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Team RWB Leadership Changes
My heart is full, but heavy, as I embark upon my last six weeks as Team RWB's Executive Director. For the past five years, it has been my absolute privilege to work for the best Board, staff, volunteer leaders, and members on the planet. Collectively, we have built more than an organization. Team RWB has become a movement that inspires people to strengthen communities, live richer lives, and support others in doing the same. I've been on some pretty great teams, but this one is by far the best. And though I am transitioning out of the ED role, I am proud to remain an active volunteer leader and member.
The great news is, on June 15th, JJ Pinter will take the reins and the team will thrive as we continue to enrich the lives of veterans and their families. We have an amazing team in place and they won't miss a beat.
As for me, my first order of business is to facilitate a smooth and successful transition between now and my last official day on the job. Then, my family and I are going to take some time to re-charge over the summer. After that, we are headed up to Jacksonville Beach to join my close friend Jason and the good livin' folks at GORUCK. They are a fantastic company that is committed to making the best gear in the world while building better Americans and giving back along the way. I'm stoked about the opportunity and think I'll fit right in.
I cannot possibly sum up my thoughts and emotions in this note, but I hope to connect with all of you more over the next month or so. There are a million people to thank, but I would like to specifically express my gratitude to my friend Mike Erwin for giving this opportunity and trusting me to grow and safeguard his vision.
In addition to my transition with JJ, I'm excited to announce that Paul Bell has been elected Chairman of the Board for Team RWB. Paul has served on the Board for the past two years and prior to that he was a member of our Advisory Board since 2012. Paul was previously the President of the Public Sector and Large Enterprise at Dell and is currently an Operating Partner at Lead Edge Capital. Mike Erwin will remain on the Board of Directors and actively involved with Eagle Nation.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Data storage oklahoma - BalangirWednesday, 16 November 2016
Item details
City: Balangir, Orissa
Offer type: Offer
Compu Touch Inc
Item description
BI, or Business Intelligence, is an essential technology for businesses of all sizes and industries. Raw, unstructured data within your organization holds critical insight that will help you make the best operational and strategic decisions. Internal documents including sales orders, purchase agreements, employee information, operational expenses and budgets can be aggregated and analyzed to help you find places for cost savings, redundancies and organizational opportunities. External data, or information from your industry, competitors, market landscape, and customers, along with economic reports and financial predictions can be examined and used to find new markets to expand into, or can warn of over-saturation.


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For a bonus sized fiftieth episode the lads are joined by Joe Skrebels, the go-to man for British podcasts that want to talk about Monster Hunter, to discuss the greatest monster of all: man. Luke tries and fails to keep things on topic, Jay is almost helpful, Andy is starstruck, Jas has loud people in his house and Joe thinks we should ban this sick filth.
Links of note:
Joe on Murdering Monsters in Monster Hunter World
A Conflicted Vegetarian
Gaijin Hunter on the Hunter's Guild
Equal Dragon Weapon
The Transpurrter - Melynx disguised as a Felyne
Follow us on twitter!
Monster Mash
Andy Let him know whether you're 175cm tall or not.
Rate and review us and spread the word! If we're not on whatever podcast platform tickles your pickle, let us know and we'll try to fix that.
Extra jingles kindly supplied by Wolfy Melon.


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The universe obeys certain rules -- laws to which all things must adhere. These laws are precise, and many of them are mathematical in nature. Natural laws are hierarchical in nature; secondary laws of nature are based on primary laws of nature, which have to be just right in order for our universe to be possible. But, where did these laws come from, and why do they exist? If the universe were merely the accidental by-product of a big bang, then why should it obey orderly principles -- or any principles at all for that matter? Such laws are consistent with biblical creation. Natural laws exist because the universe has a Creator God who is logical and has imposed order on His universe (Genesis 1:1). The Word of God
Everything in the universe, every plant and animal, every rock, every particle of matter or light wave, is bound by laws which it has no choice but to obey. The Bible tells us that there are laws of nature -- "ordinances of heaven and earth" (Jeremiah 33:25). These laws describe the way God normally accomplishes His will in the universe.
[Read the rest of the article at Answers in Genesis.]


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Is this really the last time im going to feel this exact way on a semi-sunny day at the end of summer? Today is my last first day of my undergrad... weird. My dear friend Meredith made me feel a little better with this, YOU ENJOY.
On a lighter note, tonight should be fun, and i'll be bringing my camera along:)


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I missed my greyhound bus back to Eugene. I have a dr's appt that now I for sure will miss. I was stupid and KNEW that it left at 7:15, although in my stupid groggy stupidity this morning, I thought the ticket said 7:55. Andy left me at the bus station at 7:40 and I called him in tears five minutes later telling him I missed my bus. Stupid me. So I got a bus ticket for the 11:40 trip and stood out in front of the station crying until a man walked up to me with a guitar and asked me if I wanted to hear a song. I nodded, and he pulled out his guitar and played "Tequila Sunrise" for me. I thought he was just being nice, but then he asked me if I had any change and all I had was a $5. Meh, it was a good song and cheered me up. So now I suck and I will be leaving waaaay incredibly later than I should and I just want to be home in my own bed and I feel like that will never happen. I suck when it comes to life.
But! We (and by "we" I mean Andy and I) went to OMSI yesterday (and for you unfortunate souls who don't live in Oregon, it's the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and it's really fucking cool) and we watched this IMAX film on Lewis and Clark and it was so rad. And then we bought this little kit from the OMSI science store where there's this little dinosaur skeleton (we got the T Rex) cast in soft plaster, so you're basically this paleontologist digging up your own dino and then putting it together. I fear I won't have the patience to actually do that in real life except, if all goes well, I will be doing just that. At least the plaster is pretty and pink.


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How to Create Graphics with Canva for Pinterest
Pinterest is a powerful tool for online businesses and bloggers to get your content and links shared.
I've got a free video tutorial for you today to learn a basic template of how to create images for your blog that are perfect for Pinterest with ease.
In my previous blog post, I wrote about how a smart Pinterest strategy can increase your website's Google ranking.
The most important factor is having your website's links, pages, products, and blog posts be shared and pinned on Pinterest is to have good graphic images available to be Pinned.
Recently, I realized that without a lot of effort my Pinterest was reaching over 90k monthly viewers, and was bringing a lot of traffic to older blog posts.
Plus those same blog posts with a lot of Pinterest traffic were ranking well on Google, bringing in even more new visitors to my website.
So, I started to consciously focus on my Pinterest strategy, including creating images that really stand out in the feed, plus updating older blog posts with more Pinterestable graphics.
Within a month of more deliberate attention on creating optimized images for Pinterest, my Pinterest monthly viewers has jumped to over 510k!
Monthly viewers can fluctuate, and a lot of that activity is for pins that I've shared of other people's content.
However, what really excites me is how this may support long-term SEO growth on Google.
Google is the #1 search engine online, which is paying a lot of attention to Pinterest these days, and both are really powerful tools for online entrepreneurs to be conscious of using wisely to share our messages and grow our businesses.
My website is seeing a significant jump in direct referrals from Google, and more of my older blog posts are ranking on the first page of Google for their topics.
I am motivated to make sure all of my blog posts going forward having images ready for Pinterest, and am excited to share exactly I how to do this in my video tutorial below.
I make my Pinterestable images using Canva, a free graphic design program online.
They also have a Pro membership, which I recently upgraded to for a minimal monthly fee because of the convenience of some of their extra features, including being able to save brand colors and fonts, have folders for organizing photos and logos, and the ease of resizing graphics.
However, I've used the free version of Canva with great success for years, and that's all you need to start making awesome Pinterest graphics for your blog and website.
In the video below, I'm personally walking you through how I make Pinterest images for my blog with Canva and show you a simple template and a few tricks for making your images stand out.
Watch my video tutorial here:
How to Create Pinterest Images for Your Blog with Canva:
Remember when making your graphics for your blog posts and web pages to have images that encourage your readers to save them onto Pinterest directly from your website.
Here's a recap of some of the key points mentioned in this short video...
Use vertical images.
Have the images be a 2:3 proportion.
Use your own photos or paid stock images (or use a solid background color).
Add a background for your text overlap, if needed. Go to Elements > Shapes > Square.
Change the shape, color, and placement of the square shape to create contrast for your text to stand out from the background.
Use fonts that are CAPITALIZED, bolded, or easy to read.
Use keywords in your blog title, and in the text on your images.
Be mindful of using whitespace around the text to help it stand out.
Pinterest is really amazing for blog and website traffic!


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The first trailer of Logan hits the internet, Logan stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook with Stephen Merchant and Dafne Keen.
Logan film is set in 2024, Logan and Professor Charles Xavier must cope with the loss of the X-Men at the hands of a corporation led by Nathaniel Essex. With Logan's healing abilities slowly fading and Xavier's Alzheimer's hampering his memory, Logan must defeat Essex with the help of a young girl named Laura Kinney, a female clone of Wolverine.[3]
Well, this is a cool birthday gift for me of watching this trailer. I heard Patrick Stewart's Professor X voice was sounding tired and suffering from Alzheimer's. I also noticed that he is not wearing the suit, like he was in the previous X-Men films, and his wheelchair didn't appear, neither did the X-Mansion, the Mutants or anything else. My reaction was the question of what happened to the mutants, the mansion, and even Professor X's old friend Magneto?
From the set photo Charles Xavier is using a regular wheelchair.
For Logan/Wolverine, the details are that he is very old and his healing abilities are slowly fading and there is a new enemy named Nathaniel Essex, the main head of the Essex Corporation.
The action of the footage was very intense, surprising and emotional, and one plot detail is that Logan and Charles Xavier helps a young girl named Laura Kinney, a female clone of Wolverine {yet to be confirmed "X-23"}
What I like about the trailer, when Logan and Charles have a great chemistry and a bit of a father and son relationship.
I give the trailer a 90% approved, this is going to be a grand finale to see Hugh Jackman's Logan/Wolverine and Patrick Stewart's Professor X.
by Angel/Agent A


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The observance of a day for women dates back to the early 1900's. At an International Socialist Women's Conference in Denmark 1910 it was proposed by German socialist Luise Zietz and agreed upon by the delegates that an annual Women's Day be established to promote equal rights for women.
It has been observed on different days in February and March but since 1914 it has been on the 8th March, mainly celebrated by communist countries and the socialist movement. The United Nations adopted International Women's Day in 1975 which was International Women's Year.
To celebrate the struggles and achievements of the wonderful women of our region over the years we have selected some of the photos of the women in the Devine Collection. If you know who any of these great ladies are please let us know. Members Merv and Beryl have now processed and catalogued over 2900 negatives from the Devine Collection and there are still plenty more negatives to go.


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The Top 10 of 2017
I love seeing your favorite posts of the year. This not only helps us to plan for the next year, but it allows us to look back on all of the amazing stories that we've shared. So here's a look at our Top 10 blog posts of 2017. Happy New Year!
Ten: 5 Affirmations You Need to Hear Today and Everyday
In the interest of giving you words to help transform your every day, our own Assistant to the Editor wrote this post on 5 affirmations to help you through your every day. Plus, she created a free download to go with them.
Nine: Talking About What Hurts
In this brave post, Melissa talks to us about being a survivor of rape, a suicide attempt and postpartum depression. Though sensitive topics, we knew this would be one of those that would help so many women and we couldn't be more proud of her for taking back her story.
Eight: I Have Postpartum Anxiety
Though incredibly common, Postpartum Anxiety is rarely talked about after childbirth. But we think it needs to be a topic of conversation. After reading this post by Megan, we know there were women out there breathing a sigh of relief that they're not alone.
Seven: I Am the Child of Addicts
Though she grew up in a family of addicts, Brooke resolved to not let that be her story. In this post, she talked about growing up with a drug addicted mom and learning that she had to cut her out of her life for self-preservation.
Six: When Your Child Doesn't Want What You Want
As parents, we (sometimes unknowingly) set expectations for our children. But what happens when your children take a different path than you imagined? Jackie talked about that in this post all parents can relate to.
Five: Maternal Instinct: The Birth Story
For six months, we followed Cecile's story of becoming a mom after miscarriage. In one of her last posts, Cecile shared with us the story of her baby girl, Wednesday, being brought into the world. And who doesn't love a good birth story?
Four: What an Eating Disorder Really Looks Like
Whether we know it or not, we all have preconceived notions of what an eating disorder is like. But in this post, Florencia pulled back the curtain to show what it really looks like and how it affects daily life, family, and mental health.
Three: I Grew Up in a Cult
In one of the most polarizing posts of the year, a brave woman shared with us what growing up in a cult was like. She talked about what growing up isolated, with little education, and what she hopes for her future.
Two: Anxiety: The Invisible Illness
Affecting more than 40 million adults, anxiety is the most common mental illness. And yet, it's still stigmatized. H&L's own Editorial Manager, Mia, pulled back the curtain and talked about what anxiety feels like from the inside in this powerful post.
One: Women in Music: An Inside Look at Sexism and Success
Beth Laird, the CEO of Creative Nation, took us on an inside look at what being a woman in the music industry is like and the surprising advice that she gives to young professionals.


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How to identify good firewood
Homeowners are considering burning wood as it is better in environmental terms as the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere is nearly the same as that absorbed by the tree during it's growth. As the wood burning fires increase in popularity, it is important to understand the best use of your wood burning stove or fire.
What is seasoned wood?
Seasoned wood is wood that has been left to dry for around 12 to 18 months to achieve a moisture content that is below 20%.
Why choose seasoned wood?
One of the important aspects to consider is the type of wood to burn. It is highly recommended that you only burn seasoned wood.
Do not burn green or wet wood as a large percentage of heat energy created by the fire will be used to burn of the excess water contained within the logs rather than heating your room. It will also result in poor quality combustion, increased smoke and the possibly even damage your flue.
Seasoned wood increases the efficiency of combustion hence reducing your running costs.
It is also important to consider buying your wood from well-managed woodlands as they improve biodiversity, support jobs in forestry industry and of course ensure that there is enough timber to meet the future demands in years to come.
How to identify good firewood
An essential part of ensuring that your wood burning stove or fire is performing to its maximum potential is looking at the wood you are using to fuel it.
Firewood should be left to dry for a minimum of 12-18 months before being used.
To dry wet logs, split logs into smaller pieces and leave logs into a suitable wood store to improve the drying process. Make sure the top of wood store is covered to keep moisture out. Keep sides open to promote air flow and speed up the drying process. Do not store your wood against a house as this causes it to dry slower and cause pest problems.
Check your product instructions for the optimum size of wood you should be using.
To identify well seasoned wood, check the ends of the logs. If they are dark in colour and cracked, they are dry.
Dry seasoned wood is lighter in weight than wet wood and makes a hollow sound when hitting two pieces together. If there is any green colour visible or bark is hard to peel, the log is not yet dry.
It is recommended to purchase a wood moisture meter, to help you decide when your wood is ready. Seasoned wood is 20% or less moisture.
There are many different types of wood that all burn differently and have various qualities. For example, softwoods like SEDA and pine have shorter burning but more intense fires, whilst hardwood such as oak and cherry beech burn slower but longer (more effective for colder evenings).
Do not burn construction timber, painted, impregnated / treated wood, manufactured board products or pallet wood, as they may contain chemicals or other products that could ruin the inside of your flue.
For advice on different suppliers of wood that is suitable for your woodburning stove, or for a new woodburning stove to go into your property, come down to The Heating Centre in Coventry.
Information supplied by www.stovax.com


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Well, my first gift for this Chanukah 2018 was perfect for me - a brand of matcha (and company) that was new to me - the organic The Matcha from CAP Beauty.
CAP Beauty is dedicated to the philosophy that "Beauty is Wellness. Wellness is Beauty" so the intent is that all their 150+ products create "true radiance." The fact that their products are "100% natural" resonants with me, as does the recognition of plant based medicine on their website, which speaks about the power of the plants to heal, since they are "teeming with nutrition and life force."
Of course, the label is the first thing to catch the eye, and I find it just plain uplifting, making me smile. The red label on the side of the tin says, "Drink it in. Begin within." That accurately sums up my meditation and matcha practice - make matcha and meditate. Well, the meditation actually begins with the making of the matcha. How matcha goodness is contained within this tin - that would be "29 grams of High Vibrational Focus." Who can argue with that?
For an organic matcha, this one is fairly good. The matcha sifts nicely, and is a lovely bright green, though not as vibrantly emerald as I have seen in many non-organic brands. My koicha whisked easily into a thick and creamy elixir, while the addition of more water to whisk an usucha produced a bowl with a thin layer of foam with sparse bubbles. The aroma was fresh and grassy. The texture was very slightly gritty, but not unpleasant at all. I did prefer the flavor profile of the koicha to the usucha, yet despite the slight bitterness common with organic matchas, this dissipated quickly to leave a umami finish that lingered for quite some time. The overall flavor was clean but not very sophisticated or complex. For an organic matcha, I readily recommend it. Once you explore their website, you might find yourself purchasing other products, as I did. I just couldn't resist ordering their matcha coconut butter.


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Running Time: 108 min.
Release Date: February 4, 2011
DVD: June 7, 2011
Current rating:
based on 132 votes and 34 reviews
Rate Movie | Read all user reviews
Cast: Richard Roxburgh, Rhys Wakefield, Ioan Gruffudd, Alice Parkinson, Dan Wylie
Master diver Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh) has explored the South Pacific's Esa-ala Caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank's teamincluding 17-year-old son Josh (Rhys Wakefield) and financier Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd)is forced to radically alter plans. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out. Soon, they are confronted with the unavoidable question: Can they survive, or will they be trapped forever?
Alister Grierson
Studio: Universal Pictures
Producer(s): Andrew Wight
Screenplay: John Garvin, Andrew Wight
Official Site: sanctummovie.com
Audience attendance at theatres was down due to the Super Bowl, but the new thriller...
The cast and crew of Sanctum give us a first look at their new 3D underwater thriller...


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Creating the perfect essay is the aspiration of every college student. However, writing essays that impress others is easier to say than it is to do. Most learners know how to compose academic styles, in theory at least. Getting the right words down on paper, though, is a separate challenge. At Myessaygeek.com we understand the struggles that the inexperienced author can face. We recognize the stress of impossible deadlines. From an academic perspective, there are many steps to writing an essay that need to check all the right boxes. Our expert authors are not only qualified they're also experienced ENL writers. We guarantee 100% unique content that's certain to lift the grades of anyone struggling with writing an essay.
The experienced pool of talented authors at Myessaygeek.com knows how to write essays for college admissions. Understanding the right process and how to start an essay is only half the battle though. Knowledge without experience does not make a good essay writer. Our proficient authors have years of experience under their belt. They know exactly how to begin a paper that meets all the academic requirements. Anyone who needs an easy way, write an essay through us—it's the ideal solution.
Here are some key reasons why clients choose us for our various types of essay writing services:
Even though people know how to write, that doesn't mean they're good at it. It's not uncommon for the unexperienced to struggle with essay ideas. After all, this is a skill that requires practice, and practice takes time. Alas, time is something that's in short supply for a lot of college students. It's why so many reach for our confidential and professional essay writing help. Our 100% plagiarism-free, money back guarantee promises give clients confidence in our commitment to excellence.
There's no shortage of good essay writing tips online, but practical suggestions alone won't get everyone started. Students reading this page are most likely grappling with their essay structure and the essay introduction. Oftentimes it's just a case of finding the right advice on the correct essay format from the best people. We may not know how to write an essay in an hour, but we do know how to produce quality work in a timely manner. Below is a recap on the four reasons to choose us over other writing services:
Our customer support service is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Those who have questions or concerns will find answers and friendly advice from our proficient team. We encourage native and non-native English students to contact us to discuss their projects. Our confidential solutions can, and often do, take the stress out of otherwise tough writing assignments. We're here to assist anyone at any level. We can help with entire projects, or just someone who's stuck on how to write a conclusion for an essay. We're the people who convert academic problems into easy solutions.
Highest quality standards
Juicy discounts
Any citation style
Experienced writers
No pre-written papers


text: Yes, it's politically-incorrect. Mother of Tears (2007) - IMDb Director: Dario Argento. Mother of Tears | Italian Horror Movie Reviews | Horror Extreme Horror Extreme Movie Review - Mother of Tears If she lives, we all die. eBay: Mother of Tears DVD, 2008 The third installment in Italian horror master Dario Argento's Three Mothers saga, THE MOTHER OF TEARS is a gruesome and long-awaited treat for horror fans. Download Mother Of Tears Movie | Watch Mother Of Tears Online. After waiting 28 years for the third feature in Dario Argento's Mother trilogy, die-hard fans (like myself) flocked to theaters to catch Mother of Tears . Amazon.com: Mother of Tears (Unrated): Asia Argento, Cristian. Mother of Tears Movie - MoviesOnline! Mother of Tears This movie has a 54.44% Approval Rating Based on 9 Reviews Read Reviews Release Date: Friday, June 6th 2008, The Mother of. . Mother of Tears | Trailer and Cast - Yahoo! Movies An ancient urn chained to a coffin is unearthed by chance by workmen alongside Rome's Viterbo Cemetery. Actors: Asia Argento: Sarah Mandy · Cristian Solimeno: Detective Enzo Marchi · Adam James: Michael Pierce · Moran Atias: Mater. . Rome to pay homage, Sarah must use all her own psychic powers to stop the 'Mother of Tears. The. The. Download Mother Of Tears movie with fast downloading speed and also gives you access to watch Mother Of Tears online streaming with high audio/video quality without. Inside is an age-old tunic and artifacts that belong to Mater


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Join Higher Health on June 19th from 12-1 p.m. at WeWork to the learn the latest nutrition facts for people on-the-go. Higher Health Spine & Sport will host a Functional Nutrition Talk led by Nutritionist Lauren Chambers, who will discuss pre and post workout nutrition.
Dr. Pauline Haugen will also discuss the benefits of Foam Rolling in the workplace. Sitting in the same position all day can negatively impact your natural posture. Regularly using a Foam Roller offers many of the same benefits as a sports massage, including reduced inflammation, scar tissue and joint stress, as well as improved circulation and improved flexibility. Techniques utilizing a foam roller are designed to help maintain optimum health while working, and can be done almost anywhere.
This short workshop is perfect for anyone who sits at a desk or works at a computer for prolonged periods of time, and is designed to help improve performance and productivity.


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The search found 2 results in 0.011 seconds.
This book is a contribution to the debate on expanding access to HIV/AIDS treatment in developing countries. It presents an important and innovative aspect of the work of the ANRS (Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le Sida), one of the few agencies to have initiated research in this field.
The report, HIV and AIDS in South Asia, presents a unique perspective on HIV and AIDS as regional development issues. Although HIV prevalence in South Asia is comparatively low, the region faces a number of challenges including the risk of escalation of concentrated epidemics, the economic welfare costs, and the fiscal costs of scaling up treatment for AIDS. The report can be grouped in three broad themes: First, the epidemiology of HIV and prevention strategies; Second, the economic and development impacts of HIV and AIDS and Third, the implications of HIV/AIDS for the health sector.


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Ignite Intensives
Thanks for joining us this past Monday for our Ignite Intensive! Over 20 churches and 100 people were present between our two sites to learn about leading change in the local church. If you missed the event, you can stream it right from our Facebook page in two parts.
As we look forward to our All Day Ignite Intensive on November 11th, we suggest that you read the book Growing Young by Kara Powell as this will prepare you for the event. We get asked all the time how to grow younger in our churches and we know how crucial of a conversation this is as many churches today die as their congregations grow older.


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Sorry for recycling old post, this was one of my first post and my first attempt at blogging. Hydrophobia has been on my radar since summer of 2007. It was finally teased at this year E3 2008.
I wrote about the Hydroengine back in 5/7/07 and briefly touch on Hydrophobia on Video Gamer's Heaven my first blog. Hey, I am looking out for the Virtual environment please people recycle especially old post(Hey Nintendo is King Recycling).
Will the Next generation of gaming is upon us. With the cost of building a new game climbing into the 10+ million dollar range we will start to see some pretty interesting game engine to take advantage of the raw horse power the Sony PS3 and Microsoft 360 has to offer especially the Sony PS3.
Wikipedia defines a game engine as the core software component of a computer or video game or other interactive application with real-time graphics. It provides the underlying technologies, simplifies development, and often enables the game to run on multiple platforms such as game consoles and desktop operating systems such as Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. The core functionality typically provided by a game engine includes a rendering engine ("renderer") for 2D or 3D graphics, a physics engine or collision detection (and collision response), sound, scripting, animation, artificial intelligence, networking, streaming, memory management, threading, and a scene graph. The process of game development is frequently economized by in large part reusing the same game engine to create multiple different games. (Source:wikipedia.org)
Another name for game engines are "Middleware" because these systems are flexible and reusable which in terms help reduce the cost, complexities, and time-to-market. They are a few Game Engines out there that are pretty well known. Such as: Havok for physics, FMOD for sound, SpeedTree for rendering. A few full features 3D game engines are: RealmForge, Ogre, Power Render, Crystal Space, Genesis3D, and JMonkey Engine.
Today we will take a look at: HydroEngine
Blade's HydroEngine technology is the result of years of intensive development work. The HydroEngine will allow developer's to model the flowing water and other liquids, which will behave exactly as you would expect in real life(sounds pretty sick...Bioshock eat your heart out). Water can flow down corridors and stairs, and is entirely dynamic, which means you never get the same behavior twice.
HydroEngine can interact with any solid body physics engines such as Havok, so that objects and debris can be carried with the flow, and interact with dynamic environments and characters in countless ways.
HydroEngine is the centerpiece of Blade's new survival adventure title Hydrophobia, which uses the revolutionary Hydroengine to deliver a game experience that can potentially unseat the epic BioShock as the number one underwater survival experience.
(Pre E3 5/07/07)
(Pre E3 5/07/07)
(Pre E3 5/07/07)
(Pre E3 5/07/07)
In the mid 21st Century, Thomas Malthus's 18th Century prophecy will finally be realized.
The Great Population Flood has brought the world to its knees. Cities and towns have become swamped as mass poverty spreads, and the rights of the individual are lost in a sea of desperation.
You are Kate Wilson, a Security Engineer onboard the Queen of the World - a stateless supership where the powerful and the wealthy live in exile from the chaos of the outside world, but united in their quest to save it.
For ten years this "City at Sea" has stood as a beacon for progress, prospering as the rest of world slowly drowns.
On the eve of the Queens massive anniversary celebrations, with a breakthrough announcement looming, the great vessel comes under attack.
Trapped behind enemy lines, Kate must fight her own demons as she becomes the last hope against an army of Neo-Malthusian terrorists, whose philosophy is simple: "Save the world, kill yourself".(Source:bladeinteractive.com)
Does this mean that a new WAVE RACE is only just around the corner(LOL.....the only realtime physics the Nintendo Wii can do is when you shake the Wiimotes). I can see some very interesting ways that a creative developer can use a water engine. Can we imagine a Virtual world where you can skip a pebble across a pond or better yet Bioshock II built using the Sony PS3 CELL and Bladesinteractive new water baby...
Hydrophobia pics E3 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Next Generation Gaming Engines "HYDROENGINE"
Monday, September 15, 2008 K. Joseph


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All About Arrest Records
Please Note: The material on this website is provided for informational purposes only. It is not a consumer reporting agency as defined by The Fair Credit Reporting Act and should not be used to determine an individual's eligibility for personal credit or employment, or to assess risk associated with any business transactions such as tenant screening.
Given the world that we live in today it is very important that we are all very careful when it comes to taking precaution measures with regards to security. This is where the information about the arrest records comes in. Many people now use these records to make sure that they have the basic information that they require before hiring people or before getting into any sort of formalized deals.
In the recent past the norm in general was that all sorts of such records were only available with the local government's office. So when someone wanted to access these records, the procedure was a pretty long and tiring one. When it came to the arrest records the procedure was further made complicated. However, this was all in the past. With the dramatic changes in the lives recently and the need for high levels of security by everyone, it was important that some innovative measure be added to this system.
With all the technology that we have access to now it is no surprise that all the arrest records have now been automated so that people can access them with ease. This does not mean that there is no security with respect to the check and balance as to who has access to this information. The needed measures have been taken and it becomes part of the record as to who has access to this information and for what purposes they have accessed it for.
The key purpose for which people generally are interested in checking the arrest records is the for the hiring purposes. Before hiring a person for a job it is good to check the previous record. In the application that is generally designed, people are normally asked as to give out their police records. Many a times people are not going to state the truth for the fear that it will be a negative for them. Therefore, it is better that the employer checks the arrest records of the applicants to make sure that the information that they have provided is truthful. For those who have minor offenses against them and have stated them should be given a chance if possible, while in other cases one can save oneself from any sort of future complications and troubles by not considering the applicant any further.
This is just another way in which technology has been a great help for a good purpose.
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Posted by By Jamie Dominics, The Sun Reporter, Washington DC. on
President Olusegun Obasanjo's claim that he has significantly improved the standard of living for the average Nigerian and a major justification by his supporters on the need to extend his tenure has been challenged by a damning report on the state of the Nigerian child and mother.
President Olusegun Obasanjo's claim that he has significantly improved the standard of living for the average Nigerian and a major justification by his supporters on the need to extend his tenure has been challenged by a damning report on the state of the Nigerian child and mother.
An influential United Nations affiliated international humanitarian agency, Save the Children, has rated Nigeria as one of the worst countries to be a mother or a child.
The US-based independent global humanitarian organisation released its assessment of one of the key domestic policies of governments in its annual Mothers Index that ranks the best and worst places to be a mother and a child.
The Index, highlighted, in the organisations State of the Worlds Mothers 2005 report, ranks the status of mothers and children in 110 countries based on 10 indicators pertaining to health and education. It reveals that where mothers survive and thrive, children survive and thrive.
Scandinavian countries came tops on the rankings of the best places to be a mother, while countries in sub-Saharan Africa dominate the bottom tier.
The Mothers Index clearly shows that the quality of children's lives is inextricably linked to the health and education of their mothers, said Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children, adding: In countries where mothers fare well, children fare well; in countries where mothers do poorly, children do poorly.
According to the report, Nigeria ranks 84 in the list, behind Jamaica, Vietnam, Namibia, Botswana, Guyana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland , Zambia, Uganda, Ghana , Rwanda and Cameroon.
The report said more than one out of every five children in Nigeria die before his or her first birthday, that 70 percent of the Nigerian population is without safe drinking water, and that 20 percent of children are suffering from malnutrition.
The situation for Nigerian mothers is equally dismal. The report said that two in six mothers die in childbirth; 80 percent of all newborns are delivered without trained health personnel, and 90 percent of women are not using modern contraception to space their births at healthy intervals.
"Conditions for children and mothers in the bottom ranked countries are devastating. Many children are fortunate just to survive the first five years of life and have a chance to go to school, said MacCormack, adding: But the situation is far from hopeless. World leaders have agreed on eight Millennium Development Goals to fight poverty, save lives and build security by 2015, and these goals can be reached in many poor countries if the United States and other wealthy nations make a more concerted effort to help them. Humanitarian organisations, like Save the Children are working in partnership with governments to achieve these goals by investing in proven programmes that benefit mothers and children in developing countries. Our 70 plus years of experience on the ground have shown us that effective programmes to improve education and child and maternal health including family planning help children to survive and thrive, and enable nations to prosper.
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Communicating with people can be a tricky task, especially if it involves telling them something unpleasant. However, it's a necessary life skill to effectively tell people your thoughts and feedback.
Most people want feedback about their performance, they want to feel noticed and their efforts have been worthwhile. These discussions can be quite daunting especially when there's room for improvement. By being mindful of our delivery, we can be productive with our meetings without the noise of being emotive and ambiguous.
Make it specific
When we are specific about issues or our feedback, it can avoid people taking it personally. Instead of framing it as a general behavioural or personality issue, we can be practical about addressing it. Let them know what was the issue, when it happened and how we can move forward.
Be prompt and don't dwell
Being prompt in your response to situations will allow better re-call of events from the other person. It will allow for an easier exchange and they are less likely to feel blind-sided. Don't dwell on past events, this may make the person defensive and your message will be lost.
Be consistent
By being consistent in your behaviour, people are able to set their expectations accordingly. They will be aware of standards and have the opportunity to prepare themselves for your thoughts.
Be Fair
Sometimes things just don't work out. Be fair in your assessment, don't blame people for things that were out of control. Give equal weighting to positive and negative aspects to make them feel appreciated and motivated. You would want people to feel like you're investing in them, rather than persecuting them.
People are our biggest resource, let's make sure they feel that way.
Jennifer Huynh


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Cardiff Explorers organiser Maria Leijerstam will head to Irkutsk in Russia this Thursday to participate in the Siberian Black Ice Race, a 379 mile race across Lake Baikal, the largest freshwater lake in the world.
This will be no ordinary race. Maria intends to travel across the frozen lake by bike. She will need to carry all her equipment with her, including her tent, stove and food. In order to prepare for the event she has been testing her specially modified Quoroz Titanium Mountain Bike complete with ice tyres, at Planet Ice in Cardiff Bay.
Temperatures on the race may drop to as low as -40C with the wind chill so Maria has been choosing her kit and equipment carefully, making sure her hands and feet are protected from the danger of frostbite. To ensure that she can maintain the energy levels required for this kind of endurance challenge she will be eating a high calorie diet of up to 6000 calories a day.
You can follow her progress on her blog www.marialeijerstam.blogspot.com/Maria will fundraise for Alzheimers UK and you can donate at www.justgiving.com/leijerstam
Good Luck Maria!


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DJ Peltz - Director of Hitting, Strength and Conditioning
DJ is a former collegiate baseball player, and a graduate with a bachelor's degree in Exercise Science, with a concentration in Strength and Conditioning. A Nicolet High School graduate, DJ played 4 years of baseball at the University of Wisconsin - Parkside before turning his focus over to player development.
DJ now focuses exclusively on helping athletes build strength and athletic ability to pursue baseball of softball at the collegiate level.
"I feel as it is our responsibility to use data and metrics as well as our knowledge of baseball and softball to give players in the area a better learning environment and better opportunities to play at the next level. We must break the mold in order to change the culture." -DJ Peltz
Joel Sharon - Director of Player Development
Joel Sharon is a 3 year Professional Pitcher from Milwaukee Wisconsin. He played 4 years at Division 3 University of Concordia Wisconsin. As a 3 year starter in the outfield and a middle of the order hitter Joel had a career batting average of .320 & ended his career top 10 in Concordia Baseball History in career Hits, Triples, Doubles & Stolen bases as well as the 2014 & 2015 Concordia Baseball MVP awards. In 5 years between his sophomore year of college & his second year of Professional baseball he was able to increase his peak fastball velocity from 81mph to 96mph. In 2016 during this time he moved to Seattle, Washington to train at the world famous Driveline baseball facility where he now has taken the lessons he learned from training there & from his journey of Division 3 baseball player to professional athlete and gives them to athletes at Delta Sports Performance. His ultimate goal is to throw 98mph off the mound & to help change the baseball culture in southeastern Wisconsin.
" The way we train & develop baseball/softball players in Wisconsin is far behind the way they do it other places around the country. There are a large number of great athletes in this area who have the opportunity to be Elite at baseball/softball and all they need is to be pointed in the right direction." – Joel Sharon


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Dublin Marathon: How to 'legally' enhance your performance
Caffeine drinks, caffeine gels, caffeine powders, caffeine pills and no sex
Dr Hunter S Thompson always said the crazy thing about any big city marathon is the way these masses of mostly skinny runners arrive at the start line for a race they have a fat chance of winning.
"Why do they punish themselves so brutally, for no prize at all?" Thompson wrote in The Curse of Lono, a little gem of a book charting his journey to Hawaii to cover the 1980 Honolulu marathon.
"What kind of sick instinct would cause 8,000 supposedly smart people to get up at four in the morning and stagger at high speed through the streets of Waikiki for 26 ball-busting miles in a race that less than a dozen of them have the slightest chance of winning?"
He then figured it out: "Marathon running, like golf, is a game for players, not winners. This is why Wilson sells golf clubs, and Nike sells running shoes. The Eighties will not be a healthy decade for games designed only for winners – except at the very pinnacle of professional sport; like the Super Bowl, or the heavyweight championship of the world. The rest of us will have to adjust to this notion, or go mad from losing... the concept of victory through defeat has already taken root."
Nearly four decades on and the Dublin marathon is no exception – because for the vast majority of the 20,000 runners lining up on Fitzwilliam Square on Sunday morning it's all about finishing – or rather the finishers t-shirt.
That doesn't mean some of them don't act like they might have a chance of winning. Many will be running as well trained and equipped as the elites, while also going to some lengths to enhance their marathon performance. The heart-rate monitors are now mostly standard, as are the compression socks and kinetic tape, and it would be hard to find anyone not cranked up on caffeine gels and lightly powdered protein shakes. All perfectly legal, naturally.
Running shoes
And it doesn't stop there. My accountant rang me from New York a few weeks ago, raving about his latest running shoes, the Nike Zoom Vaporfly 4%. He's living and working there now, training for next month's New York marathon, and is convinced the runners are giving him an advantage.
"They improve your time by 4%," he said. "And I'm definitely training faster. Just don't look at the price, because they're mad expensive."
Not that he's ever counted the cost of any potential benefit: he abstained from sex for two weeks before his last marathon, convinced that would enhance his performance by about 5%.
The Nike Zoom Vaporfly 4% does come with some credibility. It was designed specifically for the Nike sub-two hour marathon attempt in Monza last May – at some considerable cost too, containing some new midsole cushioning material not previously used in any running shoe, hence the "4% extra bounce".
On the day Eliud Kipchoge ran that still eye-popping 2:00:25, although that doesn't prove the running shoes offered any actual advantage. Indeed 4% for an elite marathon runner is worth about five minutes over 26.2 miles, so any advantage was likely more around 1%. Still sounded good to me.
This by the way is the same accountant who these days can't seem to put anything past his lips unless it contains caffeine. Caffeine drinks, caffeine gels, caffeine bars, caffeine powders, caffeine pills. Fancy a piece of my new caffeine chewing gum with added guarana?
This hasn't happened by chance. For the past 30 years, caffeine's effect on endurance has been widely examined, and the only surprising thing is that people still question the performance-enhancing benefits. The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) used to consider caffeine an illegal performance enhancing drug, at least in doses above 1,200 mg, around eight cups of coffee.
All that changed in 2004, when Wada removed it from the banned list, partly because some studies pointed towards a decreased performance, mainly due to dehydration. Now, I wouldn't necessarily recommend a double espresso about 30 minutes before the start of a marathon except to say it always works well for me.
Wada worried again
That doesn't make caffeine harmless, and you only have to read the label of any popular sporting supplement to realise how much higher the doses are becoming. Now Wada are worried again, and in recent years have placed caffeine back on the Monitoring Program: what this means is they've started to monitor caffeine levels in anti-doping samples taking during competition, and will then decide whether there is enough evidence to suggest it should be considered properly performance enhancing and therefore put it back on the banned list. You have been warned.
My Nike Zoom Vaporfly 4% arrived last Monday, and I've been running in them all week. They fit like a glove and everything about the way they feel and hit the ground certainly help facilitate all my old lessons in proper running style.
The gently floating cadence, ensuring the body is running with the legs, not on them; the lifting of the leg with each stride, rather than landing on it; landing on the ball of the foot, rather than the heel; the shifting of all weight to the upper body, the arms held low, the hands positioned at waist level, as if carrying freshly chopped bamboo spears in either hand; and last but not least, in the words of Bill Bowerman, the co-founder of Nike, the hips held up and forward "as if in the moment of deepest penetration".
My Friday morning run came in about 4% quicker than the week before, after which I checked the price to discover I'd ordered the Nike Zoom Fly, the cheaper version of the shoe which comes without the 4% advantage. And that's no lie.


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Adolfo Spada Gallicius Aglianico 2010 Gallucio, Italy Black cherries and dark chocolate plus a little bit of last night's vomit on the pavement outside the pub, which adds complexity rather than revulsion. A smokey edge and a touch herbaceous. A reasonably rich and satisfying finish. September 2012
Antinori Montenisa Franciacorta But NV Franciacorta, Italy Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc. Peach, green apple and a bit of yellow plum. Fairly fine fizz, focused. Pleasingly lengthy, creamy finish. January 2010
Feudi san Marzano Bianco Salento 2011 Puglia, Italy Sauvignon Blanc and Malvasia. Nutty, peachy aroma. Touch of honeysuckle. Very clean, refreshing palate. June 2012
Firriato Chiaramonte Ansonica 2006 Sicily, Italy Overly ripe pineapple. A bit passed it, but still entertaining. Honeysuckle. Fresh acidity, ripe pear. Surprising length. January 2009
Gulfi Carjcanti 2010 Sicily, Italy New Oak. Furniture polish. More oak on the palate. Quite dilute actually. Lots more wood on a drying finish. Where is the fruit? September 2012
Cabert Friulano 2009 Friuli Grave, Italy Honeydew melon and sesame seed. Easy going. A bit honeyed which almost gives it a sweetish edge. But it's dry with a pleasing, almost syrupy finish. The fruit has almost entirely gone but still enjoyable and still fresh. January 2013
Cabert Friulano 2010 Friuli Grave, Italy Pear drop, lemon peel and fresh parsley. A bit sweaty too. Fairly neutral palate. Grapey, decent weight. Probably not as fresh as it should be but good drinking. January 2013
Cantina di Custoza Val dei Molini 2006 Soave, Italy Garganega, Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco. Slightly oxidized. Apple, honeysuckle and other white flowers. Rotten apple on the palate and honey flavours. May 2009
Casa Girelli Villalta Soave 2007 Granny Smith. A touch of honey. High acidity. A reasonable finish. Fairly neutral. December 2009
Cielo i Terra Il Saporito Merlot Raboso 2007 Veneto, Italy Initially quite volatile, but there is some ripe berry fruit. Quite grapey and honest. Easy and soft. January 2009
Donnafugata Mille E Una Notte 2006 Sicily, Italy Crikey, this is a bit of all right. Uber-ripe black and blueberries leap from the glass and take hold of your nostril hair, with a smokiness beginning to develop along with some wood. Rich and concentrated, deep and really quite sexy indeed. More blueberry and liquorice on the palate, but this isn't all about the fruit, there's is a sweet leathery edge developing that adds complexity. Long. Rich. December 2012
Luce della Vite Lucente 2008 Tuscany, Italy Blackcurrant, tobacco and mint. Very well put together. A terrifc wine in a sense, but lacks a little character for me. June 2102
Oddero Barolo 2006 Piedmont, Italy A delicate, nuanced wine has been fashioned here. Floral and expressive. Precise with notes of sandalwood, leather and sweet and sour red berries. The tannin softens with time. Certainly on the lighter side of things and not the greatest ever expression of Nebbiolo, but has charm in my book. December 2012.
Patti Picolo Il Principe Nero D'Avola 2011 Sicily, Italy Organically farmed. 16,000 bottles produced. Sweet cherry.
Cherry coke and black pepper. Spicy palate, very fresh, very natural with a
touch of coffee on the finish which dries just a touch. This quietly creeps
up on you. Very enjoyable. October 2012
Planeta Cerasuolo di Vittoria 2009 Sicily, Italy Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon. Strawberry ice cream. Spicy and light to medium in body. Great stuff to have at the supper table. June 2012
Planeta Cometa 2008 Sicily, Italy Fiano. Apricot jam and honeysuckle. Almost oxidative in nature. Quite unctuous texture. Sharp, acid finish. June 2012
Val di Toro Auramaris Vermentino 2011 Tuscany, Italy 85% Vermentino, 15% Grechetto. Packed with ripe apple and peach, with the smell of pebbles after the tide has gone out. Fresh as you like. Excellent depth. A glass of sunshine. December 2012


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Netflix has released the badass first trailer for their new crime drama, The Highwaymen. The untold true story of two retired Texas Rangers brought out of retirement to hunt down the notorious outlaws, Bonnie and Clyde.
John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, The Founder) directs the crime drama, which hits select theaters on March 15th, and Netflix on March 29th.
Check out the awesome trailer below and leave us your thoughts in the comments below.


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Obaby Apollo Grey Stripe Twin Stroller - Blue / Pink
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Offering multi-position seat units with a full lie-back position, the Apollo also features retractable and detachable hoods which can also be adjusted separately, as can the helpful calf supports maintaining each child's comfort.
A smooth ride is guaranteed with front wheels that swivel and lock to ensure manoeuvrability and fantastic all round suspension, while protection from the elements is key with thoughtful additions such as a matching PVC raincover. A 5 point safety harness has been incorporated into each cosy seat unit to give families extra security and peace of mind when on the move.
Parents have also been considered with the Apollo Twin. Super comfy ergonomic handles have been utilised alongside the remarkably lightweight aluminium chassis to create a stroller that is a breeze to push, while a simple-to-use umbrella fold and carry handle are ideal for storage and travel. Two large shopping baskets mean plenty of space for storing baby's belongings and essentials, and wipe-clean fabrics have been used throughout to make sure the Apollo never loses its style.
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Open: 99 x 75 x 85cm
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Weight: 13.20kg


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"VAT rises will hit SME's much harder because they do not have the reserves to absorb the practical and administration costs of implementing pricing and accounting changes. Changes last year are believed on average to have cost £1500 per business to implement," said Ms James, who is also MD of The Coaching Academy.
The EBA has been created by television 'Dragon' James Caan in conjunction with Bristol-based businesswoman Bev James earlier this year as a one stop resource for business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.
The Chancellor expects to raise approximately £13billion per annum by 2014/15 from the 2.5% rises that will come into effect next January.
"Hiking VAT to 20% will also hurt small firms because they have to pass the increase on to their customers, unlike big business, which can absorb it," said Ms James.
"The Government need to think hard about the impact this is going to have on SME's. SME's employ 59% of the private sector workforce in the UK, with many facing low profits, this increase could endanger many businesses that are struggling to survive."


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This paper aims to discuss subalterns in different social environments in Sweden. Thepotential of archaeological studies of landless subalterns in rural and urban areas areshown though a number of case studies. It is argued that archaeology can show themultivocality of the lives of the subalterns, in the same way as it shows how thesubalterns organized their daily life. This is done through the use of the concepts ofmatterscape, powerscape, and mindscape. The subalterns used the physical landscape(matterscape) according to prevailing norms and power structures (powerscape), thuscreating a perceptive understanding of their daily landscape (mindscape).
This paper aims to present a recently started project about the heritage of subaltern people in Sweden. In the paper we focus on the parts of the project that concerns the rural history of the 18th and 19th centuries, especially crofters. The background to the project is the introduction of major changes in the Swedish Historic Environments Act in 2014. A radical novelty is that remains of human activity and buildings executed before AD 1850 now are legally protected sites. With this change a large number of remains, including hitherto un- or underresearched types, are to be included in heritage management, conservation and rescue archaeology. Here we present the background and starting points of the project, in order to show the potential of archaeological studies of landless subalterns in rural areas.
There is a rich, but unacknowledged, heritage of rural subalterns, crofters, in Scandinavia. A Swedish-Norwegian interdisciplinary research-network investigated the most prominent category – the remains of crofts. Due to industrialisation, urbanisation and the modern welfare state, the institution of crofting was abolished, and many crofters left for opportunities elsewhere. The welfare state transformed a landscape of living and working people into a one filled with relicts mostly from the nineteenth century. Although numerous and important to local citizens, these sites fall outside the authorised heritage discourse (AHD) in terms of both research and heritage management. This paper takes an environmental justice perspective to challenge the AHD. Three themes are in focus: (1) bringing out the history of a subaltern and marginalised group of people; (2) promoting crofts as heritage of importance to local citizens and demanding complex management due to the various historical narratives and risks; (3) considering the crofting landscapes in relation to the (economisation) framing of heritage in development processes, especially in relation to fair development in present rural communities.
Shielings (Sw. fäbod or säter, No. seter) functioned as a means for expanding agrarian enterprises (mainly the grazing of cattle) from the farmstead or hamlet to areas lying outside those fields that were currently being worked. Shielings were used mainly in regions whose climatic conditions were difficult or who had limited acreage. The classic Scandinavian shieling consisted of a fenced site in outlying lands which included structures for dwelling, stabling cattle, processing milk and meadows for haymaking. The cattle were grazed in the forests surrounding shielings and guarded by female herders
Pastoralism offers a vast field of study, and within it transhumant practices represent an important range of past and contemporary human mobility strategies. In its widest sense, transhumance may simply be described as the seasonal movement of livestock. The Oxford English Dictionary adds some environmental qualification to this by defining transhumance as "the action or practice of moving livestock from one grazing ground to another in a seasonal cycle, typically to lowlands in winter and highlands in summer". The wide-ranging geographic and social implications of such a definition mean, of course, that the study of transhumant practices permits a very wide perspective on human society, touching on themes as diverse as livestock management, economic responsiveness, social mobility and competition for land. Furthermore, use of the relative words 'lowlands' and 'highlands' means that a considerable proportion of the earth's surface may be considered as potential settings for transhumance. There are consequently many ways in which people might conceive of and define the practice, and there has not been one, but many transhumant pastoralisms in Europe during historical times
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the contribution of heritage and participation to sustainable development in a postindustrial context. Special attention is paid to the problematic fields of attractiveness, growth and participation. New ways of working this field are called for. Design/methodology/approach – The study relies on retrospectiveparticipatory observation, citizen participation and document analysis. Findings – There is a complex relationship between experts and citizens/participants, and heritage and history are considered to be domains of experts. Therefore heritage projects have problems surviving the exodus of experts. Heritage is not perceived as asset for building new businesses by most citizens, but as values "out there". Heritage may function as a meeting place, attracting different groups of people, but there are complex mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion. A model and a method are put forward for uniting experts and citizens, and driving the integration of heritage in other sectors of society to create innovative sustainability processes. Research limitations/implications – A single case study, taking place under special conditions. However, both the results and the context correspond well with similar studies. Practical implications – Furthering of integration of heritage management and antiquarian actions in other societal sectors. Social implications – More stable networks of citizens/stakeholders and antiquarians. Originality/value – A fairly large project involving a multitude of stakeholders and societal interests.


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Students at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst are staging a week-long "shit-in," occupying restrooms in an administration building to demand more gender-neutral facilities.
The "Shit-In at Whitmore" demonstration began Monday morning at the Whitmore Administration building (which the activists have nicknamed "Queermore"), and organizers intend to have students continue occupying stalls in the building's male and female restrooms until their demands are met, though the Facebook event specifies a Friday afternoon ending.
"Maybe [administrators] will feel a little bit as anxious as trans students do just trying to pee on campus." Tweet This
Gender Liberation UMass (GLU), a student group at UMass, is responsible for organizing the event, and provides an online sign-up form for supporters to stake out specific times and locations, giving them the option of stating whether they prefer to be along in a stall or to share one with "other sitters."
The primary goal of the protest is to convince the administration to convert additional bathrooms on campus into gender-neutral facilities by changing the signage, which the group believes will promote "trans inclusivity and safety on campus," but GLU has also articulated two additional demands, pledging to continue obstructing toilets until all three are met.
Read more HERE


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Please check the dimension measurement drawing before purchase, you have any questions, please contact us, thank you!
Qin&X Women's Casual Sandals Chunky Heel Flip Flop - B07F76KYKV


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Here you will find over sixty of the greatest works of western literature – from Beowulf to Bronte, from Kafka to Kerouac, and from Dostoevsky to Dickens– each distilled through the voice of Twitter to its purest, pithiest 140-character essence:"FALLING INTO THE ABYSS!!!! I'll talk more about why in several hundred pages to avoid any confusion." (John Miltom, Paradise Lost); "Got him drunk. Put a poker in his ONE EYE when he blacked out. That will show him - if he could see. LOL. Time to leave." (Homer, The Odyssey); "Hunt continues for @Lydia - has she tweeted any clues as to her whereabouts? Check @Wickham too - he's the deadbeat." (Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice) and more...Including a full glossary of online acronyms and Twitterary terms to aid the amateur.
Paperback, 145 page book.
Measures 18 x 11.2 cm.
The six pencils in this set all feature really un-motivational messages such as 'False hope is better than no hope'. All rather entertaining if not not very productive... 6 HB pencils in a themed box.Pack measures 19 x 6 x 1.5 cm.
Cut your cheese to perfection using this chopping board. The bamboo board has precise degree portions engraved on, as well as defined sizes for 'chunk', 'sliver', 'slice', 'hunk' and 'slab' for those who really like to know exactly what they're doing. Made from bamboo.Measurements: 17.5cm...
Make good use of your time by reading the messages on this set of six printed pencils. "You can't possibly work in an untidy room" "You probably need another coffee" "A to-do list, you need a to-do list" and other gems of creative advice. Six...
This wonderful diagram of colours and refraction from a late 19th Century teaching aid is perfectly printed on Cavallini's signature Italian archival paper. This gorgeous gift wrap is good enough to be hung on the wall, or used in a variety of crafts. To transform...


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Are you in need of having legal papers served in the Castleford area?
Thornton Legal can help this. We have served in the area for over twenty five years, building up a well-deserved relationship, of trust and care with our clients. Whilst satisfying the needs of over thirty solicitors and legal agencies in the Castleford and the surrounding area.
If you wish to instruct us we require several details from you to aid in serving the papers. A description of the person to be served, address and best times to contact the appropriate individual that requires to be served.
Thornton Legal has become well versed in the field of serving documentation in the Castleford area; here are some reasons why you should go with Thornton legal for all your process serving:
- Many happy clients in the local area (see website for testimonials)
- Our local knowledge of the Castleford area, has granted us the knowledge of how to tailor our operations accordingly, for all our clients.
- Thornton legal can professionally negotiate the legal minefield, surrounding a number of procedures involving serving documentation in the Castleford area.
- Remember that if your serve your papers through normal contemporary channels, such as through Royal Mail. There is no indication or proof that they ever arrived.
For more information about our process server Castleford service, please contact us. you can also email us on email@example.com


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No. 20. Actors Need Not Apply/
"Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven." Matthew 6:1
The author of Reality is as entertained by literature and theater as you and I. But beware! We venture out into the danger-zone when we mix theater with reality, that is when we lie or when we only pretend to pray, or when we perform acts of kindness in order to be seen by others. God the Father strictly guards Reality.
The most intimate relationship each of us has is with our Father who art in heaven. He lives in our hearts and hears our every thought and word. He watches over our every move, and guides us through our conscience. Married or single, a person cannot have a more real and intimate relationship, no matter how popular (s)he may be.
Intimacy is one to one; nothing more, nothing less, nothing else, never. A crowd of people worshipping God together looks like a gaggle of balloons each connected by its own string in God's hand. The mass or liturgy may unify our voices and minds, but as harmonious as it is, the liturgical prayer is still one to one. God created us as individuals; He loves us and cares for us …one by one.
To practice piety before others to be seen by them is pornographic. No, it's worse; it is like abusing your lover by inviting others to watch your most intimate moments.
I wonder if some people who do this don't realize how offensive their act is to God. I wonder if they simply do not know about the exquisite beauty of the pure relationship with God the Father. How sad.
For this command, the Mark is invisible to everyone but you.


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Most of us don't want to simply receive. We also want to give back. That is especially true when an organization or group of people is helping us live better and connect to God. At MHBC, we want to provide places for you to step into service. Our hope is that as we experience God's grace through Scripture and relationship, you will want to express grace through service here at our church and in our community.
We have many service opportunities for you to step into. There are options as small (but crucial) as greeting people as they walk onto campus to as big as playing in the worship band. Click below to learn more about the different ways you can serve.
I want to
serve MHBC.
From greeters to worship leaders, small group leaders to tech volunteers, ushers to care team members, we'd love to get you connected! Fill out the form below and our staff will contact you soon.
I want to
serve local.
We have several local mission partners from homeless outreach to pregnancy services to low-income families in our South Valley. Fill out the form below to find out how you can get involved and we will contact you soon.
I want to
serve global.
Both short-term and long-term missionaries are partnered with us for global outreach. Whether you're interested in a mission trip or want to support a missionary, fill out the form below and we will contact you soon.
Contact Pastor Jeff Holmes.


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Byers Safe & Smart
Preserving our natural resources and protecting our clients, neighborhoods, and communities are very important to Byers and its family. Join us in saving water, energy, and staying safe from fire hazards with our Safe & Smart tips and collection of resources.
Water Tips & Resources
Learn how you can be Safe & Smart with your water use in your home and around the yard.


text: Ferret Friday #37 - Packed and Ready to Go February 17, 2012 The Hubster placed his gym towel bag on the bed one morning. When he came back to get it later, there was a ferret inside waiting to go. DSCF0258, a photo by Michelle on the Edge on Flickr. Share Get link Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Other Apps Post a Comment Read more


text: projectTEN :: May 2017 This month, I let my moody side win over. 10 pictures of real life around here, all black and white and with no smiles. Thank you, two rounds of the stomach bug, for helping to make this theme possible. Be sure to check out the rest of the talented women who are also doing projectTEN:Katie Hall (web|fb) | Rae Barnes (web|IG) | Kaylene Bain (web|fb) | Laura Burkholder (web) | Erin Gregerson (web) | Cait Jensen (web|fb) | Paula Richwine (web|fb) | Parker Slaton (web) | Tori Stauffer (web|fb) | Carolyn Woods (web|fb) | projectTEN, Real LifeKelly LappMay 10, 2017Comment Facebook0 Twitter Tumblr 0 Likes


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Fixed income investments are a crucial component of any well diversified portfolio. Depending on investor age and time until retirement, most financial professionals recommend that at least half of your portfolio to be in fixed income securities, mostly low risk government bonds and high quality corporate securities. Yet, with yields hovering around zero and choppy equity markets as of late, some investors are seeking a third option, a middle path between equities and fixed income.
One middle path is convertible bonds, which are often seen as hybrid securities offering investors characteristics of both debt and equity markets. As ETFs have grown more popular, the ease and availability of investing in these types of instruments have grown immensely. A popular way to access these securities is with the SPDR Barclays Capital Convertible Bond ETF (CWB). CWB follows the Barclays Capital U.S. Convertible Bond >$500MM Index, which tracks the market of U.S. convertible bonds with outstanding issues greater than $500 million.
Convertible Bonds 101
Convertible bonds are basically corporate debt that can be converted into common stock of the issuing company, sometimes subject to certain restrictions. This unique aspect of these bonds allows companies to pay a lower interest rate than they normally would have to, but allows individual investors to maintain higher potential for price appreciation should equity prices rise. For this reason, convertible bonds tend to exhibit a stronger correlation with equity markets than bonds, and may not make great investments for investors who are seeking ETFs that are uncorrelated to their equity holdings. According to a Merrill Lynch study "converts provided 70% of the upside potential of the common stock, on average, while providing much higher protection on the downside, as the price of convertibles demonstrated smaller losses than the stock in all but one month over the study's duration." This suggests that while these types of securities are generally correlated with their underlying equity shares, they offer investors a safer alternative that might be ideal in shaky markets.
There are some obvious downsides to convertible bonds as well. Should equity markets sink, it could leave investors out-of-the-money with no hope of converting into equity. Furthermore, some convertible bonds have a 'mandatory' conversion feature forcing the owner to convert the bond into stock no matter what the price is at the end of the bond's life. As with all assets, there is a trade-off between risk and reward. For a more thorough introduction to convertible bonds, see this article.
The vast majority of the holdings in CWB consist of securities directly at or below investment grade; only 19% are rated "A'"or higher. Roughly a quarter of the 111 holdings consist of consumer non-cyclical bonds, with 21% allocated to technology and 16% to financial firms. The top holdings include Ford Motor convertible bonds due in 2016, perpetual Wells Fargo convertible bonds, and Citigroup convertible bonds due in 2012. The maturity breakdown is spread across the spectrum: about 20% of holdings are due in less than two years and 7% are due more than 30 years from now.
Returns And Fees
Over the last year, CWB has underperformed the S&P 500 but outpaced most bond funds, posting a gain of 23%. In addition to its price appreciation, the fund pays out monthly distributions and has a current yield of 3.86% (a 30 day SEC yield of 2.82%) while charging an expense ratio of 40 basis points. For a further look at convertible bonds, consider reading this article from SPDR (PDF).
For more ETFs in focus, see our previous under the microscope article. For more ETF news, make sure to sign up for our free ETF newsletter.
Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.


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Join girl scouts Gillian and Briana for a free class in coding, specifically for Scratch and Code Conduct. Adults also welcome! Please register with firstname.lastname@example.com.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: July 28Free Chess Class at the TFPL Chess Club - Community Room
Later Event: July 29Trenton Makes Words with Music Makers - Children's Area


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7-20-2015: Signs of the Gov't Apocalypse are Nigh--Can We Reform IL Gov't Pensions?; Lindsay Vanderford on an Important Employment Retaliation Ruling; New Development in IL Speeding Sentencing and.../
Synopsis: Signs of the IL Gov't Apocalypse Are All Around—Can We Reform Our Gov't Pensions in Time?
Editor's comment: If you are watching the news closely, you may note:
· The Chicago Public Schools just passed an annual "budget" including $500M in ghost dollars they admittedly don't have. Unless they can borrow a $1B+ as announced today, the school system is certain to shut down in the middle of the year when they run out of "actual" money;
· Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel just borrowed over $1B at 8% interest to make a state-required pension payment and otherwise keep the City operating—you may note the cost of borrowing another billion for Chicago taxpayers is going to be $80M. The City doesn't have $80M to make the interest payments and taxes are certain to skyrocket at some future point.
· Cook County Board Chair Toni Preckwinkle just raised County sales tax so it is again in double-figures, making it one of the highest sales tax rates in the U.S.
State and local governments in Illinois are borrowing billions and raising old taxes and finding new things to tax primarily for one reason—fake pensions.
What is Financially Killing Chicago and the State of Illinois?--Fake Pensions.
Illinois had six statewide fake pension systems as of April 2015:
· Illinois State Employees Retirement System;
· Illinois General Assembly Retirement System;
· Illinois Judges Retirement System;
· Illinois Teachers Retirement System;
· Illinois University Retirement System;
· Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund.
In addition to the aforementioned state-level pension systems, there were 650 locally administered fake pension systems in Illinois. As of 2013, total membership in Illinois hundreds of government pension systems totaled 961,952. To our knowledge, no state in the U.S. (or probably the world) has even close to that many different pension programs. In the WC/Disability arena, there are two fake pension programs—line-of-duty disability fake pensions for police and firefighters along with "odd-lot" total and permanent disability pensions. If you don't understand why those are fake pensions, send a reply.
Why Do We Call Them "Fake" Pensions?
It is easy—real pensions should be "funded" or to be more precise—"prefunded" from three sources. Participant contributions, "matching" contributions from the respective government body and interest income earned any time. The problem with Illinois' challenging government pensions is many of them have been "deformed" with two virtually impossible-to-fund retirement benefits: 85% of highest salary payouts with 3% compounded annual increases. If you do the math, if you give someone an 85% pension and then provide 3% annual compounded increases, in less than five years of retirement, they are making as much as they made while working. And the 3% compounded increase means their annual pension payout will unquestionably double, triple and quadruple if they live long enough.
So let's take a simple example—a Chicago public school teacher. They make $80K a year. If they retire at 85% of their pay, they will get $68K the first year. They only contribute 2% of their annual income to the pension program or about $1,600 a year. To provide them $68K in annual income, you have to pre-fund each vested teachers' pension to the tune of about $1.5M. If you do the math, you have to pay them salary of $80K a year and also "double-pay" them another $80K a year to get to the kitty of $1.5M. That amount doesn't cover the 3% compounded annual increases. We estimate to cover those increases, the Chicago Public School system would have to invest over $100K each year a retiree works until vested to fully pre-fund their pensions. As we have advised, we feel the IL state legislative and judicial pensions require state contributions for each participant of around $500K a year or more to pre-fund those pensions due to their inconceivably short vesting periods.
We assure you appropriate pre-funding isn't close to happening, which is why we call IL government pensions "fake." Across-the-board Illinois government pensions aren't even 50% "pre-funded" so more than half of the continuing payout or "back-funding" is from current tax dollars. What is happening is the lack of pre-funding is causing the fake pension payouts and borrowing to be paid by unsuspecting taxpayers for decades after government workers have retired. And government officials/legislators are reluctant to explain this to you or raise your taxes so you will get mad at them for higher taxes. So what we are all seeing is our legislators and administrators borrowing billions and billions to fund it. What they aren't doing is anything to stop this impending disaster. We assure our readers the problem is starting to dramatically threaten the entire state and all local government bodies.
Please Don't Blame the Participants!
We caution everyone, you can't get mad at the pension participants. From our perspective, the vast majority of them are innocent and had no direct role in the pensions becoming unglued and billions being borrowed. They have a right to some certainty in their retirement programs. We hope they are starting to read articles like this and join with the rest of us to get this disaster averted. We also want everyone to be sure—this isn't a Democrat or Republican issue. It is simple finance—our state/local governments are all pointed toward chaos and are certain to sink to the bottom of the ocean, as the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic did a little over 100 years ago. Someone has to restart the whole concept and we haven't seen anything from either Speaker Madigan or Senate President Cullerton once the IL Supreme Court ruled former Gov. Quinn's attempts to be unconstitutional.
Governor Rauner has a Plan to Help
The fake pension reform proposed by Governor Rauner could impact more than just public pensions. State and local public workers in Illinois would lose collective bargaining rights for pensions, wages, work hours and tenure through this single reform. The global plan, which Gov. Rauner announced last week, contains significant pension reforms, but also contains measures Bruce Rauner has tried unsuccessfully to get through the legislature. A higher standard of proof for employee injury claims and bankruptcy eligibility for Illinois municipalities are among them. It also allocates funds from a Chicago casino for Chicago police and firefighter pensions even though legislation for a city casino has not been debated during Rauner's time in office.
Here is Governor Rauner's proposal:
1. Removes pensions, wages, hours of work and employee tenure from the collective bargaining process.
2. Applies changes to items removed from collective bargaining:
Wages would not decline for five years.
Vacation resets to two weeks for members with less than 15 years of service, and three weeks for those who have more than 15 years of service.
Adjusts vacancy and overtime rights.
Overtime pay would kick in at 40 hours instead of 37.5 hours, matching federal law.
3. Offers incentives for employees to move to the lower benefit plan:
Salary package - $2,000 transition bonus, one-time $3,000 salary increase, overtime pay at 37.5 hours and no additional vacation days.
Vacation package - $2,000 transition bonus, one-time $2,000 salary increase, overtime pay at 37.5 hours and two additional weeks of vacation
Overtime/vacancy package - $2,000 transition bonus, no salary increase, overtime pay at 37.5 hours, two additional weeks of vacation; priority rights in work schedule, vacation, overtime and "bumping."
4. Those now eligible for the highest pension benefits (in the Tier 1 plan that applies to employees hired before 2011) would have to choose between switching to a reduced cost of living adjustment in retirement or agreeing all future salary increases will be excluded from their pension calculations. Under current law, they receive a 3 percent, annually compounded increase in their pension every year. The new formula would grant annual, non-compounded increases of the lesser of 3 percent or half the U.S. Consumer Price Index.
5. Employees in Cook County would have to choose between the pension plan introduced by the County-except for the aforementioned collective bargaining changes-or choose between a reduced COLA benefit or agree all future salary increases are excluded from pension benefit calculations.
6. The funding schedule for Chicago Police and Fire pensions would change from the current target of 90 percent by 2040 to 90 percent by 2055, including a five-year period from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2021 where mandatory pension payments are set in statute.
7. Downstate police and fire pension funding schedules would also change to 90 percent funded by 2055.
8. Transfers the investment assets of 642 individual downstate police and fire pension funds to the $35.6 billion Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. The state's police and fire pension funds would remain independent entities administered apart from IMRF.
9. Changes the definition of catastrophic injury in the Public Safety Employee Benefit Act so it clearly states that such an injury would preclude the injured employee from performing gainful work.
10. Newly hired public safety employees would receive Tier 3 benefits, which is a hybrid defined-benefit and defined-contribution plan with local control on defined contribution benefits.
If you don't think this is important, you are not thinking very much or you don't care about the foibles of Illinois and the City of Chicago. Something has to be done and very soon. We consider pension reform to be the only path to "save" Illinois government. We assure our readers what happened in the country of Greece, the City of Detroit and five cities in California can and will happen here, if nothing is done.
We appreciate your thoughts and comments. Please post them on our award-winning blog.
Synopsis: No Evidence, No Retaliation. The federal Seventh Circuit affirms summary judgment against employees alleging race discrimination retaliation in failure to promote claims. Thoughts and Analysis by Lindsay R. Vanderford, JD.
Editor's comment: In Burks v. Union Pacific Railway Co., the Seventh Circuit struck down two Union Pacific employees' unsound attempts to claim that they were retaliated against under Union Pacific's promotion process. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals found that Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez did not err in granting Union Pacific's motion for summary judgment in an action alleging that defendant retaliated against two employees by denying them requested promotions. Union Pacific employed Frank Burks and Cornelius Jones. They claimed that Union Pacific denied them the opportunity to take a test that was required for promotion and did so based on impermissible retaliation.
The promotion process took place in two ways:
1) the external process, and
2) the internal process.
Both employees chose to use the internal process. Under the internal route, the employee could apply into a centralized applicant pool. That pool would be open only to current Union Pacific employees. If an Assistant Signal Person position became available in the applicant's seniority district, the employee would be invited to take the required test. Applications to the pool eventually expire, after which time an applicant must reapply if he remains interested in taking the test. Both employees had made prior complaints of racial discrimination on the job.
In order to get to a trial, the employees should have proffered evidence of unlawful retaliation. To do so, they could have proceeded under the direct method or indirect method of proof. Under the direct method, the employees could have provided either "smoking gun" or circumstantial evidence. Under the indirect method, the employees could have proceeded under the well-established burden-shifting method.
The record showed:
(1) certain individuals responsible for giving one employee information about the application process were unaware of any prior protest of race discrimination; and
(2) there were no available positions within that employee's district while that plaintiff had an application on file.
Also, the second employee could provide only speculation that defendant's losing of his application was motivated by prior complaint of race discrimination. He also failed to submit any evidence that anyone providing him with information regarding the application process was aware of his prior complaint of discrimination. Without evidence of awareness or available positions that would have prompted the necessary invitations, both claims were denied as no material factual issues existed. Accordingly, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the District Court's entry of summary judgment on Union Pacific's behalf.
The Seventh Circuit saw the employees' claims for what they were, lacking any evidentiary support. Although it was unnecessary for the employees to prove their case at the summary judgment stage, they still needed to bring forth enough evidence to demonstrate that there were material issues of fact ripe for a jury's consideration. As the Union Pacific employees could not do so, their claims were tossed out of court.
This article was researched and written by Lindsay R. Vanderford, J.D. Lindsay can be reached with any questions related to workers' compensation defense and employment law defense at email@example.com.
Synopsis: There May Be Hope for IL Speeders Seeking Court Supervision After New Circuit Court Ruling.
Editor's comment: The IL Legislature recently enacted a relatively draconian sentencing law for folks who are caught driving too fast. Now a Cook County judge found the law precluding court supervision for "excessive speeding" unconstitutional.
In People v. Rizzo, Defendant was charged with speeding well over the posted speed limit. In his motion, he argued our new aggravated speeding statute is unconstitutional as violating both Due Process and Equal Protection, and preclusion of court supervision on the charge violates the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois Constitution. In the Circuit Court's Memorandum Decision and Order, Judge Gubin rejected Defendant's first argument. She found, given the "serious problems that individuals operating a vehicle at excessive speed can cause," Illinois had a legitimate interest in enacting legislation designating speeding more than 25 mph over the limit as a Class B misdemeanor, and 35 mph and more over as a Class A crime.
Judge Gubin went on to address Defendant's argument that aggravated speeding is identical to reckless driving, and, because reckless driving is eligible for court supervision and aggravated speeding is not, the result is a violation of the proportionate penalties clause: "All penalties shall be determined both according to the seriousness of the offense and with the objective of restoring the offender to useful citizenship." Judge Gubin rejected that argument, as a charge of reckless driving has an element of willful and wanton disregard for the safety of persons and property, while aggravated speeding does not contain such an element, thus the charges are not identical.
The Judge went on to rule the prohibition on court supervision for aggravated speeding was an unconstitutional violation of the proportionate penalties clause because it is cruel and degrading. She listed the charges for which court supervision was unavailable, noting many of them arise from crimes which involve bodily injury. She also confirmed offenses for which court supervision was continuously available include driving while suspended or revoked, driving under the influence, and theft.
Judge Gubin concluded mandating a misdemeanor conviction on a first offense, and not allowing a judge to consider mitigating factors, resulting in a non-expungable, permanent criminal conviction, with ongoing ramifications in many areas of a person's life, is cruel and degrading, and therefore unconstitutional.
Please note we are reporting this important development as some of our colleagues, clients and their families have faced sentencing under this new law. We aren't trying to encourage speeding or reckless driving—we want our readers to know the law has been struck down by one judge in one county. We don't know what the Appellate or Supreme Courts may do with the ruling, should it reach those levels.
We appreciate your thoughts and comments. Please post them on our award-winning blog.