text:
"I was like, I'm going to get into this little orange jumpsuit and sit in this cold cell for a couple of days here," the bespectacled St. Louis, Missouri native recalls, lighting a cigarette and blowing out a thin ribbon of smoke.
The officer ran Bailey's name and discovered he had a warrant. Bailey was arrested and sent to jail in Florissant, a municipality in northern St. Louis County bordering Ferguson. When Bailey stepped inside his cell, he was greeted with a gust of cold air. It was chilly outside — maybe 20 degrees, he speculates — "and they had the AC blasting." The interior was grimy, and "there were a lot of guys in there, beating on the cells and calling for [help] and nobody was coming."
Bailey sits comfortably on the stoop of a red-brick apartment in North St. Louis County while his daughter, who is groggy with a cold, naps inside. The 35-year-old single father is homeless, and for the moment he's staying in a relative's place on a noisy street dotted with crumbling corner stores. Since 1995, Bailey estimates he's been jailed upwards of 20 times throughout St. Louis County — tallying up to more than two months behind bars — for warrants stemming from traffic violations. At least once, he was subject to what some call "riding the circuit" — shuttled to jail in a handful of municipalities back-to-back after the officer who arrested him notified police in other municipalities where he had warrants. Bailey, diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and prone to regular panic attacks, says he once faked a heart attack in his cell just to get medical care.
"A lot of people were locked up with diabetes, high blood pressure, and they weren't able to get their medicine. I had been locked up for days and I didn't have my medication," he pauses. "The paramedics got there and were like 'he's not having a heart attack but you might not want to keep him there anymore.' It's very stressful."
In many neighborhoods throughout St. Louis County, however, Bailey's story is not unique.
Missouri has the second-highest rate of traffic cases per person in the nation, and St. Louis County's rate is twice as high as Missouri's, as reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. According to Brendan Roediger, an assistant professor at St. Louis University School of Law, there are more than 450,000 outstanding warrants in the St. Louis County for municipal cases. In some jurisdictions, the number of warrants well exceeds the number of residents: Country Club Hills, for example, has a population of 1,381 and more than 33,102 active warrants, amounting to a ratio of nearly 24 outstanding warrants per resident. Similarly, Wellston has a population of 2,460 and more than 15,000 outstanding warrants, adding up to a ratio of more than six to one.
The municipal court systems in which Bailey was entangled generate a huge amount of revenue by ticketing people just like him: Calverton Park, where nearly one-quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, collects 66 percent of its general revenue from court fines and fees; Vinita Terrace, where close to 20 percent of residents live under the poverty line, brings home close to 60 percent of its revenue in fines and fees; and Normandy, with 35 percent of its residents living in poverty, collects just north of 40 percent of its revenue in fines and fees.
In 2013, the St. Louis County and City municipal courts acquired more than $61 million in fines and fees. This accounted for almost 50 percent of all fines and fees collected by the municipal courts in the state of Missouri, even though just 22 percent of the state resides in the St. Louis County area. Overall, St. Louis County is 24 percent black and 11 percent of its population lives below the poverty line, but the top 21 municipalities in the area collected one-third of their revenue from court fines and fees. They were 62 percent black on average, with 22 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
Predatory ticketing practices in some of the county's majority-poor, black neighborhoods range from the egregious to the Dickensian. Thomas Harvey, one of the co-founders of ArchCity Defenders, a St. Louis nonprofit law firm that represents indigent and low-income clients, described a case that has yet to be verified by court and police records, with a client who says she called police to report domestic abuse against her boyfriend and child's father. When the police arrived at her apartment, she says they ran her license and discovered that she had warrants on unpaid traffic tickets. Instead of arresting her abuser, the woman claims the police arrested her and left her two-year-old child at home, alone, with her boyfriend.
"So why would that woman ever call the police?" Harvey wondered. "If you can't even call the police when you're reporting domestic violence because of fear that you're going to be arrested for a traffic ticket, why would you ever call?"
The issues plaguing many of these municipalities were recently brought to the nation's attention in a scathing report from the U.S. Department of Justice following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in August. The report outlined systemic racism in the Ferguson Police Department, and concluded that many police officers "appear to see some residents, especially those who live in Ferguson's predominantly African American areas, less as constituents to be protected than as potential offenders and sources of revenue."
The egregious issues exposed in the DOJ report, however, extend far beyond Ferguson's borders. Harvey said the focus on this particular municipality — as an outrageous example rather than the norm — has become a distraction. "Everybody's writing about Ferguson, but the reality is there are probably 10 places that are worse."
Like many residents in St. Louis County, Bailey's troubles began with a traffic ticket, then spiraled into mounting debt and a warrant after he failed to show up in court. When Bailey couldn't front the cash for his traffic tickets, which he says totaled to nearly $2,000, he avoided court altogether. Because he missed his court date, a warrant was issued for his arrest, setting off what Bailey calls a "vicious cycle" of debt and imprisonment that took years to break through. Of his numerous stints in jail, he has one enduring memory: "The conditions were inhumane," he stressed, recalling a cell with blood, urine, and feces caked to the wall. "They have you packed in there like sardines. It's really disgusting. You wouldn't put your dog in there."
St. Louis County is divided into 90 municipalities, each with their own municipal code, police force, and court. Many other comparably sized counties are made up of significantly fewer municipalities and courts: Jackson County, for example, is the second-most populous county in Missouri but contains just 16 municipal courts.
Some of these municipalities are more prosperous than others. According to a report by the Ferguson Commission, there's an 18-year-difference in life expectancy between people living in two towns just ten miles away from each other: 67 years in the majority-black North St. Louis City, where the median household income is $15,000, as compared with 85 years in Clayton, where nearly 80 percent of the population is white and the median income is $90,000.
"When you have that much fragmentation, you're less diversified in your source of revenue," Dave Leipholtz, the director of community-based studies at Better Together, an organization sponsored by the Missouri Council for a Better Economy, noted. Many of the region's more affluent municipalities rely on their sales tax as a source of revenue and so are less dependent on their municipal courts. "So West County is able to attract all this commerce and retail out there and you have North County that's really fragmented and there's not as much retail there," he explained.
Edmundson, where nearly one-fifth of the population lives below the poverty level, collects almost 35 percent of its general revenue from court fines and fees. Ticketing was such an important part of the town's income that the mayor distributed a friendly note in some police officers' paychecks, reminding them: "The tickets that you write do add to the revenue on which the P.D. budget is established and will directly affect pay adjustments at budget time." (ThinkProgress obtained a copy of the note, which is included below).
Meanwhile, Ferguson is not among the top 20 municipalities in St. Louis County that collect more than 20 percent of their general revenue from court fines and fees. Amid a flood of negative press after the release of the DOJ report, a flurry of Ferguson officials resigned, including Ronald Brockmeyer, (the Ferguson municipal judge who was also a prosecutor in neighboring Florissant, Vinita Park, and Dellwood), Ferguson's city manager and police chief. The city court clerk was fired over racist emails.
Brockmeyer's retreat was crowned as a rare victory in a system fraught with unaccountability. But some, including Roediger, worried that the general fixation on Ferguson detracted from a deeper examination of the failures of policing and the municipal court system throughout St. Louis County. "Brockmeyer's the perfect guy to sort of take the fall for this, but it's really dangerous to continue to focus on him while 80 other municipalities keep doing the exact same thing," he observed. "There are ideological clones of him throughout St. Louis County that are preying on poor people every day."
Harvey shared a similar interpretation. "I'm so tired of people calling me and saying 'Ferguson Ferguson Ferguson,'" he said. "Because you could fix Ferguson. Ferguson could be the hall of justice. It could be the greatest place ever for poor people and black people to go and be treated well, and that doesn't do anything for the rest of the region."
Outside of the spotlight, many nearby towns have some of the exact same problems — including Florissant, the municipality I'm stopping by tonight.
Josh Canavan, a young staff attorney at ArchCity Defenders, greets me in the parking lot outside Florissant's night court on a drizzly Wednesday evening in March. We step past the cluster of police cars and walk down a path leading us to a side entrance of the building, where a line of cold, frustrated people are waiting to get inside.
After standing in line for a few minutes we shuffle into a building that doesn't look like a traditional courthouse. In Florissant, court is located in a massive gym; it used to be in an actual courtroom, but the room was small enough that anyone who wasn't on the docket was barred from entering. Until June, when the presiding judge of the St. Louis County Circuit Court demanded that municipal courts open their doors to the public, this was common practice, the Dispatch reported. Some courts told defendants who showed up with their kids that children weren't allowed in the building.
After the judge's order, Florissant moved its court to a gym, which accomplished the goal of allowing everyone inside the courtroom, but makes it impossible to hear the court's proceedings: the room is huge and the judge has a penchant for muttering. The court now seems to be straddling the line between "open" and "closed." You can go inside, but you can't hear anything that's going on.
Harvey says ArchCity's clients are often charged with three distinct "poverty crimes," as they're sometimes referred to: driving with a suspended license, failure to register a vehicle, and no proof of insurance. Many courts expect fines to be paid in full the night of court, but they do also permit defendants to set up payment plans; others, like Bel-Ridge court, don't allow them.
If defendants miss court, like Bailey did, a warrant will be issued for their arrest. Defendants arrested for warrants who can't pay their bonds can spend weeks in jail before they see a judge; no municipalities have court on a daily basis and many meet irregularly. Dellwood court, for example, gathers just once a month.
"I stayed in jail for 31 days in Town and Country," an older man living in north St. Louis remarked. "By the time they let me out, I lost my apartment, lost my job, everything. All they want is the money. If you don't have the money, you're getting locked up. That's why people hate to go to court. Because we know we're going to jail."
Warrants also impact people's ability to find housing and employment. Federally funded housing programs require warrants to be cleared, as do many job-training programs, said Val Ferlis, a program director at a shelter for homeless women and families in St. Louis County called Room at the Inn. The St. Louis Housing Authority conducts background checks for applicants, and cites any criminal arrest as grounds for rejection.
Ferlis estimated that more than 80 percent of her clients are caught up in this limbo, unable to find housing or a job because of issues related to ticketing and warrants. "If you can't afford your housing or pay your utility bills, paying a ticket is the last thing on your mind," she emphasized. "Some of these people come in with five, six, seven outstanding tickets in various municipalities. They're struggling just to get back into housing…Many of our clients have exhausted everything and they have nowhere else to go."
Under the Florissant gym's bright lights, Canavan and the other attorneys in the building wait in their own line near the metal detector, which will eventually lead them to a meeting with the prosecutor to iron out their cases. The line inside the courtroom for defendants is long, snaking around the white-tiled gymnasium walls, under large basketball hoops, and inching outside the door. It maintains that length all evening, until court wraps up several hours later.
Canavan and I shoot a few texts back and forth as he waits his turn. I ask him if the lines for the defendants here are standard. "Very much so," he replies. "Meat packing plant."
Florissant is one of three St. Louis County municipal courts highlighted as a "chronic offender" of harmful court practices in a 2014 "Municipal Courts White Paper" published by ArchCity Defenders. According to the paper, fines served as the third-largest source of revenue in the municipality's budget in 2013, following only utilities and sales taxes. During that time, Florissant issued approximately one warrant for every six residents, collecting roughly a quarter ($695,000) of the court's total revenue (three million) in warrants.
Like in Ferguson, black residents were routinely targeted: They represent just a quarter of Florissant's populace but account for nearly 60 percent of Florissant Police Department stops, and the search and arrest rate for black residents was also nearly double the rate for white residents, according to the paper.
There are a few white faces on the docket in Florissant, but the crowd is overwhelmingly black. Outside court, I meet a wizened old woman wearing a robin-blue blazer. She's trying to figure out what to do with her daughter, who she claims was scooped up recently on her way to work and is now behind bars in Florissant. Her crime? "$8,000 in fines just for traffic tickets," she scoffs. "All she had was unpaid tickets. She could lose her job and everything." She rubs her granddaughter's shoulder, who looks around ten years old and thoroughly exhausted. "I got her daughter here. I don't know what to do. But I will tell you one thing. Somebody needs to do something about this. They have made a killing here. It's so sad it almost makes me want to cry. They take our money like that. How's my daughter going to ever get loose of this?"
Canavan meets her outside and hands her his card. "I can't promise anything," he tells her, "but give me a call tomorrow. Let me know you're the one I talked to."
It's likely that the courts in Florissant and elsewhere are conducting themselves more favorably now in light of the DOJ report and overall scrutiny of the courts. "If you came here six months ago, you would have seen things that just boggled the mind," Harvey asserted. In Bel-Ridge, Roediger said, "they used to cuff people to the radiator."
Many people who went through the courts remembered lines that wound around the building and stretched down the street for blocks, in searing heat and frigid cold. "Before you used to have to wait and the line would be all the way around the corner," a woman standing outside Jennings court recollected. "It didn't matter what the weather was. You'd have to stand outside."
The courts can also be difficult to navigate. Few municipal court websites post information about the dates and times of night court and many only operate on a part-time basis, which means calls can go unanswered. I was told Bel-Ridge, for example, holds court on Wednesdays, but when I called Wednesday morning to check on the time, I learned that the office was closed. Because no one could answer my questions, I drove to the Bel-Ridge courthouse. The front doors were locked and I lingered in the parking lot for an hour before I saw another person, who walked around the building. I followed her and discovered the night court location — a room in the back of the building that was undetectable from the street.
I ran into similar problems when I called the Florissant court to confirm the date and time of court. The receptionist asked if I was on the docket, and after hearing I was a reporter, she referred me to a different phone number: Boyle Law Firm LLC, the private law office of Florissant's provisional judge, Dan Boyle, who also works as an attorney in private practice. In St. Louis County, this is common. Municipal court judges are frequently attorneys in private practice. Sometimes they are also county prosecutors. They might serve in numerous jurisdictions; a judge in one municipality could be the prosecutor in another.
This was the case before Brockmeyer resigned from his positions in Ferguson and Florissant. A judge in one municipality and a prosecutor in another, he was the common denominator between the two towns, which are next to each other and together generated millions off their municipal courts in 2013.
I called the number provided for Boyle and the receptionist graciously told me I couldn't come to court: "We've had reporters call and he won't allow reporters in anymore," she said firmly. "But I won't be filming," I insisted. "I don't know," she replied. "He's not going to be in today" — court was that night — "so I don't know how to have him call you."
Harvey wasn't surprised when he heard this. "That's a perfect example of what our clients, poor people in this region face," he pointed out. "If you want to call before court, you're dealing with somebody who may or may not be able to give you the right answer. The judge isn't there because the judge is an attorney in private practice. The prosecutor isn't there because the prosecutor is an attorney in private practice. The only person there is a clerk who may or may not know anything about it and probably frankly shouldn't be telling you anything about the law. In addition to all the more egregious constitutional violations that are going on, just think of it as a practical matter. This is one of those good illustrations of how the process is the punishment."
One afternoon before heading to night court, I took a ride down +firstname.lastname@example.com,-90.345973,17z/data=%214m2%213m1%211s0x87df343d0c394e9b:0xd1f25af3f7142d9b">Natural Bridge Road, a main drag in St. Louis County flanked with dried patches of grass and worn buildings, that runs through eight different municipalities in a less than four-mile stretch from Bel-Ridge to Pine Lawn. A drive down this route on Natural Bridge with an expired license plate means you could potentially get pulled over for the same violation in all eight municipalities you pass through. "You cannot live in this region without driving through 10 or 15 municipalities a day," Harvey said. "And if you live in the poorer places, you drive through more. They're smaller, denser, and more desperate for this revenue."
This cuts straight to the core of the problem so many poor people living in the municipalities face. What may have been one ticket in an area with fewer municipalities turns into five; if you don't go to court, that turns into five warrants. "I got three tickets in the same day for the same thing," a schoolteacher outside Florissant court commented. "My husband had just died, my car was not registered, and so I got three tickets instead of one."
According to Clarence Lang, an associate professor of African and African-American studies at the University of Kansas, there's "a long history in the St. Louis area of localism and fragmentation." The roots and proliferation of this fragmentation can be traced back to the mid 20th century, a combination of racist public policy and white flight.
In 1970, a black engineer named Adel Allen talked about his experience living in Kirkwood, a majority white St. Louis suburb, at a hearing of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. "I don't think there's a black man in South St. Louis County that hasn't been stopped at least once if he's been here more than two weeks," he remarked. "There's an almost automatic suspicion that goes along with being black…An obvious attempt toward emasculation of the black man. I've been stopped, searched…and then told after they found nothing that my tail light bulb was burned out, or I should have dimmed my lights, something like that."
Allen, a college graduate who moved to the St. Louis area in the early 1960s to work at the McDonnell Space Center, couldn't find any realtors who were willing to sell him a house in the suburbs; his only other options were cramped apartments in the inner city. Finally, Allen convinced a white friend to buy a house for him in Kirkwood, in what was known then as a "straw purchase." Shortly after Allen moved in, "for sale" signs began popping up throughout the neighborhood. When Allen moved in, the block was home to 30 white families; seven years later, there were just two.
At the time, Allen's experience was typical. When black families moved to new neighborhoods, real estate agents would often canvas the block and try to convince white homeowners to sell their houses at reduced prices, claiming that black migration would destroy their property values. The same real estate agents would then purchase the properties and resell them to black homeowners, many of whom had fewer housing options, at marked up prices. Some version of this process likely took place when Allen moved to Kirkwood.
Whites began moving out of St. Louis in the '30s, and a combination of discriminatory public policy and white flight kept black and white neighborhoods segregated. In 1948, the Supreme Court struck down the use of race restrictive deeds and covenants, so white residents looked for other ways to shut out black homeowners, enacting exclusionary zoning laws that prohibited the construction of low-income housing but allowed for single-family homes.
"What's really remarkable about this setting is that, until quite recently Missouri probably had the least stringent regulations on what it took to create a new town," said Colin Gordon, a history professor at the University of Iowa and author of the book Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the Fate of the American City.
States set the rules for municipal incorporation, and before regulations imposed on incorporation in the late '70s, Missouri basically had none. "If you had six signatures and six houses, you could call yourself a town," Gordon explained. This made it easy to create new towns with the explicit goal of shutting groups of people out.
"The principal reason to have a town, to have a corporate status, is to win the right to zone," Gordon continued. "And for most of the 20th century, the ability to zone was inextricably linked to the motive to segregate the population. That's why people wanted to zone. And there are some egregious examples of this in St. Louis County, where municipalities incorporated and zoned in a matter of weeks just to kill a multi-family housing project or something like that."
The racial history of St. Louis County is not exceptional; similar policies and segregationist practices existed in almost every major urban center in the country at the time. But it is central to understanding the number of municipalities in that region, and as an extension, why so many people there are dealing with unsustainable court fines and fees.
Today, a large number of black residents in greater St. Louis live in North County, where the legacy of racist public policy, white flight, and the proliferation of municipalities endures through predatory ticketing and warrants.
"Jennings is kryptonite bad," the grandmother sitting outside Florissant declares. "They're worse than Ferguson!"
Night court there is housed in a considerably smaller venue than Florissant's gym. Dozens of people file through two grey doors on the side of the small red brick courthouse and quietly line up along the wall, waiting for their cases to be called. The courtroom's interior is what you might imagine: Wooden benches, white walls, and harsh lights.
Judge John Duepner, a man with a grey beard and glasses, calls defendants up one by one; they step up to handle their fines. The whole process can be excruciatingly long. "Last time I came at 6 I didn't get out until 11," says a woman named Charmaine, who was in court to pay off fines after she was pulled over and ticketed for having no insurance. She sparks a cigarette and takes a long drag. "It's horrible."
If you have the resources to hire an attorney and pay your fees, meanwhile, the process isn't quite so horrible. Entering his or her appearance on your behalf, the attorney will submit a letter to the prosecutor and request a "recommendation for disposition." Once fines and court costs are paid, the prosecuting attorney will recommend that moving violations, like speeding tickets, be changed to non-moving violations, like excessive vehicle noise.
That part of the process — changing the moving violation to a non-moving violation — is key. Missouri operates on a point system, and your license will be suspended or revoked if you tally up a certain number of points (some moving violations can tack on more points). License suspension is a big problem for many St. Louis County residents; thanks to state law, a failure to appear in court means an automatic license suspension. St. Louis has a flimsy public transportation system, so people with suspended licenses still depend on driving to get to and from work, and often continue to drive even if they are not legally permitted to do so, risking getting pulled over and slapped with more fines and fees.
Charmaine says this used to happen all the time outside Jennings court. Drivers who came to court to handle warrants for driving with suspended licenses "used to leave this courtroom, and before you even pulled out of the lot [the police] got you."
Some of the defendants in Jennings can hardly afford to pay off their tickets, much less front the cost of an attorney. For speeding tickets alone, attorneys can be paid around $50, in addition to the fines collected by the municipality. "I lost my job and couldn't afford to pay them," says Charmaine, who owed upwards of $600 dollars. "I have a family and I had to take care of them. I had to make a decision."
Few municipalities provide lawyers for defendants who can't afford counsel, which means that unrepresented defendants regularly enter guilty pleas without knowing that they can consult with a lawyer. Though the U.S. Supreme Court held in 1983 that a state may not "imprison a person solely because he lacked the resources to pay [fines or restitutions]," and Missouri law entitles defendants to a hearing to determine their ability to pay, ArchCity and others say that rarely happens. "Our goal is that poor people don't need lawyers to get treated like human beings," Harvey said. "We have accepted that it's okay to lock up poor people in a cage, especially if they're from marginalized communities."
hough the Jennings courtroom is crowded, there's only one white man in the room on the docket. I stop him as he exits the building and ask him what he thinks of the court. "I think it's racist as hell," the man, whose name is Antonio, fumes. "I asked the lady at the front desk why is everyone who's working there white and everyone who's got a ticket black?"
Charmaine chimes in. "If you noticed, it's majority black. It's never a mixed crowd. When you're black you can only have a certain amount of people in your car…It really is a color thing. Half of the people here are barely making it. We can't afford it."
Antonio nods and points at Charmaine. "I feel like if she stepped up there for an insurance ticket, her fine's going to be different than my fine. It happens all the time. They look at you and decide."
Brendan Roediger, the professor at St. Louis University School of Law, said when he first started visiting the night courts throughout St. Louis County, he was struck by what he saw and heard. "I was in Illinois before I did this and I had never seen a system like this." Roediger recalled one night in St. Ann with Judge Sean O'Hagan, who is also a prosecutor at the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office. "I watched the confined docket. People's bonds were set at $100 or $200 and he kept saying to people, 'What's the matter? Nobody loves you? You can't come up with $200? Nobody loves you enough to bring $200?'"
Judge O'Hagan, a dour, grey-haired man, seemed to be in a state of constant exasperation the night I stopped by night court in St. Ann. When one woman acknowledged she had forgotten to bring some paperwork O'Hagan needed, he snapped: "You haven't done anything right in this, have you?"
That night, the prosecuting attorney at St. Ann was Keith Cheung. Cheung works at Curtis, Heinz, Garrett & O'Keefe, a St. Louis County law firm whose lawyers serve as the prosecutors and judges in upwards of 20 municipalities. Cheung wears multiple hats: He's the judge in one municipality and the prosecutor in numerous others (Frontenac, Normandy, and St. Ann). One source said he was positioned to become "the new Brockmeyer."
According to a recent report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in 2006, he received an email from Wes Dalton, who at the time was a circuit court judge in Warren County, imploring him to scrub the case of an 18-year-old girl who had been written up for alcohol possession.
"Her Dad is Wayne Baker (owner of Warrenton Oil and a —-load of other stuff)," Dalton wrote. "Can we make this one go away??? By the way, we're hooked up for golf at Porto Cima at the Conference!!! (is no cost okay???)!!"
Unlike Charmaine and Antonio, Baker's daughter got off scot-free.
People who live in neighborhoods impacted by violence want the police to protect them from violence, not to arrest them for driving while suspended for unpaid traffic tickets. Many of the people interviewed for this piece expressed doubt that the police in their neighborhoods are there to help them with public safety; rather, they believe that officers are there to exploit them for revenue, and so they tailor their lives accordingly. Some stop driving altogether, tacking on hours to their daily commutes. Others choose the streets, and people they're driving with, carefully.
"If you go down Natural Bridge and are in Pine Lawn, Jennings, Ferguson, Florissant, if you're black you'll take your hat off," Sean Bailey sighed. "You're automatically in a gang if you're wearing a Cardinals cap. When the police get behind you, they're running your plates whether you're doing something or not. Better make sure you're in a car that's legit."
Harvey and others suggest abolishing the municipal courts as the best way to reform the system. They say the legislature and the Missouri Supreme Court have the power to do so, and could transfer all municipal cases to St. Louis County Circuit Court. "I think it's totally feasible," Harvey speculated. "The way people are talking about this… I think we're close."
Still, change could be a long time coming. In an interview with St. Louis Public Radio, Frank J. Vatterott, a municipal judge in Overland who also heads the Municipal Court Improvement Committee, remarked that abolition "isn't going to happen."
"There is nothing wrong with the courts in Maryland Heights or Creve Coeur or Richmond Heights. Those courts work very well. Those cities should have the right to enforce their ordinances," he added.
Though some modest reforms have been enacted, there is little consensus on the best way to reform the system. In addition to abolishing the courts, some have endorsed municipal consolidation; others, like Monica Huddleston, the mayor of the tiny St. Louis County municipality Greendale, oppose it. "When people say to us, 'You need to disincorporate because there are too many of you,' my answer to that is: Excuse me but these folks here pay to live here," she said. "They have paid the taxes, they voted me into office and the representatives that they have into office to continue this style of living. So if we disincorporate we no longer would have that quality of life. And that's unacceptable to us."
She noted that all of the county's municipalities are grouped together with the bad offenders, including the ones who don't exploit their residents. "We are all painted with the same brush. And the few [municipalities] who do not do the right thing, that is not the norm," she insisted. "The norm is not for people to be mistreated and racially profiled. Most of our courts are doing the right thing."
Until change does come about, however, Bailey and many other St. Louis County residents will continue to tailor their lives around the expectation that they will be pulled over and ticketed. Bailey now has a part-time job at a restaurant and has since paid off all of his tickets, but he still can't shake the ominous feeling that an officer might follow him every time he sits behind the wheel.
"Even after I got all my warrants cleared I still tense up when I see [the police]," he says. "It's like, wait a minute I'm not doing anything wrong! But there's a possibility that they will stop and mess with you. You see them behind you…" he trails off, "and you know that you're rolling dice."
Link to original article from ThinkProgress


text:
While cleaning out my closet i realized
that i havn't worn this star-printed jumpsuit in ages and honestly i wasn't even
really sure if i should keep it anyway. But i'm glad that i changed my mind!
ZARA: jumpsuit, shoes, / H&M: sunnies
/ F21: necklace / VINTAGE: bag / NONAME: basecap

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Collections of poetry and prose which I have edited or in which my work appears.
A Cast-Iron Aeroplane That Can Actually Fly
Nothing to Declare
An Ear to the Ground
Where Beach Meets Ocean
Lay Bare the Canvas
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 5
- Next Page »
writer, poet, voice
Collections of poetry and prose which I have edited or in which my work appears.
Welcome! Come on in and browse through my books of poetry, anthologies I've edited and in which my poems appear, and some essays and articles on subjects ranging from blue water sailing to New England farm stays to birding. You can also find photos of my collaborations with painters, sculptors, photographers and musicians. Listen to audio clips of a sampling of my voiceover work.
As a poet, I perform and teach at colleges & universities throughout the country, and in residencies in elementary and high schools, libraries, writers' workshops and retreats, and senior centers. Read More…
WALKING SONG …reminding herself that she was only an elderly woman who had got up too early in the morning and journeyed too far, that the despair creeping over her was merely her despair, her personal weakness, and that even if she got a sunstroke and went mad the rest of the world would go […]
Basil Harris (pictured with sister Anne, summer 2016) He died today. Farewell, sweet singer.


text:
How do I publish my content in other languages?
Here's the workflow for localizing your Help Center in other languages:
- Get your content translated in the other languages.
- Configure the Help Center to support all your languages.
- Add the translated content to the Help Center.
For instructions, see Localizing the Help Center.
Please sign in to leave a comment.


text:
Transform your home with a fresh coat of paint! Hire the best painters in Gariahat and give your space a fresh, new Look! Trust the skilled painters in Gariahat to bring your walls to life with precision and care.
Experience hassle-free house painting and waterproofing with our skilled professionals. Our team will assess the surface condition, identify areas needing special attention, and accurately measure the site using laser technology. We provide precise quotations, recommend suitable products, and suggest the right process for the job. Book Free Inspection
Quotation accepted! We guarantee a stunning and long-lasting result, protecting your home from water damage. Get ready to enjoy the beauty and durability of a professionally painted and waterproofed home.. GET AN ESTIMATE
Get personalized color recommendations for your home with our color consultation experts. Our team of professionals will help you choose the perfect colors to enhance the ambiance and style of your living space. BOOK COLOR CONSULTATION
Sit back and relax while our experts beautify your house.
Voila! Your freshly painted and waterproofed house, ready for all seasons!
Of The Site By Trained Experts.
With Bespoke & Trending Digital Visuals Of Your Home.
At Every Step Of Your Painting Journey.
India's Trusted Painting and Waterproofing Service Partner
I'm happy and satisfied with your work and would recommend others to reach for painting...
All reviews
I had my daughter's room made over . The Aapkapainter team was instrumental in...
All reviews
It was good and satisfactory. Aapka painter is very good and supportive. They are instrument...
All reviews
I am CEO of AlmaBase, a very early stage product start-up from Bangalore. I had to get my...
All reviews
We were impressed by the efficiency of the painters. It was a good experience and...
All reviews
Hassle free service and lot of provided prompt support. Will take their service again in...
All reviews
Aapkapainter team have done a really good job. Painters were very professional and did ...
All reviews
Starting from the quotation to the completion of painting,it was just an awesome experien...
All reviews
Calculate the required paint cost for the walls of your home with the Aapkapainter Paint Calculator
Paint calculatorA painting service provider that gives you customized value based on your personal preferences. Get professional colour consultancy with design experts with years of experience. You also get project managers to overlook your site on a daily basis. On time delivery and efficiency guaranteed by unique processes fine tuned with experts.
Painting the exterior or interior of your home can be a tedious job if you are not skilled. Hiring a reputable professional painter to do the job is the best option in Kolkata. You might think a do-it-yourself painting project could be more reasonably priced, but when corners are cut and spots are missed, you'll end up spending more on repairs. Professional painters are called experts for a reason. They work professionally around the clock to get the job done the way you want. They know all the instructions and procedures to do their job competently and much faster than you can do it yourself. Roundabout way, their commitment to the job will bring the client an acceptable outcome. This is why their service is well worth your money.
Of course, the cost of exterior house painting in Kolkata varies depending on the size of your home, the area you want to paint, and the type of paint you want to use. Paint costs will be further determined by the amount of paint and primer needed to complete your project, as well as the quality of wall paint you prefer. When working with a painter, you must be aware of the additional costs and hours of manual labor that can accrue.
A painter's total estimated cost is based on the estimated hours they will complete the work, plus a number of factors that are subject to change, taking into account:
As with many pricing factors, several types of costs affect the total cost of painting a home. These include:
The average total cost to paint a home's interior surface per square foot can vary for a number of factors, including:
The total cost of painting a house depends on several factors, such as -
The cost of hiring a room painter can depend on the type of work, time of year, skill level, and desired experience.
Paint Calculator helps you identify areas to paint and gives you an estimate of the amount of paint needed. Paint calculators are provided to give you an estimate of how much product is needed for a paint job. However, product requirements will show deviation depending on several aspects such as application method as well as surface condition.
Mint greens, light blues and pastels, light purples, dusty shades of orange and yellow are popular wall paint colors for Interiors.


text:
Please provide the following details along with your message so we may appropriately assist you. We will protect your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Statement.
Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)
© 2017 - 2024 PwC. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.


text:
Danny E. Olinger
New Horizons: January 2005
Also in this issue
by Roger W. Schmurr
Want to Pastor a Large Church?
by Thomas E. Tyson
by Larry Wilson
Turning Points in American Presbyterian History
by D. G. Hart and John R. Muether
The General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church has entrusted its denominational magazine, New Horizons, to the Committee on Christian Education for the purpose of informing OPC members and others about OPC ministries and providing instruction on Christian faith and life that is consistent with the doctrinal standards of our church.
One of my great privileges in serving as general secretary of the CCE is to edit New Horizons. In fulfilling the GA's directive, I draw upon the collective work of my predecessors in this position. In Roger Schmurr, Thomas Tyson, and Larry Wilson, the OPC has been blessed with three exceptionally godly and gifted men to edit New Horizons.
Roger had the monumental task of starting New Horizons from scratch. Ali Knudsen (secretary and proofreader), John Tolsma (graphics), and Susan Schmurr (layout) provided first-rate assistance, and New Horizons was off and running. In reading through the years of Roger's editorship, one sees the work of a brilliant editor, writer, and humorist who had a vision for the future of the OPC.
Under Tom Tyson's leadership, issues would sometimes center on a controversial subject such as theonomy or birth control. Articles pro and con would often be written, and the debate would continue in subsequent issues through letters to the editor. Tom advanced the theological discussion of New Horizons and yet always did so with a pastor's heart. It was early in Tom's tenure that managing editor James Scott was added to the New Horizons staff. Jim's expertise in line editing and layout freed Tom (and Larry and me) to work on the magazine's content and devote attention to the other responsibilities of the general secretary.
As editor, Larry Wilson exhibited theological vigor and an enthusiasm for the Reformed faith. Taking the four membership vows as his starting point, Larry confronted readers with the question, "Are you following Jesus Christ as your prophet, priest, and king?" In pursuing this grand Christocentric agenda, he drew not only from current Orthodox Presbyterians, but also the Reformed giants of the past, such as B. B. Warfield and R. B. Kuiper. From this grid, Larry explored such provocative themes as sexual purity, God's will for my life, and the disembodied gospel.
As I stand on the shoulders of these brothers and their accomplishments, I am also guided by what appeared in the independent magazine that preceded New Horizons, called the Presbyterian Guardian. The Presbyterian Guardian was known for its defense of historic Christianity, but this defense was never presented in a vacuum. Rather, in the pages of the Presbyterian Guardian, one could see doctrine and life together. I keep this pattern in mind as I edit New Horizons. I want the magazine to instruct and inform, educate and promote, defend and advance.
While the content of New Horizons will remain the same, this anniversary issue does mark stylistic changes. These changes were made with the assistance of OP member Christopher Tobias. I hope that you are as pleased as I am with the look of Chris's redesign.
A silent, but important partner in the publication of New Horizons from its inception has been Harmony Press. We are happy to continue this relationship with Harmony Press under the leadership of Fred and Steve Grotenhuis. From its beginning with OP pastor Lewis Grotenhuis (Fred and Steve's father), Harmony Press has served the OPC faithfully in the production of our educational materials.
Finally, the pages of New Horizons during the past twenty-five years have given evidence of a love for Jesus Christ and that particular expression of the Savior's church that is the OPC. Please pray that, by God's grace, New Horizons will continue to do that. I encourage you to read New Horizons, think about the articles (even the ones that you disagree with!), discuss with others the issues raised, use the prayer calendar, and share the magazine with others.
The author, an OPC minister, is editor of New Horizons. Reprinted from New Horizons, January 2005.
New Horizons: January 2005
Also in this issue
by Roger W. Schmurr
Want to Pastor a Large Church?
by Thomas E. Tyson
by Larry Wilson
Turning Points in American Presbyterian History
by D. G. Hart and John R. Muether
© 2024 The Orthodox Presbyterian Church


text:
Wilbert offers multiple ways to personalize a burial vault or urn vault with words, symbols, and images that speak of a singular spirit. Your loved one had a unique personality. The selections you make for the visitation and service should communicate that singular spirit. These choices ensure your loved one's memory is remembered for generations to come.
March - Aquamarine End Cap
March- Simulated Aquamarine
Personalize your EternalEmbrace or Life's Treasures selection with your choice of end cap.
Item #: D5006


text:
living creature
Ezekiel 10:15
10:15 living creature. This is explicit confirmation that the remarkable "living creatures" accompanying the throne of the presence of God were none other than the holy cherubim. Ezekiel had seen them at the river Chebar in Babylonia; here he sees them at the temple in Jerusalem, just as they were about to leave it.


text:
Romancing Christmas: 10 Love Stories to Spice up the Holidays Multi-author boxed set Release Date: November 3, 2014 Genre: Holiday Romance Cover Artist: http://www.bellamediamanagement.com/ ~~Blurb~~ Do you like your Christmas nice...or a little naughty? Bring the season into your heart with love stories to match your mood. This boxed set from 10 of today's hottest romance authors will warm your heart even on the coldest night. When Charmin Marvin wonders when Christmas Day would be in their new time frame, he sets events in motion no one could have expected. Dani and Charmin lost a lot when they were brought 200 years into the future. But nostalgia brings the possibility of Christmas back into Dani's life – if she can make it happen. Levi hates to deny Dani anything, but all holidays were removed from his society by the government decades ago. He has no idea what she's talking about – and when he does research and finds out – he wonders if something can be done. And someone outside of their small family wonders, too… Dani has the best of intentions – but creating Christmas in a world that no longer knows what a holiday is makes her life very complicated very quickly. Website:http://www.dalemayer.com Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/DaleMayer.author Twitter:https://twitter.com/DaleMayer Do you like murder and mystery with your mistletoe? Enter Zach Howard, a man who's finally managed to get his life on track this holiday season, until that is, he comes across a pair of otherworldly sunglasses. They reveal scenes of a terrifying future. Holly, the one woman he's never stopped loving, is in danger of a psychopath. This time around, he's determined to fight for Holly, even at the risk of his own life. But even if he manages to save her, can Zach restore her faith in him? He prays that this Christmas miracles and angels do exist. Website:http://www.hdthomson.com/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/authorhdthomson Twitter:https://twitter.com/HDThomson Season For Love by Chantel Rhondeau The specter of death tempered by beautiful miracles is all in a day's work for head nurse Tess Riggs and pediatric specialist Dr. Dash Brisson. But discovering Christmas is the season for love could be their biggest challenge yet. Website: http://www.chantelrhondeau.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChantelRhondeau Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChantelRhondeau A one-man landscape business keeps a roof over Sam Bledsoe's head and food on the table—and keeps his badly scarred face away from curious eyes. Free spirit Becca Sweet is pregnant—and down on her luck. With Christmas and a storm on the way, living in her car is no longer an option. When Sam comes to Becca's rescue, they discover that Christmas hope applies to all, even to them. Will hope lead to love, the most precious Christmas gift of all? Website: www.leslielynch.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeslieLynchWrites Twitter: http://twitter.com/Leslie_Lynch_ A Christmas Miracle (a 2014 Carolyn Reader's Choice winner) by Sandy Loyd Megan Jenkins isn't looking forward to Christmas, a holiday that reminds her of what she had and lost, a husband who died right after Christmas the year before, leaving her a young widow with a fatherless son to raise. During the course of this Christmas Eve, Megan experiences her own Christmas Miracle as she learns the true meaning of giving with the help of Kevin Murdock, a long-time friend who's always been there for her. Website: www.sandyloyd.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/sloydwrites Twitter: www.twitter.com/sloydwrites The Salty Carmel Christmas by Barbara Lohr Nothing ever changes for Rachel Morgan in Paris, Indiana. And then Eli kisses her. When Rachel returns home for Christmas, she's not exactly the family success story. The soft-spoken guy with killer blue eyes makes Rachel take a second look. Paris offers her a second chance. Sometimes life can be like a salty Christmas carmel—sweet but with a tang you remember. Sometimes the boy you leave behind is the man you want forever. Website: www.BarbaraLohrAuthor.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/Barbaralohrauthor Twitter: www.twitter.com/BarbaraJLohr Heating Up the Holidays by Marcia James When Chris Spencer returns home with his daughter, he's not looking for a second chance with his first love. And the last thing Nicky Paxton needs at Christmas time is her high school heart-breaker. But thanks to a hairless dog and a lonely child, they might get their Christmas desires. Website:www.MarciaJames.net Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/MarciaJamesAuthor Twitter:http://twitter.com/Marcia_James A widow of two years, Mallory Gardner is struggling to keep her business alive and still function in her dysfunctional family. Having two daughters, one of which who blames Mallory for her father's death is enough to test anyone's sanity. But when Arden J. Miller waltzes into town, he has other ideas—like capturing Mallory's heart even though love is the last thing on her mind. Can two irresistible forces deal with immovable objects, or will the effects of the holiday spirit help resolve issues previously thought to be unsolvable? Website: www.carolynhughey.com Facebook: http://on.fb.me/YUamEZ Twitter: www.twitter.com/ScribBLINGDIVA A Family for Christmas by Tallulah Grace Erin Matthews returns home to find closure, but she soon discovers truths that change her life forever. Luke Simmons never expected to meet a woman who sparks fire in his soul, even as his heart is breaking. Together, they find healing, and the true spirit of Christmas, in the love of a patchwork family. Website: http://www.tallulahgrace.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/grace.tallulah Twitter: https://twitter.com/TallulahSpeaks Blog: http://www.tallulahspeaks.com Single mother Kelly Kennedy can't afford lavish gifts for her four-year-old daughter, Bree. Homeless veteran Tyler Manning doesn't believe he deserves a Merry Christmas. When Bree asks Santa for a father and picks Tyler, both Tyler and Kelly must believe in the power of love to give Bree her best Christmas ever. Website: http://rachelleayala.me Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rachelleayalawriter Blog: http://www.rachelleayala.com ~~Purchase Links~~ Amazon: http://amzn.to/1xf3CwQ http://bit.ly/1wuTmjW iTunes: http://bit.ly/1FMogdJ Leave a Reply. |
This site contains adult content. Please do not continue if you are not 18 or older.
Your privacy is important to me. I never share your information. Visit here to review my Privacy Policy.
https://www.naomibellina.com/free-reads-privacy-policy--more.html Psst, Chrome users, you may need to do a little tweeking to get the RSS feed to work. Great YouTube short video here. http://bit.ly/1D9Deu5
To have my blog delivered to you automatically, please enter your email below.
AuthorI would love to hear from you! Drop me a line at naomibellina AT live.com Archives
February 2024


text:
Cryptocurrencies are the latest 'big thing' in the digital world and have now been recognized as being part of the monetary system. In fact, enthusiasts have tagged it as 'the revolution of money'.
In clear terms, cryptocurrencies are decentralized digital assets that can be exchanged between users without the need for a central authority, the majority of which being created via special computation techniques referred to as 'mining'.
The acceptance of currencies, like the US Dollar, Great British Pound and the Euro, as legal tender is because they have been issued by a central bank; digital currencies, however, such as cryptocurrencies, are not reliant on the confidence and trust of the public on the issuer. As such, several factors determine its value.
Factors that Determine the Value of Cryptocurrencies
Principles of Free Market Economy (Mainly Supply and Demand)
Supply and demand is a major determinant of the value of anything of value, including cryptocurrencies. This is because if more people are willing to buy a cryptocurrency, and others are willing to sell, the price of that particular cryptocurrency will increase, and vice versa.
Mass Adoption
Mass adoption of any cryptocurrency can shoot its price to the moon. This is due to many cryptocurrencies having their supply capped at a particular limit and, according to economic principles, an increase in demand without a corresponding increase in supply will lead to a price increase of that particular commodity.
Multiple cryptocurrencies have invested more resources to ensure their mass adoption, with some focusing on the applicability of their cryptocurrency to pressing personal life issues, as well as crucial day-to-day cases, with the intention of making them indispensable in everyday life.
Fiat Inflation
If a fiat currency, like the USD or GBP, becomes inflated, its price rises and its purchasing power drops. This will then cause cryptocurrencies (let's use Bitcoin as an example) to increase with respect to that fiat. The result is that you will be able to acquire more of that fiat with each bitcoin. In fact, this situation has been one of the major reasons for Bitcoin's price increase.
Scams and Cyber Attack History
Scams and hacks are also core factors affecting the value of cryptocurrencies, as they are known to cause wild swings in valuations. In some cases, the team backing a cryptocurrency may be the scammers; they'll pump the price of the cryptocurrency to attract unsuspecting individuals and when their hard-earned money is invested, the price is shortened by the scammers, who then disappear without a trace.
It is therefore imperative to be careful of cryptocurrency scams before investing your money.
Some other factors to consider, that have an impact on the value of cryptocurrencies, include:
- Manner in which the cryptocurrency is stored, as well as its utility, security, ease of acquisition and cross-border acceptability
- Strength of the community backing the cryptocurrency (this includes funding, innovation and the loyalty of its members)
- Low associated risks of the cryptocurrency as perceived by investors and users
- News sentiment
- Market liquidity and volatility of the cryptocurrency
- Country regulations (this includes the ban of cryptocurrency and ICOs in China and its acceptance as legal tender in Japan)


text:
Knife Gate Valve -> Electric Actuated Knife Gate Valve
Kolink knife gate valves are available in various designs, one-piece body and two-piece bodies, rising stem and non-rising stem, uni-direction and bi-direction structures, resilient and metal seat rings, bonnetless and bolted bonnet designs. For optional designs, deflection cone could divert the flow of abrasive slurries and protect valve seat from abrasion, V port disc and through conduit design are used for throttling service, per customers' requirements.
Features of Electric Actuated Knife Gate Valves:
Unidirection design
Replaceable resilient seat
Wafer type cast iron body
Self-cleaning mechanism
Rising stem, outside screw & yoke
Yoke type: Plate or Casting
Electric actuator operation
Applicable Standards of Electric Actuated Knife Gate Valves:
a) Design & Manufacture: MSS SP-61, ASME 16.34
b) Face to Face: MSS SP-81, ASME B16.10, EN 558
c) Connection End: ASME B16.5, EN 1092, JIS B2220
d) Test : MSS SP-81
Sizes: 2" - 48" or DN 50 - DN 1200
Pressure Rating: Class150 or PN6 - PN16
Materials of valve body: GG25 / A126 B, GGG40 / A536 60-40-18, etc.
Operation: Electric actuator
Would you like to get more products information or order it, please call me, or click Inquiry Now to fill in the Form.
It helps you get more informations you need to trade confidently with suppliers.
Related products : Gate Valve | Ball Valve | Check Valve | Globe Valve | Butterfly Valve | Knife Gate Valve


text:
MMA Fighter On His Back Somehow Knocks Out His Opponent
This guy wasn't going to let a little thing like being on the mat stop him.
Watch this truly crazy clip of MMA fighter Hossam Quashua knocking out his opponent while he's splat on the mat during the Wawan Fighting Championship in Kuwait.
While his unidentified opponent looms over him, Quashua pulls a rabbit out of his hat by issuing a thunderous right-legged kick that sends the other fighter to KO-ville. He then jumps up -- as does everyone in attendance, no doubt in awe of what they just saw.
Take another look from a different angle and after you watch how awesome Quashua's move was, just remember to feel some level of pity because there's just no way he's ever going to top this.


text:
In our website https://poland.sarantisgroup.com(«website») we use cookies. The Cookies policy explains what Cookies are, the way we use them on the website, how you can enable or disable them, and some further information.
Cookies are small text files that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit a site. This way, the website may recognize the personal computer you use or your mobile device, as it collects the info referred in the cookies chart. All the information is used for a specific reason and time period, as is described analytically for each cookie in the cookie chart. In addition, some cookies serve SARANTIS GROUP commercial advertising or/and promotion. Cookies enables the website to remember your actions and preferences over a time period to provide a more user-friendly service. You may find below a more detailed review of cookies categories that we use and for which purposes.
Cookies may be «persistent» or «session». The persistent cookies remain in your personal computer or mobile device even when you log off, while the session cookies are deleted as soon as you exit the browser.
Cookies may be installed by the provider of the website visited by the user (first party cookies) or by others through the provider of the website (third party cookies) visited by the user.
Responsible for processing personal data is the cookie provider who collects them (providers are listed in the relevant cookie table) and recipients of personal data are persons (staff, third parties) authorized by the provider.
When you enter and navigate the website, we save some cookie files in your device inside the browser. Cookies are used for the below reasons:
Different categories of cookies exist depending on the purpose of their use. The categories of cookies used by SARANTIS GROUP are the following:
Information on any cookie, its name, the category it is classified in, its purpose of use, the duration of its storage and its provider, and as well the possibility of providing or withdrawing your consent to the use of cookies you wish, you may find at the Cookies Table.
Your options are preserved per device and per browser for 12 months and upon lapse of this period, you will be asked anew.
Gr. Sarantis SA, 26, Amarousiou – Chalandriou str. Athens, acts as Controller.
You may find out more about who we are, how you can contact us, how we process your personal data and how you may exercise your rights in our Personal Data Protection Policy here.
You can configure your web browser to warn you about the use of cookies, to enable cookies when you select them, or to prevent them from being installed on your device, and to use "Do Not Track" function.
You can delete all cookies already on your device by clearing your browser's browsing history. This will delete all cookies from all the websites you have visited from this browser. In this way, however, some saved items may be lost, such as saved logins, site preferences, etc.
However, if you choose to disable all the cookies or do not accept their installation, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of our Website. In that way, you will not be able to save your preferences, and some of our pages may not be displayed properly.
To manage cookies via your browser, click the following links to be redirected to your browser's support webpages:
For Chrome, visit the Google page:
For Internet Explorer, visit the Microsoft page:
For Firefox, visit the Mozilla page:
For Safari, visit the Apple page:
If you use any other browser to visit the Website, visit the official web pages of your browser.
For more information about cookies you can visit the following third-party websites:
All About Cookies: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/
Network Advertising Initiative: http://www.networkadvertising.org/
The following data shall be recorded in log files for each request on the Portal server by the visitor/user's browser:
The above data shall be collected to control the security of the Portal information and services, to ensure the availability, integrity and confidentiality of information and data from accidental or illegal or malicious actions or incidents, to investigate any online attacks and incidents, and to support any relevant legal claims.
The log files shall be kept for a period of 12 months and may be notified to the processing company for the purpose of managing the Portal and to the competent authorities if necessary, to investigate any online attack and incident. The information for which an investigation is made or is used in the context of legal claims shall be kept for the period required for those purposes.


text:
Jobs & careers
As an innovative lifestyle and furniture brand, Cane-line is always striving to push the boundaries of design and quality. Our company thrives in a culture of inspiration, passion and creativity.
We are always on the look-out for talented people that would like to be part of our team.
We offer an exiting work environment, where you can develop and grow. If you think Cane-line is a company for you and we do not currently have a position that suits your skills, you are more than welcome to send your unsolicited application.
Cane-line application form is loading.


text:
A very stable boat with a strong, high-pressure AIR DECK inflatable floor and keel. The horsepower options that suit this model are 9.9 or 15hp outboards | |
Fabric | Mehler Haku PVC |
Boat Colour | Grey |
Max. persons | 4 |
Max. HP | 15 |
Transom height | Short |
Max. engine weight (kg) | 60 |
Max. load (kg) | 635 |
Weight1 (kg) | 38 |
Length (cm) [outside] | 290 |
Width (cm) [outside] | 154 |
Tube diameter (cm) | 40 |
Number of air chambers | 3+Keel+Floor |
Keel | Inflatable |
Floor | HP Air Mat |
Dimensions of folded boat (cm) – Bag 1 | 102 x 56 x 40 |
Warranty on fabric and seams | 3 years for Mehler Haku PVC model |
1 Includes weight of oars, does not include weight of seat (where applicable), double action pump, repair kit and carry bag.
Recommended tube air pressure is 0.25bar (3.6psi)
Due to our constant efforts to offer the finest products available, Mercury inflatables reserves the right to change specifications without notice.
- Compact & lightweight inflatable boat, ideal boat tender. Easy to carry, comfortable and roomy.
- X Stitch air floor. Thousands of X-stitched fibres give much more rigidity than traditional drop-stitched air floor. Features non-slip patches for safety.
- Horizontal floor support thrust board.
Inflatable keel forms a V in bottom of the boat for improved performance. - Stainless steel towing eyes in transom, make ideal davit lifting points.
- ABS sheet laminated transom, eliminates transom maintenance.
- Inside one way water drain.
Buoyancy Tube
- Mehler Haku PVC fabric.
- 3 separate internal air chambers for safety.
- Semi-recessed air valves – self draining, internal spring-loaded quick seal system, with plug.
- Rounded end cones. Ideal for quicker planning & four stroke outboards, eliminates water backwash and provides better stability.
- Easily accessible internal lifting eyes, make ideal davit lifting points.
- Fold down rowlocks, for neat compact storage of oars and provides room for seating along the tubes.
- Durable grab rope.
- Dragon handles, soft and comfortable.
- Rub strake
- Combined cleat / grab handle.
- 2 external stainless steel D-rings under the bow
- Bow-eye / handle
Standard Equipment
- Storage / carry bag.
- Repair kit.
- Double action hand pump with gauge.
- Aluminium oars.
- Removable fibreglass seat and extra seat position.
Optional Accessories
- Bow dodger storage bag.
- Under seat storage bag.
- Launching wheels.
- 12v Bravo automatic electric inflator and deflator.
- Boat cover.


text:
Wanakiji Jukurrpa (Bush Tomato Dreaming)
The Wanakiji Jukurrpa (bush tomato [Solanum chippendalei] Dreaming) travels through Yaturlu (near Mount Theo, north of Yuendumu). "Wanakiji" grows in open spinifex country and is a small, prickly plant with purple flowers that bears green fleshy fruit with many small black seeds. After collecting the fruit the seeds are removed with a small wooden spoon called 'kajalarra'. The fruit then can be eaten raw or threaded onto skewers called 'turlturrpa' and then cooked over a fire. 'Wanakiji' can also be skewered and left to dry. When they are prepared in this way it is called 'turlturrpa' and the fruit can be kept for a long time. In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, particular sites and other elements. The Wanakiji Jukurrpa belongs to Napanangka/Napangardi women and Japanangka/Japangardi men.


text:
Monday, October 15, 2012
St. Teresa of Avila: Why you can't seem to progress in the spiritual life
3 comments:
Our Lord Himself was nurtured and looked after by Our Blessed Lady in His temporal youth wherefore it would be unbecoming of us not to offer the direction of our spiritual lives into Her sweet care. She loves us and will be more than happy to be of aid in learning to know Her Son. Praying the Rosary is a high priority as it is like holding Our Lady by the hand while Saint Alphonsus has said that he would fear for his salvation if he omitted it for one day. Also it has been recommended to pray often for the grace of dying on some of Her Feasts.
Ave Maria,
Armatura - October 15, 2012 at 2:02 AM
- Chatto said...
Father, what is the difference (in terms of how it is experienced by the Christian) between the dark night of the sense, and that of the soul? Do you think there are Christians who aren't even on the Purgative Way? I've been seeing my spiritual director for 3 months, and have been thinking about progress in the spiritual life, and feel like I'm just starting on this stage, so where was I before? Perhaps it doesn't bear thinking about!
- October 15, 2012 at 11:31 AM
- ML said...
Thank you for this article! It is so helpful!
- August 26, 2017 at 9:29 AM
Post a Comment
When commenting, please leave a name or pseudonym at the end of your comment so as to facilitate communication and responses.
Comments must be approved by the moderator before being published.


text:
Tony Friar and Blair Nimmo were appointed Joint Administrators of Ewes Investments Limited – in Administration (the 'Company') on 30 June 2011.
The administration has come to an end. For further information, including the exit route from the administration, please refer to the final progress report.
Gerard Anthony Friar and Blair Carnegie Nimmo are authorised to act as insolvency practitioners by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.The Officeholder(s) may be Data Controllers of personal data as defined by the Data Protection Act 2018. Personal data will be kept secure and processed only for matters relating to the appointment. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for further information.


text:
I have a great gift idea for the gamers in your life. We recently got to try out the new Petz Beach game for Nintendo 3DS! This is a really fun game for all kids!
The franchise that has sold over 23 million units worldwide is back and more interactive than ever. Petz fans will embark on the ultimate adventure in Petz Beach, where players can care for a variety of dogs, complete quests to expand their village and connect with other Petz owners.
My boys loved the freedom they had in the game to explore so many different things! I love that creativity aspect of the game. There are more than 50 different types of animals in the game from dogs and cats, to dolphins and whales. Because the environment in game changes with the seasons, the adventure lasts all year long!
As players explore the town and meet new neighbors with their pets, the game expands and grows. Helping new friends will expand the village as the game progresses. Through its partnership with Encyclopaedia Britannica, Petz Beach incorporates learning along the way. As kids care for their pets and complete missions, they'll learn facts about animals, plants and insects!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
share this on » |
{Facebook} | {Twitter} | {Pinterest} |


text:
The Horticulture Program has a long history in Seattle Parks and Recreation. Its heritage goes back to the beginning of 20th century when the Park Commission invited the Olmsted Brothers to plan and design the framework for the park system for the City of Seattle.
At present, within the 2,300 acres of developed landscapes in Seattle Parks, there are more than 280 acres of Specialty Gardens, 240 acres of plant beds and more than 1,800 acres of turf area. There is a wide variety of horticulture programs and magnificent floral displays within developed parks, and in the Japanese Garden, Kubota Garden, Washington Park Arboretum, Volunteer Park Conservatory, and Woodland Park Rose Garden.The Department has its own greenhouse and nursery facilities where more than 180,000 annuals and perennials, woody ornamentals and native plants grown each year. The Department has also undertaken a number of horticultural and landscape renovation projects, trail improvement and maintenance projects, and urban reforestation program (GSP) that have successfully restored natural ecosystems. From the very cultural to the very natural, we have horticultural programs to meet everyone's taste.
Seattle Parks and Recreation's Specialty Gardens are some of Seattle's most beautiful and inspiring places. In addition to beauty and comfort, these gardens also provide education and conservation opportunities. They are the sparkling jewels within the Seattle Parks system.
Seattle Parks also have unique, historical designed landscapes and small gardens that are popular with the community. They offer respite from the city's noise, quiet places to sit and reflect, and a riot of color and fragrance in the spring.
The gardens and horticultural parks display diverse and unique collections of plants, landscape features, and culture heritages. They reflect the human effort to create a harmonious blend of nature and art.
Landscape Restoration Program
Landscape plantings have a life span, and because our park system is over 125 years old, the Department has an ongoing program for landscape renovation and or restoration. The goal of this program is building an ongoing landscape system with sustainability and functionality in mind. The quality, safety and beauty of park landscape assets are restored so that these will be used by the current generation and be carried and maintained healthy and ecologically for next generation. This program also allows the Department to reevaluate landscape areas to determine if redesign is needed in addition to restoration. It's also an opportunity to upgrade infrastructure such as irrigation and drainage systems.The Landscape Restoration program focuses on removal, improvement, and renovation of developed landscapes in parks, at community centers, pools, and other park facilities. Specific Areas of Landscape Improvement:
- Invasive removal
- Structural pruning of ornamental specimen trees and large shrubs
- Tree and shrub suitability assessment and replacement
- Low maintenance and/or water wise plant selection and landscape installation
- Design native or ornamental planting
- Control common weeds and invasive plants
- Site grading and drainage solutions
- Irrigation upgrade and adjustment
- Erosion control
- Path construction
- Stairway and wall construction
- Trail renovation and restoration
- Shoreline (lake, pond, & waterfront) embankment restoration and erosion control
- Urban wildlife and pollinator habitat restoration
Propagation and Production Program
Seattle Parks and Recreation has a propagation facility at Jefferson Greenhouse, to produce plants that are utilized in Parks and other city landscapes. Jefferson Greenhouse gardeners grow 100,000 to 120,000 annuals and perennials, plus an additional 75,000 woody natives and ornamentals every year. We provide these plants for the Department's Park resources and natural areas through Green Seattle Partnership and citywide Landscape renovation programs and trail program.


text:
WEBCAST TODAY @NextCentCit's Regional #Broadband Summit in Pittsburgh #NCCSummit
Today, Monday July 23 2018, Next Century Cities hosts the 'Making Connections: Regional Broadband Summit' in Pittsburgh. The conference is the first day of a two-day event that will bring together broadband champions, community leaders, and policy experts from federal, state, and local government to discuss today's most pressing issues in broadband deployment. Expert panelists will feature community success stories, and will dig in to digital equity, network financing, 5G, rural solutions, and more. The event will be webcast live on the Internet Society Livestream Channel.
View on Livestream: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/ncc-pittsburgh/
Agenda: https://nextcenturycities.org/wp-content/uploads/Making-Connections-Agenda.pdf
Twitter: #NCCSummit http://bit.ly/nccsummit


text:
by Klima
Code: L832-1
Klima Miniature Porcelain Meerkat
This little meerkat is from the Klima factory. It measures approximately 6.5 cm high by 4.5 cm long (about 2.5 x 1.75 inches) and will make an excellent addition to any collection of miniature animals.
This item is brand new and in mint condition.
About Klima
The Klima factory in France has been producing unique miniature porcelain animals for 25 years. Each model is produced by hand and manufactured in Thailand, using the natural dexterity and patience of the Thai people to ensure that every model is of the highest standard.
Payment to be made within 7 days of purchase, please.
Payment to be made in pounds sterling (GBP), please.
UK Buyers
We prefer payment via PayPal but also accept cheques or postal orders.
Buyers outside the UK
We only accept payment via PayPal from buyers outside the UK.
Items will be securely packaged and posted as soon as payment has cleared.
If an item is damaged in transit, please contact us and we will replace it or refund your payment. We would appreciate either the return of the item or a photo of the damage, to support any claim we may make against the carrier.
Your right to cancel
If you purchase an item from our website, you have the right to cancel the transaction. If you wish to do this, please contact us at the latest 30 days after you have received the item. We will refund the full cost of the item, but you will be responsible for the cost of returning it to us.


text:
Akatsuki Cloud Socks Customized Anime Socks
- Our customized printed Excessive Black-Backside Socks are the proper reward for anybody for any event.
- 75% polyeter+ 25% of cotton supplies present most flexibility and anti-shrinkage.
- Dri-fit, light-weight and breathable materials assist your toes keep cool and dry throughout all day's sporting, with out pores and skin stress and supply additional consolation.
- Design by Gearanime.com
- Please enable 10-15 enterprise days to obtain a monitoring quantity whereas your order is hand-crafted, packaged and shipped from our facility. Estimated delivery time is 7-10 enterprise days.
- Sizing Chart


text:
Welcome to day 3 of the Rosh Hashana Giveaway Week! Are we having fun yet? We're only half-way through, with lots more prizes left to give away.
The first of today's offering (yup, there will be TWO prizes today… stay tuned for #2…) is a $25 gift card to KosherWine.com. That ought to add a little spice to your Sweet New Year.
(If you don't know about the great deals at KosherWine.com, read my review here. We've been happy customers for three years.)
If you win, you can spend your $25 however you please: Maybe you'll pick up your favorite bottle of bubbly – and refuse to share it with anyone! Or maybe you'll be feeling generous, and get a special treat for your Rosh Hashana table.
To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post with your favorite gift to give – or receive – as a yom tov host.
Sorry, but this giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.
Each day this week, I am hosting one (and in some cases two) Rosh Hashana giveaways. The giveaways will be open until next Tuesday, September 20 at 11:59 CST. The winners of all the giveaways will be announced next Wednesday.
Disclaimer: KosherWine.com will provide one KOAB winner with a $25 gift card. I was not compensated to run this giveaway, nor to share my positive opinions of KosherWine.com. Those are all my own! I am, however, an affiliate of KosherWine.com. For more information on how clicking through to KosherWine.com from my blog supports KOAB, please see my disclosure policy.