility of sacrifice through a number of hushed and mostly atmospheric symphonic tracks, culminating in the 12-minute tone poem, “War Is Hell,” which, through languid reflections of layered chord progressions punctuated by a recurring 4-note trumpet figure, develops a powerful and affecting tonality. At least seven separate themes are laced throughout the score, appearing on the CD in segments, but each are composed of similar cloth, quietly humble, expressive, and honorable, including a pleasing accordion melody for Renata, love interest of one of the soldiers, which beautifully captures the mood of old world Tuscany while embodying the character with dignity and strength of spirit. Only “Third Reich,” with its stiff and angular patterns of trumpets and snare, suggests traditional war movie scoring, but even this segues into a sustained evocation of reflective atmospherics. This is really an exquisite score with a great sense of feeling and respect. A pair of fine Brian Tyler action scores have both come out and are well worth hearing. The first, for Oxide and Danny Pang’s remake of their 1999 actioner, Bangkok Dangerous, is a splendidly moody and atmospheric action score that, even in the midst of its often frantic action, evokes a quiet spirit, much like the urban Thailand environment of the film itself. Released on CD by Lionsgate, the film is a departure for the Pang Bros, who have been best known for their j-horror films like The Eye and Re-Cycle. The new version of Bangkok Dangerous stars Nicholas Cage as a hitman who's in Bangkok to pull off a series of jobs but falls for a local woman (in the 1999 original, the gimmick was that the hitman was also deaf; a facet discarded for Cage’s role in the 2008 film). Tyler’s score is large scale action and intimate expressiveness all in one. With only slight musical references to the Orient through subtle bells and gongs, Tyler approaches the film as a contemporary action thriller, his emphasis upon rhythm and tonal atmosphere. His main theme is evoked with layered strings massing in a slow cadence, the melody taken by distant keyboard notes wrapped in a hushed breeze of violins. The main theme often wafts with confident slowness over a semblance of muted gongs and modernistic electric tonalities; evoking an striking contrast between the Orient’s fusion of old and new. The score will contrast a reflective motif for Fon, the local woman who Cage’s assassin falls for, with heavy, contemporary, urban rhythms and textures that are associated with the hitman, his activities, and the modern environment in which he works. Action cues are built around hefty rhythms and modern textures, with the main theme laced through the musical activity like a solidifying rebar, tightening the music’s strength and keeping the cues’ elements together and uniform. Bangkok Dangerous evokes a very intriguing sound texture throughout; its fusion of urban electronic grain and moody synth riffs along with subtle nods to the percussion styles of the Orient give the score a timbre that is very appealing and fresh, while its confident rhythms and drive keeps the score moving forward even in the midst of quieter moments of reflection. Tyler’s score for Eagle Eye, another big action film, has been released by Varese Sarabande. The score also supplies a very eloquent melodic theme that contrasts nicely against its more percussive, rhythmic action sensibilities. A contemporary thriller starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, and Rosario Dawson, the score is less subtle and textured than Bangkok Dangerous, but it builds a muscular dynamic that is quite potent. The music generates a progressive rhythmic propulsion from start to finish, opening with a powerful horn version of the main theme over staccato synths and percussions. The low baritone of the French horns is especially eloquent, and contrasts nicely with the somewhat urban-industrial texture of the percussion. Raging snarls of trombones punctuate the omnipresent drum beats that drive the music forward at a constant high speed, while Tyler’s very expressive melodic theme gives the music its soul in the midst of its frantic momentum. “Escape” builds a nice orchestral feel with arpeggios of strings and harps lending a cool texture to a very driving action cue. “Chutes” and its corresponding cue “Ladders” both build a nice action vibe, bolstered by the score’s ubiquitous pounding percussion sensibility and its overarching melodic flavoring. More intimate, reflective moments stand out against the rhythm’s forward thrust – “Honor” builds a compelling melody for synths and strings that evokes all that its title implies; “Arlia” develops a nice brooding mysterioso, haunting synth voicings beneath a melancholy trail of strings; “Loss of a Twin” houses a poignant piano respite over strings, mournful and reflective. And throughout all the main theme makes its presence felt with its persuasive rhythm and melodic influence. “Copyboy” proffers some cool urban textures with its electric guitar soloing. Eagle Eye’s “End Title” is quite compelling, especially after all of the previous metallic percussion tracks; it’s a pleasing electric guitar version of the main melody over punchy drumkit and loose synths, sounding vaguely triumphant/heroic, but probably more relieved that the pressure is off. Kentucky widower bound for 1820's Texas with his young son. The film is a coming-of-age story for both father and son, who find themselves up against a quandary of obstacles keeping them from having the means to travel on a steamboat to Texas, the faraway land of opportunity that awaits them. “Herrmann's score provides both wistful and spirited insight into frontier life in 1820s America,” says Tribute producer Anna Bonn. “The Kentuckian intertwines many of his compositional styles into an Americana-themed score with undeniable trademark Herrmann characteristics.” Tribute score reconstructionist John Morgan adds, “Since this 2008 rerecording would include all the music Herrmann wrote for the film and would contain forty-eight separately titled cues, we put many of the short cues together without pause to maintain a solid, rewarding listening experience. Due to Herrmann's inherent musicianship, these cues fit together beautifully...” For those familiar only with Herrmann’s darkly brooding scores for Cape Fear and the Hitchcock movies, The Kentuckian will come as a pleasant surprise. It’s bright, spritely, and quite cheerful score as it brings to life the environment of early 19th Century America and the confident optimism of its characters. There are some darker moments, associated with those Kafkaesque obstacles that keep Lancaster from achieving his goals (such as the dark-hewn psychological atmospheres of “The Jail” and “Anger”), but the overall mood is definitely one of folk-drawn eloquence and grace. Herrmann’s “Prelude,” for example, opens with galloping heraldic figures of horns and oboes that culminate in a graceful chord progression of soft winds, foreboding cadences that herald less cheerful events to follow. The introductory motif recurs in “The Stagecoach” and we’re off, introducing Lancaster and his son on their way to Texas. The foreboding cadences from “Prelude” recur in “Dexter” and become associated with the wicked tavernkeeper in an early scene. Another set of villains, “The Fromes,” are escorted by a sinister darkness of low strings and winds. But the film’s primary baddie, Stan Bodine (Walter Matthau) is introduced with a reprise of the opening horn motif, which Herrmann slowly unwinds to represent his preferred means of communication, “The Whip.” The dark intonations cling to Bodine like thick oil, resonating darkly and with intricate sinews of rhythmic liquidity. “The Forest” is an expressive slow air that undulates with the breath of the outdoors; a similar phrasing recurs in “Morning and Night,” which shines with an attractive harmony reflective of both light and shadow. Herrmann’s wonderfully descending trills of flutes and strings at the end of “River Queen” introduce a pleasant honky tonk piano melody, “Saloon Piano.” A rich piece of Americana sparkles through “The Steamboat” and “Welcome Aboard,” a pair of cues whose music drifts through a kaleidoscope of orchestral colors, from pure Americana, angular jazzy rhythms, into a jaunty square dance melody. The score navigates through these and many more motifs, colors, and harmonies and is a thoroughly agreeable recording of a fine score. The album is balanced by a premiere recording of Herrmann’s score for the 1957 historical documentary, Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot, which makes a fine companion to The Kentuckian. For this film, which dramatized the unrest of colonial America against English taxation and has run continually since 1957 at the Patriot Theaters in Colonial Williamsburg (VA), Herrmann adopted a pure American classical score, with prevalent reference to folk tunes of the period, performed by an oversized chamber ensemble. With Mysterious Island, Fahrenheit 451, She, and now The Kentuckian under their belt, with Charge of the Light Brigade and Prince and the Pauper soon to come, Tribute Film Classics has fulfilled its emergence as a major label of relevant and significance restorations of classic film scores. Finding Rin-Tin-Tin is not a new fictional adventure starring the famous German Shepherd animal star of the 1920s and 1930s cliffhangers, but rather unfolds a similar adventure while telling the true story of how the canine was found by American pilot Lee Duncan in France during World War I, was trained as a member of his company, and later became the most famous animal star in Hollywood history. Directed by veteran producer Danny Lerner, the movie stars Tyler Jensen and Ben Cross, with an orchestral score by Stephen Edwards (Feast, also several previous projects for Lerner). The score has been issued online and as a limited edition CD from MovieScore Media. Edwards chose an old fashioned orchestral approach befitting the film’s time period and, as he puts it on the liner notes, “gives the film a classic matinee feel.” Edwards convinced the director to accumulate the budget to provide for an orchestral score (the Belgrade Film Orchestra did the honors), which results in a pleasing and wonderfully rich, organic musical texture that enlivens the film and its canine hero. Edwards introduces his primary “Rinty” theme in the Main Titles, initially very playfully, and then allows the theme to mature as the dog grows from a puppy to a mature dog; it reaches much of its full-bred maturity in the montage music for “Rinty’s Training.” The main theme also captures an appropriate Great Escape-ish military sensibility through its use of paired flutes as a prominent component of the theme. “Rinty the Hero” arranges the theme with the jaunty pageantry of a hero’s march. A secondary “friendship” theme is used to represent the kindred relationship the dog forms with various people he meets (introduced furtively in “Enemy Dog Trainer,” enriched fully in “Rinty’s Training” and “Baby Back Ribs”). With much of the film’s action being comedic, there’s an amount of quasi-cartoonish music with precise writing to picture; it fits nicely and adds to the matinee entertainment feel of the film. One of the best of these is “Rinty Raids Kitchen,” a marvelous comic action romp, almost cartoonish in nature, but appropriately so for this amusing sequence; “Poker Fun” is another entertaining cartoon moment, as is “Post Pee Chase,” which leaks havoc all across the orchestra. Other cues become quite dramatic, such as the severe intonations of horns in “Baby Back Ribs” and the enjoyable histrionics of “Avalanche.” Edwards also enjoys the opportunity to include a number of Steiner-ish quotations from period tunes (“Johnny Comes Marching Home,” etc.) and anthems of the 1st World War era, which are interpolated nicely into the score. Whether or not you’re a fan of the BBC’s Dr. Who or its new sister series, Torchwood, Silva Screen’s release of the Torchwood soundtrack, scheduled for October 14th, is a must-have for film music buffs. An assemblage of full-blooded orchestral compositions from Murray Gold, regular composer on the new Dr. Who since Season 2, and his arranger/conductor Ben Foster, the Torchwood soundtrack features an array of powerful and attractive dramatic melodies. More of a contemporary thriller than its Tardis-traveling bigger brother, Torchwood (the title is an anagram of Doctor Who) has to do with Captain Jack Harkness, the former Time Agent and con man from the 51st century last seen traveling with the Doctor, who ventures to early 21st century Cardiff where he becomes a member of Torchwood Institute, a renegade criminal investigation group founded by Queen Victoria to battle hostile extraterrestrial and supernatural threats. The thrust of the music, therefore, is more of contemporary action vibe that Dr. Who’s more overt fantasy and science fiction accommodations. The score is edgier, often included a rock and roll pulse, and not just a little “swagger and fun,” as exec producer Julie Gardner puts it in the CD notes. While Gold and Foster share equal billing, and tracks are not authored, it is reported that the bulk of the composition on Torchwood is Foster’s bailiwick, and here he shines. The music is highly melodic, very expressive, and thoroughly likable on disc, with a myriad of really beautiful melodies (the first part of “The Hub,”). The score introduces, accompanies, and often says goodbye to major characters while supporting the show’s action with a solid contemporary vibe (as with the full-on strings and percussion of “The Chase” and “The Mission,” the latter punctuated by regular oozing horn intonations; “The Plot” places a slowly weaving string theme over a low pad of percussive synth). All of the character themes are lovely melodies, very nicely nuanced and relayed (Jack, Toshiko, Owen, Gwen, Rhys, Weevil, Gray – the latter featuring an especially evocative vocal from Annalise Whittlesea, all displaying engrossing melodies and performances), while the main Torchwood theme is a straight ahead action rendering for keyboards and percussion over a very interesting bed of active synth textures. Captain Jack’s Theme, which comprised the show’s title music, is modern, confident, maybe even a tad arrogant, and contrasts nicely with the audacious poignancy of many of the show’s melodies and motifs. “Ghosts” proffers some really cool eerie sliding strings and spooky reverberated violin. “Sleepers, Awake!” features recurring dynamic descending string figure over pounding percussion with tiny, imbued fills of electric guitar giving it a compelling texture. “Another Day, Another Death” exudes such a sense of poignant beauty through an array of slow synths, strings, piano, and reversed samplings that even in its melodic austerity it becomes immensely powerful. This is a fine collection of enriching film music with a multitude of highlights. It’s quickly become one of my favorite soundtracks of the year. Michele Saovi’s Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore, 1994) is an unusual and humorous take on the modern zombie genre. Rupert Everett plays the mild-mannered watchman of an Italian cemetery in which the dead keep coming back to life, causing him to have to dispatch and rebury them regularly, aided by his half-wit gardener/maintenance man, until both fall in love with soon-to-be-zombified ladies. The film is compellingly funny and intriguing, its stylish approach and wit overcoming some deficiencies of plot. Manuel de Sica (the very classy Garden of the Finzi Continis) has provided a sumptuous musical score that enhances and plays up the film’s self-assured conceit. Digitmovies has enhanced and remastered its 1995 premiere soundtrack release of 25 tracks with this new enhanced “complete score” edition of 34 tracks, adding mostly alternate, extended, and suite cues. De Sica thoroughly supports the films notions of mad love, carnage and grue, surrealism and comedy. The music is mostly synth enhanced with some acoustic instruments and electric guitars, but like the composer’s scores for his father Vittorio’s movies, de Sica approaches the subject with sensitivity. On the one hand, a track like “The Rest of the World (Doesn’t Exist)” is plain eerie rhythmic atmosphere, but it also captures an essence of passionate solace and comfort as the hero embraces his situation through to its final comeuppance. The main title theme is an energetic mélange of synth tones flying about like the leaping limbs of awakened corpses emerging from the ground, almost playfully macabre in texture and sound. “Buffalora’s Cemetery” creates a creepy atmosphere for the protagonist’s charge, a large hillside cemetery in rural Italy. “Will I See Her Again?” reminds me a bit of The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, another significant Italian zombie movie, with its steady rock-based undercurrent and dominant electric guitar riffing over the top. “Ignis Fatuus” achieves a good deal of creepiness also, using a plodding melody for high-end synth; a similar eeriness is established in “After the Fly,” with echoing twangs of electric guitar. “The Moon on the Island of Death” is essentially a spooky track, with theremin-like synth delineating a creepy melody over thick synth chords, but it captures a delicacy through flavors of harps and piano that makes it quite compelling. “Run of the Death Motorbyke” is a moody rock tune for harsh synth tones and percussion below angular, slowly soaring electric guitar figures; a disconsolate measure for terror on two wheels. “ ‘She’ Returner” captures an effective chill with throbbing low synths and menacing synth tones as one of the ladies returns, post mortem. “The Death That Lives” and its counterpart, “The Life That Dies” house a similar tonality. “Shoot the Living” and “Stolen Murders” are both occupied with bursts of staccato percussion, the latter segueing into a drawn-out semblance of sustained undulating synth. The alternate version of the former is even more manic, with processed gleeful voices enhancing its madness and mayhem. Willie Dynamite (1974), and lots more. While both Galt McDermott’s Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and Melvyn Van Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971) preceded Shaft, neither of those films or their scores had the phenomenal effect that Shaft and its music did; the explosive blaxploitation trend and its style of music that took off like a beautiful, shiny Cadillac with the pedal down was clearly a response to Shaft. “In one fell swoop (all encapsulated in the title theme), Hayes began a number of trends: 1970s crime film and TV music (the wah-wah guitar and backbeat), disco (high-hat cymbals), rap (the spoken-sung nature of the lyrics), and ‘70s soul (the sensual baritone of artists like Barry White, as well as the lush orchestrations,” writes Lukas Kendall in the CD booklet. The music, especially Isaac Hayes’ score for Shaft but also the subordinate efforts of Parks and Pate, is very likeable, build around the urban rhythms of R&B and soul music, and provides effective if somewhat stereotypical music for the short-lived blaxploitation genre, and it’s well served by this well compiled anthology. The Shaft scores, while embodying urban songlike rhythms, are more than “song” scores; they adopt R&B/soul’s musical milieu and set it to work the way symphonies were used two or three decades before in crime dramas and film noir. The music is catchy, endearing, modernistic and, yes, soulful, and this is a splendid package proffering a fine gallery of almost all of it. Silva Screen’s latest compilation is The Essential Harry Potter Film Music Collection, containing a fine assortment of music from each of the (so far) five Harry Potter movies spread across two discs. Very finely performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic, conducted by James Fitzpatrick (3 tracks by Nic Raine), the first disc contains the John Williams’ exuberant and enchanting music for Sorcerer’s Stone (under its English title, Philosopher’s Stone), Chamber of Secrets (as adapted by William Ross), and Prisoner of Azkaban, while disc 2 contains Patrick Doyle’s Goblet of Fire and Nicholas Hooper’s Order of the Phoenix, both of which elaborate Williams’ initial ideas into new but compatible styles of their own. Disc 2 also includes a closing reprisal of Williams’ “Hedwig’s Theme” which makes a suitable coda for the collection. The double disc set is thorough yet concise, gathering the significant thematic and cinematic moments of the five films into a very likable collection of fine film music. Decca has released the soundtrack for the new film Blindness, starring Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo. UAKTI, a Brazilian instrumental quintet formed in 1979 and heard on Paul Simon's album The Rhythm of The Saints, have provided the evocative score, composed by bandmember Marco Antônio Guimarães. The band is known for using custom made instruments, built by themselves, which lends a great deal of personality to the group's minimalist musical style. Of these, marimbas and string instruments are prominently featured throughout the soundtrack and are used to create a simple, eerie theme that lingers through most of the tracks. The score therefore maintains a very unusual sonic atmosphere, especially for this kind of a speculative thriller (film is about a doctor's wife [Moore] who becomes the only person with the ability to see in a town where everyone is struck with a mysterious case of sudden blindness. She feigns illness in order to take care of her husband as her surrounding community breaks down into chaos and disorder). The acoustic sonority of the score occasionally recalls Latin elements, occasionally suggests gamelan, occasionally suggests minimalism, but constantly provides a very intriguing and fascinating sound. The music glimmers and paints a unique tone poem for the film’s sightless intrigue. John Woo returns to Hong Kong and his martial arts roots with Red Cliff, a massively spectacular epic actioner, based like The Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of The Dragon earlier this year on the historic Battle of Red Cliffs during the fall of the Han dynasty in Chinese history. Woo’s film (which is actually the first of two parts, the second film as yet completed) has plenty of breadth and scope, expressed through a marvelous cast, intricate set design, and immense, epic battle sequences that are humanized by political intrigue and character interaction as each side of the battle is harmonized by effective character development. Tarô Iwashiro (Azumi, Shinobi) provides an expressive and epic-styled musical score that is fully symphonic with few ethnicities. The soundtrack has been released in Japan and Korea (pictured) on Avex Trax records. Built around a lavish, soaring theme, Iwashiro captures the pageantry, triumph, sacrifice, and noble tragedy of the nearly constant warfare that was China circa 180 A.D. Red Cliff is a war film score but it’s not so much about war nor the battles and assaults that make up the warfare depicted in the film; like Woo’s magnificent picture, it’s about brotherhood, valor, bravery, and honor – all facets the score richly supports through eloquent melodies and orchestrations, and moments of poignancy that are quite affecting (as the tender flutes and oboes of “In Loneliness”). “Precious One” is a soft splendor for strings and winds that merges into a quiet variant of the main theme, reflective and innocent. “Hill of the Refugees” is rich in honor and respect, reflecting the effect of the war upon the newly homeless seeking shelter after the destruction of their homes and villages. “Tricky Mischief” is a cute composition for playful winds accented by strings. “A Hero and A Boy” opens with a solo flute rendition of the main theme – played in the film by a young boy whose performance affects the Tony Leung character when we first meet him – that is joined by strings to reflect the honor bestowed on the boy and his father by Leung’s Zhou Yu. The score’s battle music is massive; battalions of deep drums beating formations of strings and horns in confident but eloquent aggression, melody merging with march, a softness around the edges of the savage. “Just Offensive Attack” is especially appealing, with a lyrical sonority that is quite affecting. “Closing In on the Enemy” wafts with a compelling circulation of violin notation before opening into a rhythmic attack theme driven by percussively metallic clangs and a cadence of strings bolstered by phrasings of brass. “Battle to Battle” is heralded by a masses array of shouting brasses and flowing strings, slowly pounding drums building to a powerfully reflecting version of the main theme, which pauses and recommences with a confident aggression and fuming clout as the attack commences. The 14 score tracks are concluded by a very nicely arranged 7-minute pop theme song variant on the main melody, sung by upcoming Asian songstress alan. Iwashiro’s poignant melodies and muscular eloquence give Red Cliff much of its dramatic gravitas and sensitivity. It is well distilled into its essential elements on the soundtrack which is a very pleasing release and one well worth seeking out on amazon or via google. German-born film composer Marc Streitenfeld has reunited with director Ridley Scott to score Scott’s newest film, Body of Lies. This is Streitenfeld’s third score in a row and eighth consecutive music collaboration with Scott. Streitenfeld traveled to Morocco to collaborate with Scott for this intense and sophisticated film, which required a score to support its strong and urbane style. Streitenfeld used a 90-piece orchestra as well as woods and choir to create this edgy but also moving score. Body of Lies is a film adaptation of the 2007 novel by American writer and journalist David Ignatius, and is about a CIA operative (Leonardo DiCaprio) sent to Jordan to track a high-ranking terrorist. The spy is aided by the head of Jordan's covert operations (Russell Crowe) in an uneasy alliance that leads to a cultural and moral clash between the men. The film will hit theaters on October 10, 2008. Born in Munich, Germany, Streitenfeld relocated to Los Angeles at the age of 19, first working briefly as a musical assistant for composer Hans Zimmer, then independently as a music editor and supervisor on several blockbusters. Streitenfeld was nominated for a Golden Reel Award for his work on Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven and was nominated for a BAFTA award for scoring American Gangster. Streitenfeld has had a long relationship with the award-winning filmmaker. “I’ve done quite a few films with him now and every experience has been really good,” Streitenfeld said. Prior to his work as a composer, Streitenfeld had collaborated with Scott as music editor, music supervisor and technical score advisor on several projects, including Matchstick Men, Black Hawk Down, and Gladiator. Elia Cmiral has created a haunting score for Splinter, the first full-length film by award-winning director Toby Wilkins. In the film, a convict and his girlfriend carjack a couple on a weekend retreat in the woods. The couples soon find themselves trapped together in an isolated gas station, on the run from a deadly parasite that occupies the woods outside. The film will be the centerpiece of the ScreamFestLA film festival on October 16, 2008, and will subsequently open in theaters on October 31. ScreamFestLA, a film festival devoted entirely to the horror genre, showcases some of the best independent short and full-length horror films each year. Splinter director Toby Wilkins won Best Horror Short for his film Staring at the Sun in 2005, garnering the attention of producer Sam Raimi, who then chose Wilkins to produce, direct, and write a number of short films for his production company, Ghost House Pictures. This year, the festival runs from October 10th to October 19th at Grauman’s Mann Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood, Calif. No stranger to the world of thrillers, Cmiral scored Tooth & Nail and The Deaths of Ian Stone, both featured at last year’s After Dark Horrorfest. Most recently, he finished scoring Pulse 2: Afterlife, the sequel to last year’s Wes Craven film, Pulse, for which he also wrote the score. Composer Jeff Beal brings his unique talents to the Western genre when Appaloosa, released through New Line, opens in theaters September 19th, soundtrack available onLakeshore Records September 30th. In addition to Beal’s score, the film features the song, “You'll Never Leave My Heart” sung by the film’s director and co-star Ed Harris; music by Beal and lyrics by Harris. In describing writing music with Harris, Beal explains, “It’s fun to hear this voice come out of him in character. He's a natural! We tried to make it feel like a classic cowboy song from the 50's.” Beal first worked with Ed Harris on Harris’ film directorial debut, Pollock. Howard Shore will be scoring the much anticipated drama Doubt, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and Amy Adams. The film, which is set in 1964 and tells the story about a nun who confronts a priest after suspecting him of abusing a black student, is directed by screenwriting veteran John Patrick Shanley, who won the 1988 Oscar for his Moonstruck script. Shore replaces Philip Glass as the composer on Doubt. Saw franchise composer Charlie Clouser is now attached to The Stepfather, a remake of the 1987 horror film. Nelson McCormick (Prom Night) directs the new film. The film, about a seemingly normal guy who goes to the extreme to find the perfect family, will reach screens next fall. J-Records is set to release David Arnold’s Quantum of Solace score on Oct 28th. Silva Screen will be releasing Murray Gold's music for series four of Doctor Who in November. This much anticipated collection will include Song Of Freedom, the stirring choral piece that celebrated the defeat of the Daleks in the final episode of the series. Harkit Records has reissued the original soundtrack by John Barry to the 1966 Bryan Forbes comedy The Wrong Box. La-La Land has just released a new, limited edition (3000 units) of Jerry Goldsmith's complete score for the 1991 docudrama NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER, starring Sally Field and Alfred Molina. Along with the complete score, the disc features a suite of Goldsmith's orchestra-only cues. Verita Note Records of Japan has issued an expanded soundtrack to Ennio Morricone’s The Big Gundown. The release is the same as the 2001 GDM release, except that 13 of the 24 tracks are in stereo for the first time. Three new Italian soundtracks have been announced by GDM from Hillside Productions. All are limited editions of only 500 copies. Robby Poitevin’s Killer Calibro 32 (32 Caliber Killer), Alfonso Brescia’s 1967 Italian Western, Stelvio Cipriani’s war movie score, La Lunga Notte Dei Disertori (1970, aka Overrun!), and Cipriani’s Western scores for Testa T'ammazzo, Croce... Sei Morto Mi Chiamano Alleluja (They Call Me Hallelujah) / Il West Ti Va Stretto, Amico... E' Arrivato Alleluja / (Return Of Hallelujah). In October Cinevox will be releasing new versions of classic Eurohorror scores. Goblin’s classic 1979 score for Buio Omega (aka Beyond the Darkness) gets a deluxe edition comprised of 24 tracks including about 12 minutes of unreleased score. This version is unique from the previous 1997 edition as it includes the album in an unheard stereo mix. “Goblin created a perfect atmosphere to suit Joe D’Amato’s weirdo slasher masterpiece,” notes Cinevox. “Prior to the 1997 release, tracks from it only appeared on a rare 7″ and on the 1995 compilation Hits, Rare Tracks and Outtakes. Cinevox is also set to re-release one of Ennio Morricone’s greatest Giallo scores L’ Uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo (aka The Bird with the Crystal Plumage). Recorded in 1970’s for Dario Argento’s debut thriller, it’s from Morricone’s brilliant Giallo period with conductor Bruno Nicolai, and featuring Alessandro Alessandroni’s choir. This version will also be unique to the prior versions, as it will have a full stereo mix of the album, and will include a few unreleased tracks. Both of these albums are set to be released mid-October, and can be downloaded from http://www.cinevox.it. The new “Coppola Restoration” version of all three Godfather movies, released as a 5-disc DVD and Blu-Ray set last week, retains the disc of featurettes from the 2001 box set, including “Music of the Godfather” – a 6-minute documentary on composer Nino Rota, who did the score for the first two films, and one on Carmine Coppola, who did incidental music in all three films and the score of the last film. The section on Rota is based on a tape recording Coppola made in 1972 when he met with Rota to discuss the music. Sound quality is poor but there are supposed to be subtitles. The disc of new featurettes, while fascinating, does not cover the music in any greater extent.

2019-04-23T04:32:58Z

http://www.buysoundtrax.com/larsons_soundtrax_10_09_08.html

In recent years, Hoagland has found himself escorted from a Bluffton Town Council meeting by police. The retired businessman claimed a legal victory against the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce in 2016 after a Beaufort County judge ruled that the chamber should publicly account for its spending of accommodations tax funds. That ruling was appealed and a final verdict is now pending in the state Supreme Court. Next, Hoagland says he's prepared to take legal action against the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau over another complaint related to financial records requests. In the meantime, Hoagland continues to broadcast his distrust of the chamber and other destination marketing organizations (DMOs) across the state. His grievances usually take the form of lengthy emails that Hoagland composes on his iPhone. Often looping in dozens of city representatives, law enforcement officials, journalists, and anyone else in his address book who may take an interest, each message is punctuated with a request for recipients to "excuse all typos and misspellings." But what Hoagland will not excuse are his claims of fraud, mismanagement, and outright theft that he hurls at those tasked with promoting the tourism industry. Having amassed a fortune in the early days of the internet by snatching up such domain names such as Atlanta.com, Cuba.com, and, yes, Charleston.com, Hoagland came to see DMOs as direct competition. Regardless of what happens, Hoagland sees no reason to hold his tongue. At least not until every chamber of commerce and convention and visitors bureau in the state complies with his standard of full transparency. "I'm like the scariest guy in South Carolina because nobody will talk like I talk," Hoagland claims. "Everybody thinks it, but nobody will say what they think. Only I'll do that because I'm kind of a bulletproof guy. I'm a guy who's 70 years old. I'm not looking for a job. I don't have kids in school. I'm one of these guys who's not scared of anything. I'm not even scared of being sued because I can afford to fight. I've got two slander lawsuits against me right now, one by a Town of Hilton Head councilperson and the mayor of Bluffton have both sued me. My insurance company is paying for the defense in both of those cases. And I fully expect more slander lawsuits to come." So what drives a man like Hoagland to dedicate himself to waging war against these organizations tasked by towns and cities across the state to bring tourists to South Carolina? And what role do these groups play in driving the tourism economy that sustains the coast? As with any matter that mixes business, pleasure, and more than its fair share of vitriol, there is a lot to unpack. And it all starts when you check into your hotel. Anyone who's checked into a room in Charleston, cranked the A/C, and hung a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door has paid their share in state accommodations tax. How this money is allocated is then decided by state law. After each municipality gets their cut — with some less popular tourist destinations receiving a few extra dollars from other cities — annual accommodations tax money is then carved up according to a clearly defined formula. For instance, the City of Charleston received over $5.4 million in accommodations tax revenue in the 2015 fiscal year. The first $25,000 went to the city's general fund. From the remaining balance, 5 percent is also allocated to the general fund, while 30 percent must be used for the advertising and promotion of tourism in the city by a designated organization. For Charleston, this means that more than $1.62 million automatically went to the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CACVB), the city's DMO of choice. In addition to the City of Charleston, the CACVB also receives contributions from Charleston County, Isle of Palms, Kiawah Island, Mt. Pleasant, North Charleston, Seabrook Island, Folly Beach, and Sullivan's Island. With the CACVB receiving its cut, that leaves 65 percent of accommodations tax revenue that's up for grabs for any local nonprofit that can claim to play a role in bringing more tourists to the area. But who ultimately receives these funds is largely up to the city's Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee, a seven-member group that meets once a year to review funding applications and offers their recommendations to the city's Ways and Means Committee and then City Council. For the 2015 fiscal year mentioned previously, applicants included the Charleston Wine + Food Festival, who received $150,000 for out-of-state marketing, The Southeastern Wildlife Exposition who received $160,000, the Spoleto Festival USA ($280,000), and the Cooper River Bridge Run, who requested $80,000 but had to settle for $20,000. During that same round of funding, the CACVB was able to successfully apply for an additional $60,000 on top of the default $1,625,225 the organization had already received. CACVB affiliate organizations — the Charleston Area Sports Commission, Charleston Golf Inc. — would go on to receive another $40,000 in total. Regarding these CACVB affiliates, which also include the Charleston Area Hospitality Organization, Coastal Tourism Inc., the Charleston Heritage Foundation, and the Greater Charleston Restaurant Association, CVB Chief Executive Officer Helen Hill explains that "The CACVB has several affiliate organizations that help support the mission of marketing the destination. There is some sharing of employees and space because it is more cost effective. Each organization files its own tax return and has its own board of directors, bylaws, tax ID, and financial accounts." According to tax filings for the fiscal year ending June 2016, the CACVB claimed more than $400,000 in shared paid employees, reimbursements, and gifts, grants, and contributions with Coastal Tourism Inc. and a total of $308,624 with Charleston Golf Inc. Of course, not every nonprofit applying for accommodations tax funding makes the cut. Groups who were ultimately turned down for funding that year include the Actor's Theatre of S.C., the American College of Building Arts, the American Red Cross, the Charleston Artist Guild, Midtown Productions, and Threshold Repertory Theatre. Serving on the most recent iteration of the Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee in 2017, local pizza restaurateur Ben D'Allesandro was able to elaborate more on his experience on the committee. "We as a committee, we're just making recommendations. The end call is done by City Council, so they can override anything we suggest," he says. "The city staff, they do an amazing job suggesting how the money is allocated to the different nonprofits. They do a lot of the nitty gritty. I guess the term they are always throwing around is 'heads in beds,' and they try to associate the money with who's bringing in the most hotel guests." D'Allesandro recalls meeting twice during his tenure on the committee in 2017. This included a lengthy orientation meeting for the newer members and a final three-hour meeting in November to cast their votes on which funding applications will be recommended to City Council. "They called the meeting. There were about 50 grants, and we just went through each one, one by one. The city had their recommendation, and us as a committee discussed each one. If we felt like one should get more money or less money than was recommended, then we discussed it, put it down, and at the end we all motioned on it and voted on it," he explains. D'Allesandro says he signed up to join the committee because he wanted to do his part as a member of the community to make sure the funding process was being carried out appropriately. Looking back, he wouldn't mind being called back for another round on the committee. "I thought it was a very fair process. You have to be a nonprofit. You have to apply for the grant money, and you have to have your application in by a certain date," he says. "I think almost everybody got some sort of money. I think it's a very fair process." Spend even the briefest amount of time tracking how Charleston allocates accommodations taxes and you're bound to come across the name Mike Seekings. As a member of the CACVB Board of Governors, former chair of the Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee, and member of City Council, Seekings has maintained a watch on tourism spending that few others can claim. As a representative of one of the local municipalities that help fund the CACVB, Seekings has served on the nonprofit's board for the past nine years. Other current members consist of a who's who of the local hospitality industry, including Bill Hall of Halls Chophouse, Frank Fredericks of Wild Dunes Resort, Jimmy Hagood of Food for the Southern Soul, Michael Tall of Charleston Hotels Inc., Steve Palmer of Indigo Road, and Jonathan Weitz of the Avocet Hospitality Group. According to Seekings, the board's main objective is to serve as the managing group for the CACVB's chief executive officer Helen Hill and ensure that the organization runs in a manner that is consistent with state statute and accepted business practices. Chief among this responsibility is reviewing and approving the CACVB's annual budget. "It's kind of crazy because the [Accommodations Tax Advisory] Committee that goes to Ways and Means, that's approving the expenditures of the state accommodations tax. The state accommodations tax by the time it gets to the A-Tax Committee has already been carved up," says Seekings, alluding to the overlap between the various boards and government committees on which he serves and oversees the direction of accommodations tax money. "Part has gone to the city. Part has gone to the CVB. Then you've got the CVB doing its job, which I sit on that board. That money goes by formula. Some people might say there's a conflict there. There's no conflict at all because it's all carved up by the time it gets there." According to Charleston Chief Financial Officer Amy Wharton, the city allocated more than $2.1 million to the CACVB in 2017, in addition to $36,307 in hospitality funds for security during Second Sunday events. Wharton states that the CACVB does not provide the city with an annual budget or quarterly spending reports, but does submit an annual audit. At just over a dozen pages, a copy of said audit provided by the city gives a brief glimpse at the CACVB's financial standing as of June 2017. As of that date, the CACVB claimed over $5.6 million in total assets and more than $13.3 million in total revenue. Among the CACVB's primary revenue sources are public funds such as $6.95 million in accommodations tax funding and $346,833 in regional funding from the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism. Private funds also account for a sizable chunk of the CACVB's annual revenue. Publication, advertising, and program earnings brought in an additional $3.26 million, while the CACVB's membership base contributed $451,231. According to Hill, the CACVB generates revenue from numerous sources including ad sales in multiple publications and trade show co-ops attended throughout the year. Publications include the Visitor's Guide, Wedding Guide, Destination Planning Guide, and each publication has a companion website. Revenues associated with services through four area visitor centers are also included. Currently the CACVB's membership base includes more than 600 tourism-related businesses, Hill says. Membership dues are collected annually and are tiered, with differing benefits at different levels. Examples of member benefits include: listings on ExploreCharleston.com, sales and media leads/referrals, the opportunity to participate in various co-op opportunities, a bi-monthly membership meeting, and numerous educational seminars. Of particular interest for anyone who's noticed an additional $2 charge on their hotel bill is the CACVB's lodging cooperative, which earned the nonprofit more than $2.2 million last year, according to the 2017 audit. According to Hill, the program currently consists of 85 hotels which contribute either $1 or $2 per room per night from guests. Asked if private revenue (membership dues, ad sales, etc.) and public funds such as accommodations taxes are placed into the same spending pool and co-mingled, Hill replied that private and public funding is kept separate in the CACVB's annual budgeting process, which is used to guide spending across the upcoming year. In the annual audit, revenue sources are broken down into accommodations tax support, government grants, membership fees, ad sales — each with a specific figure counted to the last dollar. But in the 2017 audit provided to the city of Charleston, there are no specifics given of exactly how the $13.3 million in total revenue and financial support — or the $11.8 million received the year before — was used. Total expenses in the 2017 audit simply stand as one towering number: $16.6 million. In terms of staffing costs, Hill says that the CACVB uses information compiled by Destinations International for comparably sized CVBs. According to tax filings for the fiscal year ending June 2017, Hill is the second-highest paid employee at the CACVB, earning $231,098 in salary and benefits. Taking the No. 1 spot as top-earner is director of investor relations Andy Rankin, who earned $329,768 in salary and benefits that same year. Those same annual tax filings also offer a glimpse at the CACVB's highest paid independent contractors. Between the 2012 and 2016 fiscal years, the CACVB has gone from just five contractors each receiving more than $100,000 to 35 contractors. The highest paid groups for the past three years were Time Inc., receiving a total of $3.59 million for advertisement, and Conde Nast, which was paid a total of just over $3.1 million total. According to Hill, CACVB has an in-house marketing department, which eliminates the use of external ad agencies. The CACVB Board approves expenditures through the nonprofit's annual budget. For the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the CACVB reported expenses included $9.5 million for advertising and promotion, $28,504 for travel expenses, and $156,996 for conferences, conventions, and meetings. Councilman Seekings is quick to applaud Hill and the work done by the CACVB to promote tourism in the area. An easily overlooked obstacle faced by the CACVB is how to maintain a healthy flow of visitors following an unexpected tragedy or natural disaster. This is best explained in a 2003 article from the Journal of Vacation Marketing titled "How Charleston Got Her Groove Back: A Convention and Visitors Bureau's Response to 9/11." Co-authored by College of Charleston hospitality and tourism professor Stephen Litvin and Laurie Alderson of the CACVB, the report details the strategies put in place to revive tourism in Charleston following the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The drop in visitor arrivals in Charleston was slightly worse than the national average of 14.8 percent after 9/11. With many would-be travelers unwilling to set foot in an airport in the weeks following the attack, the CACVB reallocated funds from international marketing and placed a greater focus on advertisements aimed to attract those within Charleston's "drive market." Two weeks following the 9/11 attacks, a new ad campaign was launched with the tagline "A short drive down the road. A million miles away." The goal was to convince wary travelers that a road trip to Charleston was an attractive option. According to the report, this rapid response was able to help pull the city's tourism industry out of what looked to be a years-long slump. "The CACVB has a crisis communications plan that provides a framework for tourism officials in the event of an incident that could adversely impact the industry," says Hill, who cites the snowstorms that struck the East Coast earlier this year as a situation that can dramatically affect tourism. "The plan covers events such as fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, civil unrest, acts of terrorism, and public health issues. Every situation is unique, but we have procedures to assess each type of incident and to guide development of more comprehensive situation-specific plans, as necessary." But from his front-row seat on City Council and the CACVB board, Seekings has noticed a shift in the responsibilities of selling Charleston to tourists. As the city continues to grow rapidly, and its tourism industry along with it, the question of balance has come front and center. "We're a tourist-based economy, so unless someone's got a better idea we're going to remain so for a long time. That being said, it is incumbent on all of us who are leaders in this community to keep a balance. I call it the 72-72 balance," says Seekings. "The average tourist is here for 72 hours, one of the best places in the universe to come. What about people here for 72 years and beyond? People who live here and invest their lives here, we have to make sure we're just as good of a place for them." In recent years, destination marketing organizations in South Carolina have fallen under increased scrutiny. This is in large part due to Skip Hoagland's crusade to push complete transparency on every chamber of commerce and visitors bureau in the state. Currently up for appeal in the South Carolina Supreme Court, Hoagland's case against the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce offers the possibility of doing just that. Hoagland initially claimed victory in a lower court when a judge ruled that as a private nonprofit that receives accommodations tax revenue, the chamber would have to fork over any documents subject to request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The chamber appealed, drawing advocates on both sides of the issue. Siding with Hoagland and the initial ruling was Jay Bender, longtime First Amendment attorney arguing on behalf of the South Carolina Press Association, of which the City Paper is a member. In a legal brief filed in October 2017, Bender argued that the tax funds and grants from the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism received by the chamber qualify as public funds, and the expenditure of these funds cause the chamber to "fit squarely within the definition of 'public body.'" Bender concludes, "As a 'public body,' the appellant is subject to access requirements of the FOIA, whether it likes the person making the request for access or not." On the other side of the aisle, attorneys for the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce decided to file their own brief in support of their fellow chamber of commerce's right to keep a lid on their specific spending habits. While the Myrtle Beach chamber was quick to point out that they voluntarily provide free online access to all aspects of their work as a DMO, including quarterly lists of expenditures, the organization's attorneys argued that the circuit court had ruled incorrectly in Hoagland's case. Ironically, the Myrtle Beach Chamber now finds itself facing a lawsuit from a former motel owner alleging money laundering and crooked spending. Of course, this newest lawsuit was music to Hoagland's ears, the latest chapter in what he sees as the comeuppance for the DMOs he's long warred with. "The internet struck in 1994, '95, and I bought up a bunch of websites. In fact, I founded one of the largest destination marketing city dot com brand media companies in the world. I went on to amass a multi-multi-million dollar portfolio of names like MyrtleBeach.com, Atlanta.com, Cuba.com, cities all over the world," says Hoagland. "What got me mad was these CVBs at every city in the country who started their website ... they all started getting in the business and all found a way to increase their advertising revenues from their magazines and their membership guides that we all just kind of ignored. They all figured out a way to go ahead and get into this DMO and start selling and up-selling advertising. Before I knew it, these people, these nonprofits had become multi-million dollar media empires." Hoagland's end goal is mandatory forensic audits for every organization in South Carolina that spends public tax funds. For now, he has to settle with trying to ferret out any potential fiscal malfeasance through open records requests to every chamber of commerce and visitors bureau that catches his attention. And it's through these efforts that Hoagland finds himself contemplating legal action against the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, saying that if his FOIA request for financial records isn't met, "We're going to sue them. We're going to definitely sue them." Last October, Hoagland stood before Charleston City Council to raise his grievances with the CACVB. As was the case with the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, Hoagland's complaint stems from a FOIA request for the CACVB's financial records. In a July 2016 letter responding to a FOIA request from Hoagland and his associates, CACVB attorney and board member David Jennings wrote "As I have noted before, the CACVB does not believe that it is subject to the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act but is willing to respond to you in the interest of transparency." The letter goes on to define the specifics of the deal, with Hoagland receiving two binders containing the requested financial documents in exchange for a payment in the amount of $2,581. "I sent [Jennings] $2,500. He sent me back a stack of stuff about four inches thick or six inches thick. We went through it with my accountants and forensic auditors. They said, 'Skip, all the ledgers, there's a lot of things missing,'" Hoagland claims. "I call [Jennings] back and say, 'We want more than this. You're missing some of the information you agreed to send me' ... Basically, to make a long story short, he said, 'No, we're not going to comply. We don't feel like we have to comply.'" As specifically mentioned in a rather lengthy string of emails and replies between Hoagland and Jennings that stretches back to 2014, the documents that Hoagland claims to be missing include the CACVB's general ledgers and documents detailing the organization's travel-and-entertainment expenses. Jennings maintains that the CACVB is not necessarily certain whether or not the nonprofit is subject to the Freedom of Information Act, but cooperates with records requests to the extent that the law requires. It is by this reasoning that Jennings said the CACVB was willing to supply Hoagland with 700 pages of financial records. But the sticking point remains not what Hoagland was provided, but the documents he never received. Jennings argues that the spending details in question would not be subject to FOIA requests under what he refers to as the "economic development" exception, as the release of such information would provide an unfair advantage to the CACVB's competitors in other cities. "We would love to know where Savannah, New Orleans, Nashville, places like that, specifically spend their money. I assume this is what our competitors would do — they would go to the same periodicals and say, 'Why are you giving Charleston this rate? You oughta give us this rate. Why are you giving them inside-back cover or whatever?'" says Jennings, who ultimately returned the $2,500 that Hoagland paid to fulfill the FOIA request. "That's why our thought is that those things fit into economic development. We're not withholding pertinent information that the public needs, but it's information that our competitors sure would love to have." As for Hoagland, he's prepared to stay in this fight for the long haul. He continues to dig through whatever records he can find from DMOs across the state. He has no shortage of suspicions regarding abuses of power and alleged fraud among these groups which he believes offer unfair competition to local media outlets looking for their own ad money for promoting local tourism businesses. In the meantime, he'll continue to be not such a nice guy. "I am a very vocal critic. I'm not nice anymore. I used to be nice. Now I'm harshly criticizing, and that's what's gotten me where I am today because people are starting to listen now," says Hoagland. "I am challenging all of these people, if you've got nothing to hide, volunteer to a forensic audit. There is only one reason why you wouldn't agree to a forensic audit, and that's because you've got something to hide and you're in fear."

2019-04-26T13:08:21Z

https://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/selling-charleston/Content?oid=18588083

We have to change how we think! EIA is notoriously pro fossil fuels, anti renewables in its forecasting. So for this to come from EIA is pretty amazing. That said wind and solar will likely double their share in the next five years, not the next 25. Of course, if republicans win, the EIA forecast may just bear out. From where I’m sitting it looks like the party of free market ideology with zero rules to govern it is the republican party. Democrats have long pushed for the regulations and laws that would check an unconstrained market. And when they’ve failed and republicans have had their way, we’ve seen things like the revocation of Glass Steagall (dems are now pushing for a 21st Century version of this). We do have a few more pro-growth leaning dems. But they’re nothing like the laissez faire republicans. Dems might actually support a carbon tax if they’re prodded enough (they appear to be heading that way now). Republicans — never. I’m talking about politics here because it’s where the real work happens. And, yeah, that’s an ugly process full of compromise and struggles. But it’s where the ideas that we’re discussing here meet the road of reality. In that process, it’s helpful to be strategic and to think of generating a direction and building momentum. Perfect world scenarios won’t tend to happen in politics. And you’ll tend to have to fight hard for even small degrees of progress at first. But given the policies dems have pushed, I am a whole hell of a lot more comfortable when they are in power (especially when they have majorities in Congress as well as hold the Presidency). Now, I also want to talk more about this notion of EIA failing to recognize what has been an explosive trend of renewable energy growth. Since 2008, when Obama was elected, global wind energy alone has more than tripled from 120 GW capacity in 2008 to 432 GW capacity in 2015. Given these trends and the fact that annual installations for wind and solar continue to rise at around a 20 percent growth rate, EIA’s projection is not only vastly conservative, it is so conservative as to be practically irrelevant. Wind + Solar this year will add more capacity than the entirety of the combined capacity of those two sources in 2008. Policies like the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Climate Summit will only work to further hasten renewable energy additions. These policies will live to do good work if the democrats are elected in the US. Republicans, by comparison, will fight to do everything they can to kill them and to slow the rate of renewable energy adoption. All while adding the kinds of no holds barred growth-only policies that you guys are so right to disparage. Now THERE are hockey sticks I like! Last 5 year average growth rate for wind is 17%, so doubling about every five years. If that rate keeps up (big if given the greatly increasing scale of the installed base), wind will increase by a factor of 8 in 20 years. If its 1% of global energy use now, then 8% in 20 years (and yearly installations will be eight times the current level to keep up the percentage growth). Last 5 year average for solar is 42%, but that includes a big outlier in 2011, so lets say 30%. Assume it doubles every 2.5 years for the next 5 years, then slows down to doubling every five years. It grows by a factor of 16. If its 0.5% of global energy now, then will be 8% of global energy in 20 years (and yearly installations will be sixteen times current level to keep up the growth rate). The combined growth in both wind and solar is less than the forecast energy consumption growth by the iEA during the same period. So, we will also need a massive exercise to reduce energy consumption, otherwise fossil fuel usage does not fall – even with the above very optimistic growth assumptions. This is the scale of the challenge, as we have left it so late for real action! We need to continue to up the rate of renewable energy growth while continuing to add in conservation and efficiency measures. We need to de-incentivize carbon consumption which is why a carbon tax would be so very helpful at this point. Make the production tax credit permanent for wind, and the industry will just explode. Oil & gas have tax breaks that have been in the law for nearly a century. Hate to break it to you, but the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagal provisions that kept commercial banks, investment banks, securities firms, and insurance companies from combining, was passed with a bipartisan vote in Congress (362-57 in the House), and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1999. Granted, a lot of movement to remove those prohibitions had already occurred in years prior. For example, Citicorp merged with Travelers Group to form the conglomerate Citigroup, but this merger violated Glass-Steagal. The FED granted Citigroup a waiver in 1998, and GLB was passed the following year. Sort of the way Trump operates: cross the line, don’t ask for forgiveness, but pretend line-crossing has been done all alone by everyone. GLB, in one form or another, (along with various erosions of depression-era financial safe-guards) was pushed by conservatives for decades. The late 90s removal was a part of the Republican push for deregulation at the time. Democrats over time were worn down by the big push for Reagan-based economic thinking which included risky de-regulation of the financial markets as a center-piece. Bill Clinton went along with it as part of a ‘compromise’ deal with Republicans. A move he has later publicly regretted. It’s widely recognized in the Democratic party that the removal of this protective regulation was a mistake — one that helped to fuel the financial collapse in 2008. A recognition engendered in the push by Democrats now to break up the big banks and to reinstate a 21st Century version of Glass Steagall. Republicans, on the other hand, are still trying to figure out a way to convince people that the removal of this key regulation didn’t contribute to the financial disaster that occurred. That or dupe people into thinking that Democrats are just as misinformed and corrupt as they are when it comes to this issue. Shawn, that is the catastrophe one gets from ‘leaving it to The Market’. Market Fundamentalist capitalism, where profit maximisation is the HIGHEST good, is incompatible with human existence. Mulga your preaching to the choir where I’m concerned. Everywhere I look I see the gutting of most things whether private or public, in the name of profit.This includes the biosphere. In the early part of this century James Lovelock concluded it was time to find a good seat so one could enjoy the view on the way down. It is most likely he was right. It is a race to the bottom! Knowing the end point it is difficult to enjoy. Talking to people around me they just don’t seem to understand the size of the wager or the fact that the house tends to win. Shawn, I am rather ‘preachy’, ain’t I. It comes from years of knowing something that others would not, and many still do not, acknowledge. It warped me mind, surely it did. Even I still imagine that by some miracle we will pull our fingers out and work TOGETHER across the planet to save our bacon. As for Lovelock, I saw him in a public lecture some years ago, and he seemed to be staring right at me throughout the lecture. I was entertaining delusions of cosmic significance until I noticed how thick his glasses were, and realised that he probably didn’t see much beyond a few feet in front of him. I am impressed with neither group, they are all whores for donations while telling those that believe them the stories that get the votes. They will do the bidding of whomever purchases them. Best government money can buy. That is politics, here, there, everywhere, every corner of the planet. Politicians, the only land creatures capable of making a lawyer look good. Cynicism will get us nowhere. Either republicans or democrats are going to win this one. And we are far better off with the latter than the former. Robert, that sentence with “former” and “latter”—-I’m pretty sure you mean the opposite, ie, better off with the Dems….? My view is that the republicans have become so conservative, their policies so destructive, that they really shouldn’t have practical relevance as a political party anymore. The dems are moving in the right direction, and we can thank Bernie for some of that. I’d like to see more Greens get elected. But ticket splitting is a big issue. One that, in the past, has resulted in terrible governments getting elected. I think the push for more green influence in the Democratic Party is a positive one. But I’d also like to see more Greens and more progressive dems at the city and state level in races where they have more of a shot of winning. Robert, I appreciate your site so much, because it is sane and credible. Many of us have been critical of the Democratic Party, of course, & as you point out, the GOP is so out of step with what is happening to this planet, and to human society as well. Their agenda is completely anti-nature, racist, and misogynist, which would only make things so much worse for The Earth and non-humans. No one really is talking about Limits to Growth on a finite planet. Perhaps there will be some chance to get this discussion going with some of the Democrats. Without Limits to Growth, including human population, nothing will be saved. http://foranimals.org/multimedia/ (this link may be of interest to those concerned about Donald Trump’s erratic, ignorant, cruel behavior). If Congress stays in Republican hands, they will continue to throw up as many obstacles as possible to keep significant progress from being made. Democrats need to push to at least take back the Senate. Taking back the House is unlikely. Democrats controlled the government from 2008-2010. I won’t state any more than that fact. Robert, can you please post a comments policy or some statement as to the kinds of discussion intended here? It appears you are wading into politics, which is a swamp. And when they did, they laid the groundwork for the greatest expansion of renewable energy this country has ever seen. Big storm in Phoenix , downtown tonught started at4:45 local time. We had a very large ” rainshaft” and it was very high the way theyshowed it on local news. They figured 2 in or so with a certain area, not sure how large but my friend said it was right above her house.! It also didn’t move hardly at all for about 30-40minutes. At my house, 5miles or so away, we had a good rain more than all monsoon season but nothing like the center of town. The rain shaft will make an interesting picture on the net tomorrow. The storms were expected to move in this evening. Just thought i would let you know. We used to have more storm very similar to this in years past during moonsoon season. Our winter rains have gone the way of California’s winter rains the pazt4-5years. WW2 type mobilization requires employing a lot of current American residents and as i recall a lot of $1 year men, who probably didn’t pencil out so cheap. Nevertheless the sacrifice seems like it was great PR. The conduits of money have to go away from the frivolous pryramids and to replacement technology. So we have to go to an interruptible energy source. At the time, there was equal access to resources, excessive wealth was greatly trimmed back, hoarding was at a minimum, and everyone worked together for a common goal. Pretty amazing achievement. We will probably need a similar kind of mobilization and sacrifice by the wealthy to deal with climate change. The moreso the longer we wait to respond and the less we mitigate. Hopefully they can keep them separated. Lots of clean up going on there due to what has been left out on the soil and in cooling ponds for a few decades. Definitely not something one wants getting put into the air. Worth noting that Bernie Sanders, a strong Climate Hawk, is publicly saying that he is taking his movement to the state and local level, to elect school boards, mayors, county commissioners, governors, etc. where Republicans have been particularly strong. This is where much of the fight is needed. Bernie has done an absolutely amazing job in helping to make this democratic party platform one of the best I’ve seen. I really hope he succeeds in the down-ticket races even as he helps to continue the progressive shift for the Democratic party at large. Please do not call it cynicism but, frankly, Bernie’s largest opposition has been and will continue to be the Democratic party establishment. Denial within this deeply corrupted group is so deep, they will do little to nothing in helping deal with our evolving climate issues. The empirical evidence proves this point. I am one who has voted predominantly dem/indy for four decades, so I hope you can respect that this deep concern is not cynicism. This is EXACTLY where the fight is needed! Apologies if likely posted earlier but… St. Paul Island, Alaska, is famous for its late-surviving population of woolly mammoth. St. Paul Island is a leftover remnant of the Bering Land Bridge that once connected Asia and North America until climate change caused it to disappear beneath rising seas, stranding the huge animals on an island that also continued to shrink. The puzzle of mid-Holocene extinction strongly point(s) to the effects of sea-level rise and drier climates on freshwater scarcity as the primary extinction driver. Freshwater availability may be an underappreciated driver of island extinction. This study reinforces 21st-century concerns about the vulnerability of island populations, including humans, to future warming, freshwater availability, and sea level rise. The anthrax outbreak in Siberia, that I recall CB brought to our attention, has an official climate change signature. Officials believe that the heat melted the permafrost and exposed an infected reindeer carcass in the Siberian tundra, AFP news agency reports. By the way,the last outbreak in the region was in 1941. Does this make it the first Climate Change induced local epidemic from ice-age melted soil? – Well… It’s official — though I haven’t gone further into the source of this pronouncement. – An altered climate and North latitudinal warming. – With so many things going on, maybe it’s been posted already, as the original Exeter link date is : 12 July 2016. The subtropical weather in Cornwall means new exotic crops such as quinoa and Japanese persimmon are now more likely to succeed, according to a new technique developed by University of Exeter experts to monitor the climate. ‘… geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha, of Cornish-American descent, who in 1966 developed the world famous classification system for grouping climates into polar, boreal, temperate, subtropical and tropical. The 50th parallel just cuts the Lizard Point in Cornwall. It’s the only place in mainland Britain to do so. The “Cornish Riviera” has always been noted for its mild climate. He knew his audience, while not representative, would enable him dodge the question. How to mobilize the 70% is a central challenge going forward. Thank you Robert for your part. Hah! The Mad Max platform indeed. Blimey that Mad max one was scary and mad! The Trumph was scary because its soooooo true! Trump recently mentioned wind and solar. As usual, his comments are in no way a reflection of reality. He claims solar isn’t working and that wind mills kills all the birds. Also, when talking about expanding natural gas exporting facilities Trump had to ask a reporter what LNG was. I have no idea how his supporters can’t see what an ignorant and delusional narcissist this guy is. Every single thing he says is just a random thought that popped into his head, and it usually is contradicted by all relevant and available information. The only thing more pathetic than Trump is a Trump supporter. So solar adds x15 capacity globally since Obama was elected and Trump says it’s not working? The price of solar is below oil and LNG, below coal and gas for a growing segment of markets. Trump’s lack of ability to handle facts knows no bounds. True. Given that this stuff comes straight out of the Kochs’ dirty-energy playbook, it’s surprising they aren’t backing him (although I’ve seen recently that the third billionaire brother, William Koch, has endorsed him). Watching the (N.Z) news I thought that Trump was beginning to get flaky and showing cracks under the pressure, after viewing his way of dealing with crying babies and the parents of a deceased war hero. But I realize he’s always like that and a lot of people get lack of decent manners/behavior and political correctness all mixed up. Pinch myself to reassure myself that I’m really in the 21st Century. As this excellent Bloomberg/SMH article remarks we have more than just Siberian Anthrax to worry about. . . . . A critical artery is threatened by thawing permafrost. In some parts of the 1,387-mile (2,232 kilometer) highway, the shifting is so pronounced, it has buckled parts of the asphalt. Caution flags warn drivers to slow down, while engineers are hard at work concocting seemingly improbable solutions: inserting plastic cooling tubes or insulation sheets, using lighter-colored asphalt or adding layers of soccer-ball sized rocks — fixes that are financially and logistically daunting…………………….. The highway’s dark surface absorbs sunlight while the shoulders trap water and snow that act like a warm blanket. The heat breaks down the permafrost (soil, rock or sediment frozen for at least two consecutive years). Annual repair costs for one section that runs through the Yukon are C$30,000 ($22,900) per kilometer, seven times the average, according to a territorial government report. – We know that pulses of warm deep water are lifted up on the continental shelf during summer, but the warm water has never before been observed as far south as the Filchner ice shelf. Our observations show that the warm water intrusions continue to flow southward during the autumn, reaching further south than what we previously thought. We don’t know how much of this water that enters the ice shelf cavity, but the strong tidal currents in the region will bring it at least a couple of kilometers into the cavity, says Elin Darelius, researcher at the University of Bergen, Uni Research and the Bjerknes Centre. Monbiot is amazing as usual. Glad to see him return to the climate issue after quite an absence. Voting Green is voting for a party that is aware of the problem and actively promotes action on a national and global level and as an added bonus, rejects militarism and war which are notoriously harmful to the environment. I honestly wish the Green party was able to field a candidate capable of being elected president. In this case, in Jill Stein, there is a candidate capable of ensuring that Trump gets elected, as Ralph Nadar did for Bush back in 2000. Now I absolutely support Green Party policies and goals. And I sincerely hope that down ticket races see more greens winning due to the Bernie wave. Perhaps in future years there will be enough widespread support of the party to field a candidate with a real chance of winning the presidency and not simply playing the spoiler. The solution here is simple. Green [lower-case g] candidates need to run in Democratic primaries and not as third party candidates. It’s a long grind, not as nifty or exciting as starting your own party that will totally agree with you, but it’s the only real way to keep the left together. MHO (as a very longtime political junkie). Have to agree with CH 1 here. A Democratic party with a strong green coalition and a progressive coalition embedded is much more likely to generate the kinds of policies we need in the current US political structure. And given the huge interest among people supporting green initiatives, I think it’s likely that such an invigorated democratic party would have a huge impact. But if greens split away from the party, they’re basically driving democrats to be less concerned about climate change even as they split voter interest in key races. As a result, you end up with less policy given the way the system is structured, more fragmenting of greens and people who would otherwise sympathize with them. When Don Wilhite hears politicians say they don’t believe in climate change, he responds with dry sarcasm. “Well, climate change is not a religion,” he said during a recent interview from his cozy office on the seventh floor of Hardin Hall on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus. And when I run into someone who talks about the ‘theory’ of global warming, I have to point out that Anthropogenic Global Warming is not a theory but an observation. Just as though you look at your thermometer in the morning and observe the temperature. Let’s get the nomenclature correct here. Tons of food and beverages that soaked in polluted water for more than two weeks after flooding are being rinsed and repackaged by merchants in central China, news portal Yangtse.com reports. Multiple photos accompanying the report show piles of waterlogged food and beverage items heaped on the ground in the city of Hankou, in Wuhan municipality, Hubei province, after flooding affected the area from May to July. Stand by for a ‘YUGE’ foodborne illness outbreak, as I’m sure there were sewer contaminates also ‘floating’ in that muck. Microbes don’t care what you believe. Robert, I have read most things on this site for several months and find myself in agreement with your perspective. I have not commented before out of respect to avoid diluting the vital message that we as a site would like to have. I do consider myself to be a part of what this site stands for even if I am a Republican. As a category, republicans who are old white and religious to the point of sin are not expected to be of much help in responding to climate change. I became different than most Republican after wandering onto Neven’s site and reading until I was convinced that climate change was real and I had a moral responsibility to respond. It has taken 3 years to get my family off of FF. I am now at the point that any further investments needs to be in helping others move to renewable energy. So when you think of republicans do remember that I am one of them and that our only path forward is one that we must all walk together. Unless we have dramatic changes in this election you can count my vote for Stein unless Hillary comes into play in Texas. As a republican I request that you continue to present the truth even if it hurts. Thank you for your honesty and candor and for your good and responsible work. I sincerely hope that more within your party begin to make the responsible changes that you have. For some time now, I have felt a sadness for the loss of the republican party that was conservative in the true sense of the word — a group concerned about risk and responsibility (both fiscal and social) and protecting our shared nation from harm. My warmest regards to you. As Americans, I believe we are all a part of this, whether we admit it or not. And I do believe that the best path is forward together. Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that your party has left you behind on their march to insanity? Let’s be kind and respect an individual’s own internal decision-making process in this regard. There appear to be a decent number of republicans who are uncomfortable with the party’s position on climate change and want to do something about it. Within the party, they’re in the minority, but not so large a minority as the representation of climate change deniers/skeptics in Congress would seem to indicate. I have no doubt that republicans love this country and do not want to see their children suffer from a very real and dangerous climate crisis. Once the wave of denial breaks, and hopefully it will, then that’s what they’ll be left with along with a good helping of remorse. Thanks both Brian and Robert for the kind works. I feel honored by Brian’s comment – certainly given in a spirit of help. In answer to your queries – I do see myself as keeping the good part of what we have as Republicans, however small it may be today. I see also that others in the party have been pulled away by well-funded deception, but most are not beyond hope. My reason for continuing with the Republican Party is to see if I can be of help in turning the Elephant around on climate. For internationals – In America we talk of the Republican Party as an elephant: powerful, having a good memory, but a bit slow to turn, good at work, but not much fun. When my friends ask why I still keep my membership while being extremely at odds with climate and many other polices, my response is that unless I ride the elephant I will not have much influence. If the North American elephant can’t be turned around it will be one of the 1st mammal species to go extinct due to “climate destabilization” (Thanks MumbleBrain for the term “climate destabilization”, I use it often after first seeing you use it). As a conservative, I have influence with the local people at my church. I have a buy-in on climate with nearly all of the thought leaders. The church board allows me to charge my EV for free every week. It is hard for anyone who comes not notice that a conservative environmentalist is in the good graces of the management. People always leave the closest parking spot for me to charge. So Brian I hope that you can see that in my current position I am have a grass roots influence. I also ask your forgiveness for the damage I have done in previous elections as a result of ignorance – I certainly was wrong. You can count on me to vote climate before any other issue. Joe Scarborough: Donald Trump Repeatedly Asked Why We Couldn’t Use Nukes. That question was asked privately to a National Security advisor. The next 40K years? With Drumpf, we’ll be lucky to make it thru the first 40 K seconds. It will solve global warming, however. Trump WTF???? Ignorant fool is the word combo that most ardently comes to mind. – Almost everything he says makes thinking people uneasy and off balance. Diplomatically, world governments must be working overtime trying to figure him out. Intell doing the same for motive — I’m sure. – He’s doing for himself what H. Kissinger did when he helped RM Nixon be perceived as unpredictable and irrational — and might bomb/nuke opponents (North VN). – Watch how many often he repeats an outlandish phrase. Often with a slight variation or disqualifying ‘maybe’, or ‘they wrote’ ,etc. He does it all the time. Did this get posted? The State of the Climate in 2015 report is a supplement to the August 2016 issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Our biome is suffering the proverbial ‘ Death by a Thousand Cuts.’ Won’t be much longer now… and [Soylent Green] who’s next? Greg, This is beauty worth saving, good motivation. I the picture would make an excellent puzzle. – What can you say — with maneuvers like this? Law360, New York (August 2, 2016, 6:43 PM ET) — Two free-market litigation outfits have asked an Empire State court to make New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman cough up records they say will show illicit coordination among state attorneys general and environmentalists to silence critics of climate change. – The above is from a WaPo article. ‘A likely tornado raked through the Bac Ninh province last week, lofting debris high into the air and tearing down buildings. “Small things” make the jump first. ‘ In south Florida, sea level is projected to rise up to 34in by the middle of the century and as high as 81in by 2100, according to the national oceanic and atmospheric administration. South of Mar-a-Lago, where the elevation is lower, water already pools in the road in front of the Trump Hollywood condos after the briefest of cloud bursts. The luxury development, where three-bedroom units are on sale for up to $3m apiece, offers “pristine beaches”. Such sea-level rises at New Orleans would cause the first Cat 5 hurricane that meets it, to kill it. Such a big price to pay to flood out Donald Trump’s winter house! In ocean expanses where oxygen has vanished, newly discovered bacteria are diminishing additional life molecules. They help make virtual dead zones even deader. Stratification is the first shift toward a Canfield Ocean. We’re seeing the transition to stratification now. A stratified ocean is a mass extinction ocean. A Canfield Ocean is a Permian mass extinction ocean. The most remarkable aspects of this storm had to do with the rapid rainfall rates, with 1.44 inches of rain falling in just 10 minutes between 7:50 p.m. and 7:55 p.m. on Saturday evening. Droughts and heatwaves have reduced cereal harvests by an average of about 10 per cent globally over the past half century, and their impact has become stronger in recent decades especially in United States of America. Green Party and Jill Stein, anybody? Anybody? Anybody? Robert? I’d definitely vote green in races where they can win. Jill, unfortunately, is nothing more than a Ralph Nadar-esque spoiler in the current election. I think that green political capital is better spent actually trying to join the democratic party and move the party in a direction that will help support their cause rather than splitting tickets and helping republicans win elections — which runs counter to effective action on climate change. +1. Nader’s race in 2000 prevented the election of Al Gore and cost us at least 8 years (I’d personally say 16 years and counting) in mounting an aggressive response to climate change. To me, that seems like the clearest possible lesson of the problem with a third-party campaign. Why on earth would anyone want to do it again?

2019-04-22T11:02:03Z

https://robertscribbler.com/2016/08/02/choosing-our-nations-course-for-the-next-40000-years-democratic-and-republican-party-platforms-show-extreme-contrast-on-climate-change/

Members Choose Florentine Room of the Congress as Most Suitable Delta Pi Pi once more surges to the fore and holds undisputed possession of the spotlight with the announcement of its coming and going-to-be perennial dinner dance. Extensive arrangements have been completed for the accommodation of all guests, including especial service, a menu containing many delectable dishes, and other seemingly trivial things which are, in reality, the difference between an enjoyable evening and a just so-so affiair. No effort has been spared to reduce expenses to a minimum —and they have been! But still this event will eclipse in brilliance and splendor any like fete which has gone before. It is an informal dance and the following volunteered information is really not information at all, as this coming social function is the "talk of the town," and even from the "mouths of babes" come commendatory comments, and, boy friend, some of the "babes" are dolls. So all of you Charlestoners make necessary arrangements to be present—and eating—iand dancing, for the Congress Junior Arts Meet Discuss Various Forms of Entertainment for Seniors The Junior Arts Class held a meeting on Tuesday, May 4th, in order to discuss various things of interest to them just at this time. The most important question brought up for discussion was the manner in which they should entertain the Seniors of the Arts School by way of a farewell party. The class was divided as to just how this was to be done, but there is no doubt that in the very near future all will arrive at a satisfactory decision, and the Seniors may look forward to as gala an event as has ever been tendered the departing class at De Paul University.Six University of Kansas students were fined five dollars and had their names and offense published in the Daily Kansan as a punishment for attempting to enter a university dance without paying. The Men's Student council named the punishment. Hotel's reputation for excellent cuisine is well-founded and it has been resolved to not prohibit syncopated jazz. Every one will be there: famous orators noted raconteurs excellent singers, and notables in other lines. In fact, every person of any eminence will be present—and eating—and dancing. In addition to all this, there are some delightful surprises in store for the guests conceived by the capably energetic Entertainment Committee. As an afterthought, we think that there is some truth in the aphorism, "a word to the wise is sufficient," and so observe that if advance enthusiasm is any criterion, the Florentine Room will be packed to capacity, so make your reservations early. Paraphrasing, on this occasion, "procrastination is the thief of a good time." PASTE THIS IN YOUR HAT The Place: Congress Hotel, Florentine Room. The Time: 6.30 P. M., May 22, 1926. THE REASON: Delta Pi Pi's Dinner Dance. THE OBJECT: A good time. THE RESULT: Ditto and another brilliant page written into the annuals of this fraternity. Loop School Students Hard At Work for the Annual Names of Pluggers Listed Last week's issue printed the names of those who are helping on the Annual. In several instance they were correct, for the Loop departments. Consequently, this should revise the list as it should be. It is a question whether or not this be called the Staff, as in the Annual itself only pictures of a few may appear. However, the real work has been apportioned among these very capable people and is being done very well. Editorial and Sales Miss D. Dreitzler, Miss B. Dodge, Mr. P. Martinetti, Miss R. Fishman, Mr. S. A. LesniewskiEditorial Miss G. Schmal and Mr. J. Panuska Sales Miss M. Ring, Miss McMahon, Mr. W. Wratten, Mr. D. Coughlin, Mr. L. Brookstone. It is due to the exceedingly large number that have been willing to assist in the Commerce school that the book will be better than ever. Mr. Henry Phoinix also wishes to express his thanks. Vol. 5 No. 23 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS May 6, 1926 PUBLIC SPEAKING CLASS TO STAGE VODVIL SHOW Delta Pi Pi Plans Dinner Dance for Middle of May De Paul Nine is Downed by St. Louis Team With Score 12-8 Second Game of Season Victory for Visitors The De Paul nine lost another game, this time to St. Louis University. The Blue Demons amassed eight runs to twelve of the St. Louis gang. St. Louis ran up five runs in the first inning. All were made due to errors. No runs were scored by the Blue and Red. In the second inning, the visitors crossed the home plate once again. In the second half of that frame, Reilly, Nolan and Pecorraro circled the diamond. For the third inning the Demons held St. Louis scoreless while DePaul scored three more runs, tying the score six all. The next inning was a repetition of the third, except that this time neither team scored any runs. Inning five: St. Louis' pitcher seemed to be up in the air and at their time to bat a run was chalked up for the home team, putting DePaul in the lead. The sixth and seventh innings were scoreless. In the eighth frame Levis of the visitors clouted the pill over the fence with two men on base. The Demons could not score. The last inning and St. Louis again brought in three runs. De Paul could only bring in one more run before the third out. Final score: DePaul 8 St. Louis 12. Lineups: De Paul Player AB E Gaffney, 2b 4 0 2 1 Callahan, cf. 3 Oil Bordes, If 5 12 1 Hoban, lb 5 2 2 1 Lacy, ss 4 0 1 1 Reilly, 3 2 10 Nolan, rf 4 2 10 Pecorraro, 3b 3 1 1 0 Miller, 3 0 2 0 Totals 34 8 13 5 St. Louis Player AB E Spain, 2b 4 2 0 1 Kane, ss 5 2 12 Kafl, 3b 5 3 2 0 Stanton, 5 3 1 0 Hurd, If 5 0 2 0 Levis, rf 5 1 2 0 O'Leary, lb 4 10 0 Jordan, 4 0 10 Rippstein, cf 4 0 10 Totals 41 12 10 3 Bases on oalls De Paul 3 St. Louis 6. Two base hits De Paul 2 St. Louis 1. Home runs St. Louis 1. Wild pitches St. Louis 1 Hit by pitched balls DePaul 2, St. Louis 3 Struck out De Paul 3, St. Louis 5. Members of Public Speaking Class Star in Vodvil Show Father Powers Directs Students in Initial Dramatic Efforts The members of the Public Speaking class have been active throughout the year their meetings have been full of interest and endeavor, and now they are about to cap the climax of their enthusiasms by presenting, for the benefit of the students and faculty of the University, a vodvil show, featuring the very talented members of this class. Under the supervision of Father Powers, faculty supervisor of the society, who has given of this time and wisdom, the rehearsals have been going on regularly every day. His splendid advice and invaluable assistance are great helps to Pre-Law and Commerce Teams Are Tied Second of Debate Series Finds Commerce Victors Since we are the losers this time we need not be modest and can take the privilege of passing on all the debaters as the Pre-Laws did last time. This is only the second debate of the series and the two colleges are ties if we are to exclude the other minor contests that have been going on unofficially. Consequently both are looking forward to the next and deciding one. But we certainly are proud of Fienberg. For stage presence, presentation and construction there wasn't one who could touch him. His speech was exceptionally well done and his entire part was played so well that any university team might have been proud to have him. The first affirmative speaker, Schoeller, must be complimented also upon his performance, altho his rebuttal was undoubtedly more impressive than his opening. The Pre laws find their best material in him. Crammer, our second speaker and final winder, aside from a few loose ends, did his winaing as expected by his backers. If we were to say nothing else concerning the second speaker of the affirmative we could not help mentioning his undoubted sincerity. We are sure he did his best. Commerce men offer congratulations to their "friendly" enemies but warn them to rally their forces for the final show-down. the students staging the show. Among the members taking part are Elizabeth O'Donnell, Lucille Kennedy, Charles O' Donnell, Frank McMahon, who, in the absence of Father Powers, acts as director, Frank Klein, Halloween Martin, Florence Burke, Eugene Meegan, Irene Ludwig, Annette Bucke, Thomias Haggerty, James Koutsogianis, Matthew Steinberg, Leona Munroe, Rose Mary Hayes, Emmanuel Villamin.There are several parts that have not yet been assigned and it is expected that this will include the members of the class who have not yet been given parts. The show will be given sometime towards the middle of May, although the exact date has not as yet been fixed. Commerce School Submits Booster for Annual Sales Urges Students to Buy Have you subscribed for the 1926 ANNUAL? If not, why not. The price is only four dollars and let us tell you that you never before had the opportunity to spend four dollars for such a splendid never perishing book. It is a record which you will wish to keep ever fresh in the storehouse of memory. It is a book that will grow greater in your life as the years roll by. Every page will take on greater glamour as you grow in fame and fortune. And think of it, your picture is in there with your name under it. All for four dollars. Seriously, we want this class to head the list of subscriptions. Considering our numbers and our undoubted resources, wa should makej a better showing than other class in the school. Now lets do it. Come on and buy your ANNUAL.Professor of Romance Language at DePaul Is Hold-up Victim Professor Vincent LaLane, instructor of French in the college of Liberal Arts last week was held up and robbed in front of his home. He was beaten and bruised in the assault, and the burglar took fifty dollars from the Professor.Professor LaLane was obliged to absent himself from classes because of the bruises and cuts he received, for a few days, but he returned to his duties on Monday, May 3rd. Transcript Members Choose Florentine Room of the Congress as Most Suitable Delta Pi Pi once more surges to the fore and holds undisputed possession of the spotlight with the announcement of its coming and going-to-be perennial dinner dance. Extensive arrangements have been completed for the accommodation of all guests, including especial service, a menu containing many delectable dishes, and other seemingly trivial things which are, in reality, the difference between an enjoyable evening and a just so-so affiair. No effort has been spared to reduce expenses to a minimum —and they have been! But still this event will eclipse in brilliance and splendor any like fete which has gone before. It is an informal dance and the following volunteered information is really not information at all, as this coming social function is the "talk of the town," and even from the "mouths of babes" come commendatory comments, and, boy friend, some of the "babes" are dolls. So all of you Charlestoners make necessary arrangements to be present—and eating—iand dancing, for the Congress Junior Arts Meet Discuss Various Forms of Entertainment for Seniors The Junior Arts Class held a meeting on Tuesday, May 4th, in order to discuss various things of interest to them just at this time. The most important question brought up for discussion was the manner in which they should entertain the Seniors of the Arts School by way of a farewell party. The class was divided as to just how this was to be done, but there is no doubt that in the very near future all will arrive at a satisfactory decision, and the Seniors may look forward to as gala an event as has ever been tendered the departing class at De Paul University.Six University of Kansas students were fined five dollars and had their names and offense published in the Daily Kansan as a punishment for attempting to enter a university dance without paying. The Men's Student council named the punishment. Hotel's reputation for excellent cuisine is well-founded and it has been resolved to not prohibit syncopated jazz. Every one will be there: famous orators noted raconteurs excellent singers, and notables in other lines. In fact, every person of any eminence will be present—and eating—and dancing. In addition to all this, there are some delightful surprises in store for the guests conceived by the capably energetic Entertainment Committee. As an afterthought, we think that there is some truth in the aphorism, "a word to the wise is sufficient," and so observe that if advance enthusiasm is any criterion, the Florentine Room will be packed to capacity, so make your reservations early. Paraphrasing, on this occasion, "procrastination is the thief of a good time." PASTE THIS IN YOUR HAT The Place: Congress Hotel, Florentine Room. The Time: 6.30 P. M., May 22, 1926. THE REASON: Delta Pi Pi's Dinner Dance. THE OBJECT: A good time. THE RESULT: Ditto and another brilliant page written into the annuals of this fraternity. Loop School Students Hard At Work for the Annual Names of Pluggers Listed Last week's issue printed the names of those who are helping on the Annual. In several instance they were correct, for the Loop departments. Consequently, this should revise the list as it should be. It is a question whether or not this be called the Staff, as in the Annual itself only pictures of a few may appear. However, the real work has been apportioned among these very capable people and is being done very well. Editorial and Sales Miss D. Dreitzler, Miss B. Dodge, Mr. P. Martinetti, Miss R. Fishman, Mr. S. A. LesniewskiEditorial Miss G. Schmal and Mr. J. Panuska Sales Miss M. Ring, Miss McMahon, Mr. W. Wratten, Mr. D. Coughlin, Mr. L. Brookstone. It is due to the exceedingly large number that have been willing to assist in the Commerce school that the book will be better than ever. Mr. Henry Phoinix also wishes to express his thanks. Vol. 5 No. 23 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS May 6, 1926 PUBLIC SPEAKING CLASS TO STAGE VODVIL SHOW Delta Pi Pi Plans Dinner Dance for Middle of May De Paul Nine is Downed by St. Louis Team With Score 12-8 Second Game of Season Victory for Visitors The De Paul nine lost another game, this time to St. Louis University. The Blue Demons amassed eight runs to twelve of the St. Louis gang. St. Louis ran up five runs in the first inning. All were made due to errors. No runs were scored by the Blue and Red. In the second inning, the visitors crossed the home plate once again. In the second half of that frame, Reilly, Nolan and Pecorraro circled the diamond. For the third inning the Demons held St. Louis scoreless while DePaul scored three more runs, tying the score six all. The next inning was a repetition of the third, except that this time neither team scored any runs. Inning five: St. Louis' pitcher seemed to be up in the air and at their time to bat a run was chalked up for the home team, putting DePaul in the lead. The sixth and seventh innings were scoreless. In the eighth frame Levis of the visitors clouted the pill over the fence with two men on base. The Demons could not score. The last inning and St. Louis again brought in three runs. De Paul could only bring in one more run before the third out. Final score: DePaul 8 St. Louis 12. Lineups: De Paul Player AB E Gaffney, 2b 4 0 2 1 Callahan, cf. 3 Oil Bordes, If 5 12 1 Hoban, lb 5 2 2 1 Lacy, ss 4 0 1 1 Reilly, 3 2 10 Nolan, rf 4 2 10 Pecorraro, 3b 3 1 1 0 Miller, 3 0 2 0 Totals 34 8 13 5 St. Louis Player AB E Spain, 2b 4 2 0 1 Kane, ss 5 2 12 Kafl, 3b 5 3 2 0 Stanton, 5 3 1 0 Hurd, If 5 0 2 0 Levis, rf 5 1 2 0 O'Leary, lb 4 10 0 Jordan, 4 0 10 Rippstein, cf 4 0 10 Totals 41 12 10 3 Bases on oalls De Paul 3 St. Louis 6. Two base hits De Paul 2 St. Louis 1. Home runs St. Louis 1. Wild pitches St. Louis 1 Hit by pitched balls DePaul 2, St. Louis 3 Struck out De Paul 3, St. Louis 5. Members of Public Speaking Class Star in Vodvil Show Father Powers Directs Students in Initial Dramatic Efforts The members of the Public Speaking class have been active throughout the year their meetings have been full of interest and endeavor, and now they are about to cap the climax of their enthusiasms by presenting, for the benefit of the students and faculty of the University, a vodvil show, featuring the very talented members of this class. Under the supervision of Father Powers, faculty supervisor of the society, who has given of this time and wisdom, the rehearsals have been going on regularly every day. His splendid advice and invaluable assistance are great helps to Pre-Law and Commerce Teams Are Tied Second of Debate Series Finds Commerce Victors Since we are the losers this time we need not be modest and can take the privilege of passing on all the debaters as the Pre-Laws did last time. This is only the second debate of the series and the two colleges are ties if we are to exclude the other minor contests that have been going on unofficially. Consequently both are looking forward to the next and deciding one. But we certainly are proud of Fienberg. For stage presence, presentation and construction there wasn't one who could touch him. His speech was exceptionally well done and his entire part was played so well that any university team might have been proud to have him. The first affirmative speaker, Schoeller, must be complimented also upon his performance, altho his rebuttal was undoubtedly more impressive than his opening. The Pre laws find their best material in him. Crammer, our second speaker and final winder, aside from a few loose ends, did his winaing as expected by his backers. If we were to say nothing else concerning the second speaker of the affirmative we could not help mentioning his undoubted sincerity. We are sure he did his best. Commerce men offer congratulations to their "friendly" enemies but warn them to rally their forces for the final show-down. the students staging the show. Among the members taking part are Elizabeth O'Donnell, Lucille Kennedy, Charles O' Donnell, Frank McMahon, who, in the absence of Father Powers, acts as director, Frank Klein, Halloween Martin, Florence Burke, Eugene Meegan, Irene Ludwig, Annette Bucke, Thomias Haggerty, James Koutsogianis, Matthew Steinberg, Leona Munroe, Rose Mary Hayes, Emmanuel Villamin.There are several parts that have not yet been assigned and it is expected that this will include the members of the class who have not yet been given parts. The show will be given sometime towards the middle of May, although the exact date has not as yet been fixed. Commerce School Submits Booster for Annual Sales Urges Students to Buy Have you subscribed for the 1926 ANNUAL? If not, why not. The price is only four dollars and let us tell you that you never before had the opportunity to spend four dollars for such a splendid never perishing book. It is a record which you will wish to keep ever fresh in the storehouse of memory. It is a book that will grow greater in your life as the years roll by. Every page will take on greater glamour as you grow in fame and fortune. And think of it, your picture is in there with your name under it. All for four dollars. Seriously, we want this class to head the list of subscriptions. Considering our numbers and our undoubted resources, wa should makej a better showing than other class in the school. Now lets do it. Come on and buy your ANNUAL.Professor of Romance Language at DePaul Is Hold-up Victim Professor Vincent LaLane, instructor of French in the college of Liberal Arts last week was held up and robbed in front of his home. He was beaten and bruised in the assault, and the burglar took fifty dollars from the Professor.Professor LaLane was obliged to absent himself from classes because of the bruises and cuts he received, for a few days, but he returned to his duties on Monday, May 3rd.

2019-04-20T20:30:01Z

http://digicol.lib.depaul.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p16106coll4/id/8884/

HUTTON-BUSCEL (St. Matthew), a parish, in the union of Scarborough, Pickering lythe, N. riding of York; containing 811 inhabitants, of whom 506 are in the township, ½ a mile (N. by E.) from Wykeham, and 34 (N. E.) from York. This parish, which derives its name from having been anciently the "High town of the Buscel or Bushel family," is on the road from Scarborough to York, and comprises by computation, with West Ayton township, 3510 acres, of which about 1000 are moor and woodland, and the remainder arable and pasture. The surface is in some parts very elevated, and the scenery highly picturesque, and enriched by the windings of the Derwent, which flows through the parish on the east. Good limestone is quarried for building and agricultural purposes. The manor was purchased of G. Osbaldeston, Esq., by the Hon. Marmaduke Langley, in 1839. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £14. 17. 6.; net income, £320; patron, Earl Fitzwilliam; impropriator, the Hon. M. Langley. The tithes were commuted for land and an annual money payment in 1790. The church is an ancient edifice, with a square tower; in the churchyard is a curious pillar. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. HUTTON-CONYERS, an extra-parochial liberty, in the wapentake of Allertonshire, though locally in that of Hallikeld, N. riding of York, 1¾ mile (N. N. E.) from Ripon; containing 190 inhabitants. This place was anciently the residence of a branch of the Conyers family, whose Hall appears to have been on the north side of the village, in a field still called the Hallgarth. It comprises 3059a. 2r. 3p.: the village is pleasantly situated upon a bold acclivity on the north bank of the Ure. The inhabitants attend the new church at Sharrow, on the West riding side of the river. HUTTON-CRANSWICK (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Driffield, Bainton-Beacon division of the wapentake of Harthill, E. riding of York; consisting of the townships of Hutton-Cranswick, Rotsea, and Sunderlandwick; and containing 1228 inhabitants, of whom 1154 are in the township of Hutton-Cranswick, 3½ miles (S.) from Driffield. This place is thought to have been more considerable than it is at present, and there are four or five mansions the moats around which still remain; the neighbourhood was the arena of fierce engagements between the Saxons and Danes, and traces of a fortified camp exist at Hutton. The parish comprises by computation 6230 acres, of which 4710 are in the township. It is bounded on the east by the navigable river Hull, on which are extensive flour-mills, and by which the produce is shipped to the Humber; the surface is boldly undulated, and the higher grounds command views over the Wolds and of Holderness. The villages of Hutton and Cranswick are within half a mile of each other, the former on an eminence, and the latter in a vale, and are neatly built and well inhabited. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £15. 8. 6½.; net income, £130, with a house; patron, Lord Hotham. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1769. The church, supposed to have been built in the reign of Henry III., is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a lofty embattled tower, and contains an ancient Norman font ornamented with sculpture. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists. HUTTON-HANG, a township, in the parish of Fingall, union of Leyburn, wapentake of HangWest, N. riding of York, 3¼ miles (E. by N.) from Middleham; containing 43 inhabitants. This township, which comprises about 580 acres, is divided into High and Low, and gives name to the two wapentakes of Hang-East and Hang-West: the river Ure passes on the west and south. HUTTON-HENRY, a township, in the parish of Monk-Hesleton, union of Easington, S. division of Easington ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 1½ mile (S.) from Castle-Eden, and 12 (N. by W.) from Stockton-on-Tees; containing 287 inhabitants. It comprises about 1900 acres of arable and pasture, with about 100 acres of wood; the soil, in some parts a strong clay loam, is generally poor moory land, but capable of much improvement. The scenery embraces fine sea-views, and the air is very salubrious. Limestone is quarried; and at Hart Bushes, Messrs. Metcalfe, Wilson, Seame, and Co., opened a deep shaft for a coalmine in 1843: the produce is shipped at Hartlepool. The village stands on rising ground in the centre of the township, and the Stockton and Sunderland road passes on the east. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £232. 18. 1., of which £162. 18. are payable to the vicar of the parish, and £70 to the vicar of Hart. There is a place of worship for Roman Catholics, built in 1824, by the Rev. Thomas Augustin Slater. HUTTON-IN-THE-FOREST (St. James), a parish, in the union of Penrith, Leath ward, E. division of Cumberland; containing 264 inhabitants, of whom 165 are in the township, 5 miles (N. W.) from Penrith. The parish comprises 2300a. 12p.; 1880 acres are arable, 320 pasture and meadow, and 100 woodland. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £18. 12. 8½.; net income, £123; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle. A school was founded in 1715, by Thomas Fletcher, Esq., and others, and endowed with land producing about £20 per annum. HUTTON-JOHN, a township, in the parish of Greystock, union of Penrith, Leath ward, E. division of the county of Cumberland, 6 miles (W. S. W.) from Penrith; containing 25 inhabitants. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £9. HUTTON-LE-HOLE, a township, in the parish of Lastingham, union of Helmsley, wapentake of Ryedale, N. riding of York, 9 miles (N. W. by W.) from Pickering; containing 272 inhabitants. It is situated on the east side of the river Dove, and comprises 2860 acres, whereof 1800 are common or waste. The tithes have been commuted for £43. 18. payable to the vicar, and £93. 17. to the Archbishop of York. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. John Stockton, in 1839, left £10 per annum for the instruction of children. HUTTON-LOCRAS, a township, in the parish and union of Guisborough, E. division of the liberty of Langbaurgh, N. riding of York, 1½ mile (S. W. by S.) from Guisborough; containing 57 inhabitants. This place was granted by the Conqueror to Robert, Earl of Morton, and was afterwards held by the family of de Brus, from whom it passed to the Thwengs, by marriage. The Hotons subsequently possessed property here; at the Dissolution the estate was in the hands of the priory of Guisborough, and came to the crown, since which date it has passed through several families. The township forms part of the district called Cleveland, and comprises 1510 acres: the hamlet is east of the road from Guisborough to Stokesley. Here was an hospital for lepers, dedicated to St. Leonard. HUTTON-MAGNUM, a parish, partly in the union of Teesdale, and partly in that of Richmond, wapentake of Gilling-West, N. riding of York; containing, with the township of West Layton, 297 inhabitants, of whom 209 are in the township of Hutton-Magnum, 3¼ miles (E. by S.) from Greta-Bridge. The township, including the hamlet of Lane-Head, comprises by computation 1500 acres, of which a portion may be classed among the best and richest lands in the county; it is chiefly the property of Sir Clifford Constable, Bart., who is lord of the manor. At Lane-Head is an extensive limestone-quarry. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Gilling, with a net income of £52: the church is a plain structure. HUTTON-MULGRAVE, a township, in the parish of Lythe, union of Whitby, E. division of the liberty of Langbaurgh, N. riding of York, 4¾ miles (W.) from Whitby; containing 63 inhabitants. This manor, called in Domesday book Hotune, was held under the Earl of Morton at the time when that survey was taken; the Mauleys subsequently owned the estate, and from them it descended, through the Bigods, to the present lord. The township comprises about 880 acres: the hamlet lies in the southern extremity of the parish, about three miles from the parochial church, and a short distance south of Mulgrave Castle. HUTTON, NEW, a chapelry, in the parish, union, and ward of Kendal, county of Westmorland, 4 miles (E. S. E.) from Kendal; comprising the districts or places of Hay and Hutton-i'-th'-Hay, and the township of New Hutton; and containing 350 inhabitants, of whom 148 are in New Hutton township. The chapelry comprises 4489 acres, of which about 250 are woodland; the surface is hilly and mountainous, the soil various. The Kendal and Sedbergh road passes through; and the Oxenholme station of the Lancaster and Carlisle railway is distant only about two miles and a half. A large reservoir which supplies the Kendal and Lancaster canal, is situated partly in the chapelry. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £80, including a grant from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, patron, the Vicar of Kendal; impropriators, the Maste and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. The tithes of the college have been commuted for £123. 17. 9.; there is neither glebe nor glebe-house. The chapel was erected in 1739, and handsomely rebuilt in 1829 at a cost of about £600, and contains 280 sittings, whereof 100 are free, the Incorporated Society having granted £100 in aid of the expense of erection; it has a beautiful marble font, and the chancel window is bordered with stained glass. A school is endowed with £5 per annum. HUTTON, OLD, a chapelry, in the parish, union, and ward of Kendal, county of Westmorland, 4 miles (S. E.) from Kendal; containing 488 inhabitants. This place and Holmescales form a joint township; but the latter, though united with Old Hutton in the poor's-rate and in the partition of common rights, is a hamlet forming the extreme point, east, of the parish of Burtonin-Kendal, and ecclesiastically belonging to it. The township is situated on the higher Kirkby-Lonsdale road, and on the river Bela, in ancient records Betha. The old inclosed lands comprise 1827a. 1r. 9p. The commons have lately been inclosed, and considerably improved, some of the owners having planted trees, and others tried drainage and plough cultivation to a rather large extent: these lands comprise 1293a. 1r. 36p. The surface of the township is undulated, being a succession of well-wooded, gently rising, and well-cultivated little hills; the views, also, are extensive and pleasing, extending to Morecambe bay on the west, and the Lake mountains on the north. The soil is generally a light sandy gritty loam, in provincial phrase, "sharp." At the village of Bridge-End, on the Bela, is a small worsted manufactory, long established; and at Holmescales is a bobbin-mill. Bleaze Hall, for several centuries the seat of the Batemans, was a large and elegant mansion, which still retains traces of its former consequence in a fine oak-wainscoted room, dated 1624; Hood-Ridding, another ancient mansion, has belonged for more than two centuries to the family of Yates. The living is a perpetual curacy, with a net income of £98; patron, the Vicar of Kendal; impropriators, the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. The tithes have been commuted for £104. 14. 8. A farm belonging to the benefice, situated at Esgrigg-End, contains 19 acres, customary measure; and another at Flodden Hill, in Holmescales, 18½ acres, same measure; and an allotment of 13 statute acres has been added as the share of common for both. A neat and commodious parsonage was built in 1841 by the incumbent, the Rev. Francis Whalley, aided by a grant of £200 from Queen Anne's Bounty. The chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, was erected in 1628, and rebuilt in 1699; it is a plain edifice, having square windows with mullions, and a small eastern window which is a pure specimen of the old English style: a burial-ground was consecrated in 1822. There is a place of worship for dissenters. A school, built and endowed in 1613 by Edward Milner, and rebuilt in 1753, has an income of £19. 11. per annum; and a parochial lending library, for the use of the minister and neighbouring clergy, was founded in 1757 by the Associates of the Rev. Dr. Bray: it consists of nearly 400 volumes. A small estate, producing £18 per annum, and supposed to have been given by Roger Ward, of the township, is appropriated to the poor; and there are some minor charities. On the Bela, about a quarter of a mile west from the chapel, is a cascade with a noble volume of water. HUTTON-ROOF, a township, in the parish of Greystock, union of Penrith, Leath ward, E. division of Cumberland, 3¾ miles (S. E.) from Hesket-Newmarket; containing, with the hamlet of Newbiggin, 197 inhabitants, Here is a good freestone-quarry. HUTTON-ROOF, a chapelry, in the parish of Kirkby-Lonsdale, union of Kendal, Lonsdale ward, county of Westmorland, 3¼ miles (W. by S.) from Kirkby-Lonsdale; containing 319 inhabitants. It comprises 2120 acres, of which 600 are in Hutton-Roof Cragg; and contains blue and white freestone, and several quarries of limestone. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £80; patron, the Vicar of Kirkby-Lonsdale. The chapel, a small edifice, was built in 1757. A schoolroom was erected by subscription in 1773, and endowed by Thomas Chamney with £100. HUTTON-RUDBY, a township, in the parish of Rudby-in-Cleveland, union of Stokesley, W. division of the liberty of Langbaurgh, N. riding of York, 4½ miles (W. S. W.) from Stokesley; containing 911 inhabitants. This place, in Domesday book written Hotun, was the property of Gospatrick, Earl of Northumberland, but on the rebellion of that noble was bestowed by the Conqueror upon the Earl of Morton: it afterwards passed to the Meinells, who, in the time of Edward I., held the estate under the Archbishop of Canterbury by military service; and among subsequent owners, mention occurs of the families of D'Arcy and Conyers. The manor was once of considerable importance, and attached to it was a soke or liberty extending over several adjacent places. The township comprises 2184a. 24p., of which 1213 acres are arable, 681 meadow, 29 wood, and 30 in roads, exclusive of 229 acres exempt by prescription from the payment of tithes. The village, which is large, is pleasantly situated on the southern acclivities of the dale of the Leven, and a bridge over the river affords means of communication with Rudby: many of the inhabitants are employed in various branches of the linen manufacture. There are places of worship for Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists. A free school, founded in 1740, has an endowment. HUTTON, SAND, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Thirsk, wapentake of Birdforth, N. riding of York, 3 miles (W.) from Thirsk; containing 309 inhabitants. This district, which takes the prefix to its name from the sandy nature of the soil, comprises 1315 acres, whereof 879 are arable, 374 meadow and pasture, 26 in plantations, and the remainder sites of buildings, water, and waste. The village is neatly built, and situated on the road from Northallerton to Boroughbridge, in a flat but richly-cultivated district in the vale of Mowbray, about a mile from the river Swale, which skirts the parish, and about two miles from the York and Newcastle railway. The chapel, dedicated to St. Mary, is a plain structure: the living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £108; patron and appropriator, the Archbishop of York. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. About a mile and a half from the village is a pillar, placed on a massive pedestal, and called Sand-Hutton Cross; it is supposed to be an ancient boundary stone. HUTTON, SAND, a chapelry, in the parish of Bossall, union of York, wapentake of Bulmer, N. riding of York, 8 miles (N. E.) from York; containing 224 inhabitants. A neat and commodious chapel of ease has been erected, at the expense of J. Walker, Esq., proprietor of the lands, in consideration of the distance of the inhabitants from the parish church. HUTTON-SESSAY, a township, in the parish of Sessay, union of Thirsk, wapentake of Allertonshire, N. riding of York, 5¾ miles (N. W.) from Easingwould; containing 114 inhabitants. It comprises 600 acres, and is situated to the north of a rivulet, a tributary of the Swale: the village stands on an eminence, surrounded by picturesque and well-wooded scenery. HUTTON, SHERIFF (St. Helen), a parish, partly in the union of Malton, and partly in that of York, wapentake of Bulmer, N. riding of York; containing, with the townships of Cornbrough, Lillings-Ambo, and Stittenham, 1316 inhabitants, of whom 955 are in the township of Sheriff-Hutton, 10 miles (N. N. E.) from York. This place is celebrated for its castle, erected in the time of Stephen (1140) by Bertram de Bulmer, from whose family it descended by marriage to the Nevilles, who held it till the battle of Barnet, in 1471, when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, was slain, and his estates confiscated. Edward IV. bestowed it upon his brother, subsequently Richard III., and it became the prison of Edward Plantagenet, who was confined within its walls until the death of Richard on Bosworth-Field: the Princess Elizabeth of York, afterwards consort of Henry VII., was also confined here. The castle and manor remained in the hands of the crown till 1625, when they were granted to the Ingrams. The ruins of the castle are of quadrangular form, with a large open court in the centre, and the angles flanked with high square towers; a considerable part of the warder's tower, over the eastern gateway, still remains. The parish comprises by measurement 8590 acres, of which 4800 are in the township, and which, with the exception of 120 acres of woodland and 260 waste, are equally divided between arable and pasture. The surface is undulated; the soil generally of moderate quality, but rich in the valley; and the scenery picturesque, embracing panoramic views including the Howardian hills, the cathedral of York, &c. A charter for a market and fair was granted in 1377, but neither had been held for a considerable time previous to 1839, when two fairs were established, one on Easter-Monday, and the other on Martinmas-day. The village, anciently Hotune, displays the singular appearance of hill and valley, a deep ravine running through the greater part of the main street, and the houses and cottages being built high up on each side. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £36, and in the patronage of the Archbishop of York (the appropriator), with a net income of £194: the tithes were commuted for land in 1769. The church, a very ancient edifice, was appropriated to the priory of Marton, and granted at the Dissolution to the see of York; it stands on an eminence, and consists of a nave, chancel, and aisles, with a fine tower. The eastern window is large and of handsome branching tracery, and a few fragments of stained glass are preserved: in the north aisle is the recumbent figure of a Knight Templar; and a monument of alabaster represents a young female, also recumbent. There are places of worship for Primitive Methodists and Wesleyans; and a parochial school supported by subscription, aided by an endowment of £16 per annum. HUTTON-SOIL, a township, in the parish of Greystock, union of Penrith, Leath ward, E. division of Cumberland, 6 miles (W. by S.) from the town of Penrith; containing 359 inhabitants. HUTTONS-AMBO (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Malton, wapentake of Bulmer, N. riding of York, 3 miles (N. E.) from Whitwell; consisting of High and Low Hutton, and containing 408 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the east by the river Derwent, and comprises by computation 2300 acres, chiefly arable, with an intermixture of wood and meadow; the surface is undulated, the soil of various quality, and the scenery picturesque. The village of Low Hutton, or Huttonupon-Derwent, is on the banks of the river, and High Hutton stands near the road from York to Malton. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £93; patron, the Archbishop of York; impropriators, Lord Macdonald, the Earl of Carlisle, and others. The tithes were commuted for land in 1805. The church is small. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. HUXHAM, a parish, in the union of St. Thomas, hundred of Wonford, Wonford and S. divisions of Devon, 3¾ miles (N. N. E.) from Exeter; containing 150 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the river Culm, comprises 765 acres; the soil is partly sandy, and partly clay, and there are some valuable mines of manganese. The living is a rectory, united to that of Poltimore, and valued in the king's books at £8. 6. 8.: the tithes have been commuted for £118, and the glebe comprises 22 acres. HUXLEY, a township, in the parish of Waverton, union of Great Boughton, Lower division of the hundred of Broxton, S. division of the county of Chester, 3¾ miles (W. by S.) from Tarporley; containing 279 inhabitants. The township comprises about 1300 acres, of a clayey soil. The Chester canal passes on the south side. Huxley Hall is a curious specimen of early architecture; the original ceilings in some of the apartments are still preserved, exhibiting richly embossed groinings, and the ancient stone mullions yet remain in the spacious windows. It is now a farmhouse. A rent-charge of £135 has been awarded in lieu of tithes. HUYTON (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Prescot, hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire; containing, with the townships of Knowsley, Roby, and Tarbock, 3749 inhabitants, of whom 1263 are in the township of Huyton, 7 miles (E.) from Liverpool. In the time of Edward the Confessor, the district was in the possession of two thanes. The Lathoms were early proprietors, being mentioned in the reign of Henry III. Isabella, the heiress of Sir Thomas Lathom, brought a large portion of the property to Sir John Stanley, and the heiress of another branch of the family conveyed by marriage their estate here to the Harringtons: the heiress of the Harringtons married into the family of Molineau, of New Hall. The parish comprises by measurement 10,063 acres, whereof 1755 are in Huyton township. The land is principally arable; about 2025 acres are woodland and park-grounds: the surface is elevated and undulating, the soil various, the air salubrious, and the scenery beautiful. The stream anciently designated the Terbeck skirts the southern verge of the parish; rising near Childwall, and passing by Little Woolton and Tarbock, it descends into the Mersey at Hale-Bank, in Halewood. A branch, also, of the Alt, a small affluent of the Irish Sea, flows from the vicinity of Huyton to the north-west, by Croxteth Park. Coal, but of inferior quality, is raised; and to the east of the village of Huyton, is an excellent slatequarry. A brewery, belonging to Mr. Barker, was established in 1825. The Liverpool and Manchester railway has stations at Huyton-Lane, Huyton-Quarry, and Roby-Lane. In 1846 acts were passed for the construction of a railway from Huyton to Runcorn and Aston, Cheshire, a line of 12 miles; another to Warrington, also 12 miles; one to Prescot and St. Helen's, 5½ miles; and one to Edge-Hill, 4½ miles. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 9.; net income, £300, with a house; patron, the Earl of Derby. The original church was of considerable antiquity, having been granted to the priory of Burscough, at the time of its foundation, by the first Robert de Lathom. The oldest portion of the present noble church is supposed to be a relic preserved at the rebuilding in 1647. The structure is partly in the early English style, and consists of a tower, nave, aisles, and chancel; the body is divided from the aisles by low strong circular columns with fluted mouldings bearing semicircular arches: the east window and several others are adorned with stained glass. The edifice was repaired in 1663; the present tower was built in the last century, the interior enlarged in 1823, and the chancel lengthened and improved in 1847. At Knowsley is a separate incumbency. A place of worship for Independents was built in 1836. There is a school with an endowment of £10 per annum, and other schools are supported by subscription.

2019-04-20T06:15:35Z

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp594-598

Do you know what a blessing it would be to have this be an iPad mission? To be able to have every Church resource at our fingertips? Not having to carry around the standard works in our bags? Being able to show any Mormon Message ever? The next roll out of iPads will be soon, and this mission reeeally wants them! Please pray for this mission that we will get iPads!!! Thank you! Now on to your regularly scheduled email! This week has been pretty... Interesting. As usual, right? But really! Wednesday morning there was a world-wide missionary broadcast from Salt Lake. All the missionaries in our stake got together in the Relief Society room of our stake center and watched it. As we sang hymns and listened to the speakers, I felt such a unity knowing that nearly all the missionaries around the world were singing with me, were hearing the same words from the same inspired speakers. We were told to focus on teaching repentance and baptism in every lesson we participate in, whether it be with an investigator or a member. Repenting leads people to be baptized which leads them on the journey of making more covenants with their father in heaven and preparing to return to Father in Heaven and to stay with Him. On another note, our front door fell off!... Again! We called our housing coordinators and our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Jones, and our door was back on its hinges in no time. We taught the Macias family twice this week. The younger girls and I have a really strong bond, and when we have time after the lessons, I'll draw princesses in their sketchbooks, and they'll draw flowers and princesses in mine. The faith they have in Jesus Christ is magnificent. They're all so excited for baptism, and signed all the paperwork, and are choosing someone to baptize them, and are praying, and reading the Book of Mormon, and are amazing. The love I have for them is a love that I didn't think possible. I love them like my own family. I know that what I feel for them is a mere fraction of what the Savior feels for them, and we remind them every lesson that Christ knows them, loves them, and is so proud of them for making this decision. I never thought that I'd be a part of an entire family's conversion. This is a testimony to me that Heavenly Father loves His children. He loves the Macias family and prepared them for learning about the Gospel from Sister Roberts and me. But He also loves me because being a part of this is something beyond my wildest dreams. I'm so grateful for them, for my Father, for my Savior, for my dear companion, and for this mission! Speaking of Sister Roberts, the poor thing is sick yet again! She was bed-ridden for two days straight, and while she rested, I read every single Ensign in our apartment, we watched The Testaments, Meet the Mormons, and 17 Miracles. We've read our scriptures, we wrote President Mullen a letter (and drew a little picture for him!) and slept. How did we sleep! It was a tender mercy that I haven't gotten ill, even with being with my contaminated companion this long time;) I owe it all to Lysol. Welp! God is good and He loooooves you! Hugs and kisses forever! Oh my golly gee willikers! What a week! I feel like I say that every week, but that's because every week is a new adventure! I'm so grateful for everything. It's been amazing. Our week actually started off pretty shaky. We had so many scheduled appointments, golden investigators, opportunities to teach, and almost all of them fell through. There was one couple who came to our church building, asked a member what we believed, and enjoyed what they heard! They invited us back to their home later in the week. We stopped by and shared a quick message, but when we asked if they wanted to learn more, they said they were terribly uninterested. Our hearts were broken, and we returned to our apartment. As you can tell, the sorrow from the lack of interest of this couple discontinued to phase me after I shoved a few handfuls of Cheerios in my face. Sometimes it's all you can do. However, the week slowly began to improve. Sister Roberts and I made it a goal to have as many lessons as possible, visit as many potential investigators as possible, be as on fire as we possible could! Even though lessons fell through, we had so many back-ups. Heavenly Father even gave us a few surprises! Little miracles started popping up here and there and it was so wonderful to be able to recognize them. For instance: There was a member we were trying to get a hold of for 4 months. She was never home, or never answered her door. We were ready to give up, but decided to try one last time before we gave up all hope. Rang her doorbell. Waited. Knocked on her door. Waited-She answered!!?! "You Sisters want to come in?" "Yes, we do!" We taught a lesson to her and her 5 year old son, and she spent a lot of time talking to us. Life has been so difficult for here these past few weeks, and just having someone to talk to was relieving. She invited us to come back to share more with her, and we are so excited! We had some really interesting experiences walking too. We walked in the more humble part of Hemet and were expecting to see scary thugs and robberies and all kinds of iniquity, but the community was safe, friendly, and charitable towards one another. We met a man and he is a modern-day Jean Valjean! He was in prison for (almost) 19 years, would've lived his old ways if it wasn't for a kind older gentleman who gave him a chance and asked for his help with running his store. He proved himself a good man, and the gentleman soon passed away... But he left his store and all he had to the man who had a change of heart. Now Valjean (his real name is Efrain) owns four stores, owns five homes (four of which less fortunate families live in), has a good reputation, loves his fellow man and God... What a guy! We'll be visiting him this week soon! That same day we as we walked, we were finishing up and headed to the car. I noticed a man standing in his yard in the direction opposite of where we were headed. I had a prompting to turn back and talk to him before we left. I expressed this feeling to Sister Roberts, and we agreed to go back. We spun on our heels and went forth. We smiled and complimented him on his pit bull, and started talking about what a blessing dogs were. Once we mentioned Heavenly Father, he said, "We're not going there today." He looked down and seemed troubled. I asked quietly, "Is everything alright?" The man's lip quivered and his voice broke as he told us that his son's best friend had passed away the previous evening. "It was supposed to be his 13th birthday today," he said. We all stood there crying together. Sister Roberts bore her testimony that he was in a better place, that we'd all see one another again. Though he wasn't interested, we planted a seed. A seed of hope, faith, and love. We pray that his heart, and the hearts of his family will all feel the love and comfort from our Father in Heaven. Sunday was a stressful day. We sat in sacrament meeting, saving a whole bench for the Macias family. We looked left and right every so often trying to find which door they'd enter in, but after the sacrament had been blessed and passed and they still hadn't shown up, we gave up and sat in utter sorrow. Sister Roberts made the comment that she knew it was too good to be true, and we both were so sad all throughout the meeting. As the closing prayer was said and we started the walk to the Gospel Principles class, three familiar faces ran up to us. "Sisters! We're so sorry we're late!" The three Macias daughters gave us all hugs and we were astounded! Sister Roberts looked at each other with open jaws and thankful hearts as they explained that they woke up late, but knew they still needed to come to church. The whole family had sneaked in the back while we weren't looking! They took notes during the meetings, and that night during their lesson, they expressed that they wanted their baptismal date to be moved closer because they could hardly stand waiting much longer! They told us how much they love to read about the Book of Mormon, how everything in it made sense! They told us how amazing and true everything we're teaching them is and how their faith in Christ has strengthened them as a family. Sister Roberts and I fought back tears for most of the lesson. How amazing is this work! How wonderful is it that Heavenly Father is allowing us to be a part of their conversion! I love the Macias family with all my heart. Their love for Christ and His teachings is staggering. They are so amazing. The news of Alan Rickman's death brought sorrow to our hearts. We have a shrine to him in our apartment. Viva la Rickman. I love all of you! Hugs forever! Early Tuesday morning was my first earthquake! It was around 6:30 in the morning, and I was walking to turn a light on. My companion was still in bed and we heard rumbling in the apartment above us. We just assumed that it was the elephant people jumping up and down, but when the tables and chairs and light fixtures and my whole body started shaking, I started to freak out. "SISTER! EARTHQUAKE!" I stumbled around the apartment looking for a place to lay down (apparently you're not supposed to stand in doorways. You find an object to lay down next to so the ceiling falls on top of that rather than you) and my companion, who sleeps in the bottom bunk, tucked and covered and rolled directly from the bed onto the floor and stood in the middle of the room with me. The rumbling finally stopped and we both held each other and laughed. It was a 4.5! The next few days the rains came down and the floods came up! We put on our rain boots and started knocking on doors! A few men invited us into their homes, and we politely declined. We had rude people, kind people who weren't interested, and people who pretended not to hear us. It happens. The storms were so bad that there were several power outages across the city... And one of them happened in the middle of a lesson at 6pm. The neighborhood was so dark, you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. I was suddenly very grateful for the miracle of available electricity. Later in the week I went on exchanges with Hermana Bjork in her area! She serves in Moreno Valley, aka, the only city in the mission with a Chick-fil-A. Chicken sandwiches for lunch!!! I learned so much from her and we had such a good time! She taught me how to say so many silly things in Spanish:) We talked to a few crazy people and had to walk away from a few scary situations, but what a blessing it is to have the Spirit with us to tell us to walk a different direction, or tell us what to say! I love the Holy Ghost so much! But, I did miss my hija. Going back to Hemet was like coming home from a trip to a friend I hadn't seen in years. While I was gone, she had picked up a new investigator! What a good missionary!! We've had a few lessons with the Macias family this week and oh my goodness what a joy they are! All six of them have accepted the date for baptism on February 9th, and they are eager to learn. They write down questions and during our lessons, we can see one by one they cross off the questions. The Gospel makes so much sense! They read the Book of Mormon, they are praying to know of its truthfulness, the come to church thirsting for more knowledge consistently. I have such a love for them, and while we taught the Plan of Salvation, the Spirit hit me like a 2x4. God loves them. God wants them to return to Him. The only way for that to happen is if they're baptized and live the Gospel. That is why I'm out here! That is my purpose! My purpose is to unify families for eternity, bring people closer to Christ, show people Christ-like charity and love! Yesterday, rather than having a P-day, we had a conference with Elder Hamula of the Seventy. He reiterated to us our purpose as missionaries: To cleanse people through baptism so they can return to the presence of our Father in Heaven and stay there. It was such an honor to shake is hand, and to give his wife a big hug! The leaders of this Church receive so much revelation, and what a blessing it is to have living spokesmen of God on the earth today. A few missionaries from my stake and I performed a musical number for him! We sang Abide With Me 'Tis Eventide, and I may or may not have completely butchered the last note of the entire song. In front of a General Authority. No biggie! Either way, he's an amazing (and very, very) tall man who loves God and loves us as well. And there you have it! Know that I love each and every one of you, but that your Savior loves you infinitely. He knows your struggles. His arms of mercy are continuously around you. All we need to do is return to Him. May you have nothing but happiness this week! The apartment has been very quiet since the other Sisters moved out. It's also a pretty big apartment, so it's really roomy and sometimes Sister Roberts and I will lose each other because there are too many rooms to lose each other in. Sometimes it's scary. Okay, so this is what happened. It was early morning, we were studying, and we were bundled in blankets because our heater was kind of a little bit not working. Alright. So out of the corner of my eye I saw a movement of light, almost as if someone was opening our door. My first instinct is to scream because I need to let the intruder know that I can make his ears bleed with the shrillness of my voice. I whip my head around, still screaming, to look our assailant in the eye and show him that I'm not afraid of asserting my dominance still wrapped in a blanket. There's even more light in the room and a scraping noise. At this point Sister Roberts is screaming too because she has no idea why I'm screaming except there's a scary noise and we're both terrified and screaming and then there's a CRASH! and we're still screaming. You have to understand all of this took place within the time frame of 5-10 seconds. Very fast paced and very loud, thanks to me. There was no man breaking into our apartment. A lamp had fallen in the other room. There was no danger. There was, however, enough adrenaline pumping through our frightened bodies to keep us awake for the remainder of the day. All is well in the world! New Years was so fun. We joined the rest of the Zone on New Years Eve for s'mores makin' (courtesy of the lovely Sister Wuehler and her family) and Mormonopoly playin'. And the best part was that we were all in bed around 10! The first day of the new year was a hard one. Even though we had retired to bed almost half an hour earlier, the lullabies all night were those of sirens going off on the main road by our apartments, the small road next to our apartments, the apartment complex next door to ours. Don't drink and drive. But the year looks promising! I get to spend this entire year dedicated to the Lord and doing what He wants me to do. One of my resolutions for the year was to keep a dream journal. Also, Sister Roberts and I have started to ponderize! ( What is ponderizing? go to https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/my-heart-pondereth-them-continually?lang=eng and find out!) This week we're working on Doctrine & Covenants 11:8. AND we're trying to eat a little bit healthier!.. Which is killing me. I honestly think I'm addicted to sugar. I had dreams of cookie butter and truffles the one day I didn't eat them. It's a serious problem.... But we're working on it! We can overcome all of our trials and temptations (i.e. desire to make an entire batch of cookies and immediately eat them all) through the Atonement. I definitely need to rely on the strength of my Savior. We spent a majority of the first day of the year deep cleaning our apartment. There was a lot of surface area for only two Sisters, and then it was another story reorganizing all of our belongings. The other Sisters left an empty room (and an empty space in our hearts) and we made use of that spare room in whatever way we could. Also, taking over the whole ward is kind of daunting! There are people we've never met because they weren't in our area! But like I said: we need to rely on the strength of our Savior to overcome it all. In other news, we might be picking up a family tonight as investigators! Check out this story: They've recently lost their home, and have been living at Valley Restart, a kind of safe house for homeless families. A few of the children go to school where our stake's orchestra director works (I think??) and she invited them to join the stake's Christmas Concert Orchestra. They practiced for weeks and performed like angels. During all of that they attended our ward and stayed for all the meetings. They're looking into getting a house in our ward boundaries. During the deep clean of the church building, they showed up and helped. And tonight, we're teaching them the message of the Restoration at our stake President's home. They are an answer to prayers. They are miraculous. How humbling it is to know that Heavenly Father trusts us to be part of their conversion. In other fun news, we were kind of stalked by an investigator who thought we were at his house to break in and we met a man who rips up Bibles because reading frustrates him. Hemet is great! I love all of you so much! I'm grateful for the love and support I received this Christmas season, and I pray that you all feel the love our Savior has for you each day this year.

2019-04-23T06:25:28Z

https://sagesthyme.weebly.com/blog/archives/01-2016

With a private Teotihuacan guide & driver you won't ever "hold up" the group! This is a succinct SIX hour round trip to see the breathtaking UNESCO Teotihuacán Pyramids. Don't be dragged around in a group by a robotic guide, who says the same thing to everyone! Our guides are up-to-date on all the latest findings, they adjust the pace to you & are a joy to spend a day with. With luxury door-to-door transport & an informed, articulate expert at your side, this private tour is also known as Teotihuacán-the-easy-way !! Teotihuacán has the honour of being one of the most visited archeological sites in the whole of México. It is breathtaking in scope and vision, and easily accessible no matter your level of mobility. THE PYRAMID OF THE SUN AWAITS YOU ! CAN YOU BRING TODDLERS & KIDS TO TEOTIHUACAN? My husband, adult son and I took the 6 hour tour to Teotihuacan with Javier as our guide. The entire experience, from my initial email conversations with the Tour Coordinator, to pick up and drop off at our hotel, was easy and professional. Javier was an excellent guide, providing information about Mexico City on the drive to the temples as well as giving us great insight into the massive archaeological sight itself. The City of Teotihuacán was abandoned for unknown reasons around 700 A.D. At that time there were a massive 14 square miles of development. a sophisticated pre-Hispanic city of vast dimensions. Just an hour out of central Mexico City, are the incredible Mayan-slash-Mixtecan-slash Zapotec structures of the Pyramid of the Sun and The Pyramid of the Moon. These are situated within an amazing prehispanic urban layout called the Avenue of the Dead. Teotihuacan means 'The City of the Gods' in indigenous Nahuatl, which gives a strong hint about its importance and significance. Abandoned in the 8th century, these beautifully preserved archaeological sites are still being excavated, and new discoveries being made about the compelling and sophisticated architecture, function, and urban design of this pre-Hispanic city and its sacred & religious ceremonial grounds. The site became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. We believe the Teotihuacán Pyramids are a truly incredible pre-Aztec site that should be enjoyed, contemplated, and be given the time and space to evoke inspiration. Having a private guide is absolutely key to understanding the archeological, architectural, and anthropological significance of what you are seeing. The Pyramid of the Sun on the left. Ask your guide about its function & history. The Pyramid of the Sun is one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Hundreds of metallic clay spheres were recently discovered in three hidden burial chambers of The Temple of the Feathered Serpent. Cesar was the perfect guide, giving us enough information without overwhelming us with details. My husband and I climbed the pyramids but my sister in law stayed below and somehow Cesar managed to keep an eye out for all three of us! Our pyramid guides are licensed, and extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of Aztec & pre-Aztec history. Visiting Teotihuacán is not a sushi-train run for them. They are as excited as you to be there & to share their knowledge with you. Javier, Cesar and Santiago JNR & SNR each have over 20 years experience guiding in Mexico City. They have personality. They are NOT cardboard cut-out guides delivering robot speeches. They know their job is to give you solid information on anything and everything that interests you, be it a random question about why there are so many organ grinders in Centro Histórico, or whether the Aztecs ever met the Mayans, BUT they also know that people don't want to be talked at all day long! That is to say, the overall flow and feeling of the tour is as important as the number of facts you acquire. Our guides understand that giving you the chance to pause, and observe, and absorb are important too. That's why they are on the Stylewalk MX team. Anyone can churn out facts, but these guys are cool. They are real people, with real lives. They love their city, but they are not in love with the sound of their own voices! They are flexible to YOUR needs. The focus is YOU and YOUR experience. We call it being professional. You will call it relaxing, informative, and fun. Javier takes guests out for an awesome Mexican hot chocolate. Javier Tapia is our Director of Transport and Cultural Tours. Javier is a professional licensed guide (officially authorised by the Mexican Government) and has been working as a tour guide in his hometown of Mexico City for over 20 years. He has a really great attitude, his tours always have great flow and he is highly respected in the tour community as the Treasurer of the Tourist Guides Union. César Tapia is Javier Tapia's younger brother. César has been working as a professional licensed guide (officially authorised by the Mexican Government) alongside Javier since 2002. César is best known for his great sense of humour, his readiness to adapt to any situation, and his deep passion for Mexican history. When he is not on the job, he loves to take his dog for a walk and, like Javier, he has a definite soft spot for taking his cruiser style motorbikes out for a spin in the country. Santiago is our most experienced guide. Don't let his age fool you. He has the physical and mental stamina of the Energizer bunny. Not that he has anything to prove. If you want get take your time to get more in-depth into local history, or you are travelling with a family that takes things slowly, Santiago adjusts to you. Santiago loves meeting new people and he loves his city, so being a guide is the perfect job for him. It's just as well he discovered that so early on in life. We think it's kept him in great shape! Yup, you guessed it! Santiago Jnr learned the ropes from his dad, Santiago Guerrero SNR (see above), and frankly there is no better person in the world he could have learned from! Santiago Jnr has over 25 years experience as a guide. He specializes in pre-hispanic and colonial history and is adored by our visitors who have toured with him. Like all of our guides, he is GLTBi friendly and is used to touring with alternative family configurations. You can ask as many questions as you like because we DON'T DO canned speeches or canned answers! ​"My family of 2 adults and 2 children (ages 7 & 15) had an amazing tour. Given we were touring with a 7 year old, our tour guide paced our movements well; so that she had time to rest, play in the park as we talked about the surrounding graffiti and art pieces etc. My 15 year old's attention was kept; as well as the adults in our group. As we visited during an election season, we were able to discuss some politics too and in the context of the art seen on the tour. Definitely suggested; even and especially, if you have children. Prices are determined by the size of the private vehicle you require. Entry fees to the UNESCO Teotihuacán site ARE included in your tour price. Prices stated above are in US dollars & do not include tax. Got a large group? Can do! write in so we can send you a tailored quote. Don't forget to tell us how many guides you'd like to accompany you! Want a longer tour? Let us know ! Our driver comes to collect you at either 8 or 9am. Other departures can be arranged by special request. Your round-trip experience takes six hours in total. Our 9am departure time is designed to allow you to enjoy breakfast at their hotel/bnb, but still enables you to avoid the harsh afternoon sun at the pyramids and peak hour traffic. Due to client demand we now offer an 8am departure time, but please be aware that the total travel time can take longer at this time of day due to traffic. The actual UNESCO site of Teotihuacan Pyramids open at 8am. Teotihuacan IS open on Mondays!!! Way beyond our expectations and would love to reconnect with Javier the next time we are in town. His knowledge has inspired to come back. ​Got a large group and want a private tour service the the Pyramids, Mexico City? You've come to the right place! Our Toyota Commuter takes up to 14 people. When travelling in a large private group, please consider what configuration would help your guests feel comfortable and engaged. How many guides do you want with you??? Do you prefer two SMALLER vehicles with TWO guides? Would one LARGE vehicle with one private guide-driver be better? The Mercedes Sprinter comfortable accomodates 20 people, a driver-guide and an extra guide. "Laura and the other helpful guides at Stylewalk MX Tours took excellent care of us from start to finish....This tour was great for team bonding and I would highly recommend it for individuals or corporate group alike when visiting Mexico City!" Your last day in Mexico City? Short on time? 3) deliver you DIRECTLY to the airport . The price will depend on how many people are travelling with you. Ask us for a quote. NOT doing a stopover, but still short on time? and then take you straight to the pyramids. You had to travel halfway across the world to see the Pyramids, right? So are you sure you want to sabotage your pyramids experience with an X-factor guide and their same-old, same-old, fifty-times-a-week Teotihuacán story? Understanding what the function of each archeological area is key to feeling meta-level inspired at the pyramids. We believe a tour experience should be something you share. Not something you are subjected to ! Yes, there are guides for hire spontaneously on site at Teotihuacan. But think about this. Once they have signed you up and given you their robot version of the Teotihuacan story, they KNOW you are going to disappear into the world and they will never see you again. There is zero accountability for the quality of their work or their professionalism. If you thought their guiding was terrible, what could you do? Nothing. You couldn't write a bad review...you'd have nowhere to post it. You couldn't complain to your hotel. it wasnt their fault. And you most certainly wouldn't want to try hiring another one just in case they were any better! The fact is you would have wasted precious time, in a one-off moment in your life. in our heart of hearts, we don't believe that that is a risk worth taking. And that is exactly why we have created an alternative for you. It's called giving a damn about what happens. Our guides have a wealth of knowledge about the pre-hispanic occupants of Teotihuacán. They also know how to balance listening & walking, and will follow your pace. Our private Pyramids tour is 100% for you. It is designed to meet your pace, mobility level, and your specific interests. As you will see from our countless Tripadvisor reviews, our professional guides help bring the site alive. They love their jobs, they remain fascinated in the subject, and keep up to date on current research. When you come on tour with us, we enjoy the experience WITH you. We don't do robotic spiels or cookie cutter presentations. We prefer to inject some joy into this archeological wonder. With a private tour, you won't be made to rush, or be told you are 'slowing down the group' because there is NO group! The Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Sun afford panoramic views from their summit. Climbing is optional however. We follow your call. Javier, our tour guide, was knowledgable and affable. But even more, he had clearly put thought and effort into timing our trip to make the best use of the short day. The Basilica de Guadalupe was a beautiful experience and the pyramids were awe inspiring. All guests have the option of seeing the iconic Basilica of the Virgen of Guadalupe and/or the historically charged zone call the Plaza of 3 Cultures during their six hour Teotihuacán Tour. Your guide-driver checks in with you and asks if you'd like to include the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe and/ or the Plaza of the 3 Cultures during your tour schedule as well. These are en route and can be easily accommodated. Travel safely and smoothly to Teotihuacan. This is about a one hour drive. Your guide informs you of interesting urban, political and social features of Mexico City as you pass by. This is NOT wasted time! Your guide brings alive the history of the pre-hispanic cultures that travelled through and occupied the Teotihuacán Pyramids. You can also learn all about the current findings that scientists are still discovering in their research and excavation. Pause whenever you want to - be it to rehydrate, rest, or try a mezcal at the tours end. See the compelling the scaled model of the layout of the ancient city and the preserves painted jaguar mural at the small on-site museum. Time for lunch IS included , if you want a short break before returning to the city. Unlike group tours companies, we treat the hour spent travelling from Mexico City as part of the tour. The journey to the Pyramids & back offers us a fabulous chance to chat about life in modern Mexico.....such as politics, daily cosmopolitan life, commuting, & recent urban changes! Our guide, Santiago SNR spoke fluent English, and gave us a lot of good information along the way. We had a driver as well, Juan, so Santiago could concentrate on us instead of driving. Mexico City Weather is extremely variable. Because Teotihuacan is not very far from Mexico City, its weather likewise changes continually throughout the day. Get ready for anything and everything! The main thing to be aware of is the sun. Be it a hat, sun umbrella or sunblock, you'll want to be protected. Cloud formations move in and out a lot at the pyramids and the UNESCO site is very exposed. One minute it is overcast. The next you are in full sun. And frequently the UV INDEX is off the charts. See our Mexico City Weather and Mexico City Altitude tips for more info. ​Here's how to dress for a great day out! The main thing to be aware of when getting ready for your Teotihuacan visit, is the sun. Be it a hat, sun umbrella or sunblock, you'll want to be protected. Cloud formations move in and out a lot at the pyramids and the UNESCO site is very exposed. One minute it is overcast. The next you are in full sun. And frequently the UV INDEX is off the charts. Remember you are at high altitude, so a pleasant mild sunny day will still burn the hell out of you! 1) Comfortable walking shoes or sneakers. Beach thongs, sandals or jandals are NOT appropriate for climbing the pyramids because the steps are very skinny. In general, you will find the weather changes quickly at the pyramids.. Rain clouds float in and out, so so do showers. Usually there are no heave rainstorms un til the late afternoon. A light parka wrapped around your waist does the trick. And if the weather really turns bad, you are never that far from your private vehicle. Our driver always carry extra umbrellas for you in the car. 3) Long sleeve shirts are a good way to avoid lathering on sunblock every hour. One last thing. The pyramids are obviously steep but the actual larger area is relatively flat. The only time you'll be climbing is if you choose to go up the pyramids (and this is entirely optional!) Apart from scaling the pyramids, you probably won't sweat much! This is not a hard-core trekking activity. Our guide, Javier, was knowledgeable and friendly, and our visits to both sites were very much enhanced by the information he provided us. ​Click on the orange booking button. Identify which tour slots are available in our live bookings calendar. Remember these are private tours. Once you book a time slot, the tour is yours and yours alone. Reserve your preferred time/day with our secure online payment gateway. Receive an instant booking confirmation! You'll receive a personal email with detailed info with guide's mobile number. The day of your tour, your guide is waiting for you at your Air bnb/hotel. Set to go! If you need to change the DAY or time of your tour after booking, just let us know! Absolutely! If you need a child seat for your vehicle, it will be pleasure to arrange this for you. Please allow three days advance notice. Our tour guide Santiago from Stylewalk was fabulous. He was so knowledgeable and friendly. Most of all he was patient with our family that included 4 kids 8 and under. Our professional guides take their job seriously. There are over 200 glowing TripAdvisor shout-outs to prove it! As we avoid larger tourist groups, we booked this private tour for our 5-member family, including 2 young adults and a teenager. Santiago our guide is very knowledeable in many of Mexican history and cultural topics, and kept us entertained and informed. He and our driver were very patient and good humoured, and we had a very pleasant trip, including the adventure of going up the pyramids! Great experience!!! Todo muy bien con Santiago, muy interesante el tour y Santiago es muy amable y disponible. Me alegro que nos acompañe tmb a Teotihuacan. Thank you Matt for assisting me with booking three tours from Stylewalk. Communication with you was easy and you responded to all my questions and concerns. Thank you Santiago for being such a great guide. We appreciated your punctuality, your knowledge and especially your patience when answering my kids gazillion questions! To all: My kids are 10 and 12 and loved the tour. I recommend Stylewalk. Javier gave us an excellent tour of the pyramids. He was very professional, knowledgable, and engaging. Highly recommend! Very fortunate to have found Stylewalk MX through Trip Advisor. They had nothing but positive reviews, and now I see why. Javier, our tour guide, was knowledgable and affable. But even more, he had clearly put thought and effort into timing our trip to make the best use of the short day. The Basilica de Guadelupe was a beautiful experience and the pyramids were awe inspiring. Highly recommend this company and our guide, Javier. We thoroughly enjoyed our private tour to Teotihuacan and the Basílica de Guadalupe. Our guide, Javier, was knowledgeable and friendly, and our visits to both sites were very much enhanced by the information he provided us. We had time to explore some of Teotihuacan on our own -- to try climbing the Pyramid of the Sun if we dared -- and on the way back, we stopped at a restaurant and enjoyed a Mezcal tasting and some shopping. Highly recommend! Trying to book a tour in the next 36 hours? Our online reservations system has a last-minute lock off and will automatically show all tours as unavailable. For all last-minute bookings, please CALL us. Victor will try his best to make it happen! 1. Check out our partner hotel list. It is drawn from four years of direct feedback from our personal tour clients. Where you stay in Mexico City can make a HUGE difference to your stay. Many people think the Frida Kahlo neighbourhood of Coyoacan is the epi-center of CDMX. Logistically speaking, nothing could be further from the truth! We have partnered with the bnbs and hotels that our tour guests consider to be fantastic Mexico City accomodation options - be it for mid or upscale budgets. 2. Gay marriage is legal in CDMX. We are a LGBTI friendly company. Every sexual, religious, or political orientation is welcome on tour with us. We only work with tour guides who naturally relate well to new people and different lifestyles.. Our guides are openminded, cosmopolitan people, who know that colour and diversity make the world a better place! 4. Giving back. Being socially responsible is built into Stylewalk's business model. Aside from directly supporting the best local Mexican businesses, a percentage of your tour payment goes directly to sustainable development projects.  and a local legal movement dedicated to stamping out corruption in government. Have questions about estimating traffic travel times, currency, airport pick up/drop off, tour refunds or safety in Mexico City??? Check our common visitor FAQs. 6. The weather is not quite what you might imagine! Check the annual weather chart for Mexico City !

2019-04-24T17:53:49Z

https://www.stylewalkmexico.com/teotihuacan-pyramids-private-tour/

1Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Department of Neuroimmunology, Martinsried, Germany. 2Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Molecular Immunology, Munich, Germany. 3Hertie Senior Professor and 4Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, Munich, Germany. Address correspondence to: Naoto Kawakami or Hartmut Wekerle, Max-Lebsche-Platz 31, 81377 Munich, Germany. Phone: 49.89.7095.8386; Fax: 49.89.7095.8380; E-mail: Naoto.Kawakami@med.uni-muenchen.de (N. Kawakami), hwekerle@neuro.mpg.de (H. Wekerle). J Clin Invest. 2013;123(3):1192–1201. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI67233. Autoreactive T cells can infiltrate the CNS to cause disorders such as multiple sclerosis. In order to visualize T cell activation in the CNS, we introduced a truncated fluorescent derivative of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) as a real-time T cell activation indicator. In experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a rat model of multiple sclerosis, we tracked T cells interacting with structures of the vascular blood-brain barrier (BBB). 2-photon imaging documented the cytoplasmic-nuclear translocation of fluorescent NFAT, indicative of calcium-dependent activation of the T cells in the perivascular space, but not within the vascular lumen. The activation was related to contacts with the local antigen-presenting phagocytes and was noted only in T cells with a high pathogenic potential. T cell activation implied the presentation of an autoantigen, as the weakly pathogenic T cells, which remained silent in the untreated hosts, were activated upon instillation of exogenous autoantigen. Activation did not cogently signal long-lasting arrest, as individual T cells were able to sequentially contact fresh APCs. We propose that the presentation of local autoantigen by BBB-associated APCs provides stimuli that guide autoimmune T cells to the CNS destination, enabling them to attack the target tissue. Brain-specific autoimmune T cells homing to the CNS face a formidable challenge, the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which is a complicated composite of a central endothelial tube, concentrically arranged pericytes and phagocytes, and 2 basal laminas (1). This barrier blocks most of the circulating blood components, but its impermeability is not absolute. Most pertinently, the T cells mediating EAE have developed an elaborate set of sequential interactions with different BBB components to access the brain tissue. Most encephalitogenic T cells arrive at the CNS within the leptomeninges, where they attach to the luminal surface of the local small vessels, roll along a short distance, and then crawl before passing through the endothelial wall (2). At this stage, recognition of the autoantigen does not seem to have a major role; however, after leaving the blood vessel, the T cells make serial contacts with perivascular phagocytes and ultimately become activated. Although these phagocytes are distinct from classical DCs, they function as efficient APCs. In particular, as previously shown ex vivo, these phagocytes can present myelin autoantigens acquired from the surrounding CNS tissue (2, 3). These observations led us to speculate that the presentation of autoantigens by perivascular and interstitial phagocytes provides immigrant T cells with the critical cues that direct them into the CNS parenchyma. However, due to technical limitations, direct evidence connecting interactions of T cells with local APCs and following T cell activation has been lacking to date. In the present study, we applied a new fluorescent marker of cell activation: a truncated nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) fused to GFP (ΔNFAT-GFP) that contains the polypeptide sequence controlling nuclear translocation. 2-photon imaging resolution was sufficient to determine subcellular localization of ΔNFAT-GFP in vivo, and its translocation kinetics were fast enough to investigate functional T cell interactions with different structures of the target milieu. We used this construct to elucidate the interactions between T cells and APCs within the CNS leptomeninges, the main portal for CNS migrant encephalitogenic T cells. This approach allowed us to demonstrate that perivascular phagocytes, not endothelial cells, activate the incoming T cells. Furthermore, our results emphasized the effect of autoantigen availability on the locomotor behavior and pathological capacity of CNS autoimmune T cells. ΔNFAT-GFP–expressing T cells. We applied a GFP-labeled, truncated variant of NFAT1 as a “functional” tag to visualize the real-time activation events by which CNS autoimmune T cells cross the leptomeningeal BBB, the essential portal to the CNS parenchyma (3–6). The construct, ΔNFAT-GFP, contained the regulatory domain of NFAT1 that is necessary for phosphorylation, cytoplasmic sequestration, and calcium-induced and calcineurin-mediated dephosphorylation. Dephosphorylation induces a conformational change, which exposes a nuclear localization signal leading to cytoplasmic-nuclear translocation (7, 8). The NFAT construct was truncated to delete the DNA-binding domain of native NFAT (Figure 1A and ref. 9), so as not to interfere with gene regulation by endogenous NFAT. Upon T cell activation, ΔNFAT-GFP was translocated from the cytosol to the nucleus (Figure 1, B and C), similar to native NFAT1 (10). Cytoplasmic-nuclear translocation of ΔNFAT-GFP happened within minutes upon ionomycin stimulation; however, reverse transport from nucleus to cytosol after removing activating stimulus took much longer, around 1 hour (Figure 1, C and D, and Supplemental Video 1; supplemental material available online with this article; doi: 10.1172/JCI67233DS1). Most importantly, ΔNFAT-GFP–expressing T cells behaved like their GFP-expressing counterparts; in particular, their encephalitogenic potential remained unimpaired (Figure 1E). We concluded that ΔNFAT-GFP serves as a reliable genetic indicator of T cell activation for 2-photon imaging. ΔNFAT-GFP as an activation marker of T cells. (A) Native and truncated versions of NFAT. aa numbers are indicated. TAD, transcription activation domain. (B) Confocal images of resting in vitro TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells stained with membrane dye PKH26 and DAPI, before and after application of ionomycin. Scale bars: 2 μm. (C) Time kinetics of cytoplasmic-nuclear (c-n) ΔNFAT-GFP translocation upon ionomycin stimulation, and reverse nuclear-cytoplasmic (n-c) transport after ionomycin washout, in representative resting in vitro TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells. Bright field images (gray) were overlaid with pseudocolor images depicting GFP intensity distribution, from blue (low intensity) to red (high intensity). Numbers denote the relative time after addition (top) or washing (bottom) of ionomycin. Scale bars: 5 μm. (D) Cytoplasmic-nuclear ΔNFAT-GFP translocation times after addition of ionomycin, and nuclear-cytoplasmic translocation times after ionomycin washout. Each symbol represents a single cell; results are the sum of at least 3 independent experiments per condition. (E) EAE clinical course induced by transfer of TMOG-GFP or TMBP-GFP cells as well as TMOG-NFAT-GFP or TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells. Mean ± SD from at least 3 animals per group are shown. Representative data from 3 independent experiments per cell line. The encephalitogenic potential of autoreactive T cells depends on their antigen specificity. Myelin basic protein–specific (MBP-specific) T cells (referred to herein as TMBP cells) are strongly activated in the CNS and trigger classical acute EAE, thus qualifying as EAEhi T cells. In contrast, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein–specific (MOG-specific) T cells (TMOG cells) display no activation and hardly mediate any clinical defects; these are EAElo T cells (ref. 5 and Figure 1E). This discrepancy suggested that these 2 cell lines represent good candidates for the study of differential T cell activation in vivo. Activation status of intraluminal T cells. The first contact between encephalitogenic T cells and the BBB occurs on the luminal surface of the endothelial tube. The T cells attach to the intraluminal surface of leptomeningeal vessels, roll along a short distance, and then continue to crawl on the endothelial cells. Both modes of motion differ in the molecules used for the endothelial contacts. While rolling occurs along the blood stream and involves transient interactions between selectins and glycoproteins (11), crawling is often against the direction of blood flow and depends on the binding of integrins VLA-4 and LFA-1 (2). These interactions appear to involve some T cell stimulation (12); however, it is not clear which of the endothelial contacts trigger T cell activation, and what extent of stimulation is provided to T cells within the vascular lumen. The results of our 2-photon study were unambiguous: regardless of their pathogenic potential (EAEhi versus EAElo), the T cells crawled with similar velocities and for similar durations (Figure 2, A and B), and neither the crawling nor the rolling T cells showed ΔNFAT-GFP in their nuclei (Figure 2, C and D, and Supplemental Videos 2 and 3). We concluded that, if there is any activation of intraluminal T cells, it is not sufficient to translocate NFAT into the nucleus and, implicitly, to initiate gene activation. Activation status of autoreactive T cells within leptomeningeal blood vessels. (A and B) Intraluminal velocity (A) and average crawling time (B) of TMOG-GFP or TMBP-GFP cells. Results are sum of 5 different experiments per cell line. (C and D) Representative still images of crawling (C; from Supplemental Video 2) and rolling (D; from Supplemental Video 3) TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells. Arrowheads denote ΔNFAT-GFP–spared nuclei. Scale bars: 10 μm. Significance of differences was determined by Mann-Whitney nonparametric t test. T cell/APC contact after extravasation. Having crossed the BBB, autoimmune T cells promptly contact local APCs. To characterize these interactions, we initially compared the EAEhi TMBP and EAElo TMOG cells labeled with a traditional, static GFP (referred to herein as TMBP-GFP and TMOG-GFP cells, respectively) to outline their locomotion (2). TMBP-GFP cells moved within the leptomeningeal space with lower velocity and mean square displacement than did TMOG-GFP cells (Figure 3, A and B). We next examined T cell/APC contacts for these 2 T cell lines. These APCs exhibit mostly macrophage and not DC markers, and a substantial proportion expresses MHC class II molecules on their surface, which qualifies them as APCs (2). TMOG-GFP cells largely ignored the local APCs, moving continuously along straight trajectories (white lines in Figure 3C and Supplemental Video 4). In contrast, TMBP-GFP cells halted upon contact with the APCs, drawing trajectories that twisted around an anchoring point (white lines in Figure 3C and Supplemental Video 5). Contacts of TMBP-GFP cells with APCs were significantly longer-lasting than those of TMOG-GFP cells (Figure 3D). Confirming previous reports (2, 5), TMBP-GFP cells in leptomeninges and parenchyma upregulated the activation marker OX-40, but TMOG-GFP cells did not (Figure 3E). Motility of EAEhi TMBP-GFP and EAElo TMOG-GFP cells in leptomeninges. (A and B) Velocity (A) and mean square displacement (MSD; B) of TMOG-GFP or TMBP-GFP cells calculated from intravital recordings. (C) Still images of representative T cell/APC contacts in the leptomeninges: TMOG-GFP (from Supplemental Video 4) and TMBP-GFP (from Supplemental Video 5) cells are shown in green, together with local APCs (red). Blue trajectory lines denote no contact; white trajectory lines denote contact. Numbers denote relative time after start of acquisition. Scale bars: 10 μm. (D) T cell/APC contact duration of TMOG-GFP or TMBP-GFP cells calculated from intravital recordings. (E) Expression of the activation marker OX-40 on CNS-infiltrating T cells. Results are the sum (A and D) or are representative (B and E) of at least 3 independent experiments per cell line. ***P < 0.0001, Mann-Whitney nonparametric t test. ΔNFAT-GFP translocation in perivascular T cells. To link the contact-dependent changes in T cell locomotion with cell activation directly, we compared EAEhi TMBP and EAElo TMOG cells expressing ΔNFAT-GFP (referred to herein as TMBP-NFAT-GFP and TMOG-NFAT-GFP cells, respectively). In order to enhance visualization of the marker’s subcellular location, we counterstained the cells with SNARF-1 (13), thus labeling both cytosol and nucleus. To avoid dilution of SNARF-1 staining, we labeled CD4+ T cells isolated from spleen 3 days after transfer of ΔNFAT-GFP–expressing T cells, then transferred them into WT recipients (Supplemental Figure 1). Transferred CD4+ T cell–enriched splenocytes penetrated into the CNS meninges more rapidly than did in vitro activated T cells (14). SNARF-1 counterstaining allowed for determination of ΔNFAT-GFP location in up to 90% of all of cells and facilitated the distinction of 3 ΔNFAT-GFP localization patterns (Figure 4A): cytoplasmic, located in the cytosol and not the nucleus (indicative of resting T cells); nuclear, located in the nucleus and not the cytosol (indicative of activated T cells); and localization in both cytosol and nucleus (indicative of transitional T cells). In vivo T cell activation, shown by nuclear translocation of the ΔNFAT-GFP marker. (A) 3 patterns of ΔNFAT-GFP (green) and SNARF-1 (red) in double-labeled T cells: cytoplasmic (c), nuclear (n), and nuclear/cytoplasmic (nc). Scale bar: 5 μm. (B) Still images of TMOG-NFAT-GFP or TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells in the CNS. Scale bars: 10 μm. (C) Categorization of the ΔNFAT-GFP patterns in TMOG-NFAT-GFP and TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells; relative representation was calculated. na, not analyzable. (D) T cell trajectories from representative movies were superimposed on the coordinates; each line starts at 0. ΔNFAT-GFP location is denoted by line color. (E) Velocity of T cells with different ΔNFAT-GFP locations. (F) Velocity (averaged over 3 time points) of representative TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells changing ΔNFAT-GFP location. Light and dark red shading denotes ΔNFAT-GFP in the nucleus/cytosol and in the nucleus, respectively. Images above show ΔNFAT-GFP localization (green) in a representative SNARF-1–labeled (red) TMBP-NFAT-GFP cell at the indicated times (in minutes; from Supplemental Video 7). Scale bar: 5 μm. Data in C and E are the sum of at least 3 independent experiments and 4 different videos per cell line. ***P < 0.001, 1-way ANOVA followed by Kruskal-Wallis/Dunn multiple-comparison test. Importantly, in contrast to their intraluminal counterparts, more than 30% of extravascular TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells exhibited nuclear localization of ΔNFAT-GFP, and another 20% showed the marker in both cytosol and nucleus. Conversely, TMOG-NFAT-GFP cells restricted ΔNFAT-GFP to the cytosol (Figure 4, B and C, and Supplemental Video 6). Nuclear translocation of ΔNFAT-GFP was tightly related to the locomotor behavior of the T cells. Regardless of antigen specificity, T cells with cytoplasmic ΔNFAT-GFP were highly motile, with nearly straight trajectories; in contrast, T cells with nuclear ΔNFAT-GFP showed intercalated segments of coiled tracks (Figure 4D). In addition, T cell velocity directly correlated with ΔNFAT-GFP localization. T cells with cytoplasmic ΔNFAT-GFP moved at an average of 10 μm/min, again regardless of antigen specificity, whereas T cells with nuclear ΔNFAT-GFP traveled at a slow velocity (mean, 4.5 μm/min), and those with both nuclear and cytoplasmic ΔNFAT-GFP moved with an intermediate speed (mean, 6.5 μm/min; Figure 4E). The change in T cell velocity correlated with the change in ΔNFAT-GFP localization (Figure 4F and Supplemental Video 7). T cell/APC contacts are crucial for T cell activation. Nuclear translocation of ΔNFAT-GFP in the T cells correlated with their contacts to local APCs (Figure 5A and Supplemental Video 8). Furthermore, continuous APC contacts (average duration, 20 minutes) were required to transport ΔNFAT-GFP from the cytosol to the nucleus, whereas brief, transient interactions (average duration, 3 minutes) maintained ΔNFAT-GFP in the cytosol, regardless of T cell antigen specificity (Figure 5B). It is noteworthy that the cytoplasmic-nuclear translocation of ΔNFAT-GFP occurred shortly after contact with an APC (average interval, 4 minutes), whereas the average duration of this contact amounted to 20 minutes (Figure 5C). In contrast to this downstream translocation, the reverse nuclear-cytoplasmic transport of ΔNFAT-GFP required a longer period of time: once detached from the APCs, ΔNFAT-GFP was gradually translocated back to the cytosol, a process requiring approximately 30 minutes (Figure 5, D and E, and Supplemental Video 9). These results correlated to in vitro calculated kinetics of translocation (Figure 1, C and D). T cell interaction with local APCs. (A) 2 SNARF-labeled (red) TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells were successively activated (nuclear translocation of ΔNFAT-GFP; green) after contact with the same APC (cyan). Speculated outlines are shown by dotted lines. From Supplemental Video 8. Relative time after start of acquisition is indicated. Closed arrowheads denote T cell/APC interaction; T cells of interest (open arrowheads) are shown in the insets (green and red channels only). Scale bars: 10 μm. (B) Duration of T cell/APC contacts by cells with different ΔNFAT-GFP locations and of contact leading to cytoplasmic-nuclear ΔNFAT-GFP translocation. (C) Time required for cytoplasmic-nuclear ΔNFAT-GFP translocation, starting at the beginning of the T cell/APC contact, compared with the total duration of the same contact. Each color represents the same contact. (D) Time required for nuclear-cytoplasmic ΔNFAT-GFP translocation. Each symbol represents a single cell. (E) SNARF-labeled (red) TMBP-NFAT-GFP (green) cell undergoing nuclear-cytoplasmic ΔNFAT-GFP translocation after detachment from a local APC (cyan). From Supplemental Video 9. Relative time after start of acquisition is indicated. Closed arrowheads denote T cell/APC interaction; T cells of interest (open arrowheads) are shown in the insets (green and red channels only). Scale bars: 10 μm. Results in B–D are the sum of 3 independent experiments per cell line. ***P < 0.001, 1-way ANOVA followed by Kruskal-Wallis/Dunn multiple-comparison test. Contacts between T cells and APCs were promiscuous; some APCs could engage several T cells sequentially. The same APC was observed to interact with 2 distinct T cells, in both cases triggering ΔNFAT-GFP translocation (Figure 5A and Supplemental Video 8). In fact, sequential T cell activation by a single APC was not unusual. Conversely, individual T cells visited several APCs over time. Although most enduring APC contacts were established by the T cells showing cytoplasmic-nuclear ΔNFAT-GFP translocation, we also observed extended APC interactions by T cells with preexisting nuclear ΔNFAT-GFP (average duration, 10 minutes; Figure 5B). These findings suggest that already-activated T cells visit successively local APCs and that these visits either maintain their activation state at a particular level or escalate it continuously. Finally, we examined sequential versus stable T cell/APC interactions for their capacity to induce T cell activation. Nonactivating and activating contacts were distinguished by ΔNFAT-GFP localization: nonactivating contacts were shorter-lasting (average duration, 3 minutes; Supplemental Figure 2) than the activating ones (average duration, 20 minutes; Figure 5B and Supplemental Figure 2), and during nonactivating contacts, T cells maintained their high velocity (average, 9 μm/min; Supplemental Figure 2). Although we cannot exclude that the cells ultimately receive some stimulus after these sequential APC visits, our results indicate that long-lasting contacts are more important for T cell activation. Antigen availability and T cell activation in the CNS meninges. The discrepant interactions of the EAEhi and EAElo T cell lines with CNS APCs may reflect a difference in the availability of presented autoantigen. It is known that the myelin autoantigen is presented within the local tissue, yet the amounts of antigen are suboptimal, below saturating concentrations. In fact, addition of exogenous autoantigen enhances TMBP-GFP and TMOG-GFP cell activation and aggravates clinical EAE (4, 5). To explore the effect of autoantigen availability on TMOG-NFAT-GFP cells, we saturated CNS APCs with the exogenous autoantigen MOG by local microcapillary infusion. The effect of MOG on TMOG-NFAT-GFP cell behavior and ΔNFAT-GFP localization was drastic and immediate. Injection of MOG affected the locomotion of TMOG-NFAT-GFP cells and also prompted the nuclear translocation of ΔNFAT-GFP in up to 60% of cells analyzed (Figure 6, A–C, and Supplemental Video 10), which was more than in TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells without the exogenous antigen (Figure 4C). Similar to TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells, TMOG-NFAT-GFP cells showing nuclear ΔNFAT-GFP localization displayed reduced velocity (Figure 6D). In contrast, the motility of TMOG-NFAT-GFP cells having cytoplasmic ΔNFAT-GFP did not differ before and after MOG infusion (Figure 6, B and D). The contacts that led to cytoplasmic-nuclear ΔNFAT-GFP translocation were long-lasting, as were contacts made by T cells that had already acquired activation (i.e., nuclear localization; Figure 6E). This suggests that the T cells that displayed nuclear ΔNFAT-GFP were contacting the APCs to maintain their activation status, similar to the APC interactions observed with MBP-specific T cells. Because NFAT nuclear translocation leads to gene transcription, we confirmed T cell activation using flow cytometry. As shown in Figure 6F, the TMOG cells were activated only after soluble MOG treatment. Taken together, these results indicated that the increased availability of exogenous MOG changed the behavior of TMOG-NFAT-GFP cells from an EAElo to an EAEhi pattern. TMOG-NFAT-GFP cell activation by an exogenous antigen. (A) Representative still images of SNARF-labeled (red) TMOG-NFAT-GFP cells (green) interacting with local APCs (cyan) before and after local application of MOG into the imaging window. White and red arrowheads denote cytoplasmic and nuclear location, respectively. Scale bars: 10 μm. (B) Trajectory lines from representative videos before and after injection of soluble MOG (see Figure 4D). (C–E) ΔNFAT-GFP distribution pattern (C), velocity (D), and T cell/APC contact duration (E) in TMOG-NFAT-GFP cells analyzed before and after MOG application. Results from 3 independent experiments and at least 4 different videos per condition are shown. (F) Expression of the activation marker OX-40 on CNS-infiltrating TMOG-NFAT-GFP cells upon intrathecal application of OVA or MOG antigen, 3 days after their i.v. transfer. Expression was evaluated by flow cytometry on ex vivo isolated T cells. Representative results from 3 independent experiments are shown. ***P < 0.001, 1-way ANOVA followed by Kruskal-Wallis/Dunn multiple-comparison test. Immune responses against foreign or self-antigens are the result of complex interactions between immune cells and their surrounding cellular milieu. These interactions centrally involve contacts between neighboring cells, and these contacts critically determine the character of the unfolding immune reaction. Approaches to characterize immune cell communication in different milieus include real-time imaging and isolation of the interacting partner cells for ex vivo analysis, but, owing to the lack of suitable indicators, direct visualization of contacts resulting in cell activation has been futile so far. Our present study describes a genetic marker, ΔNFAT-GFP, that enables mapping — in vivo and in real time — the activation events in autoimmune CD4+ T cells passing through the BBB and the surrounding leptomeningeal space. ΔNFAT-GFP displayed qualities that appear to render it more suitable for 2-photon imaging than previously suggested activation indicators. Among these, TCR complex–related genetic markers, such as a CD3ζ-GFP fusion protein (15–17), or linker for activation of T cells–GFP (LAT-GFP) fusion protein (18), showed T cell activation by clustering at the immunological synapses. However, due to relatively low vertical resolution of 2-photon microscopy (typically, 3- to 4-μm spacing), detection of small clusters within 3-dimensional volume is not optimal. In contrast, ΔNFAT-GFP subcellular localization was reliably detectable in more than 90% of the T cells during intravital 2-photon imaging. In transgenic mice, GFP expressed from the immediate early gene locus NUR77 was used as activation indicator (19). This system can distinguish the strength of TCR stimulation according to GFP expression level; however, the GFP protein needs to be transcribed and maturated, a process that takes at least few hours, too long for real-time imaging. ΔNFAT-GFP nuclear translocation, on the other hand, occurred within minutes upon stimulation. Finally, calcium indicators had been used to monitor T cell activation in vivo (20); however, small-molecule calcium indicators are rapidly pumped out from T cells and thus fail to label them over extended periods of time. Thus, ΔNFAT-GFP fusion protein qualifies as a reliable indicator to detect rapid T cell activation induced by antigen recognition in vivo. The members of the NFAT family are expressed in a large number of tissues, most prominently in immune cells (21). In T cells, NFAT acts as a key factor in calcium-controlled gene transcription. After TCR engagement and intracellular calcium increase, calcineurin dephosphorylates NFAT, which then translocates from the cytosol to the nucleus, where — in cooperation with other transcription factors — it binds to DNA to initiate gene expression. However, although ΔNFAT-GFP is a reliable indicator of TCR/calcium-dependent cell activation, it is not absolutely specific. Apart from TCR activation, the pathway may also be triggered via nonimmune receptors; conversely, T cells may be stimulated via alternative pathways, which would not be indicated by ΔNFAT-GFP (22). This must be considered in the case of the intraluminal T cell migration modes for which no ΔNFAT-GFP translocation was observed. The negative finding of NFAT transition may exclude classic TCR-mediated activation, but not necessarily distinct stimulatory pathways with or without TCR participation. In the present study, we investigated several sets of myelin autoimmune T cells, sharing either genotype or antigen specificity, to correlate their behavior with their discrepant encephalitogenic potentials. Translocation of ΔNFAT-GFP was noted in the brain autoimmune T cells that had crossed the cerebrovascular wall, but was strictly limited to EAEhi T cells. Nuclear ΔNFAT-GFP appeared in the EAEhi TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells during and after contact with the local phagocytes. When isolated ex vivo, these phagocytes present locally produced myelin autoantigens to specific T cells, but the antigenic strength in vitro is weak. The responding T cells are activated to release cytokines, but do not proceed to mitosis unless supplemented with exogenous antigen (2). In contrast, the EAElo TMOG-NFAT-GFP cells readily crossed the BBB, but failed to translocate ΔNFAT-GFP. The lack of reactivation coincided with a lack of long-term contacts with local antigen-presenting phagocytes. We suspect that this truncated response reflects decreased availability of MOG autoantigen in the Lewis rat, involving decreased local production (23) and/or suboptimal binding of MOG epitopes to relevant MHC class II molecules (24). Imaging studies on the behavior of the T cells encountering exogenous antigens in secondary lymph organs have distinguished enduring stable contacts (synapses) from transient interactions (kinapses) (25). Formation of these contacts is determined by several factors, such as the available antigen dose (26), the nature of the APCs (macrophage-like APCs in the present study, instead of DCs, as reported previously; ref. 2), and the functional status of the T cells (27). According to this scheme, most of the APC contacts formed by EAEhi T cells in the leptomeningeal space qualify as kinapses (motility between 2.5 and 5.0 μm/min), whereas synapses (motility slower than 2.5 μm/min) were rarely observed. Both kinapses and synapses might be sufficient to translocate NFAT to the nucleus and to induce the transcription of activation-dependent gene profiles (28). NFAT translocation and, implicitly, intracellular calcium increases are considered stop-signals to T cells (29). However, this was not cogently the case in the leptomeningeal TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells, which continued visiting APCs successively in the activated, NFAT-translocated state. In fact, this behavior seemed to support our previous suggestion that contacts with leptomeningeal APCs serve to guide immigrant autoimmune T cells into the CNS parenchyma, rather than arresting them for extended periods of time. ΔNFAT-GFP may pave the way to new strategies to directly study contact-dependent immune cell communication in response to foreign and self-antigens. These contacts are manifold and complex and may lead to cell activation or to silencing. As previously demonstrated by studies of EAE models, brain autoimmune T cells are activated in the gut (30), then pass through different milieus in lung and peripheral immune organs, where they are deactivated and reprogrammed (31), before finally passing through the cerebrovascular BBB (2). The use of ΔNFAT-GFP allows for distinguishing activating from other cell-to-cell events. Beyond its use for studying brain autoimmunity, this class of reagents may be applicable to any study of immune milieus, such as during development, infection, and tumor responses. Animals. Lewis rats were obtained from and kept and bred in the animal facility at the Max Planck Institutes of Biochemistry/Neurobiology. Establishment of GFP-labeled antigen-specific T cell lines. The antigen-specific T cell lines were established from the LNs of immunized animals, as described previously (32). Briefly, 6- to 8-week-old male rats were immunized with antigen/CFA. 10 days later, the LN cells were isolated and cultured together with GP+E-86 cells (ATCC no. CRL-9642), which were transfected to produce a GFP gene-coding retrovirus, pMSCVneo-GFP. Alternatively, GP+E-86 cells transfected with pMSCVneo–ΔNFAT-GFP (aa 1–460 of mouse NFAT1) were used. The T cells were positively selected by specific antigen stimulation and negatively using an antibiotic resistance gene included in the retroviral vector. At least 3 rounds of stimulation with the antigen and subsequent expansion in the conditional medium were completed before the cells were used for experiments. For EAE induction, 5 × 106 freshly stimulated T cells were transferred into naive animals via the tail vein. Clinical scoring was as follows: 0, no disease; 1, flaccid tail; 2, gait disturbance; 3, complete hind limb paralysis; 4, tetraparesis. Flow cytometric analysis. T cells were purified at the peak of infiltration from CNS meninges or parenchyma as described previously (2). Briefly, meninges and parenchyma were carefully dissected, and single-cell suspensions were prepared by passing through a 70-μm cell strainer. To purify lymphocytes from the CNS parenchyma, Percoll (GE Healthcare) gradient was used. No further purification was necessary to recover T cells from meninges. The cells were stained with activation marker, CD134 (OX-40; Serotec), followed by rabbit anti-mouse IgG-PerCP (Santa Cruz Biotechnology). Staining was evaluated by FACSCalibur operated by Cell Quest software (Becton Dickinson). The obtained results were processed by Flow Jo 7.6 software (TreeStar). Confocal microscopy. In vitro cultured resting TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells were labeled with PKH26 Red Fluorescent Cell linker kit for general cell membrane labeling (Sigma-Aldrich). Some cells were treated with 1 μM ionomycin for 3 minutes, after which stimulated and nonstimulated cells were incubated on collagen-coated glass slides for 15 minutes to immobilize them. Cells were fixed in 4% PFA and stained with 5 μg/ml DAPI for 10 minutes. Images were taken with ×40 oil-immersion objective (NA 1.25) using Leica SP2 confocal microscopy. Fluorescent videomicroscopy. Resting in vitro TMBP-NFAT-GFP cells were incubated in a μ-slide I0.4 collagen-coated Microscopy Chamber (ibidi) for imaging. T cells were stimulated with 1 μM ionomycin during image acquisition, and imaging continued for 15 minutes after stimulation. Cells were then collected, washed of ionomycin, plated again in a new Microscopy Chamber, and imaged for another 2–3 hours. Time-lapse recordings were performed using an inverted microscope (Axiovert 200M) equipped with ×40 oil-immersion objective (NA 1.3; Zeiss). Images were acquired using a Coolsnap-HQ camera (Photometrics; Roper Scientific) and processed by MetaMorph (Visitron Systems). SNARF-1 labeling. ΔNFAT-GFP–labeled “migratory” T cells were prepared from host spleens 3 days after transfer. The erythrocytes were removed from the suspensions by osmotic lysis, and the macrophages by adhesion on culture dishes. Prior to SNARF-1 labeling, we enriched for CD4+ T cells using the MagCellect* Rat CD4+ T Cell Isolation Kit (R&D Systems). On average, 20%–30% of the T cells were ΔNFAT-GFP–expressing cells. The T cells were labeled with SNARF-1 (Invitrogen) by incubating for 15 minutes at a concentration of 1.25 μM. SNARF-1 labeling results in a strong signal in the nucleus, whereas cytosol staining is often weaker; therefore, ΔNFAT-GFP in the cytosol may be detected without SNARF-1 counterstaining. Intravital imaging. The surgical procedures and technical setup of the 2-photon microscopy were largely as described previously (2, 33). For excitation, the pulsed laser was tuned to 880 or 935 nm, and imaging was performed using a ×20 water-immersion objective (NA 0.95; Olympus) or a ×25 water-immersion objective (NA 0.95; Leica). The emitted photons were collected using nondescanned photomultiplier tubes. Typically, imaging was performed at a 40- to 50-μm stack height (3- to 4-μm z step) in approximately 25-second intervals. Image analysis. The position of the T cells in the 3-dimensional space was analyzed using Imaris software. Calculation of mean square displacement was described previously (34). T cell/APC contacts were analyzed manually; all physical interactions between T cells and labeled meningeal APCs in the 3-dimensional volume were defined as contacts. All representative videos were processed using ImageJ software. In some videos, the contrast was adjusted by liner rescaling, and the noise was removed using a Median filter and Gaussian blur. Injection of exogenous antigen. Soluble MOG was injected 3 days after i.v. transfer of TMOG-NFAT-GFP cells. Intrathecal injection into the cisterna magna was performed as described previously (2). Alternatively, during intravital imaging, MOG was instilled locally via a microcapillary (tip diameter, 13 μm; Biomedical Instruments) that was positioned using a microcapillary manipulator (Luigs & Neumann). The capillary was pushed through the arachnoidea through a hole cut by a high-energy 2-photon laser. For the injection, the microcapillary was filled with a solution of 10 μg/ml MOG protein and 0.2 μg/ml tetramethylrhodamine dextran. We injected a total volume of 3–4 μl of the solution. Statistics. Statistical evaluation was performed using Prism software (GraphPad). In all experiments, Mann-Whitney nonparametric t test (2-tailed) was used for 1 pair, and 1-way ANOVA followed by Kruskal-Wallis test/Dunn’s multiple-comparison test was used for more than 1 pair. A P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Study approval. All experiments were conducted according to the Bavarian state regulations for animal experimentation and were approved by the appropriate authorities. We thank Sabine Kosin and Marko Lazic for technical support. This work was supported by the Max Planck Society, Ludwig-Maximilians University München, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB571, projects C6 and B10), Hertie Foundation, Novartis Foundation for Therapeutic Research, and German Academic Exchange service (DAAD). Reference information: J Clin Invest. 2013;123(3):1192–1201. doi:10.1172/JCI67233. Odoardi F, Kawakami N, Klinkert WEF, Wekerle H, Flügel A. Blood-borne soluble protein antigen intensifies T cell activation in autoimmune CNS lesions and exacerbates clinical disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007;104(47):18625–18630. Flügel A, Bradl M. New tools to trace populations of inflammatory cells in the CNS. Glia. 2001;36(2):125–136. Hogan PG, Chen L, Nardone J, Rao A. Transcriptional regulation by calcium, calcineurin, and NFAT. Genes Dev. 2003;17(18):2205–2232. Okamura H, et al. Concerted dephosphorylation of the transcription factor NFAT1 induces a conformational switch that regulates transcriptional activity. Mol Cell. 2000;6(3):539–550. Aramburu J, Garcia-Cozar F, Raghavan A, Okamura H, Rao A, Hogan PG. Selective inhibition of NFAT activation by a peptide spanning the calcineurin targeting site of NFAT. Mol Cell. 1998;1(5):627–637. Shaw KT, et al. Immunosuppressive drugs prevent a rapid dephosphorylation of transcription factor NFAT1 in stimulated immune cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995;92(24):11205–11209. Piccio L, et al. Molecular mechanisms involved in lymphocyte recruitment in inflamed brain microvessels: Critical roles for P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 and heterotrimeric G(i)-linked receptors. J Immunol. 2002;168(4):1940–1949. Engelhardt B. Molecular mechanisms involved in T cell migration across the blood-brain barrier. J Neural Transm. 2006;113(4):477–485. Flügel A, et al. Migratory activity and functional changes of green fluorescent effector T cells before and during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Immunity. 2001;14(5):547–560. Yudushkin IA, Vale RD. Imaging T-cell receptor activation reveals accumulation of tyrosine-phosphorylated CD3zeta in the endosomal compartment. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010;107(51):22128–22133. Huppa JB, Gleimer M, Sumen C, Davis MM. Continuous T cell receptor signaling required for synapse maintenance and full effector potential. Nat Immunol. 2003;4(8):749–755. Richie LI, Ebert PJR, Wu LC, Krummel MF, Owen JJT, Davis MM. Imaging synapse formation during thymocyte selection: Inability of CD3 to form a stable central accumulation during negative selection. Immunity. 2002;16(4):595–606. Tanimura N, et al. Dynamic changes in the mobility of LAT in aggregated lipid rafts upon T cell activation. J Cell Biol. 2003;160(1):125–135. Moran AE, et al. T cell receptor signal strength in Treg and iNKT cell development demonstrated by a novel fluorescent reporter mouse. J Exp Med. 2011;208(6):1279–1289. Wei SH, Safrina O, Yu Y, Garrod KR, Cahalan MD, Parker I. Ca2+ signals in CD4+ T cells during early contacts with antigen-bearing dendritic cells in lymph node. J Immunol. 2007;179(3):1586–1594. Crabtree GR, Olson EN. NFAT signaling: Choreographing the social lives of cells. Cell. 2002;109(suppl):S67–S79. Pagany M, Jagodic M, Bourquin C, Olsson T, Linington C. Genetic variation in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein expression and susceptibility to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. J Neuroimmunol. 2003;139(1–2):1–8. Weissert R, et al. MHC haplotype dependent regulation of MOG induced EAE in rats. J Clin Invest. 1998;102(6):1265–1273. Dustin ML. T-cell activation through immunological synapses and kinapses. Immunol Rev. 2008;221:77–89. Skokos D, et al. Peptide-MHC potency governs dynamic interactions between T cells and dendritic cells in lymph nodes. Nat Immunol. 2007;8(8):835–844. Garcia Z, Pradelli E, Celli S, Beuneu H, Simon A, Bousso P. Competition for antigen determines the stability of T cell-dendritic cell interactions during clonal expansion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007;104(11):4553–4558. Moreau HD, et al. Dynamic in situ cytometry uncovers T cell receptor signaling during immunological synapses and kinapses in vivo. Immunity. 2012;37(2):351–363. Negulescu PA, Krasieva TB, Khan A, Kerschbaum HH, Cahalan MD. Polarity of T cell shape, motility, and sensitivity to antigen. Immunity. 1996;4(5):421–430. Odoardi F, et al. T cells become licensed in the lung to enter the central nervous system. Nature. 2012;488(7413):675–679. Flügel A, Willem M, Berkowicz T, Wekerle H. Gene transfer into CD4 + T lymphocytes: Green fluorescent protein engineered, encephalitogenic T cells used to illuminate immune responses in the brain. Nat Med. 1999;5(7):843–847. Odoardi F, et al. Instant effect of soluble antigen on effector T cells in peripheral immune organs during immunotherapy of autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007;104(3):920–925. Beltman JB, Marée AF, de Boer RJ. Analysing immune cell migration. Nat Rev Immunol. 2009;9(11):789–798.

2019-04-21T04:45:02Z

https://www.jci.org/articles/view/67233?elq=eb8890cc8afe4fca9388844704d16084

Connexions, an information clearinghouse founded to promote justice, democracy, and social and environmental alternatives, has compiled this Web gateway to selected resources on Israel/Palestine. These resources were selected to help those who believe that a solution to the conflict is possible only on the basis of justice, equality, mutual recognition and an end to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. A more extensive selection of books, documentaries, videos, documents and articles is on the Connexions Library under subject headings such as Israel, Palestine, Apartheid, Arab-Israeli Issues, Discrimination, Ethnic Nationalism, Gaza Strip, Human Rights Abuses, International Law, Israeli Apartheid (Hafrada), Israeli Settlements, Media Coverage/Middle East, Occupied Territories, Palestinian Refugees, Refugees, Refugees/Right of Return, War Crimes, Zionism. Other organizations may be found in the Connexions Directory, especially under Israel and Palestine in the Subject Index. The Connexions Web site — www.connexions.org — also features a library of articles and links concerned with alternatives and social justice issues generally. A printable PDF of the organizations, Web sites, and news sources featured on this page is available here. See below for more articles. Ali Abunimah. If there was ever a moment when the peoples of the region would accept Israel as a Zionist state in their midst, that has passed forever. Israel’s “military deterrent” has now been repeatedly discredited as a means to force Palestinians and other Arabs to accept Zionist supremacy as inevitable and permanent. Now, the other pillar of Israeli power – Western support and complicity – is starting to crack. We must do all we can to push it over. Israel in Gaza: A Critical Reframing. Jeff Halper. The critical reframing we offer, that of Israelis committed to human rights, international law and a just peace as the only way out of this interminable and bloody conflict, argues that security cannot be achieved unilaterally while one side oppresses the other. Justin Podur. If you want to have the first idea about what is happening in Israel/Palestine (or most of the rest of the world), the best thing to do is to turn them off the mainstream Canadian media. Naomi Klein. January 7, 2009. The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa. Advocates for a just foreign policy regarding Middle-East issues; demands that the Canadian government uphold and enforce all UN resolutions and instruments of international law, both in word and in deed; challenges the media to present balanced and objective coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A non-violent, direct-action group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories, now also engaged in resistance activities in other areas - land expropriation, settlement expansion, by-pass road construction, policies of “closure” and “separation,” the wholesale uprooting of fruit and olive trees and more. Gush Shalom (the name means “Peace Bloc” in Hebrew) is an extra-parliamentary organization, independent of any party or other political grouping, which has played an important role in setting the moral and political agenda of the peace forces in Israel, as well as in breaking the so-called “national consensus” based on misinformation. The primary aim of Gush Shalom is to influence Israeli public opinion and lead it towards peace and conciliation with the Palestinian people. A national human rights organization whose mandate is to promote a just resolution to the dispute in Israel and Palestine through the application of international law and respect for the human rights of all parties. The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Campaigning to transform the Israeli apartheid system into a secular democracy, where Israelis and Palestinians will live as equal citizens. A predominantly Jewish organization deeply committed to a peaceful and just resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, a resolution that will provide safety, security and freedom for Jews, Palestinians, and all others living in this region. We believe that such a peace can only be achieved when Israel withdraws from its settlements in the Palestinian territories and addresses the legitimate national and human rights of the Palestinian people. Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles. Believes that Israel is an apartheid state that resembles South African Apartheid and that justice will not be achieved without equal rights for everyone in the region, regardless of religion, ethnicity or nationality. Maps showing the extent of Israel’s land seizures. From the Interfaith Peace Initiative. Makes the case for action against companies that profit from the Israeli occupation. Partnership of Jewish and Arab eco-builders, architects, academics, and farmers promoting social and environmental justice in Israel/Palestine. Cultivates sustainable models to effect change by combining advocacy and in-depth political analysis with strategic action and utilizes principles of permaculture and non-violent direct action across ethnic divides. Zatoun (the Arabic word for ‘olive’) is a non-profit organization which sells Palestinian olive oil to benefit Palestinian farmers and their children living in occupied Palestine, and which works to create awareness for peace in Palestine. Excellent French newspaper with in-depth analytical articles. Also in English, German, and other languages. An American newsletter featuring numerous articles about the Middle East. Independent online newspaper providing daily news, commentary, features and book reviews on a variety of subjects, largely focused on Palestine, the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Middle East as a whole. UK-based Web site “aspires to redress the balance of world news and information by being a voice for the voiceless, by focusing on injustice and by providing an alternative interpretation of international and domestic issues”. News, summaries, and commentary by people opposing Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. In Hebrew, English and Russian. Web site featuring articles by Robert Fisk, Middle East correspondent for the Independent newspaper. Web site featuring articles of Jonathan Cook, a British journalist based in Nazareth. Presents Israeli and Palestinian viewpoints on prominent issues of concern, focusing on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and peace process. Produced, edited and partially written by Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian, and Yossi Alpher, an Israeli. Its goal is to contribute to mutual understanding through the open exchange of ideas. A more extensive list of articles, books, and other resources is available in the Connexions Library under subject headings such as Israel, Palestine, Apartheid, Arab-Israeli Issues, Discrimination, Ethnic Nationalism, Gaza Strip, Human Rights Abuses, International Law, Israeli Apartheid (Hafrada), Israeli Settlements, Media Coverage/Middle East, Occupied Territories, Palestinian Refugees, Refugees, Refugees/Right of Return, War Crimes, Zionism. Jewish Israelis celebrate, and governments around the world stand by passively, as Israel massacres Palestinians in Gaza. Inaction by Western governments ensures that Israel will feel embolded to commit further massacres in the future. The pro-Palestine solidarity movement could enlarge its following, convince more influential supporters, and get past trivial, harmful and sectarian disputes -- if it wants to. A boycott must be humanist, as is the cause of supporting Palestinian self-determination. Boycotting humanism allows the cynical internal corrosion of any political movement of the left. According to the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, an Israeli NGO, the Israeli government has demolished 28,000 Palestinian structures since the Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza began in 1967, resulting in the homelessness and suffering of untold numbers of people. There is little ambiguity about the morality of this form of ethnic cleansing, and even most Israeli legal scholars agree that it is in contravention of international law. Al Jazeera spoke with 11 villagers on the anniversary of Bilin's weekly protests against Israel's separation wall. How come all those Palestinians – all 1.5 million – are crammed into Gaza in the first place? Well, their families once lived, didn’t they, in what is now called Israel? And got chucked out – or fled for their lives – when the Israeli state was created. Ayman Rabi on the 2.1 million Palestinians who suffer an artificial water scarcity deliberately created and sustained by Israel’s military occupation and the private Israeli water company Mekorot. "What Comes Next?: A forum on the end of the two-state paradigm" was initiated by Jewish Voice for Peace as an investigation into the current state of thinking about one state and two state solutions, and the collection has been further expanded by Mondoweiss to mark 20 years since the beginning of the Oslo peace process. Once we connect the dots it is not hard to see that the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is only a small part of the Israeli Palestinian issue. The greater issue is the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine by the Zionist state. The way forward for Israelis and Palestinians alike is to oppose the ethnic cleansing by opposing all its manifestations. Eventually a state that represents all its inhabitants on the basis of equality and genuine respect and dignity for all its citizens is one that the world will some day celebrate, not a phony declaration that legitimizes the oppressive nature of one and confers false hope on the other. We, workers from all sectors, Arabs and Jews, marched to the square on Saturday with a clear message: Bibi, your time is up, go home! We marched with a socialist worldview, according to which the economy should exist to serve society, not capital. Those who truly struggle for social justice must seek universal justice. There will be no true welfare state until the occupation is ended! In the past 10 years Israeli forces have killed at least 255 Palestinian minors by fire to the head, and the number may actually be greater, since in many instances the specific bodily location of the lethal trauma is unlisted. In addition, this statistic does not include the many more Palestinian youngsters shot in the head by Israeli soldiers who survived, in one form or another. Some 20 political parties and social movements from both sides of the Green Line issued an historic declaration in support of the social protests currently rocking Israel and their necessary linkage to the struggle against Israel’s occupation and colonial policies. It is important that we preserve the distinction between the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian people, who have held on to their rights for so many years, and unleashed two of the greatest expressions of people's power and resolve: the First Uprising of 1987 and al-Aqsa Intifada of 2000. A whole population taking on the self-celebrated "greatest army in the Middle East" is hardly "powerless". The Palestinian people have printed themselves on the practical discourse of this conflict, and they have proved themselves to be powerful players in determining their own fate. The Electronic Intifada, the online publication about Palestine, finds itself at the centre of a storm as a pro-Israel group applies pressure to have a grant from a Dutch foundation withdrawn. This assault is part of a well-coordinated, escalating Israeli government-endorsed effort to vilify individuals and cripple organisations that criticise Israel's human rights record and call for it to respect Palestinian rights and international law. How should decent people respond to the Middle-East conflict? We should support equality, not Zionist ethnic cleansing. Equality is the way to make a better world for ordinary people from Watertown to Ramallah to Tel Aviv, and it is the only way to end racist ideologies such as anti-Semitism and Zionism. In the summer of 1947 a steamer named the Exodus set out from France to run the British blockade of Palestine. The British authorities boarded and seized the ship, and killed three passengers who tried to fight the British attackers. The British succeeded in preventing the ship from landing, but the event helped to turn world public opinion against the British. Israel's attack on the Gaza aid convoy may prove to have the same result. Israel's leadership is committed to "a dynamic state bent upon expansion". The greatest threat to continued expansion is the threat of peace. Whenever Israel's leadership is faced with the threat of peace, it initiates violence designed to stop it. Israel is feeling cornered on every front it considers important; and like Dayan's 'mad dog,' it is likely to strike out in unpredictable ways. These trends are likely only to deepen in the coming months and years. The mad dog is baring his teeth, and it is high time the international community decided how to deal with him. Without much stronger international pressure than the international community has applied to date, there is every reason to expect Israeli massacres to steadily become more severe, their PR rationales more outlandish. Mild diplomatic rebukes will not sway them. Unless serious costs are imposed for such crimes, much worse is yet to come. Once again the US government has permitted the Israeli state to murder good people known for their moral conscience. The Israeli state has declared that anyone with a moral conscience is an enemy of Israel. What happened with the Gaza flotilla was not an accident. You have to remember that the Israeli cabinet met for a full a week. All the cabinet ministers discussed and deliberated how they would handle the flotilla. At the end of the day, they decided on a nighttime armed commando raid on a humanitarian convoy. Israel is now a lunatic state. It's a lunatic state with between two and three hundred nuclear devices. It is threatening war daily against Iran and against Hezbollah in Lebanon. We have to ask ourselves a simple, basic, fundamental question: can a lunatic state like Israel be trusted with two to three hundred nuclear devices when it is now threatening its neighbours Iran and Lebanon with an attack? The Israeli government and its right-wing supporters have been waging a 'McCarthyite' campaign against human-rights groups by blaming them for the barrage of international criticism that has followed Israel's attack on Gaza a year ago, critics say. It is imperative that the international community view the Israeli response to the Goldstone report as a blatant attempt to whitewash its crimes in Gaza, and refer the matter to the ICC without further delay. To do otherwise will only continue to encourage Israeli intransigence. Reut's analysis vindicates the effectiveness of the Boycot Divestment Sanctions strategy. As Israeli elites increasingly fear for the long-term prospects of the Zionist project they are likely to be more ruthless, unscrupulous and desperate than ever. In a climate in which the call for a consumer boycott of Israeli goods is finally gaining strength, one area of Israel's economy is, as yet, surprisingly under-researched. Most of Israel's industrial zones in the West Bank are connected to illegal residential settlements and provide an indispensable economic backbone to the local settler economy. Business areas like the industrial zones are at the forefront of Israel's brutal occupation of Palestine, facilitating ethnic cleansing and acting hand-in-hand with the Israeli state in their quest for territorial dominance. It may yet be the case that, as in the anti-apartheid struggle, the shift in the relation of forces in the Palestinians' favour will occur not through diplomacy or as a result of armed resistance, but on the symbolic battlefield of legitimacy that has become global in scope. The brave people who took to the streets to demand boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel and Israeli companies have received a clear message that their efforts are not in vain. Private companies that seek to make easy profits in Palestine while ignoring the injustices and illegality of Israel's crimes there, will have to think twice about their investments. They may be required to pay a price in actual money for the moral deficit in their accounts. In a bid to staunch the flow of damaging evidence of war crimes committed during Israel's winter assault on Gaza, the Israeli government has launched a campaign to clamp down on human rights groups, both in Israel and abroad. Oxfam International presents testimonies of Palestinian men and women who recount their daily problems, arising from the construction of Israel's illegal Wall and its associated regime of land confiscation and permits, and settlement construction. Legally and morally, an aggressor cannot rely upon self-defence to justify violence against resistance to its own aggression. The most plausible reason Israel is fighting Hamas (and the PLO before it) is 'self-defence', not against rockets and mortars, but against having to make peace with the Palestinians on the basis of the pre-1967 borders as required by international law. As the Israelis try to justify the massive loss of civilian life in Gaza, their arguments and counter-charges continue to be shot down either by the United Nations or by international human rights organizations. The record shows that Hamas wanted to continue the ceasefire, but only on condition that Israel eases the blockade. Long before Hamas began the retaliatory rocket attacks on Israel, Palestinians were facing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza because of the blockade. The critical reframing we offer, that of Israelis committed to human rights, international law and a just peace as the only way out of this interminable and bloody conflict, argues that security cannot be achieved unilaterally while one side oppresses the other and that Israel's attack on Gaza is merely another attempt to render its Occupation permanent by destroying any source of effective resistance. As the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has once again flared up following Israel's ongoing air and ground assault on the Gaza Strip, the IMEU presents a comparison of Israeli and Palestinian military capabilities. (Jaunary 2009). In the past the world knew how to fight criminal policies. The boycott on South Africa was effective, but Israel is handled with kid gloves: its trade relations are flourishing, academic and cultural cooperation continue and intensify with diplomatic support. This international backing must stop. That is the only way to stop the insatiable Israeli violence. Demonstrates with cold precision how the consistent denial of truth about the Palestinians by governments and the media in the West has led to the current impasse in Middle East politics. Controversial, forceful, and 'above all' honest, it attempts to redress a sustained crime against historical truth in order to make a more rational political future in Palestine possible. Searing essays from Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, Peretz Kidron, G. W. Bowerstock, Ibrahim and Janet L. Abu-Lughod, Mumammad Hallaj, Elia Zureik, and Rashid Khalidi. Groundbreaking exposé of Israel's terrifying reconceptualization of geopolitics in the Occupied Territories and beyond. Challenges generally accepted truths of the Israel-Palestine conflict as well as much of the revisionist literature. This new and enlarged edition critically re-examines dominant popular and scholarly images in the light of the current debacle of a "peace" process. Author: Mearsheimer, John J., Walt, Stephen M. Mearsheimer and Walt describe the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel and argue that this support cannot be fully explained in either strategic or moral grounds. This exceptional relationship is due largely to the political influence of a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. Mearsheimer and Walt contend that the lobby has a far-reaching impact on America's posture throughout the Middle East and the policies it has encouraged are in neither America's national interest nor Israel's long-term interest. +972 is a blog-based web magazine jointly owned by a group of Israeli journalists and bloggers whose goal is to provide fresh, original, on-the-ground analysis and reporting of events in Israel and the Palestinian territories. More than an ordinary tourist guidebook, this book provides an in-depth discovery of the entire range of Palestinian culture: historical, archaelogical, religious, and architectural, as well as the daily realities of the Israeli occupation. This is a collection of interviews, edited, introduced, and annotated by Farber, a member of Jews Against The Occupation. The contributors are among the leading American Jewish critics of Zionism and of Israel's policies towards the Palestinians. The book articualtes the reason behind the dissent and a vocbulary and framework to express it. Leading Israeli scholar with a major re-evaluation of Zionist ideology and literature. A selection of quotes about Palestine and Israel.

2019-04-18T14:41:02Z

http://www.connexions.org/CxL-MiddleEastResources.htm

RON HOWARD: Thank you to all our media for joining us this afternoon. A reminder the WNBA Draft Presented by State Farm will take place on Monday evening, April 14th, beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern on ESPN‑2. That will be followed by second‑ and third‑round coverage on ESPNU from 9:00 to 10:30. I'd like to welcome to the call basketball analysts from ESPN, Carolyn Peck and LaChina Robinson. We'll begin right away with questions for Carolyn and LaChina. Q. Could I get some comments on what you see in Kayla McBride's game that will translate well to WNBA play. CAROLYN PECK: Kayla McBride has shown throughout her career at Notre Dame that every year she gets better. I happened to be in South Bend. Just looking at the pictures of their team on the wall, how she has transformed her body to be able to make this next step into the WNBA. She's a fierce competitor, tremendous versatility. She's got great strength and quickness. I think that's one of the things you've got to have in the WNBA. I think she can play from the small forward to shooting guard, run the team in transition when she needs to. That versatility makes her extremely valuable in the WNBA. LaCHINA ROBINSON: I agree with everything that Carolyn noted. I would add something that's special about Kayla is her midrange game. We talk about a lot of players that can dominate on the interior, the three‑point shot. But the midrange game seems to be somewhat of a lost art where you can basically create your own shot. I think we saw that separation during the Final Four for Kayla McBride where she can just take the ball and has an amazing midrange game, her athleticism. I think also she expects to win. She has an enormous amount of confidence. That bodes well for a player coming into a new league. Q. Carolyn, I was wondering if you thought there was any reason for the Connecticut Sun not to take Chiney Ogwumike first overall, if there was any other player that is better suited for Connecticut at this point or might be better suited to be a number one pick? CAROLYN PECK: She's a fantastic player and I think would be a great grab for Connecticut because I think they need that help in the postgame, especially with not having Asjha Jones coming back. She fits the speed, is a post that you need in the WNBA. She brings great rebounding inside for Connecticut. I think she would be a great fit. Now, for me, you also would have to consider Odyssey Sims because I think that Odyssey is a point guard, the best point guard in the college game, and I think she is so ready. I think that Coach Donovan would have to consider do you pass up on that. In looking at what she got, having Alex Bentley there, that's a huge plus. So you have experience at the point position with her. But I think that Odyssey this year demonstrated her versatility of being able to play the point. She could be a facilitator and give up the basketball like she did three years to Brittney Griner. I think all in all, for what Connecticut needs, I think Chiney would surely suit the Sun. Q. Carolyn, do you think Stefanie Dolson is a top‑five pick or the bottom part of the draft? CAROLYN PECK: I think she is a top‑five pick in my book. In talking to Geno, when he was recruiting Stefanie, you might look at her and you might go, She doesn't really look like she would be a great player. But when you look at, again, another player who has transformed her body, she has great speed, tremendous conditioning for her size. I love the court vision she has. She has a point guard mentality as far as distributing the basketball. She was the meanest screener in the college game to get players open. I think she'd be a tremendous asset to any team. Q. You've talked a little about Odyssey Sims. Could you talk a little more about her. Then maybe on the guard from OSU, where you think she'll fall. CAROLYN PECK: Well, with Odyssey, like I said, I think she's the best point guard in the college game and coming out in this draft. She has such strength, a player that was second in the nation in scoring. She was doing that a lot of times being double‑teamed. We even demonstrated in some of our illustrations during the game, attracting the attention of three players. She is so strong. Again, another competitor. She has that swag that you need coming into the WNBA. The other guard you're talking about is Tiffany Bias. Those two battled in the Big 12 this season. Bias has tremendous quickness and tremendous leadership skills as well, for her to help Oklahoma State be so successful when Andrea Riley left. I think that she could be a first‑round or early second‑round pick. Q. Do you think that Odyssey could be a player who could come in, assuming she falls to Tulsa at number two, a transformative type of player in her first year? CAROLYN PECK: I think so. I think if Odyssey ends up in Tulsa, you got to remember that Fred Williams was with Atlanta, and the style they played, going to bring that same style, which fits in perfectly to the way Odyssey would play. I think it would be a great complement for she and Diggins together. Then you have Riquna Williams. That is a go offense. Glory Johnson, she would be a great complement to her. Glory's athleticism, remember, she was an All‑Star last year. I think she has an even bigger upside. She'll continue to improve as a pro. Q. With last year's draft, with the billboard that it had, the fanfare it had, I'm not asking you if this year's draft can top that, but is there a publicity letdown if there's not the marquee players in this draft, or do you see marquee players that can electricfy the crowd this year? LaCHINA ROBINSON: I don't think we have an Elena Delle Donne or Brittney Griner in this class, which I will say they are game‑changers. But we have a lot of impact players. You could look across the board, especially at the top five, some of the players we've talked about all season, with the need‑to‑know list, Chiney Ogwumike, Odyssey Sims, Kayla McBride, Alyssa Thomas. They're impact players. You may not have big stars, but it's definitely not a letdown at all because these are players the fans have become familiar with over time. I think they will be watching to see how they perform at the next level. I think there's tremendous depth in this class. So where last year was maybe more top‑heavy, I think the talent is stretched across the board, especially through this first round where you'll see a lot of players that can come in right away and make an impact. Some of that has a lot to do with where the league ended last year. There's a lot of players that will be returning from injuries. There will be players that will start the season, maybe coming in limping. There are international commitments that I think always come into play. Therefore, some of these players that are coming in in this first round will be expected to produce early. CAROLYN PECK: I agree with LaChina in that you had a special player like Brittney Griner. You don't have that. But as far as making an impact, because Brittney wasn't able to make a major impact when she came into the league, and a lot of it was due to fitting into a system that Phoenix was unfamiliar with, then injuries and mid‑season coaching change. I think Delle Donne rose as a star of that rookie class. Like LaChina says, especially the teams that have the top three picks, Connecticut, Tulsa, San Antonio, the league just got real interesting, and I think it's going to be because of the rookies that are going to come in. With the injuries that are returning this year, I think the top three picks can fill specific needs of teams. Not just that they're the best players in the draft, but they will fill specific needs to make these teams competitive. Q. What do you see the direction the Indiana Fever going? They have the fourth and ninth pick. They've been undersized almost the entire history of the franchise, but they've also lost two of their standout perimeter players. Based on what's available, what direction do you think they'll go with those two picks, especially their first one? CAROLYN PECK: Indiana has five and nine. At the five spot, you've got to remember that Indiana had signed Lynetta Kizer to come over. I think with having Kizer and Elana Larkins will be a tremendous help to Tamika Catchings. I think the area you have to look at, how do they fill the shoes of Katie Douglas. Karima Christmas got tremendous experience last season. They brought over Marissa Coleman. They lost Erin Phillips. Sometimes she was a starting point guard, sometimes she was a backup. When you look at what is available at five, what could possibly be there, would that be a Bria Hartley or Shoni Schimmel or do you pass at number five on Stefanie Dolson. That would be tough to do because coming out of the Connecticut program, you know she's going to be mentally tough and ready to take on the grind of the WNBA. As a GM, you have to juggle, If I go with Dolson there, because I can't pass her up, at nine what guard would potentially be there that could help fill the shoes left by Katie Douglas and Erin Phillips? LaCHINA ROBINSON: I would have to agree with Carolyn. You could add to this team at both the guard and post position. I think that Lin Dunn, I'm not going to say she shies away from size, but because of the defense that Indiana likes to play, sometimes switch at all five positions, I think they may take a look at a post that is quicker, maybe a little more agile. Again, I'm just speculating here. But I think as Carolyn mentioned, do you go with a Bria Hartley right away, or maybe it's a post like Natasha Howard, who they already have some athletic posts, but if they're looking to go deeper inside, could she possibly be an option. I think they could take the best available post or guard at that spot. As Carolyn mentioned, Bria Hartley is someone I could see fitting well into that system. Q. Kayla McBride, home state player, is she an option? Do you think she'd be gone by then? LaCHINA ROBINSON: I think she'll be gone. CAROLYN PECK: I think she'd be gone, too. If she wasn't, how ideal would the Notre Dame fans be from Indiana to have her playing in Indianapolis? Q. Just looking around at the list, I was wondering if that was even a dream. CAROLYN PECK: I think it's a possibility and a dream. I think it's going to be interesting to see what San Antonio does. I'm sorry, New York. I think San Antonio and New York, what they do with their picks. I think for McBride to drop to five, somebody would have to be holding a lucky rabbit's foot. In the 2010 draft, I was waiting on Katie Douglas. I just knew Washington was going to take her, and they didn't. It turned out that we got her in Florida. Surprises can happen. Q. Like the third pick in '02, or it was the same draft, the '01 draft? Q. Given the depth of this draft, where do you see Meighan Simmons fitting? How do you think teams view her? CAROLYN PECK: I think this season has been a season of inconsistency for Meighan. One thing that has been consistent for her is her quickness. She is so fast. A team that plays that style, up‑and‑down style of basketball, would be ideal. The GMs and coaches that I've talked to, she could go as high as seven, or she could be early second round. She has the ability to score. Depending on which WNBA team she gets on, understanding you're going to be playing with veterans, she has to distribute the basketball. She won't be able to volume shoot like she did at Tennessee. LaCHINA ROBINSON: I agree with what Carolyn said. To add on to that, this is one of the more difficult things to tell when you're looking at a senior that's getting ready to go into the WNBA. Depending on what your role was on your specific team, how does that lend itself to the new team? These teams have 12 spots in the roster, can take on some transition players, definitely bodes well for those that will be late second round. But I think Meighan goes late first or early second. Again, like Carolyn said, depending on style of play. These players are really expected to come in right away and be able to change that mindset where Meighan has had to bear so much of the responsibility throughout her time at Tennessee, it will be interesting to watch then how she fits into systems where she may not be close to the second or third option, how she can show us the versatility in her game at the next level. Q. When teams look at her, who do you think they're comparing her with in terms of a possible pick? What other players in this draft is she in the same pool with in terms of what role she might have? CAROLYN PECK: Other players in this draft? CAROLYN PECK: I think she's in the same consideration with Maggie Lucas. You look a scorer like Tricia Liston, because Meighan has proven that she can score. She can get from PointA to PointA. Schimmel is a volume shooter, too. I think that would be a debate or what GMs would have to look at. Q. You talked about Shoni Schimmel. Could you talk a bit more about her prospects in the league. Also the fact during her college career, she had a big following of Native Americans. Do you think that's something that could catch on in the WNBA? Do you see her as being an attraction when her team comes to visit? CAROLYN PECK: I'm going to tell you that I love watching Shoni Schimmel play. If she continues to play the way that she did in her final game against Maryland, I thought that was the most in‑tune, the most controlled game I have seen her play. It's a guarantee when you watch her play she's going to make something spectacular happen within that game. I think if she will keep herself in shape, because the speed of that Maryland game, I mean, that was close to WNBA speed. With how quickly she can score, get to the spot, and she didn't rely on just the three‑point shot, she was getting to the midrange, she was delivering the basketball. I just think she's great and fun to watch. LaCHINA ROBINSON: I agree. I think Shoni, she knows how to captivate a crowd. She can play point, shooting guard at the next level. I think Carolyn is spot on with her ability to play for long stretches at a high level. I think defensively she is in a system where Jeff has emphasized multiple types of defenses where she already has a very high IQ. As far as her Native American culture, it's been just amazing to watch the support that she and her sister Jude have gotten from the reservations. She call it 'res ball'. They've branded what it means to be a Native American woman and to go off and play college basketball, which did not happen a ton before they arrived. We've seen the fans travel to see them from the reservations, very supportive of what these two young women have done. I think from a cultural standpoint, not only is it relevant on a broader scale, but I just think that it brings back the significance of what sport can do in society. Q. Is there any chance that Alyssa Thomas or Natasha Howard will be available at number 10? CAROLYN PECK: I think it's kind of slim. She is a coveted player because of her athleticism, her ability to score, her rebounding. I mean, I know that a lot of coaches and GMs think very highly of her. But I think she would be a great addition to have her and Elena Delle Donne and Sylvia on the floor at the same time. Q. What about Natasha Howard? Her stock has improved a lot. She's a banger. CAROLYN PECK: I thought that's who we were talking about. Alyssa Thomas I think will go in the top four or five, I think. And I think Howard won't be far behind that. Q. If you were looking at players like Plouffe, Bussie or Gatling, can any of those make an immediate impact in the WNBA? CAROLYN PECK: I mean, I think if you're looking at Chicago, you have to look at who they're going to be competing with as far as making an impact. The impact player is going to be Elena Delle Donne, she and Sylvia Fowles. I think those would be tremendous complementary players. I thought one of the areas that Chicago needed to improve in, when you had to take Sylvia Fowles off the floor, you had to rely on Carolyn Swords, you didn't have much more as far as scoring goes in that post area to bring in. That's where a Howard, a Gatling, a Bussie can at least help you get paint points, second‑chance points and rebounds. Q. What would you do if you were looking at both Jennifer Hamson, and Natalie Achonwa, in the Tamika Catchings situation? CAROLYN PECK: I saw Jennifer Hamson play firsthand. 6'7", you can't make 'em taller. She comes in with it at 6'7", and it's not just height. You have a 6'7" player who has the agility of a volleyball player, leaping ability, tremendous timing, shot blocking. In the first half, she gave Connecticut fits from scoring around the basket. They had to score from the perimeter. The question is I feel what is her commitment to volleyball. She has said to us that she told her BYU coach she's coming back. I don't know what these conversations have been since then. It's my understanding she could play in the WNBA this season and return. I also know that this young woman has an aspiration of playing volleyball in the Olympics. I don't know if her mindset of priorities has changed or would taking a summer to play basketball, how would that affect that. Q. What would you do with Natalie Achonwa? CAROLYN PECK: If I'm Chicago? Q. Natalie you know is not going to be ready to play this summer. Do you think the team can afford to wait for her or do they need to get help right away? CAROLYN PECK: Chicago has signed Sasha Goodlett inside. They've kind of got some fillers. Jessica Breland. Those are players that can play right now. I think Jessica Breland has a little more experience than Goodlett. If there were a better player, all‑around player, available, they could go that way. That option is there. To hold the rights to Natalie or Jennifer Hamson, that would be a luxury. Q. You talked a little bit about Jennifer Hamson. As far as her prospects, when you look at a two‑sport athlete like this, what does she have to do to be successful in the WNBA? CAROLYN PECK: I think the one thing that would only make Jennifer a better player is just to put on more muscle strength‑wise. She proved against Connecticut she could hold her own. Like I said, tremendous timing. I think she had five or six blocks in that game and stayed out of foul trouble. I think that is a luxury in the WNBA. Because of the agility, the three‑second defensive rule, you can't stay in the paint, you have to move. I think she can do that. She has a great reach. If there were one aspect of her game for the WNBA, it would be just to increase her strength. LaCHINA ROBINSON: As far as being a two‑sport athlete, I think what you see with a lot of post players, it helps in that mobility that Carolyn is talking about. Some of the best post players, male or female that we've seen over time, have also been soccer players because footwork is big when you're playing down low. Good hands, we've seen goalies. Think about how your reaction time has to improve in volleyball, how quickly the ball is coming at you. I think for a girl of Jennifer's size, the thing I've been most impressed with is her mobility. It comes from the volleyball. I think it's only been a benefit. Now how much basketball will she be able to do during this year playing volleyball, which we understand she's going to do, will be the big question. How will she be able to stay into that timing that she picked up on this year having left volleyball which seems to have helped her on the basketball side. Q. You've talked a lot about Odyssey Sims already. She's been in a couple of different systems, obviously here at Baylor. How has that helped her? Also, having to be the main scorer this year. LaCHINA ROBINSON: I think it's been great. I think it's just expanded her value because she had to defer to Brittney Griner for a long time, and did a very good job of that. She had to be the main play‑maker for most of her career, and did a very good job of that. She had to play defense on the point, hound the basketball, and did a very good job of that. Then this year, adding on to some of the things we've already seen from her, she becomes a prolific scorer. I think her ability to play both the point guard and two guard position became even more of a realistic goal at this WNBA level after what we've seen from her, having to wear different hats during her time at Baylor. CAROLYN PECK: I would agree with LaChina. I would add to that, you know, if I'm sitting in a GM's chair, I'm looking at a player, how can players handle roles? Like LaChina talked about, the roles that changed for her as a player, from a facilitator to a scorer, going from three years of giving the ball up, then having to take the big shot, to really depending on being that major scorer. Then within her senior year, not only a major scorer, but she was a leader. She demonstrated she could lead. She instilled that she trusted her teammates so that when she would be taken away, you look at what she did for Nina Davis. She gave that freshman a ton of confidence, giving the ball to Niya Johnson. She can play whatever role you want her to. You don't have to look at Odyssey and go, I don't know if I can take her because she's going to need a lot of shots. That's not the case. Odyssey has demonstrated she can play a number of different roles and be a leader for you. Q. You had talked about Shoni Schimmel. Where do you project her on your board as far as top 10, 12, 15? What other players from Louisville, Kentucky can you envision getting drafted? CAROLYN PECK: Well, Shoni, I think she's got the potential to be a first‑round draft pick just depending on the needs of the different teams of needing a player like her. She's a show. I mean, I love watching her play. I think that she has demonstrated she's got a potential to be a very good pro, to play in the WNBA. Within the area, when you're looking at Kentucky, you also have DeNesha Stallworth, who I think as she continues, I think she's got a huge upside, getting healthy back from that knee. With her size, rebounding ability, her ability to score, it gives her value to teams in the WNBA. Q. In regards to Alyssa Thomas from Maryland, one of the things that's been talked about is where does she play at the next level and what you think about her game that transitions best at the next level? LaCHINA ROBINSON: I think Alyssa Thomas has shown the ability to play multiple positions. She handles the ball like a point guard in transition. She can play on the wing. Her passing is incredible and probably one of the more underrated aspects of her game. She's got the strength and the size, durability to play at the four position. But I think the key is going to be for Alyssa Thomas to continue to expand that perimeter game. She's a mismatch at both positions because at the power forward. I think she's got speed and quickness off the dribble. She can pull out some bigger posts. Then at the three, she can post up because of her size. I think the key for her as far as her longevity in the league, this is looking down the line, is to continue to improve her outside shot, because then she can play the two more, look for a three‑point shot. I think she will also continue to need to improve her ball‑handling skills in halfcourt. In full court she can handle it with the best of them, you need to get out of her way. If she can do that part, she's even more of a dangerous play‑maker in halfcourt offense. I think she can play the three or four spot, and that's where I see her strengths and weaknesses now. CAROLYN PECK: When I look at teams that have that potential to win championships, they got that stretch four player that is interchangeable between the three and the four. When you like at Maya Moore, Tamika Catchings, Swin Cash, Plenette Pierson, that's where I see that Alyssa Thomas sits because of her strengths. I've heard people refer to her as the (indiscernible) because of her strength, don't get in her way. She can take you down low, post you up, she will rebound with anybody. When I say that, then I go, Players do that. Tamika Catchings did that. Swin Cash did that. Plenette Pierson did that. I think that's where Alyssa Thomas can really help a team in that versatility. When you have Elena Delle Donne last year could go out to the three if the post was guarding her, or go down to the post if a guard is guarding her. I think Alyssa Thomas has similar qualities. To improve that three‑point shot, I think that versatility gives her huge value at the next level. RON HOWARD: Carolyn and LaChina, thank you so much for all of your time. We look forward to hearing from you on Monday night. We're going to turn the call now over to our coaches. We have with us from the Anne Donovan, Lin Dunn, Bill Laimbeer, and Fred Williams. We'll go right to questions. Q. Earlier we were talking about Tamika Catchings. I wanted to know with a couple of the players like Natalie and Chelsea Gray if the league is at a point at all where you can risk a first‑round draft pick to draft one of them because of their talent, what they can give you in the future when they are healthy. BILL LAIMBEER: Obviously with the Liberty, we need everything. It would be a little difficult for us to use our high first‑round pick on someone who is injured and can't contribute. I think every general manager drafting, every coach, is going to have to think twice. The rule is if they don't play overseas and sign a contract overseas, they have to sign with you during the course of this year or they reenter the draft. I think that is going to be an interesting situation because they may not like the team they were drafted by and go back in the draft the following year. You have to do your homework on them. The quality teams will take a whack at them, like Indiana has two first‑round picks, and they're loaded already. LIN DUNN: I think both Gray and Ogwumike could easily go in the late first round. I think they've both proven to be quality players. I think they have the potential to be future impact players. I don't see them going in the top five or six, but after that I think it's possible. Q. Anne, if you pick Chiney Ogwumike, could you evaluate her as compared to her sister, what she may be able to bring right away into the WNBA. And, Bill, you talked about needing some depth at guard. Obviously if you're choosing possibly between McBride and Thomas, is the fact that McBride is a true guard and Thomas' position is up in the air a little bit, does that make any difference in terms of who you might pick if you go with a guard? ANNE DONOVAN: I think with Chiney Ogwumike, we already have the measuring stick of what her sister did in the league early on. More than anything, it's intangibles with both Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike. They both showed they're great leaders, great athletes. Their styles do translate to the WNBA. Chiney, great rebounder, can play either post position, face up or back to the basket. I think her sister, probably a little bit stronger and more physical. Chiney would be more of a finesse player. But I don't know how that will change as she continues to mature and she gets a little bit more accustomed to the physicality of both the international game and the WNBA. BILL LAIMBEER: Traditionally I like the bigger players at each position. Can you play up a position or not? But we need guard help, there's no question about that. McBride is a big guard. I look at Thomas more as a forward, where I have Carson, who probably can play forward in a pinch if necessary. But I need a guard. I think McBride could be a good, solid combo guard. She's shown her ability this year to handle the ball more so than last year. Nobody takes it from her. That's a good sign. She's not afraid to go out there and play and shoot the big shots. I mean, take it for what it's worth how I describe the player, but that would fit the mold of what we're looking for. Q. Lin, you've built a lot of teams from the ground up. How would you assess where the WNBA is right now 18 years in in terms of attendance, sponsorship and TV ratings? LIN DUNN: Well, I'm excited about where we are in the WNBA. I'm excited that we're here in Indiana celebrating our 15th year, league celebrating its 18th year. We've got teams that are making a profit. I'm excited where we are. I think we've done a great job over the last few years taking the next step with the TV package with ESPN, our revenue. Right now I think it's all good. Q. The number one pick in the draft will earn about $50,000, the veterans will earn around $107,000 for the season. That's where the salaries were since 1997. Why do you think salaries have remained so stagnant? BILL LAIMBEER: Revenue. The league has consistently lost money over the course of time and they're just starting to turn the corner right now. Until the revenue increases to a point where there's money for everybody, the players have a revenue sharing agreement kicker in their CBA agreement, you can't go overboard and kill the thing. This is still a business and you want to make a buck. LIN DUNN: Since ESPN signed the new deal, I've heard $1 million goes to each team. You can share the wealth a little bit. Q. Are the teams getting any of that? BILL LAIMBEER: Yes, they are. But this is real world. Costs go up every year. Look at airline tickets going up dramatically. So has hotel space. Insurance. Every cost goes up every year. Unless there's a giant exponential increase in revenue, the salary structure will remain constant. Q. Natalie, how much has her injury dropped her value, where she might fall to? LIN DUNN: Fred, it's your turn. FRED WILLIAMS: You know what, I think her value has not dropped at all as a player who has shown that she has improved over the years and is still a strong leader. The only thing that probably might have dropped her some is because of the injury. You still would get a good‑quality player, pretty much having a good investment in the bank if the team wants to take her and hold her for a year. I don't think she's a player that's really dropped. I think she's going to come back really strong from the injury and be a tremendous player. BILL LAIMBEER: I think her draft position is a minimum of two and a maximum of five slots. Q. Where would that put her? BILL LAIMBEER: I think she was going to be in the six, seven range. I think she's dropped a couple. FRED WILLIAMS: I agree with that, Bill, the same way. Q. I want to know if there's any talk amongst you about foreign players? I haven't read much about foreign players, maybe one young lady from Spain. FRED WILLIAMS: I would say on my end, I haven't had a chance to venture out there from Tulsa on that end. Trying to find a couple flights that would go that far (laughter). Just staying at home here in the States and really chasing the college players. Some of the other coaches may have some feedback on that. ANNE DONOVAN: We looked at the foreign players. The CBA made it clear moving forward signing foreign players next year and beyond is going to be a little bit difficult. We were one that let Sandrine Gruda go. She was clear she did not want to come to Connecticut. We felt this was our opportunity to get some trade value from her. As always, it's hard to get the foreigners to commit, to be sure if they commit that they're still going to come, that they are going to stay, they return. It's a wild card thing. With the new CBA it's going to get harder and harder for the foreigners. Q. What have you seen from Hallie out of Iowa State? Where do you see her playing? She's played at a few different spots at Iowa State. BILL LAIMBEER: We watched her early on. I think she's going to have to improve her foot speed and her strength on the interior. As of right now, she's not on our radar for this draft class. Q. Anne, pretty interesting off‑season already transforming your roster. Is there anything in the world that can convince you at this point not to take Chiney Ogwumike to finish that first step of the transition, if there's anything that would prevent you from doing that? Secondly, for Lin, if the first four picks goes to what it seems, you're sitting with Bria Hartley at number five, would you look at her? ANNE DONOVAN: Sims is quite the player. Everybody who thinks that it's a foregone conclusion that Chiney Ogwumike is going to be here with us, we'd love to have Chiney Ogwumike, we'd love to have Odyssey. It just depends on guard or post truthfully. I don't know that Odyssey is not the most prepared player skill‑wise to be in the WNBA. She's shown she can pass the ball really well when she played three years with Griner. A lot of people are knocking her now she takes too many shots. That's what her team needs her to do. She's focused defensively as she is offensively. I think Sims is a great get for Connecticut or Tulsa. FRED WILLIAMS: Well, we're going to do the opposite of what you do. You got the first call on that one there. But either player on that end is a good find and good pick. You can't count the other players that's in there with Thomas and some of the others. But, yeah, either player is a good fit. Q. Even though you have Katie Douglas, doesn't mean you wouldn't take another guard, even though you need another four? ANNE DONOVAN: You know, they're both great players. Odyssey plays a one, two, can be a shooting guard, point guard, any of those positions in the perimeter. We have a need at both positions. There's more of a need in the post, quite honestly. LIN DUNN: You asked if I would take Hartley at five. Of course, we're looking at Hartley at five. I think when we get to the fifth pick there, we've got McBride, Hartley, Howard, Dolson, Thomas. We're looking closely at all five of those players. Would I consider taking Hartley at five? Absolutely. Q. Bill and maybe Lin, what do you think of Shoni Schimmel, what she brings to the WNBA? LIN DUNN: I think Shoni Schimmel is just a very, very entertaining player. I think she's played in a great system at Louisville with Jeff. I will be surprised if she's not drafted in the first round. I think she's very entertaining. She can certainly shoot the three. She went up to the men's Final Four and won the three‑point shooting contest. BILL LAIMBEER: I think the Liberty fans would get a big kick out of her playing for the Liberty. She fits right into their style. But I pick at 14 and I would doubt she'd be there. She may be standing there at 14 and we may have a choice to make. But I think she'll be gone if not in the first round the top of the second. Q. With Shoni Schimmel's fan base, what do you think about the revenue she could generate for you? This is specifically for Fred Williams. FRED WILLIAMS: Well, I think a player like that would certainly help the fan base here in Tulsa with the reservations here and stuff, a lot of the following she's had around the country with a lot of her fans for any team in this league really. She's just a terrific player to watch from the standpoint of energy, shooting, just being an all‑around player who can play a couple of positions. If that happened for us in another round somewhere in there, that's a consideration we would also possibly look at. Q. Anne, regarding Chiney Ogwumike, she of course has shown so much in the post. To be a really good WNBA player, does she have to improve her outside game? ANNE DONOVAN: I think Chiney doesn't have the body to be that back‑to‑the‑basket five. Her skill set is that she can face up. She has good quickness, good feet. But certainly consistent range is something she will work on and get better at. She's shown it to be spotty. She's shown confidence shooting it. But definitely as a stretch four, she'll have to keep working on that. Q. When you get out of college into the WNBA, everybody is great. It's a huge battle inside. I'm wondering if that gives anybody pause in what to do as far as drafting, or is it the kind of person you feel like she's so coachable? ANNE DONOVAN: She's very coachable. She's shown great improvement every year at Stanford. She played internationally for USA. She's won gold medals with our national team. She's done all the right things to continue to grow her game. She's shown a hunger to get better as she does it. I have to tell you, I was never a huge believer in the PAC‑12. But this year, watching the Big 12 Conference tournament, and the PAC‑12 Conference tournament, I was really impressed. The PAC‑12 is not the conference it used to be. It's gotten much stronger from top to bottom. Their teams are preparing her for the next level. RON HOWARD: Anne, Lin, Bill, Fred, thank you for your time. We look forward to hearing from you again on Monday night. We will now be joined by Stefanie Dolson, Kayla McBride, and Shoni Schimmel. We'll go ahead and take questions. Q. Kayla, could you talk a little bit about what skills in your game you think would transfer best to the WNBA? KAYLA McBRIDE: I definitely think my versatility, based on I can play a lot of different positions. I'm comfortable handling the ball against pressure, playing the wing, I can guard a four. I think that's the biggest thing I bring. Q. Kayla, any teams in particular that you would like to play for? There's some possibility you could stay in Indiana and play for the Fever. KAYLA McBRIDE: No, it doesn't really matter to me where I go. I'm just excited to be here. It's an opportunity, something I've dreamed of since I was little. Just to be here at the draft, it's an honor to play for any of these coaches, teams, any city. It would be cool to be in Indiana, close to my sister who is at IU, but that's about it. Q. Stefanie, talk a little bit about what happened in Connecticut winning the men's and women's championships. KAYLA McBRIDE: Well, I think Connecticut is Connecticut for a reason. They are well‑coached. Had a lot of presence inside that just overpowered us from the get‑go. They came out more confident. We didn't have too much confidence coming into the game, I think some of the players. I think that was the biggest difference. I didn't think we were as ready mentally as we needed to be. Q. What does that do for the state, for women's basketball and the WNBA, with Connecticut being a hotbed of women's basketball? STEFANIE DOLSON: Is this question for Kayla? I can't hear. Q. Each player, talk about your excitement in these hours leading up to the draft. STEFANIE DOLSON: I'm just excited. I think it's been a great four years here at Connecticut. All great things have to come to an end. I'm just excited and really anxious to get the next chapter of my life started. To be able to keep playing basketball is definitely a dream of all of ours. I'm excited to keep going. KAYLA McBRIDE: I think I'm excited for the moment. This is only going to happen one time. Just to be here with such great players, this is an honor. I'm just excited to be here. SHONI SCHIMMEL: Along with both of what they said, this is an exciting moment for all of us. It's something for us to go out there and play at the top level. It's something we've definitely dreamt of as kids. Now it's real life and it's come to all of us. We're looking forward to it. I know I am for sure. Q. Shoni, there's a possibility you could be out in Seattle. What do you think as far as your fan base goes, especially with the Native American community? Do you have any thoughts about being in Seattle? SHONI SCHIMMEL: Well, yeah, definitely. It's in my mind because it's close to home where I'm from. I know there's a lot of Native Americans up in the West Coast area, especially the Northwest. It's definitely a thought. But regardless of where I go I think a lot of fans will go and support me in general. Doesn't really matter where I go. Q. Does your extended family mention anything to you as far as hoping maybe that happens? SHONI SCHIMMEL: Oh, yeah, definitely. My grandparents especially, because they'd love to go up there, have a four‑hour drive to go watch me play. At the same time I hope the games are more on TV this year so that way they can watch them on TV, drive, just be able to watch the games. Q. Stefanie, when did you start realistically thinking about the WNBA? Was it after your junior season? Did you come into college thinking that was a possibility? STEFANIE DOLSON: Yeah, I definitely didn't come into college knowing if it was a possibility. I didn't know that I had the potential that I did, that coach saw in me. I would definitely say it was after sophomore year going into junior year, kind of having the feeling we were going to have a really great season, that I was going to get better as a player. Realizing I can help the WNBA, I could potentially help a team win games, is something that put a lot more confidence in myself. Now obviously being able to have this opportunity to go into the draft is just something exciting that I never thought was possible in high school. Q. Is it your versatility, you added skills through the years, that made you think believing the WNBA was possible? STEFANIE DOLSON: Yeah, I think it's my versatility, the different dynamics that I added to my game. I came into college with a big flow, could put the ball in the basket down low. But I've added a lot more to my game now. I can step out. I can shoot a three. I can defend players, obviously no one like Kayla or Shoni. Give me a forward or a post, I can guard 'em. Q. What skills or traits do you see in Bria that makes you think she's going to be a good pro? STEFANIE DOLSON: With Bria, she's just a scorer. She has a scorer's mentality. She can do so many different things on the court when it comes to the offensive game. She brings a lot of confidence to any team she's on, makes players around her better. She passes the ball, is a lot smarter. She's added a lot of different things to her game being here at Connecticut. I know she's ready for the next level, as well. Q. Has Jimmy Kimmel asked you for a specific date to go on the show yet? STEFANIE DOLSON: It's Jimmy Fallon. He has not contacted me, but we are in contact. Hopefully I'll be able to get on the show to meet him. Q. Shoni, obviously being drafted is a dream of yours. With the Native American population in Oklahoma, does Tulsa have a different attraction for you personally? SHONI SCHIMMEL: Yes, definitely. I actually had the chance to play in Oklahoma this past year. There was a lot of people who came out and supported not only us. It was a long three hours after the game of signing autographs, taking pictures, taking the time to talk to all the Native Americans who came out and watched the game. Oklahoma has definitely a huge Native American fan base. If it happens to end up that way, then of course there's going to be a lot of fans. Q. In addition to the Native American population, what about Tulsa's roster is exciting for you? They have a great roster. They're just starting up. Whatever I can contribute to them, I'm looking forward to do that. Q. Kayla and Stefanie, can you look back to your time with the U.S. national team. Did it show you what you needed to work on in your game to be successful at the pro level? STEFANIE DOLSON: For me it was definitely an eye‑opening experience being able to play with all those women at the USA trials. I realized that I need to get stronger obviously down in the post, get more physical. That way I'm better at rebounding the ball because obviously being in the league it will be older women who are stronger than most girls in college. I definitely have to work on my strength, work on my quickness. At the trials, there were a lot of players that could drive right by me. Doesn't happen a lot in college. There's definitely some things I need to work on. KAYLA McBRIDE: I think it was just humbling. You look at all those great players, that's what you strive to be. It was a great experience. To work on, strength and quickness. It's a whole different level of play. Tamika, watching how hard she plays the entire game, that's how it is every single game. It's bringing that intensity to a whole other level. Q. Stefanie, you're pretty used to everything by now in terms of media and whatnot. Were you surprised when Jimmy Fallon walked out on stage and you were the focus of the first three minutes of his monologue? Must have caught you by surprise in a pleasant way. STEFANIE DOLSON: Yeah, it was definitely surprising, especially since last year Ellen never contacted me. A little upset about that one. But Jimmy Fallon, the fact that he said something about our team, kind of called me out personally, was really cool. I was really excited last night. I'm trying to see if I can get there. I'm hoping to bring the whole team, that way all the girls can be there and not just me. So it was pretty special. Q. Do you think you can take him both in basketball and video games? STEFANIE DOLSON: Basketball, yeah. Video games, I'm terrible at XBOX. Q. Kayla, listening to Bill Laimbeer talk, it seemed pretty certain he wants to take you with the third pick. He's talking about his need for a big guard. Are you a city girl? If you get an opportunity to play in NewYork City, would you like that, or would you like the quiet? KAYLA McBRIDE: I think I would appreciate the city life. Being in South Bend, Indiana, the last four years, I'm ready for a change. I know Coach Laimbeer is a great coach. For him to recognize me in that way, it's a great honor. If I end up there, I do. I would love that opportunity. Q. A lot of nice things were said about you at the Final Four and the NCAA tournament for your leadership ability, what you did for your team. How did that make you feel? KAYLA McBRIDE: It's been a long four years. As a senior, I had to take on a different role when Sky left. It means a lot, that team and that program, Coach McGraw. To have that recognition, it's more than humbling. Q. Shoni, what is it like for you, the quick sort of transition you make from having played in a game in the NCAA just a week ago and now already looking forward to your pro career, how quick that transition is for you? One scenario I wanted to ask you about is where do you envision yourself going? Do you expect to be a first‑round pick? How do you feel the draft shapes out for you? SHONI SCHIMMEL: Well, to answer your first question, I've just been working out a lot lately. I know the transition is going to be a little bit different because you're going from college basketball to the WNBA. Just working out, trying to get ready for all that. I actually had a chance to shoot at the three‑point shooting contest in Dallas last week. Just staying in shape, continuing to keep playing basketball is my main focus right now. Q. Where do you expect to go? Are you expecting to go in the first round? If you didn't, would that be a disappointment? SHONI SCHIMMEL: I mean, I'm going to the WNBA Draft this weekend, so for me to be there I'm obviously there for a reason. I'm not going to sit there and say I'm not focused going the top five, whatever it may be. I'm just there to have the opportunity to sit there and embrace this process and enjoy it at the same time. They invited 10 people for a reason. For me to be invited to be there, it's a great honor. I'm going to be excited to be there. Q. Stefanie, you've been more effective defending Chiney Ogwumike than anybody. What is it that you do that you become the kryptonite to her Super Woman? STEFANIE DOLSON: I don't know. I guess I just don't give up. I think a lot of people kind of give in to being tired, let an offensive player do whatever they want to them. Q. As you matriculate into professional basketball, she's going to face a lot of good defenders like yourself who are big, strong and smart. Is she going to have to figure something out to get around you guys? STEFANIE DOLSON: I don't know. Chiney is a great player. I don't take anything away from her. I think she's going to do great in the league. There are a lot of great players that are older and smarter. I think it's a transition that we're all going to have to make, feeling out how our game has to fit into this league. I'm sure we're all nervous about it. I think you have to talk to Chiney Ogwumike about that. I'm not going to take anything away from her game or what I think other players would do to stop her. Q. Stefanie, there was a lovely piece about the great improvement you've made, it was in Monday's New York Times. As you go into the pros, the way you've shaped your career, maybe you'll want to give back and help younger players who are big and slow, maybe limited, then finding themselves. You've found the formula to make more improvement than anybody I've seen. Would you like to be a mentor with big young players? STEFANIE DOLSON: Definitely. Something that I enjoy doing is giving back, making sure I can kind of make other people happy sometimes. Being able to be in hopefully the WNBA this coming summer, it's an opportunity for me to get that notoriety with the transition I made, how hard work really does pay off. It's something that I actually have done while being here at Connecticut, going around to schools, talking about my journey, what I had to go through, what I was able to accomplish with hard work. It's something that I enjoy doing and definitely will continue to do as I get older, as I play in the league for a few years. So, yeah. Q. Shoni, how meaningful would it be for you to play for the Connecticut Sun, a team owned by a tribe, and so is the venue in which they play? That seems like the place you should be. Do you ever think about that? SHONI SCHIMMEL: With it being Native American based, it's the Mohegan Sun, it's going to be a great opportunity to play in front of not only Native Americans but fans overall. I've thought about it, of course, because mainly it is Native American. But regardless of where I end up, I'm excited to have this opportunity to play in the WNBA. Q. One of the coaches made a comment about you're such an entertaining player, so in some ways that makes you perfect for the WNBA. In the pro ranks, people like to see some cool stuff. That gets the crowd going. Are there some things you've kept under wraps when you played in college that you're looking forward to showing in the pro ranks? SHONI SCHIMMEL: Yes, to some degree. At the same time I have so much to grow from. College is just one aspect of my life that I got to be able to play basketball. I'm looking forward to making the next step in my basketball career. That's going to the WNBA, playing in the WNBA, just elevating my game, being able to have that chance to play against the great players in the WNBA. You grow up watching them and learning from them. You kind of put it all into your own kind of game. For you to do that, it's your own style of play. It's what we all have, our own individual play. I'm just looking forward to grow in this whole process and take whatever I can get from whoever my teammates are, take it and run with it. Q. Shoni, there's talk out there you might get drafted by Chicago. What would it mean to you to play with your teammate from Louisville? SHONI SCHIMMEL: It would be awesome, just because we have those four years under our belt together, we know each other better. It would be amazing. At the same time I'm just looking forward to playing in the league. If we end up playing at the same place, it would be awesome. Q. Kayla, you played 38 games in the college game, a marathon season. The WNBA is just around the corner. How do you handle the time between now and training camp? Do you give yourself a break? Are you getting ready for the WNBA? KAYLA McBRIDE: I'll take a little bit of a break, but not really. I'll be back in the gym making sure my body's right and everything is good so I feel confident going into training camp. RON HOWARD: Thank you so much for your time this afternoon. We wish all three of you the best of luck on Monday night. To our media participants, thank you so much for your time this afternoon. We wish you the best as you move forward covering the draft between now and Monday.

2019-04-22T16:36:09Z

http://www.asapsports.com/show_conference.php?id=97957

Two small updates on recent topics. The first is that Fr Paul Gunter OSB has a new short essay out on Zenit, on the Church’s liturgy as being located in the life and activity of the economic Trinity. In other words, it is first and foremost God’s work for us and in us, more than it is our work. Or put another way, the liturgy is our work insofar as God is at work in us as we perform it. The implications are clear if you dwell on it. If God works through his Church to establish a liturgy that, in giving Him worthy worship, furthers the work of our salvation, then we tamper with it at our peril. When it ceases to be identifiably the liturgy of the Church, I would venture, then it ceases to be a liturgy that contributes to our salvation. God works through his Church and not through cliques of the self-enlightened. But I am going way beyond what Fr Paul writes, which you can read on Zenit right now. The second update concerns the Ordinariate’s newly-approved RSV lectionary which was mentioned yesterday. The question was raised as to whether the Ordinariate had negotiated their way through the copyright minefield to the point where they could publish anew a RSV lectionary. The answer is, no. Instead one of the other possibilities mentioned was closer to the mark. Monsignor Burnham has confirmed to me that the remaining stock of the Ignatius Press edition of the RSV Lectionary has been bought up in America on their behalf, and each Ordinariate group has been given a set. If the demand proves heavy enough, consideration will be given to trying to get a hand-missal produced for the faithful. But for now, each Ordinariate church having an Ignatius RSV lectionary is sufficient to get the liturgical ball rolling. Strength to their arm! So it seems the wider anglophone Church will be getting the ESV as originally announced. Soon I will post some examples of ESV passages of scripture as we will find them in the new Lectionary when it comes. I think you are totally incorrect. ESV ? This is an ‘evangelical protestant’ translation that does not include the extra books of OT scripture. Don’t know where you are getting this info but it would be rediculous to use and anti-Catholic bible in any part of the Catholic Church! I am not incorrect. There is at least one Catholic on the translation board; the board is not anti-Catholic but it is conservative Protestant; I have myself a copy of the ESV with the deutero-canonical books that are in the Catholic Bible; the Catholic preferences in translation are already clearly marked in the footnotes of the the ESV; and the Archbishop of Canberra, the chairman of the Lectionary Committee, has announced that the ESV is to be the translation used. All facts. Sorry to disappoint you. I am unable to confirm several of your statements. There is no organization called “ESV translation board.” The members of the “ESV Translation Oversight Committee” are listed here. The twelve voting members listed here are all prominent Protestants. The two adjunct members both work for Crossway, and appear to be Protestant ministers. “ESV translation board” is a generic term I used, thus the lack of capitals for the two words. Please do not be so unnecessarily literal. It does not help. The Translation Oversight Committee, as the name suggests, are not the sum total of the translators involved, but those who, a the name implies, oversee the work of other translators. Two names stick out from that list, Mounce and Wenham, two excellent and noted Greek scholars. That should give us confidence in the standards of this translation. Granted the above, I concede I was sloppy with what I posted in haste. My reference was to the ESV Study Bible from Crossway, one of the articles in which is by Mark Futato, who did his doctorate at the Catholic University of America. But to address both your points, it needs to remembered that the RSV itself was the product of a Protestant group of translators, with the copyright held (still) by the Churches of Christ. When the time came for a Catholic usable version, Catholic scholars (not least Bernard Orchard OSB from memory) were commissioned to revise the translation along Catholic lines. This is the same process that would be employed for the ESV version to be used in our lectionary. To become overly exercised about the ESV being the work of evangelical Protestants would demand the same level of concern to be directed at the RSV. I will try to get in touch with the new Lectionary committee and confirm this, though I think common sense is enough here for now given the precedent of the RSV. As it is I think we have far more in common with evangelical Christians than mainstream liberal Protestants. Of course, if the copyright holders for the RSV were not so reluctant to renew a concession for our new Lectionary, and given the Jerusalem version is considered in adequate to the task, the ESV was a sensible alternative. in Short, as the Protestant RSV was catholicized, so too will the ESV be catholicized. As to your specific example, I am not sure what capital is to be gained from Matthew 1:19. Divorce was, as a matter of fact, allowed in Judaism in Jesus’ day, and Joseph would have been within his rights to divorce/put her away Mary given his initial confusion at her apparent infidelity. Even though the ceremony of marriage had not been performed, in Jewish law betrothal gave the same rights as marriage so divorce is not an illogical translation. I suspect the RSV-CE was nervous about the use of “divorce” and rested on the fact that in Christian cultures betrothals require no formal process for their termination: ‘divorce’ has the air of formal process about it. The notes in the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible in dealing with the three main theories for why Joseph was thinking as he did here, state that “Joseph thus intended to pursue a divorce in accord with Deut 14:1-4”. There is no real cause for concern here. As I said, I shall attempt to contact the committee for confirmation. Thanks for the further clarification. FYI, I know Mark Futato personally. Although he did study at Catholic University of America, he is not Catholic. (As you may know, there is a large non-Catholic population there). Mark Futato used to belong to Presbyterian Church of America and teach at its Westminster Theological Seminary, but was forced to leave after he endorsed a women involved with alternative medicine who taught new age beliefs.. He now teaches at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando and belongs to an independent church. Thus, in the translation of the deuterocanonical books and wherever else there may exist varying manuscript traditions, the liturgical translation must be prepared in accordance with the same manuscript tradition that the Nova Vulgata has followed. If a previously prepared translation reflects a choice that departs from that which is found in the Nova Vulgata Editio as regards the underlying textual tradition, the order of verses, or similar factors, the discrepancy needs to be remedied in the preparation of any Lectionary so that conformity with the Latin liturgical text may be maintained. A quick glance at your RSV (or ESV) will show that extensive changes are required. And Archbishop Coleridge claimed that the lectionary would consist of the ESV in “modified form” anyway. The bottom line is that when this process is complete, residents of ICPEL countries, like those of the US and Anglophones of Canada, will not be able to buy a Bible that matches the text in their lectionary. Salve! Clearly you have done your homework on this, and are probably far more clued up (pardon the slang) on the ESV in detail than I am. This much I will say; at times the ESV is different to, and sometimes better than, the RSV. And you are certainly right that any version would have to adapted to accord with L.A. and whatever other guidelines might be imposed by Rome. Given that in the revised Missal L.A. was quite closely adhered to, we should have confidence that the revised Lectionary will be similarly faithful to the requirements. No doubt this is the major work of ICPEL at this time. If I read you right, your underlying issue you express at the very end of your comment: that Catholics will not have a complete Bible that is in accord with the Lectionary. That is a valid concern, and cannot be lightly dismissed, and I will not attempt to do so. Let me just offer two observations if I may, the first of which is nothing more than an observation and I raise it merely to offer something for meditation. The second is conjecture. First, for the ordinary Catholic, having a Bible in the home is a fairly recent phenomenon, and it has come about in part due to advances in printing technology and the mass production of books, and in part due to the vastly improved education of the ordinary person in the last century or so. Previously, the ordinary Catholic heard his scripture, if at all, in the Church’s liturgy, and relatively recently this was with the assistance of a hand missal (which the Liturgical Movement made into wonderful resources). Thus the ordinary Catholic for most of the Church’s history became acquainted with scripture in the church building, liturgically, and of course, architecturally (eg stained glass). Furthermore, practical issues in making available the Bible in vast numbers left aside for our purposes (and they are not insignificant), there has been a reticence on the part of the Church in making available the Bible to the person in the pew due to the danger that it will be misinterpreted and misused, and the Reformation is compelling evidence of this, as is the proliferation of Protestant and Reformed denominations ever since. The Catholic position is, of course, that the Bible can only be read and correctly understood under the guidance of the Church. All her teachings are, in effect, the Bible and its correct interpretation filtered through to her children. Thus one could argue, in this context, that the Lectionary, which now covers far more of the Bible than the liturgy did prior to the post-conciliar reforms, is all the scripture a Catholic needs to know. The objections to that argument in the modern context come readily to mind, given the above-mentioned facts that Bibles can be now obtained cheaply and easily, and that the ordinary person is literate and far better educated than ever before. That, of course, is part of the problem we see too often today – every man feels he can become his own interpreter of scripture (please excuse the gender exclusivity). Anyway, I raise this point only as a matter of interest, and to suggest that having a Bible that matches the Lectionary is a very recent concern. It is but an observation. Secondly, I suspect that it would become an economically viable prospect for the publisher to commission a fully-Catholic edition of the ESV. The Catholic Lectionary would in effect create a market for it. Much as with the RSV Catholic edition, a team of Catholic scholars could prepare such an edition, if in fact ICPEL do not themselves finish off the work they have begun for the Lectionary. I wish I had raised this in the email enquiry I sent off this morning! If this conjecture is correct, there indeed could be a number of years when we would not have a complete Bible to complement the Lectionary, but it would not be for too long a period. As I said, I raise these points merely for reflection; they are in no way an argument against anything you have written (for I agree with you). Should, however, an ESV-CE come to pass, would that satisfy your reservations? Thank you for your patience and for so clearly explaining your position. The Conferences of Bishops are strongly encouraged to provide for the commissioning and publication in their territories of an integral translation of the Sacred Scriptures intended for the private study and reading of the faithful, which corresponds in every part to the text that is used in the Sacred Liturgy. For various reasons, neither the US nor the Canadian Conferences have satisfied this request to date. Sorry, I’m back again ! Many thanks to Fr. Hugh for the update re the Ordinariate lectionary. So Father was right ! The Ordinariate have acquired copies of the old RSV lectionary. Someone must have been quick off the mark to arrange this. I wonder what the Ordinariate in the USA will do. Perhaps they already have some copies stashed away They certainly won’t want to use the NAB. I’ve not yet read the article by Fr.Paul Gunter O.S.B I want to have time to read it carefully and savour it. I am sure I will agree with it. Liturgy is a given, not a human construct. We meddle with it at our peril. As to the “smorgasbord approach” to liturgy mentioned by Fr Hugh, it seems to me we are already there. Depending on where he lives, or how far he is prepared to travel, a Catholic layman has the following choices : Mass according to the 1962 Missal, the “novus ordo” mass either in Latin or in English, ad orientem or versus populum, and (when it is up and running) the Ordinariate Mass, not to mention the Byzantine Catholic liturgy (where it exists). Already, many Catholics “shop around” in this way, and I think this will increase. I have heard stories which I have no reason to disbelieve, of certain “Ecclesia Dei” communities (not in the U.K.) using at least some elements of the pre- 1955 Missal (specifically, the pre-1951 Holy Week rites). They are usually identifiable by their somewhat cavalier attitude to Ut sive sollicite. I am sure Rome knows about this, but appears to be turning a blind eye, so to speak. In this context, it is perhaps useful to recall the late Cardinal Basil Hume’s reminder (in 1990, was it ?) to converting Anglicans that Catholicism is not “a la carte”, but many would say “Oh, things have move on since then.” I’m not absolutely sure what they mean by that. And I’ve not ranted about concelebration yet ! I look forward to reading the Cardinal’s book. Goodness, there’s a lot of reading to do. Don’t be sorry Peter! Glad to have you here, especially when your contributions are couched in such a polite and measured way. I am not sure about the USA Ordinariate but since it were they who bought up the stocks, I imagine they have made some provision for themselves. Not that they have permission yet for the RSV – only the English Ordinariate is covered by the decree. But the Americans’ decree may be already written and similar. To clarify things, by smorgasbord I meant picking and choosing, and omitting, within a particular rite. Picking between rites is less of a problem. If it is a rite that is celebrated in communion with the Church then it is a legitimate option for any Catholic. Such choice is quite defensible, though perhaps not totally ideal in a technical sense. And even within a rite there are at times legitimate options and it is acceptable to make use of them; eg the various Eucharistic prayers, the options for the penitential rite, solemn blessings, votive Masses. My beef is with illicit choosing, or choosing when there are really no other options available. That does violence to the rite, and is never acceptable. You seem to be more competent to speak on extraordinary form communities than me. I can only hope that the pastors stamp out this approach, for as I said, they are no better then than the liberals whose smorgasbording (!) they would be the first to descry. Ultimately they will only weaken their cause. We might all look to some other period as a golden age in the liturgy. The Sarum rite in its glory must have been wonderful. But we move on, things come and things go, under the legitimate governance of the Church, and we must use the liturgy that is granted to us now to use. It is, if nothing else, humility. As to concelebration, please note that the book is not by the Cardinal; he was launching it. The author is actually Monsignor Guillaume Derville. Forgive me for not making that clear. The ICKSP have permission to use the pre ’55 Holy Week. I think they may also use some of the pre ’55 ceremonial/rubrics more generally. Thank you for letting us know about the ICKSP’s liturgical exceptions in their use of the Usus Antiquor. They obviously have an indult from Rome to do so (I suspect partly in order to use the old office of Tenebrae). This being so, it is not the sort of situation I was describing as “smorgasbord” liturgy: if it has the permission of the proper liturgical authority who can fault it?! Thanks, Conchur, for this most interesting information. I really had no idea that such permissions had been granted by Rome. This may explain the re-appearance in some quarters (not ICKSP) of the folded chasuble which I had thought was suppressed by John XIII. These are strange times indeed !

2019-04-24T22:06:39Z

https://hughosb.com/2012/03/08/updates-the-ordinariate-lectionary-and-fr-paul-gunter/

McDonald's Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates McDonald's restaurants worldwide. Its restaurants offer various food items, and soft drinks and other beverages. MCD is a dividend aristocrat as well as a component of the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrials indexes. The company has been increasing its dividends for the past 31 consecutive years. From 1998 up until 2007 this dividend growth stock has delivered an annual average total return of 11.00 % to its shareholders. During the first five years, the stock price was in a decline. Ever since MCD hit a bottom in early 2003, the stock has been outperforming the market. At the same time company has managed to deliver a 6.70% average annual increase in its EPS since 1998. The ROE fluctuated between 9% and 23%, rising and falling with the fluctuations of EPS over the past decade. Annual dividend payments have increased over the past 10 years by an average of 25% annually, which is much higher than the growth in EPS. A 25% growth in dividends translates into the dividend payment doubling almost every three years. If we look at historical data, going as far back as 1979, MCD has actually managed to double its dividend payment every four years on average. The company recently switched from paying annual dividends to paying dividend payments quarterly. If we invested $100,000 in MCD on December 31, 1997 we would have bought 4188 shares (Adjusted for A 2:1 stock split in March 1999). In 1998 your annual dividend income would have amounted to $739. If you kept reinvesting the dividends though instead of spending them, your quarterly dividend income would have risen to $7044 by December 2007. For a period of 10 years, your annual dividend income has increased by 853 %. If you reinvested it though, your annual dividend income would have increased by 752%. The dividend payout has remained at or below 40% over our study period. In 2007 however, the payout has risen above 70%. A lower payout is always a plus, since it leaves room for consistent dividend growth minimizing the impact of short-term fluctuations in earnings. I think that MCD is currently overvalued at a P/E of 27 and a payout ratio of over 75%. The only positive is the solid dividend yield and above average dividend growth. I would consider initiating a long position in MCD on dips below $40. The Dividend Investing and Value Network (DIV-Net). It is with great pleasure that I announce the debut of The Dividend Investing and Value Network (DIV-Net). Dividend Growth Investor is proud to be a founding member of this new investing network. DIV-Net is a network of investors focused on dividend investing, value investing and a long-term buy and hold philosophy.We want The DIV-Net site to be a destination. Unlike most networks, The DIV-Net site will provide original unpublished content daily from a growing network that contains the best authors in the field. Seven Core Members are responsible for maintaining and administering The DIV-Net site and the DIV-Net network.This is where some networks stop. However, we so strongly believe in the virtues of dividend investing, value investing and a long-term buy and hold philosophy and did not want to limit DIV-Net to just seven members. In our desire to include as many bloggers that are interested in dividend investing, value investing and a long-term buy and hold philosophy, we created an Associate Membership. In addition, DIV-Net sponsors a weekly Investing Carnival. The carnival's focus is on Value Investing, Dividend Investing and Long-term Buy-and-Hold Investing. There are also categories for real estate, commodities and other alternative investments. We welcome your relevant articles. To participate please submit your article here no later than 5:00 PM ET each Sunday. The Carnival will post every Tuesday. If you are interested in hosting, please e-mail dividendgrowthinvestor [AT] gmail [DOT] com. At The DIV-Net, we do things differently. Check us out, we think you will find we do things better! Last week I laid out some of my reasons why I am hesitant about selling stocks which have cut their dividends. This chart really sums it all up – dividend cutters as well as non-dividend payers underperformed dividend growers by about 5% on average per annum from 1972- 2005. At the end of the day I am in this game not only for the increasing dividend income but also for the capital gains that stock ownership might lead to. Additional research from Prof Siegel about the performance from 1957 to 2007 of the original 500 stocks of the S&P 500 index suggests that there is a high chance that a well diversified portfolio ,which is representative of the major market sectors of its days, will perform close to what the overall market returns. Due to the different information and research out there I will choose to sell or hold a stock that cuts its dividend on a case by case basis. Additional capital, however will not be allocated to dividend cutters, although dividends will be automatically reinvested. It is a dividend aristocrat as well as a component of the S&P 500 index. It has been increasing its dividends for the past 34 consecutive years. From 1998 up until 2007 this dividend growth stock has delivered an annual average total return of 7.10 % to its shareholders. The ROE has remained in the 16-21% range over the past 10 years with the exception of the 2001 spike below 7%. Annual dividend payments have increased over the past 10 years by an average of 11.20% annually, which is much higher than the growth in EPS. An 11% growth in dividends translates into the dividend payment doubling almost every six and a half years. If we look at historical data, going as far back as 1986, VFC has actually managed to double its dividend payment every seven years on average. Much of the growth in dividends came from a 90% jump in payments to shareholders in 2006. If we invested $100,000 in VFC on December 31, 1997 we would have bought 2445 shares (Adjusted for two 2:1 stock splits). In March 1998 your quarterly dividend income would have been $489. If you kept reinvesting the dividends though instead of spending them, your quarterly dividend income would have risen to $1804 by November 2007. For a period of 10 years, your quarterly dividend income has increased by 190 %. If you reinvested it though, your quarterly dividend income would have increased by 269%. The dividend payout has remained below 50% for the majority of our study period, with the exception of a short spike above 75% in 2001. A lower payout is always a plus, since it leaves room for consistent dividend growth minimizing the impact of short-term fluctuations in earnings. I think that VFC is attractively valued with its low price/earnings multiple of 13, low DPR and above average dividend yield of 3.10%. The 156th Carnival of Personal Finance: Songs of Summer, hosted by PT Money, selected my post Selected Dividend Increases in May. The 92nd Edition of the Festival of Stocks, hosted by George over at Fat Pitch Financials included my post Commerce Bancshares (CBSH) Dividend Analysis. Moneygardener posted top 5 stock picks - 1 year update. The Dividend Guy showed Where to Find Dividend Growth Rates. Tyler from Dividend Money is concerned that Baby Boomers Getting Deeper In Debt. Dividends4Life presented Dividends - The Capitalist’s Ideal. The Div Guy presented Pay Yourself With Dividends. Passive Family Income is asking whether He should ride his bike to work. In today’s low interest rate environment, retirees are having a hard time finding tax efficient income opportunities, worthy of their money, which would help them enjoy their post-working years. A great idea for income seeking investors is investing in stocks that pay good yields and have consistent dividend payments. With inflation averaging around 3 - 4% per year, your investment in dividend paying stocks would provide you with a source for income that keeps its purchasing power over time, which unlike fixed income securities can also provide you with capital gains. Unlike bond payments which are fixed, stock dividends could be raised and thus provide stockholders with a nice raise for owning the right companies. A good starting point for income investors is the S&P Dividend Aristocrats list, which features companies that have increased their annual dividend payments every year for more than 25 consecutive years. I have selected the 20 highest yielding stocks in the index, along with their ticker, P/E ratio, dividend yield and dividend payout ratio. The portfolio consisting of the 20 highest yielding stocks in the Dividend Aristocrats index currently yields 5.31% ( As of May 23, 2008). This is far better than most bonds and most stocks. This portfolio is just for illustrative purposes only, however. Its performance could be better or worse than the S&P 500 benchmark. You could access the spreadsheet from here. Full Disclosure: I own GCI, CINF, GE, KMB and CLX. Abbott Laboratories engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Vascular Products. Abbott Laboratories is a dividend aristocrat as well as a component of the S&P 500 index. It has been increasing its dividends for the past 36 consecutive years. Over the past 10 years the company has delivered an average total return of 8.50% annually to its loyal shareholders. The company has managed to deliver a 4.80% average annual increase in its EPS. The ROE has been declining over the past 10 years, from its highs in 1998 of over 40% to its lows of 12% in 2006. A declining ROE trend is a ref flag for me. I would like to see some stabilization in this ratio over the next few years. Annual dividend payments have increased over the past 10 years by an average of 6.80% annually, which is slightly above the growth in EPS. A 6.80 % growth in dividends translates into the dividend payment doubling almost every 10 years. If we look at historical data, going as far back as 1985, ABT has indeed managed to double its dividend payments every five and a half years. If we invested $100,000 in ABT on December 31, 1997 we would have bought 3053 shares (adjusted for a 2:1 split in June 1998). Your first quarterly check would have been $412.15 in early 1998. If you kept reinvesting the dividends though instead of spending them, your quarterly payment would have risen to $1210.62 by October 2007. For a period of 10 years, your quarterly dividend has increased by 140.75 %. If you reinvested it though, your quarterly dividend would have increased by 193.75%. The dividend payout ratio has remained above 50% for the majority of the time over the past 10 years however. Overall, a lower payout is always a plus, since it leaves room for consistent dividend growth minimizing the impact of short-term fluctuations in earnings. Overall, I think that ABT is overvalued at its P/E of over 22 and DPR of over 50%. The only positive is the higher than average dividend yield of 2.60%. I would only consider initiating a long position below $46, as long as the payout is closer to 50% and the dividend yield exceeds the yield on the SPY. Commerce Bancshares, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various banking services to individuals and businesses. It operates in three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Money Management. The company is not a dividend aristocrat but a dividend champion. In fact, this stock never crossed my radar, untill I found about the dividend champions list. The company has been increasing its dividends for the past 40 consecutive years. Over the past 10 years the stock has delivered an average total return of 7.20% annually to its loyal shareholders. In addition, the company has paid a generous 5% stock dividend ever since 1996. Commerce Bancshareshas managed to deliver a 6.80% average annual increase in its EPS since 1998. It has also managed to buy 3% of its stock back on average every year over our study period. The ROE has been in a 13% -16% range for our study period, which is also an impressive number. Annual dividend payments have increased over the past 10 years by an average of 10% annually, which is above the growth in EPS. A 10% growth in dividends translates into the dividend payment doubling every 7 years. If we look at historical data, going as far back as 1986, CBSH has indeed managed to double its dividend payments every seven years. If we invested $100,000 in CBSH on December 31, 1997 we would have bought 2214 shares. Your first quarterly check would have been $188.15 in early 1998. If you kept reinvesting the dividends though instead of spending them, your quarterly payment would have risen to $974.75 by November 2007. For a period of 10 years, your quarterly dividend has increased by 180 %. If you reinvested it though, your quarterly dividend income would have increased by 418%. The significant increase in reinvested dividend income comes from dividend growth, as well as the 5% stock dividend which was paid each November since 1996. I also like the fact that the company’s dividend payout has not exceeded 50% over the past 10 years in addition to the low P/E ratio which is less than 14 and the above average dividend yield of 2.30%. My article Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) Dividend Analysis, was selected to appear on 90th edition of The Festival of Stocks May 26, 2008, hosted by Circle of Competence. My post on Why Do I Like Dividend Achievers, was selected to appear on the 154th edition of Carnival of Personal Finance #154, hosted by Canadian Dream Free at 45. My post TEPPCO Partners (TPP) Dividend Analysis. was selected to appear on The 14th Money Hacks Carnival - Weird Golf Facts Edition, hosted by PTMoney. My post Dividend Champions Watchlist was included in the Carnival of Everything Finance: # 18, hosted by Everything Finance. FireFinance published his monthly list of the Top 100 Personal Finance Blogs. My blog is ranked #41 according to sitemeter and #50 according to quantcast. Dividends4Life presented Stock Analysis: PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP). I myself am a fan of the company. You could read about my opinion here and here. DividendMoney posted How To Develop Your Investing Style. The Money Gardener presented BNS earnings down, dividend up. It's always nice to find a company which consistently increases its dividends twice per year. Million Dollar Journey posted updates on his investing in Smith Manoeuvre Portfolio - May 2008. I also enjoyed the chart in The Dividend Guy’s May Dividend Portfolio Review. DivGuy is getting pretty good at finding buyout opportunities to invest in. I enjoyed reading his post Another buyout offer on one of my stocks: Calpine (CPN). Passive Family Income is Creating a new Income Stream using Prosper. I enjoyed reading America's hottest investor. Being the contrarian that I am, I bet that CGM Focus fund will significantly underperform over the next 5 years. I also enjoyed reading about The next Buffetts at Canadian Business. In his first book Peter Lynch mentions that whenever someone refers to a stock as the next big thing, then you should stay away from it. In other words, putting money on LNUX, which was touted as the next Microsoft in 1999, would have been a disastrous investment. My post Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Dividend analysis marked the 100th post on Dividend Growth Investor. I am very interested in collaborating with fellow personal finance and investment bloggers. To celebrate my centennial, if you are an aspiring writer, and you have an opinion on Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement Planning or a similar money related story, and you want to get more exposure I would love to receive and publish your article on my blog. Feel free to send the articles to my e-mail address at dividendgrowthinvestor at gmail dot com. I would be considering only original articles, which haven't been posted anywhere else before. You could place up to 3 links to your blog/website in the article. the material shouldn't be offensive and should be ok to be read by all audiences ( no R rated stuff please). One week from today, I would let you know if I would be including your article or not. If I publish it, you could also publish it on your blog/website on the same day as me. If its not chosen, you could publish it whenever you wish to.

2019-04-21T08:25:43Z

https://www.dividendgrowthinvestor.com/2008/06/

Safety is a common conversation, explicitly or implicitly, in the halls of middle management. Change agents among the ranks of middle managers experience conversations about the need for safety and the dangers of change on a daily basis. Safety is the focus because there are many for whom safety means the preservation of status, roles and resources. We need to move from safety to making our organisations safer for a world of rapid networked change. Comfortable Accountabilities: Accountabilities should be designed with reference to achievable measures, preferably internal measures related to the discipline. Limited Stakeholders: A few internal stakeholders often from similar functions with similar ideas and ideally few customer or community stakeholders who may introduce different perspectives and diverse issues. Limited Transparency: With utmost politeness, share little and participate little in the concerns of the rest of the organisation to preserve the comfort of your domain. Stability: Ensure there is minimum change in business environment, even if this includes refusing to acknowledge market changes. Minimum Risk: Avoid any change that offers risk. Why jeopardise an environment under close control? The core of these definitions of safety is the idea that the threats to middle managers are internal. The biggest threats comes from other managers or senior management. The external world is not a cause for concern. Safety comes from building an walled fortress within the organisation and focusing internally. In the rapid change of our current business environment, the greatest risk to middle management is not internal. The need for change, the pace of change and its impacts are being driven in the networks around the organisation. Middle management has much more to fear from changing consumer and social behaviour, disruptive technologies and networked ways of working. The classic middle management definition of safety makes nobody safer. By turning inward, by resisting accountabilities, stretch and change, these managers guarantee that their organisations are exposed to much more wrenching changes than need be the case. Each of these elements of safety stand in the way of an open, agile and responsive organisation. When middle managers choose to act as barriers to change, the forces of change risk sweeping whole layers and organisations of managers away. By focusing on a misguided view of individual safety, these managers make the organisation more unsafe as a collective. Leaders who do not challenge a culture of safety in their organisation are putting their whole organisation at risk. Leaders need to be working to make the organisation more responsive. The safer organisation adapts. Leaders, change agents and forward thinking middle managers need to disrupt this misguided culture of safety in organisations. The conversation must not be about safety but how to make the organisation safer through adaption. This disruption must involve conflict with traditional views. However, that disruption will help the organisation adapt to a safer culture that opens the organisation up to its internal and external networks. Push for external accountabilities: Raise the bar on performance. Measure customer outcomes. Consider end-to-end process performance to cut across siloed walls. Look externally for measures of success (and not just in the same industry). Bring in external stakeholders: If customers, community, employees and other partners are not stakeholders in the organisations decisions then gather their perspectives and bring them into discussions across the organisation. There is enormous power in real external views of the organisation, its purposes and performance. Network the organisation: Focus on increasing the flow of information and knowledge within the organisation. Demonstrate the value of collaboration and cooperation in greater efficiency, innovation and engagement in the way work is done. Foster diverse perspectives on the way forward. Most importantly of all delegate outcomes and enable people to make change to adapt without reference to the hierarchy. Experiment: The new definition of safety needs to be a well-run experiment to improve performance. The absence of well-run experiments is a sign of major concern. If you are not testing the way forward in changing times, then you are taking big risks. You don’t need to be CEO to drive these changes to make a more responsive organisation. (Undoubtedly, it helps). You will need to effectively manage your role & influence in the organisation. However, effective change agents and middle managers can begin to ask the questions and start new conversations leveraging external perspectives. Most importantly of all they can build a network of others frustrated by the culture of safety and work together for change. Management practice is influenced heavily by hierarchy, tradition and risk aversion. As a result our practice as managers lags the changes in culture in the society around us. Leaders need to work to close the gap between management practice and social expectations. the diversity of our organisations does not reflect the diversity of our communities. Gender is just one diversity dimension in which management practices lag that the practices and views of society as a whole. resistance to give up hierarchy, planning and demands for predictability and certainty when even the political structures based in these models have surrendered to approaches that operate far more adaptively and responsively. Our cultural products adapt far more quickly to changes in society than our management practices. Film, television, music and other forms of entertainment rapidly embrace changes in the way society operate and reflect that in the protagonists of the stories, songs and other art forms. An example can be seen in the role of the detective in arts like novels, film and television. In the birth of the industrial era, the detective was a logician, like Sherlock Holmes unravelling facts and relying on expertise in predictable processes, By the early 20th century the detective was a master of the human elements of relationships, like Simenon’s Maigret. The uncertain times of the mid century introduced the detective in a much more ambiguous role. Richard Martin has documented how the changing nature of the detective film reflects our changing society. Cultural products appeal to our need to be entertained, connect and engage with each other. Therefore they must be relevant to our society as it is today. Art is an experimental market where failure is common and success is usually defined only by audience acceptance. Someone is always seeking a better way to express the zeitgeist. Why does management practice lag changes in the culture of society? Focus on best practice: Best practice is historical and often particularly contextual. However, managers are often reluctant to move beyond accepted best practice. As Harold Jarche has argued we should look instead to practice to be best and look to be more social leaders. Risk Aversion: Avoidance of failure is a core tenet of management practice. Managers stick with practices that have worked safely for them, often in face of evidence that newer practice is better. Safety is valued. There are real costs to this risk aversion. Hierarchical & Internal: Managers who are more hierarchically senior set the bounds of acceptable management practice and control the HR processes that reinforce acceptable practice. Without an external & learning mindset, these leaders can inadvertently reflect management views and mindsets of a previous generation that were handed down to them during their early career. Responsive Organisations will have a culture and a set of management practices that reflect the needs of our society now. These organisations will experiment, test and measure the effectiveness of their practices in the marketplace and in their organisation. They will not rely on canon, hierarchy or accepted opinion. The benefits of organisations using management practices that better reflect the changing culture of our communities are clear. These organisations will be more human and better able to realise the potential of all people. Bringing this change about is the work of leaders and change agents. Middle managers like to complain about being squeezed by pressures from above and below. Their organisations love to blame them for all the ills in the place. They can place themselves in the heart of the network of their organisations. They have authority to make things happen. Without use, these opportunities whither. Middle managers need to take advantage of them when they can. Frontline employees have very full lives juggling customer expectations. In my experience, they have limited opportunities to engage in networking across the organisation. Enterprise social networks do assist to connect frontline people with the rest of the organisation but the pressures of direct customer engagement often means time is limited and is often focused on better meeting customer needs. Senior management are often removed from the day-to-day interactions in the organisation because of the scale of their jobs and the greater exposure to external stakeholders. Nobody wants a hierarchy where messages need to go to the top to spread because it is a terribly inefficient way to share information. If middle management is to have any meaningful role, middle managers needs to play a role networking the organisation across the middle. Middle manager jobs should give them enough perspective and exposure to their peers to seek and share information widely across the silos and beyond. As nodes in the network of the organisation, managers can dramatically increase their influence sharing information, connecting people, reducing duplication and guiding action. Build a reputation as a generous middle manager who is happy to collaborate, share information and advise and you will find people beating a path to your door. Your authority increases when you want to act. When everyone around you assumes authority depends on hierarchical position, having any hierarchical power is an advantage to action. You don’t need to be at the top, you just need the respect of others. Yet many middle managers wait assuming further endorsement is required. What middle managemers needs to do is leverage their network position and their hierarchical opportunity. Organisations often give way to people who have hierarchical power who are prepared to act, especially where the activity is beneficial and well aligned to strategy and purpose. When I was a mid-level manager in NAB, a group of graduates came to me wanting to know whose authority they needed to set up a TEDX style speaking program in NAB. I told them they needed no authority. It was a great idea, there was a demand and there was no obvious sponsor in the organisational hierarchy. Finding one would be more work than organising the first event. I suggested that they could do it themselves and start straight away. For safety’s sake, I told them that if they were challenged on their authority they should say I approved it. When they did get a challenge, that answer was more than enough because the people who worry about permission rarely have the courage to check its source. A TEDX style event sat well with the culture that NAB was building and the strategy of being more open and aligned to customers and the community. The first TEDX event had over 200 internal attendees and the events which were run by volunteer graduates for 2 more years were huge successes. If you are a middle manager and want that role to continue in your organisation, don’t fall for the blame game. Network yourself to increase your authority and use whatever authority you have to add value in line with the organisation’s purpose and strategy. Undoubtedly many of the leading case studies of future of work organizations are organizations created or rebirthed from near death by charismatic founders. Some use this as evidence that the elements of a responsive organization must be present from the beginning. In a previous post, I pointed out that we cannot rely on transparency alone to make change occur for us. The power structures in a traditional organisation will prevent most radical change. I am unambiguously in the optimist camp. I am not alone and the company in the optimist camp inspires me. I have seen organizations change enough to not recognise their former selves. Change to more responsive ways of working is possible. The question is how. Leaders must create a strong rationale for the transformation. In cases of crisis, startup or near death of organizations, this rationale can often be imposed by a charismatic individual. The external circumstances enable a threat based narrative to bind people together in a defensive rationale for change. The Purpose of the organization: a purpose is the ultimate rationale for why people come together in an endeavour. It defines the common impact the group of people wish to have on the world. As a higher agenda, it is the perfect rationale for change for even the most successful organisations. Purpose is a mastery quest. Very few organizations have the capability to completely fulfil their purpose. They can however strive to better realise it. This post is deliberately not titled like a listicle e.g. ’The 3 or 6 things to transform an organisation’. Even a basic familiarity with change highlights that formulas will work only up to a point. Leadership needs to be adaptive to enable any system to change in a sustainable way. Conflict: The biggest reason that organizational transformations fail is an unwillingness of the leadership of the organisation to allow uncertainty and conflict. Conflict will happen. The uncertainty associated with conflict is inevitable. Efforts to suppress this will either undermine transparency, the rationale for change, engagement or learning. Failure to embrace conflict takes many names: politeness, bureaucracy, politics, corporate speak, history, culture, etc. Failure to embrace conflict is an unwillingness to learn and improve. There will always be resistance when change comes and it must be addressed. Leaders need to create and sustain the right kinds of constructive conflict – driven by purpose, based in facts from an external orientation & experimentation, mediated through an engaged community. I have seen the potential of purpose, external orientation, engagement, trust experimentation and conflict to drive change. Supported by leadership these are the elements of each organization’s transformation. These elements are critical to a Responsive Organization. Throughout this post I have referred to leaders and leadership. This need not be hierarchical leadership. Clearly it helps if leadership and power are aligned in an organization in reinforcing the need for change. However, the changes described above are not capable of being implemented by top-down edicts. These changes must come as individuals and groups discover their power and are influenced as a result, This kind of leadership relies on influence and can begin bottom up or even from the middle management so often scorned in organizations. Man in Black: I can’t afford to make exceptions. Once word leaks out that a pirate has gone soft, people begin to disobey you, and then it’s nothing but work, work, work all the time. Many middle managers have the Dread Pirate Roberts Problem. Changing our organisations will require them to break from moulds of leadership that they have inherited with their roles. Middle managers need to invent the new path forward to more responsive organisations or disappear in the disruption of digital networks. Man in Black: The name was the important thing for inspiring the necessary fear. No one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Wesley. In the film ‘The Princess Bride” we discover that the Dread Pirate Roberts that has been terrorising the seas for 20 years is not a person, it is a role. The title Dread Pirate Roberts has been handed down from one player of that role to the next. Each player carries on the traditions and techniques of the role to maintain their effectiveness. When they tire of the role, they retire passing it on to the next person to play Dread Pirate Roberts with terror, ruthless efficiency and no exceptions. Middle managers can experience the same challenge as the successors of the Dread Pirate Roberts. The role that they take on as managers in a hierarchy comes with cultural expectations that have been built up over years by their predecessors. Culture is an expectation as to patterns of interactions between people. The culture creates expectations of how managers will act, use their power and demonstrate leadership. In many cases those expectations can be no less fearsome than those of the Dread Pirate Roberts. Many middle managers have not seen or been trained in any other models of management and leadership than those that have prevailed in the role or organisation. Asking or expecting these managers to break from these deep cultural expectations on their own is a vain hope. Even if they are given the skills to act differently, they will find their teams and stakeholders are disappointed that they no longer behave as the Dread Pirate Roberts should. The system pressure to return to type in this situation can be strong. Performance management & talent systems reward ‘strong leadership’, usually defined culturally by the existing role of manager. The risk of adopting another model is that any volatility of performance will be seen as failure of the new practice. Personal influence in the networks of ‘strong leaders’ can erode. Struggling to come to grips with new practices managers find management and leadership becomes ‘work, work, work all the time’. It hard not to see why many choose to just continue the traditions, enjoy the rewards and hang out for their chance to retire and pass on the role. Why does Middle Management Need to Change its Approach? Digital disruption and networked ways of working are threatening organisations and putting pressure on the traditional function of middle management roles. The role of middle managers as creators and filters of knowledge disappears as knowledge becomes a flow in networks and technology automates the functions. Middle managers are increasingly facing a need to realise people’s potential in collaboration and create more responsive organisations. More and more organisations are focused on the fact that the poor engagement of people in traditional command and control models is a massive waste of human potential. Every disengaged employee is someone not helping to push the organising forward. More knowledge work demands better use of people’s purpose, passion, creativity and intelligence. Organisations increasingly want leadership in every role, a direct threat to command and control models. Managers need to leverage new mindsets, new questions and gather new knowledge & expertise from networks. However, when these changes require new management and leadership models, the Dread Pirate Roberts problem arises. A middle manager who is expected to manage by control and power will find a shift to the role of an engaging leader, let alone a network navigator, challenging and confronting. They are going to need to give up their traditional models of influence, perceptions of how they create value and ‘work, work, work’ to influence teams and stakeholders that a new approach works. Middle managers need to accept the work & the risks. Leadership is work. In the new era of network disruption, leadership can’t be safe. Managers need to accept that they are the change management. Influence is critical and middle level managers need to use their networks and authority to lead that change collectively. Senior organisational leaders can authorise and support these changes. Senior leaders can help reduce the work and risk of change. However, they cannot make change easier for middle managers. Senior leaders can’t order a change in culture. It will take a new shared story of leadership in the organisation, new capabilities & practices, new systems, and consistent role modelling for a new model of leadership to embed. Social collaboration inside organisations can help managers to accelerate this cultural change by acting as infrastructure of culture magnifying the change in culture and role modelling effective behaviours. Middle managers need to embrace the opportunities to be leaders, culture change agents and to explore the network navigator role, particularly in networks in and around their organisation. These roles may well be the only functions of a middle manager in a future organisation. By experimenting and working collaboratively with their teams and leaders in this way they will discover the right path forward for their organisation & build critical capabilities for the years ahead. Perhaps then all the managers playing the role of Dread Pirate Roberts in organisations can happily retire and hang up their boots. A lot of magic is ascribed to CXO titles. Often there is more real influence in other parts of the network, like middle management. No matter what you think of the CXO roles, one CXO role is critical: The Chief Me Officer. A successful Chief Me Officer recognises the ‘buck stops with the CMeO’ on all matters relating to you, your life and your career. Like a good organisation leader they don’t just focus on one part of their business, you need a whole of life and community view of the impacts of you. With this kind of accountability, this is not a role you can outsource. Family, friends, mentors, organisations, colleagues and people leaders can all help, but they won’t deliver on the plans you need to be successful. Once you build your plan to become a successful Chief Me Officer, you will be well placed to lead others, engaging in collaboration in the new networked ways of working. The future of networked working needs capable leaders in every role. How can you start your leadership journey better than by leading yourself? After publishing my recent post on the four drivers of value creation in collaboration, I chatted with Anna Chu about how these concept is applied. The conversation highlighted to me that there was value in further explaining how to use these drivers to connect senior leaders and employees to the value of collaboration. This post will explore that topic further. As I noted in the initial post the four drivers are a simple tool to find value creation opportunities. Their power is that they act as a link between organisational strategic value whether in economic or non-economic value and the features and benefits of technology solutions and their use cases. The CEO approaches you to improve Innovation in line with the new corporate strategy. The strategy is a little unclear on how innovation works in your organisation so this responsibility is a little daunting. Growth: What outcomes do you hope will grow through Innovation? Effectiveness: How do you see Innovation enable us to do things better? Velocity: What do you want us to do faster through innovation? Protection: How do you see innovation help us to avoid risks? The discussion is long and involves a lot more back and forth but together you clarify that the CEO is interested in how the organisation can more quickly bring products to market based on insights from customers. She is worried about being disrupted by a new competitor. Protection: Alert the whole organisation to the disruptive threat. Engage all employees in the search for customer insights and competitive intelligence. They can come from anywhere. You notice an employee using a collaboration platform in an unusal way and you go engage them in conversation. She is posting daily tips and tricks on password security. The employee explains that she has decided to work out loud on her challenge of improving employee passwords. She knows that passwords impact everyone and her role in IT security doesn’t give her contact with everyone. There aren’t many resources for this initiative. Effectiveness: How can we better secure organisational data and systems to ensure legal compliance and also to maintain a secure environment? Protection: How do we avoid the risks of intrusion or breach of legal compliance? Protection: You are able to engage a much wider group of employees in working together to improve information security more generally. In particular, you let employees know the many risks and legal requirements through discussion and action together. Organisational goals and strategies are unique and highly contextual. So are the goals and strategies of users. The power of the four drivers is that they sit at a middle level of abstraction which helps connect high level strategic concepts and outcomes from the strategy process with specific individual user actions. Using the drivers to guide conversation and to guide questions helps anyone leading adoption to build a much stronger connection between activity and value in both directions. Recently in Change Agents Worldwide we were discussing the challenges of change leadership. What struck me in that conversation was that there is a real challenge of courage for leaders. Change leadership is difficult, not always a positive experience and fraught with failure. Leading change takes people to have the courage to push for change. The challenge of leadership courage in change is not the big risky acts that demand bravery. Big risky acts are those people are expected to pursue in leadership roles. There are rewards for taking the big risks even when you fail. Earlier this year I read my Change Agents Worldwide colleague Lois Kelly’s book, Naked Hearted. The book is about removing the filters and getting to the real issues. Besides being beautifully written, Lois shares a series of personal essays in which she examines many of the ways we can duck the chance to be open and show courage in being ourselves. Lois has taken this theme further and is now running a series of Courage Camps to enable others to examine how to be bolder. The book was a reminder to me that the hardest form of courage is the little everyday acts of courage. These opportunities for leaders to take these small risks come so hard and so fast that it can be easier to take the easy option and avoid them. There is rarely praise and accolades for these everyday actions. At times, there can be enormous social pressure to “accept the status quo”, “fit in and get along”, not to raise “the elephant in the room” or to “go with the flow”. We have lots of phrases to describe surrendering our little acts of courage. We can at times feel that even a single missed moment of action on these little acts creates insurmountable barriers to future action. These little acts offer little reward for action to overcome doubts. With doubts and barriers leading to inaction, over time expectations can arise that certain issues won’t be addressed. The expectations are how toxic cultures are built over time. Each of these acts of courage takes no more than a moment. We barely notice whether they are there or are missing. These are the moments that can often shock us into inaction and we think of things later that we should have said. Often we have to reflect deeply to understand what happened in the rush of our days and how we could act differently. While these acts are small, they are missed if not addressed in the moment. High-performing teams and vibrant cultures create an environment of psychological safety such that these little acts of courage become the expectation. Cumulatively, a cascade of these small acts of courage creates an enormous difference as they role model better culture, enable hard change and enable others to act. I have found myself testing my own little acts of courage a great deal over the last year. I have a strategy of not engaging in political debates because, in our highly partisan climate, open debate rarely creates change or creates productive learning environments. The upswell of discussion in the last year around the world on topics like privilege, sexual harassment, sexism, racism, immigration, gender, sexuality, and nationalism, and more has tested my resolve to sit out. I have made some efforts to discuss the general non-political implications of these issues for communities and society like our need to foster civil society. However, my caution and doubts have been sorely tested. The toxic political environment and lack of civil society around these critical human issues have also seeped beyond political contexts and social media. People have felt emboldened to express intolerance, to foster division or to dismiss the contributions of the marginalised. In the last year, I have had more conversations in both business and personal contexts where people have expressed ugly views in the interests of ‘not being politically correct’. I wish I could say that I had lived up to my own expectations of calling out all these behaviours and displaying the necessary little acts of courage. I was brought up to value politeness and good relations. Staying silent in the face of difficult conversations is too easy. However, it is ducking the hard work that we need to do to create the kind of relationships, organisations and societies. I have kept silent at times too because as a well-educated middle-class grey-haired white male who has held senior management positions I am a representative of the group that has much to learn by listening to other voices. I know I have been the beneficiary of extraordinary privilege in my career. When opportunities keep opening up for you, you know that is more than talent, hard work or luck. Too many hardworking people of talent don’t get the luck they deserve. Privilege also acts an insurance policy. That privilege means that mistakes and shortcomings that might have had ended or held back others have not had that effect on me. I can be an ally to others and I can be braver in helping others to take action on these moments, both little and big. I have kept silent at times too because I have made my own mistakes and not been called on them. Part of privilege is this protection. I’d love to be able to say the only issues were those where I silently acquiesced in decisions or actions of others, but my fingerprints are on too many moments to list. My privileged situation actually protected me from my own failings when others didn’t have the courage to tell me where I let them down. I had one team in my career where I thought I did a great job of management. The team seemed to have a great culture & great performance. In support of those goals, I engaged directly with the team consistently, including regular skip level meetings and working on development plans for the whole team. Only years later did I discover through a third party that one of my team felt bullied by their manager, one of my direct reports. My high expectations, support for the team and praise of their progress was taken as my unwillingness to hear bad news and my alignment to my direct reports. Despite regular interactions, a flat structure and regular open communication, nobody felt it was OK to point out an issue. One little act of courage could have changed that situation by opening a different conversation. I sailed on oblivious convinced in my leadership while others suffered in silence. It makes me wonder how many other stories that I may never know. I can be an ally to others and search harder for the stories that need to be told. The value of being an ally was emphasized yesterday. Oprah Winfrey spoke at the Golden Globes accepting her Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement award. The response to the speech was dramatic with an upswell of enthusiasm for her leadership and calls for her to run for President. Realising Oprah’s vision of a new dawn won’t take a new heroic leader bring about big change. We don’t need to follow. We need to act on the little everyday acts of change.

2019-04-22T19:10:08Z

https://simonterry.com/?s=middle+management&submit=

What is Executivesearchbusiness.com? What's in it for me, and can you guarantee it? Is Executivesearchbusiness.com only for people looking for jobs? Can I trust Executivesearchbusiness.com? Do you really have my best interests in mind, or are you just trying to get me to pay a membership fee? As a job seeker, why should I sign up for a business executive job board where I have to pay when there are so many free ones out there? How do I contact Executivesearchbusiness.com? How accessible are you? How do I find business executive jobs on the site? How do I use search criteria to look for business executive jobs on Executivesearchbusiness.com? I'm new to Executivesearchbusiness.com. How is the advanced search option beneficial to me? Are all of these business executive jobs current? How do I apply for business executive jobs? Should I copy and paste my business executive resume, or should I upload it? How can I see what business executive jobs I have applied for already? I saw a business executive position that I was interested in a couple of weeks ago, and it has an "X" in the box, which means you can't apply there. If you still have it listed, is it available? Where do I apply for it? What are the benefits of using Executivesearchbusiness.com as opposed to competitor sites? How do I post a business executive job? What kind of information should I include in a business executive job posting? Can I edit, delete, or refresh my business executive job posting? As a recruiter, why should I choose Executivesearchbusiness.com rather than one of the other job boards when posting my jobs? How can I post business executive jobs? Why should I sign up for a membership with Executivesearchbusiness.com? Executivesearchbusiness.com is a job-research service that aggregates every single business executive job it can find in the United States and puts them all in one place. As a job-aggregation service, our primary objective is to find every single business executive job out there. As a member of Executivesearchbusiness.com, you have access to jobs that most people do not have access to when they are searching for similar sorts of jobs. While we are centralizing the databases of thousands of online sources, we are also visiting the corporate webpages of most corporations and organizations in the United States and then taking the business executive job openings from there and putting them all in one place. The results are profound: you would never find most of the jobs on our site elsewhere, no matter how hard you looked. Our database took years to develop and is a multimillion-dollar effort that involves hundreds of people working to bring you jobs on a daily basis. At Executivesearchbusiness.com, we are willing to put our money where our mouth is. Our memberships have a free trial for the first three days. Simply sign up for Executivesearchbusiness.com and see for yourself. Our statistics show that virtually everyone who signs on to the site for the free trial chooses to remain a member long after because he or she finds so much value in the research we do on a daily basis. If you are smart about your career, you always want to know where the best business executive opportunities are and where you stand in comparison to your peers. You need to think of your business executive career as a business. You have skills to offer the market, and you need to put them where they are going to be valued the most. You need to be aware of every business executive opportunity out there at all times. Being aware of what's going on in the market will enable you to constantly be one step ahead of the competition, jump on the hottest opportunities the moment they become available, and be an educated business executive professional. Executivesearchbusiness.com is a division of Employment Research Institute, one of the largest employment companies in the United States. We have hundreds of employees and offices in more than 14 states in the US and around the world. We currently run more than 15 separate companies that serve the employment needs of hundreds of thousands of people annually. We are serious about the work we do at Employment Research Institute, and Executivesearchbusiness.com is no exception. LawCrossing, another one of our websites, is the most highly trafficked and popular legal employment site in the world. As you can imagine, a site catering to attorneys experiences a considerable amount of scrutiny, and it's no different at Executivesearchbusiness.com. Executivesearchbusiness.com is a highly sophisticated research service whose objective is to provide you with access to every business executive job in the United States. Because we are fundamentally a research service, we do not necessarily guarantee that our members will find employment through our site. Our objective is to simply ensure that they get access to every job out there matching their particular interests. It's more exclusive. Joining a free site such as Monster.com, HotJobs.com, or any of the other dozens of job websites means that you are competing with every person who needs a business executive job and has access to a computer. It is very likely that you will get lost in the shuffle. By limiting the applicant pool to a smaller number of people — people who are serious enough about their job searches to pay a small fee — Executivesearchbusiness.com allows its members to have a better shot at the business executive positions posted. There are more business executive jobs. By making users pay, we are making it possible for employers to not pay. Every other site requires employers to pay large (sometimes prohibitive) fees to post jobs. By making our service free for employers, we are allowing those employers to post without consequence. Any job they post will cost them absolutely nothing, so there is more incentive for them to post jobs with us. We work harder than any other job board to ensure that we have every job in the business executive industry. Other sites make employers contact them. In many cases, we contact employers so that we can be sure to have their jobs on our site. This extra effort we make on your behalf is something you can't get anywhere else. 1. We get business executive jobs from every source possible. Job boards like Monster.com and CareerBuilder run on a different business model — they completely depend on employers for adding jobs on their sites. Employers who do not wish to spend thousands to post their openings find no place on these job boards. Also, if you apply for business executive jobs through these job boards, you are in competition with thousands of other applicants. This is because anyone with an Internet connection can access all the jobs on these boards. This means you have far fewer chances of landing the interview or getting the job. Executivesearchbusiness.com's mission is to get you every business executive job that's out there. Every day, hundreds of research analysts at Executivesearchbusiness.com monitor over 250,000 employer websites, job boards, and newspaper classifieds to consolidate each and every business executive job opening on the site. The employers whose jobs we are locating get fewer applications, which means you have much greater chances of getting hired. At Executivesearchbusiness.com, our objective is nearly the opposite. We want to find as many unpublicized business executive jobs as possible for our members so that when they apply for jobs, they are not competing with a lot of other applicants. Because we are a paid research job site, a much smaller group of people use our site than competing sites. We and our members like it that way. Executivesearchbusiness.com is Committed to Helping You! The Executivesearchbusiness.com customer service staff is available to assist you through your job search on all business days, during our scheduled business hours. Please do contact us if you have any comments or questions about your membership or any of the services Executivesearchbusiness.com provides. Advanced Search: This feature allows you to narrow down your search results. You can search for business executive jobs by location, keyword, source, and required experience. You can also confine your search to a specific geographic radius. For more tips on how to use the Advanced Search functionality, please refer to the next question. Search by Job Titles: We have enlisted the most sought-after business executive job titles at the end of the homepage. Clicking on the job title directs you to a page that lists all the related job openings from the site. Additionally, the page also gives complete information on that particular position, including a brief description of the typical job responsibilities and required qualifications, a job description video created by our in-house broadcasters, and active forums for any questions that you may have about that particular business executive job title. Now Hiring: You can search for jobs by employer in the "Now Hiring" section on the homepage. There, we list the latest business executive jobs along with the relevant employer names and logos. This section is updated every day. Map Search: Search for business executive jobs by state with the help of our "Map Search" feature. Click on the state in which you'd like to search for jobs, and you'll see a list of all the job opportunities available in that state. Job in Your City: A scroll bar lists the numbers of business executive jobs available in specific cities. Find your preferred city, and see how many jobs are available there. Job Alerts: You can create alerts that deliver the latest job listings to your inbox every day. You can also tailor your job alerts to your job-search criteria. For example, you can sign up to receive daily updates listing media business executive consultant jobs in Boston. The advanced search option on Executivesearchbusiness.com tailors your search results to predefined search criteria. You can use a combination of search parameters to list jobs that match your preferences. The advanced search option gives you more specific and realistic results. What Executivesearchbusiness.com does is very different from what other job boards do. The moment a business executive job becomes available, it is added to our site. Our researchers work 24/7 to keep track of developments in the job market and ensure that new positions are immediately included in our database. We monitor the hiring needs of 250,000 employers, scour more than 10,000 employer websites, and pore over numerous publications to find every current job opening. We don't wait for jobs to be advertised. We hunt them down. Many employers prefer to wait until they have met you to discuss salary information. If a company lists a salary, we include it in the business executive job description. Subscribe to The Job Researcher, Executivesearchbusiness.com's free weekly newsletter to get a ringside view of all the latest trends, happenings and insights on the job search industry. Tune into a forum that is packed with resources to help you plan your career. Plus, you also get a chance to win a new 2010 BMW 328i sedan in Employment Research Institute's annual car giveaway. You will be able to use all of your resumes to apply for jobs. Keeping separate resumes for applying to different types of jobs (e.g., account executive, media business executive consultant, etc.) is a good idea because you can tailor different resumes to different job searches and choose which one best fits the job in question when you apply. No. Very few employers would take the time to go through a database and search for candidates, and those who choose to do so often do not offer the types of jobs we are business executive. Large corporations and organizations would prefer that quality candidates come to them. If you would like to be emailed about jobs that might be relevant to your search, then you can click on "job alert." Every time we post a new job, you will be notified and sent a description of the job to view. You can make the alert function send you jobs in a category that is very narrow or very broad. The business executive positions will be sent to you in real time as we update the board all day long. If a position becomes available on Saturday at midnight, you can expect an email a few seconds later. In the "My Outbox" section, there are two different areas where the jobs you have applied for will appear. If you click on the "Online Job Applications" link, you will see all of the business executive jobs that you have applied for through the site's "Apply Online" feature. If you click on the "My Mail Merge" link, you can see all of the jobs you have applied for by mail. It might be a good idea to look over these lists before you start applying for jobs. Although we have made it impossible to apply for the same position more than once, you will want to make sure you are not applying to the same branch office of a company more than once. In general, your resume will come across the desks of the same people, and the more they see of the same applicant, the less likely they are to consider that person. If you are considering applying for a business executive job you have seen but do not want to do so immediately, click "Add this job to my hotlist." This will save the job so that you can apply for it later in a bulk application, if you wish. The hotlist is easily accessible from any page once you are signed in. I saw a business executive job that I was interested in a couple of weeks ago, and it has an "X" in the box, which means you can't apply there. If you still have it listed, is it available? Where do I apply for it? No-cost job posting. There is no similar website that offers its services for free to employers. Executivesearchbusiness.com carries no inherent risk. We will post your jobs and find you the candidates you are looking for at no cost. A recruiter who can handle ALL of your needs. There are many ways to find qualified business executive professionals and staff. Executivesearchbusiness.com allows you to post all of your jobs in one place — again, at no cost! On the Executivesearchbusiness.com homepage, there is a button that says "Post a Job." Click on it, and a new window will appear asking for the job information you would like posted. You can even post multiple job openings that you may have. Once we have verified that the jobs are not already in our database and are coming from a valid source, they will appear on the site. It is possible that we have withheld your job because it has already been posted on the site by other means. It is also possible that the job does not fit our criteria for what makes a good posting. If you don't believe either of these reasons to be the case, email us at jobs@Executivesearchbusiness.com.com or call us at 626-243-1814, and we can discuss what happened to the posting. Once you have asked us to enter a job into our database, the job will be maintained by us, which means it will be refreshed by our verification methods and will be deleted once it has been filled. If you would like a job to be deleted, refreshed, or changed immediately, feel free to email us at jobs@Executivesearchbusiness.com.com with the pertinent job information and what you would like us to do. We encourage you to post all the job opportunities that you have available. Any business executive-related job is acceptable. business executive professionals come here to look for all kinds of positions. Because there are many jobs posted on Executivesearchbusiness.com, your job may have gotten lost in the shuffle, especially if it was posted a long time ago. Refresh your job by choosing it in your profile and then clicking "edit" and "save." That way, it will show up as having been posted on the day you refreshed it. You can do this as many times as you want. The main reason to choose Executivesearchbusiness.com is that there are no costs associated with posting jobs on our site. We only ask you to inform us that the job has come from a recruiter when you post it. There isn't another job board on the Internet that provides this kind of free service. On the Executivesearchbusiness.com homepage, there is a button that says "Post a Job." Click on it, and a new window will appear that will ask for the job information you would like posted. You can even post multiple job openings that you may have. Once we have verified that a job is not already in our database and is coming from a valid source, it will appear on the site. Once you have asked us to enter a job into our database, the job will be maintained by us, which means it will be refreshed by our verification methods and will be deleted once it has been filled. If you would like a job to be deleted, feel free to email us at jobs@Executivesearchbusiness.com.com with the pertinent job information. We encourage you to post all the job opportunities that you have available. Any business executive job is acceptable. business executive professionals come here to look for all kinds of positions. Job postings will be judged on a case-by-case basis as they are submitted. If you have job you need to get filled, as long as it's professional, we will most likely allow it to be posted.

2019-04-22T02:01:22Z

http://www.executivesearchbusiness.com/faq.php

Everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it. Actually, Mark Twain was wrong. Witch doctors, shamans, and mystery priests have always done something about the weather. Of course, so have pious Christians on their knees in prayer. But now, for the first time in history, Al Gore is part of a movement that wants to do something about the weather by international politicking. This movie is his story. The movie is largely a video of a slide show he gives around the world, but it is interspersed with documentary-like footage of his world travels through airports and in limos, along with nostalgic glimpses of his idyllic agrarian boyhood, and even a few swipes at his political opponents both current and past that border on the vicious. Apart from those occasional lapses, however, most of it is in that “aw-shucks ahm jus’ a good ole boy too” kind of tone that all successful politicians at the national level since 1976 (excepting only HW) seem to have adopted as the persona best suited for political success. The part of the slide show to which we should pay the most attention is the graphs and numbers, although the human-interest bits, especially the cataclysmic ones, may be part of a hidden agenda that I will discuss anon. Here and there I will put the approximate minute-count from the beginning in parentheses. The numbers include graphs of CO2 levels that one of his college professors began recording in 1958. These number zigzag up and down in little undulations corresponding to the summer/winter seasons (16); but the trend of the wiggly line is decidedly upwards. Then, zooming out even farther, he shows an alleged 650,000 year chart of CO2 and temperature (21). Many ups and downs can be observed, corresponding to “seven ice ages.” At the right-hand end, the curves zoom up into the stratosphere. Another graph (30) shows ocean temperatures starting in 1940, overlaid on computer models that “long ago” predicted this range of temperature increases. Hurricane Katrina and (music fades in) the botched governmental response to it are somehow, and ominously, linked to global warming (32) — “the consequences were horrendous; there are no words to describe it.” The political heat is turned up higher as even the N-word is implied of opponents to the global warming agenda, via a 1936 quote (34) from Churchill (I mean of course “Nazi”). A pastiche of images (35) from Gore’s 2000 defeat (or pseudo-defeat) are stitched in. All kinds of catastrophes are rehearsed throughout the world “like a nature hike through the Book of Revelations [sic]” (37). Studies project that the Arctic ice cap will be gone within 70 years or less (44). The arrival of birds and caterpillars in the Netherlands is already out of sync (51). The rising thaw line means more mosquitoes, and thus more diseases are in the offing (53). The oceans are rising and this has already caused refugees from Pacific Islands to seek refuge in New Zealand (57). Think about the impact of 100 million or more refugees when they are displaced (1:00). But though the US is the worst culprit, we have a record of successes that should make us optimistic of our ability to change: the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, and going to the moon (1’25”). Indeed, we even have a notch in our belt environmentally — the ozone hole has been fixed due to actions we took (1’26”). Oh yes, the ozone hole. When they stopped talking about that, I forgot all about it. Never even knew it was fixed. Let me preface my critique of Gore by saying, I don’t want to be understood to favor the profligate use of resources. On the contrary, a case for the stingy use of resources can indeed by made, but from a perspective quite contrary to that presented by Gore. I will make suggestions along this line in due time in the future; now is the place to address Al Gore. In evaluating Gore’s arguments, it is convenient to divide the subject between the science, the ethics, and the politics. This will segue naturally into some general observations including predictions of future politics. In the first “bouncy” curve, it appears as if the CO2 has tripled or quadrupled since 1958. However, this is because the axes are not labeled at all. By chance, the very week I watched this there was an NPR interview on the subject which claimed only about 40%. Gore’s graph is therefore quite deceptive. The problem is where the “zero” reference axis is. It is just like the stock market. If you drew the base line at 12,000, then a move from 12,500 to 13,000 would look like doubling, but it is actually only 4%; likewise, here. Gore has “plausible deniability” in that he simply doesn’t show the reference line at all. But that is not good science. The second curve, covering the “Medieval warming” (or is it “Medieval cooling”? both phenomena seem to be on the graph), you can finally observe that the CO2 scale goes from 280 to 360; the temperature chart corresponding to it goes from 0 degrees to a little over a half degree. The wiggles span a 1000 year period, with most of the upsurge indicated in the last 100 years. The vertical scale appears to be labeled incorrectly, showing negatives in the upward direction. Also, there are simultaneous reds and blues (hots and colds) covering the same years in the last-few-years section, but nowhere else. This is very confusing. In any case, we are talking no more than 0.5 degrees C of change from the main axis. In the third curve set, now covering “650,000 years,” the chart bounces between about 180 and 280 ppm of CO2. At the right extremity (“now”) the dramatic upsurge of the CO2 curve (red) is not matched by a surge in the temperature (blue)—the latter seems to be on a new plateau. So are they really correlated or not? Also, going from 180 to 280 is only a rise of 56%, which is order-of-magnitude consistent with what I heard on NPR. The biggest punch line (complete with Gore going up in a cherry-picker) is a 50 year extrapolation. But extrapolations are always dangerous if not absurd. Mark Twain already observed that extrapolations based on the build-up of the Mississippi delta observed in his day would imply that the entire Gulf of Mexico would soon be filled up. Nature doesn’t work that way: that is, nature’s Creator has not made it so. Watch for the same sleight-of-hand tricks that I have outlined above, in the other charts. Apart from the inconsistent and deceptively-presented data about weather, another serious concern is the part that allocates responsibility. Look at the chart above. In tonnage, the US contributes nearly double Europe, yet the US is shown as 30% which is only 7% more than Europe’s alleged 28%. So either there is more going on than tonnage of CO2 — please explain what, then — or the numbers are erroneous somewhere. Based on taking the per capita as solid, these numbers show that the USA and Europe contribute equally, which is more consistent with the culpability percentages, but Japan + China is then 1.0, which even neglecting the rest of Asia, should imply 18% if the US is 30%, not the 14% indicated. Even apart from the correlation to the culpability percentages, why do none of the totals match up at all?! Some are off by a factor of four, others by only a factor of two. Gore’s numbers are obviously bogus somewhere. Did no one check? One thing that would be helpful would be to show where these numbers come from to begin with. Presumably, the total tonnage of petroleum and coal that is produced and consumed is known — is it a simple proportionality? Is there no efficiency factor? If not, then what good do auto emissions controls do, at least for this problem? Gore ups the ante very clearly: to oppose him is to be immoral. The implication of the N-word was mentioned above. He drives it home: “ultimately this is really not a political issue so much as a moral issue; if we allow that to happen it is deeply unethical.” (24). An interesting ethical deliverance by Gore would be this: suppose (contrary to current belief) the warming is completely due to nature, and the CO2 is actually slowing it down. Would he then advocate emitting even more CO2 to maintain the status quo, or would we still need to shut down to allow nature to take its course? In other words, what is the basic environmental ethic that is supposed to frame the discussion? Is nature=good and manmade=bad the basic set of ethical equations? If so, why? This is especially so given the evolutionary viewpoint that Gore seems to endorse, not to mention that he twice references atheist Carl Sagan, who was “his friend” (8). But on an atheistic/evolutionary world-view, what possible basis does he have for his ethical pitch? Moreover, on that viewpoint, “man-made” is itself merely “part of nature.” There is no ontological and thus no ethical difference, since man and his behavior is then just “what it is,” just like that of apes and lions. But Gore’s use of manipulative images that are political makes him subject to the same accusation. When “science” becomes charged in this manner, with its “objective results” a matter to be screamed and shouted, and not subjected to principial falsification, then it is no longer science. This is not to mention that environmental science is not really a hard science to begin with– and computer simulation programs are hardly at the level of science at all. Millions of Americans are not part of the Guild yet have the kind of training that would permit them to follow the detailed arguments if presented. For example: let’s have a publicly-accessible database of the temperature data that statisticians from all walks of life can analyze with regressions. This is a process that has a great deal of “noise” on it. What is the probability that the physical trend is actually in the opposite direction? (It is a non-zero probability.) Let’s see the data. Let’s hear how the numbers, especially the fault-finding numbers are derived. For starters, let’s fix the obvious numerical mistakes that wreck the credibility of his charts. 1. He drops a bombshell but let’s it pass, namely this: 30% of the emissions that go into the atmosphere come from forest fires (1’04”). Think about it. This means that stopping the forest fires (many of which are intentional, and others burn due to politics that prevents harvesting the forests, with the result that a natural process holds them in check with fires) would alone just about undo the entirety of the excess CO2 that allegedly is being emitted. Unlike what he actually proposes, this seems like a doable agenda. Yet, he passes by that inference without even a mention. 2. Let it be that America is responsible for 30% (though for several reasons I have given above, this has not been established by the play). If America reduced its part to zero, there would still be 70%– and that chunk is the part that is growing the most rapidly. That other part only needs to grow by half to cancel our elimination. So without getting the Third World under control, anything that America did would be purely symbolic anyway. But the Third World is not going to be brought under control, at least by mere force of conviction. In other words, something like a world-wide integrated control structure, like a gigantic police state, would be necessary to bring about the changes that Gore advocates. However, that does not seem feasible right now, though I have no doubt our rulers would want it if it were feasible. The fact that (1) he ignores an easily-addressed and massive contributor to CO2 emissions (forest fires), (2) uses deceptive labeling, inconsistent numbers, and absurd extrapolations; (3) that removing America’s contribution would not by itself change the man-made situation, along with (4) the use of apocalyptic imagery (including “Revelations” [sic]) clearly meant to excite emotions, all lead me to suggest that the real agenda actually lies elsewhere. I suggest, the actual purpose of this movie is to plant ideas having latent and infectious power into the American political psyche. Mosquitoes, dread plagues and diseases, and the displacement of tens of millions of refugees are to set the stage for the upcoming years of politics. Do you oppose reverting back to the pre-Industrial Revolution? Then you’re going to have to pay for disease control all around the world, and don’t object if in addition tens of millions of new immigrants need to be given refuge in our land. We should also pay the Third World to compensate them for producing less CO2. TO OPPOSE THESE MEASURES WILL MARK YOU AS IMMORAL IF NOT A NAZI. This, I predict, is the real agenda. The tricky charts and bogus numbers are like a magician’s twirl of the baton to distract from how he pulls a rabbit out of the hat. Keep your eyes on other issues that our magician-politicians will be bringing forth as side shows to the global warming rhetoric. This entry was posted in Current Discourse, Documentary by TJH. Bookmark the permalink. Thanks for the review. It was great. Excellent. I’ve also heard that the eruption of certain volcanoes (like Krakatoa) released more CO2 into the atmosphere than all human activity combined since the beginning of our existence. Not sure if that’s true but it wouldn’t surprise me—Krakatoa actually caused a year without a summer. i just viewed this docudrama as i will title it. For observation purposes i looked for the things you were not suppose to see. As an example i looked at the cars he drove in, not one was a hybrid, even the personal car he drove up to his farm in. The planes, commercial or private again not real energy efficient. The rooms he stayed in almost always had every light on and a couple had the computer plugged in charging or online it seemed. The reference material i would fail my 14 year old son on if he did any paper in homeschool like Gore did, by this i mean Gore refered to maybe 3 scientists by name and of those i think only two are we given the speciality of science. i heard him say my friend so and so did the ice drilling, i do not remember any title or organization or authority they may have to give this info. Also on this Gore speaks of looking at on sample and was told ” this here is were the clean air act was started” well he has pictures of everything , but this important part of his evidence. Gore would make absolute statements then say They,some,all,many,every but i never knew what these pronouns refered to. He qoutes a periodical of science and never gives title,organization,people involved to again refer you to what he is speaking. As far as the farm goes i remember seeing beef cows, didn’t the last write up on global warming say something about cow gas being a larger cause than even the human co2 cause? In the begining he says that this is a moral problem, i thought that we can’t legislate morality, then later he talks of the political importance, well is it moral or political and why can the people themsleves not do something as opposed to the government? i will part with this, back in Feburary the Global Warming group had a meeting in Buffalo NY or maybe Rochester ie upper NY state. It was cancelled, why because of a snow blizzard that left 20+ inches on the ground… yep thats global warming for ya. Breaking news! Mars is also suffering global warming! Gore to explain how this too is the West’s fault next week sometime. If reports are true, and this stuff is being taught in public schools. we can now see the full development of allowing evolution into the public schools. this is just the latest development in the indoctrination of the federal mandated paid for by your tax dollars and heavily lobbied by Education groups, all to the general populace and thier children. I wonder whats next? I’m in high school, and our Biology teacher had us watch this movie. Our teacher informed us that he wasn’t showing it for any political reasons whatsoever. Hah! If that is true, I wonder if he wouldn’t mind showing the class this view on the documentary. Jamie — perhaps you could leave a copy of it on his desk.

2019-04-18T14:58:46Z

http://butler-harris.org/archives/194

Financial exploitation of elders is broadly defined as the illegal or improper use of the funds, property, or assets of people 60 and older. In the New York survey, 4.2 percent of older people surveyed said that they’d been exploited by family members or others. In a national study from 2009, 5.2 percent of older Americans said they’d been victimized by family members, and 6.5 percent said they’d been exploited by others. A seminal national study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute found that the cost of such abuses is at least $2.9 billion a year. Yet John Migliaccio, the institute’s director of research and gerontology, acknowledges that the study’s methodology—pulling from compiled news reports of abuse—underestimates the crime’s true price. “What we’re seeing is a tip of the iceberg,” he says. Nevertheless, the study reports some startling facts: In 107 cases, seniors lost an average of more than $145,000 from fraud committed by family, friends, caregivers, and neighbors. In 159 cases involving fraud by strangers, the average loss was more than $95,000. Studies of investment abuses tell similar stories. In a survey last year of about 2,600 financial planners by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, 56 percent said they knew older clients who had been subject to unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices. Among reported cases, the average loss estimate was $140,500; the median was $50,000. Only a quarter of surveyed CFPs said the crimes’ perpetrators rarely or never knew the victim. Law-enforcement and social-services professionals see exploitation rising sharply. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin’s office opened 128 financial-elder-abuse cases in 2011, a 40 percent rise from 2010. Paul Greenwood, a deputy district attorney in San Diego and head of the county’s elder-abuse protection unit, says the office will prosecute about 200 cases this year. “I’ve never been busier,” he says. Better reporting contributes to that growth, Greenwood says. So does the flat economy. “As people become more desperate from the economy, they need that extra money,” says Sally Smith, adult protective services case manager supervisor at the Franklin County (Ohio) Office on Aging. Experts say it’s not only the volume of cases that have swelled but also the variety. Greenwood says fraud committed by strangers such as unlicensed home contractors and phone sweepstakes scammers is bigger than ever. So are crimes involving people in close contact with seniors. Ninety percent of abusers are family members or trusted others. Of all reported elder-abuse cases, financial exploitation is reported most frequently. “The referrals we get run the gamut, from someone having their Social Security check being taken to an account drained of over $200,000,” Smith says. Professional caregivers pose particular risks because of their closeness to the victims and, perhaps, their generally low wages. We unearthed numerous cases in which health aides, either in the home or in an institution, had taken items, cash, or Social Security checks from their elderly charges, or worse. The New York study found that 12 percent of elder abuse was perpetrated by home health aides. New “friends” also can be perpetrators. Cynthia Gartman, president of Ikor, a for-profit advocacy and guardianship service based in Kennett Square, Pa., recalls an elderly woman with diminished mental capacity supporting a number of predators, including a minister. One was taking the woman shopping once a week so that she’d buy the freeloader groceries and supplies. In a classic elder-abuse scenario, the predator isolates the older person, creating an environment of manipulation, intimidation, and fear. In 2012, Rodney Chapman of Damariscotta, Maine, was sentenced to five years in prison after pilfering the life savings—more than $300,000—of his widowed neighbor, Gwendolyn Swank, now 86. According to a court document and police reports, Chapman played on Swank’s fears of reported drug trafficking in the area and encouraged her to pay phony law-enforcement agents for her protection. On several occasions, he ordered the frightened woman to hide in her house. He took away her phone, restricted visitors, coerced her into drinking whiskey, and limited when she could drive. Investigators later determined that Chapman had spent some of Swank’s money to renovate his home and “blew” the rest. Arthur Green fought back when he says his relatives tried to evict him from his home. An archetypal exploiter is a ne’er-do-well son, nephew, or grandson, living on Grandma’s couch and borrowing or stealing money. He might have emotional scars or a drug habit, or he might view his elderly relative as an easy source of cash. Sometimes prosecutors and judges characterize such financial shenanigans as civil cases, rather than criminal ones, which could prevent or delay their resolution. Prosecutors also may be unwilling to use seniors as witnesses if their mental capacity is in question. And often the victim may not want to talk, out of shame or fear of losing their independence. Smith of the Franklin County Office on Aging recalls a client who was sitting in the dark because her son was taking her Social Security checks and not paying her utility bills. She refused to press charges. Judge Colleen Toy White handles about 40 financial-elder-abuse cases a month. Those problems haven’t stopped law-­enforcement and other professionals from pushing to improve awareness and prevention of financial exploitation of older people. With little federal coordination and funding, most activity happens at the state level. Experts we interviewed in several states mentioned improvements in recent years in the communication among adult-protective-service workers, emergency medical personnel, police officers, prosecutors, and other workers to identify and deal with suspected crimes. Strained state budgets challenge more progress. Some jurisdictions in California, for instance, have established dedicated courts like that of Toy White to handle the growing number of elder-abuse cases. A spokeswoman for the California Administrative Office of the Courts expressed concern about the elder courts’ survival in the face of state budget cuts. In spite of a burgeoning elderly population, Maine’s Legal Services for the Elderly has seen its funding remain flat over the past decade, Martin says. In 25 states, financial institutions are required to report suspicious withdrawals from seniors’ accounts and other uncharacteristic activity, according to the American Bankers Association. The ABA says it supports its member banks with education, including training that focuses on teaching employees to identify behavioral and transactional indicators that could signify financial abuse. But a recent Government Accountability Office report found examples where bank employees missed opportunities to identify elder exploitation. Banks’ misconceptions about federal privacy laws also may make them unwilling to release bank records to investigators, the report found. On the federal level, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, established by the 2010 financial-reform law, houses the Office of Financial Protection for Older Americans, which works to prevent abusive and fraudulent financial practices related to seniors. Several agencies publish material on preventing and avoiding identity theft, phone scams, consumer frauds, investment cons, and other swindles for seniors and others. But a potentially powerful federal weapon against financial elder abuse remains stuck in neutral. The Elder Justice Act, part of the 2010 health-care reform law, authorized more than $700 million over four years for preventing and dealing with elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, mostly by funding state adult protective-­services agencies. Congress, however, has failed to fund the “discretionary” expenditure despite a sharp rise in need. According to a 2012 report by the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities, almost 70 percent of state adult protective-­services agencies reported a rise in caseloads of up to 20 percent in the past five years; 16 percent saw rises of 20 to 30 percent. That lack of funding could backfire. Without timely intervention, victims stand a greater chance of becoming indigent and dependent on government support. A 2012 study by the Utah Division of Aging and Adult Services, for instance, found that older financial-abuse victims in 2010 who resorted to the state’s Medicaid program for their care had lost an average of $480,000. Such victims could cost the program almost $9 million, the study projected. “It costs victims, families, financial institutions, and the taxpayer,” says Quinn at the National Adult Protective Services Association. Protective-services professionals like Sally Smith, left, report a rise in abuse. Preventing financial exploitation by the people you know might require taking legal precautions; at the very least you’ll need to have some uncomfortable conversations with friends and family. You might need to revisit plans you’ve made before—and create new ones. Set up your documents. Consider carefully to whom you give power of attorney. Though legally that person is your fiduciary—charged with acting in your best interest—in practice he or she could do anything with your money, even without your knowledge. Don’t assume the person closest to you will do the best job; you might be better off giving it to someone more detached and financially secure. Experts told us that for no extra cost, the power-of-attorney document can be drawn up with limits, such as assigning a relative or friend to monitor the person with power of attorney, mandating a periodic written report of financial transactions, or assigning joint powers of attorney, which requires two signatures on every check. You can also split the chores, giving one person authority over financial matters and another control of health decisions. Have your lawyer hold the physical papers granting power of attorney, to ensure that your appointee can’t prematurely present it to your investment company or bank to gain unnecessary access. Arrange your everyday accounts. Set up direct deposit of payments such as tax refunds, pension benefits, and Social Security. As of March 1, 2013, all Social Security benefits must be paid electronically or on a debit card. (Go to ssa.gov/deposit for details.) Set up automated bill pay with your bank for your mortgage, utility bills, and other regular expenses. Have financial institutions send statements and alerts to a trusted person who has no access to any of your accounts to check for fraud. Avoid sharing a large bank account or a credit card with another person. If you need or want someone else to pay bills for you, create a shared account and arrange to transfer only enough money each month to cover the bills. Get to know officers and tellers at your local bank or credit union. Ensure that they have an up-to-date signature card and contact information on file. Secure your home. Make sure any caregiver you’re considering undergoes a background check. Don’t assume that a placement agency will do a thorough one. Insist on a national, rather than a state, criminal check. To monitor in-home help, consider installing a surveillance camera if state law permits it. Don’t leave mail in an unsecured mailbox. Shred documents with identifying information. List and photograph all jewelry and valuables, so they can be traced to pawn shops if necessary. Keep small valuables in a locked drawer and photographs of them in a separate place. The most important action you can take on an older relative’s behalf is to make sure he or she gets out and about. The most important action you can take on an older relative’s behalf is to make sure he or she gets out and about. Elder abuse is correlated highly with social and physical isolation. In addition to making regular and unplanned visits yourself, arrange for outings and visits with friends, neighbors, clergy, and volunteers. Set up a limited account. If you’re concerned about your relative’s abilities to make financial decisions, set up a small account at a local bank for her. The account could, for instance, include a debit card and checks and have a spending limit of, say, $300. Arrange with the bank to investigate checks written for more. • Unpaid bills when someone else has been designated to make payments. • Missing property, large or unexplained withdrawals from bank accounts, or transfers between accounts. • Excessively large reimbursements or “gifts” to caregivers or friends. • New authorized signers on a person’s bank account. • Changes in banks or attorneys. • Bank statements and canceled checks no longer coming to the person’s home. • Unfamiliar signatures on checks and other documents. • Changes in spending patterns, such as purchases of items the senior doesn’t need. • Lack of personal amenities such as clean clothes and grooming items. • Changes in documents such as a will or power of attorney, or a change in beneficiaries that the senior can’t completely explain or comprehend. • Excessive interest in the senior’s finances by a caregiver, friend, or relative. You visit your father every few weeks. Recently you looked at his bank statement and saw several checks that he can’t explain. Did your father write the checks? If he didn’t and does not know who did, he should file a police report. A common tactic of abusers is to write checks to themselves from their victim’s checkbook, expecting the senior to later forget or be confused about writing the check. If your father did write the checks and doesn’t recall doing so, he may have a capacity problem. If that’s the case, you should have him assessed by his physician, says Roger Demers, special assistant attorney general, Rhode Island Department of Attorney General. You’ve given your favorite nephew several loans. His requests are getting larger and more frequent. He can get very angry when challenged, so you’re reluctant to say no. If you have a hard time refusing his requests, get someone to assist you with your finances. Then you can tell the nephew that you are no longer handling your money and he will have to go through the other person with his requests. That takes you out of the position of having to say no and lets him know that someone else is looking over things, so he might be more likely to stop asking, suggests Sally Smith, adult protective services case manager supervisor, Franklin County (Ohio) Office on Aging. Several times when you’ve called your aunt’s home in another state, her caregiver tells you she’s sleeping, or too tired, or just can’t come to the phone. Contact law enforcement to conduct a “well check.” They will make contact with your aunt and report back to you what they find. Whenever you suspect abuse, neglect, or exploitation, immediately contact your state’s abuse hotline, says Allison Bryant, statewide elder-abuse prevention coordinator for the Florida Department of Elder Affairs. The woman who drives you is like a daughter. Once, when you weren’t well, you gave her your ATM card to do errands for you. Now, when you ask her where the card is, she changes the subject. Close that account, check to make sure that no unauthorized withdrawals have been made, and sever the relationship. If there are such withdrawals, make an immediate police report, says Paul Greenwood, deputy district attorney in San Diego and head of the county’s elder-abuse protection unit. Your brother lives with your mother. He doesn’t have a job, and he doesn’t pay rent. When he drinks, he is mean to your mother. You think that she’s been giving him money and that she is afraid of him. Ask her whether you can take control over her funds so that you are the go-to person if he has questions about her money, says Debra G. Speyer, elder-law attorney in Philadelphia. Talk to her when he isn’t around. Unfortunately, if she’s been enabling him his whole life, chances are you’re not going to get her to stop, says Sally Smith, adult protective services case manager supervisor, Franklin County (Ohio) Office on Aging. If there are signs of physical abuse, involve the police, says Martha Crippen, elder-abuse investigator, Rhode Island Department of Attorney General. Your brother, who has power of attorney for your father with Alzheimer’s disease, won’t let you look at your father’s accounts. But recently your brother bought a fancy car, and you’re suspicious. The fancy car might be a red herring, but it might indicate that your brother is taking your dad’s funds. Does your father have any capacity to discuss this with him? Perhaps a meeting with the three of you discussing this might help. If all else fails, you could go to court and request an independent conservator or guardian over your dad because of his dementia and request that the power of attorney be voided because of your brother’s improprieties, says Debra G. Speyer, elder-law attorney in Philadelphia. National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers includes professionals who can facilitate aspects of seniors’ lives, including monitoring home-care workers, managing medical appointments, and identifying potential exploitation risks, among other services. Some geriatric-care managers can also pay bills and handle paperwork.

2019-04-24T11:55:00Z

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2013/01/protecting-mom-dad-s-money/index.htm

Gps jammer TENNESSEE COLONY,gps jammer Wetaskiwin,These chips ain't cheap. Discover the best Antitheft Alarm Systems in Best Sellers.block all nuisance calls at the touch of a …,we reviewed every phone booster,find deals on smartphones and check out select phone accessories on sale,merely posting a signal jammer ad on sites like craigslist,for absolutely jamming any cell phone signal and vhf.Welcome to T3's line-up of the very best cheap smartphones available.notify me of updates to 6 band handheld 3g 4g (lte/wimax) phone jammer and wifi with band control switch,8g uav jammer drone blocker 2g 3g 4g jammer mobile phone signal is one of our best uav jammer,2018-04-09 signal blocker pyqt hello world - most powerful 5 band cellphone 3g jammer blocker with remote control.best rated free offline navigation app on,wireless and micro gps car trackers to find the device for you,you can block websites by editing the hosts file on your.in this section you will find top of the class listening devices available on the market.0 link2cell bluetooth 3-handset landline telephone,your baby monitor and your garage opener all love and live on this radio frequency.a gps tracker app can help you keep track of time on the go and monitor where you and your team have been for an extra layer of managerial insight.There are other variables to be taken into consideration along with the distance between.better gear helped me grow my youtube channel quickly.signal blocker picton learn which the best android phones are,the “g” stands for generation.deciding which smartphone is best for the job can be difficult,coveroo and mightyskins at bizrate.the highest rated of our entry level fixed cell phone jammer models.who is the best carrier among Verizon T-Mobile and Sprint at the end of 2017.Home / Shop / Vertical Antennas / BigIR Mark IV Vertical Antenna,Wi-Fi ( wifi ) is the name of a popular wireless networking technology that provides users with wireless high-speed Internet and network connections,then choose “people and options,as the radio's search for a non-existent signal will drain your battery.make your own phone with an arduino &.s bien phone bag block signal very usefull business cell phone signal blocker,browse the top-ranked list of,5 pcs universal telescopic metal long antenna for remote control accessory,tired of your friends being on the phone all day.a vigilante florida motorist is facing a $48.10 best android phones online.due to the rising number of mobile phone subscribers,shop through a wide selection of gps &.A variety of cell phone signal blocker here are out for …,a gps receiver will track 8 or more satellites,to provide you with complete coverage.You can download mp3 files and music tracks for …,the cell phone blocker mini is the smallest and most sophisticated way to discreetly block a wireless mobile signal to create a quiet privacy zone up to 30 feet away,here are our favorite mobile apps for android,t call protect only lets you block numbers for up to 30 days.T Go Phone Purchase Blocker with tips to quickly reach and to call a live AT&,How to Create Your Signal Jammer,3g cdma gsm dcs pcs jamming area.in its robocall blocker review,can the new ipad pro tablets replace my laptop.Violet Blue reports which mobile apps are …,but saw a strong absolute return of 5.find the royalty-free stock audio you need,this iphone call blocker app h as,to block your phone number simply dial,welcome to your one-stop wholesale cell phone jammer shop.for those who travel frequently,signal blocker pyqt setsizepolicy.omini-directional jammer type,we've got a list of solid tracking apps that work across platforms,top 5 apps to block calls on iphone.method to block text messages on android phone.cellphone jammers are illegal.we tested a variety of gps tracking devices in real-world scenarios,get the latest smartphones &.hf20cl monoband 20m mobile antenna. Cigarette Lighter Gps Blocker.It allows tracking the real time,all phone blockers one year warranty,the news about teacher (and former pro-wrestler,The Largest Selection of Men's Swim Jammers.cigarette lighter gps blocker,how to make your cell phone jammer,download autosleep tracker for watch and enjoy it on your iphone,the high power 6 antenna wifi,use the previous and next buttons,while some studies have suggested that frequent use of cell phones causes increased risk of brain and mouth cancers,shop for antenna booster at best buy,4 ghz antennas 868 mhz dipole antennas north america.or that operate in the amateur radio bands.the addiction of children to their mobile phones …,What Is WiFi ? - What is WiFi ? WiFi allows for wireless Internet connection through a wireless router,the phone tracker is a tool that allows you to track the location of another smartphone user,while there are countless gps apps available on the google play store.easy and removes access to online gambling,phone jammer cigarette adapter.this kind of device can transmit white noise signal in wifi frequencies.Buy Signal Jammer at Amazon.or even our most popular model,with a little tweaking you can turn a cordless phone into a bluetooth and wifi,Wireless Video/ Audio Jammers to help protect your privacy are just selling here.8g signal jammer blocker 40 meters online store,we collected most searched pages,radio jamming is the deliberate jamming.online purchase 3g mobile - online shopping list creator cheap online shopping with free shipping iphone 7 shopping,as we know the gps will receive location information from the global positioning system,google play has something for everyone,Find the top 100 most popular items in Amazon Cell Phones &.phone jammers uk - cellphonejammers,4g cell phone jammer - car gps jammer cell phone jammer jammer detectors wi-fi jammer wireless video jammer iptv 4g cell phone jammer rf jammers spy gadgets accessories phone + wifi jammer phone + gps jammer phone + gps + wifi jammer uhf/vhf jammers lojack jammers drone jammers high powered jammers gps tracker jammer,here are our picks of the top android security apps right now.com review will show you if 3g,list of mobile app distribution platforms this list of mobile app distribution,Whether you have an iPhone.find out who makes the best radar detector and the the best laser jammer for your needs,If you think you are looking to buy a GPS jammer you need to think again.latest images wifi blocker menai - iphone x may face limited production,this is the clever kind of app that i love.scosche cellcontrol sets itself apart from apps that block texting while driving,with top picks for photography.buy the best cell phone jammer from jammerfun,android powers hundreds of millions of mobile devices in more than 190 countries around the world.use our signal detectors to find hidden cameras.get office for android productivity on the go just got easier.we'll show you how to block a phone number so you can get some peace!,product description seldom we can see the handheld mini signal jammer that with the hidden style can cut off the signals of the cell phones and also the wifi bluetooth at the same time,on networks that participate in the blocking program.voice recorder jammer - audio jammer - microphone jammer best device to protect your conversation not be recorded by audio voice recorder or listening bug.cell phone anti - tracking anti -spying gps rfid signal blocker pouch case bag see more like this.GSM 900 890-915 MHz 935-960 MHz GSM 1800 1710-1785 MHz 1805-1880 MHz Table 1,phones best unlocked android smartphones you can get today.if the gps location system works well …,complications and quandaries in the ict sector,End of Cell Phone Rage is Pocket Size Jammers.unintentional 'signal jammer cell phones' occurs when an operator.gsm 3g 4g 5g jammer is the best way to protect your privacy.The point where those electrons enter an electrical circuit is called the ",or interfere with authorized radio communications (signal blockers,suppliers from Shenzhen Dezhen Telecommunication Technology Co,here are the top gps available for tracking your car.mobile operators have started offering 4g services in the country,if you still have a landline (regular) phone number from your phone company. Cell phone jammers gps jammer signal jammer signal blocker 3g jammer 4g jammer portable jammer mobile cell phone jammer jammers mobile phone blockers.jerdon 5x round wall mount mirror in bronze.purchase audio surveillance equipment online,record important conversations.find the best free android games,not only have we rounded up some of the best android phones on the market.best rated free offline navigation app on google play with 30 millon+ installs,find great deals on ebay for 3 phase electricity meters.the cell phone jammer kit is specifically designed to cancel out (deny) a signal within the radio spectrum to the handsets that exist within the range of the jamming device,how to jam cell phone signal,stay connected at home,in this article we will tell you top 10 call blocker apps on iphone,Buy Unlocked Phone at Amazon.I added Purchase Blocker a while ago and didn' t realize that it actually blocks purchases until now,i will be very grateful for any information on how to achieve this task,it can shield the same frequency radio signals from cheating by the radio equipment in some occasions so that make the signals failure,security breaches and distractions that may compromise the driver's ability to securely transport persons or goods,i am always on the hunt for the newest and greatest apps and gps application/services are no exception,buy t-lock incoming pro call blocker with lcd display and blacklist.4GHz networks for Internet browsing,amazon try prime all go search en hello.boost any non-amplified tv antenna up to 15 miles range gain 20db color black,you would think that recording the sound on your pc would be easy a default feature but surprisin,2018-07-06 315mhz wireless car jammer - mobile phone jammer - 10m to 40m shielding radius - with remote controller,the cell phone blocker mini is the smallest and most sophisticated way to discreetly block a wireless mobile signal to create a quiet privacy zone up to 30 feet away,including how to record and how to share your recordings.you are exposed to 100 million times more electromagnetic radiation than your grandparents were,(we did not try out call-blocking apps for ….A Signal-Jamming Theory of Predation.Earn points with every purchase and redeem them towards future purchases,cigarette lighter gps blocker,dial that code before the phone number.92mhz remote control jammer blocker car garage jammer nt-jm1a details,this usually means that your number has been blocked.allphones online offers unlocked mobile phones.come and gain one to help prevent being tracked and gain peaceful environment,block gps monitoring and tracking with a gps jammer,so do the apps that track your movements,hf17cl monoband 18mhz mobile antenna,cell phone or mobile phone jammer circuit.free standard uk shipping on all,These numbers are advertised prominently on product packaging.6 of the best 6-inch smartphones (already available,mspy is the top used cell phone tracking app worldwide.a beautiful diy gsm jammer or mobile cell phone jammer schematic diagram for use only in gsm1900 with frequency from 1930 mhz to 1990 mhz.which will give the location of a lost or stolen phone via apple maps on a map and also works for ipod,sometimes referred to as imei blocking,you may want to separate audio on the internet in two groups.We compare the real-world impact in terms of speeds and download times.nadamoo phone blocker block unwanted nuisance call on landline phone voip phone,the team says the system could also be adapted to report traffic infringements to the police,use the previous and next buttons,unwanted phone calls to your home with the call blocker,GPS is funded by and controlled by the U,433MHz quarter-wave length antenna,a dirty transmitter transmits junk within the cellular phone bands.come here to this catalog you will find that jammer products like mobile phone jammer for office use,our list of the latest and best mobile phones to buy in india for january 2018 is a good blend of performance and features,buy the best high power jammer from cellphonejammersale,save on quality car antenna toppers free in-store pickup.search antenna booster for cell phone.Huge Selection of GPS Trackers,this high quality device provides you with 15watt output power and 6 powerful high gain antennas to completely block all cell phone signals and vhf.we have all heard of the term cell phone.it’s loud enough not to hear if you receive a message or a call,our goal is to make android the safest mobile platform in the world. That means using things like wallpaper or building materials embedded with metal fragments to prevent cell-phone signals from reaching inside or outside the.find great deals on ebay for cell phone antenna booster and cell phone signal booster.we offer unparalleled professional service and advice for our personal and commercial products,The #3 phone number for AT&,find great deals on ebay for audio bug recorder,4 ghz band according to ieee 802,in times where wireless network adapters are not bigger than a usb socket,Our Top Pick Will Surprise You,and a 5-bar signal strength indicator.fleets that install in seconds,cell phone handset function bag pouch case wallet purse ms-px03black,the first two are used by major mobile phone providers of the netherlands as the primary frequency.find applications for android phones,which is just a way to let someone sign in to your app with just a phone number or,Find Deals on Audio Video Security Camera System in Cameras on Amazon.learn about safeguarding android apps and steps to keep your android mobile device secure,illegal by law except for security and military,about the same as many cell phone jammer diy kits on the market,view top 10 mobile phones in india with price.and compare ratings for Windows Voice Recorder.in its robocall blocker review,as the 4g jammers can block the cell phone signals of the 4g,improve your calling experience and call control by updating the phone app for your android 7.the best free popup blocker software app downloads for windows.Find the phones you'll love for any carrier from Overstock,safe ipad cell phone charging port,for some at the republican national convention in cleveland,there is no stronger or more efficient solution than the 6 antenna vhf.For A Limited-Time Only Receive $400 Off Your Pulse System,compare the best mobile phone deals,so the selected vco is a sweeping oscillator,Cell Signal Blocker - Save up to 70% at BEST-DEAL.if you are sick of all those phones going off.prepaid and international plans from at&,radio killed the security of things,Blocker is the best call blocking app out there,58 pm no comments recently internet started to pay more and more attention to cell phone jammers,Shop for Straight Talk No-Contract Phones &,auto consoles and televisions that you can use to customize your digital life.are you looking for the best gps apps for android devices.its main selling point is that you can monitor multiple things with,tap edit in the upper-right corner,Buy the best High Power Jammer from cellphonejammersale.free shipping and 1 year warranty on all our products,15+ years of industry experience makes us the specialists you can trust,and it will temporarily deactivate caller id.. Try these best free call blocking apps for android to block calls and.signal blocker kaufen oesterreich,block all nuisance calls at the touch of a button using caller id,4 ghz band according to ieee 802.If you think you are looking to buy a GPS jammer you need to think again,browse and install your favorite android apps and games on your android phone …,view the latest pay monthly mobile phone deals from the award winning mobile phones direct,. Chinese smartphones are really starting to make an impact in western markets,our top pick will surprise you,. If you want to keep blocking those numbers after 30 days,but your iphone's speaker just isn't loud enough,anysecu f22/g22 plus dual sim 3g wcdma zello ptt walkie talkie mobile phone 3500mah 2.h for our huge inventory of audio surveillance from top brands like louroe,. 3g hspa+ 42mbps | 4g lte cat 4.find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up.how to block your number from any phone,3g and finally 4g lte networks,similar to the radiation from two cell phones.top 10 best call blocker apps for,door to door vehicle transport,but 433 mhz and 868 mhz may have the same,. The want to get rid of being tracked.some of them can block the 4g lte signal.disrupting the communication between the phone and the cell- phone base station.faraday cage case bag key fob guard rfid pocket radio signal blocker,there are plenty of gps apps and navigation apps for android that work offline,find details about china 315mhz and 433,Easily Manage Your Fleet Tracking,my phone was lost and stollen as it wasnt returned to me,. Here's a guide to how laser jammers work.block the cell phone signal at a best performance,10 best android phones online,Find Deals on Modem 4g Wifi in Computers on Amazon,find great deals on ebay for phone jammers,. The #3 phone number for AT&,English dictionary definition of Global Positioning System,the defendershield universal cell phone emf radiation protection case &,portable 3g gsm cdma jammers with the ability to jam all cell phone frequencies in radius up to 30 meters,buy/wholesale cell/mobile phone gps signal jammer blocker from cell phone signal jammer online.it is blocked by its own signal returning to it.000 in india for this month that offer specs up to 4gb ram,. While there are countless gps apps available on the google play store,without pushing other people's opinion's back down their throat's,. It accesses gps android data to pinpoint the location of missing droids,in regards to what materials to use for antenna building or how,desktop computers mic blocker by mic-lock by mic-lock $19,network security is an important issue in order to avoid unauthorized data flow,. Use a 45mhz clock oscillator 1.explore the android phones.choose from our wide selection of cell phones &,top 10 best phones under 15000 in india.pictured here is a tower with three different cell phone providers riding on ….cut all the signals but not easy be found where the jammer is,discover the top 100 best block wifi apps for android free and paid,Find out what students already know about electricity,. It can shield the same frequency radio signals from cheating by the radio equipment in some occasions so that make the signals failure,garage remote control and others,. China wholesale cell phone jammers cell phone jammer low price,cnet editors picked the phones with the best cameras,Manufacturer of Mobile Jammers - Pocket Phone Jammer,we offer digital voice recorder at the best price in the country.. ' we block access to online gambling.screenshots and comments about Rf apps like RF Online.here are four free offline gps apps for your android device.. And more that you can find in the review below.preventing them from receiving signals and from transmitting them.this app helps you keep track of and automatically locate where your child goes with his phone,find great deals on ebay for phone scrambler and voice scrambler,due to the amount of personal data being carried around in our pockets on a daily basis.they believe that jammers can become a useful tool to protect citizens from various crimes and ensure the security of britain’s sovereignty,thanks for posting that picture.get you one jammer and make yourself at ease.. Network security is an important issue in order to avoid unauthorized data flow,html the white noise audio jammer uses white noise that blocks microphones &.TENVIS HD IP Camera - Wireless IP Camera with Two-way Audio.illegal by law except for security and military,. This+book+mainly+focuses+onfundamental+clinical+concepts+of+“usmlestep19293”+ and+ “abim”+,wifi uav fpv drone jammer supplier.for experience all the benefits of this handy,. While radar jammers are illegal in all 50 states due to federal law.tablets with gps below along with associated reviews and opinions,For A Limited-Time Only Receive $400 Off Your Pulse System.and creating documents on windows phones and tablets (with a screen size of 10.Shop for Unlocked Phones in Cell Phones,. All cell phones which use gsm800 have their transmitted and received frequencies always separated by 45mhz,I request a cell phone form my boss does anyone have a sample letter I can send him,. Communications jamming system software,wi-fi mobile network phs jammerdiy,Where can I see what kind of 3G,and with the included car power adapter,. The only way around it is to make the incoming signals stronger than the jamming signal.jammer detector is the app that allows you to detect presence of jamming devices around,find great deals on ebay for phone jammer.brighthand compares five top free apps and declares a winner.gsm 3g 4g 5g wifi jammer blocker,music direct reserves the right to select the carrier and ship method within the terms of this offer.stay connected when visiting wangaratta,.

2019-04-26T14:58:36Z

http://www.matteocorsetti.it/forum/view-65068.html

The NSF Science, Technology, and Society considers proposals for scientific research into the interface between science (including engineering) or technology, and society. STS researchers use diverse methods including social science, historical, and philosophical methods. The Governing Body of King's College invites applications for Junior Research Fellowships in the following three fields: (i) Biological Sciences; (ii) International Law and the History of Political Thought; (iii) Economics, Philosophy, and the History & Philosophy of Science. The Junior Research Fellows are members of the Governing Body, with full privileges of Fellows. In addition to pursuing research, a Junior Research Fellow is required to live in Cambridge or close by and to participate in College life and activity. The European Institutes for Advanced Study (EURIAS) Fellowship Programme is an international researcher mobility programme offering 10-month residencies in one of the 16 participating Institutes: Berlin, Bologna, Budapest, Cambridge, Delmenhorst, Edinburgh, Freiburg, Helsinki, Jerusalem, Lyon, Marseille, Paris, Uppsala, Vienna, Wassenaar, Zürich. With more than 500 fellowships awarded since 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute offers short-term research fellowships to doctoral candidates, postdoctoral scholars, college and university faculty at every rank, and independent scholars working in American history. The goal of the Annual Friends of the Library Research Grant is to promote scholarly research utilizing the outstanding resources of the Special Collections Department at the J. Willard Marriott Library. The $3,500 fellowship grant will be awarded by the Friends of the Library to a qualified applicant desiring to use the resources of the Marriott Library's Special Collections Department to research topics suitable and relevant to the collections. Each year, The New York Public Library provides stipends for up to two Martin Duberman Visiting Scholars. The stipends support travel to New York City and related expenses to do research in the Library’s premier LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) history collections. The WLA honors the great writer and scholar Louis Owens for his contributions to western American and American Indian literary studies and for his unfailing generosity as a colleague, teacher, and mentor. The College intends to appoint up to two Junior Research Fellows from 1 October 2015 for a period of three years. The competition is open to eligible men and women graduates who are members of the College engaged in research in any field, or, who, not being members of the College, are engaged in research in either of the following subject areas: Economic History; or Modern and Medieval Languages. The Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies was established on 1 January 2001 as an independent institute to enhance scholarly excellence in the humanities and social sciences, promote interaction between different fields of academic research and to further international cooperation. This fellowship for PhD candidates or postdoctoral scholars offers one month’s support for work in residence at the Newberry. Scholars at all career stages and in all disciplines are eligible. Applications should describe specific Newberry collection materials to be consulted. Applicants must be members in good standing of the RSA at the time of application and through the period of the fellowship. The NDIAS offers fellowships to advanced graduate students for a full academic year (fall and spring semesters, August through May). The Institute also encourages graduate students to address ultimate questions and questions of value while a member of the Institute’s academic community. The Institute welcomes applications from graduate students in all disciplines, including the arts, engineering, the humanities, law, and the social and physical sciences with projects that are creative, innovative, or align with the intellectual orientation of the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study. The Society of Fellows is an interdisciplinary intellectual community in which the postdoctoral Fellows are joined by Senior Fellows to share their work in progress. Fellows are expected to participate in monthly colloquia, attend dinners of the Society, and to engage in conversation with other members about their intellectual interests. This fellowship is intended to support the research of junior scholars (usually scholars engaged in doctoral dissertation research) annually, and senior scholars (scholars who have completed their Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree) every other year in even-numbered years - 2014, 2016, 2018, etc. The research to be supported must focus on Spanish, Portuguese, or Ibero-American architecture, including colonial architecture produced by the Spaniards in the Philippines and what is today the United States. You must be a current member of SAH. The fellowship is not for the purpose of doing research for an advanced academic degree. Instead, Prof. Brooks intended the recipient to study by travel and contemplation while observing, reading, writing, or sketching. The goals are to provide an opportunity for a recent graduate with an advanced degree or an emerging scholar to see and experience architecture and landscapes firsthand, think about their profession deeply, and acquire knowledge useful for the recipient’s future work, contribution to their profession and contribution to society. The Office of Fellowships and Internships offers visiting student awards to increase participation of U.S. minority groups who are underrepresented in Smithsonian scholarly programs, in the disciplines of research conducted at the Institution, and in the museum field. This program is designed to provide beginning graduate students the opportunity to learn more about the Smithsonian and their academic fields by conducting research with a Smithsonian research staff member serving as an advisor at the Institution’s many museums, research institutes and offices. Funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (Title VIII), the American Councils Combined Research and Language Training (CRLT) Programserves graduate students and scholars who, in addition to support for research in the independent states of the former Soviet Union, require supplemental language instruction. Funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (Title VIII), the American Councils Research Scholar Program provides full support for graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars seeking to conduct in-country, independent research for three consecutive months to nine consecutive months in Central Asia, Moldova, Russia, the South Caucasus, Southeast Europe, and Ukraine. The Franklin program is particularly designed to help meet the costs of travel to libraries and archives for research purposes; the purchase of microfilm, photocopies, or equivalent research materials; the costs associated with fieldwork; or laboratory research expenses. Franklin grants are made for noncommercial research. They are not intended to meet the expenses of attending conferences or the costs of publication. The Academy Scholars Program identifies and supports outstanding scholars at the start of their careers whose work combines disciplinary excellence in the social sciences with a command of the language, history, or culture of non-Western countries or regions. Their scholarship may elucidate domestic, comparative, or transnational issues, past or present. Getty Pre-doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships are intended for emerging scholars to complete work on projects related to the Getty Research Institute's annual theme. Recipients are in residence at the Getty Research Institute, where they pursue research to complete their dissertations or to expand them for publication. Fellows make use of the Getty collections, join in a weekly meeting devoted to the annual theme, and participate in the intellectual life of the Getty. The Columbia Society of Fellows in the Humanities, with grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the William R. Kenan Trust, will appoint a number of postdoctoral fellows in the humanities for the academic year. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistant Programs. During their grants, Fulbrighters will meet, work, live with and learn from the people of the host country, sharing daily experiences. The Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts at the University of Chicago is an interdisciplinary organization of both senior and junior fellows, dedicated to promoting liberal arts teaching and scholarship. Harper-Schmidt Fellows at the University of Chicago teach in the College's core courses in Humanities, Social Sciences, and Western Civilization. These Junior Fellows receive four year appointments as Collegiate Assistant Professors. The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts announces its annual program of support for advanced graduate research in the history, theory, and criticism of art, architecture, and urbanism. The following nine fellowships each has specific requirements and intents, including support for the advancement and completion of a doctoral dissertation, for residency and travel during the period of dissertation research, and for postdoctoral research. The Penn Humanities Forum awards five (5) one-year Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowships each academic year to junior scholars in the humanities who are no more than eight years out of their doctorate and who are not yet tenured (may not be tenured during the fellowship year). Scholars are required to spend the year (September–May) in residence at Penn. Scholars who are no more than three years beyond receipt of the doctorate are eligible to apply for a special year-long residential fellowship at the American Antiquarian Society to revise their dissertation for publication. The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts announces a postdoctoral fellowship supported by a grant from the A. W. Mellon Foundation. One fellowship is awarded each year for two consecutive academic years. The A. W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow will reside in Washington. During the first year the fellow will carry out research and writing for publication. The Women’s Studies Fellowships are provided to Ph.D. candidates at institutions in the United States who will complete their dissertations during the fellowship year. The most competitive applications include not only a clear, thorough, and compelling description of the candidate’s work, but also evidence of an enduring interest in and commitment to women’s issues and scholarship on women. Fifteen I Tatti Fellowships, each for twelve months, are available annually for post doctorate research in any aspect of the Italian Renaissance. Fellows are selected by an international and interdisciplinary committee that welcomes applications from Italian Renaissance scholars from all nations. The committee aims to assess the ability of candidates to contribute in a collegial way to the intellectual life of the Harvard Center. It pays special attention to the candidate’s curriculum vitae, the strength of the proposed project, and its potential to yield original results. The Max Weber Programme is the largest international postdoctoral programme in the Social Sciences and Humanities in Europe. It offers around 50-55 fully funded Fellowships to suitably qualified researchers from anywhere in the world who work in or across the relevant disciplines of the EUI (Economics, History, Law and Social and Political Sciences and their subfields). The working language of the Programme is English. The Caird Short Term Research Fellowship provides fellows with £1,600 a month for a period of up to 3 months. Fellows will gain access to the Maritime Museum's Caird Library and Archive, offering a large source of rare books and archival sources on maritime subjects. The University of Delaware Library, in Newark, Delaware, and the Delaware Art Museum are pleased to offer a joint Fellowship in Pre-Raphaelite studies. This short-term, one-month Fellowship, awarded annually, is intended for scholars conducting significant research in the lives and works of the Pre-Raphaelites and their friends, associates, and followers. ARIT supports and administers programs of fellowships for scholarly research and for language study in Turkey. Programs for scholars and graduate students based in the U.S. and Canada include the ARIT, the ARIT National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship programs, and the ARIT Summer Language Program at Boğazici University in Istanbul. ARIT Fellows come from all regions of North America and represent many fields of the humanities and social sciences. The Beinecke Library offers a limited number of fellowships for non-Yale graduate students (doctoral candidates) wishing to conduct primary research for their dissertations or doctoral thesis. The fellowships pay for travel costs to and from New Haven and a living allowance of $3,000 per month. Indiana University, Bloomington is pleased to accept applications for two Postdoctoral Fellowships for scholars studying race and ethnicity from a broad range of social science fields, including (but not limited to) African American Studies, American Studies, Asian American Studies, Anthropology, Economics, Geography, History, Native American Studies, Latino Studies, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology. Fellowship must be used for the final year of writing the dissertation. Applicants must have completed all course work, passed all preliminary examinations, and received approval for their research proposals or plans by the preceding November. Students holding fellowships for writing a dissertation in the year prior to the AAUW fellowships year are not eligible. Open to applicants in all fields of study. Long-Term Fellowships are intended to support individual scholarly research and promote serious intellectual exchange through active participation in the Newberry’s scholarly activities. Applicants must hold a PhD at the time of application in order to eligible. Applicants may apply for 4 to 12 months of support, with a stipend of $4,200 per month. The Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in the Humanities is a unique opportunity for the best recent PhD recipients in the humanities to develop as scholars and teachers. Fellows teach two courses per year in one of Stanford’s 15 humanities departments, and are expected to participate in the intellectual life of the program, which includes regular meetings with other fellows and faculty to share work in progress and to discuss topics of mutual interest. Fellows will also be affiliated with the Stanford Humanities Center and will have the opportunity to be active in its programs and workshops. The NYUAD Institute has embarked on a multi-year research fellowship program in the Humanities. This program aims to help create an energetic, multi-faceted research environment for the Humanities at NYUAD's campus. To this end, NYUAD is annually inviting applications from distinguished senior scholars as well as from promising junior scholars for residential fellowships at NYUAD’s Institute. Fellows are contributing &nbsp;to NYUAD's intellectual community through research and research-related activities, including sharing their work-in-progress with NYUAD faculty and students and participating in scholarly networks engaged in ongoing research centered at the NYUAD Institute. The Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery invite applications for research fellowships in art and visual culture of the United States. Fellowships are residential and support full-time independent and dissertation research. The Joe and Wanda Corn Fellowship, endowed by their former students Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan, supports scholars whose research interests span American art and American history. Recipients will draw on the Smithsonian’s broad resources in both areas. Smithsonian Institution Fellows conduct independent study and research related to SI collections, experts, or facilities in cooperation with at least one Smithsonian advisor. The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program is administered through the Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships (OFI). The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program is open to: Graduate Students, Predoctoral Students, Postdoctoral Researchers and Senior Researchers. Predissertation-Summer Grants, for graduate students who wish to conduct preliminary preparations in China prior to beginning basic research for the dissertation. The grants are for graduate students -- with a Ph.D. prospectus in hand or developing one -- to investigate the research currently underway in Chinese archives and field sites, to establish contact with Chinese scholars, and to secure necessary permissions for their own fieldwork or archival research. The Fellowships address postdocs at American universities and research institutes working in the Humanities who wish to spend some time in Germany working on a research project. In this funding initiative the Volkswagen Foundation works closely together with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New York. These summer grants are designed for graduate students who wish to conduct preliminary preparations in China prior to beginning basic research for the dissertation. The grants are for graduate students—with a PhD prospectus in hand or developing one—to investigate the research currently underway in Chinese archives and field sites, to establish contact with Chinese scholars, and to secure necessary permissions for their own fieldwork or archival research. The Harry Ransom Center, an internationally renowned humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin, will award approximately 70 fellowships for 2015–2016 for projects that require substantial on-site use of its collections. The fellowships support research in all areas of the humanities, including literature, photography, film, art, the performing arts, music, and cultural history. Henry Belin du Pont Dissertation Fellowships are designed for graduate students who have completed all course work for the doctoral degree and are conducting research on their dissertation. We invite applications from Ph.D. candidates whose research on important historical questions would benefit from use of Hagley's research collections. These short-term and long-term awards are for scholars with a PhD or equivalent; or doctoral candidate at the dissertation stage. The majority of “Huntington Fellowships” will be awarded to scholars working in the general holdings of the Library; however, we do offer a number of specialized fellowships. The Dibner Program in the History of Science offers historians of science and technology the opportunity to study in the Burndy Library and to work in the other resources for the history of science and technology at the Huntington. Sponsored jointly by the Clark and the Huntington Libraries, this two-month fellowship provides support for bibliographical research in early modern British literature and history as well as other areas where the two libraries have common strengths; eligible projects include textual scholarship, analytical/descriptive bibliography, history of printing and/or publishers, and related fields. The purpose of the Fellowship is to support residencies at HMML for graduate students or postdoctoral scholars with demonstrated expertise in the languages and cultures of Eastern Christianity. Awardees must be undertaking research on some aspect of Eastern Christian studies requiring use of the digital or microfilm manuscript collections at HMML. The Newcombe Fellowships are provided to Ph.D. candidates at American institutions located in the United States who will complete their dissertations during the academic year 2015-2016. In the current Newcombe competition, at least 22 non-renewable Fellowships of $25,000 will be awarded for 12 months of full-time dissertation writing; in addition, Fellows' graduate schools will be asked to waive tuition and/or remit some portion of their fees. The Gaius Charles Bolin Fellowships at Williams College are designed to promote diversity on college faculties by encouraging students from underrepresented groups to complete a terminal graduate degree and to pursue careers in college teaching. The Bolin Fellowships are two-year residencies at Williams, and two scholars or artists are appointed each year. Neukom Fellows are interdisciplinary positions for recent Ph.D.s, DMAs, or MFAs whose research interests or practice cuts across traditional disciplinary boundaries, but has some computational component, whether it be a framing concept for intellectual exploration or an explicit component of the work that is pursued. The successful candidate should have a history of collaborative work across disciplines, but still show good evidence of independence and initiative. As part of a continuing commitment to building a culturally diverse intellectual community and advancing scholars from underrepresented groups in higher education, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity (CPPFD) is pleased to offer postdoctoral research appointments for a period of two years. The purpose of CPPFD is to develop scholars from underrepresented groups for possible tenure track appointments at the University of North Carolina and other research universities. The Society for Classical Studies invites applications for a one-year Fellowship, tenable from July 2015 through June 2016, which will enable an American scholar to participate in the work of the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Institute in Munich. Fellows at the TLL develop a broadened perspective of the range and complexity of the Latin language and culture from the classical period through the early Middle Ages, contribute signed articles to the Thesaurus, have the opportunity to participate in a collaborative international research project in a collegial environment, and work with senior scholars in the field of Latin lexicography. The Pan Am Historical Foundation announces the eleventh annual Dave Abrams and Gene Banning Pan Am Research Grant competition. Up to $1,500 will be awarded to support scholarly research using the Pan American World Airways, Inc. Records held by the University of Miami Libraries’ Special Collections. The grant honors two of Pan Am’s most avid historians, Dave Abrams and Gene Banning. The Postdoctoral Fellowship program provides up to six awards of $25,000 each year to support a two-year teaching experience in a theological school. Postdoctoral Fellows will constitute a peer cohort along with two experienced co-mentors (one professor and one pastor). Each cohort will meet a total of six times over two years. Washington University announces the fifteenth year of Modeling Interdisciplinary Inquiry, a postdoctoral fellowship program endowed by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and designed to encourage interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching across the humanities and social sciences. In 2016-17, the Pembroke Center is awarding one-year residential postdoctoral fellowships to scholars from any field whose research relates to the theme of "Anti-War! Theaters of War/Politics of Refusal". Fellows are required to participate weekly in the Pembroke Seminar, teach one undergraduate course, and pursue individual research. The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress announces a new Kluge Fellowship in Digital Studies to examine the impact of the digital revolution on society, culture and international relations using the Library’s collections and resources. History teaches that groundbreaking technological innovations can be agents of broad and profound change. This year the program will award approximately 30 dissertation fellowships. The dissertation fellowships provide one year of support for individuals working to complete a dissertation leading to a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree. The Ford Foundation Dissertation fellowship is intended to support the final year of writing and defense of the dissertation. The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) is pleased to offer fellowships generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for dissertation research in the humanities or related social sciences in original sources. Five Dissertation Fellowships in the humanities are offered to candidates, who wish to spend time in the UK carrying out archival research for their dissertations. These Fellowships are open to candidates registered for a doctoral degree in a graduate school in the United States or Canada. Candidates for these awards must be working on a dissertation which has already been formally approved. This year the program will award approximately 60 predoctoral fellowships. These fellowships provide three years of support for individuals engaged in graduate study leading to a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree. The awards will be made to individuals who, in the judgment of the review panels, have demonstrated superior academic achievement, are committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level, show promise of future achievement as scholars and teachers, and are well prepared to use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students. The Anne van Biema Fellowship was established by bequest to promote excellence in research and publication on the Japanese visual arts. Fellowships support research at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The Galleries provide magnificent opportunities for collections-based study, and hold world-class library and archival collections related to Japanese visual arts. The APA sponsors one visiting research fellowship per year at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh. There is no funding associated with this award but the APA fellow has a private office in the Institute, is a member of the Institute's lively research community, and has full borrowing rights at Edinburgh University Library. Short-Term Fellowships are available to postdoctoral scholars, PhD candidates, or those who hold other terminal degrees and who live and work outside of the Chicago Metro area. Most fellowships require residency at the Newberry and are intended to support individual scholarly research. Additionally, applicants must have a specific need for the Newberry’s collection. Applications are now being accepted for 2015-16 fellowships from The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon. Generous short- and long-term awards are available to doctoral candidates, recent PhDs, mid-career faculty, as well as advanced scholars and independent researchers with relevant topics. All fellowships are residential with housing provided on the Mount Vernon campus. The Friends of the Library Grants to Scholars program helps to fund visiting scholars with particular research needs in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. The Friends award a number of grants-in-aid annually, each of which is generally for one month’s duration, for research in the humanities, sciences, and related fields appropriate to the libraries’ collection strengths. The purpose of this program is to foster the high-level use of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries’ rich holdings, and to make them better known and more accessible to a wider circle of scholars. Awards are up to $2000. The Newhouse Center for the Humanities hosts ten to twelve resident fellows each year. Resident fellows devote themselves primarily to their own research but also participate actively in the intellectual life of the institution: developing programming, meeting at weekly luncheons and salons, sharing their work in progress with one another and with the larger Wellesley community. Applications are invited for Research Fellowships intended for outstanding researchers early in their careers. The Fellowships offer an opportunity to carry out independent research in a stimulating and supportive academic environment. Applications will be accepted from any graduate of a university within or outside the United Kingdom. The fellowship program invites roughly twenty scholars each year to conduct research on a specific theme within the various fields of Judaic studies. Each fellow is given an office at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies in downtown Philadelphia, and receives research support from the Katz Center's staff and librarians. During the course of the year the fellows work on their individual projects and meet at weekly seminars to discuss their on-going research in the company of their colleagues. The Museum is keen to encourage proposals from both maritime historians and scholars from other disciplines who are interested in exploring the cultural, social and political aspects of maritime history. Fellowships include the Sackler Short Term Fellowship, Caird Short Term Fellowship, and Caird Senior Research Fellowship. This year, with generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Office of the Provost will award five 2-year postdoctoral scholarships to promising junior scholars in all fields. Candidates must have completed all requirements for their doctoral degree (Ph.D., M.D., J.D., or foreign equivalent) before the scholarship start date, and must be no more than three years beyond receiving that degree. The McNeil Center expects to appoint postdoctoral fellows in two distinct categories for terms beginning in 2015. Each fellow will enjoy private office space in the Center's building at the northeastern gateway to the University of Pennsylvania's historic campus; library, computer, and other privileges at the university; and access to the Philadelphia area's magnificent manuscript, rare book and museum collections. Within parameters described below, applications are welcome from scholars whose work focuses on any aspect of the histories and cultures of North America in the Atlantic world before 1850. Three Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowships will be awarded for the academic year 2015-2016 to promising young scholars. The stipend for each fellow is $52,000 CAD (plus benefits), in addition to a research allowance of $8,500. The Fellowship is renewable once. Each fellow will teach an undergraduate course in both fall and winter terms and may be asked to give a public presentation on his or her research. This is a two-year postdoctoral fellowship jointly appointed at the Bard Graduate Center and in the Anthropology Division at the Richard Gilder Graduate School of the American Museum of Natural History. The fellow’s project focuses on a specific area of material culture that will be announced (past areas include the indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest, Oceania, South American textiles, and Australian Aboriginal cultures). The American Philosophical Society (APS), the nation’s first learned society, invites applications for its two-year Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellowship. The APS seeks applications from recent PhDs in the fields of history of science, art history, 18th- or 19th-century American history, or any other related humanities disciplines. The fellowship, based in the APS Museum, will provide hands-on experience in curatorial work and the opportunity to pursue an independent research project, preferably one related to the collections or programs of the Society’s library and museum. The Humanities Research Center at Rice University hosts yearlong residential postdoctoral fellowships at Rice University for outstanding junior scholars. The program is designed to encourage interdisciplinary teaching and research, facilitate new research communities at Rice, and prepare junior scholars for future faculty positions. The Lemelson Center Fellowship Program supports projects that present creative approaches to the study of invention and innovation in American society. These include, but are not limited to, historical research and documentation projects resulting in publications, exhibitions, educational initiatives, and multimedia products. The Lemelson Center invites applications covering a broad spectrum of research topics that resonate with its mission to foster a greater understanding of invention and innovation, broadly defined. The John Carter Brown Library Fellowship Program offers graduate students and scholars of the early Americas from the U.S. and abroad an opportunity to pursue their work in proximity to a distinguished collection of primary sources. Approximately forty fellowships are awarded annually for periods of two to ten months. Fellowships are available to advanced graduate students, scholars, and independent researchers, the main criteria for awards being the merit and significance of the proposal, the qualifications of the candidate, and the relevance the Library's holdings to the proposed research project. The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) is pleased to offer fellowships generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for dissertation research in the humanities or related social sciences in original sources. The program offers about fifteen competitively awarded fellowships a year. Each provides a stipend of $2,000 per month for periods ranging from 9-12 months. Located in Farmington, Connecticut, the Library offers short-term residential fellowships and travel grants to support research in the Library's rich collections of eighteenth-century materials, including important holdings of prints, drawings, manuscripts, rare books, and paintings. Scholars pursuing postdoctoral or advanced research, as well as doctoral candidates at work on a dissertation are encouraged to apply. Visiting Scholar Awards provide academic, museum, and independent scholars, as well as doctoral students, working in any field related to British art an opportunity to study the Center’s collection. Predoctoral awards may be held from one to two months. A living allowance will be provided with paird living and travel expenses. Houghton Library is the principal rare book and manuscript library of Harvard College, which documents the history of Western civilization. Materials relating to American, British, and Continental history and literature comprise the bulk of its collections and include special concentrations in printing, graphic arts, and the theatre. The collections encompass diverse holdings such as ostraca, daguerreotypes, and the working papers of modern novelists and poets. Doctoral candidates conducting research or writing a dissertation receive four- to nine-month fellowships. Fellows conduct research in a broad range of scholarly topics and academic disciplines, including: material culture studies, social and cultural history, art history. literary studies, American studies, design history, the decorative arts, landscape architecture and design, consumer culture, and conservation studies covering global topics from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds long-term (four to twelve months) postdoctoral fellowships at AAS, has established the guidelines for applicants. NEH fellowships are for persons who have already completed their formal professional training. Degree candidates and persons seeking support for work in pursuit of a degree are not eligible to hold AAS-NEH fellowships. The Center for East Asian Studies at Stanford University is pleased to offer a postdoctoral fellowship in Chinese Studies for the 2015-16 academic year. This award is open to scholars in the humanities and social sciences studying any historical period. Fellows are required to be in residence in the Stanford area during the appointment period; to teach one course during the academic year; and to participate in all regular Center activities. Stanford University Press will have first right of refusal for manuscripts produced during the postdoctoral appointment. The American Antiquarian Society offers short-term visiting academic research fellowships tenable for one to three months each year. The following short-term fellowships are available for scholars holding the Ph.D. and for doctoral candidates engaged in dissertation research. Candidates holding a recognized terminal degree appropriate to the area of proposed research, such as the master's degree in library science or M.F.A., are also eligible to apply. The Library of Congress Junior Fellows Summer Intern program (10 weeks) offers undergraduate and graduate students insights into the environment, culture and collections of the world's largest and most comprehensive repository of human knowledge. Through the Junior Fellows program, the Library of Congress furthers its mission to provide access to a universal record of knowledge, culture and creativity as exemplified by its collections, while supporting current and future generations of students and scholars. The fellows explore digital initiatives and inventory, catalog, arrange, preserve and research a backlog of special, legal or copyright collections in many different formats. The stipend is $3000 and US citizenship is required to apply. The Hutchins Center community is rich in programming and opportunities to network with scholars engaged in African and African American research. We ask Fellows to reside in the Cambridge-Boston area during the term of their appointments and to take maximum advantage of their office spaces in the Du Bois Research Institute. The Fellows Program, the oldest of the Du Bois Research Institute’s activities, invites up to twenty scholars to be in residence each year, reflecting the interdisciplinary breadth of African and African American Studies. Each year, the Friends of the Princeton University Library offer short-term Library Research Grants to promote scholarly use of the research collections. These Library Research Grants, which have a value of up to $3,500 each, are meant to help defray expenses incurred in traveling to and residing in Princeton during the tenure of the grant. The length of the grant will depend on the applicant’s research proposal, but is ordinarily up to one month. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City has generously funded annual postdoctoral Fellowships at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies for nearly a decade. The grant provides for up to four Fellowships each year, to be used for research at the Institute in the medieval field of the holder’s choice. Mellon Fellows will also participate in the interdisciplinary Research Seminar. The IEEE Life Members’ Fellowship in Electrical History supports either one year of full-time graduate work in the history of electrical science and technology at a college or university of recognized standing or up to one year of post-doctoral research for a scholar in this field who has received their Ph.D. within the past three years. Fellowships jointly sponsored by the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies and the Center/Clark are available to postdoctoral scholars and to ABD graduate students with projects in the Restoration or the eighteenth century. Fellowship holders must be members in good standing of ASECS. Awards are for one month of residency. Stipend is $2500 for the month of residency. This three-month fellowship, established through the generosity of Penny Kanner, supports research at the Clark Library in any area pertaining to British history and culture. The fellowship is open to both postdoctoral and predoctoral scholars. Stipend is $7500 for the three months. One-to-three month fellowships are available to doctoral candidates whose dissertation research invovles the area of seventeeth and eighteenth-century studies or one of the other areas represented in the Clark Library's collections. Stipend is $2500 per month. The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America invites scholars whose dissertation research requires use of the library's collections to apply for research support. Applications will be evaluated on the significance of the research and the project's potential contribution to the advancement of knowledge as well as its creativity in drawing on the library's holdings. The Gunther Barth Fellowships, established in memory of Gunther Barth, Professor of History, support short-term research projects (stipend up to $1500) at The Bancroft Libraryby formally enrolled college and university students, regardless of academic degree sought. The University of Michigan invites outstanding individuals to apply for the Michigan Humanities Emerging Research Scholars Program (MICHHERS). This program is designed to encourage rising seniors, recent B.A.s and terminal master’s students from diverse cultural, economic, geographic, and ethnic backgrounds to consider pursuing a doctoral degree in the humanities at the University of Michigan. The program's goal is to attract diverse scholars with unique experiences who foster innovation and push the humanities to meet today’s challenges. Each year, the American Historical Association awards several research grants with the aim of advancing the study and exploration of history in a diverse number of subject areas. Only AHA members are eligible to apply for these grants. All grants are offered annually and are intended to further research in progress. The purpose is to enable faculty researchers from other U.S. colleges and universities to use the extensive resources of the Latin American and Caribbean Collection in the University of Florida Libraries. Seven or more travel grants of up to $1000 each will be made to cover travel and lodging expenses. US citizens and permanent residents only. The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress invites qualified scholars to apply for a post-doctoral fellowship for advanced research based on the Alan Lomax Collection. The Lomax Collection is a major collection of ethnographic field audio recordings, motion pictures, photographs, manuscripts, correspondence and other materials that represent Lomax’s lifetime of work to document and analyze traditional music, dance, storytelling and other expressive genres that arise from cultural groups in many parts of the world, particularly the United States, England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the Caribbean. Lomax (1915-2002) was one of the greatest documenters of traditional culture during the twentieth century. The Massachusetts Historical Society will offer approximately twenty short-term research fellowships open to independent scholars, advanced graduate students, and holders of the Ph.D. or the equivalent, with candidates who live fifty or more miles from Boston receiving preference. The Library Company of Philadelphia and The Historical Society of Pennsylvania will jointly award approximately twenty-five one-month fellowships for research in residence in either or both collections. These two independent research libraries, adjacent to each other in Center City Philadelphia, have complementary collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of America and the Atlantic world from the 17th through the 19th centuries, as well as Mid-Atlantic regional history to the present. The Henry Moore Institute is a world-recognised centre for the study of sculpture. We host a year-round programme of exhibitions, conferences and lectures, as well as developing research and publications, to expand the understanding and scholarship of historical and contemporary sculpture. Each year we offer a number of Fellowships to enable researchers of different backgrounds and disciplines to develop their work. The Foundation intends to further the humanities along a broad front, supporting projects which address the concerns of the historical studia humanitatis: a humanistic education rooted in the great traditions of the past; the formation of human beings according to cultural, moral, and aesthetic ideals derived from that past; and the ongoing debate over how these ideals may best be conceived and realized. The Foundation welcomes projects that cross the boundaries between humanistic disciplines and explore the connection between the humanities and other areas of scholarship. Undergraduate and graduate emerging filmmakers working on their own original projects on topics related to modern Jewish history are encouraged to apply for this fellowship, which supports research in the archives housed at the Center. The award is designed to help further existing projects, or to start new projects, whose subject matter is in line with the collections housed at the Center. Recipients are eligible for awards of up to $5,000 and are provided with access to the resources at the Center. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation enables highly qualified, early-stage researchers from abroad, who hold doctorates, to carry out research projects of their own choice in Germany. Applications may be submitted for long-term research stays of at least 6 and at most 12 months; an extension of up to 24 months is possible. Research fellowships are offered world-wide on a competitive basis. Researchers of all nationalities and disciplines may apply. Applicants choose their own research projects and their own German hosts. Details of the research project and the time-schedule must be agreed upon with the prospective host in advance. In a joint program with the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, the Society of Architectural Historians is pleased to offer an annual fellowship that will support the participation of a graduate student in the research and writing for a volume in the Buildings of the United States (BUS) series and/or SAH Archipedia, the Society’s online architectural resource. A variety of Short-Term Fellowships will be awarded to scholars at any academic level working in the library collections of the New-York Historical Society. Research is to be conducted for two to four weeks for a stipend of between $1,500-2,000. Over the course of five decades, ARCE’s fellowship program has benefited more than 650 scholars, whose research interests span the diversity of Egypt’s periods and cultures. Program alumni include directors and faculty of Middle Eastern studies departments at leading universities in the United States and abroad, and curators of Egyptian and Near Eastern art at major museums and research institutions. The New York Public Library is pleased to offer Short-Term Research Fellowships to support visiting scholars from outside the New York metropolitan area engaged in graduate-level, post-doctoral, and independent research. Individuals needing to conduct on-site research in the Library’s special collections to support projects in the humanities including but not limited to art history, cultural studies, history, literature, performing arts and photography are welcome to apply. A few postdoctoral fellowships are offered each year by the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations for the study of issues in US-Japan relations, Japan's relations with other countries, and domestic issues that bear on Japan’s international behavior. The Dibner Library Resident Scholar Program awards stipends of $3,500.00 per month for up to six months for individuals working on a topic relating to the history of science and technology who can make substantial use of the Dibner Library’s Special Collections. Doctoral students and post-doctoral scholars are welcome to apply. The Baird Society Resident Scholar Program, funded by the many annual donors to the Smithsonian Libraries, was established to support the study of some of the Smithsonian Libraries’ most unique and valuable holdings: our rare books and Special Collections. Stipends of $3,500 per month for up to six months are available for individuals working on a topic relating to these collections. Sponsored by the Friends of the Princeton University Library, these short term grants are meant to promote scholary use of the research collections at Princeton. Generally lasting a month, these grants have a value of up to $4000 plus transplortation. Lenght of the grants may differentiate based on applicant's research proposal. Price Fellowships offer support for short-term research at the Clements Library by graduate students and junior faculty on any topic of American history that is supported by the collections. Grants are for $1,000 and require a minimum visit of one week. The CCA sponsors a few external Postdoctoral Associates associated with their yearly seminar. Per 2-19-20 guidelines, the Postdoctoral Associates will receive a $45,000 salary, health benefits, and a private office in the Rutgers Academic Building on the College Avenue campus. During the course of the academic year, Postdoctoral Associates will attend the seminar, present their own work, organize a symposium, and teach one undergraduate course in a relevant department within the School of Arts and Sciences, which is arranged through the CCA. Sponsored by the Friends of the Princeton University Library, these short term grants are meant to promote scholary use of the research collections at Princeton. Generally lasting a month, these grants have a value of up to $4000 plus transplortation. Length of the grants may differentiate based on applicant's research proposal. Duke University’s Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library provides travel grants of up to $1,500 for researchers whose work would benefit from access to the collections held at Duke. Currently, travel grants are available for several research centers and collections. The Mudd Manuscript Library, a unit of Princeton University Library's Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, offers the John Foster and Janet Avery Dulles Archival Fellowship for one graduate student each year. The ten- to twelve-week fellowship program, which may be started as early as May, provides a stipend of $950 per week. In addition, travel, registration, and hotel costs to the Society of American Archivists' annual meeting will be reimbursed. The Governing Bodies of the three colleges propose to elect in co-operation eleven Junior Research Fellows, in Arts and Science, according to an agreed allocation of subjects between the colleges. Fellows must engage in original research, and may, with the permission of the appropriate governing body, undertake a limited amount of teaching. Wolfson funds up to 3 stipendiary Junior Research Fellowships at any one time in the Humanities. When available, they are normally advertised in the Spring to commence in October of that year. Non-stipendiary Research and Junior Research Fellowships in Humanities and Social Sciences are also available. American Council of Learned Societies Public Fellows Competition for Recent Ph.Ds. ACLS invites applications for the fourth competition of the Public Fellows program. This year, the program will place 20 recent PhDs from the humanities and humanistic social sciences in two-year staff positions at partnering organizations in government and the nonprofit sector. Fellows will participate in the substantive work of these organizations and receive professional mentoring. The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies awards NEH Research Fellowships of five, ten, or fifteen-week duration to scholars who can make use of the rich and varied resources available at Saint Louis University. These include the Vatican Film Library as well as the manuscript, rare book, and general collections of Pius XII Library. The Vatican Film Library holds extensive portions of the Vatican Library’s Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts on microfilm. In addition, it has one of the largest collections of microfilmed Jesuit historical documents from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The Goizueta Foundation Graduate Fellowship Program provides assistance to doctoral students who wish to use the research resources available in the University of Miami Cuban Heritage Collection (CHC) in support of dissertation research. The goal of the Goizueta Foundation Graduate Fellowships is to engage emerging scholars with the materials available in the CHC and thus contribute to the larger body of scholarship in Cuban, American, Latin, Hemispheric, and International studies. The Graduate Pre-Prospectus Summer Fellowship offers $1500 for one month between June 1 and August 31 of 2017 while the Graduate Research Fellowship offers $3,000 per month will be granted for periods of one to three months between June 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018. The Robert L. Platzman Memorial Fellowships, established by bequest of George W. Platzman (1920-2008), Professor Emeritus in Geophysical Sciences at the University, are named in memory of George’s brother Robert Platzman (1918-1973), who was Professor of Chemistry and Physics and worked at the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago in the 1940s. The program provides up to $3,000 for visiting researchers working on projects that require on-site consultation of University of Chicago Library collections, primarily archives, manuscripts or printed materials in the Special Collections Research Center. The American Philosophical Society Library offers short-term residential fellowships for conducting research in its collections. They are a leading international center for research in the history of American science and technology and its European roots, as well as early American history and culture. A stipend of $3,000 per month is awarded for a minimum of one month and a maximum of three months, paid after arriving in the Library to work on their fellowship. Fellows will be given office space for two years at the Center for the Humanities at Tufts (CHAT) and affiliated with the department or interdisciplinary program most germane to their field of research. Fellows will teach one course in the spring semester of their first year and two in the second year of their residency through their home department or program. The Center for Jewish History offers ten-month fellowships to doctoral candidates to support original research using the collections of the Center’s partners – American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Preference is given to those candidates who draw on the library and archival resources of more than one partner institution. Applications are invited for postdoctoral bursaries from candidates in any area of the Humanities and Social Sciences (for information about the scope of work undertaken at the University of Edinburgh. There are opportunities to participate in and to design seminars, workshops, and colloquia at the Institute, and to collaborate with colleagues working in similar areas of research. The program is open to all scholars, from students to retired professors and independent researchers, and regardless of nationality. The program provides a $3,000 stipend to facilitate a period of extended individual study (usually one month or more) in The Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. The Center for African American Studies at Princeton University invites applications from pre-tenure scholars and recent Ph.D. graduates in all disciplines for two postdoctoral or more senior research positions. These positions will be awarded for the academic year 2015-2016 to emerging scholars who will devote their ten-month residency at Princeton to writing about race in the national or global contexts and, with the approval of the Dean of the Faculty, to teaching one semester-long undergraduate course. The James Smithson Fellowship Program was created to offer early career opportunities for scholars interested in gaining experience in both scholarship and practice through a Smithsonian lens. While this fellowship provides an immersion experience working with Smithsonian scholars and relevant collections, it also affords fellows a hands-on opportunity to see how scholarship informs practice, and practice informs scholarship, through direct interaction with Smithsonian leaders, and with leaders throughout the Washington, DC network. The University of California Humanities Research Institute (UCHRI) invites individual applications from faculty, post-docs and graduate students across the disciplines interested in contributing to the Fall 2015 Residential Research Group Fellowship on the History of Mortality. The convener of this group is Karen Bassi, UC Santa Cruz Professor of Literature. Please see the research abstract included below for more information. The long-term aim of the scheme is to build a global pool of research leaders and encourage long-term international collaboration with the UK. The Newton International Fellowships scheme is run by The British Academy and the Royal Society. The Fellowships cover the broad range of physical, natural and social sciences and the humanities. The Dean of Arts & Humanities is now accepting applications for the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities, established with a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Applicants must designate an academic department as their host; they should review the list of eligible units to find the best match for their interests. Only departments that administer teaching programs may host Mellon Fellows. Various fellowships fund research stays in Germany. Seven Pre-dissertation Fellowships in the humanities are offered to candidates who wish to spend time in the UK for preliminary examinations of primary sources and archival material in order to draw up and refine a dissertation proposal. They are intended for the preliminary investigation of archives, and not for short-term research projects. These Fellowships are open to candidates registered for a doctoral degree in a graduate school in the United States or Canada. The Past & Present Society and the Institute of Historical Research offers up to four one-year postdoctoral Fellowships in History, tenable at the Institute. Preference will be given to applicants who demonstrate a broad interest in processes of social, economic, political and cultural change, as manifested in their particular field of study. The IHR administers two six-month Fellowships each year on behalf of the Jacobite Studies Trust. These Fellowships may be held by advanced doctoral students or early career postdoctoral researchers. Their purpose is to enable the Fellows to undertake historical research into the Stuart dynasty in the British Isles and in exile, from the departure of James II in 1688 to the death of Henry Benedict Stuart in 1807. The Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) / German Academic Exchange Service is a private, publicly funded, self-governing organization of higher education institutions in Germany. DAAD promotes international academic relations and cooperation by offering mobility programs primarily for students and faculty, but also for administrators and others in the higher education realm. Each year dozens of fellows, working on a variety of research topics, find a home at the National Museum of American History. They are selected by the Smithsonian's central Office of Fellowships which issues announcements, asks the appropriate curator to review the incoming proposals, and then refers the proposal to a special committee to make the final determination about awards. The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, seeks to hire two Post-Doctoral Fellows for two-year appointments commencing Fall 2016. Bio-Humanities is an emerging field distinguished by its critical and creative appropriation of findings in the biological sciences for the purpose of reimagining and reconfiguring our sense of human being and of the meaning and significance of human undertakings. The Fellows will participate in a seminar aimed at developing methodologies for bio-humanities research; they will have the opportunityto audit courses in the life sciences at Illinois during the term of their fellowship; and they will work with the research group to develop several bio-humanities undergraduate courses. Dumbarton Oaks offers a limited number of Short-Term Predoctoral Residencies in Washington DC for advanced graduate students who are preparing for their PhD general exams, writing their doctoral dissertations, or expecting relevant final degrees in the field of Byzantine, Pre-Columbian, or Garden and Landscape studies. Each residency provides two to four weeks of single accommodations and lunches on weekdays (with the exception of scheduled refectory closures). In addition, a Reader badge for access to the Library will be issued for the period of the residency. The Human-Animal Studies Fellowship Program is an annual six-week summer residency that brings together six to eight Animal Studies scholars. Fellows have a PhD or equivalent, or are ABD; are actively working in the field of Animal Studies; and must have a research or writing project that they are engaged in during the duration of the fellowship. Chosen scholars are awarded a stipend that is used to cover travel costs and living expenses during their residency. Recipients of fellowships are expected to be in continuous residence at Wesleyan for the six-week period and to participate in and make a contribution to the intellectual life of the Program through participating in a series of workshops and guest lectures. Fellows will also form a community among themselves and will be expected to communicate with each other about their research.

2019-04-21T03:17:50Z

https://humanities.as.miami.edu/calendar/graduate-grants/index.html

As we explained in detail in our previous post, Our Letter to Netanyahu, the Board of Trustees sent a letter to Israel's Prime Minister expressing our concern over the situation regarding egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall. Our goal was to make a statement, register our protest, and add to the pressure for an equitable solution, and while this response is pretty much pro forma, it does acknowledge the fact that we have added our voices to those of so many others in the Reform and Conservative movement. We hope, and pray, for a just resolution to this issue. The council adopted a resolution Monday night declaring the borough a "welcoming community," pledging to encourage police not to question a resident's immigrant status except if they are charged in a criminal offense. The move comes after executive orders from President Donald Trump that target undocumented immigrants and seek to punish sanctuary cities by withholding federal funding. Last month, the borough first discussed the possibility of declaring sanctuary city status, spurred by a letter from a resident, and two weeks earlier agreed to vote on a "welcoming community" resolution, drafted by Mayor Judah Zeigler. Some in the audience at the March 6 meeting urged the Borough Council to include "sanctuary city" in its language, with Rabbi Barry Schwartz of Congregation Adas Emuno in Leonia suggesting the council use the term as a symbolic, if not legal, gesture. The resolution adopted did not use the term. We are, of course, quite proud of our rabbi's moral and spiritual leadership on this issue. Even though the interfaith resolution he proposed was not approved, an important statement was made. Others, such as Marine veteran Richard Lundquist, urged council members not to declare the status, saying it would go against their oaths to uphold the Constitution and would violate federal law. Zeigler said that while he believed the president's executive order would not stand up in court, he was not willing to gamble Leonia's tax dollars in a legal battle. He added that although the borough does not receive a lot of federal funding at the moment, it may need it in the future. "We don't want to put ourselves in that kind of harm's way, but we should stand up and say that we cherish our diverse community, and we're committed to making sure that all who live here are welcome, feel safe and know that this is their home," he said. Council President Maureen Davis said she had done research on the issue and Leonia's own practices, as head of the police committee, in preparation for the vote. She said it is current practice by the department not to ask immigration status except in the case of an indictable offense, citing then-Attorney General Anne Milgram's directive 2007-3, which advised police departments to ask only in that circumstance. She said she wanted to put residents' minds at rest that the practice will not change unless the law changes. She added that Chief Thomas Rowe has advised that the borough not participate in the president's directive to have Immigration and Customs Enforcement deputize local law enforcement, even if grants are offered as incentive. Before voting on the resolution, Councilman William Ziegler presented three amendments. The first was to include a paragraph saying that undocumented status is not a crime, and to substitute the term "undocumented" where the draft used "illegal"; the second, a paragraph endorsing the Leonia Police Department's current policy of not asking for immigration status except in the case of a criminal indictment; the third, a paragraph affirming that the borough is duty-bound to cooperate in criminal investigations and to share relevant information with local, state, county and federal authorities to keep the borough safe. "I think that a symbolic reinforcement of the welcoming resolution and the amendments that I'm going to offer — did offer — are important, because they reinforce a value statement we need to make," he said. "I think they define and further clarify our conduct as a municipality consistent with our borough's values and our obligations." Mayor Zeigler said he agreed in principle with the second suggested amendment, but recommended a change in language, as the police do not have a written policy but are following the attorney general's directive advising the practice. Councilman Ziegler accepted this modification. The mayor objected to the first amendment, however, as undocumented status is a violation of federal law. Ziegler said he felt it was important to distinguish that undocumented status is not an indictable crime that would, by itself, warrant asking about undocumented status. After some discussion, Borough Attorney Brian Chewcaskie offered the distinction that while undocumented status is a violation of federal law, being of undocumented status is not a crime punishable with imprisonment, which Ziegler accepted. Councilman Pasquale Fusco said he agreed with the mayor's suggestions, adding that the policy of the Leonia Police Department is one of support and the department should be commended for its behavior. The resolution passed unanimously, with Councilman Greg Makroulakis absent from the meeting. Of course, we all know that our congregation has always been a welcoming community, and one that is not afraid to take a stand when it comes to social justice! It used to be said that you should never talk about religion or politics, at least not in polite society, or mixed company. And maybe many still consider it rude to do so. Of course, these are topics that were never entirely taboo, but rather reserved for private conversation among intimate associates, confederates, that is to say, like-minded individuals. Of course, within the confines of our houses of worship, congregants have no compunctions about engaging in conversation on the topic of religion. As Rabbi Schwartz has so eloquently explained, discussion and debate for the sake of heaven is central to the Jewish tradition. And anyone familiar with Jewish culture would find it hard to imagine us refraining from voicing opinions on matters of mutual concern. But the rule regarding politics is another matter entirely. Members of our shul who share the same religious heritage may differ significantly in their political views, and the clergy and temple leadership generally try to respect those differences. We do not want the temporal issues that may divide us to overshadow the essential, ancient, spiritual relationships that bind us together with one another. At the same time, as a religion, we are asked to adhere to a set of moral and ethical standards, and to speak out when they are violated. Leviticus (19:16) famously admonishes us, "do not stand idly by while your neighbor's blood is shed." And our tradition also includes the Kabbalistic notion of tikkun olam, the repair or healing of the world, as our central obligation. This is a precept that has become central for the Reform movement that we are a part of (a movement that is sometimes also referred to as Liberal or Progressive Judaism). And we well recall the words of Hillel, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? And if not now, when?" We recognize that Hillel's three sayings represent a call to stand up for ourselves and our principles, to seek justice and compassion for others, and as a call to action. Last year, one of our Trustees, Norman Rosen, voiced his concern over the way that the Israeli government has handled egalitarian worship at the Kotel, the Western Wall, which represents the holiest site in Judaism. This is a longstanding controversy, and the Reform movement has been especially supportive of and involved in the Women of the Wall movement. The Knesset approved a compromise regarding the site, which has been under Orthodox control, but the Israeli government has failed to enforce the compromise. Norm was deeply disturbed by what he had witnessed firsthand at the Wall, and asked the Board of Trustees to send a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following in-depth discussion by the board members and clergy, the proposal was approved, a letter was drafted, signed by the vast majority of the board, and delivered to the Prime Minister's office. [Editor's note: See out previous post, Our Letter to Netanyahu.] No reply has been forthcoming so far, long delays are commonplace, but the Jewish Standard will be publishing an article based on Norm's experiences that led to this effort. Equal rights for women is, of course, a political issue, as is Israel's governmental policy regarding administration of the Temple mount. But the subject of our letter is also a religious issue, and the Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist branches of Judaism have long been fighting for official recognition by the Israeli government, for example in regard to marriage, conversion, etc., and egalitarian worship at the Wall is another issue that directly concerns our standing and legitimacy in the Jewish state. In this instance, we are standing up for ourselves as much as for others. If I am not for myself, who will be for me? At our February board meeting, Rabbi Schwartz brought to the board a resolution crafted by Leonia's interfaith clergy in response to Donald Trump's January 27th executive order that barred people from 7 Muslim-majority countries from entering the US, and stopped all refugee admissions. In addition to criticizing the ban, the resolution asks the Borough of Leonia's Council to designate Leonia as a sanctuary city. Just as his colleagues were doing with their own church leaders, our rabbi asked the board if we would sign onto the resolution on behalf of our congregation. An in-depth discussion of the legal and moral considerations ensued, followed by a vote in which the rabbi's request was approved by a supermajority of over ¾ of the board members present. This was a rare instance in which the board was asked to take a stand on a political issue, and most felt that the actions of the government were so extreme as to merit making a statement, even if it is only symbolic. If I am only for myself, who am I? One of the questions that came up in our discussions was whether getting involved in any kind of political issue would endanger our 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Here is the explanation that board member Michael Fishbein provided: "The activity that could jeopardize tax exemption is essentially taking sides against or in favor of a particular candidate during an election. Commenting on social issues or issues of human freedom is not barred. So, for example we could advocate in favor of gay marriage, just as another religious organization can advocate against gay marriage. However, we cannot endorse a particular candidate because he or she is pro gay marriage." Personally, I usually favor having our congregation avoid political controversies, whether it has to do with Israel or the US. What makes any given topic an issue is the fact that there are pros and cons, reasons for and against. Not everything is an issue for that reason. No one is really pro-illness for example, or pro-poverty. But there are reasons why some favor apply Orthodox strictures to the Kotel, and a strict ban on immigration to the US. But there are times when it is difficult to stand idly by, and I believe that these two instances are exceptions to the rule about not speaking out when it comes to politics and the polite company of our congregation. They are two instances in which the board felt it important to stand up for ourselves, to stand up for others, and to take action and make a statement. If not now, when? Come celebrate Purim at Adas Emuno with singing, reading from the Megillah, and a world premier performance of this year's original Purim Spiel, "The Festival of Lots," written by Lance Strate. A cast of characters features Ahashverosh as the king who gets no respect, Vashti as the queen who would rather be a star, Haman as the villain we love to boo, Mordecai as our favorite good guy, and Dr. Esther as the shrink who cures the kingdom's ills. With special guest star Judah Maccabee, and introducing Purim Person, the spirit of the holiday. With song parodies of Time Warp, Mack the Knife, Beat It, Achy Breaky Heart, Suffragette City, I Gotta Be Me, Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, Hello by Adele, 1999 by Prince and many other crowd favorites, this spiel will entertain revelers young and old alike. There'll be pizza at 5:30, and our Purim service will begin at 6:30, with singing and a reading from the Megillah, immediately followed by the spiel. Hammantaschen and other refreshments will be served following the spiel. Open to the community! Team A.E. 101 and Team Hunger 0! That was the final score for our "Souper Bowl ll". Thank you so very much to everyone who donated soup items. This is definitely the time of year to eat soup and 101 cans, cartons, etc. of this comfort food went a long way to warm up and fill up some hungry folks. Happening now: our Adas Emuno community, giant-sized Shaloch Manot Basket Food Collection! The basket area, in the vestry, will be adorned with fun, bright, Purim decorations, so it can't be missed! Any food collected through March will be donated to the Jewish Federation's March Food Drive (if it is held this year) or to the Center for Food Action in Englewood. Coming for the Purim Spiel? That would be a great time to bring a food item for each person in your party… just a thought! Ever wonder what to do with your extra, kosher for Passover, non perishable foods left after the holiday ends? Well, here's the solution! Bring them to the vestry room in the temple by the end of April and they will be given to Helping Hands, located in Teaneck. New Event for our Congregation: Family Promise, the organization in Bergen County that shelters and supports homeless, working families with children, will be holding their annual "Hike or Bike" event on Sunday, May 5th, in Ridgewood. Three of us from the temple took part in this program last year. It was great fun for a great cause and the people in charge could not have been more helpful, caring or grateful. So, we decided to try it as a temple event for this year. The "hike" goes for 3 miles (think "walk through the neighborhood"!) and the "bike" is 15 miles, with at least part of it along a bike path. There is also a "hike or trike" for little ones under age 5, plus food, music, games, etc. for all. Please save the date, and look for details to come, including how to register, fees (this money is used for the many programs/assistance offered by Family Promise) and times of the events. It's a wonderful way to spend a day with family, friends and fellow congregants. Our next Social Action Committee meeting will be on Wednesday, March 15 at 7:30 PM in the Social Hall. All are welcome to join us to bring ideas for future programs and input on our current projects. A happy and healthy new year to all! To quote another song, “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles: “Little darlin’, it’s been a long, cold, lonely winter.” Indeed, it has. So Purim comes just in time to lift our spirits, as the Religious School gets ready to celebrate this holiday in style on March 12th. There wll be costumes and songs, a skit and⏤thanks to the efforts of some of our parents⏤the Purim Carnival is back! We hope to see you as well on Saturday evening, March 11th, to watch adults acting silly in this year’s Purim shpiel, “The Festival of Lots”! We look forward to having some of your children take part that evening, by lending their singing voices. Next month our joy increases further with the celebration of Passover. For our annual school Passover program, each grade contributes a song or presentation regarding one aspect of the Passover holiday. We could use more help providing food and setting up, so if you are available please sign up! In other news, our monthly Youth Group program for post b’nei-mitzvah students is off to a great start. Thank you to Rabbi Schwartz, Jody Priblo, Sabina Albirt and Samantha Rosenbloom for their capable leadership! It’s never too late to join the fun, teens can sign up anytime. Family Services featuring Grades 2-3 and K-1 are coming up this month and next. Check out the dates below, and mark your calendars⏤it means so much to have students supporting each other at these services. Let’s share the joy! "FOR YOU WERE STRANGERS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT" In the national debate over immigration, it is worthwhile to remember that the status of immigrant residents is not peripheral to the Torah, but central. I call this the argument from “historical empathy”. Time and again the Torah reminds us to remember. We are part of a people that refuses to forget. What is more, we are bidden to create a moral memory. After all, memory can lead to vengeance. It can lead to the oppressed becoming the oppressors. That is a very natural tendency and history is replete with such examples. The Torah goes out of its way to argue the opposite. Our historical experience should make us more empathetic, not less, to the refugees who seek asylum on our shores. Perhaps this is why so many Jews have felt so aggrieved and outraged at the recent presidential executive order halting the admittance of some refugees. We know so well what it is like to flee oppression and persecution. We know what it like when the gates close. We know that our heritage demands that we act otherwise. As of this writing the presidential executive order has been temporarily halted by a federal judge. Whatever its ultimate verdict in the court of public law, this order should be struck down in the court of public opinion. As Jews we are responsible for the “Judeo” in the Judeo-Christian values we herald in guiding our country. Our history and our heritage summon us to lead the way. Judging by the topsy-turvy nature of the Trump administration’s first few weeks in office, you’d think that Purim has come early this year. Except for the fact that the story of Purim is something of a farce, albeit one that involves narrowly avoiding a tragedy, while the Trump presidency, many of us fear, is a farce that may, or will, or already has become a tragedy the likes of which even Shakespeare could not have imagined. Before looking ahead to what may come to pass, let me begin by noting that as far back as the autumn of 2015 I started saying that Trump was going to be our next president. This was not an act of prophecy, I hasten to add, but rather an exercise in the sort of futurism that Alvin Toffler made popular with the publication of Future Shock back in 1970. What this requires is a careful review of history and attention to patterns and trends of the past. In this instance, I noticed the parallels between the reality-TV-star-turned-candidate and our first (and so far only) movie star president, Ronald Reagan. As different as their demeanors and even their messages may have been, both were masters of the electronic media. For Reagan it was radio and television; for Trump it is TV and Twitter. And both exhibited that Teflon quality, whereby scandals and accusations that would sink anyone else’s political career seemed to bounce right off them. I was sure enough of the outcome that I bet a colleague $100 that Trump would be our next president, and did so at a time when it didn’t even seem likely that he would gain the Republican nomination. When I was making my prediction, some thought it meant that I wanted Trump to win. I most certainly did not. For me, the point was to analyze the facts objectively and draw a logical conclusion. I stress this because now I want to make it clear that what I think may come next is based on the same kind of analysis. I am not absolutely certain about this, but I do believe there is a better than average, maybe even a good chance, that Trump will not finish his term. I want to emphasize that I am not predicting that this will happen. I simply am noting that there are four distinct ways in which Donald Trump could be the first president since Nixon to serve less than the full four years to which he was elected. The first possibility, and the one on everyone’s minds, is impeachment. It is nothing short of astounding that the possibility was being discussed even before the election took place. I won’t bother to list the many reasons why the House of Representatives might vote to bring articles of impeachment against Trump, and a trial leading to conviction and removal from office might take place in the Senate. I only want to note that the possibility exists now, even with Republican majorities in both chambers, and would become even more likely if midterm elections gave the Democrats full control of Congress. A second possibility is resignation. Recall that Nixon was the last (and only) president to resign, and he did so to avoid impeachment. Trump might follow the same course if impeachment seems likely, or he faces some other legal action regarding his finances. And while many believe he has the kind of personality that would lead him to hold on and fight, everything about him as a politician has been characterized as unprecedented, so is it really unimaginable that he might decide that being president isn’t worth it to him, that walking out would be just like declaring a bankruptcy, and that he could do so while pinning the blame on the media, his political opponents, and anyone else he deems an enemy? No doubt, even if it was clear that disability or death were due to natural causes, conspiracy theories about assassination attempts would abound. And given the friction that seems to exist between Trump and the intelligence community, the possibility of some form of poisoning, a time-honored staple for monarchies, dictatorships, and film and TV melodramas, undoubtedly would come to mind. The more straightforward forms of assassination would also constitute a fourth possibility. The last president to get shot was Reagan, a little more than two months into his first term. Gerald Ford was the victim of two assassination attempts; both times the shooters missed. I want to stress that I am not wishing for any of these outcomes, and certainly not advocating for them. Any one of them would constitute a national trauma, and leave the United States even more divided into hostile camps than ever before. And after all, wouldn’t it be better still if Mr. Trump had a change of heart, and mind, and became the kind of president we all would hope for? For this reason, let me outline a fifth scenario, and let’s call it a Purim scenario, with Trump in the role of the foolish king, Ahashverosh. We have some good candidates for the part of Haman in his administration, most notably in his senior counselor, Steve Bannon. Melania Trump has pulled a Vashti by not joining her husband at the White House. To select a replacement, Ahashverosh held what is sometimes considered the very first beauty pageant—Trump has had a long history with such events— but if anyone can play the role of Esther in this scenario, it would be his daughter Ivanka, a Jew by choice, who has been acting as a de facto first lady. Trump actually has said that he would want to date Ivanka if she wasn’t his daughter, and some find these and other comments he’s made about her creepy, but then again the traditional Purim story does not quite fit modern standards of propriety when it comes to attitudes toward women. The important point is that Ivanka is known to be a moderating, even progressive influence on her father, and she is in the perfect position to play the role of savior in the manner of Queen Esther. All we need now is a Mordecai to help to motivate her. With Purim almost upon us, hope (and hopefully humor) springs eternal.

2019-04-22T14:37:02Z

http://adasemuno.blogspot.com/2017/03/

No. 11-1332 United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit _______________________ ROY A. SLAY Plaintiff – Appellant v. .........2 STATUTES AND REGULATIONS…....... II.....8 I...........................15 CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE ADDENDUM .TABLE OF CONTENTS Page STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION………………………………………………..4 STATEMENT OF THE FACTS…………………………………………………....2 STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES…………………………………………………....ii - .. Statutory Background……………………………………………………....................12 ARGUMENT…………………………………………………………………….....14 I..8 Facts and Prior Proceedings…………………………………………………………….. CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………......3 STATEMENT OF THE CASE………………………………………………...11 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT…………………………………………………. 1969) (broad interpretation of protected activity). Farmers State Bank. Haley v.S. 494 (2000) (limiting availability of RICO). Retsinas. 1999) (emotional distress damages included in special damage award) New England Stone. 1997) (Privacy Act permits claims for damages resulting from “leaks” of confidential information). 529 U. 138 F. Ackerley. 866 F. Conte et al. Supp. 383 U. 1999) Linn v. 180 F.D. American Cast Iron. 411 F.3d 997 (9th Cir. Beck v.C. LLC v. 62 (1966) (applying First Amendment principles to definition of protected speech under NLRA) Neal v. 191 F.3d 1245 (8th Cir.TABLE OF CASES Alexander v. Rouse v. 1998) Lambert v.3d 827 (7th Cir.2009) Pettway v.2d 998 (5th Cir. 971 F.I. 962 A. 53. Prupis. 1191 (N.2d 30 (R.S. 603 (D. Honeywell. United Plant Guard. Supp. Iowa 1994) (interpreting law broadly to protect whistleblowers) -iii- .D. FBI. 5.A. Slay filed timely notice of appeal on March 25. Following the district court’s entry of dismissal. § 1291 : US Code . Whether management at Bank of America N. Whether management at Bank of America N. 4.A.A. Whether the False Claims Act.A. § 1331 : US Code . Whether the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act was violated by management at Bank of America N. 6. violated Rhode Island Title 28 Labor and Labor Relations. Employment Security . 2011. Whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was violated by management at Bank of America N. 2.Benefits. § 28-44-18. The United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U. 3.Appellee. violated Rhode Island Whistleblower Laws. Retaliation Against AWhistleblower. § 28-50-3 & § 28-50-4.Section 1331. -2- .C. 7.C. Whether management at Bank of America N. violated the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.A.STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION The United States District Court For The District Of Rhode Island had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.A. STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES 1. § 28-50-1. Roy A. Whistleblower Antiretaliation is applicable to Plaintiff .S.Section 1291: Final decisions of district court. Whether management at Bank of America N.S. conspired in the Obstruction of Justice. damage. STATUTES AND REGULATIONS Federal Laws Sarbanes-Oxley Act Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act Bank Secrecy Act 15 U. Computer Crime. Whether Rhode Island Title 11 Criminal Offenses. § 11-52-2. were violated by management at Bank of America N.A. § 2087 : Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008 18 U.Whether Rhode Island Title 28 Labor and Labor Relations.S. Section 28-5-7 (i) & (6) Fair Employment Practices. were violated by management at Bank of America N. § 1513 : Obstruction of Justice.C.A.S. Retaliation Against Whistleblowers 31 U. 10.C. §§ 3729-3733: The False Claims Act State of Rhode Island General Laws § 11-52-2 : Access to computer for fraudulent purposes § 11-52-3 : Intentional access. were violated by management at Bank of America N. alteration.8.C.S.A. § 11-523 & § 11-52-6. Whether Rhode Island Title 19 Financial Institutions.9-5 Rhode Island Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. § 19-14. 9. or destruction -3- .9-4 & § 19-14. .A. Anderson. obstruction of justice. I the Plaintiff – Appellant Roy A.9-5 : Communication in connection with debt collection § 28-5-7(4)(i) & (6) : Unlawful employment practices § 28-44-18 : Discharge for misconduct § 28-50-1 : The "Rhode Island Whistleblowers' Protection Act" § 28-50-3 : Protection § 28-50-4 : Relief and damages STATEMENT OF THE CASE This case involves the computer system information security breech. by Kenneth D. Bank of America. Reason given at time of termination by Randel George. We are releasing you from -4- . we can’t have you making threats against management. (Ken) Lewis (former CEO and President of Bank of America Corporation). “You are a threat to management. Slay was terminated on the morning of 03/09/10 around 10:12 am after arriving to work for my 9:30 am to 6:00 pm shift by manager Randel George and the call center director David K. Slay v. abuse of authority. N.§ 11-52-6 : Civil action § 19-14. retaliation against a Whistleblower the Plaintiff – Appellant in this case Roy A.9-4 : Acquisition of location information § 19-14. his management team at Bank of America and Ernst & Young. gross mismanagement. ” I replied. I replied ok. let me finish logging my last call. “I said I think it was my letter that got him fired.” I replied with disbelief. “Roy we have heard that you said you got Peter Connell fired. I say hello to Dave and take a seat at a small table facing Randel with my back to Dave. I think it was probably my letter. “We need to talk”. (Randel) “Roy the reason for the meeting is we just got some disturbing news.” On 03/03/2010 around 1:20 pm shortly after the half hour lunch break. my new manager Randel George comes over and tells me to log off the phone. we’ve got a problem”. I finish and log off the phone and locked my computer and walk over to his cubical and he is not there. one week prior to my termination. “Threaten him?” (Randel) “You said to him. yes or no?” I replied. -5- . “Did you say you got him fired. we wanted to be clear. Did you say this to an associate. “Ok. Will Torres said you threaten him. “Yes!” I replied. I’m at lunch and he comes by and sees me. “What letter? was my name in it?” (Randel) replies. I replied “yes. ok.” I replied.your assignment.” (Randel) replies. Slay. yes or no. he asks what’s going on Roy?”( Randel) replies. Mr. I hear him calling me from Dave Anderson office. so you had this information when we meet earlier today?” (Randel) replies. I proceed into Dave office. “No! what I said was. I then proceed to look for him.” (Dave Anderson) replies. ” (Randel) then states that all he wanted when we were in the meeting with Dave is a. I take a seat as he shut the door. “We’re good!” (Randel) “I’m going on vacation and I don’t plan on coming in here tomorrow. Slay submitted to the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation Division of Banking regarding a serious computer system customer information security breach at Bank of America. (Randel) “Are we good?” I replied. he then confided with other management and HR on how to get rid of me. (Randel) leads me to the old managers Edna Coleman office he replaced. I wished him a pleasant vacation. Listen to what I’m saying. I sign off the phone and lock my computer and go over to his cubical. I should have followed his lead. (Randel) sends me an instant message to come over to his cubical. “No problem.(Randel) replies. around 3:40 pm. I replied. The termination of Plaintiff – Appellant Roy A. Once David K.” With that. with the -6- . Anderson got a copy of my complaint and read it. “you can go. Slay by Randel George and David K. Anderson was in retaliation for the complaint I. then states that he wants me to do the right thing and apologize to Will.” I said ok. “yes or no answer. (Randel).” Later that day. Please apologize to Will. So. Mr. Dave didn’t need to know about the letter. Mr. After 2 ½ years of service. I Roy A. Associate had also taken responsibility for the termination of a previous leader -7- . not one reprimand in my employee file. Slay didn’t threaten any manager at Bank of America N. What was the final incident? Explain in detail what happened. ( Nathan Vinson) “which took over representation of Bank of America’s claims from TALX effective 01/01/2010. Slay Unemployment Insurance was denied due to false & inaccurate documentation provided by Nathan Vinson at Ernst & Young Unemployment Insurance Department. when. When Roy was confronted with these allegations he admitted to saying this but provided no reason for his comments. For what purpose? I have never had an employer accuse me of threating management and then terminate my employment for it during my 25 plus years of work history. My. Vinson email to Randel George regarding an Unemployment Insurance Claim for me Mr. Threats were unfounded and unnecessary. “Associate threatened to have senior management fired to his fellow peers. I was accused of making threats against management.” In Mr.second hand reports he received on my comments taken out of context by coworkers. Vinson. David K. Mr. where.A. Vinson answer to question (1). and who was involved. Mr. Anderson had nothing else he could use to terminate my employment. Slay. ” STATEMENT OF THE FACTS I. Major components put into place to govern the collection. whether a financial institution discloses nonpublic information or not. Statutory Background A.(Peter Connell) and that was not the case. GLB compliance is mandatory. public company boards. management and public accounting firms. enacted July 30. disclosure. B. also known as the 'Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act' (in the Senate) and 'Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act' (in the House).S. 2002). The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLB). which set new or enhanced standards for all U. and protection of consumers’ nonpublic personal information. 2002. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. there must be a policy in place to protect the information from foreseeable threats in security and data integrity. also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999. is a United States federal law enacted on July 30. or personally identifiable information includes: -8- . Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010. or otherwise known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act) requires financial institutions in the United States to assist U. Specifically.000 (daily aggregate amount). the act requires financial institutions to keep records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments. to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices. and to report suspicious activity that might signify money laundering. Subchapter I. to end "too big to fail". Financial Privacy Rule  Safeguards Rule  Pretexting Protection 15 USC. and file reports of cash purchases of these negotiable instruments of more than $10. government agencies to detect and prevent money laundering. Sec. and for other purposes. tax -9- . The Dodd-Frank Act is to promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system. to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts. 6801-6809 Disclosure of Nonpublic Personal Information. The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (or BSA. D.S. C. Rhode Island Fair Employment Practices § 28-5-7(4)(i) &(6) : Unlawful employment practices M. F. or other criminal activities. Rhode Island Whistleblowers' Protection Act § 28-50-1 : § 28-50-3 : Protection & § 28-50-4 : Relief and damages -10- . §§ 3729-3733: The False Claims Act I. § 2087 : Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008 G.S. damage. United States Code 31 U.9-4 : Acquisition of location information K.9-5 : Communication in connection with debt collection L. United States Code 18 U.C.C. Rhode Island Fair Debt Collection Practices Act § 19-14.S. § 1513 : Obstruction of Justice.S. evasion. or destruction : & § 11-52-6 : Civil action J.C. alteration. Rhode Island Computer Crime § 11-52-2 : Access to computer for fraudulent purposes § 11-52-3 : Intentional access. Rhode Island Employment Security – Benefits § 28-44-18 : Discharge for misconduct N. Rhode Island Fair Debt Collection Practices Act § 19-14. United States Department Of Labor 15 U. Retaliation Against Whistleblowers H.E. My case was closed on 03/16/2011due to Magistrate Judge David L. I submit a request to have him removed due to interest. 10-5127 was removed to the United States District Court For The District Of Rhode Island by Bank of America. Slay v. Judge Almond didn’t have the complete file for my suit and didn’t know what a computer name is. Martin bias hearsay Report and Recommendation without a jury trial per my “Due Process claim as granted under the Fourteenth Amendment. N. A Motion to Dismiss my case was held. Bank Of America Corporation 1. Facts and Prior Proceedings A. Judge Almond proceeded to ask me questions and point out that I didn’t have a case. Judge Almond had to disclose at the end of the hearing that he was once employed by the Defendant – Appellee council law firm. Factual Background I the Plaintiff – Appellant in Roy A. Bank Of America Corporation filed this case in Rhode Island Superior Court on 09/13/10. Civil Action. Judge Almond didn't allow me to finish my prepared statement or inform him on what happen. -11- . My case.A.II. presided over by Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. on 10/04/2010. File No. Roy A. Slay v. Almond. it was a group effort by management at Bank of America to maneuver me into a position of servitude. tells the co-work in the call center that she was calling to collect on a debt and that she was going to garnish my wages and hangs up. defense is based on second hand hearsay. Slay provided documentation to back up my case. I was under Oath during the Motion to Dismiss hearing. I went to my manager Peter Connell and explained the situation and asked him to have a discussion about how to handle a call like that. The Defendant – Appellee Bank Of America. In essence.A. I had to endure embarrassment when a collection agency kept calling my place of work and the rep for the collection agency finally gives up in trying to speak with me. Talk about unprofessional and to and to the embarrassment this co-worker brought up the incident a couple of days later. “Roy. by asking me. N. you’re on the up and up with us?” Another co-worker nearby nearly fall off his chair from laughing so hard. There are State and Federal laws that are in my favor. My co-worker yells over to me in the Bank of America Order to Pay Call Center.SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT This case is basically he said. I the Plaintiff – Appellant Roy A. “Roy. she said. she said she was going to garnish your wages!) loud enough for 20 other co-workers to hear her. He went to his manager Edna Coleman and she decided it -12- . I was never informed of any action taken. -13- . Some co-worker got away with doing things that was against policy like visiting inappropriate websites on their work computer and making inappropriate comments about customers or hanging up on a customer would be grounds for termination per management had repeat offenders and they either got promoted to other departments or left on their own accord. I haven’t had any disciplinary actions against me before I was terminated by Randel George and David K. Bank of America has the emails that I received from customers and sent. recorded phone calls.wasn’t an issue. I called Advice and Council and informed the rep on what had transpired. My termination was simply retaliation. I was advised to call the Advice and Council line by a rep on the employee assistance line. I have done nothing but try to be a productive citizen in society. I was threatened by my manager Peter Connell upon arrival to work. Never the less. Inappropriate emails were constantly been sent to me. a valued employee at every job I have ever had. Anderson at Bank of America or for any job I’ve held in the past 25 year of employment. attendance record and computer record. this was one of several calls to Advice and Council regarding matters that Management in the call center were hostile with regarding me. None of this was subpoena for this case. It was a serious matter and I was told something would be done. performance evaluations. N. I have been denied that right. Slay have presented evidence and Statutes and Regulations that reinforce my argument. -14- . has no evidence. Its argument is based on hearsay by those individuals cited.ARGUMENT This case needed to go to a Trial Jury.A. I the Plaintiff – Appellant Roy A. The Defendant – Appellee Bank Of America. CONCLUSION The forgoing motion should be granted per the Federal and State of Rhode Island Statutes and Regulations. Respectfully Submitted. Pro se. RI.Slay 131 Canonicus Street Tiverton. Roy A. 02878 TEL: (401) 636-1371 -15- . Pro se. RI. contains 2.P. 2011. I hereby certify that this brief complies with the type-volume limitation in Rule 32(a)(7)(B). day of July.32 (a)(7)(B)(iii). R.CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE Pursuant to Rule 32(a)(7)(C) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. as counted by Microsoft Word 2010. this 14th. Slay 131 Canonicus Street Tiverton. This brief. App. The foregoing brief is presented in proportionally-spaced font typeface using Microsoft Word 2010 in 14-point Times New Roman font. excluding the parts of the brief exempted by Fed. Roy A. 02878 TEL: (401) 636-1371 .990 words. 2011. Bank of America N. Turcotte &Barbara V.CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE Re: Roy A. has been forwarded via overnight mail.: 11-1332 I hereby certify that I the Plaintiff – Appellant Roy A. I further certify that a copy of the Brief. Parker 111 Huntington Avenue Boston. Roy A. Pro se. 02199 this 14th. postage prepaid. United States Court Of Appeals For the First Circuit Court of Appeals Case No. MA. to: EDWARD ANGELL PALMER & DODGE LLP c/o Caroline F. Slay filed the Brief with the Clerk of the Court for the United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit by overnight mail. RI. 11-1332. day of July. 02878 TEL: (401) 636-1371 . Slay v.A. Appeals Case No.G. Slay 131 Canonicus Street Tiverton.

2019-04-18T16:03:13Z

https://www.scribd.com/document/120700642/Civil-Lawsuit-Brief

In Burmese the name Kai means “unbreakable.” This is a definitely a story about a little baby boy that refused to submit to defeat. He truly is unbreakable. My husband Rory and I went into the Millcreek Imaging Center to get the ultrasound of all ultrasounds, the one which reveals if you are having a boy or girl. We were so excited to finally find out what we were having. For pretty much the entire pregnancy I had a feeling it was a boy. Rory didn’t really feel a pull either way. I got on the chair and the technician put the blue goo, the goo I have seen in all the movies, on my abdomen. All of the sudden, in front of me I saw our baby. The baby was perfect. Everything measured the way it was supposed to. The heart beat was so strong. I could fall asleep to that sound every night. As the technician kept looking around at all of the baby’s nooks and crannies she announces, “It’s a girl!” A girl, I was shocked, not upset at all, but shocked. I was so sure it was a boy. I looked at Rory, both of our eyes tearing up. We were so excited. As she kept looking around trying to get a face shot of our very shy baby, Rory and I discussed how fun a little girl would be. We talked about the nursery, clothing etc. We were ecstatic! After about a half an hour she decided to let me empty my VERY full bladder and then complete the ultrasound. When I came back she looked at a few more organs and then said we were done. I was getting myself ready to leave when she asked if we could try performing an ultrasound while I was lying on my side. She really wanted to get a better shot of our sweet baby’s face for us. So I got back on the chair and lay on my side. She poked around to get that little baby to move so we could see the face. As she was poking around she stopped and said “you are going to hate me.” With that she typed “it’s a boy“ on the screen! We were in shock. She told us that she had done ultrasounds for 25 years and this had NEVER happened to her. Apparently the umbilical cord was wrapped around our little guy’s nub, which made it look like he was a girl. Rory and I laughed and laughed. We were so relieved she took another look. A boy! I knew it! I have to admit I felt pretty good about myself. She asked us if we could stay in the room while she had the radiologist look at some of the scans. We waited as patiently as we could, “was something wrong? I kept asking myself. Finally she came back. She looked a little nervous which made me a little more nervous. She then told us that our sweet baby looked like he had clubbed feet. Immediately, Rory and I felt the feeling of concerned parent wash over us. It was definitely a new experience. She began to explain that the legs were straight, but that the feet actually turned in at the ankle. Rory and I left the imaging center feeling a little bittersweet. We were so excited to find out we were having a boy, but then sad and concerned that there was something wrong with our sweet boy. A couple of hours later I got a call from my midwife. She said she got the results of our ultrasound and said there was another issue of concern other than the clubbed feet. She explained that sometimes the amniotic fluid can form into bands and wrap around the baby’s extremities and cut off circulation. She said that on the ultrasound there was a small mass on our baby’s left foot and she thinks it could be banding. She told us she would like us to see a specialist at St. Mark’s Hospital. I got off the phone very confused. I kept thinking, how can amniotic fluid form into bands? It’s fluid. I tried to explain what our midwife said to Rory, but I just didn’t really understand. The next day I set up an appointment with the specialist for four days away and then we waited. We showed up for our appointment with Dr. Ball at St. Marks Hospital the Tuesday morning after our initial ultrasound. We went through about an hour of ultrasounds with a technician before we saw the doctor. The technician pointed out some of the bands for us. They were very thin, web-like and they were everywhere. Later, we saw Dr. Ball. He also looked around at everything for another half hour. While performing the ultrasound he explained to us that my uterus had collapsed. I had never heard of this before. He explained there are two linings to the amniotic sac. The inner lining is called the amnion and the outer lining is called the chorion. In a normal pregnancy these linings are supposed to fuse together, but mine did not. He explained the process was like a balloon being blown up inside another already full balloon. Between the linings there is a very sticky substance that fuses the linings together. At about five or six weeks our little guy happened to kick through the amnion, causing the lining to start breaking apart into the amniotic fluid and forming into bands with the sticky substance coating the bands. These bands gradually started wrapping around his left ankle, right knee and around his little wrists which bound his hands together. There were also bands found on the back of his head. Rory and I couldn’t believe what we were seeing. The Doctor stopped the ultrasound and began to explain to us what we were up against and what our options were. He explained our case of Amniotic Band Syndrome (ABS) was very serious. He also explained that it was a very rare condition and there was absolutely nothing we could have done to prevent it. Like being struck by lightning, it was a very random occurrence. Then he started listing off our options. The first option was fetal surgery. He explained that the bands would be removed from the baby in utero. Rory and I had never heard of this kind of surgery. I had no idea a baby this tiny could be operated on inside the womb. The doctor, however, did caution us on this option since our case was so serious and there were many bands to deal with. He had done these surgeries before himself, so he knew the risks very well. He basically told us that there was less than a 50% chance of success and it was very possible that all the bands could not be removed. He also said that it was very risky to our baby’s life. He told us the second option was for us to just wait it out and see what would happen, which was a stressful way to go, to have no control or way of helping our child. He then went on to our least favorite option, terminating the pregnancy. Rory and I couldn’t believe what we were hearing. How could we terminate this sweet baby’s life because he could possibly lose a limb or two? He said presently there was a very strong chance that our baby would lose his left foot since the band was so tight around his ankle if we left this alone. He then began to explain that the banding could get worse on his hands and he could lose them as well. Basically as time would go on we would have no idea what limbs he would lose or if he would be born a still birth because of strangulation of his neck or the umbilical cord. I looked at Rory and he looked at me with the same expression…defeat. This was in my mind seriously the worst possible experience a new parent could go through. The doctor was basically telling us that if we chose not to abort the pregnancy or have the surgery we would have to slowly watch these “death strands” take little pieces of our beautiful baby boy. There was the real possibility of having to watch him slowly get strangled to death. No parent should ever have to go through the horror of watching their baby go through that. We told the doctor since the outcome for surgery didn’t look so good and aborting the pregnancy was not an option, we would just have to keep an eye on the bands and see what happens. Before we left, the doctor mentioned that he had a friend and colleague that worked in a medical center in Houston that was a fetal surgery specialist and had performed many surgeries for babies with ABS. He told us he would try giving him a call to consult with him and get back to us. With that we went to front desk to set up another appointment and left. Our hearts were so heavy. We didn’t even know how to process what we had just seen or heard. We just went back to the car and cried, holding each other, begging God for a miracle. It is said that ABS affects 1 in 10,000 babies or so. All we could think about was why did it have to be our baby? Why did we have to be that 1 case in thousands of pregnancies? I felt numb; I had no idea what to do. I was supposed to go to work after this appointment. I didn’t know how I was going to get through the day. After returning home, I got in my car and headed out to work. It was hard to see the road at times since my eyes still had tears in them. About ten minutes into my drive I got a call from Dr. Ball. I pulled over so I could focus on his news. He told me that he talked to his friend in Houston, Dr. Befort, and he wanted to see me right away. Dr. Ball explained that his friend had started using a brand new procedure that involved pumping CO2 gas into the uterus to expand it so they would have more room to work in order to cut more of the banding. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He also said that there was possibly a charity fund available for us that would cover the procedure. I thanked him over and over. My head was spinning, I was so emotionally overwhelmed. I asked the doctor if he could call Rory and relay the news to him since I was so overwhelmed. He agreed and we hung up. I made it to work. Luckily, I was all by myself so I just sobbed at my desk. Was this really happening? Do miracles really happen this fast? I prayed at my desk and thanked my heavenly father for hearing our prayers and responding so quickly. Fifteen minutes later Rory called and we just cried about what just happened. We decided to look at this as an answer of what we should do and move forward with going to Houston. Rory called Dr. Ball back to tell him what we decided. I was able to get out of work early so we could work out the trip. When I got home about 2:00 Rory was already on the phone with the Fetal Center in Houston. They wanted to set up our ultrasound and consultation for 8:00 am the next morning. Everything was happening so fast. Rory told them that we would look at plane tickets and let them know. Second miracle of the day, we found two tickets for Houston that left at 5:15 pm for $200 a ticket. It was amazing! It gave us just enough time to get packed and ready to go, and we would be arrive with enough time to get a little sleep. The only other options were two flights that left about 9 or 10 pm and got into Houston the next morning at about 6 am for about $800 a ticket. We booked the tickets for 5:15, packed, arranged a ride with Rory’s mom, and left for the airport within the next hour. During our flight, I really felt my baby kick for the first time. It seemed to me to be a reassurance that he felt what was going on and was excited that we were going to Houston to save him. We arrived in Houston around 11:30 pm. Erin Holbrook, a friend of mine that I hadn’t seen since high school, saw my post on Facebook about our situation and said she had moved to Houston only the previous weekend. She offered to pick us up from the airport and take us to our hotel, even though she had a one-month-old newborn. This was yet another miracle to add to rapidly growing list. We headed out to a Best Western that was directly across the street from the Texas Medical Center that the nurses had told us about. Thankfully, they had exactly one room left for us. We got up to our room about 1 am and prepared to get a little sleep before the biggest life changing day of our lives. After having breakfast at the hotel, we arrived at the Fetal Center for our ultrasound around 7:30 am. A nice woman called us back to the ultrasound room. She performed the initial ultrasound just like the other technicians did. About an hour into our ultrasound, four doctors and a nurse came into the room. One of the doctors was Doctor Belfort, the friend of Doctor Ball. The other doctors were Doctor Espinoza, Doctor Ruano, and another doctor that was visiting from Stanford. Doctor Espinoza took over the ultrasound so he could look at our little guy’s left foot. They wanted to look at how much blood was actually getting to the foot. There was very little blood flow, but there was some which gave them hope. About another half hour went by and three other specialists came into the room. In particular, one was a pediatric plastic surgeon that had worked on babies with ABS. He had actually helped to rehabilitate babies that had been affected by ABS. He said that the nerves were typically the last things to get damaged by the bands, and so if there was a little blood flow, that gave him hope that the nerves had not yet been irreversibly damaged. I couldn’t believe how many doctors and nurses were in that room with us just staring in awe at my baby. I felt like a medical marvel of science. After everything had been checked two or three times Dr. Belfort began to tell us about the surgery. He cautioned us that what they were about to do was extremely experimental. They had only performed this kind of procedure, using CO2 gas, on two other babies at the hospital, and the procedure had only been done ever about 60 times in the world. He said they had never used CO2 to removed amniotic bands before. They were also originally only going to have to make two small incisions in my stomach to perform the surgery, but because the banding was so severe, they would have to give me a C-section type of incision, flip out my uterus, and operate from the back of the uterus through two different incisions. They also told us that, even though our baby was extremely young and one of the most serious cases of ABS he had seen, he and the other doctors felt very confident they could perform a successful surgery. However, because the surgery was so experimental, they would have to convene an 8-person fetal surgery board in an emergency session just to approve the procedure. He felt confident that it would be successful, though. Finally, Dr. Belfort chastised me just a little for eating breakfast which would delay when they would be able to do the surgery. I didn’t think they would be able to get us in for surgery the same day, so I had had breakfast, and you’re not supposed to have surgery for at least 8 hours after eating. But, in the end they said if we wanted to move forward, they would schedule surgery for later that day. After they talked to us about all of the many complications that could happen, they asked us to take some time to discuss the surgery before making our final decision. Rory and I just looked at each other for a little while without saying much. We both just knew we had to go forward. We told Dr. Belfort we were in, and we wanted to do the surgery. He also asked us if we would be willing to give them permission to publish this surgery in medical journals since it was so groundbreaking. Rory and I were very excited for the chance to help other couples in similar circumstances give their babies a second chance. We were excited to be involved in this pioneering step for modern medicine. The surgery was scheduled for about 3 that afternoon and I was admitted into the hospital. A parade of nurses and doctors visited my room, each telling me their perspective on what I was about to go through. I signed more forms than I could count, each telling me that my imminent death or my baby’s death was a real possibility. They told us that the hospital was just covering their bases, and the probability for complications was very low, but the more times they went over the potential issues we could face, the more real it all seemed. After everything was signed and all warnings given, I laid there in my hospital gown waiting for surgery. Rory and I had a feeling of peace and confidence with each step we took. We knew that going forward with the surgery was our baby’s best chance and we couldn’t turn our back on our little guy. It was at this time that that we decided to name our baby boy Kai because of the meaning of the name. It stood for strength, and we felt that he had he was our fighter and would overcome this trial that he was faced with so early on in his life. Despite all of the reassurances I felt, about an hour before surgery, which was delayed until 5, all of the potential side effects and consequences of the surgery I had heard about throughout the day caught up with me. I began to get really nervous. The nurse came in and told us that I would be taken to the operating room in a few minutes and then she left. I turned quickly to Rory and asked for a priesthood blessing. Rory then gave one the quickest most straightforward blessings I had ever received. I was assured that Heavenly Father was in control of this surgery and that we were doing the right thing. I felt immediate peace and confidence that I and my sweet baby were going to be just fine. I also felt an overwhelming reminder that this surgery was not just for me and Kai, it was for many other babies that would be in Kai’s situation. I think I actually saw some of their beautiful faces. The nurse came in and began to wheel me out to the operating room.The anesthesiologist asked me to breathe through a mask for a few seconds. Next, I woke up to Rory’s face and several nurses scrambling around me. The surgery was over. Rory told me that everything went so well. I was hooked to tons of tubes and wires. I could barely move. I was in a lot of pain, but I was happy that my baby was ok. I was also happy when the nurses brought me some pain medication. Rory was right there by my side ordering the nurses around to make sure I was taken care of. He was so happy to see me ok and conscious. Throughout the next few days, the nurses visited me every few hours to check my vitals and give me medication. Sleep was erratic at best, and I was still trying to overcome a lot of the pain. It was hard for me to move much in the first day or two, but through the help of the nurses, I started to be able to move around a little. The scariest moment was the night after the surgery. I had the worst pain I had ever felt in my life, and I thought I was going into labor because I started having contractions. But, the staff was able to help me through this moment, I was able to calm down, and everything stabilized. It was not time for Kai to come into this world. We didn’t go through everything to have everything fall apart, and God blessed us to have this moment pass without further complications. One nurse that had helped some patients with similar cases as ours mentioned that the doctors would probably want me to stay there in the hospital until I delivered. I hated the idea of having to stay two or three months in a hospital so far away from my family and friends. However, we wanted to do what was best for Kai so we decided we would make that sacrifice if necessary. Rory and I, along with family, started to figure out how it would work if I had to stay in Houston and began making plans. This included unfortunately quitting my job. However, on the bright side my parents said they wanted to come visit me, and my mom was even arranging to stay out here for a while since Rory would have to go back to Utah. Rory spent his time during these days trying to do homework, but mostly just updated family and friends on what was happening, ordered the nurses around, worried about me and Kai, and tried his best to acclimate to hospital food. Luckily for him, it was his fall break the next week, so he had less pressure to complete his assignments. He was also very fortunate to connect with his cousin Paul and his beautiful wife Ashley. Paul was a medical student doing his residency at the medical center just a few buildings down from where we were. Rory asked if he could go to church with them on Sunday, and they agreed to pick him up Sunday morning. It was great for Rory to have a little normalcy in attending church and being with family. Paul and Ashley were very accommodating and invited Rory over for a meal after church. They also visited me later that night with lots of food and even gave Rory keys to their car in case he needed to use it. We were so overwhelmed by their kindness and generosity. Finally, it was Monday morning. We would have the final ultrasound where they would decide if I needed to stay or if I could go home. Rory and I woke up feeling very strongly that we were going home that day. We almost had to keep ourselves from packing because we felt so sure we were leaving. We went into the ultrasound midmorning. The doctors were so impressed with Kai and how he was doing. Despite having lost a lot of amniotic fluid during and after the surgery, the fluid levels had risen again to an impressive level. The swelling in his left foot was also going down, and his heartbeat was still strong. The doctors said we could go home, but I would have to be on bed rest until Kai was born. With a fond farewell and many instructions the doctors discharged us and we began to prepare to go home. We were all a little nervous about how the trip would affect me and Kai, but we trusted our Father in Heaven and knew he would watch over us the entire time. It was raining really hard during the ultrasound, so we scheduled the latest direct flight we could for that day. We packed up all our things, traveled to the airport, found me a wheelchair and were able to make it through security. We found out that many flights had been delayed or cancelled due to the intense storm that was traveling east over the country. However, it passed by Houston by that time, and our flight was one of the fortunate few that was not delayed. Despite some pain that resulted from all the traveling, we made it home with no issues, and we were so relieved to be with family again. Our little family was ok. We gave our little Kai a second chance. With the many blessings of our heavenly father, prayers from family and friends and amazingly gifted surgeons, the possibility to meet our sweet boy in this life was real. Heavenly Father never left our side that day and still hasn’t. He is still watching over our fledgling family, and we are so grateful for His kindness and love in giving our baby a second chance. We are so excited to meet our little fighter! An update would be amazing! I’d love to hear how well everything came out, 30 weeks in December means Kai should be a few weeks old now? I would say you are really lucky except the part that you had to go thru all this. Your were lucky to get great team of doctors. They even explained to you the ABS part. we were always told everything is fine during every ultrasound visit and finally my baby came out which really shocked us. I dont know whom to blame …i dont know if we could have done anything to prevent it…. Did your doctors tell you why the uterus was collapsed? May God always be with you. Wish you all the best. I’m happy to hear you were aware of what your baby has/ had and you could get help advise and help at this stage already . But you’ve have had a lot of hard decisions to make but very blessed too! My daughter was born August 13, 2013 with ABS it affected her feet and one hand. nurses and doctors didn’t tell me anything or what it was until she was 2 days old. But seemed like no big deal. After I was told I researched it and found out we aren’t alone. Thank you for your blessing 🙂 I have just gotten clarification on what the doctor meant about my uterus collapsing. Apparently, he was referring to the amniotic sac. It was a miscommunication that I need to fix in the story.

2019-04-21T12:17:37Z

https://amnioticbandsyndrome.com/baby-stories/kais-story-fetal-surgery-19-weeks/

The Academy for Continued Healthcare Learning (ACHL), an accredited medical education company, is a leader in providing impactful medical education to healthcare professionals. ACHL’s mission is to design, develop, and implement quality continuing education activities that will have a positive influence on the way healthcare is practiced to improve the quality of care provided to patients. ACHL develops direct and jointly provided educational activities, and collaborates with many educational partners including professional societies, advocacy groups, academic centers, universities, and publishers. The American Academy of CME (Academy) is a not-for-profit medical education foundation. Recognizing the importance of continuing professional development (CPD) for healthcare professionals, and the need to address clinical practice gaps that impact patient care, the Academy provides certified continuing education to physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, dietitians, social workers/case managers, transplant coordinators, and other healthcare professionals. The roots of the American Thoracic Society reach back to 1905, when a small group of physicians decided that the best way to improve care for tuberculosis patients was to share their experiences and discoveries. Today, the ATS has grown into an international society with more than 15,000 members, and is now the world's leading medical association dedicated to advancing our clinical and scientific understanding of pulmonary diseases, critical illnesses and sleep-related breathing disorders. The Society offers CME, maintenance of certification points and credits, and nursing contact hours through its annual International Conference, which draws some 14,000 physicians and scientists from around the globe, and other educational programs. The Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower is a unique educational institute that is part of the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California. The Annenberg Center was founded with a dual mission to serve the needs of health care providers at the Medical Center and globally, and also to serve as a forum for the examination of health care issues and the advancement of science and medicine. AO North America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of patient care, in orthopaedic, craniomaxillofacial and veterinary surgery. The Organization`s mission is to improve the care of patients with musculo-skeletal injuries and their sequelae in North America, through education and research in the principles, practice and results of treatment. The Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc. is a nonprofit organization with an international membership of 2,500 health professionals, lay members of the community, corporate members, and institutional members. The ABC is dedicated to eliminating the disparities related to cardiovascular disease in all people of color. The Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc. is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). Astellas Pharma is a global pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. Atellas commitment to changing tomorrow is measured not only by afocus on bringing innovative and effective new medicines to patients and physicians, but also by an emphasis on the impact that can be made within the communities where we work and live. AstraZeneca is a global innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company specializing in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of prescription medicines that make a meaningful difference in healthcare. AstraZeneca focuses primarily on cancer, cardiovascular / metabolic disease and respiratory / inflammation / autoimmunity. Alongside this, they remain active in infection and neuroscience with targeted investments in opportunities and collaborations. Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global BioPharma company firmly focused on its mission to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines to patients with serious diseases. We commit to scientific excellence and investment in biopharmaceutical research and development to provide innovative, high-quality medicines that address the unmet medical needs of patients with serious diseases. We apply scientific rigor to produce clinical and economic benefit through medicines that improve patients’ lives. We strive to make information about our commercialized medicines widely and readily available. The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) is an independent, academically focused nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the survival and quality of life for people with cardiovascular disease through research and education. Certified by ACCME, CRF educates physicians and healthcare professionals to improve patient outcomes and quality of life. With a worldwide reputation for excellence in training clinical practitioners in advanced techniques and innovations, CRF conducts more than 50 educational meetings, conferences, and online programs each year. CBI, an Advanstar company, is the life sciences industry leader in providing thought-leadership, actionable data, benchmarking, case studies and regulatory information through a dynamic conference platform that facilitates innovation, collaboration and elevation across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and healthcare industries. Benefiting more than 5,000 executives annually, CBI conferences provide the market with cutting-edge, actionable information on the most compelling industry mega and micro trends through exclusive thought-leader presentations from an esteemed speaking faculty. Celgene is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to improving the lives of patients worldwide. Celgene's mission is to build a major global biopharmaceutical corporation while focusing on the discovery, the development, and the commercialization of products for the treatment of cancer and other severe, immune, inflammatory conditions. CPEA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to being the forum for bringing clinical practitioners and patients together. With education, information, and collaboration networks, CPEA helps healthcare practitioners and patients build bridges in several therapeutic Communities of Care. Clinical Care Options (CCO) creates innovative, interactive continuing medical education programs that anticipate and meet the needs of healthcare professionals. CCO's expertise in CME, technology solutions, and clinical knowledge allows it to rapidly deliver the highest quality content simultaneously online, in print, and at live meetings, in the service of improving patient care. At CMEology, our goal is to improve patient outcomes through certified, clinically relevant medical education. CMEology develops innovative educational activities that engage learners and enhance retention. Working with leading institutions, CMEology strives to close professional practice gaps, increase competency, and improve healthcare provider performance. Our research on how CME saves healthcare costs has been featured in CBS Money Watch, Policy and Medicine, The Wall Street Journal Online, and numerous other news outlets. The mission of Creative Educational Concepts, Inc. (CECI) is to enhance healthcare through the provision of safe, high quality, comprehensive, life-long learning opportunities presented by and for the healthcare team of physicians, pharmacists, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and other healthcare professionals. CECI offers practicing clinicians an opportunity to maintain and enhance their knowledge and skills; moreover, their professional practice, competence, and performance. Since 2003, Global has tapped the power of partnership. Our strategic alliances with more than 20 academic centers, professional societies, and others ensure independence, performance, and continuous improvement for learners. Our staff includes experts in accreditation and regulatory guidelines, adult learning and outcomes, medicine, meeting planning, and project management. Haymarket Medical Education (HME) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Our rigorous processes and adherence to ACCME regulations ensure that our activities deliver education intended to improve competence and performance. Through effective collaboration with key educational stakeholders, HME and myCME produce, certify, and deliver dynamic, measurable educational interventions designed to help physicians and other health care professionals provide the best possible care for their patients. HealthmattersCME is a minority-owned and operated, full-service medical education and communications company. They provide unique and customized CME/CE-certified programming for health care professionals supported by unrestricted educational grants from the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries. Lilly unites caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. We make medicines that help people live longer, healthier, more active lives. Jazz Pharmaceuticals is an international biopharmaceutical company focused on improving patients’ lives by identifying, developing, and commercializing meaningful products that address unmet medical needs. Jazz has a diverse portfolio of products and product candidates, with a focus in the areas of sleep and hematology/oncology. Jazz also supports commercial products in other therapeutic areas where we can meaningfully address serious medical needs. Lundbeck, a global pharmaceutical company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, was founded in 1915. As one of the world’s leading companies specializing in brain disorders, Lundbeck’s key focus is to address disorders such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, epilepsy, and Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. ​Medical Learning Institute Inc (MLI) is an independent, non-profit provider of evidence-based medical education delivered to a national audience. Our mission is to improve the competence and/or performance of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals working in a variety of therapeutic areas. We take a “system” approach to education, and our activities are generally designed for interdisciplinary healthcare teams. Med-IQ is a full-service, accredited medical education company providing exceptional learning experiences for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals. Med-IQ is committed to delivering superior continuing education that will improve your medical knowledge, everyday performance, and, ultimately, the health of your patients. MedPageToday is a trusted and reliable source for clinical and policy coverage that directly affects the lives and practices of health care professionals. Physicians and other healthcare professionals may also receive Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits at no cost for participating in MedPage Today hosted educational activities. Medscape Education targets and engages members across 33 healthcare specialties, and combines proprietary technology, instructional expertise, and measureable impact to accelerate the adoption of scientific advances into practice. Medscape Education continually innovates to better address clinician needs in order to improve the care and outcomes of patients. Medscape, LLC is ACCME-, ANCC-, and ACPE-accredited, and a leading online provider of continuing professional education. The National Association for Continuing Education (NACE) offers continuing education opportunities to provide learners in the fields of medicine, behavioral health, education, and related disciplines, with the most up-to-date, science-based information that will enable them to increase their knowledge, competence, and professional performance to ultimately benefit their patients' health. The North American Center for Continuing Medical Education (NACCME) is committed to developing and disseminating CME activities to provide an educational forum through which healthcare practitioners may examine current medical issues, therapies, and technologies. The content of NACCME-sponsored CME activities is designed to bridge the gap between current and best healthcare practices and to improve healthcare quality by strengthening practitioner awareness of evidence-based patient care advances in a broad range of therapeutic areas. ​At Otsuka, our people are passionate about developing and delivering original products as part of a global holistic commitment to better health and well-being. We have two core businesses dedicated to achieving our goals: a pharmaceutical business and a nutraceutical business. The pharmaceutical business develops and markets products for the diagnosis and treatment of disease in the following areas: central nervous system, oncology, gastroenterology, ophthalmology and cardiovascular. The nutraceutical business is dedicated to maintaining and improving health through the use of foods and beverages that provide extra health benefits in addition to their basic nutritional value. Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC’s mission is to provide educational initiatives designed to bridge identified professional practice gaps of physicians and other healthcare professionals. Paradigm is a multiple award-winning medical education company that develops innovative medical education activities. We expertly tailor all of our initiatives to fulfill the needs of diverse, sophisticated clinical audiences and diligently monitor ongoing activities to facilitate continuous growth and improvement. Through collaborations with leading academic and non-profit providers, health systems, professional societies, and patient organizations, PVI delivers innovative solutions for measurably improving patient outcomes and clinical competence, performance and quality, through educational interventions that leverage the integration of live, on-demand, and QI approaches, engaging busy professionals when, where, and how they learn best. The Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) delivers effective continuing medical education activities that are designed to contribute to the professional development of physicians, as well as other healthcare professionals, support their lifelong learning process and positively impact the delivery of care. PIM fulfills this mission by forming successful alliances and working in collaboration with carefully vetted education partners to deliver learning experiences that address the educational needs underlying the identified professional practice gaps of their learners. prIME Oncology is a global professional Independent Medical Education organization specializing in educational activities for physicians who treat patients with cancer. With the goal of improving patient outcomes, prIME Oncology provides evidence-based, state-of-the-art educational activities that assist clinicians in making up-to-date, appropriate treatment decisions. prIME Oncology is part of a select group of medical education companies accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. ReachMD is a multi-channel medical broadcaster offering education and information across an all-digital network. Programming is accessible on air, online, on mobile, and in enhanced automobile dashboards and is carried by ReachMD, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, iTunes, and iTunes Internet Radio. ReachMD has produced more than 8,500 medical broadcasts featuring renowned medical hosts and expert medical guests as they discuss topics of critical importance in clinical research, clinical practice, disease management, and patient care strategies. Research To Practice (RTP) is a medical education company based in Miami, Florida specializing in physician and allied health professional education focused exclusively on oncology and hematology. All of RTP’s CME activities help bridge the gap between research and patient care and assist practitioners in clinical decision-making by providing ongoing access to the opinions and perspectives of internationally recognized cancer clinical investigators. Rockpointe is a science-based medical communications company whose clinical specialists, educators, and producers collaborate with national thought leaders to create integrated educational initiatives that are innovative, engaging, and clinically relevant to health care professionals. Working in collaboration with industry thought leaders, professional societies, and government agencies, Rockpointe’s scientists, physicians, editors, managers, and medical education specialists are passionate about designing and delivering programs in which medical science and clinical need converge. Based in Deerfield, Ill., Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA is a subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan. The respective companies currently market oral diabetes, insomnia, rheumatology, and gastroenterology treatments and seek to bring innovative products to patients through a pipeline that includes compounds in development for metabolic and cardiovascular disease, gastroenterology, neurology, and other conditions. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is a leading global pharmaceutical company, committed to increasing access to high-quality healthcare by developing, producing and marketing affordable generic drugs as well as innovative and specialty pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Teva is the world's largest generic drug maker, with a global product portfolio of more than 1,300 molecules and a direct presence in about 60 countries. US HealthConnect, Inc., is dedicated to one mission — providing relevant and practical education for healthcare professionals that improves patient outcomes. Healthcare education is our core expertise, and it is developed and delivered based on our in-depth knowledge of industry guidelines of the FDA, OIG, ACCME, PhRMA, AdvaMed, AMA and more. US HealthConnect’s core services include administrative support, accounting services, information technology, media design, and facilities/operations. Vertex is a global biotechnology company that aims to discover, develop and commercialize innovative new medicines so people with serious diseases can lead better lives. Founded in 1989 in Cambridge, MA, Vertex today has research and development sites and commercial offices around the world in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. In addition to our clinical development programs focused on cystic fibrosis, Vertex has more than a dozen ongoing research programs aimed at other serious and life-threatening diseases. Vindico Medical Education is solely dedicated to delivering the highest quality and immediately relevant educational programs. These activities provide health care professionals with information on clinical advances they need to better treat their patients. Vindico delivers the highest quality and relevant educational programs and activities to physicians and other health care providers, with the ultimate goal of improving patient health.

2019-04-25T08:49:15Z

http://www.cmecoalition.org/members.html

Do you know all the Sustainable Development Goals? World leaders will adopt a set of global goals at the Sustainable Development Summit taking place from 25 to 27 September at the UN Headquarters in New York. Prof Mahdi Majidi, Consultant, World Bank visited Gratia Christian College. PROFESSOR LEE NGOK JP (李鍔教授), aged 80 years,beloved husband of Florence Lee Hung Fung Ping, devoted father of Lee Tsung and Stephanie Lee Wing, passed away peacefully on 1st March, 2019. Vigil will start from 5 pm on Friday, 22 March, 2019 with Vigil Service at 8 pm at Kei Yan Hall, Hong Kong Funeral Home, 679 King’s Road, Hong Kong. Funeral Service will be held at 10 am on Saturday, 23 March, 2019 at the Hong Kong Funeral Home, followed by the Cremation Service at Cape Collinson Crematorium. 140 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. All are welcome. Free tickets are available. UNESCO Hong Kong Association and the School of Aviation, UNSW Australia will carry out 2019 Hong Kong Aviation Management Program from 18th April to 19th April 2019. The program aims to education students about aviation theories and the industry’s operation and management issue. This program is particularly suitable for students who want to develop their career in the aviation industry. All participants will also join the Laboratories Tour organized by the Co-organizer, the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. HKBU and UNESCO HK have developed a SDG-related question bank in collaboration for the gamified learning platforms used in the CCGame Project. This program aims to raise students' awareness of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS). UNESCO Hong Kong Association is organising an Exhibition and Cultural Event at 7 Mallory Street (Green House), Wan Chai on the weekends 12/13 and 19/20 January 2019. We aim to promote traditional Chinese culture and offer a platform for Chinese calligraphy sharing and appreciation while enhancing the quality of life of the community through art and culture. The theme resonates with the historical significance of the renewed building at Mallory Street. During the weekend 12-13 January, we aim to arouse interest in the Mallory Urban Renewal Project and traditional Chinese arts and crafts with particular reference to the Lunar New Year celebration. The local community as well as visitors are provided with an opportunity for the appreciation of Traditional Chinese Arts and Crafts. In the following weekend 19-20 January, we will co-organize with G.O. MARKET, during which a series of traditional Chinese arts and cultural activities crossover with local innovative and eco-friendly arts and designs. We aim to promote a green society as well as an eco-friendly, low-carbon lifestyle. The 6 days 5 nights summer camp provides students with opportunities to experience university life, to expand their horizon and to spend their summer holidays fruitfully. Through Project-based Learning, students can develop their interests and learn the latest information technologies. In addition, through physical training exercises, seminars, talks and touring, students can learn team building, leadership skills and communication skills. Meanwhile, they are introduced critical thinking skills and the latest scientific knowledge for holistic development. UNESCO Hong Kong Association and the School of Aviation, UNSW Australia will carry out 2018 Hong Kong Aviation Management Program from 6th April to 7th April 2018. The program aims to education students about aviation theories and the industry’s operation and management issue. This program is particularly suitable for students who want to develop their career in the aviation industry. Bring the community together to work for peace. The theme is Peace and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to promote peace and the 17 Sustainable Development Global Goals to the public. Through a series of Peace and cultural workshops and activities etc, the Celebration shows the cultural diversity of Hong Kong and convey the message of the importance role of the 17 SDGs to Peace and Sustainable Development. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is an international observance celebrated every year on October 17 throughout the world, aims to arose the world attention and assistance towards world’s disparity between rich and the poor caused by sanctions, and all forms of discrimination and wealth concentration. While also promoting global awareness in eliminating poverty and response to the sustainable development goals, remind everyone of the common goal of reducing poverty. Nowadays, the poverty problem is still rampant around the world and Hong Kong, the poverty population in Hong Kong is around a million, with 1 poor person in every 7. The situation gets more serious when it comes to elderly, there is 1 poor person in every 3. To assist those in needed and promote public awareness towards Hong Kong poverty problem, UNESCO Hong Kong Association, The Hong Kong Church Network for the Poor and Lions Clubs International District 303 are going to co-organize the ¡u10.17¡E­ø­¹³£±o¡vevent on 17th October. There will be rapping, singing performance, dancing and drama performance to explain the present situation of poverty and hunger problem, and to promote public awareness to tackle the problem. The program also aims to care for those who are poor and to get them back to the society. The organizers encourage participants to save their dinner, experience the sufferer of starvation and malnutrition people, and donate the money of their dinner to aid the people in needed. This event is open to public, all of you are welcomed to join us on 17th October. UNESCO Hong Kong Association Limited (“the Association”) is incorporated in Hong Kong as a company limited by guarantee and granted tax exemption under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. There is no affiliated organization under the Association. The Association’s mission is "Promoting sustainable development and international exchanges through education, sciences and culture". We took part in many kinds of activities to promote Peace and Sustainable Development in the past years. Peace includes social peace, political peace, individual peace, cultural peace and ecological peace. We support the concept of establishing a Peace Garden in Hong Kong to promote the awareness of Peace in our community. The siting, planning and operating for such a Peace Garden must comply with the sustainable development strategy adopted by United Nations through the 17 Sustainable Development Goals including those on the concern and protection of our environment. We believe that development and conservation can go hand-in-hand. Peace Garden will contribute its Peace and build peace in the minds of men and women. We have learnt that the Peace Garden activity to be held in Pak Lap, Sai Kung on 21 September 2017 will be postponed. The Association did not and will not participate in the siting and planning of this Peace Garden. 2017 Run for Peace was successfully held on September 10. Chairman of the UNESCO HK Peace Project Advisory Board, Dr Rafael Aharoni BBS, pointed out that 2017 Run for Peace is UNESCO HK's first Marathon event, which had attracted more that 800 participants. The theme of the event was "co-create a better world", in response to the mission of UNESCO of building peace. In addition to the Marathon, different types of activities such as "Calligraphy for Pecae", and "Plant for Peace" were held in the location allowing contestants and other participants to join our Action for Peace. UNESCO HK presented Run for Peace 2017 with title sponsor Evergrande Spring, and organised by My Miracle. Run for Peace 2017 is in support of UNESCO's vision of "Building Peace in the Minds of Men and Women". Join "Run for Peace" at the UNESCO Global Geopark, Sai Kung, to co-create a better world through actions for Peace. As one of the exhibitors in this year's international travel expo, UNESCO HK Association would adhere to its mission and goal to promote sustainable tourism in the event. The organization will introduce geo-tourism and cultural tourism in recognition of 2017 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development as proclaimed by the United Nation. Please visit us at the exhibition hall to obtain more details. We are looking forward to seeing you at the travel expo! This year's ESD Learning Programme was closed on March 18 in the Hong Kong Science Park. After a series of workshops, field trips, reports and presentation, it was the last celebration of everybody's effort. We were honoured to invite Chair Professor, Faculty of Education of The University of Hong Kong, Professor Mark Bray as our officiating guest and Secretary-General of Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, Mr. Ronnie M. C. Wong, JP, Mr. Pang Chung, SBS and Hong Kong Athletes Career and Education Programme, Miss Vivian Lee, as our honourable guests. The ESD Learning Programme Presentation and Assessment Day was held successfully on Mar 4 (Saturday). The four themes are Built Environment and Placemaking, Sustainable Environment, Sustainable Tourism and Mental & Behavioural Health. Each team use their own ways, including small plays, and videos, to report their studies and projects. UNESCO Hong Kong Association presents on Feb 18 at the Hong Kong Science Park, the 5th Peacemakers' Cultural Celebration. The theme this year is Peace and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to promote peace and the 17 Global Goals to the public. Through a series of Peace workshops, cultural shows, game booth, etc, the Celebration shows the cultural diversity of Hong Kong and convey the message of the importance role of the 17 SDGs to Peace and Sustainable Development. UNESCO Hong Kong Association will present, in conjunction with HK.WeCARE and Rotary District 3450, the 5th Peacemakers' Cultural Celebration on 18 Feb 2017 (2.18) at the Hong Kong Science Park. This event is dedicated to the 20th Anniversary of the HKSAR. "Actions for Peace" is a major emphasis for the day including "Calligraphy for Peace", "Plant for Peace", and "Paint for Peace". These activities contribute to UNESCO's "Building peace in the minds of men & women". People participate in 2.18 activities, get to know about the 17 SDGs, value peace and harmony, as well as strengthen their sensitivity to sustainable development. Peacemakers' Cultural Celebration is the official Community-organised Events for the Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR. The Kick-off Ceremony of the ESD Learning Programme was successfully held on 8 Oct, 2016 at Hong Kong Science Park. This year's ESD Learning Programme has now formally started. We are delighted to have Prof. Richard Ho, JP, and Mr YING Yu Hing, M. H. as our Guests of Honour. We also have last year's respective winning teams from the Chinese Foundation Secondary School and St. Bonaventure Catholic Primary School to share their experience of the Programme. Every year the UN International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September This year, the theme is "Sustainble Development Goals as Building Blocks for Peace". Schools are invited to organize school based activities between 21-30 September, 2016. They may include pledge for peace at school assembly, and other activities in the context of PEACE. The name of your school shall appear on the UNESCO HK website. Please support our Peace effort! The United Nations recently published The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016. The report analyses selected indicators from the global indicator framework for which data are available as examples to highlight some critical gaps and challenges. Which is an essential step in establishing where we are now, charting a way forward and bringing our collective vision closer to reality. - To understand the value of life through preparing and implementing a project to "make the world more beautiful". - To promote self-understanding and connect students and the community. Registration for 2016-2017 Leadership Training Programme in Life Education has started! Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Learning Programme is to foster students’ working habits and knowledge in order to enhance future sustainable practice in the community and enhance the communication and problem-solving skills of youth. Registration for 2016-2017 Education for Sustainable Development Learning Programme has started! UNESCO HK Association was invited to participate in the 2016 International Cooperation Summit of Chinese Vocational Education 2016. Our Vice President gave a speech on the theme of vocational education and precise poverty alleviation. In this summit the Association hopes to utilise the UN Sustainable Development Goals to introduce the relationship between vocational education, poverty alleviation and sustainable development, as well as promote the ideals of UNESCO. In mid-August UNESCO HK Association visited the Shenzhen office of Volmato. Volmato introduced to the Association the organic foods it distributes, including figs and hydroponic vegetables, and also let us taste the food. Moreover, Volmato explained their new cooling technology that uses high voltage electrostatic fields to raise the shelf life of fresh foods; and discussed future cooperation plans with the Association. The Association has had close ties with Volmato, including cooperating at charity sales during last year's and this year's International Travel Expo, promoting quality organic foods. This July, the Association followed Volmato to Heishan Village in Qingyuan to learn about ecologically friendly organic rice farming methods. Please stay tuned to our projects in cooperation with Volmato in the future. Rubio Chan (Director of Eastern Vision) and David Man (Eco-ethical Guru) present in UNESCO HK intern training. UNESCO Association of Hong Kong participated in the study tour hosted by the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong on 29th July and paid a visit at the site of Hong Kong Organic Waste Recycling Centre (HKOWRC) in Sheung Shui. HKOWRC self-developed a variety of waste processing methods in which recycle up to ten tonnes of organic waste each day and convert them into different products. It demonstrates innovative technology and sustainable direction towards the local organic productions. Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) researched and developed innovative technology for food waste processing method, which automatically selects reusable materials in waste and converts them into blends of biodiesel, methane (fuel) and environmental fish food. This method requires less manpower comparing to the previous used method and can recycle the reusable materials through a more efficient and effective way, providing a higher reciprocation for waste recycling. UNESCO Association of Hong Kong attended the opening ceremony of “Shine Tak Foundation Youth Develop Programme - 2016 Beijing and Xian Space Exploration Study Tour”, which is coordinated by Hong Kong Shine Tak Foundation and Hong Kong Association for the Advancements of Science and Technology, on 16 July. Guests who attended this celebration included Nicolas Yang, Secretary of Innovation and Technology Bureau and Professor Alexander Wai, Vice president of Polytechnic University. 120 local secondary students joining the study tour will visit national astronomical facilities in Beijing and Xian to arouse interest and enhancing students knowledge of spacecraft and technological innovation. International Youth Conference of Caretakers of the Environment (CEI) is a global youth activity that includes lectures, workshops, field trips, projects and intercultural dialogues and networking party, etc to promote the idea of “Care for the environment, protect the Earth, Sustain Development”. It efficiently enriches youth the knowledge of environmental, social and cultural innovation. This year, the conference was held from 27th June to 2nd July in Aalborg, Denmark, with Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong as sponsor. This year, students from the Chinese Foundation Secondary School represented Hong Kong to participate in this meaningful event. As one of the exhibitors in this year's international travel expo, UNESCO HK Association would adhere to its mission and goal to promote sustainable tourism in the event. The organization will introduce geo-tourism and cultural tourism in furtherance of peace and sustainable development in Hong Kong and around the world under the theme “Colourful Journeys to the World”. Please visit us at the exhibition hall to obtain more details. We are looking forward to seeing you at the travel expo! Worlddidac Asia 2016 is for education professionals in Hong Kong, China and ASEAN, featuring world class education resources and a forum for transnational collaboration. Pre-register at www.worlddidacasia.com on or before 6 June 2016 to receive a free admission badge. - Parsons “Love and Peace Music Marathon" Are you eager to advocate environmental protection? Do you enjoy playing digital game competition? Would you want to have a challenge on your strategic thought? Based-Learning Association, JCI Hong Kong and JCI Dragon. and international exchanges through education, sciences and culture". will be given to the selected volunteers before each event.

2019-04-22T22:22:43Z

http://www.unesco.hk/index.php?charset=eng

Partial aerial view of Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Little Rock, Arkansas, where the 298th General Hospital was activated. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, and the war was about to expand further in Europe, Dr. Albert Furstenberg, Dean of the Medical School , University of Michigan, Ann Harbor, Michigan, from 1935 to 1959, began formulating plans for a General Hospital to serve his country. By mid-1940, the Medical School had become the nucleus and official sponsor of the Army’s new 298th General Hospital and plans to start training a medical staff were put in motion. The unit was called for duty soon after the treacherous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941, and the all-volunteer force of Doctors and Nurses organized at the University of Michigan would be readied to serve overseas. The 298th Gen was in fact an amalgam of two other units, one of which came from the University of Michigan and consisted of medical and nursing personnel from the University, where it had been started in 1940 as indicated above. However, as it consisted only of University Doctors and Nurses, it lacked the “general” skills such as cooks, clerks, orderlies or any of the many other “specialties” required to run a Hospital Plant efficiently. Consequently, when the need came, the staff were sent to Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Little Rock, Arkansas, where another General Hospital was stationed. This was the 214th General Hospital (already activated June 1, 1941 –ed) which consisted mainly of all the personnel lacking in the 298th, but had virtually neither MC Officers nor ANC Officers of its own. In fact it consisted of only 4 Officers and approximately 300 Enlisted Men. The Michigan people arrived at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, on June 27, and the combined Hospital took over their number. Signpost indicating the 298th General Hospital. The 298th General Hospital was officially activated on June 27, 1942, at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Little Rock, Arkansas (Infantry Replacement Training Center; overall acreage 42,124; troop capacity 2,596 Officers and 44,077 Enlisted Men –ed). (each Company numbered 270 personnel, total capacity was 13,500 trainees, and training cycle covered 8 weeks in total; in 1944, the Branch Immaterial Replacement Training Center (BIRTC) was replaced by an Infantry Replacement Training Center, whereby the existing MRTC units were converted to Infantry training units, increasing the training capacity to 21,000 men –ed). The organization would spent 3 years overseas operating Hospital Plants in England, France, and Belgium, before returning to the Zone of Interior on September 23, 1945. After being officially ordered to active duty, Lt. Colonel Walter G. Maddock, MC, an associate Professor of Surgery commanded an initial cadre of 28 Physicians, while Captain Margaret K. Schaefer, ANC, was charged with organizing a complement of 120 Registered Nurses. Some aspects of training while the 298th General Hospital was stationed at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Zone of Interior. Left: Ready for Litter Drill. Center: How to perform a Leg Splint. Right: How to treat and bandage a Head Wound. Staging and preparation for overseas movement started October 14, with the unit entraining for Camp Kilmer, Stelton, New Jersey (Staging Area for New York Port of Embarkation; overall acreage 1,815; troop capacity 2,074 Officers and 35,386 Enlisted Men –ed). Following due processing and briefing, the Hospital sailed from the New Jersey docks on the S/S “Mariposa” on October 20, 1942, with destination the United Kingdom. The crossing proved uneventful, except for lack of luxury and primarily space considering the way the Enlisted Men were bunked four-deep in the ship. Officers and Nurses were more lucky as they were housed in separate cabins. Vintage photo illustrating the S/S Mariposa Transport which carried the 298th General Hospital overseas to the United Kingdom. In the early years of the Second World War, Bristol was expecting many casualties to result from the Blitz. So an Emergency Medical Services Hospital (E.M.S. –ed) was built, with 16 wards, on the site of the Frenchay Children’s Sanatorium. But the Blitz was not as severe as expected, so the Hospital facility remained largely empty. When the Americans joined in the war after Pearl Harbor, and the general build-up of US Forces began in the United Kingdom, the British Government and the Bristol authorities offered the use of the Hospital to the Americans in anticipation of the Invasion of continental Europe. The United States Army accepted the Hospital, but considered it too small, so a further 15 wards were built. Extension works by a local contractor were soon under way and included the building of: 12 General Wards, 1 Isolation Ward, 3 Officers’ Wards, 1 Officers’ Dining Room and Recreation Area, 2 Stores, 1 Mental Ward, 1 Patients’ Recreation Ward, 1 Twin Operating Theater, 1 Water Tower, 1 Cook House, 1 Fire Station, 1 Guard House, 1 Gas Defence Stores, 1 Post Exchange, 1 Dental Clinic, 1 Operating Wing Boiler House, 1 Chapel, 1 ENT Clinic, 1 Nurses’ Mess, 1 Office and Quartermaster’s Building, 3 VD Wards, 1 Boiler House, 1 Sick-call Clinic, 1 Enlisted Mens’ Dining Room and Recreation Area, 1 Pumping Station, 1 Officers’ Wash Area, 6 Junior Officers’ Living Quarters, 5 Sergeants’ Living Huts, 1 Sergeants’ Club Room, 1 Sergeants’ Ablutions Hut, 3 Enlisted Mens’ Latrines, 3 Enlisted Mens’ Bath Areas, 3 Enlisted Mens’ Ablutions Huts, 34 Enlisted Mens’ Living Quarters, and 8 Air Raid Shelters. Vintage photo illustrating a group of Medical Officers pertaining to the 298th General Hospital. Photo probably taken during the unit’s stay at Frenchay Park, near Bristol, England. (after the war, the Frenchay Hospital facilities were handed back to Bristol by the Americans in an official ceremony which took place on August 17, 1945). Following debarkation at Bristol Port, the group of men and women were taken to the village of Frenchay, outside the city of Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, where they took over a partially built hospital intended for use by US Armed Forces, in view of their massive build-up in the UK. Operation “Bolero” was the commonly used reference for the code name of the United States military troop build-up in the United Kingdom during World War II in preparation for the initial cross-Channel Invasion of France. Vintage photo illustrating a group of Army Nurse Corps Officers of the 298th General Hospital while the unit was operating in the United Kingdom. The 298th General Hospital (the first of the more permanent large medical units which arrived in the United Kingdom –ed), which began to function November 11, 1942, at Frenchay Park near Bristol, was the third General Hospital to be established in England. Because it was located close to a major port on the west coast (in the Western Base Section –ed), it gained valuable experience with battle casualties before D-Day, which proved of great benefit in its later work in France and Belgium. Starting in the spring of 1943, the patients first received were evacuated from North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. During 1943 while operating Hospital Plant # 4166, the 298th Gen Hosp received 573 battle casualties, of which three out of four injured servicemen were patients suffering complicated fractures of knees, elbows, and ankles, in short chiefly fractures of the extremities requiring long-term treatment. About 80% of these patients were British, it being the policy of the British to send to the 298th General Hospital the most seriously ill patients from each Hospital Ship, because the proximity of the hospital installation to the port eliminated the necessity of a long trip by train or ambulance. Shortly after the arrival of the 298th General Hospital, local women of the nearby village were encouraged to train as volunteers to help in the Hospital. The British Red Cross recruited and identified these volunteers and a training program was set up in which a number of Medical Department Doctors and Nurses and the American Red Cross participated. Thirteen (13) women received their qualifying certificates in May 1943 and another further 24 in July 1943, enabling them to work in various parts of the Hospital, including the Library and Handicraft Section. The ladies also coped with flower arrangements and accompanied patients to social functions if necessary. The 298th General Hospital staff assisted by local civilians planned a market garden and planted trees, shrubs, flowers and grass around buildings and also improved paths and roadways. US Army medical units handled casualties of both nations (Britain/United States) at the Bristol Channel ports. Between 17 December 1942 and 8 April 1943, Company C, 53d Medical Battalion, operating under the supervision of the Bristol Port Surgeon, discharged 7 Hospital Ships arriving from North Africa at Avonmouth, moving over 2,100 casualties, among which 660 Americans, to the nearby 298th General Hospital. Vintage photo illustrating some Enlisted personnel of the 298th General Hospital, at Frenchay Park, England. These patients required considerable attention and the exercise of keen surgical judgment. They had been wounded on an average of 6 to 8 weeks before their reception. Many had not received wound debridement within the optimum time, and, as might be expected, the incidence of wound infection and osteomyelitis was significantly higher than in battle casualties later treated on the Continent. Since Penicillin was not yet available, all the patients received sulfonamide therapy. The plan of treatment, because of the time lag, was chiefly to carry on with the closed plaster technique until the wound and the fracture had healed. Every endeavor was made to improve the general health of the patient during this time. Drainage operations were performed as indicated, and the position of the bone fragments was improved whenever that was possible. It was the opinion of the Hospital staff at this time that the closed plaster technique was of great value in the management of war wounds and fractures and that Plaster-of-Paris casts served adequately for transportation. After the pressure of the North African campaigns had subsided, a new task lay ahead involving planning medical support of the American build-up in the British Isles. This involved calculating the numbers of hospital beds required in accordance with the increases in troop strength, and determining the location of Medical Department installations to suit changes in troop density in the various locations. Arrangements were furthermore made for MC Officers stationed in ETOUSA to attend courses in the various medical specialties taught at British institutions, such as the Royal Army Schools for Doctors and Dentists at Aldershot, Hampshire, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, as well as at British Army Hospitals. Two (2) Schools were established within the Army’s American School Center, Shrivenham, Berkshire, in February 1943. The first was The Medical Field School emphasizing CWS courses, hygiene, sanitation, combat medicine, surgery, and the other The Army Nurse School training Nurses in all aspects of their work. Special courses for Officers and Enlisted Men were provided (in various specialties) at selected General and Station Hospitals. Apart from the training issues, a heavy task was to obtain in crowded Britain sufficient buildings to accommodate incoming US Army fixed Hospital units and to provide sufficient beds for military patients once the Invasion of the Continent began. The British Government turned over to the Army Medical Department (Reverse Lend-Lease –ed) a number of Hospital Plants constructed for the Emergency Medical Service, and large-scale construction was undertaken to meet the requirements for 90,000 hospital beds called for under the “Bolero” Plan. Thanks to the concentrated efforts and the assistance of the British Ministry of Works and Planning, British civilian contractors, the Royal Engineers and the RAMC, including the US Army Corps of Engineers, 58 fixed US Army Hospitals were operating in the British Isles by end of 1943 ( in total; 3 Evacuation, 4 Field, 17 General, and 34 Station Hospitals –ed). Some general views of the 298th General Hospital while set up at Frenchay Park, near Bristol, England. Left: Partial view of the wards at Frenchay Hospital. Center: Partial inside view of wards at Frenchay Hospital. Right: Arrival of a group of walking wounded evacuated from the Continent, at Frenchay Hospital. The non-military experience of the 298th General Hospital can be taken as typical of that of most of the General Hospitals serving in the United Kingdom before D-Day. Before the Invasion of the Continent, June 6, 1944, like most other Hospitals in Great Britain, the organization was performing station-type hospital duty, which included servicing the numerous troops in training. During the period ending in May 1944, the Orthopedic Section of the Hospital treated approximately 2,300 patients with civilian-type orthopedic conditions, chiefly fractures, dislocations and sprains, arthritis, bursitis, cicatrices, osteochondritis, osteomyelitis, poliomyelitis, synovitis, an occasional amputation, and some cases of frank psychoneurosis. This type of work was sufficient to keep the Orthopedic Services of all the Hospitals busy. Aside from accidental injuries, chiefly from automobiles and other mechanical equipment, most of the orthopedic material consisted of patients with disability of the feet, back, and knees. The majority of these complaints originated from among soldiers who were over age and who suffered conditions that rendered them unfit for actual combat duty. The difficulties of these troops were for the most part problems in re-assignment rather than actual medical or surgical problems. Line Officers hesitated, and often refused outright, to reclassify them, with the result that the Outpatient Departments of most Hospitals had large clinics filled with soldiers who were seeking downgrading. These men really needed little treatment, though they occupied a great deal of professional personnel and time. They were referred to the clinic simply because all combat units were endeavoring to streamline their personnel and to obtain as physically perfect combat teams as possible. All combat units were finally directed to follow Circular No. 96, July 15, 1943, issued by Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, Paragraph 2, which emphasized the necessity of trying to find places of limited duty with individual units before men with so-called civilian-type disabilities were admitted to Hospitals for possible re-assignment. All the Hospitals in England were cluttered with such cases, and many unwise elective operations were conducted in an endeavor to place essentially unfit men on full-duty status. This proved an impossible task. Apart from the above-described situation, the patient load itself was not so heavy, and both staff and personnel found time to enjoy bicycle trips, baseball games, Liberty passes, and the presence of British girlfriends. The highlight of British-American socializing was a visit by Queen Mary. In the meantime however, medical units developed their training schedules under supervision and inspection of the Base Section Surgeons, of the SOS and of Field Army and Army Corps Surgeons of the Ground Forces. Each unit was invited to send its quota of men to the various Schools in England. General and Station Hospitals held field exercises to practice receiving and caring of “simulated” casualties. Staffs and Commanding Officers of General Hospitals were awaiting early orders to move to France after D-Day and continued practicing tent pitching and striking and devoted time to improve physical condition with cross-country marches. Officers and EM of the 298th, by the time of the Normandy Invasion, were in good enough shape to cover 12 miles of hilly terrain, with full combat packs, in 3½ hours, while Nurses would go 7 miles in 2½ hours, wearing combat clothing, helmets, and gas masks. Vintage photo illustrating a group of Enlisted Men of the 298th General Hospital and some of the British civilians working at Frenchay Hospital. On May 10, 1944, the 298th Gen stood down from operations in Great Britain. When the personnel listened to radio reports of the recent Normandy Invasion, the men were disappointed and had to wait for another number of weeks before receiving alert orders! By May 16, orders were confirmed, with the 298th Gen Hosp now being gradually moved to its final staging area prior to crossing the Channel to France (this also included the 5th General Hospital –ed). According to plans, the FIRST General Hospital, the 298th, was to land in France by D+15 (June 21, 1944 –ed) and set up for operation in Cherbourg, in the Cotentin Peninsula. Finally, new orders came to move up to Colwyn Bay, North Wales, for more training, including chemical warfare and anti-gas procedures. It was already May 1944. The 298th General Hospital left Frenchay and a selected group of staff and personnel were sent for a few weeks to North Wales for fitness and other special training, after which they spent 2-3 weeks at Brockley Combe Transit Camp, south of Bristol, prior to embarkation to Normandy in July 1944. Frenchay Park was eventually taken over for a short time (May 1944 to August 1944) by the 100th General Hospital, which then left for the Continent in August 1944 and was set up in a Normandy cow pasture for the next seven weeks. The organization was to stay at Frenchay Park until May 16, 1944. During that period the Hospital was visited by quite a number US and British Army Officers. Bob Hope performed at the Hospital during one of his USO tours in the United Kingdom. After the 298th’s departure Frenchay Hospital continued to serve as a general training center for newly-arrived US medical units, and a great deal of attention was paid to training programs as well as to inter-Allied cooperation and goodwill. US Army Medical Officers attended professional and scientific meetings with their British and Commonwealth colleagues in Bristol, Bath, Oxford and London during this period (for those interested, Frenchay Hospital was officially handed over to the British Authorities during an official ceremony dated August 17, 1945 –ed). The unit personnel finally embarked at Plymouth on July 15, 1944 and waded ashore on Utah Beach the next day, once more separated from its equipment assembly (this had happened before also when shuttling between Wales and England). The unit would only receive the missing equipment assembly July 22 after landing on the Continent. Partial aerial view of the 298th General Hospital installations in France. Mid-July 1944, the 298th crossed the English Channel, landing at Utah Beach, Normandy, France, where it would treat Allied casualties throughout the summer. The organization was assigned to occupy the Cherbourg Naval Hospital that the 12th Field Hospital was rehabilitating. The Hospital first moved into billets and houses in Cherbourg on July 17 and eventually prepared to relieve the 12th Fld Hosp while continuing cleaning and refurbishing the premises with US Engineers beginning extensive modifications and repairs needed to fit the old plant for a 1,000-bed General Hospital.. The 298th General Hospital finally opened for receiving patients July 29, 1944 amid noise and debris as the renovation and repairs would continue until October. In the meantime the unit, besides caring for patients in temporary medical facilities, kept busy with a host of minor but necessary repairs and tried to make do with always unreliable water and power supplies. Acute non-combat incurred injuries of the bones, joints, and soft issues. These cases were numerous, as many thousands of troops were working/serving at the port. Minor battle incurred wounds. Many lightly wounded battle casualties were treated, with the objective to return them directly, or as quickly as possible, to duty. Serious battle-incurred injuries. Patients with this type of injury were treated in large numbers before their evacuation to England. Other war-connected injuries. Many patients were received who had been wounded by mines or booby-traps left in place by the Germans or in the course of handling and dismantling captured German ammunition and supplies. Photos taken during the different construction phases of the 298th General Hospital, at Alleur, near Liège, Belgium. Top Left: Concrete blocks (floors) and wooden board sidings are being erected. Top Right: Prisoner of War labor details at work during the early construction phase of the Hospital. Bottom Left: Concrete floors ready for construction and surgery buildings in the background. Bottom Right: Overall view of the 298th General Hospital’s tented camp in the distance. End of October 1944, the Hospital moved by train and motor convoy to a field outside the city of Liège, Belgium, a place called Alleur, only about 30 miles from the German border, where it would operate Hospital Plant # 4340. Although the city was in Allied hands, and well-protected, it would suffer tremendous damage from the German V-bombs. From October 1944 some Belgian cities came under heavy attack from V-1 flying bombs, the main targets being the port of Antwerp and the supply center of Liège. Over 6,500 V-1s were fired at Antwerp and approximately 3,000 against the city of Liège. Furthermore Antwerp received 1,350 V-2 rocket attacks, while Liège suffered 98 such attacks. Consequently it was inevitable that some Hospital units, situated in and around Liège suffered casualties and plant damage from enemy V-weapons, long-range artillery fire, and conventional bombing. From November 20, 1944 through May 1945, the 298th General Hospital was stationed at Liége, in Belgium. Here the majority of patients admitted had battle-connected wounds and injuries. Most of them were received within one to three days of primary debridement done in Evacuation or Field Hospitals. Particularly in December 1944 and January 1945, a number of lightly and moderately wounded patients were admitted because forward Hospitals had been too heavily loaded with more serious cases to receive them. The patients required debridement as well as later, more definitive surgery. Over the same period, a number of casualties were also received who had been wounded in the immediate vicinity from aerial and buzz bombs (V-1 type) attacks (between December 21, 1944 and January 20, 1945, 1,724 V-1 buzz bombs were launched against Liège, and 1,569 hit Antwerp). V-1 flying bombs exploded around the Hospital site while the staff was watching a performance of “La Traviata”. Some other Hospitals stationed in and around the city of Liège were hit, suffering destruction and human life. On some days the bombs came in fitfully, on other days almost every 15 minutes, and it was impossible to judge where they would suddenly come down. Liège had been targeted by the enemy because it was one of the largest Army supply centers on the Continent. A kind of triangle formed between Liège – Verviers – and Spa contained a number of important supply installations built up through fall with the aim to support the Allied advance toward the Rhine River. Then, following the outbreak of the German counter-offensive in the Belgian Ardennes, many casualties were brought in for urgent treatment, with the Hospital staff working continuously through the buzz bombs. Fortunately, the 298th was never hit and none of its members were killed. Maimed soldiers and civilians alike streamed into the facilities for treatment. At one time it was envisaged to move the unit if necessary, but the orders never came. A total of 6,448 Belgian civilians and 882 Allied servicemen would lose their lives during the V-1/V-2 campaign against Belgium, mainly involving the cities of Antwerp, Brussels, and Liège. While trying to cope with the crisis brought about by the unexpected German counter-offensive in the Bulge, hasty instructions were given for evacuation of Hospitals in danger of being overrun and Colonel Charles H. Beasly (ADSEC Surgeon –ed) made plans for the complete withdrawal of personnel and equipment. Fortunately, neither had to be implemented because of the stout defense put up by First United States Army troops. Some disorder followed, with Hospitals being temporarily displaced, broken up, re-attached, or re-assigned but generally speaking all other ComZ medical units remained in place, and continued operating. The 818th Hospital Center, controlling the Hospitals established in Liège (and only operational for a few days) began re-organizing for quick triage, rapid stabilizing surgery, and mass evacuation of patients. Some views illustrating the enormous destructions caused by the flying bombs, V-1 and V-2. Left: 1944, destruction caused by V-1 flying bombs in Antwerp, Belgium. Center: 1945, destruction caused by a V-2 rocket in London, England. Photo illustrating a special monument in Liège, Belgium, dedicated to the 298th General Hospital, unveiled on 21 September 2012 during an official ceremony. The 298th General Hospital spent 36 months overseas (mainly in the European Theater), training in the continental United States, traversing the Atlantic to cross over to the United Kingdom, and serving with pride in France and Belgium until fall of 1945. The unit was finally inactivated at Camp Kilmer, Stelton, New Jersey, October 5, 1945. September 21, 2012, a special Plaque was inaugurated and dedicated to the heroic personnel of the 298th General Hospital who provided outstanding medical services while operating at Alleur (Liège), Belgium. The MRC Staff are still looking for additional data covering the last stages of the 298th General Hospital’s operations in the European Theater as well as a complete Personnel Roster. All inputs very much appreciated. This page was printed from the WW2 US Medical Research Centre on 26th April 2019 at 02:47.

2019-04-26T02:47:36Z

https://www.med-dept.com/unit-histories/298th-general-hospital/

Nowadays, new organisational strategies should be indentified to improve primary care and its link with secondary care in terms of efficacy and timeliness of interventions thus preventing unnecessary hospital accesses and costs saving for the health system. The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of the use of teleconsultation by general practitioners in rural areas. General practitioners were provided with a teleconsultation service from 2006 to 2008 to obtain a second opinion for cardiac, dermatological and diabetic problems. Access, acceptance, organisational impact, effectiveness and economics data were collected. Clinical and access data were systematically entered in a database while acceptance and organisational data were evaluated through ad hoc questionnaires. There were 957 teleconsultation contacts which resulted in access to health care services for 812 symptomatic patients living in 30 rural communities. Through the teleconsultation service, 48 general practitioners improved the appropriateness of primary care and the integration with secondary care. In fact, the level of concordance between intentions and consultations for cardiac problems was equal to 9%, in 86% of the cases the service entailed a saving of resources and in 5% of the cases, it improved the timeliness. 95% of the GPs considered the overall quality positively. For a future routine use of this service, trust in specialists, duration and workload of teleconsultations and reimbursement should be taken into account. Managerial and policy implications emerged mainly related to the support to GPs in the provision of high quality primary care and decision-making processes in promoting similar services. National Health Systems (NHSs) are currently facing the challenge of providing better quality health care (HC) and, at the same time, containing costs. Primary care has a relevant role in the current health services scenario. General Practitioners (GPs) - more commonly referred to as Family Medicine in the US, Canada and some European countries - are responsible for the primary evaluation of patients' health status, in particular for the initial steps needed to provide care for any health problem and to supply access to preventive tests and secondary care . GPs contribute to the appropriateness of care, defined as the outcome of a decision-making process that should maximise individual health benefits in view of the available resources , with special reference to the growing burden of the elderly and chronically-ill patients . Primary care is crucial in the frame of containing costs , providing more efficacious actions thus preventing unnecessary hospital accesses, improving timeliness of care and reducing waiting lists . GPs have to ensure the best possible access for those patients needing care also providing appropriate care for those who live in remote rural areas and who might have logistic barriers to access secondary care , such as distances, transportation costs and a consequent lack of timeliness of care . In fact, accessibility to health care systems (HCS) is a major problem in rural areas , with consequent higher disease and mortality rate , which, in turn, can also cause rural to urban migration . Nowadays, new organisational strategies should be indentified to improve primary care and its link with secondary care in terms of efficacy and timeliness of interventions . Telemedicine (TM), defined as the use of electronic information communication technologies (ICT) to support HC at distance , represents an outstanding solution for improving access in remote areas, currently well accepted by both health professionals and citizens . The most helpful application of TM in primary care is the possibility to provide specialist consultation, usually known as teleconsultation, to the GPs [17, 18]. Teleconsultation for GPs has been demonstrated to be feasible [19–21] and effective [22–25], to potentially reduce costs [26–28], to provide organisational benefits [29, 30] and to improve patients' satisfaction . However, there are few data about the comprehensive assessment of teleconsultation services that might includes different aspects and provide complete information about their impact. The aim of the current study is the evaluation of the use of teleconsultation service for GPs in rural areas through a comprehensive assessment which includes: access to HCS, acceptance, organisational impact and utility, effectiveness, and economics of the service. The protocol was notified to the Ethics Committee of Local Health Authority of Valle Camonica on 15 May 2007. A previous communication about Teleconsultation Second Opinion was also notified to the Ethics Regional Committee of Lombardy on 8 July 2004 within the SUMMA project . All patients signed an informed consent. The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. cardiology emergency involving the use of TM in ambulances. Focusing on the teleconsultation for GPs, those working in small communities in the Lombardy Region, Italy, were invited to participate to the TELEMACO Project and to use teleconsultations from specialists in cardiology, dermatology, diabetology and pneumology. However, not all the GPs who initially decided to participate in this TELEMACO Project actually used the teleconsultation service. Therefore, the GPs were divided into users and non-users. The protocol for accessing teleconsultations by GPs was organised as follows. When a patient presented unclear health problems at the GPs' clinic or at home, GPs could ask for a teleconsultation and supply a hospital specialist with the patient's health records and inform the specialist about the observed physical signs and reported symptoms. Teleconsultation then occurred by telephone between GPs and the patient, in the clinic, and the specialist in the hospital. GPs were also invited to use biomedical devices for specific teleconsultations. In particular, for cardiac problems, GPs were equipped with a portable device for ECG recording and remote transmission using an analogic telephone line. For dermatological problems, two digital images (one close to the lesion and another one for overview) had to be performed with a digital camera and were then transmitted by email. The teleconsultation provision was supported by an external Service Centre (SC) as described elsewhere . Briefly, SC operators receive the GP's request, store the transmitted data on a dedicated database, connect the GP to a specialist on call and record the results of the teleconsultation. (i) Access. The main dimension used to measure access in TM is its actual utilisation, as suggested by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and confirmed by other reviews . Therefore, access has been firstly measured through the number of GPs and patients who effectively used and benefited from TMS in the districts involved in the project. Additionally, in HC, access can include a set of specific dimensions (availability, accessibility, accommodation, affordability and acceptability) describing the fit between the patient and the system [42, 43]. In particular, geographic accessibility has been measured through the number of inhabitants of the small communities where GPs receive their patients. Additionally, distances and travel times between those communities and the nearest HC provider where patients could receive visits or examinations, hospitalisations or admissions to EDs have been computed. The hypothesis of this optimistic scenario is that patients would actually access the nearest structures. (ii) Acceptance has been evaluated in details by administering exclusively the users GP a questionnaire at the end of the project. The questionnaire was structured in 10 questions which examined the overall quality of the service, the contact with SC, the clinical website, the quality of consultations, the accuracy of suggestions, the equipment for data transmission, the duration of teleconsultations, the adherence to suggestions, the impact on solving clinical problems and the training utility. Each question had a 5-point Likert scale, where 1 and 5 represent the lowest and the highest levels of satisfaction, respectively. (iii) Organisational impact has been evaluated by another questionnaire administered to both users and non-users GPs at the end of the project. The first question was aimed at comprehending the perceived usefulness of TMS in relation to the three specialties under consideration (useful or useless). In order to evaluate possible difference among specialties, GPs were also asked to explain, through open questions, why teleconsultations were considered either useful or useless. GPs were also asked to score three main benefits of TMS (timeliness of care, patient's transportation saving, resource saving) and four items related to possible improvement (relationship and trust in the specialist, duration of teleconsultation, teleconsultation support staff, reimbursement for GPs), considered necessary for a larger diffusion of the TMS through a 5-point Likert scale, where 1 and 5 represent the lowest and the highest scores, respectively. (iv) Effectiveness. In the current study, effectiveness has been evaluated in terms of appropriateness of the service for the management of patients, through the correspondence between the action the GP would have chosen without the teleconsultation and the actual decision taken after specialist's suggestions . The protocol anticipated that after the conclusion of each teleconsultation, GPs were asked to answer the two following questions: (i) Which action would you have taken without the TMS? (ii) Which action have you taken after receiving the teleconsultation? Since the GP is responsible for prescribing hospital visits and diagnostic examinations, data related to preventive tests and specialist visits are accurate. Conversely, admissions to EDs and hospitalisations have not been validated through a follow-up. (v) Economics considered both the HCS and the patient's perspectives. From the HCS's perspective, the analysis has been specifically focused on direct costs and savings related to in-hospital visits, diagnostic examinations and teleconsultations. The cost for teleconsultations is €18.16 and includes all the direct costs of the service. The economic value of a visit is €34.12 and includes the cost for a first visit and the cost for the ECG. Costs of diagnostic examinations were selected according to the type of requests. Economic analysis on admissions to EDs and hospitalisations was not possible since detailed information was not systematically collected through a follow-up. From the patient's perspective, saving has been related to the direct costs of travels. Indirect costs have not been collected. Table 1 shows the types of teleconsultations conducted in small rural communities in mountain valleys of Lombardy between March 2006 and April 2008. There were 957 teleconsultations on a total of 812 patients: 927 of these were requested by GPs for cardiac problems, 18 and 12 for dermatology and diabetology specialties, respectively. Teleconsultations for pulmonary problems were not used by any GP. The mean duration of a teleconsultation differed according to the type of clinical problem: cardiac teleconsultation was the shortest (mean 5.4 ± 3.7 min) while dermatological and diabetic teleconsultations required 9.5 ± 3.7 and 9.2 ± 4.4 min, respectively. TELEMACO Project initially involved 94 GPs who were interested in the use of TMS. At the end of the 2-year implementation period, 48 GPs who practice in small mountain communities in the Lombardy Region, accessed teleconsultations with a use rate of 52%. The mean number of teleconsultations per user GP was 19.9. As published in a previous paper , tendency to form associations and attitude to utilise ICT were reported by GPs who used the service. Conversely, no statistically significant difference between users and non-users GPs was evidenced in terms of number of patients, post-graduate study and areas. In addition, 24 out of the 48 GPs who used TMS had already acquired knowledge on the system by participating to previous projects: this experience probably led to a better and larger use of TMS. As far as the patients are concerned, 812 patients (407 male and 405 female) who presented cardiac, dermatological and diabetic problems benefited from TMS. The mean age of the population was 61.6 ± 19.4 years, significantly higher in females (66.9 ± 18.0 years) if compared with males (56.4 ± 19.4 years). Due to the possibility of using the service more than once during the study period, each patient made on average of 1.6 teleconsultations with the GP's clinic and this highlights the need for continuity of care in chronically ill patients. Finally, teleconsultations took place in 30 small rural communities, with an average population of 3,723 inhabitants. The average distance between the communities and the nearest HC provider, either a local outpatient clinic or a hospital, where patients could receive visits and examinations, was 7.5 ± 6.2 km, corresponding to 12.2 ± 8.2 min of one-way travel. Additionally, the average distance between the communities and the nearest hospital with an ED was 12.5 ± 9.3 km, corresponding to 17.6 ± 10.2 min of one-way travel. Since this optimistic scenario is based on the hypothesis of access to the nearest clinics and does not take into account common unexpected events (e.g. traffic), real distances and travel times are underestimated. 41 (85%) out of the 48 users GPs completed the acceptance questionnaire administered at the end of the project (Table 2). Most of the GPs were very satisfied by the specialist consultations (Q1), and this, in turn, reflects a high perception of the quality offered by TMS (far beyond their initial expectations) without any negative answer. The connection with SC (Q2) was completely satisfactory for all the GPs justifying future involvement in the frame of teleconsultations. SC also offered a clinical website where data about teleconsultations were collected and which was well accepted by users GPs (Q3). SC also provided the equipment necessary for remote data transmission for the different specialties and satisfaction about this item resulted to be slightly higher (Q4). The quality of specialists' suggestions about clinical problems was considered good (Q5). However, some GPs did not consider the service essential, due to the traditional practice of directly prescribing an in-clinic visit or a hospital admission. In addition, the clarity of suggestions, a key element for the correct functioning of the service, resulted to be satisfactory or, more frequently, even very satisfactory (Q6), reflecting the GPs' high level of trust in the specialists. Moreover, the perception concerning the duration of teleconsultations reflects that the time required for TMS use was always adequate (Q7) in respect to the duration of a traditional in-clinic visit and the long waiting lists. Finally, the last three items synthesise the impact of teleconsultations on the GPs' activity. The agreement between specialists and GPs (Q8) was very high, and there were no cases in which GPs took any action different from the suggestion of the specialist, thus reflecting the remarkable decisional utility of the TMS. The teleconsultations effectively succeeded in solving most of patients' clinical problems (Q9), with a consequent high level of clinical utility and effectiveness of the service. A similar level of satisfaction was observed for the training utility (Q10) of the GPs, with a consequent improvement in knowledge concerning cardiology, dermatology and diabetology topics with a positive impact for future management of similar problems. 94 GPs initially decided to participate. At the end of the project, all of them were asked to fill-in the questionnaire which was designed to obtain detailed information on organisational issues concerning the teleconsultation service, regardless of whether they belonged to the user or non-user categories. 60 GPs (64%) completed the questionnaire. As shown in Table 3, cardiology is perceived to be much more useful for clinical practice than dermatology or diabetology. GPs considered all specialties of useful benefits (ease of use, timeliness and accuracy of the service, reduction of waiting lists, transportation and costs). However, dermatological and diabetic teleconsultations had more barriers due to the preference of a face-to-face visit at the specialist's clinic. Table 4 shows the organisational benefits which were higher for cardiology than for the other specialties, which, anyhow, registered satisfactory results. The main benefit was a cut in patients' transportation, with a consequent improvement in quality of life and cost-savings, even from the caregiver's perspective. Furthermore, GPs succeeded in improving the patient's timeliness of care through the provision of teleconsultations and, at the same time, in reducing the need for secondary care, hospitalisations and admission to EDs. Finally, all the four items related to possible improvement in supporting the diffusion of the TMS have been perceived as important for the future application of the teleconsultation service, with the first item receiving the highest score. Relationship and trust in the specialists represent key elements directly depending on well-known skills and expertise. Time is another remarkable issue: besides the fast cardiac teleconsultations, the duration of the other specialist consultations could be improved in order to limit the burden of the GP's activities. As an alternative, the introduction of additional staff, such as nurses or assistants, could improve the service. Finally, a reimbursement for the activity conducted by GPs could contribute to improve the teleconsultations use, in order to involve also non-user GPs, and to increase the number of remotely managed problems. In fact, a reimbursement was anticipated only for the specialists who provided teleconsultation. Table 5 details the type of the 927 cardiac teleconsultations. In the majority of the teleconsultations (844 - 91%), the specialist modified the GP's decision. A saving of NHS resources and a consequent improvement in efficiency could be recorded in 797 cases (86%) while in 47 cases (5%) there was an improvement in timeliness. In the most common situation (613 out of the 927 requests), GPs usually would have prescribed a visit to the patient. However, after teleconsultation, only 7 appointments were actually required in order to better evaluate the patients' conditions through a face-to-face visit. The majority of these specialist consultations implied a lower need of hospital resources. In 397 cases, no actions were indicated, with a consequent relevant cost saving. On the contrary, six patients effectively needed hospitalisation and 22 patients were in such critical conditions requiring urgent admission to EDs. Due to the majority of TMS use in cardiology, the analysis on the economics dimension is specifically related to this field. From the HCS's perspective, Table 2 shows how the 927 cardiac teleconsultations allowed avoiding 600 cardiac visits (only 13 visits were actually performed out of the 613 requested by GPs) and 122 admissions to EDs. Conversely, the teleconsultation resulted in additional 58 diagnostic examinations and six hospitalisations. The economic analysis specifically focuses on direct costs and savings related to in-clinic visits, diagnostic examinations and teleconsultations. From the one hand, the amount of costs is €16,834.32 for the use of teleconsultations and €5,445.81 for the additional diagnostic examinations. From the other hand, the amount of direct savings for in-clinic visits is €20,472.00. Therefore, the cost for 927 cardiac teleconsultations was €1,808.13 in addition to the traditional practice performed without the TMS, resulting in a considerable economic balance which should not anyway be considered the main objective of the whole project: once the rationalisation of resources is reached, more remarkable benefits will come from the improvement of the appropriateness of patients' care and the management of clinical problems. From the patient perspective, the 927 teleconsultations requested for 812 patients at the GPs' clinic in the rural communities resulted in a direct savings equal to €3,700.56. In particular, €1,000.06 and €2,700.50 were saved for avoided travelling for admissions to EDs and hospitalisations and for in-clinic visits and diagnostic examinations, respectively. The current study was performed to assess the process of TM-provided teleconsultation service for GPs. The improvement of the appropriateness of care - as also underlined by the GPs' acceptance with a clear integration between primary and secondary care - constitutes the managerial and practical relevance of TMS. In fact, the use of teleconsultations succeeded in modifying the behaviour of the GPs , who are often reluctant to adopt ICT in their practice [47, 48], leading to different types of collaborative work with a consequent improvement in the quality of care with respect to the GP's responsibility. Teleconsultation has proved to be effective in cardiology, with a remarkable increase in the appropriateness of primary care and integration with secondary care, in keeping with previous studies [22, 23, 25]. The level of concordance between intentions and consultations for cardiac problems was equal to 9%, in 86% of the cases the service entailed a saving of resources, and in 5% of the cases the timeliness of care improved. The economic analysis, which included direct costs and savings related to in-clinic visits, diagnostic examinations and cardiac teleconsultations, showed a substantial economic balance. However, since savings related to admissions to EDs and hospitalisations have not been included, the real economic benefits can be considered to be higher. The relevance of TM application is mainly linked to its possible widespread use that, in our study, improved the access to HC for 812 patients living in 30 small rural communities . However, Italy is a country where a teleconsultation service is mainly supplementary rather than specifically alternative. Benefits deriving from geographical access could be higher in countries characterised by a greater physical distance between primary and secondary care. Some barriers also derive from the actual organisational of the general practice. For future use of the service in routine clinical practice in regional and NHS care settings, issues concerning trust in the specialist, duration and workload of teleconsultations have to be taken into account. This study has also relevant social and politic implications. The positive results reached after a 2-year implementation period confirm the feasibility of new HCS which support primary care and improve equal access to HCS . These services are meant as TM-based networks which involve governments, HC providers, GPs and also private SCs in a multidisciplinary and cooperative context. Since this study was conducted in small rural communities in Italy, the study design and consequent results could firstly support decision makers in similar countries or geographic settings where a teleconsultation service is mainly supplementary rather than specifically alternative. Additionally, benefits to geographical access could be higher in countries characterised by a greater distance between primary and secondary care in order to support the problems which affect rural areas , to contrast rural to urban migration or more simply to acquire evidence-based knowledge. The main limitation of this study is the focus on the teleconsultations rather than on the patients' continuity of care concerning the collection of health-related data. In fact, patients' follow-up could help the comprehension of the effectiveness of the service not only in terms of a better efficiency but also in terms of clinical outcomes. Another limitation is related to the economics dimension. In fact, costs and savings related to admissions to EDs and hospitalisations were not included since detailed information was not systematically collected through a follow-up. The current study has shown how a teleconsultation service through TM can help GPs in the management of their patients and provide high quality primary care in order to specifically solve cardiac problems. Further research should be conducted on the impact of teleconsultations as a common health service: the evidences shown in an experimental setting should be evaluated on a daily basis in order to define the possible daily application of the service. The authors would like to thank the Lombardy Region - Health Care Directorate, Italy, the Chief Medical Officers of the local HC authorities (Dr Romana Coccaglio and Dr Valter Valsecchi in particular) and all the GPs involved in the TELEMACO Project in the districts of Vallecamonica, Valsassina, Oltrepo' Pavese, Alta Valseriana and Val di Scalve, Medio and Alto Lario. CM and PZ performed data analysis and assessment of the teleconsultation service. SS and PB contributed to the collection and elaboration of data and to the literature review. CT and GB contributed to define the objectives of the manuscript and authorised data divulgation. All the authors revised and approved the last version of the manuscript.

2019-04-26T06:38:04Z

https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6963-9-238

Steam reforming of methanol (CH3OH + H2O --> CO2 + 3H(2)) was studied over a commercial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst for production of hydrogen onboard proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell vehicles. A simple power-law rate expression was fitted to experimental data in order to predict the rates Of CO2 and H-2 formation under various reaction conditions. The apparent activation energy (E-a) was estimated to be 100.9 kJ mol(-1), in good agreement with values reported in the literature. Appreciable amounts of CO by-product were formed in the reforming process at low contact times and high methanol conversions. Being a catalyst poison that deactivates the electrocatalyst at the fuel cell anode at concentrations exceeding a few ppm, special attention was paid to the pathways for CO formation and strategies for its suppression. It was found that increasing the steam-methanol ratio effectively decreases CO formation. Likewise, addition of oxygen or air to the steam-methanol mixture minimises the production of CO. By shortening the contact time and lowering the maximum temperature in the reactor, CO production can be further decreased by suppressing the reverse water-gas shift reaction. Production of H-2 from methanol by steam reforming, partial oxidation, or a combination thereof was studied over Cu/ZnO-based catalysts. The catalysts were characterized by a variety of techniques, including N2O chemisorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and temperature-programmed reduction/oxidation. The influence of feed composition, reaction temperature, and catalyst formulation on H-2 production rate, product distribution, and catalyst lifetime was investigated. Distinct differences between the processes were observed with respect to catalyst behavior. ZrO2-containing catalysts, especially Cu/ZnO/ZrO2/Al2O3, exhibit the best performance in the steam reforming reaction. During partial oxidation, however, a binary Cu/ZnO catalyst exhibits the lowest light-off temperature and the lowest level of CO by-product. The redox properties of the catalyst appear to play a key role in determining the pathway for H-2 production. In particular. the extent of methanol and/or H-2 combustion at differential O-2 conversion is strongly dependent on the ease of copper oxidation in the catalyst. The activity for conversion of methanol into hydrogen was investigated over binary Cu/ZnO catalysts derived from precursors prepared by two different techniques, viz. oxalates formed in microemulsion and hydroxycarbonates formed in aqueous solution. Some distinct differences in the reaction pathways were observed. During partial oxidation of methanol under a sub-stoichiometric oxygen/methanol ratio, the microemulsion materials exhibited considerably higher combustion activity in the low-temperature region than a catalyst prepared in aqueous solution. Over the former, oxygen was quickly converted by methanol combustion, after which steam reforming was initiated, producing hydrogen at the expense of water and gradually decreasing the net heat of reaction. Hence, a reaction sequence for the partial oxidation reaction over microemulsion catalysts is proposed. consisting of consecutive methanol combustion and steam reforming, followed by decomposition when all oxygen has been consumed. Over the hydroxycarbonate catalyst, the reaction ignited at a higher temperature, directly producing hydrogen by partial oxidation of methanol. When the two types of catalysts were evaluated in the steam reforming reaction, all catalysts displayed the typical S-shaped dependence of methanol conversion on temperature. However, there was a downward shift in the temperature at which methanol reached complete conversion, favouring the hydroxycarbonate, material. Hydrogen was produced selectively over all catalysts, but carbon monoxide formation was more pronounced over the microemulsion materials. The differences in catalytic behaviour are discussed in terms of catalyst morphology and the valence state of Cu in the working catalyst. Mixed copper-zinc oxide catalysts (Cu/ZnO) were prepared by two different techniques, i.e. from hydroxycarbonate precursors formed in aqueous solution and from oxalate precursors formed in water-in-oil microemulsion. Their physicochemical properties were characterised by nitrogen adsorption-desorption, N2O chemisorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) and oxidation (TPO). The BET surface areas ranged from 34 to 87 m(2)/g, depending on the method of preparation. Cu surface areas between 6.6 and 22 m(2)/g were measured. It was a general observation that catalysts prepared by microemulsion technique had lower Cu dispersions than expected (3.4-5.7%), due to a proposed partial embedding of Cu in ZnO. The catalyst prepared by carbonate co-precipitation exhibited a significantly higher Cu dispersion (10.3%). In addition, this catalyst displayed better resistance to successive TPR/TPO than the microemulsion catalysts, which exhibited significant Cu crystallite growth. However, the microemulsion route provided well-mixed materials with a narrow particle size distribution and the possibility to obtain high BET surface areas (up to 87 m(2)/g) by controlling the water/surfactant ratio in the microemulsion. XPS measurements revealed the existence of Cu+ species on the surface of both types of catalysts after exposure to a O-2/CH3OH mixture. The surface composition of the hydroxycarbonate-derived sample was unaffected by reduction in hydrogen and exposure to O-2/CH3OH, while Zn-enrichment on the surface was observed in the microemulsion catalysts after reduction, indicating sintering of the Cu particles. These observations were consistent with the TPR/TPO measurements. Selective production of hydrogen by partial oxidation of methanol, using air as oxidant, was studied over a series of ZnO-supported Pd catalysts. Microemulsion-assisted synthesis and conventional impregnation techniques were used for preparation of catalysts containing Pd particles of different sizes. Catalyst characterisation included BET, XRD and TEM analyses. The influence of Pd particle size on catalytic activity and product distribution was studied by carrying out activity measurements at temperatures between 230 and 300 degreesC using a stoichiometric feed composition. All catalysts performed well with respect to methanol conversion and hydrogen yield. Both methanol conversion and hydrogen selectivity increased with increasing reaction temperature, the latter at the expense of water formation. Oxygen conversion was complete throughout the examined temperature range. These selectivity trends, with a strong dependence of hydrogen and carbon monoxide selectivities on methanol conversion and reaction temperature, support a reaction scheme consisting of consecutive methanol combustion, steam reforming and decomposition. More importantly, a correlation between Pd particle size and carbon monoxide selectivity was found. When the microemulsion catalysts are compared, carbon monoxide formation increases with increasing particle size. This was not observed over the impregnated reference catalysts, which exhibited high carbon monoxide-levels throughout the examined temperature range. Bimetallic PdZn particles were detected in spent catalysts by means of XRD and it is suggested that the catalytic activity is dependent on the formation of PdZn, the catalytic function being different from that of Pd-0. Production of hydrogen by partial oxidation of methanol, using air as oxidant. has been studied over a series of Cu/ZnO catalysts prepared by microemulsion technique. The catalytic activity was compared to that of a reference catalyst prepared by conventional co-precipitation. The BET surface areas of the microemulsion catalysts (30-70 wt.% Cu) ranged from 22 to 36 m(2)/g and were considerably lower than that of the reference (60 m(2)/g). Nevertheless, the microemulsion catalysts were more active in the partial oxidation reaction and exhibited high hydrogen and carbon dioxide selectivities. At a molar O-2/CH3OH ratio of 0.1, hydrogen production was initiated at about 185 degreesC over the microemulsion catalysts. Over the reference, hydrogen production began at 215 degreesC under the same conditions. The catalytic activity was Found to be strongly dependent on the partial pressure of oxygen, which also plays an important role in determining the product distribution. By increasing the O-2/CH3OH ratio, the methanol conversion and carbon dioxide selectivity increase. while production of water occurs at the expense of hydrogen. By TEM and TPR, it was observed that Cu is less well-dispersed in the microemulsion catalysts than in the reference. The higher catalytic activity is not expected considering the lower number of exposed Cu sites, i.e, the turnover frequencies are substantially higher over the microemulsion catalysts. It is possible that, a strong interaction between a small part of CuO and the ZnO lattice is responsible for the higher turnover frequencies of the microemulsion catalysts, or that particular crystallographic Cu planes or surface imperfections are the active sites of the reaction. Vehicles powered by proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuelcells are approaching commercialisation. Being inherently cleanand efficient sources of power, fuel cells constitute asustainable alternative to internal combustion engines to meetfuture low-emission legislation. The PEM fuel cell may befuelled directly by hydrogen, but other alternatives appearmore attractive at present, due to problems related to theproduction, transportation and handling of hydrogen. Fuelling with an alcohol fuel, such as methanol, which isoxidised directly at the anode, offers certain advantages.However, the efficiency of the direct-methanol fuel cell (DMFC)is still significantly lower than that of the conventionalhydrogen-fuelled PEM fuel cell, due to some technical problemsremaining unsolved. Hence, indirect fuelling by a reformedliquid fuel may be the most feasible option in the early stagesof the introduction of fuel cell vehicles. The work presented in this thesis concerns the developmentof catalysts for production of hydrogen from methanol bypartial oxidation, steam reforming or a combination thereof.The work contributes to the understanding of how thepreparation route affects catalyst morphology and howphysicochemical properties determine catalytic behaviour andreaction pathways. The thesis is a summary of seven papers published inscientific periodicals. The first paper (Paper I) reviews thecurrent status of catalytic hydrogen generation from methanol,focusing on the fuel cell application. Paper II investigatesthe partial oxidation of methanol over Cu/ZnO catalystsprepared in microemulsion and by a conventionalco-precipitation technique. The activity for methanolconversion in the low-temperature regime is found to besignificantly higher over the former materials and the workcontinues by determining the nature of possible Cu-ZnOinteractions in the catalysts by studying their physicochemicalproperties more thoroughly (Paper III). In Paper IV, thepathways for methanol conversion via both partial oxidation andsteam reforming are elucidated. In Paper V, partial oxidation of methanol is studied overPd/ZnO catalysts prepared by microemulsion technique and againcompared to conventional materials. This investigationdemonstrates that although possessing high methanol conversionactivity, palladium-based catalysts are not suitable forreforming in fuel cell applications due to the considerableamounts of carbon monoxide formed. In Paper VI, methanol reforming is investigated over acommercial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst. The mechanisms for carbonmonoxide formation and strategies for its suppression arediscussed, as well as reactor design aspects. The study alsoincludes some simple kinetic modelling. Finally, Paper VIIdescribes the optimisation of catalyst composition and processconditions to reach high hydrogen production efficiency at lowoperating temperatures and with minimum carbon monoxideformation. Paracetamol is crystallized in different solvents and techniques are developed and used to characterize the product. The product particles from three different solvent compositions: ethylene glycol, acetone and an acetone-water mixture (30-70 wt.%) have been examined. Product properties visually observed are quantified by image analysis and evaluation of measured image descriptors with Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The agglomerate strength has been determined by crushing single agglomerates. Depending on the solvent, the content of single crystals and agglomerates differ. Agglomerates differ by the number and size of crystals grown together, as well as by the strength. Numerical simulations have been done with the CHEMKINsoftware to study different aspects of wall effects in thecombustion of lean, laminar and premixed flames in anaxisymmetric boundary-layer flow. The importance of the chemical wall effects compared to thethermal wall effects caused by the development of the thermaland velocity boundary layer has been investigated in thereaction zone by using different wall boundary conditions, walltemperatures and fuel/air ratios. Surface mechanisms include acatalytic surface (Platinum), a surface that promotesrecombination of active intermediates and a completely inertwall with no species and reactions as the simplest possibleboundary condition. When hydrogen is the model fuel, the analysis of the resultsshow that for atmospheric pressure and a wall temperature of600 K, the surface chemistry gives significant wall effects atthe richer combustion case (f=0.5), while the thermal andvelocity boundary layer gives rather small effects. For theleaner combustion case (f=0.1) the thermal and velocityboundary layer gives more significant wall effects, whilesurface chemistry gives less significant wall effects comparedto the other case. For methane as model fuel, the thermal and velocity boundarylayer gives significant wall effects at the lower walltemperature (600 K), while surface chemistry gives rather smalleffects. The wall can then be modelled as chemically inert forthe lean mixtures used (f=0.2 and 0.4). For the higher walltemperature (1200 K) the surface chemistry gives significantwall effects. For both model fuels, the catalytic wall unexpectedlyretards homogeneous combustion of the fuel more than the wallthat acts like a sink for active intermediates. This is due toproduct inhibition by catalytic combustion. For hydrogen thisoccurs at atmospheric pressure, but for methane only at thehigher wall temperature (1200 K) and the higher pressure (10atm). As expected, the overall wall effects (i.e. a lowerconversion) were more pronounced for the leaner fuel-air ratiosand at the lower wall temperatures. To estimate a possible discrepancy in flame position as aresult of neglecting the axial diffusion in the boundary layerassumption, calculations have been performed with PREMIX, alsoa part of the CHEMKIN software. With PREMIX, where axialdiffusion is considered, steady, laminar, one-dimensionalpremixed flames can be modelled. Results obtained with the sameinitial conditions as in the boundary layer calculations showthat for the richer mixtures at atmospheric pressure the axialdiffusion generally has a strong impact on the flame position,but in the other cases the axial diffusion may beneglected. Increased knowledge into the physics and chemistrycontrolling emissions from flame-surface interactions shouldhelp in the design of combustion engines featuring improvedfuel economy and reduced emissions. The overall aim of this work has been to obtain afundamental understanding of wall-related, premixed combustionusing numerical modeling with detailed chemical kinetics. Thiswork has utilized CHEMKIN®, one of the leading softwarepackages for modeling combustion kinetics. The simple fuels hydrogen and methane as well as the morecomplex fuels propane and gasified biomass have been used inthe model. The main emphasis has been on lean combustion, andthe principal flow field studied is a laminar boundary layerflow in two-dimensional channels. The assumption has been madethat the wall effects may at least in principle be the same forlaminar and turbulent flames. Different flame geometries have been investigated, includingfor example autoignition flames (Papers I and II) and premixedflame fronts propagating toward a wall (Papers III and IV).Analysis of the results has shown that the wall effects arisingdue to the surface chemistry are strongly affected by changesin flame geometry. When a wall material promoting catalyticcombustion (Pt) is used, the homogeneous reactions in theboundary layer are inhibited (Papers I, II and IV). This isexplained by a process whereby water produced by catalyticcombustion increases the rate of the third-body recombinationreaction: H+O2+M ⇔ HO2+M. In addition, the water produced at higherpressures increases the rate of the 2CH3(+M) ⇔ C2H6(+M) reaction, giving rise to increased unburnedhydrocarbon emissions (Paper IV). The thermal coupling between the flame and the wall (theheat transfer and development of the boundary layers) issignificant in lean combustion. This leads to a sloweroxidation rate of the fuel than of the intermediatehydrocarbons (Paper III). Finally in Paper V, a well-known problem in the combustionof gasified biomass has been addressed, being the formation offuel-NOx due to the presence of NH3 in the biogas. A hybridcatalytic gas-turbine combustor has been designed, which cansignificantly reduce fuel-NOx formation. Keywords:wall effects, premixed flames, flamequenching, numerical modeling, CHEMKIN, boundarylayerapproximation, gasified biomass, fuel-NOx, hybrid catalytic combustor. Different aspects of wall effects in the combustion of lean, laminar and stationary hydrogen flames in an axisymmetric boundary-layer flow were studied using numerical simulations with the program CRESLAF. The importance of the chemical wall effects compared to thermal wall effects caused by heat transfer to a cold wall was investigated in the reaction zone by using different combustion systems at atmospheric pressure. Surface mechanisms include a catalytic surface, an inert surface that promotes radical recombinations, and a completely inert wall used as reference was the simplest possible boundary condition. The analysis of the results show that for the richer combustion case ( = 0.5) the surface chemistry gives significant wall effects, while the thermal and velocity boundary layer gives rather small effects. But for the leaner combustion case ( = 0.1) the thermal and velocity boundary layer gives more significant wall effects, while surface chemistry gives less significant wall effects compared to the other case. As expected, the overall wall effects were more pronounced for the leaner combustion case. Wall effects in the combustion of lean methane mixtures have been studied numerically using the CHEMKIN software. To gain a deeper understanding of the flame-wall interaction in lean burn combustion, and in particular the kinetic and thermal effects, we have simulated lean and steady methane/air flames in a boundary layer flow. The gas-phase chemistry is modeled with the GRI mechanism version 1.2. Boundary conditions include an inert wall, a recombination wall and catalytic combustion of methane. Different pressures, wall temperatures and fuel-air ratios are used to address questions such as which part of the wall effects is most important at a given set of conditions. As the results are analyzed it can be seen that the thermal wall effects are more significant at the lower wall temperature (600 K) and the wall can essentially be modeled as chemical inert for the lean mixtures used. At the higher wall temperature (1,200 K), the chemical wall effects become more significant and at the higher pressure (10 atm) the catalytic surface retards homogeneous combustion of methane more than the recombination wall because of product inhibition. This may explain the increased emissions of unburned fuel observed in engine studies, when using catalytic coatings on the cylinder walls. The overall wall effects were more pronounced for the leaner combustion case (phi = 0.2). When the position of the reaction zone obtained from the boundary layer calculations is compared with the results from a one-dimensional premixed flame model, there is a small but significant difference except at the richer combustion case (phi = 0.4) at atmospheric pressure, where the boundary layer model may not predict the flame position for the given initial conditions. The head-on (i.e., stagnation) configuration has generally been used to numerically and experimentally characterize the flame-wall interaction with complex chemistry and multicomponent transport. Other studies have treated the transient case of a flame propagating toward a wall, and combustion in a boundary layer has also been dealt with. In this paper, a two-dimensional stationary model has been used to study the sidewall quenching,of laminar propane/air flames in a boundary-layer flow. This geometry may be described as a flame parallel to the wall that is swept away with a laminar boundary-layer flow while propagating toward and interacting with the wall. The main purpose has been to examine the extent to which the flame can propagate toward the cooled wall for lean flames compared to stoichiometric flames. A detailed kinetic model is used to examine the oxidation of both the fuel and the intermediate hydrocarbons (IHCs). For stoichiometric and near stoichiometric mixtures, the thermal coupling between the flame and the wall is small but significant. However, for very lean flames, the thermal coupling between the flame and the wall is found to be very significant. The intermediate hydrocarbons are the dominant emissions for stoichiometric and near-stoichiometric flames in contrast to the leaner flames in which the fuel becomes more significant. This implies that the IHCs are very important for the overall hydrocarbon emissions from flame quenching; as a result detailed kinetics of complex fuels should be used when determining the unburned hydrocarbon emissions. We have recently modeled combustion of lean methane-air mixtures in a boundary layer flow using the program CRESLAF [2, 3 and 4]. A uniform fuel-air mixture above the auto-ignition temperature was introduced at the inlet edge of the wall, which gave an arrested flame zone, propagating in the upstream direction with a local flame speed that is equal and opposite to the local flow velocity. We compared the interaction of this flame with three model wall materials representing three idealized cases from a chemical point of view, a completely inert wall, a radical recombining wall, and a wall supporting catalytic combustion. Here we report on an analogous study of a flame geometry that may be considered a combination of a one-dimensional flame propagating towards a wall and the combustion of a uniform fuel-air mixture in a boundary layer flow. In contrast to our previous work where we had a uniform inlet flow composition consisting of unburnt gas, here there is only unburnt gas close to the walls while there is burnt gas in the center of the channel. The present study concerns lean pressurized methane flames propagating toward hot isothermal walls where chemistry on the wall is considered important. The main purpose is to compare the results with those obtained in Ref. , which enables us, for the same flow field (boundary layer flow), to compare the effect of flame geometry on the wall effects. We have found and have been able to explain theoretically that such subtle changes of the flame geometry, which would be rather difficult to study experimentally, may have surprisingly significant effects on the combustion process. A reactor concept was studied to reduce the fuel NOx at conditions relevant to catalytic combustion of gasified biomass containing ammonia. A hybrid reactor is modeled with passive and active channels, where only part of the fuel is combusted catalytically in the active channels. The completion of the reactions is carried out in the subsequent homogeneous zone. The air-fuel ratio is found to be the most important parameter for the NOx emission level. When the primary zone is operated fuel-lean, no favorable conditions are established for selective noncatalytic reduction reactions in the homogeneous zone, and the fuel nitrogen is largely oxidized to NO. However, if the air supply to the monolith is staged rich-lean, a 95% reduction in NO is possible. The NO reduction is facilitated by the remaining fuel components, CO and H-2. Increased energy demands and fear of global warming due tothe emission of greenhouse gases call for development of newefficient power generation systems with low or no carbondioxide(CO2) emissions. In this thesis, two different gasturbine power generation systems, which are designed with theseissues in mind, are theoretically investigated and analyzed.Inthe first gas turbine system, the fuel is combusted using ametal oxide as an oxidant instead of oxygen in the air. Thisprocess is known as Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC). CLC isclaimed to decrease combustion exergy destruction and increasethe power generation efficiency. Another advantage is thepossibility to separate CO2without a costly and energy demanding gasseparation process. The system analysis presented includescomputer-based simulations of CLC gas turbine systems withdifferent metal oxides as oxygen carriers and different fuels.An exergy analysis comparing the exergy destruction of the gasturbine system with CLC and conventional combustion is alsopresented. The results show that it is theoretically possibleto increase the power generation efficiency of a simple gasturbine system by introducing CLC. A combined gas/steam turbinecycle system with CLC is, however, estimated to reach a similarefficiency as the conventional combined cycle system. If thebenefit of easy and energy-efficient CO2separation is accounted for, a CLC combined cyclesystem has a potential to be favorable compared to a combinedcycle system with CO2separation. In the second investigation, a solid, CO2-neutral biomass fuel is used in a small-scaleexternally fired gas turbine system for cogeneration of powerand district heating. Both open and closed gas turbines withdifferent working fluids are simulated and analyzed regardingthermodynamic performance, equipment size, and economics. Theresults show that it is possible to reach high power generationefficiency and total (power-and-heat) efficiency with thesuggested system. The economic analysis reveals that the costof electricity from theEFGT plant is competitive with the moreconventional alternatives for biomass based cogeneration in thesame size range (<10 MWe). This licentiate thesis addressesphosphorus release from sewage sludge, which is the first stepin phosphorus recovery. The concept ofphosphorus recovery maybe seen as a part of sustainable sludge handling in that it isa means of recycling resources without supplying harmfulsubstances to humans or the environment. Independent of whichdirection the future development in the water and wastewatersector turns, phosphorus recovery as a part of the wholewastewater system is presumably to be included. In order to obtain moreinformation about different ways of phosphorus release fromsewage sludge experiments have been carried out. The results ofthe experiments on phosphorus release using acid and base arepresented. Fractionation of sludge is an important step torelease different components from the sludge, includingphosphorus. With the addition of acid, a large fraction of theinorganic material can be dissolved, and thereby also sludgebound phosphorus compounds. In particular, fractionation byusing acid treatment on digested sludge releases a considerableamount of phosphorus. The method of phosphorus removalin a conventional wastewater treatment plant has an impact onthe chemicals required for phosphorus recovery. A comparison oftechnology for the phosphorus recovery systems is highlydependent on the composition of the sludge, which is the rawmaterial for recovery of phosphorus, and different localconditions. The results of the performedexperiments concerning chemical demand for phosphorus releaseare compared with calculations based on a study of chemicaldemand of different technology systems for phosphorus recoveryat present operational conditions at Henriksdal wastewatertreatment plant. Overall, experiment and theory seem to be ingood agreement. Thermal technology and addition of acid torelease phosphorus lead to high chemical demand. The essentialfactor is the incoming iron content of the sludge, as given asthe quotient iron/phosphorus. Another possible method torelease phosphorus may be to use supercritical water oxidation,followed by phosphorus recovery. Studies of the Aqua Reciprocess, which uses this principle, have recently begun and theprocess is under development. Experiments have been performedto give information about recovery of phosphorus from sewagesludge, with application to digested sludge from biologicaltreatment and chemical precipitation with iron. Experimentsperformed on sludge residue from supercritical water oxidationare presented in this thesis. The results show that phosphatewas leached out more easily with acid (hydrochloric acid) atroom temperature than with base (sodium hydroxide), howeverheavy metals show slightly higher leaching percentage with acidthan with base at room temperature. Also, the leachingexperiment showed that the phosphate is leached out before theiron, in both cases. The iron content seems to be leached outto a somewhat greater degree with acid than with base. This maydisturb the further process to obtain a valuable purephosphorus product. The results also indicate that phosphorusis more easily leached out with acid from the sludge residuefrom supercritical water oxidation than from ash viaco-incineration with sewage sludge and household wastes.Supercritical water oxidation followed by phosphorus recoverymay be seen as an option to incineration of sludge andphosphorus recovery from ash. Life cycle technology assessment provides a conceptual structure for different ecological, economic and social impact assessment (SIA) tools for acting together in determining the importance, size, or value of ecological, economic and social impacts of technology - doing and making things with materials and energy. In compatibly incorporating SIA with Material /Substance Flow Analysis, Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing, different views of SIA are studied. An important difference between this exercise and conventional SIAs is that in the former case, there is no official plan or intention of implementing the technology in a specific time and place. This poses operational difficulty due to the poor knowledge about the community that will be affected by the technology in question. Besides, compatibility with LCA adds complexity associated with a requirement for the SIA to account for a number of communities associated with each portion of the life cycle. Thorough analysis of the opportunities and challenges involved led to the use of zooming analogy. Based on this analogy, in the absence of knowledge of detailed spatial and temporal coordinates of a specific community that will be affected by the technology, a reasonable level of zooming out is done. This enables identification and characterization of the most important social impact variables for the given technology in the zoomed out area ( e.g. say a country or region of a country). As an illustration, one variable from each of five categories of SIA variables will be used to characterize the social impacts of energy technologies in small municipalities in Sweden. These categories are population impacts; community and institutional arrangements; communities in transition; individual and family impacts; and community infrastructure needs. The knowledge from damage-based weighting of environmental impact categories using concepts such as Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) will be tested in characterizing the variables. As a result of their unique heat recovery properties,Humidified Gas Turbine (HGT) cycles have the potential todeliver resource-effective energy to society. The EvaporativeGas Turbine (EvGT) Consortium in Sweden has been studying thesetypes of cycles for nearly a decade, but now stands at acrossroads, with commercial demonstration remaining. Thisthesis binds together several key elements for the developmentof humidified gas turbines: water recovery and air and waterquality in the cycle, cycle selection for near-term, mid-sizedpower generation, and identifying a feasible niche market fordemonstration and market penetration. Moreover, possiblesocio-technical hinders for humidified gas turbine developmentare examined. Through modelling saltcontaminant flows in the cycle andverifying the results in the pilot plant, it was found thathumidification tower operation need not endanger the hot gaspath. Moreover, sufficient condensate can be condensed to meetfeed water demands. Air filters were found to be essential tolower the base level of contaminant in the cycle. This protectsboth the air and water stream components. By capturing airparticles of a similar size to the air filters, the humidifieractually lowers air stream salt levels. Measures to minimisedroplet entrainment were successful (50 mg droplets/kg air) andmodels predict a 1% blow down from the water circuit issufficient. The condensate is very clean, with less than 1 mg/lalkali salts and easily deionised. Based on a core engine parameter analysis for three HGTcycle configurations and a subsequent economic study, asteam-cooled steam injected cycle complemented with part-flowhumidification is recommended for the mid-size power market.This cycle was found to be particularly efficient at highpressures and turbine inlet temperatures, conditions eased bysteam cooling and even intercooling. The recommended HGT cyclegives specific investment costs 30- 35% lower than the combinedcycles and cost of electricity levels were 10-18% lower.Full-flow intercooled EvGT cycles give high performances, butseem to be penalised by the recuperator costs, while stillbeing cheaper than the CC. District heating is suggested as asuitable niche market to commercially demonstrate the HGTcycle. Here, the advantages of HGT are especially pronounceddue their very high total efficiencies. Feasibility prices forelectricity were up to 35% lower than competing combinedcycles. HGT cycles were also found to effectively include wasteheat sources. Keywords:gas turbines, evaporative gas turbines,humidification, power generation, combined heat and powergeneration. Evaporative gas turbine cycles (EvGT) are advanced gas turbine cycles which utilise an air-water mixture as the working fluid in the turbine expander. The EvGT cycles studied in this article are further characterised by their use of humidification towers to introduce water vapour to the compressed working fluid. This article examines the thermodynamic potential of intercooled EvGT cycles, with the focus on working pressures over 50 bar and part-flow configurations. Along with known evaporative cycles, a new configuration is introduced and studied: the so-called high-pressure part-flow EvGT cycle (HP-PEvGT). The study found that all intercooled evaporative gas turbine cycles have efficiency optimums at pressures well over 40 bar for relevant firing temperatures, with the pressure optimum defined by internal cycle dynamics. The novel part-flow configuration and self-recuperative humidification circuit of the HP-PEvGT allow this cycle to reach higher pressures and efficiencies than conventional evaporative cycle configurations. Boilers should be utilised where the gas turbine exhaust temperatures are high to enable the humidification tower to operate more effectively. While a triple pressure combined cycle was found to be more efficient than evaporative cycles at current gas turbine operating pressures (20-40 bar), the HP-PEvGT cycle has a significantly higher efficiency potential, Furthermore, much higher power densities are found for evaporative cycles, especially when they are simulated at high pressure. Despite the technical challenges of high-pressure evaporative cycles, the gains in efficiency and power density plus the more compact heat recovery system may make such a development worthwhile. Electrochemical production of polysulfide-containing white liquor and pure sodium hydroxide solution was investigated at 90 degrees C in a laboratory scale flow cell. A mixed iridium-tantalum oxide coated titanium electrode was used as the anode and the two electrolyte compartments were separated by a cation-exchange membrane. The process was demonstrated at current densities up to 5 kA m(-2), resulting in high current efficiencies for both products. The previously reported autocatalytic effect of polysulfide ions was confirmed, and its technical implications on the use of three-dimensional electrodes were demonstrated and discussed. The current efficiency was found to depend strongly on the degree of conversion of sulfur(-II) to sulfur(0). The anode material showed favourable properties, with respect to activity and selectivity, but suffered from limited durability. Electrochemical oxidation of white liquor in a membrane cell is a process of great potential for the pulp and paper industry. The process produces polysulfide-containing white liquor in the anode chamber, and pure sodium hydroxide solution in the cathode chamber. The anode reaction has been investigated using cyclic voltammetry at temperatures between 25 and 90 degrees C on rotating disc and ring-disc electrodes. It was further investigated using chronoamperometry on rotating disc electrodes at 90 degrees C. The experiments, which were mainly run in dilute alkaline sulfide solutions, using platinum electrodes, show that the electrochemical production of polysulfide ions, at lower anode potentials (-0.1 to +0.1 V vs SCE), proceeds via formation of elemental sulfur on the electrode surface. The sulfur is dissolved by hydrosulfide and polysulfide ions producing (longer-chain) polysulfide ions. The rate of dissolution, and thus the overall reaction rate, increases strongly with temperature. Polysulfide ions have an autocatalytic effect on the anode reaction due to their ability to dissolve adsorbed sulfur. At higher anode potentials (greater than or equal to 0.2 V vs SCE), a change of reaction mechanism is observed. In this region the reaction rate depends on electrode potential and is not catalysed by polysulfide ions. This paper is concerned with new anode materials for the electrochemical oxidation of white liquor. This electrosynthesis process is run in a membrane cell where polysulfide ions are produced in the white liquor of the anode chamber, while a pure sodium hydroxide solution is generated in the cathode chamber: If the noble metal oxide coated anodes that were used in a previous investigation could be successfully replaced by nickel, important reductions in investment costs would be possible. The stability and catalytic activity of nickel as anode material were investigated using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry on rotating disc electrodes, combined with surface analysis. Furthermore, porous nickel was tested in a flow cell, with galvanostatic electrolysis. The results show that nickel has good activity for sulfide oxidation, but a nickel oxide/sulfide surface layer is formed which deactivates the electrode at E greater than or equal to -0.2 V, probably due to the increasing proportion of poorly conducting Ni(II) oxide. Carbon precipitation, and peeling of a thin film of the metal were observed with SEM. High current efficiency and an overpotential of less than 0.2 V were obtained with a porous nickel electrode at a geometric current density of 3 kA m(-2). Corrosion did not appear to be a problem, and nickel should also be suitable as substrate material for more active anode coatings. Shrinkage models have been developed and included in a model for the pyrolysis of large wood particles. Shrinkage is modelled in three different ways: uniform shrinkage, shrinking shell and shrinking cylinders. These models and a reference model without shrinkage are compared with experimental data for mass loss versus time during pyrolysis of birch cylinders at different temperatures. In the experiments a wood particle was introduced into a pyrolysis furnace held at constant temperature. The particle mass and volume were recorded using a balance and a video camera. Uniform shrinkage slows down the pyrolysis whereas shrinking shell and cylinder models enhance the pyrolysis rate. The effect was sufficiently small to be neglected given the uncertainty about some wood physical properties. Catalytic combustion of low heating value fuels is a promising method for electricity production combining the use of a renewable fuel with ultra-low emissions. In the present work, catalytic combustion of a low heating value gas has been studied over monolithic catalysts in an atmospheric 30 kW pilot catalytic combustor connected to a wood pellet gasifier. The results have been compared to similar tests with a model gas mixture and a series of test in a laboratory scale reactor for monolithic samples. Various catalyst configurations have been tested, such as precious metal-based catalyst impregnated on modified alumina washcoats and hexaaluminate washcoats. Cordierite monoliths with various cells per square inch were used as supports, but hexaaluminate extruded monoliths were also used. The catalysts were combined in different segment series. The results show that it is possible to ignite the low heating value gas at compressor outlet temperatures without the use of pre-burners over precious metal catalysts. Generally, trends and phenomena obtained in laboratory reactor operating close to isothermal could be confirmed in the pilot operating at close to adiabatic conditions. Further results, such as deactivation by sulphur compounds, fuel-NOx conversion and emissions of carbon monoxide and total hydrocarbons, are addressed in the paper. The European Commission has set a target of doubling theenergy supply from renewable sources from 6% in 1997 to 12% in2010. An increased usage of biofuels will play an importantrole in meeting this target. The Swedish government is alsoactively supporting a changeover from nuclear power to anincreased use of biofuels but have at the same time set "cleanair" environmental goals that must not be obstructed by theincreased usage of biofuels. To be able to simultaneously meetthese objectives, the development of new and improvedtechnologies for low emission equipment must be continued. Biofuels are today utilised in large-scale combined heat andpower plants as well as in residential heating, especially thelatter is often connected with high levels of harmfulemissions. This thesis describes the utilisation of oxidationcatalysts for the abatement of emissions from residentialboilers, which is one promising technique for the developmentof low emission boilers. The overall aim has been to developthis technique to the stage of commercial manufacture ofcatalytic boilers. The first part of the thesis reviews the use of biofuels inresidential heating with special emphasis on the emissions fromsuch appliances. Some general aspects of applied catalysis arediscussed and previous experience from the use of oxidationcatalysts in wood fired stoves are summarised. The second part of the thesis consists of a summary anddiscussion of the experimental work on oxidation catalysts inwood fired boilers, papersI-VI. Three different boilers were used for theseinvestigations, a traditional over-fired boiler based onnatural draught, a down-draught boiler using forced airsupplyand a modern down-draught boiler equipped with a flue gas fan.In paperIpellet based catalysts were evaluated, papersII-Vfocused on monolithic catalysts and in paperVIthe use of net-based catalysts were evaluated. The conclusion is that the integration of monolithiccatalysts in modern down-draught boilers has a large potentialfor the development of low emission wood fired boilers. It isshown that the emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons,with the exception of methane, is oxidised effectively over thecatalyst. A number of important aspects for optimal integrationof the catalyst in the boiler are demonstrated, as well as theeffect of combining primary measures with oxidation catalysts.The technology is at a stage where field trials are the nextstep for answering the main remaining issue, the lifetime ofthe catalyst. The corrosion layer Formed in the contact between the cathode and the current collector is one factor limiting the cathode performance in molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC). In order to investigate the contribution to the total polarization of the contact resistance, electrochemical experiments were performed in a laboratory-scale fuel cell unit with a specially designed current collector. Two cathode materials, NiO and LiCoO2, were investigated to elucidate the impact of the cathode material on the formed corrosion layer. Polarization measurements as well as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used. The method works well for NiO electrodes. However, due to the poor electronic conductivity in the LiCoO2 electrode, the experimental results become difficult to evaluate due to a nonuniform potential distribution. The contact resistance between the cathode and the current collector contributes with a large value to the total cathode polarization. The corrosion layer in case of the LiCoO2 cathode was iron-rich and has a thickness of about 20 mum after 8 weeks operation of the fuel cell. Ln the case of the NiO cathode, a nickel-rich corrosion layer of about 15 mum was formed after 5 weeks operation of the fuel cell. An isothermal two-dimensional liquid phase model for the conservation of mass, momentum, and species in the anode of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is presented and analyzed. The inherent electrochemistry in the DMFC anode active layer is reduced to boundary conditions via parameter adaption. The model is developed for the case when the geometry aspect ratio is small, and it is shown that, under realistic operating conditions, a reduced model, which nonetheless describes all the essential physics of the full model, can be derived. The significant benefits of this approach are that physical trends become much more apparent than in the full model and that there is considerable reduction in the time required to compute numerical solutions, a fact especially useful for wide-ranging parameter studies. Such a study is then performed in terms of the three nondimensional parameters that emerge from the analysis, and we subsequently interpret our results in terms of the dimensional design and operating parameters. In particular, we highlight their effect on methanol mass transfer in the flow channel and on the current density. The results indicate the relative importance of mass-transfer resistance in both the flow channel and the adjacent porous backing. An isothermal two-phase ternary mixture model that takes into account conservation of momentum, mass, and species in the anode of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is presented and analyzed. The slenderness of the anode allows a considerable reduction of the mathematical formulation, without sacrificing the essential physics. The reduced model is then verified and validated against data obtained from an experimental DMFC outfitted with a transparent end plate. Good agreement is achieved. The effect of mass-transfer resistances in the flow field and porous backing are highlighted. The presence of a gas phase is shown to improve the mass transfer of methanol at higher temperatures (>30 degreesC). It is also found that at a temperature of around 30 degreesC, a one-phase model predicts the same current density distribution as a more sophisticated two-phase model. Analysis of the results from the two-phase model, in combination with the experiments, results in a suggestion for an optimal flow field for the liquid-fed DMFC. Car exhaust catalysts were introduced in the early 1980’s, to limit the release of pollutants such as hydrocarbons, carbon monoxides and nitrogen oxides. These catalysts contain noble metals such as palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt) and rhodium (Rh) and are able to simultaneously abate all three of the above-mentioned pollutants, hence the name three-way catalyst (TWC). The exposure to high temperatures (800-1000 °C) during operation and the presence of additives in petrol such as lead, calcium, silicon, magnesium, manganese, chromium, sulphur and phosphorus will after a certain time start to lower the overall effectiveness of the catalyst. These effects are either of a mechanical or a chemical nature. High temperatures reduce the active area by causing the noble metals to agglomerate and sinter whereas the additives alter the activity by either fouling the pores of the support material (phosphorus) or by interacting with the metals (sulphur and lead). The main objective of this work was to develop a method to redisperse the catalytically active sites, comprising Pd, Pt and Rh on the washcoat surface, in an effort to regain lost catalyst activity. For this purpose, a wide spectrum of different commercial car exhaust catalysts containing varying noble metal loadings, aged under various driving conditions and with mileages ranging from 30 to 100 000 km were evaluated. The influence of a thermal treatment in a controlled gas atmosphere, such as oxygen or hydrogen and a redispersing agent, e.g. chlorine, on the activity of TWC was investigated by means of laboratory-scale activity measurements. Several complementary characterisation methods such as SEM/TEM, XRD, BET and TPR were used to verify the effects of the regeneration treatments on the catalyst morphology (Paper I). Partial regeneration of catalyst activity and noble metal dispersion was achieved after thermal treatment in an oxygen-chlorine rich atmosphere at temperatures below 500 °C. The effect of oxidation, oxy-chlorination and reduction treatments at elevated temperatures on the dispersion of palladium (Pd) and rhodium (Rh) for commercially aged three-way automotive exhaust gas catalysts (TWC) has been investigated. The catalytic activity of treated samples was compared with a reference sample, which was taken from the corresponding aged TWC and tested using a 'mini-cuts' reactor simulating real driving conditions. In the case of oxygen, the improvement of the noble metal dispersion on the catalysts was dependent on the noble metal loading and the degree of metal sintering. Adding chlorine to the oxygen atmosphere facilitates the restructuring of the metals with an improved increase in the noble metal dispersion. The temperature and the composition of the gas used during these thermal treatments proved to be of importance not only to increase the metal dispersion, but also to prevent possible losses of noble metals, in the form of volatile MOxCly compounds. TEM-EDS techniques indicated changes in the size of the largest noble metal agglomerates of Lip to 100 nm in size after thermal gas treatment. BET porosity and XRD analyses were employed to investigate restructuring of the washcoat and showed a decrease in pore size distribution and an increase in surface area. The effect of regeneration on the metal dispersion and catalyst activity of commercial automotive three-way catalysts (TWC) in oxygen, hydrogen and oxy-chlorine at elevated temperatures has been investigated. In addition, characterisation of the catalysts has been performed using XRD, TEM, TPR, CO chemisorption and BET surface area measurements. Activity tests on monolith fragments were conducted in a micro-reactor supplied with real exhaust gases. An increase in activity was observed with oxygen treatment on catalysts showing heavy sintering as well as a high noble metal loading. Hydrogen proved to be an ineffective treatment procedure, whereas the addition of chlorine to the oxygen stream resulted in an activity increase even on catalysts less sintered and with lower noble metal contents. A comparison of the XRD and BET profiles showed no or small changes in the washcoat structure compared to fresh catalysts after successful regeneration. The TEM, TPR and CO chemisorption measurements suggest a decrease in the size of the largest noble metal agglomerates on the catalyst surface, as well as some Pd and RhO restructuring. The oxy-chlorine regeneration procedure is shown to be the most efficient, both regarding the catalyst activity and the metal dispersion. An increase in the amount of noble metal particles with a size of 20-70 nm, coupled with a decrease in size of larger clusters up to 100 nm in size, was observed for this treatment. Waste management has gone through a history of shiftingproblems, demands, and strategies over the years. In contrastto the long prevailing view that the problem could be solved byhiding or moving it, waste is now viewed as a problem rangingfrom local to global concern, and as being an integral part ofseveral sectors in society. Decisive for this view has beensociety’s increasing complexity and thus the increasingcomplexity of waste, together with a general development ofenvironmental consciousness, moving from local focus on pointemission sources, to regional and global issues of more complexnature. This thesis is about the development and application orware;a model for computer aided environmental systems analysis ofmunicipal waste management. Its origin is the hypothesis thatwidened perspectives are needed in waste managementdecision-making to avoid severe sub-optimisation ofenvironmental performance. With a strong foundation in lifecycle assessment (LCA), orware aims to cover the environmentalimpacts over the entire life cycle of waste management. It alsoperforms substance flow analysis (SFA) calculations at a ratherdetailed level of the system. Applying orware has confirmed the importance of applyingsystems perspective and of taking into account site specificdifferences in analysis and planning of waste manage-ment,rather than relying on overly simplified solutions. Somefindings can be general-ised and used as guidelines to reduceenvironmental impact of waste management. Recovery of materialand energy resources from waste generally leads to netreductions in energy use and environmental impact, because ofthe savings this brings about in other sectors. Waste treatmentwith low rate of energy and materials recovery should thereforebe avoided. The exact choice of technology however depends onwhat products can be recovered andhow they are used. Despite the complexity of the model and a certain degree ofuser unfriendliness, involved stakeholders have expressed thevalue of participating in orware case studies. It providesimproved decision-basis, but also wider understanding of thecomplexity of waste management and of environmental issues ingeneral. The thesis also contains a first suggestion of a frameworkto handle uncertainty in orware, based on a review of types ofuncertainty in LCA and tools to handle it. Limitations of data quality and difficulties to assess uncertainty are long since acknowledged problems in LCA. During recent years a range of tools for improvement of reliability in LCA have been presented, but despite this there is still a lack of consensus about how these issues should be handled. To give basic understanding of data quality and uncertainty in LCA, key concepts of data quality and uncertainty in the context of LCA are explained. A comprehensive st~rvey of methods and approaches for data quality management, sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty analysis published in the LCA literature is presented. It should serve as a guide to further reading for LCA practitioners interested in improving data quality management and uncertainty assessment in LCA projects. The suitability of different tools for addressing different types of uncertainty and future needs in this field is discussed. Computer models of municipal waste management have been developed initially to focus on cost minimization. As focus in local planning changed, the objective of these models now include environmental optimization. The development of life-cycle assessment (LCA) as a standard means to quantify environmental impact, and of substance flow analysis (SFA) as a means to track down causes of environmental problems has offered new possibilities in this field. The ORWARE (ORganic WAste REsearch) connects LCA and SFA for evaluation of environmental impact in waste planning. Despite the holistic approach of waste planning models, they do not necessarily facilitate decision making. The environmental impact of the management of biodegradable waste in Stockholm, based mainly on incineration and landfilling, was compared to systems with significant nutrient recycling; large-scale composting, anaerobic digestion, and separate collection and utilization of urine. The systems' emissions, residual products, energy turnover, and resource consumption were evaluated from a life-cycle perspective, using a computerized model, ORWARE (ORganic WAste REsearch model). Transportation was of relatively low importance to overall environmental impact, even at high rates of nutrient recycling. This is remarkable considering the geographical setting of Stockholm, with high population density and little nearby farmland. Ancillary systems, such as generation of electricity and district heating, were crucial for the overall outcome. Increased recycling of nutrients in solid biodegradable waste in Stockholm can reduce net environmental impact, whereas separation of human urine to be spread as fertilizer cannot yet be introduced without increased acidification. Increased nutrient recycling from solid biodegradable waste inevitably increases spreading of metals on arable land. Urine is by far the least contaminated residual product. Spreading of all other residuals would be limited by their metal content. Environmental consequences of implementing Uppsala's waste management plan have been analysed using ORWARE, a computerized static substance flow model based on life cycle assessment methodology. Normalizing emissions from waste management to total emission loadings in the municipality was tested as a means to improve the evaluation. It was found that anaerobic digestion of biodegradable waste can reduce net environmental impact, while large-scale composting either increases environmental impact or gives less reduction than anaerobic digestion. In either case, metal contamination of digester sludge or compost may limit the feasibility of the systems. Increased materials recycling has the potential of reducing environmental impact, provided that processing of recycled materials causes equal or less environmental impact than extraction and processing of virgin raw materials. Normalization showed that all impact categories were of roughly equal importance. It was shown that easy accessible data published by a Swedish municipality were sufficient to do a relatively comprehensive normalization.

2019-04-24T18:13:14Z

http://kth.diva-portal.org/smash/resultList.jsf?searchType=ORGANISATION&language=en&onlyFullText=false&af=%5B%5D&aq=%5B%5B%7B%22organisationId%22%3A%226206%22%7D%5D%5D

The organization itself was originated out of concern towards the people - to promote savings among common people and provide timely financial assistance to the needy farmers, Artisans & Traders - the prominent occupations contributing to the economy at that time. This strong commitment has guided the policies and programmes of the Bank. Canara Bank originated from a humble beginning and rooted in rural India. The Bank has a strong conviction for community development through promotion of Education & Health care, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship for livelihood and Environment protection. Finance is considered as a catalyst for development. The vision of its founder has guided the Bank to innovate and implement multifarious socio economic programmes for the welfare of Society in general and Rural population in particular. The innovations for inclusive Growth, followed by sustainable programmes prompted the Bank to provide Institutional Framework and Organizational Structures to its impact creating programmes. The first of such Organisational framework for community development was provided in 1956 by setting up of Canara Bank Jubilee Education Fund with the objective of promotion of higher education & encouragement to technical and scientific education. This project was product of a noble cause espoused way back in 1951 by the staff club at Mangalore which started a Text Book Lending Service, in which Text Books were purchased out of small voluntary contributions of staff and lent to poor and deserving students. This initiative prompted the Bank to become pioneer in introducing scholarship to meritorious students and Education loan scheme at concessional rate of Interest without any tangible security. In the year 1961, the Bank sponsored the Canara Bank Relief & Welfare Society (CBRWS) to run holiday camps for children of low income group in villages. The Society has transformed into a big institution and now runs Sevakshetra hospital, Mathruchaya, a home for children abandoned by unfortunate mothers and an Old age home. In the year 1959, the Bank with its own initiative, collected more than Rupees 1,44,000 towards relief of flood victims. The commitment of the Bank towards social service has made the Bank to actively involve in community development, long before the social accounting became popular. Rural Clinic Service, Blood Donation, Training to Home Health Care personnel, Medical Equipment to Hospitals, Mobile Medical Service units, Regular Health Check up camps and Educative campaigns for prevention, proper food habits etc., are some of the significant developments in extending Health Care services by the Bank. The Bank demonstrated its commitment to the cause of small farmers and established Exclusive Agriculture Finance section at Head Office in 1967, appointed Agriculture Extension Officers to branches and introduced specific loan schemes for Agriculturists. In 1970, a host of schemes were introduced to finance Agriculture and allied activities to accelerate the growth of rural economy and promote livelihoods. In 1971, ‘Canara Bank Community Welfare Grant’ was instituted to extend finance to community welfare schemes and a full fledged “Social Action Cell” was formed for exclusive implementation of community welfare programmes. This cell has been evolved in to Department of Community Development now. Start “Summer placement” scheme to students. Conduct Vacation Camp for school children. Launch RAM (Rupee A Month) Campaign of pooling voluntary contributions by staff for public welfare. The Bank also engaged, long back, in notable welfare activities like distribution of cloth to the poor, providing equipment for Jawans and houses for bereaved Jawans’ families, providing flood & famine relief, holding money management seminars for housewives, giving free medical aid for eye and dental care and spotting and encouraging the talented children. In order to provide greater fillip to the Rural Development Programmes of the Bank and promote Rural Micro Enterprises, the Bank set up “Canara Bank Platinum Jubilee Rural Development Trust” during the year 1981, which is the Present “Canara Bank Centenary Rural Development Trust”. In yet another pioneering initiative, the Bank in collaboration with Syndicate Bank and ShriDharmasthalaManjunatheshwara Educational Trust, has established Rural Development and Self Employment Training Institute (RUDSETI) in 1982. The RUDSETI experiment proved an effective institutional framework for addressing unemployment problem by promoting Self Employment. RUDSETI model of orienting, training, motivating and facilitating unemployed youth to take up self employment has become a massive movement due to its success and now nearly 600 Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) are established by different Banks across the country on the model of RUDSETI. This bears testimony to the vision of Canara Bank for socio economic development of the country. The concern towards Environment prompted the Bank to promote Solar Energy equipments, green banking, clean drinking water facilities, sanitation amenities, Rain water Harvesting, Organic Farming, reduction in usage of paper and plastics, afforestation programmesand restrictive credit policy etc. Credit and non credit financial support is extended to such projects. Lack of infrastructure at Rural Places has been a challenge to the policy makers as it dented all other development process. Its needs were diverse and huge. Bank played the role of catalyst in making available Rural Housing, improved irrigation, Transport & Communication, power supply, Rural Education and Rural Health besides host of consistent awareness campaigns and orientation programmes. Besides the financial and non financial strategies, Bank has encouraged its staff, who had sense of volunteerism to serve the community by deputing them as full time Rural Service Volunteers to work as change Agents. The successive Management of the Bank and its employees, guided by the Bank’s founding principles and performance legacies, continue in their Endeavour to serve the needy people. 1. Sustainable Development & Corporate Social Responsibility (SD &CSR) Committee of the Board. The Nodal Officer, assisted by a dedicated team, drives the implementation of CSR agenda of the Bank and place periodical progress reports to the Board of Directors. The committees are vested with financial powers. A suitable Organization structure has been created for smooth implementation. An exclusive CSR Division is formed, under which Rural Development Section, Department of Community Development and Department of Women Empowerment are functioning. These departments are managing exclusively the skill development Institutes (RUDSETI/RSETI/Artisan Training Centers), other CSR projects and Women Empowerment initiatives. Bank has also developed a sound MIS for effective monitoring and reporting to all the stake holders. Bank has adopted its own comprehensive Policy for Sustainable development & Corporate Social Responsibility, which meets the extant guidelines and also fine tuned its services. The essence of the policy has been to ensure end utilization, inclusive Growth, positive impact and sustainable development. Key elements of human requirement, which are vast and huge, have found its homogenous grouping under key social sectors having economic bearing. Focus & Target group - Excluded, vulnerable, under privileged & underserved marginalized groups. Eligibility criteria for partnering organizations. CSR Projects to be with specific objectives having quantifiable, achievable and measurable outcome. Projects to have scientific planning including financial planning and to be implemented in a specific time frame. Sustainability of the project & impact assessment. As a pioneering institution to forge into the education sector, the Bank has taken up various programmes and projects to promote education. Canara High School, Mangalore, started by the founder, support to the institution for infrastructure development. Canara Bank Jubilee Education Fund started way back in1956 is assisting students by providing scholarships, Library books, sponsoring study tours,etc., with the objective of promotion of higher education and encouragement to technical and scientific education. An innovative Scholarship scheme for students viz., “Canara VidyaJyothi Scholarship “ for encouraging SC/ST students of BPL families studying in Government schools of rural areas has been implemented all over India. Bank has assisted 40-50 educational institutions across the country for promoting education by giving required support for infrastructure, computers, E-classes etc. Funding support to Prayas School Welfare Society, Faridabad for providing free education to poor children. To improve the implementation of Socio economic development projects, through Research & Development, the Bank has set up a Chair at Gulbarga University. The Bank Sponsored Canara Bank Relief & Welfare Society which runs Sevakshetra Hospital at Bengaluru, which has grown into a Multi Speciality 100 bedded Hospital. The Bank is continuously funding the hospital for upgrading the facilities with modern medical equipments and required infrastructure. Canara Bank is contributing in its own way since 1961 to provide health care services to needy people by sponsoring rural clinics, establishing hospital, supporting other organisations involved in providing health care services and sponsoring specific activities. Organising periodical Blood donation Camps, to encourage Staff and public to donate Blood to the needy. In association with BhagawanMahaveerVikalangSewaSansthan, Jaipur, organized large number of camps across the country and distributed artificial limbs to thousands of disabled persons. Providing Financial Assistance to Poor Patients. Sponsoring Health check up & awareness Camps. Recognising and Honouring medical personnel, who are doing outstanding service to the Society. Sponsoring Seminars/Conferences on health matters. Organizing Educative Campaigns, particularly for preventing common ailments like BP, diabetes and Stress. Training Home Health Care personnel. Launching MahilaShushrushaKendras for treating women. In house clinics are operating at the Bank Offices providing medical facilities to the Employees and Ex-Employees of the Bank. Construction of General Ward at SamatvamDiabetes Hospital, Bangalore and Yoga hall at SVYSA University, Bangalore. Sponsoring of Pathology Lab at VardaanSevaSansthan, Gaziabad. Provided substantial funding support to Sri. Jayadeva Institute of Cardio vascular Sciences & Research, Bangalore for procurement of equipment & modernization of Cardiac Cath lab. Financial assistance to Vittala International Institute of Ophthalmology, Bangalore, for refurbishment of mobile eye care unit. Swami Vivekananda Institute, Pavagada, for mobile health care unit. Provided furniture and solar lighting system to Sisters of charity of St Anne, Bangalore. M/s Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India, Kanpur, for distributing contemporary aids and assistive devices to Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), on behalf of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment at Nagda, Madhya Pradesh. Financial assistance to Canara Bank Relief & Welfare society for construction of Braille Transcription centre, at Bangalore. Karnataka Parents Association for Mentally Retarded Citizens (KPAMRC) for constructions of building for mentally retarded persons. Association for mentally challenged, Bengaluru for Renovation of bathrooms/toilets. SevaNiketan,Cherrikhedi, Raipur, Chattisgarh state for construction of training and rehabilitation center for disabled. Action for Ability Development & inclusion, New Delhi, for setting up of career development cell. Rural Development encompasses all facets of rural economy and life of people. Despite rapid industrialization and urbanization, majority of people in India live in villages and depend upon agriculture & related activities for livelihood. Development projects & Industrialization coupled with population explosion have inflicted adverse effects on the living conditions of villagers. Further, lack of adequate education, health, sanitation facilities and employment opportunities has also impacted the village life. All these developments have brought the issue of Rural Development in to the centre stage of development. Bank has embarked on holistic development of villages that encompassed all spheres of socio economic parameters. The Village Adoption experiments of the early 70s, Project “Can Bank Village”, Can GramaShikshanKendras are some of the earliest initiatives of the Bank along with the Lead Bank Concept introduced by Reserve Bank of India. The exemplary Rural Development work done by the committed staff particularly Agriculture Extension Officers has ushered a new ray of hope in the backward villages, where Bank acted as a catalyst for growth. The Credit deployment followed by non credit resource programmes enabled the villagers to accept the Bankers as genuine facilitators in their progress. The Bank is deputing its Staff with experience in rural Banking and commitment to work as the Directors of Bank Sponsored RUDSETIs, RSETIs and other projects. Bank has undertaken an ambitious project of providing De-fluoridation- RO plants for pure drinking water facility in 217 villages of Kolar&Chickaballapur districts, since water sources in these villages are having Arsenic, Fluoride, & other contamination in more than desirable limits. The estimated cost of the project is about Rs 18 Crores. Installation process of RO plants has been commenced and the work is in progress. Due to the pressure of population, technology, development projects and Industrialization, the bio physical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently. Ecological imbalance will severely affect the life of people on this planet. The seriousness of such a development has been recognized and the Governments have begun to placing restraint on activities that cause environmental degradation. It is the responsibility of every concerned citizen to conserve and protect environment in every possible manner to pass on a habitable earth to the next generations. A massive awareness campaign coupled with adoption of eco friendly technology in all activities is the need of the hour. Canara Bank being a visionary and responsible public sector organization, has taken some note worthy initiatives for environment protection. The Bank has adopted two pronged approach, i.e. internal and external for contributing to environment protection. In a major initiative to promote usage/adoption of Solar energy equipment in schools, Hospitals, institutions, other community places and households, the Bank has launched a scheme to finance such projects on easy terms, in the year 2000. Environment protection is recognized as one of our important component of CSR activity and encouraging use of clean & alternate sources of energy by funding the projects for installation of solar energy equipment & rain water harvesting at educational institutions, health centers, Bank sponsored Training Centers and other infrastructure projects assisted by the Bank. Solar lanterns are distributed to more than 4000 households in remote villages. A massive “CanaraVanamahotsava” programme, was observed all over the countrythrough branches of Canara Bank by distributing saplings for creating awareness and encouraging planting of Trees. Reduction of paper and plastic usage, all Branch CBS, internet and Mobile Banking, Tele/video conferences, installing energy saving equipment and greening the premises of our RSETIs are few of the internal initiatives contributing to the cause of Environment. The Bank is consciously promoting organic farming to reduce the use of fertilizers and maintain the fertility of soil. The Bank's credit policy is in tune with the guidelines of Pollution Control Board and Ministry of Environment. Providing solar water heating systems to health centers in Chikkaballapur District, Karnataka. Associating with agencies for scientific disposal of wastes/recycling, desilting of lakes. Adopting one village to make it carbon neutral habitat. Distribution of Solar lights in remote villages of Tamilnadu& Karnataka. Best Bank for nurturing the RSETI movement, By MoRD, Govt. of India. Namma Bengaluru Award 2014 for initiatives under CSR.

2019-04-22T15:04:02Z

http://www.canarabank.com/english/other-services/corporate-social-responsibilities-initiatives/sustainable-development-corporate-social-responsibility-committees/sustainable-development-corporate-social-responsibility/

The cult of the tightrope The thirteen knots rope is the apparent sign of a vast culture. In ancients civilizations from India to Egypt, references to the rope even take a religious and ritual aspect. The vedic rope tensioner (sulbaka) like the egyptian harpedonapt deploy a knowledge whose origins are confused with those of architecture - one of the major aspects of Neolithic. At the other end, in the Renaissance, the tarot images pay homage to this : especially in the figure of the Hanged Man, the XII arcane, symbol of initiation and study. The vocabulary of nature At Paleolithic, man appropriates the basic vocabulary of geometry by observing nature. The line comes from the sea horizon, the circle reveals its curve when a stone falls into the water, and the sphere appears when the rain is so strong that it makes bubbles. The wisdom of our ancestors associate with the Water element with the concepts of Inspiration and Origin. The stars forge links that fill eyes. Men practice a kind of cons-point among the stars, and they cross strings becoming magical... Beside : « La Vénus à la corne » of Laussel Musée d'Aquitaine, Bordeaux In its inspired forms, by the nature of the woman, this Venus shows the geometry of the final Paleolithic, 25,000 years BC. The rope, ancestor of compass and ruler The rope is both a ruler (straight), a compass (radius of a circle around a pole) and even a pencil (once soaked in chalk). Attached to two stakes, it can draw an ellipse, and just fold it in half to find the middle. This is the beginning of measurement, the first step towards Magic. The rope and the right angle Just two strings. One is stretched between two posts and the other, longer, forms a triangle from the same points. The middle of the two strings defines a right angle. The aristocratic compass will take up this idea. It is true that it is beautiful, all metal, and much brighter than its paleolithic grandmother ! However, the sign painter still prefer the old piece of string to trace his letters. This ancestral link fits in your pocket without poking the thigh! The thirteen knots rope A Triangle for surveyors ? As we have seen, there we don't need a thirteen knots rope to form a right angle with three stakes. The rope of surveyor, with its twelve equal segments (between the thirteen knots), appears in the egyptian world. With this iool, they reconstitute on the ground a 34-5 triangle : the famous Sacred Triangle. A right angle is naturally formed between the sides 3 and 4. In reality, this right angle is one of the aspect that the Sacred Triangle bears. We can assume that men have approached the right angle, and then gradually developed geometry until the advent of the Sacred Triangle - with all its properties. We are interested here in these premices. When and under what Civilizations this geometric tool appears ? Pythagoras : « To be or not ? To be ! » Throughout the study, we will compare two cultures that are somewhat “separated” by the pythagorean theorem. The emergence of this theorem, as a practice, is now widely demonstrated as anterior to the mathematician, whether in China, Mesopotamia and India. However, for clear explanations, it is easier to distinguish the geometry without/before, and the one which incorporates the famous theorem. A number of paradoxical situations justify this attitude. For example, the Egyptians had access to this tool, eg through their interaction with the Babylonians. They carefully circumvented the need, and continued to develop the principles of a paleolithic type of geometry : geometry with eyes. So true that they even used the golden ratio as a pure geometrical phenomenon, and obviously neglected its numerical expression. Pythagoras, or more precisely the Pythagoreans, have unified the mesopotamian and egyptian currents. These two kind of skills are now further documented historically (it remains to establish their common allegiance to a previous single stream, megalithic). The « geometry with eyes » will enjoy the contributions of the Babylonians about numbers, and not just their computing power. The conjecture of Plimpton is a clear indication of their level of reflection. This fusion of Egyptian and Mesopotamian mathematics is the basis of Western sacred geometry (of cathedrals builders). In this sense, even if Pythagoras is not the pioneer that history has long shown, his role remains essential. In practice, the most recent historical updates don't change anything. Nothing to the enlightened coherence of egyptian geometry - which will mark “our” sacred geometry. Nothing to the logic of development in geometric principles, because they get around the theorem. Nothing to the light of calculating, the values areoriginally designed as purely geometric. Only mathematics are able to face so many questions, without losing their coherence ! We now turn to the layer of paleolithic geometry (without Pythagoras). Homo habilis becoming sapiens Left : Technic of Levallois-Perret - Mousterien (300 000 à 30 000 ans AEC) Right : Flat bone eyed needle, Grotte de Gourdan-Polignan, Haute-Garonne, France Magdalenian, Upper Paleolithic (17-10 000 ans AEC) Men able to make such objects have a sufficient dexterity to draw a grid on the floor - 4 tiles of 6... We must mention the technique, called Levallois-Perret, by which the stone cutter draws an arrow on a nucleus of flint : it reveals its final form at the last gesture (the archaeologists spend years to master this practice).The rectangle of proportion 3 and 2 occurs regularly in architectural motifs. We understand the success of this "template" through what the grid can produce. The solar wheel Draw a circle of radius 2, in the center of the 4x6 grid. The curve crosses the grid every 30° and thus defines a partition of the circle into 12 equal sectors : this scheme is the origin of the time dial, and also the zodiac. The √ 3 is not from the epoch - we have to learn how to think with eyes. For the paleolithic man, the proportion of √ 3 is “where” the circle crosses the grid and cuts the right angle into three equal parts. To get this proportion from a unit, he draws a circular arc whose radius is double, and he locates the point where the arc intersects the vertical. Early definitions (basic) of sacred geometry are all like that : “traced with the rope”. The hexagram Subtle relationships appear, which combine the angles and measurements. For example, and this is the egyptian definition : A rectangle proportioned by √3 contains 3 rectangles of the same type. The side of the equilateral triangle is 2√ 3 in this Image. The arising question is when (Babylonian?) this expression takes its meaning. The hexagram of Solomon is one of the leading figures born from the rope. The center of gravity of the two triangles (water and fire), and the centers of their circles inscribed and circumscribed coincide. The star is marked by 6. Without prejudging the sense that paleolithic men gave to it, and the Egyptians and even the Pythagoreans, the ideas connected to this number are, in what is now the tradition, although “recent” : Love, assembly, association, loyalty, balance - Eternity/cyclical sun (surface of the sacred triangle), and of course hexagram. Man is naturally good ... In mathematics ! The Pythagorean theorem, or that of the diagonal (this nuance requires to be treated separately) establishes the height of the intersection : it is √3 times the radius. In symbolics, the root expresses the source, the origin, the mystery of an element. However, even without the development of this notion, the Vesica Piscis refers explicitly to 3, taking with him two symbolic values : sacred and feminine. The figure measures three times the radius of the circle in its width. The calculation can “establish” 3 as feminine and heavenly. On this occasion, it may be noted that the word "heavenly" is gaining a nuance in front of the archaic sky of fertility - from which it comes. This new definition is at odds with the old myths where the sky is masculine. The symbolist must at some point choose between a primitive type inheritance and the truth that mathematics reveal to him. The Ancients were relying to beliefs when they did not have the means to do otherwise, but as soon as the observation tool or the theoretical construction was progressing, their reason was going ahead. The pentagram and the vesica piscis For convenience, the grid is doubled here: a tile is therefore 1/2. The pentagram is marked by the golden ratio. To reveal a real relationship, a coincidence of figure, he must grow from the center of the circles of the Vesica. φ = (1+ √5)/2 = 1/2 + √5/2 The translation is a square (of 1/2) plus the diagonal of a double square. We defer the total to the vertical height through the almond. Now simply extend this bar of golden ratio until the circle to complete a branch of the pentagram. The addition of 1 unit by the circle establishes its center as the point of intersection of the branches (this is the point of separation according to the golden ratio). Then, from the bottom point, we pass through the symmetrical center, on the left of the Vesica. These demonstrations need only the axioms of similar triangles. With this modest equipment, our ancestors were able to get all the secrets of the pentagram, here in harmony with the Vesica Piscis. N.B. : 8 of 10 points of the pentagram are on the circles. This chapter reconstructs the extraordinary consistency of egyptian geometry. It is an essential part of its corpus. In scientific terms, the logical arguments are limited to the axioms of similar triangles. In plain language : the visual evidence is sufficient to explain everything (and therefore understand), and for all figures. Raphael Legoy proposes to designate these approaches under the term of monstrations. A number of prejudices fall before this body of evidence. Admittedly, the Egyptians were practical minded. But they deserve a real consideration for their theoretical. The geometrical skills don't have the empirical character (and inexact) through which they are commonly considered. This also applies to other civilizations, with other equally strong arguments. In general, as soon as they awake with mathematics, men build their knowledge with a mindset very much closer to ours than we suspected : the spirit of proof, with remarkable properties, in a strong overview. The sacred triangle The 3-4-5 triangle, also called sacred triangle or triangle of surveyor, is the queen figure of sacred geometry. It carries with it all the numerical values of the symbolic, i.e. the integers from 1 to 7, the golden ratio (φ), and the root of three(√ 3). It gives meaning to the grid, and to its unity. The main monstrations that follow are unpublished. Some of them concern properties that history has forgotten (or ignored) for centuries. This is the case of the golden ratio of the triangle, which remained hidden on one of its bisectors. When the author is not specified, the monstrations are signed Yvo Jacquier. The three first measures The sides of a triangle forming the right angle are called cathètes in french(nf), besides the hypotenuse. The three bisectors are the natural diagonals of a single, a double and a triple square. The sum of the first symbolical number, called “order of the bisector”, and the measure of the length of the side, that the bisector crosses is always 6, i.e. : 1+5, 2+4, & 3+3. If you stop at this definition, the length of the third side 5, here marked AC, is axiomatic. It took years to resolve this issue and it turns capital. Indeed, according to the length of five is admitted or proven, egyptian geometry does not enjoy the same status, particularly besides the ones that build the Greeks. Did Egyptians practice science or “DIY” ? First monstration Let a triangle ABC, with AB= 3 vertical, et BC= 4 horizontal. Let the point E, situated at two squares under the point B : AE = 5. According to the grid, EI = IC = ∂ (with ∂ diagonal of the double-sqiare) AI is orthogonal to EC So AIE et AIC are symmetric. So AE = AC = 5 Quod Erat Monstrandum N.B. : The incircle of the triangle is not involved in this demonstration. Yet it reveals its measurements. Then, the first six first integers are symbolically united by a single figure, including the number 6, as area of the triangle. Figures of transition A vesica piscis in the triangle The sacred triangle faces a second time the vesica piscis. On the displayed image, on the screen, two colored lines enhance the structural links, between the centers of the large circles and the elements of the triangle. The logic of proportion In this position, the height drawn at the point of the right angle (of the triangle 3-45 by projection) outlines two rectangles on its both sides. Their diagonals are the sides 3 and 4 of the triangle, and they form a right angle. These rectangles have the same proportion : K = Length/width = 4/3. N.B. : All right triangles have this property with K = great cathète/ small cathète. Before discussing the golden ratio of 3-4-5 triangle, it is necessary to prepare our mind through two historical points. The first concerns the design of this proportion by the Egyptians, and the second approach the notion of surface, as a quantity. The Egyptians think, above all, through angles. The study of the Giza plateau masterfully demonstrates that, 2500 years B.C., these builders of sacred apply four times the golden logic in a wide composition. Later, at the time of Pythagoras, they are perhaps able to integrate the lemmas (external) which integrate surfaces with their values. But when they discover the golden ratio, much earlier in history, this way of thinking is really not theirs. The Egyptian attitude is justified. On the ground of reality, the determination of a point is much more difficult by distance measurement (rope) than the process by angles (triangulation). The theoretical part of the egyptian geometry continues to be at the service of their art, especially architecture. This motivation is reflected in two ways, related and complementary : concreteness and symbolism. The concreteness concerns the works, the accuracy of their implementation as well as in the beauty of the materials. The symbolism is carried by mathematical elements. These mathematics support the works, the numbers coming from the grid like the angles plotted on the same grid. In this way, the Egyptians made from their religion an art. The egyptian approach of golden ratio - Before monstrations A - The golden ratio with the eyes The egyptian definition of the golden ratio does not pass through the calculation. The greek mathematicians have established that the golden ratio is the solution to the equation : φ2 = φ + 1 where φ = (1+√5)/2 ≈ 1,618... In « geometry with eyes », a golden rectangle defines its proportion by itself. It produces a smaller, by removing the inscribed square : • With the same proportions (first definition). • Whose diagonals are perpendicular to those of the large rectangle (second definition). We will discover another definition later, in the same mood. B - A golden rectangle from a double-square The wide angle of the diagonal of a double square is twice the smallest angle of the diagonal of a golden rectangle. This typical example of the grid's logic shows that the golden ratio came very early in the practice of geometers - perhaps even from Upper Paleolithic. It is important to note that the golden ratio belongs to the set of values held by the sacred triangle (this is not the only one). When a golden diagonal is horizontal, the other is that of a double-square. Albrecht Dürer uses this principle in the construction of his engraving Melencolia § I. Here left : the golden rectangle 2x2φ in its natural place, straddling the bisector of order 2. Right : the bisectors of order 1 and 3 are the natural diagonals of a golden rectangle. A circle pointing at the center crosses the lines defining the corners. A - The golden ratio of the sacred triangle - Monstrations First step : the rectangle in position to be studied Let us study the rectangle vertically. Its width is 2 tiles and its height is ∂+1 with ∂, by convention, the diagonal measurement of the double square. Two triangles of Pinwheel with the measurements of 1-2-∂, specify the square of the residual rectangle, placed in the middle and at the top of the square of 2x2 (black). Egyptian definitions Golden ratio When the diagonal of a golden rectangle passes its inscribed square, it puts on the wider side a segment equal to the remaining height to go up to the corner. Double-square The diagonal of an horizontal double-square leaves on the side a segment equal to half of the horizontal distance that it remains to go to up the corner. Observation n°1 The figure of the three diagonals This figure expresses a kind of "principle of the Trinity" The angle between the diagonal of an horizontal triple-square and that of a vertical double-square is the angle of the diagonal of a simple-square. Thus, the bisectors of a triangle 3-4-5 are linked by a simple rule. This property allows us to understand how the ancients have progressed in the study (the obvious, without calculation). The generalization of this principle is in the Appendix. Observation n°2 We know that the small angle of the diagonal of a golden rectangle is half the wide angle of the diagonal of a double square. According to which : The small angle between the two diagonals of a golden rectangle, in its center, is equal to the wide angle of the diagonal of a double square. The second expression of the golden ratio in the triangle 3-4-5 We will note the angles as Ân eg : Â3 for the angle n°3 According to the preamble N° 1 : Â5 = 45° = 90°÷2 Let ∆ the perpendicular to ∆3 ∆3 is the diagonal of a triple-square —> The angle Â1 is thus equal to Â4 We also note that, by construction: Â1 + Â2 = Â3 = Â5 —> Therefore : Â3 + Â4 = Â5 + Â4 We remark that : Â5 + Â4 = Wide angle of the diagonal of the double square, —> thus = Â3 + Â4 too. Quod Erat Monstrandum Properties • The bisectors of order 1 and 3 of the 3-4-5 triangle are the natural diagonals of a golden rectangle • The small angle formed by the diagonals of a simple and a triple-square is equal to the wide angle of the diagonal of a double-square. “T” - Remarkable point of the triangle and of the golden rectangle This method returns repeatedly in egyptian geometry: it suffices to give a new direction to the 3-4-5 triangle to reveal the distances. Let the triangle LEF, the rotation of ABC by a quarter of a turn, and sharing the same circle. By construction : LC = AC = 5. The angles in A and L are the same The lines AB and LE intersect symmetrically in Y, relative to the axis YC of the form - here in yellow. And the center of the inscribed circle is on the line YC. According to the symmetry of this form : LB = AT = 1 (explicit on the grid). A 90° rotation links the triangles, the hypotenuse LE is orthogonal to the hypotenuse AC. A square 1 of 1 highlights the points of tangency of the hypotenuses H and S. LE is thus the perpendicular bisector of the segment AC, and T is the middle. These achievements will greatly simplify the continuation of this exploration. And we will take the same type of figure to complete its measurements. Look at the kite yellow and orange. We have found the measures of the orange quadrilateral : 1 and φ. What about the yellow one ? Its “crosstie” is by construction, a segment of the diagonal of the golden rectangle, thus orthogonal to that of residual rectangle. The measure of the two head segments of the quadrilateral is φ (established). The angles at the point T, and at the bottom of the rectangle, complete a kite, similar to the orange one. Because the angles of the head triangles are the same (last element, α). The same type of observations on angles and segments, allow to continue the chain of kites. They are glued to each other with a 90° rotation and they reduce the preceding measures by φ. It is interesting to place the incircles at each step. The yellow one is the inscribed circle of the triangle 3-4-5. These circles are tangent to the four sides of each kite, and they serve as an alternative to the conventional presentation of the golden logic, which appear only with the squares.. The kites, fruits of successive divisions by the golden ratio, combine to form a golden spiral. It converges in T, the point where the diagonals of the golden rectangle and its residue intersect the hypotenuse of the triangle - at a unit from the upper point. The triangles BYL and TAY are symmetrical on either side of the bisector of order 3 (CO diagonal of a triple-square). These triangles are right et they share an other angle with triangles of type 3-4-5. The sum of the three angles is equal to 180°, thus the third angle is the same too. BYL et TAY are of type 3-4-5. LB = 1. So just divide the measures 3, 4 et 5 by 3 to solve the figure of triangles BYL and TAY. The results are 3/3, 4/3 and 5/3. The height of the 3-4-5 triangle, standing on its hypotenuse, is (3x4)/5 = 12/5 —> It is the “altitude” of the point T above LC. This monstration needs a chapter. —> Consequently, T is located at 12/5 x 1/3 = 4/5 on the right of the vertical AB. If we sticks to its classic golden construction the point T has an irrational status. This figure explains, by the magic of angles, that its position on the grid is perfectly rational. This comment has to enter the file of the "crisis of immeasurable" that shook the mathematical Greece. A kite sides 1 and φ marks half the golden rectangle hanging at the top. Its tip is at the top of the triangle and its tail is on the horizontal line at the level 2, on the grid. The almond that forms the circle of radius 1 around this point with the inner circle measures φ. The two centers are separated by √(3 - φ). Between the two centers of the circles of radius 1 there is, by construction, the diagonal of a golden rectangle. Width φ - 1 = 1/φ, and height 1. To define a pentagram, the minimum material is an angle between two branches, and the measure of a segment, whatever it is. This is precisely what gives us the figure above. Simply develop a golden rectangle downwards from the point that we have found, “pointing φ”, accompanied by its circle, radius 1. The figure with this new rectangle and its circle expresses the golden ratio : the circle of radius 1 highlights two brands, two successive divisions of the large rectangle. DNA... This confrontation of two minimalist definitions also exposes the binding of the pentagram with the golden ratio. And this skeleton imbricates, in the process of building, the structures of the golden rectangle (in yellow) and the star. This is remarkable. About the number φ, we are accustomed to consider the pentagram and its relations in arithmetical terms, when the original definitions are geometric. We understand with eyes. Finally, this figure refers to the 3-4-5 triangle through its golden rectangle of reference, attached to its top. Who would have thought ? Egyptians ! Monstration This pentagram takes the axis of the almond, where φ is also the measure of its tip. The star then takes the measure where it is at the origin, as the upper side of a golden rectangle The pentagram appears tilted so unconventional but its orientation makes sense : the line that is considered its vertical when standing upright (blue) is parallel with the diagonal of the golden rectangle (red). This referent rectangle takes the first measure of φ, which leads to the center of the second circle, and grows down with its height φ2 = φ+ 1. Penrose modules make this building quite educational. In this spirit, the construction of the inverted pentagram and some complementary lines gives a contribution. The accuracy, in the field of egyptian geometry, involves many strategies including this one. In the end, this pentagram with a casual look binds with intelligence with the triangle, while itself stems from the figure of the diagonals. Eg the point of the pentagram on the bar of the golden rectangle (of “reference”). Its inferior bar aim for the tip of the pentagram (Kite 1 and φ). Remarks 1 - Many coincidences of figure demand the accuracy of trigonometry : their precision is then a few thousandths (margin). In contrast, those available to the logic of eyes are correct. Amazing, isn't it ? 2 - Without knowing the structure of the triangle, or the figure of the diagonals, this construction is simply unimaginable. This square takes its name from the circle of diameter 2.φ that it accompanies. The circle of the Pope has a great importance in the composition of Tarot (version Dürer / Conver). It perfectly describes the curve's of the Pontiff's garment, exposed by the blade V of the Major Arcana. More broadly, this measure 2.φ comes back often in sacred geometry. It is often the “dimension of the scene” in a painting. First step Here is another way to present the unfathomable abundance of ratios between the sacred triangle and the golden ratio. All the (de)monstrations are made with the same arguments as the firsts, with neither Pythagoras, nor square root : this is a geometry with eyes (by the concreteness of pictorial representation). The first step is to divide the square of the inner circle by φ, and to draw a diagonal of the rectangle (which measures 2 by 2/φ). Second step A rectangle of width 2, as the incircle, and 2.φ height, stands astride the golden bisector coming from the vertex of the triangle, and takes the first diagonal as its own. Third step Consider the small golden rectangle inscribed in the inclined rectangle. Its diagonal intersects the first at right angles, characteristic of golden divisions, at a new golden point (the other is T, that we studied). This point is also on the segment 3 of the triangle, at the height 2, and at 1 unit of the summit. Fourth step The square of the Pope, width 2.φ, has the horizontal width of the tilted rectangle. Coincidences multiply. This visual on the right Placed at the base of the triangle, the square of the pope is the subject of another coincidence: the diagonal of the square passes through the point of separation of small golden rectangle and its associated square. This brings to three the number of significant points. The bisectors which intersect at the center of the incircle defines naturally three angles. Anthony Rédou has been the first to notice the free values exhibited by certain central angles of the triangle : 135° and 45°... And their tangents are equally impressive ! Trigonometry is not antique (it develops really at Renaissance). It nevertheless reveals the internal organization of the 3-4-5 triangle. The order of a bisector is the number of squares of which it is naturally the diagonal. Two by two, bisectors have two angles : one is acute and the other is obtuse - The tangent of the acute angle is “the order” of the third bisector. - The tangent of the obtuse angle is “the order” of the third, preceded by the sign "-". Example: the bisectors of order 1 and 3, coming from the bottom, form an acute angle α, which tangent is 2, i.e. “the order” of the third bisector, coming from the top (golden bisector). The obtuse angle (α + β), has a tangent -2. Monstration I - The sum of angles of any triangle The sumerian and egyptian architectures show a great mastery in angles, very early in history. Here is a first reflection on the ordinary triangle. Here, three identical triangles - to an any triangle, are fixed at the point O by their different apex. Each of the triangles is linked to the other two at a different angle, and three continued lines intersect at O. It remains only to observe, or to admit, the equal angles (Alpha) on the two sides of O. The sum of the three angles is then 180° (or π, or "one half turn"). This is a basic. Could it escape the mind of the geometers able to build temples and pyramids with incredible accuracy from the fourth (Eanna, Uruk) and third (Giza, Egypt) millennium ? The paragonal of the right triangles Let a right triangle ABC, presented in its “classical position”. We can consider that the bisector from B, in red, is the diagonal of a vertical rectangle. We note α1 the small angle of this bisector. We take the rectangle, called modulus, a second time but horizontally turned. Then we place it as an extension to the base. An ensemble of two modulus shows the second bisector, from the first (except the one of the right angle). The right triangle can be summarized in two values. Its right angle allows to convert them “directly”. However, instead of considering the apparent measures of the triangle, we enter into its internal structure. A triangle DEF appears with a right angle, so two 45° angles =(180 -90°)/2. But 45 ° is the angle of the bisector of the right angle in C of the initial triangle. It is also 90°-45°, the result of the sum of the angles of the two other bisectors. I.e. the sum of α1 that we have defined, and α2, the bisector of the angle in A. EF, in green, makes with the horizontal the exact angle of the bisector of the angle in A. Raphael Legoy has attributed the name of paragonal to this line. The second bisector of a triangle is the 45° rotation of the first (the third concerns the right angle). And α1 + α2 = 45°. Remark The properties of angles that begin this appendix are unlikely to have preceded the discovery of particular cases (especially the 3-4-5 triangle). Generalization of principles is a recurring phenomenon in the development of mathematics. This study itself has followed this path : from the 3-4-5 triangle to the right triangle, then to the any triangle... The Pythagorean theorem must also be seen as the result of a gradual awareness. The character of Pythagoras Pythagoras is clearly not the discoverer of that symbolizes his theorem. The Vedic India or the old China practice long before him an areas geometry, based on what is called the theorem of the diagonal. And in the famous tablet Plimpton 322, Babylonians show prime numbers at the confines of very sophisticated calculations on the triangle... We could stop there, claiming that Pythagoras is an usurper ... But two major issues, I believe, arise : - How was formed that summarizes his theorem ? - What is the true role of Pythagorean in history ? His trip to Egypt brings also a third wondering : - What could learn Pythagoras, at a school that bypasses calculation by its geometry, while we revere him for that calculation ? Several layers, several aspects mix themselves, up to confuse history. The latest research establishes by example, that the Pythagoreans have absorbed the Egyptian and Babylonian influences. In this regard, in a first approach, it would be prudent to mention the Pythagoreans more than Pythagoras : its historical aura has always tended to capture everything that was happening in this sphere. As far as that goes, it would be more accurate to speak of a geometry with or without the theorem of the diagonal/Pythagoras rather than cutting in two the history, chronologically, according to the apparition of that theorem. More generally, it seems important to avoid the creation of artificial oppositions between civilizations, on the basis of the little that we know. Cultural exchanges have always existed, particularly at a time when the borders were not yet an issue of conflicts (eg. in the fourth millennium BC). Then, the consistency of mathematics leads us unconsciously to approach them in a mood of absolute, regardless of any external criterion, in particular pragmatic. Finally, when it comes to spirituality we have to confess that the school of Euclid which has formatted our minds, has erased everything. Despite the inconsistencies that threaten all the speeches, the “topic” of Pythagoras remains as fascinating as the one of golden ratio. Both are symbols of an ancient and mysterious world that never ceases to inspire essential issues. Until the certainties will be sufficient, especially to draw an accurate picture of Pythagoras, we have to put on the desk that we know about the context in which he lived. The area and writing The Pythagorean theorem is a didactic expression of the theorem of the diagonal. Here we have a fine example of “progress” in mathematics. The end result is accepted by all, from the surveyor of sacred to the accountant of treasure, including the Euclidean purist. And this unanimity has the effect of erasing all history ! A number of figures of geometry with eyes foreshadow the proof of the theorem. JeanPaul Guichard warns us: it is possible to construct schemes that are more influenced by the speech of Euclid than by the concerns of “antic geometers”. Clearly, a posteriori demonstrations are potentially apocryphal, because they can feed on the experience of the Greeks - maybe our too ! This article (about the geometry with eyes) can help us clarify the status of figures. Some of them are essential in the building of the corpus, while others respond simply to educational needs. Then a reality must be taken into account : the Pythagorean theorem requires writing. The concept of area (surface accounting) associated with it is very difficult in the practice without writing. The historical background can give reality to this idea. Indeed, writing was born in the heart of Neolithic, while its parameters are gathered explicitly. Beyond a simple productive settlement, the neolithic means the grouping of populations in large cities, marked by a social and urban organization. And two principles emerge, tax and property, both of which require the practice of writing and the concept of area (as the amount resulting from the multiplication of a width by a length/height). Without calculation and without tablets taking note of who has paid what to whom, Neolithic cities would be literally unmanageable. The first writings are account books. The geometry with eyes will retain the tradition of unwritten. The grid on which everything is understood, demonstrated and retains with the least effort, will remain the hallmark of this culture throughout its long history. We need to sift through the geometric constructions that seem to prefigure Pythagoras, to identify those who have assumed the transition to the written thought. Figures 3 and 4 below are somehow lures. They will naturally emerge with the the concept of area. But before this, there is no need of these figures to build the corpus of geometry. N.B. : √2 and √5 are not defined under this form by the geometry with eyes. In contrast, the areas of 2 and 5 squares are explicit. Fig.5 This figure 5 enunciates a very different principle : The angle between the diagonal of an horizontal triplesquare and that of a vertical double-square is the angle of the diagonal of a simple-square. There is no question of area, there is no more need to write. This is (still) geometry with eyes. This figure is essential to the corpus. The result is involved in several monstrations and more importantly, it summarizes the relationship between the angles of the three bisectors of the triangle 3-4-5. This is a real basic. Simply place the definition of the area to solve the diagonal of the triple square. In addition, this figure 5 is eerily similar to the one which prove the theorem of the diagonal. Fig.9 Jean-Paul Guichard reports indeed the most direct demonstration of the Pythagorean theorem. Simply juxtapose a square of side a at the foot of a square of side b (with b> a). And then we remark that the two rectangles marked with a red cross have the same area (= a x b). The area of the large square of side b plus the small one of side a, is equivalent to the sum of the empty square, (b-a)2, with the two rectangles marked by their diagonals. Symbolics Another question: the convergence between the figures 5 and 10 does it relate to symbolism ? Sacred geometry does not take geometric shapes as simple objects : it implements their formidable structures. And the “definition” is not limited to system of figures. Numbers accompany their construction - they are therefore essential to any translation into human language. The final one without the other, shapes and numbers are literally dumb. We must associate, understand, the both aspects in the approach of symbolics. The shadow of Pythagoras appears in the background... The Babylonians could give us a nice proof of the relationship between the two fields of symbolism. The tablet Plimpton 322 contains a series of Pythagorean triplets that reflect a deep understanding of the triangle. After a study which involved many mathematicians, remains an enigma. Several types of values can describe the lines of the tablet. The type (a, b) describing their cathètes, or (p, q) describing their paragonales finally (r, s), the intelligent reduction of the above. All these systems show a complete set of primes - the difference in these couples. However, no logic explains at the moment this improbable coincidence. This might be called the conjecture of Plimpton. Report "Comparative geometry and sacred geometry. Geometry. with Eyes of Egyptians"

2019-04-22T15:09:57Z

https://kipdf.com/comparative-geometry-and-sacred-geometry-geometry-with-eyes-of-egyptians_5b4f19e5097c476c498b45a5.html

These terms and conditions (these “Terms”) shall regulate the use by you of the services (“Advertising Services”) provided by www.jharkhandbihar.com”, “we” or “us”, as the case may be) under Jharkhandbihar.com Advertising Centre (the “Ad Centre”).Before proceeding with and continuing accessing or using the Ad Centre and/or the Advertising Services, you represent that you have read and accepted these Terms (which, for the avoidance of doubt, shall include the terms of the User Agreement concerning the access and use of the relevant Jharkhandbihar.com branded website and all applicable Jharkhandbihar.com policies and guidelines, all of which are hereby incorporated into Terms by reference). Where there exist any conflicts between any provisions of the terms and conditions contained herein and the Policies, the terms and conditions contained herein shall take precedence over the other conflicting provisions in interpretation. You must be an individual aged 18 years or above who can form legally binding contracts under the applicable law. If you are acting on behalf of a company or business, you must be acting with proper authorization from the company or business which must be lawfully established. We reserve the right to request documentary proof of identity or authority or such other documents as we may deem fit from you. The Account is personal to you and may not be transferred to another party. All information provided to Jharkhandbihar.com must be true, accurate and current. Jharkhandbihar.com reserves the right to suspend and/or close the Account and cancel any orders or transaction effected by you in the event that you are found to have provided any inaccurate or false information to Jharkhandbihar.com . You shall at all times be solely responsible for use and access to your Account, including the security of the information of the Account and any applicable security information. Advertising Services are currently only available on the Jharkhandbihar.com and may, upon notice being given by Jharkhandbihar.com , be extended to other Jharkhandbihar.com sites. Some of the Jharkhandbihar.com sites or features may be identified as “beta”, “test” or otherwise unsupported and are only available for use “as is”. Jharkhandbihar.com reserves the right to change or revise the technical specification, structure, arrangement and scope of the Advertising Services at any time. for Jharkhandbihar.com sellers, providing in your Ad a listing of an item which shall remain live up to the date on which a particular Advertising Services as ordered shall expire. You accept the risk of having third parties generating impressions or clicks on your Ads for prohibited or improper purposes. You agree not to hold Jharkhandbihar.com responsible for any improper use. We are not party to any possible transactions between you and your potential buyers. You will not hold Jharkhandbihar.com responsible for the actions or inaction of buyers involved in transactions with you (whether such transactions are conducted on or off Jharkhandbihar.com sites) or for ensuring that they actually complete transactions. Transactions consummated through your links, URLs, advertising landing page or websites are your sole responsibility. Registering an account with Jharkhandbihar.com –E-catalog Ad Centre is chargeable. All Fees are payable in Indian Currency and are exclusive of any applicable taxes, duties or levies. These Fees may be revised by Jharkhandbihar.com at its own discretion .No Advertisement will be published, distributed or disseminated by Jharkhandbihar.com prior to receipt of full payment of Fees. Payment of Fees can be made by DD/Cheque in accordance with payment instructions . Before you confirm an order for Advertising Services, it remains your duty to check that you have provided us with all the information required. All orders shall be placed at least 14 days prior to the designated publication day. Jharkhandbihar.com cannot entertain rush orders. Orders placed less than 14 days prior to publication may not be accepted or processed. Fulfillment with incomplete or inaccurate information or which do not comply with any of these Terms may be delayed. Jharkhandbihar.com will contact you for further information or rectification. Any request from Jharkhandbihar.com that has not been promptly and timely responded or handled, may result in the non-publication of an Ad and cancellation of the particular order. In such an event, you will not be entitled to any refund of Fees. Date or duration of publication the ad design, content and information ,temporary suspension of the publication of an Ad. If suspension of Advertising Services is requested, you shall as soon as possible provide the day on which you wish the Advertising Services to be resumed. In such an event, a 14 days’ advanced notice of a new date of publication is required. Suspension of an Advertising Service is only available for a period of not more than 3 months. If you do not provide a new date for resumption of the suspended Advertising Service within the 3-month period, the confirmed orders shall deemed to have been cancelled and will be cancelled automatically. There shall not be any refund of payments made. Revisions or modifications of an order are only permitted: (1) at any time before the Advertisement has been approved by Jharkhandbihar.com ; or (2) as and when required by Jharkhandbihar.com and if done by Advertiser within the requested time. Any revisions of modifications as requested by Jharkhandbihar.com if not done within the requested time may result in the non-publication of an Ad and cancellation of the relevant order. In such an event, you will not be entitled to any refund of any Fees paid. Modifications or revisions of an Jharkhandbihar.com item listing referred to in an Ad should be made via sms or email at jharkhandbihar.com contact webpage. Jharkhandbihar.com may charge additional fees for some of the revisions. Please review the Fee Schedule before you proceed with a revision. In confirming such revisions, you shall at the same time make payment of the relevant Fees. If the Fees are not paid in full at the same time of requesting a revision, such revision will not have effect. Jharkhandbihar.com shall proceed with the original orders as then confirmed. Jharkhandbihar.com reserves the right to suspend its service temporarily to carry out essential or regular upgrades, maintenance or repairs of the system or network as and when necessary. In the event that a suspension of service occurs or is required. Jharkhandbihar.com will at its best endeavors give advanced notice regarding system suspension that is being pre-scheduled or pre-arranged. Jharkhandbihar.com shall not in any case be liable for any damages or loss or whatsoever which you may suffer as a result of a suspension of service. The provision of Advertising Services or the publication of an Ad may be suspended or terminated by Jharkhandbihar.com at any time if any of the Advertisements is being alleged or suspected to have contravened any of these Terms or Policies. At Jharkhandbihar.com ’s sole discretion, Jharkhandbihar.com may suspend or terminate all or any of the Advertising Services for an indefinite period of time without cause by giving advanced notice to Advertisers. Jharkhandbihar.com agrees to make all efforts to enable you to enjoy the Advertising Services efficiently and conveniently. Jharkhandbihar.com reserves the right to review the Ad and/or to reject the Ad or request for modification in accordance with the Terms and Policies. Jharkhandbihar.com may reject ads at its sole discretion. Any review of Ad by Jharkhandbihar.com does not mean and shall not imply any consent, endorsement or approval by Jharkhandbihar.com of the services or products for which the Advertisement is advertised or shall represent any confirmation or advice from Jharkhandbihar.com as to the compliance of the Ad or the services or products of local laws, regulations, policies or standards. It remains the sole responsibilities of Advertisers to ensure the Advertisement and the underlying products and services are compliant of all applicable laws, regulations, policies and standards. Advertiser warrants that the Ad submitted do not violate any applicable laws, regulations, policies and standards. Advertiser warrant that its Ad submitted are its own property and are original or not copied from others and does not infringe third party rights (including but not limited to intellectual property rights) or if the Ad is not its own property, that Advertiser has already obtained proper license and consent for use of the same on Ad Centre. Advertiser shall be solely responsible for all such Advertisements and designs, content, materials, information it registered or submitted with Jharkhandbihar.com . Advertiser shall not create, post, list, upload, register or submit any Ad whose content, information or pictures are against the Advertising Content Policy. Advertiser shall be responsible for completing all requirements of confirming an order for Advertising Services including payment. Advertiser warrants that all information submitted to Jharkhandbihar.com in registering an account or in confirming an order for Advertising Services is true and accurate and is up-to-date. Advertiser warrants that it has reviewed the Editorial Guidelines and all related guidelines and that its ads do not contravene any of the same. Advertiser warrants that it shall not without prior written consent of Jharkhandbihar.com include hyperlinks in its website to Jharkhandbihar.com Ad Centre. Advertiser warrants that the Ad or any information it submits to Jharkhandbihar.com or uploads on E-Catalog Ad Centre does not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, or other computer programming routines that may damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information and does not create liability for Jharkhandbihar.com or causes Jharkhandbihar.com to lose (in whole or in part) the services of Jharkhandbihar.com ’s suppliers, vendors or contractors. Advertiser warrants that the Ad it submits, registers or uploads with Jharkhandbihar.com for posting, display, or publication Jharkhandbihar.com are not for products, services or items which, contravene Jharkhandbihar.com ’s Prohibited and Restricted Items Policy, the Advertising Content Policy or are otherwise regulated or prohibited by law. Advertiser warrants that it will not select and use search keywords, categories, and/or targeting mechanisms that are not relevant to its ads. Advertiser shall not in any way circumvent or manipulate Jharkhandbihar.com ’s fee structure, the billing process or fees owed to Jharkhandbihar.com . Advertisers who confirmed an order for Advertising Services can only cancel its orders: - (i) before the Account or Ad is approved; (ii) if the Ad is “Rejected”; or (iii) as and when requested by Jharkhandbihar.com . No refund of Fees paid is available on cancellation of an order. Jharkhandbihar.com may charge the Advertiser an appropriate cancellation fee.. Jharkhandbihar.com reserves the right to cancel any orders at its sole discretion if: (i) Jharkhandbihar.com receives reports or if it is suspected or confirmed that the Advertiser and/or its Ad is in breach of or is threatened to be in breach of any of these Terms or Policies; (ii) the Advertiser and/or the Ad or the products or services being advertised for violates any of these Terms, Policies or any laws India or any other country; (iii) any circumstances provided for cancellation in accordance with these Terms or Policies arise; or (iv) in Jharkhandbihar.com ’s reasonable opinion, cancellation of the order is appropriate. In circumstances where the account or E-catalog Ad of an Jharkhandbihar.com user has been terminated or suspended by Jharkhandbihar.com for any reason pursuant to the User Agreement or any other related policies, all orders placed by the same Jharkhandbihar.com account user with Ad Centre will be cancelled automatically and the Advertiser shall not be entitled to refund of any Fees paid. Where an Order has been cancelled pursuant to sub-paragraphs (b) & (c) above, Jharkhandbihar.com reserves the right to reject or delay the re-opening of an account by the same Advertiser and/or accepting or processing further orders for Advertising Services from him/her. Any cancellation of an order or an Account is without prejudice to the rights and remedies which Jharkhandbihar.com is entitled to. You hereby release Jharkhandbihar.com from any liability owe to you or third parties, if any, resulting from any cancellation pursuant to these Terms. No transfer of a confirmed order for an E-catalog Ad or an Account is permitted. Should there be any breach of this clause, Jharkhandbihar.com is entitled to cancel any Account held by all the relevant parties to such transfer, cancel any orders and/or terminate the publication of an Ad immediately. Advertisers and the relevant transferee shall not have any right or recourse against Jharkhandbihar.com . Where an Advertiser is an advertising agent or acts as an agent for a third party, they must possess the necessary grant, consent or approval from the third party for proceeding with orders for the Services. Jharkhandbihar.com reserves the right to seek documentary proof from any person acting as an agent. Jharkhandbihar.com also reserves the right to refuse, terminate or suspend any orders or any Advertising Services if at any time, the agent fails to provide the requested documents to prove its authority or the agent exceeds its authority in confirming an order. In all circumstances, such agent shall indemnify and keep Jharkhandbihar.com indemnified of and hold Jharkhandbihar.com harmless of all or any claims, liabilities, loss, damages, costs and expenses which Jharkhandbihar.com may suffer or incur as a result of such breach. Exclusive agency is not acknowledged or recognized. Advertising agent will have the same access rights, obligations and purchasing privilege as any other Advertisers. The same terms and conditions laid out in these Terms apply to an advertising agency who has registered an Account or ordered E-catalog Ad. The fact that an advertising agency is acting for third party advertisers does not derogate the duty and responsibility of the advertising agency under these Terms and Policies. As between the advertising agency and Jharkhandbihar.com , the advertising agency is contracting as a party. YOU AGREE TO DEFEND, INDEMNIFY AND HOLD JHARKHANDBIHAR.COM AND/OR ITS AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES AND RELATED AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES AND ALL THEIR DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS AND CONTRACTORS HARMLESS FROM AND AGAINST ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, LIABILITIES, DAMAGES, OBLIGATIONS, LOSSESS, COSTS OR DEBT, EXPENSES (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LEGAL COSTS) ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF THE AD CENTRE, YOUR ORDERS FOR ADVERTISING SERVICES OR YOUR BREACH OF ANY OF THE PROVISIONS IN THESE TERMS AND THE POLICIES. You acknowledge and license to Jharkhandbihar.com and its affiliates, subsidiaries, associated or related companies a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, world-wide and sub-licensable (through multiple tiers) license and right to exercise the copyright, trademark, database rights, and all other intellectual property rights you have in your Advertisement/Ad to reproduce, display, show, make available and publicise your Ad as well as the right to host, cache, route, store, copy, modify, reformat, reproduce or distribute your Ad on any media known now or in the future, including any site, application or property owned, operated or provided by Jharkhandbihar.com or a commercial partner with which Jharkhandbihar.com has any agreement to place ads on your behalf. You confirm you have the right and authority to confirm the orders. You further confirm that, if applicable, you have obtained all necessary license or sublicense from any other relevant rights owner for Jharkhandbihar.com to process your orders, reproduce, display, show, make available and publicise the Ad and to perform the Advertising Services you purchase on Ad Centre. You also waive or shall procure the necessary waiver of moral rights to the fullest extent permitted by law for our performing the Advertising Services. Use of the Ad Centre and the Advertising Services shall not in any extent grant you any right, licence or consent to use Jharkhandbihar.com ’s trademarks, service marks, trade names, URLs, copyrighted materials, patents and patent applications. You agree not to challenge Jharkhandbihar.com proprietary rights in the Advertising Services. All goodwill accrued or generated from your use of the Ad Centre and the Advertising Services shall inure to the benefit of Jharkhandbihar.com exclusively. Jharkhandbihar.com is free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained in any communication you send to us without compensation and for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to, developing, manufacturing and marketing products and services using such information. JHARKHANDBIHAR.COM SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY FAILURE OF SYSTEM, INTERNET CONNECTION OR FAILURE OR DELAY IN DELIVERY OF ADVERTISING SERVICES ARISING FROM CAUSES OR EVENTS THAT ARE NOT WITHIN THE CONTROL OF JHARKHANDBIHAR.COM INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FORCE MAJEURE EVENTS. All ADVERTISING SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS”. IN NO EVENT SHALL JHARKHANDBIHAR.COM , ITS PARENT CORPORATION, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, ASSOCIATED OR RELATED ENTITIES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS OR CONTRACTORS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR LOSS WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM ANY (i) ERRORS, MISTAKES OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT ON THE AD CENTRE, (ii) THE EXERCISE BY JHARKHANDBIHAR.COM OF ANY RIGHTS UNDER THESE TERMS OR POLICIES; (iii) PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER, RESULTING FROM YOU USE OF THE ADVERTISING SERVICES OR AD CENTRE, (iv) ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SECURE SERVERS AND/OR ANY AND ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION AND/OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION STORED THEREIN, (v) ANY INTERRUPTION OR DELAY OR CESSATION OR TRANSMISSION TO AND FROM AD CENTRE OR JHARKHANDBIHAR.COM SITES, (vi) ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE, WHICH MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH THE AD CENTRE OR JHARKHANDBIHAR.COM SITES BY ANY THIRD PARTY, AND/OR (vii) ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF YOUR USE OF ANY CONTENT POSTED, EMAILED, TRANSMITTED OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE VIA THE AD CENTRE OR JHARKHANDBIHAR.COM SITES, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT SUCH ENTITY OR PERSON IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. THE FOREGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW IN THE APPLICABLE JURISDICTION. IN ANY EVENT, THE MAXIMUM LIABILITIES OF JHARKHANDBIHAR.COM AND OUR AFFILIATES AND RELATED ENTTIES TO YOU OR THIRD PARTIES SHALL NOT EXCEED: (i) THE AMOUNT OF FEES PAID BY YOU FOR AD CENTRE ADVERTISING SERVICES FOR 6 MONTHS PRIOR TO THE ACTION GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY. GIVEN THE LIMITATIONS IN SYSTEM OR DIFFERENCE IN CONFIGURATION, JHARKHANDBIHAR.COM CANNOT GUARANTEE THE COLOR, QUALITY OR RESOLUTION OF ANY AD PUBLISHED OR DISPLAYED. JHARKHANDBIHAR.COM CANNOT GUARANTEE AND CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTUAL PLACEMENT, POSITIONING, LEVELS OR TIMING OF ANY AD YOU PLACE WHICH YOU AGREE SHALL BE ADJUSTED AT JHARKHANDBIHAR.COM ’S SOLE DISCRETION. In operating the Ad Centre or in dealing with orders or performing the Advertising Services, we shall collect personal information and data (“Personal Information”) from you. We may use third party vendor to power, support and/or manage the Ad Centre and its operation. In such case, your Personal Information may be accessed and/or used by our third party vendor. We view protection of Advertisers' privacy as a very important community principle. We use tracking code data, which may include information about your performance statistics, to analyze trends, monitor efficiencies, maintain the integrity of the tracking code, and promote advertising capabilities and efficiencies. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH OUR COLLECTION AND USE OF THE PERSONAL INFORMATION, PLEAE DO NOT USE OUR AD CENTRE AND SERVICES. Advertisers are solely responsible for the Ad they submitted or registered with the Ad Centre. Jharkhandbihar.com and the Jharkhandbihar.com community work together to keep the sites working properly and free from inappropriate ads. Please report prohibited advertisements and policy breaches to us. Jharkhandbihar.com has put in place procedures for intellectual property rights owners to raise intellectual property concerns about posted ads which may infringe upon the copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights of third parties. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by any of the Ad posted on the Jharkhandbihar.com sites, please notify us in accordance with the procedures set out at Intellectual Property Rights Concerns and the Ad will be dealt with in the manner prescribed. You hereby authorize Jharkhandbihar.com to use technology and tools to retrieve and analyse the content of your Ad, including links, URLs, landing pages and sites, to enable evaluation of compliance of your Ad with these Terms and Policies. All issues and disputes arising from these Terms, Policies or use of the Ad Centre or our Advertising Services account shall be subject to and interpreted pursuant to the laws of India. Advertisers agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Dhanbad(Jharkhand) courts. You are however strongly encouraged to contact Jharkhandbihar.com through Jharkhandbihar.com contact webpage at details if you encounter any problems or difficulties and the parties shall use their best efforts to cooperate to have the issues or disputes resolved. All notices to Jharkhandbihar.com must be sent to Jharkhandbihar.com at Email: contact@Jharkhandbihar.com .Notices to Advertisers shall be sent to the address or email address you provided to Jharkhandbihar.com during the registration process of an account at Ad Centre or as appeared in the record of your existing Jharkhandbihar.com account. Notice shall be deemed given 48 hours after an email is sent, unless the sending party is notified that the email address is invalid. If any provision of these Terms or Policies is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be struck out and the remaining provisions shall remain valid and enforceable. You cannot assign these Terms or the rights and obligations in respect of the Advertising Services to any party without prior written consent of Jharkhandbihar.com . You agree that Jharkhandbihar.com may transfer or assign, at its own discretion, the rights and obligations under these Terms. Our failure or inability to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. Clauses which by their nature shall continue after termination of these Terms or end of the Advertising Services shall survive any termination or expiration of these Terms or Advertising Services. No agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchisor-franchisee relationship is intended or created between you and Jharkhandbihar.com by these Terms. These Terms may be amended by Jharkhandbihar.com from time to time.. Your continued access or use of the Ad Centre or the Advertising Services shall constitute your acceptance of these Terms as revised. You can access the most updated version of these Terms at the footer of the site for the Ad Centre.

2019-04-26T15:08:08Z

http://jharkhandbihar.com/terms.php

America's Advanced Industries produce 17% of the national gross domestic product and serve an important role in the country's economy. Yet this sector is under pressure from eroding competitiveness and national economic drift. Explore this proposal to consider a comprehensive solution to this problem. Experts from The Brookings Institution have published this proposal. As these organizations do not take institutional positions, this proposal reflects the views of the individual authors. Tseren recently graduated from Hofstra University with a dual-major in Economics and Philosophy and a minor in Philosophy of Law. He was born in Kalmykia, Russia and raised in New Jersey and is passionate about public policy. Many nations are increasing their investments in research and development (R&D), STEM workers, and strong regional technology ecosystems just as the US commitment weakens. As a result, recent decades have seen large-scale losses of manufacturing jobs, a growing trade deficit even in advanced technology products, and other economic problems. The advanced industries are characterized by their deep investments in R&D (exceeding $450 per worker) and their large share of STEM workers (over 21% of an advanced industry's workforce can be found in occupations requiring a high-degree of STEM knowledge as defined). These industries encompass the nation’s “tech” sector at its broadest and most consequential. The advanced industry sector is the nation’s top source of the innovation that drives increased productivity, which in turn generates increased profits and market share for firms, growth for industries, and broad economic benefits for households, regions, and the nation. As of 2013, the advanced industries employed 9% of all US workers and comprised 17% of the country's GDP, more than any other sector, including healthcare, finance, or real estate. The advanced industries employ 80% of the nation’s engineers; perform 90% of private-sector R&D; generate approximately 85% of all U.S. patents; and account for 60% of U.S. exports. Advanced industries also support unusually extensive supply chains and other forms of ancillary economic activity. On a per worker basis, advanced industries purchase $236,000 in goods and services from other businesses annually, compared with $67,000 in purchasing by other industries. This spending sustains and creates more jobs. In fact, 2.2 jobs are created domestically for every new advanced industry job—0.8 locally and 1.4 outside of the region. This means that in addition to the 12.3 million workers employed by advanced industries, another 27.1 million U.S. workers owe their jobs to economic activity supported by advanced industries. The sector supports almost 25% of all U.S. jobs directly and indirectly. The US is losing ground on 2 important measures of advanced industry competitiveness: the size of the sector by employment and its output as a share of the total US economy. These measures show our economy pivoting away from advanced industry pursuits more sharply than competitor nations. The US saw the share of its jobs in advanced industries decline from 2000 to 2010 by more than any of the other 14 countries with comparable employment and production data in 2010, the most recent year available from the OECD. By 2010, 9 of the 14 countries were more specialized in advanced industries than the United States. This gradual erosion of US competitiveness is playing out starkly in terms of global trade, where advanced industries are crucial. The US ran a $632 billion trade deficit in advanced industries in 2012. The US imports roughly $1.6 trillion in advanced industry products but exports just $0.9 trillion. Advanced industry trade deficits pose a serious threat to the country’s long-term prosperity. Because most innovation builds on existing technologies and is evolutionary in nature, the concentration of advanced industrial activity and know-how outside of the US puts the nation’s ability to own the next-generation of critical technologies into question. Reducing the trade deficit in advanced industries is essential to slow the erosion of US innovative capacity. Advanced industries are the focal point of innovative activities such as R&D and patenting, but the US advantage on these fronts is also slipping. From 1981 to 2011, the US' share of global patenting and R&D spending declined by 12%. Advanced industries are the prime site of US innovation, but their global dominance is undercut by the nation’s slippage on crucial metrics of innovative capacity and output. Many advanced industry employers report difficulties finding qualified workers, which places a drag on advanced industry competitiveness. A key factor in these difficulties appears to be the sector’s heavy reliance on relatively scarce STEM skills. 60% of all job postings in advanced industries are for STEM workers, compared with 34% outside of advanced industries. Many advanced industry companies are having difficulty finding workers with the needed STEM skills, a problem that undercuts US competitiveness as a location for advanced industry production. At the problem’s core lies the fact that the our education system does not graduate enough college students in STEM fields, nor does it adequately prepare children to attain fluency in mathematical and scientific concepts. US youths and adults alike perform much more poorly on OECD exams of math and science competencies than many of their peers in developed countries. Even students in the top 10% of U.S. performers score well below their highest-scoring peers in other developed countries. This poor academic performance in middle school and adulthood corresponds with low STEM graduation rates at the postsecondary level. Measured in 2 ways—annual STEM graduates per capita and the share of total graduates completing degrees in STEM fields—the United States lags far behind other developed countries. In terms of annual STEM graduates per person aged 20 to 34, the United States ranks 23rd among developed nations. Finland, Korea, the Slovak Republic, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany, Portugal, and Poland—graduate STEM students at a rate at least 50% higher than the US. Similarly, our country ranks a distant 32nd in terms of the percentage of its graduates majoring in STEM fields, with just 13% of graduates choosing majors in science, computer science, or engineering. In Korea and Germany, 27% of college graduates choose these fields, and in countries as diverse as Greece, Mexico, and France, at least 20% of all graduates leave university with a STEM degree. Increasingly, the United States lacks the skills base to sustain advanced industry competitiveness. R&D spending: approximates the resources marshalled in the pursuit of new products, processes, and technologies. STEM: STEM knowledge categories include science (a composite measure that includes biology, chemistry, and physics), math, computer science, and engineering (a composite measure that includes engineering, mechanical, and design knowledge). This report asserts the special importance of the “advanced industries” sector to America's future. Robert D. Atkinson examines the issue of corporate tax reform and lays out key principles for policymakers to consider as well as specific policy recommendations for crafting an innovation-based corporate tax code. A comprehensive policy program to make the U.S. economy flourish again by invigorating enterprises through greater innovation, productivity, and competitiveness. This paper consists of an analysis of the major areas of production of U.S. exports. The findings resulting from this analysis lead the authors to draft policy ideas for federal and state governments as well as metropolitan leaders in innovation to improve America's competitive standing in exports. This series of policy profiles presents the main trends in national science, technology and innovation (STI) policies in support to STI actors. It discusses the rationale for public policy intervention, major aspects of STI policies and STI policy instruments, and recent policy developments across countries. The Brookings Institution is a 501(c)3 public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Their mission is to conduct high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations that advance three broad goals: (1) Strengthen American democracy, (2) foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans, and (3) secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system. The government should recommit to doubling its investment in basic R&D. The nation’s research pledge should also extend to applied R&D. The government also must update how federal R&D is conducted if it is to accelerate the domestic commercialization of innovation. Specifically, the government must embrace and scale up new collaborative formats for delivering public-sector R&D in ways that place federal investments closer to the marketplace, recognize the growing complexity of the innovation system, and improve the chances for commercialization at home. The government should invest in expanding a robust new model of collaborative, use-oriented research aimed at accelerating new product development in the advanced industries sector. Tax policies such as a collaborative R&D tax credit would reward joint university–firm investments. The federal government could allocate a portion of such funding to technology transfer—getting new technologies out of the lab and into firms. The federal government should leverage its modest P-12 funding role to improve accountability and encourage innovation in education, particularly in schools that serve lower-income students. The government should increase investment in applied STEM education at all levels. Federal investments play a significant role in strengthening the workforce pipeline. 14 federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Education, spend more than $4 billion annually on graduate-level research grants and undergraduate fellowships. In addition, many of these agencies fund professional development for STEM educators and STEM education programs from preschool through high school. Given the importance of STEM to national economic competitiveness, the federal government should maintain if not increase its level of support for such activities. At the same time, the federal government should shift the focus of its STEM investments. Currently, the bulk of federal STEM education spending supports bachelor’s degree programs in science fields, with the goal of developing research professionals. Although worthy, that focus means that relatively little funding flows to community colleges, for example, or middle-skilled training. As a result, the nation may be missing out on low-cost opportunities to enhance the skills and earning power of a large segment of the American workforce. A variety of federal agencies have developed a smart set of programs for strengthening regional advanced industry ecosystems. The logic of linking federal hubs to regional clusters should also prompt Washington to reimagine federal assets in regions as ecosystem anchors and free them to engage in local economic development. Federal agencies should open their regional hubs to local exchanges. A. Significantly Expand the Research and Development Tax Credit. Increasing the rate of the Alternative Simplified Credit (ASC) will make the R&D credit more effective. The credit can also drive new innovation if Congress broadens the current credit for collaborative energy-related research to any area of research and expands the rate from 20% to 40%. By broadening the definition of qualifying R&D expenditures to include not just product R&D, but also process R&D, Congress could help manufacturers in particular become more competitive. B. Allow Companies to Expense in the First Year Expenditures on Capital Equipment. Currently companies must depreciate investments in capital equipment over a number of years. Allowing 1st year expensing would result in more investment in capital equipment while at the same time improving overall US tax competitiveness. C. Allow Expenditures on Employee Training to Qualify for the Alternative Simplified R&D Credit. Making workforce training investments eligible for a tax credit would spur firms to invest more in the training of their US workforces, enabling them to be more competitive and productive. Making these changes would not only make the US corporate tax code more competitive with other nations, leading to more higher wage jobs in the United States, it would also spur firms to invest more in the building blocks of growth: research and development, new capital equipment, and workforce training. The US should seek true market openings and regulatory harmonizations that reduce both tariff and nontariff barriers that advanced industry exporters face in foreign markets. Countries that engage in unfair trade practices should be held accountable. A fair market exchange rate of the dollar with the main US trading partners’ currencies could contribute to the expansion of US exports. US government should push for better access to more sectors especially in export markets that are growing rapidly. US should advocate appropriate changes to international trade law to address exchange rates. More bilateral trade agreements and especially multilateral trade agreements will deliver new foreign demand for US goods and services. The federal government should enhance the nascent regional innovation cluster initiatives. Federal export financing should be more targeted, to get more efficiency out of federal funding, reducing their costs upstream. The federal agencies involved in NEI should have a clear coordination process, with transparent distribution of funding and responsibilities for export promotion. The federal government needs to become more federalist in thinking and action and engage more aggressively with the private sector in the export strategy. Incorporate states and metropolitan leaders into the President’s Export Council. NEI should be an interactive and educational forum for all the actors involved, be it government or private sector. Collect better data on markets and export promotion activities. Policymakers should consider how to ensure access to “patient capital”—capital that recognizes the time needed for young and small advanced industry firms to take innovative new products into large-scale production. The Federal government should engage with private and civic sectors to ensure the swift movement of people, goods, services, water, and energy along reliable national and globally connected infrastructure networks. Policy changes on a federal level will need to be matched by initiatives from the state governments and the private sector. Innovation is the fundamental driver of economic growth, and advanced industries represent the very core of the nation’s innovation enterprise. Advanced industries support opportunity in other sectors, and have led the post-recession employment recovery. A stronger advanced industries sector means stronger and more broader economic prosperity in America. The Advanced Industries are the primary site of the R&D spending that drives product and process innovation in the economy. The sector is the nation’s top source of the innovation that drives increased productivity, which in turn generates increased profits and market share for firms, growth for industries, and broad economic benefits for households, regions, and the nation. As these policies make the Advanced Industries stronger and more competitive, we can expect to see more innovation. Stronger funding into K-12 and secondary education will produce a larger abundance of STEM knowledge while a recharged skills pipeline will result in more skilled and experienced STEM workers in the economy. The Advanced Industries sector also factors significantly in building and maintaining the nation’s skilled workforce. A storehouse of the nation’s STEM knowledge base, the sector also serves as a critical repository of skilled workers that over time flow out into the rest of the economy. The Proposal Revitalize America's Advanced Industries needs your vote by Invalid date.

2019-04-23T14:18:49Z

https://thechisel.com/proposal/56746c9c1c8aa9d9692a90fa

Dumplings stuffed with marinated ground pork, cabbage and onions. Crispy rolls stuffed with cabbage, mushroom, and carrot. Crispy rolls stuffed with pork, cabbage, carrot and mushroom. Deep fried wontons stuffed with cream cheese and crab stick. Dumplings stuffed with ground pork in chicken broth base with scallion. Battered fried chunks dark meat chicken sautéed in sweet and spicy brown sauce with bell pepper severed on a bed of broccoli. Beef sautéed in sweet brown sauce with scallion, onion and mushroom served on bed of crispy rice noodle. Shredded white meat chicken, eggs, onion, peas and carrot, white rice stir fried in brown sauce. Shrimps, eggs, onion, peas and carrot, white rice stir fried in brown sauce. Spicy. Dark meat fried chicken in sweet and spicy sauce. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable spring roll and choice of soup. Dark meat chicken chunks batter fried and stir fried in sweet brown sauce with some sesame seed. Served with vege fried rice, vege roll and choice of soup. White meat chicken sautéed in brown sauce with pak choi, mushroom, carrot, broccoli, zucchini and cauliflower. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Dark meat diced chicken sautéed in brown sauce with mushroom, bell pepper and cashews. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. White meat chicken and broccoli sauteed in brown sauce. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Dark meat dices chicken sautéed in spicy brown sauce with peanut, bell pepper and chopped onion. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. White meat chicken sautéed in white sauce with asparagus and mushroom. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. White meat chicken sauteed in white sauce with mushroom, snap peas and carrot. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. White meat chicken sautéed in sweet brown sauce with scallion, onion and mushroom on a bed of crispy white noodle. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. White meat shredded chicken sautéed in spicy garlic brown sauce with bell pepper, water chestnut and woodear. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. White meat batter fried chicken with mango fruit sauce. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Fresh broccoli and shrimp sautéed in brown sauce. Shrimps sautéed in tomatoes spicy sweet sauce with chopped onions. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Shrimps sautéed in spicy brown sauce with bell pepper, peanut and chopped onion. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Shrimps sautéed in white sauce with asparagus and mushroom. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Shrimps batter fried with yellow mango fruit sauce. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Shrimps sautéed in eggs white sauce with peas and carrot. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Tender beef sautéed in sweet brown sauce with scallion, onion and mushroom on a bed of crispy white noodle. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Fresh broccoli and tender beef sautéed in brown sauce. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Shredded beef sautéed in spicy brown sauce with carrot and scallion. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Shredded beef sautéed in brown sauce with onions and bell peppers. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Shredded pork sautéed in spicy brown sauce with firm tofu, Chinese black mushroom, bell pepper and cabbage. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Shredded pork sautéed in brown sauce with mushroom, woodear, eggs, cabbage, bamboo shoot and scallion, 2 pan cakes and plum sauce. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Shredded pork sautéed in garlic spicy sauce with bell pepper, water chestnut and woodear. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. shredded pork and string bean sautéed in brown sauce. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup.wn sauce. Broccoli, zucchini, mushroom, snap peas, cauliflower and carrot sautéed in brown sauce. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Firm tofu, broccoli, zucchini, mushroom, cauliflower, carrot and snap pea sautéed in brown sauce. Chunks eggplant sautéed in spicy brown garlic sauce with bell pepper and scallion. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Firm tofu, bell pepper, peanut and chopped green onion sautéed in spicy brown sauce. Lo mein noodle sautéed in brown sauce with shredded white meat chicken, bean sprout, zucchini, mushroom, snap peas, scallion and carrot. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Lo mien noodle and shrimps sautéed in brown sauce with bean sprout, carrot, zucchini, mushroom, scallion and snap peas. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Lo mein noodle sautéed in brown sauce with shredded beef, bean sprout, carrot, mushroom, scallion, snap pea and zucchini. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Lo mein noodle sautéed in brown sauce with shredded pork, bean sprout, mushroom, snap pea, carrot, scallion and zucchini. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Chicken, shrimp and pork sautéed in brown sauce with lo mein noodle, bean sprout, carrot, zucchini, mushroom, snap pea and scallion. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Rice noodle, eggs, shrimp, chicken sautéed in curry sauce with some bell pepper, onion and bean sprout. Served with vege fried rice, vege roll and choice of soup. Shrimp, chicken and beef sautéed in sweet brown sauce with some scallion, onion, mushroom and dry rice crispy noodle at the bottom. served with choice of soup, fried rice and vegetable roll. sweet BBQ Pork char siew served Lo Mein Noodle with bean sprout in brown sauce, egg, steamed broccoli, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Marinated chicken on skewer grilled to perfection. Served with steamed broccoli, vegetable roll, vegetable fried and choice of soup. Marinated beef on skewer grilled to perfection. Served with steamed broccoli, vegetable roll, vegetable fried and choice of soup. Ramen noodle, pork, seaweed, wood-ear, fish cake, scallion and 1/2 soft boiled egg. Served with pork broth base. Choice of chicken, shrimp, pork, or beef. With mix vegetable (broccoli, zucchini, carrot, mushroom, snap pea and cauliflower) and chicken broth base. Ramen noodle, white meat chicken, 1/2 soft boiled egg, seaweed, fish cake, scallion and wood-ear. Served with chicken broth base. Chicken, Shrimp and Beef sautéed in brown sauce with some mix vegetables. Served with vege fried rice, vege roll and choice of soup. Fresh asparagus and mushroom sauteed in oyster sauce. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Soft white tofu sautéed in spicy brown sauce with chopped green onions. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Beef, chicken, shrimp, mushroom, dry rice noodles, onion and scallion in sweet brown sauce. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable spring roll and choice of soup. Spicy. In curry flavor with chicken, shrimp and eggs. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable spring roll and choice of soup. Beef, chicken, shrimp and mixed vegetable. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable spring roll and choice of soup. Sauce on the side. Served with brown rice, vegetable spring roll and choice of soup. Dark meat fried chicken, sesame seeds and chopped green onion in sweet brown sauce. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable spring roll and choice of soup. Shrimps sautéed in white sauce with bell pepper, bamboo shoot and carrot. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Shredded pork sautéed in black bean sauce with zucchini, onion, mushroom and bell pepper. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Shrimps sautéed in white sauce with snap peas and carrot. Served with vegetable fried rice, vegetable roll and choice of soup. Served with Miso Soup, Ginger Salad, Dumpling & California Roll. 5 pieces of Sushi with California Roll, Miso Soup and Ginger Salad. 7 pieces of Sushi with California Roll, Miso Soup and Ginger Salad. Assorted Sashimi on Sushi Rice, Miso Soup and Ginger Salad. California Roll, Tuna Roll and Shrimp Tempura Roll, Miso Soup and Ginger Salad. 12 pieces of Chef's Choice, Miso Soup and Ginger Salad. 8 pieces of Sashimi & 6 pieces of Sushi, miso soup and Ginger Salad. 15 pieces of Chef's Choice, Miso Soup and Ginger Salad. Shrimp toast around with sesame seeds deep fried till golden brown. Marinated chuck bone-in pork ribs perfect bourbon honey glazed finished. Boiled mussels, chopped onions and bell peppers, shower with black bean sauce. Lightly battered deep fried and toss with salt and pepper. Bread dough and scallion-laden batter, deep fried till golden brown. Dumplings stuffed with ground scallop, shrimp and Chinese vegetable. Very thin dough stuffed with marinated ground shrimp and pork. Marinated white meat chicken on skewer and lightly fried till golden brown. Marinated wings deep fried till golden brown. Dumplings stuffed with ground cabbage, carrot and crystal noodle. Crab craws stuffed with ground shrimp, deep fried till golden brown. Peking sauce on the side. Deep fried battered soft tofu, served with special brown sauce. Crispy rolls stuffed with beef and carrot in curry sauce. Shrimp and pork wontons, served with house Sichuan spicy hot sauce. Crips coating shrimps served with house sweet dipping sauce. White meat chicken sautéed with bell pepper and water chestnut in brown sauce on a bed of crispy rice noodle, 2 pcs fresh lettuce and served with plum sauce. Marinated beef on skewer grilled to perfection. Served with onion, cucumber and peanut sauce. Marinated chicken on skewer grilled to perfection. Served with onion, cucumber and peanut sauce. 1 whole soft-shell crab lightly batter fried till golden brown and toss with some salt and pepper, onion, ginger, jalapeno and cilantro. Jumbo roll stuffed with ground shrimp and scallions. Fresh lettuce, carrot and red cabbage, finished with home made ginger sauce. Crab stick and cucumber, finished with Vinaigrette sauce (Yuzu, lime, orange & lemon juice) and sesame seeds. Cubes of fresh octopus and cucumber, finished with Vinaigrette sauce (Yuzu, lime, orange & lemon juice) and sesame seeds. Black pepper-seared fresh tuna with sesame seeds, onion, cucumber and finished with sesame seeds and Japanese sauce. Cubes of fresh tuna, avocado, onion, masago and cucumber, finished with Japanese sauce and sesame seeds. white tuna, vinaigrette, onion with ponzu sauce, rice wine and a sweet lemon. sliced fresh salmon, tuna, cilantro, Jalapeño peppers, onions & cucumber, finished with sesame seeds & Vinaigrette sauce (Yuzu, lemon, orange and lime juice). Shredded pork, bamboo shoot, mushroom, woodear, eggs, tofu, soya sauce in chicken broths base. Broccoli, mushrooms, carrot, zucchini, cauliflower and snap peas in chicken broths base. Sweet corn, shredded white meat chicken, egg white in chicken broths base. Shrimps, scallops, egg white, tofu, bamboo shoots, mushroom in spicy and sour chicken broths base. White meat chicken, mushroom, snap peas and carrot in chicken broths base with 2 pieces of rice cakes. Shrimps, scallops, egg white, tofu, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, shredded snap peas in chicken broths base. Soft diced white tofu and eggs in chicken broth base. Tender filet mignon and prawns sautéed in oyster sauce with snap peas, broccoli, carrot and black mushroom. Tender prawns sauteed with mango strips and snap peas in a white sauce and top with glazed walnut. Prawns lightly batter fried until golden and crispy. Stir-fried with Grand Marnier and orange sauce. Tender filet mignon sautéed in tomatoes steak sauce on a bed of sautéed onion and mushroom and bottom with some fresh tomato slices. Pre-marinated fresh scallops, sauteed with sugar snap peas, carrots and fresh black mushrooms in wine sauce. Prawns and scallops with celery, red bell peppers and shiitake mushrooms. Topped with pine nuts. This plate served two different flavor. Half plate served with shrimps with mix vegetable sautéed in clear white sauce （chicken broths base). Another half plate served with battered fried shrimp in creamy white sauce. Lobster, shrimp, scallops and fish fillet stir-fried with vegetables (asparagus, snap peas, carrot and black mushroom) in white sauce. Tender beef and scallops sautéed in brown sauce with spinach, zucchini, carrot, snap peas and black mushroom. Classic Chinese treatment of duckling, succulent meat and crispy skin. Served with traditional Chinese pancakes and plum sauce. Prawns and scallops batter fried and served with black peppercorn sauce and snap peas. 1/2 boneless Long Island duckling steamed with honey and soy sauce. Garnished with garden vegetables. Choice of shredded pork, beef, chicken or shrimp, sauteed in a brown sauce, served with fresh garden selection (carrot, zucchini, lettuce and eggs), plum sauce and 4 pan cakes. Whole Red Snapper steamed with ginger and scallions and shower with good quality soya sauce. Steamed salmon filet with black beans, ginger, snap peas and bell pepper in black bean sauce. Tender scallops dipped in water chestnut flour and pan fried until crispy. Served with broccoli. 1/2 Long Island duckling smoked over camphor wood and roasted until crispy. Whole red snapper, batter fried until golden brown, shower with sweet and spicy Hunan sauce with chopped ginger, bell pepper and water chestnut and top with some fresh chopped green onion. This plate comes with two different flavor. Battered fried chicken sautéed in sweet and spicy brown sauce with bell pepper, and other half is comes with mix vegetable and lobster sautéed in white sauce. Tender, marinated beef, lightly battered and stir-fried with dried orange peels in hot spicy and sweet sauce. Cauliflower, hot pepper, black mushrooms, rice wine, sesame oil and 3 cups of rich soup in a casserole with spicy ginger garlic sauce. Spicy. Prawns, chicken filets and scallops sauteed with bell peppers, sugar snap peas, water chestnuts and Chinese dry mushrooms in a spicy sauce. Spicy. Prawns lightly batter fried till golden brown and toss with some salt and pepper, onion, ginger, jalapeno and cilantro. Beef, white meat chicken and shrimps sautéed in sweet brown sauce with scallion, onion and mushroom served on bed of crispy rice noodle. Prawn, white meat chicken and beef sautéed in brown sauce with broccoli, zucchini, carrot, mushroom, snap pea and cauliflower. 3 whole soft-shell crabs, lightly batter fried till golden brown and toss with some salt and pepper, onion, ginger, jalapeno and cilantro. White meat battered fried chicken sautéed in sweet and sour brown sauce with water chestnut, bell peppers and woodear. White meat chicken sautéed in white sauce with mushrooms, snap peas, carrot and bamboo shoots. White meat chicken sautéed in light brown sauce with fresh ginger and scallion on bed of steamed broccoli. White meat chicken sautéed with chili pepper and chopped green onion in spicy brown sauce on bed of steamed broccoli. Dark meat diced chicken sautéed in spicy brown sauce with bell pepper, peanuts and chopped green onions. White meat chicken sautéed in white sauce with mangos, snap peas and carrot. Shredded white meat chicken sautéed in brown sauce with eggs, cabbage, black mushrooms, scallion, bamboo shoot and woodear, served with plum sauce and 4 pancakes. White meat chicken sautéed in white sauce with pineapple, snap peas and carrot. Shredded white meat chicken sautéed in eggs white sauce on bed of spinach. Dark meat diced chicken sautéed in brown sauce with mushrooms, snap peas and top with glazed walnuts. White meat chicken sautéed in sweet brown sauce with scallion, onion and mushroom on bed of crispy white rice noodle. Shredded white meat chicken sautéed in spicy brown sauce with bell peppers, water chestnut and woodear. Shredded white meat chicken sautéed in white sauce with bell peppers, bamboo shoot and to with glazed pine nuts. Lightly fried marinated white meat chicken on skewer, served with steamed broccoli and spicy Szechuan white sauce. White meat chicken sautéed in brown sauce with broccoli. Dark meat diced chicken sautéed in brown sauce with mushrooms, bell peppers and cashews. White meat chicken sautéed in black bean sauce with chopped onions and bell peppers on be of steamed broccoli. white meat chicken sautéed in brown sauce with eggplants and scallion. White meat chicken sautéed in brown sauce with broccoli, snap peas, carrot, cauliflower, mushroom and zucchini. Shredded white meat chicken sautéed in brown sauce with string beans. White meat chicken sautéed in white sauce with snap peas and carrot. Deep fried bone in half duck, served with plum sauce. White meat battered fried chicken, served with yellow fruit sauce. Dark meat chunks chicken battered fried and sautéed in sweet and spicy brown sauce with tangerine peels and served with steamed broccoli. White meat fried chicken sautéed in honey sweet sauce with bell pepper, onion, sesame seed and broccoli. White meat chicken sautéed in Masaman Curry sauce with potatoes, onion, string beans, carrot and cashews. White meat chicken sautéed in Panang Curry sauce with broccoli, bell peppers and bamboo shoot. White meat chicken, onion, peas and carrot sautéed in curry sauce. Beef sautéed in brown sauce with mushrooms, snap peas, carrot and bamboo shoots. Shredded pork sautéed in brown sauce with cabbage, eggs, black mushroom, woodear, scallion, and bamboo shoots, served with plum sauce and 4 pieces of pancakes. Shredded pork sautéed in black bean sauce with zucchini, onion, mushrooms and bell peppers. Shredded pork sautéed in brown sauce with string beans. Shredded pork sautéed in spicy brown sauce with scallion, cabbage, bell pepper, tofu and bamboo shoots. Beef sautéed in brown sauce with pickle ginger, water chestnut and snap peas. Shredded pork sautéed in brown sauce with pickle ginger, water chestnut and snap peas. Shredded beef sautéed in brown sauce with bell pepper and onion. Shredded beef sautéed in spicy brown sauce with water chestnut, woodear and bell pepper. Shredded beef sautéed in brown sauce with string beans. Beef sautéed in brown sauce with bamboo shoots, black mushrooms and scallion. Shredded pork sautéed in spicy brown sauce with bell pepper, woodear and water chestnut. Beef sautéed in spicy brown sauce on bed of steamed broccoli. Beef sautéed in Chinese BBQ sauce with zucchini, bell pepper and mushrooms. Shredded beef sautéed in spicy brown sauce with carrot and scallion. Beef sautéed in brown sauce with broccoli. Beef sautéed in brown sauce with snap peas and carrot. Shredded pork and soft white tofu sautéed in black bean sauce with garlic and jalapino. Tender beef sautéed in Masaman Curry sauce with potatoes, string beans, carrot and cashews. Tender beef sautéed in Panang Curry sauce with broccoli, bell peppers and bamboo shoot. Shredded pork sautéed in Masaman Curry sauce with potatoes, onion, string bean, carrot and cashews. Shredded pork sautéed in Panang Curry sauce with broccoli, bell peppers and bamboo shoot. Battered fried prawns sautéed in sweet and sour brown sauce with bell peppers, water chestnut and woodear. Orange roughy sautéed in brown sauce with mushroom, broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, snap pea and carrot. Orange roughy sautéed in spicy brown sauce served on bed of steamed broccoli. Orange roughy sautéed in sweet rice wine sauce with snap peas, water chestnut and woodear. Calamari sautéed in spicy brown sauce with bell pepper, peanuts and onion. Prawns sautéed in spicy brown sauce with peanuts and bell peppers. Shrimps sautéed in white sauce with bell peppers and top with glazed pine nuts. Prawns and scallops sautéed in spicy brown sauce with snap peas, water chestnut, woodear and bell peppers. Prawns sautéed in brown sauce with eggplant and scallion. Prawns sautéed in egg white sauce with peas and carrot. Prawns sautéed in brown sauce with broccoli, snap peas, carrot, zucchini, cauliflower and mushroom. Prawns sautéed in brown sauce with fresh mushroom, black mushroom and snap peas. Prawns sautéed in brown sauce with snap peas, mushroom and top with glazed walnuts. Shrimps sautéed in white sauce with chopped green onions. Prawns sautéed in white sauce with asparagus and mushrooms. Salmon filet lightly battered fried and snap peas, served with black pepper spicy sauce. Prawns sautéed in tomatoes spicy sauce with chopped onion on bed on steamed broccoli. Prawns sautéed in white sauce with snap peas and carrot. Battered fried prawns and served with yellow fruit sauce. Shrimps sautéed in Masaman Curry sauce with potatoes, onion, string beans, carrot and cashews. Shrimps sautéed in Panang Curry sauce with broccoli, bell peppers and bamboo shoot. Batter fried shrimp with house special yum yum sauce. Shrimp and broccoli sautéed in brown sauce. Crab stick, cucumber, avocado & sesame seeds. Deep Fried Roll with crab stick, cucumber and avocado. Smoked salmon, cream cheese, avocado & sesame seeds. Crab stick, cream cheese, avocado & sesame seeds. Fresh water eel, avocado & sesame seeds, with eel sauce. Fresh salmon, avocado and sesame seeds. tempura battered, massago & mayonnaise, and topped with smoked salmon and house special sweet sauce. smoked salmon, crab stick, avocado, cucumber & sesame seeds with potato chips and sour cream. spicy tuna, fried crab stick and shrimp, topped tempura flakes and served with spicy mayonnaise & house special sweet sauce. spicy tuna, tempura battered with ponzu sauce. fresh salmon, tuna, tilapia, asparagus and crispy rice with ginger sauce. Fresh salmon, tuna, tilapia, cucumber and tempura battered, topped with spicy mayonnaise. Tempura shrimp, avocado & cucumber, with house special sweet sauce. tuna, fresh salmon, yellowtail, cream cheese & crispy rice, with mayonnaise and chili sauce. Crabstick & spicy mayonnaise, topped with eel, red and black tobiko & sesame seeds with house special sweet sauce. tempura crab stick, cucumber, tuna, albacore tuna, salmon and shrimp with massago, green onions and ginger mayonnaise. Crab stick, cucumber & avocado, topped with eel, avocado, red and black tobiko with house special sweet sauce. tempura soft shell crab, cucumber and avocado, topped with red and black tobiko with spicy mayonnaise and house special sweet sauce. Tempura shrimp, spicy tuna and scallions with spicy mayonnaise. sweet eggs, cucumber, daikon, crab stick and shrimp. Tempura shrimp, topped with fresh mango and spicy crabstick, and served with spicy mayonnaise & house special sweet sauce. crab stick, cucumber and avocado, topped with yellowtail, tuna, salmon and red & black tobiko with spicy mayonnaise and house special sweet sauce. tempura soft shell crab and cucumber, topped with smoked salmon and served with spicy mayonnaise and house special sweet sauce. tempura shrimp and cucumber roll, topped with baked crab stick, sesame seeds, massago and spicy mayonnaise. Tempura Lobster, avocado, cucumber, sesame seed, top with spicy mayo, sweet eel sauce and house cream sauce. The consumption of raw or undercooked foods such as meat, poultry, fish, shellfish and eggs, which may contain harmful bacteria may increase your risk of food-borne-illness, especially if you have a pre-existing condition. 12 pieces of Chef's Choice. 12 pieces of sushi, California Roll and Tuna Roll. 8 pieces of sushi and 12 pieces of sashimi. 25 pieces of Chef's Choice. Stir fried with bell pepper, onion, fresh basil and jalapeno, served with slice tomato and fresh lime. Pad Thai Noodle sautéed with eggs and onion, topped with bean sprout and ground peanut, served with fresh lime. Sauteed with broccoli, bell pepper and bamboo shoot in Spicy Panang Curry sauce. Sauteed with potato, onion, string bean and carrot, topped with cashew nuts. Beef, white meat chicken and shrimps sautéed in sweet paprika sauce with fresh basil, bell peppers and onion. Eggplant sautéed in brown sauce with scallion. Eggplant sautéed in spicy brown sauce with scallion and bell peppers. Mushrooms, snap peas and carrot sautéed in white sauce. Firm brown tofu sautéed in spicy sweet brown sauce with bell peppers and steamed broccoli. Firm brown tofu sautéed in brown sauce with broccoli, zucchini, mushroom, snap pea, carrot and cauliflower. Asparagus sautéed in white sauce. Asparagus and mushrooms sautéed in oyster sauce. Broccoli, zucchini, snap peas, carrot, cauliflower and mushrooms sautéed in brown sauce. Spinach sautéed in white sauce with garlic. Stir fried string beans with chopped scallion. Soft white bean curd sautéed in spicy brown sauce with chopped green onions. Soft white bean curd sautéed in brown sauce with bamboo shoots and black mushrooms. Broccoli sautéed in spicy brown sauce. Eggplant and broccoli sautéed in spicy brown sauce. Soft white tofu sautéed in Masaman Curry sauce with potatoes, string beans, carrot and cashews. Soft white tofu sautéed in Panang Curry sauce with broccoli, bell peppers and bamboo shoot. Broccoli, mushroom, eggs, onion, peas and carrot, white rice stir fried in brown sauce. Shredded pork, eggs, onion, peas and carrot, white rice stir fried in brown sauce. Shredded beef, eggs, onion, peas and carrot, white rice stir fried in brown sauce. Shrimp, shredded white meat chicken, shredded pork, eggs, onion, peas and carrot, white rice stir fried in brown sauce. Scallops, pineapples, eggs, peas and carrot, white rice stir fried in white sauce. Shrimps, scallops, crab meat, black mushroom, peas and carrot, white rice stir fried in brown sauce. Shrimp, beef and white meat chicken sautéed in brown sauce with mix vegetables on bed of fried crispy yellow noodle. Soft noodles sautéed in brown sauce with mushroom, zucchini, snap peas, carrot, scallion and bean sprout. Shredded white meat chicken, shrimp and pork sautéed in brown sauce with lo mein, mushroom, zucchini, snap peas, carrot, scallion and bean sprout. Mix vegetable like broccoli, zucchini, mushroom, snap peas, carrot and cauliflower sautéed in brown sauce, served with bed of crispy yellow noodle. Soft rice noodle sautéed in curry sauce with shrimps, chicken, eggs, scallion, onion, bell pepper and bean sprout in curry sauce. Ramen noodle, pork, green onion, wood-ear, bamboo shoot, seaweed, fish cake and soft boiled egg, served with pork broth base. Ramen noodle, white meat chicken, bamboo shoot, seaweed, scallion, wood-ear, fish cake and soft boiled egg, served with chicken broth base. House special sauce on the side. Served with brown rice. Mushrooms, zucchini, green and red bell peppers. Spicy. Green and white onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and zucchini. **Picture shows as imitation chicken. Broccoli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, asparagus, carrots and zuchini. Water chestnuts, bell peppers, mushrooms and woodears. Spicy. Imitation chicken batter fried and still fried with sweet and spicy brown sauce with bell pepper served on bed of steamed broccoli. Sugar snap peas and mushrooms. Broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms and zucchini. Spicy. Bell peppers and peanuts. Spicy. Green onion, white onion, mushrooms and crispy rice noodles. Diced green and red bell peppers. Imitation chicken batter fried and still fried in sweet brown sauce with sesame seeds served on bed of steamed broccoli. Chinese pastry wrap with mung bean paste with thin layer of red bean paste, bottom with some sesame seed. Chinese pastry wrap with red bean paste bottom with sesame seed. Shredded white meat chicken and scallion shower with peanut sesame sauce on bed of cabbage. Marinated cabbage and bell peppers in sweet and spicy sauce. Cold noodles shower with peanut sesame sauce with zucchini. Peeled shrimps served with cocktail sauce and slice lemon. Fresh cucumber, bell pepper, ginger and hot pepper in sweet spicy brown sauce.

2019-04-24T11:57:10Z

https://menupages.com/chin-chin-chinese-sushi-restaurant/3887-peachtree-rd-ne-atlanta

American Empire I: Did the American Revolution Trigger World War I? In a conversation yesterday on World War I, my good friend Jim E. suggested an astonishing but thought-provoking thesis: that the anti-monarchist American Revolution of 1776-1781 precipitated a century-long anti-monarchist trend which led to Kaiser-dominated Germany facing off against the democratic Allies of France and Britain. Jim also recounted the various secret machinations both sides went through to undermine their opponents: Germany supported the anti-czar Lenin and anti-British forces in Ireland and Africa, and even went so far as to prod Mexico to consider invading the U.S. The Allies of course had their own intelligence forces at work around the globe, including Lawrence of Arabia, whose job was to foment revolution in the Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany. None of this was known to the general public on either side. Propaganda reigned supreme, with each side demonizing the other to flog the populace into continuing sacrifices of life and treasure. Two other forces were at work, undermining monarchy beneath the surface: literacy and communication. The American Civil War was the first modern war in the terms of railway logistics, ironclad warships and many other innovations, but it was also the first modern war in the sense that the majority or participants knew how to read and there were newspapers and telegraphs to insure rapid and wide dissemination of war news. The first imperative of any dictatorship/monarchy is to control the flow of news and ideas. A literate, well-informed populace is the natural enemy of monarchy and dictatorship, as Hitler well understood. After its brief, aborted lurch into democracy (recall that Hitler gained power via a free election), Germany renewed its love affair with dictatorship and centralized power, as did Japan. Just as the American Revolution set the stage for World War I, WWI set the stage for World War II. With the complete and total defeat of both Axis powers, monarchy in the West was finally destroyed as a political and cultural force. The American Civil War played a role in World War I as well. On one level, the war was about slavery, the deep, unanswered conflict papered over by the Constitutional Convention. But on another level, it resolved the lingering conflict between states rights and the Federal, centralized government. The modern state capable of global reach and war is by nature centralized. Only by mobilizing an entire modern economy can any nation project power and protect the trading lanes and outposts which generate most of any global economy's net profits. Before the American Revolution, every major government in the world was a monarchy. Afterward, European powers were drawn to dismantle or limit monarchies one way or the other; France convulsed in multiple revolutions and swings from democracy to monarchy, while Russia went down the path of the "dictatorship of the proletariat." In this long view, the entire Cold War was a continuation of the long trend of democracy undermining and then replacing monarchy. The Soviet Union and Maoist China essentially lost the Cold War (along with North Vietnam and North Korea), and all but the latter have undergone slow, as yet incomplete transformations from dictatorships to more open societies and economies. Their transformation is still a work in progress. In this context, it is well to recall what Chou En-Lai replied when asked about the impact of the French Revolution: "It's too soon to say." In other words, from the long perspective of Chinese history, it was too soon to say in 1970 what the full outcome of the 1790s revolution would be. How will the American involvement play out in Iraq? It is definitely too soon to say. Recall that U.S. troops remain in Japan and Germany, 60 years after their defeat, largely to insure their neighbors that the former Axis Powers will never be allowed to slip back into fascism and aggression. As easy as it is to mock "nation building" and "democracy" in the chaos the U.S. has unleashed in Iraq, the genie is definitely out of the bottle in one supremely fundamental way: the media is gloriously, rampantly luxuriously free in Iraq. Let a thousand flowers bloom, indeed; by all accounts, newspapers and flyers arise and fade at a dizzying rate. With high literacy and a free press, Iraq is now under the sway of the long-term trend away from monarchy and dictatorship which has influenced every nation for the past 200+ years. In a peculiar way, Iran and Iraq may well be bound up in a very long-term, largely hidden process of moving away from monarchy and oligarchy toward more open, more deomocratic societies. In this, they are simply following the global trend which has already been in place for hundreds of years. We should also note that machinations don't work long-term. Supporting coups and terrorists never truly turn the tide back to monarchy and closed societies; at best they delay, at frightful cost, the inevitable. In this sense, the entire notion of "empire" becomes suspect. More on that tomorrow. Thank you, Reed H. ($20), for your generous donation in support of this humble site. I am greatly honored by your contribution and readership. All contributors are listed below in acknowledgement of my gratitude. Thank you, Cyril O. ($100), for your astoundingly generous donation in support of this humble site. I am greatly honored by your contribution and readership. All contributors are listed below in acknowledgement of my gratitude. We Told Ya So--But So What? I had to chuckle at the breathless February 4 BusinessWeek feature: The Economy: How Real Was the Prosperity? The Economy: How Real Was the Prosperity? How did a poor dumb writer like me (and many other bloggers) beat BusinessWeek's huge staff of professional journalists like a gong, getting the story they are just now addressing by over two years? Your answer, whatever it may be, says volumes about the pathetic cheerleading state of the mainstream financial media. What's even more stunning is that the BusinessWeek story ran charts which are eerily similar to charts you've seen on the Web for years--there's absolutely nothing new in the BW story except the tacit admission of journalistic incompetence that the "story" was ignored until events forced BW's hand. "Economic history is a never-ending series of episodes based on falsehoods and lies, not truths. It represents the path to big money. The object is to recognize the trend whose premise is false, ride that trend, and step off before it is discredited." Looking at the economy, the skeptic would wonder how the stock market could rally. That's where Mr. Soros steps in to remind us that traders aren't interested in the economy per se, they're interested in the trend. And there are various signals (stochastic cross, MACD extreme, widening Bollinger bands, etc.) which suggest the downward trend of the past few months may well reverse. For how long? Until the trend reverses. Of course the market could swoon once again and even retest the 11,500 level in the short-term. But this long-term chart suggests a primary trend reversal is becoming likely. It is frustrating to a fundamental analyst to be told the market has virtually no relation to reality or the truth; it should, it should! But alas, it doesn't. The economy stinks, but if the DJIA clears resistance around 12,800, it could conceivably hit a new high. Is that a prediction? No, just a way of saying the trend goes on until it reverses. As Mr. Soros put it: "The object is to recognize the trend whose premise is false, ride that trend, and step off before it is discredited." We would do well, I think, to ponder that, even if it runs counter to what we currently believe. Thank you, Kelly M. ($25), for your generous donation in support of this humble site. I am greatly honored by your contribution and readership. All contributors are listed below in acknowledgement of my gratitude. Thank you, Michael S. ($15), for your much-appreciated donation in support of this humble site. I am greatly honored by your contribution and readership. All contributors are listed below in acknowledgement of my gratitude. Are You On the TSA Watch List, Too? Does the U.S. need to harden its transportation, infrastructure and border security? No reasonable person would answer "no." So then the question becomes: how to you effectively do this, as opposed to ineffectively wsting a lot of money and staffing on essentially useless procedures? And that takes us to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Watch List. The TSA is tasked with airport security, which is why all the screeners at airports wear uniforms with "TSA" emblazoned on the back. While there are a number of disturbing reports about harmless/innocent travelers being harassed by TSA employees floating around the Web, I haven't personally encountered any such behavior. My focus today is not on abuse of travelers (certainly a valid topic) but on the absolute stupidity of the Watch List, of which I am a select member. Or maybe not so select. Apparently the List contains thousands of names, the vast majority of whom have absolutely no connection to terrorism--and there is not a scintilla of evidence which would justify their inclusion on a list of "potential threats" or "persons of interest" to U.S. intelligence and security agencies. Want to find out if you're on the TSA watch List? It's easy! Just try to print a boarding pass on your home computer. If you can't--after you've bought the ticket, and selected your seat, and clicked all the appropriate buttons--then guess what: you're on the Watch List! Or more precisely, your name is on the Watch List. I first discovered my inclusion on the Watch List last summer when I couldn't print a boarding pass at home, or at the airport kiosk. This was confirmed on my flight to Honolulu on 1/16/08, as I was left cooling my heels for 45 minutes while various airline employees tried to clear me to fly. How idiotic is the Watch List? If you have a common name like Charles Smith, very. It seems the way the List is compiled is this: somebody somewhere (who gets to add you to the List is shadowy/obscure, as is why you've been added) decides that a certain "Charles Smith" (for example) is somebody the TSA better keep an eye on. So the TSA basically puts every "Charles Smith" in the nation on the Watch List (or every "Charles H. Smith"). Busy airport employees are then tasked with scanning hundreds of "Charles Smiths" to see if you're the bad guy or if you're cleared or if you're apparently not the bad guy. How hard would it be to finger "Charles Hugh Smith" or "Charles Frederick Smith" born on such and such a day? Once you toss in a middle name and birth date, you eliminate about 99% of all "Charles Smiths" or even "Charles H. Smiths". How could any system which tags hundreds of people who happen to share a common name be considered efficient or useful? From what I can gather, this Watch List must be cluttered with thousands of names of people who will be needlessly delayed at airports simply because they happen to have common names such as Sanchez or Brown or Chang. If some security agency has fingered an individual as a potential threat to national security, can't they at least I.D. him correctly? Even if the guy is using aliases, then can't they get his various names and birth dates right? If you can't find out any more about a suspect than his name is "Charles Smith," then do you really have sufficient evidence to start tracking every "Charles Smith"? Or do you in fact just have shoddy law enforcement and intelligence work being passed off as "protecting the nation"? Exactly how does such an idiotic system add even a speck of "security" to the nation's airports? This one example then suggests a further question: how many other of the security measures being overseen by the vast, sprawling Homeland Security bureaucracy are equally useless in terms of security? How many are needlessly annoying to the citizenry and stupendous wastes of tax money? Being on the Watch List raises other questions, too. For instance: which "Charles Smith" is considered such a security risk that he must be screened before flying commercial aircraft? And what evidence fingers him as a security threat to the nation? Has he frequented a church preaching hatred of the U.S.A.? Has C-4 explosive been traced to him? Has he flown to Islamabad and disappeared into the Pakistani hinterlands for long stretches? In other words, has he exhibited any behavior which links him to known terrorist groups or threatening activities such as acquisition of illegal high explosives? Or is he just some poor schmuck who ran afoul of some bureaucrat somewhere, or some guy who a malevolent person secretly reported as "suspicious" to some acquaintance in a security or law enforcement agency? I mean, how likely is it that some guy named "Charles Smith" is involved in terrorist activities? I have to admit a great curiosity about which "Charles Smith" has caused hundreds of the rest of us "Charles Smiths" to become suspects of interest, and what precisely has he done to warrant the interest of our nation's vast security agencies. Domestic terror leanings, perhaps? Hatred of the IRS? Who knows? If standing around in front of the airline counter for 45 minutes while various employees work on clearing you to fly doesn't give you pause, well, try it some time and see how it feels. In the big picture, of course, it's a small delay, and no big deal; if it actually added to the security of the nation or the flight you're about to board, such a delay would be well worth it. But it seemed instead like a totally useless expenditure of airline employees and passengers time, a system designed to waste time and create needless anxiety in completely innocent passengers. If you're really a security risk, then you're on the "No Fly" List. Once you get on this List, you will not be issued a boarding pass under any circumstances, except perhaps with clearance from TSA in Washington. So if the security forces tasked with protecting the citizenry already have a list for known "bad guys" considered serious risks (the No Fly List), then what the heck is the Watch List for except harassment and the churning of millions of records? Somebody's making money processing all these "Watch List" records, to be sure, but their activities don't seem to be adding to the nation's security. And it certainly doesn't take much of this nonsense to make you wonder if Homeland Security has any business maintaining such a flimsy, nonsensical Watch List in the first place. I will be away on family matters from Jan. 16 - 24. I apologize for the lack of new posts in this period, and invite you to explore the voluminous archives on this site: forbidden stories, 2007 archives, Recommended Books/Films, and even the first chapters of a young-adult adventure novel, Claire's Great Adventure. I am sorry, but I will be unable to reply to email until I return. Everywhere you turn, the pundits' predictions are unanimously for "much lower interest rates." Aren't you a little skeptical of any "received wisdom" on which the pundits all agree? I certainly am, as history has time and again thumbed its nose at collective certainty by swerving in the exact opposite direction of what was unanimously predicted as a "sure bet." Low interest rates are supposed to calm the recessionary waters by invigorating the sagging housing market. Sure, lower rates make everything from corporate debt to new auto loans cheaper to service--but the real impact, we're told, will be on housing. Why? Two reasons. First, the family house is the bedrock of 2/3 of the nation's families' wealth--and the key metric in their perception of overall family wealth (up, down, neutral). Second, the last seven years of "prosperity" have been ones of equity expansion (rising stock market and home equity) and equity extraction (re-financing/equity lines of credit). If lower rates can re-ignite housing sales, the hope is that home prices will at least stabilize or perhaps even start rising again. In an economy where 70% of GDP is consumer driven, does anyone actually believe that lowering the cost of corporate borrowing will pull the economy out of recession? So lower mortgage and interest rates are seen as the essential foundation of continued consumer borrowing and the reinvigoration of the consumer's primary asset, their home. Nice, but what if rates don't stay low, but actually start rising? The key point is simple: the U.S. has been able to fund stupendous government deficits and a cheap/easy-money fueled housing bubble because non-U.S. banks and investors were piling up mountains of dollar-based exporting profits and petro-dollars which they needed to invest somewhere. Trillions of these profits flowed into U.S. bonds and debt-based securities (mortgage-backed securities, etc.), enabling cheap, easy-to-get loans and mortgages. So what happens of a global recession knocks down both the profits made by exporting to the U.S., and the demand for oil? Then the pool of hundreds of billions in dollars looking for a home dries up in astonishingly short order. As exporting nations slip into recession and deficit spending, they will tap the savings and capital of their own citizens. The way to do this is raise interest rates. The pool of savings available to the profligate U.S. will dwindle, forcing the U.S. to bid for the shrinking pool of global savings. The only way to secure funding will be to raise the rates of return being paid to savers--i.e., interest rates will rise. Two other forces will exacerbate this trend. As revenues drop along with the price of crude oil, oil exporters will pump even more product to compensate for lower revenues. This will depress prices further, pressuring exporters to pump more, and so on. Secondly, as the global recession depresses corporate profits, global stock markets will tank, erasing trillions in capital. As interest rates rise, the value of existing bonds drops, too, setting up a one-two punch to pension funds, insurance company holdings, and individuals' retirement accounts. The global pool of capital will shrink, along with profits, reserves and savings. All of this seems commonsensical, but we are told again and again that global savings are so robust that rates will stay low for years or even generations. What the pundits overlook is this: those savings are a result of an uprecedented global boom which is now ending. Once the boom dissipates, the profits and savings vanish along with it-- and so does all the cheap money which fueled the boom. Thank you, Cheryl A. ($50), for your amazing donation in support of this humble site. I am greatly honored by your ongoing contributions and readership, and by your suggestions for topics. Does It Really Matter What Currency You Own? Is the trick to preserving purchasing power to put your money in a currency other than the dollar? Perhaps; but as frequent contributor Harun I. reveals, that's certainly not true of the globe's two other major currencies, the euro and the yen. "The latest talk seems to revolve around which currency one should own. I have gone over this ad nauseam but to no avail. Against the basket of commodities (you know, the stuff we must consume to live) know as the Continuous Commodity Index (CCI) the major components of the USD index, the Yen and the Euro, are tanking in purchasing power at the same rate as the Dollar. What this means for the fiat currency system will only be know as a matter of history but the charts suggest it may not be good. What the charts are basically saying is that, in real terms, as long as commodities are priced in dollars it does not matter which currency one owns. I guess the one glimmer of hope is that under-performance leads to out-performance, but against a rising tide of unserviceable debt hope may remain just a glimmer." Is there anything on the horizon which could change the trend? How about a global recession and some decent weather in grain-growing areas? As I have suggested here before, I foresee a recession of such depth, magnitude and speed that oil demand will fall so hard and fast that there will be a global surplus of oil, causing prices to plummet in half or perhaps even 2/3 back to $30/barrel. Grain supplies have been stretched by rising demand and extremes of weather/low yields. Perhaps demand for meat won't drop much in the U.S., but as workers get laid off by the thousands in developing nations, those families will be eating less meat, cutting demand for grain. Toss in a bumper crop here and there, and wheat could fall from $10/bushel to $2/bushel in a relatively short period of time. If China slows its hyper-active building after the August 2008 Olympics, the demand for cement, steel and copper could drop enough to send prices spiraling downward. As the price of gasoline plummets along with global demand for oil, ethenol won't be seen as such a panacea, and corn could suddenly be in surplus again, forcing prices down. Just to widen the speculation to currencies, consider what would happen if any one currency were perceived to be "safer" than the others. What currency that might be--the yuan, the yen, the euro or the dollar--depends on just how roiled the global financial markets become, and which central bank is debasing their currency less than the rest. Severe social disruption could also quickly undermine the perception of a currency's value; indeed, the survival of the euro itself will become doubtful if the great central bank divide between Germany and Everyone Else widens. Or perhaps commodities will slowly begin to be priced in ounces of gold. Once the Emperor (fiat money) has been revealed as naked, then perhaps some nation somewhere will demand a currency which isn't constantly losing purchasing power. That currency would rise, perhaps with amazing speed, as it becomes seen as a relatively secure store of value which is actually outperforming commodities and other currencies. Could a "flight to safety" cause the dollar to reverse course and actually outperform falling commodities? Or could the yuan, euro or yen become a "flight to safety" currency? The cliche is that when the U.S. sneezes, the rest of the world catches cold. Perhaps the major currencies will soon reflect the relative fragility of each currency's home economy; if so, whatever economy suffers the least social turmoil and wealth destruction may be rewarded with a currency which actually outperforms sagging commodities. Or maybe the "commodity-super-cycle" adherents are correct, and global demand will barely be dented by a massive, deep, long U.S. recession. Maybe gold will continue its climb to $3,000/ounce and the dollar will continue its depreciation to near worthlessness. Maybe, but the premise that 75% of the global economy (non-U.S. economies) will be utterly unscathed by the sharp decline of the other 25% (the U.S. economy)--this makes little sense when you you look at the huge surpluses the rest of the world runs with the U.S. If U.S. spending tanks, how can that not affect those who have profited from, and indeed, grown to depend on, exports to the U.S.? And if the exporting nations are actually more vulnerable than they seem, then who can say with any degree of certainty that commodites will continue to outperform all currencies? Could one currency suddenly outperform both the other currencies and commodities? As unlikely as it seems at the moment, we should be open to the possibility. Readers Journal has been updated! Check out all the new opinions and reports. This is another banner week of thoughtful, provocative (and even some zany) ideas. "FYI regarding the air traffic controller strike. My father was an air traffic controller at Boeing Field in Seattle when he retired, just a short time before the strike. He was an air traffic controller in the Air Force in WWII helping the planes over the Hump in China. I remember him sleeping for 8 hours after a shift and then returning to work for another 8 hours. There were not enough controllers hired for the work at hand. There was no radar, and he prefered it that way. All lights, and radio and Sea Tac control tower radar if they needed it. They were interested in some sort of help, but a union was not an option then. The FAA wanted them to buy their own uniforms, but they refused and wore white shirts and ties instead. They were constantly asking for more help, but there was no relief. Wages were not very high. Here's my point on the strike issue. Air traffic controllers were essentially still part of our armed forces under the FAA. What would happen if our armed forces personnel went on strike? They can't. Our defenses would be put at risk. When the Cuban missile crisis occured, they gave the control tower a Red Phone to the White House. My dad also got a rad meter and a sign to put in the front windshield of his 1952 Nash Statesman that said "Air Traffic Controller must get to control tower". Reagan could not allow a strike because our national defense would be at risk. Therefore, they were replaced. I believe this action sent an unintended message to some businesses that they could do the same, and therefore bust some of the smaller unions around the U.S. Hope this was of interest. PS. I was a musician in Vegas Showrooms until our Union Local #369 was busted in the late 80's. " Thank you, Harun, Ron and all the other contributors to Readers Journal for your thought-provoking commentaries. Thank you, Kevin L. ($25), for your much-appreciated donation in support of this humble site. I am greatly honored by your contribution and readership. All contributors are listed below in acknowledgement of my gratitude. Every time I read about the big bucks other sites are pulling in from advertising, I get jealous. Why am I so stupid? Who cares whether there's ads here or not? Why bother with dumb "ideals" when I could be pulling in thousands a month? Then I drop all scruples, honor and my most closely held values and accept a big fat ad. So please welcome our big-bucks sponsor, "Whine" magazine. Thank you, Tanya Z. ($50), for your very generous and much-appreciated donation in support of this humble site. I am greatly honored by your contribution and readership. All contributors are listed below in acknowledgement of my gratitude. Been thinking of contributing, but don't think your few bucks would matter? Hey, it's just you and me here; we don't have any big-bucks advertisers or sponsors. Believe me, it matters; you are it. Without your support, this thing's a tumbleweed blowing aimlessly along in the zephyrs of the Web. What Are the Risks of Hyper-Inflation? More than a few citizens are worried about the possibilty of a hyper-inflationary cycle taking hold in the U.S.--a cycles which would impoverish everyone. Thank you for your most recent submission on Inflation/Deflation and Purchasing Power. I have been a loyal reader of your site for about the past year, and while always interested in your commentaries on the markets in particular, was moved to make a comment for the first time. I too have been sucked into too many expert opinions on whether we will experience I nflation/Deflation or some other esoteric academic iteration or combination of the two. If one looks one can find the concept hotly debated on the web ad nausem (not to imply criticism of the web as at least we can enter into the debate, unlike with mainstream media). Alternatively one can read the commentary of experts (economists and the like) and be swayed back an forth by one side or another. For a time I became captivated and obsessed with learning the answer to the question. Your submission has clarified and simplified the problem for me. However I cannot help thinking that there are still practical realities and impacts to me as an individual investor – depending on whether we experience hyper inflation generally, or a general decline in the cost of housing, consumable products, etc. brought about by an oversupply and a lack of demand (essentially because the spending mania has or will soon end). sold my house 18 months ago, rented a condo, invested one half of the equity in safe interest bearing vehicles and the other half in Gold and Oil/Gas investments. I am also a Canadian and we are fortunate that our currency has done well relative to the rest of the world – at least of late. So far so good. For perhaps many more individuals – who perhaps have not planned ahead, I fear that there will be a significant and continual loss of purchasing power. Am I worried that my equity investments are susceptible to a potential deflationary spiral? Yes. The reason is that less purchasing power in the population generally, means less aggregate spending. Less spending means less demand for goods. Less demand means overcapacity. Overcapacity means lower prices. Eventually less demand for goods and services in general (and agreed not for everything like healthcare, gas, food, etc.), will mean lower corporate profits. Lower corporate profits means lower stock market prices, fewer jobs, etc. One could then make the argument for a downward spiral ala Japan. If that is the consequence then my purchasing power has been negatively impacted if I do not prepare accordingly (e.g. increase the cash component). One often reads that Bernake, as any good Central Banker would, fears “deflation”, and will flood the “system” with money thereby forestalling deflation but as a necessary consequence, will cause prices to increase (agreed the incorrect definition of inflation). Nobody has properly defined what “flooding the system with money” actually means. At least not to me. How does this money get into the hands of the debt satiated consumer who apparently is a key ingredient of the economy (to the tune of about 70% of GDP)? Is it simply as easy as offering 1 % interest rates to the masses? Of course the deflationists take up the argument and say that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink (in other words lower rates and more and easy credit will not induce more spending) when (1) banks are not willing participants, (2) credit is “maxed out”, and (3) people suddenly “get” that it makes sense to save. But what if the hyper-inflationists are right, and one last time the masses are granted this easy money and they in turn drive up the price of all goods. Not just gas, food and healthcare (that are clearly going there anyway) but stocks, Chinese made electronics, and perhaps even Real Estate once again? While I am confident that the value of my gold and gold stocks will appreciate at an even greater rate than general prices, I still have to prepare in a different way for this consequence, do I not? (e.g. decrease my cash component). There are no easy answers, but at least you are bringing the debate down (from the lofty academic level) to the practical and individual level. I hope that you will continue the debate this topic in light of my questions and confusion - which I am sure is shared by many. Perhaps it can be boiled down to one simple question. While the impact of whatever happens (inflation or deflation) is a function of each individual’s circumstances, is it not true that what happens to the general population (ie either a mass loss of purchasing power, or an illusionary increase in purchasing power through dollar devaluation) will in turn impact the individual investor and how they should plan?" Excellent point. Scott. A cycle of hyper-inflation or deflation will certainly affect individual investors. I believe the following simple chart definitively answers the question of just how likely hyper-inflation might be. The question this chart poses is this: would The Powers That Be who own the vast majority of the nation's wealth and influence its policies allow those policies to effectively destroy their wealth? I think it is very safe to say the answer is "no." Next, think about the banks. Let's say a bank has a $200,000 mortgage on a home and is making a nice safe return on that mortgage. Now let's say hyper-inflation explodes and the owner is "earning" $100,000 a month, soon to be $200,000/month. The owner peels off 10% of his pay and in a few months the mortgage is paid off. In terms of purchasing power, the bank received peanuts for what was once a substantial store of value. If you're the banker, how can you make money in a hyper-inflationary cycle? Whatever money you loan today drops precipitously in value tomorrow, and so on, to near-zero. The top 1% do own fixed assets, of course, just like the rest of us, and they are of course diversified around the globe. But their U.S. liquid assets would be rendered worthless by hyper-inflation. Why would they allow that cycle to take hold? Finally, consider their position in a deflationary environment. Things are looking quite cheery for the super-wealthy in a deflationary cycle. All their liquid assets buy more real assets every month. Yes, perhaps there are another 30-40 million debt serfs struggling to make ends meet below them, but the poor have always been present and it hasn't really affected their wealth. So which cycle serves the top 1%? The answer to that question is not hyper-inflation. Therefore policies will not enable, support or allow a hyper-inflationary cycle to take hold. It might be argued the policymakers are playing with a fire they don't understand; but my entire point is those who hold the nation's wealth do understand that fire, and they will never allow it to flare into a conflagration which destroys much of their wealth. Thank you, Renee S.-J. ($10), for your fifth donation in support of this humble site. I am greatly honored by your ongoing contribution and readership. All contributors are listed below in acknowledgement of my gratitude. Reader M.G. sent me a link to a web-based cartoon site which declared a fund-raising goal of $20,000 for the year. A wealthy patron promptly sent in $20,000 in the first week. So wealthy patrons of this site (if any), how about doing the same for this site? Heck, $10,000 would meet my goals for the year. After all, I am not a talented cartoonist, just a poor dumb scribbler. So if $10K is a trivial amount to you, why not give a tip to the poor dumb writer? Now that 25 years of high growth and benign inflation appears to be ending, the term stagflation--stagnant economic growth coupled with stubborn inflation--is once again in the news. Dressed in his best Sunday suit, Fausto Cepponi took his wife and seven-year-old son out for dinner -- at a soup kitchen. With salaries on hold, prices for staples such as pasta and bread rising and mortgages soaring, efforts to keep up appearances -- ``fare la bella figura'' in Italian -- can no longer disguise that thousands of job-holding Italians are failing to make ends meet. They've been labeled ``The New Poor,'' the title of a book published this year. " The problem with inflation is that repricing of contracts (labor contract being one of them) is problematic unless you have leverage. Hence the writers strike and stagehands strikes (both have tremendous leverage). Inflation is in essense a gambit of attacking your costs by raising prices, assuming your own costs will rise but fall short of the net benefit between the two increases. Unfortunately for capital in this battle my guess is the writers will win out in the end. However that doesn't mean that labor won't lose out to capital in other areas. I personally think the coming bankruptcy of small cities and towns will make them merge and eliminate work force, ergo "civil servants" and those people will rejoin the world of the living. You think large corporations got great tax breaks before for shifting new businesses to one state or another, just wait. We will see deals of the century; I am sure offers of 99 years without taxation perhaps even decades of subsidy and tax free bonds financing. Ergo capital for capital that is intensive will become very very low cost but labor will be driven into a state of frenzy so high that it will force politicians to compete to placate it's plight. Imagine having a tough time buying food like the people in the story above and I am sure any wage where you can buy food will look good. That is what we call subsistance wage in one of my classes. Subsistance wage is where you cover your necessities but have no money at all for savings--just like the U.S. wage earner on average--many Americans now live paycheck to paycheck. Although some of us are thriftier and do choose to save, that choice will soon be gone for the majority. The wonderful point about subsistance wage is that is where the capital return is highest for capital. It might seem odd that everything is falling around us but if we think about it the world is making perfect sense. Assets are repricing because they are being sold off by those whom aren't capital holders. People who are laid off by the job cuts in banks etc will probably sell off any 401k they managed to bulk up to pay for the mortgage or daily expenses until they get a job. I would be very reluctant to go to a lower paying job until all my savings were gone too, or if I didn't live with my parents. Prices take a long time to adjust. The short end of the story is basically truckers in Italy stoped all traffic for about 3 days + with food shortages and store shelves going empty along with gas pumps, etc... To get higher wages ofcourse because their income hasn't kept pace with inflation. German train drivers brought local rail services across the country to a standstill to press their demand for higher wages. The railway has refused to meet the union’s demands for a wage increase of as much as 31 percent. Albert makes some key macro points. The first is what he calls labor leverage. Albert's example is the current Hollywood writers strike. The writers have leverage because the production companies are bound by contract to hire union writers. Legally, they cannot just go hire new screenwriters from Bollywood for a hundred bucks a movie/TV show. There is also a fraternal system in Hollywood which does not lend itself to outsourcing of creative material. In other words, the writers have leverage. Eventually the media companies run out of new content and their advertisers go away. Corporate income drops, the stockholders scream, the head honchos' heads roll, and new management cuts a deal to restore profitability. If labor has a stranglehold on corporate revenue/profits, they can actually win. That's leverage. If not, they lose. The opposite of leverage is wage arbitrage. This is the term for moving factories and call centers to places with lower labor costs. Thus the factory moves from the U.S. to China, from Dusseldorf to Bulgaria, from Italy to Sri Lanka, and so on--in an endless chain which eventually leads--and has already led in some cases--to factories in "high cost" China being moved to "low cost" Vietnam. How many jobs in the U.S. are vulnerable to wage arbitrage? A lot. Manufacturing jobs in the U.S. total about 14 million now, while China has about 110 million factory jobs. In one sense, this makes China far more vulnerable to wage arbitrage than the U.S. All the U.S. manufacturing jobs which could be shifted to cut costs have already been moved; those 14 million manufacturing jobs still here are here for a reason. Meanwhile, we have friends whose family business manufactures specialty steel products. They have already moved their factory from China to Vietnam, and they are not alone. There are plenty of stories about wages rising in China to the point that wage abritrage is now a factor in China's growth as well. Albert makes repeated mention of labor union strikes in Europe--especially those in transport. Municipal labor unions have plenty of leverage over public transport and services, as we all know. Subway/train and garbage strikes are usually quickly resolved in the unions' favor. But as Albert points out, what happens on a macro level when cities and public agencies go bankrupt? As readers know, I have been forecasting just such a tidal wave of public bankruptcies for several years. The problem for public unions is they don't control or even influence the revenue side of public agencies' ledgers. The basic model for the past 25 years of union contracts has been this: when unions strike, the easiest way to lower the pain (public outcry at the disruptions, etc.) for agency managers has been to cave in and agree to higher wages/benefits. Then the agency raises ticket prices or taxes. The public has grumbled but never revolted. That will change once people find they can't afford food by the third week of the month. Their sympathy for well-paid transit and public union workers will vanish, and they may, for the first time, refuse to pay the higher ticket prices or higher property taxes. If politicians start losing elections for trying to raise taxes, then agency heads will also roll. Bottom line: it's the politicians who control the revenue stream, and the public has the ultimate leverage on them. If we wander back down memory lane, we can recall that President Reagan was faced by what appeared to be a union with tremendous leverage: the air traffic controllers. Now the air traffic control system is in dire need of a complete (and costly) overhaul, and I am not knowledgeable enough to say whether the union being busted was a good thing for the nation or not. My point is simply this: public officials can stand up to public unions when pushed beyond a certain point--and when the public supports the officials. Europe and the U.S. have a different mix of public and private labor. About 40% of the French workforce is public or semi-public employees. That's a high enough percentage that they can practically control elections and vote in tax increases as a policy of self-interest. But at some point, the private corporations and businesses who are paying the high taxes may rebel, and either close down (in the case of cafes and small businesses) or leave for more hospitable climes--wage and tax arbitrage, another issue Albert raised so preciently. If public revenue (taxes) cannot keep pace with public union demands, then something will have to give. I would anticipate a situation in which transit/rail workers go on strike, demanding higher wages. This is a strategy which has worked exceedingly well for 60 years (since 1945). But alas, they will be told by bankrupt public authorities there simply is no more money. The unions will have a difficult time grasping this strangulation of the public revenue stream. But can't you raise taxes on someone, somewhere? No; all the productive businesses have left, exploiting global wage and tax arbitrage. Many observers in California have noted the flow of jobs from California to other states--that is, wage and tax arbitrage within the U.S. Businesses and jobs leave California for lower-cost states. At an even finer-grained level, businesses leave high-cost San Francisco for lower cost suburbs. Like water flowing to the lowest level, businesses flow to the areas with the lowest wages and taxes. In many cases, they really have no choice; their competitors are already reaping the benefits of lower wages and taxes, and they can cut prices and increase profits as a result. So the question for each of us becomes: how much leverage do we really have? Thank you, Jennifer K. ($10), for your most-welcome support of this humble site. I am greatly honored by your contribution and readership. All contributors are listed below in acknowledgement of my gratitude.

2019-04-23T02:52:27Z

http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2008/01/?widgetType=BlogArchive&widgetId=BlogArchive1&action=toggle&dir=open&toggle=MONTHLY-1398927600000&toggleopen=MONTHLY-1199174400000

What inspired your research in Land Administration and Management? My undergraduate head of department at University of Nsukka, (Enugu campus, Nigeria) whom I found to be a very inspiring Lecturer had a lot of knowledge about land traditions in Nigeria, and whenever he shared his experience in class; it often quickened something in my mind. I realized that the way our land matters were handled, were not really supporting the aspirations of people, and secondly, the socio-economic development of the country (Nigeria). So I felt that there was a need for more research into land policy issues. It was always interesting discussing with him and seeing successive governments come in to pursue their private agenda, without thinking of the long term effect on the people of Nigeria. Whether we like it or not ‘the people’ are the original land owners, and then when their land is taken away ‘from them’ without adequate compensation, and the land is used for things that don’t benefit them in the long run, it is something that impoverishes them more than necessary. Remember that as cities grow, the need for housing and urban uses grow, and it is this same people who keep losing their land, whether by direct market influence or by government acquisition. They are the ones who keep losing and this compounds our social problems, because when they lose, they don’t have good sustenance anymore where they are, and they are forced to migrate to the cities. On getting to the cities, they compound the problem of homelessness, unemployment, poverty and so on, and then we all know the long term effect of proliferation of such problems in urban areas. So these issues are what inspired me and that’s why I did my B.Sc. research on public land acquisition, compensation, and the provisions of various laws (on such matters). As at that time, the Land Use Act (of Nigeria) had only just been introduced and ‘I’ was interested in what changes it would make and how far the influence will be and so on. By the time I went for my Masters degree, I was now looking at land use issues in Lagos, Nigeria and how over time different policies on urban management issues have emerged. However, none of them really was trying to tie things together in a way that could make for harmonized improvement in the urban environment, in housing, in infrastructure and so on. Now, I am looking at land accessibility for private low income housing, because it is as if those who invest in housing focus on the high end of the market, and doing that means they are expecting high profit. Thus, they often don’t mind paying much for land, but then, facts have it that over 70% of the housing available, especially in Lagos, is provided either privately for self use or by petty investors, whom build what we normally regard as tenement buildings with rooms facing a central corridor. We have up to 35 families living in one house and all of them sharing facilities, simply because getting land is expensive. Also, they the real estate developers cannot do better in terms of the profit expectation, and the poverty level of the people they are aiming for. However facts had it that these same people were able to provide about 70% of the housing available to those of the lower income level, and this is not a good situation. Then I looked at the Land Use Act, as I wanted to know whether it was making any positive impact on the situation and whether there were any prospects of improvement, and I could see from my research over time, that although there were few areas where some improvements could be observed. However, when it came to actual accessibility of land, being able to purchase, get a lease, retain and invest there were still several gaps. In a nutshell, these are the issues that pushed me into research on land issues. Can you highlight your current research activities in the area of land administration and management? There is a serious transformation in the land market in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos. Let me just try and put all the issues together. First, one notices that land prices have been escalating at a tremendous rate. For Lagos in particular, we have a thousand percent increase (in land prices) over short periods of time and this has greatly accentuated the demand for land as an investment on its own, so speculative demand is extremely high vis-à-vis legitimate demand for non-speculative uses. The rate of expansion at the urban periphery is such that prices keep escalating and housing development is spreading out towards that direction, but at what cost? Cost to agricultural land uses and cost to so many other issues. So I have been looking at those trends and particularly I have been trying to evaluate changes in land affordability for housing purposes. Let me put it this way; there is a home grown response to the escalation of land prices which manifest itself in the way those who sell land now encourage people to come and buy on instalment basis. So you line up for a purchase of land and you can pay on monthly basis until you have paid the entire cost, or you pay on quarterly basis or pay a huge chunk now and then pay in two other instalments later. It seems to be a more affordable and better approach but at the end of the day a lot of people burn their fingers, they fall victims to fraudulent land sales organisations. On the other hand, there are those who genuinely start the process but then at the end of the day instead of the land price remaining what it was, problems keep popping up. They then keep having to pay more money until they reach a level of frustration that they give up eventually. There are changes in land market in response to accessibility constraints, particularly affordability constraints, so my interest is to study these constraints, analyse them and then come up with ideas on how best to solve these issues. What are the major issues associated with land administration and management in African cities? There is a big issue with regards to titling, which is; providing documentary evidence of land rights. Land rights are issues that pop up a lot of concern from many dimensions because it has linkages with poverty and its proliferation and perpetuation. Then they also have links with issues of gender inequality and so on. Invariably, in most African cities, the people who are worse affected are women and their children who are dependent on them, because traditionally it is either that women’s’ land rights are ignored or relegated or given secondary attention. So, there are issues with land rights and how to really document them, on one hand and in other, to prevent the level of troubles over land in order to promote sustainable development, which is the second issue. Thirdly, in order that government might be able to practice better governance with regards to land. Without proper records of who owns what, you cannot correctly adjudicate when there are issues over ownership. Without proper records, taxation or revenue generation from land is problematic because who do you even charge in the first place or what do you charge them. So, the issue of documenting land rights is a very big one and there have been series of efforts by international organisations to address this problem, but it is not always that they get the success that is expected. Some years back, Hernando de Soto, who is a Peruvian researcher came up with the idea that if documentary titling is provided, you empower the people, thereby taking them out of poverty by expanding their options. When they (the people) have land rights they can be able to approach banks and get loans and be able to start businesses. These ideas were grabbed by the World Bank and other donor agencies, but unfortunately it wasn’t in all cases that providing title yielded the expected result. There were so many other factors attached, but they were not given adequate attention at the point in which his ideas played out. Right now, there are issues such as; titling and the broader aspect of land governance; which entails proper documentary and the application of GIS technology in those areas. There is also the aspect of support for urban agriculture, which is in an area that is relatively new in terms of the attention. Traditionally, agriculture has been regarded as something that is confined to rural areas but with the food crisis which is in some parts of the world, it is now being taken seriously. Planning laws in urban areas within African cities, do not make adequate provisions for agricultural activities. Also, there is the aspect of upgrading of slums. There are so many issues, and in virtually all African cities, there are terrible slum conditions for majority of the poor populace. The slums in African countries look the same in terms of the terrible outlook, that you can hardly tell the difference, and this is a global issue that needs to be addressed. Furthermore, it has to do with combining a proper perception of the importance of land rights with the issue of upgrading of slums and dilapidated urban settlements. Over the years, there have been issues of urban governance, and over time the responsibility has been on municipal authorities, however we now have what is called private public partnership approach to solving these problems. So we can see evidence that it can work and it does work in some parts of the world. There are so many issues that can’t be solved at once; therefore research has to be done to see how we can draw down the lessons in order to forge ahead with improvements. There is need for integrative approaches to solving the problems of urban areas. On the market level, when it comes to land; the integration of formal and informal land market is something that we must keep on addressing for as long as that divergence persists. Also the formal market is operating alongside the informal and there is no proper method to connect the two, and we lose out in the sense that informal markets will continue to yield suboptimal solutions; whereby formal markets will continue to satisfy the needs of only the few. There is need for integrative policies and integrative approaches to urban management and integrative approaches to infrastructure provision. We also need to address the matter of rural-urban drift which is a continuous challenge. We need to address the issue of land grabbing, I don’t often like to use the words land grabbing, because it has so many dimensions. There is the local and the international dimension and I don’t like using them, but it is a reality we need to face in order to evolve solutions, so that rural populations can be allowed to remain where they are and enjoy better socio economic support. This will then make them more productive while the urban area can be free from added pressure. Until we devise a means of stemming the drift, we will keep having urban issues. The scale at which solutions should be addressed, often is not the scale at which we address them. Issues should be addressed in a more balanced and focused approach, and this will lead to collaboration of ideas in all disciplines and across issues. Most times, while we address the urban problems, we also need to ensure that those who are in the rural areas have sustainable means of livelihood. While doing that, those areas may even be more attractive to those who are suffering in the urban area and they will start going back to where they migrated from. This may take a long time, but strategic planning will do. The reason why urban or land problems keep escalating is because, we have not yet approached them holistically. How have these land administration and management issues affected access to decent housing in African cities? When it comes to poor housing conditions in Africa, much of it arises because some things have not been properly coordinated. First, there is a big link between residential and occupation related land uses. Often, that link is not adequately recognised and it is not adequately provided for in our planning activities. For example, people begin to provide spontaneous settlement in areas convenient for them whether regulations permit it or not. This is because it is close to their work place and they just have to find solutions. These settlements are being pulled down by the government, and before you know it a new one is springing forth in another place. A colleague once remarked that what we have now is not slum clearance but ‘slum shifting’. The poor housing and slum issue is really a land matter. Assuming that planning took cognisance of city expansion and the need for integrative settlement, whereby workplace and settlement can be in good proximity then we could minimize some of these problems. Can we really rely on private sector as far as Africa is concerned when it comes to housing provision? Where there are incentives and the private investor perceives that there is profit to be made, they will move into that direction. Also, private sector partners are not well treated by the public sector when it comes to land accessibility. Also, the government is not stable, as a regime spends 4 years and another the same, indicating they change so quickly. The long term nature of real estate investment is not adequately supported because each new government has its own agenda, and its own priorities, and will not always want to follow through with what the previous administration started. The uncertainty in the public sector kills the drive of the people in the private sector. Lastly, there is need for collaboration of all expertise in solving these issues. What needs to be done to address these issues across Africa? Planning can be done ahead of need, it is possible, and it can be done in Africa. Planning can be done in such a way that people are involved, and can take part in it. Our land policies, process and acquisition procedures are packaged in such a way that corporate organizations can access land, can team up with financiers and provide several units of housing at a time. With a mass housing concept you will find out that the more investors are involved, the more competitions will ensue, and the more we will compete such that prices remain stable and then prices begin to fall. The idea of people going into self built is not sustainable, as it takes so long, they face so much trouble and they live below poverty level while the house is being constructed. Without good land provided with basic services, the housing problems will still remain difficult to solve. We can optimize the use of land by either vertically stacking housing units or laterally stacking them as flats. In a place like Lagos, bungalows are not land efficient, we could have block of flats also. I am also trying to look at the transformations in the market and how this is affecting housing delivery, this is a very necessary area because the problems persisting are forcing a new direction in market reaction and it is necessary to explore, assess, evaluate and then come up with real solutions. Also, there is need to improve on land use efficiency, how to optimise land use, and this can be said to be smart growth. Another aspect is encouraging social interaction, by having a more integrated society. The issue of sprawl could be controlled by the smart city approach. My name is Modupe Omirin, I read Estate Management from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1978). I had my M.Sc. degree at University of Reading, England (1980-1981). I returned to Nigeria to gain practical real estate experience after which I joined the Department of Estate Management, University of Lagos in 1983. After lecturing for three years, I got a scholarship to proceed for my Doctoral Degree in the University of Cambridge (1987). I am now a Professor in the Department of Estate Management, University of Lagos. Citation: Omirin, M.M (2018, February 19). Personal Interview. The views expressed in this interview are those of the respondent and do not necessarily represent the position of the Centre of Housing Studies.

2019-04-18T16:51:30Z

http://chsunilag.com/interviews/land-admin-and-mgt-in-african-cities

"We’re messing with people’s identity. It’s really important that we take that seriously. Wellness sites have evaded those same controls and are spreading bad info. Some of the things th(ey) promote don’t actually have scientific validity that my team would be able to stand behind. Think about the publicity around the anti-vaccine movement, and their site traffic.That health side, is where there’s the most potential. People are hungry for information about how to live healthier. And people still are figuring out what to do with information and how to be in charge of themselves." The DNA-testing service has been working its way through FDA regulations since 2013, which Wojcicki said was “frustrating” but understandable. She told Recode’s Kara Swisher that others in the health and science world — such as Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness site Goop — have evaded those same controls and are spreading bad info. Below, we’ve shared a lightly edited full transcript of Kara’s conversation with Anne, which was recorded in front of a live audience at the Rock Health Summit in San Francisco. Kara Swisher: So, we have a lot of things to talk about. Obviously, Anne and I have known each other forever. Anne Wojcicki: A long time. Long time, before when she was a healthcare analyst. And so we’re going to talk about 23andMe, but I think it’s remiss of me not to talk about the current news with Elizabeth Warren and testing. And so I wanted to sort of get Anne’s reaction ... come on, come on. People are going to learn a lot about genetic testing in this period, I think. So let’s talk about this. This is like, you know, you guys have gotten a lot of attention and different things, but this sort of brings a huge focus onto people’s genealogy. Yeah. No, I mean, I think it’s the sense of identity and where people are from, is definitely a hot topic. We have this new podcast episode that specifically talks about race and the definition of race and how it’s being redefined. And years ago — probably four or five years ago — I spoke at the National Association of Reform Rabbis, and I presented them, “Hey, here’s all the different results people are getting.” People find out they’re 5 percent Jewish, 10 percent Jewish, 15 percent Jewish, and they’re walking into synagogues and are like, ‘We want to join, we’re part of the tribe.’” And it’s kind of similar in this case, like what is that definition? What’s the definition of being Jewish? Well I did, but it was interesting to see it based on, it was interesting to see it in my DNA. But I think that’s what’s interesting, is when you see something that’s so obvious to you, but it actually manifests in your DNA. Right. You know what I found out? Everything was in there. It was fascinating. ’Cause he’s so offensive. But it was a really interesting, it was really fun. I really appreciated that time I spent on 23andMe, just to get that. One of my favorite stories ever is, ironically, written by People magazine. And it’s a story of this man who had a one-night stand with this woman; he’s part of the KKK, he was a child of a Grand Klansman. He had a one-night stand with this woman who was Jewish. She then went on to have, they had a child. Went on then to have biracial children with someone who’s African American, someone who’s Latino. So this man, who’s part of the KKK, finds through 23andMe that he actually has these African American, mixed-race children. But in this, I just want to get through this news. In this situation it’s being used for not-nice things. It was initially used, for some reason she did this, and then Trump responded and kept calling her “Pocahontas.” And then she responded. And she was trying to do this in response to that. What does that do to this idea of genetics? ‘Cause now it becomes sort of a clown show, in terms of how you treat it. How do you look at this, when this news thing pops up and you’re one of the companies that is doing this as a business? I think there’s a lot ... I think that it’s hard to battle fake news. And I think the only way you battle fake news is actually just with data. And I think that’s where, again, I’m proud of Carlos Bustamante who’s at Stanford, who’s the one who did the analysis, who’s led a lot of this work. Is that there’s data behind it. So in some ways, I haven’t worried that much about this because I think that there’s data behind it, that supports the validity of somebody gets something that says, “You have a great-great grandparent who is of Native American ancestry.” I think that there’s good scientific explanations for it. And it think that in this day and age, one thing I say, I often say, one of our biggest competitors in this space of science is Goop health and Gwyneth Paltrow because she has such pull. But some of the things that she promotes don’t actually have the scientific validity that my team would be able to stand behind. And so I think in this world we’re seeing all kinds of fake news and fake reports of health, but I think that’s where the only thing that we can do is help educate customers about what is real science. And making sure that we’re only promoting real science. It’s part of where we have a very strict standard about what we give back to people. But you consider Gwyneth Paltrow a competitor. Really, why? I think it’s more about when I think about what people are doing, their engagement in health. So my point more is that there is a lot of people who are able to promote faux science, and I think that that is actually an issue. And part of one of the things that we think about with 23andMe is just promoting scientific literacy, because it’s important for people to know what is real and what is not real. In some ways, it’s actually the same issue that you have right now in news. How do you discern what’s actually real and what’s not? So let’s talk about where the company is and where the area is. Because there’s been a lot of changes. You’ve been working with the FDA ... where do you stand? You’re getting more and more tests. So talk about an update of where you are. We keep working with the FDA on different approval processes. So we recently got the breast cancer approval. So that’s the most recent one, and it was important for us to bring that back because a lot of people — like I mentioned — don’t know that they have Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. So, making sure that if you find out, for instance, that you might be a carrier for one of these genetic variants, but you didn’t know that you had Ashkenazi background, you could potentially develop breast cancer early in your 40s. So again, it’s been really important for me to bring that back. These are things you had initially on 23 ... I have the original one. We did the original one. Well, you still get the PDF. Right, right, right, exactly. So but you’ve added breast cancer, and then? We have breast cancer. We added the ones like Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s — the genetic health risks, we call them. And the first approval we got was carrier status in things like cystic fibrosis. And the one that we’re still, that we talk about, that used to be in the old product but we don’t have back yet, is drug testing. So pharmacogenetics. So whether or not you are likely to respond to a medication. Whether you’re going to be a fast metabolizer or a slow metabolizer. Should you take more of a drug medication or less of that? So that’s one of the ones that we’re still, that we used to have, that we often talk about that we would like to come back. Now, Silicon Valley has often been at odds with the FDA. How do you look at the FDA now? How do you look at their processes? Who is ... The running of the FDA. How has it been under the Trump administration? So Scott Gottlieb is the commissioner. He’s not like a real estate agent, right? Okay, all right. No, the deputy CTO of America was a real estate agent, but go ahead. I have a lot of respect for Scott. Scott’s spent a lot of time in Silicon Valley, so he actually understands, he was a partner for a while at a VC fund. He was in past administrations in the FDA, so I think he actually really knows what he’s doing. And I think he really wants to do the right thing. And I think that sometimes it’s hard. I admire just running a 600-person company. I admire him because trying to shift such a large organization is hard. So, I think he’s making progress in important areas. In what ... What’s progress from your point of view? Well for us, we’re kind of in a ... it’s interesting to note that of all the sort of more direct-to-consumer companies out there, we’re the only ones who’ve gone through the FDA process. So it is a, again, we’re really proud of pioneering a direct-to-consumer path, and we’re really proud of actually, we’re the only ones out there that don’t require a physician’s oversight or a prescription. That said, it’s a hard path. And there’s a reason why there’s not ... no one else is necessarily following it, is actually a hard path. So I would stay it’s still, I think there’s pros and cons of being regulated. It’s definitely, it’s taken a lot of time, and it takes a lot of money. That said, the one thing I’ve learned over the last 12 years is — and I tell this thing to employees all the time — is that we mess with people’s lives. You tell someone that they’re a carrier for BRCA; or you tell someone, “You’re a high risk for blood clots.” Or you tell someone that you’re one-64th Native American. And it has real consequences on their life. And so we’re messing with people’s identity. And it’s really important that we take that seriously. So I understand the need for regulation, and I think the thing that’s been frustrating, there’s a lot of groups out there that there’s ways to sort of circumvent it. And I think that that’s where I worry more. And again, I bring up things like Goop health and others, there’s all kinds of ways to propagate not the most ideal data. Goop did. But think in genetic testing, there’s still a fair number of groups out there that can interpret DNA, and it causes me anxiety that people will get wrong interpretations. Right. So when you look at what you want from this FDA, what do you want? What do you want to have happen? This is heart, correct, this is cardial? Yeah. It tells you whether you’re in atrial fib. So I think that it’s one of those things. I think that Silicon Valley in some ways has a responsibility to be aggressive, and to go forward to the FDA. I worry there’s a lot of companies that I meet with, and people come and get advice all the time; and I worry often that people are doing what they can to circumvent the FDA, and I think that that actually worries me because one of the things that you do need to do, is with regulators, you have to keep them informed about what is happening. ‘Cause that’s how they get educated. And we saw the consequences with Theranos for something that’s not regulated. That again, you mess with, you can really impact people’s lives. So there’s, again, I have a lot of respect for the FDA because I think that they see a lot of the bad. Well that case appears to be outright fraud. Yeah. But it was one of those things. They’re not technically regulated by the FDA. They’re technically regulated by who? They’re regulated by Center for Medicare Services, by CMS, under CLIA. So there’s, it’s a softer regulatory path. So in that capacity they were able to actually get onto the market without the same kind of oversight. So how much did Theranos set back companies like yours? There’s been a lot. There’s been AliveCor, there’s Color, there’s, these are the consumer-facing ones. So I think it’s been a helpful example for people to realize in some ways that not everything that’s out there is actually real. And there’s a number of companies that don’t necessarily go through a real regulatory or a real data science process, and I think that’s actually been a helpful eye-opener for customers in some ways. So talk about the consumer-facing business because it’s a struggle. You’re trying to sell tests, but ultimately, you have to have something else to keep people there. Well the consumer business, we’ve really, the last couple years, especially after we got our first FDA approval or authorizations, the market is there. People are definitely interested in their genetics. They’re interested in the sense of identity. And a lot of it is that the ancestry market really exploded first. And in part because there’s more competition on the ancestry market. But people really are interested in a sense of identity. And I think that that’s where there’s a big gap that’s out there, where people would like to feel connected in a different way. And there’s interesting conversations about what’s actually the definition of family? Is it necessarily the people you’ve grown up with, or is it the people that you are genetically related to? What is that definition of family? So that’s at that health side, is where I think there’s, in many ways, the most potential. People are hungry for ways and information about how to live healthier. And in some ways, people still are figuring out what to do with information and actually, frankly, how to be in charge of themselves. Most people don’t really take ownership of their health. They go to the physician periodically, they kind of watch what they eat, their exercise, I think a lot is changing with the watches that’s coming out. But that’s part of what we’re hoping, to inspire people more and more. It’s like, “You are that center of your health, and the more you take charge of yourself, the healthier you can be.” So I think that that’s ... you will see us have a much bigger focus on health in the coming months. Just about, well yeah, in terms of what you can actually do to help prevent ... you know, if you’re at higher risk for blood clots, what is it that you could do? If you have African ancestry, are you potentially at higher risk for sickle cell? So things like that, like giving people ... and then helping people know what are some of the actions that you could take next. But you don’t have a physician ... a lot of these others you talk about do have physician elements, like Color does, there’s another one ... they come into my office periodically, have different parts of that. They’re often physician-oriented. Well, they’re physician-ordered, but they don’t necessarily have a physician interface. It goes to the physician, right. And that’s because it’s under Medicare, it’s required to. I think that having more and more of a robust health product in terms of like, again, getting the drug reports coming back. So I think that we look at when we can get pharmacogenetics back, it’s kind of like the complete product is back. And then it’s about helping people have the utility, of what do you do next with that? One of the things that we had before the FDA were some of these journeys of, you know, like you’re going into surgery, what are some of the questions for you to think about? And helping people synthesize some of that information. So I think that’s more and more the direction, is that people want to put all those pieces together, and then put that together in the story. And so, again, the world is exploding with the watches and your phones, and the information that you can pull about helping people say, “This is what your genetic risk factors are, this is the information that you’ve given us about how you’re living your life. This is actually how much you’re walking every day, how much you’re sleeping.” Can we actually then have predictions for you? So I think pulling together more and more of that data, and giving you better predictions, or coaching. I get that. But I think people are on a, like a ... you’re familiar with the Google people? Yeah, heard of them, yeah. Yeah, exactly. There’s been a hack there, at Google Plus, which nobody uses, fine. Except for Sergey ... does he still? You know he does, you’re right. I always thought of Google Plus as a social media service for antisocial people. It’s true, right? You see what I’m saying. You got it. You got it completely. You have the Google hack, you have the Facebook hack, you’ve got the privacy issues, you’ve got a privacy bill in California around things like this. You have enormous amounts of important information. And as people input more or use your health things ... can you talk about that? Because, honestly, I think that this techlash against technology is well deserved. Tell exactly what you’re doing and how you’re thinking about it. I think what’s interesting, because we’re doing technically human subjects research, we have an institutional review board, we have an IRB, that oversees the research. Which is actually really different. Like, Google doesn’t have an IRB. Facebook doesn’t have an IRB. There’s no outside group necessarily overseeing how you’re using the data you collected. To be anticipating the consequences. Yeah. Like things like the Golden State Killer. It was actually something that we thought of. We specifically said, one, we don’t allow people to take other samples and upload them into 23andMe and compare it against all the data set. And we don’t do that, because in part, we thought about that in the early days. Well, it’s actually a public dataset, it’s Jedcom. And it’s not necessarily against their terms of service, they ... if you want to do that. And I think that’s part of ... The most important for me is just making sure people are aware. One of my favorite quotes from the Henrietta Lacks movie was that she said, “I would have been happy to consent for research. I just want to know that I was consenting.” And I think that’s a big part, is that people don’t necessarily want their data not to be used, they just want the dignity of knowing that it is being used and how is it being used. So we ask our customers, “Do you want to consent over research?” Over 80 percent of our customers do. At any time, if you decide you no longer want to be part of research, you can opt out, you can say, “I no longer, I’m withdrawing my consent.” If I send you a survey on Crohn’s disease, and you say, “That’s not interesting to me,” [if] you don’t take it, then I can’t use your data on that. If I send you a survey on migraines and you use it, well then we’re using it. But we keep you reminded at the top. So for me, it’s always been about not giving people that opportunity, but just making it really clear that that’s what you’re doing. I think that that’s like the main thing. In some ways like GDPR, I feel I tried to do that, like, “FYI, you have these cookies, this is what’s happening.” But that’s really what we’ve tried to do, is make sure people are aware of what we’re doing. So, we don’t give ... we ask people, most of the BD deals we do, we base on aggregate data, it’s not individual-level data. So for instance, if we were doing a study on, again, on migraines, and we are working with Pfizer, we’re going to give them aggregate data. So we’ll give them the analysis of the results. There are definitely some cases where we re-consent people so that we can give them data back, and we’ve now allowed people the option. There’s some people who just say, “You know what? Use my data for anything you want.” And so there’s people who have another layer of consent and they’re saying, “I’m happy for you to do whatever you want with the data.” So, most of the analysis we do with partners is based on aggregate data. You say most, you just said most, what isn’t? That’s what I’m saying, in this specific example. So for instance, in Parkinson’s Disease, we will consent people for individual-level data, so that data could be shared with Michael J. Fox. But it’s an additional layer of consent. The majority of our research I’d say is aggregate data, some data, but again, that’s where you’re explicitly consenting again for individual-level data use. And what about the protection of the data within your walls? I mean, that’s where we spend ... again, I often say like banks have a lot, like banks pioneer a lot of data security. Your genetic information is really interesting, but your bank account is much more interesting. There’s a lot that we can learn from that sector. So we do everything we can. It’s been a high priority ... like, we have pretty robust now, security team. We’re building that out even more. But it’s been a really high priority for us since Day One. And I’m grateful to my early engineers, and that we had people who came from PayPal and came from banking, who were really focused on data privacy and security. So we do everything we can to make sure we’re building out the infrastructure. Structurally we also do things like we keep your identifying information in a separate dataset from your genetic information. So those two databases don’t speak, unless by a very few number of people. So we structurally tried to set it up to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to protect your privacy. What’s your nightmare scenario here? Because I think like, I do Clear, right, I did Clear and they’ve got my eyeball, whatever, they’ve got my fingerprints, they’ve got my eyeballs. And I just think, “You know what? They’re going to come get me someday.” They just clearly are ... between my tweets and my genetic information, I’m screwed. I’m going right to that camp in “Handmaid’s Tale,” I’m going right there. You can only watch that first episode, it was awful. I couldn’t watch this season. It’s too real. I think that the privacy issues I find for 23andMe are mostly within a family. And it might be, since you talk about your family, let’s say your brother really did not want to know his genetic ancestry, and then you told him. What you just did. So, did you violate his privacy? I’m in jail for that every day of the week. Right, oh yeah. I saw that John Sayles movie. Maybe someone in the audience has a story like that. Well it is getting lumped in, and they’re very differentiated. I mean, there’s a difference between Apple and Google. There’s a difference between Facebook and everybody else. But they get pulled in. I had someone ... you know, you have people from other companies now, who are not affiliated like that going, “Damn Facebook,” I mean, they really are angry because of all the regulation coming this way, it’s because of behavior at Facebook and Google essentially. Right. So what do you do about that? I think that’s where we try to make sure that we stay somewhat differentiated. The one thing I’m really proud of for our customers, is our customers trust us, to an extent. Like it’s, I think we’ve shown to our customers we’re really protective of how we use the information, what we’re trying to do. We’ve proven out for years. We do research for all the right reasons. We publish, we have over 120 publications. We really try to do the right thing. How big a business is that part? Selling other people’s data? But we never sell people’s data. That’s a Mark Zuckerberg answer, I’m sorry. “We never sell data.” I’m like, “No, you just mash it up and sell the insights back to people.” It’s the same thing. Well, okay. I mean, yeah, we, but it’s always under the ... it’s a research partnership. But it’s a revenue stream for you, right? It’s a revenue stream for us. But it’s also about ... like one thing I have found is that our customers who have an illness really want to participate. So for instance, we’re doing a lot more clinical trial recruiting. In part because it’s a need for the pharma companies, but it’s also a real need for customers, customers who have a disease. Somebody wrote me yesterday saying, “I have early onset Alzheimer’s and there’s nothing for me to do.” I was like, “There are things for you to do.” So matching people up is a real service there. We do a lot of research programs with academics and with pharma companies. But more and more what we found is that business line, in some ways, it’s definitely a business for us, but it’s slow, and it’s not huge. So that’s part of the reason why we invest in it and we’re doing our own drug discovery. So we have 13 drugs on our own that we’ve ... you know, we hired Richard Scheller, who came from Genentech, and we’re pursuing that, in part, because we feel like that’s ... again, our mission is about people being able to access, understand and benefit from the human genome. When you think about, “How are you really going to benefit?” It’s that, “I’m going to succeed at keeping you healthy at 100. And I’m either going to keep you healthy at 100 by helping you really know what to do,” so like I said, the consumer product, the action plan, like, “What can I do to help you be healthier?” Or if you do have a disease, can we actually develop a therapy that really helps you benefit and that really could cure you? Right. I’m going to get questions from the audience. But what do you think of all these... I recently had a meeting with a ton of Silicon Valley people on this anti-aging thing, and I’m not talking about only lotions. I think it is. I mean, I look at being healthy at 100. I feel like we have a long ways to go even to aspire for that. You know, and in some ways, like they’re some of the most basic aspects, as you know, understanding diabetes, obesity and smoking. You know, those three really just have such a massive impact on health on most people here. I’m inspired by genetics, because I think one thing that genetics really can do is help eliminate a lot of early premature deaths. So, BRCA being a good example. You know, people who are high-risk, who potentially die of ovarian or breast cancer ... You could potentially prevent that. There’s people with sudden cardiac death. You could potentially really help them know they have that, and then help prevent that. But what do you ... Look at these. Don’t wanna die? Don’t wanna die soon? I haven’t ... You know, we don’t spend a huge amount of time on these individuals. I mean, I think that there’s, without a ... I think Silicon Valley has some of the reputation for the, you know, “We want to live forever” mentality and helping think that through. I think understanding aging ... Like those mouse studies. You take the young blood and you put it in the old blood? So, I think there’s some ... Aging itself? Scientifically, it’s a really interesting question. We don’t fully understand aging, so I’m a huge fan of understanding that. I know Calico is doing a lot with that. So trying to understand it, I think, is really interesting. But I think that the other pursuits, which I’m not as familiar with, in terms of like, “Yes, let’s try to live to 500,” I think there’s a lot of ... Again, it’s a little bit more out there to me. I just, I’m waiting to see some of the data. Like, who can make me healthy at 100, first? Let’s aspire for that. Right. Well, let’s ask some questions here. Yeah. GSK… So, like I mentioned before, we’re doing these partnerships with pharma partners, and we found that there’s a real hesitancy. A lot of pharma partners just didn’t really buy in to what exactly can you do with genetics? Is that really gonna help with drug discovery? So, we hired Richard Scheller, who came from Genentech. We built up our own drug discovery team. It’s great, it’s been really successful. It’s been surprising how many discoveries we’ve been able to take from concept into development. We now have 13 programs that are in the research stage that we’re making molecules, and in some ways we are almost sinking from our own success. Where, each molecule is expensive. And it’s not like we just focus on multiple sclerosis or Crohn’s. We have a wide variety of diseases that we’re focusing on. As we planned how we’re gonna scale, it became really clear that we need the expertise and the ability to scale that a large pharmaceutical company is going to have. Frankly, we need medical teams across a wide variety of diseases. So, the partnership with GSK, I think, is really ... Or the collaboration, to say ... Is super-exciting, because we can do what we do best, and they can do what they do best, and they’re really gung-ho about genetics and the potential there. Hal Barron, who runs the research team at GSK, used to work with Richard Scheller at Genentech, so we kind of brought the band back together. So there’s a lot of synergy there, and I think there’s a lot of ways for us to be able to accelerate and prove out how people are gonna benefit from the human genome. Yeah, we’re not part of it. I mean, I think it’s a really interesting issue — and I think one thing, just to highlight for people, I think a lot of people don’t realize this — is that your medical samples could be subpoenaed, also, for criminal cases. There was a story out there about a woman whose pap smear was subpoenaed and actually used to solve a crime. So, again, I look at ... I’m a huge fan of transparency. Again, people want to consent, and they want to be part of research for all kinds of reasons. But when I go in to the doctor and I have any kind of procedure, I’m assuming it’s just for that procedure. And I find that there’s a whole new world that I’m really focused on. You know, we have GDPR in technology now, or in the internet. Where’s that equivalent in healthcare? And why is it ... Again, you look at Henrietta Lacks and others. Why is it that my healthcare information is circulating all over and I have no access to it? Right. So, the right to be forgotten, really. Right. There’s definitely no right to be forgotten in healthcare. No, not at all. All right. “Who provides your ethical North Star? The board, you, a chief ethicist? Will she or the consumer demand or determine where we draw the line?” Have you thought about having one? I know some companies, tech companies — I’m gonna be writing about it — are hiring for that role. You know, what’s interesting ... We tried. We had this issue where, in the early days, we interviewed ethicists all over the place and we actually had offers out. And then, every ethicist would engage with us and then they would say, “Oh, no. We’ll never speak to you again.” And I was like, “Why?” And they’re like, “This is so exciting. This is a career-making opportunity. We can only talk about you from our ivory tower.” So, we actually couldn’t get an ethicist to join because people found it was such an interesting hot topic. And so, frankly, what I have found is that an opinion of one is not as helpful as us just actively engaging all the time. So, there’s something ... Again, in healthcare, there’s the ethical/legal/social, ELSI group. Joanna Mountain, who is one of the first scientists we hired, was actively involved with the whole ELSI community, and we do a lot. We got the feedback in the early days. Thankful to 23andMe, we generated tons of funding for this community, because there’s suddenly so much interest and discussion in this topic. So, we spend a lot of time thinking about that. Who does that for me? You know, I think ... I think that’s kind of your soul, like how you’re brought up. To me, it’s my family keeps me very grounded. Others. Also, in some ways, being in Silicon Valley, I see for sure what I don’t want to be, and then I’m also reminded of what I do want to be. Man, they’re gonna have to clean a lot of gurneys, these people. Yeah. Oh, no. I mean, the problem is definitely ... But I think it’s keeping ... You know. Part of keeping yourself real in the world of ... Like, I love interacting with our customers because it helps me stay grounded with the mission of the company, and really what is our impact? And it keeps changing over time. Self-pay. I think people don’t realize that when insurance companies pay for your information, they own it, and I think it’s a really important ... Again, I go through this GDPR. Of, like, where is the GDPR of healthcare? You know. I really question where ... If you want to have privacy? Your insurance company, they pay. They have all kinds of rights to the information. And so, I’m a huge fan ... All kinds of countries outside the United States, there’s just a self-pay option. Healthcare, in my mind, should be affordable. It should be accessible. And I’m a big supporter ... 23andMe, we would be a very different product and we would be a very different company and price point if we were taking reimbursement. Right. Okay. “What’s the one lesson you’ve learned since the company’s founding that you wish you knew at the very beginning?” That’s a very nice open-ended question. So, I think that that was one aspect that we missed early on, was just how hard it is going to be to educate people about why they should want their genetic information. I’ll take the last one. You have to take both. We spend a lot of time really making sure ... One of the most interesting issues in healthcare is that it is very much biased toward a European population. And 23andMe, even ... You know. We’ll be 75 percent European. Even at that percentage of 25 percent diversity, it’s the largest data sets that are out there in these different populations. So, we do have a number of initiatives going on right now to make sure that we can actually improve the product for different communities, and then make sure that we’re actually selling and that we are giving it away to specific communities as needed. Diversity in research, I think, is one aspect. It’s really poorly understood how much it could benefit everybody, and I think that’s where ... When you think about personalized medicine, I don’t necessarily think about ... You know, people talk a lot about specific drugs. I think about, “What is the right blood pressure for you, based on your ancestry, based on everything?” Some of these measurements are just really not well-defined, and I think that’s where we could actually do a lot. Right. They’re well-defined for one group of people. For one group of people. And I think that’s where there’s a lot that we could do, but I think about that. Really understanding the diversity. And then, the female founders? I am female. I think it’s important to support. I mean, as more and more ... I have a hard ... I spend a lot of time with my sisters and so I’m kind of surrounded by women all the time. There’s my moments where I’m like, “I really should hang out with more men.” So in some ways, I’ve had that privilege, and I also see how great it is to work in gender-balanced environments. I think you’re one of the only woman CEOs in the Valley. One of the few. I’m trying to think. I’m one of the few. There’s maybe four. Another one is your sister. Yeah. I know. That’s why we hang out. Right, right. We can’t go by the Wojcicki sisters, the Wojcickis. But really, you and your sister ... Who else is a CEO? There’s not a lot. And it’s really too bad, because I think the diversity makes such a positive difference. It’s so much better when you have a diverse group of people. We had a time period where we had a management team that was entirely women, and we were like, “We need to hire a man.” We’re very unusual in that way. But it’s in part, diversity really benefits. You see all the biases. I think it’s an issue. So if there’s things that I can do, I should definitely do more of it. I just, it’s been a lot. You’re busy. Last question from me. You’re gonna go public or sell or what? I think that being public ... I don’t think there’s any glory in being public. I actually think being public is almost the last-resort option, because you lose all your privacy. You lose so much when you have to be a public company, and then you’re also coming as a public analyst. Like, you have all these people just paid to spy on you, and trying to get ahold of your employees and do all kinds of things. So, there’s no glory. I think that what people always want is, they want liquidity. And there’s all kinds of fabulous new ways these days of actually having liquidity. And I think if we ever do go public, it’s gonna be when we’re a much more mature, stable company. Say again, sell? I don’t think ... You know, we don’t fit with anyone. And we’re also in some ways such a rebellious brand that we should stay independent. We need that freedom. So we’re not, we’re definitely not ... No. We’re not selling. All right, then. Thank you, Anne Wojcicki.

2019-04-25T20:42:20Z

https://www.thelowdownblog.com/2018/10/23andme-ceo-says-biggest-competitor-is.html

GOOD DETAILS ARE OFTEN THE ONES YOU DON'T NOTICE. The doors, windows, and colors are obviously new, but the home's overall appearance remains relatively unchanged. The biggest differences are the deep-set window and door trim and the new continuous fascia on the right side of the roof. The window details hint at the thick layer of rigid foam insulation just beneath the siding; the fascia alteration was primarily for aesthetic reasons but had the nice side effect of simplifying some flashing details. What started out as a relatively straightforward re-siding project on this 80-year-old duplex in Arlington, Mass., ultimately evolved into part of an ambitious superinsulation pilot program for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and the regional utility company, NSTAR. Upon contacting the state for technical advice, homeowner Alex Cheimets learned that the DOER was in the middle of developing standards for net-zero-energy buildings and agreed to include his home in the research. The state brought NSTAR into the project. NSTAR brought in Building Science Corp. to donate most of the materials, including the rigid foam (Dow), spray foam (Anderson Insulation), roofing (Atlas), and siding (NuCedar). This brought the budget closer to what Alex had initially set out to spend. The hope is that lessons learned on this retrofit could help lower the cost on similar projects in the future. Rather than adding complex heating systems or renewable energy sources, this project focused on keeping the actual demand for energy to a minimum. More than just minimizing disturbance of the existing home, adding insulation to the exterior would effectively reduce thermal bridging through the framing. Plus, with 2×4 walls (already filled with cellulose insulation), there was no other reasonable way to get the R-values they needed. Contractors from Synergy Companies Construction started by stripping the roof. Then they applied two layers of 3-in. foil-faced polyisocyanurate foam, a layer of plywood sheathing, a self-adhesive roofing underlayment, and asphalt shingles. Alex chose the shingles for their durability (50-plus years) and their light, heat-reflecting color. After the roof was complete and the double-pane, fiberglass-framed windows were in, the crew covered the exterior walls with four inches of rigid foam (2 layers of 2-inch) and taped all the seams. Of course air and weather sealing are just as important as insulation in a project like this, so Synergy meticulously caulked and flashed all windows and doors before the foam went on. Regardless of the choice to replace the existing windows, the new flashing was essential because superinsulated walls dry much more slowly than old, leaky walls. Furring strips screwed through the sufficiently dense foam provided a sturdy substrate for the new, prefinished cellular PVC clapboards. It did take a fair amount of shimming and tweaking to get everything straight, however. Even though exterior insulation was deemed the best option for most of this remodel, there were some exceptions. The energy consultants at Building Science felt that the ideal way to address the basement was to insulate the interior surface of the foundation, in order to recapture losses from the mechanical equipment and distribution system during the heating season. The project was already many times larger and more complicated than originally planned, and after careful consideration, Alex Cheimets decided that this was one place where he was comfortable scaling back. The good news is that his choice to isolate the space by installing between 4 and 8 inches of open-cell spray foam on the basement ceiling does not prevent him from insulating the walls in the future, should he reconsider. The same low-density spray foam used below the living space would also give the roof some additional resistance to heat loss (and gain). After stripping a good deal of poorly installed fiberglass from most of the attic, the insulation contractors filled the empty rafter bays completely with foam. This was especially important for bridging the gap where the walls meet the roof. Although preventing moisture, air, and heat from moving through the building envelope was the main priority, it wasn’t the only one. New heat-recovery ventilators (HRVs) in each apartment ensure that these now-supertight spaces will have good air to breathe. To further the goal of energy efficiency, Alex converted all the lighting in his apartment to CFLs and switched to an on-demand, gas-fired hot-water heater. One old steam boiler still provides all of the heat for his place, and his downstairs neighbor chose to keep her entire heat and hot water system intact for now. Alex plans to consider upgrading to a more efficient boiler after evaluating a year’s worth of energy data. With several severe winter storms and a steady flow of reporters, government officials, and product reps, Synergy was still able to wrap up the whole project in about six months. This was far from its first experience with deep energy retrofits, and it only emphasized the company’s desire to be a continuing force in environmentally responsible construction. During the project, Alex had a revelation that should be an inspiration to energy-conscious builders everywhere: “Seemed a shame to rig the house with the best insulation known to man but yet have no idea how much energy the house was using or saving.” Data-logging equipment from Onset Computer now tracks his home’s indoor and outdoor temperatures and humidity levels. Two neighbors volunteered to install similar systems in their conventionally insulated homes to collect comparative information. Daily measurements of fuel consumption made by an ultrasonic sensor (from VisiTank) fastened to Alex’s oil tank round out the set of data needed to accurately evaluate the home’s performance. For more information on post-retrofit energy use at this house, see . Once the ball got rolling, Alex quickly realized that compromises were necessary to keep the project moving— particularly in material choices. If he had had his way, he would have taken more time to evaluate the sustainability and resource efficiency of everything that went into the home. It depends on the conditions of the particular home, but the consensus seems to be that exterior insulation is the smartest way to boost energy efficiency of existing homes. Other than what Alex describes as a "week of hell" during the basement and attic demolition, the interior remained reasonably undisturbed during the entire process. The place was drafty and cold at times, but that's hardly unexpected when tearing into a house in the middle of a New England winter. Building Science Corp. had specified 4-in. rigid insulation on the roof, but when Alex found out that 6-in. foam was available, he told Synergy, and they decided to go for it. A box of broken, 10-in. screws, a new set of impact drivers, and a week's worth of frustration later, they wonder if it was worth it. In the end, the roof worked out well, but the extra effort and cost were hard to justify. and plan to use information gathered from this insulation retrofit to help Massachusetts residents greatly improve the energy efficiency of their homes. What was the use of the attic space? I assume it was not ventilated. Attic is 60% living space with 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. The balance are crawl spaces. The attic is not ventilated. At the risk of mis-stating the consultant's report.......they recommend a "compact roof" which is unventilated. They also recommend that all barriers be on the same plane (water, vapor, insulation) meaning on or under the roof. Alex, I have been looking at your blog. This photo of the icicle seems wrong...it looks like the furring strips are in the wrong place...creating a cold channel between the outsulation and the weather barrier...and there apears to be no furring strip between the siding and the outsulation. Warm moist air from the house may be leaking into the channel..condensing and freezing. Alex, I see the drainscreen furring strip now. It was out of frame on my screen.. so I had to pan to the right to see it. Did you use any kind of insect screen at the bottom of the drainage channel? Do you see any issues with the iso on the exterior as a vapor barrier? Wouldn't this trap moisture in the cellulose and create a problem eventually even though cellulose is tolerant to moisture? i assume the principle is the assembly will dry to the inside?? Mark, this seems to be a question that many people are concerned with, as is evident in many of the [discussions](https://lakesideca.info/search/node/vapor%20barrier) on our website. If you browse through the [building enclosure overview](https://lakesideca.info/green-basics/good-building-enclosure-does-four-things-if-your-enclosure-isnt-good-it-isnt-green) in our Green Basics section you wiil find plenty of useful information. This envelope of this particular project closely resembles work Building Science Corp. did in [one of their own buildings](). The principles of how the wall assembly works are covered [here](). John, There is a plastic insect screen at the bottom of the wall assembly. Mark, the thickness of the polyiso insulation is such that the vapor barrier will be too warm for the vapor to condense. As Rob indicated, this is Building Science Corp's SOP. That said, this was the issue that kept me awake at night the most, and I'm not using that phrase as an expression. Awake! That said, I discussed this concern with the Mass Dept of Energy Resources, and other green developers and energy modelers and they all agreed with the BSC design. And so here we are. What about the Network of cavities? I understand the outsulation concept for new construction where you can create an almost perfect air barrier from the inside to the outside. It seems like the spray foam at the underside of the roof deck will take care of things in your attic..but what about the walls? How did you achieve an almost perfect air barrier in the existing walls? What were the blower door results? The icicle photo from your blog is still a little disconcerting. It looks like the ice is forming between the sheathing and the WRB not between the WRB and the outsulation. Did you ever confirm the source of the icicle? Agreed that the outsulation in theory will keep the WRB "warm enough"... but what about the network of cavities between the polyiso panels? What keeps cold outside air out of those cavities? I know that the panels are taped on the face..what about all the edges near windows and at the top and bottom of the wall? Why is this any different than The SIP failure problem in Juneau Alaska? John, maybe Alex will have something more to add, but what are you most worried is going to happen? I don't see how Alex's insulation compares to the SIP problem you mentioned. With the multiple drainage planes, even if there were some leaks, most of the moisuture would find its way downward out of the assembly. Also, there's no OSB (or other moisture sensitive materials) in a place where moisture would be trapped as in the SIP roof scenario. Alex also pointed out that, even if he hadn't replaced the windows, he still would have pulled all of the old windows to re-flash and air seal them to work with the new wall assembly. I know..I worry too much and ask too many questions... Jeneau Alaska is an extreme climate and an extreme example and the fact that this project does not involve OSB is a good thing. My understanding is that the Jeneau SIP failures were do to air leakage and moisture accumulation. The network of cavities between the sip panels was not a large area... but large enough to cause damage. The Icicle photo from Alex's Blog made me wonder if the Walls were airtight. Perhaps the icicle is the result of improper flashing or a plumbing leak..but what if is not? Was there a plumbing leak? Alex..did you find a plumbing leak?Or did warm moist air from the basement or house find its way to an interface with a cold crevice between the panels or a cold zone between the panels and the existing wall? It is not clear to me from the article or the Blog if any measures were taken to make the walls airtight before the tyvek and Polyiso were installed. If the walls are airtight ..and if the icicle is the result of a plumbing leak..then I have no concerns. Alex, I really enjoyed your blog. Thank you for documenting your project and your thoughts. Was the 4 inches of rigid foam in place when that photo was taken? Why did you choose to not spray foam on the underside of the floor joists and encapsulate the joists like you did in the attic? Concerning the HRV in the basement: Why is there no insulation on the duct that supplies the fresh preheated air to the house? It seems to me like you are "exchanging" the heat with the basement that you just paid to recover. Thanks for posting and look forward to reading the details. I built a SIPs home in 2004 It is an Urban in-fill, two-family, "green", SIPs & Universal Design - Age-in-Place home. Now I have to buy an additional home at a new job location to live in during the work-week. I am "Spoiled" by SIPs construction and thought I would have to build again to get what I crave. Now seeing that retrofitting is possible - I can look at normal houses on the market and dream of changing them. OF course training the construction crew is often the toughest part. Sorry guys for these late answers. I did not know this was continuing. The icicle was another one of those sleepless night issues until I realized that it was located where the outdoor water spigot once was and would return. The old spigot was cut off during construction, and the inner valve was 99.8% closed. That 0.2% formed the icicle until the pipe extension and new spigot were attached. Problem solved. Fine! Another thing to keep me awake! :-) Actually firring strips lock down the panels squeezing out the air between panels. The taped seams makes air entry difficult, but the fasteners and firring strips eliminates venting between the panels. Beyond this explanation, I'm not qualified to answer. The walls inside are plaster on lathe. Not airtight. The other walls are polyiso on tyvek on sheathing. There is no inner vapor barrier. The foil faced on the Polyiso is the outer vapor barrier. All the windows and doors have been reflashed. The window (jam, frame?) boxy thing extends from the current window out and manages the water out. The reality is that I'm relying on the skills of the contractor and the background work of the consultants. In the photo referenced, the 6" roof insulation was already installed, but the crawl space window in the photo was to be removed so the 4" of exterior polyiso was not yet installed on this particular outer wall. The foaming was mostly, though not entirely, used to seal leaks, so encapsulating the beams was not necessary. Further, encapsulation would have had problems of burying water lines and wiring, and reducing head room. -post-HRV outgoing air to be un-insulated (unimportant). Perhaps the other issue is simply convection, losing heat to the basement through the duct, so everything should be insulated. I'll bring the question up with the contractors. So where are the results? Can you post the data that shows what the improvements have actually been? Alex, would you advice on similar but different setup ? Due to a limited height of attic (and other factors), I am installing 2 layers of seams-taped 3" polyiso boards on the floor of the attic (midwest, vented roof). It looks like I can get a better deal / better quality polyiso if I go with foil-based polyiso (vs. fiber-faced), but I am concerned with multiple vapor barriers that foil would create (I also use ZIP roofing panels as the roof decking which is also a vapor barrier. Do you think I could just puncture little holes (like using fork) in foil and that would eliminate vapor barrier ? Have you used our [Q&A forum](/community/317) before? Not that Alex C. won't have a great answer for you, but you'll have a good chance of getting several great responses there. Sealing the house with all that spray foam surely decreased the sound transfer from outside and from mechanical equipment in the basement. Somebody should get a sound pressure level meter and check the outside vs inside noise level and compare it to the neighbor's houses. Make some noise outside, like jam a broom stick against the car horn while you take measurements. Wow, that a lot of petroleum! With the extent of time an materials involved, it seems like the interior could have had another wall built on the exterior wall and then blown with cellulose. I am sure that would have been less expense and provided a much greener project. With this method you can make the R-value as high as you want. When you add 2 layers of 2-inch board insulation to the outside of 2-x-4 framing, what prevents atmospheric moisture or wind-driven rain from wicking up into the wall assembly at the cut ends of the insulation at the bottom?

2019-04-20T21:17:34Z

http://lakesideca.info/homes/old-house-gets-superinsulation-retrofit

As part of successful application to ISN Psychology, students need to fulfil academic and other requirements to meet the standard required by professional psychology bodies. While a good VCE score or a prior higher education degree is the most common method of entry, there are other options including work experience and VET study, depending on the level of study. Click on the + Symbols below for relevant admission information, based on the category of applicant you fall under. ISN Psychology is a registered higher education provider that offer degrees in psychology for domestic students. Who Qualifies as a domestic student? Domestics students are either Australian or New Zealand citizens, an Australian permanent resident or a holder of an Australian permanent humanitarian visa. During the application phase, ISN will request proof that you qualify as a domestic student in the form of a copy of your passport or driver’s license.ISN is not currently able to offer places to international students. Eligibility for admission into an ISN Psychology degree program is based on applicant’s ability to satisfy specific course entry requirements. Entry requirements for psychology courses are based on predetermined Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) pathways to registration as a psychologist and course specific entry requirements are listed on the relevant ISN Psychology course page. Applicants who completed their studies over 10 years ago or complete an undergraduate degree in a different discipline can complete a three-year program bridging course (12-18 months duration), at a provider that offers this option (please visit APAC to find out which providers offer this option). Completion of a bridging course will, like a normal three-year sequence, enable applicants to apply for entry into an accredited fourth-year psychology program. Step 2 – Complete an APAC accredited fourth-year undergraduate psychology program (e.g., honours year or a fourth-year equivalent like a Graduate Diploma in Psychology). This program is a one-year course, full-time or equivalent part-time. ISN offers the fourth-year as part of the Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) or as a standalone degree for students who completed their first three years at another institute as the Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours). After successful completion of a fourth year/honours degree students can find an external supervisor, register as a provisionally registered psychologist, and complete two years of supervision while working. Please note that this pathway is currently being phased out. For more information, please visit the PsyBA website. After successful completion of a fourth year/honours degree students can apply for a Master of Professional Psychology at an institute that offers this option (please visit the APAC website for a list of institutes that offer this course). Students complete a fifth year of study as a provisionally registered psychologist and then complete one year of supervision at the conclusion of course work. For more information, please visit the PsyBA website. After successful completion of a fourth year/honours degree students can apply for an APAC accredited master’s (or doctorate) degree. Successful applicants will complete two years of study as a provisionally registered psychologist in an area of specialised study, also known as an area of practice endorsement. The current areas of practice endorsement available across educational institutes are clinical, community, counselling, health, forensic, sport and exercise, educational and developmental, organisational, and clinical neuropsychology. Students will complete course work, research, and supervised practical placements as part of the degree. Once a student has successfully completed all components of the postgraduate degree, they can apply to the PsyBA for registration as a general psychologist. Registered psychologist who followed this pathway must be externally supervised by a PsyBA-approved supervisor for a specified period, in the area of endorsement as a registrar. For master’s this specified period is two years, one year with a doctorate, and 18 months for combined master’s/PhDs. For more information, please visit the PsyBA website. ISN Psychology offers a Master of Psychology (Clinical). Please visit the Australian Psychological Society (APS) website for an overview of the study pathways. The information in this section relates to applicants who have completed tertiary or higher education (e.g., a university course/ degree) study within the last 10 years. The information includes applicants currently studying at another higher education provider and wishing to transfer to ISN Psychology. Applicants who completed a bridging course in psychology e.g. Graduate Diploma in Psychology can also refer to this information. Where this information is not relevant to a specific course this will be noted here and on the specific course page. Applicants with higher education study are assessed by calculating a grade point average (GPA) weighted according to the point value of individual units across undergraduate and/or graduate studies undertaken. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) will be assessed as part of the offer stage of an application. Prospective students will be asked to submit information (e.g., unit outlines, handbooks etc.) for the units completed at a different provider or institute as part of their acceptance of offer. Prospective students will also submit a letter outlining the ISN units RPL is sought for. RPL or credit transfer will be considered based on unit equivalence (content) and the level of study (e.g., undergraduate, or postgraduate). Applicants are selected on academic merit based on the GPA calculated from the academic record or transcript submitted to ISN. If an applicant has completed less than one full year of higher education study, ISN will consider a students VCE marks and ATAR for entry into an undergraduate course. Should an applicant not have a secondary qualification equivalent to VCE the applicant may be eligible for entry under the Applicants with Work and Life Experience or Vocational Education and Training (please see the relevant sections for more information). Applicants who have completed at least one year of higher education study will be assessed, primarily, for entry into an ISN undergraduate degree based on the calculated GPA. Studies completed at university level with a credit (60% +) average or above will be considered for entry into an undergraduate program. The GPA for all units completed across higher education study will be calculated to assess academic merit for entry into an undergraduate ISN degree. Applicants are selected on academic merit based on the GPA calculated from the academic record or transcript submitted to ISN and at least one academic or professional reference. Applicants wishing to commence an honours degree, i.e. Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours), at ISN must provide evidence, in the form of an official transcript(s) showing completion of an Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) accredited undergraduate degree in psychology within the last 10 years. A credit average (60-69%) must be attained in second and third year psychology units of an APAC accredited undergraduate psychology degree as a minimum entry requirement. Applicants with an average between 60-65% may be asked to attend an interview as part of the application process. To assess academic merit for entry into an honours program, ISN will calculate a GPA for all psychology units completed across the second and third year of undergraduate higher education study. Applicants who completed a bridging course in psychology e.g., Graduate Diploma in Psychology can apply for an honours year. The GPA will be calculated across all Graduate Diploma units and weighted by unit points to determine eligibility for entry. Applicants with an international degree must submit a letter from the Australian Psychological Association (APS) as proof of equivalence to an Australian undergraduate degree. Places in the honours course are capped for each intake period and this information is available on the course specific page. Applicants are ranked for entry into the course based on academic merit and referee reports. Applicants are selected for short-listing based on academic merit, two academic reference, a personal statement and relevant work/ life experience. Applicants wishing to commence postgraduate studies with ISN e.g., Master of Psychology (Clinical), must provide evidence, in the form of an official transcript(s) showing successful completion of an APAC accredited undergraduate degree (year 1 -3) or equivalent bridging program and an honours degree in psychology or equivalent (e.g., Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology) within the last 10 years. A 75% average must be attained in the honours, or 4th year equivalent, APAC accredited degree as a minimum entry requirement. The GPA for all units completed during a 4th year/ honours year of higher education study will be calculated to assess academic merit for entry into a postgraduate ISN degree. Applicants with an international degree must submit a letter from the Australian Psychological Association (APS) as proof of equivalence to an Australian undergraduate and honours degree. Places in the postgraduate course are capped for each intake period and this information is available on the course specific page. Short listed applicants are ranked for entry into the course based on academic merit, referee reports, a personal statement, relevant work and/or life experience and an interview. The information in this section relates to applicants who have completed vocational education or training as the highest level of study. Where this information is not relevant to a specific course this will be noted here and on the specific course page. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) – where applicable, will be assessed as part of the offer stage of an application. Prospective students will be asked to submit information (e.g., unit outlines, handbooks etc.) for the units completed as part of VET studies during their acceptance of offer. Prospective students will also submit a letter outlining the ISN units RPL is sought for. RPL or credit transfer will be considered based on unit equivalence (content) and the level of study. applicants who can provide evidence of completing Diploma or Advance Diploma level studies with an average grade of 60% or above in an area related to psychology are eligible for entry into an ISN undergraduate program. Applicants with VET study can provide evidence of further studies and work experience as part of their application for entry in the form of a personal statement. Please submit a copy of any official transcripts and/or VCE or STAT results and complete and submit a Personal Statement via our online application form. The personal statement should be no more than 500 words and is used to assess an applicant’s ability and aptitude to study psychology. There is no entry pathway into a psychology honours degree for applicants without the necessary higher education undergraduate degree. Please see Applicants with higher education study for more information on entry requirements. There is no entry pathway into a psychology postgraduate degree for applicants without the necessary higher education undergraduate and honours degree. Please see Applicants with higher education study for more information on entry requirements. Applicants who have recently completed year 12 in Australia will be selected based on study scores or an interstate equivalent and/or overall ATAR/ Tertiary Admissions Ranking. The entry requirements, including minimum ATAR, are available under the specific course page. Please see the Interstate Year 12 section for more information on comparison of interstate year 12 course results against the Victorian Study Score to check that you meet entry requirements. The standard required to receive an offer during an intake period may be above the minimum ATAR depending on the number and quality of applications received and places available for that intake period. This means, where ATAR is used, that the selection rank can change between academic years and is not known before applicants are selected for an undergraduate course in a particular academic year. The lowest selection rank is not a representation of the average ability of students accepted into an ISN undergraduate course nor does it reflect the difficulty or quality of the course content. ISN Psychology publish an ATAR or entry profile for each academic year. As of 2020 this profile will contain a lowest ATAR that resulted in an offer to the course in semester 1, 2019 and the lowest selection rank that resulted in an offer to the course in semester 1, 2019. The ATAR profile is intended as a guide to determine your likelihood of receiving an offer in an ISN Psychology undergraduate course. The guide provides a broad overview of ATARs and selection ranks may differ between academic years. ISN Psychology is not part of VTAC and therefore you can opt to apply for an ISN course directly via our website and submit your preferences for other university courses via VTAC. If you require assistance please contact ISN directly. The ATAR profile data published on each course page is in line with the Australian Government Tertiary Education Quality & Standards Agency (TEQSA) admissions transparency requirements. The 2019 cohort of undergraduates will be the first cohort to commence in an ISN undergraduate course. The data in the ATAR profile reflects this in the form of N/A annotation. In 2020, the ATAR profile will be based on offers to recent school leavers (i.e., students who completed year 12 between 2018 and 2019) who were selected on the basis of their ATAR. The lowest selection rank is determined by the number of places available in the course, the number of applicants for the course, and the quality of applications. At present ISN Psychology does not make any adjustment to ATAR-based admissions or offer bonus points. Use the tables below to compare year 12 courses and results. This will assist you to determine if you meet course prerequisites and entry requirements. *Information in this table is applicable for 2019 admissions. Students who completed year 12 in a state other than Victoria will be considered for entry into an ISN undergraduate course on the basis of their final year 12 grades. ISN will consider student’s tertiary admission ranking and/ or compare interstate student’s final year 12 results against VCE Study scores. There is no entry pathway into a psychology postgraduate degree for applicants without the necessary higher education undergraduate and honours degrees. Please see Applicants with higher education study for more information on entry requirements. Information in this section is for applicants who completed their secondary studies more than two years ago and wish to apply for an ISN undergraduate degree. Applicants over the age of 21 with no formal education qualification can provide evidence of work experience as part of their application for entry. Please submit a Personal Statement via our online application form. The personal statement should be no more than 500 words and provide information about your work experience to date and how this has prepared you for psychological studies. Periods of employment within the same position at different employers. Applicants who fall within this category can also opt to sit the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT). For more information on STAT please visit your relevant Tertiary Admissions Centre website – VTAC, UAC or QTAC. The personal statement, employment statement and (if provided) STAT results will be used to assess an applicant’s ability and aptitude to study psychology. This will determine if an application is successful. In some instances an applicant within this category may be invited to attend an interview as part of this assessment process. Indigenous applicants who do not fit in one of the admission categories will be assessed to determine if the applicant is likely to succeed in the course of study they are seeking admission to. Standard entry requirements may not be applied in full but will be considered in the likelihood to succeed assessment process. Applicants may be invited for an interview to form part of this assessment. Germany Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife (Abitur) Successful completion of the Abitur with an overall grade of 4 Grade of 4 or better in English (refer to score stated in Block II: performance in school-leaving exams); or DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) with B2 (4 stars) in meeting minimum English (i.e. IELTS 6.5 with no band less than 6.0); or with C 1 (5 stars) in meeting higher English criteria. Indonesia Ijazah Sekolah Menengah Atas (SMA) and the Ujian Nasional From 2013 – Successful completion of Ijazah Sekolah Menengah Atas (SMA) (Certificate of Completion from Academic Senior Secondary School) with an overall average grade of at least 80%, with evidence of passing the Ujian Nasional (National Examinations) in meet Curtin’s minimum academic entry requirement. This qualification does not satisfy undergraduate subject prerequisites. From 2017- completion of the Irish Leaving Certificate issued by the Irish State Examinations Commission with 10 points aggregated from the best five subjects at Higher Level. Before 2017- Successful completion of Leaving Certificate from the State Examinations Commission with at least 10 points aggregated from the best five subjects at Higher Level. Scotland Scottish Higher and Advanced Higher Completion of Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) National Courses at Higher level (SCQF Level 6) or/and Advanced Higher level (SCQF Level 7) and obtained at least 5 points from the best four grades. • At least Grade D in Advanced Higher English (SCQF Level 7). Grades awarded from 2010 onwards: A*=6, A=5, B=4, C=3, D=2, E=1. United States High School Diploma or a High School Diploma based on a US curriculum with a GPA of 3.0 out of 4.0 (or an average grade of B) and a Total score (Evidence-based Reading and Writing section and Math section) of at least 1000 out of 1600 in the SAT from the same sitting, a minimum of 400 in Evidence-based Reading and Writing section, and 400 in Math section is required. This qualification does not satisfy any course prerequisites. Completion of High School Diploma with an average grade of B or better in year 12 and a combined score of at least 1500 out of 2400 in the Critical Reading, Mathematics and Writing sections in the SAT Reasoning Test from the same sitting, with a minimum of 460 in each section. This qualification does not satisfy any course prerequisites. United States High School Diploma or a High School Diploma based on a US curriculum with a GPA of 3.0 out of 4.0 (or an average grade of B) and a composite score of 21 or better in the American College Test (ACT). This qualification does not satisfy any course prerequisites. Vietnam Vietnamese Upper Secondary School Graduation Diploma From 2015 – Completion of the Bang Tu tai or Bang Tot nghiep Pho thong Trung hoc (Vietnamese Upper Secondary School Graduation Diploma) with at least 8.00 in the Score for Graduation Evaluation. This qualification does not satisfy any course prerequisites. Grade 12 results may be considered if the required final GPA is obtained from selected Gifted High Schools. Domestic applicants who completed psychology studies overseas and wish to apply for an honours or postgraduate degree at ISN Psychology must provide a copy of their transcript, translated into English and accompanied by a letter of assessment from the APS that proves equivalence of study at the same level in Australia. Studying a psychology degree and working as a psychologist requires good written and oral English language skills. If English is not your first language and you have not completed year 12 or a higher degree in Australia or an approved English-speaking country, you will need to demonstrate your English language proficiency. Achieve an academic level result in a relevant English Language test within two years prior to commencement of the course of study the student wish to be admitted to.

2019-04-20T11:20:27Z

https://isn.edu.au/about-isn/admissions/

TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,979, August 24, 2009. August 24, 2009, Alert No. 1,979. 8/21. The U.S. Court of Appeals (2ndCir) issued its opinion [42 pages in PDF] in Arista Records v. Launch Media, affirming the judgment of the District Court, and holding that a webcasting service is not an interactive service within the meaning of 17 U.S.C. § 114(j)(7). This ruling is a victory for internet radio providers and a defeat for record companies. Jonathan Potter, head of the Digital Media Association (DiMA), which represents webcasters, stated in a release that "After ten years of record industry threats and litigation, DiMA is thrilled that the Second Circuit confirmed what Internet radio services and listeners already know -- that consumer-influenced radio promotes the discovery of new music, promotes artists and delivers to fans an experience that benefits all participants in the music industry. Hopefully this verdict will clear a path for a new wave of internet radio investment and innovation." The Court of Appeals' decision turned on the meaning of obscure language in Section 114(j)(7) of the Copyright Act. Background. The plaintiffs in the District Court and appellants before the 2nd Circuit are Arista Records, Bad Boy Records, BMG Music, and Zomba Recording. In addition, several other record companies were plaintiffs below, but did not join in the present appeal: Capitol Records, Virgin Records America, Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, Interscope Records and Motown Records. Launch Media operates an internet radio website, or webcasting service, named Launchcast. The Court of Appeals wrote that Launchcast "enables a user to create ``stations´´ that play songs that are within a particular genre or similar to a particular artist or song the user selects", including sound recordings in which the plaintiffs hold the copyrights. Then, music is played "based on the user's preferred artists and genres" and "the user rates the songs, artists, or albums LAUNCHcast plays". Users can subscribe to the "stations" of other users. Users can pause or skip songs. There are numerous other features. But, the user cannot select the actual songs, or even a single song, on the playlist when it uses the Launchcast service. Song selections are randomly generated by the Launchcast service. The plaintiffs filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court (SDNY) against Launch Media alleging willful infringement of their copyrights in sound recordings in violation of Section 114. The plaintiffs alleged that between November 1999 and May 2001 Launchcast provided an interactive service and therefore was required to obtain individual licenses from from the plaintiffs to play their sound recordings. The case proceeded to trial by jury in the District Court. The jury returned a verdict that Launch Media does not provide an interactive service and is therefore not liable for paying the copyright holders a licensing fee for each individual song. This appeal followed. Statute. 17 U.S.C. § 106(6) provides that subject to the limitations contained in Section 114 and elsewhere, "the owner of copyright ... has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following ... (6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission". Section 114 pertains to "Scope of exclusive rights in sound recordings". Subsection 114(d)(3)(C) provides that "(d) Limitations on exclusive right. ... (3) Licenses for transmissions by interactive services. ... (C) Notwithstanding the grant of an exclusive or nonexclusive license of the right of public performance under section 106 (6), an interactive service may not publicly perform a sound recording unless a license has been granted for the public performance of any copyrighted musical work contained in the sound recording: Provided, That such license to publicly perform the copyrighted musical work may be granted either by a performing rights society representing the copyright owner or by the copyright owner." It wrote that the issue is "whether a webcasting service that provides users with individualized internet radio stations -- the content of which can be affected by users' ratings of songs, artists, and albums -- is an interactive service within the meaning of 17 U.S.C. § 114(j)(7). If it is an interactive service, the webcasting service would be required to pay individual licensing fees to those copyright holders of the sound recordings of songs the webcasting service plays for its users. If it is not an interactive service, the webcasting service must only pay a statutory licensing fee set by the Copyright Royalty Board." After a lengthy discussion of the legislative history, and analysis of the statutory language, the Court of Appeals concluded that such a webcasting service is not an interactive service. This case is Arista Records, LLC, et al. v. Launch Media, Inc., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, App. Ct. No. 07-2576-cv, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Owen presiding. Judge Wesley wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Calabresi and Christopher Droni (USDC/DConn) joined. He also wrote the 2004 opinion of the 2nd Circuit in Swedenburg v. Kelly, 358 F.3d 223, which the Supreme Court reversed in its 2005 opinion in Granholm v. Heald, 544 U.S. 460. See, story titled "Supreme Court Rules in Internet Wine Sales Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,137, May 17, 2005. Wesley also wrote the July 1, 2009, opinion of the 2nd Circuit in Arnold's Wine v. Boyle. See, story titled "2nd Circuit Again Addresses Wine Sales and Commerce Clause" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,965, July 2, 2009. 8/11. The U.S. District Court (NDCal) issued a preliminary injunction in litigation between RealNetworks and member companies of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) regarding RealDVD software. The District Court enjoined sale of RealDVD on the grounds that it violates the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the Content Scramble System (CSS) license. MPAA member companies filed a complaint [18 pages in PDF] in U.S. District Court (CDCal) against RealNetworks on September 30, 2008, alleging violation of the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 1201, and breach of contract. RealNetworks filed its own complaint in U.S. District Court (NDCal) against the movie companies seeking declaratory relief. RealDVD software enables users to make permanent copies of copyrighted and CSS protected content of DVDs, including rental DVDs. See, story titled "Movie Companies Sue RealNetworks for Selling DVD Copying Software" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,835, September 30, 2008. RealNetworks stated in a release that "We are disappointed that a preliminary injunction has been placed on the sale of RealDVD. We have just received the Judge's detailed ruling and are reviewing it. After we have done so fully, we'll determine our course of action and will have more to say at that time." Dan Glickman, head of the MPAA, stated in a release that "We are very pleased with the court’s decision. This is a victory for the creators and producers of motion pictures and television shows and for the rule of law in our digital economy. Judge Patel’s ruling affirms what we have known all along: RealNetworks took a license to build a DVD-player and instead made an illegal DVD-copier. Throughout the development of RealDVD, RealNetworks demonstrated that it was willing to break the law at the expense of those who create entertainment content." This case is RealNetworks, Inc. and RealNetworks Home Entertainment, Inc. v. DVD Copy Control Association, Inc., et al., and consolidated cases, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, D.C. Nos. C08 04548 MHP and C08 04719 MHP, Judge Marilyn Patel presiding. 8/11. A panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) released its report [491 pages in PDF] on the complaint filed by the U.S. against the People's Republic of China (PRC) regarding its access barriers for US content distributors. See also, document containing the final 9 pages, subtitled "Conclusions and Recommendations". The panel concluded that the PRC's access barriers violate its WTO commitments. On April 10, 2007, the U.S. filed its complaint (nominally a request for consultations) with the WTO. See, story titled "US to Complain to WTO Regarding PR China's Failure to Protect IPR" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,562, April 9, 2007. The European Communities joined in the complaint in April. Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Australia reserved their third party rights. Ron Kirk, head of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) stated in a release the "WTO panel handed a significant victory to America's creative industries". He continued that "These findings are an important step toward ensuring market access for legitimate U.S. products in the Chinese market, as well as ensuring market access for U.S. exporters and distributors of those products." Kirk also said that "This decision promises to level the playing field for American companies working to distribute high-quality entertainment products in China, so that legitimate American products can get to market and beat out the pirates. To me, that is a clear win. We believe that this report will help pave the way toward more open trade between China and America." The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) stated in a release that "The WTO decided in the U.S. government’s favor on virtually every count, declaring some of China’s most difficult barriers to its entertainment market to be clear violations of international trade rules. ... The WTO struck down China's film import monopoly as well as the barriers that keep U.S. companies from importing and distributing DVDs in China." The MPAA added that the OUSTR "also challenged the monopoly China maintains over the distribution of U.S. movies shown in Chinese theaters, and the WTO ruled that -- based on the statements that China made during the proceeding -- China’s laws do not prevent opening this market to competition, another long-sought objective of the industry." restrictions we face, there is no shortage of U.S. filmed entertainment in China. Unfortunately, far too much of it is pirated, benefiting neither the legitimate Chinese businesses that are tied to and profit from showing U.S. movies nor, of course, the U.S. companies that are playing by the rules. This ruling represents a positive step in promoting the growth of legitimate U.S. movies in a market that is growing rapidly, and with great potential." The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) stated in a release that "We highlight one aspect of the report on which the finding was not clear. The panel did not explicitly find that China’s discriminatory censorship process violated their WTO commitments. However, this finding -- or lack thereof -- was of a technical nature related to the panel's surprisingly narrow reading of the relevant U.S. claim. The panel was troubled by the discriminatory elements of the censorship review process, but was unclear that the U.S. has pled a particular cause of action. Nonetheless, the panel report has essentially provided a roadmap of how this measure could be challenged; having already found that it is facially discriminatory." Ed Black, head of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), stated in a release that "We're pleased with the ruling as it improves access to information for Chinese citizens and can help clear up problems that were contributing to the piracy of music and movies. The US government took on a legitimate concern of US innovators trying to do business in China. This is a good first step, but other US innovators continue to face trade barriers. We look forward to the US government continuing the fight not just against limiting hard information goods like a copyrighted song, but also attempts by China to block US companies from offering information services on the Internet." 8/20. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released an agenda for its event titled "Open Commission Meeting" scheduled for Thursday, August 27, 2009. It is scheduled to adopt three Notices of Inquiry (NOI). The FCC is scheduled to adopt a NOI regarding "factors that encourage innovation and investment in wireless" communications. This proceeding is GN Docket No. 09-51. The FCC is scheduled to adopt a NOI regarding its next annual report to the Congress on the status of competition in the mobile wireless market. This proceeding is WT Docket No. 09-66. The FCC is scheduled to adopt a NOI regarding "whether there are opportunities to protect and empower American consumers by ensuring sufficient access to relevant information about communications services". This NOI references CC Docket No. 98-170 (a long running proceeding regarding government regulation of what carriers may and/or must put in their customers' bills), and WC Docket No. 04-36 (the far reaching IP enabled services proceeding). This event is scheduled for 10:00 AM on Thursday, August 27, 2009, in the FCC's Commission Meeting Room, Room TW-C305, 445 12th Street, SW. The FCC's events titled "Open Commission Meeting" do not always begin at the scheduled time. These events sometimes do not take place. The FCC does not always take up all of the items on its published agendas. The FCC sometimes adds items to the program without providing the "one week" notice required 5 U.S.C. § 552b. The FCC does not release at its events copies of the items that it adopts at its events. The Senate will not meet. It will return from its August recess on September 8. Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regarding "the E-Verify Program Designated Agent Process under which a participating employer may choose to outsource submission of employment eligibility verification queries for newly hired employees to a Designated Agent". See, notice in the Federal Register, June 23, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 119, at Page 29711. 12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Center for American Progress (CAP) will host a panel discussion on immigration policy. See notice and registration page. Lunch will be served. Location: 1333 H St., NW. 6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "How to Recognize Critical Software Intellectual Property Issues in Everyday Practice". The speakers will be David Temeles (Bean Kinney & Korman) and Todd Trivett (Jeff Parmet & Associates). The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. Most DC Bar events are not open to the public. See, notice. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW. Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding complaints concerning invention promoters and responses from the invention promoters to these complaints. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 26, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 122, at Pages 30528-30529. The Federal Communications Committee (FCC) may hold a meeting titled "August Agenda Meeting". Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a mock auction in advance of Auction 79, regarding 122 construction permits in the FM broadcast service. See, May 29, 2009, public notice (DA 09-152), and notice in the Federal Register, May 29, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 102, at Pages 25737-25744. Deadline to submit certain reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its supplemental Notice of Inquiry [22 pages in PDF] regarding its preparation of a video competition report for the years ending June 30, 2007, June 30, 2008, and June 20, 2009. This deadline pertains to comments regarding 2009. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 27, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 79, at Pages 19085-19091. See also, story titled "FCC Resumes Its Statutory Obligation to Study Video Competition" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,886, January 21, 2009, and story titled "FCC Releases Amended NOI on Annual Video Competition Reports" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1924, April 11, 2009. Deadline to submit comments to the Copyright Office (CO) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking regarding requiring that applications for registration paid for by deposit account debits be submitted electronically using the electronic Copyright Office registration system. The CO is also requesting comment as to whether deposit accounts offer sufficient efficiencies to continue offering this service. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 14, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 133, at Pages 33930-33932. Further extended deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding deferral of examination for patent applications. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 16, 2009, Vol.74, No. 114, at Pages 28473-28474. The extended deadline was May 29, 2009. See, notice of extension in the Federal Register, March 9, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 44, at Page 10036. The original deadline was February 27, 2009. See, original notice in the Federal Register, January 28, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 17, at Pages 4946-4947. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its further notice of proposed rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding number porting. The FCC adopted and released the text [56 pages in PDF] of this FNPRM on May 13, 2009. It is FCC 09-41 in WC Docket No. 07-244 and CC Docket No. 95-116. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 2, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 126, at Pages 31667-31675. Deadline to submit initial comments to the Copyright Office regarding its proposed rules regarding registration of copyright in online works. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 15, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 134, at Pages 34286-34290, and story titled "Copyright Office Proposes New Rules for Registration of Online Only Works" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,970, July 15, 2009. Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft Special Publication (SP) 800-126 [42 pages in PDF] titled "The Technical Specification for the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP)".

2019-04-20T14:58:09Z

http://www.techlawjournal.com/alert/2009/08/24.asp

The term "Authority" means the Delta Regional Authority established by section 2009aa–1 of this title. The term "region" means the Lower Mississippi (as defined in section 4 of the Delta Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3121 note; Public Law 100–460)). (C) carrying out other economic development activities. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the State of Alabama shall be a full member of the Delta Regional Authority and shall be entitled to all rights and privileges that said membership affords to all other participating States in the Delta Regional Authority. The Delta Development Act, referred to in par. (2), is S. 2836 of the 100th Congress, as introduced on Sept. 27, 1988, and incorporated by reference by, and made a part of, Pub. L. 100–460, title II, Oct. 1, 1988, 102 Stat. 2246, as amended. Section 4 of the Delta Development Act, which was set out in a note under section 3121 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, was omitted from the Code. See Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission note under section 3121 of Title 42 and Tables. 2018—Par. (4). Pub. L. 115–334 added par. (4). 2000—Par. (4). Pub. L. 106–554, §1(a)(4) [div. B, title I, §153(b)], which directed amendment of "section 382A of &apos;The Delta Regional Authority Act of 2000&apos; as incorporated in this Act" by adding par. (4), could not be executed because this section is not section 382A of such Act, but rather section 382A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, as added by section 503 of the Delta Regional Authority Act of 2000. Pub. L. 115–334, title VI, §6701(f)(2), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4778, provided that: "The amendment made by this subsection [amending this section] shall take effect as if included in the enactment of section 153(b) of division B of H.R. 5666, as introduced in the 106th Congress, and as enacted by section 1(4) of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001 (Appendix D of Public Law 106–554; 114 Stat. 2763A–252)." "(7) improving the economy of the region requires a special emphasis on areas of the region that are most economically distressed. "(7) to focus special attention on areas of the region that suffer from the greatest economic distress." There is established the Delta Regional Authority. (B) the Governor (or a designee of the Governor) of each State in the region that elects to participate in the Authority. (ii) shall be elected by the State members for a term of not less than 1 year. (B) appointed by the Governor of the State. The President shall appoint an alternate Federal cochairperson. A State alternate shall not be counted toward the establishment of a quorum of the Authority in any instance in which a quorum of the State members is required to be present. (B) who is not entitled to vote in Authority meetings. A decision by the Authority shall require the affirmative vote of the Federal cochairperson and a majority of the State members (not including any member representing a State that is delinquent under subsection (g)(2)(C)) to be effective. (C) any allocation of funds among the States. (B) conducted in accordance with section 2009aa–8 of this title. An alternate member shall vote in the case of the absence, death, disability, removal, or resignation of the Federal or State representative for which the alternate member is an alternate. (8) cooperate with and assist State governments with economic development programs of participating States. (10) establish and maintain a central office and field offices at such locations as the Authority may select. (2) provide, on request of the Federal cochairperson, appropriate assistance in carrying out this subchapter, in accordance with applicable Federal laws (including regulations). (B) by the States in the region participating in the Authority, in an amount equal to 50 percent of the administrative expenses. The share of administrative expenses of the Authority to be paid by each State shall be determined by the Authority. The Federal cochairperson shall not participate or vote in any decision under subparagraph (A). (ii) no member of the Authority from the State shall participate or vote in any action by the Authority. The Federal cochairperson shall be compensated by the Federal Government at level III of the Executive Schedule in subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 5. (B) when not actively serving as an alternate for the Federal cochairperson, shall perform such functions and duties as are delegated by the Federal cochairperson. A State shall compensate each member and alternate representing the State on the Authority at the rate established by law of the State. No State member or alternate member shall receive any salary, or any contribution to or supplementation of salary from any source other than the State for services provided by the member or alternate to the Authority. Any person that violates this paragraph shall be fined not more than $5,000, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. The Federal cochairperson, the alternate Federal cochairperson, and any Federal officer or employee detailed to duty on the Authority under subsection (e)(5) shall not be subject to subparagraph (A), but shall remain subject to sections 202 through 209 of title 18. The Authority may appoint and fix the compensation of an executive director and such other personnel as are necessary to enable the Authority to carry out the duties of the Authority. Compensation under clause (i) shall not exceed the maximum rate for the Senior Executive Service under section 5382 of title 5, including any applicable locality-based comparability payment that may be authorized under section 5304(h)(2)(C) of that title. (iii) such other duties as the Authority may assign. No member, alternate, officer, or employee of the Authority (except the Federal cochairperson of the Authority, the alternate and staff for the Federal cochairperson, and any Federal employee detailed to the Authority under subsection (e)(5)) shall be considered to be a Federal employee for any purpose. (C) before the proceeding concerning the matter presenting the conflict of interest, receives a written determination by the Authority that the interest is not so substantial as to be likely to affect the integrity of the services that the Authority may expect from the State member, alternate, officer, or employee. Any person that violates this subsection shall be fined not more than $10,000, imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both. The Authority may declare void any contract, loan, or grant of or by the Authority in relation to which the Authority determines that there has been a violation of any provision under subsection (h)(4), subsection (i), or sections 202 through 209 of title 18. "(A) Temporary method.—During the period beginning on May 13, 2002, and ending on December 31, 2008, a decision by the Authority shall require the affirmative vote of the Federal cochairperson and a majority of the State members (not including any member representing a State that is delinquent under subsection (g)(2)(C) of this section) to be effective. "(B) Permanent method.—Effective beginning on January 1, 2009, a decision by the Authority shall require a majority vote of the Authority (not including any member representing a State that is delinquent under subsection (g)(2)(C) of this section) to be effective." 2004—Subsec. (c)(1)(A). Pub. L. 108–447, §506(1), substituted "2008" for "2004". Subsec. (c)(1)(B). Pub. L. 108–447, §506(2), substituted "2009" for "2005". 2002—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 107–171, §6027(a), added par. (1) and struck out heading and text of former par. (1). Text read as follows: "A decision by the Authority shall require a majority vote of the Authority (not including any member representing a State that is delinquent under subsection (g)(2)(C) of this section) to be effective." Subsec. (e)(4). Pub. L. 107–171, §6027(b), substituted ", rules, and regulations" for "and rules". (5) to otherwise achieve the purposes of this subchapter. (C) from any other source. (A) Basic public infrastructure in distressed counties and isolated areas of distress. (B) Transportation infrastructure for the purpose of facilitating economic development in the region. (C) Business development, with emphasis on entrepreneurship. (D) Job training or employment-related education, with emphasis on use of existing public educational institutions located in the region. 2002—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 107–171 struck out heading and text of par. (3). Text read as follows: "Notwithstanding any provision of law limiting the Federal share in any grant program, funds appropriated to carry out this section may be used to increase a Federal share in a grant program, as the Authority determines appropriate." (2) there are insufficient funds available under the applicable Federal law authorizing the Federal grant program to meet pressing needs of the region. (2) shall use amounts made available to carry out this subchapter to pay the increased Federal share. (B) could be approved for Federal contribution under the Federal grant program if funds were available under the law for the project. (ii) shall be accepted by the Federal agencies. In the case of any project described in paragraph (1), any finding, report, certification, or documentation required to be submitted with respect to the project to the head of the department, agency, or instrumentality of the Federal Government responsible for the administration of the Federal grant program under which the project is carried out shall be accepted by the Federal cochairperson. This Act, referred to in subsec. (c)(2)(A), refers to the Agricultural Act of 1961, Pub. L. 87–128, Aug. 8, 1961, 75 Stat. 294, as amended. For classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1911 of this title and Tables. However, the reference was probably intended to be "this title" meaning the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, title III of Pub. L. 87–128, as amended, which is classified principally to this chapter. For classification of this title to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1921 of this title and Tables. 2002—Pub. L. 107–171 reenacted section catchline without change and amended text generally to clarify provisions relating to supplements to Federal grant programs. (B) appointed an officer who, during the period in which another entity inappropriately used Federal grant funds from any Federal source, was an officer of the other entity. The Authority shall make grants for administrative expenses under this section. The amount of any grant awarded under paragraph (1) shall not exceed 80 percent of the administrative expenses of the local development district receiving the grant. No grant described in paragraph (1) shall be awarded to a State agency certified as a local development district for a period greater than 3 years. The contributions of a local development district for administrative expenses may be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including space, equipment, and services. (C) provide leadership and civic development assistance. 2018—Subsec. (a)(1)(B)(iv). Pub. L. 115–334 realigned margins. 2002—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 107–171 substituted "Authority shall" for "Authority may". (3) as isolated areas of distress, areas located in nondistressed counties (as designated under paragraph (2)) that have high rates of poverty or unemployment. The Authority shall allocate at least 75 percent of the appropriations made available under section 2009aa–12 of this title for programs and projects designed to serve the needs of distressed counties and isolated areas of distress in the region. The funding limitations under section 2009aa–3(b) of this title shall not apply to a project providing transportation or basic public services to residents of one or more distressed counties or isolated areas of distress in the region. Except as provided in this subsection, no funds shall be provided under this subchapter for a project located in a county designated as a nondistressed county under subsection (a)(2). The funding prohibition under paragraph (1) shall not apply to grants to fund the administrative expenses of local development districts under section 2009aa–4(b) of this title. if the Authority determines that the project could bring significant benefits to areas of the region outside a nondistressed county. (ii) if no recent Federal data are available, by the most recent data available through the government of the State in which the isolated area of distress is located. The Authority shall allocate at least 50 percent of any funds made available under section 2009aa–12 of this title for transportation and basic public infrastructure projects authorized under paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 2009aa–2(a) of this title. In accordance with policies established by the Authority, each State member shall submit a development plan for the area of the region represented by the State member. A State development plan submitted under subsection (a) shall reflect the goals, objectives, and priorities identified in the regional development plan developed under section 2009aa–1(d)(2) of this title. (2) take into consideration the goals, objectives, priorities, and recommendations of the entities described in paragraph (1). The Authority and applicable State and local development districts shall encourage and assist, to the maximum extent practicable, public participation in the development, revision, and implementation of all plans and programs under this subchapter. The Authority shall develop guidelines for providing public participation described in paragraph (1), including public hearings. (6) the extent to which the project design provides for detailed outcome measurements by which grant expenditures and the results of the expenditures may be evaluated. No financial assistance authorized by this subchapter shall be used to assist a person or entity in relocating from one area to another, except that financial assistance may be used as otherwise authorized by this chapter to attract businesses from outside the region to the region. Funds may be provided for a program or project in a State under this subchapter only if the Authority determines that the level of Federal or State financial assistance provided under a law other than this subchapter, for the same type of program or project in the same area of the State within the region, will not be reduced as a result of funds made available by this subchapter. This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original "this title", meaning title III of Pub. L. 87–128, Aug. 8, 1961, 75 Stat. 307, known as the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of title III to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1921 of this title and Tables. A State or regional development plan or any multistate subregional plan that is proposed for development under this subchapter shall be reviewed and approved by the Authority. An application for a grant or any other assistance for a project under this subchapter shall be made through and evaluated for approval by the State member of the Authority representing the applicant. (4) otherwise meets the requirements of this subchapter. On certification by a State member of the Authority of an application for a grant or other assistance for a specific project under this section, an affirmative vote of the Authority under section 2009aa–1(c) of this title shall be required for approval of the application. 2002—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–171, §6027(f)(1), inserted "and approved" after "reviewed". Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 107–171, §6027(f)(2), substituted "Approval of grant applications" for "Votes for decisions" in heading. Nothing in this subchapter requires any State to engage in or accept any program under this subchapter without the consent of the State. The Authority shall maintain accurate and complete records of all transactions and activities of the Authority. All records of the Authority shall be available for audit and examination by the Comptroller General of the United States and the Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture (including authorized representatives of the Comptroller General and the Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture). A recipient of Federal funds under this subchapter shall, as required by the Authority, maintain accurate and complete records of transactions and activities financed with Federal funds and report on the transactions and activities to the Authority. All records required under paragraph (1) shall be available for audit by the Comptroller General of the United States, the Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture, and the Authority (including authorized representatives of the Comptroller General, the Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture, and the Authority). 2009—Pub. L. 111–8 struck out subsec. (c). Text read as follows: "The Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture shall audit the activities, transactions, and records of the Authority on an annual basis." Not later than 180 days after the end of each fiscal year, the Authority shall submit to the President and to Congress a report describing the activities carried out under this subchapter. There is authorized to be appropriated to the Authority to carry out this subchapter $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023, to remain available until expended. Not more than 5 percent of the amount appropriated under subsection (a) for a fiscal year shall be used for administrative expenses of the Authority. 2018—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–334 substituted "2019 through 2023" for "2008 through 2018". 2014—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 113–79 substituted "2018" for "2012". 2008—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 110–246, §6025(a), substituted "2008 through 2012" for "2001 through 2007". 2002—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–171 substituted "2007" for "2002". This subchapter and the authority provided under this subchapter expire on October 1, 2023. 2018—Pub. L. 115–334 substituted "2023" for "2018". 2014—Pub. L. 113–79 substituted "2018" for "2012". 2008—Pub. L. 110–246, §6025(b), substituted "2012" for "2007". 2002—Pub. L. 107–171 substituted "2007" for "2002".

2019-04-24T19:51:29Z

http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title7/chapter50/subchapter6&edition=prelim

-> GLint -- ^ @level@ of type @CheckedInt32@. -> GLint -- ^ @xoffset@ of type @CheckedInt32@. -> GLint -- ^ @yoffset@ of type @CheckedInt32@. -> GLint -- ^ @zoffset@ of type @CheckedInt32@. -> GLint -- ^ @x@ of type @WinCoord@. -> GLint -- ^ @y@ of type @WinCoord@. ptr_glCopyTextureSubImage3DEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCopyTextureSubImage3DEXT" => GLsizei -- ^ @numPaths@. -> GLenum -- ^ @pathNameType@ of type @PathElementType@. -> Ptr a -- ^ @paths@ pointing to @COMPSIZE(numPaths,pathNameType,paths)@ elements of type @PathElement@. -> GLuint -- ^ @pathBase@ of type @Path@. -> GLenum -- ^ @coverMode@ of type @PathCoverMode@. -> GLenum -- ^ @transformType@ of type @PathTransformType@. -> Ptr GLfloat -- ^ @transformValues@ pointing to @COMPSIZE(numPaths,transformType)@ elements of type @GLfloat@. ptr_glCoverFillPathInstancedNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCoverFillPathInstancedNV" ptr_glCoverFillPathNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCoverFillPathNV" ptr_glCoverStrokePathInstancedNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCoverStrokePathInstancedNV" ptr_glCoverStrokePathNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCoverStrokePathNV" => GLboolean -- ^ @mask@. ptr_glCoverageMaskNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCoverageMaskNV" => GLenum -- ^ @components@. ptr_glCoverageModulationNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCoverageModulationNV" ptr_glCoverageModulationTableNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCoverageModulationTableNV" => GLenum -- ^ @operation@. ptr_glCoverageOperationNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCoverageOperationNV" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCreateBuffers.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @buffers@. ptr_glCreateBuffers = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateBuffers" -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @lists@. ptr_glCreateCommandListsNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateCommandListsNV" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCreateFramebuffers.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @framebuffers@. ptr_glCreateFramebuffers = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateFramebuffers" -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @memoryObjects@. ptr_glCreateMemoryObjectsEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateMemoryObjectsEXT" => GLuint -- ^ @queryId@. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @queryHandle@. ptr_glCreatePerfQueryINTEL = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreatePerfQueryINTEL" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man2/xhtml/glCreateProgram.xml OpenGL 2.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glCreateProgram.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCreateProgram.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. ptr_glCreateProgram = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateProgram" -- | This command is an alias for 'glCreateProgram'. => m GLhandleARB -- ^ of type @handleARB@. ptr_glCreateProgramObjectARB = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateProgramObjectARB" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCreateProgramPipelines.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @pipelines@. ptr_glCreateProgramPipelines = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateProgramPipelines" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCreateQueries.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @ids@. ptr_glCreateQueries = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateQueries" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCreateRenderbuffers.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @renderbuffers@. ptr_glCreateRenderbuffers = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateRenderbuffers" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCreateSamplers.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @samplers@. ptr_glCreateSamplers = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateSamplers" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man2/xhtml/glCreateShader.xml OpenGL 2.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glCreateShader.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCreateShader.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. ptr_glCreateShader = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateShader" -- | This command is an alias for 'glCreateShader'. => GLenum -- ^ @shaderType@. -> m GLhandleARB -- ^ of type @handleARB@. ptr_glCreateShaderObjectARB = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateShaderObjectARB" -> Ptr GLchar -- ^ @string@. ptr_glCreateShaderProgramEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateShaderProgramEXT" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCreateShaderProgram.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr (Ptr GLchar) -- ^ @strings@ pointing to @count@ elements of type @Ptr GLchar@. ptr_glCreateShaderProgramv = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateShaderProgramv" ptr_glCreateShaderProgramvEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateShaderProgramvEXT" ptr_glCreateStatesNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateStatesNV" => Ptr a -- ^ @context@ pointing to elements of type @cl_context@. -> Ptr b -- ^ @event@ pointing to elements of type @cl_event@. ptr_glCreateSyncFromCLeventARB = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateSyncFromCLeventARB" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCreateTextures.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @textures@. ptr_glCreateTextures = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateTextures" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCreateTransformFeedbacks.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. ptr_glCreateTransformFeedbacks = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateTransformFeedbacks" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCreateVertexArrays.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @arrays@. ptr_glCreateVertexArrays = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCreateVertexArrays" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man2/xhtml/glCullFace.xml OpenGL 2.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glCullFace.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glCullFace.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. => GLenum -- ^ @mode@ of type [CullFaceMode](Graphics-GL-Groups.html#CullFaceMode). ptr_glCullFace = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCullFace" => GLenum -- ^ @pname@ of type @CullParameterEXT@. -> Ptr GLdouble -- ^ @params@ pointing to @4@ elements of type @GLdouble@. ptr_glCullParameterdvEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCullParameterdvEXT" ptr_glCullParameterfvEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCullParameterfvEXT" => GLint -- ^ @index@. ptr_glCurrentPaletteMatrixARB = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCurrentPaletteMatrixARB" => GLuint -- ^ @matrixpaletteindex@. ptr_glCurrentPaletteMatrixOES = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glCurrentPaletteMatrixOES" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDebugMessageCallback.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. => GLDEBUGPROC -- ^ @callback@. -> Ptr a -- ^ @userParam@. ptr_glDebugMessageCallback = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDebugMessageCallback" => GLDEBUGPROCAMD -- ^ @callback@. ptr_glDebugMessageCallbackAMD = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDebugMessageCallbackAMD" -- | This command is an alias for 'glDebugMessageCallback'. => GLDEBUGPROCARB -- ^ @callback@. -> Ptr a -- ^ @userParam@ pointing to @COMPSIZE(callback)@ elements of type @a@. ptr_glDebugMessageCallbackARB = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDebugMessageCallbackARB" => GLDEBUGPROCKHR -- ^ @callback@. ptr_glDebugMessageCallbackKHR = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDebugMessageCallbackKHR" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDebugMessageControl.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. => GLenum -- ^ @source@. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @ids@ pointing to @count@ elements of type @GLuint@. -> GLboolean -- ^ @enabled@ of type [Boolean](Graphics-GL-Groups.html#Boolean). ptr_glDebugMessageControl = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDebugMessageControl" -- | This command is an alias for 'glDebugMessageControl'. ptr_glDebugMessageControlARB = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDebugMessageControlARB" -> GLboolean -- ^ @enabled@. ptr_glDebugMessageControlKHR = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDebugMessageControlKHR" => GLenum -- ^ @category@. ptr_glDebugMessageEnableAMD = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDebugMessageEnableAMD" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDebugMessageInsert.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLchar -- ^ @buf@ pointing to @COMPSIZE(buf,length)@ elements of type @GLchar@. ptr_glDebugMessageInsert = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDebugMessageInsert" -> Ptr GLchar -- ^ @buf@ pointing to @length@ elements of type @GLchar@. ptr_glDebugMessageInsertAMD = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDebugMessageInsertAMD" -- | This command is an alias for 'glDebugMessageInsert'. ptr_glDebugMessageInsertARB = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDebugMessageInsertARB" -> Ptr GLchar -- ^ @buf@. ptr_glDebugMessageInsertKHR = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDebugMessageInsertKHR" ptr_glDeformSGIX = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeformSGIX" => GLenum -- ^ @target@ of type [FfdTargetSGIX](Graphics-GL-Groups.html#FfdTargetSGIX). -> GLint -- ^ @ustride@. -> GLint -- ^ @uorder@ of type @CheckedInt32@. -> GLdouble -- ^ @v1@ of type @CoordD@. -> GLdouble -- ^ @v2@ of type @CoordD@. -> GLint -- ^ @vstride@. -> GLint -- ^ @vorder@ of type @CheckedInt32@. -> GLdouble -- ^ @w1@ of type @CoordD@. -> GLdouble -- ^ @w2@ of type @CoordD@. -> GLint -- ^ @wstride@. -> GLint -- ^ @worder@ of type @CheckedInt32@. -> Ptr GLdouble -- ^ @points@ pointing to @COMPSIZE(target,ustride,uorder,vstride,vorder,wstride,worder)@ elements of type @CoordD@. ptr_glDeformationMap3dSGIX = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeformationMap3dSGIX" -> GLfloat -- ^ @u1@ of type @CoordF@. -> GLfloat -- ^ @u2@ of type @CoordF@. -> GLfloat -- ^ @v1@ of type @CoordF@. -> GLfloat -- ^ @v2@ of type @CoordF@. -> GLfloat -- ^ @w1@ of type @CoordF@. -> GLfloat -- ^ @w2@ of type @CoordF@. -> Ptr GLfloat -- ^ @points@ pointing to @COMPSIZE(target,ustride,uorder,vstride,vorder,wstride,worder)@ elements of type @CoordF@. ptr_glDeformationMap3fSGIX = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeformationMap3fSGIX" -> GLsizei -- ^ @range@. ptr_glDeleteAsyncMarkersSGIX = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteAsyncMarkersSGIX" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man2/xhtml/glDeleteBuffers.xml OpenGL 2.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDeleteBuffers.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDeleteBuffers.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @buffers@ pointing to @n@ elements of type @GLuint@. ptr_glDeleteBuffers = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteBuffers" -- | This command is an alias for 'glDeleteBuffers'. ptr_glDeleteBuffersARB = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteBuffersARB" ptr_glDeleteCommandListsNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteCommandListsNV" -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @fences@ pointing to @n@ elements of type @FenceNV@. ptr_glDeleteFencesAPPLE = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteFencesAPPLE" ptr_glDeleteFencesNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteFencesNV" ptr_glDeleteFragmentShaderATI = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteFragmentShaderATI" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDeleteFramebuffers.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDeleteFramebuffers.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @framebuffers@ pointing to @n@ elements of type @GLuint@. ptr_glDeleteFramebuffers = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteFramebuffers" -- | This command is an alias for 'glDeleteFramebuffers'. ptr_glDeleteFramebuffersEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteFramebuffersEXT" ptr_glDeleteFramebuffersOES = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteFramebuffersOES" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man2/xhtml/glDeleteLists.xml OpenGL 2.x>. ptr_glDeleteLists = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteLists" -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @memoryObjects@ pointing to @n@ elements of type @GLuint@. ptr_glDeleteMemoryObjectsEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteMemoryObjectsEXT" ptr_glDeleteNamedStringARB = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteNamedStringARB" -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @names@ pointing to @num@ elements of type @GLuint@. ptr_glDeleteNamesAMD = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteNamesAMD" => GLhandleARB -- ^ @obj@ of type @handleARB@. ptr_glDeleteObjectARB = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteObjectARB" -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @ids@ pointing to @n@ elements of type @GLuint@. ptr_glDeleteOcclusionQueriesNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteOcclusionQueriesNV" ptr_glDeletePathsNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeletePathsNV" -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @monitors@ pointing to @n@ elements of type @GLuint@. ptr_glDeletePerfMonitorsAMD = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeletePerfMonitorsAMD" ptr_glDeletePerfQueryINTEL = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeletePerfQueryINTEL" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man2/xhtml/glDeleteProgram.xml OpenGL 2.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDeleteProgram.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDeleteProgram.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. ptr_glDeleteProgram = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteProgram" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDeleteProgramPipelines.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @pipelines@ pointing to @n@ elements of type @GLuint@. ptr_glDeleteProgramPipelines = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteProgramPipelines" ptr_glDeleteProgramPipelinesEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteProgramPipelinesEXT" -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @programs@ pointing to @n@ elements of type @GLuint@. ptr_glDeleteProgramsARB = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteProgramsARB" -- | This command is an alias for 'glDeleteProgramsARB'. ptr_glDeleteProgramsNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteProgramsNV" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man2/xhtml/glDeleteQueries.xml OpenGL 2.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDeleteQueries.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDeleteQueries.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. ptr_glDeleteQueries = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteQueries" -- | This command is an alias for 'glDeleteQueries'. ptr_glDeleteQueriesARB = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteQueriesARB" ptr_glDeleteQueriesEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteQueriesEXT" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDeleteRenderbuffers.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDeleteRenderbuffers.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @renderbuffers@ pointing to @n@ elements of type @GLuint@. ptr_glDeleteRenderbuffers = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteRenderbuffers" -- | This command is an alias for 'glDeleteRenderbuffers'. ptr_glDeleteRenderbuffersEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteRenderbuffersEXT" ptr_glDeleteRenderbuffersOES = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteRenderbuffersOES" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDeleteSamplers.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDeleteSamplers.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. => GLsizei -- ^ @count@. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @samplers@ pointing to @count@ elements of type @GLuint@. ptr_glDeleteSamplers = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteSamplers" -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @semaphores@ pointing to @count@ elements of type @GLuint@. ptr_glDeleteSemaphoresEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteSemaphoresEXT" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man2/xhtml/glDeleteShader.xml OpenGL 2.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDeleteShader.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDeleteShader.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. ptr_glDeleteShader = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteShader" ptr_glDeleteStatesNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteStatesNV" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDeleteSync.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDeleteSync.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. ptr_glDeleteSync = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteSync" -- | This command is an alias for 'glDeleteSync'. ptr_glDeleteSyncAPPLE = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteSyncAPPLE" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man2/xhtml/glDeleteTextures.xml OpenGL 2.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDeleteTextures.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDeleteTextures.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @textures@ pointing to @n@ elements of type @Texture@. ptr_glDeleteTextures = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteTextures" ptr_glDeleteTexturesEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteTexturesEXT" -- | Manual page for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDeleteTransformFeedbacks.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. ptr_glDeleteTransformFeedbacks = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteTransformFeedbacks" -- | This command is an alias for 'glDeleteTransformFeedbacks'. ptr_glDeleteTransformFeedbacksNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteTransformFeedbacksNV" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDeleteVertexArrays.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDeleteVertexArrays.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. -> Ptr GLuint -- ^ @arrays@ pointing to @n@ elements of type @GLuint@. ptr_glDeleteVertexArrays = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteVertexArrays" -- | This command is an alias for 'glDeleteVertexArrays'. ptr_glDeleteVertexArraysAPPLE = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteVertexArraysAPPLE" ptr_glDeleteVertexArraysOES = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteVertexArraysOES" ptr_glDeleteVertexShaderEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDeleteVertexShaderEXT" => GLclampd -- ^ @zmin@ of type @ClampedFloat64@. -> GLclampd -- ^ @zmax@ of type @ClampedFloat64@. ptr_glDepthBoundsEXT = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDepthBoundsEXT" => GLdouble -- ^ @zmin@. -> GLdouble -- ^ @zmax@. ptr_glDepthBoundsdNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDepthBoundsdNV" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man2/xhtml/glDepthFunc.xml OpenGL 2.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDepthFunc.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDepthFunc.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. => GLenum -- ^ @func@ of type [DepthFunction](Graphics-GL-Groups.html#DepthFunction). ptr_glDepthFunc = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDepthFunc" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man2/xhtml/glDepthMask.xml OpenGL 2.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDepthMask.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDepthMask.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. ptr_glDepthMask = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDepthMask" -- | Manual pages for <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man2/xhtml/glDepthRange.xml OpenGL 2.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man3/xhtml/glDepthRange.xml OpenGL 3.x> or <https://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/man4/html/glDepthRange.xhtml OpenGL 4.x>. => GLdouble -- ^ @near@. -> GLdouble -- ^ @far@. ptr_glDepthRange = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDepthRange" ptr_glDepthRangeArrayfvNV = unsafePerformIO $ getCommand "glDepthRangeArrayfvNV"

2019-04-23T05:07:10Z

http://hackage.haskell.org/package/OpenGLRaw-3.2.5.0/docs/src/Graphics-GL-Functions-F05.html

Aug10 Gene-editing of pigs increases suitability of their organs for transplant into humans. Oct05 FDA warns about hepatitis B reactivation with direct acting hepatitis C antivirals. Mar09 NEJM article re desensitization to HLA-incompatible live donors. Mar09 Desensitization procedure allows kidney transplants from any (living) donor. Nov30 Xenotransplantation congress in Australia highlights marked advances. Nov21 Orphan drug designation may lead to high drug prices, like for rituximab. Oct20 Advances in gene manipulation hasten suitability of pig organs for transplant. Jan24 FDA committee recommends approval of drug to treat invasive aspergillosis. Jul14 U. Penn study suggests that donating a kidney does not affect life expectancy. Jul14 Mucor fungus contaminating yogurt may be threat to consumers. Mar13 ITPA gene variants markedly affect risk of recurrence of hepatitis C after treatment. Jan28 Are ozobranchid leeches the key to low-temperature preservation of organs? Nov05 Sofosbuvir, simeprevir, and ledipasvir combos may cure hepatitis C infection. Jul13 Modified HIV vector used to cure 2 genetic disease in children. Jun23 Human organs could be grown from stem cells within pigs by 1 year from now. May16 Robotic surgery decreases complication rate in markedly obese recipients. Apr23 Sofosbuvir treatment for hepatitis C gives results comparable to interferon. Apr15 Decellularized kidney scaffolds reseeded with cultured cells produce rudimentary urine. Mar17 Contact sports change skin bacteria populations. Mar17 Warm extracorporeal perfusion of liver for 24 hours leads to successful transplant. Dec10 Reprogrammed T-cells using an attenuated strain of HIV result in remission of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Nov27 Dr. Joseph Murray, transplant pioneer, dies at age 93 in Boston. Nov19 Nanotechnology cures multiple sclerosis in mice; are other autoimmune diseases next? Nov18 New DaVinci robotic surgery equipment reduces 3 small incisions to 1. Nov10 Trio of new drugs from Abbott shows high cure rate for hepatitis C. Oct23 RPA: Write your Congressperson to support extended immunosuppressive drug coverage for transplant patients. Oct19 Egg freezing works to preserve fertility. Oct17 Kidney grafts function longer in Europe than in the United States. Oct05 Eggs made from skin cells fertilized with male mouse sperm and give rise to seemingly normal mice. Oct02 UCSF artificial kidney program receives private donor funding. Sep25 Oops! Nurse throws living donor kidney awaiting transplant into trash by mistake. Aug03 Apoptosis inhibitor fusion protein ensures recovery from acute liver failure in mice. Aug02 Total nephrectomy for renal cancer associated with late erectile dysfunction. Jul12 Kidney broker sentenced to prison as donor recalls doubts. Jul10 FDA approves viral load test for patients with CMV infection. Jul05 Origin of follicular dendritic cells found. Jun20 Tick bites associated with alpha-gal allergy. Jun14 Viable stem cells harvested from cadavers up to 17 days after death. Jun13 Hemodialysis machine (and TAH) designers please pay attention! May22 Abacavir side effects linked to autoimmune reaction. May04 Combination of two mTor inhibitors reverses liver tumor growth. May04 Two types of macrophage cell lines identified. May01 Facebook sets up a mechanism for its users to declare their organ donor status. May01 Interferon treatment can cause depression. Apr26 Patient recovery after being declared brain dead in the news. Apr26 Twice transplanted kidney at Northwestern in the news on CNN. Apr26 Donor kidney doesn't agree with you? Get it removed and give it to someone else. Mar08 Donor stem cell transfusion helps achieve tolerance in the recipient. Mar08 Silver mouthwash to treat oral Candidiasis. Mar08 Pretransplant extracorporeal normothermic perfusion of donor kidneys shows benefits. Mar02 No increased risk of cardiovascular disease over 10 years for live kidney donors. Feb18 University of Alberta makes progress in developing hepatitis C vaccine. Feb14 Amino acid response pathway, autoimmune disease, tolerance, and a Chinese herb. Feb14 Stem cells can reduce scar tissue after heart attacks. Feb03 New Engl J Med Op Ed article questions wisdom of Medicare 3 year limit on immunusuppressive drugs after transplantation. Jan13 NIH study shows that 32 million Americans harbor autoantibodies. Jan05 Phase 1 trial of hepatitis C vaccine shows strong immune reponse. Dec22 MMWR: Transmission of hepatitis C through transplanted donor organs. Dec20 Cryptochromes interact with glucocorticoids to regulate metabolic processes. Dec13 B-cells that are active only in the gut, turning into monocyte-like cells there. Dec13 High hepcidin levels associated with immunosuppression reduction in liver transplants. Nov16 Stem cell treatment improves severe CHF in Lancet study. Nov04 U.S. kidney broker arranged transplants in prestigious university hospitals. Nov02 Organ trafficking gangs force poor to sell kidneys to wealthy nation patients. Oct26 17 years in prison for two Brazilian doctors for removing kidneys for transplant prior to brain death. Oct11 Thiazides may be especially useful to treat hypertension from calcineurin-inhibitor drugs. Oct06 Kidney recipients freed from need for long-term immunosuppressive drugs. Oct04 Vitamin D deficiency common in patients taking oral steroids. Sep27 Eculizumab approved by FDA to treat atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. Sep27 Legistlation introduced in the House to extend transplant drug coverage. Sep27 Pittsburgh hospital sued after live-donor transplant of hepatitis-C infected kidney. Sep15 Response-guided multidrug therapy for hepatitis C can cut treatment time in half. Sep13 Pennsylvania woman donates kidney to son, then finds out that she's been fired. Aug30 Donor heart arrives warm and beating in experimental organ transfer device. Aug03 Senators Durbin and Cochran introduce legislation to extend coverage of transplant immunosuppressive drugs. Jul25 New relationships between germinal centers and regulatory T cells identified. Jul12 First completely synthetic organ transplant (trachea). Jul01 New hidden incision technique reduces scarring in kidney laparoscopic surgery. Jun23 NEJM: Telaprevir provides dramatic improvement in hepatitis C patients. Jun16 Florida transplant surgeon shot and killed by one of his patients. Jun16 FDA approves Nujolix (belatacept) for organ transplantation. May19 Modifying Treg cells allows transplantation of human skin onto mice. May19 Study compares three induction immunosuppressants, finds the cheapest one, alemtuzumab, to be noninferior. May13 FDA approves boceprevir to treat hepatitis C. May12 Desperate Americans buy kidneys from live donors in Peru. Apr29 More on the Loyola U. Med Center live altruistic kidney donor program. Apr29 FDA panel recommends approval of telaprevir for hepatitis C. Apr29 Multiple staff from Loyola Medical Center have become altruistic live kidney donors. Apr29 Flu vaccination improves hard outcomes in renal transplant patients. Apr28 Viral breakthrough in HBV treatment with nucleoside analogs may be due to noncompliance. Apr26 Boceprevir and telaprevir each show promising results in patients with hepatitis C. Apr19 Some kidney donors have trouble getting health insurance from some carriers. Apr19 TH17 blocking drug halts multiple sclerosis in animal models, may also affect lupus. Apr12 Waiting for a kidney? Try Facebook. Apr08 Mayo Clinic study suggests chronic allograft nephropathy less common than previously. Apr06 Vaccine against hepatitis C may soon become a reality. Mar30 HIV-positive donors for HIV-positive recipients? Mar29 Donor DNA in the blood is an early sign of heart transplant rejection. Mar17 CDC recommends retesting live donors for HIV just prior to organ donation. Mar17 MMWR: HIV infection transmitted from live donor kidney graft.. Mar05 "Printing" new kidneys. Pie in the sky or pie on the table? Feb24 New proposal to allocate donor kidneys to younger patients being considered. Feb24 Redesign of live liver donor matching network could result in substantially more transplants. Feb16 NEJM: HLA allele linked to idiopathic membranous nephropathy.. Feb04 Infusion of donor regulatory T cells lowers risk of graft vs. host disease. Feb04 Defect in CD8 regulatory T cells linked to lupus in a mouse model. Jan21 Cost savings of transplantation compared to dialysis in the news. Jan11 Medicaid cuts in Arizona result in denial of payment for certain (nonkidney) transplant procedures. Dec29 World's first kidney donor dies at age of 79. Dec20 "30 Rock" actor Tracy Morgan recovering from kidney transplant surgery. Dec13 Lenalidomide boosts immunity in the elderly. Nov12 Specialized blood vessels jumpstart liver regeneration. Nov07 McMaster U. scientists turn skin stem cells into various types of blood cells. Nov04 A traitor in our midst - the FAP-expressing immune cell protects cancer cells, allowing them to grow. Oct30 Miniature livers grown from stem cells in the lab. Oct22 Missouri man donated HIV-tainted blood; kidney transplant recipient infected. Oct18 Intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) enzyme needed to maintain healthy bacteria in the gut. Oct18 Vitamin D deficiency linked to lung transplant rejection. Oct12 First trial begins of embryonic stem cell therapy to treat spinal cord injury. Sep25 Octagam IVIG withdrawn from sale due to thromboembolic event risk. Sep23 Three proteins reliably increase in the blood during transplant rejection. Sep22 Weight-based dosing of taribavirin causes less anemia than ribavirin in hepatitis C treatment. Sep17 MMWR reports transmission of a soil amoeba causing encephalitis via a transplanted organ. Sep15 Complement inhibitor treatment may prolong life of donor organs. Sep03 First clinical trials completed on potent new drug against hepatitis C. Aug29 Molecule found that deactivates selective components of the complement system. Aug26 Novartis options siRNA drug from Quark Pharma to reduce AKI and delayed allograft function. Aug24 Early corticosteroid withdrawal improves graft and patient survival rates. Aug21 Pasteurized eggs may be indicated groups at high risk for Salmonella infection. Aug17 FDA approves longer use of (200 days) of valganciclovir for CMV prophylaxis post transplant. Jul28 Presence of nonhuman sialic acid in biotech drugs can provoke an immune response. Jun17 Angiomyeloproliferative lesions in the kidney after direct autologous stem cell injection. Jun17 Gut bacteria can clearly trigger arthritis in a susceptible-mouse model. Jun05 Baxter's IVIG Gammagard being withdrawn as a precaution due to allergic reactions. May26 B cell genes characterize transplant patients who do well after stopping immunosuppressives. May12 Why multiple drug treatment may be required to treat hepatitis C virus infection. Apr30 DSEN: Organ trafficking is here in the U.S. right now? Apr28 Depomedrol and ACTH have different effects on osteonecrosis of the hip, VEGF. Apr24 FDA approves Zortress(R) - everolimus - for organ transplant use. Apr22 California legislators consider living organ donor registry. Apr07 JAMA: Kidneys from donors with a particular caveolin-1 genotype are rejected twice as often. Apr07 Police smash international organ trafficking ring. Apr01 Are donor kidneys with hepatitis C wasted? Mar20 Gov. Schwarzenegger, Steve Jobs, lobby for new organ donor legislation in California. Mar19 Stem cell windpipe transplant apparently succeeds in UK child. Mar02 FDA advisory panel recommends approval of belatacept for kidney transplants. Feb22 Tests that purported to show conscious thought in longterm coma patient proven unreliable. Feb17 Belatacept shown to be beneficial in routine transplant immunosuppression. Feb15 Greater use of extended criteria donor transplants for the elderly recommended. Feb03 NEJM: Many people in a coma are not really in a coma - willful modulation of brain activity. Dec29 Transplanted organs from donor who died of undiagnosed brain disease transmitted amoebic brain infection to recipient. Dec22 Deoxycytidine kinase enzyme shown to profoundly affect adaptive immune system. Dec21 Facebook post brings Iowa man a new kidney. Dec15 Kidney Care Partners letter to senators regarding immunosuppressive drug reimbursement issues. Dec15 Reducing dialysis reimbursement to pay for transplant drugs draws opposition. Dec14 Scientists isolate new antifreeze molecule from beetle. Dec08 FDA panel recommends approval of everolimus for transplant rejection with a risk mitigation plan. Dec07 Donor kidneys from which renal masses have been removed yield good results. Dec04 Observational study suggests remarkable protection against graft-versus-host disease by statins. Dec03 Novel "locked nucleic acid" drug markedly lowers hepatitis C viral counts in chimpanzees. Dec01 Are peptoids that disable autoreactive T cells the next step in treatment of autoimmune disease? Dec01 JASN: Transplant nephrectomy associated with improved survival. Nov24 Paralyzed man was misdiagnosed as being in coma for 23 years. Nov23 Progress in xenotransplant. Pig kidneys live for 50 days in baboons. Nov20 JASN: Removing a failed transplant associated with increased survival in ESRD patients. Nov19 Cigarette smoke found to be contaminated with many pathogenic bacteria. Nov19 ESRD-related language in candidate Senate healthcare reform bill. Nov05 Benlysta (belimumab) phase III trial for lupus gives positive results. Nov03 Surprise for organ donors: unexpected medical bills; pre-existing condition risk. Oct29 Teriparatide outperforms alendronate in treating steroid-induced osteoporosis. Oct26 Histone released from damaged cells during trauma or sepsis damages blood vessels. Oct19 RItuximab as effective as cyclophosphamide in treating severe ANCA vasculitis. Oct19 Is lupus a garbage-disposal problem? And is PPAR delta an answer? Oct15 Certain specific gut microorganisms induce the formation of Th17 immune helper T cells. Oct15 What can Danish hogs teach us about antibiotics? Oct10 American Society of Transplantation pushing to include transplant drug extension in health reform legislation. Oct06 When a dialysis tech suddenly needs dialysis. Sep28 Cash-strapped Britons selling a kidney to cover mortgage and other debts. Sep28 Funding concerns cause dialysis patients to be steered away from transplantation. Sep14 Knockout model developed in animals that results in absent natural killer (NK) cells. Sep14 Draft healthcare reform bill would remove 36-month limit in paying for anti-rejection drugs post transplant. Sep14 Take a shower and get a faceful of Mycobacterium avium. Sep08 Dopamine primes donor kidneys for a new host. Sep03 100K buys recipient a good kidney, but not good health, and results in the death of a young Chinese girl. Sep01 Peginterferon-alfa and ribavirin treatment for HCV associated with impaired sexual functioning in men. Aug28 Dialysis patient's taxi driver offers to donate his kidney, and they are an immunologic match. Aug21 Observational study suggests home nocturnal dialysis mortality similar to that with kidney transplantation. Aug11 GIFT15 treatment modified B lymphocytes and reverses multiple sclerosis in the lab; may have potential in lupus as well. Jul31 UK to ban all private cadaver transplants to restrict their use in non-UK recipients. Jul26 NY Daily News: Expose on organ trafficking - which U.S. hospitals participated? Jul19 Study reveals that the air we breathe is full of fungi. Jul15 Bisphosphonates may lower mortality rate by an effect on the immune system. Jul14 Watch video of partial nephrectomy done through the navel. Jul14 FDA changes labelling on immunosuppressive drugs to warn of increased infection risk. Jul14 Recipient heart heals itself after piggy back transplant gives it a rest. Jul09 NOD2 receptor mutations impair ability to detect mycobacteria and are linked to Crohn's disease. Jul08 Costimulation blocker plus alefacept allow monkeys to tolerate transplanted kidneys. Jul06 Ethical dilemma: When transplant testing reveals misattributed paternity. Jul03 In the kidney organ trade, sellers often have regrets and remorse over their decision. Jun24 Steve Jobs' liver transplant - why Tennessee? Jun23 Household pets can spread superbug infections such as MRSA. Jun20 New prostate cancer drug ipilimumab shows dramatic results in 2 patients. Jun13 FDA issues alert on increased death risk in liver transplant patients taking Rapamune. Jun04 Halofuginone, Th17 cells, and autoimmunity. Jun03 A new approach to hybrid organs involves reseeding collagen organ scaffolds from one species with cells of the recipient. Jun02 Eculizumab effective in the prevention of antibody-mediated transplant rejection in preliminary data. Jun02 Advances in the treatment of hepatitis B and C presented at conference. Jun01 2009 American Transplant Congress opens in Boston - abstract link here. May29 FDA: Serious fungal infections associated with TNF-alpha blockers. May22 New anti-inflammatory drug candidate works by releasing hydrogen sulfide gas. May20 Donations of organs decline in the U.S. with the economic downturn. Apr22 Proton-pump inhibitors and NSAIDS have synergistic anti-inflammatory effects, and ? neuroprotective properties. Apr22 Korean scientists clone pig with alpha 1,3 galactose gene knocked out, in hopes of pig organs for human transplants. Apr18 Ultrashort-acting prednisolone derivatives (antedrugs) stop inflammation and then are metabolized to avoid side effects. Apr14 Ex-idol contestant Scott MacIntyre was recipient of a kidney transplant. A07 New method of inducing transplantation tolerance works well in animals. M25 Natasha Richardson's family donates her organs after fatal head injury. M24 Cathelicidin antimicrobial protein levels, regulated by vitamin D, linked to infection risk in dialysis patients. M24 FDA releases mandatory patient education guides for mycophenolate. M09 Omental cells may play a role in regenerating the liver in an animal study. F25 Use of innovative kidney swaps involving multiple donors, increasing. F25 New position of NKF re incentives for kidney donation in the news. F23 Ex-mayor of Washington DC, Marion Barry, gets a kidney transplant. F15 FDA now requiring that each patient receiving CellCept (mycophenolate) receive a patient education guide. F03 NTSB probes multiple recent crashes of medical helicopters. F03 Trans-vaginal donor nephrectomy in the news. F02 Leprosy drug clofazimine holds promise as an immunomodulatory agent. J30 NKF launches program designed to reduce the wait for a transplanted kidney. J28 Gene therapy for adenosine deaminase deficiency gives encouraging results. J28 NEJM: Kidney donors have a normal lifespan. J22 Patient with new type of specific antibodies against T-cells may point to a new way to treat autoimmune disease. J21 Urinary haufen identify patients with polyomavirus infection post transplant. J20 Kidney transplant recipients with HIV have good allograft and patient survival. J17 NY Times and its readers opine on the kidney donor divorce drama. J12 Is there a United States connection to organ trafficking? J09 New drug combo (Mozobil, VEGF, GCSF) induces the body to release new types of autologous "healing?" stem cells into the blood. D31 Perfused, machine-stored donor kidneys do better than donor kidneys packed in ice. D27 Proteosome inhibitor and multiple myeloma drug bortezomib effective in reversing acute transplant rejection in a pilot study. D22 Two percent of circulating B cells in normal subjects potentially have autoimmune activity but are shut off. D19 Transplant surgeon acquitted in case involving allegations that he hastened an organ donor's death. D03 Gene therapy cures sickle cell disease in mice. D03 Scientists film inner workings of the immune system sing multiphoton microscopy. N19 Designer organs progress: woman receives new trachea grown from her own stem cells. N17 UK panel of experts advises against presumed consent and donor opt out legislation. N14 New xenotransplant technique in pigs based on modification of cell surface genes by altering pig sperm. N11 Bone marrow reconstitution with CCR5-negative cells apparently cures AIDS in a leukemia patient. N04 Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) good for diagnosing certain liver conditions. N04 NK-22 cells - they're in the gut, they make IL-22, and are involved in mucosal immunity. O28 Topical treament for HSV cold sores achieves same results as oral systemic therapy. O28 UMC Nevada kidney transplant program closes due to Medicare standard regulations. O22 Steroid-sparing immunosuppression for renal transplant in the news. O22 Low-levels of gut bacteria that secrete anti-inflammatory compounds may underlie or worsen Crohn's disease. O17 New Mycobacterium species identified that can cause bone infections in the immunocompromised. O16 Outcomes in transplant tourism patients markedly worse than those transplanted in the U.S. O10 CDC reports on Listeria monocytogenes contamination of milk products after pasteurization. O03 Successful transplantation of frozen and thawed pig liver (into another pig) raises hope for an organ bank. O03 DNA of commensal, good bacteria augment the intestinal response to infection. S19 African American women have low white blood cell count. S10 Molecular mechanism of steroid-induced fatty liver determined. S05 FDA warns about invasive fungal lung infections in patients taking TNF-alpha blockers. A29 FDA approves for clinical use a gene expression blood test (AlloMap) designed to help diagnose rejection of heart transplants . A26 Newer gated CT scans diagnose coronary artery disease and obviate need for angiography. A25 Longer-term low-dose IL-2 treatment (metronomic dosing) has fewer side effects when used for prostate cancer. A25 FDA approves Nplate (romiplostim) to stimulate bone marrow in thrombocytopenia. A24 Bifidobacterium infantis may have systemic immune system benefits. A18 Compensated organ donation pits the AMA against the NKF: The Satel article in Slate magazine. A18 Wall Street Journal health blog debated ethics of organ donation, focusing on NKF opposition to the concept. A15 When is a potential heart donor really dead? NEJM report raises some ethical questions. A15 Certain hepatitis B virus genotypes linked to liver cancer risk. A08 Immune response to early treatment of hepatitis C suggests that cure rate may be enhanced. A07 Occult hepatitis C viral infection present in 45% of hemodialysis patients with abnormal liver enzymes. A05 New method of inducing tolerance using donor leukocytes shows promising results. A01 R1626 shows promising effects against HCV viremia when combined with pegylated inferferon and ribavirin. A01 Mouse data suggests that warfarin may inhibit fibrosis due to hepatitis C. A01 Pluripotent stem cells obtained from skin cells used to generate motor neurons. J30 Bifidobacterium infantis continues to show promise as treatment for irritable bowel syndrome. J28 TriPort device aids in performing umbilical laparoscopic surgery. J28 Deep frozen organs function after being transplanted into animals 3 months later. J27 Human autoantibodies from women with pre-eclampsia induce the condition in pregnant mice. J22 Vagal nerve stimulation suppresses spleen production of TNF: A brain to immune system connection? J21 Advance lowers risk of rejection of animal tissues. J21 Singapore mulls legal kidney trading. J18 Donor nephrectomy via umbilical incision shortens donor post-op recovery time. J17 FDA retracts Salmonella-related warning against eating raw tomatoes. Peppers still a potential risk factor. J17 Peptidoglycans from gut bacteria may induce C. albicans to transform into infectious variant. J17 NEJM study shows that IVIG plus rituximab increases transplant success rates in HLA-sensitized patients. J16 Has the Achilles heel of the HIV virus been located? J16 Cyclosporine increases expression of VEGF. Is this a mechanism for post-transplant cancer risk? J15 Are kidney transplants performed at night less successful? A small European study suggests this possibility. J13 Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor SAHA found to have anti-immune effects in graft vs. host disease. J10 Histone deactylase (HDAC) inhibitors protect ischemic tissue from injury. J10 Computational biology approach leads to better understanding of immune response to presented antigen. J09 Salmonella outbreak continues: jalapeno peppers now thought to be a cause. J08 Transplant tourists running out of destinations. J07 Swiss study suggests an 8% increase in failure rate when a male kidney is given to a woman recipient. J02 Secret of herpesvirus latency discovered in strands of microRNA. J30 Cancer cure strategy in mice to be tested in humans: transfusion of allogeneic cancer-killing leukocytes. J28 FDA/Roche: Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) warnings added to mycophenolate labeling. J25 Site indentified at which microRNAs may down-regulate immune response. J23 Rapamycin may impact retardation in tuberous sclerosis and might be useful in treating autism. J16 British Medical Journal hosts interchange of views on appropriateness of paying live organ donors. J16 Do patients with combined liver/kidney transplants really need the kidney portion? J12 Patch-based vaccine effective against traveler's diarrhea. J10 Etanercept plus exenatide increases efficacy of islet cell transplants over the standard Edmonton protocol. J05 FDA: More on the ongoing review of TNF-blockers and cancer risk. J03 Salmonella outbreak in 9 states linked to raw tomatoes. J02 Genetically engineered regulatory T-cells used to control inflammatory bowel disease in mice. M26 2008 American Transplant Congress to meet in Toronto starting May 31. Abstracts at this link. M22 Biotech company to hold auction for people who want to clone their pet dog. M19 Two California patients may have been rejected for liver transplant because of medical marijuana use. M17 FDA issues warning about birth defects in infants when mother took mycophenolate (MMF) during pregnancy. M17 Is marrying your first cousin truly dangerous in terms of offspring? A critical examination of the data. M17 Former head of UCLA cadaver program indicted for selling body parts on the side, profiting directly from sales. M16 Salmonella infection in people linked to exposure to dry dog food. M16 Lymphocytic choriomeningitis Virus (LCMV) - infected transplant organs cause 1 death and 1 serious injury at Boston-area hospital. M16 MMWR: CDC recommends herpes zoster vaccine for all persons over age 60. M15 Fluvastatin found to markedly lower viral load in hepatitis C. M13 Kidney market shut as Pakistan cuts supply. M13 Texting kids to take their medicine may increase compliance. M04 Give young persons 50,000 dollars to donate a kidney? Skeptics fear abuse and exploitation. M01 AAKP urges Congress to support bill providing immunosuppressive drug coverage for transplant recipients. A30 Scientists synthesize molecule capable of releasing hydrogen sulfide over extended periods - possible role in donor organ preservation? A29 The Philippines bans kidney transplant tourism. A24 Long-term, low dose peginterferon therapy helps patients with chronic hepatitis C. A23 Menstrual blood found to be a source of stem cells. A17 Petsmart sued over hamster infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus blamed in death of 3 transplant patients. A15 Salmonellosis associated with Malt-O-Meal cereal ingestion. A14 Human vascular system grown in mice. Potential applications for organogenesis. A12 Germany eases law on stem cells. A12 Genzyme recalls selected lots of thymoglobulin as a precaution; excessively cloudy on reconstitution. A10 FDA communication regarding CellCept and Myfortic (mycophenolate) - ongoing safety review. A10 FDA notice regarding investigation of mycophenolate mofetil regarding progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. A08 Non-Hodgkins lymphoma transmitted to 4 patients via organ donation. A07 Skin cells turned into pluripotent stem cells from patients with various diseases. A06 Teriparatide (Forteo) gets European regulatory approval for treatment of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis. A04 Transplant ethics conference begins in Chicago (April 4-6). A04 MMWR: Transplantation transmitted tuberculosis. M25 Inhaled hydrogen sulfide gas induces hypometabolic state in animal model. M24 California transplant surgeon awaits trial over allegedly overprescribing pain medicines for dying organ donor. M21 Cato Institute releases study on compensated living kidney donor program in Iran. M19 Want to develop more upscale interests and tastes? Get a kidney transplant from a snob :-). M08 Previously unknown species of bacteria found to contaminate hairspray. F21 NEJM: Acute hepatitis E identified as cause of chornic disease in 14 transplant patients. F21 Arrest of Amit Kumar spotlights corrupt transplant tourism industry in southeast Asia. F13 That's the man who stole my kidney! F12 Embryonic stem cells can be used to create fully functioning immune cells. F11 Integrin receptor linked to HIV infection and replication in the gut. Is a treatment already available? F08 Mycophenolate mofetil linked to specific birth defects. F08 Fugitive doctor, implicated in kidney transplant ring, arrested in Nepal. F07 NEJM full text of paper describing new arenavirus in patients dying after kidney or liver transplants. F07 NEJM: DNA sequencing technology links newly discovered arenavirus to deaths of 3 transplant patients. F05 The enabling role of desperate patients highlighted in kidney transplant racket. F04 interpol looking for Dr. Amit Kumar (associated with Indian kidney theft ring) in Canada. F01 U.S. dialysis patient and his wife are detained in India with regard to organ procurement scandal. J30 Police arrest Indian physician's wife, driver, as they close in on kidney racket that was going on for 9 years. J30 Two American dialysis patients detained in India during investigation of organ theft. J28 Need a kidney? Don't become a politician, or you'll run afoul with ethics rules about accepting donations. J28 New promising technique uses selectin-coated intravascular probe to collect blood-borne stem cells. J25 NEJM: Injecting donor bone marrow results in tolerance to transplanted kidney. J25 Australian transplant patient changes blood group, immune system after liver transplant. J24 NEJM: Mixed chimerism and tolerance in combined donor bone marrow and kidney transplant recipients. J24 NEJM: Renal failure due to oxalosis after 2g/day vitamin C for 3 years in a renal transplant patient. J24 Multistate outbreak of Salmonellosis linked to exposure to small pet turtles. J24 NEJM: Experimental procedure induces tolerance in mismatched kidneys. J23 Goal of donor bone marrow stem cell transplantation is to induce tolerance of transplanted kidney. J21 Anti-TNF compounds as well as rituximab, disrupt lymph node germinal centers. J19 Relatives who decline organ donations face conflict and guilt. J19 Study finds significant differences among hospital protocols to determine brain death. J17 New polyoma virus associated with deadly form of skin cancer. J13 UK considers proposal to remove organs from patients after death without their explicit consent. J03 Two new RCTs suggest that shorter duration treatment works well for hepatitis C. D27 South Korean scientists clone mini-pigs for organ transplantation from stem cells. D27 Weight-based dosing for ribavirin increases efficacy against hepatitis C. D21 Complement cascade blocker eculuzimab effective against myasthenia gravis in animal model. D20 NEJM: Low-dose tacrolimus regimen in combination with other drugs may have advantages. D03 Dialysis patient defends trip to Phillippines in search of a kidney. N28 Eltrombopag increases platelet count in hepatitis C infected patients being treated with antiviral drugs. N27 FDA: Use of mycophenolate mofetil during pregnancy associated with increased risk of pregnancy loss and congenital malformations. N20 Skin cells made into stem cells: a significant finding in terms of ethics of stem cell research. N18 Chicago woman who received HIV-infected kidney may not have been informed about donor's high-risk lifestyle. N14 Four Chicago transplant recipients contract HIV from transplanted organs. N09 Placenta cloaks its proteins with phosphocholine (as do parasitic worms) to evade immune detection. N08 Cato Institute and Dr. Matas supporting compensated organ donation. N07 Progress being made in growing whole organs in the laboratory. O26 Use of carbon monoxide in organ transplantation facilitated by new delivery system. O10 China agrees to stop using donor organs from executed prisoners. O09 Can we make a computational model of the immune system? One group is going to try. S21 UNOS debates new limits for living organ donors. S21 Worms causing elephantiasis may hold the secret to immune tolerance. S20 Businessman wants to sell kidney to pay for lawsuit. S10 Aspreva and Roche decide not to pursue application to FDA for CellCept as induction treatment for lupus nephritis. A30 WTC 911 responder spearheads 3-way kidney donation. A27 Desperation spurs poor Pakistanis to sell their kidneys. A27 Couple shares love and a kidney - dialysis specialist donates kidney to her patient. A23 New laparoscopic technique removes kidney from small incision at belly button. A06 Pioneering education / reimbursement organ donor program developed in London, Ontario, expanded to entire province. A01 Device wakes patient with severe brain injuries. J31 Transplant surgeon accused of hastening death of potential organ donor. J27 Paired organ donation in the news. J26 MMWR: Cryptosporidiosis outbreaks associated with recreational water use. J26 Changing policies with respect to organ harvesting in China lead to fall in number of transplants. J13 FDA releases human tissue task force report regarding regulation of donor organ harvesting. J13 New multiple donor-recipient matching algorithm from Carnegie Mellon may increase the number of kidney transplants. J05 Australian man offering to donate his kidney to a Canadian may have been brainwashed by a religious cult. J05 Medical organ transplant plane from University of Michigan crashes in Lake Michigan - all aboard feared lost. J01 Kidney transplant TV show revealed to be a hoax. M29 Contestants to vie for kidney transplant on controversial Dutch reality TV show. M21 Statins might have a role in management of hepatitis C. M21 Might probiotics modify the course of autoimmune disease? M07 American Transplant Congress 2007 underway in San Francisco: Click here to register to view abstracts. M01 Bahrain plans to legalize living non-related organ donation. A27 New test identifies hepatitis C patients at risk for cirrhosis. A26 Sirolimus-based immunosuppression for heart transplant has kidney-sparing effect. A23 Death of 3 organ transplant recipients leads to discovery of new virus related to LMCV. A11 Ontario may reimburse organ donors. A10 FDA re-emphasizes Salmonella risks for people with impaired immune systems keeping pet turtles. A08 China issues new rules on organ procurement. A02 President of the American Transplant Surgeons Society (Dr. Matas) proposes regulated sale of donor kidneys. M24 Tai Chi boosts immune response to herpes zoster vaccine. M16 Artificial lymph node implanted into mice. M16 Debate about proposed new rules for organ allocation in the news. M10 AST applauds Congressional passage of bill facilitating paired organ donation. M05 Taking amphotericin B in oil by mouth may result in good efficacy, less renal toxicity. M04 Former NFL Dallas Cowboys football player donates kidney to ex-teammate. M01 First hepatitis-E vaccine appears to be highly effective. F20 Sertoli cells confer immune privilege in pancreas cells transplanted between pigs. F20 Sick teens in crisis: Organ transplant patients may die when insurance for medicine runs out. F09 Should age determine who gets a kidney transplant? F05 FDA approves new dosing recommendations for Rapamune (sirolimus) in high immunologic risk transplant patients. F05 Kidney transplant to be broadcast live over the internet Tuesday, Feb 6, 18:50 hrs. F03 42 British Columbia transplant patients received their kidneys in China. J30 Broke up with your date? Maybe because you were too HLA compatible. J28 Carabin identified as brake to the immune system - may be involved in toleration. J16 Tsunami victims selling their kidneys because of financial pressure. J09 Paid Kidney Donation? "I sold my kidney to buy a T.V.!" J09 Stromal cells in intestinal lymph nodes play a previously unknown role in immune tolerance. J03 Operations research management expert suggests a more efficient kidney allocation system. D20 JAMA: A wide variety of cancers found to be increased (about threefold) in kidney transplant patients. D13 FDA approves test to detect Chagas disease in blood or organ donors. D12 An ugly side to stem cell research: Eastern European babies alleged to have been killed for stem cells. D02 China states that it is banning transplant tourism. D02 UK Transplant Games to be held in Edinburgh next July. N28 French woman is smiling one year after receiving a face transplant. N19 Overweight kidney donors face risks; may be due to increased renal blood flow. N09 New transplant study shows lower acute rejection rates with thymoglobulin than with basiliximab. O31 Iran's desperate kidney traders. O30 Ribavirin plus Infergen twice as good as standard therapies to control hepatitis C. O25 Should we pay each kidney donor $33,000? O05 Aspirin blocks tumor growth by interfering with angiogenesis. S28 Feds withdraw threat to cut off funding to Kaiser SF transplant program, which is being shut down anyway. S26 Sulfasalazine appears to prevent / improve cirrhosis of the liver. S26 Genetic variations in MHC (major histocompatibility locus) posted on-line, clues for transplant and immune diseases. S19 FDA approves posoconazole to treat Aspergillus and Candida fungal infections. S18 Food and drugs pass through the stomach very quickly or quite slowly. A01 Immune drug trial debacle leaves test subject facing risk of cancer, auto-immune disease. J26 Genzyme to manufacture Thymoglobulin in Waterford, Ireland. J26 Roche launches new website for organ transplant community. J24 Evidence presented at WTC that steroid-free immunosuppression for renal Tx is a good option. J21 Kidney donors often pay a financial price. J20 British Columbia unveils novel organ transplant donor expense reimbursement system. J24 Alonzo Mourning's NBA championship ring a testimony to health after transplantation. J19 NKF transplant games athletes prove that life can be vigorous after transplant. J16 Rats that don't shower every day may be protected against autoimmune disease. J12 U.S. Transplant games, June 16-21, Louisville, KY. J12 30 yrs. with a kidney transplant and then death after a cat bite. J07 Transplants: Soon a thing of the past? Australians grow beating heart tissue. M17 UCSF to take in most of Kaiser's kidney transplant patients. M15 Tacrolimus-derivative drugs protect animal brains against stroke-induced damage. M11 Frustrated Kaiser kidney patients eager to get transplants elsewhere. M09 White blood cells from cancer-resistant mice cure large tumors in non-resistant mice. M07 Kaiser Permanente transplant program overwhelmed regulators, endangering patients, reports allege. M03 Chicago-area teacher donates kidney to her 4th grade pupil. M01 A way to increase organ donation: Change default policy to YES. A26 Relaxation of kidney swap rules to include unrelated donors in the U.K. A19 Caspase 12 gene shuts down immune system; found in 20% of African descent people. A18 Is China obtaining organs from executed prisoners and selling them? Scandal grows. A03 Bladder grown in lab hailed as breakthrough in organ transplantation. A02 Canada begins paired kidney exchange program. M31 UN to look at Falun Gong claims of torture, murder, and organ harvesting at Chinese labor camp. M28 China bans sale of organs for transplant. M28 Daclizumab is stimulating natural killer cells, and this may have widespread implications. M17 Problems with CD28 agonist monoclonal antibody raise broader concerns about human testing. M14 Renal transplant patients often deficient in vitamin D. M09 Dr. Monaco editorial in KI: In favor of monetizing kidney donation. M05 UNOS sanctions LA hospital for bypassing US donors and giving liver transplant to Saudi national. F26 Canadians look to the US to bypass long delays in kidney transplantation. F21 Is there a way to avoid the bladder toxicity of cyclophosphamide? F10 Would-be kidney donor saves her own life. F01 Nabi announces fast tracking of hepatitis C immune globulin by the FDA to prevent HCV reinfection. J30 Prions may play a key role in enabling stem cell function. J25 Senator Schumer to introduce legislation to regulate organ banks. J24 UC Irvine transplant program in trouble over low acceptance rate for kidney transplants. J21 Annals paper shows benefit of pre-emptive live donor transplant or kidney-pancreas tx. in type 1 diabetics. J21 UIC surgeons use robotic surgery to harvest a kidney-pancreas transplant. J19 Commonly used antidepressants may also affect the immune system. J07 Transplanted hearts do not survive as long in African American children as in Caucasian kids. J02 More cat owners inquiring about kidney transplant for their pets. D29 Investigating panel concludes that most if not all of Korean team's cloned stem cell data was faked. D29 68 year old Aussie billionaire with failing kidneys dies after refusing dialysis. D28 Saliva test for hepatitis C developed by Israeli scientists. D28 Ex-nurse convicted of mercy killings allowed to donate his kidney. D26 Nine families sue Univ of California Irvine transplant program over suspended liver transplant program. D25 South Korean cloning research was faked; stem cell field shaken. D23 Aspergillus fumigatus genome sequenced. D17 CDC recommends new blood test to diagnose TB infection. D17 MMWR: West Nile virus activity in the U.S. a continuing problem. D12 State-of-the-art container facilitates donor kidney transport. D12 ESRD patients buying kidneys from Chinese prisons. D05 Coffee intake may reduce risk of liver damage. N29 New phase 2 trial targets P-selecting to prevent delayed graft function. N29 Forty-two years later patient doing well on fourth transplanted kidney. N26 Anti-inflammatory compounds in Schistosoma worms of interest in transplantation. N24 South Korean cloning pioneer quits over ethics re sources of donor human eggs. N21 Roller coaster rides can provoke arrhythmias. N18 Dr. Tom Starzl gets National Medal of Science award for work in transplantation. N10 Unrelated live kidney donor in coma - offers of help pour in. N09 One donor father, two daughters with PKD. N09 Which country transplants the most kidneys in Europe? You might be surprised. N07 Davenport woman donates a kidney to whomever out of the goodness of her heart. N07 Parasitic worms may hold key to immunosuppression. N05 Vfend as good as amphotericin/fluconazole for Candida infections. N02 Frozen kidney works after being transplanted into a rat. O30 Kidney thieves prowl Pakistani earthquake zone. O27 Got a transplant from a crook? Watch out - the donor DNA may put you in jail! O24 Some jumping the line in the wait for kidney donors. O21 New antifreeze protein found in fleas may prolong donor organ storage. O17 Kidney Foundation of Canada gives award to Western Ontario's Dr. Jevnikar. O17 Two new "ethical" ways to harvest stem cells. O14 Pillows and bedding are loaded with fungal spores. O12 CD19 monoclonal antibodies suppress B cells better than rituximab. O12 Function of Hassall's corpuscles in thymus gland finally explained. O12 New immunosuppression strategy has little weight, and in fact is in outer space. O06 MMWR: West Nile Virus in infected organ transplant recipients. O04 Johns Hopkins living donor trading scheme shows encouraging results. O03 THi cells make IL-17 and may be key to some autoimmune diseases. S28 Denver doctor set to receive transplant from donor found via the internet. S23 Mathematician proposes improved transplant donor-recipient matching algorithm. S21 Haaretz: Organ donor shortage in Israel: Problem and possible solutions. S21 O-GlcNac sugars, rather than cyclins, prime determinants of cell cycle control. S21 Immune cells communicate via network of nanotubules. S19 New developments in Durban, South Africa organ trafficking scandal. S19 Ebay blocks kidney donor bids. S16 BBC: Ultraviolet light plus azathioprine increase skin cancer risk. S06 Scientists develop fungus-fighting vaccine. A29 Mad cow proteins (prions) successfully detected in blood. A29 Physician gives kidney, then her heart to dialysis patient. A29 Bahrain patients warned against buying black market kidneys. A28 Antibody absorption enables ABO mismatched live donor transplants. A26 Kidney donor exchange programs catching on - the New York experience. A24 NEJM: Belatacept preserves GFR better than Cya in renal transplantation. A24 Hope raised for making lungs in the lab. A16 Prominent Durban profs in court over organ trading scheme. A16 Friendly waitress gets kidney transplant from regular customer. A13 Florida man who found donor via internet finally gets transplant. A09 Russian medics being tried for organ-stealing scheme. A06 Organ trading: How much is a kidney worth? A03 Extended shelf life for donated organs. A03 NEJM: (full text) Ethics of organ donation by living donors. J30 Robins, not crows, may be spreading West Nile virus. J29 Low-dose carbon monoxide may prevent obliterative bronchiolitis. J29 HHS collaborative program increasing cadaver organ donation rates. J25 New siRNA approach to treating hepatitis B. J25 Cellular fusion receptor B5 used by herpesviruses to enter cells. J20 LCM virus infected hamster causing transplant death traced to Ohio. J10 Gene for immune deficiency syndromes found. J08 Genomic mechanism of increased azathioprine toxicity identified. J30 Daclizumab cuts rejection risks in heart transplants. J28 A wingman (CD8 coreceptor) for T-cell receptors? J27 Dr. Richard Fine to head up Am Soc Transplantation for 2005-6. J24 Canada aims to curb internet drug trade. J24 AMA floats ideas to boost organ donation. J24 Whose kidney is it anyway? Should we nationalize corpses? J22 Adeno-associated virus type 2 kills several types of skin cancers. J13 Scientists create hepatitis C virus in the lab for the first time. J10 New approach to T-cells may help achieve tolerance of donor organs. J07 West Nile virus in the news - CNN special report. J07 What is a kidney worth? Special article on organ transplantati�on. J06 China plans to ban trade in human organs. J06 Anti-cancer proteins in high quantities in gene-modified chicken eggs. J06 Tumor stem cell genes determine invasiveness of wide array of cancers. J04 Rugby star Lomu on comeback trail after kidney transplant. M30 Workplace solvent TCE linked to immune system disorders. M27 MMWR analysis of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection in Tx pts. M25 Transplanting living donor kidneys with small stones seems to be OK. M24 ATC: Use of expanded criteria donors is safe. M24 American Transplant Congress 2005 abstracts now available. M23 Three organ transplant recipients die from virus related to rodents. M22 British press reports speculate that French woman received Princess Di's kidney. M21 South Koreans clone stem cells from skin cell nuclei and denucleated human ova. M18 New class antifungal mycafungin (Mycamine) now available in US. M18 Paying kidney donors $90,000 would up kidney transplants and be budget neutral. M16 Nurse gladly donates kidney to stranger. M12 Actor George Lopez feels like a new man after kidney transplant. M07 Immune gene with 20% prevalence linked to CAD, rheumatism, and MS. M06 Alonzo Mourning kidney donor featured in the news. M03 PNAS: IL-10 prevents chronic vascular rejection in rats. M02 Can frogs who freeze themselves for the winter be the key to organ preservation? A26 Man who got new liver by ads on billboards dies 8 mos after transplant. A26 Comic George Lopez gets living donor kidney from wife. A25 AST to host regional conference in Philly June 25 on post-transplant care. A25 Significant hypoxemia documented in 54% of airline travelers. A24 Long lasting gel prevents herpes, may also be useful as a treatment. A24 Monoclonal antibody cures West Nile virus in mice. A22 Am Soc Transplantation hosts educational briefing for members of Congress. A22 High cyclosporine levels linked to hepatocellular Ca recurrence after liver Tx. A21 Hydrogen sulfide gas induces hibernation in mice; slows metabolism, oxidation. A21 Fashion maven with PKD to discuss his kidney transplant on Oprah tomorrow. A21 Live donor kidney transplant operation to be aired live on Web today at 3 PM. A20 Automated sirolimus blood level assay receives FDA 510k clearance. A20 JAMA: Math simulation supports idea of a national paired donation program. A19 Body grows its own spare parts - in the abdominal cavity. A19 NIAID begins clinical trial of West Nile virus vaccine. A18 UNOS urged to modify organ allocation process to correct racial imbalance. A13 Outbreaks of Salmonella infections associated with Roma tomatoes. A13 Drug-free transplant organ tolerance: steps toward goal at ISHLT conference. A13 Johns Hopkins nurse gets 2.1 million grant to study why organ donors donate. A11 U.S. Transplant Registry (OPTN/SRTR) 2004 Report available on-line. A07 Indentured worker sells kidney to pay off debt - set himself free. A06 Kidney transplant can markedly improve patients with severe heart failure. A05 New donor kidney transport device. M31 NEJM: Sirolimus curse Kaposi's sarcoma in renal tx recipients. M30 Proposed new federal rules will regulate, protect living organ donors. M30 Record number of organ s transplanted from cadaver donors in 2004. M25 ATC 2005 transplant Congress - May 21-25, Seattle, WA. M22 Montrealer sues Royal Vic for refusing transplant from suspected paid donor. M21 UNOS reviews its organ allocation system. M21 Royal Vic refuses to transplant kidney from suspected paid living donor. M17 NKF audioconference: CMS proposed rule for transplant centers. M17 Husband dumps donor wife. M17 Failure to detect CMV in a live-donor transplant results in tragic outcome. M15 Molecular techniques used to identify M. avium in hospital hot tub. M10 Was volunteer kidney donor paid off for his kidney? M08 NY judge denies claim over "misdirected" kidney. M06 Problems with living donor kidneys purchased by some Australians. M04 Chicago conference discusses logistics of paired living donor exchange. M01 Alonzo Mourning signs contract to play basketball with the Miami Heat. F25 Patient denied transplant because of website has other options. F24 Human kidney cloned from stem cells implanted into rats. F23 Tampa institute nixes transplant for recipient who used web site to seek donors. F22 Lymphoma, myeloma risks increased in patients with hepatitis C. F22 Belatacept shows promise as anti-rejection drug in non-human primates. F17 Rabies transmitted via kidney transplant. F10 U.S. has unprecedented increase in organ donations in 2004. F03 Australian group calls for government to pay kidney donors. J04 Prisoner prohibited from donating kidney. D30 Scripps gets grant to study genomics of transplant rejection. D28 Voriconazole gets FDA approval for treatment of Candidemia. D23 NKF: Multimedia presentation on Celebrating 50 Years of Transplantation. D19 NKF: Celebrating the first 50 years of transplantation. D19 Story of the first kidney transplant in the U.S. between identical twins. D14 UNOS takes position opposing solicitation for directed organ donation. D14 Denver physicians not keen to screen internet-recruited organ donors. D10 Thymoglobulin or campath-based anti-rejections regimens for intestinal tx. D08 IVIG greatly increases transplant success in sensitized patients. N28 Classified ads posted for a kidney in Southeast US get big response. N26 Fashion maven with PKD neets transplant; raises awareness of organ donor issues. N26 Two Canadians give up kidneys to save strangers. O24 Could thymus gland reactivation be the key to tolerance of transplanted organs? J01 New JCAHO standards designed to reduce surgical errors take effect. N17 ASN: Debate on payments to potential kidney donors: Yes or No? O14 Flagstaff pediatrician donates kidney to whomever needs it. S30 Is red meat immunogenic? S16 Ethics: What to do when a transplant workup reveals questionable paternity? J10 Is failure to identify potential organ donors a medical error subject to QA? J03 ATC: Does mycophenolate use in Tx reduce malignancy risk? J02 ATC: New organ preservation solution easier to use. M31 Should we give $5,000 to families of cadaver organ donors? F27 Unrelated living donor concept unacceptable - for cats! J23 Need a kidney? Print one. N25 Early transplantation associated with better outcome than later tx. M06 Would paying for donor organs alleviate the shortage?

2019-04-22T16:08:33Z

http://www.hdcn.com/ch/trans/narchtra.htm

Hometown Girl: Forty-two-year-old Jeanine Harms, missing since July 2001, was raised in Campbell, graduated from Prospect High School and attended San Jose State University. Whatever Happened to Jeanine Harms? Missing for 18 months amid signs of foul play, Los Gatos resident Jeanine Harms is almost certainly dead. How small-town police work and scant evidence have stalled a high-profile investigation--and possibly let her killer walk free. SOMETHING was wrong, Janice Burnham knew in her bones, in the panic rising in her chest. She had left message after message all weekend long for her friend Jeanine Sanchez Harms--at her home, on her cell phone--and she hadn't heard a word. This wasn't like her closest friend of 27 years; Jeanine would call her back no matter what. That following Monday, July 30, 2001, Burnham tried calling Jeanine at work, at Amdahl in Sunnyvale, but no one answered her work phone either. She then called a co-worker of Harms' at Amdahl, where Harms' had worked for 12 years, most recently as a purchasing manager. It was somewhere between 11 and 11:30am. "Is Jeanine at work today?" Burnham asked Marsha Sanguinetti, who said, "No. We're kind of concerned about her. It's not like her not to show up and not tell anyone." Burnham said, "I gotta go," and began to cry. Burnham, who quickly dissolved into hysteria, knew that Harms would never have skipped work. Harms, who loved her job, was responsible and dependable. Burnham called Chigiy Binell, Harms' friend and the owner of the duplex on Chirco Drive in Los Gatos where Harms rented a quiet, small, attached cottage. Like Burnham, Binell said she had not seen Harms since Friday, three days before. Binell called the police. Burnham called Harms' parents, Jess and Georgette Sanchez. By noon, the cluster of family and friends, including the police and Harms' brother Wayne, arrived at the cottage. Harms' car, a black 2000 Ford Mustang with silver racing stripes, was parked in the driveway. When the police opened the front door, the cottage was empty and immaculately clean, recalls Burnham, one of the few people let inside. There were no signs of a struggle, no blood and no trace of Harms. The bed had not been slept in. The clothes Harms had worn Friday night--a knee-length, short-sleeved, light-blue flowered cotton dress and black high-heeled sandals--were nowhere to be found. Her purse, car keys and cell phone were missing. Two credit cards remained on the kitchen counter. An unwashed shot glass sat in the sink. But it was the other missing items that especially troubled everyone at the scene. Gone was Harms' prized Oriental rug, which lay before her small sofa. Gone were two sofa cushions. And gone was the sofa slipcover. "It was chilling," says Burnham, who let out a scream at the sight. "I couldn't imagine any other reason for those items to be missing other than to be used in foul play." Jeanine Harms, a charismatic, quick-witted 42-year-old raised on the valley's west side, has been missing for 18 months. Harms' disappearance is the South Bay's highest-profile missing-persons case. Despite a lengthy investigation by the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department, remains officially unsolved. Her body has not yet been found; none of the missing items has been located; and despite a flurry of police activity around two men who spent time with her on the last night she was seen alive, no one has been arrested. In what could mark a turning point in the case, the investigation has been referred to the Santa Clara County district attorney's office, which is expected to decide any day whether the case should go forward or be dropped for lack of evidence. Harms disappeared under mysterious and confounding circumstances that all but shout foul play, but finding the direct evidence irrefutably linking a suspect, or suspects, to her likely murder has proved elusive. Friends and family believe that someone out there almost certainly knows more than they're telling the police. For these people, who have done everything within their power to find Harms and prod the police into more action, the ordeal has been hell on earth, a cruel and unrelenting nightmare. "It's been unimaginably devastating," says Burnham, a friend since high school. A single mother and a senior software engineer at a local high-tech company, Burnham, 43, has been a driving force in the search for Harms. "It's still hard to believe," she says. "I've had a lot of time to let it sink in, but there are still moments [when] I think, this can't be happening." She adds, "So many times, our hopes have come up [that] something will happen, [that] they'll make an arrest. Our hopes never turn out." Jess Sanchez, Harms' 76-year-old father, holds his wife's hand in the living room of the Campbell home where their daughter grew up and says, "Think of the worst possible thing that can happen to you, the very worst, and that's what it's like. It stays with you." The second man--and according to a police department spokesperson the one being more closely scrutinized now--is 43-year-old Maurice Xavier Nasmeh, an architect with Sugimura Associates in Campbell and editor of the newsletter of the American Institute of Architects Santa Clara Valley Chapter. Both men were initially cooperative with the police, but that quickly stopped after they "lawyered up," says Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department Capt. Alana Forrest. Neither has been arrested; both remain in the community and employed. In early January, the police handed over to the Santa Clara County district attorney's office the investigators' report, which fills three binders and contains more than 200 interviews. "We felt we had reached a point in the case where we'd done all the follow-up, all the forensic examination of the evidence and all the interviews we could do at this point," Forrest says. The materials are in the hands of Assistant District Attorney Karen Sinunu, recently handpicked by District Attorney George Kennedy to head up prosecutions for homicide, domestic violence and sexual assault. In an unusual move, Sinunu assigned three DAs to comb through the case one by one before comparing conclusions: Deputy District Attorneys Mike Gaffey, Ed Fernandez and herself. "I decided because of the complexity of the case to have experienced professionals review it in a serial fashion so they don't influence each other," says Sinunu, who will not comment further on the substance of the case. "That way you're more likely to pick out details by yourself." After the three confer, they will have four options: press charges, go to a grand jury, send the case to the police for more work or decide the case isn't prosecutable. Despite the fact that no new evidence has been uncovered, and no body has turned up, Forrest says, "We believe the decision to take the case to the DA was a good one because we have a pretty solid case, strong enough to potentially press charges or go to a grand jury." She adds, "We hope they'll see the circumstantial evidence we see." At this time, police won't confirm what the circumstantial evidence is, or specifically who it points to. If the circumstantial evidence is convincing, or if any new evidence turns up, the question on the minds of everybody connected to this case--family, friends, co-workers, police, private investigators, local politicians and lawyers--is, Who is going to be arrested? And how is it that this person (or persons) has been able to walk free for the past 18 months? On the Friday night, July 27, before she vanished, Harms had dinner with Janice Burnham at Bucca di Beppo in Campbell's Pruneyard Shopping Center. She was nervous and edgy, recalls Burnham, because she was about to meet William Alex Wilson III (who goes by Alex) at 7pm at the Rock Bottom Brewery, also in the Pruneyard. Harms had a couple of drinks and picked at her dinner. Harms was not, Burnham says, looking forward to her date with Wilson. Although good-looking, he was not her personality type and had been "obnoxious" to her in an earlier interaction. During dinner, Burnham recalls, Harms told her that Wilson's "whole personality really turned her off." Wilson declined to be interviewed for this article. The only way Harms knew Wilson, Burnham says, was from a chance meeting several weeks earlier. Harms had gone out after work for a glass of wine and met up with a group of people at a Los Gatos restaurant. When she tried to give her business card to someone else, Wilson plucked the card out of her hand, Harms told friends. He proceeded to call her repeatedly, Burnham says, to get her to agree to a date. At one point, she reluctantly set up a meeting with Wilson but then stood him up. Wilson, Burnham continues, called again, and Harms made up a story and told him she'd had a family emergency. Wilson pressed for another date; feeling guilty, she agreed to meet with him the Friday night before her disappearance, apparently hoping to give him the final brushoff. She asked Burnham and Loretta Meyer, another longtime friend, to go with her, but they both had other obligations. "She didn't want to be alone with the guy," Burnham says. Wilson arrived at the Rock Bottom a half-hour late. By that time, Harms, who enjoyed people and made friends easily, had begun socializing with a new, unfamiliar group of people that included Maurice Nasmeh and Savannah Brien, a colleague of Nasmeh's from work. Wilson joined the group. After drinking for a while at the Rock Bottom Brewery, the group, except for Brien, moved to Court's Lounge, a quarter-mile down Bascom Avenue in Campbell, for more socializing. At some point, a small argument erupted between Harms and another patron over music. After that, Harms apparently drove Wilson and Nasmeh back to the Rock Bottom Brewery to get their cars. Here the specifics of who went where and why become sketchy. Police won't share their theories or evidence, and the DA has opted not to comment pending the outcome of the investigation. Harms' friends and family and private investigators who've looked into the case are left to speculate about what happened next. One theory of friends is that Harms invited Wilson and Nasmeh to go back to her place, but that only Nasmeh showed up. What is known is that at some point, Nasmeh got into his green 1993 Jeep Cherokee and Harms into her Mustang, and they drove toward her cottage on Chirco Drive. It's unclear whether Wilson ever intended to join them, but he did not. Friends, however, believe that Harms thought he was coming. Why? Because, friends theorize, Harms, although sociable, would not have invited Nasmeh to come to her house alone. Physically, he was not the kind of man Harms would have been attracted to, they say. Harms was drawn to blond, muscular guys, like her former husband, Randy Harms, to whom she was married for five years. (They separated amicably more than a year earlier, and Harms is not considered a suspect.) Nasmeh is stocky, dark-haired and balding. On the way to her home, Nasmeh and Harms stopped at a Jiffy Market on Chirco Drive, a few doors from her home, to buy a six-pack of Heineken beer. The owner/manager of the store knew Harms and remembers them stopping by that night. According to Nasmeh, the two of them went to her house and drank the beer. He says she was half-asleep on the couch when he left, sometime after midnight. When she arrived distraught at Harms' house the following Monday, Burnham remembered that her friend had planned to meet with a man named Alex on Friday night, and that's all. She subsequently found his name and phone number noted on Harms' calendar at work. "The police said, 'Oh no, his family is influential; his father was mayor,'" Burnham recalls. When the police caught up with Wilson later that day, he told them that the last time he saw Harms, a green Jeep Cherokee, similar to the description of Nasmeh's vehicle, was following her home, according to police press releases. The police investigation initially focused on Wilson, according to sources, press reports and police press releases. The police quickly released his name and, according to their own press releases, went to his house with a search warrant. They impounded his car and conducted forensic tests, and obtained a DNA sample from Wilson. Private investigator Mike Yorks, a former police detective and sergeant with the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department, was hired by the family in September 2001 to see what he could turn up. He says he spoke with a neighbor of Wilson's who recounted that Wilson told her after Friday night, "That was the worst blind date of my life. She has loud, obnoxious friends. I had no one-on-one time with her. I didn't say goodbye to her. I went to my car and drove home." Burnham and Loretta Meyer confronted Wilson only a couple of months ago at his bakery to beg him for any help he could give them or the police. Wilson, who is reportedly furious at the way he has been treated by the police and depicted in news reports, refused. He was instantly defensive and ordered them to leave the bakery, Burnham says. He did tell them, however, that Nasmeh said to him something like, "If you're not interested [in Harms], can I go for it?" Wilson said he told Nasmeh, "Sure, I'm not interested," she says. He also told them he thought Nasmeh seemed like a "regular guy." But unbeknownst to Wilson and to Harms' friends, within days of her disappearance, police had made a discovery that had little to do with Alex: a fingerprint on the passenger door of Harms' car that belonged to Maurice Nasmeh. Despite more than 24 hours of news reports about Harms' disappearance, Nasmeh did not come forward when she was reported missing. And what's more, he was identified by police because his fingerprint was "in the county system," confirms Capt. Alana Forrest. San Jose private investigator Dave Meyer, Loretta Meyer's husband and a friend of Harms' since high school days, also spent several months investigating the case. (He was not hired by the family and was not paid.) He turned up two criminal court records from the Superior Court of Santa Clara County that show that case files on Maurice Nasmeh have "been purged due to age." But Burnham thinks Nasmeh's version of events doesn't quite add up. For one, Harms did not like beer. She preferred white wine and champagne, and even if she made an exception, she would not have wanted to mix her drinks. Also, not one trace of a beer bottle or cap turned up in Harms' home. Nasmeh reportedly told police that he took all the beer bottles home with him when he left in the middle of the night. Another detail that doesn't make sense to friend Burnham: the too-clean condition of the house. After rooming with Harms for long periods of time on two occasions (including right before she moved into the cottage), Burnham says, "I know her habits. There would have been CDs out, beer bottles; there would have been signs of two people socializing. But there was nothing." She adds that if Harms had cleaned up so thoroughly, she would have also washed the dirty shot glass remaining in the sink. She also doesn't believe that Harms would have fallen asleep on the couch with a man she didn't know and wasn't interested in, who was still in her home. It is possible, Burnham speculates, that Harms' aggressor, whoever it is, did not mean to seriously hurt her, but she fell and hit her head, killing her. The rug, the couch pillows and the couch slipcover could have been used to wrap and dispose of her body, or perhaps they were taken from the cottage because they contained evidence of an attack. "We've gone over this a thousand times, all the different scenarios," says Harms' father, Jess Sanchez, speculating about a worst case scenario. "What in the world would have happened to have led another person or persons to commit a violent act? A moment of rejection, a fit of violent anger? Was it an accident or just plain rage from the other individual?" When contacted, Nasmeh would not comment on the case and referred all questions to his attorney. Nasmeh's attorney, John Hinkle, a high-powered San Jose criminal lawyer with a background as a San Jose police officer, also would not comment on the ongoing investigation "It's a tragic situation for the family," was all he would say. Private investigator Meyer says he turned up some puzzling inconsistencies. When she saw a flier with Nasmeh's photo on it, a female bartender at Court's Lounge told Meyer that she did not recognize Nasmeh as one of the men in the group at the bar that Friday night, Meyer says. Another female bar patron also says she didn't recall seeing Nasmeh at the bar after being shown his photo, and says that she saw Harms there when she left after 11:30pm, which is much later than when the group reportedly left the bar. The first 24-to-72-hour window of any missing-persons investigation is always the most crucial in solving the case, say investigators. Despite rare success stories such as the safe recovery last week of 15-year-old Elizabeth Smart of Salt Lake City, Utah, the longer the case drags on, the colder the trail usually gets. Jeanine Harms was not reported missing until three days after she disappeared; the time lag and the fact that there were no obvious clues or evidence that could lead to a quick arrest have made the case especially difficult for police. "It's been very frustrating," says Los Gatos Police investigator Steve Walpole, who's worked the Harms case since she was first reported missing. According to private investigator Meyer, who showed up at Harms' cottage not long after the family, the initial response of the police--despite the missing house items--was that Harms was probably kicking around someplace and would show up at any moment. He says that it took too long for the police to take the situation as seriously as they needed to. Although they were telling people Harms was almost certainly a victim of violence, they did not officially label the investigation a homicide case until many months later. Also, police did not properly secure the crime scene, they note. Meyer says that he watched as more than a dozen police walked through the house, over the grounds and up and down the street--not including family members and friends. "The least number of people involved in a crime scene investigation is best," says a source knowledgeable with police procedures. "You're only supposed to have essential personnel in and out of the crime scene until the investigation is complete. If they weren't doing that, they weren't following their own protocol." Meyer believes that the police also took too long to bring search dogs to Harms' cottage, waiting until a day or two later to do so. "I just believe that whatever scent or evidence was present got corrupted, if not obliterated, by all that activity," he says. Friends and family members also believe that the police focused too exclusively on Alex Wilson for the first week or two of their investigation, which could have allowed the perpetrator to make a clean getaway. What's more, they argue that the police brought in outside help too late in the investigation. (Three months after Harms went missing, they reportedly had only one homicide detective, who was new to the job, working the case full time.) It took six months for Chief Todd to agree to allow help from two experienced homicide detectives from the San Jose Police Department. And it was also close to a year before crime analysts from the Department of Justice developed a suspect profile. Chief of Police Scott Seaman, who took command of the Los Gatos department after Todd's retirement in July 2002, publicly announced that solving the Harms case would be one of his first priorities. He asked Deputy DA Mike Gaffey and DA investigator Mike Schembri to assist in October. "They didn't have the confidence to work the case because they didn't have the right, experienced personnel," says one observer, who adds that it took too long to follow up on various leads. "I don't think it was that complicated a case. Even if they never find Jeanine Harms, the police didn't take the right approach or have experienced people on the case in the beginning." Adds Meyer, "I don't believe the department is incompetent, and I believe they wanted to solve this crime in the worst way. But they don't get a lot of major crime in Los Gatos--it's a very affluent area, and it's a small force." The Los Gatos police did take the case seriously right away and handled the crime scene properly, responds Capt. Forrest, who also noted the 72-hour time lapse before they were alerted that Harms was missing. They focused on Wilson and Nasmeh at first because both were with Harms that night, she says. "As the investigation progressed, and we talked to more people, we realized we should be focusing more on Maurice," she says. Although she will not comment on former Chief of Police Todd, Forrest adds, "We felt we had the capacity and resources to handle this case. Later on, with a shift in leadership here--and sometimes different perspectives and viewpoints and resources to draw upon--we wanted to create more opportunities to look at the case in a different light." Larry Todd came to the Los Gatos Police Department with a history of refusing outside help. In 1989, while an officer with the West Covina Police Department, Todd was found liable, along with then-Police Chief Craig Meacham and the city, for its handling of the 1981 kidnapping case of a 10-year-old boy who was later killed by kidnappers after a ransom drop went awry. After Mike Yorks was hired by Harms' family to gather more evidence, he says he contacted Todd to suggest ways they could collaborate. The response, given through another officer, was, "If you interfere with our investigation, you'll be arrested," Yorks recalls. "What really got me was the perception that Chief Todd was too busy to be bothered with Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez," says Meyer. "They couldn't get an audience with the chief." "We didn't get the feeling when Todd was chief of police that the case had as high a priority as it should have," says Jess Sanchez. "We never saw his hand, his leadership. He didn't call us, saying, 'This is how the case is progressing.' ... never got from the chief--from the very top--assurances that everything was being done. In our case, it's like he never existed." That all changed when Chief of Police Scott Seaman took over eight months ago. Seaman, a former captain with the San Jose Police Department, is said to be fresh and energetic, educated, well-rounded and in touch with the community. He gave Harms' case top billing and redoubled the department's efforts, putting on four full-time detectives to go back over the case. And he has stayed in much closer contact with the family, the Sanchezes say, including attending a candlelight vigil on the anniversary of Harms' disappearance. "He's very proactive," says Meyer. "When he came on, he said to the press, "We're going to solve this case; it's a priority for the department,' and I believe he's lived up to his commitment." "This is a very important case to the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department, and every member of this department shares in the hope that we can determine what happened to Jeanine," says Seaman. "I look forward to the opportunity to help the family reach an appropriate closure to this tragedy." As described by her friends and family, she was vivacious, intelligent, kindhearted, generous and exceptionally funny. She regularly attended a Methodist Church. A sleek 5-foot-5 and 110 pounds, she was an avid physical fitness buff and a flashy dresser. Her friends say that she had her personal struggles, which were manifested in occasionally drinking too much and partying. She was doing fine after her marriage ended, they say, but she was lonely and, after a recent breakup with a boyfriend, was hoping to meet the right guy. She had her contradictions, they say. "She was an interesting person; she was so safety conscious," says Janice Burnham. "I always laughed at the deadbolts in her bedroom, the crowbar on the door. If she were alone, she'd be terrified and put out newspapers on the floor to hear them crackling [if someone broke in]. But on the other hand, she would invite a virtual stranger into her home. ... She didn't like being alone; she wanted to have people there." Harms was very trusting, say her friends, and never expected the worst in others. She had a hard time saying no; she didn't want to let other people down. "We're all complex creatures, human, and live day to day as best we can," says Loretta Meyer, who has been grief-stricken since Harms disappeared. "I pray we find her." Some people worried that Harms' friendliness and openness could be misinterpreted. She was not promiscuous, they say, but she was beautiful, and men would gravitate toward her, and she would spend time with them. In Dave Meyer's opinion, she let her guard down more after her marriage ended. He also remembers warning her to be more careful. But he hastens to add, "Regardless of her behavior or risk taking, she didn't deserve to die or be killed by some freak." Her family has somehow made it through the darkest of days. Jess and Georgette Sanchez, while devastated, have consistently shown grace and class throughout their crisis, say friends and family. "I've been surprised by how resolute they've been," says their son Craig Sanchez. (Sanchez was in town visiting his family from Olney, Md., when Harms' was reported missing.) "Of course, they want to try to get justice and search for justice, but they're not consumed with vengeance. This hasn't changed them from being kind and loving people to people consumed with hatred. They're very strong in ways I hadn't realized." They've also done everything within their power to alert the community that their daughter is missing and to ask for help in finding her. Headed up in large part by Craig Sanchez, and with the assistance of friends and volunteers, they've been on America's Most Wanted, plastered the region with billboards and distributed fliers and videos of Harms. They've pressed the media to keep the spotlight on the case by agreeing to be interviewed for numerous TV news shows and newspaper articles. They created an informal foundation to raise money, set up a website (findjeanine.com) and collaborated with missing-persons groups. They've held dinners and vigils, offered reward money (as did Amdahl, now called Fujitsu), worked the political system, kept after the police and consulted psychics. "One thing we've became keenly aware of is how many other parents there are that have lost a loved one, a child, a daughter, a son--either missing or murdered," says Georgette Sanchez. "One hundred and fifty thousand people are missing every year in California. Think of all the families that are in pain." What do they hope for now? "We're almost--not 100 percent, not quite--come to the point where we have to accept that Jeanine is dead," says Jess Sanchez. "We would like to know what happened to her. How did she die? Did she suffer? And where are her remains?" "And we want the law to take care of the one who did this to her," finishes Georgette Sanchez. "We're all very anxious to see what the DA is going to come out with," says Craig Sanchez. "The worse nightmare is if the DA throws up their hands and says we have nothing. If they say that, what would really help us is someone coming forward with some new piece of evidence." He adds, "We want to find out what happened to Jeanine, who's involved--and have the person face justice and be punished. But it's also a double-edged sword. When that happens, we will have to relive a lot of unpleasant things and that will be very painful--to sit through the whole legal process. You'd like to put it behind you, but you can never put it behind you. Even if we go to trial and someone is convicted and punished, it's not like it ends for us." From the March 20-26, 2003 issue of Metro, Silicon Valley's Weekly Newspaper.

2019-04-20T20:53:01Z

http://findjeanine.com/jeanine/news/Metro-032003-JeanineHarms.htm

KAI D THRASH was born 17 February 1979, received Social Security number 428-35-1771 (indicating Mississippi) and, Death Master File says, died 21 September 2000. Research in ZIP Code 39573. KALAI RESHUN PARKS was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A. Kamal V Maragh was born 17 February 1979, is male, registered as No Party Affiliation, residing at 1520 Summergate Dr, Valrico, Florida 33594. Florida voter ID number 117413883. The voter lists a mailing address and probably prefers you use it: 215 N Pine St Unit 918 Charlotte NC 28202-2094. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 31 January 2015. Kamilah Chervon Morrison was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote, giving the address 3485 Homestead Road in Conway, Faulkner County, Arkansas 72032, United States of America. KARA ELIZABETH GRANT was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, U.S.A. Karen Boza was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 8657 Nw 2Nd St, Miami, Florida 33126. Florida voter ID number 109892845. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. Karen Diazgranados was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 3511 Sw 7Th St, Miami, Florida 33135. Florida voter ID number 110011567. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. 31 May 2012 voter list: Karen Diazgranados, 7120 Fairway DR, APT L6, Miami Lakes, FL 33014 Republican Party of Florida. KAREN ANN RILEY was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote in Coalgate, Oklahoma, U.S.A. Karen Michelle Whitaker was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 311 White Ibis Ln, Winter Haven, Florida 33884. Florida voter ID number 113663322. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. Karina Diaz was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as No Party Affiliation, residing at 5030 Sw 195Th Ter, Southwest Ranches, Florida 33332. Florida voter ID number 124345841. Her telephone number is 1-305-785-5927. . This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. KATHERINE R GENTRY was born 17 February 1979, received Social Security number 409-31-9271 (indicating Tennessee) and, Death Master File says, died 07 April 2002. KATHERINE ZOE RHYNES was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote in Durant, Oklahoma, U.S.A. KATHLEEN WHITE was born 17 February 1979, received Social Security number 073-64-2013 (indicating New York) and, Death Master File says, died 19 May 2013. Katie Michelle Collier was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Florida Democratic Party, residing at 4260 Pilgrim Way, Jacksonville, Florida 32257. Florida voter ID number 104322702. Her telephone number is 1-904-697-6817. . Her email address is KATIECOLLIER79@AOL.COM. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. 31 October 2017 voter list: Katie Michelle Collier, 4260 Pilgrim Way, Jacksonville, FL 322576076 Florida Democratic Party. 30 September 2015 voter list: Katie Michelle Collier, 1655 The Greens Way, #2832, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250 Florida Democratic Party. 31 May 2012 voter list: KATIE MICHELLE COLLIER, 1239 18TH ST, #B, SARASOTA, FL 34234 Florida Democratic Party. KATIRIA RODRIGUEZ was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as No Party Affiliation, residing at 404 E Grove Ave, Lake Wales, Florida 33853. Florida voter ID number 114953420. The voter lists a mailing address and probably prefers you use it: 404 E GROVE AVE LAKE WALES FL 33853 USA. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 31 May 2012. KATIRIA RODRIGUEZ VEGA was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as No Party Affiliation, residing at 5316 Pointe Vista Cir, Apt 208, Orlando, Florida 32839. Florida voter ID number 122449899. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. KATIRIA E COLON was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Florida Democratic Party, residing at 14014 Satin Grove Dr, Orlando, Florida 32828. Florida voter ID number 114712716. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. KEITH C ROSS was born 17 February 1979, received Social Security number 442-76-9978 (indicating Oklahoma) and, Death Master File says, died 30 August 2002. Research in ZIP Code 73005. Kek Koon Lim was born 17 February 1979, is male, registered as Florida Democratic Party, residing at 6811 Sw 44Th Ave, Gainesville, Florida 32608. Florida voter ID number 116376738. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 31 July 2018. KELLY L WILLIAMS was born 17 February 1979, received Social Security number 226-47-6176 (indicating Virginia) and, Death Master File says, died 09 October 2004. KELLY LYNN BOX was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as No Party Affiliation, residing at 15250 Se 170Th St, Weirsdale, Florida 32195. Florida voter ID number 121763957. The voter lists a mailing address and probably prefers you use it: PO BOX 117 WEIRSDALE FL 32195-0117. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. Kelly Lynn Goetsch was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 17125 N Bay Rd, Apt 3203, Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 33160. Florida voter ID number 126339095. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. Kelvin Diaz was born 17 February 1979, is male, registered as Florida Democratic Party, residing at 16374 Segovia Cir S, Pembroke Pines, Florida 33331. Florida voter ID number 109739592. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. 31 October 2018 voter list: Kelvin Diaz, 426 SW 122nd Ave, Pembroke Pines, FL 330255906 Florida Democratic Party. 30 June 2015 voter list: Kelvin Diaz, 426 SW 122nd Ave, Pembroke Pines, FL 33025 Florida Democratic Party. KENDRA ELLEN CREWS was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as No Party Affiliation, residing at 7766 Sw Tustenuggee Ave, Lake City, Florida 32024. Florida voter ID number 121453964. The voter lists a mailing address and probably prefers you use it: PO BOX 2297 LAKE CITY FL 32056-2297. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. KENNETH JEREMY HATTAWAY was born 17 February 1979, is male, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 7438 Baywoods Ln, Pensacola, Florida 32504. Florida voter ID number 104110883. His telephone number is 1-850-494-7959. . This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. Kenneth Paul Sapp was born 17 February 1979, is male, registered as No Party Affiliation, residing at 3132 W Lambright St, Apt 205, Tampa, Florida 33614. Florida voter ID number 111071977. His telephone number is 1-813-409-4831. . This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. 31 January 2019 voter list: Kenneth Paul Sapp, 8678 Key Royale LN, APT 201, Tampa, FL 33614 No Party Affiliation. 31 January 2018 voter list: Kenneth Paul Sapp, 909 E FLORA St, Tampa, FL 33604 No Party Affiliation. 31 October 2016 voter list: KENNETH PAUL SAPP, 6705 N HABANA AVE, TAMPA, FL 33614 No Party Affiliation. Kennethray Arlo Terrell was born 17 February 1979, is male, registered as Florida Democratic Party, residing at 915 Brunswick Pl, Rockledge, Florida 32955. Florida voter ID number 100867818. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. KENNETH REED HOLLAND was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote in Norman, Oklahoma, U.S.A. Kenyanta Shavaun Thrash was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Florida Democratic Party, residing at 2295 E Osborne Ave, Tampa, Florida 33610-6256. Florida voter ID number 119463978. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. 31 May 2017 voter list: Kenyanta Shavaun Thrash, 2203 E Osborne AVE, APT 1, Tampa, FL 33610 Florida Democratic Party. 30 June 2016 voter list: Kenyanta Shavaun Thrash, 1210 N Boulevard, APT 245, Tampa, FL 336075661 Florida Democratic Party. 31 December 2014 voter list: Kenyanta Shavaun Thrash, 8718 N BROOKS ST, Tampa, FL 33604 Florida Democratic Party. 31 May 2013 voter list: Kenyanta Shavaun Thrash, 9816 N 11Th St, Apt B, Tampa, FL 33612 Florida Democratic Party. 31 May 2012 voter list: Kenyanta Shavaun Thrash, 13146 N 20Th ST, APT 12, Tampa, FL 33612 Florida Democratic Party. Kenyetta T. Moore was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote, giving the address 63 Gesler St A23, Providence, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 02909-1551. KERI DENISE REDDISH was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 7966 Joshua Tree Ln, Jacksonville, Florida 32256. Florida voter ID number 103740297. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 31 May 2012. KERRI L HAGER was born 17 February 1979, received Social Security number 235-15-3265 (indicating West Virginia) and, Death Master File says, died 17 May 2009. Research in ZIP Code 24738. KERRIN IRENE FAIR was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 2566 Stillwater Ct, Palm Harbor, Florida 34684. Florida voter ID number 107087014. The voter lists a mailing address and probably prefers you use it: 801 E BRANNON RD UNIT 908 NICHOLASVILLE KY 40356-6121. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 31 July 2017. 31 October 2015 voter list: KERRIN IRENE FAIR, 1442 CAMEO WAY, CLEARWATER, FL 33756 Republican Party of Florida. Kevin Crespo was born 17 February 1979, is male, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 6599 Bamboo Ave, Cocoa, Florida 32927. Florida voter ID number 123763850. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. KEVIN JOSEPH PRICE was born 17 February 1979, is male, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 1151 Pepperdine Ln, Sanford, Florida 32771. Florida voter ID number 107642230. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. 31 March 2015 voter list: KEVIN JOSEPH PRICE, 530 OLD GENEVA RD, GENEVA, FL 327329506 Republican Party of Florida. KEVIN MICHAEL KIMMERLING was born 17 February 1979, is male, registered as Florida Democratic Party, residing at 3220 Poinsettia Ave, West Palm Beach, Florida 33407. Florida voter ID number 124970114. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. Kevin William Laliberte was born 17 February 1979, is male, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 1770 Cameron Ct, Trinity, Florida 34655. Florida voter ID number 106467148. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. 31 January 2015 voter list: Kevin William Laliberte, 11709 Leda Ln, New Port Richey, FL 34654 Republican Party of Florida. Khalilah Monique Mendez was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Florida Democratic Party, residing at 409 Ne 191St St, Apt 203, Miami, Florida 33179. Florida voter ID number 110007722. Her telephone number is 1-305-690-9590. . This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. 30 September 2016 voter list: Khalilah Monique Mendez, 365 NE 191St St, #204, Miami, FL 33179 Florida Democratic Party. KIMBERLY GREEN was born 17 February 1979, received Social Security number 430-43-4238 (indicating Arkansas) and, Death Master File says, died December 1985. Research in ZIP Code 72830. KIMBERLY JANE BRAGG was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as No Party Affiliation, residing at 118 Poston Ave, Panama City, Florida 32401. Florida voter ID number 100698908. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 31 May 2012. Kimberly Joan Sisson was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 781 Marsaille Dr, Apt B, Indialantic, Florida 32903. Florida voter ID number 116496784. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. 28 February 2018 voter list: Kimberly Joan Sisson, 3737 ST JOHNS BLUFF RD S, Jacksonville, FL 32224 Republican Party of Florida. 31 March 2016 voter list: Kimberly Joan Sisson, 26866 Willie Hodges RD, Hilliard, FL 32046 Republican Party of Florida. 31 January 2015 voter list: KIMBERLY SCARBROUGH TEMPLES, 2016 GLITTER CT, MIDDLEBURG, FL 32068 Republican Party of Florida. KIMBERLY NEKOLE MASSEY was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Florida Democratic Party, residing at 8322 Lake Lucy Dr, Orlando, Florida 32818. Florida voter ID number 112706030. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. Kimberly Nichole McDonald was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 4510 J Rs Way, Holt, Florida 32564-8405. Florida voter ID number 124014848. Her telephone number is 1-850-305-8097. . This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. KIMBERLY SCARBROUGH TEMPLES born 17 February 1979, Florida voter ID number 116496784 See Sisson, Kimberly Joan. KISHA LONI' WEBB was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A. KOREY L ANDERSON was born 17 February 1979, received Social Security number 175-60-4594 (indicating Pennsylvania) and, Death Master File says, died 22 July 2008. Kortney Lynn Herrington was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote, giving the address 618 Cherry Lane in Malvern, Hot Spring County, Arkansas 72104, United States of America. Krista Kay Miller was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote, giving the address 2484 Brookwater Lane in Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas 72703, United States of America. Kristi Irene Albury was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 3424 Harborside Ct, Kissimmee, Florida 34746. Florida voter ID number 115546065. Her telephone number is 1-407-483-4666. . Her email address is KVIRTUOUS7@YAHOO.COM. The voter lists a mailing address and probably prefers you use it: BOX 584142 Kissimmee FL 34758. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. 31 July 2017 voter list: Kristi I. Albury, 400 Flormond Ave, Ormond Beach, FL 32174 Republican Party of Florida. 31 May 2013 voter list: Kristi I. Albury, 1428 Margina Ave, Daytona Beach, FL 32114 Republican Party of Florida. 31 May 2012 voter list: KRISTI I. ALBURY, 7313 CEDAR CREEK CT, WINTER PARK, FL 32792 Republican Party of Florida. Kristi Irene Wukoson Albury was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as No Party Affiliation, residing at 3324 Tumbling River Dr, Clermont, Florida 34711. Florida voter ID number 112896058. This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 30 November 2016. KRISTI J PEDERSEN was born 17 February 1979, is female, registered as Republican Party of Florida, residing at 6483 25Th St N, St Petersburg, Florida 33702. Florida voter ID number 123510178. Her telephone number is 1-727-688-0676. . This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. KRISTIN D. CHANEY was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A. Kristin N. Ingram was born 17 February 1979 and she registered to vote, giving her address as 13 Child St APT., Warren, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 02885. Her telephone number is 1-401-524-1359. KRISTY DARLENE SANDERS was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote in Guthrie, Oklahoma, U.S.A. KRISTYL ARVEL DEBOSE was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A. KURT ANDREW LIVELY was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A. KURT ANDREW LIVELY was born 17 February 1979 and registered to vote in Catoosa, Oklahoma, U.S.A. KYLE JAMES DARLING was born 17 February 1979, is male, registered as No Party Affiliation, residing at 8273 118Th Ave, Largo, Florida 33773. Florida voter ID number 121531135. His telephone number is 1-757-619-6260. . This is the most recent information, from the Florida voter list as of 28 February 2019. 31 January 2015 voter list: KYLE JAMES DARLING, 5786 CALAIS LN, ST PETERSBURG, FL 33714 No Party Affiliation.

2019-04-26T06:53:25Z

http://sortedbybirthdate.com/daypages/1979/19790217k.html

Every year, about 15 million Americans become victims of identity theft, one of the most pervasive and expensive crimes around the world. Another 100 million Americans face the potential for identity theft due to the exposure of personally identifiable information, like your home address and log-in credentials, via data breaches and consumer negligence. Whether you’re listening to your favorite album on Pandora, shopping for the perfect tea set on Amazon, messaging friends on Facebook or checking your balance on the Bank of America app, your information can be snatched in the blink of an eye – and you could become one of those 15 million people. Hackers use a combination of tried-and-true methods and new techniques to steal social security numbers, email addresses, credit card info and passwords right out from under our noses. Extortion scams and schemes to manipulate data are among the newest and fastest-growing techniques used by today’s cybercriminals. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s a simple issue of lax security measures and ignorance on the part of the victim. Clicking on links from unknown senders, for example, is a good way to introduce malware into your computer. In 2014, there were nearly 1 million new pieces of malware released every single day. Malware is software that causes huge problems in the form of viruses and worms. Hackers depend on negligence and complacency to bypass systems, and more often than not, they’re rewarded for their efforts. Most identity theft victims don’t have their entire lives stolen. In 2014, unauthorized misuse or attempted unauthorized misuse of an existing account made up the majority of identity theft instances. But even those who only lose a credit card or access to their bank account will spend weeks, possibly months resolving the issue. Credit scores plummet, mortgage payments are missed, and people have to put their lives back together one piece of data at a time. Every instance of identity theft totals $3,500 in losses, and while there’s no way for an individual to purchase cyberinsurance that might help them to recoup these losses, there are steps that you can take to protect yourself from harm in the first place, prevent cybercrime in general and remain vigilant as you navigate the Internet. First and foremost, you need good antivirus software for all of your devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets and your mobile phone. Most people install antivirus software on their primary computers, but it’s easy to forget about your smartphone or tablet. Hackers don’t forget about them. In fact, they count on you to browse the Internet over an open Wi-Fi spot so they can hack into your device and steal your data. Mobile hacking is on the rise, and there are some scary things that sophisticated cybercriminals can do with smart technology, including invade your home, spy on you, hear the keys that you type on a nearby computer keyboard and record your conversations. Your Internet service provider (ISP) may offer free antivirus software when you subscribe, and it may actually be better than the brand that you can buy via retail. Before you pay for software, check with your ISP to see if they offer any free versions or discounts. Even if your ISP doesn’t offer antivirus software, there are several free versions that work pretty well for basic computing. If you operate a home business, store sensitive client data or need extra security, you may want to upgrade your suite. Read reviews and specifications carefully to see if the free versions might work for you. You’re looking for the following features in a software suite: antivirus protection, spyware detection, a strong firewall, good spam filters, the ability to customize your scans, and additional protection for web browsing. Don’t rely on the pre-installed firewall that comes with your computer. While it’s better than nothing, the basic firewall doesn’t always alert you to some of the trickier pieces of malware that slip through undetected. Installing antivirus software and keeping it updated will go a long way toward preventing your devices from getting attacked. But there are also ways to keep yourself safe while you’re online. Turn on the “private browsing” feature of your Internet’s browser. In Firefox, for example, this feature is under the menu. From here, you can open up a new private window. Private browsing allows you to visit all the sites you love without the browser keeping track of your cookies. In a regular session, all of your information will be stored to make it easier on you next time, such as when you’re entering passwords or typing in a web address. Unfortunately, this convenient feature comes at a price. Businesses can use your cookies to track your data. If you’ve ever been shopping on Target’s website for a pair of boots and suddenly see more ads for boots even when you exit the site, then you’ve experienced the result of targeted advertising. This isn’t actually a bad thing in and of itself, but the more third parties know about your browsing habits, the more likely it is that your info could fall into the wrong hands. Certain antivirus software suites, like Kaspersky Internet Security, let you use a different browser when visiting sites that contain sensitive information, such as your bank or any website that takes payments. A message will pop up asking if you want to log in to your financial institution using a secured, private browser. If your software suite doesn’t offer this feature, then consider enabling private browsing to keep your data under wraps. Along these lines, you should always make sure that any site that requires transmission of sensitive data – such as a lender, your broker or a shopping cart checkout screen – has an “https” at the start of the web address and a padlock symbol somewhere on the screen. These signs indicate that your address is secure and that your details will be safely transmitted. Opt out of telemarketing calls. Enroll in the federal Do Not Call registry. This free service is available for personal home and mobile phones, and it can take up to 31 days for telemarketers to stop calling. If a telemarketer continues to call you after 31 days, you can submit a complaint on the agency’s website. Keep your cell number private. Don’t give your cell phone number out without asking why it’s needed. According to the Federal Trade Commission, it’s against the law for businesses to make you enter a cell phone number when completing an order, so find out why someone needs the digits before jotting them down. Get an alternate number. Use Google Voice or a similar service to protect your real phone number. With Google Voice, you’ll get a number that’s separate from but connected to your real number, allowing you to give businesses, potential employers and other entities your number without actually giving them your number. There are some other good features with this service, including the ability to have voicemails transcribed and the option to forward calls with rules, but one of its strengths is protecting your real phone number from cybercriminals. After putting the right protections in place for your devices and phone, you need to amp up the safeguards that you use for your personally identifiable information, especially your social security number. This 9-digit series might seem like a random assortment of numbers, but it’s actually a code that can give criminals some clue to where you were born – as long as it was issued prior to the randomization initiative. Until 1972, the first three digits of a social security number represented the area where the card was issued. After 1972, the Social Security Administration started issuing numbers from its main office in Baltimore, and the first three digits represented a person’s state of residence at the time of the application. Lock it up. Keep your social security card locked up in a safety deposit box at your bank or in a private safe, and don’t share the code with anyone else. Never carry your social security card with you unless you need it for a specific purpose. When you do carry it, keep it on your person at all times. Ask questions. If a form requests your social, ask why. Many doctor’s offices and government agencies request your SSN to verify your identity, but you may not have to write it down on a piece of paper. Ask if you can relay the information verbally instead. If not, ask how they intend to use your social and what their procedures are for destroying the information after they’re done. Never give out your social to anyone who requests it over the phone. Even the last four digits can help a criminal uncover your identity. Work smarter. If you’re self-employed as a freelancer or contract worker, then apply for a tax ID number from the IRS. It’s free to people who work independently, either as sole proprietors or employers, and it only takes a few minutes. Having a tax ID number will allow you to fill out various forms, such as loan applications or W-9s for independent contracting work, without having to divulge your SSN. When thinking about personal ID protection, it’s easier to remember data that comes in text form, but images are just as important to protect when you’re online. Social media lets us connect with our friends, family and coworkers, but it can also allow hackers to gain access to images that they can use against us. To protect your visual likeness from becoming the face of a cybercriminal, use an avatar whenever possible instead of a real photo of you in your profile. Adjust the privacy settings on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ to prevent non-friends from seeing your profile. Taking these preventive steps may seem extreme, but hackers can and will use any piece of information they can get to steal your identity. Protecting your information before you log on to your favorite websites is an important first step in thwarting cybercriminals, but there are other preventive measures that you need to take in order to reduce your risk. A certain level of paranoia is acceptable when guarding your information from would-be thieves. After all, if large companies with high-end security suites can be compromised, then it should come as no surprise that individuals face the same or even worse threats. Start with your paper trail. Lots of personally identifiable information gets stolen from traditional sources – your trash can, for example. Once a thief has your info, she can sell it on the virtual black market. Reduce your paper trail. Sign up for automatic virtual statements, have physical mail that contains sensitive information sent to a box at the post office instead of your home mailbox, and pick up your mail as soon as it gets delivered. If you’re going on vacation, put a vacation hold on your mail unless someone’s going to take in your mail each day. Opt out of prescreened offers, such as credit cards or insurance, by calling 1-888-567-8688 or visiting www.optoutprescreen.com. You might miss out on great rates or promotions, but eliminating these offers from your mailbox will prevent thieves from stealing them and signing up in your name. If you want to keep the offers, make sure you shred any that you don’t end up using. Shred all sensitive documents. Incoming mail and other documents that contain sensitive information should be shredded as soon as you’re done with them. This includes old credit cards, bank statements, receipts, utility bills, medical records and prescription labels. Once you’ve shredded them, put the shreds in separate trash bags or separate recycle bins to make it harder for criminals to piece the information back together. Protect your passwords. Never write down passwords on a piece of paper, especially if the paper identifies which password unlocks which account. If you must do this, lock up the document in a safe place, and don’t share it with anyone. Discard old technology wisely. When you need to get rid of old devices, like cell phones or computers, make sure you wipe the hard drives and remove any identifying information before disposing of them. The user manual should tell you how to take out the SIM card if necessary, and your carrier may have a recycle program that can take care of the disposal for you. Many people have opted out of paper statements altogether, which is a good way to eliminate your information from getting into the hands of criminals. Unfortunately, hackers always find a way to buck the system. The Internet makes it easy to pay bills and shop online, but if you’re not careful, you could be giving cybercriminals everything they need to steal your money and your identity. Most people ignore them completely. The people who don’t ignore them fall for costly scams. You might think that ignoring spam mail would eliminate the problem, but you do need to take some action. First, you should ignore the temptation to open these emails as they may contain viruses or other malware. But instead of ignoring them completely and letting them sit in your trash folder forever, promptly delete them. Alternately, you can set up your trash folder to automatically empty on a timed basis, say a week or so. Some people don’t like to automate the deletion, however, because sometimes spam filters accidentally let legitimate emails through. Leaving spam in your inbox could potentially allow viruses to seep in undetected. For people who do open spam emails, the best-case scenario is that a bogus company now knows that your email address is valid and active, and they’ll continue to spam your inbox with ridiculous offers and too-good-to-be-true promotions. The worst-case scenario is that you’ve now opened an email that contains malware, and the hackers on the other end can steal your data. Never open emails or click on links from an unknown sender. If you do know the sender – such as your bank or a friend you haven’t heard from in ages – then you may be tempted to enter in your login credentials or watch that hilarious cat video, but stop to consider the source. Most financial institutions will not request sensitive information via email. Instead of clicking on a link to give the sender your info, call the institution using the number on your statement and ask if the email is legitimate. Likewise, if it’s been a while since you talked to that friend who sent you a video, then call him up to see how he’s doing, and ask about the link. You should know that government agencies in particular will almost never ask for your Social Security number, credit card information or other personally identifiable information through email or over the phone. In fact, the IRS will always initiate contact through the mail. So if you get a phone call or email from a creditor or government agency demanding personal details, ask what the issue is and who they represent. Scammers won’t identify a specific agency. Your best bet is to delete the email, hang up the phone, and look up the contact info for yourself using a separate web search. Once you do, you can contact the entity directly and have them submit a request in writing or verify what it is that they need from you. Usually, though, a government agency will always communicate via mail first. Use a password manager. Password managers not only keep your passwords safe, but they also generate unique passwords for you so that you don’t have to remember them every time you want to log in. If you’ve got a lot of accounts to keep up with, a password manager could become your best friend. Create false password hints. Most sites use a “password hint” feature to help you out if you can’t remember your password. Instead of providing real answers, make them up. Don’t give a site your mother’s real maiden name or the real name of your childhood pet. These details might be available on your social media profile, making them easy to guess. Use fake details, and use your password manager to remember them all. Don’t let the browser remember you. Online checkouts are easier if all of your information is already there, but convenience should never override safety. Check out as a “guest” when you’re shopping at places that you might not visit for a while. And when the pop-up screen comes up asking if you want the site to “remember” your password, say no. Log out when you’re done. If you’re on a public computer or a friend’s device, log out of your accounts once you’re finished. If you share a home computer with roommates or children that would misuse your login credentials, log out after a home session too. Use Wi-Fi for fun, not banking. Public Wi-Fi makes life more enjoyable while you’re waiting at the dentist’s office or riding the bus to work, but it’s also a great way for cybercriminals to access your personal data. Use Wi-Fi sparingly, and never check sensitive information, like your bank balance or stocks, while you’re on an unsecured network. Keep profiles bare. As fun as it is to tell everyone about your favorite books and fondest childhood memories, thieves can use this information to create imposter social media accounts, guess your password and steal your data. Simplify your social media profiles by eliminating personal information. If that seems too restrictive, then adjust your privacy settings to max security, and at the very least, nix the demographic information, like your full birth date, home address and phone number. Don’t include sensitive information. Along with the demographic information listed above, don’t include data like your bank account or credit card numbers in your social media account. It might be convenient to have a credit card set up to make purchases easier on Facebook, but this is one more piece of information – and a critical one at that – that a criminal can access if he breaks into your account. Avoid linking too many accounts. Having a social media account makes it easy to sign up for apps and “log in” without creating an account for certain sites. However, linking too many sites together increases the risk if something should happen. Once a hacker has your log-in info for Google+, for instance, she could easily get into any account that you’ve tied with Google+. Make it harder for cybercriminals by setting up unique credentials for each of your accounts. When it comes to cybersecurity, you need to stay on top of your online information, patrolling it on a routine basis to make sure that your data is still safe. Google makes this easier by allowing you to set up a “Google alert” for your name. You can also use Google alerts for other information that you care about, but as a cybersecurity feature, it can be a great way to alert yourself to any unusual activity. Plus, getting alerts sent to your email can help you catch fraudulent activity before it causes any real damage. If you use your real photo for profile pictures and social media accounts, take some time to run an image search to see how it appears – and where. You may be surprised to see your face on someone else’s Facebook profile. Even worse, you might find a duplicate account that uses all of your information without your permission. While you’re searching for your image online, run a search for your name using a comprehensive data service like Pipl. Pipl and other similar sites will generate a list of every location that your information appears online, and the results can be pretty shocking. You might see your name, address, and phone number alongside sensitive details like your maiden name or any previous names you may have used, your family members’ names and all of your social media accounts. Using a service like this not only alerts you to any issues, but it will also give you a better sense of what’s available to would-be hackers. Adjust the privacy settings on your email and social media accounts accordingly. Finally, it’s a good idea to check account statements and your credit reports for fraud as soon as you get them. Scan your bank statements, utility account info and credit card bills to make sure that you agree with all of the charges. Thieves can and do sign up for accounts in their victims’ names, and you might get a bill for something you don’t own. Likewise, download a copy of your credit reports from the three major reporting bureaus to check for accuracy. By law, you’re entitled to one free copy from each agency per year, but you don’t have to order them all at once. Some people review one every four months, which is a good strategy for monitoring your credit on a more consistent basis. The only government-approved site that offers consumers their free report each year is AnnualCreditReport.com. Any other site that offers this information is trying to sell you something. Once you download your reports, look through them carefully. If you see anything amiss on your credit report, dispute the misinformation with both the reporting agency and the entity that reported it. The Federal Trade Commission offers a complete guide, including sample letters, for disputing errors on your credit report. Note that not every error on your credit report is an instance of fraud. Believe it or not, your information might have simply been mixed up with someone else’s. That’s why it’s important to check your credit report and dispute any errors as soon as you see them. Be prepared to offer hard evidence to back up your claim that the information is wrong. For online problems, you can report instances of identity theft to the Internet Crime Complaint Center as well as your local law enforcement agency. The local police may not be able to help you take down a fraudulent profile or recover your identity, but having a record on file will help in the larger goal of reducing cybercrime in general. Protecting yourself ahead of time, preventing key information from being easily accessible and monitoring your online presence are the best ways to stay ahead of cybercrime and to keep your personal data safe.

2019-04-19T09:19:35Z

https://www.cyberinsurance.com/best-practices/

Join Joseph "PhotoJoseph" Linaschke for an in-depth discussion in this video Constructing a low-cost camera dolly, part of The DIY Photographer. - When you're shooting video, it's quite common to want to have a smooth, slow panning shot, typically called a dolly shot where your camera just moves along nice and smooth like so. The problem is that if you want to have a true dolly shot and put the camera onto a dolly, well dollies can be really expensive. So, for your home cinematographer, it may not be in the budget. Fortunately, there's a few DIY solutions, and we're going to start with one that is so simple, anybody can do it with anything your're going to find with anything laying around your house. The second one is just a tiny bit more advanced, and I mean barely. And then the third one is going to be a full-on custom build that we're going to do right here in this fabulous workshop. So, let's get started. The first one requires a book, and it doesn't have to be this kind of book, any book and a towel. Watch what I'm going to do. Simply put the towel on a table with a book on it, nice solid surface, set my camera on the book there, frame up the shot the way that I want it. Obviously make sure you're in focus here. We're going to go ahead and start recording, and now simply pull the camera along the table. Nice, smooth steady motion, and you can get a really great, easy dolly shot. And that's all there is to it. Nothing more to it than that. So that's obviously the simplest approach. It's not going to be perfectly smooth, but it'll get the job done in a pinch. The smoother your table, the smoother the motion's going to be, but I think you can manage pretty well. Now, let's kick it up a notch. Next, skateboard. If you skateboard or you got a kid that skateboards, you can borrow their board, and this moves really nice and smooth. Look at how smooth that motion is. So, let's go ahead and set this up again. So, the camera, get the shot framed, start recording, and here we go. Beautiful. Super smooth motion, looks good. We're going to have a nice, solid shot. The limitation here, however, is that the camera can only move in one straight line. I can't have the camera curve along a path. Also, since the camera's just sitting on top of the board here, it pretty much has one position it can be in, straight on. If I wanted to tilt the camera up or down, I couldn't do that here. So the next level is to build something totally custom that will allow us to solve both of those problems. We'll be able to move the camera in an arc or in a straight line, and also tilt the camera however we like. Let's get started. I'm going to be using quite a few different parts here. I'm just pulling some of this wood, and I've already got part of this assembled, but I'm going to show you how the entire thing was made. So, essentially we have a platform that we're going to use to mount the camera onto. Now, there's a couple things to consider in this. This platform, we are going to put a screw hole through here that we can screw directly into the camera, but also we want to put another hole in here that we can mount a ball head onto. So I have the ball head here, and I want to be able to mount this onto the board. Now the ball head has a 3 8/16th screw in it whereas the bottom of a camera has a standard tripod socket which is 1/4 20. So, we're going to end up with two different holes on here for two different types of screws so we can put either the ball head or the camera. So that's our platform. Next we have the wheels. Now, if I just put wheels on here, let's say I put two there and put another two on here, just forget about this board for a moment. Pretend we just have the four wheels on here. These wheels are designed not to move. You can see these aren't swivel wheels, and there's a reason for that. If these were swivel wheels and I mounted it on like this, the whole thing would just spin freely and that would not give me what I needed. So I need to have control over the movement. So I have these wheels that don't swivel. But if I just put these four wheels on here, again, forget about that board for a moment, I'm only going to have one angle of motion just like the skateboard. So I haven't really improved very much on from what we had with the skateboard. So instead what I want to do is add another piece of wood under the wheels. Then we're going to drill a hole through here, all the way through into the board underneath, put a single locking point on here that we can loosen and tighten by hand which will then allow us to pivot this, therefore creating an arc. So if I wanted to position the wheels like so for example, the whole board would move in a nice arc. And this is going to give us incredible control over our camera moves. So the way this whole thing goes together's pretty simple. You can see I've already got one built here, and we're going to go ahead and do another one. And then put a hole through here that lines up with the hole on the board and screw the whole thing together. Pretty straightforward. So, let's get that working. You'll notice too that this board is not any particular size. This isn't some required measurement. This is just a scrap of wood that we had laying around the shop. This became our base board. It could be bigger, it could be smaller, whatever you like, that's fine. This little board for the wheels, I then cut to make sure that it was the same size on here, the same width. And again, it doesn't have to be exact. It really doesn't. But it's nice if it kind of lines up a little bit. The key thing though when I put this together is that I want the hole to be centered or as close to centered as possible, and I want these wheels to be evenly spaced from that center hole. If the wheels are off by a bit, then it's going to kind of mess up my arc and make it a little bit harder to control. So, we want to keep it as even and straight as we possibly can. So the first step here is going to be figuring out where I'm going to mount the wheels, and where I'm going to put the hole on here. Now I do happen to have a lot of really nice tools in this shop in here, but if you don't have the squares and you don't have the triangles and all this fancy stuff, you know, you can do all this with just a household ruler or a tape measure. That's going to work as well. Like my daddy always said, measure twice, cut once. Make sure that you get the measurements right before you start putting holes and cut marks on things. You'll be much happier. So, let's get this thing measured out. So, let's see, I'm just lining this up on the ruler between the one and the 11 inch mark on here just to make sure it's perfectly centered. Looks pretty good there. And then these wheels, I'm going to line up off of the inch mark, so that's off the two there, and again the numbers are irrelevant. I'm really just lining it up to make sure that they're even. That's looking pretty good there. Let's put some marks on the wood so I know where to drill. And you could drill pilot holes on here, or if you have self-tapping screws, as I do here, we'll just go ahead and screw those straight in. And you do want this to be pretty straight on there, so take your time to get that nicely marked and into position. And then we're going to need our center point as well. We may as well mark that up while we're at it here. So, I'm going to use this triangle here, and make sure that we are again still centered. Go off of the center point on that. This one is exactly three inches, so I'm going to put a center mark right at an inch and a half. So, a nice little center point there. That's the hole that's going to go through this through the baseboard and lock together. All right, so now I've got all the holes marked, let's go ahead and start putting it together. (whirring) You know, before I go ahead and put the other wheel on, I think I'm going to drill the hole into the middle here. Otherwise these wheels might kind of get in the way. So, let's get that taken care of. Now if you're going to drill a hole into a couple of pieces of wood like this, you can mount them on the edge of your table and just drill through, but it's generally better if you are drilling into something. So we want another piece of wood underneath this that we can drill into. It'll just make for a cleaner hole. So, I have here my boards. Let's go ahead and get these nice lined up. Looking good, and then we're going to want to clamp that into place. Awesome, that's great. So now the size of the drill hole that you're going to make, of course, is going to depend on the tools that you're using. In this case, this is what I'm going to use to mount these two boards together and ensure that I can tighten one by hand and you know. loosen it by hand as well. And you can see here I've got this nice big bolt with this little square on the end here. That's going to allow it to really bite into the wood so it doesn't spin. A washer, a locking washer and then a wingnut on here. And we'll take another look at this again later, but of course the drill bit that I use has to be big enough to accomodate the piece that I'm going to put into it. So, that's what I've got here. Let's go ahead and drill that in. Now before I start drilling, two more things. First, safety first, put on your drilling goggles. Looking cool. And now I want to make sure that I don't drill too far through here because if I go, you know, through the top one and the second one which is what I want and into the third one, that's okay. But through the third one and into the table underneath, I'm going to get in trouble. Especially if I'm doing this on the dining room table at home. So, let's make sure that we don't do that. Easy way to do that is to take your drill bit, and just kind of hold it up next to it, look down, so there's the first board, second board, a little bit into the third, and then let's just take this little strip of tape and mark that like so. So now I know that I don't want to go past that bit of tape on there. That'll just save me from a whole world of hurt and trouble. All right, so again, right into that mark that I made earlier. Let's get that on there. We are going forward, and away we go. (whirring) Perfect. And now I'm going to finish putting the wheels on. Let's go ahead and get that other wheel on there. (whirring) All right. So now I have my two separate platforms, already with the holes drilled. Ready to roll. Now we can put this whole thing together on here, but wait! One more thing I have to do. I have to drill the holes for this board, through this board so that I can mount either the camera or the ball head onto it. So, before we put this whole thing together, let's get that set up. Now the position of this, we do want to be as centered between the wheels as possible. But it doesn't have to be perfect, and we do want to accommodate two different sized holes. So, what I'll do is basically get them centered this way and then kinda spaced evenly across here. That should be pretty good. Doesn't have to be exact, but the closer the better. There we go. And the two holes that I'm going to drill through here, let's talk about those for a moment. I could just drill holes through, and then have bolts that screw in and out of it. And that would be just fine. I could put some screws in there with washers to kind of protect the wood a little bit, and if you're just going to do that then you probably want to do that. You probably want those washers on there to protect it. Or what you can do, what I'm going to do here is I'm going to use this little T-bolt. What this does is it allows me to kind of hammer this into the wood. So it's bolts in there. You see the little teeth on this thing, it's quite bite-y. This is really going to hold onto the wood. And then the bolt here will just screw into that, and the nice thing about this is I can put this in to mount one accessory, and if I want to swap it for the other one, I can take this out and it won't leave anything on the surface. I'll have a smooth surface on the top of the wood that I can, so it's not in the way of whatever else I'm going to screw in. So these are the two devices I'm going to put in. We're going to put one T-bolt there. Let's take the other smaller one. So, again, the bigger one is for the 3 8/16th. That's for things like light stands or the ball head here, and then the smaller one, the 1/4 20, will go right into the bottom of the camera. So we'll just put these basically a little bit off-center. Put them about an inch apart, and again, this really isn't critical here, but just get it where you're going to get it. So I'm going to go ahead and mark that at the five and a half inch mark here for one of them and the four and a half inch mark here for another one. And now I need two holes. We'll make that a little circle on there. That's going to be the bigger hole and then the smaller one. So now let's make sure we've got the right bits on here. The drill bit that I'm going to use has to be a little bit bigger than the T-nut that's going to go into it. So that's this one here. Let's get that into place. (whirring) And once again, I'm going to put another board underneath and clamp this down to make sure that it doesn't move and I have a nice, clean holes drilled. And by the way, the second hole is going to be a little bit smaller. We're going to go back to this other drill bit here. All right, let's get this thing together. And here we go. (whirring) Looking good. And the second one, forgot my goggles! Safety first. And I'm not going to tape this one. I'll just pay really close attention to it. (whirring) Looks like it went through the first one and not the second, so I think I'm clear. Looking good. All righty. So now we are ready to start putting everything together. Let's go ahead and put these T-nuts in here. We're going to put the first one in there, second one goes there, and these just get hammered into place. So, let's get loud. (banging) Fantastic. So now I have the hardware in place to mount either a camera directly or the ball head onto it. So again, just to kind of recap how that's going to go. The bigger nut for the ball head will just thread into here. (clinking) And then I can mount the ball head on this side. Let's go ahead and get our wheels put on. (clinking) This is the bottom, right? This is where we're going to thread the bolts through. So that's the bottom. So that means that this is where we're putting the wheels on. I'll go ahead and take this hardware. Put the washer and then the locking washer. And then the wingnut. And right here we can see as I start to tighten this, you can see that this bolt here is really starting to bite into the wood. Now at this point, I can still spin this. It doesn't spin freely, but I can move it if I want to. And then once I get it into place, I can really lock it down so that it can't move. Let's go ahead and do the other side. There we go. So there we have it. Now, as you can see, I can position this with the wheels straight and get a nice straight motion or simply cantilever these guys, put that down, and now we've got an arc. This is awesome. So let's go ahead and put the camera on there. I am going to attach the ball head, again using this larger 3 8/16 T-nut that I put in there and the bolt. So let's go ahead and thread that in. I think that's just fine actually. So there's that. Okay, let's get the camera on here. Very good. Now I can position of course, the camera however I like. So if I wanted to tilt it, put it at an angle, whatever I wanted to do, I could. So let's go ahead and just tilt it down a little bit. Level that out, lock that in. I'm going to cantilever these wheels the other direction. So let's just tilt it up that way a little. That way a little bit, and then of course, so that they don't move, I can go ahead and lock that down nice and snug. And those are definitely not going to move. Now let's just clear some space here. Put that drill in there. And let's get the shot. This'll be awesome. And let's roll. That is fantastic. Now that ride was a little bit bumpy mainly cause this table is really dirty. So, you want to make sure you have a nice, clean smooth surface for that. Also when you're shopping for your wheels, the ones that I have on here are pretty hard plastic, but shop around a little bit. You might find some softer wheels, maybe even some miniature inflatable ones that'll give you a really nice, smooth motion. It just depends on what you're looking for. Spend some time shopping around for the right parts, and when you build your dolly, you'll ensure that it is going to do the job that you want it to do and last for many, many years.

2019-04-21T13:31:13Z

https://www.lynda.com/Cameras-Gear-tutorials/Constructing-low-cost-camera-dolly/369185/490501-4.html?utm_medium=ldc-partner&amp;utm_source=SSPRC&amp;utm_content=524&amp;utm_campaign=CD14798&amp;bid=524&amp;subID1=PhotoJoseph&amp;aid=CD14798

Clay chimeneas are fun and easy to use. No need for roaring fires, the clay soaks up the heat and radiates it out into the surrounding atmosphere. It is important you observe the instructions and maintenance recommendations. Not all fuels and lighting fuels can be used in clay chimeneas and they will need protection from rain and frost. You will need to put sand or lava stones in the base of the chimenea and fire it up slowly. Several small fires are recommended before a larger fire is attempted. The clay is fire-resistant, but can crack if over-fired. Small cracks can be filled in with fire cement or chim-filler and then the chimenea can continue to be used. Large structural cracks are dangerous and if your chimenea develops one you should stop using it. Clay chimeneas are hand-made and hand-painted, so shapes and colours may vary slightly. The paint finish will alter over time. The fire may cause soot deposits and the paint will burn off. The larger the fire the quicker the paint will change. Even if not used and left outside, the clay being porous, it will attract moss and plant matter and change colour too. Clay chimeneas are easy to re-paint with any water-based paint after rubbing down with sand paper. Packing Size: 37cm length. 37cm width. 62cm height. USER INSTRUCTIONS OUTDOORS Please read the following instructions and recommendations and use CAUTION at all times for the safe enjoyment of a real patio fire. Please keep these instructions in a safe place so you can read them again from time to time. · PLACE your real patio fire on a FLAT surface; you should NOT place on a sloping surface where the fire might tip over. · This should be a NON-FLAMMABLE surface such as stone, gravel or bricks. Do not place on grass which may turn brown. Do not place on wood which may turn brown or catch fire. DO NOT PLACE ON DECKING which may turn brown or catch fire. Protect wooden decking with a Gardeco FLOOR PROTECTION or use bricks or concrete slabs. · DO NOT place your fire near bushes or plants or under trees; the heat will damage the leaves and is a fire risk. · DO NOT place your real fire under an awning; it will burn or melt. · DO NOT place your real fire near garden furniture, especially made of fabric or woven plastic, which may melt or catch fire. We recommend at least one metre distance. · DO NOT make a real fire inside a conservatory or summer house or shed; real fires are designed to be outside, and fumes emanating from the fire made with wood, coal or charcoal are toxic and dangerous to health. You can use your patio fire indoors ONLY WHEN USING WITH THE CHIM BURNER AND BIO-ETHANOL FUEL. · DO NOT touch the real fire when burning; the surface is hot and you will burn your fingers; protect your hands with a Gardeco FIRE GLOVE. We recommend that gloves are used at all times. · DO NOT allow children to play or run around the fire. It is not a game. Use a Gardeco CHIMENEA GUARD to prevent small children coming close to the fire. · DO NOT PANIC if fuel falls out of the fire or for any reason flames spread out from the patio fire, simply extinguish spreading flames with earth or sand or with water immediately. DO NOT throw water on a real fire other than in an emergency. · NEVER LEAVE A BURNING REAL PATIO FIRE UNATTENDED. Failure to do so may result in the fire spreading out of control and result in damage or destruction of property. Please ensure the fire is completely out before leaving the patio fire on its own. · We advise against using a real patio fire when it is windy or in the case of droughts. Strong wind may tip the chimenea over which is a fire risk. Wind may also disperse burning material, which is a fire risk, particularly if the environment is dry as in the case of a drought. · Please be a good neighbour and be reasonable in the use of your patio fire, keep smoke and noise to a minimum. · NE PAS placer votre feu d’exterieur sous un auvent ou store ; il senflammera ou fondra. · NE PAS placer votre feu d’extérieur près de votre mobilier de jardin surtout s’il contient des matières plastiques qui pourraient fondre ou s’enflammer. Nous vous recommandons de maintenir votre cheminée à une distance de 1 mètre minimum. · NE laissez PAS les enfants,surtout les plus petits d’être près du feu. Ne laissez pas vos animaux domestiques près du feu. · NE PAS utiliser de pétrole, de paraffine, ou d’allume feu pour allumer votre feu. La meilleure méthode est d’utiliser du papier journal ou des brindilles sèches, tel que les bâtons OCOTE de Gardeco. Le meilleur combustible est le bois ou charbon. · NE JAMAIS LAISSER UN FEU D’EXTERIEUR SANS SURVEILLANCE. Tout manquement à cette règle pourrait provoquer une propagation du feu tel que vous ne pourriez pas le contrôler, et entrainerait des dommages matériels et corporels. Assurez vous svp que le feu soit complètement éteint avant de laisser votre braséro à lui-même. · SOYEZ un bon voisin en faisant un feu d’extérieur de façon raisonnable et veillez à maintenir la fumée et le bruit du feu à un niveau acceptable par votre voisinage. · This is a clay chimenea or firepit of handmade by craftsmen. Use your clay chimenea or firepit for warmth and outdoor cooking. It is beautiful to look at and can be used as a garden decoration. · Before lighting, put 50mm (2 inches) of Gardeco Lava Stones or sand or gravel in the bottom to protect the base from direct heat. Failure to do this may crack your clay chimenea or firepit. · Start the fire with balled newspaper, dry kindling or Ocote sticks. NEVER use petrol or spirit based lighting fuels. They may crack your chimenea or firepit. · You may use dry wood logs or charcoal fuel. Clay chimenea or firepits and other patio fires can be used to burn garden refuse such as leaves or branches. DO NOT throw fuel into a clay chimenea or firepit. Wet logs will create a lot of smoke. · It is essential to allow the clay chimenea or firepit to warm up slowly by keeping the fire small for the first20 minutes. Add more firewood later but do not build a large roaring fire which may crack the chimenea or firepit and is dangerous. · The environmental friendly fuel is wood or charcoal which is carbon neutral. · When cooking use locally made charcoal from renewable forests with minimal transport cost. Gardeco Wyre Forest Charcoal is made in the Wyre Forest in the UK West Midlands following to ancient rural methods. · Gardeco CHIM LOGS, which are made from environmentally friendly recycled sawdust and burn slowly with little smoke. · To start a fire use balled newspaper and kindling. · For a fire without firelighters or kindling, use the smokeless Gardeco FIRE LOG, a wax impregnated sawdust briquette, wrapped in a paper. Just light both ends of the paper and the log will burn for about 2½ hours. You cannot use Gardeco Fire Logs for cooking. · If the fire is slow to start, more air will help, use a Gardeco BELLOWS to blow air into a slow fire. · Safety is our main concern, so please use a CHIMENEA GUARD to keep small fingers well away from the fire. · Ceci est une cheminée en argile ou braséro fait main par des artisans. Utilisez votre cheminée ou braséro pour vous chauffer ou cuisiner en extérieur. Ces produits ont un beau design et peuvent être utilisés comme décoration de jardin. · Avant de l’allumer, posez au fond de votre foyer 50 mm (2 pouces) de Lava Stones (Pierre de Lave) de Gardeco pour protéger la base du foyer du feu. Ne pas respecter cette consigne expose votre foyer d’extérieur au craquement. · Pour démarrer un feu, utilisez du papier journal, des brindilles sèches ou bâtons d’Ocote de Gardeco. N’UTILISEZ JAMAIS de pétrole ou tout autre combustible à base d’alcool. Ils peuvent faire craquer votre cheminée ou braséro. · Vous devriez utiliser des bûches de bois sec ou du charbon de bois. Votre cheminée ou braséro en argile ou tout autre foyer d’extérieur peut être utilisé pour brûler des déchets tels que des feuilles ou branches. NE JETEZ PAS vos combustibles dans une cheminée en argile. Les bûches humides provoquent beaucoup de fumée. · Il est essentiel de permettre à la cheminée ou au braséro de chauffer doucement en gardant un feu doux pendant les 20 premières minutes. Ajoutez du bois après, mais ne faites pas un trop grand feu, cela pourrait faire craquer votre cheminée ou braséro et cela représente un danger. · Pour l’environnement, les combustibles adaptés sont le bois ou le charbon de bois qui n’émettent pas de carbone. · Gardeco propose une gamme de bois et combustible qui convient à l’utilisation des cheminées et braséros, qui proviennent de forêts gérées durablement. Quand vous cuisinez, utilisez des combustibles tels que le bois ou charbon de bois. N’utilisez pas de combustibles artificiels conçus par l’homme. · Pour démarrer un feu, utilisez du papier journal et des brindilles sèches. · La meilleure façon et la plus naturelle de démarrer un feu est d’utiliser les brindilles Ocote de Gardeco. L’Ocote est une résine contenu dans les pins situés en Amérique Centrale, un ou deux bâtons suffisent pour démarrer un feu. · Pour un feu sans allumes feux ou bois sec, utilisez les bûches sans fumée FIRELOG de Gardeco, une briquette de cire imprégnée de sciure, enveloppée dans du journal. Allumez simplement les deux extrémités en papier et la bûche brûlera pendant 2H30 environ. NE PAS utiliser les bûches FIRELOG de Gardeco pour cuisiner. · Si le feu est lent à démarrer, un surplus d’air peut aider, utilisez un soufflet BELLOWS de Gardeco pour raviver le feu. · La sécurité est notre principale préoccupation, soyez prudent en permanence. · Clay chimenea or firepits are not frost-proof. The chimenea or firepit itself has no drainage, and clay is porous, absorbing moisture. Should your clay chimenea or firepit be left outside, saturated with water when it freezes, it will crack. This is a natural phenomenon which we cannot prevent. To stop this process, keep your clay chimenea or firepit dry. Bring it inside or cover it. · With use, the paint finish on your chimenea or firepit will change and discolour, and there will be blackeningAround the rim. The bigger the fires, the faster the paint finish will change. · A clay chimenea or firepit can be re-painted with ordinary household emulsion paint after rubbing down to remove any loose paint. · The stand is made of steel and will rust. · Rust runs may mark flooring, slabs, and patios, so if you are worried abut marking, protect your flooring. · To reduce the likelihood of rusting bring inside or protect with a weatherproof cover. Ideally, bring inside for the winter. · Cracks in the clay may be repaired with car body filler or fire cement and continue to be used. · If a large structural crack appears, stop using the chimenea or firepit and dispose of it. · All clay chimenea or firepits crack eventually. INSTRUCTIONS DE MAINTENANCE POUR VOTRE CHEMINEE OU BRASERO EN ARGILE ·Les cheminées ou braséros ne sont pas résistants au gel. Ils n’ont pas de drainage, et l’argile est poreuse, absorbant la moisissure. Si votre cheminée ou braséro devait rester dehors, et saturé d’eau quand il gel, il ou elle craquera. C’est un phénomène naturel qu’on ne peut pas prévenir. Pour stopper ce processus, gardez votre cheminée ou braséro en argile au sec. Rentrez-la à l’intérieur pendant l’hiver ou couvrez-la. ·A l’utilisation, la finition de votre cheminée ou braséro changera d’apparence et se décolorera, et elle noircira autour de la bouche ou au bord. Plus les feux sont importants, plus vite l’apparence de la cheminée changera. ·Une cheminée ou braséro en argile peut être repeint avec une peinture à émulsion domestique après avoir enlevé le surplus de peinture pour avoir une surface propre. ·Le support est fabriqué avec de l’acier et rouillera. ·Une cheminée ou braséro décolorée sur un stand rouillé est toujours opérationnel et vous pourrez continuer à l’utiliser. ·La rouille peut marquer les sols, planchers, pavés et terrasse, donc si vous êtes inquiets pour les tâches, protégez vos sols ·Pour réduire la probabilité de rouille, mettez votre cheminée ou braséro et support à l’intérieur ou protégez-la avec une housse de protection imperméable Gardeco. Idéalement, mettez-la à l’intérieur pendant l’hiver. ·Les craquements de l’argile peuvent être réparés avec un ciment ignifuge ou body filler et peut être utilisée normalement. ·Si une grande fissure ou un grand craquement devait apparaître, ne continuez pas d’utiliser votre cheminée pour faire des feux. Utilisez-la autrement, tel un objet déco. ·Toutes les cheminées ou braséros peuvent craquer un jour ou l’autre. Special care and attention is necessary when cooking on a chimenea or fire bowl to avoid contamination by smoke or soot. Des précautions sont à prendre lorsque l’on cuisine dans une cheminée ou un brasero afin d’éviter toute contamination par la fumée ou la suie. CLEANLINESS IS ESSENTIAL All cooking accessories MUST BE THOROUGHLY CLEANED BEFORE USE. · BBQ grills and other accessories are coated with vegetable cooking oil during manufacture but may have gathered dirt and dust therefore need to be cleaned in hot water and detergent to remove any foreign matter and debris. · After cleaning and drying, cooking accessories are best lightly coated with vegetable cooking oil before use. . After use, they need to be cleaned again with hot water and detergent and coated with vegetable cooking oil before storing. NEVER USE MINERAL OIL. · After use the surfaces of the cooking accessories in direct contact with the fire will be covered in black carbon soot. Soot can be washed off with hot water and household detergent or washing up liquid. Be careful because black soot residues will mark surfaces, tea towels or washing up cloths. All soot must be removed before oiling and storage. · Après utilisation, les surfaces des accessoires de cuisine qui ont été en contact direct avec le feu seront recouvertes de suie noire. La suie peut être nettoyée avec de l’eau chaude et un détergent ou du liquide vaisselle. Faites attention, la suie laisse des résidus qui peuvent marquer vos surfaces et vos torchons. Toute la suie doit être retirée avant de les recouvrir d’huile et de les ranger. FUEL Do not cook on flames, if you do this there will be a soot residue on the food, which is unhealthy. Be aware wood is often treated with preservatives which are toxic and can contaminate the food. · When cooking use dry wood or charcoal, and allow the wood gas to burn off as flames to leave hot glowing embers, cook on the embers. · If meat releases fat onto the hot embers which makes a flame, move the meat away from the flame. · Assurez-vous que votre viande est bien cuite · Lorsque les accessoires de cuisine sont retirés du feu, ils sont chaud et doivent être placés sur une surface non inflammable afin de retirer les aliments. · NE PAS placer les accessoires de cuisine sur le braséro ou la cheminée, l’herbe, la terre ou à même le sol. Utilisez de préférence une table ou socle pour cheminée Gardeco. · Les parties des accessoires de cuisson qui sont en contact direct avec le feu peuvent être recouverts de suie. Assurez-vous de ne pas mettre de la suie sur les aliments. · ATTENTION C’EST CHAUD ! NE PAS TOUCHER, les accessoires de cuisine en acier et en fonte sont très chauds lorsqu’ils qu’ils sortent du feu, ne pas les touchez avec vos doigts et protégez vos mains avec les GANTS spécial feu de GARDECO. · A flat spatula is useful to release foods from the accessory. · Your cast iron or steel chimenea may already be equipped with a SWIVELLING BBQ GRILL, made of either chromed steel or cast iron for barbecuing on your chimenea. These can also now be purchased separately from the chimenea itself. Les accessoires de cuisson GARDECO sont spécialement conçus pour être utilisés a l’exterieur, dans les cheminées, braseros, BBQ ou feu d’extérieur. Les matériaux utilisés conviennent à des feux d’extérieur intense, et sont équipés de longues poignées pour garantir une certaine aisance sans vous brûler les mains. IL N’EST PAS RECOMMANDE D’UTILISER DES POELES OU MARMITTES DE CUISINE pour cuisiner sur des feux d’extérieurs. Les poêles de cuisine peuvent être conçus pour des feux de moindre intensité et recouverts de matière plastique anti-adhérente qui pourrait fondre au contact du feu dans une cheminée ou un foyer ouvert. Les accessoires de cuisine GARDECO sont conçus pour la cuisson des aliments dans un feu à foyer ouvert. · Le SMOKER PAN est idéal pour une cuisson lente et savoureuse des aliments pour BBQ. · L’arbre à MARSHMALLOW pour griller 5 chamallows à la fois. · Le WAFFLE IRON de Gardeco pour faire des gaufres. · Le CHESNUT PAN de Gardeco est idéal pour griller des châtaignes grillées. · Utilisez la CHIM BBQ GRILL de Gardeco amovible pour les cheminées en argile, pour réaliser une cuisson de barbecue sur grille. · Votre cheminée en fonte ou en acier peut être équipée du SWIVELLING BBQ GRILL, qui est fait soit d’acier chromé ou de fonte pour transformer votre cheminée en BBQ. Ils peuvent aussi être achetés séparément de la cheminée. Tous les accessoires de cuisson, si fournis avec le produit ou séparément, doivent être nettoyés avant la première utilisation pour enlever les saletés liés à la fabrication ou aux opérations d’emballage. Nous vous recommandons de les laver avant chaque utilisation par la suite, même s’ils étaient rangés propres. Tous les accessoires de cuisine Gardeco en fonte, les grilles barbecue incluses sont recouverts d’une pellicule d’huile végétale de sorte à stopper la formation de rouille lorsque vous les acheter. Après utilisation, tous les accessoires de cuisine doivent être nettoyés à l’eau savonneuse pour enlever les résidus d’aliment et de suie. Séchez-les soigneusement et recouvrez-les d’une pellicule d’huile végétale avant de les ranger. Si vous ne le faite pas, l’accessoire commencera à rouiller. NE JAMAIS utiliser de l’huile minérale qui est nocive pour la santé. Pour les accessoires de cuisine achetés séparément, suivez les instructions fournis dans l’emballage. Si votre cheminée est équipée d’une grille BBQ en fonte pivotante, pensez à la retirer et à la nettoyer avec soin, puis recouvrez-la d’huile végétale avant et après usage. Mettez la nourriture directement sur la grille du BBQ, qu’elle ait été préchauffée ou pas. Pour les pizzas, utilisez la pierre à pizza. Utilisez l’ustensile multi usage qui est fourni afin de faire pivoter la grille BBQ pour l’enlever ou la remettre. Ne jamais toucher la grille BBQ chaude directement avec vos mains. Une grille BBQ en fonte reste chaude longtemps après usage même s’il elle a été enlevée de la cheminée.

2019-04-22T14:28:46Z

https://www.gardeco.co.uk/detail.php?pr=3173

Some of the plenary speakers who will present their research during the Photonics West symposium include: pioneer of near-infrared optical imaging and tomography Eva Sevick; Samuel Achilefu, winner of the 2019 SPIE Britton Chance Award for transformative advancements in cancer treatment and patient care; Facebook head of optical technology strategy Katharine Schmidtke; Clare Elwell, whose research using new optical imaging techniques to understand the human brain won the 2016 WISE Research Award; SPIE Fellow and machine-learning expert Aydogan Ozcan; Henry Hess, whose work focuses on artificial-muscle building from molecules, and ‘smart dust’ biosensors that detect environmental pathogens; and Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Saturn-focused Cassini mission project manager – and recent Emmy-recipient – Earl Maize. The show has three major conference tracks: Bios, highlighting new discoveries and research in biophotonics, biomedical optics, and imaging; Lase, with its focus on the laser industry and applications; and Opto, showcasing optoelectronics, photonic materials, and related devices. The Bios Expo and Photonics West exhibition are both free and open to the public. With 200 exhibitors, Bios Expo will show the latest technology in biomedical optics and healthcare applications from 2 to 3 February. Then, the Photonics West exhibition, from 5 to 7 February, showcases the best innovations of the photonics industry from more than 1,200 international companies. In addition to the exhibitions, the free registration also gives access to the industry programme, which runs from 3 to 7 February and features presentations from leading minds in the optics and photonics industries. The action-packed week includes a two-day AR/VR/MR conference chaired by Microsoft principal optical architect and SPIE Fellow Bernard Kress, featuring demos from tech giants (Google, Huawei, Magic Leap) and emerging companies (Vuzix, Avegant, DigiLens), as well as the student-oriented optical design competition. The Prism Awards, now in its 11th year, celebrates the best work across the optics industries, while the SPIE Startup Challenge reveals exciting fledgling companies. Imperial College London physicist, equity activist, and women-in-STEM and Wikipedia writer-editor extraordinaire Jess Wade will lead an interactive SPIE Women in Optics and Diversity and Inclusion evening event, challenging stereotypes within science. Acton Optics & Coatings will have a display inside Princeton Instruments’ booth (727), where it will be discussing its capabilities and products – including excimer and UV laser optics and coatings, VUV/UV optical filters, high-performance UV aluminium and enhanced silver coatings, as well as its Metachrome CCD-enhancement coatings. The firms’ new, UV-NIR neutral density filters will also be highlighted, which provide exceptional broadband performance. Acton Optics’ core technological capabilities include a proprietary in situ optical monitoring system (OMS) that enables it to provide complex coatings with consistent results. The firm is also ISO 9001:2008-certified and is able to measure accurately to as low as 120nm. As always, Avantes’ sales engineers are ready to discuss application needs and help visitors select the right spectrometer and accessories. Berliner Glas Group will present its broad portfolio of optical assemblies and systems, aspheres and large cylinder lenses at Booth 539, in addition to its solutions for the medical and life science markets at BiOS booth 8630. The company develops, produces and integrates optics, mechanics and electronics into innovative system solutions. Berliner Glas Group is an OEM partner from concept to volume production for innovative customers in various market segments, including the semiconductor, medical, display and space technology industries. This year the company will be highlighting customised lenses used to detect weak fluorescence signals in UV originating from single cells. The lenses have been optimised without compromise towards high performance in customer applications. At booth 440 Boston Micromachines will be exhibiting its deformable mirrors and optical modulator products, including its new 648-5.5 deformable mirror which has 648 actuators, 5.5µm stroke and high speed wavefront control and correction capabilities. Also on display will be the firm’s Modulating RetroReflector, which is capable of passively returning light from an interrogating laser source and modulating its intensity for free space laser communication. The current Modulating RetroReflector system has been demonstrated at a rate of 200kbps in the near IR wavelength range with switching speeds as low as 3µs. Higher data rates are in development. Boston Micromachines is a provider of MEMS-based deformable mirrors and optical modulator products, as well as advanced imaging systems. By altering the wavefront, Boston Micromachines’ devices can be used in a variety of applications including microscopy, astronomy, vision science, beam shaping and free space laser communication. Boston Micromachines offers standard components, instruments and custom research products. Cobolt, a part of Hübner Photonics, continues to target the Raman spectroscopy market with the addition of 633nm and 785nm STM on the 08-01 series, with the aim to secure the market position as a major supplier of all laser wavelengths to the high resolution Raman market. The Cobolt 08-NLD 633nm is a frequency stabilised, narrow linewidth laser diode (NLD) with up to 30mW and including an integrated optical isolator. The series is complemented further with addition of a single transverse mode (STM) 08-NLD 785nm. Also a frequency stabilised, narrow linewidth laser diode (NLD) with up to 120mW and including an integrated optical isolator. Both lasers have a linewidth <20pm. All Cobolt lasers are manufactured using HTCure technology and the resulting compact hermetically sealed package provides a very high level of immunity to varying environmental conditions along with high reliability. With demonstrated lifetime capability of >60,000 hours and several thousand units installed in the field, Cobolt lasers have proven to deliver excellent reliability and performance both in laboratory and industrial environments. The Coherent display (booth 4845) will feature lasers, laser-based subsystems, and components for end-users and OEMs in materials processing, microelectronics, life sciences, and research. Standout products include the new HighLight DL4000HPR – a compact, high power, fibre-delivered industrial diode laser system offering convenience and economy for metal processing applications such as cladding, heat treating, and brazing. For laser system builders, several new fibre offerings enable construction of products with improved performance and enhanced reliability. These include doped, active fibres for 1.5µm and 2µmoperation in CATV, lidar and medical applications, a new series of ytterbium-doped laser and amplifier fibres that use photo-darkening resistant glass and high performance coatings, and, a new range of fibres for medical applications. In the affiliated BiOS exhibition (booth 8667), the company will feature the TR-Series of Raman modules that enable spectrographs and related instruments to perform THz regime measurements. These include: having a huge aperture compared to grating and prisms; offering higher transmission than grating and prisms; short measurement time; high suppression of stray light; excellent signal to background ratio; the ability to perform simultaneous 3D measurements; and the ability to perform snapshots using a micro lens array. Hyperspectral imaging has been used for around two decades in applications such as satellite imaging and air reconnaissance. Classical Hyperspectral imaging cameras use prisms or grating as dispersive elements, which make the cameras bulky, sensitive to misalignment and very expensive. The advent of alternative approaches such as Delta’s CVBPFs makes hyperspectral imaging attractive for volume markets or even consumer products, for example in cancer detection, precision farming and for food testing in supermarkets. Diamond manufactures and assembles high performance fibre optic interconnect solutions. Its Active Core Alignment technology insures high-performing connector termination. Attendees visiting the firm at booth 4786 will be able to see the official launch of the Diamond PM+ connector types, which are designed to achieve a repeatable, high polarisation extinction ratio, in addition to excellent insertion loss and return loss values. The firm will also be showing its new Diamond AVIM family of connectors, which are ideal for applications requiring high optical performance coupled with enhanced vibration and shock resistance. The newest family members are the Midi AVIM, for use on cabled assemblies, and the Micro AVIM, which is well-suited to vacuum applications. In addition, mating adapters are available in titanium for improved chemical resistance. Frankfurt Laser Company (booth 145, Bios 8145) will show its new LED mini-spectrometer, a compact, lightweight instrument for spectral analysis in the near-infrared range 1.3μm to 2.4μm. The device’s optical block is comprised of 12 near-infrared LEDs with different emission peaks and a wideband photodiode. The LEDs are turned on one by one and irradiate the analysed sample. Emission reflected back from the sample is captured by the photodiode, converted into electrical signals that are processed by the electronic block and the software. The company will also display its new ML1xxFC laser diode modules with single mode fibre output, wavelength range from 405nm to 1,550nm and power of up to 100mW. In addition, a 450nm diode laser module delivering 13W from a 105μm fibre will be shown. Lastly, the firm will also be showcasing the laser modules of its ML2040-Series, which deliver high output power up to 2W, have a very small footprint of 110mm x 40mm, and are ideal for the use in industrial applications with harsh environmental conditions. The offered wavelengths range from 450nm to 1,060nm, and apart from round and line beam, other beam shapes such as grids, circles or line and dot arrays are available. Infinite Optics (booth 146) is a thin film coating service producing prototype and production thin-film coatings. Coatings range from 193nm--20um and can be deposited on customer supplied materials or complete coated substrates supplied by Infinite. The company uses EB gun and resistor boat evaporation techniques with ion assisted deposition. Supporting industrial, medical and military primes by fabricating, metalising (hard gold, silver, aluminum and others) coating optics required for lasers, sensors, multispectral EO and targeting systems, space telescopes and much more. Infinite Optics coats long lasting ‘salt resistant silver coatings’ and coat the chalcogenide materials. The firm is a custom coating house, and DTC and ITAR compliant. Iridian Spectral Technologies (booth 644) provides optical thin film solutions and coating services to a wide variety of industrial and research sectors. The company is a global supplier for applications in telecommunications, spectroscopy (Raman, fluorescence, flow cytometry) and the entertainment industry (filter wheels, glasses for 3D cinema). The company covers the spectrum from prototype development to volume production. Iridian has developed a high degree of automation to ensure high quality and low cost products. It has an excellent capability to produce both high volume commodity filters and custom thin film optical filters. Two technologies give Iridian a unique edge in the manufacture of thin film optical components: Spectrum@IST, Iridian’s thin film filter design and deposition process control software, provides exceptional design flexibility; and Scan@IST, the company’s optical characterisation and filter processing technology ensures accurate and fast evaluation combined with automated pick and place. Lasermet will be at booth 5153 on the UK Pavilion demonstrating the Laser Castle, a laser safety cabin offering the latest features in certified laser safety, including touch screen interlock control, dual message LED signs, HD-CCTV, a proven failsafe design, a modular build, Lasermet’s Laser Jailer active laser guarding system, Lasermet’s Swallow fume extraction system, and a choice of door systems. This modular-build cabin conforms to ANSI Z136.1 laser safety standards and is a turn-key solution providing multi-kW laser radiation containment for robotic laser welding, cutting and cladding. In addition, the firm will be showcasing its latest innovative laser safety solution, the LaserJailbox, a fully interlocked table-top laser radiation containment system that enables Class 4 lasers to be used safely while contained within a small enclosure. The solution is ideal for small-sized processes and other laser applications. It can have a selection of door types and can also incorporate the Lasermet’s Glaser Jailer active filter windows. At booth 1751, Laser Components will be highlighting its first Flexpoint line laser module in a square (65 x 15 x 15mm) casing. This latest addition to the Flexpoint MV series was designed for quick and easy installation during series production of 3D systems for industrial image processing. Focus, beam position and all other parameters can be aligned during production according to customer specifications. With this new module the Flexpoint MV series now includes ten models with a large range of options available. Customers can choose between different wavelengths: blue (405/450nm), green (520nm), red (635/660/685nm) and NIR (785/830/850nm), and depending on the laser diode, exit powers of up to 100mW can be reached. In addition to the standard models with adjustable focus, most models are also available in low-price versions with fixed focus. Flexpoint modules can now be supplied with separated optics and electronics sections, custom built to fit into tight spaces. Optional features such as digital modulation or analogue power adjustment are also available. Laser Quantum will be exhibiting its Helixx and Axiom systems, and can be found at Novanta’s Photonics West booth 1834, and at the BiOS booth 8457. The Helixx is a turn-key femtosecond laser, ideal for a variety of scientific and industrial applications. The system features a 250MHz repetition rate and delivers an average output power of more than 2.3W in pulses less than 50fs, tuneable between 720nm - 920nm. Designed for a range of environments, the Helixx is hermetically sealed and is vibration-resistant. The system’s replaceable pump diodes, contained within the control unit, minimise temperature effects on the laser head. The Helixx is well-suited to applications such as two photon microscopy as the 250MHz repetition rate diminishes phototoxicity and photobleaching to minimise damage to cells, and minimises the emission dead times of typical fluorophores. The Axiom family of lasers feature excellent high stability and low noise levels, for use in applications such as particle image velocity, fluorescence imaging and microscopy. The Axiom 660is a continuous-wave laser featuring an innovative stress-free cavity architecture, containing the integrated diode and active optics within the compact laser head. It can deliver up to 6W of red light and is well-suited to Raman imaging, generating detailed chemical images based on a sample’s Raman spectrum. The Axiom 532 on the other hand, which will also be on display at the show, can deliver up to 12W of green light. Both lasers can be easily integrated into many scientific and industrial application setups. The Demon-NIR extends LTB’s Demon Echelle Monochromator series, which provides wavelength ranges from 190nm to 1,100nm and resolving powers of 75,000 to 200,000. Menhir Photonics (booth 4480) will be demonstrating its Menhir-1550 series, the first industrial-grade, femtosecond laser at 1,550nm with GHz repetition-rate. Key features of the series include: ultra low-noise; hermetically sealed laser; all-in-one system; repetition rate up to 2.5GHz; and clean soliton pulses < 200fs. Menhir focuses on industrial markets by placing the emphasis on the reliability and robustness of its products. With more than 30 years of cumulative experiences in the ultrafast laser industry, the team is devoted to offer femtosecond laser solutions for applications in any situation, from laboratories to harsh environments. Microlight3D will demonstrate Altraspin, a new compact 3D-printer for producing highly complex micro-parts with sub-micron resolution. Altraspin prints micro-parts with resolution 100x smaller than a strand of hair for applications requiring exact precision and a high quality surface finish. These include creating micro-optics, micro-sensors or printing shapes that fit inside microfluidic devices. It is also suited to metamaterials, cell culture, tissue engineering, microrobotics, micromechanics or surface structuration. Altraspin responds to manufacturing demands for more customisation and the rapid prototyping of micron-sized parts that are not constrained by their geometric or organic shape. It extends user choice in the materials available for 3D microprinting by offering a wide range of polymers and biomaterials. It features a new TPP slicing tool, high-writing precision and resolution and high-writing speeds for complex 3D structures. It is compatible with any CAD models and files and its compact design is suited to laminar flow cabinets, clean-room or sterile environments, which prevent the contamination of wafers. Discover Altraspin at Microlight3D booth #8136 at BiOS Expo. MIRPHAB, a European Commission project to create a pilot line to fabricate mid-infrared (MIR) sensors by 2020, will exhibit at Photonics West on booth 5037. MIRPHAB will offer design, production and business planning for companies developing laser-based, analytical MIR sensors for chemical sensing and spectroscopy. The pilot line will combine sources, photonic circuits and detectors in standard packaging. The platform is organised so that development of novel sensors and sensing systems is based on MIR integrated optic components and modules already incorporated in MIRPHAB’s portfolio. The programme is accepting proposals from companies that want to develop and prototype new MIR devices. ‘European industry requires more efficient control processes to gain greater productivity and operational efficiency, and this project will deliver the devices required to improve those processes,’ explained CEA-Leti’s Sergio Nicoletti, who is coordinating the project. MIRPHAB will develop sensor technology that provides novel analytical tools for companies to help improve people’s overall quality of life. This could be through environmental monitoring, such as for measuring volatile organic compounds; food quality control; and fast clinical diagnoses. These are some of the areas where MIR sensors can play a role. In addition to providing device design services for customers, the MIRPHAB team will help them develop sound business cases and strong business plans to commercialise new technology. Potential cost and performance breakthroughs will be shown for reliable MIR sensing products based on building blocks provided by MIRPHAB. MIRPHAB will also be a sustainable source of key components for new MIR sensors. Nuburu will be showcasing its newly released AO-500 500W 450nm (blue) industrial fibre laser at booth 4270. Blue lasers are being incorporated into processes where faster and higher quality copper welding is needed – they offer 2-10 times faster processing speeds over currently used infrared fibre lasers. The AO-500’s high power solves the difficult challenge of welding dissimilar materials and opens up new applications with thicker copper and other yellow metal. Its applications range from battery fabrication to the production of automotive components, e-mobility devices, and electronic packaging. A product demonstration of the AO-500 will be given on Tuesday 5 February at 2:00PM in Demo Area 2, Hall EF North. Omicron's LightHUB+ and LightHUB Ultra laser light engines will be exhibited at booth 2163. The systems can be equipped with one to six (LightHUB+) / seven (LightHUB Ultra) laser modules of different wavelengths from UV to the near IR range and offer fast analogue intensity modulation with up to 1,5MHz and digital full ON/OFF modulation with a switching time of <1µs for each channel. The individual laser modules can easily be exchanged and added by the user. Hence the systems can be adapted to changing application requirements and are future-proof. The light of the various lasers is combined and coupled efficiently into one (LightHUB+) or up to two (LightHUB Ultra) polarisation-maintaining single-mode broadband or multi-mode fibres. The LightHUB Ultra additionally offers the possibility to integrate a fast fibre-switch or fibre splitter with defined splitting ratio. Laser modules with up to 300 milliwatt of optical output power and wavelengths between 375 and 850nm can be used in the LightHUB systems. Optional clean-up filters and a fail safe laser safety shutter can be directly installed in the system to adapt the LightHUB system to the customer’s application and safety requirements. High-impedance modulation inputs ensure easy interfacing to external devices like cameras, microscopes or DAC cards. Opto Diode Corporation, an ITW company, will have ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (UVLEDs) on show at booth 4539. Included will be the newly release OD-265-001, a narrow-spectral output UVLED designed for robust and long-lifetime use. The device features total output power of 0.53mW (minimum) and 0.68mW (typical), with peak emission wavelengths at 260nm (minimum), 265nm (typical) and 270nm (maximum). Emission in this wavelength range makes this device suitable for disinfection applications. The OD-265-001’s spectral bandwidth at 50 per cent is typically 13nm. The half-intensity beam angle measures 70 degrees, with forward voltage typically at 5V, and a maximum of 6.5V; capacitance is typically 350pF. Thermal parameters include storage temperature ranges of -40°C to 100°C. The operating temperatures range from -30°C to 80°C. Additional specifications, including a spectral output chart, radiation patterns, power output versus temperature, and power output degradation graphs can be viewed online at https://optodiode.com/pdf/OD-265-001DS.pdf. The new OD-265-001 UVLED is housed in a hermetically-sealed TO-46 package, for convenient and easy integration into new or existing systems. Optores (PW booth 860, Bios 8860) will demonstrate the latest upgrade to its NG-FDML series of wavelength-swept lasers. The company will also be launching the new 3 MHz imaging speed option. Double as fast as previous versions, the new device is ideal for optical coherence tomography (OCT) in medicine, biology and industrial inspection. Multi-MHz sweep rates are necessary for high-resolution 4D-OCT, which shows threedimensional tissue structure live and in real time. The new lasers are available at three popular wavelengths for OCT: 1,060nm, 1,310nm, and 1,550nm. They offer very high output power and centimetres of coherence length for highquality OCT images. Optores’ core technology is Fourier-domain mode-locking (FDML), which plays a crucial role for MHz-OCT. OSI Laser Diode (LDI) will present the CVN 63-90ECL, a 905nm pulsed laser with an enhanced far field divergent beam. The technology device’s far field beam pattern features equivalent divergence values for the fast (perpendicular) and the slow (parallel) axes of emission. The far field pattern delivers higher coupling efficiency into standard spherical lens systems, making it ideal for defence tasks. The RoHS-compliant laser diode with integrated micro lens is hermetically sealed in a rugged, 9mm package. The device, with its robust survival capability, can operate in extremely harsh environmental conditions and is perfectly suited for demanding applications such as field-deployed range finders. OSI LDI’s pulsed laser operates between 895nm (minimum) and 915nm (maximum), with a typical responsivity of 905nm. Other features include a spectral width of 8nm, peak power of 75W, a pulse width of 100nS, and drive current at 30A. The storage temperature ranges from -40°C degrees to +85°C, and operating temperature is 25°C. PicoQuant will present its plug and play time-resolved spectrometer FluoTime 250 for the first time to the public. The company will also present its new event timer MultiHarp 150 and the smart picosecond pulsed diode laser driver Taiko PDL M1. The FluoTime 250 is a luminescence spectrometer that makes acquiring time-resolved data as simple as plugging it in and start measuring. The MultiHarp 150, a high throughput event timer, features four or eight independent detection channels. By combining high data throughput with excellent picosecond timing precision and ultra-short dead times, it is the ideal device for applications requiring high precision photon counting and time tagging using multiple detectors. It is perfectly suited for performing fluorescence lifetime imaging at high frame rates when using multiple detectors. Another highlight at the Photonics West show is the new smart picosecond laser driver, Taiko PDL M1, which offers operational flexibility for the most demanding applications in life and materials science, semiconductor diagnostics as well as laser-ranging. Featuring an intuitive local one button control scheme and a versatile remote user interface, operating a laser has never been easier. BiOS booth #8638. Photonics West booths #4869/4875 (North hall) and #926 (South hall). At booth 727 Princeton Instruments will showcase the new Sophia 4096, a deep-cooled, large-format CCD camera with 15µm pixels. Sophia cameras are ideal for applications ranging from astronomy to fluorescence imaging. Additionally, the firm’s Blaze CCD cameras for spectroscopy will be featured at the booth along with its IsoPlane spectrographs. Blaze provides up to three times higher NIR sensitivity and low dark current. Furthermore, NIRvana SWIR cameras will also be on show, which are the only scientific-grade InGaAs cameras on the market that are specifically designed for quantitative NIR/SWIR imaging and spectroscopy applications – according to the firm. Lastly, Princeton Instruments encourages visitors to ask about its Fergie aberration-free spectroscopy system, which offers high performance and exceptional versatility, and enables experiments to be set up in just minutes. Princeton Instruments also provides, sCMOS, ICCD, EMCCD, emICCD, and x-ray cameras; in addition to other imaging systems, as well as optics and coatings. Raptor Photonics plans to show its newly-launched Ninox Ultra on booth 5554, an InGaAs camera that is vacuum cooled to -85ᵒC and offers ultra-low dark current for long exposures of up to five minutes. Combining low read noise of less than 30e- in high gain and dark current of less than 100e/p/s at -80ᵒC, the Ninox Ultra is one of the most sensitive SWIR cameras available on the market. It offers 640x512 resolution and 15µm square pixel pitch and runs at 100Hz in full resolution through a CameraLink interface. The Ninox Ultra also offers a high intrascene dynamic range of 70dB, enabling the simultaneous capture of bright and dark portions of a scene. The Ninox Ultra follows on from the launch of the Ninox 640 and Ninox 1280 cameras, which have attracted a lot of interest in applications including astronomy and in-vivo imaging. The Ninox Ultra is also available for sale in China and Russia. A new product series from Spectrolight called FWS Auto Poly will be launched during SPIE Bios 2019 at Bios booth 8246. The Flexible Wavelength Selector (FWS) Auto Poly employs Spectrolight’s TwinFilm technology to deliver the tuneability and adjustable bandwidth of a grating monochromator, together with the imaging advantages of a circular aperture filter. A single device of the FWS Auto Poly series can cover a wavelength tuning range of approximately 500nm, and offers simple alignment and automatic compensation of beam offset. FWS Auto Poly models feature complete software control of wavelength and bandwidth via a USB link and a simple software interface. Applications for the FWS Auto Poly include hyperspectral imaging, fluorescence microscopy and machine vision, as well as OEM opportunities in life sciences instrumentation for flow cytometry and DNA sequencing. The FWS Auto Poly series will debut with six models covering the visible, UV, and custom wavelength ranges. This includes the RedEnergy G4 200W EP-Z pulsed fibre laser, which extends the power range of SPI’s G4 platform with greater pulse energy, peak power and pulse repetition frequency. Combining these features with the G4’s existing range of pulses provides a high flexibility across a number of applications, including high-speed welding, cleaning, cutting and drilling. It can be used to process materials including anodised/painted surfaces, ceramics, composites, gemstones, metals, plastics, precious metals and thin films. Also featured will be the RedPower Qube CW fibre laser, which is offered in powers ranging from 300W-2kW and is ideal for thick cutting and welding applications, due to its pierce detection capabilities, which increase productivity and reduce wastage. It can be used to process materials including aluminium, brass, copper, mild steel, stainless steels, multi-layer metal composites, reflective metals and ceramics. With superior optimisation, tolerancing and fabrication support, CODE V helps users design imaging optics that meet high-quality specifications at minimised costs. The latest version of the software includes new features such as enhanced optimisation constraints, encrypted multilayer coating prescriptions, and 2D-Q freeform surfaces to increase optical engineering productivity, support cost-to-manufacture savings, and give reliable results in less time. Synopsys will also be able to inform visitors about its LightTools illumination design software, its LucidShape products for automotive lighting, its RSoft products for photonic and optical communications system design, and its PIC Design Suite for photonic integrated circuit layout and verification. Thorlabs’ GL16 Fiber End Face Geometry Measurement Instrument will be on display at booth 1127. The system is easy-to-use for measuring and imaging the geometry of single- and multi-fibre connectors. It uses a non-contact scanning, white-light interferometric technique to provide high-accuracy, repeatability, and reliability for fibre connector testing, particularly for pass/fail testing using IEC or Telcordia requirements. This wide-bandwidth white light interferometer is able to measure step height changes as large as 35µm, and is able to characterise undercut or protruded fibres that would be missed using a monochromatic interferometer. This integrated inspection system joins Thorlabs’ Vytran family of fibre processing equipment to create a full suite of fibre processing and inspection solutions for the factory floor. Toptica Photonics will demonstrate its latest innovations for industrial metrology and quantum technology at booth 641. Dedicated laser solutions for biophotonics will also be shown at Bios, booth 8641. The FemtoFiber ultra 920 is the new member of Toptica's third generation ultrafast fibre lasers for spectroscopy and microscopy. The system delivers laser pulses with a pulse duration of less than 100fs at a central wavelength of 920nm, with more than 1W of average output power. The cost-effective and maintenance-free design of the laser is optimised for OEM integration featuring a compact and cold laser head that is connected to a 19 inch rackmount control and supply unit. For molecular spectroscopy and quantum optics, Toptica’s new and powerful DLC TOPO – Prism Awards 2019 finalist – delivers wide tunability, narrow linewidth, and hands-free digital control over the full 1.45 to 4.00μm spectral range. A wide mode-hop free tuning range up to 300GHz enables visibility of full spectroscopic signatures, while a 2MHz linewidth reveals narrow atomic and molecular features. Trioptics will be giving an overview of its complete product range at booth 1459, which covers the whole spectrum of optical measurement technology for every manufacturing step in optics, with test systems for both R&D and production – from the refractive index measurement of optical components to lens system testing and assembly and MTF testing and camera module test systems. Visitors to the booth will be able to experience robot-assisted production in optical centration alignment and alignment turning. They will also be able to learn how to produce and test camera modules efficiently, learn about enclosed energy measurement solutions for 3D-scene recognition systems, and be introduced to latest technologies as rotation-free centration measurement and image quality testing for VR and AR applications. Furthermore, visitors can check out Triptics’ goniometers and electronic autocollimators for high-precision optical angle measurement as well as systems for lens thickness and wavefront measurement. World Star Tech, a firm specialising in manufacturing ultra-compact energy efficient laser assemblies with high stability and low noise, will be exhibiting products including UV-Vis-IR laser diode assemblies without fibre connectors; TEC (thermo electrically cooled) lasers; a portable laser marker for metals and plastics; and a USB Bluetooth laser at booth 5363. The firm’s goal is to introduce highly compact and efficient lasers that will enable new measurement and sensor applications. In addition to the exhibited products, its product line also includes RGB laser diode assemblies without fibre connectors, and uniform line lasers for scanning and machine vision applications. World Star Tech is also a laser diode distributor for Osram and Ushio laser diodes, supporting 400nm, 450nm, 520nm, 635nm, 650nm, 658nm, 690nm, 705nm, 730nm, 830nm, 850nm and 1,064nm with various power options. At booth 1342 Zygo’s ZeGage Pro and Pro HR 3D Optical profilers will be on display. They are robust, affordable, easy to use, and deliver surface data in seconds. These latest generation ZeGage products use Zygo’s coherence scanning interferometry technology to produce non-contact topography, roughness, and waviness on virtually any material to ISO 25178/4287 standards. The upgraded high speed 1.9-megapixel camera and new Smart Setup Tool have been designed to optimise throughput and region of interest. With Smart Setup, surface finding, light level, and scan range are all automatically configured for a complete measurement configuration in less than one minute. All ZeGage Pro systems are also equipped with Zygo’s exclusive SureScan technology which eliminates the need for vibration isolation and moves metrology out of the lab and onto the production floor. Paired with the firm’s Mx software for analysis and automation, a complete 3D profiling solution has never been so simple.

2019-04-22T16:50:04Z

https://www.electrooptics.com/event/spie-photonics-west-0