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About the Episode
Welcome to Practically Speaking, a show dedicated to highlighting practically genius ideas in less than 15 minutes. Get takeaways from Annette Franz's Genius Spotlight episode on customer experience, like how the employee experience drives the customer experience. Lindsay and Ryan then dig into data from Formstack's State of Digital Maturity report. This week, they cover how the most optimized organizations focus on improving the customer experience. Discover why these organizations find it easy to deliver on customer expectations.
Episode Highlights
Meet Our Guest
Our featured Genius Spotlight guest was Annette Franz, CEO of CX Journey Inc. The keynote speaker and author has more than 30 years of experience helping companies better understand their employees and customers. She's known for creating world-class customer experiences for organizations across the globe. Listen to her episode The Truth about NPS and Getting Customer Experience Right now.
Episode Transcript
Lindsay: Hey, everyone. Welcome to practically speaking the show from form stack, where we dive deeper into the topics that matter to change makers like you. I'm Lindsay
Ryan: and I'm Ryan on this episode, Lindsay and I are reflecting on our conversation last week with Annette Franz and the topic of prioritizing the customer experience.
Later in this episode, we'll be diving into some recently dropped data around this topic, but let's start with your thoughts about last week's conversation with Annette Lindsay. What were your biggest takeaway?
Lindsay: The first one that really stood out to me is that she correlated the issues with customer experience being related to internal employee issues.
So I actually did work in customer service for, uh, nearly a decade, probably in a little bit different of a situation than Annette really talks about. I worked in retail, but still customer experience and. I never really thought about the fact that my employee experience would be impacting my ability to serve my customers, not having the right tools, not having enough bandwidth or time, or having the processes in place to really be able to have a strong internal employee experience are all things that come out and impact you in different ways and being able to serve your customers.
So that's one thing that she said that resonated with. Is just being able to connect the dots between what is happening internally from an employee experience standpoint, to what are the issues impacting customers. And is there more of a clarity and transparency between these two things, Ryan, what stood out the most to you?
Ryan: One of the things Annette mentioned was this idea of the service blueprint and how the internal tools actually impact the customer. If they're outdated or they're not being used correctly, then you don't have an accurate picture of how it's impacting the actual customer experience. Similar to customer journey mapping.
As I know in the similar vein that we use in the software or SAS space, but really thinking about every single touchpoint along the way from every time that a customer interacts with your brand. What that experience is, are there bottlenecks, are there inefficiencies because that ultimately impacts the experience that they have with your brand?
Why not have an accurate picture of what all those touchpoints might be? So I love that idea of the service blueprint that she mentioned.
Lindsay: Yeah. She also brought up the idea that the most important thing to CX teams are the tools and resources that they have. We do talk a lot about process before tools or process before technology, but I think there's also a lot to say in the realm of customer experience and the resources and what those teams have available to them.
I know Ryan, you and I were talking earlier today about the founder of Zappos and his book, delivering happiness and his whole discussion. There was. You can build a successful company. Only if your employees are able to serve your customers in the best way possible. And a net makes really strong points about how a CX team can not be successful unless they're giving the tools and resources that they need.
And so. If someone on that customer experience team does not have the access to what they need to serve their customers, whether that's a chatbot service that they're overseeing to be able to directly talk to customers as they're having issues, whether that is having internet bandwidth, to be able to stay on a zoom call.
For instance, if they're not set up for success. With those tools in technology, then they're not gonna be able to succeed. And then that's also gonna frustrate that employee and that's gonna do that ripple effect, that snowball effect into everything else they do. So I think just considering the idea that if you want to be successful, then you need to prepare your employees, provide your employees with what they need to be able to serve your customers in the best way possible or Ryan, anything else you took?
Ryan: One thing Annette also mentioned was the biggest investment companies can make is not only listening to customers, but actually doing something with the feedback. I think she mentioned that if you're not gonna do anything with it, you might as well throw away the software or the technology, because ultimately if customers are gonna take the time to give you feedback, Actually do something with that feedback to improve their overall experience.
A couple of forms that customers that come to mind in that regard in the sports realm, but Chicago fire and Indiana Pacers, but they not only use the data that they bring in from customers to provide more personal experience, make more tailored offers, but they also use that to attract more even similar audiences and they actually do something to build the overall customer profile up so they can actually.
The experience those current fans have with the brands. And I think that's the key. There is not just collecting data just to collect it, but actually put it into use in meaningful ways.
Lindsay: Yeah. And I think communicating that from a brand standpoint is also very important. I think if I see a brand telling me that we've made X, Y, Z changes because of your feedback, I'm much more likely that next time that survey hits my inbox to actually take it, instead of just delete it.
Like I might do, you know, 90% of the time or so.
Ryan: Now let's dive deeper into what the most optimized organizations do to prioritize the customer experience.
Lindsay: The following stats are from our 2022 state of digital maturity report. This report survey 2000 workers in the us about how they automate their everyday workflows.
The following stats all come from the most optimized organizations, those that are in the most efficient, the most digitized and have the most focus on ensuring that they're serving their customers to the best of their ability. So Ryan tell us about the first.
Ryan: Of those most digitally mature organizations, those optimized organizations, 86% say that improving the customer experience is a high priority.
A net on the past episode spoke about how customer expectations have changed, especially in the past couple years, the Amazon effect of simple buying process, digital first contactless in many cases, and customers prioritizing experience nearly as high, if not more than the product are offering.
Prioritizing that customer experience is truly a competitive advantage for these optimized organizations. And it needs to be seen like that from most organizations themselves. And when you compare that to the opposite in the spectrum of limited stage organizations, only 40% of those organizations said that they prioritize it.
So there's just a huge disconnect, even with some of the survey data. Realizing that they prefer more digital forms, for example, a more digital experience, but them not associating the negative effect on the customer when you don't offer those things. And I think that all comes down to empathy, having empathy for the customer and putting yourselves in a customer, choose as you're building out processes, as you're building out customer offerings, as you're communicating with customers, if you're in their shoes on what you would like as a customer.
You're more often than not gonna come out on the better end of that as far as providing a good customer experience. And I think it's all rooted in customer empathy. And I think it's a big reason why 80% of those most digital mature organizations are also reporting that they do not find it very challenging to meet customer expectations, not shocking that when they put such a high priority on the customer experience, that the flip side of is that they do not find it very challeng.
Lindsay: Yeah, I think you bring up a good point about the fact that they don't find it very challenging because they're able to adapt and be more flexible. They have that priority set. And so my stat is that 62% of the most optimized organizations use workflow automation to provide a better experience for customers.
So like Annette touched on in her episode that there are inefficiencies that can hide within your processes. And they not only greatly impact your employees, but your customers as well. And I think what the most digitally mature organizations have found is that workflow automation is not only a piece for improving your internal employee processes, things that go on behind the scenes, but it can also be used to, like you said, create those better digital experiences that people are beginning to.
Not only. But honestly, if you don't have it, they'll walk away from your organization. So we can't ignore the fact also that a poor employee experience does trickle out into poor customer experiences. So being able to use workflow automation and other types of technology and automation to improve processes across the board, whether it's internal, external employee customer, honestly, at the end of the day, maybe we.
Take those little adjectives away and just think about the processes holistically and how can we use technology to improve those experiences across the board. If you empower your employees with the right tools and resources and use those to automate and improve workflows, that's key to ensuring a great employee experience.
Having those employees stick around. Have them reinvest their time within your organization. And then all of that combines into a great customer experience, especially if you're in something like healthcare or insurance, think about the relationships that you have to build with your patients or with your customers.
And if your organization is able to keep your employees longer, keep them engaged, keep them invested, and then they stick around for the long term. Think about the customer experience there.
Ryan: Thanks so much for joining us on this episode of. Please speaking tune in next week to hear Lindsay talk with Denise Davis about why organizations should eliminate paper, besides the obvious you should. Check out the show notes for a link to the 2022 State of Digital Maturity report.
And as always, you can find your next practically genius idea at formstack.com/practically-genius.


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Event Horizon: Try imagining the color at the ends of the universe. This deep charcoal-to-black semisolid may get close.
Terrestrial Yarn Base: My heaviest yarn base, this worsted weight Superwash Merino is fantastically soft, but has great stitch definition due to its round and squishy construction. Perfect for scarves, hats, and other warm and cozy projects. 218 yards per 100 grams skein.
This is small-batch, hand dyed yarn. Skeins of one dye lot were dyed together, but will have natural variations. I recommend alternating skeins if you are making a project that takes more than one skein of yarn. Colors on your monitor may or may not accurately portray the yarn color, since individual monitors may display color differently from Real Life. Up to 4 skeins in any one dye lot.
I highly recommend hand washing your finished project in cool water and then laying flat to dry. As thorough as I am with rinsing, some color can escape for the first wash or two. Wash alone, or at least with like colors.
Home Environment:
This yarn is from a smoke-free home, but I do have pets. A random cat or dog hair may accompany your yarn, although I try to prevent it.

subset: commoncrawl


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Prices include VAT and shipping to UK addresses only. For orders outside the UK, please get in touch with the events manager.


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Purdue weed scientist's with the assistance of Purdue extension educators and various agricultural industry reps have identified corn and soybean fields in northwestern Indiana that have Palmer amaranth infestations.
At least 50 fields across five counties have been confirmed to have Palmer amaranth, with several fields having overwhelming infestations.
Plants were also found along roadsides and in drainage ditches throughout the area of infested fields. This is not the first discovery of Palmer amaranth in Indiana, but is the most significant as previous populations appeared to be confined to select river bottoms in southwestern Indiana.
The large number of infested acres and dense infestations in multiple fields across at least four counties indicates that these populations have been present for at least a couple of years. The majority of fields observed with Palmer amaranth infestations have survived multiple applications of glyphosate and PPO inhibiting herbicides.
The Impact of Palmer Amaranth
Palmer amaranth plant from above, notice the rosette leaf pattern that is similar to a poinsettia plant.
The spreading of manure from beef and/or diary operations with feed rations that contained cotton seed/cotton seed hulls from the southern U.S. that was infested with palmer seed is suspected to be the source of the populations found in northern Indiana.
The overwhelming majority of Palmer amaranth populations in the southern U.S. are glyphosate resistant and it is assumed that this why multiple applications of glyphosate have failed to control the transplanted populations in northwest Indiana.
Palmer amaranth is by far the most competitive of the amaranth species and has had significant economical impact on cotton production in the southern United States. Entire cotton fields have been abandoned solely due to the lack of control of glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth.
Southern producers have also reverted back to using hand rouging crews to combat competition from Palmer amaranth. Palmer amaranth plants grow rapidly in the summer heat, upwards of 2 inches/day, and can reach heights greater than seven feet. The seed production capabilities of Palmer amaranth are equally impressive with individual female plants capable of producing over 500,000 seeds.
Palmer Amaranth Identification
The identification of Palmer amaranth is critical to keeping track of where this weed has established itself in Indiana. Unfortunately, it is suspected that the recently identified populations have been misidentified over the last couple of years allowing it to spread without proper control.
Without close inspection Palmer amaranth can be confused with other more commonly known amaranth species such as: Redroot or smooth pigweed and waterhemp. The following publications will assist you in correctly identifying amaranth species
Simplified steps that Purdue weed scientist's recommend to identifying pigweeds is to:
- Look for hairs or pubescence on the stem to differentiate Redroot/Smooth pigweed from waterhemp and Palmer amaranth
- Observe the petiole lengths. The petiole is the structure that attaches the leaf blade to the stem of the plant. Palmer amaranth will have a petiole that is as long or longer than the leaf blade itself (Pic 1 and 2). Common waterhemp will have petioles that are shorter than the leaf blade.
Some other characteristics that will help differentiate Palmer and waterhemp is the growth pattern and female seed head structures. If you look at the main growing point from above the plant Palmer amaranth, it will appear to have a rosette shape with ovate leaves and long petioles, similar to a poinsettia (Pic 3). Palmer amaranth will have multiple seed heads, but will be distinguished with one main seed head that can reach 2 to 4 feet in length. The seed heads of female Palmer amaranth plants will also be spiny, you will know when you grab one.
The presence of spines (hardened seed bracts) in female Palmer amaranth seed heads can cause people to call it spiny amaranth. Spiny amaranth is predominantly a weed of pastures and livestock holding lots and has bushy growth habit.
Spiny amaranth has spines throughout its lifecycle especially at all node axil's. Spiny amaranth is also a monoecious plant (male and female flowers on one plant), where as Palmer amaranth is dioecious (separate male and female plants) with only females having spiny flowering structures.
Palmer Amaranth Control and Management
Palmer amaranth leaf with long petiole that is a key identifier of Palmer amaranth plants.
The management and control of Palmer amaranth must be aggressively proactive. Producers should also treat all Palmer amaranth with equal vigilance regardless of glyphosate sensitivity. The key to management of Palmer amaranth is to control it at its most vulnerable stage, germination.
The use of preemerge residual herbicides is critical in both corn and soybean.
There are a large number of corn preemerge herbicides that include atrazine premixes that will substantially reduce the amount of plants that emerge and require postemerge applications.
There are also a large number of postemerge corn herbicides that will control Palmer amaranth including HPPD inhibitors and growth regulators. In fields heavily infested with Palmer amaranth, it is recommended to grow corn for multiple years as the number of effective herbicides and MOA rotation is far greater than that of soybeans.
Soybean fields with Palmer amaranth must start clean with tillage or an effective burndown and receive a preemerge residual herbicide. This is the most critical part of a Palmer amaranth soybean control program as postemergence options are limited and variable.
There are a large number of preemerge soybean herbicides available for Palmer amaranth control, although flumioxazin and sulfentrazone containing products will provide the most residual activity.
Chloroacetamide herbicides, dinitroanilines, and higher rates of Sharpen-based herbicides can help as well. Postemergence products are limited to the PPO inhibitors and Liberty (Liberty Link beans only) and the effectiveness of these products can be variable. PPO inhibiting herbicides often referred to as burners and blazers, include Cobra, Reflex, Flexstar, and Ultra Blazer and must be applied to small plants to achieve full control.
Liberty in Liberty Link beans can be an effective management technique if one doesn't want to grow continuous corn. However, you should also use residual herbicides and remember that Liberty is effective on small (2-3") plants;
the efficacy of Liberty on large plants and heavy infestations will be variable.
In heavy infestations producers should overlap residuals by also applying a residual herbicide at the postemergence application. The fomesafen products (Reflex and Flexstar), have residual properties as well as postemerge efficacy. Other postemerge residuals include Dual II Magnum, Outlook, and Warrant.
These products will not control emerge weeds and thus should be tank mixed with a postemerge herbicide. Specific herbicide programs and rates will vary between soil types and production practices.


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This helmet meets or exceeds DOT Specifications which means that this helmet is Department of Transportation approved and will help protect you in the event of a crash or fall.· Warranty: 1 Year


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Zen SE84C Review
Reviewed by: Reviewed by: G Leonard, Audio Enthusiast, from Kailua Hawaii
Jan 2001
Product Model Year:2000
Summary:I bought the SE84CS after reading the reviews, and shortly after hearing an Audio Electronic Supply amp.Currently I'm in the tinkering stage with it, as I have it hooked up to my studio rig which consists of a 12 channel Mackie mixing board and I'm firing a set of highly modified Cerwin Vega E-715 speakers (each one of them has an extra 15" speaker tacked onto the bottom of them, making them into two 15" cabs), which are rated about 102db.Last night, I brought it in the house and hooked it up my Klipsch KLF-30's. Efficiency being the key here, this amp rocks and has no probably driving the Klipsch's, or the CV's to healthy volumes- louder than what I would normally listen to music at, and even louder than what I would normally listen to music after drinking 3-4 Corona's..Tell you what folks.. here's the key: Buy one. Get a nice efficient set of Klipsch's. Pull them out away from the wall, and do yourself a favor and save the money that you would waste on surround sound rigs. Or take that money and buy two of them (you can bridge them). With this amp, you won't need surround sound. Frightening what the presence is with this little amplifier. Your gonna love it, and it's the best $695 that you ever spent. Or buy the $495 SE84 version.. same power, same liquid sound, just less pretty in looks.
Strengths:liquid mids and highs, really sharp bass, pleasant to the ears
Weaknesses:none.. you can't beat it for twice the price..
Similar Products Used:first tube amp..
Decware is a trademark of High Fidelity Engineering Co.Copyright © 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 by Steve Deckert


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A weathered wooden shed that holds wheelbarrows, hoes and other basic tools is the beacon of the Student Organic Farm, a two-acre swath within the larger horticultural research farm at Iowa State University.
On a warm spring evening, a half-dozen students gather here, put on work gloves and begin pulling up weeds from the perennial beds where chives, strawberries, rhubarb and sage are in various stages of growth.
"I didn't know how passionate I [would] become for physical work," says culinary science major Heidi Engelhardt.
So passionate, she's now the outreach coordinator for the farm. Within her major, she says, "people want to work in kitchens and they want to work in big cities. And that is important, but it's also important to have that farming aspect. And I think I'm very lucky to have discovered that."
About 20 years ago, as small-scale farms on the coasts began luring shoppers with fresh produce at farmers markets and through community supported agriculture (CSA), the trend also took root here in the heartland.
The Student Organic Farm sends out boxes full of produce to the local community throughout the growing season. Student members can get a discounted subscription price if they work three hours a week in the field.
On this evening, most of the students working the farm have come from the Iowa State agronomy department.
But the appeal of working here is often independent of academic interests, says agronomy professor Mary Wiedenhoeft, who serves as an academic adviser on the farm.
"It's hands-on learning," Wiedenhoeft says. "And so that's why the student organic farm is really unique."
When the farm was first set up in the late '90s, in response to a class about sustainable agriculture, it became one of the area's first to use the CSA model. As the farm grew, so did academic interest in sustainability. Now the university offers a graduate degree in sustainable agriculture.
At a university where large-scale production of corn and soybeans are the primary interests for many students on campus, it's especially remarkable that the organic farm is wholly embraced, Wiedenhoeft says.
For some agronomy students who plan to return to a family farm, a vegetable operation could be a new enterprise they bring back, she says.
But on this night, most of the students dumping handfuls of weeds into a wheelbarrow for the compost have not grown up on farms. Riley Madole has the one paid job here, as the summer farm manager. It's the kind of work he'd like to pursue after he graduates in December.
"Not a lot of people in agronomy are going in my direction," he says, "whether it be straight organic or just reduced pesticide use."
But he says the faculty at Iowa State encourage various approaches to farming. "A lot of teachers here are emphasizing that the way we've been doing it is not necessarily the right way," he says. "And we need to be open to change sometimes."
Running this farm, students learn to grow food, manage a business and recruit others to get involved. They donate their surplus produce to area residents in need. And of course, they get to savor the fruits of their labor — literally.
"I went out and harvested some Brussels sprouts and they're now my favorite vegetable," says senior Becca Clay, who joined the farm her first semester on campus as an agronomy major.
Culinary science major Engelhardt has learned how to incorporate fresh herbs into her cooking. And for graduate meteorology student Kati Togliatti, the discovery was bright red.
"I really like beets," she says. "We got them in our box last year. I've never had them before because they're red, and an odd color, but they're really good."
This season the students will grow about 40 different fruits, vegetables and herbs. And they'll help cultivate interest in organic farming among the fresh batch of Iowa State students who sprout up in this fall.
Amy Mayer is a reporter based at Iowa Public Radio. This story comes to us from Harvest Public Media, a reporting collaboration focusing on agriculture. A version of this post originally ran on the Harvest website.
Copyright 2016 Iowa Public Radio


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Conservation in the United States took a big step recently when U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFW) announced it had successfully cloned the first endangered species native to North America: the black-footed ferret.
USFW announced the cloning on Feb. 18, saying it had cloned a new ferret, Elizabeth Ann, from stored tissue taken from a black-footed ferret that died more than 30 years ago.
"It just brings hope," said Kimberly Fraser, an outreach specialist for USFW.
Black-footed ferrets were thought to be extinct until 1981 when a rancher in Wyoming found a body of a deceased one on his front porch. That rancher took the remains to a taxidermist, who alerted U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and for a few years, the population flourished, until disease wiped out all but 20 in 1987.
Of those 20, two died and their tissue was stored in San Diego for decades until scientists received a permit to try and clone the endangered animal in 2018.
"Here we are, 30-some years later, and the technology is such that they can take that material from 1987 and clone a ferret," said Fraser.
Since 1991, 300 black-footed ferrets have been reintroduced into the wild, but they are all essentially half-siblings since they stem from seven unique ferrets.
Kimberly Ann resembles an eighth, meaning genetic diversity among the species is set to increase once she is able to breed in a few years.
"With respect to the reintroduction efforts we're trying to establish in the wild has a very limited genetic pool," said Pete Gober, the black-footed ferret recovery coordinator for U.S. Fish and Wildlife. "When you have a limited genetic diversity, you have less resilience to various kinds of challenges in the environment."
Elizabeth Ann is the first cloned animal native to North America and the second cloned endangered animal ever.


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Wooden Rocking Horse - Fill Stitch - Machine Embroidery Design
Instant Download.
There are 3 sizes included, please check the information under the pictures for the precise sizes of each design, stitch count, color changes and etc.
Included formats are: PES, JEF, EXP, DST, HUS, VIP, VP3, XXX
If you require another format please contact me.
ZIP file with all formats and sizes can be instantly downloaded after your purchase.
If you resize, edit or alter this design in any way I cannot then guarantee a quality stitch out so if you need a different size please contact me – I am happy to resize for you so you still get a perfect stitch out.
Please note: This is a digital file for machine embroidery not an iron on patch – you will need an embroidery machine to stitch it out.
Please choose carefully as refunds are not possible due to the digital nature of the item.


text: Operation by a California veterinarian on a valued young Koi fish. Koi are a variety of the common carp, Cyprinus carpio. Today Koi are bred in nearly every country and considered to be the most popular fresh-water ornamental pond fish. They are often referred to as being "living jewels" or "swimming flowers". If kept properly, koi can live about 30-40 years. Some have been reportedly known to live up to 200 years. The Koi hobbyists have bred over 100 color varieties. Every Koi is unique, and the patterns that are seen on a specific Koi can never be exactly repeated. The judging of Koi at exhibitions has become a refined art, which requires many years of understanding the relationship between color, pattern, size and shape, presentation, and a number of other key traits. Prize Koi can cost several thousand dollars USA. MODEL RELEASED.


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Zortam Mp3 Media Studio Pro v30.20 Multilingual
Zortam Mp3 Media Studio Pro v30.20 Multilingual | 68 MB | Language: Multilanguage
Zortam Mp3 Media Studio is all-in-one Mp3 application that contains Mp3 ID3 Tag Organizer for searching and cataloguing Mp3 files into Mp3 library, editing ID3v1 and ID3v2.4 tags (ID3 Tag Editor-Mp3 Tag Editor), CD Ripper with album cover art/lyric support that uses CDDB (Internet Compact Disc Database) and automatically writes ID3v1 and ID3v2.4 tags.
CD Ripper downloads album cover arts and lyrics from the interenet as you rip your CD (CD Ripper with lyric/cover art support), Mp3 Normalizer with custom volume level allows normalization of your Mp3's (Batch Mp3 Normalizer), search for song lyric from the internet (Batch Lyric Finder), search for album cover (album) arts (pictures) from the internet (Batch Cover Finder), batch lyrics and cover art finder from the internet (Batch Lyric-Cover Finder).
Create lyric book in html format (cover pictures are included) from ID3v2 tags (Lyric Book), convert Wav to Mp3 files and Mp3 to Wav files (Wav/Mp3 Converter), manage M3u playlists (Playlist Manager), rename files using ID3 tags (Mp3 Renamer), search for duplicate Mp3 files, (Search Duplicate Mp3's). Play Mp3's using your favorite Mp3 player, add karaoke (Kar) and midi (Mid) files directly to ID3 tag (Karaoke Manager), and keep them together in Mp3 file and play either Mp3 or Kar file from the single Mp3 file.
Zortam Mp3 Media Studio gives you:
– Auto tag your Mp3 music collection using the Zortam Music Internet Database (ZMLIMD)
– Mp3 Tagger and MP3 Manager
– Zortam Mp3 Player with cover arts and lyrics support
– Organize Mp3 music and edit tags in your audio library with a powerful interface
– ID3 Tag Editor (Mp3 Tagger) with separate views for ID3v1 and ID3v2.4 Tags
– Download song lyric and download cover arts (Album covers) from the Zortam Music Interent Database using batch processing – iPod and iTunes ready
– Normalize your Mp3's with Volume Normalizer and set custom volume in dB
– Rip your CD with CD Ripper and tag your songs in one single step with cover arts(artworks) and lyrics
– Batch Wav to Mp3 converter and vice versa
– Burn Audio or Mp3 CD
– Print HTML Lyrics book width cover arts
– Powerful drag & drop playlist manager
– Write ID3 Tags from filename
– Delete ID3 Tags, delete cover arts, delete lyrics (ID3 Tag Remover)
– Search for duplicate Mp3's
– Batch file rename using information from ID3 tags(Mp3 Renamer)
– Write ID3 tags using information from filename
– Add karaoke and midi files directly to ID3 tags
– All options are supporting batch processing
– Use mp3 tag lookup using Zortam Music Internet Database for auto tagging
– Plus match more …
Operating System:Windows 7, 8/8.1, 10, 11.
Homepage: http://www.zortam.com/


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Need a local Gardener in Raby, NSW 2566? At A Bargain Gardener our customers are our top priority.
We offer general gardening services to help you maintain your gardens. We also offer specific gardening services for different types of gardens.
When your garden needs professional care, A Bargain Gardener Raby is the service you can rely on. In particular, our attention to detail keeps our valued clients coming back.


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What matters in science — and why — free in your inbox every weekday.
Our award-winning show features highlights from the week's edition of Nature, interviews with the people behind the science, and in-depth commentary and analysis from journalists around the world.
ShanghaiTech University
Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research


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This is a battle report from the old Warbard – Corey
Dwarven warleader Reorax Thanak (the Witchkiller) surveyed his troops and the situation. The initial movement into this territory had gone well – only isolated patrols of humans, easily swept aside. His matchless Dwarven engineers had constructed a solidly stockaded field camp, and his troops had moved in for the night.
Now he had received word that a human force had moved out to meet him. His force formed up in front of their camp in the gloom of dawn, and prepared to begin the combat that would restore this land to its rightful Dwarven overlords.
Beyond the ranks of solid axedwarves and the bulk of the boltthrower to the left, the massive 'Khadan' floated, proud achievement of the runecarvers and mastersmiths of Thordan. The airboat was unique and powerful, and if Reorax's plan worked, it could prove the key to winning this battle.
Dwarven Order of Battle: 6xBlades (Axedwarves), 1x Hero General (Reorax Witchkiller), 1x Shooter (Crossbowdwarves), 1x Artillery (Bolt Shooter), 1x Airboat (the Khadan) = 24pts. Dwarves were defending.
Signal lamps flickered from the Khadan, keeping Reorax informed of the enemy's movements on the far side of the river. "Human troops in column….Foot leading…Horse following…Witch and guns spotted…" That last caused Reorax to grin. Killing human witches – they called them wizards – was something of a hobby for him. Another staff to mount on his wall, and another silly looking robe to carpet his floor with…
Terrain: Mostly open. A few small hills between the Dwarven camp and line and the river, which had a bridge. All human units started on the far side of the river, which crossed most of the board.
Human Order of Battle: 3x Knights, 1x Knight General, 4x Blades (Regular Swordsmen), 1x Wizard (the 'witch'), 1x artillery (primitive bombard)= 23pts.
The Khadan eased forward, sails catching the wind and liftrunes flaring in the early morning light. As it approached the Human column crossing the bridge, the swordsmen in the lead moved left, clearing the way for the column of knights behind them to cross, the banners of the commander floating in the van. The airboat swung down on the human general's group, weapons swinging to bear. Far behind, the main Dwarven line of axedwarves and crossbowdwarves started forward.
The Humans were severely cramped in their initial deployment. The Ketan River was not fordable, the bridge being the only way across. The Knights and Swordsmen were in column, the infantry leading the way. The gun and wizard were on the banks of the river to one side to defend the bridge.
The human general survived the Khadan's initial attack, so the captain of the vessel swung in line for another run. The human witch let loose a blast of raw power, but the Khadan's runes of protection dissipated the blast into a harmless – albeit spectacular – flare of light before the vessel was even struck.
This attack run proved successful – with the bridge behind him jammed with his own knights, the human commander fell before the deadly hail of the Khadan's weaponry. Leaderless, the human army streamed back over the bridge and away, harried on their way by the Khadan.
In Hordes, armies which have their general killed automatically rout, costing them the battle. This is what happened to the humans in this battle.
Reorax and the Dwarven line hadn't even closed to within bowshot of any enemy units, and the sun was not even properly risen! Reorax's disappointment at not getting another human witch was balanced by the sheer exultation of such an easy victory. All honour to the Khadan's crew and builders!
Now they could advance into human-occupied territory, and finish the job of establishing proper Dwarven leadership over lands that were rightfully theirs.


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by Muzammil
Antique Tools - Collectable Hand Tool Auction
by Muzammil
This antique tools website has a built in auction system for bidding on the tools, it also has a members area to restrict tracking apps and a built in forum for members to discuss anything tool related, securely.
Members can watch individual tool lots and it has a proxy bid system that facilitates proxy bids.
We auction Antique tools and collectable old tools and those user grade tools that are are in exceptional near mint condition.
It's fun and a rewarding pursuit that has engrossed lots of tool collectors for many years. It's an interest that gets you out and about, involves research into tool makers history and talking to others who have a common interest.
It's the hunt for collectable tools that many get thrills from, the fact that knowledge can pay handsomely to fund the bigger purchases in your tool collection is the icing onto the cake.


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New Movies This Week: 'The Purge: Anarchy,' 'Planes: Fire and Rescue,' 'Sex Tape'
A crime thriller, an animated romp and a raunchy comedy—just the dose of variety the movie doctor ordered for what's been a rather bland summer season at cinemas so far.
'The Purge: Anarchy'
This follow-up to last-year's low-budget surprise hit, 'The Purge,' expands upon the film's central premise: What would people actually do if, for one night a year, all crime were legal?
Directed by James DeMonaco
Starring Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Michael K. Williams, Kiele Sanchez
'Planes: Fire and Rescue'
Rusty Crophopper is back for another round of high-flying adventure, this time fighting forest fires and meeting new friends.
Directed by Robert Gannaway
Starring Dane Cook, Julie Bowen, Ed Harris, Regina King
'Sex Tape'
A married couple tries to rejuvenate their sex life by filming a session, but the video accidentally gets sent to their friends and family.
Directed by Jake Kasdan
Starring Jason Segel, Cameron Diaz, Rob Corddry, Ellie Kemper


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Round and round.
Dear Word Detective: I remember my father using the expression "beltline" to refer to a particular highway in Minneapolis. This was back in the '50s before any highways encircled a metropolitan area, so it puzzled me then and has since. Are we talking about something that cuts through the middle? Something that wraps around? Or something else? When did the expression start and did it apply to subways or elevated trains at first? Or did it describe highways? — Barney Johnson.
Oh boy, highway nomenclature. I haven't considered the subject lately, but what people called roads seriously confused me as a child. I grew up within coughing distance of the New England "Thruway" (aka Interstate 95) in Connecticut, but we often spent Sunday afternoons driving on the Merritt "Parkway," and trips to Ohio usually involved the Pennsylvania "Turnpike." Here in Central Ohio, people refer to I-70 as "the freeway" (or just "70"), although "freeway" is also applied to the "outerbelt" circling Columbus. (In Washington, D.C., the same sort of "outerbelt" is called "the beltway," and "inside the beltway" serves as shorthand for the social and political world of DC insiders.)
Most of these terms are fairly easy to decode. "Thruway" (originally "throughway") for instance, refers to a limited access highway that may or may not charge tolls. A "freeway" is the same thing, "free" referring to freedom of movement, not necessarily freedom from tolls. A "turnpike" definitely extracts tolls from travelers; the "pike" was originally, in the days of horse and carriage traffic, a staff which blocked passage until turned aside when the toll was paid. "Parkways" were originally highways elaborately landscaped with trees and shrubs to give travelers a scenic view to look at before the days of in-car DVD players (my personal nominee for worst idea of the century).
"Beltlines," however, were developed in the mid-19th century, before the advent of the motor vehicle. They were routes followed within many medium and large cities by horse-drawn or electric trams or railways that connected various areas of the city, facilitating the transport of goods and materials as well as workers. The city of Buffalo, NY, for instance, had a "belt line" railroad, built in the 1880s, that connected nineteen stations around the city to a central terminal where transfers could be made to trains to anywhere in the US. New York City had several horse-drawn tram lines in the 19th century, but in 1887 more than a thousand horses perished in a fire at the Belt Line Railroad Company stable.
Such "belt lines" tended to form a closed loop, like a buckled belt, although not necessarily forming a ring around the edges of the city as modern "outerbelt" highways do. The idea was that a passenger (or cargo load) could board the tram or train at any point on the route and ride the loop as far as was necessary.
I think your father's use of "beltline" to refer to a specific highway almost certainly came from the fact that the road formed such a closed loop, or something close to it. It may be that the highway actually followed an old "beltline" rail or tram route.


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Semisonic's hit song "Closing Time" is quite catchy, but most of us can only take so much of it.
Ask an Oregon woman who recently called police to report a man who wouldn't stop "obnoxiously" whistling the song.
According to Time, officers responded to reports of who the woman described as a "jack-ss guy" who refused to stop whistling, Time reports, citing Captain Mark Herb of the Forest Grove Police Department.
"It's not clear if the caller would have been more or less upset if it was a different genre or whether it was just the talent lacking in the whistling" Herb, who writes the department's entertaining weekly police log, told Time.
The woman apparently told the man to "shutup" – and he didn't take it well. A verbal altercation broke out, prompting the woman to call the cops. By the time they arrived, the man had already moved on.
When police eventually caught up to the man, he was reportedly still whistling "Closing Time."
Though annoying, it wasn't a crime, so officers sent him on his way and he "whistled his way back home," according to the police log.


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Probably. If so, I wish anyone who exercizes the poor judgement to visit this site a sublime holiday, and while you're donning your party hats and clinking your champagne glasses, think of me, alone and miserable and wearing a ridiculous splint in a hospital in Bangkok. One more unique experience in this soup of experience we call life.
Thanks for all the kind emails and comments this week, and I'll certainly be back next year. And who knows, depending on how I feel in a couple of days, I may even put in a surprise appearance before it becomes 2004. I sure hope so.


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A lac of rupees for a piece of advice
Indian Folktale
A poor blind Brahman and his wife were dependent on their son for their subsistence. Every day the young fellow used to go out and get what he could by begging. This continued for some time, till at last he became quite tired of such a wretched life, and determined to go and try his luck in another country. He informed his wife of his intention, and ordered her to manage somehow or other for the old people during the few months that he would be absent. He begged her to be industrious, lest his parents should be angry and curse him.
One morning he started with some food in a bundle, and walked on day after day, till he reached the chief city of the neighbouring country. Here he went and sat down by a merchant's shop and asked alms. The merchant inquired whence he had come, why he had come, and what was his caste; to which he replied that he was a Brahman, and was wandering hither and thither begging a livelihood for himself and wife and parents. Moved with pity for the man, the merchant advised him to visit the kind and generous king of that country, and offered to accompany him to the court. Now at that time it happened that the king was seeking for a Brahman to look after a golden temple which he had just had built. His Majesty was very glad, therefore, when he saw the Brahman and heard that he was good and honest. He at once deputed him to the charge of this temple, and ordered fifty kharwars of rice and one hundred rupees to be paid to him every year as wages.
Two months after this, the Brahman's wife, not having heard any news of her husband, left the house and went in quest of him. By a happy fate she arrived at the very place that he had reached, where she heard that every morning at the golden temple a golden rupee was given in the king's name to any beggar who chose to go for it. Accordingly, on the following morning she went to the place and met her husband.
"Why have you come here?" he asked. "Why have you left my parents? Care you not whether they curse me and I die? Go back immediately, and await my return."
"No, no," said the woman. "I cannot go back to starve and see your old father and mother die. There is not a grain of rice left in the house."
"O Bhagawant!" exclaimed the Brahman. "Here, take this," he continued, scribbling a few lines on some paper, and then handing it to her, "and give it to the king. You will see that he will give you a lac of rupees for it." Thus saying he dismissed her, and the woman left.
On this scrap of paper were written three pieces of advice—First, If a person is travelling and reaches any strange place at night, let him be careful where he puts up, and not close his eyes in sleep, lest he close them in death. Secondly, If a man has a married sister, and visits her in great pomp, she will receive him for the sake of what she can obtain from him; but if he comes to her in poverty, she will frown on him and disown him. Thirdly, If a man has to do any work, he must do it himself, and do it with might and without fear.
On reaching her home the Brahmani told her parents of her meeting with her husband, and what a valuable piece of paper he had given her; but not liking to go before the king herself, she sent one of her relations. The king read the paper, and ordering the man to be flogged, dismissed him. The next morning the Brahmani took the paper, and while she was going along the road to the darbar reading it, the king's son met her, and asked what she was reading, whereupon she replied that she held in her hands a paper containing certain bits of advice, for which she wanted a lac of rupees. The prince asked her to show it to him, and when he had read it gave her a parwana for the amount, and rode on. The poor Brahmani was very thankful. That day she laid in a great store of provisions, sufficient to last them all for a long time.
In the evening the prince related to his father the meeting with the woman, and the purchase of the piece of paper. He thought his father would applaud the act. But it was not so. The king was more angry than before, and banished his son from the country.
So the prince bade adieu to his mother and relations and friends, and rode off on his horse, whither he did not know. At nightfall he arrived at some place, where a man met him, and invited him to lodge at his house. The prince accepted the invitation, and was treated like a prince. Matting was spread for him to squat on, and the best provisions set before him.
"Ah!" thought he, as he lay down to rest, "here is a case for the first piece of advice that the Brahmani gave me. I will not sleep to-night."
It was well that he thus resolved, for in the middle of the night the man rose up, and taking a sword in his hand, rushed to the prince with the intention of killing him. But he rose up and spoke.
"Do not slay me," he said. "What profit would you get from my death? If you killed me you would be sorry afterwards, like that man who killed his dog."
"What man? What dog?" he asked.
"I will tell you," said the prince, "if you will give me that sword."
So he gave him the sword, and the prince began his story:
"Once upon a time there lived a wealthy merchant who had a pet dog. He was suddenly reduced to poverty, and had to part with his dog. He got a loan of five thousand rupees from a brother merchant, leaving the dog as a pledge, and with the money began business again. Not long after this the other merchant's shop was broken into by thieves and completely sacked. There was hardly ten rupees' worth left in the place. The faithful dog, however, knew what was going on, and went and followed the thieves, and saw where they deposited the things, and then returned.
"In the morning there was great weeping and lamentation in the merchant's house when it was known what had happened. The merchant himself nearly went mad. Meanwhile the dog kept on running to the door, and pulling at his master's shirt and paijamas, as though wishing him to go outside. At last a friend suggested that, perhaps, the dog knew something of the whereabouts of the things, and advised the merchant to follow its leadings. The merchant consented, and went after the dog right up to the very place where the thieves had hidden the goods. Here the animal scraped and barked, and showed in various ways that the things were underneath. So the merchant and his friends dug about the place, and soon came upon all the stolen property. Nothing was missing. There was everything just as the thieves had taken them.
"The merchant was very glad. On returning to his house, he at once sent the dog back to its old master with a letter rolled under the collar, wherein he had written about the sagacity of the beast, and begged his friend to forget the loan and to accept another five thousand rupees as a present. When this merchant saw his dog coming back again, he thought, 'Alas! my friend is wanting the money. How can I pay him? I have not had sufficient time to recover myself from my recent losses. I will slay the dog ere he reaches the threshold, and say that another must have slain it. Thus there will be an end of my debt.'
"No dog, no loan. Accordingly he ran out and killed the poor dog, when the letter fell out of its collar. The merchant picked it up and read it. How great was his grief and disappointment when he knew the facts of the case!
"Beware," continued the prince, "lest you do that which afterwards you would give your life not to have done."
By the time the prince had concluded this story it was nearly morning, and he went away, after rewarding the man.
The prince then visited the country belonging to his brother-in-law. He disguised himself as a jogi, and sitting down by a tree near the palace, pretended to be absorbed in worship. News of the man and of his wonderful piety reached the ears of the king. He felt interested in him, as his wife was very ill; and he had sought for hakims to cure her, but in vain. He thought that, perhaps, this holy man could do something for her. So he sent to him. But the jogi refused to tread the halls of a king, saying that his dwelling was the open air, and that if his Majesty wished to see him he must come himself and bring his wife to the place. Then the king took his wife and brought her to the jogi. The holy man bade her prostrate herself before him, and when she had remained in this position for about three hours, he told her to rise and go, for she was cured.
In the evening there was great consternation in the palace, because the queen had lost her pearl rosary, and nobody knew anything about it. At length some one went to the jogi, and found it on the ground by the place where the queen had prostrated herself. When the king heard this he was very angry, and ordered the jogi to be executed. This stern order, however, was not carried out, as the prince bribed the men and escaped from the country. But he knew that the second bit of advice was true.
Clad in his own clothes, the prince was walking along one day when he saw a potter crying and laughing alternately with his wife and children. "O fool," said he, "what is the matter? If you laugh, why do you weep? If you weep, why do you laugh?"
"Do not bother me," said the potter. "What does it matter to you?"
"Pardon me," said the prince, "but I should like to know the reason."
"The reason is this, then," said the potter. "The king of this country has a daughter whom he is obliged to marry every day, because all her husbands die the first night of their stay with her. Nearly all the young men of the place have thus perished, and our son will be called on soon. We laugh at the absurdity of the thing—a potter's son marrying a princess, and we cry at the terrible consequence of the marriage. What can we do?"
"Truly a matter for laughing and weeping. But weep no more," said the prince. "I will exchange places with your son, and will be married to the princess instead of him. Only give me suitable garments, and prepare me for the occasion."
So the potter gave him beautiful raiment and ornaments, and the prince went to the palace. At night he was conducted to the apartment of the princess. "Dread hour!" thought he; "am I to die like the scores of young men before me?" He clenched his sword with firm grip, and lay down on his bed, intending to keep awake all the night and see what would happen. In the middle of the night he saw two Shahmars come out from the nostrils of the princess. They stole over towards him, intending to kill him, like the others who had been before him: but he was ready for them. He laid hold of his sword, and when the snakes reached his bed he struck at them and killed them. In the morning the king came as usual to inquire, and was surprised to hear his daughter and the prince talking gaily together. "Surely," said he, "this man must be her husband, as he only can live with her."
"Where do you come from? Who are you?" asked the king, entering the room.
"O king!" replied the prince, "I am the son of a king who rules over such-and-such a country."
When he heard this the king was very glad, and bade the prince to abide in his palace, and appointed him his successor to the throne. The prince remained at the palace for more than a year, and then asked permission to visit his own country, which was granted. The king gave him elephants, horses, jewels, and abundance of money for the expenses of the way and as presents for his father, and the prince started.
On the way he had to pass through the country belonging to his brother- in-law, whom we have already mentioned. Report of his arrival reached the ears of the king, who came with rope-tied hands and haltered neck to do him homage. He most humbly begged him to stay at his palace, and to accept what little hospitality could be provided. While the prince was staying at the palace he saw his sister, who greeted him with smiles and kisses. On leaving he told her how she and her husband had treated him at his first visit, and how he had escaped; and then gave them two elephants, two beautiful horses, fifteen soldiers, and ten lacs rupees' worth of jewels.
Afterwards he went to his own home, and informed his mother and father of his arrival. Alas! his parents had both become blind from weeping about the loss of their son. "Let him come in," said the king, "and put his hands upon our eyes, and we shall see again." So the prince entered, and was most affectionately greeted by his old parents; and he laid his hands on their eyes, and they saw again.
Then the prince told his father all that had happened to him, and how he had been saved several times by attending to the advice that he had purchased from the Brahmani. Whereupon the king expressed his sorrow for having sent him away, and all was joy and peace again.
Indian fairy tales
Notes: Selected and edited by Joseph Jacobs, the book holds 29 Indian folktales.
Author: Various
Editor: Joseph Jacobs
Published: 1910
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, London


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The United Auto Workers (UAW), officially the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union, is one of the largest and most powerful labor unions in the United States. It is a major force for liberalism in domestic politics, and takes an active role in state and national politics. There is a breakoff union in Canada. The UAW has approximately 600,000 active members and over 500,000 retired members organized into approximately 800 local unions. The UAW peaked at 1.53 million members in 1969, but has been shrinking steadily as the unionized automobile industry, the "Big Three" (General Motors, Ford, Chrysler - renamed Stellantis) downsizes.
One of the most Leftist of all unions, the UAW lost popular with its frequent strikes throughout the 1970s which may have contributed to the landslide defeat of President Jimmy Carter in 1980. Some wonder if its unprecedented simultaneous strike against the Big Three in September 2023 will have the same effect in undermining President Biden's reelection.
In 2007 the UAW agreed to new contracts with the Big Three that created a two-tier wage rate. New workers beginning in 2010 will get much lower salaries than old workers. Average annual wages for production workers at the Big Three were $67,480 in 2007, and $81,940 for skilled workers, which are much higher than wages paid to non-union workers at rival firms in the South, such as Toyota and Honda. The UAW joined with the Big Three in November 2008 to plead for a "bailout" for the industry, warning that GM is on the verge of bankruptcy. Republicans, long the political enemy of the UAW, blocked the bailout, but President George W. Bush authorized loans from the Treasury. In 2009 General Motors and Chrysler went through a fast-track bankruptcy, sweetened by tens of billions in federal aid. The aid was used in large part to fund the pensions and medical care coverage of retired UAW workers.
The UAW was founded in May 1935 in Detroit under the auspices of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) after years of agitation within the AFL for organizing unions within major industries. The AFL had focused on organizing craft unions but at its 1935 convention, a caucus of industrial unions led by John L. Lewis formed the Committee for Industrial Organization, the original CIO, within the AFL. Within one year, the AFL suspended the unions in the CIO, and these, including the UAW, formed the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Communists provided many of the organizers and took control of key union locals, such as Local 600, which represented the largest Ford plants. Walter Reuther, a rising power, cooperated closely with the Communists, but historians disagree whether he was a full party member.[1]
The UAW rapidly found success in organizing with the sit-down strike — first in a General Motors plant in Atlanta, Georgia in 1936, and more famously in the Flint sit-down strike that began on December 30, 1936. That strike ended in February 1937 after Michigan's governor Frank Murphy played the role of mediator, negotiating recognition of the UAW by General Motors. The next month, auto workers at Chrysler won recognition of the UAW as their representative in a sit-down strike.
The UAW's next target was the Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford had promised that "The UAW would organize Ford over my dead body." Ford selected Harry Bennett to keep the union out of the company, and the Ford Service Department was set up as an internal security, intimidation, and espionage unit within the company, and quickly gained a reputation of using violence against union organizers and sympathizers as at the Battle of the Overpass. It took until 1941 for Ford to agree to a collective bargaining agreement with the UAW. By the end of the year, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor dramatically changed the nature of the UAW's organizing.
The UAW's Executive Board voted to make a "no strike" pledge to ensure that the war effort would not be hindered by strikes, and that pledge was later reaffirmed by the membership.
Postwar zenith
After the war, Walter Reuther won the race to be president of the UAW, and served for almost 25 years — from 1946 until his death in a small airplane accident in 1970 — leading the union during one of the most prosperous periods for workers in U.S. history. The UAW was a power in the Democratic party nationally, with Reuther its spokesman. It supported the programs of the New Deal Coalition. strongly supported civil rights (it was one of the first unions to welcome black members), and strongly supported Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. The UAW became strongly anti-communist after it expelled its Communist leaders in the late 1940s, and supported the Vietnam war and opposed the antiwar Democratic candidates.
The UAW (and especially Reuther) promoted "Industrial Democracy", meaning a scheme whereby great national economic decisions would be made by new regulatory boards comprising industry, unions, and the government, perhaps with the addition of consumers and farmers. It was a utopian power grab that excited few rank and file members, who instead wanted higher wages and a better retirement deal. The concept of "Industrial Democracy" did not mean internal democracy in the union. The union was controlled by a few hundred local and district leaders, who controlled the locals below them and who in turn elected the top leaders.[2]
Immediately after the war left-wing elements demanded a 30-hour week (for 40 hours pay), (called 30-40).[3] Reuther rejected 30-40 and decided to concentrate on total annual wages, displaying a new corporatist mentality that accepted management's argument that shorter hours conflicted with wage increases and other job benefits and abandoning the old confrontational syndicalist position that shorter hours drove up wages and protected against unemployment.
In the 1960s, the UAW used its strategy of negotiating a contract with one major auto maker and applying it to others to secure a number of new benefits for auto workers, including fully paid hospitalization and sick leave benefits at General Motors and profit sharing in American Motors. The UAW also grew to include workers in other major industries such as the aerospace and agricultural-implement industries.
During this time, UAW members became one of the best paid groups of industrial workers in the country — many buying second homes in the country, boats, and earning enough to move to the suburbs and send their children to college. The UAW negotiated a "job bank" whereby workers who were laid off would go to a location where they did nothing whatever, yet were paid almost their full wages and benefits and had the rights to be the first rehired.
The (UAW) supported liberalized trade during and after World War II more enthusiastically than any other union. UAW officials believed that freer trade would help create a high-wage, high-production, full-employment economy that would benefit not only automobile workers, but American consumers more generally. After the war, the UAW also organized workers in industries that depended on exports: agricultural implement, construction, and aerospace.[4]
Decline after 1973
The situation for the automotive industry and UAW members worsened dramatically with the soaring price of gasoline after 1973 and, especially, the dramatic inroads of Japanese and other imports. This started years of layoffs and wage reductions, and the UAW found itself in the position of giving up many of the benefits it had won for workers over the decades. By the early 1980s, the state of Michigan had been devastated economically by the losses in jobs and income within the state's largest industry. This peaked with the near-bankruptcy of Chrysler in 1979. Cities such as Flint, Lansing, and Detroit began to lose population and businesses. By 1980 the Congress, with support from corporations and the UAW support, had established import quotas for foreign makes. The Japanese, European and Korean car makers thereupon started building modern, non-union factories in the South, and continued to gain market share. They were profitable while the unionized Big Three teetered on the verge of bankruptcy.
In 1985 the UAW's Canadian division broke off from the union over a dispute regarding negotiation tactics and formed the Canadian Auto Workers as an independent union.[5]
Strikes became more and more infrequent, although the threat remained. The protracted 1991-98 labor dispute between Caterpillar Inc. and the UAW ultimately resulted in a decisive union defeat.[6]
The UAW called a nationwide strike against GM in September 2007, the first in 37 years. It lasted only two days and ended with a compromise contract that GM favored. The new contract creates a trust fund financed by GM and run by the union that will administer healthcare benefits for retired GM workers. GM's primary goal was to erase a $25-an-hour differential in labor costs between the unionized automakers (GM, Ford and Chrysler) and Japanese-owned companies such as Toyota, which have non-union workers at their U.S. plants. GM's labor costs (including pensions and benefits) averaged $80 an hour—about $160,000 per year per worker—compared to $50 at Toyota. GM, Ford and Chrysler have a combined $90.5 billion in unfunded retiree healthcare obligations; in the new agreement GM will shift about $36 billion of its $50 billion in retiree healthcare obligations into the trust fund. The new contract creates a two-tier wage scale, which would establish a lower pay scale for new workers hired into non-manufacturing jobs, such as janitorial and landscaping positions. In return, the UAW won concessions on job security regarding moving jobs offshore. GM's unionized force has drastically shrunk in recent years, as only 73,000 blue collar union members went on strike.
According to Williams (2005) the UAW used the rhetoric of civic or liberal nationalism to fight for the rights of blacks and other workers of color between the 1930s and 1970s. At the same time, however, it used this rhetoric to simultaneously challenge the demands and limit the organizing efforts of black workers seeking to overcome institutional racial hierarchies in the workplace, housing, and the UAW itself by characterizing these demands and efforts as antidemocratic and anti-American. Three examples show how the UAW use of working class nationalism functioned as a countersubversive tradition within American liberalism: the UAW campaign at the Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan, in the late 1930s, the 1942 conflict in Detroit over the black occupancy of the Sojourner Truth housing project, and the responses of the UAW under the conservative leadership of Walter Reuther to the demands of black workers for representation in UAW leadership between the mid-1940s and the 1960s.
Academic Union
In the 1990s, the UAW began to focus on new areas of organizing both geographically — in places like Puerto Rico — and in terms of occupations, with new initiatives among university staff, freelance writers (through the subsidiary National Writers Union) and employees of non-profit organizations. The UAW took on the organization of graduate students working at American universities as teaching assistants and graders. under the slogan "Uniting Academic Workers". As of 2004, the UAW represents more students than any other union. Universities with UAW ASE representation include the University of California, California State University, University of Massachusetts, University of Washington, and New York University.
- Barnard, John. American Vanguard: The United Auto Workers during the Reuther Years, 1935-1970. (2004). 607 pp. excerpt and text search
- Boyle, Kevin. The UAW and the Heyday of American Liberalism, 1945-1968 (1995) online edition
- CRS Report for Congress, U.S Automotive Industry: Policy Overview and Recent History (April 25, 2005) online the CRS (Congressional research Service) is a non-partisan research service run by Congress.
- Cutler, Jonathan. Labor's Time: Shorter Hours, the UAW, and the Struggle for American Unionism. 2004. 236 pp. excerpt and text search
- Devinatz, Victor G. "A Heroic Defeat: the Caterpillar Labor Dispute and the UAW, 1991-1998." Labor Studies Journal 2005 30(2): 1-18. Issn: 0160-449x Fulltext: Project Muse and Ebsco
- Dollinger, Sol, and Genora Johnson Dollinger. Not Automatic: Women and the Left in the Forging of the Auto Workers' Union (2000)
- Esposito, Mark A. T. "The UAW, American Trade Policy, and the Transformation of the Global Automobile Industry, 1945-1973." PhD dissertation West Virginia U. 2004. 324 pp. DAI 2005 65(12): 4688-A. DA3159333
- Goode, Bill. Infighting in the UAW: The 1946 Election and the Ascendancy of Walter Reuther (1994)online edition
- Halpern, Martin. UAW Politics in the Cold War Era (1988)
- Howe, Irving and B. J. Widick. The UAW and Walter Reuther (1949) online edition
- Kornhauser, Arthur et al. When Labor Votes: A Study of Auto Workers (1956) online edition
- Lichtenstein, Nelson. The Most Dangerous Man in Detroit: Walter Reuther and the Fate of American Labor (1995) online edition
- Lichtenstein, Nelson and Stephen Meyer, eds. On the Line: Essays in the History of Auto Work (1989)
- Roberts, Chris. "Harnessing Competition? The UAW and Competitiveness in the Canadian Auto Industry, 1945-1990." PhD dissertation York U. 2003. 991 pp. DAI 2004 65(1): 277-A. DANQ86360
- Tillman, Ray M. "Reform Movement in the Teamsters and United Auto Workers" in Michael S. Cummings and Ray Tillman eds. The Transformation of U.S. Unions: Voices, Visions, and Strategies from the Grassroots.(1999) online edition
- Williams, Charles; with Reply by Gerstle, Gary and Smith, Rogers M. "The Racial Politics of Progressive Americanism: New Deal Liberalism and the Subordination of Black Workers in the UAW." Studies in American Political Development 2005 19(1): 75-97. Issn: 0898-588x Fulltext: Cambridge Journals
- Williams, Charles Thomas. "Working-Class Americanism and the Rise of the United Auto Workers: From Labor Insurgency to Postwar Political Integration." PhD dissertation U. of California, Berkeley 2005. 253 pp. DAI 2006 67(4): 1520-A. DA3211569 Fulltext: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
- Zieger, Robert H. The CIO, 1935-1955 (1995) online edition
Primary sources
- Christman, Henry M. ed. Walter P. Reuther: Selected Papers (1961) online edition
See also
- American labor unions
- Automobile
- Financial Crisis of 2008
- John L. Lewis
- Walter Reuther
- New Deal Coalition
- Fifth Party System
External links
- The UAW home page
- History of the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW)
- The Great Flint Sitdown Strike
- UAW News
- UAW Articles
- ↑ Victor G. Devinatz, "Reassessing the Historical UAW: Walter Reuther's Affiliation with the Communist Party and Something of its Meaning - a Document of Party Involvement, 1939." Labour 2002 (49): 223-245. Issn: 0700-3862 Fulltext: in History Cooperative
- ↑ Boyle (1995)
- ↑ Cutler, (2004)
- ↑ Esposito, (2004)
- ↑ Roberts (2003)
- ↑ Devinatz, (2005)


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Posted by Henry on December 20, 2004
In Reply to: Three British vs Three Britons posted by Smokey Stover on December 20, 2004
: : : In a news headline this morning the Associated Press used the phrase "Three British tourists" and Reuters on the same story used the pharse "Three Britons". "Britons" seemed unusual to me. Is it in common usage or did the news service use this word to shorten the headline.
: : Speaking as a UK national, I can confirm that it's not in common usage, but it is strictly speaking a correct term. (Of course, I suppose that it's non-UK nationals who would be able to confirm more easily how common the term "Briton" is.)
: : In the UK, when one sees the word, one's first assumption is that the ancient Britons are being referred to - the lot that Julius Caesar invaded back in 54 BC. Either way, I agree that Reuters were looking to shorten the headline.
: To many Americans (most?), "Briton" refers to any inhabitant of the U.K., not just to those of Celtic origin or of pre-Roman Britain. Irishmen from Ireland are not usually called Britons. "Englishman" is used for persons presumed to be English, not Scottish, Welsh or Irish. Britons live in Britannia, wherever that is. But the word Briton does not fall trippingly on the American tongue. We pronounce the word Britain with a glottal stop, but we have to adopt a somewhat unnatural pronunciation for Briton, that is, an unaccented syllable introduced by "t" and ending with "n", but in which the "t" is NOT rendered by a glottal stop. So we say "Brit" instead. Or I do.
: Now, all you genuine Englishmen, what word do YOU use when you wish to include all the inhabitants of the U.K.? SS
Now that's a good question! For most purposes, the inhabitants of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland wouldn't willingly be classed together. We do share a passport, but it doesn't shed much light on the matter; 'Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs requests and requires in the name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary'.
- Britishness David FG 21/December/04


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By David Swanson: Andrew Kolin's new book "State Power and Democracy: Before and During the Presidency of George W. Bush" actually begins with the war for independence and continues into the Obama years. A 231-page monotone recounting of endless facts, it doesn't pick up with Bush the Lesser until page 137. Kolin chronicles a gradual slide into an imperial presidency that really got going after World War II. Along the way he chronicles the damage done to the forces of resistance, making a compelling case that our movements for peace and justice are weak in part because of the extreme repression of recent decades. Kolin's second chapter takes us through the early twentieth century, chapter three from Truman to LBJ, chapter four Nixon to Bush the Older, chapter five Clinton and Chimpy, chapters six and seven all Dubya, and chapter eight Captain Peace Prize. Only without the cutesy names (that's me) and without much commentary, analysis, outline, or subheadings. "State Power and Democracy" is like an unrelenting stream-of-consciousness recounting of general trends and, in large part, specific detailed events of the past 60 years. It is thus an excellent reference book, as soon as you figure out where to find things. Kolin's book is also an excellent corrective, that he himself seems to somewhat miss in his closing paragraphs, to the notion that partisan politics can reverse the movement toward a police state. Kolin says we've arrived at a police state but recognizes, I think, that we can still go further down this path. He recommends, however, that we try to work with the Democratic Party. More valuable perhaps than that bit of advice tacked onto the end of the book is the history Kolin tells of the two-steps-forward-and-a-half-a-step-back progress decade after decade, as Democratic and Republican presidents alike have seized ever greater police state powers. Had this happened under a single political party, the primary difference would probably not have been the increased speed in the fascist advance but the increased awareness and resistance among Americans. When we get beyond the idea that George W. Bush ruined a perfect republic, and read a fuller account, like Kolin's, of what's gone wrong, it becomes evident that Bush could never have done what he did without Clinton's efforts to expand war and police powers, including the power of rendition. Similarly, Clinton could never have gone down that path without Reagan, or Reagan without Nixon, or Nixon without LBJ, or any of them without Truman, who would have been lost without the already huge accumulation of power in the White House and the abusive precedents of Abraham Lincoln and those who went before. It appears, as many of us warned in 2008, that what Kolin writes in this passage will determine our fate: "The ultimate measure of whether or not the Obama administration will roll back the police state will depend on whether or not there are prosecutions of Bush administration officials. Past history says this isn't likely; whether it was enslavement of African Americans; ethnocidal policies against American Indians; or the consistent, sometimes violent repression of dissent, government has generally not been held accountable. While Nixon left office and a few of Watergate's perpetrators were punished, the institutional arrangements involving the FBI and CIA that made Watergate possible remained. The imperial presidency was slowed but not halted. When the Iran-Contra conspirators violated the Constitution, President Bush senior pardoned them." The grammatical construction of the first sentence above should give us a bit of hope: "whether or not there are prosecutions" — because there may be prosecutions of top Bush officials in Spain, and it will be up to us to communicate to the people and the courts of Spain our deep gratitude and our willingness to take the lesson to heart. Such reversals should, after all, come more easily in Washington if the people of Egypt are able, in the coming days, to remove and — ideally — prosecute the dictator of their country who has had the full support of the past seven presidents of ours. For an excerpt of Kolin's book go here: http://www.juancole.com/2011/01/kolin-how-the-us-became-a-police-state.html David Swanson is the author of "War Is A Lie." See http://warisalie.org David Swanson is the author of "War Is A Lie" |
David Swanson is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by David Swanson |