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Volkswagen To Offer $5,000, Buy Back Cars To Settle Dieselgate
The emission scandal that convinced the world's largest advocate of "clean diesel" to abandon ship and embrace plug-in technology appears to be reaching a settlement in the United States.
As reported by Germany's Die Welt newspaper today, besides having to fix or buyback affected cars, a deal tentatively reached with the US authorities would also see VW pay each customer with an applicable diesel receive $5,000 in compensation.
For those with a 2.0-liter diesel (such equipped on some Jetta, Golf and Audi A3), the company will present an offer to also buy those vehicles back.
The deadline to get the deal approved expires on April 21st. This apparent settlement means Volkswagen will avoid a costly and high profile trial – of which it was unlikely to fair well in.
The final settlement will likely also include an environmental remediation fund, addressing excess pollution emitted by the VW diesels since the cheating began in 2009.
VW has yet to comment on the matter, but one assumes we will get confirmation either way within about ~24 hours or so.
Auto News, Hat tip to Jamie H, ffbj!
Categories: Volkswagen
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68 Comments on "Volkswagen To Offer $5,000, Buy Back Cars To Settle Dieselgate"
Is it April 1 again?!?!?!?!?!?
I sent that int too, probably was not first
Now this:
If VW is actually serious about offering to pay $5000 to buy back each and every effected faux-clean diesel car, then that's a lot more than I expected from them.
Note that I didn't say it was sufficient to make up for the crime; just that this is more than I expected them to offer.
(And today is not a good day to be a Volkswagen stockholder!)
No, but quite a day for the effected VW owners, if indeed this gets approved by the judge.
And then what happens to those cars? Do they just ship them to Africa and resell for no net benefit to the atmosphere?
Good question. It would be totally unacceptable if the repurchased diesels were not crushed or rendered inop.
Or they could simply fix the firmware so they stay in compliance mode 100% of the time and then resell them.
Except that they can't do that or they would have done it already. This is an intractable problem that isn't going to be solved with software.
I don't see why not.
It's a software program that makes it compliant while testing; it's just a matter of keeping the setting in this program.
The point is, the car will have lesser performance and use more fuel, but it would be environmentally compliant.
No, it's that EVEN WITH the European Software / Hardware Fix, real world emissions tested, IS STILL NOT within legal limits.
Diesel Is Dead, my friends.
Not exactly true. Reputation perhaps mortally wounded, but all VW had to do was fit the common urea injection system, like GM did with its tier 2 bin 5 compliant Colorado diesel. That's the same standard, as do higher dollar diesels. EPA is not in the business of making things impossible.
More than anything else, this saga illustrates the lengths Volkswagen went to circumvent a unique U.S. law requiring the disclosure of "alternative emissions control devices", and a deep rooted belief they could define "Clean" their way.
Making the cars run "in compliance mode" means the MPG would go to hell, and if I understand it correctly, there would even be problems with starting the engine and getting it to run smoothly, especially when cold.
As MikeG said, this isn't a problem that can be fixed in any practical manner. If there was a possible fix, then it would have been fixed in production already. A real fix would require a new engine design and an engine replacement.
From a business standpoint, I can't imagine that VW wouldn't sell off any of the cars it bought to used car auction outlets. Even putting a "caveat emptor" sticker on the car would be better than wasting the investment by crushing them. (Of course, many or most used car salesmen would remove any warning stickers, but that's not VW's fault, right?)
Or to Latin America. But s lot of these countries do not have emission standards, so it will not be illegal to sell them over there. Also, take into account that car fleets in these countries are very old, old, average 15 years. Therefore they would benefit from having these VWs, which certainly will polute much less than the old crankers.
Are you Cuban? because you describe something that is not true.
Nope, Cuban cars are over 50 years old. What a good idea you had! Cubans would be more than happy to take all those VWs.
There's lots of American car collectors who would love to get those pre-1960 cars out of Cuba. Some sort of trade is in order.
They will end up in scrap yards. It's impossible to fix them and use them elsewhere. Don't forget it's a little finicky engine which requires a low sulfur diesel fuel. Africa doesn't have acces to that, nor do they have places to fix these cars down the road …. Scrap yards it is.
I would be happy to see them in Europe. To me, both the cheat and higher NOx emissions are an internal matter of US agencies and VW. The cars themselves are better and more efficient than equivalent petrol models, just like they were before.
We should put the tailpipe inside the car. See how you like fuel efficiency.
Please don't be ridiculous and hypocrititical ….. Tell us what you have driven over the last 15 years.
Your comment proves you are clueless of what is really going on here.
We don't need those in Europe. They must be scraped EV1 way. For once that will be a good thing.
You must of failed Chemistry, there is no such thing as "clean diesel" or "clean coal"…would you like to buy a bottle of evaporated H2O…LOL
No they will be given some F150 and Dodge RAM owner as replacements – with massive gains for the athmosphere…
Probably will be sold in Mexico or smth. The gain for the environment in crushing a relatively new high mpg car seems absurd to me. Better crush some horrible mpg V8 pick ups.
Mexico city has big smog problem. It is exactly the place that doesn't need these diesels.
When people were joking that VW would export these cars to the 3d world, I decided to research this. There is not a **SINGLE** country on the planet that has published standards on NOx where these cars would be road-legal. That includes all developing countries. These cars wouldn't be compliant to the published US/EU standards in force a full decade before they went on sale in 2009.
They pollute more per mile than any standard-compliant "light commercial" vehicle sold in the US, like the F150 diesels and their ilk (vehicles >10k lbs have a different standard).
Should have required to swap them with plugins.
Really?? What else would you like to force the owners to do??
That would have been genius.
Likely cost much more per car, but would have gotten many more plug in cars on the road.
How is this "inside EV" related news? =)
It is like pointing out that the hopes of the proliferation of clean diesels, the 'engine of the the future' was based on a lie, effectuated by agents provocateur of VW, to hoodwink a gullible public into buying a pig in a poke.
Juxtapose that with Tesla. A low emission vehicle that gets cleaner as the grid does, and we are going in that direction.
More simply it's comparison by opposite, a time honored method of defining yourself, and of having others so define you, is to define what you are not.
"Have you met my son, 'The Doctor?' And what does your son do?'"
"He's a VW Diesel engine emission engineer."
"Oy Vey!"
So in that since it is certainly newsworthy.
Before we slam dunk this, consider U.S. coal averages close to 2 pounds of nitrogen oxides, per MWh. It used to be 4, but with catalytic reduction has gone down (NRDC has tracked this). A Tesla driver running 350wh/mile, is using 350/1,000,000 MWh. At a 35% coal mix: (.35)(350/1000000)*906 grams = .11gr/mile. Automotive tier 2 bin 5, adopted in 2008-09, chased down from a much higher level to .07gr/mile. So, to be fair, compliant diesels are competitive when it comes to NOx. YMMV (energy mix, wh/mile, level of coal SCR and OEM cheat software 😉 notwithstanding.
Great point. All over the world diesels are still driven and popularly used because they are fuel efficient and overall have a smaller foot print then unleaded. Apparently Asia, Europeans, and Latin Americans live longer than folks in the US. Lastly, have anyone seen the soot the Ford F250 / F350 makes? How does the US get away with it? It's a truck and US auto maker averages out by selling mediocre to crappy small cars. How about the Spinters? trucks which slide under the radar. 600k vehicles seems like a drop in a bucket.
Tesla is golden child here , VW is the bad one . I thought that's obvious not only to the Tesla fanatics.
Maybe each 'child's' behavior speaks for itself.
The word "fan" originated as merely a shortened form of "fanatic". Given the fact that some sports fans will go to the extreme of painting their faces… or even chests… with team colors, perhaps that definition still fits! 🙂
You're telling me the company selling products which will lead to premature deaths and treating our atmosphere like a giant open sewer is treated like the bad guy here?
Whereas the company doing the most to usher in the era of fossil fuel free personal transport is the hero? On a site called "Inside EVs"?
Maybe they should be required to pay to have them converted to Electric Vehicles, and provide funding to EV Conversion Companies, along with Engineering Support to help them do a 1st rate job, Then resell them as used car conversions!
Could be a 10 year long contract at each of many such shops!
The cars were out of compliance. They were in compliance only while in test mode. That was the crux of the matter here in the US. No software fixin' can fix THAT.
I think a 5K 'buy back' is pitiful compensation for VW TDI owners. Do they also require you to buy another VW, to get that full amount?
The lawsuits will be legendary…
The 5000 will only cover the money lost in your cars value when the scandal hit!
"…besides having to fix or buyback affected cars, a deal tentatively reached with the US authorities would also see VW pay each customer with an applicable diesel receive $5,000 in compensation."
So it's buyback PLUS $5000.
There is no valid FIX for those cars.
And is the buyback = original purchase price, or a dramatically depreciated amount due to the vehicle being involved in the Diesel-gate Scandal?
I don't think 5k is enough.
You don't understand the conditions of the settlement, or proposed settlement.
It's either ….
1) 5k + fair market value from pre scandal times
2) 5k + let them fix your car (no EPA approved fixed available yet and who knows if there ever will be one)
3) Keep driving your car without anyone touching your car as long as it s not 2 years past the approved date of the settlement where the offer runs out, then you get nothing
It should also be pointed out that this has nothing to do with a future penalty/fine laid by EPA.
A reminder to those who think the buy back is $5000. I think you'll find its $5000 to all diesel buyers and they will probably buy the car back at prices set in September of last year (before the diesel scandal broke).
People who bought a second hand diesel after September are the ones who will probably miss out.
"1 billion" is thrown around almost as much as the "5,000" that people are quoting. Knowing there are more than 500,000 cars (meaning $2,000), we need to see what is presented to Judge Breyer in a few hours to know more. Many variables, with "expensive" being VW's constant. If you believe, as I, that $300-400 extra on the assembly line would have paid for compliance, you get some perspective of the financial stupidity they will be committing as all-in settlement costs look like they may clear $5,000 per U.S. car.
canadians should pay 3000 for VW support!…and keep humming,and not getting excited about stupid environmental issues!!
I'm screwed. I bought a new car and did not trade it in as the trade in was very low. I finally sold it and lost money and now will most likely loose again. I'll never buy VW.
You are correct.
And many VW owners share your opinion, which means VW will slowly lose market share, shrink as a business, and fade into oblivion. The weight of countless lawsuits and fines will only ensure their doom.
What do you all think for the people that have leased a 2014 Passat TDI?
It depends on why they leased a 14 Passat…if they leased it for quality and performance only they made a great choice but if they leased it for "clean diesel" then they failed chemistry.
Perhaps it would have better to skip all this and go directly for ev?
"We can't afford to do that!"
I wish a little more creativity were built in this settlement.
From the Forbes website
"Currently, VW management is being heavily criticized by union representatives, employees and shareholders for voting themselves year-end bonuses, while at the same time preparing rank and file for job cuts resulting from the billions being set-aside to pay fines and compensation to VW owners.
A freakin' BONUS for management? Seriously? I was a happy TDI owner and thru all this I still love my diesel VW and sitting happy and patiently waiting for VW to rectify this …. UNTIL I read this…. Every word of this quote is just so WRONG and if true , well I'm sure my post would be deleted if I said what I think about every manager that gets one penny in bonus
Management took a 30% haircut to their bonuses, if it makes you feel any better. VW lost me when my they wanted $5,500 for the exhaust, a little more than 3 years into new ownership. This, for the same parts we now know never worked. Yeah, this goes deep for some of us.
People who bash unions, or even blame union greed for all the misdeeds of their employers, are ignoring who really has the power in a corporation. The investors see the executives as their friends, and the workers as their enemies, and all behavior reflects that.
They invest in politicians too, which should tell you something.
Unless there's some significant teeth, such as "you cannot renew your state license tabs" I doubt that all TDI owners are going to comply. I do think a check for $5000 will help get some of them to appear. When you get right down to it, people love the cars they have bought and if there's "nothing wrong" with theirs to an un-scientific evaluation of how they feel, then a fair quotient of the 600,000 TDIs will stay on the roads, and the owners will dodge going to dealerships for repairs.
It is disgusting, but I see human nature for what it is. We live in a perfect world but our human nature makes it imperfect and fallen at every turn. Some people care about the environment, while other people hate environmentalists as people and don't care about their personal pollution even going so far as to roll coal.
Vexar please don't order anything from FedEx because they all have Dodge/Mercedes sprinters. Or write letters to Ford about their trucks spewing shoot like one can't imagine.
My FedEx driver and I were talking about his truck just last week. I can't control what gets shipped to my business by other people. We usually have a brief chat about electric cars or circus. He's telling me that FedEx is increasing their electrification, but nothing on the map for my service area yet:
But now those VWs can't fool smog tests anymore, so they will get caught on their next inspection and lose their registrations.
I checked which states don't even do smog tests:
AL, AK, FL, HI, most of ID, IN, IO, KS, KY, parts of LA, parts of MA, MI, MN, MS, parts of MO, MT, NE, parts of NV, ND, parts of OH, SC, SD, parts of TN, parts of TX, parts of UH, parts of VA, WV, parts of WI, and WY.
So what we can do about this is get those states into the 21st century – which means firing their legislators.
I meant Maine, not Massachusetts.
Give me 5K to apply to a new TDI, fix my '09 and I will drive them both. Current car has 356K with no repairs, THE BEST car I have ever owned in 50 years of driving. I was considering a new Passat TDI when this all broke, should have acted quicker!! 56 mpg was great for 300K, now get 45 mpg because of an EGR/exhaust problem that was quoted at almost $6000 to fix, only benefit would be getting back to 55+ mpg…how many million miles to amortize that repair? This would be great, $5000 toward my new TDI, AND make the old one good.
There won't be any more new TDIs.
There won't be any more 09 TDIs, either. Your old car will be crushed, and the compensation from VW can be used to buy something else.
"Many Audi A3 2.0T Diesels (shown here in e-tron spec)"
The second picture's title is plenty misleading: neither is there a 2.0T Diesel (theyre called 2.0 TDI), nor are they availabel as e-tron versions. Audi only pairs their e-tron with gasoline engines. And these use a 1.4 TFSI engine, not a 2.0. Also the word "trim" suggests an (optical) equipment configuration rather than a drivetrain configuration. Please fix!
Why isn't anyone considering filing a complaint individually and asking for a jury trial where you would be awarded compensatory damages and likely punitive damages? Pain suffering? Make a 998 offer and if they don't take it, VW pays your attorney fees if you win. We should be getting 10k a car. The 5k offsets the average 27% market share loss since the fraud was revealed.
Do you all think they will Handel leased passats the same as the purchased ones?
I almost never drop responses, but after reading through a lot of remarks here Volkswagen To Offer $5,000, Buy Back Cars To Settle Dieselgate.
I do have 2 questions for you if it's okay.
Could it be only me or do some of these remarks look as if they are written by brain dead individuals?
😛 And, if you are writing at additional social sites, I'd like to keep up with anything new you
have to post. Could you make a list of the complete
urls of all your public pages like your linkedin profile,
Facebook page or twitter feed?


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Friends is one of the most iconic shows of the 90s. And, really, it molded its audience into what they would become in the new millennium. But, without its supporting actors, the show wouldn't have been so successful. That is what made the storylines brew and succeed. Hence gaining so much popularity, keeping and gaining an audience. So, where are all those iconic supporting actors today….? Here are your answers!
Carol Willick (Jane Sibbett)
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Carol was Ross's ex-wife, who realized she was a lesbian and left him for Susan.
Jane Sibbett has had limited acting roles since Friends. She was last seen in the 2008 direct-to-video comedy Pretty Little Devils. She now works as a producer with her own production company, Wild Aloha Studios.
Susan Bunch (Jessica Hecht)
Susan was Carol's partner after her divorce from Ross.
Jessica Hecht has gone on to work in film, television, and theater. She was in the recent Broadway production of Harvey, co-starring The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons. Breaking Bad fans will recognize her as Gretchen Schwartz.
Gunther (James Michael Tyler)
Gunther was the manager of Central Perk who had a major crush on Rachel.
James Michael Tyler has made guest appearances on iCarly and Anger Management. Last year he played himself in Episodes — the only Friends actor who would do a cameo for Matt LeBlanc to promote show-within-the-show Pucks.
Janice Goralnik
Janice was Chandler's highly abrasive on-again, off-again girlfriend.
Maggie Wheeler has been on several sitcoms, including How I Met Your Mother and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Most recently, her iconic voice was heard in four episodes of the FX comedy Archer: she played Trinette.
Fun Bobby (Vincent Ventresca)
Fun Bobby was a guy Monica dated until she realized he was an alcoholic.
Vincent Ventresca has acted in many indie films since he played Fun Bobby on Friends (and Billy Christensen in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion). In 2009, he guest starred in three episodes of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse.
Julie (Lauren Tom)
Julie was the girlfriend Ross brought back from his archaeological dig in China.
Lauren Tom is best known for her voiceover work: she is currently the voice of Amy Wong on Futurama. She does live-action work as well. This season on Supernatural, she plays the recurring character of Linda Tran.
Tag Jones (Eddie Cahill)
Tag was Rachel's cute assistant whom she started dating.
Eddie Cahill has played Det. Don Flack on CSI: NY since the show premiered in 2004. That year, he also starred in the hockey film Miracle. Sadly, he is officially off the market: Cahill married longtime girlfriend Nikki Uberti in 2009.
Charlie Wheeler (Aisha Tyler)
Charlie was a woman Joey and Ross fought over.
Aisha Tyler is currently one of the co-hosts of The Talk, as well as the voice of Lana on FX's Archer. She works regularly in TV and film, and as a stand-up comic. She also hosts Girl on Guy, one of iTunes' top-rated comedy podcasts.
Erica (Anna Faris)
Erica was the girl who let Monica and Chandler adopt her baby.
Anna Faris made a name for herself in the Scary Movie series and has gone on to star in several successful comedies, like The House Bunny and What's Your Number? She recently had her first child with husband Chris Pratt.
Eddie Menuek (Adam Goldberg)
Eddie was the creepy roommate Chandler couldn't get to leave.
Adam Goldberg also appeared in several episodes of the Friends spin-off Joey, but he played a different character. He's done other indie film and TV work, and he has a band, The Goldberg Sisters. They performed on The Late Late Show in 2011.
Chloe (Angela Featherstone)
Chloe was the woman Ross cheated on Rachel with when they were "on a break."
Angela Featherstone will have the recurring role of Jame in Season 2 of Girls, premiering this Sunday. In addition to her film and television work, she has contributed pieces to TIME, Jane, and The Huffington Post.
Pete Becker (Jon Favreau)
Pete was Monica's wealthy boyfriend-turned-Ultimate Fighter.
Jon Favreau still acts — he was in the comedies I Love You, Man and Couples Retreat — but he has been very successful as a writer and director. Aside from directing Iron Man and Iron Man 2, he has worked on the NBC series Revolution.
Kathy (Paget Brewster)
Kathy was a woman Joey and Chandler fought over.
Paget Brewster played Emily Prentiss on Criminal Minds until last year. She has done voice work on King of the Hill and American Dad. Law & Order: SVU fans saw Brewster as Paula Foster in two episodes earlier this season.
Joshua Burgin (Tate Donovan)
Joshua was Rachel's client whom she started dating.
Tate Donovan currently stars in the NBC drama Deception. His major TV work includes roles on Damages and The O.C. He also directs TV — he worked behind the camera on Nip/Tuck, Gossip Girl, and Glee.
Gary (Michael Rapaport)
Gary was Phoebe's police officer boyfriend.
Michael Rapaport appeared on the series Boston Public, Prison Break, and My Name Is Earl. As a director, he made a documentary about A Tribe Called Quest, Beats, Rhymes & Life. He currently voices Squirt on The Hub's Pound Puppiesseries.
Elizabeth Stevens (Alexandra Holden)
Elizabeth was Ross's student whom he started dating.
Alexandra Holden acts regularly, with recent recurring roles on Franklin & Bash and Rizzoli & Isles. Friday Night Lights fans will remember her as Season 1's Suzy. She's also been in several indie films.
Mona (Bonnie Somerville)
Mona was Monica's co-worker whom Ross started dating.
Bonnie Somerville starred on short-lived series Kitchen Confidential and Cashmere Mafia. She is also a musician: her song "Winding Road" was on the Garden Statesoundtrack. Somerville currently sings in Band From TV.
Gavin Mitchell (Dermot Mulroney)
Gavin was Rachel's competitive co-worker and eventual love interest.
Dermot Mulroney acts and directs. He recently appeared in major films The Greyand Big Miracle, but he also does indie work, like Chris Colfer's Struck By Lightning. His most recent directorial credit is the romantic comedy Love, Wedding, Marriage.
Which one was your favorite supporting actor? Which one was your least? Share with friends!
Via Buzzfeed

subset: commoncrawl


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How can something so cute be so sick???
This time was worse than ever before. He was sooo sick. A horrible cough that sounded painful, a nose so stuffy he couldn't breathe when he ate, horrible diarrhea for multiple days, and 48 hours of terrifying vomiting. And of course a double ear infection. All of those other times when I thought he was really sick... I had no idea. He was SO. SICK. this time.
It started about two weeks ago with a annoying but not particularly horrible dry cough. It would wake him up at night, but he was usually able to fall back asleep on his own. When DH picked EH up from daycare on the 13th, they mentioned that he had been coughing all day. Saturday the cough started to get worse, and we noticed that he was getting a stuffy nose. Sunday the cough got so much worse, he was super fussy, and started running a fever. This is also when the diarrhea started (oh so fun, let me tell you.)
Monday I already had off of work because day care was closed to an in-service day, and after a long and horrible night full of cough, cry, cough, cry, cough, cough, cough, cry, and a fever of 102.4 I called the pediatrician's office. Then the fun really began, because it was shortly after this that he started vomiting. It started with a cough, followed by him unable to catch his breath from all of the coughing. As he started to turn a weird red/purple color I sat him up and whacked him on the back, trying to get him to breathe. After an unknown number of terrifying seconds, he exploded with projectile vomit, everywhere. EVERY. WHERE. It was awful. Repeat that episode two other times and that was my morning.
At the doctors office they confirmed the fever and also confirmed that his ears - both of them - were once again infected Hello antibiotics! We missed you!!! (At this point he had only been off of antibiotics from the last ear infection for 11 days.) He was ultimately diagnosed with the flu and a double ear infection, but of course, there's very little they can do for baby flu, so I was instructed to start the antibiotics, give him smaller feedings supplemented with Pedialyte to help with the dehydration and to give him all of the love and hugs that he needed/wanted.
I left the doctor's office with the recommendation to not send EH to day care until his fever was gone for at least 24 to 48 hours. The doctor said that based on similar cases that she's seen this year, the flu viruses have been hanging on for an average of 5 days, instead of the more common 24 hour flu.
Great. With four more work days still left in the week and neither DH or I particularly able to take off that kind of time right now, I called in the big guns - my mom.
So within two hours I was driving up interstate 79 to pick up my mom somewhere in the middle-of-nowhere interstate 80. She came down that afternoon and has been watching EH this entire. I don't know what we would have done otherwise - thank goodness for retirement!
It was still a tough week though. EH's cough has not gotten any better and he still wakes himself multiple times throughout the night coughing and crying. Last night I was with him for well over an hour, trying to get him to go back to sleep. DH and I are so deliriously tired that sometimes in the morning we can't even remember what happened the night before and we try to piece it together with our combined hazy memories. During the day though, we at least knew he was in good hands, with plenty of one-on-one attention and love.
But "Nana-care" ends tomorrow, as she is returning home. EH will have to go back to day care on Monday whether he's totally better or not - I just don't think there's any other option.
Everyone keeps telling us how the first year is "the worst," and how them being sick now means that they'll have immune systems of steel in the future. That's all fine and dandy, but it doesn't help with the now. For our sick little 5 month old and these two parents who catch every disease that he gets AND are totally sleep deprived from life with a sick infant and working full-time, we just want to be healthy. Is that so much to ask?


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Mon, 11 December 2017
Brian Bailey is a Senior Technical Expert at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. A commercial real estate expert, Brian monitors emerging trends in commercial real estate - both on a national scale and within the southeast. This episode Brian shares his outlook on Florida's commercial real estate industry and offers comparisons on a national scale.
Direct download: FINAL_IFP_EPS141_Brian_Bailey.mp3
Category:Real Estate Investment -- posted at: 5:00am EST


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text:
Head Teacher, Nuneaton
Closing date:
Start date: 1st January 2019 or earlier (flexible start date)
Contract type: Full Time
Contract term: Permanent
Are you a committed educationalist who wants to make that difference?
We are passionate about learning and supporting pupils, parents and staff. We are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and motivated Head Teacher as from 1st January 2019 or earlier and will be flexible for the right candidate.
The successful candidate will be passionate about making that vital difference to the lives of young people in our school and their families. They will have the ability and enthusiasm to effectively lead the secondary school towards outstanding outcomes. In addition the successful candidate will have experience of working with pupils with complex, severe and moderate learning difficulties.
Oak Wood Schools Academy will offer the successful candidate training, encouragement and support to develop their professional practice. Our Board of Trustees is keen to promote staff developments and as a result of this the continued professional development is prioritised.
Oak Wood Secondary School is an oversubscribed very successful generic special secondary school. The school has increased its pupil numbers over the past two years. Currently there are 139 pupils on role and this is due to further increase over the next academic year. Oak Wood Secondary School is part of a two school Multi Academy Trust and share the site with its sister school, Oak Wood Primary School.
We welcome your application:
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1 Outline your skills and knowledge in relation to the areas outlined in the person specification
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The deadline for application submission is 12 noon Monday 2nd July 2018.
Further details and an application pack are available through Julie Walters at Oak Wood Secondary School Office, Morris Drive, Nuneaton, Warwickshire CV11 4QH Tel 024 76740901 or email firstname.lastname@example.com
Oak Wood Schools Academy Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all pupils and expects staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
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- Status: In Progress
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Worship this week
Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 2206 Airfield Lane. Sr. Pastor the Rev. David Stout. Sun.: worship 9:30 a.m. (message: "Head in Clouds, Feet on Ground"), graduation breakfast 8:15 a.m., childrens program 9:45 a.m., teacher appreciation picnic 11 a.m., jr. high youth 5:30 p.m., high school youth 7 p.m.; communion first Sun. of month. 631-1151 (N, H)
Calvary Baptist Church, 6100 Perrine. Sr. Pastor Dan Dickerson. Worship 10:15 a.m. and 6 p.m. (Dave Norczyk, ordination svc.); Sun. school 9 a.m.; Wed.: Growing Kids Gods Way 6:30 p.m., adult Bible study (missionary Jim Bowers) 7 p.m.; June 22 farewell events for the Rev. Dave Buckley: 6 p.m. svc. followed by reception. 832-2991
First United Methodist Church, 315 W. Larkin. The Rev. Dr. Brent L. McCumons. Sun.: worship and church school 9:15 a.m. and 11 a.m. w/ the Rev. Susan Kingsley, Alive@Five 5 p.m.; Wed.: chapel svc. 7 p.m. 835-6797
Midland Christian Church, 1264 E. Isabella. Sr. Pastor Gary Cech. Sun.: worship 10:30 a.m. Sun. ("Called to Faithfulness"), Sun. school 9:15 a.m., drama 4 p.m., apologetics study 6 p.m., Heavenbound Youth Worship Hour 6 p.m.; Wed.: childrens choir 6 p.m., Praise & Prayer 7 p.m., middle school youth 7 p.m.; June 8: childrens choir performance "Splish Splash Kingdom" 6 p.m. 631-3810
St. Johns Episcopal Church, 405 N. Saginaw Road. The Rev. Bruce McNab. Sun.: worship 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., Sun. school ages 4 and older 10:30 a.m.; Wed.: Bible study 9 a.m. (mens) and 10:45 a.m. (womens), noon worship. 631-2260


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Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Waiting for the referendum
The Sahrawis have had a lot of time to wait, and to have their hopes dashed. In a particularly sad scene in Endgame in the Western Sahara, Sahrawis in Tindouf hear about Hassan II's death. Confident there'll be a referendum, they break their roofs down into packaging for their trip home, and sell their herds. It's devastating imagining their exhilaration turning to disappointment.
There's a part of ARSO I hadn't noticed until today where people can submit opinions about the Western Sahara. Agaila Abba Hemeida of Free Western Sahara wrote a nice poem about the referendum, and what it represents to Sahrawis.
ARSO also has a humorous page about the referendum process written by Nafaa Mohamed Salem. Displayed like an online help page, it nevertheless conveys the frustration Sahrawis must feel as Morocco blocks every attempt at self-determination.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Morocco won't even dignify me with a block
Fiddlesticks. A blanket block is no fun. There is an upside, though: apparently the Moroccan government is so afraid that its lies will be exposed, it even blocks websites with as little inherent credibility as free blogs.
The censorship of Internet sites judged hostile to the interests of Morocco is becoming more common. After the sites supporting the Polisario, it is certain free servers which are being blocked partially or totally. The last to date : the name of the domain "blogspot.com", which harbours several Moroccan blogs ... and a Saharawi blog particularly virulent against the kingdom. Censorship continues likewise to hit the geographical search program Google Earth.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Thanksgiving in the Western Sahara
-ARSO. I never tire of ARSO's news and documents collection. If you ever think the situation in Western Sahara's stalemated, check ARSO to be proven wrong.
-Speaking of chess analogies, I'm still reading Endgame in the Western Sahara and loving it. I think I'll order a copy when I'm done, because it's a handy resource for statistics and quotes, and because anyone who spent as much time as Toby Shelley did writing about the Western Sahara deserves to be supported. I'll have a bunch of posts coming up on what I've learned from the book, but for now it'll suffice to say that Mohammed Daddach is a cool guy.
-Sahrawis who are keeping the Hassaniya dialect alive.
-Commenters, including the Moroccans who post anonymously (and angrily). Keep it up, guys. Your insults keep things light, although I have to say I'm disappointed that no recent commenters have equaled Sword of Ali's "no grain of its dunes will ever fall to your hands."
-These are only tangentially related to the Western Sahara, but I know you can't resist a girl who barely avoids getting tasered at concerts, a Houstonian who loves local government even more than she loves SADR, and Disillusioned Kid, who made a post about the Western Sahara and keeps a tight blog himself.
"Work hard, study...and don't go crazy trying to figure out what the Moroccan government wants"
I was in Barnes and Noble and saw a display of books by local authors. One of the books was Work Hard, Study, and...Keep Out of Politics!, the memoirs of former Secretary of State and one-time Western Sahara negotiator James Baker.
A quick trip to the index led to the 4 pages on the Western Sahara. Considering that negotiating with Polisario, Morocco, Algeria, and Mauritania took years of Baker's life, I expected more than 4 pages filled with generalizations you could cull from the Wikipedia article on Western Sahara. I think Western Saharan portion's lack of revelations come from a combination of diplomatic reticence and the average American
Still, Baker makes two salient points about the Western Sahara. After winning Polisario and Algerian acceptance for Baker II, a plan that gave Morocco much better terms than it deserved, Baker was shocked when Morocco rejected the plan. Though Baker and his co-author take pains to balance the Western Sahara section, it's clear that Moroccan intransigence doomed the Baker negotiations.
Second, Baker expresses sympathy with the Sahrawis both inside and outside the Western Sahara that have been marginalized by national power plays. While Baker isn't making an original point, what he's saying cannot be affirmed enough.
Who is this Will character?
Hi! My name's Will Sommer and I write One Hump or Two?. I started writing it in August 2006 because I discovered that Western Sahara had been occupied for 30 years and I knew nothing about it. Originally, I wrote the blog because I wanted to find more and hadn't decided which side I supported. Since then, I've become involved in promoting the Sahrawi right to self-determination.
Thanks for checking out my blog. I hope you enjoy it and become interested in the Western Sahara.
How Did the Western Sahara Seduce You?
This is an embarrassing story, but I'll tell you because I appreciate that you're reading my blog. I used to, and occasionally still do, play Superpower, a forum-based game where people pretend to be countries. One day, the Moroccan player posted about how well he was oppressing the Western Sahara.
I didn't know what he was talking about at the time, but a trip to Wikipedia later, I was slightly more informed and much more intrigued by the conflict and the Sahrawi people.
7 Things About Me
- I'm a student at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
- I also write for The Georgetown Voice and its blog, Vox Populi.
- I'm studying international politics and Arabic. Feel free to test my Arabic, but don't be surprised if I have no idea what you mean.
- I lived in Dubai for 3 years and loved it, but I picked up absolutely no Arabic.
- My favorite band is the Hold Steady, and my favorite book is Home Land.
- I'm wild for the Western Sahara, and I also really like the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- I consider a referendum on Western Saharan independence the only fair resolution to the conflict.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Does a diplomatic solution lie with France or the United States?
The first chapter is about the relationship of world powers to Morocco, Algeria, and the Western Sahara. It's sad that because, if Shelley's right, Polisario could have won the war in the late 70's to early 80's if France and the United States hadn't given Morocco so much aid and weapons to shore up its faltering army, government, and economy. The two countries were motivated by complex desires, including larger Maghreb economic integration and keeping the entrance to the Mediterranean a Western ally.
I've long thought that if the United States gets serious with Morocco and withhold aid until a referendum is held, the Sahrawis have a good chance for independence.
In Endgame, though, Shelley makes a strong argument for France being the prime non-Maghreb mover in Western Saharan independence. France's veto of an otherwise unanimous UN Security Council vote calling for Morocco to better protect Sahrawi rights is one example, and French companies account for 24.3% of imports to Morocco (as of 2000).
While I still think the United States, as one of Morocco's most influential allies (and, if the term's still applicable, the remaining superpower) could cause great change in Morocco, there's much to be said for France. If a strong French divestment movement could get running, Morocco would have to pay attention.
Does anyone know of any French pro-Western Sahara groups? I know much of ARSO's in French, but it's based out of Switzerland.
Monday, November 20, 2006
No post today, and probably nothing too good this week
Friday, November 17, 2006
Aminatou Haidar reception blow-out
Certain Sahrawis are getting antsy for a recap and pictures from the Aminatou Haidar reception. They point out that I've promised them repeatedly, and it's been over two months. I say, "Seriously, guys, I was having camera problems." But they'll hear nothing of it.
Background: last September, the US-Western Sahara Foundation invited me to a reception they were holding for Sahrawi civil rights activist (and Amnesty prisoner of conscience) Aminatou Haidar. It was in a congressional office building, which made it even more delicious.
Deep in the bowels of the Rayburn office building, the reception was swinging when I arrived. The open bar didn't have alcohol, I think, but that was more than OK because of the SADR-American flag stickers (which will reappear on Western Sahara Day).
I met some lovely Western Sahara supporters, including Mikael Simble, the Washington representative of the Norwegian-Western Sahara Committee.
Suzanne Scholte, head of the Defense Forum Foundation and (along with Carlos Wilson) the US-Western Sahara Foundation, introduced Aminatou Haidar. She said that now, with tension between the Islamic world and the West is high, it was heartening to see "Muslims who represent so many good things."
Suzanne introduces Haidar, while a wine glass waits for its turn.
Aminatou Haidar gave an excellent speech about the need for US-Sahrawi cooperation if Sahrawi rights are to be protected. She said the United States should ask Morocco to respect human rights in the Western Sahara, and said Morocco has installed an "overwhelming police apparatus" to stifle dissent.
"It's time to put an end to this injustice against the Sahrawi people," she said in closing.
Aminatou Haidar and her translator.
After that, Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ), who recently signed the letter supporting Aminatou Haidar, presented her with the 2006 Freedom Award.
"I am very inspired by your courage and your heroism. If people are oppressed everywhere, then people can be oppressed anywhere," he told Haidar. He also made a parallel to the Western Sahara and the South African colonization of Namibia, which I thought was astute.
Congressman Payne presenting the Freedom Award.
After that, it was a picture fest!
Suzanne Scholte and I. Classy lady, and not just because she has her nametag on the correct side of her jacket, which is more than I can say for my nametag. I like my tie.
Aminatou Haidar shows off her Freedom Award. She said she wouldn't run for president of Polisario (sorry, Sahara-Watch). I was disappointed too, but she was nice, and didn't even mention my red devil eyes.
I couldn't stay too long, because I had to get to a party in Rayburn's Boom Boom Room.
McDonald's is old school, and besides, the strawberries weren't that filling.
Hurray for Defense Forum for inviting me and holding an excellent event, and hurray for the nice like-minded people I met. Most of all, thanks to Aminatou Haidar for traveling so far and risking reprisals from the Moroccan government to tell us about the Western Sahara.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
US congressmen sign letter supporting Aminatou Haidar
Aminatou Haidar toured America and Europe in the past few months, raising awareness about the Western Sahara and Moroccan human rights abuses. It was a brave thing to do, considering she's been imprisoned for less, and the United States is a critical ally for Morocco. Worried that she'll face retribution when she returns to the Western Sahara, two US senators and 3 congressmen have signed a letter to Secretary of State Condolleeza Rice asking the State Department to monitor Haidar's status.
Dear Secretary Rice:
Recently, internationally known Saharawi human rights activist Aminatou Haidar visited the U.S. during an international tour to draw attention to the human rights violations occurring in Moroccan occupied Western Sahara. She has visited a number of countries and participated in an international conference on the future of Western Sahara.
On November 15th Ms. Haidar will return home to Western Sahara. We are concerned that the Moroccan government may detain her and confiscate her passport. Her safety and well being are at risk since only last year she was jailed for seven months during a peaceful demonstration.
We ask that the State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and the U.S. Embassy in Rabat monitor the return of Ms. Haidar to Western Sahara and intervene with Moroccan Authorities if she is detained.
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
The letter was signed by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), Representative Donald Payne (D-NJ), Representative Zach Wamp (R-TN), and Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). Leahy, Inhofe, and Wamp also signed this letter earlier supporting the Western Sahara. If you live in their districts, re-elect these good people.
I have a lot of free time tomorrow. I think I'll harass Speaker Pelosi's office for her position on the Western Sahara.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Moroccans say "Hands off my country," Sahrawis agree
Fnaire are a group of Moroccan rappers, and they're tremendous. I base my assessment on this song, "Makich Baladee," which translates roughly into "Hands off my country" or "Don't touch my country." The song was written in response to the 2003 terrorist attack in Casablanca, the largest act of terrorism in Morocco's history. Fnaire is effectively saying to North African terrorists Salafia Jihadia, "Don't touch my country."
The chorus is so catchy, I'd like this song even if King Hassan II himself wrote it. But there's a soft hypocrisy in Fnaire's message when you think about the country to Morocco's south that it will literally not get its hands off of.
In other news, I'm on top of the Google rankings for one hump or two, once again (take that, weird Answers in Genesis and American Handgunner). Plus, I'm loving the new tags feature.
Tonight the Georgetown branch of UNICEF is hosting a dinner. Each table has a different theme. I signed up for the refugees/orphans/displaced persons table, so I'll be eating with two experts on the issue and some interested students. I'll mention it if anything Western Sahara-related comes out of it.
Meaty post later today about Congress and the Western Sahara.
Waterfalls don't oppress Sahrawis
Morocco abandoning migrants on wrong side of the Berm
It's been documented that Morocco doesn't repatriate all the apprehended immigrants; rather, they abandon them on the desolate eastern side of the Berm. This has been documented before, most recently in Amnesty International's 2006 Report: "They arrested some [migrants] and transported others to remote desert areas close to Morocco's border with Algeria, where they were dumped without adequate water, food or shelter, reportedly resulting in further deaths."
So this is nothing new. What is delicious, though, is that I found proof of what's been talked about but never substantiated to me: that Polisario rescues the immigrants from almost certain death from land mines, exposure, or thirst.
This article in The Guardian describes a reporter's journey in 2005 with Polisario soldiers rescuing abandoned immigrants: "'The Africans came this way,' [a soldier] says and points to a nearby fold in the ground. 'There are mines there.'"
Why is Polisario doing this? Several reasons, I think. They're probably doing it because they don't want innocent people to die. It certainly makes great publicity, if only the world would hear about it. Or maybe Polisario just sympathizes with the migrants because they know what it's like when the world tries to forget you.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Dishy post coming later today
In the meantime, why not look at these pictures of the Berm that ARSO posted in the last post's most recent comments? There are those who say the Berm tipped the balance in the war for independence, hampering Polisario raiding and cutting off the Sahrawis in Tindouf from the Sahrawis in Western Sahara.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
I'm looking for the Berm on Google Earth
Friday, November 10, 2006
China interested in Western Sahara
For one thing, Jiabao was meeting with Driss Jettou, Morocco's prime minister. I think that shows which partner they'll enter the diplomatic process supporting.
The rest of the article makes no reference of Polisario, SADR, or even the Sahrawis. It's as if China hopes to raise its international profile by resolving the crisis, but without giving the Sahrawis a seat the negotiating table. This is reminiscent of previous attempts to sideline SADR and deal with Algeria instead, which are meant to make it seem like an Algerian territorial grab and not an independence struggle.
The rest of the article is devoted to China's increasing economic ties with Morocco. Those might not be anything to worry about--China's throwing cash around everywhere in Africa. On the other hand, France is close to Morocco economically, and you can see what an effective advocates for the Sahrawis it's been.
Overall, I find China's potential entrance into the process worrisome, especially considering China's support for human rights violators elsewhere in Africa. But it might be the kind of impetus older world powers need to realize they are responsible for the continuing tragedy in Tindouf.
My name in Arabic means "great tragedy": confirm/deny?
Several things, some Western Sahara related and some just blog favor-paying.
- I'm going to see how many posts I can put out in the next hour, as I slacked a little at the end of the week.
- I've been more up-to-date on the Western Sahara, for two reasons. You guys are linking me to great articles. Please keep doing this, as it keeps the blog fresh, and it keeps us in touch. The other thing I've done is signed up for Google Alerts, which send me an email aggregating the Western Sahara blog posts and news items of the previous day. If you're worried it won't work well and you'll get irrelevant stuff, don't be; there's some stuff that has nothing to do with Western Sahara, but usually it's a good way to keep up with parts of the internet you wouldn't normally look in.
- Long-time commenter Studentintheus has started his own Western Sahara blog, Sahara-Views. I especially liked his post on the Guerra Olvidada, a war in the north of Western Sahara where Sahrawis and Moroccans fought side-by-side.
- Respectable young woman and Western Saharan fan artist Kate became an intern on music blog Idolator today. While this doesn't have much to do with the Western Sahara, Kate was the first person to link to me, so I owe her. Also, Idolator's a good, frequently-updated read regardless of how you feel about Mohammed VI (he's bad).
Even Casablanca and metereologists know the Western Sahara deserves independence
Time for another installment of Even ____ Knows the Western Sahara Deserves Independence. Today we have two winners, Casablanca and my Arabic class DVD.
I watched Casablanca in my class about World War II today. The opening credits are superimposed over a map of Africa. The movie itself takes place in Morocco. Below Morocco on the map, the Western Sahara is clearly demarcated as a separate territory.
The movie was filmed in 1942, 14 years before the first wave of African decolonization and 33 years before the Madrid Accords and Spain. Casablanca's director, Michael Curtiz, could have been a Greater Moroccan ideologue and it still wouldn't have made sense to take away Western Sahara's borders at the time. So while the map isn't a powerful pro-Sahrawi statement, it recalls a time when everyone who knew where Spanish Sahara was accepted it as a territory separate from Morocco.
The more legitimate, but less famous winner today is the DVD included with my Arabic textbook. The DVD contains some Arab weather reports, including one that can't be more than a few years old. In one, a forecast on the entire Middle East-North African community, there's a demarcation line between Western Sahara and Morocco.
I hope today's winners are proud. I'm proud of them for making sure people don't stop asking about that parallelogram on the west African coast.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Once again, what do you call a Western Sahara referendum organization?
That means, while major organizational stuff will wait until this summer, I should get a name so I can send letters. Points for pronounceable acronyms.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Polisario has beef with Elliott Abrams
-Abrams worked in the Reagan administration when it aided King Hassan of Morocco's occupation.
-He has a longstanding distaste for leftist causes, to the point of covering up El Salvadoran massacres of civilians. Since Morocco painted Polisario as Marxists (just as they're trying to use today's bugaboo, terrorism, to alienate potential Sahrawi supporters), there is little love lost between the Western Sahara and Abrams.
-He met with a Moroccan autonomy plan spokesman, lending the proposal much more credibility than it deserves.
Abrams was one of the top neocons rah-rahing the invasion of Iraq, working closely with Richard Perle and writing a letter to Bill Clinton calling for regime change. It's not a far leap to think he'd support any Arab client state, including Morocco, that asked for a little lenience on its own human rights issues in exchange for taking care of some of America's.
Speaking of which, this isn't related to Abrams but Sahara-Watch points it out in the post and it bears mentioning: Morocco is classified as a major non-NATO ally of the United States, which means our defense commitment to them is the same as to Japan or Australia. Shoot.
Abrams is a bad guy, but whether he's sabotaging the referendum process or not, the United States needs to answer for why it has been so reticent on the Western Sahara when there is so much to gain and practically nothing to lose. Morocco, practically an American (and French) proxy state, can't afford to lose Western support. So why don't we apply the right pressure?
Finally, I think it's compelling how much of the who-supports-Polisario guessing game that some people play revolves around famous friendships. Check out Chasli's comment on the post, and his speculation about whether John Bolton, a supposed Western Sahara supporter, could reconcile the disparate views of his friends James Baker (negotiator of the Baker II) and Abrams.
Some day, I will learn how to do jumps for long posts. Until then, though, let's hope that pro-Sahrawi congressional candidates are sent to Washington.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Mahmood's Den unblocked
Treating Eritrea right
This has to do with your own favorite African independence struggle because
Like the
But while Eritreans are trading Kalashnikovs for constitutions, they haven't forgotten their friends outside
"The rebels-turned-ministers had grasped a vital truth. True Believers are worth a hundred spokesmen to guerrilla organizations and the cash-strapped governments they go on to form. Sharing the religious convert's belligerent frustration with those who have not seen the light, quicker than the locals to detect a slight, they are tireless in defending the cause…They had remained loyal during the hard times and now reveled in the sight of their old friends, once regarded as tiresome nuisances by Western governments, holding executive power on both sides of the border."
That's a heartening passage, even if Eritrea's current government is too corrupt and dictatorial to retain many "True Believers". I'll mention if anything else in the book has relevance to the Western Sahara.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
We're just mixed-up kids who distrust the autonomy plan
It's a heady autumn on the internet for Western Saharan independence advocates. But for those of you who haven't been following the adventures of the best Facebook group devoted to Sahrawi independence, a recap.
Facebook is a college social networking site that's comparable to Myspace, to give you a frame of reference. It's mainly used to ogle people, but you can also create political groups. A friend of mine made a group devoted to Western Saharan independence as a 2006 campaign issue and made me an administrator, and I've been delighted ever since. The group started small, but it's gained momentum and now has 98 members. Here thanks has to be given to David Dragoset, a student at University of Texas-Dallas and an excellent bowler, who invited everyone he knows and several people he doesn't. David, there's a dune with your name on it outside El-Ayoun.
Our youthful independence-agitation had only started, though, before we were hassled by our mortal enemies: pro-Moroccan occupation college students (?). They came on with what were initially some soft arguments ("Who cares about the Western Sahara?", "US citizens are in no position to criticize Morocco when their government has invaded Iraq").
Eventually, they straightened up and produced some good stuff, though. For example, can someone explain to me about Abdelaziz's Moroccan origin? It doesn't matter whether he's from El-Ayoun, Marrakech, or Mars as far the struggle's legitimacy is concerned, but I'd like to know how he ended up in charge of Polisario.
The problem with pro-Moroccan arguments is how fundamentally flimsy they are. The most powerful one, for me, is the vague claim about the Alouwite tribe, and that's only because I haven't read much about the regions pre-colonial history. The fact that they have to resort to that irredentism, though, demonstrates how weak their other claims are. I mean, some people were peddling the Sahrawi children sold to Cuba story so popular with the Moroccan-American Center for Policy. I feel like by now that's been reduced to the level of an old-wives' tale.
This post feels self-involved, but I think I just wanted to assure the older members of the independence community that people my age know and care about Sahrawi independence. If you haven't yet, join the group on Facebook. Because of recent changes, you don't have to be in college, or even high school, to get an account.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
The people at Sandblast do good work
Sandblast has the best web design I've seen since Homeland, once again showing independence advocates are better at HTML than Morocco. The website has paintings and poetry about Sahrawi life and culture.
The photography is my favorite part of the site. Sandblast features work from both international and Sahrawi photographers, as well as group projects. One of the projects is a powerful series on Sahrawis mutilated by landmines.
By displaying Sahrawi art, Sandblast demonstrates that the Sahrawis are more than pawns in a war between Algeria and Morocco, or statistics in a UNHCR report.


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"We have to wake up to the fierce urgency of now"
Jim Yong Kim, President World Bank
Land Use, Forestry & Voluntary Forum
The Land Use, Forests & Voluntary Markets Forum brings together views, opinions and documents on the subject of climate finance and investment in forestry, land use and voluntary markets.
Land Use & Forestry
Forestry and land use play a crucial role when it comes to tackling climate change. Emissions from the sector amount to about 12% of emissions globally, and reducing these will be vital for tackling climate change in the future. Market mechanisms and in particular REDD+ will have a crucial role to play in the continuous development of climate finance.
CMIA has been actively engaged around the world on issues relating to REDD+ for a number of years. CMIA has been focused on the development of REDD+ and LULUCF initiatives including accounting processes, methodologies, finance, donor and government led mechanisms. This Forum explores current developments in the forestry and land-use space, with a particular emphasis on developments in REDD+.
Land Use and Forestry Working Group Chairs: Christina Elvers and Roberta Iley
Christina is a sustainability and climate change consultant at PwC UK. She focuses her work on forestry and land use policy, climate fund management and international development.
She has worked with both companies and governments on sustainable land-use and forestry, advising developing countries on their REDD+ strategies, supporting a global bank on its Forestry Policy and working with retailers on their zero deforestation commitments.
From 2014-2016, Christina headed up the Advocacy Fund of the DfID-funded Climate & Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) where she delivered negotiation support to negotiators from the developing world.
Together with Roberta Iley, Christina is the private sector observer to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) on behalf of CMIA.
Roberta is a specialist in forests and sustainable land use within PwC's UK Sustainability & Climate Change team. With a background in global environmental policy, Roberta has since built up a considerable experience in sustainable procurement at PwC, and previously at CDP, working with companies and investors on deforestation-free commodity supply chains.
Roberta now supports PwC's involvement in the World Business Council for Sustainable Development's working group on climate smart agriculture and works with governments and NGOs on leveraging private sector finance for conservation.
Together with Christina Elvers, Roberta is the private sector observer to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) on behalf of CMIA.
Voluntary Markets
Voluntary markets continue to evolve and broaden in scope and scale. This forum has participants driving innovation for new developments, technologies and markets. With the influence of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have encouraged companies to report their progress more specifically when it comes to CSR, there has been a shift away from older methodologies and a boost in demand for more value-added offsets as well as water-related projects. This Forum explores the investment developments and trends in voluntary markets, what constitutes best practice and the policy drivers of demand.
Voluntary Markets Chair: Grattan MacGiffin
Grattan is a Director of Tessera Limited, a sustainability consultancy that provides effective, requisite and affordable solutions through a modular offering. Tessera is a certified Pending B Corp.
With 11 years in climate finance and sustainability, Grattan's experience includes origination and trading; project investment and deal structuring; project marketing and business development. He has worked with a range of clients from SMEs to blue chips and in a variety of industries including aviation, banking, food and sports.
Grattan is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.


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At GreenPak, we're offering you the chance to win €100 with our Crush & Win Campaign!
You can win €100 by following these three simple steps:
1. Write your phone number on the plastic bottle/container
2. Crush it!
3. Dispose of your bottle/container in the blue bin at any of our bring-in sites.Here you can find a list of localities in which you can find these bins and their locations: http://greenpak.com.mt/my-locality.
For any questions regarding our 'Crush & Win' campaign, feel free to contact us by calling on 2166 1081.
Good luck!
'Irricikla u Irbah'
Individuals observed using one of the many community recycling services provided by GreenPak, are randomly selected and awarded with a selection of consumer products kindly donated by GreenPak member companies. In April 2015, a Naxxar resident received the 3,000th 'Irrickla u Irbah' GreenPak reward. For photos of the winners please click here
Nirricikla Ghall-Istrina
Since 2011, GreenPak each year runs the Nirriċikla Għall-Istrina, a campaign linking recycling and charity for the common good. This has become a well-known nationwide campaign, and as the name of the campaign implies, the main aim of the campaign is to collect funds for Istrina.
Plastic caps are collected from various schools, local councils, companies & entities, and are sent for recycling. In return at the end of the year, GreenPak gives a donation to the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation through Istrina. In the year 2016 €20,000 were donated during Istrina!
Please click here for the list of of schools and other entities where you can take your plastic caps.
GreenPak keeps going from strength to strength and between 2014 and 2015 experienced an average increase of 20% in the total recyclable waste material collected. By entrusting GreenPak to provide their communities with better waste collection services, local councils are offering superior services to their residents and business communities to separate waste. Currently 42 local councils are collaborating with GreenPak covering 74% of the country's population.


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Sustainable Event Practices | SB'14 San Diego
SB'14 San Diego Sustainability Goals
Sustainable Brands© has always been committed to reducing the environmental impact of our own events, to sharing our knowledge, and to making a positive mark on our host communities. The event planning team works closely with all vendors and stakeholders involved to follow a sustainable event framework that was developed in accordance with the leading international event industry standards – ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management Systems and APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards. Let us share some of our work in this arena and what was planned for SB'14 San Diego:
For the first time, our goal was to have zero-waste (90% diversion from land-fill) across the entire island, including all restaurants and hotel rooms. In the past, we have only included the conference center & related activities. Waste Management sponsored our zero-waste efforts this year, and 1 to 1 Movement supplied our Sustainability Team volunteers.
Carbon Neutral
100% of the carbon emissions from the event are offset by Offsetters, including attendee and staff travel and accommodation. The two offset projects used for this event are the Mai Ndombe REDD+ in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Great Bear Forest Carbon Project, which is home to the largest intact coastal temperate rainforest remaining in the world
Water Neutral
The water impact of the event, including attendee accommodation, is neutralized by support of Colorado River water restoration projects through Bonneville Environmental Foundation.
ISO 20121 Compliance
SB'13 reached a SEMS score of 81%, meaning the event was in compliance with the ISO 20121 standard. The SB'14 score is being calculated and reported on by Arell Logic, and will be announced soon.
100% Local Food Sourcing
Building upon the success we had last year, with about 80% of the food sourced locally, we're aiming to have close to 100% of food from local or sustainable sources. Paradise Point's chef has established lasting partnerships with local farms, and they are now offering local food as an option on their permanent food and beverage menus. In addition, we worked with a humane food sponsor, World Animal Protection, to provide humane dairy and poultry options for many of the conference menus, specifically Mary's free-range, organic Chicken, cage-free, local eggs from Mike & Sons in Ontario, CA, and organic, bulk yogurt from cows not treated with rBGH.
Leaving a Legacy
Paradise Point kept the composting program on a permanent basis, has established a Sustainability Team of their own with a full-time dedicated staff member, implemented resource conservation efforts across the property and established partnerships with more local farms for food sourcing.
Paperless Event
Using CrowdCompass to develop all of the 2014 Sustainable Brands event mobile apps will allow us to make movement towards becoming a paperless event. By creating our mobile app we were able to post venue/exhibition maps, programming updates, attendee feedback surveys, and sponsor advertising and content.
Highlighted SB'13 Sustainability Efforts:
We had plenty of efforts in place to reach these goals, and would love to share how we did it. Read on for more detailed information, and hopefully to learn how to increase the positive impact of your own event(s). If you have any questions at all or if we can help you in your efforts, don't hesitate to get in touch with Valerie Miller.
Venue Selection
Paradise Point Resort & Spa, San Diego
The venue was selected for its high potential for impact reduction and for their management's willingness to collaborate with and learn from SB and our partners in that arena. Since we first visited them, their commitment and ongoing effort to reduce the environmental footprint has been demonstrated by their Destination Earth program, including:
Paradise Point Head Chef and F&B Team
Much effort and focus was put in to the menu selection and sourcing of the food, in collaboration with the Chef and team at Paradise Point to ensure a lower impact from the food served at the conference. We also took advantage of the opportunity to educate the audience about food choices; to show that it is possible to choose lower impact options without sacrificing flavor or nutrition - even on a large scale.
Waste Reduction
In collaboration with all vendors and exhibitors
The entire planning process is focused on reducing waste as much as possible, and this is where a lot of the decision that affect the final impact is made. There are more efforts in this arena than we even have room to mention, but let us go through some of the main areas where we work hard to reduce waste in the planning process:
Waste Diversion
In partnership with 1:1 Movement and Waste Management
With great assistance from the locally based 1:1 Movement and Waste Management in San Diego, SB'13 worked closely with the conference venue to implement a comprehensive waste diversion system to separate recyclables, compostables and waste for pre-event and days-of production efforts. What couldn't be reduced in the planning phase, we focused on diverting away from landfill in the execution phase. Here's how we did that:
Energy Conservation and Carbon Measurement
In partnership with Paradise Point, PS Audio Visual and Freeman
The venue and suppliers are aware of energy reduction measures included in the event sustainability framework including:
Offset Programs
In partnership with Native Energy, Windmade and Bonneville Environmental Foundation
Where we are not able to reduce our impact any further, we partner with offset organizations to offset or restore the resources spent, by supporting projects that do so elsewhere. Our offset programs include:
ISO 20121 Sustainability Compliance
In partnership with Three Squares, Inc.
In order to earn ISO 20121 compliance, Three Squares Inc. worked closely with the SB'13 team, conference venue, and event suppliers to ensure that materials sourced for the event are held to the highest environmental standard and documentation was gathered for upload to the online certification system. The online Sustainable Event Management System (SEMS) Tool was used to measure event compliance with the standard and audit the event activities on site. The total event score ended at 81%, which is compliant with ISO 20121.
Onsite Activitites
For Health and Wellness
SB'13 featured several activities and efforts outside the main conference program to ensure attendees had an overall healthy experience at the conference. Some of these included:
Event Planning Office
San Francisco, CA
Most of the conference planning happens from our headquarters in San Francisco. Our office follows these practices throughout the year, and for all events we work on:
Many of these efforts and results would not have been possible without the collaboration of our partners. An immense thank you goes out to them for the willingness to work with us, the time, training and efforts, the collaboration and brain-storming to figure out tricky challenges along the way, and yes, even for dumpster-diving when it came down to it! You have our utmost gratitude for your partnerships.


text: 6 Murano glass drinking glasses set with rounded bases and coloured "maciè". These small rainbow colours remind you of the confetti that enliven the Venetian Carnival days. Entirely handmade in the furnace, they are created following the glass masters creative estro, this could be the reason for their slight differences in the tonalities that make them up. Held, these drinking glasses show absolute solidity and concreteness, while being extremely light.


text: Where: TF2Maps.net Official EU Server: 220.127.116.11:27015 Gameday Host: Egan When: Event will begin at: Saturday, April 18th 2015 - 3:00PM EST Click here for other Timezones Time converter at worldtimebuddy.comTime converter at worldtimebuddy.com Map List: (Closed) Time Played Map Name Author Download Thread Notes 20 koth_alison_a2 Ms. Mudpie BZ2 24386 30 pl_demurrage_a3 fanqmon BZ2 24270 30 cp_hardcliff_a2 HQDefault ZIP 30 pl_coalbed_b3 Waffe ZIP 23202 30 cp_grassroots_a3b Lain BZ2 24382 fb Map Pack: Not available yet. Event Rules and Information (link) Egan-Gameday Rules: If there's something specific you want feedback on in your map, write so a line below the rest of your submission, and I'll try to announce it sometime during the round. (Eg: Do the respawn times feel fair?) I'll keep playing maps past the end of the gameday as long as I feel like playing TF2 (usually at least 3 more maps from the end). If there is another VIP / Admin on then they can take my place as host, if they are available to do so. I'll only play 5cap maps for a maximum of 20 minutes because, partly having no experience in competitive, I don't enjoy them and they bore me out for the rest of the gameday.


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Cafés, Bars & Restaurants
Smoothie Solutions has been creating amazing smoothies since 2008.
We have built a reputation for manufacturing high quality, fast selling smoothie products and supplying them to cafés and food-service retailers at very competitive prices.
We manufacture our own IQF smoothies using state of the art technology combined with traditional expertise. Each year we produce millions of award winning smoothies.
Our customers have immediate access to our world class publicity materials and receive 7 day a week support from our team of Customer Service Representatives – and it's all totally free!
If you want to add our extraordinary smoothies to your menu – just let us know and we will take care of it.
We're always happy to chat – so feel free to give us a call if you have any questions.
We look forward to working with you!
The Hotel & Hospitality Industry
Smoothie Solutions is a key supplier to the Hotel and hospitality industry. Decision makers understand the importance of meeting consumer demand for healthy, cold beverage options.
What could be more refreshing than a 100% natural fruit or vegetable smoothie, freshly prepared at the time of order?
Our smoothies represent a significant business opportunity for management to increase monthly margins and to generate extra revenue streams.
Satisfied hotel visitors create positive social media reviews and drive demand for increased hotel occupancy.
Our smoothies are often sold at multiple points of sale within one hotel. For example smoothies can be successfully sold in the pool-bar, the chill out area, the kiddies zone, the sports area, the spa, at the breakfast buffet and in the cocktail bar.
We always work closely with our partners in the hotel trade and we would be delighted to explain how easy it is to increase customer satisfaction and monthly revenue streams.
Coffee Shops, Patisseries and food-service retailing chains
Smoothie Solutions manufacture smoothies for some of the largest and most well known national and international food-service retailing chains. Generally, for our corporate clients, we supply our White Label products packaged with the customers branding and made to our customers recipes and specifications.
Smoothie Solutions is part of a group that bought the first smoothies to the market more than 15 years ago. We understand the market inside out and we know which products sell and which products do not sell. We take the time to understand the individual needs of each of our customers and in the case of food-service retailing chains, we create the best recipes and products for that chain.
We aim to provide our customers with solutions tailored to their requirements, instead of offering the same products to everyone. Our sales and marketing department can create a new new brand identity and our technical departments have the ability to easily create brand new recipes or concepts.
Our natural IQF smoothies are easy to integrate into cafeteria, patisserie and coffee-house retailing chain menus and sales to the consumer start from day one.
However, Smoothie Solutions has never just manufactured and supplied the best IQF smoothies on the planet. We go out of our way to help our customers sell our amazing smoothies as well! Our customers have immediate access to our heroic marketing team who provide on going product and marketing support and full staff training. You could say we're a little obsessed with success – not just our own success – but the success of our customers too.
Frozen Food Distributors and Smoothie Operators
Smoothie Solutions also supply smoothies at wholesale distributor prices to many frozen food suppliers and distributors, to smoothie operators and to other food service professionals. With state of the art production facilities in Poland and the UK and offices in Switzerland and the UAE, we can supply rapidly and professionally anywhere in Europe, Scandinavia and the Middle East.
Food and drink distributors can be sure our smoothies are priced to ensure great margins and our product can easily become the most profitable and easiest to sell item in your range of products.
If you would like to add our smoothies to your portfolio of products we can show you how easy it is do.
We have 35 best selling smoothies to choose from or if you prefer we can supply the recipes which your existing customers are used to.
Our prices are the most competitive on the market, our service is the best and we are confident we have the highest quality smoothies available, anywhere.
We are specialists in
the production and distribution
of 100% natural smoothies
throughout Europe
the production and distribution
of 100% natural smoothies
throughout Europe
Don't just take our word for it . . . .
Here is what our customers say about us
Tea & Coffee Pot, Canary Islands, Spain
These Smoothies are a fantastic product and we sell about 1000 every month. This results in an extra stream of income for our cafe and our customers love the product. Thank you Stevie and everyone at Smoothie Solutions. If you own a cafe or bar don't hesitate get in touch with this supplier today.
I think these Smoothies are the best on the market, congratulations. I needed a smoothie product for my new restaurant and Smoothie Solutions impressed me the most with their knowledge and helpful staff. The smoothies taste great, my employees enjoy making them and our sales are very good. Thank you Smoothie Solutions.
Smoothie Solutions has the best IQF smoothies around. We tried several other Smoothie suppliers but the products did not sell well. Since we switched to Smoothie Solutions our sales of smoothies have increased three fold. Our customers love the product and we are proud to be working with Smoothie Solutions. Thank you to all the team.
Thanks to Stevie and his team for helping me to start selling Smoothies in Ibiza. I'm glad I have found a Smoothie company I can trust.
I sold over 200,000 IQF smoothies in my first 12 months as a Distributor of these amazing smoothies. Everything is going very well – actually much better than I planned. I am now placing an order for another 20 pallets. It is great to be a part of the Smoothie Solutions family of distributors. We sell 300 different food and drink products but the smoothies represent more than 10% of our annual sales.
Hallo, I am from Germany. Where can I buy your smoothies in Germany? I and my family drank your smoothies every single day when we were on holiday in Gran Canaria and we love them. Do you have a distributor in Germany? Please let me know.
Visitor to Gran Canaria
We sell about 300,000 smoothies every year in our group of coffee shops. We used to purchase our smoothies from another supplier in Belgium but I'm so glad we changed to Smoothie Solutions. The quality of the smoothies is better, the price is more competitive, the publicity is world class and the customer service is outstanding. I recommend Smoothie Solutions as a premium manufacturer and supplier of smoothies.
International chain of Coffee Shops.
Today I received my new Blendtec Blender from Smoothie Solutions and I am very pleased. I was impressed with the quick delivery and the great customer service – plus your price for the Blentec was unbeatable!
Our hotel has a reputation for quality and excellent customer service. We started selling smoothies 6 years ago and this product has honestly been a great success. Our guests enjoy these healthy, ice-cold drinks and we receive a brilliant service from the friendly team at Smoothie Solutions. The product produces a significant source of income for our hotel business. Recommended.
We ordered 1800 Smoothies and a Vitamix blender from Smoothie Solutions for our new coffee Shop in Tenerife. Smoothie Solutions designed and produced our menus and the Smoothies are selling very well. We are really pleased with the product. Thanks to Stevie for all his help.
P.D.B. Coffee House, Tenerife, España
I'm on holidays in the Canary Islands at the minute and my kids, husband and myself have enjoyed your Smoothies every single day – Just to quote your own words they taste 'Deliciously Amazing' – What a fantastic idea! Can I sell them in the UK?
Visitor to the Canary Islands
In the first week we sold 125 Smoothies in our cafe. Thanks to everyone at Smoothie Solutions for your help and support. We are very satisfied.
Café O, Canary Islands, España
These smoothies are amazing. Our customers come back for more and the service from Smoothie Solutions has been fantastic. If you are looking for a fast selling, great tasting smoothie product – get in touch with Smoothie Solutions.
We have sold smoothies for more than 2 years and are very pleased with the sales of this product. We sell the Smoothies in all four bars throughout our 5 star Hotel. Can we order another blender and another 500 smoothies please? Thank you for your help and for the personalised menus. We definitely recommend Smoothie Solutions.
Hotel H.L (five-star), Canary Islands, Spain
We have sold these Smoothies for the past 5 years. We are very pleased with the product and also with the service from Smoothie Solutions. Our orders are delivered within 24 hours 7 days a week! We used to sell another brand of Smoothies but changed because of poor service. We can recommend Smoothie Solutions without hesitation.
Bar M, Mogán, España
We changed to Smoothie Solutions 5 years ago and it is one of our best decisions. Our customers love this high quality product and their feedback is amazing. If you want the best Smoothie on the market look no further than Smoothie Solutions. This company is highly recommended.
Café M. Gran Canaria
Our customers love these smoothies and the smoothie cocktails too! This is a very high quality product and the service from the Smoothie Solutions is impeccable. We changed suppliers from another brand and we made the right decision. Thank you Stevie and everyone at Smoothie Solutions.
Café Meloneras, Gran Canaria
Our sales of smoothies have doubled since we changed suppliers to Smoothie Solutions and our customers love the smoothies! The service from the team at Smoothie Solutions is excellent. I highly recommend this product and also the company Smoothie Solutions.
Café – Arguineguin, Canary Islands, Spain
We started selling these smoothies some months ago – and we are delighted. These smoothies are the best quality and our customers think they are great. We didn't know if the smoothies would sell in our terraced cafe – but from the start we have sold around 100 smoothies a week. Thanks Stevie and to the team at Smoothie Solutions.
Cafe S – Playa Inglés, Canary Islands, Spain


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On World Photography day i was thinking hard what to post on my blog. And then a bulb flashed above my head and my heart screamed "FOOD". Of-course! That's what we do when we celebrate all good days (it's another thing that i do not wait for an occasion to dig myself into food gluttony)
Local train stations in Mumbai, though most of the times are the places where you would not like to stay for long (because of the simple body crushing crowd) but is somewhere, most of us (Mumbaikars) spend our daily lives. These stations are also a breeding ground for hunger starved scavengers like me. You will find the most awesome snacks here and one of them is "Aamchi Bhel" (Our Bhel in Marathi). I do not how to describe Bhel to perfection, but it is in brief a sumptuous, mouth-watering mixture of various fried snacks. A dash of batter coated peanuts, finely chopped onions and fresh tomatoes, some spicy green chilli, dash of zesty lemon , some puffed rice and all the savory nibbles you could think of.
Every bite comes with a punch of all Indian flavors together. It's so delicious that you cannot stop until you finish the last lingering puff rice! and did someone say "Sharing" – "DEFINITELY NOT".
Bhel is usually served in paper cones for ease as it is an On-the-go snack! So, until you visit Mumbai and spoil yourself with some street food delights at Mumbai Railway station, here is pack for 🙂
P.S- When i clicked this picture, the seller was so thrilled that he asked if this picture is going to make it to a MAGAZINE! I said no not really, but it is definitely reaching the eyes who can taste it fantasizing the flavors in their head 😀 SLUURRRPPPP….