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By: MELANIE TROTTMAN
From: Wall Street Journal Business (http://online.wsj.com)
Date: February 29, 2012
Employers and business groups are trying to stop an Obama administration effort that calls for federal contractors to hire a minimum number of disabled workers and could penalize those who don't by revoking their contracts.
The proposal could reshape hiring at roughly 200,000 companies that generate $700 billion a year in contracts with the federal government. They include defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp., aircraft maker Boeing Co. and firms across the health-care, construction and information-technology industries.
Under the Labor Department plan, most firms that contract or subcontract with the federal government would be asked to have disabled people make up 7% of their work force. While the department says it wouldn't be an explicit requirement, companies that don't hit the target could have their contracts canceled or could be barred from winning future contracts until they show they are trying to meet the target.
Companies have flooded the department with complaints that the rule amounts to a first-ever government quota for hiring disabled workers that would expose them to a thicket of legal pitfalls. Some employers say there might not be enough qualified disabled workers in their fields to meet that target and that they may have to fire nondisabled workers to achieve the ratio. Others say that existing federal law actually prohibits them from asking whether a job applicant is disabled, potentially forcing firms to violate one law in order to comply with another.
"We are very concerned that the department is moving forward with what is clearly a fundamental change in longstanding policies regarding affirmative action," said Jeffrey McGuiness, president of the HR Policy Association, a trade group for human-resource executives at more than 300 of the largest private-sector U.S. companies.
The proposed changes were pushed in part by disability advocates, who say that decades-old laws intended to bring disabled people into the work force just aren't working. Technology has made it far easier for victims of illness or accident to complete work tasks.
"Often people make assumptions that people with disabilities can't do a 'real' job," said Patrick Wojahn, a public-policy analyst for the National Disability Rights Network.
The proposed contracting requirements are part of a broader federal effort aimed at making it easier for disabled people to find work, including injured war veterans. On Tuesday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released updated guidelines to ensure that veterans with wartime injuries such as post traumatic stress disorder and other ailments qualify for federal disability protections.
The Labor Department says the effort, disclosed in December, is necessary because 79.2% of working-age people with functional disabilities are out of the labor force entirely, compared with 30.5% of people without disabilities, a longstanding gap. Counting those who remain in the labor force, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities was 12.9% in January, compared with an unemployment rate of 8.7% for people without disabilities.
Current law encourages federal contractors to maintain a diverse work force but sets no parameters on how many jobs must go to disabled Americans.
"What gets measured gets done," said Patricia Shiu, director of the Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. "And we're in the business of getting things done." The agency is proposing the change as an update to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
The 7% target would apply to a contractor's work force as well as subsets of workers based on factors such as their job description and wage rates. Disability advocates hope the subset requirement will ensure disabled workers aren't unfairly steered toward lower-paying jobs. The department settled on a 7% target because it estimates that 5.7% of the civilian labor force—those working or looking for work—has a disability but another 1.7% of the civilian population is disabled and, by the Labor Department's estimation, wants work but is discouraged from seeking it.
Regulators also are considering requiring that 2% of contractors' work forces be comprised of severely disabled workers, such as those with total deafness, blindness, or missing extremities.
The scope of what would constitute a disability also isn't clear since the Labor Department's proposal doesn't include a specific list. The Americans with Disabilities Act, updated in 2008, says that workers are disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of their major life activities. Lawyers who represent employers say that could include hundreds of possibilities from blindness to deafness to the less apparent such as asthma or mental illness.
Businesses with fewer than 50 employees and less than $50,000 in federal contracts would be exempt from the hiring changes.
Employers that don't reach the targets would be given a chance to improve compliance and would only lose contracts in "the most egregious cases" of not following the rule, Ms. Shiu said.
Business officials say it isn't that simple. "You're looking to fill a position with the best possible hire and that doesn't necessarily preclude or exclude somebody with a disability," said Joe Trauger, a vice president for human-resources policy at the National Association of Manufacturers, a trade group representing 11,000 companies.
Sonalysts Inc., an employee-owned professional-services business of 400 workers that mostly serves the Defense Department, is asking the Labor Department to scrap the proposal. The Waterford, Conn., company estimates it would spend about $120,000 a year to hire the workers, process data tracking disabled employment and pay for legal challenges it expects would result from the rule.
A Boeing spokesman said the company is studying the proposal, and Lockheed Martin declined to comment on what it told the Labor Department in response to the proposal.
FirstBank Holding Co. of Lakewood, Co., says the rule would burden the company with paperwork and reporting requirements without actually increasing the number of disabled workers it employs. "Individuals with disabilities are not even applying for our open positions," the company wrote to the Labor Department. FirstBank asked the department to scale back the proposal but favors its requirement that employers advertise job openings with specific organizations that target the disabled.
Kevan Johnson, an employment consultant with REACH of Dallas, a nonprofit that helps disabled people lead independent lives, said stronger regulations are needed because severely disabled workers are being overlooked by contractors "who think they can't do the job." Mr. Johnson said employers might not be aware of workplace accommodations they could make to enable a disabled person to do their job. "There's an education process," he said.
Some employers worry that, in seeking out disabled workers, they would end up violating the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which they say prohibits employers from asking disability-related questions before hiring someone. There is also concern that such inquiries would make contractors vulnerable to lawsuits from people alleging their disclosures were actually used against them.
Labor's Ms. Shiu said the requirement would be legal because contractors would be inviting people to "voluntarily self-identify" a disability to improve data collection. Companies would have to invite employees to do the same through an annual, anonymous survey.


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Most people do not take into account the amount of time they spend in their backyard. You might enjoy going outside to barbecue with friends, relax after a long day of work or spend time with your family. Imagine how having a beautiful and functional backyard could enhance that time you spend at your home. At Green Thumb Landscaping, we understand the importance of designing and maintaining a landscape around your home that adds to the appeal of your home rather than detracts from it.
Especially if you ever consider selling your home, landscaping can add a significant amount of value to your property, even if it is as simple as planting grass and adding a few flower gardens. Regardless of the size of the home landscaping project you are considering, Green Thumb Landscaping can assist you in installation, maintenance, hardscape, or the creation and maintenance of any size garden you wish.
At Green Thumb Landscaping, we value creativity and quality over anything else. We can take a simple sketch of a landscape and turn it into a beautiful lawn that you can be proud to own. Our experience in designing home landscapes has aided us in becoming one of the San Francisco, CA area's premiere landscaping and lawn care companies. Many high profile lawn owners already trust Green Thumb Landscaping for all of their residential landscaping needs.
Residential services are:
- Maintaining Property
- Mowing Grass
- Caring for Trees and Shrubs
- Fertilizing
- Designing and Installing
- Controlling Weeds
- Aerating
- Removing Leaves
- Caring for Flower Beds
- Mulching
- Dethatching

subset: commoncrawl


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Engaging, Ready-to-Use Learning Centers for Review of Standards-Based Science Skills!.
This complete, easy-to-use learning center is perfect for learning essential grade appropriate science skills. Designed for either teacher directed instruction or independent learning working in groups of 2-4 students, the learning center covers a grade appropriate curriculum-aligned science topic or skill making it perfect for differentiated instruction.Acids & Bases Learning Center provides materials for 4 students and includes:.


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ACCORD contributes to mobilisation of civilian capacity for peace operations in the global south
4 Dec 2012
In June 2012, the Training for Peace Programme at ACCORD (TfP/ACCORD) established a Civilian Capacity Network of civil society organizations, which then facilitated a consultation on Civilian Capacity Matching (CapMatch) in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) Civilian Capacity (CivCap) Team. The consultation focused on the UN CivCap Team's proposal on establishing a self-service online platform called Capacity Matching (CapMatch), which aims to better match the demand and supply of specialized civilian capacities for deployment in peacekeeping operations within countries emerging from conflict.
The Civilian Capacity Network of civil society organizations was established with the aim of producing knowledge on and momentum for the mobilization of civilian capacity available in the Global South for peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations. The network consists of civil society organizations including Igarapé Social (Brazil), United Services Institute (India), Centre for Strategic and International Studies-Jakarta (Indonesia), Norwegian Institute for International Affairs (Norway) and ACCORD (South Africa). TfP/ACCORD was represented by Mr. Zinurine Alghali, Peacekeeping Unit Coordinator, who also participated in the CapMatch consultation that took place from 13-14 June 2012, in New York. The consultation, hosted in collaboration with the Civilian Capacity Network, consisted of interactive sessions by the UN CivCap Team, utilising a question-and-answer approach to gather feedback on how to make the online CapMatch platform as user-friendly and productive as possible, and the overall utility of the mechanism in improving the matching of demand and supply of civilian capacities to post-conflict countries.
The consultation displayed the efforts undertaken to implement the recommendations of the Civilian Capacity Report published by the UN Secretary General's Senior Advisory Group, and has also paved the way for further understanding of the CapMatch concept and approach. It was also an opportunity for TfP/ACCORD to consult on the practical details of what capacities Member States can provide and how best they can be engaged in their region, in preparation of the South Africa Civilian Capacity Project currently underway as part of the Civilian Capacity Network which encourages the Global South in providing more effective civilian capacity support. Such initiatives contributing to the implementation of the civilian capacities processes are in line with the core goals of the Training for Peace in Africa Programme at ACCORD, which seeks to significantly improve the civilian capacity of organisational structures within the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), African Union (AU) and UN, in preparing, managing and monitoring multidimensional peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations in Africa.
ACCORD's work on strengthening civilian capacities is conducted through its Training for Peace Programme, an initiative funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For more information on ACCORD's work through the TfP programme contact Mr. Zinurine Alghali, Peacekeeping Unit Coordinator on firstname.lastname@example.com, and Ms. Seun Abiola, Peacekeeping Unit Senior Programme Officer on email@example.com.


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Once you have chosen the type of slot game an individual might be comfortable with, you need to to pick a product that you think have the highest chance of allowing you to win. Here extremely important tip: It's not really the type of game you choose. To choose a winning machine, you be forced to pay more attention to how administrators manage the machines.
Slot s can be categorized as the easiest casino games perform. However, to increase you chances of winning you have to know how to choose server thailand the best machine end up being provide you with exciting workout payouts. Upon entering the casino, you'll see an involving machines. The sounds and the bright lights can actually be very good looking. If you are tempted to play, do not immediately get a favorite hosting server. You need to identify first which machine is a hot Slot or a cool Slot.
The fact is that consistently predicting departs that fast of the roll of two dice at will is impossible. Don't be fooled by those few moments at the height of pleasure that players yell out numbers along with the dice miraculously obey. Those moments end up being the exception without being even remotely the value. Do you know any professional golfers that hit a hole-in-one at a minimum once every 18 crying?
But although we end up watching the gloomy of gambling whenever someone brings it up, are usually many some hidden benefits for this activity that are not obvious without some examination with the subject.
When it comes down to Gambling, I just have one question for you, have you been in the corner of Coit and Cambell, generating a left turn? Keep in mind that you are Gambling, steer clear your money, but making use of your life! Have you ever driven up the Toll-way during rush minute? You are gambling anytime you get yourself into an automobile. Who am I hurting if I sit down at an online poker table and play, my loved ones? What should I be doing with my money instead, buy beer and cigarettes, take skydiving lessons? Just so I recognize the rules Associated with Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex: I shell out to jump out associated with plane, purchase wine and cigars, pay money to discover naked women dance, rent XXX movies, bungee jump from a tower, shoot people with paint balls in a mock war, but Cannot sit down and play a card action?
For beginners who to help have fun playing slot machine games, selecting free slot games is often a great inspiration. Apart from the fun, one can earn a good of money as carefully.
The slot punch machine really will be the work of a genius. It has played an integral role in improving the number of businesses that chose to print their ID cards in-house. There weren't any longer any boundaries as to techniques to use those cards once they were printed. The slot punches are very affordable no matter house will depend or model pick the exercise for your business. There's no question they are definitely worth their weight in gold, and that they should be part of your in-house printing tools. The only question is which slot punch tool will you decide on.


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Dad, I want you to confiscate all my technology this weekend so I can find the creative center of myself."
These words of wisdom from our middle child, the comedic genius of the family, brought many laughs and "likes" as I posted it to Facebook. He made this request coming home from dinner Friday night, but it was during bedtime prayers that he men-tioned this was a recommendation of his second-grade teacher. It then began to make more sense to me; however, the wisdom from the mouth of one of my babes still floored me.
This second son of ours is our television and technology child; he's the one glued to an Apple iTouch, Nintendo DS or Wii remote control most hours of the days. Or maybe that's our oldest one? It's really the youngest who comes in and picks up my cell phone to play on every morning. As you can tell, each of our children spends way too much time glued to a screen and a keyboard.
You can't tell it from my list of electronic games the kids play, but my wife and I really were pretty good about limiting the time our children spend immersed in technology until they made the case they were the last of their friends with no access to technology.
Still, we have resisted their "need" to play games around the clock—that is, at least until the holidays came around. The holidays—that season when children gath-er round us to get on our last nerve until school is back in session. Just a few days into the Christmas break, I already was done baking with the kids, tired of the complaints about spending time together as a family, and exhausted from their picking on each other about every little thing. My answer to this—movies, computers and video games. "Get out of here; go play on my computer." "Leave your sister alone; where is your DS?" "Be quiet; can't you find a movie to watch?" Gen X parenting at its best is what I am offering!
One week back at school, and our son's teacher clearly picked up on how much he is missing his gaming devices. Her recommendation to find his creative center was a good reminder of how we might want to parent a little differently.
As he said his prayers that Friday night, her recommendation also became a sign of what he longed for as a child of God. His prayers included the usual litany: "God, thank you for Mom and Dad and my brothers and sister. Thank you for my friends. Thank you for our food. Help me have good sleep and no bad dreams. Help everyone who is sick and hurt." And then the new one: "And help me find my creative center."
Our 8-year-old was teaching his 30-something parent a thing or two. It was harder for me to rush back to my room to pick up my computer that night. It wasn't as easy to flip on the TV after the kids went to bed. To be clear, I did those things, but I did hesitate. The next day, he was back on his technology as well, but we were all taking that prayer a little more to heart.
I've long thought that the image of God in which we are made is creativity. Being creative is so much a part of who we are as human beings, even though we often deny it. We run from it. We pretend not to be able to sing, draw or dance, but I really believe those creative juices run deep in our nature. We were created to be creative, and the Fall may have hindered a part of what that means, but it's still inside us. Our son knows that at age 8. And at 38, I know it, too.
What might it mean to find that creative center? My wife is rolling her eyes at us both right now, but what might it mean to step away from this computer, from the television that is on in the background, from the video games that have become a daily occurrence at our house? I'm not sure, but I'd like to find out, even if only for a few hours at a time.
We have friends who don't own a television; others keep a Sabbath free of most technological devices. Our best friends are holding out and not buying video games for their children. I'm not going to pretend to go that far, but I will offer my son's prayer tonight and hope I'm right about God's creative image being somewhere inside me, somewhere inside all of us. And I hope we all pray for new ways to bring it to light.
"God, confiscate a little bit of my technology as well, so I, too, can find the creative center of who you made me to be. Amen."
Jon Singletary is director of the Baylor Center for Family & Community Ministries and holds the Diana R. Garland Chair of Child & Family Services in the Bay-lor University School of Social Work.


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It is possible to specify the size of the block buffers for an
individual key cache using the
variable. This permits tuning of the performance of I/O
operations for index files.
The best performance for I/O operations is achieved when the size of read buffers is equal to the size of the native operating system I/O buffers. But setting the size of key nodes equal to the size of the I/O buffer does not always ensure the best overall performance. When reading the big leaf nodes, the server pulls in a lot of unnecessary data, effectively preventing reading other leaf nodes.
To control the size of blocks in the .MYI
index file of MyISAM
tables, use the
option at
server startup.


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It seemed easy to set up the account for Outlook. I am able to get incoming mail without a problem. I did all the set up steps, including having the outgoing server authentication box checked, and the bullet for use same settings as my incoming server. When I try to check mail, it comes through fine. When I go to send, the messages just set in the inbox. When I force a send, it times out. Sending from web mail seems to work without a problem.
Side-bar: I had an email sent to an old account, indicating that my account was set up in drivehq. I did not have a link, etc. to use to reply and 'verify' or 'activate' the drivehq account. Any help appreciated!
If it times out, usually it is because (1) you are sending an email with large attachments; (2) Your ISP blocked SMTP.
Could you try with a very small test email? Outlook should report an error message if it cannot send an email.
Please note DriveHQ customer support is using the same email system and we have hundreds of thousands of people using our service. So it is more likely to be a local settings or local ISP related problem. If possible, please try from a different computer (with a different network connection).
Please logon and reply, Not DriveHQ Member?


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My Life Story: Observations of a Teenager
My mom filled out a questionnaire about me for my young women church group when I was a seventeen, it says:
What are Courtney's special personality traits?
Volatile! Temperamental! Funny. Honest. Extremely Intelligent and Sensitive.
What does Courtney add to your family as an individual?
We call her Pitiful Pearl. Life is Courtney is one crisis after another. But she's good to her little sisters and takes them everywhere with her. She has great friends and we love having them to our house.
What are her talents?
She writes wonderful poetry and great editorials.
The same year I went to a church youth conference where we were placed in solitude for an hour and instructed to read letters from our parents, this one my dad wrote:
My Dear Courtney,
I know you are just laughing at this whole program--especially these letters from parents. But since I have to do it and you have time on your hands here is something to read.
I admire your determination especially when it comes to school and educational achievements. I think you have a warm personality--even though we don't always see it--but I've seen your sweetness. You are a beautiful girl with beautiful skin and hair and a curvy body. But most of all we love you because you're you and you add a special difference to our family. Hold on to the principles you know to be right. Stay close to your Heavenly Father. We love you and have all the trust in the world for you.
Your Dad
From my sister Stephanie, four years younger:
I think are the coolest person! You have every boyfriend in the world you are lucky I think you are very pretty.
Steph always observed my range of deeply felt emotions and I think it scared her a little. Whenever I'd have an emotive episode I'd find little notes on my bed at night. We've established that she is the dreamer in our relationship, I'm the one who cries.


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Hello, all.
I use custom hardware (the "Adlib-DigiSnap") to make accurate recordings of DOS game soundtracks, which are then added to my website, the Ad Lib music archive.
Today, after a long hiatus, 18 [!] new soundtracks were added:
4D Boxing
Captain Dynamo
Chip's Challenge
Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle
Golden Axe
Home Alone
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Princess Maker 2
Risky Woods
Sango Fighter
Speed Racer in The Challenge of Racer X
Street Fighter II
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Test Drive III: The Passion
The First Samurai
If you love the YM3812 chip as much as I do, this should be pretty nifty for you. I hope y'all enjoy it.
Whenever new sets are added, I'll share updates.
Have fun!


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Dr. Evelyn Livingston Billings died Saturday at age 95.
Together with her husband, Dr. John Billings, she founded the method of natural fertility regulation that bears their name.
Her studies on breastfeeding mothers and women approaching menopause made a major contribution to the work.
The couple traveled the world teaching the Billings method for half a century.
Her non-fiction book «The Billings Method» was first published in 1980, and was reprinted 16 times with seven new or revised editions in 22 languages. The latest completely revised edition was published in 2011.
She was a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.
She is survived by eight of her nine children, 39 grandchildren and 31 great grandchildren.
Dr. John Billings died in 2007.


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THEME: "Give it a tRY" — "RY" is added to end of first word of a familiar phrase, creating the usual wackiness...
Hey, it's (yet) another array of phrases enwackified by added letters. Today: "RY." I see what the theme answers R? But Y? Why "RY?" Talk about your arbitrary letter combos. The best thing I can say about this puzzle is that the answers are truly impressively long. Five of 13+?? Wow. After that ... not much good to say. I feel like a puzzle that crosses EAT with EAT does not deserve a full write-up. That's a new kind of sloppy/lazy. Just astonishing. Makes crossing pronoun "I" with pronoun "I" (see middle of grid) seem like a negligible infraction by comparison. Honestly ... EAT x/w EAT. I await your defenses of that one.
Theme answers:
- 17A: Battlefield success strategy? (infant RY formula)
- 21A: Church pool table features? (vest RY pockets)
- 35A: Downside of grits and chicken-fried steak? (count RY calories)
- 43A: Armed guard? (sent RY packing)
- 50A: Customs of dessert chefs? (past RY practices)
Crosswordese 101: EES (54D: Some Caltech grads) — Electrical Engineers. Bottom-of-the-barrel but occasionally necessary bit of crosswordese. SST and EES like to hang out together, as they have much in common.
What else?
- 5D: Dada, to many of its critics (NON-ART) — still don't believe this is a valid word. I *know* it's not a good word.
- 44D: Suffix with law (YER) — it hurts.
- 21D: 1970s fugitive financier Robert (VESCO) — Who The !@#$? This scandal was (largely) before my time. Sounds really interesting. I like the part at the end of his Wikipedia entry where it says, "Vesco reportedly died of lung cancer in November 2007 and was buried at Colon Cemetery in Havana. However, these reports of his death have been disputed." I love a good faked death legend.
- 31D: Pre-A.D. (BCE) — just ... no. If you are using "BCE," then you are also using "CE," not "A.D."
- 36D: "How dare they!" ("THE NERVE!") — far far far and away the best answer in this puzzle. Fantastic.
See you Monday, and please, if you haven't read it yet, please read Orange's follow-up to yesterday's puzzle. It's ... just the best thing I've read in a while.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]


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iSecure Khanna, the leading fire alarm installation company in Khanna. With our team of experts and extensive experience, we specialize in providing exceptional fire alarm installation services in Khanna. Our range of expertise covers wireless, addressable, and conventional fire alarm systems, ensuring the utmost safety and security for your premises.
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iSecure, Fire Alarm System Dealer in Khanna - Your Trusted Fire Alarm Installation Company in Khanna
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iSecure is your trusted provider of fire alarm installation, maintenance, repair, and AMC services in Khanna. We are committed to ensuring the safety and security of your premises through reliable fire alarm systems. Let's explore the various applications of fire alarm systems and how they play a vital role in safeguarding lives and property.
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4. Educational Institutions: From schools to universities, fire alarm systems are vital for the safety of students, staff, and visitors. Educational institutions often have complex layouts and large occupancies, making it essential to have reliable fire detection systems. Fire alarms enable quick evacuation, facilitate emergency response, and help prevent the spread of fire within the premises.
5. Healthcare Facilities: Hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes have a responsibility to protect patients, staff, and visitors from fire hazards. Fire alarm systems in healthcare facilities ensure the safety of vulnerable individuals who may have limited mobility or require specialized care. These systems enable swift evacuation, facilitate emergency communication, and coordinate responses with local fire departments.
6. Government Buildings: Fire safety is of utmost importance in government buildings, including administrative offices, courthouses, and public facilities. Fire alarm systems help protect government assets, ensure the safety of employees and visitors, and maintain the continuity of essential services. These systems are designed to meet stringent safety standards and regulations.
Remember, fire alarm systems are not limited to these applications alone. They play a crucial role in safeguarding various other spaces, including shopping malls, airports, theaters, data centers, and more.
At iSecure, we understand the critical role fire alarm systems play in protecting lives and property. Our comprehensive services cover installation, maintenance, repair, and AMC, ensuring that your fire alarm system remains in optimal working condition at all times. Trust our experienced team to provide you with reliable, customized solutions that meet your specific requirements.
When it comes to fire alarm systems installation in Khanna, several accessories are essential to ensure the proper functioning and effectiveness of the system. Here are some key accessories commonly required:
1. Smoke Detectors: These devices are crucial for detecting the presence of smoke, which is typically the earliest indication of a fire. Smoke detectors can be either ionization or photoelectric, and they are strategically placed throughout the premises to provide early warning.
2. Heat Detectors: Heat detectors complement smoke detectors by detecting significant increases in temperature. They are especially useful in areas where smoke detectors may not be suitable, such as kitchens or dusty environments.
3. Control Panels: The control panel serves as the central hub of the fire alarm system. It receives signals from detectors and other devices, processes the information, and triggers appropriate responses such as sounding alarms or notifying emergency services. Control panels are typically installed in easily accessible locations.
4. Notification Devices: These devices are responsible for alerting occupants of a fire emergency. Common notification devices include sirens, strobe lights, and audible alarms. They are strategically placed to ensure that the alert is heard or seen throughout the premises.
5. Manual Pull Stations: Manual pull stations are wall-mounted devices that allow individuals to manually initiate a fire alarm in case of an emergency. They are typically located near exits and in common areas, ensuring that anyone can quickly and easily activate the alarm.
6. Monitoring Systems: Monitoring systems enable remote monitoring of the fire alarm system by a central monitoring station or designated personnel. These systems provide real-time alerts and allow for immediate response in the event of an emergency.
7. Backup Power Supply: To ensure the fire alarm system functions even during power outages, a backup power supply such as batteries or generators is essential. This ensures uninterrupted operation and protects against potential system failures during critical moments.
8. Wiring and Cabling: Proper wiring and cabling are necessary to connect all components of the fire alarm system, ensuring seamless communication between devices and the control panel. High-quality, fire-rated wiring is used to meet safety requirements.
9. Signage and Labels: Clear and visible signage and labels are crucial for guiding occupants to emergency exits, fire extinguishers, and other life-saving equipment. These help in quick and efficient evacuation during a fire emergency.
10. Maintenance Tools: Various tools and equipment, including testing devices, meters, and programming tools, are needed for system maintenance, testing, and troubleshooting. These tools ensure that the fire alarm system remains in optimal working condition.
When installing a fire alarm system, it's important to work with experienced professionals who have the knowledge and expertise to select and install the appropriate accessories for your specific needs. They can ensure that all components are properly integrated and comply with relevant safety standards and regulations.


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Soiling of building envelope surfaces and its effect on solar reflectance – Part III: Interlaboratory study of an accelerated aging method for roofing materials
Publication Type
Date Published
A laboratory method to simulate natural exposure of roofing materials has been reported in a companion article. In the current article, we describe the results of an international, nine-participant interlaboratory study (ILS) conducted in accordance with ASTM Standard E691-09 to establish the precision and reproducibility of this protocol. The accelerated soiling and weathering method was applied four times by each laboratory to replicate coupons of 12 products representing a wide variety of roofing categories (single-ply membrane, factory-applied coating (on metal), bare metal, field-applied coating, asphalt shingle, modified-bitumen cap sheet, clay tile, and concrete tile). Participants reported initial and laboratory-aged values of solar reflectance and thermal emittance. Measured solar reflectances were consistent within and across eight of the nine participating laboratories. Measured thermal emittances reported by six participants exhibited comparable consistency. For solar reflectance, the accelerated aging method is both repeatable and reproducible within an acceptable range of standard deviations: the repeatability standard deviation sr ranged from 0.008 to 0.015 (relative standard deviation of 1.2–2.1%) and the reproducibility standard deviation sR ranged from 0.022 to 0.036 (relative standard deviation of 3.2–5.8%). The ILS confirmed that the accelerated aging method can be reproduced by multiple independent laboratories with acceptable precision. This study supports the adoption of the accelerated aging practice to speed the evaluation and performance rating of new cool roofing materials.


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#1 Cochran Automotive Group ADA Accessibility Statement
The #1 Cochran Automotive Group strives to ensure that our websites are accessible to and usable by people with disabilities including visual impairments. We are committed to meeting or exceeding the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Level AA and 2.1 (the "WCAG Standards").
Our websites often are updated with new content and inventory, so accessibility and usability issues may sometime arise in certain areas of our websites or for those visitors using assistive technologies and devices. We continue to work hard and invest significant resources to review and update the functionality of those websites to meet the WCAG Standards. We are continuing to develop technological solutions to maximize accessibility.
Presently, the #1 Cochran websites offer the accessiBe Website Accessibility Widget or similar widgets to facilitate browsing our sites in compliance with those Standards. You can enable this Widget by clicking the accessibility menu icon that appears on the corner of the page on each of our websites. Please wait a moment after clicking for the accessibility menu to load in its entirety.
If you wish to report an accessibility issue or would like to request assistance using our websites or shopping for products or services from the #1 Cochran family of dealerships, please contact us:
- Call (877) 824-2498
- Email [email protected]
- Or fill out the form here
If you have found inaccessible content on our websites, please be sure to specify the web page and provide us with any other information you may think will help us identify the issue. Please provide your contact information (email and/or phone number) and let us know how we can best offer you further assistance.


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A timeless camp cap in a lightweight package that's ready for any adventure or providing cover on those bad hair days. Five-panel CORDURA® Combat Wool™ construction will help keep your noggin cool and dry.
- Adjustable nylon webbing and plastic closure
- One size fits all
Luxurious yet durable CORDURA® combat wool™ ripstop fabric with a hint of stretch. It has the look, comfort, and feel of 100% Merino wool with built-in long-lasting durability. This fabric blend offers up to 10x better abrasion resistance, 2.1x better tensile and 1.4 better tear resistance compared to 100% Merino wool fabrics. If you are familiar with Merino wool you know that there is nothing better in winter or summer. It wicks sweat off your skin keeping you cool and dry in the summer and warm in colder weather. And unlike other materials, even if you get drenched, it keeps you warm even when wet. It is naturally anti-bacterial so it prevents stink even if you work up a sweat. 49% wool, 48% nylon, 3% spandex. 6.6 oz/sq.yd
swrve garments are designed to do anything, anywhere, anytime. That means creating pieces that make a seamless transition from the outdoors to the urban landscape, across town, or around the world.
All our garments in this collection include subtle features for which swrve is known like unique seam placement or added fabric for functionality and is made of CORDURA® combat wool™ ripstop fabric, a material we fell in love with as soon as we felt it. The weight of the fabric and the luxurious hand-feel and drape, in combination with the ripstop weave nods to military apparel but in an elegant and subtle way that makes this the most interesting wool fabric we've ever come across.
for swrve bottoms, we strive to be as true to size as possible. most other companies offer vanity sizing, but with us, a 32 means the waist circumference of the garment is 32". we update our size guides to provide the current sizing per garment frequently.
if you have trousers of which you like the fit, measure the waist and that is the swrve size! to measure the waist, lay them flat and make sure the front and back of the waistband lay evenly across each other, then measure from side to side (fold to fold on the inside), multiply by 2 (there are 2 layers of fabric) and voilà, you've got your measurement.
for swrve tops, please note our fit is a slimmer European fit similar to American Apparel's fit
local pick up is a free option to come pick up your order at our Headquarters in Glassell Park :) We'll email you the moment your order is packed up with all info needed!
FREE ground shipping with your $150 order!
For other options, shipping cost is determined by the package weight and destination.
For domestic (US) customers USPS Priority is usually the fastest, least expensive option. to get an accurate shipping cost, please add the items to your cart and enter your mailing address at check out, the system will give you an estimate for shipping with various USPS and UPS options.
For international customers we suggest using DHL as it tends to be the best deal. It will arrive at your doorstep, regardless of where you are in the world, within 5 business days, and you get to track it as it makes its way to you. USPS Priority and First Class Mail may be a bit less expensive, but they have a higher tendency to lose packages. Please note that we are NOT responsible for lost packages! UPS rates tend to be rather exorbitant and you may be faced with a custom brokerage fee NOT included in the shipping rate.
International customers: please note that you may be charged additional customs duty fees at delivery NOT included in the shipping rate. these fees vary widely from country to country and there is nothing we can do to prevent them.
Attention Canadian customers! our system will offer you UPS as a shipping option that may seem attractive, but we suggest NOT using UPS for orders going to Canada as they sometimes present you with a separate and additional customs clearance bill (on top of the customs duty) for $50 or more. eek!
-returns for swrve men's outdoor apparel and accessories-
to process a return / exchange, please click here
we are happy to accept all unworn and unwashed garments within 30 days of receipt.
please note that for sale items, we offer credit but no refunds. we are little flexible on this on reasonable requests; for example, you buy 2 of the same item to see which size works better, we will refund you for the one you send back.
to send a return or exchange, please follow this link to go to our return center to get your RMA number and get approved. then send unused and unwashed item/s in to swrve hq. if you need to make a change to your return request once you have sent in your return package, please email in to firstname.lastname@example.com to provide any additional information.
please note that all altered garments, including custom hemmed items are NOT RETURNABLE.
also note masks are a personal use item that are unavailable for return.
please obtain a tracking # from your shipper for all packages sent to us in the case the package gets lost in the mail. please note that we can't be responsible for items that are not delivered to us.
our mailing address is:
swrve RETURNS + EXCHANGES
3421 Verdugo Rd
Los Angeles CA 90065


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A happy and prosperous New Year to all who visit this blog today.
Tomorrow marks the official start of a new decade. Below is an image which I believe captures the theme of the next decade. Click on the image below to enlarge it.
If real estate became the theme of the 2000's, this represents what I believe will be the theme of the next decade: Scotiabank is sold out of 1 oz and 100 oz bars of silver.
Happy New Year All...
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Click 'comments' below to contribute to this post.


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This was written and originally recorded by Bob Dylan in 1967, but it was the Jimi Hendrix cover that made the song famous. Many other artists have covered it, including Eric Clapton, Neil Young, U2, Dave Matthews Band and The Grateful Dead. Dylan was so impressed with Jimi's version that Dylan for years played it the way that Jimi had recorded it.
Hendrix had been working on and off with the members of the band Traffic as he recorded Electric Ladyland. Traffic guitarist Dave Mason caught Hendrix at a party and the two discussed Bob Dylan's newest album, John Wesley Harding, containing "All Along The Watchtower." Hendrix, long fascinated with Dylan, decided to cover the song on the album. On the resulting track, Mason plays rhythm on a 12-string acoustic guitar.
There must be some kind of way outta here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief
Business men, they drink my wine
Plowman dig my earth
None were level on the mind
Nobody up at his word
Hey, hey
No reason to get excited
The thief he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But, uh, but you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us stop talkin' falsely now
The hour's getting late, hey
All along the watchtower Princes kept the view While all the women came and went Barefoot servants, too Outside in the cold distance A wildcat did growl Two riders were approaching And the wind began to howl
Music video by The Jimi Hendrix Experience performing All Along The Watchtower. (C) 2009 Experience Hendrix L.L.C., under exclusive license to Sony Music Entertainment"


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B cells, the elite soldier's of the body's immune system serve as an army that is ready to recognize and destroy the invading antigens. To do so, each new B cell comes equipped with its own highly specialized weapon, a unique antibody protein that selectively binds to specific parts of the antigen. The key to this specialization is the antigen-binding region that tailors each B cell to a particular antigen, determining whether B cells survive boot camp and are selected for maturation and survival, or wash out and die. Now, using high-throughput sequencing technology and computational and systems biology, investigators from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have discovered that B cells can be selected for survival independent of their antigen binding regions. Described online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the findings add a surprising new dimension to the understanding of antibody repertoires – each individual's complement of millions of B cells -- and the potential for shaping these repertoires to better fight disease.
"B cells play essential roles in vaccination, infection, autoimmunity, aging and cancer," explains senior author Ramy Arnaout, MD, DPhil, an investigator in the Department of Pathology at BIDMC and Assistant Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School whose work focuses on the emerging field of high-throughput multimodality immunology, also known as immunomics. "We were surprised and excited to find that B cell survival could be influenced by a non-antigen-binding region of the antibody, specifically the 'elbow' region that connects the antigen-binding regions to the signaling domain."
Each new B cell makes its own unique antibody by mixing and matching from a set of a few hundred genes, taking one each from subsets called V, D and J. The most diverse part of an antibody is the region where the three genes come together, a stretch called the third complementarity-determining region, or CDR3.
"CDR3 is thought to be the single most important determinant of antigen binding," explains Arnaout. As a result, in understanding how the body fights infections and in developing new vaccines, immunologists have primarily focused their attention on CDR3, while considering other parts of the antibody, including the elbow region, to play secondary roles.
In their new study, Arnaout and colleagues sequenced 2.8 million VDJ-recombined heavy-chain genes from immature and mature B-cell subsets in mice. "We initially wanted to ask how selection on CDR3 changed antibody repertoires during B-cell maturation," says Arnaout. But, unexpectedly, during the course of the investigation, they found they were instead focused on the antibody's 'elbow' region."
They found that B cells for which antibodies use V genes that encode 'looser' elbows were more likely to mature, regardless of their CDR3 sequence. This effect was both distinct from, and larger than previously described maturation-associated changes in CDR3 in the mice. Furthermore, it had a unique source: Differences in the V genes were hard-coded into the genome, as opposed to the mixed-and-matched combination of V, D and J genes that typically differs from B cell to B cell.
One explanation for how this "loose elbow" promotes survival relates to the bending process of the antibody. "B-cell selection and maturation depend on signaling," he explains. "Antigen binding is the signal, but for it to get to the cell it has to go through the elbow. It, therefore, makes sense that previous experiments have found that disrupting the elbow abolishes signaling without affecting antigen binding. We think a loose elbow might affect how the cell perceives binding, which then determines whether the B-cell soldiers are able to divide and form an elite antigen-fighting platoon, or turn in their weapons and retreat."


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How do I add an announcement?
Go to the Announcements tool.
Select the Announcements tool from the Tool Menu of your site.
Click Add.
Title your announcement and add content.
Give your announcement a title, and then enter the content of the announcement into the Rich Text Editor. You may use the formatting options in the editor to modify the font size or color, add images or links, or embed other content.
Determine who can view the announcement.
By default, all people enrolled in this site see the announcement.
Making the announcement publicly viewable means that you can send a link to the announcement to people outside the course, even outside your instance of Sakai, and the announcement will be viewable by them.
Post announcement to group(s). (Optional)
If you have created groups in your course, the option to display to groups is shown. Select the group(s) you want to see the announcement. Only the people in the selected group will see this announcement.
Select when the announcement will be displayed.
By default, the announcement is displayed immediately upon posting. You can also choose to Hide it (saving as a draft until you are ready to post it), or you may Specify Dates when the announcement will be available.
Select availability dates. (Optional)
If you want the announcement to display during a specific time frame, choose Specify Dates. Select the box beside Beginning and/or Ending and click the calendar icon to insert the properly formatted date and time when the announcement will begin and/or end.
Click calendar icon to insert date and time.
Click the date on the calendar, and use the sliders to select the time. Then click Done.
Add attachments. (Optional)
Click the Add Attachments button.
Notify participants of announcement by email. (Optional)
By default, no email notification is sent. You may also select one of the following options:
- High - All participants, which sends an email to everyone in the course
- Low - Not received by those who have opted out, which sends an email to everyone except people who have intentionally changed their settings so that they don't receive low priority messages


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When a baby has surgery, it can be a scary experience for the parents and the baby. But the closeness and security of breastfeeding can be very calming and comforting. Surgery may interrupt breastfeeding for a period of time.
You will have to stop breastfeeding at some point before your baby's surgery. Find out when you can give your last feeding.
In most cases, your baby will be able to breastfeed once they are awake enough to drink liquids without problems, as advised by the healthcare provider. How long this will take will vary. Here are some things you can do to make the experience less stressful:
You may have to miss 1 or more breastfeeding sessions. Pumping your breasts to express your milk will ease discomfort. It also helps keep up your milk supply. This process will be a little easier if you plan ahead.
Ask your baby's healthcare provider where you may pump while at the hospital. Electric pumps are often available to use. If you will be missing more than a few nursing sessions and won't be at the hospital all the time, think about renting an electric breast pump if you do not have one of your own.
Steady milk production depends on effective and regular milk expression until your baby is ready and able to breastfeed again. Pump on the same schedule as your baby would normally breastfeed. Use a double collection kit that lets you pump both breasts at once, if possible. Pump until your breasts are softened and comfortable. This usually takes 10 to 20 minutes on each side. If your baby is a newborn and your milk has not yet come in, pump at least 8 times in 24 hours. You may not see any milk during the first few pumping sessions and you may only get drops for several sessions after that. The milk produced before days 3 to 5 after delivery is called colostrum and it is normally produced in low amounts. Colostrum is very rich in the anti-infective properties that are important for your baby.
Breastmilk may be frozen for several months. It can also be refrigerated and used within 4 days after pumping. You will need to correctly collect, label, and store your milk. Talk with a certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) for more information about pumping and breastmilk storage.
In most cases, you can breastfeed when your baby wakes up from the anesthesia. Surgery can be very disruptive, and your baby may not be interested or ready to breastfeed right away. If your baby is not able to breastfeed the normal length of time, you can pump after the feeding. This will empty your breasts and maintain your milk production.
This is a stressful time for your family. You may find that your milk supply is reduced. Take care of yourself. Get rest, eat, and drink enough fluids during this time. This will help you stay healthy and maintain your breastmilk supply.


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From the first meeting of our Implementing a Basic Income in Australia group, I presented my outline of what I think are the fundamental questions which need to be answered before a Basic Income can actually be implemented.
In order to answer these questions we want to organise a range of experts like Caravan finance brokers, on social and economic issues into working groups so that they can discuss the consequences of each decision and how it will be beneficial or detrimental to society, economics, welfare, well-being, employment, power imbalance, freedoms, etc.
The questions are:
- How Much / How Often?
$1 – $10,000+ / Paid daily – Paid annually - What scale is it implemented on? Where?
Small town? Council? City? State? National. - Who gets it?
Everyone? Citizens? Residents? 18+? Based on tax return submission? etc - How is it funded?
Local government? Federal Govt? Increased taxes? New (resource?) taxes? Debt? Transaction tax? Charity? Crowd funding? New money straight to the people? - How long will it run for?
2 years? 10 years? Indefinitely? 5 years on, 5 years off, etc? - What does it replace?
Replace all welfare? Just unemployment benefit? Nothing? Minimum wage? Wait and see? - Will there be a transitional period? What will it look like?
Instant implementation, or gradual implementation over time?
(Have I missed any? Please leave a comment below if I have!)
The answers to each of these questions often influences the answers to others. For example, if you want a National (Q2) Basic Income, it will be virtually impossible to fund that through Charity of Crowd sourcing (Q4), but there is a chance that you could fund a Partial Basic Income (Q1) for 2 years (Q5) in a small remote town (Q2) via charity (Q4).
Of course, a partial income in a small remote town isn't the ultimate goal, so then we're talking about a first step implementation. A trial, or a demonstration of value, hoping that it will grow to other towns or else convince enough of the population to enact a nationwide Basic Income. In this case, we'd have to design the best "initial test case implementation" and then a second "Ultimate goal implementation" and perhaps even design the strategy which will take us from the initial test to the ultimate goal.
Whether we want a small test case first or not is still to be answered. I don't believe the NHS, medicare, welfare etc had incremental steps to implementation, so perhaps it is an error to think that a Basic Income would need it. Perhaps we should instead be focusing on the best possible design for Australia, and then fight for grassroots support of that system while lobbying political parties and getting the support of influential think tanks.
This is all just a first step. We still need to reach out to existing Basic Income organisations (BIEN, QUT, Utrecht University (BIParty NL) etc) to see what information, research and conclusions they are able to share with us which will help inform our answers to these questions.


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The Obama administration is happy to note that its DREAMer work permits for illegal alien scammers are now being doled out.
Here in California (where the June unemployment rate was 10.7%) a local pro-diversity scribbler focused on a couple of recipients now thrust into the legal labor marketplace. The San Francisco Bay Area alone is estimated to get 65,000 DREAMy workers.
Interestingly, only 82,000 aliens have applied thus far, as reported by the Christian Science Monitor: DREAM Act-lite: 7 in 100 eligible illegal immigrants apply, so far, Sept 19. Perhaps many are fearful of admitting the degree to which they have broken the law, such as stealing a Social Security number, which is a felony.
Not to worry! President Obama doesn't want any screw-ups or negative press about his hispanic freebie right before the election. Border officers have already been told that "DREAMer" is the magic word that overrules law enforcement.
And as an immigration lawyer recounts in the article below, once the illegal masses realize that every alien wins, they will flock to the local rubber stamp office, er neighborhood USCIS.
Obama administration approves first 29 work permits for young illegal immigrants, By Matt O'Brien, San Jose Mercury News, September 14, 2012
While some remain wary about coming forward, 82,000 young illegal immigrants sought work permits from the Obama administration in the past month, and a small group of 29 people learned their applications were approved in recent days.
Soon, Mayra Gomez could join them. She and her husband, a private and mechanic in the U.S. Army Reserve, received a letter at their East Palo Alto home on Monday from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services telling Gomez to come to the agency's San Francisco office to get her fingerprints taken.
Once a sign of a looming deportation, this fingerprint check was a message to Gomez she had one final step before she can get a work permit.
"I'm thinking about it all the time," said the 23-year-old UC Berkeley graduate, whose family brought her across the border from Mexico when she was a child.
Gomez declined a well-paying job offer this summer because she has no legal right to work, but that could change soon. More than just a job, however, Gomez said she is looking forward to living without the constant fear she could be torn apart from her U.S. citizen husband and their 1-year-old son.
Demographers estimate more than 1.2 million young illegal immigrants, and about 350,000 in California, could immediately qualify for the Obama administration's two-year work permits and protection from deportation, but nationwide only 82,361 had applied in the first month since the Obama administration began accepting applications on Aug. 15.
Officials said it will take an average of four to six months before applicants get an answer. For Gomez and some others in the Bay Area, however, the notice is coming sooner. She applied on Aug. 28 and has her fingerprint appointment in two weeks.
The federal government said Friday it has now scheduled 63,717 such "biometric" appointments at immigration offices around the country, and 1,660 cases have gone through the background check and imminently await a decision. Twenty-nine cases have already been approved.
"By approving some cases quickly, it alleviates some of the fears of other applicants," said Mark Silverman of the San Francisco-based Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
An immigration lawyer in the Bay Area since 1983, Silverman said he was pleasantly surprised that so many people have already applied but knows more will come out of the shadows once they see signs that the promised relief actually works.
"The same thing happened during the amnesty program of '87 and '88," Silverman said. "After people saw their friends and neighbors were getting their applications approved, that encouraged more people to apply."
The immigration agency recently emailed San Francisco resident Sarah Souza informing her it received her application and was routing it to a Southern California processing center. Never before was Souza so delighted to get a form letter.
"I was a little emotional," she said. "I feel like I'm part of this country. I just need the opportunity to show that I can do great things for this country, that I'm not a criminal."
Souza and her sister first entered the United States to visit Disneyland on a youth trip from Brazil in the summer of 2001. She was 15, her sister 12, and their tourist visas expired in three months, but they stayed to join their mother, a nanny who had been living in San Francisco for two years.
Those eligible for relief must have come to the United States before they were 16, not be older than 30, lived here continuously since 2007, have a record free of serious crimes, graduated high school or are in school or the military. They must also pay a $465 fee to apply. The federal relief defers deportations but doesn't offer the benefits of legal immigration or citizenship, only a temporary work permit that can be renewed after two years.
Many who are eligible have been cautious about applying, some fearing that coming forward could leave them exposed if Republican Mitt Romney wins the election and reverses the Obama administration directive next year.
Romney has criticized the Obama directive as politically-motivated and said he would replace it with a long-term solution but hasn't said what that solution would be. The Republican National Convention made little mention last month of the directive, which is widely popular among Latino voters, but House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said on Thursday that the fast-moving relief program was putting the country in danger.
"Such a quick turnaround for these amnesty applications raises serious concerns about fraud and a lack of thorough vetting," Smith said in a statement.
In contrast, the Democratic National Convention embraced the young immigrants, dubbed "dreamers" after the long-sought Dream Act that would have granted them legal residency but failed to pass through Congress in 2010.
At crowded informational meetings around the Bay Area, Silverman has encouraged young immigrants with the cleanest records to apply soon because he knows that the Obama administration has political reasons to show that its relief is working before the November election and also knows that Romney, if he wins, could stop the program but would be less likely to turn back the clock against those who already applied.


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I been nominated for the Blogger's Choice Awards in the category: "Best Food Blog". It would mean a lot to me if you would show me your support by voting for me!
All you need to do is sign up on Blogger's Choice Awards and vote for CakeJournal. It will only take 5 minutes. Hope for your support 🙂
Happy Caking


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Become a MotorEasy Partner
If you're a publisher or business looking to increase revenue from your existing audience or web site, we'd love to talk to you about a partnership.
We've built a customizable MotorEasy search widget that you can embed on your website to generate revenues from any customers you introduce to us.
What is the widget?
The widget is a simple drop down list of MotorEasy products, including warranties and our range of car protection insurance products. Once embedded on your site, visitors that select a product of interest will be taken to a quote and application journey on motoreasy.com.
Why integrate the widget?
Aside from the opportunity to earn a commission from any customers you introduce, the widget might also provide useful functionality for your website visitors, especially if you operate a motoring related service.
The widget is responsively designed, meaning its dimensions will reconfigure to display on a mobile or desktop setting.
What next?
Simply follow these steps to start monetising your audience and find out how much you can earn:
1. Request an access token and provide company details
Please email email@example.com sending over your contact details and a link to your website. We will be in touch to discuss commission rates you can earn, as well as provide an access token to enable tracking of leads and sales. If needed, we can also change which products are shown in the widget dropdown, as well as changing things like headings and subtitles.
2. Add widget script
Copy widget script into the HEAD of your website. You only need to do this once, even if multiple widgets are being added.

3. Add widget container
Add the HTML code to the BODY where you would like to display your widget.

MotorEasy

4. (Optional) Initialize the widget manually
Widget will be initialized automatically on page load. But you may want to initialize it manually.
To do so, please run the following command in javascript

5. View your site to see the live widget!
Once live, we will send you monthly report detailing the number of users that visited MotorEasy, the number that converted to customers and the level of commission payment earned.
Further information, please contact: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Air Italy AWB (Air Waybill) Tracking and Schedules
Tracking your air waybill or air cargo for Air Italy is easy using our website trackaircargo.com. Air Italy is one of the most reliable airlines that operate both domestic and international flights. With our website, you can quickly track your air waybill or air cargo and get real-time updates on its location and estimated time of arrival. All you need to do is enter the air waybill or air cargo number, and voila! Our user-friendly interface will provide you with all the information you need with ease.
Air Italy Cargo Tracking and Schedules
Press the button and go to tracking page


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via undp.org
The United Nations Development Programme, along with other UN agencies, has long enlisted the voluntary services and support of prominent figures as Goodwill Ambassadors and advocates to shine a spotlight on important issues affecting our planet and its people. These well-known individuals are at the top of their field—whether it's film, television, music, art or sports—with talents and achievements that have made them household names. They all share a commitment to making the planet a better place for all of us. Through their far-reaching platforms and influence among audiences that transcend national borders, our celebrity advocates raise awareness and mobilize support to help us fight climate change and realize the Global Goals for a future without poverty and inequality.


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Are you a Professional Developer or Architect working for a Microsoft Partner Organization in the U.S.? Then you may want to consider joining Partner Huddle, an online social community for members of the Microsoft partner community. To learn more about the social and how to join check out the following blog Tis The Season For Partners on Facebook.
Act now and you may qualify for a special holiday offer that expires on December 17th.
(Originally Posted on scottkerfoot.com Blogengine.net blog and manually migrated to WordPress on 10/20/2017 for Historical reasons)


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BNP Paribas Assurance expands gender equality initiatives in partnership with NGO Aide et Action
BNP Paribas Assurance has signed a three year partnership with the NGO Aide et Action, which promotes access to quality education for all in the 21 countries where it is present.
BNP Paribas Assurance is reaching beyond initiatives taken within the company itself to provide support for the Aide et Action association helping educate young girls in disadvantaged countries. Support centers on West Africa, a region where diverse economic and cultural factors make education for young girl a priority. The partnership has funded four projects in Benin, Mali, Niger and Senegal. This aid has enabled the students to receive a complete, quality education in a healthy and secure environment.
BNP Paribas promotes diversity and places particular priority on fighting against all forms of discrimination and on promoting equal opportunity regardless of origins, age, disabilities or gender. Education for young girls in developing nations resonates powerfully with BNP Paribas Assurance's three-fold commitment to aid for local development, diversity and gender equality. The objective is to prepare the young girls to play a role not just in their families, but also in the economic and political life of their communities.


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This is a guest blog post provided by international productivity expert Neen James
Many attorneys no longer have a leisurely 'lunch hour', it is more like a crammed 'lunch 5 minutes' sitting at our computers or pouring over a Blackberry. You will increase your productivity in the afternoon by at least 25% if you get out of the firm.
Reach out – decide to use this time to catch up with a friend, invite a new client to lunch, or call a family member.
Get out – enjoy the weather, take your lunch to a park, or try a new café. Invest a few minutes outside so that you can remove yourself from your environment and then clear your head, it helps you get more done in the afternoon I promise.
Work out – many people claim they don't have time to exercise but invest in yourself and your health by spending your lunch break taking a walk or try a new class at a gym close to your firm. Use the middle of the day to increase your energy and watch your afternoon energy sky rocket.
Clean out – if you decide to stay at the firm during your lunch break, decide to clean up your computer and sort your electronic files, delete old unnecessary emails, clear off your desk and wipe down all surfaces. Use this time to clean up and you will feel lighter and more organized for the rest of the day… and week!
Chill out – lunch breaks are designed in the middle of the day to enjoy a few moments to replenish your body and energy. Use this time to laugh with a colleague, sit in the sun and take in some vitamin D, experiment by trying a new food, breathe deeply, or take a walk.
By applying these 5 strategies you will feel more in control and your personal productivity will skyrocket!
Neen James, MBA, is a productivity expert: by looking at how they spend their time and energy – and where they focus their attention – Neen helps attorneys rocket-charge their productivity and performance. A dynamic speaker and author, Neen demonstrates how boosting your productivity can help you achieve amazing things. With her unique voice, sense of fun and common-sense, Neen delivers a powerful lesson in productivity. Subscribe to Neen's free monthly E-zine at http://www.neenjames.com.
Photo courtesy of savvysugar.com


text: Find all the words in this classic word search puzzle game! Look at the word list and find the words hidden vertically, horizontally or diagonally in the letter grid. Can you earn a top spot on the high score list? Play random levels or select one of the 10 categories you like best. In case you are stuck, simply use a hint which marks a word in the grid.


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Dwarves of Calcus (Fairytale Galaxy Chronicles #3)
Genre: YA Space Opera/Sci-fi/Fantasy
Release Date: March 6th 2018
Curiosity Quills Press
Summary from Goodreads:
When she was thirteen, Snow Sabbia crash landed on the dwarves' home planet of Calcus. After fleeing from her step-mother's huntsman, seven brother dwarves took her in to hide and protect her. She has hidden for years on the peaceful planet, tinkering with old automobiles and pushing papers in the mine office.
Then, Timothy White shows up.
The shy, nervous, nerdy heir captivates Snow before she even knows who he is, and quickly she falls in love. But his high profile in society draws unwanted attention from her vengeful stepmother, who wants Snow dead.
Geneva believed Snow died years earlier and she had consumed her innocent heart. With her late husband's wealth, Snow's inheritance, in tow, she married a young lord, Conrad. Both are using each other--Geneva for his title and to have a child, Conrad for her money and beauty. But when Conrad lays eyes on his boyhood rival's lovely fiance, Snow, his overwhelming desire for her reveals the truth to Geneva, that Snow lives.
Desperate to hold onto her wealth and power, Geneva seeks to kill Snow properly this time. Snow has the power to wield the one thing that can destroy her, so she cannot let the girl claim possession of the family heirloom, the Nevollo Sword.
Snow soon learns her step-mother knows she is alive. But she is a pacifist, so she must outwit Geneva and remain hidden... until Geneva, disguised as a child, presents her with an apple.
Previous Books in the Series (click on images for Goodreads links):
About the Author
Born and raised in Australia, Katie's early years of day dreaming in the "bush", and having her father tell her wild bedtime stories, inspired her passion for writing.
After graduating High School, she became a foreign exchange student where she met a young man who several years later she married. Now she lives in Arizona with her husband, daughter and their dog.
She has a diploma in travel and tourism which helps inspire her writing.
When her debut novel, Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh, climbed into bestselling status, she believed she was onto something, and now has a slew of novels now available, and is published through Curiosity Quills Press, Soul Mate Publishing, and REUTS Publishing.
Katie loves to out sing her friends and family, play sports, and be a good wife and mother. She now works as an Acquisitions Editor to help support her family. She loves to write, and takes the few spare moments in her day to work on her novels.


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Looking for a place to relax and soak up some old fashioned Christmas spirit with your friends and family. Bring them to our house! We have it all ready for you,
Traditional holiday gift making
Lots of shopping ops and historical celebrations
See Philmont Market and Cafe on Face Book
Many church bazaars happen this season
The Hawthorne Valley School Christmas Faire on December 7th,
and the newest shops on Warren St
Spruce Ridge Alpaca Farm Store Located at 255 Warren Street, offers apparel made from the fiber of the farm's own alpacas, raised in Old Chatham.
Cashmere in Hudson. at 502 Warren Street, offering the same beautiful things we've come to expect–hats, gloves, sweaters, scarves, wraps, and throws, all made from cashmere.
We will keep you updated so keep checking in or call us at 518-672-5623.


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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad recently told Belgian media that their country and the EU merely obey 'the American master' when it comes to Syria and political decision-making in general.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency
Date: 7 February, 2017
Transcript to full interview:
We've been to Aleppo, we've seen the destruction…how do you see the way forward for peace nowadays after Astana?
President Assad:
If we want to talk about how to see the peace – it is not related mainly to Astana, it is something much bigger: how can we stop the flowing of the terrorists towards Syria or in Syria? How can we stop the support from regional countries like Turkey, Gulf states, or from Europe like France and UK, or from the US during the Obama administration? If we deal with that title, this is where we can talk about the rest, about the political procedure. Astana is one of the initiative(s) during this war on Syria, and it's about the dialogue between the Syrians.
Now it's too early to judge Astana. The first one was positive because it was about the principles of the unity of Syria, about the Syrians deciding their future, how can you implement this communique? That's the question. And I think we are going to see an Astana 2 and so on. So the peace is two things: fighting terrorists and terrorism, stopping the flowing of terrorists and every kind of logistical support, and second, dialogue between the Syrians to decide the future of their country and the whole political system. These are the headlines about how to see the future of Syria.
We have seen many breaches in the ceasefire. Would you consider the ceasefire still upholding or is it dead?
President Assad:
No it's not dead, it is…and it's natural in every ceasefire anywhere in the world, in every war in any conflict to have these breaches. It could be sometimes on an individual level, it doesn't mean there's (a) policy of breaching of (the) ceasefire by government or any other party, and this is something we can deal with on a daily basis, and sometimes on an hourly basis, but till this moment, the ceasefire is holding.
In the fight against (the) terror group Daesh, do you think all means are justified?
President Assad:
It depends on what do we mean by all means, we have to be…
Literally all means…
President Assad:
Yeah but I don't know what the means that are available to tell you yes, all means, so I don't know what all means, but if you want to talk about military means, yes ofcourse, because the terrorists are attacking the people. I'm not only talking about ISIS. ISIS and al-Nusra and all the al-Qaeda affiliated groups within Syria. When they attack Syrians and killing civilians, and beheading people and destroying properties – private and public – and destroying the infrastructure, everything in this country…our constitutional duty and legal duty as (a) government and as (an) army and as state institutions is to defend the Syrian people. It is not an opinion, it's a duty. So regarding this, you can use every mean in order to defend the Syrian people.
But we have seen the destruction in Aleppo – you have seen the images as well. Was there no other way to do it than in such a…or (sic) way?
President Assad:
Actually since the beginning of the crisis or the war on Syria we used every possible way. We didn't leave any stone unturned in order to bring people to the negotiating table. But when you talk about the terrorists…when you talk about terrorists, when you talk about al-Qaeda, when you talk about al-Nusra and ISIS, I don't think anyone in this world would believe that they are ready for dialogue, and they always say they're not. They have their own ideology, they have their own way-path. They don't accept anything (that) could be related to (a) civil state or civil country. They don't. And I think you know as (a) European about this reality. So no, making dialogue with al-Nusra & al-Qaeda is not one of the means, but, if somebody wants to change his course on the individual levels, we are ready to accept him as a government and give him amnesty when he goes back to the normal life and give up his armament.
The Belgian government is contributing in the fight against Daesh. There are six F-16 fighter planes in the fight against Daesh. Are you grateful to the Belgian government for that contribution?
President Assad:
Let me be frank with you: when you talk about contribution in the operation against ISIS – actually there was no operation against ISIS. It was (a) cosmetic operation. If you want to talk about (the) American alliance against ISIS, it was only an elusive alliance, because ISIS was expanding during that operation. At the same time that operation is (an) illegal operation, because it happened without consulting with or taking the permission of the Syrian government, which is a legitimate government. And it's a breaching of our sovereignty. Third, they didn't prevent any Syrian citizen from being killed by ISIS. So what are we grateful for? To be frank: no.
You have stated several times that it is up to the Syrian people, it is up to the constitution to decide who their leadership should be, who their president should be. If the Syrian people would decide for a new leadership, would you consider to step aside?
President Assad:
If the Syrian people choose another president, I don't have to choose to be aside, I will be aside, I will be outside this position, that's self-evident, because the constitution would put (a) president, and the constitution would take him out according to the ballot box and the decision of the Syrian people. Ofcourse that's very natural. Not only because of the ballot box, because if you don't have public support, you cannot achieve anything in Syria, especially in a war. In a war what you need – the most important thing – is to have public support in order to restore your country, to restore the stability and security. Without it you cannot achieve anything. So yes ofcourse.
Mr President, I am 43 years old, if I would have been born in Syria, there would always have been an Assad in executive power. Can you imagine a Syria without a member of the Assad family in executive power?
President Assad:
Ofcourse, we don't own the country. My family doesn't own the country to say that only Assad should be in that position. That's self-evident. And this could be by coincidence, because President (Hafez) Assad didn't have an heir in the institution to be a successor. He died, I was elected – he didn't have anything to do with my election when he was president.I didn't have any position in the government. If he wanted me to be a heir, he would have put me somewhere, given me a responsibility. I didn't have any responsibility actually. So it's not as many in the media in the West use to say since my election that he was succeeded by his father or his father put him in that position. So yes Syria (is) owned by the Syrians, and every Syrian citizen has the right to be in that position.
Do you think the European Union or even NATO can play a role in like rebuilding the country, in rebuilding Syria?
President Assad:
You cannot play that role while you are destroying Syria because the EU is supporting the terrorists in Syria from the very beginning under different titles: 'humanitarian', 'moderate', and so on, actually they were supporting al-Nusra and ISIS from the very beginning, they were extremists from the very beginning. So they cannot destroy and build at the same time.
First of all they have to take (a) very clear position regarding the sovereignty of Syria, stopping supporting the terrorists, this is where the Syrian would – I say would – accept those countries to play a role in that regard. But in the meantime if you ask any Syrian the same question they would say they don't accept those countries that supported the people who destroyed our country, we don't want them to be here. That's what I think.
Do you think Belgian can play a role in Syria?
President Assad:
Let me talk about the European political position in general. Many in this region believe that the European do not exist politically. They only follow their master the American. So the question should be about the American, and the European will follow and will implement what the American want. They don't exist as (an) independent state, and Belgian is part of the EU.
There is a new administration in Washington with Trump in power. What do you expect from it? Are you looking to work closely together?
President Assad:
What we heard…a statement by Trump during the campaign and after the campaign is promising regarding the priority of fighting the terrorists, and mainly ISIS. That's what we've been asking for during the last six years. So I think this is promising. We have to wait – it is still early to expect anything practical, it could be about the cooperation between the US and Russia that we think is going to be positive for the rest of the world including Syria. So as I said it is still early to judge it.
If you look back on the last couple of years, are there any things that you regret?
President Assad:
Every mistake could be a regret by any individual…
Have you made mistakes?
President Assad:
As a human…I have to make mistakes to be human, otherwise I'm not a human.
What would you consider a mistake?
President Assad:
A mistake (is) when you either take a wrong decision, or make wrong practice. It depends on the situation. But if you want to talk about the crisis as I understand from your question, the three decisions that we take from the very beginning is to fight terrorism, and I think it's correct; is to make dialogue between Syrians – I think it's correct; to respond to every political initiative, whether it's genuine or not, and I think it's correct; and actually we supported the reconciliation between the Syrians, and I think it's correct. Anything else could be trivial – you have a lot of things regarding the practice, regarding the institutions, you always have mistakes.
If you look back do you think this war was avoidable?
President Assad:
No, because there was bad intention regarding the different countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, France, UK, and the US, in order to destabilise Syria. So it wasn't about the Syrians. That doesn't mean that we don't have many flaws before the war and today, as a country that allow many of those countries to mess with our country. I'm not excluding – I'm not saying it's only about them, but they were the ones who took the initiative in order to run this war, so I don't think it was avoidable.
You have just had a visit from a Belgian parliamentary delegation with Mr Dewinter and Mr Carcaci, do you consider them as friends?
President Assad:
The most important (thing) about those visit is not to be friends. As a politician you don't come to Syria to visit your friend, you come to Syria to see what's going on.
Do you see them as political allies?
President Assad:
No because…no, they are not my allies at all – they are coming here not for that reason. They are here in order to see what's going on. They are the allies of the Belgian people. They came here because the government, the Belgian government, like many European governments, are blind today, they have no relation with this country on every level, so they don't see what's going on, they cannot play any role. So now the only eye that you have are the delegations that's coming from your country, and this is one of them, this is one of the eyes that your government could have, and you could have many other eyes and delegations coming to Syria. So they're not my allies, they're not coming here for me, they're coming here to see the situation, and I'm one of the players in the Syrian conflict. It's natural to meet with me to hear what's my point of view.