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The 1st European Film Screening in UAE Successfully Closes with Overwhelming Audience Acclaim
Wrapping Up To An Audience's Request for An Encore
The 1st European Film Screening in UAE Successfully Closes with Overwhelming Audience Acclaim
Enjoying wide acclaim, the 1st European Film Screenings (EFS) in the UAE closed yesterday, Thursday. The closing ceremony featured another full-house screening of Wolfgang Becker's outstanding award-winning film Goodbye Lenin in Dubai, which celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the fall of Berlin Wall.
With the presence of sponsors and a hefty number of diverse attendees, La Grande Bellezza, by Paolo Sorrentino, was announced a winner of the Best Film Award, presented by Front Row Filmed Entertainment. For their collaboration with the EFS, Front Row Filmed Entertainment gave the winner the opportunity to have their film uploaded on the iTunes store, which has more than 880 million subscribers worldwide and in turn the customers will be able to rent or buy the film and the copyright owner of the title will have their share of every sale that is done. The audiences also were not left out; after participating in a poll, rating each of the films that were screened throughout the festival, Etihad Airways, the UAE's Official National Carrier and one of the key sponsors for the event, conducted a random draw at the closing ceremony, awarding one lucky winner two return tickets to Rome, Italy.
The success of the EFS would not have been possible without the continued support of the contributing nations from the European Union. The Head of Political, Press and Information Section, Mr. Thomas Peykerhas said, "The European films screening has been an overwhelming success, we had "full house" everyday. The interest in contemporary European movies seems to be huge in the UAE and such a success story asks of course for repetition. We will start to work on that today! Many thanks and compliments not only to the organizers who did an incredible job and to all those who made that happen, especially the EU embassies who facilitated this event with their film contributions, but also to the enthusiastic moviegoers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai; you were just great and made everybody involved in this very happy! Thanks, you are true fans!."
Alessandra Priante, Italian Cultural Expert for the Gulf Region and orchestrator of the event, was in awe at how the screenings were embraced by the various communities and nationalities across the UAE. "It's amazing to witness the power of cinema, on how it reaches beyond any form of cultural barrier, beyond language, beyond mindsets," she said.
The event, initiated by the Italian Embassy to the UAE in the framework of its 2014 Presidency of the Council of the European Union and done in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival, the Dubai International Film Festival and the Embassies of 13 European Member States (Italy, Germany, France, UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Sweden and Austria), launched on September 18th. The event, which opened in both cities with the Italian 2014 Oscar winner "La Grande Bellezza", to a full-house in both
Abu Dhabi and Dubai, featured a carefully curated rich ensemble of the most recent and successful independent films from Europe. The Netherlands'
was the second-most favorite film amongst the audiences, according to the polls. His Excellency
Jennes de Mol
, the Dutch Ambassador to the UAE, was very pleased with the audiences' reaction, about which he remarked stating, "We are proud to be part of the line-up of the first edition of the European Film Screenings with the Dutch universal comedy Soof. The reception of the movie by UAE audiences was exceptionally good. In both Abu Dhabi and Dubai theatres were full and filled with laughter. We are delighted to have had the opportunity to bring a glimpse of Dutch cinema to the UAE. We are thankful to the Italian Embassy that took the lead in proposing and organizing this successful initiative, to the EU delegation for their support and to all other embassies for their varied contributions that lead to a strong programming. The strength of the European Union is in its cultural diversity and the Film Screenings showed this very well. This experience has been remarkable and we are already looking forward to be part of future editions of the European Film Screenings." Whereas H.E. Ambassador Nicole Bintner-Bakshian
of Luxembourg expressed, "The first ever European Film Screenings in the UAE was an exciting project to be a part of. We were delighted to have the opportunity to present, for the first time ever in the UAE, an authentic Luxembourg movie and to contribute to the rich exchange of culture through the power of film".
Alexandr Sporys, Ambassador of the Czech Republic, commended the Italian Embassy and the EU delegation in Abu Dhabi for the success of the European Film Screenings 2014, stating that he, "hope[s] that this excellent initiative of bringing and presenting together the best of the European culture will take its root and become a new tradition in the U.A.E".
EFS also featured an amazing selection of distinguished Emirati short films, critically applauded by Abu Dhabi International Film Festival (ADFF) and the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), as a tribute to the UAE film industry by showcasing the talents of UAE film directors. Samr Al Marzouqi, Dubai Film Market Manager at DIFF, commented on this saying, "We are blessed to live in a country that houses over 200 nationalities who live in harmony.
Understanding each other's background, history and culture what makes it a unique community and a vibrant melting pot.
EFS rule of expanding this energy was just amazing given the strong films screened, theatres getting filled by film lovers and screenings in 2 cities over a weekend".
On the same note, ADFF's Director, Ali Al Jabri said, "The film industry in the UAE has incredible potential and with its growing popularity comes a flourishing culture of cinema and fresh talent. However, global awareness and perceptions are still developing, which is why events like EFS
are so crucial for local filmmakers. In line with our mission of building a world-class film industry in the region, we are committed towards creating more opportunities for budding filmmakers and the EFS is the perfect platform to showcase and promote Emirati talent".
The Emirati filmmaker, Nawaf Al Janahi, has lauded the concept of the screenings: "Launching an event such as the European Film Screenings is vital to the film movement in the UAE. I was thrilled to see the full houses and the diverse audience at the various films; it's just one more proof that our society is hungry for different cinemas than the mainstream usually provided in our market. Presenting an Emirati short film before each feature was a great step, and I hope it becomes a standard in all similar events in the country".
Within the framework of EFS, a panel discussion was held, where highly renowned international filmmakers and cinema auteurs discussed film co-productions in Europe and the possibility of applying this successful experience in the Arab world and precisely Gulf countries. Moderated by Italian Cultural Expert and Eurimages Representative Alessandra Priante, the panel discussion featured representatives of the European film industry, accompanying some of their films screened at the event, in addition to an array of professional Emirati film directors and festival executives. The panel discussion was further attended by Austrian producer Heinz Stussak, producer of The Silent Mountain; Swedish producer Peter Hiltunen, producer of The Ice Dragon; Ali Al Jabri, Director of ADFF; Filmmaker and Producer Nawaf Al Janahi, and Samr Al Marzooqi.
The core of the discussion, which was introduced by a video message of Noura Al Kaabi, CEO of twofour54, was to understand how it works in Europe and if the same basis could be replicated with the same success also in the Middle East, and the Gulf in particular. On this topic, Heinz Stussack stressed that any good co-production is based on the sharing of a universal story, no matter what language it's shot in.
Emphasizing the importance of creating multi-lingual and internationally-oriented films,
Nawaf Al Janahi
added, "I am lucky. I make movies for an international audience that lives in one country, the UAE. I have two new movie projects; one will be in Arabic while the other will be in English."
also added, "I was also happy to take part in the co-production panel discussion; the organizers realize the importance of collaboration on film projects, and similar talks are needed to raise awareness about the challenges we face on the ground, and to present practical solutions to make our films reach a wider audience, locally, regionally, and internationally"
Peter Hiltunen, representing the well-known "nordik" production block, highlighted the potential of creating more universal stories from this part of the world, also through tools like writing labs to be shared among Europe and the UAE and the Gulf in general. Ali Al Jabri emphasized the role of festivals in the UAE for actually allowing the young film talents of the Gulf to stand up to the filmmaking experience. Without funds like Sanad or like Enjaaz, many of the recent successes from the Arab World (like "Theeb" which just won a price in Venice Film Festival) would have not seen the light.
Samr Al Marzouqi, stressed how the role of film festivals is exactly the one of working harder with distribution to make sure arab films reach audiences. Especially in the UAE where the number of film theatres per capita is the highest in the Gulf Region.


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WIMS operated under the umbrella of the National Council of Negro Women. Dorothy Irene Height was president of the NCNW and a long-standing leader in the fight for racial and social justice and the protection of black women, children, and families. She was the lynchpin of WIMS. Polly Cowan was the WIMS executive director , as well as Height's colleague and close friend. In 1964, Height and Cowan enlisted Doris Wilson and Susie Goodwillie to direct the project from the ground in Jackson, Mississippi.
Dorothy Irene Height
Born in 1912 in Richmond, Virginia, and growing up in Rankin, Pennsylvania, Dorothy Irene Height devoted her life to the causes of racial justice and women's rights – especially the rights and needs of black women and their children. For years she held a series of leadership roles in the national YWCA. Simultaneously she worked for and then became president of the National Council of Negro Women. Height's memoir Open Wide the Freedom Gates, was published by Public Affairs Books in 2003.
- National Council of Negro Women: Dr. Dorothy I. Height
A biography highlighting Height's life and accomplishments.
- Read Holly Cowan Shulman's tribute to Dorothy Height hat appeared in the Huffington Post on April 22, 2010, following Height's death.
Polly Spiegel Cowan
Born in 1913 in Kennilworth, Illinois, Pauline Spiegel Cowan became a radio and television producer and a political activist. Her most famous radio show, "Conversation," brought together notable thinkers to discuss issues of the day. Her best known television show was "Down You Go," a literary quiz show. In 1963 she went to work as a volunteer for the National Council of Negro Women, and by the time of her death was a member of the council's board ofdDirectors. In 1939 she married Louis G. Cowan, who in the 1960s and 1970s worked hard to support WIMS, Height, and the NCNW. They had four children: Paul S. Cowan, L. Geoffrey Cowan, Holly Cowan Shulman, and Liza Cowan. Both Polly and Lou Cowan died in 1976.
- October 16 2002: Interview with Dorothy I. Height
Dorothy I. Height remembers how Polly Cowan first volunteered for the National Council of Negro Women in 1963.
- "Wednesdays in Mississippi" by Polly Cowan
In the fall of 1964 Cowan wrote an article describing WIMS and its goals for The Church Woman, the national magazine of Church Women United.
- An Orphan in History, by Paul Cowan
Polly's oldest son, Paul Cowan, wrote his memoir entitled An Orphan in History soon after Polly and Lou died together in a fire in 1976. In this excerpt he reflects on Polly and her work for the National Council of Negro Women.
Susie Goodwillie
Born and raised in the suburbs of New York City, Susie Goodwillie went to Stanford University. Political activist Allard K. Lowenstein and Goodwillie's experiences with Crossroads Africa inspired her to take part in the civil rights movement. Unlike most of her generation, Goodwillie began her activities through the women's movement, and became the first white woman employed by the National Council of Negro Women. Goodwillie worked with WIMS throughout 1964 and 1965.
- Goodwillie's official assignment in Jackson
Because Height and Cowan were afraid to reveal to the white Jackson community the real reason for Goodwillie's sojourn there, they gave her a kind of alias. She was there, officially, to write a cookbook for Chilmark Press – a small publishing house located in New York City and owned by Louis G. Cowan. The joke that summer was that if you really wanted to publish a cookbook of Jackson recipes worth using, you would not go the white community; you would go the local black women.
A college roommate of Susan Goodwillie, Diane Vivell agreed to volunteer as the second white WIMS staff member in the summer of 1964
Doris Wilson
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and educated at Tuskeegee for her BA, Wilson held master's degrees in Christian education from Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University jointly, and in social administration from Case Western Reserve. She worked in the student movement with the national student YWCA, in the southeastern region. She was director of the University YWCA at UCLA. After leaving WIMS and Mississippi in 1964, Wilson moved to Chicago to become director of race relations at the Metropolitan YWCA, and from there moved up the administrative ladder. She retired in 1977 from the YWCA and did a variety of other work in the Windy City, including literacy training. In 1983 she returned to Pittsburgh, where she still lived until her death in 2008.
- October 16 2002; Interview with Dorothy I. Height
Doris Wilson had known Height for many years through the YWCA. When it came time to choose an experienced leader to take care of the black WIMS women visiting Jackson, Height tapped Wilson for the job. Wilson agreed to take it on. Height recalled, "Then we needed an experienced person in the black community. Well, Doris Wilson had a lot of experience in the YWCA and was at the Chicago YWCA. I said, 'Well, let me try Doris." She said she was interested. So that gave us the staffing."
- Susie Goodwillie Remembers Doris Wilson
Wilson and Goodwillie worked together in Jackson during the summer of 1964, and yet racial barriers kept them apart just like southern women.

subset: commoncrawl


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No Country for Young Men as Old Men Play for Time: The End in Afghanistan is Totally Predictable
John Kerry, back before he was a pompous windsurfing Senate apologist for American empire, back when he wore his hair long and was part of a movement of returned US military veterans speaking out against the continuation of the Vietnam War, famously asked the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing, "How do you ask a man to be the last one to die for a mistake?"
That was 1971, and the Vietnam War continued to drag on for two more years, with more Americans dying, and with many more Vietnamese being killed, until finally the last US combat troops were gone. But even then the fighting continued, with the Army of South Vietnam armed and financed by the United States, until April 30, 1975, when the last resistance ended and Vietnam was liberated and reunified and finally at peace.
During those two terrible years between Kerry's statement and the end of US combat operations, American soldiers stationed in Vietnam knew that the war was lost, and knew they were there for no reason other than keeping President Nixon from looking like he had lost a war, particularly as he faced re-election during the campaign year of 1972. There was, understandably, massive resort to drugs, including marijuana, opium, heroin, LSD and others, as well as alcohol. There was the fragging of commanding officers who were too aggressive about sending their troops into danger. There was insubordination and insurrection and there was desertion.
Now consider the situation in Afghanistan. Once again a war has been lost by the US, this time to forces far weaker and more poorly organized than the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army.
Once again American troops are being asked to keep fighting for a mistake -- this time the 2001 fantasy of the Bush/Cheney administration that it could make a client state out of Afghanistan, a mistake that President Obama doubled down on after taking over the White House, when he called Afghanistan the "good war" and committed another 30,000 troops there, plus ordering up an aggressive kill campaign of night raids, assassinations and the heavy use of pilotless armed drone aircraft.
The difference this time is that these troops are hearing their commander in chief tell the American public that he is going to end the whole thing at the end of 2014 (assuming of course that he is still commander in chief then). He is saying that the war, now opposed by almost three-fourths of the American people according to recent polls, will be ended in two and a half more years no matter what the situation is on the ground in Afghanistan.


text: A bath and shower foam with a delicious difference. Honey provides deepdown nutrition for the health and beauty of the skin, while Royal Gelee restores luminosity and softness. Theres enough here to bathe you in sweetness forever, and the scent is divine. Contains Vitamins, Honey, Proteins, Minerals, and Royal Gelee.Check stock and price


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As the 2016 tax year winds down, it isn't too early to start planning for potential changes 2017 will bring. Contact me now to see if there are actions you can take to reduce your overall tax bill. ..
Mike Conroy CPA, LLC is an accounting firm located in Boulder, Colorado.
My promise is to provide professional advice with personal, attentive service. I offer tax, accounting, and business consulting solutions designed to meet your personal and business needs. I can help you navigate the complex financial and regulatory environment, saving you time so that you can achieve your personal and professional goals.
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Come along on our adventures and get to know us a little better.
December 2016
Hi, my name is Tarah Moon, and I am excited to be the newest member of the Sacramento Tree Foundation as the administrative/office assistant!
Read more
On a fine sunny fall day, a group of staff from the Fulton - El Camino Recreation and Park district, local community members, and an STF arborist met together at Howe Community Park -- all to learn more about pruning young shade trees and to care for tree planted through our Tribute Tree Program. It was a huge success!
We could not do our good deeds without support from our funders
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Female Sterilization
« Back to full list of birth control methods
What is female sterilization?
Female sterilization is a permanent form of birth control for women. You have a choice of a few different types of procedures. Some methods require minor surgery. Newer methods do not require surgery. Sterilization blocks your fallopian tubes so that an egg cannot reach your uterus. It is safe and very effective.
How effective is female sterilization?
All forms of female sterilization are very effective. Sterilization prevents pregnancy in almost 100% of women who choose this method.
How does it work?
Female sterilization blocks your fallopian tubes. This prevents eggs from reaching your uterus. Since the egg and sperm cannot meet, you cannot get pregnant.
With the surgical method:
Your fallopian tubes are tied and cut or sealed, usually through very small incisions into the abdomen.
This method starts working right away. You will not need a back up form of birth control.
You can have sex again as soon as you feel comfortable.
Some people refer to this method as "tubal ligation" or "getting your tubes tied."
With the non-surgical methods:
Non-surgical sterilization involves getting a small device put into each fallopian tube. Scar tissue forms around the devices to block the tubes.
It usually takes about three months for the tubes to be completely blocked.
Your health care provider will check to make sure your tubes are blocked. It is important to schedule a follow-up visit to make sure you cannot get pregnant.
You must use another form of birth control until your health care provider is sure that your tubes are blocked.
What are the benefits of female sterilization?
Sterilization is safe, convenient, and permanent.
You can have sex without worrying about getting pregnant.
What are the downsides of female sterilization?
Female sterilization does not protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Sterilization is permanent. If there is even a small chance you want to have kids in the future, you should not choose this procedure. One out of 5 women who choose sterilization later regrets it.
It requires visits to a health care provider.
Reactions to anesthesia and other surgery risks are possible, but rare.
Where can I get female sterilization?
A trained health care provider can perform a sterilization procedure for you. This can be done in a medical office, hospital, or clinic.
Female Sterilization
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Nest Spruce
Nest Spruce
Picea abies 'Nidiformis'Item #6456 USDA Hardiness Zone: 2 - 8
AvailabilityBuy Online Now Add to Favorites
Plant Description
This versatile, dwarf conifer is an excellent choice for an evergreen border, accent or container plant. The outward-curving branches with dense, dark green needles create an interesting bird's nest effect. Its tight, compact shape requires little maintenance. Very hardy and wind resistant.
- OverviewLight Needs:Partial to full sunWatering Needs:Water regularly - weekly, or more often in extreme heat or containers.Average Landscape Size:Slow growing; reaches 3 to 5 ft. tall, 4 to 6 ft. wide.Key Feature:Year-Round InterestBlooms:Conifer; prized for foliage.Landscape Uses:
- DetailBotanical Pronunciation:PY-see-a AY-beezDeciduous/evergreen:EvergreenSunset climate zones:1 - 6, 14 - 17Growth habit:Compact, RoundedGrowth rate:SlowAverage landscape size:Slow growing; reaches 3 to 5 ft. tall, 4 to 6 ft. wide.Special features:Bird Friendly, Dwarf Plant, Easy Care, Year-round InterestFoliage color:GreenBlooms:Conifer; prized for foliage.Garden styleAsian/Zen, Contemporary, RusticDesign IdeasThis is a carefree spreading conifer with bright color that adds welcome contrast to darker shrubs. Use as groundcover or as a low divider between driveways or along the property line. Good low plant that won't obstruct the view from elevated home sites. Ideal filler between upright conifers and broadleaf trees. A candidate for rock gardens, where it spills nicely over boulders and dry stone walls.Companion PlantsSpirea (Spiraea); Butterfly Bush (Buddleja); Weigela (Weigela); Blanket Flower (Gaillardia); Stonecrop (Sedum)
- CareCare InformationPrefers slightly acidic, well-drained soils, but adaptable to most soil types; avoid wet, shady sites. Water deeply and regularly during the first growing season to establish an extensive root system. Once established, reduce frequency; tolerates drought. Apply general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring.Light Needs:Partial to full sunWatering Needs:Water regularly - weekly, or more often in extreme heat or containers.
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This winter looks like one for the record books, but that doesn't mean you have to settle for a monochromatic vista of white. By adding a few shrubs that look...
Curb Appeal Solutions: Dealing with Hardscape
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Posts tagged lost
Jack and his issues2
Lost, season 1, episode 11: "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues"
In which Claire and Charlie have been kidnapped by the Others and Jack runs frantically after them without knowing where he's going and then gets Lost and then is a jerk to everyone else that's trying to help him rescue them.
Jack is interesting, because he's undoubtedly the intended hero of the show, but he's simultaneously (1) so righteous and (2) so flawed that sometimes it's hard to put up with him. I love this episode because I think it really helps understand where that is coming from. Jack is extremely burdened by (1) his perfectionist need for approval and (2) his guilt for his mistakes. It's interesting to see that both extremes of Jack's personality stem from his relationship with his father.
Before the island when Jack is faced with the decision to report his father's malpractice or to help him cover it up, his father finally gives him the approval that Jack has possibly wanted his whole life, although in a backhanded and loveless way. Reversing the insult that he'd given Jack earlier, Jack's dad tells him that Jack does have what it takes to be a great surgeon, and that he is so great because his dad was hard on him and pushed him so hard and so ruthlessly and withheld his affection from him.
As sickening as it is to agree with him, the proof of what Jack's father says comes at the end of the episode.
On the island when Jack finds Charlie strung up, we don't know how long Charlie has already been hanging there. Jack heroically attempts to resuscitate Charlie, but then when it becomes clear that he's too late to save him, then Jack crosses over from heroics to mania. Kate tries to comfort him but he pushes her away, and she cries for him to just stop and accept the situation, but Jack won't stop trying. He won't call it. And in the end, he wins, and Charlie gets revived.
Jack's dad is right. He has created in Jack a person that has been pushed so hard that he won't ever be happy or satisfied or possibly even likable, and that is exactly what makes Jack so powerful and such an effective hero.
The Moth4
Lost, season 1, episode 7. The first episode centered on Charlie.
The Episode
Before the island, Charlie had been reluctant to stick with the band because of the conflict between his religion and the temptations that the band's popularity was introducing. His brother Liam told Charlie of how important Charlie was to him and to the band and that he couldn't do it without him. Liam promised that they would help each other and stop if things got out of hand. So Charlie continued with the band and the record deal based on the confidence that his brother had given him.
Later when the band had gotten even more popular, Charlie found his brother with drugs. By that time Liam had become the popular member of the band and had taken credit away from Charlie, and this time Liam wasn't flattering to his brother. Liam said that he was the important member of the band and that Charlie was useless. Now torn down by his brother, Charlie found comfort in drugs for the first time.
By the time Charlie crashed on the island, he was a hopeless addict (while his brother was ironically clean and settled down with a family). When Charlie isn't needed to pitch in around camp he starts to believe that his new friends don't value him and that they think he's useless, and he wants to turn back to his drugs. Locke shows faith in Charlie that he'll be able to kick his addiction. Later when Jack finds out what Charlie was going through, Jack tells Charlie how valuable he is. At the end of the episode Charlie finally decides to burn his drugs so that he can't go back to them.
There's a pattern that I notice in Charlie's life. When Charlie was at his best and his strongest and his most confident was when the people that he loved expressed how much they valued him. When Charlie was at his worst and his most vulnerable was when those people expressed a lack of love and appreciation.
The Lesson
Here's the moral of the story in my opinion: The way that we treat people matters! That might be obvious, but it's easy to forget or make excuses for it.
Coincidentally we had a similar lesson in Young Men's class at church last week. Adam showed the following video, which I think is really well done. I like that it captures some pretty realistic high school interactions. (Also the lines about not drinking all of the juice somehow remind me of Napolean Dynamite.)
I think that we often make excuses for our own immoral actions and words by saying that people are responsible for themselves and if someone else chooses to be offended by something we say or do then it's their own fault. The hypocrisy in that is that we require everyone to be accountable for their own actions while we try to avoid the responsibility for our offenses.
Here's another coincidence where this idea has come up lately. Kelly recently shared this quote in an FHE thought:
When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what power it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind. (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 5:24)
Joseph Smith felt like he was affected and influenced by the way that other people treated him, whether positively or negatively. It's probably not fair or realistic for us to expect our friends and neighbors to be immune to the way that we treat them.
To tie this back to the episode, imagine for a minute how Charlie's life might have been different if the people in his life before the island had treated him with the love and respect that his new friends on the island treated him with in this episode. The writers of this episode give us a nice view into Charlie's life and the key moments in it as they relate to his addiction, but in real life it's harder to see the results of our actions. Take even the smallest thing that we say or do, consider the possible butterfly effect (no pun intended with the episode title), and there's no telling how big of an impact we can make, whether for good or for evil.
The Metaphor
John Locke uses a metaphor with a moth to teach Charlie that he'll grow through his trials, but I want to hijack that metaphor to tie it into the lesson of the episode in a different way. Here's part of the exchange from Locke and Charlie:
- Locke
- Come here. Let me show you something. What do you suppose is in that cocoon, Charlie?
- Charlie
- I don't know, a butterfly, I guess?
- Locke
- No, it's much more beautiful than that. That's a moth cocoon. It's ironic, butterflies get all the attention; but moths — they spin silk, they're stronger, they're faster.
And we'll stop there. Forget the comparison with the moth and the butterfly (because putting down the butterfly contradicts what I'm going for here) and focus on the fact that Locke finds beauty in the moth. It's easy to think that the butterfly is beautiful because it's got pretty colors on its wings, but finding the beauty in the moth requires knowing more about it. It's different than the butterfly, but it's not any less beautiful.
What if we all treated each other that way? What if we all strove to find the beauty in each other and always treated each other as beautiful and valuable people? I think that'd be pretty good.
Lost Characters7
I started watching the TV show X-Files when I was a freshman in college and I was hooked pretty immediately. About a year later when FX aired the entire series in order I video-taped (on VHS in those days) and watched the whole series. A decade later when I was almost done with college my friends Aaron and Russ wanted to watch the series, which they'd never seen before. But X-Files was a pretty long-running show, so we decided to just watch the episodes related to the alien conspiracy. Since I'd seen the series before I served as our guide. I found some lists of the alien episodes online, but I wasn't really happy with the choices that they'd made and I ended up curating my own list of the episodes that would best let us watch the over-arching plot line.
X-Files is kind of a unique show because it let us do this. There are two kinds of X-Files episodes: the episodes that are part of the over-arching plot line of the alien conspiracy, and the stand-alone episodes of some weird supernatural thing that isn't alien related. There really isn't much of a middle ground. (Star was also an X-Files veteran and would sometimes watch with us, but she was and still is opposed to our approach, and in some ways she's right: Most of the very best episodes were stand-alone episodes because they were so creative and often had really excellent writers.)
Ever since then I've thought about that idea of analyzing how required an episode is if you want to keep watching the series. I don't think most TV shows are as clear-cut as X-Files was. Even shows that do have over-arching plot lines and random single-episode plots, they usually sprinkle and mix them so that there's at least something related to the over-arching plot in every episode. You can't usually cut out whole episodes and expect to understand what's going on in the next episode.
Recently we've started re-watching the TV show Lost, and the third episode of the show suggests a different way for an episode to be really important to the series.
Really nothing happens in the episode to further the overarching plot. There are several reminders of important things going on but nothing new really happens. Sure they talk about being off-course and the weird radio signal, but they're just reminding us of what's happened in other episodes. In other words, if you completely missed this episode you could still watch the next one and understand everything that was going on.
Even though you wouldn't have missed any plot milestones, you would have missed some really important milestones for our characters. There are tons of instances in this episode where you get a first look at attributes of these characters that end up being really important during the rest of the show. So maybe the episode is still really essential for watching the whole series, but for very different reasons. You could understand the plot without this episode, but you might not understand the characters without it.
Consider these scenes and what we learn about the characters:
- When Jack goes into the airplane wreckage to rummage for medicine he finds Sawyer already in there rummaging for anything else of value. They debate the ethics of rummaging for supplies, and Sawyer suggests that Jack is acting like he's still in civilization while Sawyer sees them as being "in the wild". I think there's an interesting irony that's presented here. Sawyer is "in the wild" as far as his morals are concerned, having no problem taking from the dead nor from the rest of the castaways in order to benefit his personal stash. However, Sawyer is calm and collected as he does it. Jack on the other hand, operates for the common good and is slowly creating the civilization of the island. But here we see him rushed and almost panicked as he rummages for medicine, and he seems at the end of his wits, like he might just attack Sawyer at any second. We see this battle of values and personalities between Sawyer and Jack over and over during the course of the show, and this first encounter sets it up perfectly.
- This is really Kate's episode, and so you see multiple sides of Kate in it. One side is the dangerous criminal. The marshall tells Jack that she is dangerous and that she shouldn't be trusted.
- During the conflict over the gun, Kate gets nominated to carry it. She walks around camp with a gun and no one seems to mind except for Hurley. While we were watching this part Kelly said out loud, "It's amazing that people are OK with her just walking around with a gun." The thing we really learn about Kate through this is that she is able to command trust from her peers.
- The marshall and Kate have two encounters when he is conscious: in the first the marshall attacks her and tries to strangle her, and in the second he has a kind of fond-farewell to Kate, even to the point of asking her to put him out of his misery. Here you see the other pieces put together: Kate is dangerous and the marshall both hates her and fears her, but he also strangely sees her as a trusted friend and relies on her to be compassionate to him.
- You see this dual nature of Kate again in the attempted escape after the farmer sells her out. She is willing to do anything to get away, crashing the truck but ultimately she allows herself to be slowed down to save the farmer from the burning wreckage. She was just dangerous enough to crash the car, but too compassionate to allow the farmer to die, even when it meant her being caught.
- Sawyer tells Kate that since she has the gun she should put the marshall out of his misery. He doesn't know that Kate was the fugitive and that it actually would serve Kate's interests if the marshall weren't around anymore. We don't see the rest of the conversation, but later we see it's outcome when Sawyer has the gun and shoots the marshall. Here we see Kate as a con artist herself, conning the conman into doing something that really serves her more than anyone else, and you can imagine that she's done it in a way that Sawyer thinks that he's convinced her.
- When Sawyer leaves the tent after shooting the marshall, he has a look of pain and sorrow on his face. Jack confronts him and Sawyer justifies his actions and makes a convincing argument that he was actually being merciful to both the marshall and the rest of the passengers. But because of the looks on his face, you get the idea that he isn't glad that it's happened. This is the first time that you realize that Sawyer isn't one-dimensionally evil, but that he's actually complicated and is trying to do the right thing from his own point of view.
- When the marshall groans after being shot, Sawyer realizes that he has spent his last bullet and missed. Despite all of the morally questionable things that we've already seen him do, this is the first time that he looks afraid and ashamed. It reinforces the idea that Sawyer does have some compassion deep down, but also let's us see another aspect of what makes Sawyer who he is: even when he is trying to do the right thing, he is ashamed of himself for constantly screwing up.
- After Sawyer shot the marshall, he accuses Jack of not being able to do what needed to be done. But after he has missed, Jack goes into the tent and puts the marshall out of his misery. Here you see another pattern for Jack: despite whatever character flaws Jack may have, he is extremely capable, and doesn't shy away from conflict or hard situations.
- Perhaps most importantly, this is the first episode where Sawyer calls Kate "Freckles".
The Pit2
The springs on one side of our couch have all come disconnected and so that section of the couch has no support, but is just a sunken pit of fluffiness. It can be comfortable, but you kind of get stuck there.
The real danger of the pit is that things get lost in it. If something sits on that section of couch for too long it gets swallowed up by the pit, and you have to take the couch apart to get to it. I don't mean taking the cushions off, because the pit goes deeper than that. You have to turn the couch upside down and take the bottom off. It's eaten remote controls and cell phones, and now, people.
I fell asleep on the couch last night. It was comfortable, it's just weird when you wake up inside the couch.


text:
Margaret Thatcher's death was hailed as a "great day" for coal miners today.
David Hopper, general secretary of the Durham Miners' Association, spent all of his working life at Wearmouth Colliery.
Mr Hopper, who turned 70 today, said: "It looks like one of the best birthdays I have ever had.
"There's no sympathy from me for what she did to our community. She destroyed our community, our villages and our people.
"For the union this could not come soon enough and I'm pleased that I have outlived her.
"It's a great day for all the miners, I imagine we will have a counter demonstration when they have her funeral.
"Our children have got no jobs and the community is full of problems. There's no work and no money and it's very sad the legacy she has left behind.
"She absolutely hated working people and I have got very bitter memories of what she did. She turned all the nation against us and the violence that was meted out on us was terrible.
"I would say to those people who want to mourn her that they're lucky she did not treat them like she treated us."
Chris Kitchen, general secretary for the National Union of Miners, said: "We've been waiting for a long time to hear the news of Baroness Thatcher's demise and I can't say I'm sorry.
"I've got no sympathy for Margaret Thatcher and I will not be shedding a tear for her.
"She's done untold damage to the mining community.
"I don't think Margaret Thatcher had any sympathy for the mining communities she decimated, the people she threw on the dole and the state she left the country in."
He added: "I honestly can't think of anything good I can say about Margaret Thatcher."
Mr Kitchen, speaking in Selby, North Yorkshire, said he believed mining would be different today if Baroness Thatcher had not become prime minister and said she had left a legacy of her policies.
He said: "If Margaret Thatcher hadn't been in power, I would hope mining would be different.
"I hope it would still be a nationalised industry, run for the benefit of the nation and we wouldn't be seeing the hikes in energy prices we are seeing now and will continue seeing."
Mr Kitchen continued: "Her policies still have an influence today, policies of greed and profit before all else.
"I only hope when Margaret Thatcher is buried, they bury her policies with her."
Darren Vaines, 47, a former miner who worked at Ackton Hall Colliery near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, and was on strike for the entire 12 months of the dispute, said: "It's a very strange emotional feeling because her death brings back a lot of memories and opens up a wound that has never really healed.
"The cut went so deep people have never been able to forget about it. It's something they can never get out of their system."
Mr Vaines, whose friend and colleague David Jones was killed aged 24 when violence erupted on a picket line at Ollerton, Nottinghamshire in 1984, said many communities have never come to terms with Mrs Thatcher's actions.
"I was only a kid at the time of the strike really. It hurt but not as much as some of the older guys who had families and mortgages. It split communities and it split families," he said.
"The people who went back into work were subjected to extreme brutality from their colleagues. When you look back it's hard to think what they went through. But that's the situation they put us in and you're talking about people's livelihood."
Mr Vaines, who was at the infamous Battle of Orgreave where police and prt any concern and we were just collateral damage.
"She left communities with nothing. It wasn't just the miners who were affected but everyone who supplied the pit and the community as well."otesters clashed in 1984, added: "She used miners as a political springboard. She knew what she was doing and it was a horrible way to go about it. They did it withou
Mr Vaines, who went on to work at Britain's biggest pit - the Prince of Wales near Pontefract before it closed 10 years ago with the loss of 450 jobs - added that while his political opinions have changed over the years, he will never be able to forgive Mrs Thatcher for her actions during the strike.
"I'm quite liberal about things now," he said. "I've gone into management positions and take a more global view, but I still feel as strongly now about things as I did when they happened."
Mick Dickinson, 47, who worked at Fryston Colliery near Castleford, West Yorkshire, said Mrs Thatcher will inevitably be remembered as a great leader by many - but they are unlikely to hail from West Yorkshire's former mining communities.
The former pit electrician, who picketed throughout the 1984-85 strike, said: "She will go down in history as one of the greatest post-war prime ministers thanks to the privatisation she was driving the country into, and some of the nationalised industries did need to change.
"But I think she took the miners' strike too personally and it became a personal crusade.
"We went into a battle with our unions and we never won. She devastated the industry and devastated people's lives.
"We have hate and resentment for what she did to the industry. Featherstone, where I was born and bred, never recovered from the closure of the pits, neither did areas around Castleford and Barnsley.
"She did fight for what she believed in and in hindsight some of what she said was right. My view on some things she stood for has changed over the years, but I still resent her for what she did to mining."
Fryston pit shut in 1985 - one of around a dozen Yorkshire collieries to close that year - and has been entirely demolished.
Irvin Dickinson, a former mine worker at Acton Hall Colliery between 1968 and 1980, said: "From a personal point of view, her politics were an absolute disaster for the north of England.
"She started off with the steel works, taking on the unions and closing steel works down, and it was the same with the coal mines, which was predominantly a northern industry.
"There's still such strength of feeling among certain generations in the north and in places that have simply never recovered from her policies.
"She was just so alien to my political and social views, but those who saw her point of view would say she was the saviour of Britain."
Colleagues of Arthur Scargill, the former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers, who clashed bitterly with Mrs Thatcher during the 1984/85 miners' strike, said he was unlikely to make any comment.


text:
When Liam invites his cousin Kelly to join him and...
All of My Dear, Dear Phycopaths
- by ChocolateWolf
- Rating:
- Published: 14 Oct 2012
- Updated: 8 Nov 2012
- Status: In Progress
All the phycopaths in my school, so really everyone. ;P
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text: Chris Pratt has an unusual trick to keep his toddler well-behaved. The Guardians of the Galaxy star shares 23-month-old Jack with wife Anna Faris. 'Now he goes around saying, 'Monster trucks, monster trucks!''And when the little tot gets cranky, Chris knows just the perfect fix."Monster trucks," the star laughed of his solution. "He was crying the other day, and I had him on my lap. So we watched this 15-minute highlight reel of [monster truck team] Grave Digger on YouTube, and dude, it was so bada*s! He and I both were just wide-eyed. Now he goes around saying, 'Monster trucks, monster trucks!'"Chris (35) married Lost in Translation actress Anna in Bali in 2009 after meeting on the set of Take Me Home Tonight.Jack was born in August 2012.But Chris recently admitted his spouse is definitely the funnier parent."She is, by far! Jack has started to do very rudimentary art at school — maybe a few splots of paint across a piece of paper — and Anna gives them the funniest names," he confessed to Redbook magazine last month. "There's one on the fridge called Everything is Realised and another one called Time Is a Human Construct."Since becoming a dad, Chris has also cleaned up some of his own bad habits.Having a son has made him realise the importance of keeping things organised."Having to follow Jack around and pick up after him made me realize how often Anna had been doing that for me. It's like, 'Wait a minute, why is all this crap everywhere? Oh, right, someone was picking it up for me.' So I'm not taking that for granted anymore," he mused.© Cover Media


text:
Why I Will Never, Ever, EVER Get a Tattoo
Would I have to start planning outfits around the tattoo like I plan for weather?
The Pygmy Hippo Shoppe here in Los Angeles is the cutest little store full of shit that nobody really needs but you definitely WANT, WANT, WANT.
I mean, who doesn't need this item in their life?
My birthday is May 19, in case anyone is interested. I've always had a major hard-on for ridiculous, random, needless tchotchkes. Los Angeles used to be ground zero for novelty junk shops. My all-time favorite spot was "X" frontwoman Exene Cervenka's now defunct Sunset Boulevard boutique called "You've got Bad Taste." It was a wonderland of amazing, weird and random dead stock shit. They sold a ton of serial killer John Wayne Gacy's clown paintings. It's also where I got my set of mini Snoopy 3 ring binders.
Of course, I've never written in them because where would I find more of that mini ruled notebook paper to re-fill it? They just sit around, look cute, and take up space.
Exene's shop is long since closed. A really great gift shop called Serifos has taken over its old space. Serifos is keeping the "You've Got Bad Taste" spirit alive -- seeing as how I recently bought a vintage Pillsbury Dough Boy cookie jar there.
My personal Pillsbury Dough Boy collection is pretty stellar. It all started when my mom sent away like 46 UPC codes from Pillsbury products to procure an adorable vinyl Poppin' Fresh toy. I then promptly threw him into a fountain at the Miami, Florida, Dadeland mall. (Yes, site of the infamous Cocaine Cowboys shootings.)
After I tossed Mr. Poppin' in a fit of 4-year-old pique, I -- of course -- freaked out until my dad waded into the fountain barefoot and retrieved him. I've collected Poppin' Fresh junk ever since. This scenario really illustrates so much about who I am today, sadly.
The granddaddy of all junk shops is still the legendary YQue here on Vermont Avenue. They are the smarties who made the "Free Winona" T-shirts when she was arrested. It's a classic. Go buy it in white right now and wash it to death with a few scoops of TSP in hot water to make it look hella old.
YQue is also where I bought a bag of discontinued George Jones Country Gold dog food (which I dared my friend to eat) and a deadstock Dukes of Hazard digital watch. Class, personified. I have pretty much frittered away a life's savings on ballerina tutus, novelty notebooks, He-Man keychains and Barbie doll tiaras. More than once I've found myself in the middle of some random store with a cart full of junk and no clear recognition as to how exactly I got there.
This was a pretty pointless, long-winded left turn to get back to telling you about the adorable Pygmy Hippo Shoppe. My point is that they are keeping the grand tradition of awesome, priceless novelty junk alive here in Southern California.
The store is about the size of my closet, which means that even though my closet is a legit proper bedroom, it's still really tiny for a store. Luckily for those of you who don't live in LA, the store is actually bigger online than it is in real life.
Their jewelry selection is the real star, in my opinion. They have stuff like dinosaur bone necklaces, kitties in ice cream cones, and golden tooth rings:
Par excellence, right?? Their dime-store style novelties are equally great. Macaron lip gloss? Why not, DUH.
Pizza and eyeball bobby pins?
A watch you can scribble all over?
A cupcake ring full of lip goo?
Fake plastic wishbones?
Yes, yes, yes to all of the above, please. Pygmy Hippo also has a small selection of unused, vintage deadstock stuff.
Brownie Girl Scout stuff is the other big thing I collect. I was a Brownie Scout as a child, and the JC Penney catalog always had a special 15-page insert that had every single thing you could ever need or desire to trick out your Brownie uniform. I would drool, drool, drool over it when the catalog came in the mail twice a year.
I'd die for that hat in the upper left corner today. My parents only ever bought me the bare minimum uniform needed to participate in Brownies, as they were attempting to do important things like buy a house for us to live in and send me to private school so I didn't get murdered by the aforementioned Cocaine Cowboys. (Such a great movie, btw.)
Now, as an adult, I scour the Internet and buy all the vintage Brownie Scout shit I can find. Including a child's XL uniform I altered to wear on Halloween. (Please note my special orange kiltie sock flashes, the thing I desired most as a child. They are easy to make yourself and look adorable with knee socks.) You can't tell in this pic, but I also have vintage Brownie hair doodles in my pigtails.
What sort of pointless-but-cute retro (or new) junk do you kids collect? My boyfriend has almost had it up to his eyeballs with my insane re-treading of all the things I loved as a child.
Just wait until they deliver my Ms. Pac Man 60-in 1 tabletop arcade game, which is meant to replace our coffee table. He's going to come unglued. WHOOPS. I haven't been to the Mr. Gatti's Pizza by my mom's in years, but the last time I was, the high score on their ancient Ms. Pac Man was held by someone whose initials are A.V.F.
I'm on Twitter, but I'm pretty boring: @IveyAlison.


text:
Erbanna Is the Line of Bags That Weed Smokers Don't Even Know How Badly They Need
Having an organized and stylish place to keep your weed that you can leave out in plain sight is an option any adult deserves.
I went to Catholic school all my life before I went to college, which mostly means I didn't learn to dress myself until I went to college. Sometimes I miss wearing a uniform. My high school wore navy blue jumpers with a white peter pan collar. Adorable, right? Of course I still have it.
Uniforms are comforting, and many of us can find ourselves adopting an unofficial uniform before we even realize it. It's easy to wear some variant of the same outfit every day. Life is hard and stressful and I sleep in until the last possible moment and I keep finding myself wearing all black, all the time.
Black on black on black is a consistent and timeless look for good reason. Black is sleek but edgy, unassuming but confident, classic but on-trend. It's slimming, without the pain of Spanx. It's easy but not lazy. Except in my case, I'm wearing it because I'm being exceptionally lazy.
I keep throwing together these all-black ensembles as I stumble around my bedroom. When I'm half-asleep and running late for work, my brain waves zap in unison, "All black everything." Okay, I actually only wore one of these outfits to work but I wore them all out of the house.
So I've been trying to introduce colors back into my wardrobe (in time for SPRING! SPRING IS COMING!) without looking like a hungover elementary school art teacher.
(No shade to art teachers. You do the Lord's work, truly. I will buy you four drinks.)
Similarly to how an all black outfit can emit automatically cool vibes, other monochromatic outfits can make you look very intentional. Or totally insane. It's a thin line. Let's toe it, shall we?
Let's start with the color white. Don't make me call it "Winter White." I swear, I will burn down this here Internet.
White fabrics are clean looking. Wearing them at all is an act of bravery if you're typically as sleepy as me and carry as many open beverages.
Wearing all white, and wearing all of any one color, comes down to fit and texture. You can wear whatever the hell you want, and max out your Amex buying it, but if your clothes don't fit properly, you'll look dumb. Ninety percent of what makes an outfit "fashion" is the structure of it, and that comes down to quality and fit. Buy nice things that fit you.
You can also play with texture, details and accents to keep a monochromatic look from weighing you down or freaking you out.
I paired a men's cotton button-down, courtesy of my dudefriend and Uniqlo with a Topshop A-line lace skirt.
It is suddenly summertime here in Mississippi so I tied my top up. To be honest, it's sometimes hard for me to remember the last time my top wasn't cropped. I have a problem.
I put on this black belt to break up the look. I like that the belt separates the two textures of the fabrics. In retrospect, I'd prefer a clean black shoe to this red heel I got from Target's Prabal Gurung line last year, but I wanted to photograph how nicely a bright shoe looks with an all white ensemble and also I love these shoes.
It's a very simple and clean look. I like it.
I really like the look of an all-white outfit. Mixing different shades of white, and off-white, is really pretty and sophisticated as well.
Once you move away from neutrals like black or white, things get more complicated. It's tricky to choose an entire outfit of one color without looking like you're getting ready for some kind of middle school field day or a photoshoot for Gymboree.
Like I said, it comes down to fit and texture. Also, certain colors are gonna be easier to work with than others. Primary colors like red, green and blue are easier to do this with than in-between shades like teal or lilac. Even amongst those basic colors, though, there's a lot of variation in shades. Try to either go for two completely identical shades, or a purposeful clash. A firetruck-red pair of pants with a maroon shirt looks much better than two items that are almost the same. As with everything in your life, be ridiculously intentional.
If there's a color you know you look good in, why not wear it head to toe? I've always known I looked nice in red ever since I wore a red gown to an awards show in high school and the guy I had a crush on told me I looked amazing. (He turned out to be gay, as did every male I had a crush on in high school. Holla.)
Red is one of those colors that everyone looks nice in -- you just have to find the right shade for you. Like lipstick, you know. Some people are afraid to match their lipstick to their nail polish, but I like to match my lipstick to everything I'm wearing sometimes. I have a pair of red pants I thrifted a few years ago that I don't wear enough, and a sweater that's just a slightly different shade of red I also thrifted that I wear too much but I still somehow always forget that it's really tiny and does not cover my stomach at all. That's how I ended up in this outfit, but it brings me to a great point about how your midriff can act as a barrier between two items of the same color, in the same way my belt did in that white outfit.
See what I mean about how the shades are just SO close it hurts? It's like when you're on an escalator behind a woman who missed just one small section in the back of her head when she was flat-ironing it. Cringe.
Rather than get all early 2000s up in this club, let's take a different route. The trick to wearing these two colors at the same time is to break them up with a neutral. I layered that Uniqlo men's button down under the red sweater, and left it untucked.
This is an outfit I would wear to work. Also, I match the flowers I got for Valentine's Day! Now you can plan a red wedding of your very own.
Other than black, the color I seem to own the most of is green. I guess green's my favorite color? My skin has some olive undertones, so greens look good on me. I don't own any two green things in the exact same shade of green, apparently, but here are some interpretations of all-green outfits from things I do own.
Pretty much this whole outfit is from Target. God, I hate myself. The yellow belt breaks up the green-ness a bit, as well as accentuating my waist under a relatively unfitted sweater. A sweater without the patterned knit in front would look a bit better, but I have to work with what I've got.
Sometimes I like to dress like a dude I would totally have a crush on, and then I add a scarf or something. This is a button down and cardigan both from the men's section of Uniqlo and some old pants from Free People, as well as a thrifted scarf and purse.
OK, so the lesson learned here is that I need to buy clothes in more colors. I'm on it. In the meantime, here's some more monochromatic outfit inspiration!
With an outfit of all pastels, like this middle lavender outfit, I like the way a slightly contrasting pair of shoes looks. The light blue doesn't clash with the lavender, but it stands out enough to keep the outfit from looking like a gym uniform of sorts. Or, just pair all your outfits with jelly sandals like my girl Alyssa.
Choosing one piece that's patterned can help break up the monotony of one color. A patterned button-down under a sweater, or a patterned jacket, can really tie an outfit together.
Wearing heels the same color as a dress can help complete a look and elongate you. Also, I would do a lot of things for that pink coat.
What do y'all think about wearing monochromatic outfits, or wearing 50 shades of the same color at once? Are you an all-black all the time person, or are you the rainbow connection?


text:
|Message view
|« Date » · « Thread »
|« Date » · « Thread »
|Dave Fisher <dave2w...@comcast.net>
|Re: AOO.Next IBM Priorities
|Sat, 03 Nov 2012 18:55:14 GMT
On Nov 2, 2012, at 1:40 AM, Andrea Pescetti wrote: > On 01/11/2012 robert_weir wrote: >> We (IBM) have consulted with customers, internal users, other IBM product >> teams, on what our (IBM's) development priorities should be for the next >> AOO release. Obviously, we're not the only ones with priorities or >> interests or opinions. We don't make AOO decisions by ourselves. But we >> want to be transparent about what our own priorities are > > Thank you for sharing. They are all good and needed contributions and they cover many of the main results from the Google Moderator user survey. > > There are still missing things that I've seen requested and that I would personally like to see in the product (a non-exhaustive list would include: better OOXML support, If a Java library is not a barrier then Apache POI might be helpful. Talk to Nick Burch or Yegor Kozlov at Apachecon EU. > full or enhanced ODF 1.2 support, Again if Java is not a barrier the Apache ODFToolkit (incubating) might be a reasonable tool - What do you think Rob? Regards, Dave > better defaults, better integration with the Extensions and Templates sites or in general better visibility for the additional resources, a refreshed visual identity not only in the interface...), and indeed it will be good to start collecting priorities on the wiki and assess feasibility of the underlying development. > > And then of course there's the community side: we are now able to engage localization volunteers but there is still work to do to be able to engage unaffiliated developers, so we might take that into consideration when discussing the new features. > >> releasing is PMC decision, not an IBM one. But we think that this work >> could be completed and tested for a release in the March/April 2013 >> time-frame. And the scope of the release might be significant enough to >> warrant a "4.0" designation. > > Seems like this would be a good plan. Let's make it real! > > Regards, > Andrea.
|View raw message


text:
280. Can I take you up on just one matter, which
Lord Elton has just dealt with; the Health and Safety Executive,
that is not a truly independent regulator, is it? Surely, it is
an arm of the Government looking to the enforcement of regulations
for health and safety made under various Acts, no doubt probably
the Factories Acts and many others; is that not right?
(Mr Armour) I think you are right, and that was why
I said I do not think it qualifies, in terms of the definition,
let us say, of human rights; however, it does give us a way of,
if we wanted to, looking at how we would tackle a decision by
the safety regulator. Now we prefer to resolve it by a discussion
with the safety regulator and come to an agreement; if not, this
gives us some limited protection, in saying, "Here is an
informed group who can take a view on it," over and above
that. Now whether that is sufficient is another question, but
it is not one that we are pursuing particularly hard.
281. And, ultimately, of course, if you are
charged with a breach of a particular regulation, you may well
have a ground of appeal in the courts anyway?
(Mr Armour) Yes.
(Mr Love) Correct; whereas to Ofgem decisions, or
the Authority's decisions, we do not.
(Mr Armour) We try very hard not to get into litigation
or altercation.
282. If I may come back to the select committee
again, I wonder, have you consulted colleagues, I am not sure
that `colleagues' is the right word, your equivalents, in other
utilities, about this, and is there a broad thing of people wanting
(Mr Love) There seems to be.
283. And can you name names, of anybody?
(Mr Love) The Electricity Association, I believe.
284. You said you were adopting their idea,
did you not?
(Mr Love) Correct. They have canvassed other sectors
as well. The information I have had from them is that this seems
to have struck a chord.
285. Have they done a paper on it?
(Mr Love) I do not know, I will have to revert to
you on that one, or perhaps you could ask them when they are in
front of you.
Chairman: We could check up on that.
286. Perhaps we could find out about that. I
think it would be rather interesting to see who they have consulted
and how broad it is?
(Mr Armour) The Electricity Association has 19 major
companies as members, effectively, in the gas and electricity
market; some of them also are in the water business, and various
287. So it is very broad?
(Mr Armour) Also they have regular liaison with other
trade associations; however, I think those trade associations
have to speak for themselves on this particular one.
Lord Acton: I think that would be very useful, to
get their evidence, if that is the right word, on this. Thank
Chairman: We will try to get a feel for that. We
have had other submissions now which make a similar point, from
other organisations, very much along the same lines as you are
288. In paragraph three of your paper, you are
paying attention to the cost of Ofgem, which you say, I presume,
with a sigh of relief, is passed to the consumer. Is that absolutely
the case; how does it impact on you? Are you making this statement
for the public good?
(Mr Love) Ofgem's costs go through a kind of tortuous
route, if you like. Technically speaking, they are dealt with
by the Treasury, so Ofgem actually recover their costs from the
Treasury, but that gets reimbursed via only, at the moment, the
wires business of National Grid and the distribution companies,
as well as National Grid Transco for their pipes, in gas. So there
is a small increment on the rental, if you like, for the wires
and pipes that recovers Ofgem's costs, actually a year in arrears,
and then that gets paid back to the Treasury, the Treasury having
reimbursed Ofgem for their costs in the actual year.
289. So you are spectators rather than victims?
(Mr Love) We are, but we pay, for example, to National
Grid, for use of the wires, I think it is £35 million a year,
so the element that relates to Ofgem's costs is in that, and we
seek to recover that, obviously, through the wholesale market
trade that we do, that on-sells the energy that we produce, which
ultimately is passed on to customers, in one way or another.
(Mr Armour) There is no free lunch in this area. But
there is an interesting contrast, if I take the NII, the NII are
funded partially by Government and funded partially by levies
on particular operators, but their costs are constrained, and
periodically the regulator will say to Treasury "We need
more funding, and we need more people, in order to discharge our
function." That constraint creates a degree of prioritisation,
which we think is, broadly speaking, the right sort of balance.
If it is simply all recovered from the industry, one way or another,
there is not a bit from Treasury, as such, then there is less
pressure on regulators to contain their costs. In the ultimate,
effectively it could lead to regulators pursuing a wish list,
rather than pursuing what is appropriate, from having some sort
of limitation on regulation. I am not saying the balance is wrong,
but there is a difference between the pressures on regulators
depending on how they are funded.
290. And what led you to choose, in particular,
RPI minus 5 as the cap?
(Mr Love) A finger in the air. RPI minus 5 would have
been, in the early years of price controls on wires businesses,
a typical number that was used to drive efficiencies into the
business. It could be RPI minus anything, but the fact that it
was RPI minus we thought was important to put a constraining pressure
on the
291. And not simply RPI?
(Mr Love) Even RPI, it would just maintain the status
quo. We thought it was important to say, if you were prioritising
your work properly, if you had less of a budget, what, on your
current list, would you have to chop off; and having to go through
that decision-tree is a very important discipline in private industry,
and we see no reason why it would not be an important discipline
for the regulatory bodies as well.
(Mr Armour) Many of the major reforms in the electricity
sector have been brought in in recent years, and I think we are
approaching a kind of position which if not approaching steady
state at least says we are on a plateau. Now, in terms of regulating
companies, RPI minus X, and we are not going to argue about what
the "minus X" was, has been the driver for efficiency.
I think we see a large regulator here, and efficiency has had
benefits in the industry, it might have benefits in the regulator.
292. If I can pursue that, because I take the
point you make about cost, and you could look at it in its own
right, along the lines you have indicated, but also I took it
as part of a wider concern you have got about Ofgem, in the sense
of perhaps a lack of constraints that there may be on its operation
to ensure priorities, to ensure that there is adequate listening.
Because one of the points you make is that where there is the
requirement to consult, I take it from the paper, and I trust
this is a fair summary, although they consult, you are not sure
that they are always listening. Would that be a fair summary of
the points you are making, that it is not always clear?
(Mr Love) Sometimes it is difficult to perceive that,
yes. They do consult and they consult very well, and they consult
very frequently. We get on average, I would think, one significant
consultation from Ofgem every week, year on year, and their papers
are very high quality and they set out the arguments very well.
But there is a perception that sometimes they prejudge the issue
and that maybe consultees' views do not carry significant weight,
not in all decisions, just in some cases.
(Mr Armour) And it is not confined to Ofgem. We have
concentrated on Ofgem. Our two largest regulators are the NII,
the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, and Ofgem, the others
tend to be slightly more distant. But the reality, I remember
one private secretary telling me, his minister, when he took up
his post, introduced him and said "There are five consultations
out at the moment; this one is a real consultation." Whether,
as I say, that is anecdotal, not just in any given regulator but
in wider consultations; some are seen as going through the motions
to implement policy, and some are seen as really listening.
293. Yes; you were saying going through the
motions, or the implication that at some point hearing what they
wanted to hear. So, given that particular problem, what does one
do about it, because is the only way one can do anything about
it after the event, in other words, through appeal, or is there
any change you can make to the process, any duty you can impose
on the regulator, that actually would make sure not only that
it was a real consultation but, equally, and I think this is important,
what you have just been saying, that it is seen to be a real consultation?
(Mr Armour) I think it comes down to the quality of
the consultation. If best practice drives the regulator to justify
the need for the change, on the basis of the regulatory impact
assessment, and of a thorough exercise that informs the risks
and benefits, then the chances are it is difficult to justify
a change that is not merited, and, therefore, effectively, the
process becomes self-policing, to a larger extent.
(Mr Love) I think that is right. I think historically
Ofgem have been very reluctant to do regulatory impact assessments,
it is a requirement of government departments, it was a clear
recommendation from the Better Regulation Task Force. Very recently,
they have given an undertaking that they will, and it was flagged
up in the White Paper that the Government might be bringing forward
legislation to enforce that. If that were the case and if regulatory
impact assessments formed a proper part of the consultation process,
in other words, the options were set out with a regulatory impact
assessment of each, so people could then comment on them and say,
"Well, hang on, I think you've got the costs wrong on this
one," or "You've underestimated the benefits of that
one," as Robert said, I think it would bring much more transparency
into the consultation process and would raise people's confidence
that there was a proper process there.
294. So that would be the route to go down,
you mean?
(Mr Love) I think that is the easiest thing that you
can see as a kind of quick fix for the process.
295. And within the paper you place great stress
on the importance of the regulatory impact assessments and the
need for them to be done essentially consistently. Is it sufficient
then to rely on guidelines or government commitments, would there
be any value in it being actually a statutory requirement?
(Mr Love) I suspect that it will be a statutory requirement.
296. And then do you support that?
(Mr Love) We would support that. I suspect that the
Energy Act, that comes out of the White Paper, will make that,
and we have been advocating that; and that is just the sort of
job that the select committee, back to Lord Acton's point, would
have a valuable role in, ensuring best practice in the production
of regulatory impact assessments. Because we recognise they are
not always easy, quantifying the costs and benefits is not easy,
and particularly if you are looking as well at rolling an environmental
impact into the same kind of regulatory impact assessment.
(Mr Armour) It is not a perfect science. It is exactly
the sort of process we would expect ourselves to go through in
making a change or an investment decision, and actually we do
not see that it has not got a merit in the regulatory framework
that we operate under.
297. Have you any inkling as to why the Authority
has not really made a practice of policing regulatory impact assessments?
(Mr Armour) It can be quite difficult.
(Mr Love) I think Callum answered the question, and
that was the answer he gave, that it is difficult to do it. I
think we would argue, just because it is difficult, it is never
going to get easier if you never do them.
298. So there needs to be much more of an impetus
to make sure they undertake what is a difficult exercise, basically?
(Mr Love) Yes, and this is not just Ofgem, this goes
across the piece; and, I am sure, once it is a regular part of
the consultation process for all the utilities then best practice
will arrive and they will become quite easy to do.
299. Yes, I was not thinking of the statutory
requirement solely in respect of one particular sector, but it
is good practice across the board. And an allied point, in terms
of statute, would statutory provision address another problem
you have got, which is the co-ordination among regulators?
(Mr Armour) It might, and it might not. I think, in
many cases, that is addressed more at this point in time by protocols
between regulators. Inevitably, there are, on occasion, some tensions,
for instance. We have seen differential approaches between the
NII and the Environment Agency; at times, we have differential
approaches between the NII and Ofgem. So these are things where
sometimes we are piggy in the middle, but we try to put the regulators
together and say, "Look, there's a variety of ways you can
do this, but please don't each tell us to do something different."
The protocols are helpful; for instance, between the NII and the
HSE, it says our sites are subject to the Factory Inspectorate
as well as the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, but they agree
who operates the jurisdiction within the site fence, outwith the
site fence, or whatever. Similarly, between the NII and the Environment
Agency and SEPA, there is an agreement where they will draw the
line; that is helpful to us in giving us a degree of certainty
as to who we are going to be dealing with.
(Mr Love) The other good example is, back to Ofgem
again, that Ofgem also has joint powers with the OFT under the
Competition Act 1998, and they have got a public document that
sets out how they are going to operate and who is going to take
the lead on what kinds of inquiries, which is helpful for the
industry, so we know who is doing what, basically.
(Mr Armour) Primarily, we want clarity, a degree of
certainty, we would like it to be logical and on the basis of
cost/benefit; but we are a long-term business, with long-term
investment decisions, and, therefore, having a degree of certainty
as to where the regulator will take us in policies, which may
stretch over 100 years, is quite important.


text:
September 17, 2014
DOJ eyes Ranbaxy pricing
Generic drug manufacturer Ranbaxy, which is currently under an FDA export ban, has now attracted attention from the Department of Justice.
Bloomberg reports that the DOJ is examining the prices the generic maker charged Medicaid. Bloomberg notes that the civil investigative demand does not assert wrongdoing, but also notes that this is just one of a series of run-ins the company has had with US authorities, including a Medicaid fraud investigation in Texas that was settled for $19.5 million.


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Mumbai remembers terror victims, gets on with life
Against the backdrop of a calm sea, a small group of Jews lit candles in a quiet corner off the Gateway of India and chanted prayers in a sombre voice.india Updated: Dec 26, 2008 14:41 IST
Against the backdrop of a calm sea, a small group of Jews lit candles in a quiet corner off the Gateway of India and chanted prayers in a sombre voice.That quiet corner on the seashore, far from the madding Christmas crowds, was chosen, not by them, but by their friend Gabriel Holzberg five years ago to pray in as serene a manner as the noisy multitudes on the vast sandy expanse would allow.
|The day more than 50,000 Mumbaiites gathered at Gateway started something many intend to see through.
This year, they did not have Rabbi Gabriel of the Nariman House nor his wife, Rivka in their midst but only their memories and a firm resolve to stand for universal peace and brotherhood in the face of global terror.
Though they prayed in isolation on Wednesday night, the Jews, who came from Israel to pay homage to their kin killed by terrorists exactly a month ago, were not alone in remembering the victims of the horrendous 26/11 terror strike.
As the Mumbai police are busy investigating the multiple strikes while the political leadership is busy explaining the various measures the government is taking to strengthen the security of the country's commercial capital, the citizens are wondering whether the third major terror attack on the city would be the last after all.
Outwardly, one can see life going on as usual everywhere in Mumbai including its all important southern portion, targeted and held to ransom by the terrorists Nov 26-29.
This was true in other parts of the city even within 48 hours of the strike, as the National Security Guard commandos and police personnel were still battling the terrorists in Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Oberoi Trident and Nariman House.
But this time, citizens of 'resilient' Mumbai have made it amply clear that a return to routine must not mean forgetting the shocking incident.
"Life will go on work and play, pleasure and pangs but the citizens will never forget the latest terror strike; by and large they will be watchful of the government, see whether it is delivering on its promises and themselves act responsibly through alert networks," said Shailesh Kothale, a young executive who had participated in the mammoth citizens rally at the Gateway of India a week after the strike.
Theatre artist Ajit Kelkar had an interesting way to put across his feelings: "The 26/11 strike has jolted me out of my cynicism vis-a-vis the state and I think it has also jolted the government out of its sloth.
"I think the state will really do all it can for the security of Mumbai and the country as a whole."
Echoing his optimism was a senior police officer who participated in the meetings the state's new chief minister Ashok Chavan held to finalise Mumbai's security beef up plans.
"The speed with which the funds (Rs.1.27 billion) were released for purchase of speed boats, sophisticated weapons and new coastline check posts among other things was quite unlike the usual government," the officer told IANS, adding that the process of creating a state security guard force and revamping the state intelligence set up has also begun.
However Renu Aghor, a housewife, does not share the optimism.
"The popular anger was amplified and acknowledged as the high-brow sections of society were at the receiving end of the strike this time; the western world reacted the way it did as so many foreigners were killed and the governments in Delhi and Mumbai woke up as never before largely because of these two factors, all of which is only an instant response.
"But if you look at the way the ruling parties prevaricated on changing the state leadership and acting against (Union Minority Affairs Minister) A R Antulay (for his statements doubting the circumstances of ATS chief Hemant Karkare's death) shows their preoccupation with vote bank politics," she said.
First Published: Dec 26, 2008 12:56 IST


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Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in.
Alan Alda (Source - Brainy Quote)
Windows are interesting things to peep through. What we see depends on which window we look through. Most innovations begin with interesting observations and windows are essential for observing. Tell me which window you look through and i will tell you who you are or at least what you will see.
I begin all my Innovation Workshops with analyzing the opportunity and defining the problem - the very first tool that I introduce is 9 Windows. I first learnt about it from the TRIZ expert Darrell Mann (when i attended his week long TRIZ Workshop).I developed an instant liking for this tool. 9 Windows helps you to capture the entire ecosystem (across sub-system, system and super-system levels). It also captures the evolution with time (past, present and future). In the 9 windows (3 x 3), a whole world of information is depicted. Looking at it, helps us to recognize the innovation opportunities across the 9 windows and leads us to holistic solutions.
9 Windows
I had opportunities to discuss with the TRIZ expert and Ellen Domb through the TRIZ India Forum (http://trizindia.org/) - she explains how to evaluate and solve problems using the powerful TRIZ tool - 9 Windows - http://www.realinnovation.com/content/c070730a.asp :
The technique in TRIZ (The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) called 9 windows, or the system operator, can help cut through the complexity so that the problem that needs to be solved becomes clear.
A 9 windows diagram looks like a tic-tac-toe board – a 3x3 matrix. Start by drawing the simple board and put your problem in the middle square as shown in Table 1.
|Table 1: The Start of a 9 Windows Diagram
Your Problem Here
Now label the rows and columns of the system operator diagram as shown in Table 2.
|Table 2: Expanding the 9 Windows Diagram
Your Problem Here
You can find eight new ways to think about your problem by filling in the empty boxes.
Chuck Frey, famous for his Innovation Tools, comments that the Nine windows creativity technique offers a practical framework to consider a range of future opportunities
Excerpt from Chuck Frey
One of the challenges we face in creative problem solving is mentally getting out of our own way. We tend to be so trapped in our unique perspective that it limits our ability to see other possibilities. What's needed is a structured way to look at our challenge or opportunity through different "lenses." The creative problem-solving technique called "Nine Windows," described in the excellent book, The Innovator's Toolkit by David Silverstein, Philip Samuel and Neil de Carlo, does just that, by enabling you to look at innovation opportunities across the dimensions of time (past, present, future) and space (super system, system, sub system). In other words, it gives you a set of tools that you can use to consider your opportunity by breaking it into smaller pieces as well as considering the larger context into which it fits.
Discussing about the past and present was relatively easy. But when it comes to discussing the future, the workshop participants were baffled. People had different views on how a technology or market could evolve in future and the discussions stretched beyond the budgeted time. I started looking for best-practices across the Industry on objectively analyzing the Future. I learnt about Shell's powerful Scenario planning technique from a product designer friend of mine when we were discussing about creating Point of Views (POVs) and Pre Product Visualization (PPV). I found it a very powerful approach for looking at futures.
Shell Scenario Planning
Shell uses scenarios to explore the future. The scenarios are not mechanical forecasts. They recognize that people hold beliefs and make choices that can lead down different paths. They reveal different possible futures that are plausible and challenge people's assumptions.
Scenarios provide alternative views of the future. They identify some significant events, main actors and their motivations, and they convey how the world functions. They use scenarios to explore possible developments in the future and to test their strategies against those potential developments. Shell has been using scenarios for 30 years. Their audience does not only consist of businesses and governments but of all people who are curious by nature, and who are highly motivated to acquire a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.
Download your Explorer's Guide
'Scenarios: An Explorer's Guide' is written for people who would like to build and use scenarios, and also for those who want to enhance their scenario thinking skills. We visualise our audience as people who are curious by nature, who want to make a difference, and who are highly motivated to acquire a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.
How do Scenarios work
When we reflect on situations or the future, we see the world through our own frames of reference. The purpose of scenario work is to uncover what these frames are, respecting differences rather than aiming for a consensus that puts them to one side.
Shell Energy Scenarios to 2050
Excerpts: TANIA – There
Are No Ideal Answers.
There is a great deal of inertia in
the modern energy system, given
its vast complexity and scale. The
often lengthy timescales required for
planning and constructing new energy
infrastructure mean that strains within
the system cannot be resolved easily
or quickly, if at all. It will be several
years before major changes become
apparent. But below the surface,
the pieces are already shifting. The
question is, how to recognize and
grapple with these changes.
Scenarios are a tool to help identify
such shifts, and consider the plausible
interactions between different
perspectives and possibilities. They
help people to prepare for, shape,
and even thrive in the reality that
eventually unfolds. This text describes
two alternative scenarios, Scramble
and Blueprints, for the development.
of the energy system over the next
fifty years.
These are both challenging outlooks.
Neither are ideal worlds, yet both
are feasible. They describe an era
of transformation. Everyone knows
that the energy system a century from
now will be very different from that
of today. But how will the transitions
emerge over the next few decades?
These scenarios bring out the impact
of critical differences in the pace and
shape of political, regulatory and
technological change.
Scramble reflects a focus on national energy security. Immediate pressures drive decision-makers, specially the need to secure energy supply in the near future for themselves and their allies. National government attention naturally falls on the supply-side levers readily to hand, including the negotiation of bilateral agreements and incentives for local resource development. Growth in coal and bio-fuels becomes particularly significant.
Blueprints describes the dynamics behind new coalitions of interests. These do not necessarily reflect uniform objectives, but build on a combination of supply concerns, environmental interests, and associated entrepreneurial opportunities. It is a world where broader fears about life style and economic prospects forge
new alliances that promote action in both developed and developing nations. This leads to the emergence of a critical mass of parallel responses to supply, demand, and climate stresses, and hence the relative promptness of some of those responses.
Key Takeaways
- Look at the Innovation opportunity space through all the nine windows - across the system levels and across time.
- The TRIZ tool 9 Windows is a great tool to play with during the "Define" phase.
- Shell's Scenarios technique helps us to clearly analyze the multitude directions in which the Future could evolve.


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SAN FRANCISCO --Investigators in the farming town of Linden searched a second well on Friday, looking for the remains of victims of the so-called "Speed Freak Killers."
Dogs specially trained to sniff out human remains joined the search. They found more than 1,000 bone fragments in a different well earlier this week.
The bones are being sent to the California Department of Justice for possible identification through DNA analysis.
Police suspect Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog of murdering as many as 20 people in the 1980s and 1990s.
Shermantine led investigators to the site. Herzog was on parole and hanged himself after learning his friend was giving up the locations.


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※This battery checker is compatible with JST-XH balance adapter when you use directly otherwise require each type of balance board adapter.In order to use Sentry 3 with the legacy Hyperion G3 packs with Hyperion-style balance connector, connect the battery Sentry 3 via HP-EOSLBA-26CBL cable + HP-EOSLBA-26HP-B multi-adapter board or HP-EOSLBA-7UCBL cable + HP-EOSLBA-7U-B multi-adapter board. These cable&adapter sets are included with Hyperion 6S and 7S chargers. Hyperion G3 packs produced after mid-2014 and all Hyperion G6 HvLi packs use XH balaance connectors and need no adapters to the Sentry 3.
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Dear Doctor Fleming and Representative Graham:
On behalf of the members of National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I write to endorse H.R. 1397, your "Seniors' Tax Simplification Act." This legislation would create a new 1040SR form that simplifies tax filing requirements for seniors, who often have multiple sources of non-wage income not accounted for under the standard 1040EZ.
While the creation of a new tax form is sometimes cause for concern among taxpayers, in this instance, H.R. 1397 would ease the pain of the annual filing ritual for many seniors. NTU's 2014 tax complexity study found that Americans spent more than 6.1 billion hours complying with our federal tax laws. All that time, combined with billions spent on tax software and other out-of-pocket costs, puts the total burden of compliance at a staggering $224.3 billion a year – just for federal income taxes alone.
By using the 1040EZ form, rather than the "long" form 1040, many taxpayers have been able to streamline their tax filing by avoiding detailed deductions and other time-consuming calculations. However, the 1040EZ form doesn't take into account pensions or Social Security; two forms of income that are among the most common for seniors in their retirement. The proposed 1040SR form keeps the same basic model of the simplified 1040EZ with added lines to include Social Security, retirement benefits, interest, and capital gains. This provides a streamlined solution – at no additional net cost to taxpayers – for seniors, who can be especially hard-hit by the financial and technical considerations involved in the filing process.
Tax compliance shouldn't be an expensive logistical nightmare for citizens. To help spur economic growth and international competitiveness, our current federal, state, and local tax systems should be replaced with alternatives that are less complex, less burdensome, and less economically harmful. Americans need comprehensive tax reform that results in a fairer, flatter system.
Until a top-to-bottom overhaul of the tax laws can be completed, H.R. 1397 would be a step in the right direction by providing immediate relief for seniors. NTU is pleased to endorse the "Seniors' Tax Simplification Act" and urges all Representatives to cosponsor this legislation.Sincerely,Nan SwiftFederal Affairs Manager


text:
© Yorkshire Orchards Ltd. 2018 Registered in England and Wales, no 4484464
Welcome to Yorkshire Orchards, suppliers of quality fruit juices.
We are a small family farm in East Yorkshire, England, who specialise in growing fruit to make into wonderful juices.
From single variety apple juices to blends, there is something for everyone in our increasing range.
From plain apple juice to apple with raspberry, apple with bramble, apple with elderflower…
We also do pear juice, pear with ginger, pear with strawberry…
Have a look at some of our juices here
A 150ml serving of juice counts as one of the recommended 5 a day portions of fruit and vegetables