text:
I've never doubted that vegan cakes could taste as good as their non-vegan counterparts, but I wasn't quite sold on vegan cookies. There are a number of good substitutes for butter (although recently, I've been reading how terrible palm oil is), but replacing an egg can be tricky. I've tried the flax egg thing, and maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it just doesn't taste right to me. However, my opinion of vegan cookies changed when I made these.
The egg is replaced by tapioca flour (also known as tapioca starch), which can just be dumped into your recipe as is- no grinding of flaxseeds necessary! I read about this swap in Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, and apparently, it works well with other starches like arrowroot and cornstarch, although I've never tried them so I can't say for sure.
The Texas heat makes me a little sluggish and I wasn't up for anything elaborate, so this is a total lazy girl's (or guy's, no discrimination here) cookie. One bowl, dump and stir, and no chilling time! Instant cookie gratification! However, the food blogger in me did want a little bit of fancy, so I busted out the good olive oil since I thought it paired nicely with the chocolate and topped the cookies with a little bit of flaky sea salt. I like a salty cookie anyway, but dark chocolate practically screams for it. If you're not a fan of the olive oil in your cookies, this recipe will work just fine with any neutral vegetable oil or even melted coconut oil, but don't knock it until you've tried it. I liked the olive oil/chocolate combo so much, you may see it soon in the form of a cake!
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) good quality extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 2/3 cup (150 grams) dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup (67 grams) organic granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon tapioca flour
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all purpose flour, divided
- 1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (175 grams) vegan bittersweet chocolate chips
- flaky sea salt for topping
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat together the olive oil, non-dairy milk, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and tapioca flour, and vanilla extract with a fork for about 2 minutes until the mixture thickens and looks like caramel.
- Add 1 cup of the all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix until combined.
- Mix in the remaining 1/2 cup of the flour.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Using a cookie scoop, drop balls of the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets one inch apart. The dough will be a little but greasy, so you may need to use your fingers to push the dough together into balls.
- Sprinkle the dough with a little bit of sea salt and bake them for about 8 minutes (9-10 minutes for a crisper cookie.
- Cool completely on wire racks.
For a thicker, puffier cookie, reduce the non-dairy milk to 1/4 cup.
Baking time is based on cookies that I made with a small cookie scoop. If you make larger cookies, you will need to increase the baking time.
Natural cocoa powder will work in this recipe, but you will end up with a lighter colored cookie.


text:
Does the increase in the minimum wage mean investigators will get paid more as employees? Many people think that because of the rise in the minimum wage it will force companies to pay other employees more as a result.
About 12 or 13 years ago I entered the private investigation world as a surveillance investigator for Omega Insurance Services. At that time they were probably the 2nd or 3rd insurance investigation services company in the United States. If you have followed me for some time you know that they provided me with training, a laptop, a camera, performance bonuses, and a cell phone. I started with that company at $15.50 an hour plus like .28 cents a mile (or something like that).
Before I was hired with Omega Insurance Services I had two jobs. At 25 years old I worked as a Loss Prevention Agent for Banana Republic (GAP Inc.) and I delivered newspapers 7 days a week. I made something like $12.50 an hour at Banana Republic and maybe like $700 a month delivering newspapers. I just wanted one job that would equal the pay of my two jobs because I was married and gone all the time.And as I previously mentioned I was hired on with Omega Insurance Services at $15.50 an hour plus like .28 cents a mile. By the time I was hired on with that company I was 26 or 27. The only skills I came with were from the Army and Loss Prevention. None of my other jobs before the Army really applied to an investigation job.
After learning the ropes I came to find out that the company I was working for was charging its clients (most of them) $65 an hour. And when you factored in all the perks (my salary, computer, cell phone, mileage, bonuses) I was getting about ⅓ of that $65 an hour. Omega and a few other big insurance investigation companies had many huge accounts because of this discounted pricing. The company made their money in volume of cases and their profit margin was pretty thin.
So that was about 12 or 13 years ago in this industry. Over the past 12 or 13 years the minimum wage has slowly increased and the price of gas has fluctuated dramatically over those years.
Over the past 12 or 13 years clients have wanted more educated investigators and have wanted investigators with certifications and degrees (just to get their business).
What has not changed dramatically is the wage for a private investigator employee. Depending on the company the entry pay would vary between $15 and $23 ish an hour. And this is the same pay companies were paying employees when I first entered the business. The rise in cost of living, the raise in the minimum wage, the raise in gas prices did not affect how much I was paid by any company over that time.
Competition is what drives the investigation markets prices. The big companies grabbed many of the big insurance clients because those clients had the ability to call one company and have their file worked anywhere in the country at a lower rate than smaller companies. It's about competition with the final product and competition in the prices. It's about the client getting as much as they can while paying the least amount possible.
If you asked your current company for a wage increase just because the minimum wage is increasing your company will likely tell you no and to find another company that is willing to pay that. And they will say that because every investigator to some degree is replaceable no matter how good you are. No matter how good I am as an employee there is probably someone out there a little bit better and/or willing to work a little bit harder for the same or less money. A company doesn't owe me anything, though if they would like to keep me happy then raises are always nice.
So we fast forward to 2016. Investigation companies whether it be insurance or for the public sector still charge about $65 an hour. Now that price will vary of course depending on the client but the average is still probably about $65 an hour. The investigator's wage is still about the same over that time.
The market is what drives prices and just because the government forces companies to pay their people more money doesn't mean the client has to adjust and pay more. It doesn't make the investigators more valuable just because the minimum pay threshold has risen.
I could go into various rants about this topic but I will give this advice to every investigation employee that his not happy with the wage they are making. Start your own company and charge $65 an hour (or whatever the market in your area will bare). Get paid what your skills are truly worth. Get rid of the middle man (your employer) that takes ⅔ of the revenue.
You can start off slow and build up over time. I wouldn't quit your day job until your business makes more than the company you are working for.
I truly believe in this country we will not see a wage bump as a result of the increase the minimum wage because we are likely earning more then the minimum wage when we enter the industry. We will only see an increase in the starting wages when the minimum wage surpasses what the entry pay is now.
Until then I would say build your skills and go out on your own. Then make sure to tell me about your new business and your successes.

subset: commoncrawl


text: > My suggestion is to do as suggested in the recent <cdefs.h>-related PR: > let the appropriate isxxxx functions and other locale dependent functions > actually follow their locale. This will allow programs calling setlocale() > appropriately to have their locale controlled by the user at start-up > time instead of at compile time. Yes! Please! I want working 8-bit chars in elm subject entry etc. -jm -- ---> http://www.jmp.fi/~jmarin/ <---


text:
9 Color Water Drop Choker
Our fall/winter collection is inspired by natural reflections and shows our love for contrasts by combining gemstones with simple shapes. It is created for the mystic soul and wanderer in all of us. These jewels are made for your daily adventures and will accompany you on every journey. Excellent gift idea any occasion such as a birthday, an anniversary, a wedding, or as a Christmas gift.
Shipping(for products over $10)
In order to keep shipping costs affordable we use UPS, USPS or EMS to ship your items. If you purchase multiple items they may be sent in more than one box. All orders will be shipped within 2 business days of purchase. We want you to get your new item just as much as you do.
US AND CANADAStandard Shipping - FREE(Delivery within 6-13days)
Express Shipping - $15(Delivery within 3-7days)
Standard Shipping - $5(Delivery within 8-18days)
Express Shipping - $15(Delivery within 4-8days)
Returns Policy
You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).
Please retain the original delivery packaging, ie. box with address label still attached. Please note this must be provided for us to issue a refund in any circumstances. Once your return is received and checked, we will send you an email to notify you that we have received your returned item.Click Here > How To Return