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Don't let medical absences cloud your judgment
By Kristin M. Simpsen
In late January, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in Smothers v. Solvay Chemicals Inc. (No. 12-8013, 10th Cir. Jan. 22, 2014) that emphasized the importance of conducting a proper investigation and applying consistent discipline.
Steven Smothers worked as a mechanic for Solvay Chemicals for 18 years until he was terminated, ostensibly for a first-time safety violation and a dispute with a co-worker. In his lawsuit, Smothers alleged the company's true reason for terminating him was retaliation for taking FMLA leave and discrimination on the basis of his disability in violation of the ADA.
Smothers injured his neck in 1994, which required three surgeries between 1999 and 2004 and numerous other medical procedures. He suffered from severe ongoing pain, which caused him to miss quite a bit of work. Without pain treatments, the pain was so severe that he could not work. The pain also affected his sleep, as he often was able to sleep for only four hours, sometimes for up to six hours, a night.
Smothers sought and received FMLA leave from his employer for intermittent absences caused by his condition. Even though performance reviews showed he was an excellent mechanic with strong job knowledge, management and co-workers nevertheless complained about his FMLA-protected absences. One member of management pressured him to change from graveyard shift to day shift, where his absences could be more easily absorbed without the company incurring overtime. This move, however, would reduce Smothers' income by $7,000 a year. Human Resources informed management that forcing this change would violate the FMLA. Management relented but continued to complain about Smothers' absences from work.
In August 2008, Smothers removed a piece of equipment without following proper safety protocols. When a co-worker suggested he follow the proper safety protocol, Smothers disagreed and continued working. Later, the co-worker offered to assist; however, Smothers refused the co-worker's assistance. According to the employer, Smothers told the co-worker, "I don't want your kind of help" and said he "was going to take a sh*t and wanted to know if [co-worker] wanted to watch him to see if he did that right." Smothers, however, described the interaction quite differently and asserted that the co-worker provoked the argument and began yelling at him. Witnesses characterized the interaction as an argument or confrontation.
Following this argument, the co-worker called management to make a complaint about Smothers. After receiving the complaint, the manager spoke with Smothers and drafted a summary of their conversation. They discussed removing the equipment without following the proper safety protocols. Smothers also told management that the co-worker had yelled at him in the maintenance shop. Management, however, did not tell him about the co-worker's version of the events and did not ask him whether he actually made the comments that the co-worker alleged.
In a meeting with managers, Smothers tried to explain his version of the exchange with his co-worker, but one of the managers stated that the managers were not interested in hearing about the argument. The managers discussed the safety violation, and Smothers explained what he had done, apologized, and promised it would not happen again. He was subsequently suspended pending an investigation.
During the investigation, the co-worker was interviewed about his version of the argument; however, none of the decision-makers interviewed Smothers about his version of the argument. Smothers was then fired.
Following his termination, Smothers brought suit alleging FMLA retaliation, disability discrimination, and a state law breach of implied contract claim. Following discovery, the district court granted summary judgment in the employer's favor. However, the Tenth Circuit reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment on the FMLA retaliation and disability discrimination claims and held that the evidence taken in Plaintiff's favor showed: "(1) [the employer] treated [Plaintiff] differently from similarly situated employees with comparable safety violations; (2) [the employer's] investigation into [Plaintiff's] quarrel with [his co-worker] was inadequate; and (3) [the employer's] managers took negative action against Mr. Smother's because of his FMLA-protected absences."
Lessons learned from Smothers case
The bottom line: It is extremely important to conduct fair, impartial investigations and to apply discipline consistently across similarly situated employees.
Inconsistent application of discipline, as shown by the Smothers case, is a dangerous practice. Ensure that similarly situated employees (those employees with the same supervisor or who are subject to the same decision-maker) receive similar discipline for comparably serious offenses.
Perform proper investigations of both employee complaints and employee misconduct. Before starting an investigation, consider what policies or guidelines apply, how similar incidents have been handled in the past, what are you hoping to find out in the investigation, what questions will be asked, and if there are any actions (such as suspension) that need to be undertaken before the investigation can begin. Gather and review any relevant documents prior to starting the investigation.
It is important to select the right person to conduct the investigations. The person doing the investigation should have experience or training in conducting investigations and should be unbiased and unprejudiced.
Make sure to fully interview the employee who is under investigation and give him a chance to fully discuss or refute any allegations that have been made against him. Give the employee under investigation the chance to write down his side of the story. Consider whether witnesses can corroborate the allegations. Reach decisions based on the credibility of the witnesses and the information that the investigator has been presented. When an investigation is concluded, inform both the complaining party and the party being investigated the results of the investigation. Document everything.
Kristin M. Simpsen(405) 552-2395


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The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Submitted by InfoBrics, authored by Steven Sahiounie, political commentator…
Father Hovsep Bedoyan, the head of the Armenian Catholic community in Qamishli, and the priest's father, Abraham Bedoyan, were killed November 11, on the road leading from Qamishli to Deir Ez Zor, were they were headed to check on the rebuilding of the Forty Martyr's Armenian Apostolic Church in Deir Ezzor, which was destroyed in 2014 by terrorists who targeted Christians and churches. Deacon Fati Sano of the Al-Hasakeh church was injured in the attack when the car was ambushed at a checkpoint by masked gunmen on motorcycles, which shot at point-blank range. The car they drove was inscribed with the Armenian Church's logo. The same day, a series of bomb blasts in Qamishli occurred, targeting the Armenian Catholic church, an Assyrian Christian-owned business, and a Catholic school, killing at least 6 people and wounded 22 others. More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians lived in Syria, mainly in the province of Aleppo prior to 2011; however, after the constant targeting of Christians by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) beginning in 2011, thousands have fled and many hundreds went to Armenia, who offered the Syrians a visa, when most of the world had shut its doors to them.
Tens of thousands of Christians from the Assyrian minority fled attacks in 2015, and have not returned. Christians in Homs were targeted very early in 2011 by the FSA, with churches attacked, burned and priests killed. Christians in Damascus were dodging missiles fired into Bab Touma from terrorists, in East Ghouta, until the Syrian Arab Army defeated them and they could walk again safely on the "street called straight", from Bible passages about Saint Paul. In September 2012, the large Christian neighborhood in Aleppo, Azizia, fought the FSA, with Christian civilians holding arms to defend their homes and churches. George, an Armenian Christian of Aleppo said, "The Armenians are fighting because they believe the FSA are sent by their Turkish oppressors to attack them, the Christians want to defend their neighborhoods." "FSA snipers were on the rooftops and they were attacking the Maronite church and Armenian residents there," said a former clergyman calling himself John. A Syrian Armenian mother said, "They are shouting 'the Alawites to the graves and the Christians to Beirut."
While many Syrian Christians have resisted leaving Syria, for the life of a refugee abroad, many have gone even though they were living in safe areas, such as the coast. They saw their Christian countrymen leaving in large numbers, and they feared that the FSA terrorists that the Obama administration was supporting would win, and in that case, they could never live safely in Syria.
Father Hovsep Bedoyan had been visiting Deir Ez Zor every 2 weeks while overseeing the rebuilding of the church there. The France-based association, L'Oeuvre d'Orient, is a Catholic charity aimed at reconstructing infrastructure for the return of the Christian community. Monseigneur Pascal Gollnisch, the group's head, pointed at Turkey's recent invasion of Northern Syria: "It is the responsibility of all occupying forces to protect the safety of the local Christian minority," he insisted.
The United Nations (UN) estimates that almost 200,000 people have been displaced by the Turkish invasion, dubbed "Operation Peace Spring", while eyewitness accounts of summary executions, beatings, and torture, unlawful detention, and kidnappings by the Turkish military and the FSA, who are Radical Islamic terrorists, employed as mercenaries.
The FSA is the Turkish backed terrorists/mercenaries
"It was sadly learned that a cleric from the Syrian Armenian community was killed in a vicious attack in the area under the control of the terrorist organization PYD/YPG/PKK," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement, which deflected responsibility, and blamed the Syrian Kurds who had been allied to the US, and denying their own FSA mercenaries were the actual killers. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the killings, but the FSA and ISIS are allies, and sources close to the events on the ground have said it was the FSA who killed them, and ISIS only issued the claim of responsibility to shield the blame from the FSA.
FSA history in Syria and sectarianism
The FSA and its political wing, the SNC, have never been secular or moderate. The founding members of the SNC and FSA were members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Their goal for Syria has always been to establish an Islamic government, thus abolishing the secular Ba'ath Party as well as the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP).
"The Free Syrian Army practically doesn't exist," Kamal Sido, a Mideast expert at the human rights group Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) told Germany's Deutschlandfunk broadcaster. "The Free Syrian Army is a smokescreen hiding various names, and if you look at the names, at these groups' videos, you'll find they are radical Islamist, Jihadist groups."
The FSA was not only fighting the Syrian government but were also killing, raping, maiming and kidnapping unarmed Syrian civilians, most of whom were Sunni Muslims, like themselves. On July 20, 2017, President Trump cut the CIA's covert program to equip and train the FSA. The CIA program began in 2013 by Obama to overthrow President Assad; however, CIA officials observed that many FSA had joined ISIS and other radical groups, and feared the weapons they gave the group might end up with ISIS.
The Marmarita massacre
On August 17, 2013, in Marmarita, Amin Nakour, Maya Barshini, Atalla Aboud, and Ibrahim Saadi were attending a Christian celebration to honor the annual commemoration of "Mother Mary's Day". The small village of Marmarita sits in the historic "Valley of the Christians" which is near Homs. It was a hot August night, and Christian party-goers were suddenly attacked the FSA and their allies. The four were killed when they attempted to flee the party in a car. The FSA and their allies, have vowed to make Syria a Sunni Muslim State, and have targeted Christians and minorities for 8 years.
The invasion, occupation, and destruction of Kessab
On March 21, 2014, Kessab was attacked when shelling from the Turkish side of the border rained down on the undefended Armenian village, sending its 2,000 residents into panic. Over 20,000 fanatics from the FSA and its allies came pouring over the border. They desecrated all 3 churches, and looted the village's graves, before scattering the bones of the deceased around the town. The FSA held 26 elderly Armenians against their will for forty days in Turkey, where the FSA kidnappers brought the US Ambassador to Turkey, Francis J. Riccardone, Jr., to visit the elderly captives, but offered no help or release. Samuel Poladian, who stayed in Kessab for the 3-month occupation, and claims he heard Turkish military helicopters overhead on the morning of the invasion, and that Turkey assisted in the invasion.
Monseigneur Ayvazian said, "They burned all my books and documents, many of them very old, and left my library with nothing but 60cm of ash on the floor." He has a photo of the church altar, which was desecrated by the FSA before the Syrian Arab Army liberated Kessab on June 15, 2014. The Armenians claim the Kessab attack, which was directed solely against Armenian Christians, was Turkey's brutal way of showing the Armenians and the Syrian government that they can attack at any time.
Armenian Church in Deir Ez Zor destroyed
On November 10, 2014, terrorists blew up the Armenian Church in Deir el-Zour, which is dedicated to the 1.5 million Armenians slaughtered by the Turks during the 1915 genocide, where many hundreds of thousands of victims died in death camps around Deir el-Zour. Because the FSA has received arms from Turkey, the destruction of the church is regarded by Armenians as crimes carried out by Turks, harkening back to the genocide. "During the Armenian genocide, the Turks entered the church and killed its priest, Father Petrus Terzibashian, in front of the congregation," Monseigneur Ayvazian said, adding "Then they threw his body into the Euphrates. This time when the Islamists came, our priest there fled for his life."
The Turkish hatred of Armenians
The 19th century Armenian Surp Asdvadzadzin Church in Gurun district of Sivas (Sebastia), Turkey, will reopen as a museum. At different times the church has been used as a prison, movie theater, storeroom, and wedding hall. The local mayor hopes it will boost the development of tourism in the region. That is the stark reality in Turkey, where Muslims account for 98% of the population, compared to the large Christian minority in Syria. In Turkey, they have tried to erase their Christian history, and have used the old Armenian churches as museums, or locked up or ruined.
The Armenian Genocide, Turkish denial, the US House recognition
The Armenian Genocide was the systematic mass extermination and expulsion of 1.5 million ethnic Armenians within the Ottoman Empire, from approximately 1914 to 1923. Other ethnic groups were similarly targeted for extermination; such as Assyrians and the Greeks, also strictly Christians. Mass executions were followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly, and the infirm on death marches leading to Deir Ez Zor, which were driven forward by military escorts, as the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery, rape, and massacre.
On Oct. 29, 2019, the US House voted overwhelmingly to formally recognize the Armenian genocide and denounce it. Lawmakers had previously failed from supporting such a resolution to preserve the United States' relationship with Turkey, a NATO ally that has steadfastly denied that the atrocities amounted to genocide. Livid at Turkey's recent bloody military invasion in Syria, lawmakers saw a possible tie to the Armenian genocide, as many feared the withdrawal of American forces would lead to ethnic cleansing in northeast Syria.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.

subset: commoncrawl


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Medical Malpractice
Michigan Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Medical malpractice lawsuits present some of the greatest challenges in the law for both clients and lawyers alike. Recent insurance company and medical lobby reforms have made medical malpractice claims much harder and more expensive to bring forward. More importantly, there are caps on the amount that can be recovered for pain and suffering, which may drastically limit the most severely injured patient's right to recover.
Making a Medical Malpractice Claim
Nearly any claim brought against a medical professional must be treated as a medical malpractice claim under Michigan law. Before a lawsuit can even start, the medical professional and/or hospital must be given six month's advance notice describing the claim in impeccable detail, often before the patient has had access to witnesses who know the details of what really happened.
Expert testimony must almost always be obtained from out-of-state since physicians and other medical professionals are reluctant to testify against local colleagues.
Caps on Damages
Medical malpractice law in Michigan is especially unfair when it comes to the most severely injured plaintiffs because the law says that, except in rare cases, the maximum that can be recovered for pain and suffering is $433,400 (as of 2013). Some catastrophic injuries or injuries to the ability to have children bring a higher cap ($774,000), but those are rare.
When a loved one dies as a result of medical malpractice, the entire family combined can only recover the lower cap, meaning that they must all share in a single recovery that cannot exceed the capped amount of $433,400 or $774,000. Fortunately, there is no cap on economic loss, so medical expenses and lost earnings arising from the malpractice can be recovered without a cap on the amount.
Many lawyers who used to handle medical malpractice cases have simply stopped due to the difficulty and expense in relation to the amount that can be recovered. Our firm continues to handle these cases successfully, working with top experts throughout the country, to prove that what was done to the patient was wrong and should be compensated.
What must be proven in a medical malpractice case
In every medical malpractice case, the victim must be able to prove two things:
- The doctor or other medical professional failed to follow established standards for providing medical care and;
- The mistakes that the doctor or other medical professional made were a significant cause of harm.
The second point is particularly important. Many times clients will present situations to us in which it is clear that the doctor made a medical mistake – but is by no means clear that, had the doctor handled the case properly, the patient would have had a successful outcome. This is especially true in cases of failure to diagnose cancer. Proving that an earlier diagnosis would have saved the patient can be very challenging.
Statutes of Limitation
There are important time limits relative to medical malpractice cases that potential medical malpractice victims should be aware of. A medical malpractice claim must be brought within two years of the date that the malpractice is thought to have occurred, or, if that time has already passed, within six months of the first date that the patient could have reasonably discovered they may have a claim.
In other kinds of cases, minors have until their 19th birthday to sue, but in medical malpractice claims a child has the same time limit as an adult. A child injured when they were younger than eight-years-old – for example, through a birth injury – has until his or her 10th birthday to bring the claim.
Certain kinds of injuries can provide somewhat more time. In cases of death, so long as the time for suing had not already expired more than 30 days before the death occurred, a personal representative of the decedent's estate can sue for up to two years after the personal representative is appointed.
There are other complicated, but important exceptions, which is why it is crucial that you discuss your potential claim with a medical malpractice attorney, even if you believe the time to sue may have expired. One of these exceptions could potentially save your claim.
Longevity of a Medical Malpractice Case
Medical malpractice cases can take a considerable amount of time to develop and bring to a conclusion. It can often be a lengthy process just to collect the medical records necessary to fully analyze the claim. Experts need to be consulted, sometimes in several medical fields. Before a lawsuit can even be started, a detailed notice of claim must be filed with the defendants, after which the defendants have a six-month period of time to investigate the claim and approach the plaintiff for settlement.
Unfortunately, medical malpractice settlements never occur in this phase. In the overwhelming majority of cases, it is necessary to file suit. Different judges in different courts have their own timetables; some cases may be moved to trial in as quickly as a year, but 18 to 24 months is more common. Complex cases with multiple parties make scheduling much more difficult. The more people who are involved in scheduling, the more common scheduling conflicts are that cause even greater delays. For all these reasons, it is not uncommon for malpractice case to take from two to three years to reach a conclusion.
If you believe you have are a medical malpractice victim, please contact the Michigan civil litigation attorneys at Seikaly, Stewart & Bennett immediately. Timing is crucial in these cases due to the varying statutes of limitation. Call 248-785-0102 or fill out our contact form to arrange your no-obligation consultation.


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EML Forster: a Passage to Italy
December 2010
This month we look at the sketches of Italy by Edward Morgan Llewellyn (Eddie) Forster, the father of novelist EM Forster.
Eddie was the seventh child of Laura Thornton and Charles Forster, an Irish clergyman. He was educated at Charterhouse and came up to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1866.
His family expected him to follow a career in the church or in law but Eddie had his own ideas and became an architect, studying under Sir Arthur William Blomfield (1829-99).
Eddie spent much of 1874-76 travelling the continent studying (and drawing) French and Italian architecture.
After returning from the continent he faced as much opposition in his choice of wife as he had done in his choice of career. Alice Clara (Lily) Whichelo was from a middle-class family fallen on hard times.
Lily's father, a drawing master, died when she was only 13. After her father's death the family doctor introduced her to Eddie's aunt, Marianne Thornton, who took the young Lily under her wing. Through the Thorntons Lily was able to secure a suitable place as a governess.
It was whilst she was working as a governess that Lily met Eddie for the first time. He was 21 and she 13. Nine years later, in 1877, Eddie proposed. He had just set up his own architecture practice and he must have seemed quite a catch to the young Lily (just 22).
Marianne was the only member of Eddie's family to be supportive of the engagement. Other members of Eddie's family thought Lily rather beneath him. Lily's own mother adored her future son-in-law, comparing him to her own artistic husband. The couple were married in early 1877, a mere eight weeks after their engagement.
During their early marriage the couple benefited greatly from Thornton patronage. Eddie's sister Laura commissioned him to design a house for her. The house in Abinger, a red-brick mansion known as 'Laura Lodge' and later re-named 'West-Hackhurst' was his first and only large commission.
Lily and Eddie's first baby died at birth, but on 1 Jan 1879 Lily gave birth to a healthy baby boy. The baby was registered as Henry Morgan Forster.
Marianne Thornton was overjoyed by the birth and the choice of name. She was horrified when two months later Eddie mistakenly gave his own name to the vicar, and the baby was christened Edward Morgan Forster. It was decided that God came before government and the name Edward Morgan stuck.
Shortly after his son's birth, Eddie became ill. He died of consumption (tuberculosis) 30 Oct 1880. His death shattered the 25-year old Lily. She was forced to rely on the generosity of her family and in-laws and to pin her hopes for the future on her son.
Forster came up to King's in 1897 to read classics. He received his BA in 1900, then travelled and worked in Europe and India.
When he was in England, he lived with his mother at West Hackhurst, in the house his father had designed. Mother and son lived there from 1925 until Lily's death in 1945. King's made Forster an Honorary Fellow in 1945 and from that time until his death in 1970 he had rooms in college.
Forster left his papers to the college and included within this collection are a number of his father's sketchbooks, drawings and some photographs. This month we feature some of Edward Morgan Llewellyn's sketches of Italy.
Gallery 1 - EML Forster: a passage to Italy
Useful Sources - EML Forster: a passage to Italy
- Catalogue of the papers of EML Forster within the papers of Edward Morgan Forster (ArchiveSearch) (see 'Links')


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Jake Bugg's ''favourite support show ever'' was with The Stone Roses, although he would have loved the chance to perform with the late Glen Campbell.
Jake Bugg's ''favourite support show ever'' was with The Stone Roses.
The 23-year-old singer has hailed the moment he supported the rock band on stage as the most ''amazing'' moment of his life because he performed in front of an audience of 300 people.
He told Shortlist magazine: ''I've performed with The rolling Stones, which was pretty amazing. My favourite support show ever was when I played with The Stone roses about five years ago, only because it was in a 300-capacity venue and I got to see them after, which was pretty sweet.''
But the star would have loved the opportunity to perform with the late Glen Campbell.
He said: ''I've been listening to a lot of Glen Campbell recently. Unfortunately he died not long ago. The songs he wrote with Jimmy Webb really are the best of the best.''
It has been five years since Bugg released his debut namesake album, and the star thinks he has improved ''a little bit'' over time.
He explained: ''Lyrically my music now is very different. I'm not the same guy I was when I first started. I'm not in the same place, so I can't sing about the same stuff.
''Musically I like to think I'm at least a little bit better, both as a musician and a writer. I think the sound's matured slightly even if I haven't. It's probably due to playing with more experienced people.''


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The prehistoric archaeological site of Vasagård in Denmark has once again revealed a trove of curious artifacts from a long-forgotten era. According to The Copenhagen Post, archaeologists working on the island of Bornholm discovered hundreds of so-called "sun stones," mysterious prehistoric stones with intricate patterns of designs etched into them. Historians and archaeologists still aren't sure what the purpose of the stones might have been.
Close to 300 fragments and shards of the sun stones were found, all of them etched and carved with mysterious symbols and patterns. Interestingly, the stones were found on the island of Bornholm, an island locals refer to as "Sunshine Island." The sun stones are estimated to be around 5,000 years old, and the designs on them vary significantly from stone to stone. Some stones appear to display a spider-web type pattern, while others have just a single ring of etch marks.
Finn Ole Sonne Nielsen, the lead archaeologist at Bornholm Museum who led this excavation, says whatever the stones were, they were likely something Prehistoric people used on a daily basis:
Many of the stones are very worn, so it looks as though someone has walked around with them in their pocket. We've known about sun stones for a while, but the field stones are something entirely new – just yesterday we found four – and the variation among them with spider webs is something we didn't know existed.
One of the theories floating around is that the sun stones might have been a prehistoric form of money, while others suggest the stones might have been a type of totem intentionally broken during funerary ceremonies. Earlier this year, a similar artifact was discovered: a stone etched with symbols which is believed to be one of the world's oldest maps.
The island of Bornholm is proving itself to be one of the richest archaeological sites in Europe, hinting the existence of an advanced Stone Age culture possibly with its own writing system. Just what were these stones used for?
Previous article


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Yes, all personal data is stored on the cloud and syncs to your personal account on the web portal. To view your data, just login with your own credentials.
Your personal account and diabetes profile can be edited on the website and on the app. Your logs can be edited only on the app and the web site can be used as a viewer.


text: HADDONFIELD, N.J. Associated Press Some stared at their televisions in disbelief. Others were too furious to process the news. More than two decades after a terrorist bomb blew a Pan Am jetliner out of the sky, victims' relatives watched in anger as the only man ever convicted in the attack boarded another flight to his freedom in Libya, then arrived home to a hero's welcome. "This is not fair to the families," said Stan Maslowski, whose 30-year-old daughter Diane was returning from London for Christmas when Flight 103 went down on Dec. 21, 1988. "This shows a terrorist can get away with murder." Maslowski and his wife, Norma, turned on the TV at their Haddonfield home to watch the developments. "You get that lump in your throat and you feel like you're going to throw up," Norma Maslowski said. Abdel Baset al-Megrahi was released Thursday after serving eight years of a minimum 27-year sentence in Scottish prison. Scottish officials said the former Libyan intelligence officer has advanced prostate cancer and was given only months to live. They said they were bound by Scottish values to release him. "He got on the plane looking fairly ill, and he got off the plane looking like he could do a dance," said Joanne Hartunian of Delmar, N.Y., who lost her daughter Lynne, a student at the State University of New York at Oswego. "It just made me physically ill." "It brought it all back to Day One," Hartunian said. "I thought we had gotten past that horrible, horrible pain that we felt, but I felt the same pain today." Many struggled to explain their feelings. "It's appalling, disgusting and so sickening I can hardly find words to describe it," said Susan Cohen, of Cape May Court House, N.J., whose 20-year-old daughter Theodora died in the attack. "Lockerbie looks like it never happened now -- there isn't anybody in prison for it." The bombing turned the families of some of the 270 victims into activists who became deeply versed in terrorism policy, international relations, airline security and victim compensation. The families, which organized as Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, have evolved from communicating through phone trees to keeping in touch through Facebook. From the beginning, many were bitter that neither the United States nor other nations spoke out more strongly about the attack, although the White House on Thursday said Scotland should not have released him. Cohen and other relatives said they believe al-Megrahi was released to appease Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi because access to his nation's oil is so important. Thursday's release is likely the end of the legal saga. "Twenty years later, this is the last sad chapter where government leaders have no moral backbone," said Bert Ammerman of River Vale, whose brother Tom was killed on the flight. Still, the victims group intends to go on. They planned a conference call today to discuss what to do next and expect to join protests next month when Gadhafi is scheduled to visit New York, said Bob Monetti, whose brother was on the flight. Monetti said he was disappointed but not surprised by the welcome al-Megrahi received in Libya. He hopes as many people will come out to protest Gadhafi in New York as came out to celebrate al-Megrahi's return home. Peter Sullivan, a college roommate of victim Mike Doyle, said the criminal case does not have to end. "I would like to see the United States expeditiously indict al-Megrahi and seek his extradition for trial in the U.S. for the murder of 189 innocent Americans," said Sullivan, of Akron, Ohio. But not all the relatives thought the release was wrong. "This is just one little thing that says this is not going to hurt any of us for him to be released and go die with his family," said Caroline Stevens of Little Rock, Ark., whose son Sandy Phillips died in the bombing. "We've got to look at one another in a more compassionate way and not rely on war and revenge and all that." Ann Rogers said she had not been aware that al-Megrahi was close to getting his freedom. Her 21-year-old daughter died in the bombing. "We haven't thought about him in a long time," said Rogers, of Olney, Md. "Whatever happens to him, the bottom line is Luann's still gone."


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With The Hunger Games franchise, Hollywood has finally found a good reason for smoking up the screen with teen angst. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) doesn't sulk her way through this sequel because she's worried about college prospects, or struggling to choose between one hot guy and another. No, her life really does suck.
In last year's blockbuster based on the first book in Suzanne Collins' best-selling young-adult series, Katniss won a literally cutthroat televised competition. Victory was supposed to set her and her just-for-the-cameras boyfriend, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), up for life. Instead, Catching Fire finds Katniss torn between serving as the decorative pawn of an oppressive regime (represented by Donald Sutherland's icy President Snow) and the symbol of a struggling underclass rebellion. The latter option is obviously way cooler, but fomenting dissent could get all her loved ones tortured or killed. Including the hot guys.
Collins' books are a mixed bag. Her action scenes are weightless, gimmicky and reminiscent of video gameplay — in other words, tailor-made for a Hollywood blockbuster. More absorbing (for an adult reader, anyway) is her satirical depiction of a futuristic successor to the Roman Empire, with reality TV as its coliseum and unlucky peasants from the outlying districts as its gladiators. Her world is called Panem — from the Latin phrase for "bread and circuses."
Catching Fire focuses on the unfair dispensation of bread for the greater chunk of its hefty 146-minute running time, saving the circuses for dessert. It's inevitable that Katniss will return to the Capitol's sadistic arena, but the how and why take much setting up. Meanwhile director Francis Lawrence shows the visual acumen he did in I Am Legend, and the sequel's bigger budget allows us to marvel at the decadent pageantry of the Capitol.
One drawback of Catching Fire (both book and film) is that it introduces a slew of supporting characters who are more interesting than our heroine, only to dispose of most of them in short order. I found myself wishing that the whole saga pivoted around the nerds who won past Hunger Games with their mad tech skillz (Jeffrey Wright and Amanda Plummer); or the angry, foul-mouthed, generally unhinged Johanna Mason (Jena Malone).
That's not to imply that Lawrence sleepwalks through her role — she brings all the grief, dread and determination required, and then some. It's the role itself that lacks shadings.
Part of the problem is Katniss' central relationship with Peeta, a skillfully developed aspect of the books that feels increasingly inert on screen. The Hunger Games reverses the genders of a standard heroic trope. Katniss keeps offering to sacrifice herself for Peeta because she's convinced he's the better person — a bread baker, a joker and an artist, while she's mainly good at killing things. In the movie, however, Hutcherson acts like Lawrence's sullen twin, so we don't see the playful or nurturing qualities that would justify Katniss' view of Peeta or her increasing affection for him.
Angst, in short, is best with a counterpoint. Such concerns evaporate in the film's last quarter, of course, when action junkies finally get their due with nonstop, CGI-enhanced slaughter. (Note to shaky-cam haters: That aspect of the first film is gone.) And sly performances from Elizabeth Banks and Philip Seymour Hoffman, as Capitol flunkies, keep the lead-up fun.
The Hunger Games has the edge over the average action franchise in that its plot is clear and compelling enough to reward a viewer's investment. Now its world has become glossy and stunning, too. Our own culture's appetite for spectacles should suffice to keep the workforce that toils at desks moving pixels from going hungry for a while.


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How to Check for the Koobface Virus
A major computer security threat known as Koobface made its first appearance in the world of social media in August of 2008. The word Koobface is an anagram for "Facebook," flaunting the fact that this particular form of malware attacks users of social media sites. Although commonly known as a virus, Koobface is actually a worm that can use your infected computer to infect others. It has been known to infect users of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, to name a few.
How Koobface Infects Computers
Koobface propagates itself by putting links on the social network profile of a user whose machine is infected. When social connections or friends of this user click on the infected links, they may become infected themselves. It is most often spread through a tantalizing message or post that contains a video. When the video is clicked, the victim is taken to a forged Web page that states the video cannot be watched because an update for Adobe Flash Player is needed. It then conveniently offers a link to download and install the update. When that link is clicked, it installs the Koobface worm on the unsuspecting user's computer.
What Koobface Does
The Koobface worm is classified as a bot. Computers infected with bots can connect to command and control servers. A cluster of bots attached to a C&C server is known as a botnet. Once the infected computer is under the control of a C&C server, the cybercriminal has complete control of the infected system and all its data. Since a bot runs as a background process without the user knowing, virtually anything is possible from that point on. For this reason computers infected with bots like Koobface are also referred to as zombie hosts. The user of a zombie host can be monitored for bank account numbers, credit card numbers, passwords and more, and further forms of malicious software can be downloaded and installed on the infected computer.
Checking for Koobface
A good way to check is by looking at the running processes on your computer. In Microsoft Windows, start Task Manager and click the Processes tab. If you're running OS X, look at Activity Monitor. Some known Koobface processes you could look for are Fbtre6.exe, Mstre6.exe, Freddy35.exe, Websrvx.exe, Captcha6.exe, Bolivar28.exe, and Ld12.exe. Other than that, if you see a suspicious process, enter the full name and extension into an Internet search engine and see what it turns up. If you have something malicious on your machine, chances are someone else has it too. An Internet search should confirm it.
Removing the Infection
A manual removal of Koobface is not recommended, and may cause unintended consequences. You'll need to remove registry entries, stop background processes and unregister DLL files -- and even then you may just find that Koobface has reinstalled itself at your computer's next startup. All things considered, removing it with well-respected anti-virus software is the best, safest way to take care of the problem.
Writer Bio
Arto Baltayan has been a technical writer since 2008. He specializes in documentation for software, cloud, enterprise systems and computer security. He is a software engineer with 10 years' experience with C++ and Java, and is also certified by Oracle Corporation as a DBA and middleware admin.


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City of Montpelier, Vt., develops biomass district heat project
Montpelier, Vt., broke ground in mid-April on its biomass thermal project to serve downtown public and private buildings.
The project, a joint undertaking by the city and state government, will feature a biomass heating plant to be built upon the existing boiler facility in downtown Montpelier and the installation of new hot water distribution lines that will stretch more than a half mile to an elementary school and a police station.
Construction will be completed in phases throughout the summer of 2013, the first of which broke ground on April 16 to install new piping along the heat distribution route on State Street. Once complete, the new biomass boilers will provide 41 million Btu of biomass-derived heat to 22 state- and city-owned buildings with potential for an additional 8.1 million Btu for other neighboring buildings.
The heating facility will consume 12,200 tons of green woodchips annually, sourced from local and forested areas in the northeast region of the U.S. and possibly some parts of Canada. William Fraser, city manager of Montpelier, said early models of the facility had it functioning as a cogeneration plant to generate electricity for government buildings, but heat generation is currently the primary focus.
"It is the most complex project we have ever worked on in local government," Fraser said, "but we're putting the lines in the ground as we speak and we're underway." He cited that the project was temporarily voted down by the city council in August 2012 until terms with the state were corrected. Additionally, the project requires collaboration with the city and state's budgets and schedules.
After two weeks of construction, Fraser reports the project is steadily progressing and there has not been anything out of the ordinary witnessed so far. "We're hopeful that the state will wrap up their permitting and be able to move into their construction season and we'll be running the system next winter," Fraser continued.


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QUEBEC CITY, Canada – Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid made the first cut among bidders to host the 2020 Olympics, as the International Olympic Committee announced that Baku and Doha were dropped from the running.
The IOC will decide which city will host the 2020 Olympics in a final vote on September 7, 2013 in Buenos Aires. That gives the remaining hopefuls more than 15 months to make final impressions upon the IOC to boost their candidacy.
Tokyo 2020 bid chief Tsunekazu Takeda said Wednesday, May 23 that being on the short list would help boost the spirits of the Japanese people after last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami, which killed about 19,000 people.
"I think this will be a big help for the Japanese people," Takeda said. "I think it will give big, big power to the people who suffered the disaster."
Tokyo is the only one of the candidates to have hosted the event before, doing so in 1964, and many see Tokyo as the pacesetter because of its sound plan for hosting the games.
Olympics to aid recovery
Hosting the 2020 Olympics is also seen as an opportunity to help rebuild the country and bring some much-needed joy after last year's natural disaster.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Nodo said hosting the Games would "serve as a symbol of Japan's recovery from last year's tragedy."
"With the Japanese government's full support for Tokyo's bid, our nation greatly desires to achieve the goal of hosting the Games," he said.
As in 2008, Tokyo is considered the frontrunner with the best technical file, but is facing fewer rivals this round, with the total number of candidate cities down from five last time.
With the 2018 Winter Olympics being held in Pyeongchang, however, there may be a reluctance to hold back-to-back events in Asia.
European bids
Ordinarily Madrid would be seen as running close with Tokyo, having beaten them in the race for 2016 only to finish a runner-up to Rio de Janeiro. Madrid also offers some of the best conditions for athletes.
But the specter of Spain's dire financial crisis hangs over the bid.
The IOC decision was a landmark sign of progress for serial bidder Turkey, which was shortlisted after failing to win the right to host the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Games.
"This is a historic moment," said Istanbul bid team member Hasan Arat.
Istanbul's pitch has not fundamentally changed since last time, but the bid team ironed out deficiencies in the original proposals.
"This time, Istanbul is ready to deliver," Arat said in a statement.
Istanbul, however, is also bidding to host the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, and the IOC forbids hosting two major sports events in the same year.
Many believe that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former footballer, favors hosting the UEFA competition over the Olympics, but Arat insisted: "Our priority is the Olympics."
"The chance to compete on the greatest stage in sport in front of a home crowd will inspire a generation of young people," added Hidayet Turkoglu, the national men's basketball captain, who plays for the NBA's Orlando Magic.
To further trim the field, IOC officials will look mainly at the cities' ability to host a major sporting event, ranking their transportation capabilities and examining other infrastructure challenges they may face.
The IOC Working Group said in a report that aspects of Istanbul's proposal must be improved for a better experience for athletes.
Baku, Doha get the boot
Baku had also failed to make the short list last time but had insisted it learned from past mistakes.
The IOC, however, noted a lack of infrastructure and experience in hosting a major sporting event, as well as concerns about the impact of new venue construction on the city's architectural heritage.
There was also sadness in Doha after it was cut.
"We are obviously very disappointed… (and) surprised by this decision," said Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, general secretary of the Qatar Olympic Committee.
Doha had been granted an exception to possibly host the Games in October and November, when temperatures in the Gulf country are not as blisteringly hot, instead of the usual July and August.
Had the bid been successful, it would have been the first to bring the Games to the Middle East.
Doha scored among the top candidates for technical ability to host the Games, and having already built or budgeted many of the venues, its bid would have offered a degree of certainty in uncertain economic times.
But the furor after Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup, according to some, made IOC members reluctant to suffer the same bad press as FIFA did. – Rappler.com
Click on the links below for more.
- Olympics: Torchbearers cash in on eBay
- Olympics: Flame arrives in Britain for 2012 torch relay
- Olympics: 'Sonic weapon' to be deployed for London Games
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Effects of relative humidity on aerosol light scattering: results from different European sites
- 1Paul Scherrer Institute, Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland
- *now at: Department of Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Abstract. The effect of aerosol water uptake on the aerosol particle light scattering coefficient (σsp) is described in this study by comparing measurements from five European sites: the Jungfraujoch, located in the Swiss Alps at 3580 m a.s.l.; Ny-Ålesund, located on Spitsbergen in the Arctic; Mace Head, a coastal site in Ireland; Cabauw, a rural site in the Netherlands; and Melpitz, a regional background site in Eastern Germany. These sites were selected according to the aerosol type usually encountered at that location. The scattering enhancement factor f(RH, λ) is the key parameter to describe the effect of water uptake on the particle light scattering. It is defined as the σsp(RH) at a certain relative humidity (RH) and wavelength λ divided by its dry value. f(RH) at the five sites varied widely, starting at very low values of f(RH = 85%, λ = 550 nm) around 1.28 for mineral dust, and reaching up to 3.41 for Arctic aerosol. Hysteresis behavior was observed at all sites except at the Jungfraujoch (due to the absence of sea salt). Closure studies and Mie simulations showed that both size and chemical composition determine the magnitude of f(RH). Both parameters are also needed to successfully predict f(RH). Finally, the measurement results were compared to the widely used aerosol model, OPAC (Hess et al., 1998). Significant discrepancies were seen, especially at intermediate RH ranges; these were mainly attributed to inappropriate implementation of hygroscopic growth in the OPAC model. Replacement of the hygroscopic growth with values from the recent literature resulted in a clear improvement of the OPAC model.


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Have you ever taken your car into the shop and felt your eyes glaze over as the mechanic explains the problem has to do with the intake manifold, which is affecting the crankshaft…er…sorry…what was that?
Not to perpetuate a well-worn stereotype, but there are all kinds of topics that have complex terminology we often don't fully understand. If you're familiar with cars, maybe you get tongue-tied when the topic turns to investing, or perhaps computers. Or, if you're like many people, you shut down when it comes to insurance. According to the State of Insurance Report conducted by TD Insurance, 31 percent of respondents don't ask questions about their insurance policy because they think it's too complicated, while another 23 percent fail to do so because they're embarrassed about their lack of knowledge.
It seems like the easy way out – until you file for a claim and find out you're not covered.
Say what?!
You might need a new whatchamacallit for your car, but a nasty insurance surprise is something we can all live without. Check out 10 insurance terms you should know, and how to use those terms to read – and understand – your policy in my new article on GoldenGirlFinance.com.


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Ivanka Trump on Tuesday vowed to "ignore the trolls" who blasted her over the weekend for posting a gauzy photo of her cuddling her 2-year-old son Theodore, at the same time that widespread news reports were detailing accounts of young immigrant children being "ripped out of the arms" of their mothers at the U.S. border.
Thousands flooded Ivanka Trump's Twitter account with comments or retweeted her mother-son photo, drawing a connection between this bliss-filled image and a new Trump administration policy to deter immigration by breaking up families at the Mexican border. According to a widely disseminated MSNBC report, U.S. border agents are forcibly separating children, some younger than Theodore, from their mothers and sending them to detention centers.
The White House senior advisor and mother of three was accused of being "tone deaf" or worse by posting the photo, which she captioned, "My ! #SundayMorning." A writer for the Guardian essentially accused of her race-baiting and said she was "the most odious of all Trumps," while others called her everything from "a modern-day Marie Antoinette" to a "nasty, soulless troll."
Ivanka Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday to respond to the criticism, an unusual step for her. In her three-part Twitter response, Donald Trump's daughter quoted Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor and practitioner of the Stoic philosophy, to explain how she planned to ignore "distractions" and to calmly focus on "the work" ahead of her, which she said she believes she is doing for "the right reason."
She wrote:
3:3 Focus on what is before you, on what you can control and ignore the trolls!
Have a great week!
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) May 29, 2018
But that response isn't likely to quiet critics of her or of her habit of posting photos of herself and her family — photos that often appear to be carefully staged and timed to advance some kind of agenda, political or otherwise. One user, whose comment was liked more than 29,000 times, accused her of lacking a mother's compassion and said her "contrived photo ops are absurd."
An actual mother would have compassion for the children harmed by your father's policies.
Your contrived photo ops are absurd.
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) May 27, 2018
Since her father became president, Ivanka Trump has been accused of using her children, Arabella, 6, Joseph, 4, and Theodore, 2, as props in her social media feeds.
Indeed, in just the first three months after Donald Trump was sworn into office in January 2017, Ivanka Trump posted more than 150 kid-related photos to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. During that time period and up until recently, her undeniably cute and photogenic children with Jared Kushner have been snapped at the White House or in other locations, doing things that could no doubt reflect well on their grandfather's administration, Ivanka Trump's White House role or her mom-entrepreneur persona and fashion and life-style brand.
Given that many of these family-oriented posts carry a sheen of self-promotion, it's not surprising that people have called her out for using her children for propaganda purposes. This comment, following photos of her taking her kids to visit the U.S. Navy Museum in Washington D.C. last year, is typical:
Using your kids as political props. Again.
— aedaw9i (@aedaw9i) June 22, 2017
Fans of Ivanka Trump and of the Trump administration love her family photos. Supporters compliment her for her "grace" and "beauty" and what they see as her hard work and sacrifice on behalf of the country. They heap praise on her children for being adorable, and blast the "haters" for being cruel and bitter.
Ivanka Trump's habit of posting cute-kid photos goes back to when she was merely a regular celebrity, specifically the daughter of a reality TV star, and it was part of her "brand" as a Trump Organization vice president and fashion line owner to have the world see her as a busy working mom finding a way to balance it all.
But Ivanka Trump's photo of Theodore Sunday may have exposed her cute-kid photo habit to new levels of scrutiny and criticism, especially given that she and her husband have key senior advisor roles in the White House.
"You're a mother of 3," wrote a user, who juxtaposed Ivanka Trump's photo with those of buses purportedly used to transport children to ICE detention centers. "So am I. Imagine someone in an ICE uniform takes away your precious baby, and you never get to see him or her ever again. This is what's going on, thanks to your Dad's policy. DO SOMETHING."
You're a mother of 3. So am I.
Imagine someone in an ICE uniform takes away your precious baby, and you never get to see him or her ever again.
This is what's going on, thanks to your Dad's policy. DO SOMETHING.#WhereAreTheChildren #PrisonBusForBabies pic.twitter.com/doP2klUl22
— ✏🍃Deborah Newell Tornello🌞🌧🍃 (@litbrit) May 27, 2018
Comedian Patton Oswalt goaded her: "Isn't it just the best to snuggle your little one — knowing exactly where they are, safe in your arms? It's the best. The BEST. Right, Ivanka? Right?"
Actor Jim Carrey joined in the criticism by tweeting out another of his political drawings, this one referencing related news reports that the U.S. government had lost track of nearly 1,500 undocumented children that it had placed in the homes of sponsors.
1500 innocent children ripped from their mothers' arms at our border. Lost in Trump's "system". Give us your tired, your poor, your huddle masses yearning to breathe free — and we will torture them for wanting a better life. From Shining City to Evil Empire in under 500 days. pic.twitter.com/Qg07vb0aBg
— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) May 27, 2018
The level of outrage generated by the photo of Theodore was no doubt due to the photo's timing and its subject matter.
But the anger also appears to come from people's concerns about Ivanka Trump's reasons for posting it in the first place. Was it just a gaffe or a case of her being oblivious to the controversy surrounding her father's immigration policies? Or was she, in fact, being the troll and thumbing her nose at her father's critics? Was she trying to offer encouragement to her father's political base?
New York-based writer Arwa Mahdawi believes the tweet was entirely premeditated and for nefarious purposes, as she explained in the Guardian.
"Ivanka may be a lot of things, but thoughtless is not one of them," Mahdawi wrote. "Ivanka is no ingenue, who has reluctantly been thrust into public life and is now struggling to keep her personal life separate from the political."
"I don't think it was a gaffe." Mahdawi continued. "I think she knew exactly what she was doing. Which was playing to Trump's specific base; reminding them that it's white families like hers — like theirs — who are important, not the brown families who Trump is breaking up; using the image of herself as a loving mother to provide a human face to Trump's inhumane administration. Ivanka is an important complement to Trump's messaging."
In any case, it wouldn't be the first time Ivanka Trump has been accused of participating in a photo op or of tweeting out a photo or message that struck critics as ignorant of unfolding news events or as astoundingly insensitive to political or humanitarian crises.
In just the first week of her father's presidency, Ivanka Trump shared a photo of herself and Jared Kushner in ball gown and black-tie attire just hours after the Trump administration announced it would ban the residents of seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States.
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) January 29, 2017
And earlier this month, she was blasted for smiling and celebrating at the U.S. embassy opening ceremony in Jerusalem, at the same time that Palestinians were being killed as they approached the border fence during violent protests in Gaza, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
The New York Daily News dubbed Ivanka Trump "Daddy's Little Ghoul" on its front page for seeing to ignore the Gaza carnage. Someone reacting to her photo of Theodore thought to remind her of that headline:
— Andee Morantti-END the NRA (@andee_morante) May 29, 2018
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Greetings! Thank you for visiting our Dream it. Do. It. South Dakota page. Let us begin by introducing ourselves. We are South Dakota Manufacturing & Technology Solutions, an organization founded by the Governor's Office of Economic Development. Our mission is to help small to mid-sized manufacturers in South Dakota prosper and grow. To do this, we consult with companies in areas of strategic planning, lean enterprise, process improvement, plant layout, training, collaborative robots (cobots) and more.
One of the biggest challenges South Dakota manufacturers face today is workforce and developing a strong pipeline for the future. Oftentimes, people are either uninterested in manufacturing or do not have the proper skills needed for the job. With appropriate training and career awareness opportunities, we can strengthen and build powerful industry talent all across the state!
We want to introduce middle school students to the innovative world of manufacturing in a fun, interactive way! Every fall we host an exciting video contest to give students the opportunity to learn more about manufacturing and the different career paths involved.
While the video contest is a great start to the vision, it is only the beginning! We have big plans for the future and look forward to unveiling more ideas, projects and programs as time goes on.
We want to thank everyone involved in the video contest this year and extend an invitation to those interested in getting involved next year.
Curious what others have been saying?
"This has truly been an authentic, real-world learning opportunity for my students." (Jeff Sand, Mt. Vernon teacher)
"This was an excellent learning opportunity for our students!" (Tricia Holland, De Smet teacher)
"It provides him with a unique perspective into opportunities he may not otherwise be aware of." (Yankton parent)
"I would like him to participate again. He learned a lot about video production, time management, and teamwork. It was a great experience for him." (Harrisburg South parent)
Register your school today!


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Oneida women again in top leadership posts
- First elected woman leader of tribe was Irene Moore in 1963.
- Oneida tribe has about 16%2C000 members.
- Women have twice before help all four top elected positions in the tribe.
Melinda Danforth knows she is not blazing a new path.
Instead, she is following on the heels of countless other women who have assumed significant roles of leadership and authority in the Oneida Tribe of Indians.
Danforth this summer became the tribe's vice chairwoman, in an election that also elevated five other women to top offices, including chairwoman.
To some observers, the emergence of so many female leaders seems to suggest that the Oneidas in 2014 are achieving a dramatic breakthrough in gender equality.
In reality, that glass ceiling was shattered hundreds of years ago. In this Native American tribe, women have long been revered and entrusted with positions of responsibility within their home, their neighborhood and their nation.
Rita Lara, director of the Oneida Nation Museum, said no man becomes an Oneida tribal chief, for example, unless he is so chosen by his mother and the tribe's other clan mothers — all women.
"We've just been very fortunate that we have very strong, independent women," she said. "The sky's the limit; you can do whatever you want to do."
Noting that it took the United States more than 100 years before women even had the right to vote, Lara said many current U.S. ideas about equality and balance of powers came from what the founders observed in Native American tribes.
And while Hillary Clinton may soon be a frontrunner to become the first woman U.S. president, the Oneidas realized a like achievement long ago.
Since the tribe's current form of government was implemented in the 1930s, three women have been elected chairwoman, which is the top position on a nine-member Business Committee overseeing tribal affairs. The first woman to hold that position was Irene Moore in 1963, followed by Deborah Doxtator in 1993 and Tina Danforth in 2002.
In the most recent elections this summer, Tina Danforth defeated Ed Delgado to recapture the chairmanship for another three-year term.
Danforth, who is related by marriage to Vice Chairwoman Melinda Danforth, said she believes women generally are more deliberative than men, and she suspects that the newly elected tribal leadership will reflect that.
"With the women, it's not always black and white," she said.
Expressing excitement about the makeup of the new Business Committee, Tina Danforth said the group will work collaboratively to manage tribal business and to improve relations for the Oneidas at the local, state and federal level. She noted that the committee includes other returning veterans, some newcomers and a healthy mix of men and women.
"You have a little bit of everything," she said. "It creates that balance."
The tribe, which moved from the state of New York in the 1820s, occupies a reservation west of Green Bay and has about 16,000 members. Its cultural and economic presence in the region includes casino gambling operations and a workforce surpassing 3,000 people, making it one of the area's largest employers.
Decisions governing the tribe's internal operations and activities are made at twice-monthly meetings of the Business Committee held inside the government complex known as the Norbert Hill Center.
In addition to Tina and Melinda Danforth, the new slate of leaders includes Treasurer Patricia King and Secretary Lisa Summers. It is the third time that women have held all four top offices in the government hierarchy, last occurring in 2002.
Tehassi Hill, who is serving his second term on the Business Committee, said he interprets the emergence of so many female leaders as the tribe's reconnecting with its history and tradition of elevating women to positions of respect.
"We putting our right foot forward," Hill said, adding that he is confident all newly elected officials will have an equal voice in future decisions.
"We respect one another and we look to one another," he said. "It's really an optimistic time for us to be able to collaborate and work together."
The tribe's new officers were inaugurated last month and already have held their first couple of meetings, wading into such issues as casino operations, tribal facility expansions, and appointments to various boards and commissions.
Melinda Danforth, who takes over as vice chairman during her fourth term on the Business Committee, also hopes to work on traditional values and issues, including preserving the Oneida native language for future generations.
Danforth senses high expectations within the tribe for the new women leaders. Reflecting on the many women who have come before her, Danforth said she is both grateful and excited for the opportunity she now enjoys to help determine the tribe's future.
"I am looking forward to some good change around here," she said. "I have my own tracks to make."
— email@example.com and follow him on Twitter @pgscottwilliams.
Newly elected Oneida Business Committee member Ben Vieau has stepped down after just a few weeks in office. Vieau cited unspecified personal reasons for resigning effective Sept. 12. He was sworn into office Aug. 14 for a three-year term. Tribe officials are trying to decide how to fill the vacant seat.


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A breakdown of our 310,000+ senior executive database in the UK, EU & USA. Please select your target criteria using the interactive form.
How do we use our database?
Our database is the starting point for our event marketing campaigns. We use it to find and identify the right potential attendees for your event – who match your agreed target criteria.
How it works:
- You supply your target accounts and job titles
- We can also segment by industry or company size
- We run a search of our database
- We create a target data set for approval (which will be used throughout campaign)
- If there are any gaps in the data, we use our in house research team to uncover new contacts
- You sign off on the list ensuring we are only inviting and contacting the right people
- Once they register or confirm we are able to share their details with you.
Our database is GDPR compliant.
All users are informed of the invitation process before it starts. Users can object or unsubscribe at anytime from our messages and communications.
More info
If you'd like to discuss how to make this database work for your new business generations campaigns please use the interactive form above or contact us.


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If you go to the official NCAA list of Regionals qualifiers
And check out the vault, you'll see that there are already 123 qualified for the four meets (an average of 31). Figuring the West would have the most, I note there are already 40 (!!!) in the loop to vault at Stanford.
Do you know how long that's going to take to run off in a single pit with no qualifying round? Holysomethingorother!


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- trade_asia_9999
- March 27, 2019
- IndustryArt & Craft
- VenueICE SKATING RINK
- Venue AddressICE SKATING RINK, KOLKATA
- Opening Date April 12, 2019
- Closing Date April 14, 2019
- FrequencyYEARLY
Trade shows in Kuwait
Tradeshows.asia is the gateway to KUWAIT Tradeshow industry. Tradeshow Organisers, Big & Small Venue owners can promote themselves to the KUWAIT Audience. Tradeshows.asia is the best website for online promotion of Tradeshows & Conferences in Asia. Trade shows Portal in KUWAIT, an online Trade shows Directory help you find upcoming Trade Shows in KUWAIT. Find upcoming Trade Fairs, Business Exhibitions & Trade Shows in KUWAIT, and Get Information & Contact details of Trade shows Organizers, Trade shows Venues & Event Managers of Kuwait City or other cities in KUWAIT.


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From MozillaWiki
Summit 2013 Tracks
- [Product & Technology]
- Track Owner: Larissa Shapiro (Office Hours: M-W-F 9-10am Pacific Daylight Time)
- [People & Process]
- Track Owner: Mike Hoye (Office Hours: 2-3 PM Eastern/6-7 PM UTC)
- [Purpose & Strategy]
- Track Owner: Lawrence Mandel (Office Hours: Monday and Tuesday 11-12am Eastern Time)
Track Owner Do's
- Host weekly office hours
- Review (with their fellow track owners) + provide feedback on presentations
- Make sure your Track is aligned with that of those in the other two locations
- Guide your facilitators on their presentation and ensure they are prepared/equip with the correct equipment/tech/support needs
Post Summit
- Ensure Session Facilitators follow-up with those individuals who have attended their session to continue the work that started at the Summit
- 28th: Email sent with your first steps
- 11th: Send out session acceptance email today to the facilitators in your track
- 10th - 13th: Host your first office hours this week over IRC to help guide your session facilitators to success!
- 13th: Facilitator training
- 16th: The template for your facilitators wiki page is now attached to the central content wiki. Please remind them to fill it out by the 20th!
- 16-20th: Office Hours (part 2!) Encourage your facilitators to ask questions
- 17th: Tomorrow (18th) is the deadline for facilitators to complete their needs forms and Monday (23rd) is the deadline for them to submit their content framework - TODAY - I will remind You to remind Them
- 23-26th: Office Hours...just get better with time
- 23-26th: This week your #1 task is to gather with the relevant Track Leads from the Content team and review the presentation drafts with them - pay special attention to how the presentations are collaborative across locations and how they accomplish the goals of the Track
- 27th: Feedback: Give it (to the facilitators)
- 30th: Send out the 'Need to Know' email leading up to the Summit - reminding your facilitators about all the good things like session room, time, logistics stuff, and how proud you are of them...(Kate will provide you with the draft)
- 30th - 10/4: Office Hours going out with a *bang*
- 6th: Reach out to all facilitators asking them to send a 'next steps' email to all of those who attended their session
- Session facilitator wiki page
- Site Hosts wiki page
- Master Session Schedule
- Site Hosts Schedule
- Session facilitator presentation template - emailed on September 17th!
Communication Channels
- Email: email@example.com
- IRC: #summittrackowners


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Iran's deputy oil minister has said Tehran welcomes expansion of energy cooperation with French oil giant Total.
"National Iranian Oil Company welcomes expansion of cooperation with Total," Rokneddin Javadi was quoted as saying.
"Total has already voiced readiness to sign new contracts with Iran," said Javadi after a meeting with Arnaund Breuillac, the president of exploration & production at Total Company.
He also pointed to the new contracts prepared by the NIOC and said great cooperation opportunities will open up once the contracts are unveiled.
Arnaund Breuillac also held separate meetings with senior officials including Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh Sunday.
Closer cooperation on exploration, production and marketing crude and LNG as well as petrochemical products was among issues discussed at the meeting.
New oil deals
Iran's oil officials have announced that they will unveil new contracts in early November.
"The first phase of the new contracts will be unveiled in November in Tehran and a follow-up conference will be held in one month or two in London," NIOC chief Rokneddin Javadi has been quoted as saying.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in August that new oil development contracts will be unveiled at a conference in London slated for December.
"New agreements with foreign companies will be signed within the framework of Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) which I think will be more attractive," he said.
The IPC will be a modification of the traditional buy-back risk service contracts and have been specifically designed to increase the attractiveness of Iranian oil projects to foreign investors.
It offers different stages of exploration, development and production to the contractors as an integrated package.
Iran sits on the world's fourth-biggest oil reserves and seeks to raise its crude output in a bid to regain its market share.
The country had the second-biggest output in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) before the US-led sanctions banning the purchase, transport, finance and insuring of its crude began in July 2012.
Iran currently exports more than one million barrels of oil per day. It has already unveiled plans to add another million to its export capacity within six months after the removal of sanctions as a result of the nuclear agreement between Iran and P5+1.
The removal of the sanctions is expected to take effect in the first half of 2016.


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This was a new brand for me. I came across the sheep plush above at a yard sale at the end of August. I looked up the brand at the yard sale and was surprised to see the prices some of the plush can sell for. And surprisingly, this sold on Poshmark, not eBay.
Check out completeds on eBay here.
Happy hunting!


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French Surveillance Bill: Public Liberties Abandoned as Senators Cast Disastrous Vote
Paris, 9 June 2015 – The Surveillance Bill was adopted today by the French Senate with 251 votes for, 68 against and 26 abstentions. This bill was fast tracked and discussed under the pressure of a government wielding the argument of an extreme terrorist risk to impose massive spying of the French population with expansive purposes. It will put France under a surveillance all at once diffuse, intrusive, indiscriminate and without effective control. La Quadrature du Net bitterly regrets the blindness of the French Parliamentarians and calls on citizens not to give up on their liberties.
Although opposition to the text was proportionally more important than in the National Assembly (French lower house), the Senators' vote followed the MPs' May 5th decision to adopt a text denounced as dangerous by a large number of civil liberties advocates, unions, judges and lawyers, journalists as well as a transpartisan and well-argued opposition within the lower house1.
During the entire parliamentarian debate, Bernard Cazeneuve did not hesitate to repeat over and over again his refusal to listen to the opposition while almost laying the blame of future terrorist acts on the critics, were the bill not to pass. Yielding to the constant pressure, the senators would not or could not protect the rights of the citizens they represent.
The "commission mixte paritaire" – a joint parliamentary commission responsible for reaching a compromise between the lower and upper house – which will sit in a few days to harmonise the text before its final adoption will only have the option to validate a law which:
- broadly extends the field of action of intelligence services
- massively legalises the French intel services' illegal practices
- sets up mass surveillance systems
- creates a committee to control interceptions with no real power
The bill creates no penalties for acts of illegal spying and no recourse for those affected nor possiblity to blow the whistle for those in the know2.
"We call on all Parliamentarians concerned by the constitutionality of this law and by public liberties to start preparing right now the bill's referral before the Constitutionnal Council and to keep working to stop the implementation of a law that goes against the fundamental rights of citizens and of democracy!" said Philippe Aigrain, co-founder of La Quadrature du Net.
- 1. La Quadrature du Net wants to thank all the Parliamentarians, MPs and Senators from all parties, who courageously argued their opposition to the Surveillance Bill. By tabling a large number of amendments and defending them in a very responsible fashion, they helped support all those opposing the bill and carried to the heart of the Parliament the concerns and propositions of the citizens that were being met by contempt by the government and the rapporteurs.
- 2. Only the people working in the intelligence services will be able to raise issues with, and only with the CNCTR (Nation Commission for the Control ef Intelligence Techniques).


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Bill Desowitz talks to Blue Skys Chris Wedge about his second feature, Robots.
When Chris Wedge first signed on to make Ice Age, the deal he made with Fox Animation president Chris Meledandri was that the studio would have to finance the computer-animated feature that he was most passionate about, Robots. Well, the director and co-founder of Blue Sky Studios in White Plains, New York, is now three months into production on his pet project a joyful collaboration with children's author and designer William Joyce (Rolie Polie Olie) and he feels like they're "eating their cake" despite the many creative and technical challenges.
It's the whimsical tale of a robotic world just oozing with personality and poignancy, as you might expect from the shared vision of Wedge and Joyce, who hit it off immediately about eight years ago. The movie, scripted by the team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (Parenthood and City Slickers), involves a young 'bot named Rodney (Ewan McGregor) who grows up in a small town and travels to the big city to work for his idol, a famous inventor named Big Weld (Mel Brooks). Meanwhile, Rodney whose parents are voiced by Stanley Tucci and Dianne Wiest falls for a sexy exec named Cappy (Halle Berry). Drew Carey and Amanda Bynes also lend voice support as part of a gang of obsolete robots known as the Rusties.
Wedge says Robots is a metaphor for our technologically-obsessed culture, in which we disregard the values and humanity of the past. He believes that it's retro in the best sense of the world. In fact, he calls it "Futuro." "It's a world with a startlingly realistic quality. A lot of it is the quality of the materials, the attention to details and the lighting. We've been going to junkyards and car shows and airports for reference, all manner of things mechanical.
"One thing I've been saying lately is that it's not going to look animated as much as someone who took a camera to this fantastic world and shot a movie there. We're unleashing the power of the rendering software we've developed [at Blue Sky] and using it to its full potential."
While Fox has given Wedge and his fellow animators more than the $60 million budgeted for Ice Age, it's still nowhere near as much as Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks spend. However, at least Wedge isn't limited to the simple, stylized backgrounds that he was forced to employ on his earlier blockbuster. "We're using a new production management system to keep it in check," he adds. "And we've developed internal tracking and a crew of people that constantly optimize the software, using shortcuts. We have a brand new render farm and a crew of about 200 compared to 170 on Ice Age."
Wedge estimates that Robots will contain around 30 virtual sets, and that they've already modeled and rigged more characters than they had in Ice Age. In terms of software, Blue Sky continues to use Maya for modeling and rendering along with their own proprietary programs for rendering, special effects and compositing, including CGI Studio, the rendering system based on the raytracing concept. "It's a bigger and faster than Ice Age," Wedge concedes. "The story has just bubbled from inside Blue Sky and is finding itself as we go along. I just feel closer to this."
While Robots remains in production for 18 months (Fox has set a release date of March 11, 2005), Wedge is about ready to script his eagerly awaited sequel to Ice Age. "The challenge is to reconnect with our characters in another story while exploring different aspects of them. The tight wire we're walking is we want to keep the crew fairly small." But rest assured, there's going to be plenty of screen time for the lovable Scrat.
When asked whatever happened to the dark side he exhibited in his Oscar-winning short, Bunny, Wedge playfully replies, "If you left me to my own devices, you'd probably get something more like Bunny."
Bill Desowitz is the editor of VFXWorld.com.


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Published on August 21st, 2019 | by Admin
Launch Trailer for Supernatural Action-Adventure Game Control Revealed Ahead of its Launch Next Week
Global videogame publisher 505 Games and its partner, internationally renowned developer Remedy Entertainment, Plc. today revealed the launch trailer for the award-winning Control. This new cinematic trailer invites players once again into the mysterious Oldest House for a glimpse at the challenges that await them as they take on the role of the newest Director of the Federal Bureau of Control.
Set in a unique and ever-changing world that juxtaposes our familiar reality with the strange and unexplainable, Control is a third-person action-adventure game combining Remedy's trademark gunplay with supernatural abilities.
After a secretive agency in New York is invaded by an otherworldly threat, players will take on the role of Jesse Faden, the new Director struggling to regain Control. This sandbox-style, gameplay-driven experience built on the proprietary Northlight engine challenges players to master a combination of supernatural abilities, modifiable loadouts and reactive environments while fighting through the deep and mysterious worlds Remedy is known and loved for.
Launching globally Tuesday, Aug. 27 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One for physical and digital retail, with a simultaneous digital launch on the Epic Games store for PC, Control is playable this week at the Gamescom fair in Germany, running through Aug. 24.
To celebrate the launch of Control, 505 Games will host a stream on Tuesday, Aug. 27 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. PDT in an effort to raise money for the St. Jude Children's Hospital, a hospital and research facility working to change the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. To watch or donate, please visit https://tiltify.com/@505games/505-games-for-st-jude.
For more information and regular updates, or to pre-order Control, please visit www.controlgame.com.


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What Facebook Is Learning from Your Offline Purchasing Data
In its first foray with Datalogix, that company that uses rewards card data to make advertising more effective, the social network has found that fewer than 1 percent of in-store sales could be tied to brand advertising campaigns on Facebook, reports Reuters's Alexei Oreskovic.
In its first foray with Datalogix, that company that uses rewards card data to make advertising more effective, the social network has found that fewer than 1 percent of in-store sales could be tied to brand advertising campaigns on Facebook, reports Reuters's Alexei Oreskovic. Basically, just because someone clicked on an ad, that doesn't mean that they went into the retailer and bought that thing. Meaning what exactly for you? At least right now: Instead of focusing on getting more people to click, the social network will focus on an ad's frequency. Oreskovic explains: "Instead of one Facebook user seeing an ad 100 times and another user seeing the ad only twice, for example, Facebook says it will soon offer advertisers' insight on the ideal number of ad impressions for a particular campaign," he writes. But, how will it do that? Your data. And that sounds like the new norm for the social network, which will will continue to personalize its branding experience, with what it has called in a separate post a more "relevant ads that protect your privacy."
But how much does it protect privacy, really? When we looked at this Datalogix set-up last week, we mentioned that Facebook would now have access to offline user buying habits, which it didn't have before. And that it would use those drug store purchases to figure out who to target when. In that latest post post Facebook explains its attempts not to overstep its bounds:
Because of our commitment to privacy, we had an industry-leading auditing firm evaluate the privacy implications of this process. The auditor confirmed that, throughout this process, Datalogix is not allowed to learn more about you from Facebook profile information. Similarly, Datalogix does not send us any of their purchase data, meaning we cannot specifically tell whether or not you purchased a marketer's product. Finally, with this partnership, Datalogix only sends the marketer aggregate information about large groups of people. None of this data is attributable to an individual Facebook user.
CVS, which we mentioned as a possible partner with Datalogix, has defended the practice, too, telling Talking Points Memo's Carl Franzen, "we do not share any personal information without our customers' permission." That does not quite exempt them from this deal, however. And, even if it is all anonymous via hashing, with the best intentions, it still might make users uncomfortable because of unintended consequences, as privacy expert Ryan Calo explained to The Atlantic Wire last week.
Right up top, Facebook gives its main reason for doing any of this in the first place: To keep its site free, reminding us that this is what we get for using the Internet. "Many sites across the web provide free services by including advertisements. Facebook is no exception," writes privacy engineer Joey Tyson. The difference between Facebook and the rest of the "many sites across the web," however is that the ads will know more about you and not just "people like you."


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'Communion' series from Miroir Noir started out as an exercise to piece together the painting developments and technical discoveries Miroir Noir had made in the earlier series 'Propter Nuptias'.
Old family photographs of unknown people randomly found at flea markets around Europe were the model for the images. They were all group photos of people standing, supposedly before or after an extraordinary but undetermined event related to religion, such as first communions, weddings or funerals. The emotions shown were basically expectation and pride, probably prompted by the special clothes and also the unusual fact of being photographed.