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Smoking cessation, just like quitting alcohol, or dieting, does not have a single solution which suits all. This is why there is a variety of both conventional and alternative treatments for managing the physical craving of nicotine and the mental obsession of smoking. Let's start by breaking down some of the common choices first and then we'll take a look at the alternative ways to stop smoking later in the piece. continue reading..
Quit smoking Products: There are so many of these so with the most successful in helping smokers to stop altogether by far. NRT or the Nicotine Replacement for Therapies are perhaps the successful one. These may include gums, patches, inhalers as well as nasal sprays. Tablets are also considered like (Zyban (Bupropion)) by which some of the smokers had found it effective. However, pills are usually prescription only and can result in some uncomfortable side effects in certain patients. Vape pens can also do a help on you.
Cutting Down Gradually: Although this sounds like a good idea in theory, it has little chance of succeeding with most smokers! A typical active smoker is a master at finding justifiable excuses, and the moment a little upheaval happens in their life, they reach for the tobacco. Cutting down is perhaps a method tried by most smokers who have just made a decision to quit, but very few can tell you they managed to stop and stay stopped by gradually cutting down until the desire to smoke was completely lifted.
Alternative Ways on how to Stop Smoking during 2009
Stop Smoking with Acupuncture: Like hypnotherapy, acupuncture is also gaining in popularity for those looking for alternative methods to quit smoking. Acupuncture is based a combination of ear acupuncture points which are said to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms which are often triggered when a smoker is deprived of nicotine.
Stop Smoking with Hypnotherapy: Hypnosis to quit smoking is becoming more popular with each passing year. This type of therapy does not come cheap and has little chance of working if the patient is skeptical about the practice. For those who do believe, or are willing to believe in hypnosis, the reports have been very positive. Hypnosis to stop smoking works by changing the attitude of the smoker so that stopping smoking becomes a strong positive thought and diverts the user attitude towards cessation.
Stop Smoking with Meditation: Meditation is all about finding inner strength and peace. It's said that the habit and addiction of smoking cannot possibly exist in either the mind or the body when a person has achieved that inner peace and newfound strength by practicing meditation techniques. Both the thought of smoking and the act of smoking are negatives, and meditation works by removing, or dismissing harmful thoughts.
Stop Smoking with Aromatherapy: This is a softer approach to giving up smoking. Aromatherapy is more popular among women than men seeking to quit the habit. The special smoking cessation oil is said to be made up of eight essential oils which are intended to provide relief from the discomforts of nicotine withdrawal. E-juice brands can also be adapted here (https://vapeanalyst.com/best-pod-mods).
There are more alternative ways to stop smoking than those mentioned in this short piece. Hopefully, you now have an insight into a few of the more popular methods used successfully.


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Indian media on Wednesday rewarded the cricket team's conquest of world champions Australia with front page banner headlines, celebrating a victorious end to an acrimonious tour.
"Triumph against all Oz" screamed the mass-selling Hindustan Times a day after Mahendra Dhoni's young Indian team completed a 2-0 whitewash of Australia in the one-day finals.
"The Men in Blue overcame insult and injury, hostility on and off the field from players, spectators and media, on the world's toughest tour against the world's best side," the paper said.
"Australian captain Ricky Ponting admitted India outplayed them in the one-day finals. A more graceful captain would also have admitted that India had out-behaved Australia all summer."
The one-day win followed an ill-tempered Test series that Australia won 2-1, but the tour may be best remembered for India's stunning victory in Perth, regarded as a graveyard for visiting teams because of its bouncy wicket.
Most Indians are convinced the Test series scoreline would have been reversed had umpiring blunders not gone against the tourists in the second Test in Sydney.
Lavish praise was showered on Dhoni's one-day team, whose average age of 22 was bolstered only by the towering presence of 34-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, who hit match-winning 117 not out and 91 in the two finals.
"We are the champs," said a front page headline in the Times of India, which added that India's win "signalled an impending change in the cricketing world order while wrecking the aura of Australian invincibility."
The tour, marred by controversy and bad blood, looked in danger of collapsing after the Sydney Test when Harbhajan Singh copped a three-match suspension for allegedly racially abusing Andrew Symonds.
The International Cricket Council not only overturned the suspension following an appeal hearing, but ensured the tour went ahead by accepting India's demand that West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor be sacked.
Controversy, however, refused to fade away.
During a one-day match, promising Indian seamer Ishant Sharma was fined for a verbal exchange with Symonds and the Indians countered with a complaint about provocative behaviour by the Australians.
Matthew Hayden then called Harbhajan an "obnoxious weed" on radio and the Indian spinner responded by saying the opener was one of the least liked players in world cricket.
The Australian media also accused Harbhajan of spitting at fans and making monkey gestures, which was again thrown out by the ICC due to lack of evidence.
Dhoni took a swipe at Australian journalists on Tuesday, telling the travelling Indian media that the hosts will have to search for a new scapegoat now that the tour was over.
"I don't know what will happen to the Australian media without Bhajji (Harbhajan)," the Indian captain said. "He was always there on the front page."
Dhoni added that after almost three months of relentless scrutiny, the Indian team had grown immune to everything written about them.
"The Aussie media criticism worked in our favour and we got used it after some time," he said.
Few failed to notice that Harbhajan dismissed his tormentors, Hayden and Symnonds, in both finals in Sydney and Brisbane.
"One Sikh is enough for 125,000 people," the turbaned Harbhajan told the Indian media, quoting the revered Sikh saint Guru Gobind Singh.
"It's not like all Australians were against me," the spinner said.
"When I went out to eat or something, people met me nicely. But, yes, on the field there were a lot of unnecessary things spoken. I tried to ignore all of it, and it just made me stronger."
India hails 'triumph against all Oz'
Indian media on Wednesday rewarded the cricket team's conquest of world champions Australia with front page banner headlines, celebrating a victorious end to an acrimonious tour.

subset: commoncrawl


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BADEN-BADEN, Germany — A decade ago, during a speech in Vienna, the mild-mannered director of a German art museum lit into the Guggenheim for carpetbagging, siphoning money from European companies like Deutsche Bank. The audience ritually nodded.
Quizzed later about whether he, too, had ever gone to Deutsche Bank with hat in hand, the man became offended.
"Of course not," he said.
And there you had it. The trans-Atlantic gulf. The very notion of hitting up private companies and rich people for money, of setting up boards of trustees and answering to them, the way American cultural organizations do, appalled this director's European sense of entitlement.
Times have changed, especially in the money-mad art world, which has compelled even prideful Europeans to start trolling for cash. But attitudes, well, they have changed less. And in the performing arts, which lean most heavily on public subsidies, Europeans still maintain a general view that public support is a social covenant and moral obligation. They're reluctant to become too Americanized.
You can't blame them. Many Americans would side with the German museum director about the dignity of Europe's lavish public spending, and lament commercial pressures on nonprofit institutions and their dependence on sometimes meddlesome donors.Continue reading the main story
But that's not the perspective from this leafy little enclave of private enterprise, whose example should make everyone, on both sides of the Atlantic, think twice about cultural economics and the costs of achieving true quality in the arts.
Here at the very heart of subsidized Europe, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden is a nonprofit venture, or the German equivalent without American-style tax breaks. It receives not a cent of public money, save for a long-term payoff for the construction of its 2,500-seat hall — an unlovely but functional barn, behind the old railway station, designed by Wilhelm Holzbauer, a Viennese architect. Opened in 1998, the hall has turned out to be an acoustic coup. The Festspielhaus now fills it year-round, about 120 times, with the cream of the crop of today's musicians and dance companies.
The New York Philharmonic arrives in early September, to celebrate the festival's 10th anniversary, although the actual anniversary was April 18, a date better ignored. When the Festspielhaus started, it almost instantly went belly up and became a laughingstock across Europe. Bailed out by donors, it gradually reinvented itself.
Today it banks its reputation on heavyweight opera productions. A new version of Wagner's "Tannhäuser" will open in July, on the same night that Bayreuth opens "Parsifal" — a coincidence of rivalrous consequence. Lately, Baden-Baden has outshone the creaky Wagner shrine.
Occasionally it also books cash cows. The other night a full house turned out for a concert by the violinist Nigel Kennedy. Before an audience of aged Germans, he did his punk shtick, which like him is getting old. He found a stranger named Vicky near the front row to pretend to flirt with, cursed, kicked a soccer ball into the first balcony, pounded his chest and fiddled "Danny Boy" for an encore. (The program was Mozart and Beethoven, by the way.) Patrons gulped Champagne and ate soft pretzels in the V.I.P. lounge, and (another American-inspired marketing touch) ushers clutching bouquets handed roses to women as they exited. Concertgoers looked perfectly content strolling into the night.
The problem, a decade back, was that with no audience yet to speak of, the Festspielhaus's first managers naïvely presumed that simply hiring the Nigel Kennedys of the world, and charging $500 for tickets, would make a going endeavor. Baden-Baden became proof to skeptical Europeans of the folly of importing the American model to this side of the Atlantic.
But a new director, Andreas Mölich-Zebhauser, who ran a contemporary-music orchestra in Frankfurt, took charge. He had a core of stoic patrons. He began to collaborate with musicians on serious projects; developed relationships with conductors like Thomas Hengelbrock, Christian Thielemann, Valery Gergiev and Claudio Abbado; and embraced very un-European promotional techniques.
He lowered ticket prices and balanced the budget, too. Swayed above all by the musical results, critics who once enjoyed mocking the festival have reversed themselves in recent years.
It's a trans-Atlantic looking-glass situation. Germany alone this year, including all city, state and federal support, will dole out a total of $12.4 billion on culture — libraries, theaters, museums, musical and dance groups — including $4.6 billion just for music and theater, according to the country's department for statistics. There are no fewer than 80 state opera houses, staging 7,000 performances a year.
That sounds great, astonishing even. But the system, bloated and not everywhere well managed, inevitably produces much mediocrity. The reality is that about 20 percent of the budget for Berlin's three struggling opera companies today must come from private contributions. Bayreuth scrambles to raise nearly half its budget from donations and ticket sales. It would have gone bankrupt by now if donors hadn't made up for deficits due to bad leadership.
Then there's Baden-Baden, with its ancient trees ("the most magnificent I've ever seen," Turgenev wrote to Flaubert) and perfumed breezes wafting past kitschy Black Forest knickknack stores and old villas. Once a retreat for Prussian kings and Russian czars, where Brahms composed his second symphony, by the 1970s and '80s it had become, as the newsmagazine Der Spiegel aptly called it, "an open-air geriatric museum." Rich retirees mixed with German pensioners shipped on the dole for a few weeks' cure in the waters. Nostalgic Russians swelled the ranks of convalescents.
The concept behind the Festspielhaus was to rejuvenate this city of 50,000 as a cultural destination. "It was a revolution," said Rüdiger Beermann, the Festspielhaus's spokesman, "and also a blasphemy in Germany, even though it always used to be the dukes and the counts and the rich people who paid for the arts. At first nobody, absolutely nobody except our patrons supported the idea, and also the audience and the artists, who enjoyed coming."
Mr. Mölich-Zebhauser elaborated on that thought one recent morning. "With the private sector comes enthusiasm, competence in finance and responsibility," he said.
This is the real point. State opera and ballet companies here maintain in-house orchestras and workshops to build sets. Dortmund employs 650. The staff of the Festspielhaus is 70, and there's no in-house orchestra or workshop, meaning Mr. Hengelbrock can be hired to conduct Weber's "Freischütz" on period instruments for a production by Robert Wilson, or Mr. Gergiev can come with the Kirov Ballet to stage Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. "We have a freedom that state houses don't," Mr. Mölich-Zebhauser said.
Artistic freedom, that is. Nikolaus Lehnhoff, the director of "Tannhäuser," his sixth production here, put it another way. "What makes Baden-Baden special is that it avoids all the bad habits of the German repertory theater system," he said. That means no union regulations, the luxury of short runs so performances don't deteriorate, the independence to hire whomever, but also something easier to overlook for American cultural advocates envious of state largess.
Call it accountability. Germany's state theaters churn out hundreds of new opera productions a year, and the notion of a Robert Mapplethorpe fiasco like the one that crippled the National Endowment for the Arts in the United States years ago, when the right wing used provocative photographs as a cudgel against the left, is inconceivable here. "German theaters can do nearly whatever they want," Mr. Lehnhoff agreed.
"But" — here's the crux — "because state support is guaranteed, if the house is half full, the head of the house doesn't care."
It's true. Success here is calculated not in terms of public interest, but, too often, by column inches in the newspapers, meaning the more novel a new production, the more likely it is to generate attention. Of course great work is produced each year, relieved of the basest commercial pressures. But, as it has for decades, Regietheater, as it is called, persists: directors displace singers as the stars, and German stages become rife with blood and black turtlenecks and clichéd metaphors of capitalist excess. German newspaper critics eat it up, and so "Sprockets" lives on because the system perpetuates it.
Mr. Mölich-Zebhauser made an important distinction between artistic freedom and artistic responsibility. The Festspielhaus "emphasizes the music and musicians," he said. He was pushing a festival brand to sell tickets. But the sentiment was also heartfelt.
The pianist Hélène Grimaud said recently that she feels "a special partnership" is developed here. She credited Mr. Mölich-Zebhauser for encouraging her recent collaboration with Thomas Quasthoff, the bass-baritone, among other projects.
"I'm a big fan of the state system," said Mr. Mölich-Zebhauser, whose father, Theo Mölich, became a conductor thanks to state support, then led a public theater in an industrial and mining city in the Ruhr region, Gelsenkirchen, where Mr. Mölich-Zebhauser grew up. "Baden-Baden is a special case because it's rich, but we hope to be icebreakers for elsewhere.
"The truth is that Americans might do better to increase public funding for the arts a little," he added. "And here we have to become a little less lazy."
On both counts, he's got that right.Continue reading the main story


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- Warhol_Girl89
- 4 years ago
- Wedding: May 2015 - The Runnymede Hotel
I tentatively looked at wedding dresses earlier this year in highstreet shops but was discouraged by a rude shop assistant (called me large… I am average, but sensitive about my weight). My colleague found out how miserable this encounter had made me and dragged me to Oxford Street after work (we live in London). I tried to cheer up a bit and just have some fun, so I tried on a range of dresses from Phase Eight. OH MY GOODNESS. Completely changed what I thought I wanted! I had wanted plain, short, a-line. I tried on a dress which was floor legnth, empire line with beading all over! I just felt amazing, I was so happy, I was sad to take it off.
Sooo that was just for fun. Fast forward to this past weeked and I've done everything properly – booked an appointment in an actualy Bridal Salon, taken along my Mum and MiL.
It was ok, I suppose. It was a David's Bridal – one of only two in the UK, so I was curious to see what it would be like. It was EXTREMELY busy and there was nowhere for us to sit while we waited (45 minutes! We had an appointment!) Generally I just felt like the consultant wasn't listening to what I wanted. I wanted long, but no train. No crinolin or poofy-ness at all. Low maintenence. She only seemed to give me ballgowns 🙁
I eventually came to the conclusion that the shop simply was not for me. And the more I thought about it, I realised that I was comparing EVERY dress to that one budget highstreet dress! So I'm going to the Phase Eight flagship shop this weekend to try on that dress again.
I'm hoping I've managed to find the one really early on!


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Visit Site: LastPass
Cost: Free
Comments: Free password manager.
Description: With LastPass installed, start browsing to your sites and services. LastPass will prompt you to save your logins, generate new passwords, save Profiles for online shopping, and more. LastPass does the work for you, so logging in and checking out requires no thought.


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Ex-BP Engineer Found Guilty In Gulf Of Mexico Spill Case
An engineer charged in connection with the 2010 BP oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico was found guilty of one count of obstructing justice by a federal jury on Wednesday, officials said.
Kurt Mix, 52, now a former BP Plc employee, had faced two counts of obstruction for deleting hundreds of messages he exchanged with his supervisor and a contractor in the weeks after the spill.
He was part of a team that scrambled to plug the Macondo well and figure out how much oil was leaking in what became the worst offshore environmental disaster in U.S. history.
The Macondo well explosion on April 20, 2010, killed 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and triggered an 87-day oil spill in which millions of gallons of crude flowed into the Gulf of Mexico.
During the two-week trial, government lawyers painted Mix as a loyal member of the drilling team who tried to shield BP from blame by deleting text and voice messages that may have proven BP lied about how much oil was escaping into the gulf.
Defense attorneys, who do not deny Mix deleted messages, insisted he had no ill intent and that the deletions were largely accidental.
Mix, of Katy, Texas, did not take the stand in his own defense. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
View Full Article
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Ex-Schlumberger Chief to Acquire Biggest Shale Pipe Servicer (Oct 19)
- BP Thunder Horse Expansion in Gulf of Mexico Starts Early (Oct 18)
- Oil Drillers' Rocky Mountain High Threatened by Colorado Vote (Oct 17)


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CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - A defense attorney representing 44-year-old Brenda Ashcraft, the former real estate agent accused of being the mastermind behind a $15 million investment scheme, may claim she doesn't have enough money for a lawyer at her upcoming federal trial, FOX19 Investigates has learned.
This afternoon, Ashcraft attorney Kevin Tierney told the judge handling the case that he may file a motion later this week asking taxpayers to foot the bill. If the judge agrees, federal guidelines show that taxpayers would pay Tierney $125 per hour.
Because Tierney would ask the judge that he be appointed under the Criminal Justice Act to continue serving as Ashcraft's attorney, she wouldn't have to worry about going to trial with a public defender at her side, provided the judge grants the motion. Tierney said he would likely know later this week whether he will file it.
The revelation occurred during a pre-trial conference at noon in front of Judge Sandra Beckwith at a conference table in her chambers. FOX19 was the only news organization to have a reporter in there.
Prosecutor Timothy Mangan revealed this afternoon that federal investigators have finished their forensic analysis of two computers seized from Ashcraft. He said the results were turned over to the defense on Friday.
Neither side told Judge Beckwith what investigators found on the computers.
Judge Beckwith has set jury selection for February 18, the day after Presidents Day. Including picking jurors, the judge expects the trial to last eight days. She has set a deadline of February 4 for Ashcraft to decide whether to plead guilty or proceed to trial.
At a pre-trial conference last month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mangan told the judge he thought the results of the forensic examination of Ashcraft's computers would be the leading factor in the defense's decision about whether to present the case to a jury or to try to negotiate a plea deal.
Ashcraft told a pack of journalists in August, "I did nothing wrong."
However, as the media and a man claiming to be a victim in the case followed her for several city blocks seeking answers, she offered no explanation for what became of investors' money.
Copyright 2014 WXIX. All rights reserved.


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text: IN its new stance on minority scholarships this week, the Bush administration made another in a series of race policy moves that has left both liberals and conservatives confused and wary.Education Secretary Lamar Alexander laid out a policy Wednesday redefining how race can be used in awarding scholarships. Invoking the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which states that a person's race cannot exclude him from receiving the benefits of federally funded programs, the administration's new policy says that scholarships based on race are discriminatory. But at the same time, the policy outlined broad exceptions to the rule. Race-based scholarships can be legal, the policy says, when used to remedy proven discrimination or when private donors have given the money. Similarly, race may be a factor - though not the sole condition - in awarding scholarships. The immediate response was confusion among higher education officials, civil rights attorneys, and the media. "I don't think the Bush administration has a clear idea of where it is on civil rights," said Richard Sampson, chief counsel for the Washington Legal Foundation, which has brought suits challenging minority-targeted scholarships. "Alexander wants a colorblind ideal ... that's shared in the administration, but perhaps they don't have the courage of their conviction to carry out a colorblind policy because they could get branded a new David Duke ... ," says Mr. Sampson. Albert Blumrosen, a Rutgers University law professor and former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission official, observes that a series of Bush administration missteps almost ensures that any administration move now on the issue will be criticized as politically tinged. The White House has had trouble determining a policy. For example, last month, the White House counsel drafted a conservative colorblind interpretation of the new Civil Rights Act, only to have the president reject it. And Wednesday's statement was the third policy change in a year on minority scholarships. Mr. Blumrosen says the new policy appears to have been calculated to "give the general principle [colorblind policy] to the reactionaries" while at the same time offering "ways to get around it to the liberals." "I'm not prepared to say the situation is awful or wonderful ... we'll advise our institutions to continue [with race-exclusive scholarships]," said Peter Robert Atwell, president of the American Council on Education. Phyllis McClure, director of policy at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, is concerned that recruitment of minority students will suffer because of the confusion over the policy.


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Source: Ric Ward and Michael Martinez / CNN
An Idaho man accused of uttering a racial slur and slapping a crying 19-month-old boy on a Delta Air Lines flight is now out of a job.
Joe Rickey Hundley of Hayden, Idaho, was charged with assaulting a minor in the February 8 incident. His company, which initially suspended him, said Sunday that Hundley no longer has his job.
"Reports of the recent behavior of one of our business unit executives while on personal travel are offensive and disturbing,"said a statement from AGC Aerospace & Defense. "We have taken this matter very seriously and worked diligently to examine it since learning of the matter on Friday afternoon.
"As of Sunday, the executive is no longer employed with the company."
To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.


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Elmer's School Glue Naturals - Glue Stick
This convenient and mess-free glue stick is 99.6% natural (made from plants). The packaging and label include recycled content, are printed with soy inks and use a natural rubber adhesive.
The glue is non-toxic and washable, and it applies and dries clear.
Includes: One glue stick


text:
Harness solves a real problem for our contractors. Keeping up with safety paperwork.
I spend less time on administration and more time on site keeping our guys working safe.
This saves me hours of work each week and we're better protected if an incident does occur.
Harness will replicate your forms as an intuitive web, smartphone, or tablet experience. Toolbox Talks, Checklists, Inspections, Incident Reports, Near Misses, whatever. No more bad handwriting, missing info, and everything will still seem familiar. Don't worry about having to learn a form building tool. We'll build them for you.
No more messing around with wallet cards or spreadsheets. Harness let's you view, share, or generate training records easily whether you're in the office or on the job site. We even notify you before training expires so you can take action and stay compliant.
Harness is a platform. Not a one size fits all. We want the system to work the way you need it to. Not the other way around. Replicating your existing processes eases change. Got an idea for a new automated process? Let's make it happen.
Your safety program might have thousands of pages of supporting documents. SDS, policies, manuals, etc…Harness will store it all for you and make things accessible anytime anywhere. Bookmark things you need often. Make sure to talk to us about automating SDS updates. It could save your workers tons of time.
Get a real time view of everything safety on your sites or facilities. These dashboards aren't possible when using multiple apps and can be configured to suit your needs. Harness dashboards help you get better information, quicker. They're also a great way to share safety information with partners and customers.
Harness helps you create stronger, more accurate, and complete records. We provide you the insights to keep your company compliant and we promote a culture of safety. These benefits all result in lower liability and costs from citations, injuries, and insurance premiums.
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11/30/16 — Dayton, OH. Harness Software today has announced a partnership with the Great Lakes Trenchless Association (GLTA) that will see the company deploy a customized version of it's safety management application to association members.
Launched in 2015, Harness Software has quickly established itself as the leader in strengthening & streamlining safety programs for contractors in all trades. Harness is extending a 50% discount off regular monthly subscription fees for GLTA members and the association has funded a free trial period for each member interested in the application.
Workers of each GLTA contractor member will be able to access electronic versions of forms such as equipment inspections and job site hazard evaluations and see a summary of safety information by project. Each contractor will also be able to easily keep track of worker training and store documents such as Safety Data Sheets. All information can be accessed and forms completed via smartphone or tablet right from the job site.
"Our partnership with Harness Software will help us deliver even more value to our members because it solves a real problem for contractors. Keeping up with safety paperwork." says John F. Hendershot, President of the GLTA.
"Harness will allow any GLTA member to deploy and manage a strong health & safety program with little or no effort." said Tom Whitaker, Founder of Harness. "In addition to the networking and professional development opportunities offered by the GLTA, this program more than pays for the cost of membership. Harness saves you so much time and lowers overall liability".
For many construction-related firms and their personnel, using technology is still a challenge. Harness has a simple user interface that will seem familiar to those that may have been previously carrying clipboards or binders. "In the case of the GLTA, we've created a template with standard forms and documents for the industry that can be used and customized by any member." says Whitaker.
"We know that safety programs have been viewed as distractions to getting stuff done. When you can make things easier to manage, the negative view tends to change. This leads to better participation in the program and ultimately to a safer workplace."
GLTA members that wish to begin their free trial of Harness should contact:
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+1-716-226 0443
About Great Lakes Trenchless Association:
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Contact: Rachel Pinkus – Managing Director
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It's time once again for our weekly roundup of those links/vids/games/etc. that brightened up our day.
What do we have this week? Take it away Don Pardo!
Have You Ever Dreamed of Upgrading: A winsome and whimsical little animation about our favorite future murderous overlords: Robots.
The Grid Game: A seemingly random game in which you attempt to get the longest unbroken streak of changes. Deceptively complex, and hopelessly addictive
Family Guy – Take On Me: Chris has a strange and wonderful adventure
Grow – RPG: A great update on one of our favorite online timewasters.
Middle Finger Man: Finally, a man comes along to show us the indominable spirit and work ethic that has made this great nation proud!
So what were your favorites? Leave a comment or use our nifty rating system to weigh in on your favorite posts this week.!
While we're at it…what'd we leave out? Send us your Suggestions & Submissions! Seriously. We're dying over here.
See ya at 8 AM on Monday morning, and this time somebody bring some damn doughnuts.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }


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Undertoad Monday Oct 22 01:36 PM
October 22, 2007: Polar bear and the husky, version two
Nikolai Monday Oct 22 02:24 PM
Yes first for once, and doesnt the first picture look like the bear is learning to dance?
Clodfobble Monday Oct 22 03:35 PM
I think there must be something genetic about it... but to me, a brown bear would clearly be terrifying in person, while I cannot imagine a polar bear as being anything but cute. White == sweet and docile.
Spexxvet Monday Oct 22 03:44 PM
maximum Monday Oct 22 03:58 PM
Or maybe this guy who was attacked by one, as he slept in his tent (WARNING - graphic):
Sundae Monday Oct 22 04:02 PM
Awwwwwwwwww, lookit the pink bears!
Spectacle Monday Oct 22 04:09 PM
The pink, blood splattered, bears. Aww.
findpolitics Monday Oct 22 04:26 PM
They do still look cute, especially that one on the right with his tongue sticking out. awwww... hungry little bear.
glatt Monday Oct 22 05:06 PM
xoxoxoBruce Monday Oct 22 06:30 PM
CharlieG Monday Oct 22 08:22 PM
I have a friend who used to work on the North Slope - he says it's SOP that there is a LARGE rifle (he had a .458 if I remember right) in the truck, and a good pair of binoculars to look around BEFORE you got out of the truck
lumberjim Monday Oct 22 08:28 PM
BigV Monday Oct 22 08:38 PM
orthodoc Monday Oct 22 08:38 PM
An anthropologist friend who spent a lot of time in northern Canada told me that polar bears are the most dangerous of all bears; they are the only ones that will deliberately hunt human beings. They are afraid of nothing.
monster Monday Oct 22 08:52 PM
monster Monday Oct 22 08:53 PM
Slight Monday Oct 22 09:12 PMGodwin's law in record time. you lose :p
monster Monday Oct 22 09:41 PM
I thought it was rather slow myself, but thank you. i was quite pleased to squeeze in on the first page.
mrputter Monday Oct 22 09:49 PM
I dunno. It's possible you're not one of those people who gets creeped out by spiders.
I know I sure as $@*&#! am.
(and for good measure: eek!)
beauregaardhooligan Tuesday Oct 23 08:49 AM
Besides, she was right, that wacko *is* scary!
Rexmons Tuesday Oct 23 01:08 PM
i was at the Bronx Zoo about 3 weeks ago and there a big crowd watching a polar bear play with his toys in his pool and i remember over hearing one old lady say to her friend "they're actually very docile creatures". i didn't have the heart to say "you should ask a seal how docile they are."
Sarasvati48 Tuesday Oct 23 01:25 PM
Polar bears get huge. That one looks small relative to the dog. Maybe it is a juvenile anyway. Oh, and I didn't even click on that link about the <ugh> spider...glad you didn't post the pic...


text: Frederick Speck (b. 1955), Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the University of Louisville, conducts the Wind Symphony and New Music Ensemble, and teaches conducting and composition. Under his leadership, the Wind Symphony has been invited to perform at KMEA Conferences, CBDNA Southern Division Conferences, the CBDNA National Conference, the MENC National Conference and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Conference in Killarney, Ireland. His music has been performed by such ensembles as the Louisville Orchestra, the Denver Symphony and Speculum Musicae, and recorded by such artists as Richard Stoltzman. Twice the recipient of the University of Louisville President's Award for Outstanding Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity, his work has also been recognized through fellowships and commissions from such organizations as the Barlow Endowment, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Indiana Arts Commission, and the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts. He holds the B.M. and M.M. from Bowling Green State University and the D.M.A. from the University of Maryland. Dr. Speck is a member of The American Bandmasters Association.


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Real Time Travel
driving: 7 hours (distance: 400 kilometers) / flying: 50 minutes
|San José to Golfito
|6:00 am
|6:40 am
|Dec2015 - Apr2016
|San José to Golfito
|3:30 pm
|4:25 pm
|Dec2015 - Apr2016
|Golfito to San José
|6:50 am
|7:45 am
|Golfito to San José
|4:35 pm
|5:15 pm
|Dec2015 - Apr2016
Flight schedules subject to change.
nature vacations offers vacation packages to multiple locations, including Golfito. Packages range from 2 to 4 nights with round trip airfare departing from San Jose, Costa Rica.
a coastal town on the northeastern coast of Golfo Dulce, located at the foot of lush green mountains, Golfito was built in the 1930s as a banana port and run by the United Fruit Company through the 1908s.
today it is an important destination for sport and fly-fishing, eco-tourism and surfers bound for Pavones's infamous left-break. Golfito is also bordered on all sides by primary tropical forests conserved and protected with an abundance of flora and fauna, much of it protected by the Piedras Blancas National Park and the adjacent Golfito National Wildlife Refuge, an incredible place for bird watchers, and is one of the few places where jaguars still live. The Golfo Dulce is one of only three tropical fjords in the world, with waters reaching depths of 600 feet that attract humpback whales on their northern and southern migrations.
golfito is the administrative center and capital for the southern region. the town was founded by the United Fruit Company in 1938 and thrived for many decades, with elegant housing and "avenues" for its plantation managers. After United Fruit ceased their operations in 1985, the town slipped back into obscurity until it once again was founded in the 1990's by surfers, ecotourists, fishers and adventurers.Taxis and boats are the main source of transportation.view all airline flights in costa rica »
from golfito airport to golfito: 3,1kms, 6 minutes.
cheap flights in costa rica
travel deals for flights


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Career Pathways Academies Graduates!
Posted on April 17th, 2013 by Travis Corpening
  It's that time of year once again. It's graduation time!  This is the time when lives are altered and futures are changed. Tuesday April 16th at 11:00 A.M we held our Spring 2013 Career Pathways Academies Graduation.  Each of our graduations calls for bringing in partners from local businesses and industries for our students to network with. We […]
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Filed under: Uncategorized


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OSHA issues final rule for head protection
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has updated the American National Standards Institute's (ANSI's) consensus standard references within OSHA's construction regulation for head protection (29 CFR §1926.100).
OSHA's current regulation states hard hats used in construction must meet the specifications contained in two obsolete ANSI standards. The recently issued final rule says hard hats must comply with ANSI Z89.1-1997, ANSI Z89.1-2003 or ANSI Z89.1-2009 (formally titled ANSI/ISEA Z89.1-2009). Most hard hats available for sale to roofing contractors likely will be tested according to the 2009 ANSI/ISEA standard's new test protocols, which include provisions for certifying hard hats worn in the bill-forward or bill-backward position (often an issue on construction job sites). Hard hats meeting this specification are marked with this symbol: .
Hard hats meeting the 1997 or 2003 ANSI standards' test criteria will comply with the revised OSHA regulation. Hard hats compliant with earlier ANSI standards likely aren't available and will not comply with the OSHA standard when the final rule becomes effective Sept. 20.


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Durham 2nd set
These are not as strong n my eyes as the first set but I've been that busy with work I haven't really had time to get out and take some fresh shots.
The castle, framed by the trees, we actually went to Durham to visit the cstle but it was closed on this day…typical!
Cameras everywhere lol.
Me caught in the act ha.
Similar to one in my first post but they look more occupied in this one.


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A little gem of a discovery this one – this time we are right on the end of the network on Aylestone Road at the junction with Wigston Lane on the pedestrian island that is opposite the new Doctors Surgery (the site of the former Rutland Arms public house).
A huge thanks to Raj Kataria – Clerk of Works at Leicester City Council for identifying this one for us.
A great discovery for Track Watch 2013.


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Magnificent piece of land that can be divided into five separate plots, each one with electricity and water lines done. They are also prepared to start building right away.
A nice surrounding and clear views.
The piece of land is located in the Santa Clara Urbanization in Sierra de Altea, right next to the Altea la Vella village where you find all amenities. Here are banks and post office, supermarkets and bakeries, restaurants and bars. There is a direct bus line that goes to the town of Altea, which is five minutes away.
Altea has an old town with a special charm - they call it "La Villa Blanca" - and is reputed for its gastronomy. The many renowned restaurants and its quaint streets have attracted many people.
Altea also has its Palau - a cultural center and concert hall where you can enjoy a program of dance, theater and music.
Using the motorway, you reach the Alicante international airport "El Altet" in 45 minutes and the City of Valencia is 130km away.
Availability upon agreement. The information disclosed in this document has been communicated by a third party; it is merely informative and is supposed to be correct. We cannot guarantee that it is accurate or complete. This offer is subject to errors, omissions and change of price or withdrawal without notice. Taxes, notary and register fees must be paid the by purchaser, the commission will be paid by the seller as stipulated by Spanish regulations.


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There's a lot that I don't understand in this world, but over time I'm usually able to figure most things out and the rest I just find a way to live with. In tango, though, I've attempted for a year and a half to decipher that greatest question of all, that most puzzling of puzzles, that indecipherable code, that riddle known only to women. I'm talking, of course, about that wonderful mystery:
Why are women obsessed with tango shoes?!?
Well, I give up. I'm raising the white flag, I admit I have failed, I will never solve this conundrum, I'm not smarter than a 5th grader because I cannot figure it out.
Women are fascinated by not just their own tango shoes (and mine), but especially by other women's. I can't tell you how many times I've been sitting at a table with a female friend as a woman walks by. I'll look at the women's face to see if I know her and my female friend will look at the women's tango shoes (sometimes it's at her dress, but that's a different post for a different night).
I had a conversation with a friend recently at a milonga and it went something like this:
My friend: "Wow, you have really nice shoes, Mark!"
Me: "Uh, thanks?"
My friend: "Do they have a touch of purple in them?"
Me: "Umm, I don't think so--they're black."
My friend: "Do you have any other tango shoes?"
Me: "Yeah, I've got another black pair" (I'm proud to say I anticipated that she'd want to know the color, so I told her black in advance. I have no idea why the color would matter, but I was starting to sense it did)
My friend: "Were they made in Buenos Aires? "
Me: "Geez, I'm not really sure."
My friend ran out of shoe questions at this point. I'm not sure if I passed the exam. I think she was serious with those questions--she had a sincere expression like she really cared about the color of my other tango shoes. I'm very confused.
And now she's looking at me expectantly. I thought this part of the conversation was done, but now it seems like it's not closed. But why? There's a long pause and I sense that she's waiting for me to say something. But what? I feel like I'm trying to tango my way out of a huge pitch-black room that only has one small exit and I can't find my way out. Ok, think, think. She probably doesn't want to talk about the awesome news that the Patriots signed Randy Moss today. So, what else is there? She doesn't want me to ask her about her shoes, does she? No, I start laughing to myself--that can't be it. But I can't think of anything else, so I take a stab in the dark.
Me: "Umm, you have really nice shoes, too?"
My friend (her face lighting up): "Oh, no, these are really worn out...you think so?"
Me (getting the hang of it): "Do you get your shoes from Buenos Aires?"
My friend: "Mostly, every time I go there I go to the shoe district..."
She tells me more about shoe buying in Bs As, shoe color, fit, height, comfort etc. and this time it feels like we've found resolution. I have no idea what that resolution is, but, like I said, I've learned to live with things in life that I'll never understand.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Why Are Women Obsessed With Tango Shoes?
There's a lot that I don't understand in this world, but over time I'm usually able to figure most things out and the rest I just find a way to live with. In tango, though, I've attempted for a year and a half to decipher that greatest question of all, that most puzzling of puzzles, that indecipherable code, that riddle known only to women. I'm talking, of course, about that wonderful mystery:
4 comments:
- Sappho Kuzan said...
Mark, I'll give you the answer to your question, in male terms so that you will understand, after I take a poll with the ladies. You will be enlightened.
- March 7, 2008 at 9:06 AM
Thank you, Sappho, because I'm utterly lost in the tango forest on this question. My sister gave me her reason yesterday & I think I might actually be getting a clue. If you're going to give me the answer in male terms then I'm hoping you're going to use sports metaphors & you're not going to ask me to share my feelings.
- March 7, 2008 at 10:40 AM
- Dr. Tango said...
Because shoes are loyal and easier to change than men!
- March 9, 2008 at 11:52 AM
- Mark Andersen said...
Yes, Dr. Tango--I've gotten that feeling from some women I've talked to about this!
- March 9, 2008 at 5:29 PM


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- peachacid
- 5 years ago
- Wedding: June 2013
I wore the same goddamned thing to work every day the past two weeks. Black pants, some sort of sweater, scarf. I can do a jeans outfit, but I can't wear jeans to work, and you can't just wear the same thing with jeans as you can with black pants. I went through my sweater collection and I have like four or five cardigans…but they all look stupid. Buttoned or unbuttoned, they look dumb.
I can't wear skirts/dresses. I tried on a few outfits and posted them here, and everyone said they didn't work. I don't know what the next step is. Maybe I could wear a different top with the black pants? But what? I have a few long-sleeved shirts and a few "three-quarter length" shirts…but I would need another layer because it's still cold.
I've also been thinking a lot about how everyone is like, "You're crazy, everyone can just go to the tailor, it's easy, stop being crazy, it's so easy." Well, yes, it's easy if you've always had the confidence to know what looks good. It's easy to look at a piece of clothing in the store, put it on, look in the mirror, and think, "Oh, I'll just take it to the tailor, la di da," if you've already got the confidence to know that the tailor can make it look good. That's part of being confident that you'll eventually look good in the clothes, as long as they fit. For me, I know I won't look good in anything, no matter what the fit…so what's the point of taking it to a tailor? It takes a lot of confidence to be able to say, "Oh, it's not me, it's the clothes!" That seems so…far from what I could ever do.
I want to stop feeling completely destroyed when I think about what to wear. I feel like a huge failure for not knowing how to dress myself. I know people make fun of me. What do I do?


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Two days after being hit in a negative television ad about her suburban Washington D.C. condo, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) is the target of another ad by the same outside political action committee, this time over her claim that she votes against salary increases and donates the money to charity.
The Houston-based conservative Campaign for Primary Accountability started airing one ad on TV stations in the district Monday and launched its second ad Wednesday.
A lawyer representing Miss Kaptur sent a letter to television stations Wednesday calling the first ad "absolutely false" and for it to be pulled from the air.
Miss Kaptur is vying with Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D., Cleveland) and Cleveland entrepreneur Graham Veysey for the 9th Congressional District Democratic nomination. The newly remapped district stretches from Toledo to Cleveland and includes Lake Erie communities in Lucas, Ottawa, Erie, Lorain, and Cuyahoga counties. The election is Tuesday.
The two commercials say that Miss Kaptur voted in favor of a 2007, $4,400 cost-of-living pay raise and that she lives in a "fancy condo" in the Washington, D.C. area, contrary to claims she makes in her own TV commercial introducing herself to voters in Cuyahoga County.
"After 30 years in Congress, Marcy Kaptur says one thing, does another," the ad's narrator says.
The campaign notes that she often casts absentee voter ballots as proof that she frequently resides out of town.
A spokesman for Miss Kaptur said the ad was "absolutely false." The Kaptur campaign called the super-PAC "anti-labor and anti-Obama."
The ad shows Miss Kaptur's Alexandria, Va., house, which is valued at $488,732 and said she never misses the taxes on that dwelling, but that she has been late on her Lucas County property taxes nine times.
According to Curtis Ellis, spokesman for the Campaign for Primary Accountability, the ad cost $116,111.
Campaign for Primary Accountability is a super-PAC, a political action committee that is not affiliated with any candidate and can raise and spend as much money as it wants.
The CPA is supporting Mr. Kucinich: "We see Dennis as the more independent candidate," Mr. Ellis said.
The super-PAC has raised $1.8 million and is funded primarily by Texas business magnates.
Mr. Ellis said the PAC's main goal is to promote voter participation in the primaries because that's where the outcome is decided in districts that have been drawn to give one party an advantage. The 9th District is heavily Democratic making it unlikely or even impossible for a Republican to be elected, Mr. Ellis said.
"All of the speculation that we're playing some kind of double bank shot to set up a Republican win is poppycock," Mr. Ellis said.
Mr. Kucinich has denied any connection with the super-PAC.
On Wednesday, the third contestant for the Democratic nomination, Graham Veysey of Cleveland, held a news conference in front of Miss Kaptur's house to say that she, Mr. Kucinich, and the Campaign for Primary Accountability are all ignoring the main issue of the race — the $15 trillion debt, which, he said "will prevent many people from my generation from having their own home and living their American dream." Mr. Veysey is 29.
Mr. Veysey said both Mr. Kucinich and Miss Kaptur are "fear-mongering" over the impact any cuts will have on Social Security and Medicare benefits.
Miss Kaptur owns her house, two adjacent vacant parcels, an adjacent house, and a house a couple of blocks away.
Mark Austin, chief deputy treasurer for Lucas County, confirmed that Miss Kaptur had late tax filings. He said she filed late nine times from 2007 to 2010. Only one bill was more than 11 days late, and she paid a total of $295 in late penalties.
"Our office treated the Congresswoman exactly as we would any other Lucas County resident. She paid the same late fees as everyone else, she never asked for nor received any preferential treatment... ," Mr. Austin said.
Her house, a white, clapboard-sided bungalow on an unimproved street, has a gravel driveway and a two-car detached garage.
Kaptur spokesman Steve Fought said, "Marcy lives in the house where she grew up. She lives there with her brother, Steve. They inherited that house from their parents. She comes home every weekend and she's there when Congress is not in session. It's outrageous to say she doesn't live there."
The winner of the Democratic primary election next week will face the winner of the Republican primary election, either Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher of Springfield Township or Steven Kraus of Huron.
Mr. Wurzelbacher said Wednesday he doesn't approve of the negative ad.
"I'm not going to engage in it. Real leaders put their ideas and thoughts out there and run on their records," Mr. Wurzelbacher said.
Contact Tom Troy at email@example.com or 419-724-6058.
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text:
Meet Jennifer:
Jennifer has begun her journey to leading her life independently with help from SEEC! Subscribe to our YouTube channel to follow Jen on her path to independence.
SEEC Employment Services supports over 125 people every day in their journey to paid employment. The ultimate goal for everyone is work.
Celebrating 20 Years
"Imagine your life as a patchwork quilt.There would be a patch for family, a patch for different jobs you've had, a few patches for your friends, and a few for your hobbies and clubs. There would be patches for your home, and your favorite vacation spots."
Your quilt is a picture of your own personal American Dream. . .
Copyright ©2017
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text:
For their January issue, Dazed & Confused asked the youth of Britain to design a Dazed magazine cover based on a set of images Hedi Slimane photographed for the magazine. The issue came out last Thursday and the two black and white covers that were selected for the final copy (pictured after the jump) are very effective but, in my opinion, the image above (by 'Jamie') would have made a real statement and epitomised the revolutionary way of British youth today.
Tell us what you think on our Facebook wall!


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Mortgage Calculators
Interest Rates ///
Home Loan Programs /// Explained
Debt to Income Ratio / DTI Calculator - What are your mortgage Debt to Income Ratios?
- Calculate your Debt to income ratios or DTI used by mortgage lenders to determine your maximum loan amount. There are two main debt to income ratio forumlas; a) front-end DTI - which is your
housing expense / income and b) back-end DTI - which is housing + monthly liabilities
/ income.
The lower your debt to income ratio the better. The recommended debt to income
ratios are 28 / 36. Generally you do not want your back-end DTI to exceed 42% or
you will have difficulty qualifying for a loan. Use this debt to income ratio calculator to calculate your current
debt to income ratios just like mortgage lenders.
Learn more about debt to income ratios below.
Debt to Income Ratio Calculator Instructions
Step 1: Enter Gross Monthly Income
Step 2: Enter Minimum Monthly Liabilities
Step 3: Enter PITI Mortgage Payment / Rent Payment
Click "Calculate my Debt to Income Ratio"
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Debt to Income Ratio Definition
Debt to Income or DTI is defined as the total percentage of a consumers gross monthly
income that goes towards paying monthly consumer debt. Included in the debt calculation
are monthly rent or current PITI mortgage payments, car payments (both purchase
or lease payments), credit card payments, loan payments, legal liabilities such
as tax payments, child support, alimony and any other monthly payments that are
reported on a credit report.
Some items not calculated in your DTI ratios are insurance, groceries, utilities,
entertainment and generally any monthly expenses not reported on your consumer credit
Two Types of Debt to Income Ratios
There are two main DTI ratio calculations used by mortgage lenders for mortgage
qualifying. They are front-end debt to income ratio and back end debt to income
How Debt to Income Ratios Affect Mortgage Qualifying
Mortgage lenders use the debt to income ratio calculation to determine the maximum
loan amount a borrower can obtain and how much house they can afford. The primary reason the DTI ratio is used is to
insure a borrower in not over their head with payments and can truly afford the
home they are purchasing. Mortgage qualifying is based on gross monthly income versus
net income (after tax income) so mortgage lenders have recommended debt to income
ratios to take into consideration taxes and other living expenses and leave enough
net monthly income to put money aways in savings.
Historically, borrowers with high debt to income ratios eventually fall behind on
their mortgage payments and may end up losing their homes to foreclosure, conversely
the lower the debt to income the smaller the chance of falling behind on your mortgage.
This is the primary reason mortgage underwriting will use the DTI as a main factor
of qualifying for a mortgage is to limit minimize the chances of a borrower losing
a home to foreclosure.
Recommeded Debt to Income Ratios
Each type of mortgage loan program has specific guidelines and requirements for
debt to income ratios. Generally there is no mortgage lenders who will fund a mortgage
loan if your debt to income ratio is over 55% of your gross income.
The reason is simply because because a borrower will not have enough money to make
all payments at the end of each month once taxes are deducted. If your DTI is 55%
of your gross income and your taxes are another 35% of your gross income that only
leaves about 10% of your income to pay for food, clothing, utilities, gas etc.
Following are some of the recommened debt to income ratio guidelines for the most
common types of mortgage loan programs:
Under certain situations you maybe able to obtain a higher a mortgage with higher
debt to income ratio that 41% assuming you have compesating factors like; perfect
credit with high credit scores, lots of money in the bank in for form of reserves
or low loan to value ratios.
High Debt to Income Ratio Solutions
If you debt to income ratios are above 55% you should aggressively pay down you
monthly obiligations. If you are unable to paydown your monthly debt and own a home
and have a low loan to value, you maybe able to complete a cash-out refinance to
consolidate your debt. If you do not have equity, you may need to look into a debt
relief program.
Debt to Income Ratio Calculator Disclosure* - The information provided on or through
this site is for purposes of general consumer education only and is not intended
as a substitute for advice from a qualified professional, such as, but not limited
to, a lawyer, mortgage broker, accountant, investment advisor, insurance broker,
financial planner, real estate agent or home inspector. We can not and do not guarantee
the accuracy or the applicability of this information to your circumstances. We
encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding
all personal finance and real estate issues.


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Investing in Hawai'i
As a company that is locally managed and headquartered in Hawai'i, Island Energy believes in investing in the communities in which we live and work via strategic social investments and employee volunteer activities. Through our valued community partnerships, we build enduring and meaningful relationships with non-profit and business organizations that help enable a more prosperous future for Hawai'i. As a provider of quality products that serve Hawaii's energy needs, we are proud to contribute to the communities in which we operate. Because when communities succeed, we succeed.
Social Investments
Island Energy proudly partners with locally focused non-profit organizations to support community priorities. Through charitable giving and employee volunteerism, we are actively involved in serving the needs of the community and our neighbors. Our priorities are to improve the quality of life where Island Energy Services and its Texaco service stations operate and where our employees reside in the state of Hawai'i. Within these focus areas, Island Energy supports organizations that:
- Address significant or high-priority focus areas
- Have alignment with Island Energy's business goals and objectives
- Have a proven track record of success in serving their mission
Island Energy's social investments are focused on non-profit organizations that serve Hawai'i's needs in the following thematic areas:
- Health and Human Services
- Education
- Youth Activities


text:
Thank you, Mr. President, I had forgotten how crushingly dull these ceremonies are. Thank you.
My best to the choir. I have to say, that song never grows old for me. Whenever I hear that song, it reminds me of nothing.
I am honored to be here, I do have a confession to make before we get going that I should explain very quickly. When I am not on television, this is actually how I dress. I apologize, but there's something very freeing about it. I congratulate the students for being able to walk even a half a mile in this non-breathable fabric in the Williamsburg heat. I am sure the environment that now exists under your robes, are the same conditions that primordial life began on this earth.
I am honored to be here and to receive this honorary doctorate. When I think back to the people that have been in this position before me from Benjamin Franklin to Queen Noor of Jordan, I can't help but wonder what has happened to this place. Seriously, it saddens me. As a person, I am honored to get it; as an alumnus, I have to say I believe we can do better. And I believe we should. But it has always been a dream of mine to receive a doctorate and to know that today, without putting in any effort, I will. It's incredibly gratifying. Thank you. That's very nice of you, I appreciate it.
I'm sure my fellow doctoral graduates-who have spent so long toiling in academia, sinking into debt, sacrificing God knows how many years of what, in truth, is a piece of parchment that has been so devalued by our instant gratification culture as to have been rendered meaningless-will join in congratulating me. Thank you.
But today isn't about how my presence here devalues this fine institution. It is about you, the graduates. I'm honored to be here to congratulate you today. Today is the day you enter into the real world, and I should give you a few pointers on what it is. It's actually not that different from the environment here. The biggest difference is you will now be paying for things, and the real world is not surrounded by three-foot brick wall. And the real world is not a restoration. If you see people in the real world making bricks out of straw and water, those people are not colonial re-enactors-they are poor. Help them. And in the real world, there is not as much candle-lighting. I don't really know what it is about this campus and candle-lighting, but I wish it would stop. We only have so much wax, people.
Let's talk about the real world for a moment. We had been discussing it earlier, and I...I wanted to bring this up to you earlier about the real world, and this is I guess as good a time as any. I don't really know to put this, so I'll be blunt. We broke it.
Please don't be mad. I know we were supposed to bequeath to the next generation a world better than the one we were handed. So, sorry.
I don't know if you've been following the news lately, but it just kinda got away from us. Somewhere between the gold rush of easy internet profits and an arrogant sense of endless empire, we heard kind of a pinging noise, and uh, then the damn thing just died on us. So I apologize.
But here's the good news. You fix this thing, you're the next greatest generation, people. You do this-and I believe you can-you win this war on terror, and Tom Brokaw's kissing your ass from here to Tikrit, let me tell ya. And even if you don't, you're not gonna have much trouble surpassing my generation. If you end up getting your picture taken next to a naked guy pile of enemy prisoners and don't give the thumbs up, you outdid us.
We declared war on terror. After we defeat it, I'm sure we'll take on that bastard ennui.
But obviously that's the world. What about your lives? What piece of wisdom can I impart to you about my journey that will somehow ease your transition from college back to your parents' basement?
So I thought I'd talk a little bit about my experience here at William and Mary. It was very long ago, and if you had been to William and Mary while I was here and found out that I would be the commencement speaker 20 years later, you would be somewhat surprised, and probably somewhat angry. I came to William and Mary because as a Jewish person I wanted to explore the rich tapestry of Judaica that is Southern Virginia. Imagine my surprise when I realized "The Tribe" was not what I thought it meant.
In 1980 I was 17 years old. When I moved to Williamsburg, my hall was in the basement of Yates, which combined the cheerfulness of a bomb shelter with the prison-like comfort of the group shower. As a freshman I was quite a catch. Less than five feet tall, yet my head is the same size it is now. Didn't even really look like a head, it looked more like a container for a head. I looked like a Peanuts character. Peanuts character [with] terrible acne. But what I lacked in looks I made up for with a repugnant personality.


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Hello everyone, man, I have to tell you May is off to a great start for many of our viewers! I've been excited to open email and to log on to Facebook this week to be greeted by quite a few amazing photos submitted by our viewers. Now I'm just hoping that I can get out there and get in on some of the action myself! This fits right in with our recent posts on how good of a year it should be at Panguitch Lake and the recent success at Navajo Lake!
So enough with my rambling on, check out these photos recently submitted by viewers!
Ryan Dastrup bagged this beautiful tom this weekend, in fact on Mother's Day. Helped by hunting partner Spenser Owens, they called this tom in and brought him down. In Ryan's own words, "I didn't screw up this morning!". Great job bud, what a great bird!
Turkey hunting can be very tough, but success has been high this year. I don't know if anyone has made it look easier than Zach Owens did, however. Zach tells us that this bird gobbled right outside of their camp while they were cooking dinner, and he was able to slip out and call the tom right in! What a great bird, and it doesn't get any better than having the family there to be a part of it!
The Owen's boys have had a good deal of success this year! Check out these brown trout that Zach and his family got into a couple of weeks ago!
We aren't through with that Owens success yet! Check out this set of sheds that Zach shares for us, found by his brother Spenser Owens. What a set!
Now back to fishing! Toby Gutierrez tells us that Wide Hollow fishing is still great this spring! Check out this nice catch that just took a few hours!
Zachary Christensen also sends us a couple of photos of beautiful fish caught recently in a southern Utah stream by he and his girlfriend. Man, a girl that catches fish like that has got to be a keeper bud!
Finally, we will end things with sheds. As we do so, for those that are anxious we are nearly finished judging those photos submitted in our shed photo contest. Hang in there, we should have an announcement soon!
One look at this picture makes me wonder how did this bull end up in this situation? I sure would have liked to see him when he was still packing, lucky for him he was able to drop the tangled mess of wire with his antlers!


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Wednesday, June 24, 2015
The Daily Done: June 22
I used a thrift store skirt which I was not totally in love with, just in case I ruined it. I cut a bat shape out of scrap fabric and ironed it on with fusible web.
It worked well, so I started on a couple more projects which I'll show when finished.
Bat applique... Done!
26 comments:
SQUEE! A batty ... er ... poodle ... skirt! And don't forget, Michael's will have Halloween appliques starting at the end of July/beginning of August. I bought a bunch a few years back with the goal of spookifying my blazers, shirts, skirts, etc.ReplyDeleteReplies
I adore 50's style poodle skirts, and I've been wanting to do one with a bat. :) Good point about Michael's!Delete
LOVE the skirt!ReplyDelete
LOVE THIS!!!!!ReplyDelete
oooh love thisReplyDelete
You just made that skirt a zillion times better! Can't wait to see your next items:)ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks! I hope to get a couple of them finished and posted this weekend.Delete
A good way to save a skirt! And a meta bat - a bat with bats on it... ^^ReplyDeleteReplies
Ha ha... meta bat! What could be better than a bat? Why, a meta bat, of course! :DDelete
It is lovely!! And as Franny says, reminds of a poodle skirtReplyDelete
I love this so much! Can never have too many bats either!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you! Indeed, never too many bats. :DDelete
Put a bat on it! Spruce it up, make it pretty!ReplyDelete
I'm like you, I am addicted to putting bats on things I am not overly fond of...
It makes an ok skirt, into a fan-freaking-tastic one =DReplies
Adding bats is an effective way to improve just about anything. :DDelete
That is super cute! A matching black cardi with bat appliqués would look good with it. :)ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks! Indeed it would. And I do love black cardigans! :DDelete
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
I've thought about doing this with pillows at my house - get a basic throw pillow sham and then use appliques to turn it into a bat pillow sham. Do you have to finish the edges with anything like ribbon or some other notion, or are raw edges okay?ReplyDelete


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This Beautiful Professionally Renovated home in AAA Ladue School district.
Main level has 1308 sq ft of living space, 200 sq ft Add on Master Suite make this home larger then the 1108 model.
Master Bedroom has new full bath, walk-in closet, double french-door, can easily be convert to a Family Room.
Spacious Living Room. Separate dining opens to a Brand NEW kitchen, Granite countertop, Ceramic floor, New Stainless appliances includes Fridge, New vertical blinds throughout make this home ready for move in.
Extras: New Roof, Gutters/downspout, New Electrical Panel/Service, New Plumbing Stack, Sumpump. New Concrete in carport, New Windows, Refinished Hardwood floors. New Laminate floors in Family room/Master Bedroom. 2 New bathroom, New Vanity, New Light fixtures. BRIGHT finished LL built-in bookcase w/ New Laminate floor, Bonus room for extra storage.
This lovely home in conveniently located in Olivette by Hwy I-170, I-64/40, close to Clayton, Galleria, Washington University.
Listings displaying the MARIS logo are courtesy of the participants of Mid America Regional Information Systems Internet Data Exchange. IDX information is provided exclusively for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.
Copyright © 2018 Mid America Regional Information Systems.


text: Hi folks. I have a couple of newbie questions, I hope you don't mind. It's my first post. Suppose Google deindexes a website for using black-hat techniques. Does this have an effect on other websites sharing the same IP? Is it good practice to have your black-hat and white-hat sites on separate hosting accounts? Is there any benefit (in terms of SEO) to having your website hosted on a dedicated IP? Thanks for the help!


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This Pebble Loop design is a variation of Pebbled Paisley. This time instead of pebbling the first step of the design, you instead fill the second loop. Check out the slightly different texture even such a small change can make:
Today I'm busy preparing for the Asheville Quilt Show. Josh and I will be heading up on Thursday to set up our booth. I'm so excited about vending this show for the first time!
I decided last night that we really needed a banner for our booth and quickly designed a banner using my logo as inspiration:
I'm only halfway done with the top, but I'm using a combination of fusing and applique to speed the project along. It's projects like this that remind me exactly why I need boxes of freezer paper, wonder under, and glue on had at all times. You never know when you're going to use all three at once!
So while I run off to cut out the sun portion of this banner, you sit back and enjoy learning how to stitch Pebble Loop:
Inspiration - I've been following my "what if" thoughts lately and when looking at Pebbled Paisley I asked myself "What if another area of the design was filled with pebbles?" That's really all it takes to create a new design!
Difficulty Level - Advanced. There is a lot of careful traveling, thread buildup, and detail stitching with this design. If you struggle with it, try stitching Pebbled Paisley first as that is the easier design of the two.
Design Family - Pivoting. I absolutely love these Paisley types of designs because they're such universal designs. They will work in every area of your quilt and look great stitched on any scale.
Directional Texture - All directions. This design has a combination of two things that make it very eye-catching: movement and thread buildup.
The thread, especially in the pebbled areas, builds up and makes the design stand out better. The more it stands out and contrasts, the more your eye perceives the movement and texture of the design!
Suggestions for Use - This is a great design for the areas you really want to show off on. For some reason I keep thinking this would have been a great design to use on The Duchess. It's just the right combination of elegance and texture that would have really set off the wholecloth motifs.
Back of Pebble Loop
and send in a picture to show it off!
Click here to support the project by visiting our online quilt shop.
Click here to support the project by visiting our online quilt shop.
Let's go Quilt!
Leah Day


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Kris Jenner Gets New Breast Implants
September 13, 2012 in Celebrity Plastic Surgery by Jet H. Ross | Leave a Comment
Kris Jenner just got a new set of breast implants and she's not shy about showing them off.
On a recent episode the brains behind the Kardashian brand underwent a second breast augmentation. And then invited her family over to check out her new purchase.
"Please look at my t**s!" she said as a grossed out Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kendall, Rob, Bruce and Scott Disick looked on as she unzipped her sweatshirt.
"Where's Joe Francis when you need him?" Scott joked, while Khloe called them "Frankenstein boobs" in a voiceover.
Needless to say, the family was slightly less than enthralled with having to look at Kris' new girls.
From all recent appearances, Kris' breast augmentation was well-done, as her breasts are high and firm-looking but may be slightly smaller than her previous implant size, which gives a slightly more natural appearance.
Plastic surgery is nothing new to the Kardashian/Jenner household. Both Kris and her husband Bruce have had facelifts in the past (See Make Me Heal's story on Kris Jenner's facelift). Kris has also probably had lip augmentation and gets regular injections of Botox and fillers like Juvederm.
Kris is always up to something on the family reality TV show and it quite frequently seems to be plastic surgery.
Read the complete celebrity plastic surgery profile of Kris Jenner on Plasticopedia, the largest celebrity plastic surgery encyclopedia.
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Tags: botox, breast implants, facelift, juvederm, Kris Jenner, lip augmentation, plastic surgery


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SoCal's Beyond Wonderland festival found its new home last Saturday at the San Manuel Amphitheater and Grounds. The grassy landscape was a tremendous upgrade from the old asphalt and concrete of the NOS Events Center – not only was it much easier on the knees, but it completely changed the vibe of the event as well. Furthermore, the loads of decorations blended very well with the new surroundings, making it feel more like a real Wonderland than ever before. There was initial uncertainty clouding the decision to switch venues, but surely everyone who came can attest that the grass was indeed greener on the other side.
Insomniac put some real thought into mapping out the brilliant semi-circle layout for Beyond Wonderland. The first thing we noticed was the free parking and how quick it was to get through the front gates and security. Next, as I walked through the East side gates, I thought it was smart of them to place the Chess Village bass stage near the entrance to help seed it. The production for this stage was surprisingly high with a massive lightning array and even flamethrowers! The drum & bass lineup was stacked and we witnessed some fierce sets by Matrix & Futurebound, Fred V & Grafix, Culture Shock, and Camo & Krooked as a spectacular fireworks show lit up the sky.
The next stage of the grounds was an enormously wide field that kicked off with today's rising big room producers including Julian Jordan, Rebecca & Fiona (pictured), W&W, Arty, and R3hab. These young bloods all had incredible energy on stage and served up plenty of rocking bangers to the masses. Closing the night here were the Dutch titans Dash Berlin and Afrojack, both of which drew tremendous love from the crowd, with the trance star giving out loads of light sticks to light up the area.
More fresh talent was found on the way to the Queen's Domain mainstage at the Discovery Project art car. We heard plenty of trap DJs throwing down here and its positioning on the map helped it grow quite an impressive audience. The mainstage definitely scored highest on production with three enormous screens and fully stacked laser batteries. Markus Schulz showed no mercy here and tore it up with massive unicorn slayers like Apache by Fisherman & Hawkins. Later, Chuckie brought out the sound of the dirty dutch, sending everyone off their feet with his hit Make Some Noise. Later, David Guetta came on and opened with some of his popular anthems like Titanium before getting into 303-injected electro bangers. Finally, Steve Angello finished off the night and drew lots of praise from all the die-hard Swedish House Mafia fans that came out.
Deep house has definitely been trending upward over the last year and its fan base in LA is growing. This was especially clear at a Cheshire Woods tent that was stacked with plenty of today's most talented deep house DJs. When we got there we were served up some smooth grooves by the excellent up-and-comer Subb-an. Next, we enjoyed the sounds of Damian Lazarus and Maya Jane Coles, both of which had excellent selections that really filled the tent. Later, Art Department delivered a trippy set, which worked really well with the in-room decorations and lighting. Ending our night here, Maceo Plex's mix was absolutely powerful; his distinct sound delivered incredible basslines and cutting edge techno. He's an exceptionally memorable artist and was even moved up a time slot for the event, perhaps due to his outstanding show the night before at Exchange LA.


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Although our pricing model is simple, it maybe confusing to some of you at first. This is because we are so used to seeing the traditional SaaS pricing plans that we don't even think about better alternatives. Before I explain our pricing model, let's see what a traditional SaaS pricing model looks like.
Traditional SaaS pricing model is usually designed as a matrix of features and levels of plan with progressively higher price. For example, let's see the pricing page of Github, a popular version control system built on top of Git as SaaS. What do you think of the plans? There are 7 different plans differing along 3 attributes- number of projects, amount of disk space, and of course, number of users ("collaborators" as they call them). Here comes the difficulty in choosing what plan is the right plan for me. Hmmm... I have 4 projects and probably will not have more than 5 any time soon. I guess "micro plan" should be good enough for now. Right? Wrong. It would not work because it only allows 1 user and I currently have 12 users. I actually need to get the "large plan." But wait a minute, then I would be overpaying since it is for 25 users and 50 projects. Until I get to that point, which may never happen, I have to bear the pain of overpayment. If you are not confused (and probably a little unhappy since you have to overpay) already, try to determine how much disk-space you would need. The large plan comes with 6 GB disk space. Pretty good, right? What if you start to hit the disk space cap before you ever use up your number of users and projects quota? Man that would add to our pain even more.
Don't get us wrong. Github is a great service. We would have used it if we were not in a pickle to select the right plan for us...:-) Github is not the only one with this problem. This is the case with all SaaS offerings.
Enter our world. ScrumPad is priced as per user per day basis. That is it. So, there is just one data to deal with for you to make the decision. If you think the price per user per day (which is equivalent of $21/month/user) is reasonable for you, you sign up. You never have to worry about disk space, number of projects, bandwidth (data transfer) etc. etc. Now consider our "auto discount" policy. We apply appropriate discounts to your invoices every month based on your average number of users in the month. You don't have to even ask ahead of time. You can now sleep well at night knowing that you are always paying for the exact number of users you currently have. Your number of users can grow and shrink on projects. You do not have to upgrade to add more users, and downgrade when you don't need them. With traditional SaaS pricing, you could end up paying more just because you forgot to downgrade.
Additionally, we put ourselves on the line by invoicing you at the end of the month (unlike everybody else). Not only that, we do not automatically charge your credit card (in fact, we do not even take your credit card information. That is handled by Amazon). Instead, we ask you to explicitly pay us every month. If you are not happy with our service in any month, we allow you to ask for waiver. This is because we want you to use it every day. We want you to actively help us shape our service that you love to use everyday. Not just pay and forget about it. We want you to pay us for the right reason, not because you prepaid us.
Finally, we plan to continue to bring to you more and more value added features at the same price.
We would love to hear from you what you think about our pricing model and policy.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Simple Pricing of ScrumPad Explained
Posted by Code71 Team at 4:00 PM
Labels: SaaS pricing
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Striking air traffic controllers may be handing airlines an unexpected "gift" -- lower fuel bills. with flight schedules reduced by 25 percent, the US is swimming in jet fuel. Before the strike, airlines guzzled 4 million gallons of fuel a day. As of Aug. 7 -- the fifth day of the strike -- 1.5 billionm gallons of fuel were sitting in refineries or gushing through pipelines -- not counting fuel already stored in airline or jobber storage tanks.
According to the US Department of Energy, daily consumption is off by 14 percent. The result: brimming tanks and, more than likely, falling fuel prices.m


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The Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation today announced the launch of a competition, in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), designed to identify, develop, and support innovative programs that address the needs of immigrant entrepreneurs in New York City. The competition is one of a series of initiatives announced earlier today by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg that focus on the City's immigrant population and are specifically intended to build business capacity, promote innovation, and link businesses with customers.
The juried competition will invite community-based organizations, immigrant advocacy groups, and other nonprofits to submit a plan that addresses one or more of a range of unique challenges immigrant entrepreneurs face that can impede business development, such as language barriers and access to credit or business consultation services. Participants will submit proposals through a Request for Proposals process which will commence in early summer 2011. Five finalists will be provided with a seed grant of up to $25,000 to pilot their business plans. The winner of the overall competition will receive a grant of up to $100,000 to continue and expand its program.
Immigrants now comprise more than one-third of New York City's population and nearly half of the labor force. "The opportunities for immigrant entrepreneurs continue to grow, but so do the challenges as well," said Gary Hattem, President of the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation. "Our partnership with the Economic Development Corporation, as part of the Mayor's broad initiatives, intends to address the business needs of this talented and vital population, employing a competition framework to recognize best-in-class business support programs."
"The Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation seeks to leverage investment banking's best practices and apply them to the public-private partnership model, particularly to identify talent and top-shelf companies that show promise in their respective industries," said Seth Waugh, CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas. "As a foreign-identified firm in a truly global city, we are sympathetic to the needs of newcomers who wish to prosper and thrive in New York City, and Deutsche Bank intends to bring its expertise as a global financial institution to this partnership."
"Immigrant entrepreneurs are essential to the future success of New York City's economy," said New York City Economic Development Corporation President Seth W. Pinsky. "By launching these new and innovative initiatives, the City is building upon its commitment to support these important communities. Each initiative will help to expand opportunities and promote growth for immigrant businesses across the City."
The Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation's partnership with the NYCEDC builds on its longstanding work supporting immigrant communities in New York City. The Foundation has provided $2.6 million over four years to a range of organizations working to benefit the educational achievement of immigrant students in New York City. It also developed a mentorship program for immigrant artists in partnership with New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), which paired foreign-born artists with NYFA Fellows.
Please visit: NYCEDC


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Hackers don't discriminate; everyone with a website, computer, email and an EFTPOS terminal is a target. Learn how a cyber attack could affect your business.
It seems everywhere you turn these days there is talk about cyber-crime, and with good reason. Technology is an integral part of the day to day running of a business and hackers are taking advantage of that. In the "Wannacry" attack just having a computer with out-of-date Windows software made a business a target; using holes in the software, hackers infiltrated computers, took control of user files and demanded money in exchange for their release.
Perhaps, as a small business in little old New Zealand it's easy to brush off incidents like this with the justification that you're too small to warrant an attack or your digital exposure isn't significant enough. The reality is hackers don't discriminate; everyone with a website, computer, email and an EFTPOS terminal is a target.
How do they do it?
Some Hackers take advantage of vulnerabilities in systems (like the Wannacry attack) while others rely on a lapse in concentration from an owner or employee. They may send an email with a CV attachment on it or a supplier invoice – it looks legit but when it's clicked on, it spreads a virus. Regardless of the method all Hackers are in it for the same reason, quick and substantial cash.
What's the impact on my business?
Certainly being locked out of your computer, unable to access your files or your website being down for a couple of days are quite disruptive to business; however it's the long term impact that can have serious implications. The cost to recover data, restoring trust with suppliers and customers who have had financial information stolen are just a couple of examples.
Our cyber expert Mark Jones, Head of Financial and Professional Risks has devised a list to help you think about your cyber weak spots and the impact on your business;
- Without access to your operating system, could you control stock inventory?
- If your EFTPOS terminals connect to your operating system, then they are vulnerable to attack. Criminals can target point of sale devices to covertly collect credit cards details for which you can be liable.
- If a breach on your network got into the press, how would you rebuild customer confidence?
- If you do hold client/customer data (even non-financial data), you are responsible for its security and potentially liable should it be stolen or accidentally disclosed.
- Have you trained your employees to validate payments to any suppliers or service providers who either have not been paid before or have changed their bank account details?
- Could you be exposed to Payment Credit Card Industry fines through a cyber breach?
Dealing with the aftermath
Network security must be your first line of defence but if it should be breached where does your business stand? Do you have a plan of how you would respond to a serious event?
Cyber insurance gives you access to experts to identify, treat and repair the problem. These include forensic experts and IT consultants who will investigate the breach to your network and help to restore access to your data as well as lawyers to manage your legal exposure. Revenue lost as a result of a cyber event can be recovered under the Business Interruption section of the policy. If you face litigation a Cyber policy will also fund defence costs.
Cyber insurance provides cover for:
Your Own Loss – the costs incurred directly by the insured
- Forensic costs to ascertain the extent of the event
- Costs to repair networks/data damaged by an event
- Business interruption as a result of an event
- Public Relations costs to minimise reputational damage
- Notification costs to advise customers/clients of a breach of privacy
- Extortion costs incurred in the threat of an event or a ransomware assault
3rd Party Loss – the costs that you, as the insured, become liable for
- Claims for compensation from customers or other third parties such as banks or suppliers, following an insured Cyber event
- Cost of investigations instigated by privacy regulators
- Privacy reparations and penalties resulting from an event
- Associated legal defence costs
To learn more visit: www.crombielockwood.co.nz/cyber-insurance, Click here to read our e-brochure, or email firstname.lastname@example.com
Important Information The information on this website is only intended to provide a general summary or introduction to a product, offering or service. Any decision to purchase this product should be based on specific advice for your business or personal needs. For further information on this product, offering or service please speak to your broker.


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Many senior staffers at the Department of Education hit the road last week as part of Secretary Arne Duncan's back-to-school bus tour. On Thursday, ED's chief of staff Joanne Weiss, visited Brown Street Academy, a designated Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was lucky enough to accompany Weiss and several members of the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships on a tour of this facility. Later we met with educational stakeholders who are deeply invested in Brown Street's success.
Walking into the school quickly took me back to my own elementary schools days some 35 years ago. Bright sunshine streamed in through the tall windows as the sound of our shoes echoed on the polished wood floors. I peeked in through open classroom doors to see butterflies on bulletin boards, desks in neat rows, and students peeking back out at me. I began to wonder, "What is so special about this school?"
At the conclusion of the tour, we were led to a room where fifteen individuals were eagerly waiting to share the ways they are engaged in improving reading proficiency at Brown Street Academy. Representatives from non-profit and business groups, parent organizations, teachers and others described their contributions to the i3 Milwaukee Community Literacy Project–now located in seven elementary schools. Students identified as struggling readers are assigned to an AmeriCorps tutor. The tutor is trained by and works closely with the site teacher and University of Milwaukee facilitators. Parent liaisons open up and maintain the lines of communications with parents. Business partners and non-profits augment grants with additional funds to keep everything running smoothly.
Weiss seemed impressed by combined efforts and commented, "I challenge you to continue to promote community connections…and scale up and share what you're doing with other communities."
Yes, community partners such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee and Milwaukee Public Schools are working together to increase reading proficiency, but they are also promoting a sense of ownership in the process. As Tom Devine, Executive Director of Wisconsin AmeriCorps said, "We are interested in the test scores but we are also really interested to see if these kids volunteer at a later date. When we see neighbors helping neighbors, that's a success story."
View the original article here