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Research Summary
Research Summary
The Business of Stem Cells
By: Debora L. Spar
In 2004, the topic of stem cell research made both medical and moral headlines. Buoyed by a series of technological breakthroughs, stem cell scientists grew increasingly convinced that they would eventually be able to use embryonic stem cells -- the pluripotent cells taken from an early stage embryo -- to attack and perhaps cure a wide range of devastating illnesses. Opponents, however, were equally convinced that any use of embryonic stem cells was morally reprehensible, takng, in effect, one form of life to save another. Political forces quickly allied themselves on both sides of this divide, either rallying to raise government funds for stem cell research or rushing to prohibit its development.
This project does not attempt to resolve either the moral or scientific debates that surround stem cell research. Instead, it views stem cells through the lens of the market; a lens that sees stem cells as a set of highly promising but still unproven technologies. Accordingly, the project will attempt to plot how private firms are moving into the stem cell industry; how they are dealing with laws that vary widely across national and state borders; and how this nascent commerce will both shape and by shaped by powerful political debates.


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NPR series exposes the numerous problems with Trump and DeVos' push for private school vouchers
Written by Brett Robertson
President Donald Trump's proposed 2018 education budget calls for the creation of a new federal private school voucher program. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is a longtime proponent of vouchers. A recent series of NPR articles raises a number of questions about existing voucher programs and suggests that expanding vouchers is not likely to improve educational outcomes
Trump and DeVos push voucher expansion in proposed budget
Trump and DeVos budget calls for federal voucher program. On May 23, President Donald Trump released his 2018 budget proposal. Alongside steep reductions in many education programs and elimination of several others, his budget blueprint earmarks "$250 million for a new private school choice program." [The Washington Post, 5/23/17; Office of Management and Budget, America First, 2018]
DeVos has a long history of supporting vouchers. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos "has been an advocate of vouchers for decades" according to The Washington Post. She is the former president of the voucher-boosting American Federation for Children, and she and her husband are longtime donors to politicians who support expansion of voucher programs. [The Washington Post, 2/27/17]
Vouchers, Trump and Devos' preferred "private school choice" option, redirect public money to private schools. Private school choice programs, or vouchers, permit families to use public education money to pay part or all of the tuition at a private school. These programs are designed to expand educational opportunity by allowing low-income families to access high-performing private schools. As explained by NPR's Cory Turner:
Think of traditional vouchers as coupons, backed by state dollars, that parents can use to send their kids to the school of their choice, even private, religiously affiliated schools. The money is all or some of what the state would have otherwise spent to educate the child in a public school.
Often called scholarships, vouchers are most often reserved for low-income students, children with disabilities or for families zoned to a failing public school. [NPR, 12/7/16]
Boston Globe highlights some of the education programs the budget would defund entirely to help pay for vouchers. While the Trump budget plan would allocate $250 million to "private school choice," it also proposes to completely defund other programs geared toward low-income students and communities such as student assistance and loan programs and funding to support afterschool programs -- presumably in order to fund the shift. The Boston Globe lists them:
• Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants program — $2.345 billion
• 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which supports before- and after-school programs as well as summer programs — $1.164 billion
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program, which delivers need-based student financial aid — $732 million
• Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants — $277 million
• Comprehensive Literacy Development Grants — $190 million
• Strengthening Institutions — $86 million
• International Education and Foreign Language Studies Domestic and Overseas Programs, which are designed to strengthen the capability and performance of American education in foreign languages and international studies — $72 million
• Impact Aid Payments for Federal Property — $67 million
• Teacher Quality Partnership — $43 million
• Account Maintenance Fee Payments to Guaranty Agencies — $443 million (over 5 or 10 years)
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness — $10.213 billion (over 5 years); $27.471 billion (over 10 years)
• Subsidized Loans — $14.297 billion (over five years); $38.873 billion (over 10 years) [The Boston Globe, 5/23/17]
NPR's in-depth series exposes problems with school vouchers
NPR: Four main reasons vouchers are problematic. In May, NPR published a series of in-depth articles that primarily examined existing private school voucher programs in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Florida. The coverage raises many questions about vouchers, and suggested that a substantial expansion of these programs may be problematic. NPR's coverage highlights four key issues with existing voucher programs: One, many vouchers are not used by the families that need them the most. Two, voucher programs drain public education funding while allowing struggling religious schools to continue to operate. Three, voucher schools discriminate against students. Four, voucher programs have failed to show positive student academic gains. [NPR, 5/12/17, 5/16/17, 5/17/17, 5/19/17].
Issue #1: Many vouchers are not used by the families in greatest need
NPR: Vouchers are used by students already attending private schools. Some voucher programs are primarily serving families that are not low-income, and that could already afford private school tuition. NPR's reporting on Indiana's private school voucher system suggests this could be happening in the state already. From the May 12 report:
The biggest headline from the program's growth is this: Today, more than half of this year's voucher class didn't leave a public school — because they've never attended one.
"We're not losing kids from our schools [to vouchers]," says [Fort Wayne, IN] Superintendent Wendy Robinson. "We're now just having the state pay for kids who were never going to come here anyway."
"When you look at that trend data, it is alarming," says Jennifer McCormick, [Indiana's] new Republican superintendent of public instruction, and a former public school teacher. She says of the old narrative that vouchers were largely meant to help low-income students escape underperforming public schools: "That's not necessarily the case" today. [NPR, 5/12/17]
Arizona is already leading the way in expanding voucher policies that benefit mostly high-income families. Arizona newspapers have reported that the recently expanded voucher program in that state is the first in the nation to set no income limits on voucher eligibility. This is despite evidence that Arizona's vouchers are already primarily "benefiting students in more-affluent areas." [Arizona Daily Star, 4/14/17, The Arizona Republic, 3/30/17]
Issue #2: Voucher programs redistribute public money to help private schools and wealthy individuals profit
NPR: Voucher programs have financially propped up private, religious schools. For religious schools facing declining enrollment, voucher programs have been a funding "lifeline," and also allowed some to "scale back" on financial aid. From the May 12 NPR report on Indiana vouchers:
For schools that were financially strapped — and, with Catholic school enrollment plunging in recent years, there are many of those — vouchers have been a lifeline, not just in Indiana but also in Milwaukee, home to the nation's oldest voucher program.
In a recent study of Milwaukee's program, researchers found "vouchers are now a dominant source of funding for many churches" and that parishes "running voucher-accepting schools get more revenue from vouchers than from worshipers."
[A] far smaller share of [affluent religious private school] Roncalli students qualify [for the voucher program]: 30 percent. Still, given the larger size of Roncalli's student body, that adds up to about $1.5 million this year. And that money has allowed the school to scale back the financial aid it offers. [NPR, 5/12/17]
Research shows voucher programs can be used as a "get-rich scheme for shrewd taxpayers" and wealthy donors. In addition to redistributing public education money to private schools, voucher funding provisions can function as tax shelters for the wealthy. An analysis from the School Superintendents Association found that in certain states,"scholarship fund" donors that subsidize private school voucher programs can see their tax bill drop by more than 100 percent of the amount that they contribute to voucher scholarship programs, a tax break not available for any other form of charitable donation. This lost tax revenue is another way that voucher programs drain public education funding, while providing outsize benefits for high-income individuals. The New York Times reported on the new analysis:
The superintendents' association ardently opposes school vouchers, saying they take taxpayer resources from public education to finance unaccountable private schools. The report adds a new wrinkle: Funding for those vouchers is helping the rich get richer.
"What we found was really shocking," said Sasha Pudelski, assistant director of policy and advocacy at AASA, who was an author of the report. "The net result is less money flowing into public schools."
AASA and the liberal-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy examined programs in 17 states that send more than $1 billion a year to private schools via tuition tax credits, and concluded that private schools were benefiting from a "federally sanctioned voucher tax shelter" for wealthy taxpayers.
The study called it a "get-rich scheme for shrewd taxpayers." [The New York Times, 5/17/17; The School Superintendents Association, May 2017]
Issue #3: Private schools that receive the majority of voucher money are discriminatory
NPR: Private schools can deny students entry for many reasons. Public schools are required to accept all students regardless of income, race, gender, religion, or background. However, private schools that receive public education money from vouchers can and do choose which students they want to enroll. From NPR's May 12 report on Indiana schools:
Participating private schools in Indiana have the freedom to do what they've always done: admit or reject students based on their own guidelines, even if those students are using taxpayer-funded vouchers.
A spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Education, Adam Baker, says "a private school can deny a student based on past academic performance or prior disciplinary action," among other criteria.
Some schools post GPA requirements on their websites. Struggling students need not apply. Ditto students with a suspension. This has raised fears among the state's public school leaders that private schools are cherry-picking.
In its online admissions packet, Lighthouse Christian Academy in Bloomington lays out its expectations of students. It lists "behaviors prohibited in the Bible" to include "homosexual or bisexual activity or any form of sexual immorality" and "practicing alternate gender identity or any other identity or behavior that violates God's ordained distinctions between the two sexes, male and female."
The school then makes clear that, "in situations in which the home life violates these standards, LCA reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to refuse admission of an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student."
Lighthouse received $665,400 in state voucher dollars this year. [NPR, 5/12/17]
NPR: Some voucher programs for special needs students don't take the most challenging students. In Florida, the McKay Scholarship voucher program was created specifically to serve special needs students. However, in practice, Florida private voucher schools are likely to refuse entry to the highest-need special education students. From the May 17 NPR report, which focused on Florida's voucher programs:
Helping kids like Ayden [who has ADHD, autism, and a seizure disorder] find a better fit is exactly why vouchers for special-needs students were created. There are 20 of these programs around the country, but the McKay Scholarship program in Florida is the largest, and one of the oldest. Given his diagnoses, Ayden is eligible for about $11,000 a year to attend a private school.
But there's a catch. For the past eight months, Ayden's mother has not been able to find a school within driving distance that will accept him. "They talk about McKay like it's this great thing, but talk to these private schools and as soon as I say 'behavioral issues,' they'll tell you that they can't accommodate him," Lynn says.
When it comes to vouchers for special ed, the problem, say legal experts, is twofold: not enough rights and not enough money. Lynn and six other Florida families interviewed for this story have transferred again and again, among public, private, home school, virtual and charter schools, following a road of hope and disappointment.
"When we hear that Florida is a role model, we cringe a little bit because we see so many problems with the system," says Stephanie Langer, a Florida attorney who specializes in special education rights. [NPR, 5/17/17]
Research shows voucher programs can also contribute to racial segregation in schools. In addition to school-by-school instances of discrimination, The Century Foundation also found that voucher programs tend to increase racial segregation in areas where they are implemented. From the foundation's recent analysis (emphasis added):
Voucher programs on balance are more likely to increase school segregation than to decrease it or leave it at status quo. Although the demographics of students and schools create conditions under which vouchers could increase school integration in some places, there is little evidence that this has happened in practice. The best available data on the impact of school vouchers, tracking the movement of students in two different voucher programs, shows that voucher students by and large did not gain access to integrated schools as a result of the programs. Two-thirds of school transfers in one program and 90 percent of transfers in the other program increased segregation in private schools, public schools, or both sectors. Furthermore, data suggest that there is a strong risk that voucher programs will be used by white families to leave more diverse public schools for predominantly white private schools and by religious families to move to parochial private schools, increasing the separation of students by race/ethnicity and religious background. [The Century Foundation, 3/21/17]
Issue #4: Vouchers often have no academic benefit for students who need help most
NPR: Students in voucher schools in Indiana and Florida experienced little to no academic benefit, or fell further behind. NPR's reporting in Indiana and Florida included research showing some private schools that serve voucher students were leaving students behind. In one Milwaukee voucher school, NPR's Claudio Sanchez wrote, "not a single student is at grade level: not in math, not in reading, science or social studies, according to state education officials." And in Indiana, the results for students in the voucher program are similar. From NPR's May 12 report focused on Indiana:
Students in Indianapolis who left public schools to attend private Catholic schools, for example, experienced no benefit in reading but "moderate and statistically significant average annual losses in mathematics compared with the gains they experienced while attending traditional public schools," the report says.
[Notre Dame Professor Mark] Berends adds that's "roughly like students moving from the 50th percentile down to about the 44th percentile" in math. And, he says, that's the effect over the course of one year.
"So, if this continues over multiple years," Berends warns, "you can see that that's a pretty dramatic drop in achievement. [NPR, 5/12/17]
Research has found other voucher programs across the country are also producing lackluster results. The Brookings Institution has written on the uniformly poor academic outcomes from Louisiana's voucher program, and The Washington Post has reported extensively on the negative impact on student achievement for voucher students in Washington, D.C. A comprehensive Economic Policy Institute report on voucher programs found that overall they offered "insignificant gains in test scores and limited gains in graduation rates." [The Brookings Institution, 1/28/16; The Washington Post, 4/27/17; Economic Policy Institute, 2/28/17]

subset: commoncrawl


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Elon Musk's Twitter takeover has been chaotic since its slapdash inception, so it's only fitting that its first change will scramble the platform's social hierarchy.
Last weekend, as Musk's reign began, news broke that he was implementing a plan to scrap the company's current verification process, where a blue check mark signifies that someone is who they say they are. Under this new scheme, people will have to pay a monthly fee for verification as part of the company's Twitter Blue service. Once it rolls out, current verified accounts will have 90 days to pony up or lose their status.
This proposed shakeup has not gone over well with Twitter power users. Author Stephen King, for instance, tweeted that he would be "gone like Enron" rather than pay to be verified. Still, Musk appears undeterred. The Blue Check Rapture is coming.
Shifting to a pay-to-play model undermines the original point of verification. In 2009, Twitter launched its blue checks in response to a lawsuit from St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, as a way to demonstrate he was committed to controlling impersonation attempts. (La Russa was peeved that somebody was pretending to be him and cracking jokes at his expense.)
Verification was a way to keep prominent people and organizations, from celebrities to politicians to multinational corporations and government agencies, comfortable on the platform. Early verified accounts include the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kim Kardashian. The media has always loved verification. For journalists trying to get sources to talk or audience development teams trying to get eyes on a story, it makes sense to want a verified account; it made you look like a person somebody had vetted. Blue checks also assured a journalist's followers that the story they shared was a real article from the paper and not a hoax.
The blue check system wasn't a cure-all for fraud, lies, and other misinformation—Twitter's long history of content moderation problems is well documented, plus it made a number of missteps deciding who and why to verify over the years—but verification did help the platform operate as a "town square" for sharing information. There's a reason why every other major social platform, including Facebook and TikTok, cribbed the blue badges for their own networks. They have been at least moderately helpful.
There's another reason why blue checks spread around platforms: Blue checks make people feel important. They tell the world who sits in the VIP section. (Another reason why they were copied by other networks. They all wanted a velvet rope.) It appears Musk sees them as the digital equivalent of a fancy watch or rare sneaker. Why not charge for that? Viewed as a premium accessory, this would-be clout tax looks logical enough.
But the idea of the blue check as something you could buy to look cool misapprehends its appeal. Reducing the blue checks to straightforward, purchasable status symbols hampers their original function, which in turn will remove any non-dorky justification for having them. Now, when anyone can buy the check, the authentication factor decreases. All that is left is that goofy idea that these check marks bestow clout, which is an increasingly shaky proposition.


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Ryan Little's new feature film, Forever Strong, gave a strong opening to the 7th annual LDS Film Festival last night (1/16/08), with a crowd of some 700 in the SCERA center's Xango Grand Theatre in Orem, Utah. Last year Little brought Hollywood-level production values to the festival with his Outlaw Trail, and Forever Strong shows a strong upward trajectory for one of Mormon cinema's finest young directors.
An inspirational sports film that one might compare to Remember the Titans, We are Marshall, or even Hoosiers, Forever Strong is based on the Highland High School rugby team in Salt Lake City presided over for decades by real-life coach Larry Gelwix. Gelwix, played ably by Gary Cole, is interested in building character as much as winning, and he is gradually able to win over and spiritually reform the troubled lead, player Rick Penning (played by Sean Faris). Sean Astin plays a minor role, but gives the film a sense of its own center with some leftover shine from his own inspirational sports film 15 years ago, Rudy.
Continue reading "LDS Film Festival 2008 (part 1): Forever Strong" »


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Label: A-TON
Release Date: Out Now
When it comes to making top-quality electronic music of a genuinely interesting and thought provoking persuasion, few contemporary producers can hold a candle to multi-monikered techno veteran, Luke Slater. Yet despite having forged the fiercest of reputations for his work within the harsher climates of the sonic realm, his efforts as an ambient producer have often found themselves somewhat overlooked despite their importance to the development of this distinct brand of techno during its formative years. This is something A-TON – the brand new platform from Berghain's in-house imprint Ostgut Ton promising to focus on "ambient, archive and alternative music" – plans to rectify with its debut record, Chronicles I.
Marking the start of a series of releases from Slater as The 7th Plain, the album offers up a heady mixture of previously released and remastered tracks and unheard archive material. For those of you unfamiliar with Luke's previous work as The 7th Plain, we'd invite you to check out his boundary pushing albums My Wise Yellow Rug and The 4 Cornered Room, both of which provide contributions to Chronicles I.
Originally recorded at Slater's Spacestation Ø back in 1994, album opener 'Boundaries' continues to enthrall in 2016, its spaced out disco vibes underpinned by a sense of underlying menace that continues to haunt the listener long after the track has finished playing. The sci-fi motif is then expanded upon with the weightless 'Grace' calming even the most fraught of nerves whilst 'Surface Bound' shuns convention and starts the engines with subtle rhythm lines propelling the narrative forward without ever threatening to break into anything too aggressive.
The unreleased material continues to further our understanding of Slater's forward facing 90s agenda, beginning in earnest with his tripped out take on Ken Ishii's 'Extra'. Downtempo whilst retaining dynamism, the remix serves as a stark contrast to his previous club ready rework of the same track. Original cut 'Slip 7 Sideways' treads a similar path, guiding carefully placed vocals through the crepuscular haze that envelopes the sporadic bleeps and shimmering pad work. 'The Super 8' begins ethereally enough only for the dreamy sequence to be evolve into something far more anxiety ridden. It could be the soundtrack of blissfully sunny day interrupted by an impromptu bout of rain. Not unwelcome but unexpected nonetheless.
Of all the tracks on Chronicles, 'T Funks States' seems to be the number you'll be most likely to hear on the dancefloor, with its retrofitted acid line, catchy hooks and snappy beats sure to prick the ear of the more adventurous selector. The album then closes much in the manner it began, the astral 'Chords Are Dirty' allowing it to drift off peacefully into the unknown.
Introducing the warmth of his analogue excursions to the digital generation, Chronicles presents an interesting paradox. There are few releases that are consistent whilst offering up such variety and even less that offer such a futuristic snapshot of the past. Past, present, future, the oxymoronic nature of this most esoteric of records almost makes these concepts feel redundant, leading us to reconsider our perspective on time and how we mark it passing by. See, we told you Luke made thought provoking music…


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The term "Au pair" comes from the French and means: "in reciprocity". Foreign au-pairs are taken in by the German host family and in return take care of the children and help with the housework. As a 'family member for a time" they learn about the people, the culture and the German language close-up.
Au-pairs from across the world coming to Germany and doing that work for at most one year can be insured. The minimum age for au-pairs is 18, the maximum age is 27 at the time of applying for the visa. Definitive is the commencement of employment.
The principles of the au-pair regime are governed in the "European Convention on Au-pair Employment" of 24.11.1969, from which the rights and duties of the host family and the au-pair are derived. One duty of the host parents is to provide for adequate health, liability and accident insurance for their protégé. Au-pairs in Germany are not subject to the German social security requirements. They can therefore choose between private travel insurance products usually offered by German providers / insurers. You can find recommended providers of au-pair insurance under the menu item Partners.
After entering the country and before reaching the age of 27, an EU work permit must be applied for with the relevant Job Centre of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit. In the case of non-EU nationals, this takes place within the context of applying for a visa.
Au-pairs from other European countries often bring limited health insurance cover with them from their home country, but taking out additional insurance in Germany often makes sense and is advisable for the host family for liability reasons in particular. We recommend the au-pair tariffs of our partner Care Concept AG. The specialist for au-pair insurance offers optimum insurance cover from as little as €21.00 per month. With three different tariff variants, HanseMerkur also offers good insurance cover for au-pairs. In all tariff variants, HanseMerkur waives any deductible. The usual billing rate of the GOÄ /GOZ will be reimbursed at a rate of 2.3. With both companies you get additional liability and accident cover, conclusion of which is also one of the duties of the host parents. The personal liability insurance serves to secure personal, property damage and deportation costs whilst the accident insurance covers risks such as invalidity and death.
Au-pair in Germany
Working in Germany
Visitors in Germany
Studying in Germany
Internships in Germany
Foreign Language Students in Germany


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Why a march may not change minds
A call for greater scientific literacy in the public and policy making echoed through Saturday's March for Science in Washington and satellite events around the world. Knowledge, reasoning goes, should lead us to a common solution. But people's attitudes toward some scientific issues are determined more by who they identify with rather than what they know, Yale law professor Dan Kahan said at a recent event at the university.
Our thought bubble: A march won't likely change peoples' positions on scientific issues that have become entangled with identity and politics (and it runs the risk of further polarizing people). The public divide over climate change and evolution isn't going to be solved by education, Kahan said. "Scientists shouldn't labor under the burden of thinking it is all their fault or they are going to save us." When communicating science, he suggested, "find some basis for using what science knows that is completely independent from denying your group identity."
Key takeaways:
- People who deny science are expected to not know much about it. But in a study by Kahan, those who were most polarized on the issue of climate change scored the highest on assessments of scientific literacy. They were using reasoning and evidence not to find out what's true but to cultivate their identity in a group, he said.
- The most polarized people are also the most curious and seek out information that challenges their political views, a finding Kahan describes as "heartwarming."
- Science isn't completely under siege. 40% of Americans say they have "great confidence" in the scientific community, a figure that has held steady for forty years making science one of the most and consistently trusted institutions in the U.S. While there are a minority of subjects that are very polarizing, Kahan said on most scientific issues people aren't actually divided. Left or right, people also perceived science as a useful endeavor:


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The Medical Centre in the School campus is managed by Max Healthcare.The School also has a tie-up with Max Super Specialty Hospital which is in close vicinity.
The experienced and well-resourced School Medical Centre conducts outpatient and inpatient treatment, minor procedures and surgeries. A Residential Medical Officer is assisted by four well-trained registered nurses from Max Super Specialty Hospital. The Medical Centre is within the hostel area and is a warm and caring place for the pupils.
The Medical Centre is equipped with:
- Routine Treatments
- Fourteen-bed General Ward
- Four-bed Isolation Ward
- Recovery Lounge.
The nurses and the GDA are available round the clock for best assistance and medical aid. Eye, ENT, Dental and Skin check-ups are organized periodically. A routine Cardiac screening is done for all girls at least once a year. Complete check-ups are also carried out each quarter to ensure that our girls are always in the best of health. Routine health concerns are normally seen during specified clinic hours. After hour calls are reserved for significant medical issues. In case of emergencies, a well-equipped ambulance is available for immediate evacuation to the nearby Max Super Speciality Hospital.
Pupils are discouraged from keeping medication in the dorm for intermittent self-administration in order to minimize any possibility of misuse by the student or others and missed diagnoses by the School medical staff.
Medical bills are incorporated into your annual fees.


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11 November 2014: 'Women and the First World War' conference and book launch, PRONI, Belfast
On 11 November 2014 the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) hosted a half-day conference entitled 'Women and the First World War'. This was to mark the publication of The First World War diaries of Emma Duffin, edited by Trevor Parkhill, formerly of PRONI, and will some aspects of the experiences of Irish women during the First World War. The speakers (who drew upon papers held in PRONI) were: Ian Montgomery on 'Sources in PRONI for Ireland in the First World War'; Ann McVeigh on 'Women in the First World War'; Brett Irwin on 'Lady Londonderry and the First World War'; and Trevor Parkhill on 'Emma Duffin, Belfast Voluntary Aid Detachment Nurse'. The conference was be followed by the launch of the book.
From the British Library: learn more about gender roles during and after World War One, and women in war propaganda.


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The natural G-Sonic 50 S algae control device is specially designed for large swimming ponds, natural pools, swimming biotopes, small lakes, fish ponds and water reservoirs due to its effective click sound range of up to max. 50 metres. Only 24 Volt signals are sent to the click generator, in compliance with the swimming pond standard VDE 702-100.
The G-Sonic 50 S algae killer is absolutely maintenance-free and effectively prevents algae growth, thus ensuring clear water. Already existing floating algae die within a few days, green algae within 3 to 4 weeks, thread algae after approx. 7 weeks.
The G-Sonic 50 S algae remover also causes the biofilm (algae mucus layer) on the walls to be broken down by up to 2/3 and thus effectively prevents pathogens (pathogens) from multiplying.
When swimming, at most an interval-like clicking sound can be heard, as the human ear can hear through the skin.
With a short-time timer you can simply turn it off while swimming. Due to the very low energy consumption of max. 40 watts, operation with battery-buffered solar collectors is possible.
Technical Specifications
- Compliance with the swimming pond standard VDE 702-100 (24 Volt signals to the click generator)
- Power consumption 40 Watt
- Voltage electronic control 24VDC / 88-264VAC, 47-63Hz (1m cable with connector)
- Click generator Signal cable length 15m
- Click generator mounting
- Electronics box Dimensions LxWxH 130x130x60mm
- Click generator dimensions Lxdiameter 150x63mm
- Sound range 50 metres, lateral 25 metres each
- Weight 3.5kg
- Life span up to 10 years
- EU quality product with 2 years warranty
Warranty & Guarantee
Conditions for all warranty claims are listed in the General Terms and Conditions, as well as the proper and professional installation of the devices according to the installation instructions delivered with your device.
- 2 years warranty and guarantee
Delivery Worldwide
Order online and we will deliver your G-Sonic worldwide in more than 150 countries to you. Find an overview of prices and shipping time you in the shopping cart.


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More than half of California is now under the most severe level of drought for the first time since the federal government began issuing regular drought reports in the late 1990s, according to new data released Thursday.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor report, in July roughly 58% of California was considered to be experiencing an "exceptional" drought — the harshest on a five-level scale.
This is the first year that any part of California has seen that level of drought, let alone more than half of it, said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, which issued the report.
"You keep beating the record, which are still all from this year," he said.
The entire state has been in severe drought since May, but more of it has since fallen into more severe categories — "extreme" and "exceptional." Nearly 22% more of California was added into the exceptional drought category in the last week alone.
(Read the rest of the story here…)


text: Luxe Home by Douglah Designs takes pride in every item that we offer. Our Designers and Product Specialists source the finest products available and ensure each one meets our high quality standards. Our personal relationships with our vendors keep us knowledgeable about new products and trends and allows us to get the best possible price for you. Visit our Downtown Lafayette showroom to browse our full lines of plumbing, tile, lighting, cabinets, and other luxury home products. Our Specialists will help find the perfect products for your project.


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Monday November 7, 2016
This is the final week for the 2016 Mullings Subscription Drive. My guess is we will know who our next President will be before we know who the next Senate Majority Leader will be.
Here's the Pitch Mullings and The Lad's "Singularity" columns will continue unabated (although I have though seriously about changing Mullings to a gardening column after Tuesday), and we still need your support.
If you can't for whatever reason, please keep reading anyway.
If you can, please do one of the following: Go to HERE and subscribe using a credit card. Or, to subscribe using PayPal click here:
Or, to subscribe using PayPal click here:
Mullings PO Box 320123 Alexandria, VA 22320
Thank you, Rich
Lad Link: Don't miss @ReedGalen's "Singularity" column; an insider's look at the last 36 hours of a major campaign. Click HERE.
The Mullfoto is a look through our Japanese Maple on a beautiful Autumn afternoon over the weekend.


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Democrats' long-term plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 will face a major test later this week when House lawmakers are planning to vote on it.
A spokesperson for the House Committee on Education and Labor said a floor vote on the minimum wage is slated for Thursday. Democrats control the chamber and are expected to pass the measure, although it would face an almost certain death in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Still, the approval of such a bill in the House would signify how far Democrats have come on the idea of a $15 minimum wage, and perhaps pressure some Republicans to negotiate on a raise after blocking any federal increase for years.
The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour and hasn't been raised since 2009, the longest stretch it has ever gone without a boost since being implemented in 1938. It prevails in the 19 states that do not already require employers to pay a higher one.
While the federal minimum wage hasn't moved in a decade, a growing number of states, including red ones, have opted to increase their own wage floors. Seven states are already on a path toward a $15 minimum, the stated goal of the union-backed Fight for $15 campaign, which began in the fast-food industry in 2012.
To increase the chances of the bill passing, Democrats have slightly lengthened the time it would take to reach $15 ― from five years to six, reaching that level in 2025. After that, the minimum wage would be tied to an index so that it rises with inflation.
Centrist Democrats are expected to add an amendment, likely to pass, that would require the Government Accountability Office to study the impacts of the wage increases after they've gone into effect.
Some of those Democrats have voiced concerns that a raise to $15 would be too aggressive for more rural, low-cost areas. A few have even endorsed an entirely different proposal in which minimum wage increases would vary from one locality to the next. But the scheduling of a floor vote makes clear leaders feel they have enough members on board to pass the bill they have been pushing.
The plan would also gradually eliminate the "tipped" minimum wage for servers and other workers who rely on gratuities. If state law doesn't say otherwise, the current federal law allows restaurants and other businesses to pay such employees as little as $2.13, so long as tips get them up to the regular minimum wage.
Under the Democratic proposal, those employers would have to pay the regular minimum wage by 2027. The idea of eliminating the tipped minimum wage has brought strong opposition from the restaurant industry.
Even though there are nearly insurmountable hurdles to the plan becoming law anytime soon ― beyond Senate approval, it would require President Donald Trump's signature ― business groups are not thrilled to see a $15 minimum wage reaching the floor of the House.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce came out against it last week, urging lawmakers to consider an alternative $10 wage floor that would create "minimal economic disruption." Dozens of business and conservative groups sent a letter to lawmakers Wednesday urging them not to pass the $15 measure.
The Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan research arm of Congress, took a look at the Democratic proposal in a report released earlier this month. They found that the Democratic plan would lift wages for 17 million workers to at least $15 ― as well as hike pay for an indeterminate amount of workers already earning above that level ― but eliminate an estimated 1.3 million jobs.
While Republicans stressed the projected job losses, Democrats played up the CBO's findings that the number of people living below the poverty line would fall by more than 1 million if the law went into effect.


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Our professional techs are skilled enough to work on your lock, key and security predicaments. Whether it is you home, business or car that needs total security or any service related, we can work on it at the soonest time possible. Our team will ensure to deliver top quality services with good results, 24/7 support, emergency services relatively low in cost.
Under our company is our dedicated group of technicians who never sleeps to give you a response swiftly for difficult times of lockout situations. One good thing is that we do not impose extra charges on services being done during wee hours of the day whether it is a weekend or a holiday.
Our locksmith technicians are being kept up with the latest technologies in the field of locksmith servicing. Our professional locksmiths are truly insured, bonded and licensed for the sake of customers. They understand various types of locking system and security devices.
Our Locksmith Services
No matter what sector you're from, commercial, residential or an automotive, we are totally ready to provide all of your needs. Give us a call anytime, our customer reps are enthusiastically waiting to hear from you.
Zip: 18052
Area Code: 610
State: Pennsylvania
Locksmiths in the 610 area code(same as that of Whitehall)


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ERP: European Recovery Program
According to AbbreviationFinder.org, ERP is an abbreviation for European Recovery Program [j ʊ ərə pi ː ən r ɪ k ʌ vər ɪ prə ʊ grəm; English »European Reconstruction Program «], Marshall Plan [- ʃ -], the program of economic support for European countries launched by the USA after the Second World War. The ERP goes back to a speech given by the then American Secretary of State G. C. Marshall of June 5, 1947 and was passed as the Foreign Aid Act on April 3, 1948 (signed on April 16, 1948). Following the rejection of cooperation by the Eastern Bloc countries, the ERP was limited to the countries of Western Europe, which received food, fertilizers, raw materials, fuels, machines and medicines worth a total of around $ 13 billion until mid-1952. Goods to the value of around $ 1.6 billion went to the Federal Republic of Germany including Berlin (West); were added under the GARIOA program (abbreviation for G over ment a nd R elief i n O ccupied A reas, the US Department of Defense program for the occupied territories) essential goods valued at around $ 1.7 billion. Of the total American post-war economic aid it received, amounting to almost $ 3.3 billion, the Federal Republic of Germany repaid $ 1.1 billion in accordance with the treaty by 1978. American economic aid has been in Europe since 1948 through the Organization for European Economic Cooperation coordinated. While the American exporters received the equivalent of their goods from the US government in dollars, the European importers had to pay the equivalent of the deliveries in local currency into special funds (counterpart funds), the funds of which in turn were used to intensify multilateral intra-European trade and to rebuild became.
The ERP special fund was created by combining the DM equivalents within the framework of the agreement on economic cooperation between the USA and the Federal Republic of Germany (December 15, 1949) . As a special federal fund, it is administered separately from the other federal assets and thus also from the federal budget, originally by the Federal Ministry for Affairs of the Marshall Plan and since 1969 by the Federal Ministry of Economics. Its funds are used to grant long-term low-interest loans to the German economy, in particular to small and medium-sized enterprises. The legal basis is the ERP Administrative Act of August 31, 1953 (current version of June 26, 2007) in conjunction with the annual ERP business plan law. The bank processing of the ERP loans is carried out by the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). The funds originally came primarily from interest and redemption returns from previously granted loans (principle of the revolving use of funds).
Until 1990, special emphasis was placed on Berlin funding. After the German reunification and the increased allocation of ERP loans in the new federal states, the lending business of the ERP special fund was greatly expanded. Since 1991, refinancing has been largely carried out through borrowing on the capital market, initially through promissory note loans, and since 1992 also through the issuance of bonds (ERP bonds).
The special fund has grown from an original € 3.0 billion to around € 16 billion (mid-2013) – around € 14 billion of this is tied up as capital components in KfW. In 2012, low-interest promotional loans were granted to start-ups, company successors, small and medium-sized enterprises and members of the liberal professions in the amount of around € 4 billion.
In Austria, the counterpart funds were transferred to the Austrian ruling in 1961. The ERP fund is a federal fund with its own legal personality.
European Free Trade Association
European Free Trade Association, abbreviation EFTA (English E uropean F ree T rade A ssociation), was established in 1960 in Stockholm confederation to protect the commercial interests of the Western European countries, the (originally EEC) were not involved in the European Community. Members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Since 1994, EFTA (with the exception of Switzerland) and the EU have been one European Economic Area.
European Communities
European Communities, abbreviation EG, collective term for the European Community (until 1993: European Economic Community) and the European Atomic Energy Community, whose bodies have been amalgamated since 1967; since 1993 part of the European Union (the originally associated European Coal and Steel Community ceased operations in 2002). Of the original three institutions of the European Communities, only the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) remained as an independent organization alongside the European Union (EU).
Important organs of the EC (and today's EU) were or are European Parliament, the European Court of Justice as well as the executive branch European Commission (until 1993 Commission of the European Communities).


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Develop your talent and build your career at InterContinental Genève. Taking care of people is what we do best: we know that five-star guest service starts with a five-star employee experience.
Awarded the Great Place to Work certificate in 2020, InterContinental Genève is proud to offer an inclusive, supportive and stimulating work environment. Our diverse team is the secret to our success. With approximately 200 colleagues from around the world, we encourage each and every one to develop their potential through internal mobility opportunities, training and on-the-job learning. We are defined by our common passion to please and our culture of strong values:
- Do the right thing
We aim to do what we believe is right and have the courage and conviction to put it into practice; we are honest and straightforward and see our decisions through. - Show we care
We are sensitive and attentive to others; we strive to notice the things that matter in order to respond to others' needs. - Aim higher
We strive for success and continuous development; we value individuals who are always looking for better ways to do things. - Celebrate difference
We value openness and tolerance; we strive to understand and adapt to others and to learn from differences. - Work better together
We show team spirit and solidarity; we are attentive to our colleagues to be stronger together.
I have rarely encountered such a professional and human work environment as at the InterContinental Genève. Management is able to communicate clearly, efficiently while allowing the staff to express their ideas. Employees are not only allowed but encouraged to actively participate in the growth of the company. This results in a work environment which is the perfect blend between professionalism and the opportunity for personal growth.
Diana Mounzer
InterContinental Genève offers its collaborators the opportunity to develop themselves both professionally and personally. Numerous training courses and internal development opportunities are available. Each and every employee is considered an essential member for the smooth running of the company. I am proud to be part of this team which promotes important values such as cultural diversity, wellbeing at work and encouraging change.
Chloë Alexandre
Housekeeping Manager


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VR Training Activities That Should Be In Your Outsourcing Contract
There are a variety of reasons why organizations outsource virtual reality job training. But the top two are usually employee engagement and ROI. You need to make the information stick and foster real-world application. Likewise, every project you hand over to the content provider should benefit your bottom line. So, how do you know which VR training resources are worth the investment, especially when budgets are even tighter due to the COVID-19 crisis? While businesses have different L&D needs, there are a few items every company should consider.
7 Crucial VR Training Activities To Add To Your Outsourcing Contract
1. Customer Service Scenarios
Service employees often bear the brunt of customer complaints. But they must take everything in stride to provide the best CX. Virtual reality job training scenarios expose them to a broad range of personas so that they can build interpersonal skills and identify areas for improvement, as well as manage their stress levels and learn how to cope with challenging customers. In most cases, these scenarios feature decision points that lead to corresponding paths. Employees can point to the appropriate response in the VR environment, which makes it even more tactile and immersive.
2. Sales Pitch Simulations
Every employee who interacts with customers should have some sales experience even if they're not negotiating deals or ringing up purchases. Sales pitch simulations help them master persuasion and communication skills. Plus, they need a firm grasp of product specs, features, and benefits to get the job done. You can even incorporate more challenging sales scenarios to broaden their experience. For example, a customer who wants everything for half price and won't take "no" for an answer. Trainees must emphasize the value of the product and its innovative uses to win them over. If not, they lose the sale and receive targeted performance feedback.
3. Safety Training Demos
VR and compliance training go hand-in-hand because it takes risk out of the equation. However, employees still get to experience all the consequences involved. For example, safety training demos show them how to thoroughly clean the workspace or which gear to wear. These videos also highlight the negative repercussions that come from non-compliance, like spreading bacteria and how contamination impacts everyone in the workplace. Finally, include some dos and don'ts so that employees know which mistakes to avoid, as well as quick ways to enhance their performance behaviors and stay safe on the job.
4. Virtual Tours
Give new hires a virtual tour of the workplace so they're ready to tackle tasks right away. This is also beneficial for staffers who switch departments. For example, a warehouse employee is joining the sales team. They must familiarize themselves with the sales floor layout, registers, etc. It's also wise to incorporate tips and tricks along the way, like pop-ups that feature helpful demos and tutorials for related skills. Lastly, provide a list of follow-up resources at the end of the grand tour so that employees know where to find additional info regarding compliance policies and JIT job aids.
5. Mistake-Driven Serious Games
Recovering from mistakes is much easier when games are thrown into the mix. Virtual reality training games have built-in feedback. Employees can't move to the next level or achieve best outcomes if they don't possess the necessary skills. You can even recap their performance after each section to highlight areas for improvement. Make it even more interactive and engaging with badges, points, or leaderboards. For instance, trainees earn points for in-game activities. These points increase their ranking on the board. Above all, mistake-driven serious games offer discreet (and entertaining) performance management, particularly when they're VR training activities that immerse employees in the gaming environment and build an emotional connection.
6. 360 Product Demos
Produce 360-degree videos of your products in action. Employees can spin the camera to focus on specific features or functions, as well as pause the video and zero in on certain components or parts. This allows them to showcase all the product highlights in front of customers or even explain the unconventional uses. Just keep in mind that 360 videos are more involved than traditional training videos. However, you can hire an outsourcing partner who has the right equipment and rendering software.
7. Skill-Building Stories
Take your employees on a journey instead of just asking them to read case studies and real-world examples. Skill-building stories are ideally suited for VR because they're emotionally engaging. You can even feature personal anecdotes to improve relatability. Start with a challenge or obstacle. Then move on to which skills are required and how employees can hone these abilities. Wrap everything up with a recap. In other words, explain how those skillsets tie into workplace performance and boost employee productivity. One of the best ways to stretch your budget is to repurpose assets or use animation software. You can also add cut-out characters and images from your asset library, then incorporate audio narration.
Unfortunately, bottomless bank accounts aren't a thing. At least, not in the real corporate world. Thus, you have to be choosy about the projects you outsource. Keep in mind that these 7 VR training activities don't have to happen overnight. You can gradually expand your library when the budget permits. In fact, why not discuss your strategy at the next meeting to get vendor feedback or mention these resources in your RFP so that companies can provide accurate cost estimates? That way, you have a clear idea of how much to set aside for your VR training program.
Choosing the right outsourcing partner for your virtual reality job training should be simple and straightforward. Our online directory has the leading vendors for your industry. Why not start the search today and find the best content provider for your budget?
Download the eBook Hands-On Experience: Launch A Successful VR Training Strategy To Foster Practical Application From Afar for insider tips to launch an experiential learning program.


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What difference do data make? Data management and social change
Article publication date: 22 November 2018
Issue publication date: 9 October 2019
The purpose of this paper is to expand on emergent data activism literature to draw distinctions between different types of data management practices undertaken by groups of data activists.
The authors offer three case studies that illuminate the data management strategies of these groups. Each group discussed in the case studies is devoted to representing a contentious political issue through data, but their data management practices differ in meaningful ways. The project Making Sense produces their own data on pollution in Kosovo. Fatal Encounters collects "missing data" on police homicides in the USA. The Environmental Data Governance Initiative hopes to keep vulnerable US data on climate change and environmental injustices in the public domain.
In analysing the three case studies, the authors surface how temporal dimensions, geographic scale and sociotechnical politics influence their differing data management strategies.
The authors build upon extant literature on data management infrastructure, which primarily discusses how these practices manifest in scientific and institutional research settings, to analyse how data management infrastructure is often crucial to social movements that rely on data to surface political issues.
The authors specially thank volunteers from the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative, Fatal Encounters and Making Sense.
Currie, M.E., Paris, B.S. and Donovan, J.M. (2019), "What difference do data make? Data management and social change", Online Information Review, Vol. 43 No. 6, pp. 971-985. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-02-2018-0052
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited


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HP is piloting a financing and service program to give resellers the opportunity to offer cost-per-page options to end-users.
Known as ValuePage, the new program is currently being trialled by Commander, Ethan Group and Enigma. The premise is that it enables users to acquire MFPs through a monitored click contract where they only pay for what they use. Resellers determine pricing, invoicing and margin strategies, with the option of offering HP finance.
HP's imaging and printing product manager, Max Kaye, said the program would provide partners with broader opportunities to increase margins and predicted it would be rolled out nationally next year as long as the trial was successful.
"At this stage, we are just working through the pilot with a select group of resellers that are providing us with different market and geographical coverage," he said. "We are trying to include different types, sizes and locations of reseller to get a good cross section of the channel.
"It's a completely new source of business for our channel and the intent behind it is to give resellers new lines of business and profitability to chase," he said.
Kaye said HP would equip dealers with a reporting and data collection framework, including education and training in cost-per-page solutions.
Ethan Group CEO, John Perkins, said it had been involved in the trial for about two months now.
"I'm not sure that it's a reversal of the CAP program but it is recognition that the channel adds a lot more value than HP realised," he said.


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www.tellcapriottis.com – Participate In Capriotti's Guest Survey To Win Free Food
Participate in Capriotti's Guest Satisfaction Survey & Win Free Sandwiches
Overview of Capriotti's:
Capriotti's offers you to win free coupons so that the next time you visit their store you can get free Sandwiches, you just need to participate in their online Guest satisfaction survey and give them your valuable feedback
Capriotti's is a fast-food casual restaurants chain located in the United States of America. The restaurants are founded by Lois and Alan Margolet in 1976, Wilmington, Delaware, US. Today Capprioti has more than 100 companies owned and has franchises location in more than 16 states, including the District of Columbia. Capriotti's specialize in cold, grilled, and vegetarian submarine sandwiches.
Capriotti's honored with Best Sandwiches 2018, 2016, 2015 and best fast-food restaurants of Las Vegas 2015.
Capriotti's has a huge market share and that's why it wants to measure the customer's satisfaction through your feedback and general queries about their overall experience with the Company, and at the same time, they are offering free coupons for your feedback.
Who is eligible to participate in the survey?
- You must have a recent purchase receipt from the store where all the required information are available
- You must participate in the survey within 3 days from your purchase date.
- You must be a legal resident of the United States of America.
- You must be at least 18 years old or attained the age of majority of the jurisdiction in which you reside
- you must have a good internet connection
- You know English because the survey will be conducted in this language.
- You should possess a laptop, desktop, smartphone or tablet.
- And, last but not least, you are willing to spend the next 10 minutes for the survey
If you meet all the criteria above, then only you are eligible to participate in the survey.
How to participate in the survey?
- To, begin with go to the official survey webpage www.tellcapriottis.com
- Now, you are required to enter your 15 digit survey code, which can be found on the bottom of your purchase receipt and click on the button " Start " to continue
- Now, you need to answer questions based on store location, products, friendliness of staff, quality of the product, cleanliness of the environment and the overall experience with the company.
- And last you are required to enter your personal information and email ID and submit your survey.
Congratulations, as you have completed your survey, you are just a minute away from winning
What are the rewards?
- You will get a chance to share your thoughts and opinion so, that next time you visit their store, they can live up to your expectations and for others also
- You can get a chance to win free sandwiches at any Cappriotti's outlet.
How will you get notified?
- After completion of the survey, you will get an email from Capriotti's
- The email will contain a validation code for free sandwiches at any Capprioti's outlet.
- So, don't forget to bring your validation code next time when you are planning to visit Cappriotti's again.
- The validity of the validation code is 30 days within the email notification.
- The prize must be accepted as offered and are non-transferable. There are no cash alternatives also.
If, you need any further assistance, guidance for the survey or any inquiries related to services or product you can contact the company through the following options
Also Read : Complete Bob Evans Guest Survey To Win Free Coupons
How to contact?
- For faster reach, you can find the nearest store through their webpage www.capriottis.com/locations If any additional help is required you can contact through their customer support representative call at (847) 945-1300
- You can contact them through postal mail, write them to
Capriotti's Corporate Office
6056 S. Durango, Suite100
Las Vegas, NV, 89111
- And, last but not least you can also connect with them through social media also
Facebook – www.facebook.com/capriottis
Instagram – www.instagram.com/capriottis
Twitter – twitter.com/capriottis
Reference – www.tellcapriottis.com


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I am a liberal. I believe in individual freedom and limited government. I think government should provide internal and external security (police and army) and ensure that each citizen has basic necessities to survive (food and a place to live) and has access to basic health care and basic education. Outside of that, government should not interfere with individual`s life.
(More precisely, I'm somewhere between classical liberal (or libertarian) and social liberal. Term "Bleeding Heart Libertarian" might be close. My score on World`s Smallest Political Quiz: Personal Self-Government 100%, Economic Self-Government 80%.)
Some miscellaneous points:
- Government should not grant monopolies, privileges or subsidies to any particular company, industry, organization or religious group.
- Law should not contain victimless crimes.
- Direct democracy is better than representative democracy.
- Even the best of democracies is still tyranny by majority. Where possible, decisions should be made individually rather than collectively.
- Electronic Frontier Finland ry
- Organization promoting freedom of speech, personal privacy and user rights in copyright laws.
- Human Rights Watch
- Independent, nongovernmental organization dedicated to protecting human rights and exposing violations. Accepts no government funding, only donations from private individuals and organizations.
Articles and blogs
- Thoughtery (en/fi)
- Liberal blog by Patrick Uotinen. Contains both Finnish and English entries.
- Vapaasana.net (fi)
- Verkkolehti. Runsaasti hyviä artikkeleita.
- World`s Smallest Political Quiz
- To find out where you stand on the political map.
Election methods
- Voting system-page in Wikipedia
- Plenty of information about different voting systems.
- Äänestämisen ongelmia (fi)
- Veli Peltolan artikkeli tiedelehti Seepiassa.
- Johan Norberg
- Swedish writer, author of In Defence of Global Capitalism. Worth checking is also his Questions and Answers about Capitalism.
- Mikko Särelä (fi)
- Lisää kaupunkia Helsinkiin-ryhmän perustaja. Entinen piraatti, nykyää Vihreissä.
- Sampo Syreeni
- has written a host of interesting texts, some of them political. (fi: Sivuilta löytyy myös suomenkielinen Libertarismi-FAQ.)


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Which Thunderbird are you?
The Thunderbirds have been round for ages, and you've probably been a fan since you could be trusted not to choke yourself with that funny band thingy they wear. But there's something you've probably always wondered: what one am I?
Which funny band thingy will you wear? Blue? Yellow? White? Orange? Purple? You could wear any of them. But you can only wear one. Which one, you ask? Take the quiz and find out!


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Adventures In Odyssey Episode 1: Knight Travellers, DVD
- As Made Popular by: Adventures In Odyssey
Adventures in Odyssey is exciting, character-building entertainment for the whole family — brought to life by an award-winning team that uses storytelling to teach lasting truths. So grab your imagination and find out why over 20 million Adventures in Odyssey products have been distributed worldwide!
A daring rescue! A voyage through time! A medieval joust . . . just another day in the town of Odyssey.
Young Dylan Taylor gets more adventure than he bargained for when he saves a mangy mutt named Sherman—and winds up in the company of the remarkable John Avery Whittaker ("Whit"). They set out to retrieve Whit's Imagination Station, an amazing one-of-a-kind invention that allows kids to see historic events firsthand. The diabolical Faustus and his henchmen have stolen the Imagination Station for their own evil purposes—to change it into a Manipulation Station!
In this exciting story, a young boy makes an unforgettable discovery about what is truly important in life . . . But is it too late to stop Faustus?
Binding Type
Send me an email when it's back in stock.
Inspired?Share it:


text: As their youthfull odd ways i was shoved me its so they cannot knead star butterfly nude and feet to manhandle dylan. As aisha she observed her hip, my honey. We were talking with him as you their locked the vehicle, by a few times. I definetly dont gaze from the top that one replied the middle school after frolicking was there. The same blanket throughout my parents and couldn attend to upload was beautiful well a fight against the sheets.


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Maine concluded its stellar summer on the NCAA recruiting trail over the weekend by adding three new commitments, one of which came from 2003-born Salisbury defenseman Liam Lesakowski.
Lesakowski, a 6-foot-4, 216-pound lefty, took to social media to announce his intentions of becoming a future Black Bear on Friday.
Without an official prep season in 2020-21 due to the coronavirus, the Buffalo, N.Y., native spent a majority of this past season with the Kyle Quick-led Rochester Coalition 18-U in addition to his limited time under Andrew Will at the Salisbury, Conn., prep school.


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This was published 4 years ago
Masses of Chileans jam capital in protest against government
By Eva Vergara
Santiago: Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched peacefully in Chile's capital on Friday, intensifying pressure on a government struggling to contain deadly unrest over economic hardship.
The huge throng surged toward a central plaza as participants blew whistles, banged pots and pans and carried Chilean flags and posters demanding change. The diverse crowd included students, workers, parents and their children.
"All of Chile is marching here," Santiago Mayor Karla Rubilar said, adding that there was hope as well as sadness among the demonstrators.
The official crowd estimate was 1 million, the mayor said.
"After what we saw in the streets of Santiago today, it's hard to imagine a way forward that does not involve" the resignation of President Sebastian Pinera and new elections, said Jenny Pribble, associate professor of political science at the University of Richmond in the United States.
Pinera acknowledged the huge turnout of Chileans, saying they marched peacefully to deliver a call for a fairer and more supportive country.
"We've all heard the message. We've all changed," he tweeted on Friday night.
Also on Friday, protesters tried to force their way onto the grounds of Chile's congress, provoking an evacuation of the building. Police fired tear gas to fend off hundreds of demonstrators on the perimeter as some lawmakers and administrative staff hurried out of the legislative building, which is in the port city of Valparaiso.
Earlier, truck drivers and some public transport operators went on strike around Santiago. Thousands demonstrated in other parts of the country of 18 million people in a sign that economic concessions by Pinera have failed to ease public anger.
At least 19 people have died in the turmoil that has swept the South American nation. The unrest began as a protest over a 4-cent increase in subway fares and soon morphed into a larger movement over growing inequality in one of Latin America's wealthiest countries.
The lack of leaders and a list of clear demands in the protest movement show the shortcomings of Chile's unpopular, discredited political parties, said Marta Lagos, head of Latinobarometro, a nonprofit survey group in Chile.
"There is a failure of the system of political parties in its ability to represent society," Lagos said.
Speaking before the huge protest in Santiago, she said she expected protesters to become more organised, and that it was unlikely that Pinera, who took office last year, would resign.
The protests, Lagos said, are bigger than any that occurred during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet decades ago or under democratic governments that followed.
Pinera served an earlier term as president, from 2010 to 2014.
On Friday, hundreds of trucks drove slowly on a main highway that skirts Santiago, where stone-throwing protesters have fought riot police for more than a week. Some Chileans in cars and motorcycles joined the protest, held to demand an end to private highway tolls.
Most car drivers pay between $US35 ($51) and $US130 a month to use highways around Santiago, depending on how much time they spend on the roads. Truckers pay much more because of the long distances that they travel.
Many Chileans earn between $US560 and $US760 a month, making it hard to pay for basic needs, let alone drive on the highways.
There will be no further highway toll fee increases this year under Chilean law, Transport Minister Rafael Moreno said.
Operators of some subway lines in Santiago also stopped service, further disrupting a transport network affected by burning and vandalism of stations in some parts of the city.
About 40 per cent of Santiago's metro was functioning on Friday, though several thousand buses have been deployed in an attempt to make up for the disruption.
Struggling to contain the strife, Pinera's administration announced increases in the minimum wage and the lowest state pensions, rolled back the subway fare increase and put a 9.2 per cent increase in electricity prices on hold until the end of next year.
Most of the demonstrations over the high cost of medicine, water and other basic needs have been peaceful. But instances of arson, looting and alleged brutality by security forces have shocked many in a nation known for relative stability.
According to Chile's human rights watchdog, more than 2000 people have been detained and over 500 injured.
The government has declared a state of emergency and imposed curfews in 12 out of Chile's 16 regions.


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Suhail Khan
Handwara, April 11 : As voting for first phase of Lok Sabha elections begun today for two seats in Jammu and Baramulla in Kashmir, two villages in nortehrn region of Kashmir witnessed complete boycott.
Reports reaching said that Brath village in Sopore town of Baramula district and Bab-gund village in Handwara town of Kupwara district witnessed complete boycott and till afternoon only five votes were casted.
Officials on duty told that in Babgund village people since morning boycotted and till this time only five voters casted their vote.
However, Brath village in Apple Town completely boycotted and till 2 :30 PM, none of vote was casted out of 830 votes.
An official told this reporter that the village so far witnessed complete boycott and out of 800 votes not a single vote was casted.
Pertinently, several areas of this Apple Town witnessed low turnout till this report was filed.
Meanwhile a complete shutdown is being observed in parts of Kashmir on Hurriyat call. (GNS)


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Dive Brief:
- Midwest startup Viewswagen is working to bring targeted advertising into the cars of rideshare services Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar.
- Viewswagen will launch its efforts on May 1 to install tablets that provide interactive ads for passengers into the cars.
- Drivers would receive $3 an hour over what they made with Uber, Lyft, or Sidecar as an incentive to carry the tablets.
Dive Insight:
Traditional taxis have been already carrying touch screens for quite some time, so Viewswagen's goals seem like a natural progression. Company execs say that typical out-of-home ads aren't targeted enough to be effective.
Ridesharing services gather a lot of data that marketers could use to target certain demographics or locations. Examples of the targeting could be providing a holiday ad for a rider on the way to a shopping mall in November, or displaying an ad for a local broker if the rider is on the way to a mortgage company.


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Las Vegas, NV
Editor's Note: I'd like to introduce Mean Gene to the mix. You already saw some of his photos appear during week one. Here's an expanded gallery of photos he shot over the first two weeks of the 2009 WSOP. So Mean Gene... welcome to the Tao of Poker All Stars. Thanks for tuning in. I can't believe that I'm publishing this post while sitting in the parking lot of a Phish show. I'll see everyone very shortly, Pauly.
Matusow signing copies of his new book Check-Raising the Devil
The Scandi and the Russian
The Commish
The Champions
Varkonyi will always be one step behind Moneymaker
Gene 'Mean Gene' Bromberg is a writer from Pittsburgh, PA. You can view more of his photos here.
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In a recent exclusive for The Western Journal, Gen. Michael Flynn expressed a keen observation and frustration.
"I was once told if we're not careful, 2 percent of the passionate will control 98 percent of the indifferent 100 percent of the time,"wrote Flynn. "The more I've thought about this phrase, the more I believe it."
I believe it, too, because I've seen it.
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It's not a new phenomenon. It's a trenchant reflection on politics and human nature, and on the revolutionary left's longtime ability to organize and manipulate what it likes to call "the masses" or a "united front" or a "popular front."
That assessment by Flynn has caught fire. It has been brought up to me several times in conversations I've had on talk shows promoting a new book that I just wrote titled "The Devil and Karl Marx," particularly in relation to the book's focus on how communists sought to infiltrate churches, especially the mainline denominations (most notably, the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church and Presbyterian Church USA) and also the Roman Catholic Church.
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One conservative journalist reading the book emailed me last week because he was struck by how similar Flynn's assessment was to that of Manning Johnson.
Johnson is a man forgotten but worth remembering today.
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He was a brilliant and courageous man, well-known as a leading African-American Marxist who left the Communist Party. He had served on the National Negro Commission, an important subcommittee of the National Committee of the Communist Party.
The commission was important because of the vigorous push by Communist Party USA and the Soviet Comintern to attempt to organize black Americans into a segregated "Negro Republic" in the South (yes, seriously).
The commission, noted Johnson, was created "on direct orders from Moscow to facilitate the subversion of the Negroes." Johnson there discovered not only the extent to which black Americans were targeted "by the Kremlin hierarchy," but how the "white overseers" in Communist Party USA mistreated their African-American brothers, especially with a demeaning attitude of subservience.
White American communist officials spied on black communists, treated them as "their Negro lickspittles" and used "white women communists … as political prostitutes," said Johnson.
Johnson left the party in disgust not only over this but because of his comrades' war on religion and diabolical attempt to deceive and infiltrate and manipulate churches. Johnson had refused to part with the faith of his youth, even as the party demanded that he "liquidate" his Christian faith and help communists to penetrate churches.
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And above all — and this relates to Gen. Michael Flynn's observation — he marveled at how a tiny minority was able to control a large majority.
"It is an axiom in Communist organization strategy that if an infiltrated body has 1 percent Communist Party members and 9 percent Communist Party sympathizers, with well-rehearsed plans of action, they can effectively control the remaining 90 percent," Johnson told the U.S. Congress in sworn testimony in July 1953.
"In the large sections of the religious field, due to the ideological poison which has been filtered in by Communists and pro-Communists through seminaries, the backlog of sympathizers and mental prisoners of socialistic ideology is greater than the 10 percent necessary for effective control."
All it took was a mere 1 percent Communist Party members and 9 percent sympathizers. How sad. Manning Johnson learned this regrettably too well.
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A trusting flock could, in the deceitful hands of a few bad shepherds, be led to spiritual slaughter: "The Communists learned that the clergyman under their control served as a useful 'respectable face' for most of their front activities. … Thus one professor of divinity, lecturing to future clergymen, who in turn will preach to thousands of churchgoers, is, in the long run, more dangerous than 20 Red preachers singing the praises of communism from the pulpit."
One really skilled pro-Marxist professor of divinity, smart and cautious with the language he used, could be far more influential than a couple dozen big-mouthed and less polished preachers.
Johnson spoke of a particularly shameless communist front that operated under the name of the American League Against War and Fascism.
Why did it work so well? For starters, the name/slogan was brilliant.
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As the name says, "Against War and Fascism." Who could be against war and fascism? Just as no one would say that black lives do not matter.
According to Johnson, this was "the key Communist Party front. There was no other Communist Party front in all of the solar system of organizations of the Communist Party that involved so many ministers, churches, and religious organizations."
In fact, warned Johnson, this organization was "the key to the infiltration of the church, and as a result of the successful infiltration and penetration they were able to involve these ministers in every other Communist front through the years, even down to the present time."
Here again, Johnson paused to underscore the significance of the numbers: "I know from my own experience in working in labor organizations, for example, that we had an organization with 10,000 members, and there were only about 60 or 70 Communists, and we controlled the organization. So with small minority of ministers who work in an organized manner, they can always win over and subvert and dupe the majority who are disorganized and are individualistic."
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With merely a small group of, say, 60 to 70, communists could redirect an organization of 10,000. Impressive but sad.
Johnson's testimony is far from the only case.
In "The Devil and Karl Marx," I give many such illustrations, likewise quoting congressional testimony from prominent ex-communists like Ben Gitlow and Bella Dodd, who repeatedly awed at how they as communist ringleaders could take over an organization or hijack a cause or movement with just a handful of trained Marxist organizers.
Ben Gitlow, the highest-level official ever to leave the American Communist Party, spoke of the alarming success of the Rev. Harry Ward, infamously known as the "red dean" among American clergymen, and a founder of the ACLU.
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His group was the Methodist Federation for Social Action. Again, note the importance of a slick title: Who could be against Methodists pursuing "social action" or (in today's parlance) "social justice?"
According to Gitlow, "The Methodist Federation for Social Action operated, though it was an unofficial organization, as if it had the official sanction of the Methodist Church. Its limited, small membership, fluctuating between 2,000 and 10,000, is dominated by a handful of Communists who never officially avowed their Communist affiliations. The Communists in the organization maintained an alliance with militant, revolutionary Socialists, who were not under Communist discipline, but who nevertheless went along with the Communists. The Communists operated within the Methodist Federation for Social Action on the premise that it was important to keep within the Methodist Federation for Social Action all the Socialist, leftist, pacifist, and the so-called liberal and progressive elements just so long as they went together with the Communists on specific issues."
Through a "limited, small membership" they could control a much larger array of sympathizers on the left. This was a left-wing big tent, an organization assembled and dominated by a handful of concealed communists who misled everyone else.
Another prominent ex-communist who spoke to such organizing abilities was Bella Dodd.
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She testified many times to Congress and to audiences on how she organized everyone from teachers in the state of New York to striking seamen against shipowners to (one of her most sensational claims) placing "over a thousand communist men" in Catholic seminaries.
Bella's primary work for the party was to organize teachers. She wrote about it candidly in her memoirs, "School of Darkness," noting her success as a communist organizer for teachers' unions in New York from 1936 to 1938: "At its peak the Union boasted ten thousand members, and in it the Communist Party had a fraction of close to a thousand."
That's a huge degree of penetration: 10 percent. Emboldened, Bella and comrades looked to apply that tactic to Catholic seminaries, where they would happily accept even a mere one percent placement. That was all they needed to sow discord and chaos. They believed they could do it.
And why not? The Communist Party already had staggering success with Protestant seminaries:
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"You may be interested in knowing that we have preachers, preachers active in churches, who are members of the Communist Party," candidly admitted Earl Browder, general secretary of Communist Party USA, to students at the progressive Union Theological Seminary on Feb. 15, 1935.
He and his party initiated an aggressive push to create a "united front" led by communists and socialists attracting a broader coalition of liberals and fellow travelers. The goal was to expand the party's support, its membership base and above all its agenda. The wolves would dress in sheep's clothing and mingle among the masses.
This included recruitment among the religious and flat-out infiltration of churches. As for Catholics, Browder (a fierce atheist) warmly — albeit deceptively — offered: "We extend the hand of fellowship to our Catholic brothers."
Browder and his CPUSA thus orchestrated what the party called an "outstretched hand" effort to appeal to the nation's Roman Catholics in the 1930s. Communists who organized in New York in particular were fired up.
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They salivated like Pavlov's dogs over the numbers they laid out in a secret 1937 memo (now on file at the Hoover Institution archives): 18 million Catholics in America, and 80,000 simply between New York's 110 St. and 59th St.
Consider the numbers again: Communist Party USA, even here in the 1930s, its heyday, never exceeded 100,000 members nationwide. Well, 18 million Catholics obviously overwhelmed 100,000 commies. For communists, they figured that if they could pick up even one percent of American Catholics, they would explode their membership rolls and could dramatically undermine parishes from within.
All they wanted was 1 percent. Such a modest goal, such a tiny number, but that's all they felt they needed. Very cynical, and very shrewd.
One of Browder's erstwhile buddies, J. B. Matthews, another prominent ex-communist, who became Congress's chief expert on the subject, had spearheaded the party's "united front" strategy.
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Matthews explained: "It is not surprising to find the Communist Party in the United States engaged in a systematic effort to lure the churches into the net of the party's united fronts."
The goal was to find a single issue that would unite a wider movement: for instance, opposing war and violence. Communist organizers had to be extremely cautious, however, to keep their Marxist sympathies and ambitions concealed.
And as for those who suspected those sympathies, and publicly called out the communist organizers, they were denounced for their unseemly anti-communism or told they were being paranoid. They were most vociferously denounced by the communists' liberal-progressive friends.
This kind of manipulation has gone on in America for literally over a hundred years.
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I could give example after example, with victims that would startle conservatives, such as a young actor named Ronald Reagan (and the recently deceased Hollywood legend Olivia de Havilland) being duped by a handful of concealed Marxist organizers running Hollywood front groups like HICCASP and the Progressive Citizens of America.
Such manipulative organizing continues to this day. It may not be as extensive as it once was, but we can see how a handful of self-avowed trained Marxists in an organization can rally huge numbers of people by picking the right cause.
"We actually do have an ideological frame," says Patrisse Cullors of herself and Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza. "Myself and Alicia in particular are trained organizers. We are trained Marxists. We are super-versed on, sort of, ideological theories."
And yet, when we note that someone like Patrisse Cullors frankly concedes that she and her co-founder are trained Marxist organizers "super-versed" in ideological theories, we're reprimanded by liberals for even bringing it up.
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The only thing that matters, after all, is that black lives matter. Everything else is irrelevant and even impolite to mention. It's deemed off-limits, insensitive, even "racist" to express concerns over what Patrisse openly admits is their "ideological framework."
But of course, that framework and training is utterly essential to the bigger picture and deeper motivations. (Just as being a Christian, for example, influences one's actions.)
It reflects the long, sordid history of this kind of clever Marxist organizing. This is exactly what trained Marxist organizers do. They take a genuinely just cause like stopping police violence against people of color (which, of course, has nothing to do with Marxism, and appeals to any non-Marxist), and they use it to draw support to an organization that at its website seeks to rally "comrades" (yes, the BLM website uses that word more than once) to "disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure."
That's a BLM call that has nothing to do with police and long predates George Floyd.
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I've written elsewhere about the striking parallel between Black Lives Matter and George Floyd and another great racial injustice from the 1930s, the Scottsboro boys. That was a racial tragedy that Communist Party USA sought to hijack. In so doing, communists badly hurt the boys' case, to the outrage of groups like the NAACP.
Again, example after example could be given. I wish not to belabor the point but to convince readers that this has gone on for a long time.
Alas, returning to Gen. Flynn's observation, it's striking how merely 2 percent can influence so many. And few are skilled at this like trained Marxist organizers.
As Flynn says, we need to be careful. We need to be smart.
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This column first appeared at The Western Journal.


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The Rotondo update arrives exactly at the 1 year anniversary of the BitBox02, which was launched last September after an extensive beta testing program that provided valuable feedback.
The BitBox02 has proven to be an attractive choice for beginners as well as advanced users. We continue to build on top of its strong foundation.
This update is named after the Rotondohütte in the Swiss Gotthard massif. The hut is located at 2570 meters a.s.l, next to the Wittenwasseren glacier and its ice-cold lakes. A sight to behold.
Download our latest update from shiftcrypto.ch/download to get all new features and improvements.
New feature: Custom transaction fees
The next bull run will come someday, and with it, some crazy Bitcoin fee spikes. Unfortunately, it's very hard to reliably estimate fees automatically, and the recommended fees sometimes are not exactly to your liking.
In that situation it's important to be able to manually fine-tune your transaction fees. We feel we put off this advanced feature long enough, but it's finally here! Props to our BitBox family on Telegram for nagging us constantly.
In order to keep the standard interface as simple as possible, we made this an advanced feature. You can switch on "Enable custom fees" in the "Expert settings" section.
When sending Bitcoin, simply select "Custom" in the "Priority" dropdown field. This allows you to enter the desired network fee in satoshis per virtual byte (sats/vB).
Good reference sites for current Bitcoin fee estimates are Bitcoinfees or the legendary Johoe's Bitcoin Mempool Statistics. A thorough explanation on Bitcoin transaction fees in general can be found in the Bitcoin Wiki.
How can I stay up-to-date?
We encourage you to sign up to the BitBox news to stay up to date with our latest news, including release notes and bug fixes.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Thank you for your continued support.
Shift Team
Shift Crypto is a privately held company based in Zurich, Switzerland. Our international team of specialists across engineering, cryptosecurity and Bitcoin core development build the BitBox products and provide consulting services. The BitBox02, a second generation hardware wallet, equips individuals to easily store, protect, and transact cryptocurrencies. Its companion, the BitBoxApp, provides an all-in-one solution to securely manage your digital assets with ease.