text:
Check out this news release. Excerpts:
Patients and families who've used our rankings tell us they want more from hospitals. What they want is meaningful transparency.
U.S. News will implement two closely related methodology changes this spring that could drive broader transparency. Both will affect only our rankings of Best Hospitals in Cardiology & Heart Surgery. In that specialty, we will award credit to hospitals that publicly release their own performance data via one or both of two clinical registries, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons' (STS) Adult Cardiac Surgery Database and the American College of Cardiology's (ACC) National Cardiovascular Data Registry. In the case of the ACC data, two constituent registries will be considered: CathPCI and ICD. ACC and its participating cardiologists began voluntary public reporting from CathPCI and ICD in November.
Of approximately 700 hospitals evaluated for the heart rankings, more than half already publicly report through STS. (Their performance can be freely accessed at STS.org.) Many STS reporters publicly report through ACC as well. In addition, some hospitals that haven't yet opted into the STS reporting program, which began in 2010, have already elected to participate in the ACC's program. (ACC data can be found at CardioSmart.org.)
Slightly more than 300 of the hospitals in the U.S. News cardiovascular-care analysis, however, have not yet opted to be transparent through either registry. That deprives patients of an opportunity to assess the holdouts' quality of care.
To accommodate the new transparency measures, U.S. News will reduce reputation's scoring weight in Cardiology & Heart Surgery from 27.5 percent to 24.5 percent.
Well done! This is an excellent step. I hope it will be expanded to other specialties over time.


text:
The elegant Grace dress. What can we say? She was named after Grace Kelly the most elegant Hollywood actress who stole the heart of a real-life Prince.
This dress is made from beautiful cotton sateen with just a dash of elastane so she has a little give and a beautiful sheen. Please be sure to check out our Size Guide to find your perfect fit.
She has a luxurious wrap-over top that covers a large bust without hiding your shape. With a smaller bust, all the extra fabric gives the impression you have more to hide. You can swish elegantly into any room with this beautiful full skirt. The elegant V-shaped back gives that extra touch of old Hollywood glamour!
Accessories (earrings, flowers...) are NOT included but are available to buy on the accessories page.
Made in London, England.
FREE SHIPPING on all UK orders over £100
FREE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING on all orders over £150
We aim to dispatch orders within 5 working days. However, sometimes during sale periods or other busy periods, deliveries may take longer. If you have not received an email to confirm that your parcel has been sent within 10 working days, please contact our Customer Services department.
If you're not in when our couriers first try to deliver and they cannot find a safe place to leave your parcel, they will leave a card. Please follow the instructions on the card left by the courier to arrange redelivery of your order.
From 31st December, please note that UK VAT will be automatically removed at checkout. You may need to pay additional charges for taxes & duty on receipt of goods.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Discover the passion and romance of Beachwood Bay…
With over one million downloads worldwide, this USA Today bestselling series is celebrating with ten gorgeous new covers, three fabulous freebies and a fantastic giveaway with five signed paperbacks from Melody Grace up for grabs!
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Each Beachwood Bay love story can be read as standalone or as part of the series.
Fall in love with The Callahans and the small town of Beachwood Bay.
"Mom always told me there are two kinds of love in this world: the steady breeze, and the hurricane. Emerson Ray was my hurricane…" After four years away, Juliet is back in Beachwood Bay — but her old love is determined to rekindle their passion.
Years ago, Brit and Hunter shared one life-changing night together,
but Brit walked away before he could break her heart.
Now Hunter's back in town, their reckless passion can't be ignored.
But will dark secrets tear apart their new beginning?
Trying to get over her unrequited love,
Alicia accepts rock-star Dex Callahan's sexy deal.
But when the week is up, will their passion survive?
No more bad boys. Tegan Callahan isn't looking for love — but Ryland James is looking for her. He's everything she doesn't want, but he might just be exactly what she needs.
Author Spotlight:
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Enter to win a set of Beachwood Bay paperbacks! One grand prize-winner will receive signed copies of Unbroken, Unafraid, Unconditional, Uninhibited, and Unstoppable.


text:
Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Former White House chief of staff Karl Rove was heckled and branded a "war criminal' at a book signing in Beverly Hills, California, on Monday night.
Rove, who served as senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President Bush, was at the Saban Theater to discuss his new book, "Courage and Consequences: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight," to an audience of about 100 people who paid up to $40 to hear him.
But the audience members were unable to get their copies of the book signed after Rove was shouted down and forced to leave the stage, reported CNN affiliate KCAL-TV.
The event was heated from the onset as several anti-war protesters interrupted Rove's talk to accuse him and the Bush administration of lying to Americans about the threat Iraq posed to the United States -- and thus, taking the country into war.
Rove called one heckler a "lunatic." He told another to "get the heck out of here."
At one point, Jodie Evans, the co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, rushed toward Rove waving a pair of handcuffs and saying she was there to make a citizen's arrest.
"Look what you did ... you lied to take us to war. You ruined a country. You totally ruined a country," she shouted.
As organizers tried to keep Evans at bay, another woman stood up and yelled, "The only comfort I take is that you're going to rot in hell."
Rove, who defended his administration's stance on several controversial issues in heated exchanges with other critics, said the interruptions reflected the "totalitarianism of the left."
"They don't believe in dialogue. They don't believe in courtesy. They don't believe in First Amendment rights for anyone but themselves," he said.
The audience applauded.
But as the event went on, the disruptions showed little signs of abating. Rove then skipped the book-signing portion of the event and left.


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The first 3D printer ever to fly in space will blast off this month, and NASA has high hopes for the innovative device's test runs on the International Space Station.
The 3D printer, which is scheduled to launch toward the orbiting lab Sept. 19 aboard SpaceX's unmanned Dragon cargo capsule, could help lay the foundation for broader in-space manufacturing capabilities, NASA officials said. The end result could be far less reliance on resupply from Earth, leading to cheaper and more efficient missions to faraway destinations such as Mars.
"The on-demand capability can revolutionize the constrained supply chain model we are limited to today and will be critical for exploration missions," Niki Werkheiser, manager of NASA's "3-D Printing in Zero-G" project at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said in a statement. [3D Printing in Space (Photo Gallery)]
3D Printing in Zero-G is a collaboration between NASA and California-based startup Made in Space, which built the machine that's heading to the space station this month. The microwave-size 3D printer was cleared for flight in April after an extensive series of tests at Marshall.
3D printers build objects layer by layer out of metal, plastic, composites and other materials, using a technique called extrusion additive manufacturing. NASA hopes Made in Space's device works normally aboard the station, thus demonstrating that 3D printers can produce high-quality parts in space as well as on Earth.
If that turns out to be the case, replacing a broken part or tool aboard the orbiting lab could be a matter of simply pushing a button.
"I remember when the tip broke off a tool during a mission," said NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer, who lived aboard the space station from December 2009 to June 2010. "I had to wait for the next shuttle to come up to bring me a new one. Now, rather than wait for a resupply ship to bring me a new tool, in the future, I could just print it."
It will likely take the 3D printer from 15 minutes to an hour to print something aboard the space station, depending on the size and complexity of the object, researchers said. Blueprints for desired parts can be loaded onto the machine before launch or beamed up from the ground.
"This means that we could go from having a part designed on the ground to printed in orbit within an hour or two from start to finish," Werkheiser said.
While the space station is the proving ground for this test, NASA officials see great potential for 3D printing beyond low-Earth orbit. For example, deep-space missions could benefit greatly from the technology, because it would be tough to ferry a spare part to a vessel already on its way to an asteroid or Mars.
"NASA is great at planning for component failures and contingencies. However, there's always the potential for unknown scenarios that you couldn't possibly think of ahead of time," said Ken Cooper, principal investigator at Marshall for 3D printing. "That's where a 3D printer in space can pay off. While the first experiment is designed to test the 3D printing process in microgravity, it is the first step in sustaining longer missions beyond low-Earth orbit."
Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.


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This piece comes to us courtesy of The Hechinger Report.
About nine months ago, at a small park playground a few hundred feet from their children's struggling school, a group of parents chanted, cheered and delivered passionate speeches about their growing frustration with Desert Trails Elementary.
That Jan. 12 park rally -- which drew a throng of camera crews and reporters from around the state to the tiny desert city of Adelanto, Calif. -- marked the beginning of a bitter battle in the national spotlight. That was when the Desert Trails Parent Union announced its petition to use the so-called "parent trigger" law to force a major overhaul of a school. They hoped to become the first parent group in the nation to do so.
On Thursday, that same park is set to become a makeshift polling place where those parents will make history. With a court ruling last week permitting the vote to go forward, parents who signed the petition last winter now have the chance to cast a ballot on the charter school operator they want to take over their neighborhood school next fall. As permitted by law, the vote won't include parents who opposed the charter conversion or declined to be part of the petition process.
"For the first time, a group of parents is going to take back power of the educations of their own kids and select a high-quality nonprofit to transform their failing school," said Ben Austin, executive director of Parent Revolution, the Los Angeles nonprofit that is bankrolling the parent union. The little local election, Austin said, represents a "monumental day for the parent power movement." Parent Revolution estimates that less than 200 parents will be eligible to vote this week.
California's Parent Empowerment Act of 2010 enables parents who collect signatures representing more than 50 percent of students to spur big reforms at a low-performing school, from firing the principal and half the staff to shutting it down.
More than 20 states have considered the controversial legislation, and seven states have passed versions of the parent trigger law. Well-funded advocacy groups, like Parent Revolution and StudentsFirst, are using the new feature film "Won't Back Down" to galvanize support for parent trigger laws, and educators across the nation are paying close attention to the real-life version.
The Adelanto effort has fiercely divided the school community. Parents who opposed converting to a charter school launched a counter-campaign to get parents to retract their signatures supporting it, and nearly 100 parents did so. Each side has accused the other of harassment and intimidation.
The petitioning parents scored their latest victory in Victorville Superior Court on Oct. 12, when Judge John Vander Feer ruled that the Adelanto School District must let them press on with plans to convert Desert Trails into a charter school, effective fall of 2013. The judge's decision reinforced a July 18 ruling by another judge who found the district couldn't use the signature withdrawals to squash the charter petition.
"I'm feeling great," said Doreen Diaz, a parent union organizer, as she headed to a "Won't Back Down" screening shortly after leaving the courtroom Friday. "I'm ecstatic and happy that we're vindicated once again."
Diaz and fellow supporters are celebrating the legal win as a way to finally turn around Desert Trails, which ranks in the bottom third of California schools with similar demographics and has been on the federal watch list for failing schools for six consecutive years.
"We've gained strength, and we can only get stronger," parent union member Jeffrey Hancock said Monday on a press conference call. "Hopefully it will get better for every school that's failing."
The smaller, more loosely organized group of parents opposing the conversion has called for less radical reform and working with current administrators and teachers. Parent Lori Yuan argues that "parents who believe that a charter is going to magically make their kids score higher, be smarter and achieve success" will be disappointed.
Adelanto School Board President Carlos Mendoza said while he's not "opposed to charter schools per se," he's concerned that the looming conversion will disrupt school changes already in progress. Before the latest court ruling, the school board had decided it was too late to implement a charter school this year. Instead, they created an "alternative governance council" co-led by parents and funded a new literacy curriculum called Success for All.
"I'm just hoping that becoming a charter school doesn't undo all of that," Mendoza said. He also questions what the lack of job security will do to teacher morale. Under a new charter operator, teachers would have to reapply for positions at the school and enter into non-union contracts.
Parents will choose from two local charter operators who submitted proposals: the Lewis Center for Educational Research, which runs a K-12 charter school in Apple Valley focused on project-based learning; and LaVerne Elementary Preparatory Academy, a K-8 school in Hesperia that partners with the University of La Verne.
The parent union leadership is telling voters it prefers the operator that runs LaVerne Elementary, which is less than half the size of Desert Trails' roughly 600 students. Diaz said she likes that LaVerne's proposal included a more formal structure for parent involvement, and that its school has demographics that resemble Desert Trails, a predominately Hispanic and black school where 100 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
Thursday's vote isn't the final step in the conversion process. Charter schools are taxpayer-funded, independently operated and overseen by the agency that authorizes them. In California, that agency is typically a local school district governing board.
The charter operator that gets the most Desert Trails parent votes will submit a proposal to the Adelanto School District. In the past few years, the district has approved one charter school and denied at least two others, mostly over concerns about brand-new operators with poor financial plans.
As Parent Revolution helps Desert Trails parents advance, its organizers say they've also been working with a handful of other parent groups who may soon launch their own campaigns.
"There are parents organizing, mostly in Los Angeles but also in areas across California, to do the same thing," Austin said. "My one hope about the next round of parent trigger campaigns is that they can be more collaborative."
This story also appeared on NBCNews.com.


text: The most interesting comment is the last sentence in this article: "Clearly, there was a bias to wind energy in their favor because they are a renewable source of energy, and justifiably so," said Rob Manes, who runs the Kansas office for The Nature Conservancy and who served on the committee. "We need renewable energy in this country." They have a Nature Conservancy guy recognize that wind power is given a pass on bird deaths, but in the end he, and plenty of others including me, realize that there is no free energy; it all comes with a price. Wind power kills birds, but we need it anyway. Ground based solar is bad for the desert tortoise, but we need that too. We need green energy, we need blue energy, black, brown, red, purple, charteuse, mauve and taupe energy, we need it all, and yes we know, energy all comes with a price. spike Check this: Obama administration gives wind farms a pass on eagle deaths, prosecutes oil companies Published May 14, 2013 Associated Press * A wind farm in Colorado is shown here. (AP Photo) CONVERSE COUNTY, Wyo. - The Obama administration has never fined or prosecuted a wind farm for killing eagles and other protected bird species, shielding the industry from liability and helping keep the scope of the deaths secret, an Associated Press investigation has found. More than 573,000 birds are killed by the country's wind farms each year, including 83,000 hunting birds such as hawks, falcons and eagles, according to an estimate published in March in the peer-reviewed Wildlife Society Bulletin. Each death is federal crime, a charge that the Obama administration has used to prosecute oil companies when birds drown in their waste pits, and power companies when birds are electrocuted by their power lines. No wind energy company has been prosecuted, even those that repeatedly flout the law. Wind power, a pollution-free energy intended to ease global warming, is a cornerstone of President Barack Obama's energy plan. His administration has championed a $1 billion-a-year tax break to the industry that has nearly doubled the amount of wind power in his first term. The large death toll at wind farms shows how the renewable energy rush comes with its own environmental consequences, trade-offs the Obama administration is willing to make in the name of cleaner energy. "It is the rationale that we have to get off of carbon, we have to get off of fossil fuels, that allows them to justify this," said Tom Dougherty, a long-time environmentalist who worked for nearly 20 years for the National Wildlife Federation in the West, until his retirement in 2008. "But at what cost? In this case, the cost is too high." Documents and emails obtained by The Associated Press offer glimpses of the problem: 14 deaths at seven facilities in California, five each in New Mexico and Oregon, one in Washington state and another in Nevada, where an eagle was found with a hole in its neck, exposing the bone. One of the deadliest places in the country for golden eagles is Wyoming, where federal officials said wind farms had killed more than four dozen golden eagles since 2009, predominantly in the southeastern part of the state. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the figures. Getting precise figures is impossible because many companies aren't required to disclose how many birds they kill. And when they do, experts say, the data can be unreliable. When companies voluntarily report deaths, the Obama administration in many cases refuses to make the information public, saying it belongs to the energy companies or that revealing it would expose trade secrets or implicate ongoing enforcement investigations. Nearly all the birds being killed are protected under federal environmental laws, which prosecutors have used to generate tens of millions of dollars in fines and settlements from businesses, including oil and gas companies, over the past five years. "What it boils down to is this: If you electrocute an eagle, that is bad, but if you chop it to pieces, that is OK," said Tim Eicher, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service enforcement agent based in Cody, Wyo. The Fish and Wildlife Service says it is investigating 18 bird-death cases involving wind-power facilities and seven have been referred to the Justice Department. A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to discuss the status of those cases. In its defense, the wind-energy industry points out that more eagles are killed each year by cars, electrocutions and poisoning than by turbines. Dan Ashe, the Fish and Wildlife Service's director, said in an interview Monday with the AP said that his agency always has made clear to wind companies that if they kill birds they would still be liable. "We are not allowing them to do it. They do it," he said of the bird deaths. "And we will successfully prosecute wind companies if they are in significant noncompliance." But by not enforcing the law so far, the administration provides little incentive for companies to build wind farms where there are fewer birds. And while companies already operating turbines are supposed to do all they can to avoid killing birds, in reality there's little they can do once the windmills are spinning. Wind farms are clusters of turbines as tall as 30-story buildings, with spinning rotors the size of jetliners. Flying eagles behave like drivers texting on their cell phones -- they don't look up. As they scan for food, they don't notice the industrial turbine blades until it's too late. Former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, in an interview with the AP before his departure, denied any preferential treatment for wind. Interior Department officials said that criminal prosecution, regardless of the industry, is always a "last resort." "There's still additional work to be done with eagles and other avian species, but we are working on it very hard," Salazar said. "We will get to the right balance." Meanwhile, the Obama administration has proposed a rule that would give wind-energy companies potentially decades of shelter from prosecution for killing eagles. The regulation is currently under review at the White House. The proposal, made at the urging of the wind-energy industry, would allow companies to apply for 30-year permits to kill a set number of bald or golden eagles. Previously, companies were only eligible for five-year permits. "It's basically guaranteeing a black box for 30 years, and they're saying `trust us for oversight'. This is not the path forward," said Katie Umekubo, a renewable energy attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, who argued in private meetings with the industry and government leaders that the 30-year permit needed an in-depth environmental review. But the eagle rule is not the first time the administration has made concessions for the wind-energy industry. Last year, over objections from some of its own wildlife investigators and biologists, the Interior Department updated its guidelines and provided more cover for wind companies that violate the law. Under both the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the death of a single bird without a permit is illegal. But under the Obama administration's new guidelines, wind-energy companies don't face additional scrutiny until they have a "significant adverse impact" on wildlife or habitat. That rare exception for one industry substantially weakened the government's ability to enforce the law and ignited controversy inside the Interior Department. "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service does not do this for the electric utility industry or other industries," Kevin Kritz, a government wildlife biologist in the Rocky Mountain region wrote in internal agency comments in September 2011. "Other industries will want to be judged on a similar standard." The Obama administration, however, repeatedly overruled its own experts. In the end, the wind-energy industry, which was part of the committee that drafted and edited the guidelines, got almost everything it wanted. "Clearly, there was a bias to wind energy in their favor because they are a renewable source of energy, and justifiably so," said Rob Manes, who runs the Kansas office for The Nature Conservancy and who served on the committee. "We need renewable energy in this country." Read more: <http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/14/obama-administration-gives-wind- farms-pass-on-eagle-deaths-prosecutes-oil/?test=latestnews#ixzz2THKMwo3P> http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/14/obama-administration-gives-wind-f arms-pass-on-eagle-deaths-prosecutes-oil/?test=latestnews#ixzz2THKMwo3P -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20130514/a0c653d6/attachment.html>


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2018 Federal Payroll Tax Rates
Following is a summary of the federal 2018 payroll tax changes including Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment Tax, Minimum Wage, 401(k) limits and more.
Print Full 2018 Payroll Tax Alert [PDF]
Social Security / Medicare
The wage base increases to $128,400 for Social Security and remains UNLIMITED for Medicare. For Social Security, the tax rate is 6.20% for both employers and employees. (Maximum Social Security tax withheld from wages is $7,960.80 in 2018). For Medicare, the rate remains unchanged at 1.45% for both employers and employees.
Additional Medicare Tax
A 0.9% additional Medicare tax must be withheld from an individual's wages paid in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year. There is no employer match for the additional Medicare tax.
Federal Unemployment Tax
The wage base remains at $7,000.
The effective tax rate for 2018 is 0.6%.
Earnings Under Social Security
A social security beneficiary under full retirement age can earn $17,040 before benefits are reduced. For every $2 a person under full retirement age earns over $17,040, $1 is withheld from benefits. In the year an employee reaches full retirement age, $1 in benefits will be withheld for each $3 they earn above $45,360 until the month the employee reaches full retirement age. Once an employee reaches full retirement age or older, their benefits are not reduced regardless of how much they earn.
Minimum Wage
The federal minimum wage rate per hour for 2018 is $7.25, effective 7/24/09.
401(K) Plan Limits
The maximum employee pretax contribution increases to $18,500 in 2018. The "catch-up" contribution limit remains at $6,000 in 2018 for individuals who are age 50 or older.
SIMPLE Plan Limits
The maximum salary deferral contribution remains unchanged at $12,500 in 2018. The "catch-up" contribution remains at $3,000 in 2018 for individuals who are age 50 or older.
Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS)
Employers must pay their Federal Tax Liabilities through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System unless they pay less than $2,500 in quarterly payroll tax liabilities and pay their liability when filing their employment tax returns (Forms 941 and 944).
Forms W-4, I-9 and W-9
All new employees are required to file Forms W-4 and I-9 which are to be kept on file by the employer. A new Form W-4 should be obtained when an employee's filing status or exemption changes.
Be sure to request and keep on file a completed Form W-9 from all non-corporate taxpayers to whom your company pays commissions, interest, rents, etc., totaling $600 or more, and also payments made to certain incorporated entities such as attorneys for legal services and providers of medical and health care services.
Filing of Form W-2 and 1099
Social Security has eliminated the use of magnetic tapes, cartridges and diskettes as a means of filing W-2 reports to SSA. Reports containing 250 or more W-2's must be filed electronically via the Social Security Business Services Online (BSO).
Employers filing 250 or more Form 1099s with the IRS also must file electronically. Form 1099 must provide payer telephone number or will be subject to penalties.
W-2 and 1099 Filing Deadline for Employers
The due date for filing 2017 Form W-2 with the Social Security Administration is January 31st,, 2018. This also applies to Form 1099-MISC reporting for non-employee compensation such as payments to independent contractors.
Prior deadlines were end of February for paper filing and end of March for electronic. Which still applies to Form 1099-MISC other than payments reported in box 7. Click here for our recent article update on the new filing deadline.
Health Benefits W-2 Reporting
Employers are required to include the aggregate cost of employer sponsored health benefits on the 2017 W-2's in Box 12 with code DD. It is for informational purposes only and will not be included in taxable income. Please contact us regarding the specific types of health benefits to be recorded.
Small employers who file fewer than 250 Forms W-2 are exempt.
Household Employment – Domestic Workers
Household employers are required to withhold and pay FICA for domestic workers (age 18 and older) if paid cash wages of $2,100 or more in 2018. The $1,000 per calendar quarter threshold continues to apply for FUTA. These taxes are reported on Schedule H of the employer's personal tax return (Form 1040), but must be remitted through withholding or estimated payments during the year.
For Pennsylvania and New Jersey, unemployment coverage applies for domestic service in an employer's private home for cash wages of $1,000 or more in a calendar quarter in the current or preceding calendar year.
New Hire Reporting Requirements
All employers in the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania are required to report basic information about employees who are newly hired, rehired and returning to work after separation of employment or leave of absence, temporary employees, and contracted entities. Employers must report this information via the internet at www.nj-newhire.com and at www.cwds.pa.gov. Failure to report a new employee could result in a fine up to $25 per violation. New employers should receive instruction booklets upon registration with the state. Basic employee information which must be provided:
(1) Employee's name
(2) Employee's address
(3) Employee's social security number
(4) Employee's date of hire and birth
(5) Employer's name and address
(6) Employer's federal identification number
For further information contact us or call the State of New Jersey at 1-877-654-4737 (NJ-HIRES) or Pennsylvania at 1-888-724-4737 (PA-HIRES).
2018 Federal Wage Tax Rate Summary
|2017 Current Year
|2016 Prior Year
Employee rate
Maximum liability – employee
Employer rate
Maximum liability – employer
Wage limit
Employee and Employer rate
Maximum deduction / liability (each)
Wage limit
Additional employee rate on wages exceeding $200,000
No limit
No limit
No limit
No limit
Employer rate
Wage limit
|Social Security Benefits
Earned income may be received without forfeiting benefits:
Under full retirement age
After full retirement age
No limit
No limit
View our End-of-Year Payroll Checklist


text:
Pure MMA NYC – Mixed Martial Arts School in New York City
One of the Five Best MMA Gyms in NYC – New York CBS News
Welcome to Pure MMA NYC! We are dedicated to teaching realistic martial arts for the purposes
of self-defense and MMA competition.
Our training is designed to equip you with powerful fighting skills in all aspects of MMA:
STAND-UP – Muay Thai, Western Boxing, and Jeet Kune Do
CLINCH – Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestling
GROUND – Brazilian Jiu Jitsu


text:
MAb Anti MBP-Eu cryptate HTRF®
Associated products
- No-wash
- Ease-of-use
- High affinity
MAb Anti MBP-Eu cryptate is an IgG1 raised against a purified recombinant of Maltose Binding Protein (MBP) fusion protein labeled with Eu. It recognizes native as well as denatured-reduced forms of purified MBP or MBP fusion proteins.
This reagent can be used in both biochemical and cellular formats to study a wide variety of interactions: protein/protein, protein/peptide, protein/DNA, protein/RNA, protein/carbohydrate, protein/small molecule, receptor/ligand.
HTRF can detect a broad range of affinity constants ranging from picomolar to low millimolar.
Assay principle
Assay protocol
How do the number of tests relate to active moiety?
Recommended quantities of Cryptate and XL665 conjugates
Applications of HTRF and Tag-lite-lite Assays for HTP Antibody Screening
In collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb - Scientific Presentations
Academia/Industry Cross-Fertilization through Translational Research
In collaboration with Scripps - Scientific Presentations
HTRF-powered detection of ubiquitin-like protein (UBL) signaling and interactions
In collaboration with Sanford/Burnham - Scientific Presentations
HTRF: One technology, many uses in a pre-clinical laboratory setting
Benefits and considerations of HTRF - Scientific Presentations
Exploiting HTRF for novel drug classes: Stabilizing 14-3-3 protein-protein interactions
In collaboration with Lead Discovery Center GmbH - Scientific Presentations
HTRF a versatil approach for 7TM drug discovery
In collaboration with MRC - Scientific Presentations
HTRF protein-protein interaction reagents
Benefit from unlimited flexibility for your assay development - Flyers
HTRF -A Beneficial Tool for Lead Optimization of Biotherapeutics
In collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim - Posters
Guidelines for optimizing protein-protein interaction assays using HTRF PPI reagents
Every interaction is within range - Technical Notes
Best practices for pharmacological characterization of PPI inhibitors
Easy pharmacological characterization of PPI modulators. - Technical Notes
HTRF assays handle low- to high affinity protein-protein interactions
Deciphering low- and high affinity interactions - Application Notes
Nuclear receptor ligand identification with HTRF
Monitoring nuclear receptor binding with HTRF assays - Application Notes
HTRF addresses large protein-protein interaction complexes
Challenge large complexes with HTRF assays - Application Notes
How HTRF compares to Western Blot and ELISA
Get the brochure about technology comparison. - Brochures
Virology research solutions using HTRF Protein-Protein Interaction assays
See how peer researchers challenge the viral life cycle with PPI assays - Application Notes
Plate Reader Requirement
Choosing the right microplate reader ensures you'll get an optimal readout. Discover our high performance reader, or verify if your lab equipment is going to be compatible with this detection technology.Let's find your reader


text:
Background Image: A large mural of iris decorate a set of doors at the Samaritan Pastega Regional Cancer Center in Corvallis, Oregon.
The following navigation utilizes arrow, enter, escape, and space bar key commands. Left and right arrows move through main tier links and expand / close menus in sub tiers. Up and Down arrows will open main tier menus and toggle through sub tier links. Enter and space open menus and escape closes them as well. Tab will move on to the next part of the site rather than go through menu items.


text: TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING - Black - 2019 season new 3rd style Adidas Authentic hockey jersey - Size 60 which per the Adidas size chart is a Men's size Extra Extra Extra Large. (as in XXXL or 3XL). This is a brand new, Tampa Bay Lightning Adidas hockey jersey. This Adidas brand authentic jersey is brand new with its paper hang tags, and appropriate bar codes and features a FABRIC chest crest, factory installed by Adidas. (this is a REAL Adidas jersey not a fake).Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The 5% GST is extra. (5% of the cost of the item) to ALL buyers in Canada while Buyers In Ontario (8%), Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, PEI and New Brunswick , must add an additional 10% due to those provinces having HST. Please contact me via ebays message system. The item "TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING size 60 = 3XL Alternate 3rd Style ADIDAS NHL HOCKEY JERSEY" is in sale since Wednesday, September 16, 2020. This item is in the category "Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop\Fan Apparel & Souvenirs\Hockey-NHL". The seller is "benhsports" and is located in Brampton, Ontario. This item can be shipped to Canada, all countries in Europe, United States, Australia.


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April 2011 - cross-posted from The Body
by Dawn Averitt Bridge
This article is part of a transcript of a presentation delivered at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria. The original session took place on July 21, 2010.
Dawn Averitt Bridge was diagnosed with HIV in 1988 at age 19. She is the founder of The Well Project, a prominent HIV/AIDS advocate, as well as an accomplished speaker and published writer on women's health issues. Read her full bio.
How do HIV-positive women perceive stigma relating to their right to get pregnant and have children? And is it really all that important for HIV care providers to be able to talk with their clients -- male and female -- about pregnancy planning options? Longtime advocate and HIV-positive mom Dawn Averitt Bridge presents results from a survey of 700 HIV-positive women, which attempted to answer these questions and many more.
Here I am, talking to you from the United States. And everybody says, "Well, what could possibly be wrong there?" But I think that one of the things that we sometimes miss in our discussions about family planning, sexual reproductive health, and integrating it all into general HIV care as it relates to women specifically, but also for men, is what our perceptions are -- how we, as positive women, view the stigma and the access to services and care. So I'm going to share with you the results of a survey that I helped develop a couple of years ago called the Women Living Positive Survey.
The Women Living Positive Survey involved 700 HIV-positive women from across the United States, from very diverse areas, and a nice racial breakdown of African-American, Caucasian and Hispanic women, so that many groups were well represented. And obviously, some groups were not. But this was an opportunity via a phone survey, with almost, I think, 50 questions in it, to get perceptions and perspectives from positive women.
We don't need to go into survey design and methodology, but I think that there are some important things for you to know about the types of questions that we were asking, specifically: communication with health care providers, understanding about HIV treatment and, then, specifically, family planning, as well as mental health and quality of life. So I think before we even get to the family planning component of this, talking about what positive women's overall perceptions on treatment are is really, frankly, very important.
Keep in mind that these are positive women who are in care -- they've been positive for at least three years, and they are already accessing services, so already we have a bit of a bias here in the information that we have, but it's still important. Positive women, no matter what their ethnicity, have much in common when it comes to how they feel about their status, and how they want to be treated. Interestingly, very high percentages -- between 90 and 97 percent of the positive women who were surveyed -- felt like keeping viral load down was a priority, that long-term success with medication was essential, or very important. Ninety-four percent of the women indicated that the ability to live a normal life was essential or very important, when considering HIV treatment options. What they were being prescribed was important, because it was about longevity. It wasn't just about taking something for today; it was about planning for a future.
And then, over two-thirds -- 69 percent -- of the women cited the ability to continue with family planning as a significant aspect to their HIV care. So I think what we're hearing is that almost 70 percent of the positive women who were surveyed in this particular study said, "Yeah. I want to talk to somebody about having children, about what my options are, as a plan for a future."
So what about family planning? While the ability to continue with family planning is important for many women with HIV, among the women who have been pregnant already, or who would consider pregnancy now, or in the future, sometime down the road, approximately half (48 percent) report that their HIV health care provider had never asked them if they would like to have a child, either now or sometime in the future.
Some people say, "Well, is that really important? Does it really matter if their doctor asks them about it? Especially if they're seeing an HIV specialist who doesn't really think about family planning needs or options." But it is incredibly important. It's important for what treatment options you choose. It's important for developing a relationship with the provider, where the woman feels like she can trust her provider and talk to her about all of her goals and the things that are important. There are a whole lot of reasons that it's important beyond just what would happen in a pregnancy.
So, more than one-third of the women who are or have been pregnant, or would consider pregnancy now or in the future, indicated that they had not discussed with their provider what their treatment options should be. Consequently, more than half of these women look to other sources for information on the topic. Now, there's some good news and bad news there, because we all know that there's all kinds of information out there, and it's hard to sort it out. Not being in a position to have an open, honest dialogue with your health care provider, and to say, "Listen, this is something that's important to me," is a real problem.
I know for me personally, when I was diagnosed with HIV in 1988, in the United States we had one approved drug, and life expectancy was about six months. The first thing that they said to me was, "Of course, you'll never have children." I mean, if you're only going to live for six months, you won't make it all the way through a pregnancy, right?
Over the years, when I would try to broach the issue of having children, I got all kinds of responses, including my most favorite -- to quote: "What are you, some kind of homicidal maniac?" -- which was the doctor's desire to deflect my interest, and just say, "You can't do this. You're crazy."
Those kinds of responses not only shut you down from considering pregnancy, but they also shut you out of care. So I think that these family planning discussions are critically important.
Among women who have been or are currently pregnant, a majority have not discussed appropriate HIV treatments to take during their pregnancy. Furthermore, 40 percent of these women were not very, or not at all, aware of the treatment options available to them when they first became pregnant. So, 57 percent of women with HIV who have been pregnant, or are currently pregnant, did not discuss the appropriate treatment options with their provider before they became pregnant. We're having to make changes and modifications after somebody becomes pregnant, instead of being proactive and talking to people about their choices, up front and early.
I want to make sure that I don't close without mentioning a few issues around fertility and family planning, specifically in the United States. We have laws in place in the United States that prevent fertility treatments for HIV-positive women. The assisted reproductive technologies are quite good but, unfortunately, not available to many women and men living with HIV in the United States. And it's a huge problem. Many of us chose not to have children many years ago, because we were either told we were crazy, or the risks seemed too high. And because people have gotten older, because you had long-term HIV disease, whatever the reasons are, fertility has become a very big issue and a big problem. It's something that I think we really need to address in a very significant way.
Stigma is also alive and well. This is not only imposed stigma, but also perceived stigma. That's what this survey talks about: positive women's experiences, and how they perceived their right to choose to have a child.
Finally, there's an enormous amount of patient and provider education that needs to happen. I sit next to people in public places all the time who start talking to me and ask me what I do. Do you all ever have that experience? And then you think: How long do I want to talk to this person for? And then I tell them, and they ask me how I got into it, and I say, "I'm HIV positive." And then, when I tell them that I have children, they want to know: Did I have the children, or did I somehow get children some way? Did I actually give birth to these children? And when I say, "Yeah, I did," they're very, very interested, and very confused. And this happens not just with people out in the world; this happens with health care providers as well. They're very surprised to learn that positive women can have children with a significantly reduced risk of transmission with aggressive prenatal care, and good access to treatment. So there's a lot of patient and provider education that needs to happen. And then, of course, there's the thing that we all have to deal with, which is fear.
I have two daughters. Madelyn Grace is eight years old, and Sophie is six. And they are, fortunately, both HIV negative, products of good access to treatment and care -- and some luck, obviously.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and is cross-posted from TheBody.com's HIV/AIDS Resource Center for Women. You can view the transcripts for all presentations from this AIDS 2010 conference session series table of contents.


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Eclipse SOA Tools Frequent Asked Questions
This list of frequently asked questions should be your first resort when you have any queries about the SOA Tools Platform project. If you have identified a FAQ that is not in this list, please add it to the list. You will need a bugzilla user id in order to edit the page.
Looking for FAQ's related to the development of STP? See the Committer FAQ.
Last updated by Antoine.lunar-ocean.com 10:11, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
There are two ways to install STP:
- Automatic installation using the Update Manager, the update site url is:http://download.eclipse.org/stp/updates/.
- Download from stp web site, see here.
*You can check the bug report and report bug here
Contact us
Please post your questions and suggestions to STP newsgroup. You will get quick response from developers and other users. The newsgroup archive can be found here
Gimme the source already
Please read the SVN Repository
ESB integration
|If I want to integrate my ESB runtime with STP, do I have to change it so that it can natively accept the artifacts defined in the STP Assembly Model?
No. Since STP is a framework you can construct extensions to the packaging and deployment facilities offered by STP. Your extensions will do the work of making sure that the STP Assembly and your runtime can work together.
You can - please visit the STP Adopters Page to see our adopters and our adopter website policy.


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I'm in!
According to the company:
Target's HR50 20" tall stands are constructed entirely of steel and are ideal for even heavy bookshelf loudspeakers. Two rectangular risers bolt to thick top and bottom plates. The risers are fillable with aquarium rock or other media for even greater mass. Floor spikes, speaker pads and isolation spikes are included. The stands are made in Canada and distributed by Bryston Ltd.
To enter the sweepstakes, all you need is an account on this website. If you don't already have one, click on the link labeled "register" at the bottom of this announcement or "LOG IN/JOIN" in the nav bar at the right. Then, enter a username and a valid e-mail address, and click on the "Create new account" button. A message will be automatically sent to the e-mail address you specified, which will include a link to activate the account.
The final step (and only step for those who already have an account) is to log in and leave a comment right here on this announcementany comment will do, as long as it's not profane or spam. Then, when the sweepstakes closes, a lucky commenter will be chosen at random to receive the prize. So post a comment, and good luck!
For complete sweepstakes rules, click here.
[This Sweepstakes is now closed.]
These would make a great Christmas present for my DAD! Hi, I'm in Canada and very close, please Santa, I've been a very good boy.
Then I'll need to buy a set of stand-mounted speakers!
Great to see the classic Target stands again.
Have a set of ProAc Tablettes that would suit these stands just fine.
I've entered every one of these contests for years, and bupkis. Let this one be a victory!
Would make a very nice Christmas gift.
The Bryston stands would look great in my living room. They will sound great when I buy some new speakers to put on the stands.
Santa I want Bryston Target HR50 Loudspeaker Stands for Christmas...Please
Good stands are a great upgrade. You can never have enough of these products, as they seem to be getting harder to find. Sanus once had a couple of hi-fi type series that have disappeared. I have gone "sandless," though, due to living constraints. I also worry about the warning labels of the sand that is on sale at major retailers. May the best person win.
Please oh please, i have been a good boy this year...
Would be a great little "extra" Christmas present!
Stand in the place where you live.
Just stand.
Just bought a home and i could really use these in my cave. I finally have space for a small litsening room and these would be perfect!
Will go great with the Mini T's
Oh Yes perfect for my LS50......Merry Xmas!!!
They would great holding up my Atoms!
Thank you for the great speaker stands.
Should get along very well with my new Totem Acoustics Sky speakers.
Nice to see Bryston branch out into new markets for high-quality products.
Come on Santa! Be good this year!
I'll grab them right at Bryston! No shipping required!
Will be a great fit for a pair of Mini A speakers by Bryston.
I've consulted a number of specialists. The first strapped my speakers into the sort of traction machine used on James Bond in Thunderball. The machine was nicely restored, and all the relevant parts had been rechromed by the same firm that does the brightwork for Rolls Royce and Edwin Jagger. The leather parts were original and well cared for from the start--not a hint of cracking anywhere, just a deep brown-black patina. The machine impressed the heck out of me. So did the doctor. The machine had been his father's, and he'd been trained by the old man. Followed the old man's maintenance routine for the machine, too. But the treatment didn't do a thing for my speakers. Inexplicably, they ended the session with uncomfortably bright treble.
I won't go too far into the rest. I'm sure you can guess most of it--HGH supplements that were meant as suppositories and which I had to insert three times a day into the bass reflex ports (the speakers developed an annoying rattle); then a psychotherapist who practiced a since-banned form of conversion therapy to try to convince my speakers they were floorstanders; then a physical therapist who didn't do much during the sessions but gave me loads of mimeographed handouts that depicted exercises I was supposed to do with the speakers at home, though I could never understand the diagrams (they looked like topographic maps made by a cartographer who'd never been outside of an anechoic chamber). Finally, when I told all this to the produce manager at my local grocery store, he said, "Look at this kumquat. You think I spend my day trying to make it into a pomolo?"
Since then, I've had my speakers on the floor. I lie down on my belly to listen--prop my chin on my hands and chew wedge after wedge of citrus fruit. For some reason, I keep buying it by the crateful.
Giving this is a lead shot, no pun intended!
I will settle for the Bryston Stand this Christmas instead of my two front teeth.
What a great present this would be for ME!!! Sorry, to great a gift to give away, I would keep them all for me, myself, and I!!! Thank you for the opportunity!
My hubby would love these. Thanks for the chance.
These would be great for my husband.
My bookshelf speakers would love those.
Enjoy your periodical. JD's articles are awesome. Thanks for the Sweepstakes.
Have speakers need stands to go from 5.1 to 7.1. Please
Thanks Santa
Just what I wanted for Christmas!
Does it give tighter bass to bookshelf speakers than the conventional stands??
These are going to look great in my listening room!
Perfect for bookshelf models with taller cabinets...unless you're really short or slump a lot.
Great giveaway- thanks for the opportunity!
Thanks so much for the chance!! My husband would LOVE this!!!
Great giveaway- thanks for the opportunity!
Great speaker stand design!
it looks professional and durable.
My speakers are ready for their home.
I need them!!! I really need them!!!
These would be great - I'd love to get my speakers off the floor... uggghhh
This would be a Christmas Miracle to win!
As much as I want to win these, good luck to everyone else that entered.
I have a nice spot for these
I used to think the best speaker stands were a pair of subwoofers, but I have a feeling I am about to change my mind....
KEF LS50 Wireless speakers coming out next month!
Solid look like all Bryston products! I'm all in!
Looking for some Bryston stands :)
I certainly could utilize these for some hefty bookshelf speakers.
Would fit my book shelf speakers well
Over the years I have used speaker stands beginning with all manner of homemade stands; some fair to good, some poor, to bargain basement stands to really good one's like these. The best ones are very sturdy and you can open the posts to insert lead shot and or sand inside for dampening. Quality stands such as these are not only aesthetically appealing but they make great foundations giving your bookshelves their best opportunity to perform optimally.
'Really need some decent stands; milk crates don't get it.....
Please enter me.
Merci beau...
I'm shopping for speakers and these would be perfect. I have my fingers crossed.
Thanks for the chance! Happy New Year!


text:
Readers often ask me whether the Couch Potato strategy is suitable for investors approaching retirement, or even those who have stopped working. In his recent book, Retirement's Harsh New Realities, Gordon Pape addresses the same question—and I strongly disagree with his advice.
Pape acknowledges that the Couch Potato strategy is simple and low-cost, but "the real questions are how safe the investment is and how much you will end up earning on your money by adopting a passive strategy," he writes. "I think the couch potato approach fails on both counts, for two reasons: time horizon and human nature."
Fatal flaws?
"Passive investing requires taking a long-term view, ten years or more," Pape argues, but "many people, especially those over fifty, aren't comfortable with the idea of waiting many years for a decent return. They need to see profits sooner."
Second, he argues, it's not realistic to expect people to adhere to a passive strategy because markets are too volatile. He offers the massive losses of 2008 as an example: "How many couch potato investors would have had the fortitude to stick with the plan through that debacle?"
Pape goes on to explain how he set up a model Couch Potato portfolio in January 2008 and tracked it to the end of April 2011. During this 40-month period, the portfolio delivered an annualized return of just 1.06%. "Most people would not be happy with that, and with good reason."
His final verdict: "While it's true that you might do worse by actively managing your money, at least you, and not the markets, are in control of your financial fate."
Blurring two ideas
Pape's book, like his previous work, includes a wealth of excellent advice for Canadians who are nearing retirement, but he badly misrepresents passive investing.
To begin with, Pape is wrong to declare that a passive strategy requires at least 10 years. It's equity investing that needs a long horizon: active or passive management has nothing to do with it. An investor with a shorter time frame can simply adjust the allocation of a passive portfolio to suit her goals. A 65-year-old who is retired, or a parent saving for a teenager's education, might keep 80% of the portfolio in a short-term bond ETF and only 20% (or less) in equities. Passive investing is suitable for any time horizon.
Pape writes that "the performance of the portfolio during the 2008 market crash shows that this approach is not risk-free or even low-risk." I'd love to know who ever claimed that it was. Why should anyone expect indexing to be less risky than active management? Risk exposure is determined by asset allocation, not by management style.
Perhaps Pape was referring to the idea that active managers can change the asset mix during times of crisis to protect against big losses. However, the evidence suggests that they cannot do this reliably, and that over market cycles active management usually underperforms a strategy of buy, hold and rebalance.
Lamenting his model portfolio's 1% annualized return from 2008 to mid-2011, Pape says: "This is the reality of couch potato investing—timing counts for a lot. If you set up a portfolio a few months before a market plunge, it will take years to recover." Once again, this is the reality of equity investing, and active-versus-passive is completely irrelevant. Everyone knows that stocks can lose money over periods of 40 months—which is why his model portfolio of 60% stocks is not suitable for that time horizon. If you don't have several years to recover from a severe market decline, then you shouldn't invest in stocks, period.
The illusion of control
Pape argues that investors over 50 should not use a passive strategy because they "need to see profits sooner." He later argues that with an active strategy "you, and not the markets, are in control of your financial fate." Really?
Saying that older investors "need profits sooner" is like saying farmers need rain next week: it might be true, but there's nothing they can do about it. As Alexander Green explains in The Gone Fishin' Portfolio, six factors affect a portfolio's performance: how much you save, how long your investments compound, your asset allocation, how much you pay in expenses, how much you lose to taxes, and the return on your investments. We can control the first five—and only two (costs and taxes) are closely linked to the active-versus-passive question. No one can control the return they get on their investments, whether they admit it or not.
Whether you're 20 or 97, the markets give what they give. If you need market-beating returns to reach your goals, then you either need to take more risk (which opens you up to larger losses), or you need to lower your expectations and save more money. Building a retirement strategy without understanding this is downright dangerous.
Passive investing is not for everyone, but the choice to become a Couch Potato has nothing to do with your age, or how close you are to retirement. Make sure your investing decisions are based on facts, not myths and misinformation.


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North Shore Bedroom Addition Estimates
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text: It seems like Vietnam is the new hotbed for cell phone activity these days. Today, site mainguyen.vn has published an extensive gallery of BlackBerry Bold 9780 images along with one 10-minute video. The site doesn't really provide us with any additional details on the handset, but if you are anxiously awaiting its release, 17 hi-res images and a video can't hurt your cause. Hit the jump to check out the video and hit the read link to see all the images.


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(Reuters) – China's top Internet security official says he has "mountains of data" pointing to extensive U.S. hacking aimed at China, but it would be irresponsible to blame Washington for such attacks, and called for greater cooperation to fight hacking.
Cyber security is a major concern for the U.S. government and is expected to be at the top of the agenda when President Barack Obama meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California on Thursday and Friday.
Obama will tell Xi that Washington considers Beijing responsible for any cyber attacks launched from Chinese soil and must take action to curb high-tech spying, White House officials said on Tuesday.
China's Internet security chief complained that Washington used the news media to raise cyber security concerns which would be better settled through communication, not confrontation.
"We have mountains of data, if we wanted to accuse the U.S., but it's not helpful in solving the problem," said Huang Chengqing, director of the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China, known as CNCERT.
"They advocated cases that they never let us know about," Huang said in comments on Tuesday and carried by the government-run China Daily newspaper on Wednesday.
"Some cases can be addressed if they had talked to us, why not let us know? It is not a constructive train of thought to solve problems."
CNCERT has instead co-operated with the United States, receiving 32 Internet security cases from the United States in the first four months of 2013, and handling most promptly, except for a few that lacked sufficient proof, Huang said.
Designs for more than two dozen major U.S. weapons systems have been compromised by Chinese hackers, the Washington Post reported late last month.
The compromised designs included combat aircraft and ships, as well as missile defense systems vital for Europe, Asia and the Gulf, the newspaper said, citing a report prepared for the U.S. Defense Department by the Defense Science Board.
Huang did not deny the report, but suggested that if the U.S. government wants to keep weapons programs secure, it should not allow them to be accessed online.
"Even following the general principle of secret-keeping, it should not have been linked to the Internet," Huang said.
Cyber attacks from the United States have been as serious as the accusations from Washington, Huang said
CNCERT, which issues a weekly report on cyber attacks against China, says that 4,062 U.S.-based computer servers hijacked 2.91 million mainframe computers in China.
(Reporting by Terril Yue Jones; Editing by Michael Perry)
BEIJING | Wed Jun 5, 2013 12:24am EDT
Find this story at 5 June 2013
© Thomson Reuters


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PHILADELPHIA, PA – One of the NBA's all time great is slowly losing control of both his personal and professional career. PhD Ape has offered to help!
According to Stephen A. Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Allen Iverson's life has become a train wreck and needs more than a prayer to turn things around. A sad turn of events that features one of the game's all-time greatest and pound for pound was the best. Problems with gambling and alcohol are threatening to rob him of his legacy.
Reports say that Iverson has and will either drink himself into oblivion or gamble his life away. To add insult to injury, Iverson's wife Tawanna, has filed for divorce and asked for full custody of their five children. She will also be seeking alimony and full child support.
Iverson's problems are reportedly so bad that he has been banned from casinos in Detroit and Atlantic City. The one-time league MVP who put the Philadelphia 76ers on his back en route to leading them to the 2001 NBA finals is in need of a serious support group.
Help is on the way in the form of world renowned therapist PhD Ape. The therapist that has helped high profile figures such as Rosie O'Donnell and President Obama has taken notice of this nosedive and has reached out to Iverson.
"Iverson is one of the all-time great sports figures. Whether or not he's loved is one thing, but he always put everything he had into the game," said PhD Ape. "He's lost his way and he needs a good support system to get him back on track. It's emotionally and physically draining on an individual to reflect on the days of glory and not have that anymore."
"If I get a chance to sit down with him, we'll make small steps towards a better life," he added. "I'll let him know that what he did on the court will be unmatched. Now it's time to move on and be a great father and a better person off the court. He'll be fine."
PHILADELPHIA, PA – One of the NBA's all time great is slowly losing control of both his personal and professional career. PhD Ape has offered to help!


text:
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Fort Wayne, Evansville, Southbend, Hammond, Bloomington, Gary, Carmel, Fishers, Muncie, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Anderson, Noblesville, Eklhart, Greenwood and Lawrence.
Before you contact any other company, please read the "Cost of Services" block. The staff at Bio-Trauma 911, Inc. is here to assist you in any way possible. Even if you choose not to use our services, we would like to discuss with you the various options you may have to remediate your crime, trauma or hoarding scene.
Bio-Trauma 911, Inc. will always provide a written estimate of the work to be done with an estimate of the overall costs. While this seems to be a common sense approach, many companies will simply tell you that there is no way to estimate the cost of the job and will assure you the final cost will be "reasonable". Only after you've signed a contract and all of the work has been completed will you discover that the total cost incurred by you and your insurance company is much more than it should have been. Our staff is routinely called upon to complete price comparisons for businesses and agencies who feel that they have been overcharged for services provided by other remediation companies.
Our staff is here to assist you. If you have not yet contacted us, please do so before signing a contract with any other company. Even if you decide against using our services, our knowledgeable staff can still help you to negotiate a fair price for the job at hand. Call our toll free number at 1-800-759-6960 and ask for Martha Lenz or Steve Hanna. You will never be charged for asking for our advice.
Bio-Trauma 911, Inc. offers a wide variety of services to both individuals and companies throughout Indiana and most of the United States. Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, our technicians offer our clients a viable means of relieving some of the pain and anguish suffered as a result of a traumatic event.
Technicians employed by Bio-Trauma 911, Inc. have received extensive training in crime scene cleanup, suicide cleanup, odor removal, remediation following an unattended death and the removal of personal effects and waste resulting from gross filth and hoarding.
Although a visual inspection of a crime or trauma scene may reveal a great deal of blood and bodily fluids about the area, an equal amount will be found by our technicians in areas that cannot be seen or easily accessed. It is vital that all traces of these elements be removed from a scene, whether a crime has been committed or not. In conjunction with specialized training in the detection and removal of infectious waste and biohazard materials, our technicians will restore your house or place of business to a safe environment.
Before you attempt to clean a crime or trauma scene, please speak with a trained & certified technician. We have trained personnel standing by 24 hours a day to answer your questions. Our technicians are typically dispatched within an hour or two of receiving your call, or at a time that is convenient for you.
Bio-Trauma 911, Inc. works with many different insurance companies and are often able to bill your insurance company directly. If insurance covers the cost of our services, the only payment required from you will be your policy deductible. If insurance coverage is not available, we do offer several different payment plans, which generally suit most budgets.
Since 1995, the caring and compassionate staff of Bio-Trauma 911, Inc. has been insturmental in helping hundreds of hoarders throughout the Midwestern United States. With a trained and knowledgeable staff of technicians in the State of Indiana, Bio-Trauma 911 can offer you or your family member(s) professional and cost effective hoarding cleanup services in Indianapolis.
Our staff understands that compulsive hoarding is a condition and that it does not define the person. We understand that hoarding comes in all shapes and sizes and nothing it too big for our team to handle. We further understand that the one who hoards is often times a very successful person and well-respected in his or her community. All of this we understand and we will respect you, regardless of this condition. We will treat you and your family with the utmost professionalism and dedication and our interaction with you will remain discreet and confidential.
While many companies exist to help you through the cleanup and removal process, Bio-Trauma 911 is one of the few who will take time to sort and organize while we clean. This attention to detail is vital, as many valuables, keepsakes and sensitive documents may be found during the cleanup process. The last thing we want is for these items to end up in the trash.
During the cleanup of a hoarding scene (also referred to as clutter clean up), our staff will work with you and your family. We will take the time to understand what should and shouldn't be discarded. Those items to be kept may be boxed up and stored until the entire remediation process has been completed. And, following the removal and sorting of your personal effects and based on your request, our team will conduct either a basic or comprehensive cleaning of the entire house. Our "Green Clean" residential cleaning service is a popular addition to our compulsive hoarding cleanup services.
If you are looking for help with hoarding, filth, clutter or any of our other services offered below, please call Bio-Trauma 911 at 1-800-759-6960 and ask for Martha Lenz or Steve Hanna. Even if you're not ready to begin the cleanup process, feel free to call us for advice and information.
Our hoarding and clutter cleaning services are offered to residents in and around the following cities: Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, Hammond, Bloomington, Gary, Carmel, Fishers, Muncie, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Anderson, Noblesville, Elkhart, Greenwood and Lawrence. Please feel free to call us at 1-800-759-6960 to see if we service your area.
Bio-Trauma 911, Inc. is the premier Crime & Trauma Scene Cleanup Company in the United States of America. Our staff provides a level of service that routinely exceeds our clients' expectations.
In addition to the compassionate, caring and cost-effective services we offer, Bio-Trauma 911, Inc. is also the leading Crime & Trauma Scene Cleanup Training Center in the United States. A vast majority of the owners and staff of new companies in operation today were trained by our skilled and knowledgeable instructors.
Our staff is committed to completing each job with the highest degree of integrity, honesty and professionalism. We make you this promise!
If for any reason you are unhappy or dissatisfied with the work or service you receive from Bio-Trauma 911, Inc., and we find your concern legitimate, we will make every effort at our expense to rectify the situation. We make you this promise!
Bio-Trauma 911, Inc. opened its doors in 2005. Since that time our staff has continued to refine, redevelop and improve the heartfelt and compassionate services we offer to families, friends and loved ones of those injured or deceased. The praise and thanks given to the staff of Bio-Trauma 911, Inc. is a true indicator of our continued success as an Indianapolis crime scene cleanup company. Whether you're faced with cleaning the remains of a traumatic death, a suicide or accident scene, our staff is here for you. If you have a family member or friend in need of help because of a gross filth or hoarding problem, our staff is here for you. If you just need to talk, our staff is here for you.Read More
The Hepatitis B Virus can live and thrive in blood for up to seven days. Hepatitis B causes inflammation of the liver and can lead to more serious conditions such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. There is no cure or suitable treatment plan for Hepatitis B.
Federal Regulation 29CFR1910.1030 states that no employer can expose an employee to cleaning blood or bodily fluids without first providing:
1. Blood borne pathogen training
2. A written exposure control plan
3. Personal protective equipment
4. The opportunity to receive the Hepatitis B vaccine
5. Receive exposure evaluation and follow up
5. A method to remove, store and dispose of bio-hazardous waste
Non-compliance with 29CFR1910.1030 has resulted in OSHA fines ranging from $7,000 to $70,000.
Please feel free to use this contact form to get in touch with us. While email and forms are a great tool, they don't always work as they should. If for some reason we do not contact you, this form was probably not received. You can always reach us, day or night, at 1-800-759-6960.
KEYWORDS USED TO FIND THIS PAGE: Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, Hammond, Bloomington, Gary, Carmel, Fishers, Muncie, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Anderson, Noblesville, Elkhart, Greenwood, Lawrence, hoarding cleanup, crime scene cleanup, clutter clean up, gross filth, biohazard remediation, blood cleanup, blood cleaning, crime scene cleaning, Indianapolis Hoarding Cleanup
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St. Meinrad, The Black Madonna and Einsiedeln Abbey – podcast
In this 7 minute podcast from the Sonrise Morning show on Catholic radio, Dr. It...
Our faith is not founded upon empty words; nor are we carried away by mere caprice or beguiled by specious arguments. On the contrary, we put our faith in words spoken by the power of God, spoken by the Word himself at God's command. God wished to win men back from disobedience, not by using force to reduce him to slavery but by addressing to his free will a call to liberty.
The Word spoke first of all through the prophets, but because the message was couched in such obscure language that it could be only dimly apprehended, in the last days the Father sent the Word in person, commanding him to show himself openly so that the world could see him and be saved.
We know that by taking a body from the Virgin he re-fashioned our fallen nature. We know that his manhood was of the same clay as our own; if this were not so, he would hardly have been a teacher who could expect to be imitated. If he were of a different substance from me, he would surely not have ordered me to do as he did, when by my very nature I am so weak. Such a demand could not be reconciled with his goodness and justice.
No. He wanted us to consider him as no different from ourselves, and so he worked, he was hungry and thirsty, he slept. Without protest he endured his passion, he submitted to death and revealed his resurrection. In all these ways he offered his own manhood as the first fruits of our race to keep us from losing heart when suffering comes our way, and to make us look forward to receiving the same reward as he did, since we know that we possess the same humanity.
When we have come to know the true God, both our bodies and our souls will be immortal and incorruptible. We shall enter the kingdom of heaven, because while we lived on earth we acknowledged heaven's King. Friends of God and co-heirs with Christ, we shall be subject to no evil desires or inclinations, or to any affliction of body or soul, for we shall have become divine.
Whatever evil you may have suffered, being man, it is God that sent it to you, precisely because you are man; but equally, when you have been deified, God has promised you a share in every one of his own attributes. The saying Know yourself means therefore that we should recognise and acknowledge in ourselves the God who made us in his own image, for if we do this, we in turn will be recognised and acknowledged by our Maker.
So let us not be at enmity with ourselves, but change our way of life without delay. For Christ who is God, exalted above all creation, has taken away man's sin and has re-fashioned our fallen nature. In the beginning God made man in his image and so gave proof of his love for us. If we obey his holy commands and learn to imitate his goodness, we shall be like him and he will honour us. God is not beggarly, and for the sake of his own glory he has given us a share in his divinity.
This excerpt from the treatise On the Refutation of All Heresies (Cap. 10, 33-34: PG 16, 3452-3453) by St. Hippolytus is used in the Roman Office of Readings for December 30th within the Twelve Days of Christmas. St. Hippolytus is one of the Early Church Fathers.


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NEW YORK, NY – With the Swine Flu continuing to spread, people all over the world are stocking up on products to prevent infection. Top designers are offering high fashion alternatives to the common face mask.
Louis Vuitton is offering facemasks with his trademark print. The masks are made of Italian leather, Egyptian cotton, and the finest Kentucky charcoal. Beware of imitation knock offs that are already available in New York's Chinatown.
Donna Karan and Calvin Klein are offering similar lines of surgical face masks aimed at the modern urban dweller. Basic black cotton and denim comes together in sleek hip design that still reduces risk of infection by 50%.
Prada is offering a spring themed line of face masks. Spring themed prints or basic colors to match typical seasonal wear adorn the vegan leather masks. In addition to blocking the deadly Swine Flu the designer masks also have small compartments that make life smell like roses, frankincense, or fresh made cinnamon buns. Masks from this line will be seen on upcoming episodes of The Hills.
British artist Banksy has also released his own line of surgical masks. Each is hand signed by the artist and available for free; however they are only available in the ICU of Mexico City's largest hospital.
Even Sarah Jessica Parker is releasing her own line of face masks, available through Target. However, analysts are expecting poor sales as a recent study showed the masks to actually increase the risk of infection. Also, because they are only available in pastels.


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What can cause a indoor furnace or air handler to make abnormal noises?
Here is an actual list of obstacles or issues I have found inside systems, blower compartments and duct work:
- Dead mouse stuck in a blower wheel!
- Blower Wheel is actually coming apart at the frame – makes a metal to metal grinding sound – too many dirty air filters over the years!
- Bad Heat Exchanger in a gas furnace – flame is rolling out of the furnace as the furnace ignites makes a popping noise every time the furnace cycles on- very dangerous!
- Mylar Balloon sucked into the top of a furnace!
- Roll of duct tape – been there 17 years!
- Toys – balls, boats, airplanes, etc.
- Instruction or paper information sheets from equipment or duct work – been there for years!
- Partial frames from old air filters!
- Construction debris from when the home was built! 40+ years ago!
- Beer Cans, bottles – small and large!
- Water leaking from an underground water pipe or sewer pipe!
- Loose insulation from the equipment or from the duct work sucked up into the system!
- Abnormal Operating Dirt, Dust and Debris!
- Plenum or Duct has come loose and making high velocity air sound! (See attached picture.)
If you need help with abnormal furnace, air handler, air conditioning noises call A.I.R. today at 405-618-2AIR or 405-421-5191. Or go to our website at airokc.com and schedule an appointment online.
Please have the noise checked out, you never know what is in your heating or cooling system unless you look or have someone look!
(We look for sound issues or any potential issues of any kind on every heating or cooling semi-annual service appointment. )


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Yuki's Lazy Channel has excellent real-life pics and swatches of the collection.
The new Maquillage model is Takei Emi, who has previously appeared in Shiseido's Tsubaki ads.
Hey, I have a question but it's not related to this post.
Is the Sephora by OPI nail polishes available at Sephora @ Ion Orchard? I wish to get one when I go there. :)
Nope, that line is not sold in Singapore. There is only the OPI line at Sephora and the Nicole by OPI line which you can find at Watsons drugstores.
Oh. What's the price at Sephora and Watson?
Just wanna say thanks for all the info you always give! It always helpful to know where to find the latest make-up info. Can't wait for Marjolica's release! All the items look so goood! =)
I am interested in the new MJ blushers, particularly #PK301!
The texture looks semi-matte and deeply pigmented.
But I prefer their previous packaging of transparent slide cover with a gold cap.
Do you have any idea when will their Spring lineup avail in SG?
What is the difference between Jill Stuart's duo colour powder blush and Mix Blush Compact other than their packaging?
OPI is S$23.50 and Nicole by OPI is S$17.10.
hi winterberry_gal,
I don't know when the MM spring collection will arrive here, my guess would be in February as it launches in japan on 21 Jan. You can try asking on the MM Singapore Facebook page. As for Jill Stuart blushes, the Blush Blossoms are loose type and the Mix Blush Compact are pressed. The Mix Blush Compact provide a greater variety of shades as there are 4 shades in each. The Blush Blossoms usually have a shimmer shade that provides a more glowy effect.
wow, I checked out that link and the new powder pact looks gorgeous, and the cheek blushers too! Really love this new collection, do you have any idea when it will be in stores?
Oh I haven't been excited for a MM collection in a long time. Almost everything appeals to me. :D
Okay great. Thanks for the info. (:
Hi Iris,
Just to let you know that the sugary trap collection is now available from Watsons. I just got the blusher (pk303)and brow mascara from Watsons at Lot 1 today.
Thanks for writing, I love your blog!


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Ketola/Targus Painting
Commercial and Residential, New and Remodel Painting in Olympia
Have you ever seen a house or building that looked so good and the colors were so spectacular that you had to stop and look at it for a while? At Ketola/Targus Painting of Olympia, that's the professional paint project we strive to create. Paint can add a fresh new look and add protection to the painted surface, this adds value to your home or building. We have been doing this since 1977 and understand the importance of the added value our paint project will offer when it is completed.
We have an experienced, well-trained staff of painters that apply the proper products to the proper surfaces only after using the correct techniques of preparation. We deal with the highest quality paint materials so your paint project lasts a long time. So call us today and one of our expert estimators will come out and give you free estimate.
Be sure to check out our News Section for helpful tips and information on painting, and to view some of our successfully completed projects in the South Puget Sound area.


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On Christmas morning IanVisits got up early and took pictures of an almost empty London.
"London is never silent, not even at 3am, but on Xmas morning, it is almost silent. The background drone of aircraft approaching Heathrow has gone, and away from main roads, the streets lack the sound of car tyres rolling over tarmac."
"Heading home, also a sound you never really hear now – the pealing of church bells. Not just coming from a single church you are nearby, but from all over the city as the sound carries far further than usual and surrounds you from all sides. Magical."
See more streets of London, sans people, in his full set. Quotes from his blog post.


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Marshawn Lynch's potential mandatory minicamp holdout turned out to be much ado about nothing. Lynch arrived for practice with his Seattle Seahawks teammates Tuesday, according to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport.
NFL Media's Omar Ruiz, on location in Seattle, reported Lynch took the field with his teammates Tuesday, but did not participate in the team stretch, or any other drills. The All-Pro, wearing a practice jersey over a hoodie and warm-up sweat pants, was on the sideline with Sidney Rice and Malcolm Smith, who also did not partake in team activities.
Lynch's arrival should be one less headache for the Seahawks to deal with, but it doesn't necessarily end the story. Lynch could theoretically still hold out of training camp, and he could continue to seek out adjustments to his contract.
Perhaps the Seahawks could give Lynch a small performance-based bonus to his contract or come up with some sort of band-aid to keep one of their best players happy. The entire conversation, however, is a reminder that the Seahawks will be planning for life without Lynch soon enough. He's due $7.5 million next season and Seattle has a great replacement on the roster in Christine Michael.
*In the latest edition of the "Around The League Podcast," the heroes discuss which teams "realistically" have no shot at winning the Super Bowl this season. *


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1000 Whitlock Ave Nw Ste 300, Marietta, GA 30064
Toll Free: 800-446-9367 Local: 770-427-5501 Fax: 770-514-8612Email Us
- 1000 Whitlock Ave Nw Ste 300, Marietta, GA 30064
Something to celebrate - 299C16427299C16427
Something to celebrate
"Well deserved congratulations to you!"
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Welcome to the St. Vincent de Paul community. We encourage you to come into our website so you can experience how our academic and spiritual programs work together to meld our students into the great individuals within a Christ–centered community! Witness how we are providing opportunities in academic achievement in a faith-filled environment.
We feel every child is unique and we respect the diversity of the talents within its school family. We also feel the spirit of cooperation is shared between the school family- school staff, parents and students. Experience our uniqueness and cooperation within the sites of this website. You WILL see a truly vibrant Christian community in the Catholic Diocese of Peoria!
Miss Sarah Hogan, Principal
Click here for more information about St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School.
SVdP Parent Ambassador Program
Click here to learn more about this exciting, welcoming, and helpful program for new families!
Click here for student testimonials.
Click here for parent testimonial.
Click Here to fill out the form to contact us
Click Here to fill out the form to visit us


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Celebrating over 25 years of automatic transmission performance!
Welcome to Baumann Electronic Controls, your one stop source for the latest in Overdrive Automatic Transmission innovations for both high performance and heavy-duty applications. Our flagship product line is the US Shift electronic transmission controllers: the Quick 6, Quick 4, and Quick 2. Alongside these stand-alone transmission controllers, we also offer performance rebuild parts for automatic transmissions.
US Shift
US Shift stand-alone transmission controllers can transform your project car, in combination with a modern overdrive electronic transmission, giving it improved acceleration, towing capability, and fuel efficiency. Our Quick controllers can be easily installed and programmed, either by using the built-in tuning interface or user-friendly PC software. Whether you want ultimate control over every aspect of transmission control or simply want it to work with minimal tweaking, our Quick controllers will accommodate your application.
Quick 6 Electronic Transmission Control System
Our top-of-the-line controller for 6R80 transmissions with more transmission support coming in the near future.
Quick 4 Electronic Transmission Control System
Our top-of-the-line controller for 4R70W, AODE, E4OD, 4R100, 4L60E, 4L70E, and 4L80E transmissions.
(No laptop or PC required)
Quick 2 Electronic Transmission Control System
A simplified, budget controller for 4R70W, AODE, E4OD, 4R100, 4L60E, 4L70E, and 4L80E transmissions.
(No laptop or PC required)
Throttle Position Sensor Kits
With a throttle position sensor kit, you'll be able to use an Electronic Transmission Control System on a carbureted vehicle. The sensor mounts onto the carburetor and sends a throttle position signal to the controller. Kits are designed to fit your specific brand of carburetor and to match aesthetically.


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WorldTravelService® provides quality, cost-effective travel management for group vacation tour packages and excursions from Montgomery County.
Have you always dreamed about going on a two week African safari? Or how about a 10 day trip to Scotland and Ireland? Most people dream of these vacations but have no idea where to travel or how to start planning. When you're planning a group travel excursion, details are everything. You can count on the group travel team at WorldTravelService® to expertly plan every last detail of your group trip and work to keep everyone on schedule.
Tour packages are the best way to go when getting a group of individuals to travel together without the hassle and stress of booking. Each individual can book and pay separately so that the responsibility of scheduling and payment doesn't fall on just one person's shoulders.
Your Nearest Office Location
Looking for a corporate travel agency near Montgomery County? Our Rockville travel agency and Washington, D.C. travel agency are only a short distance away.
Want to book a cruise or other leisure travel trip from Montgomery County? Our agents in our nearby Reston travel agency are ready to help.
Why Book a Group Tour?
When you book a group tour through WorldTravelService® you will have access to destinations you wouldn't normally visit. Experienced guides take you to local hiddengems that most travelers don't know about.
Group tours are planned ahead of time—taking the stress out of last minute travel arrangements. You wake up in the morning knowing exactly what you're doing and where you are going. In some areas of the world, it's a good idea to have a local guide with you for added security. Your tour guide can help direct you and keep you safe in unfamiliar places.
All-Inclusive Group Tour Packages from Montgomery County
Book an all-inclusive group tour and remove the hassle of checking rates for lodging, meals, and attractions. Everything is booked and paid for ahead of time, leaving you to only stress about whether or not your camera has enough battery life to capture all the fun you're having. All-inclusive packages eliminate guesswork and the need to "stay on budget." There is just one affordable price that includes airfare, hotel, food, drinks, and extras. There are no surprises when it comes to an all-inclusive package.
Group Tour Vendors and Destinations
WorldTravelService® works with the best of the best when it comes to tour guides and excursion experts. Vendors like Abercrombie & Kent, Brendan Vacations, Collette Explorations and Great Safaris, just to name a few, are experts when it comes to group travel and tours.
WorldTravelService® can recommend and book just the right tour for your group. We book group tours from Montgomery County to:
- Europe
- India
- Africa
- Vietnam
- Cuba
- Thailand
- Argentina
- Australia
- And many more!
We invite you to search our current tours or call 800-676-3796 to schedule your group tour today.