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Message Board
Welcome to the Message Board. Here you can post messages for others to read and respond to. You can chat about your rounds, local course conditions, current golf events, or just about anything. Post a message now or click on the subject of a message to post a reply. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed to get updates whenever a new message is posted.
|Mississippi dream course
|outliar at 12/24/11 12:28am
|Let's start a "movement".....send to your course!!
Home of the 4 Hour Round
...Slow Golfers Need Not Apply
*Slow golf is the #1 complaint in the golf business*
~Golf Digest
Since Wedgewood has opened in 1990, our course policy has always been that golfers are required to play their round at a pace that has them finishing in, at the most, 4 hours and 10 minutes. For 2012 this is going to be one our top priorities! Now for everyone that knows golf and practices proper (required) etiquette this is WONDERFUL news. This is not such wonderful news for inconsiderate golfers that show no courtesy to other paying golfers and take up most of their day and everyone else on the golf course's en! tire day. If you took over 4 hours to play in Scotland-and that's without the aid of a cart-well lets just say it wouldn't happen!
Here's how it works:
Golfers are required to make the turn in no more than 2 hours and 5 minutes after they tee off. If the golfer starts to fall behind they will be given ONE warning, if they do not catch up to an adequate pace they will be asked to skip a hole. If the problem continues to exist then the golfer will be asked to remove themselves from the course with no refund (since afterall the golfer will be made aware on the front end this is a policy and requirement to play here). The same will apply for the back nine.
If the situation arrives in which a group is not able to make proper timing because of a problematic group that "WAS" in front of them, Golf Shop management will be aware of this and considerate of these circumstan! ces.
How are we going to accomplish thi! s?:
Every WEEKEND, Golf Shop Management and Rangers will work closely together to make sure we are aware of everything possible on the golf course. We will know who has teed off and at what time and at what pace each group is moving. In order to help our golfers achieve this rate of play we will keep the course in quality shape, keeping the rough at a reasonable height, sand traps in best shape possible and be overall player friendly with quality conditions.
Please keep in mind that we are doing this for no other reason than to ENHANCE everyone's experience on our courses. For golfers that are a little slower, unexperienced, or just learning the game we reccommend that you come out during the week when we are not as busy and gain knowledge about etiquette and the overall game. This will only make you further appreciate and enjoy the game!
|Carolina Trail Deal
|Stevenr6 at 12/23/11 8:25pm
|I also bought the 7 round deal. The only thing I had an issue with was when it was first advertised they said it included 2 $10 Edwin Watts gift cards. That was not correct. They include 2 $10 off when you spend $50 or more. That's not a gift card to me..... Other than that it's a pretty good deal.
|Gift of Golf
|Greg Pounder at 12/21/11 2:34pm
|Just bought the Carolina Trail's Gift of Golf. 7 rounds of golf for $139. You can play one round at each of their 7 locations. The only restriction is Saturday and Sunday mornings. I had read somewhere on this sight about getting burned by Olde Sycamore so I wanted to post a deal that doesn't seem like a scam. Anyone else purchase this?
|Re: Olde Sycamore: golf or used car sales?
|Matt at 12/20/11 10:03pm
|Thanks for the heads up. I was considering purchasing what seemed like a good deal. I should have known Olde Sycamore might have pulled something like this. Thanks again Outlier. It's absolutely ridiculous that a lesson is only five to ten minutes. And of course they don't tell you how much the cart fee is on the coupon. Complete BS. You can't trust a lot of people these days. How sad.
|Olde Sycamore: golf or used car sales?
|outliar at 12/20/11 2:55pm
|I don't like "cons" and therefore want to call these guys out!
Advertisement says "$185 for 10 rounds, 10 range tokens and 10 lessons....a value of over $1800 bucks!"
BS- Add $230 more dollars to play (mandatory cart fee); the "lesson" is 5-10 minutes. What you end of getting is 10 rounds + a small bucket of range balls for $41.50 + tax.
|Christmas Day
|anonymous at 12/20/11 11:21am
|Does anyone know of course(s) open on Christmas Day?
|Re: Charlotte National Range Balls
|The B-Man at 12/6/11 10:57am
|Just got an email from Emerald Lake with new rates on range balls:
- 1 token is now just $4 or get three tokens for $10
Also, an update on their winter rates:
Regular golf rates including cart:
$35 Monday-Friday or $29 after 12:00
$42 Saturday, Sunday and Holidays or $30 after 12:00
$29 for Seniors 55+ Anytime Monday-Friday
I played there last week and the greens were in very good shape.
|Re: Re: Charlotte National Range Balls
|izzyf150 at 12/2/11 10:07pm
|Well it sounds like Charlotte National is still a better deal than Emerald Lake. It just upsets me to see a good thing disappear like that. I dont know why they had to do that anyway. If you ever seen Charlotte Nationals range balls, 75 percent of them are old balls out of peoples bags anyway. Its not like they spent a lot of money on these balls (they were free). They only sent I guy out to get more balls when their box inside started getting low and it takes him a whole 30 minutes maybe to get enough balls to fill the box back up.
|Re: Charlotte National Range Balls
|HateSlowPlay at 12/2/11 2:25pm
|Emerald Lake GC takes the cake when it comes to bad range deals.
They charge $6 for a token which literally only gets you 15-20 balls (if it's more than that it certainly doesn't feel like it). Half of which don't have dimples.
|Charlotte National Range Balls
|izzyf150 at 12/2/11 1:34pm
|BAD NEWS! Charlotte National has decreased the size of the range ball bags. Theyre range balls our now no better of a deal then what any other golf course offers. I have on occasion went out to Charlotte National to hit balls even when I planned on golfing at another course (once in a blue moon but still) just because I knew I would get a better deal. I guess I can just purchase range balls at the course that I will be playing at from now on. Charlotte National you disappoint me!
|Re: Thanksgiving golf
|Ty Donahue at 11/23/11 8:00pm
|I know Fox Den will be open from sunrise to 4PM. If you want a track that will test every stick in your bag at a decent price, tee it up!
|Thanksgiving golf
|HateSlowPlay at 11/21/11 11:22am
|Does anyone know which courses are open for early rounds on Thanksgiving, and what time they close normally?
|Re: Dress Code Stuff
|Jova007200 at 11/10/11 6:33pm
|Rocky river does? I never realized that... I play there somewhat often.
|Re: Dress Code Stuff
|golfguy33 at 11/8/11 12:02pm
|Rocky River allows denim, but you have to have a collared shirt. Good golf course with good service and friendly staff.
|Pine Lake Country Club
|JonM at 11/1/11 7:17pm
|Anyone looking for a full country club with a fantastic golf course should check out Pine Lake in Mint Hill. The are running a no initiation fee membership with $100 off the monthly dues for the first year ($250 instead of $350).
I joined here about 1.5 years ago and I absolutely love it. Great, well maintained golf course and practice facility, awesome, welcoming members, 6 clay tennis courts and giant pool.
Can't tell you how nice it is to always be able to get on when I want and not have to do the rate chase online.
Its a great family club and I highly recommend it.
|Orlando Golf Deals
|Tom P at 10/25/11 7:42pm
|On a recent trip to Orlando we cam across a company called Tee It Up, they were able to get us on great courses at a huge savings. Their number is 407 493-7021.
|A Ryder Cup Tournament
|Eddie Keen at 10/25/11 8:50am
|Hi my names Eddie Keen and I live in Liverpool England and I am trying to organise a trip to the U S to play golf. The idea would be for 16 of us Brits to travel over on holiday. We would then play a tournament against an Amnerican team whist there. If anybody would be interested in helping me organise this please get in touch.
Eddie Keen
|Ballantyne Resort
|Jamie at 10/21/11 7:33am
|Played Ballantyne Resport on Sunday the 16th at 2:30. Course was in great shape, but greens were the hardest and fastest I can ever remember seeing. In good condition, just would not hold anything. Only real gripe was price, $80.....and this was at 2:30. Have not played there in about three years, and it will likely be another three years. The laws of supply and demand I guess. Well, they may be supplying, but I ain't demanding.
|Columbia golf
|pt at 10/19/11 10:36pm
|Anyone played Timberlake on Lake Murray? Is it worth the trip?
|Bryan at 10/19/11 3:07pm
|I saw a great deal on golf for Rocky River GC in Concord, NC (Charlotte) $29 for 18 holes with a cart and range balls. I played the course a couple weeks ago and it was in good shape with a good layout. Take a look at www.GroupGolfDeal.com to get the deal.
|Cramer Mountain Country Club
|Mike at 10/17/11 11:38am
|Has anybody played this course recently? Went to a wedding reception there this past weekend and the hole layouts I could see looked interesting but it was in the evening so I couldn't tell about the condition - read some other reviews and they weren't to kind but I trust the guys more on this site -- Thanks, Mike
|Irish Creek
|izzyf150 at 10/12/11 8:17am
|I read in an earlier message posted on here about the member for a day deal to play at Irish Creek. Well I tried it yesterday even though it was raining, and boy was it nice. They charge $45 to play and there is no hassle about being a member or any of that. This course is a step up from the public courses for sure. The whole course is taken care of even the woods. The course starts out with some easy to normal par 4's which was great because it lets you loosen up your golf swing without getting into trouble. (If youre one of those people who go right from the car to #1 hole, like I do) I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this course at all. If youre looking for a change in scenery for a day, give this a try.
|Greg Pounder at 10/12/11 12:05am
|Check out John Higgins at Emerald Lake Golf Club. I have been taking lessons from him for a few months and have made tremendous strides. Simple, clear, concise instruction from one of the best swings in the area.
|Re: Re: Lessons
|sawlog at 10/10/11 5:19pm
|It depends, if you are into taking a lesson plan. Then you might try the Golftech franchise in town. I did take a lesson plan, less expensive than Dana, but more expensive than the range guys. The biggest advantage to the Golftech lessons is you can schedule them in the evenings because they are indoors. I would recomend Brad at Harris Corners because he is a good instructor and a nice guy to boot.
|Re: Lessons
|outliar at 10/10/11 12:03pm
|What are you looking for in an instructor? Dana has all the "bells and whistles", but many would consider her school more suited to "corporate folk$" looking to feel like they are on the golf channel rather than old-school hands on "build it in the dirt" instruction.
Scott is more of the old-school than bells and whistles, and has a decent reputation with juniors. Another competent alternative may be Deac Dawson working out of Charlotte National. If you have Dana money but want better instruction (IN MY OPINION) the 2 best in Charlotte are Randy Joyner at Ballantyne Country Club and Scott Lafever at Long View.
|Paciocco at 10/10/11 9:48am
|Does anyone know of a good golf instructor in the Charlotte area? I'm currently about a 18 or so handicapper and I'm trying to get better, but I cant seem to get a handle on a couple things on my own. I practice alot, but I think Im practicing the wrong things so going to an instructor is the way I want to go. Google brings up Scott Fossum and Dana Rader, but I was wondering if anyone here had some suggestions....
feel free to email me at firstname.lastname@example.com if you know anyone...
|Re: Edgewater
|Paciocco at 10/10/11 9:41am
|Dad and I played Edgewater on 10/7 and the greens were perfect! The whole course was perfect, as usual
|Re: Dress Code Stuff
|panthersfann55 at 10/7/11 7:00am
|Green Oaks and Eagle Chase come to mind where I have seen jeans worn on the course. I would call Eagle Chase first to check.
|Re: Dress Code Stuff
|outliar at 10/7/11 6:58am
|Perfect place for you is Charles T. Meyers. I have heard shirts are optional, so "play through".
|Dress Code Stuff
|Jova007200 at 10/6/11 9:13pm
|Does anyone allow denim? I'm sick of playing in my uncomfortable khakis, and since the cold is approaching, it would be warmer and more comfy in a nice pair of jeans. Its not like a nice pair of jeans with a belt is any less classy than khakis.


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Another wonderful album from Janet Harbison and the Irish Harp Orchestra, with a selection of Traditional tunes, Irish Traditional tunes and original compositions by Janet Harbison celebrating the Christmas Season. Featuring many current All Ireland Champions on their respective instruments: A festive feast with harp, uilleann pipes, Scottish pipes, fiddles, flutes, whistles, concertinas, mandolins, bodhrans and voice!
Buy this album now CD: £12.99 + p&p
|Bright New Morning
|The Enniscorthy Carol
|Ding Dong Merrily on High
|Belfast Hornpipe
|Eleanor Plunkett
|In The Bleak Mid Winter
|Walk in Belfast
|Buachail Ón Éirne
|Remembering 1690 The Boyne Water - Limerick's Lament
|The Gravel Walks & The Humours of Ballyconnell
|Planxty Irwin - Fanny Power
|The Polka Set
|Port Na Bpúcai
|Dé Do Bheatha
|The Lark In The Morning & The Clumsy Lover
|Silent Night
|Harp Orchestra with uilleann pipes, Scottish pipes, fiddles, flutes, whistles, concertinas, mandolins, bodhrans and voice
|Traditional / Contemporary
|Our Ref:
|Irish Harp Centre
Sleeve Notes
The Irish Harp Orchestra is a new, young concert troupe of traditional Irish musicians featuring many current All Ireland Champions. Based at the heart of Ireland's cultural capital in Limerick, the harp orchestra has a national membership comprising harpers from all over the country, along with uilleann pipes, highland (or Scottish) pipes, fiddles, flutes, whistles, concertinas, mandolins and bodhrana! The Harp Orchestra concerts are always spectacular presentations of Irish music song and dance and this Christmas Collection is no exception. We're just sorry you can't see us dancing on the CD!
The idea of the Harp Orchestra evolved from the Grammy Award winning Belfast Harp Orchestra (1992-2002) which was created by founder-director Janet Harbison to celebrate the bicentenary of the Belfast Harper's Festival, the single most important event in Ireland's cultural history.
Janet Harbison was born in Dublin in the mid 1950s at a time of great renewal and interest in Irish music. Having spent some time as a child boarding at an Irish language college in Rinn, County Waterford, her passion for traditional music and song inspired her career choice which after winning all major national and a number of prestigious international harp competitions, involved traveling the world as a performing soloist for a number of years. In 1984, Janet turned her attention to the 18th century manuscript collection of harp music gathered at the Belfast Harpers' Festival of 1792. After two years as a Junior Research Fellow and a PhD student in Ethnomusicology at Queen's University, Janet worked for eight years as Curator of Music for the Ulster Folk Museum, and for another eight years as CEO of the Harp Foundation, an organisation re-establishing the harp and working toward peace and reconciliation in Northern Irish life. The Harp Orchestras was part of this work. In 2002, Janet returned to her roots in the Republic of Ireland, where along with husband Malcolm Gullis, she established the Irish Harp Centre, a College for the study of Ireland's national instrument (and emblem) and a Stage School for traditional Irish music.
1 BRIGHT NEW MORNING: An original piece composed by Janet celebrating peace in Northern Ireland in last 1994. The theme is 'coming together' or 'symphony': embracing the old and the new in style, classical and popular music in format, the jig and reel in rhythm — and of Northern Irish Protestant and Catholic in performance. The tune was also dedicated to the enormous work of American President Bill Clinton toward Peace in Northern Ireland. The orchestra were to perform it for him during his visit to Belfast in November 1995, but a quirk of fate dictated otherwise. Afterwards, however, we sent a recording of it to President Bill who sent a special letter to the orchestra declaring that he "loved it" and he was now a fervent fan! Thank-you Bill.
2 THE ENNISCORTHY CAROL: This is a carol introduced to Janet by her old friend Diarmuid 0 Muirithe who has published seminal research on the Wexford Carols. However, while this one is included in his collection, and is also published in Oxford as "The Wexford Carol", it is not one of Luke Waddinge's 17th century publication of "Pious and Godly Songs" but was in fact found on a broadside (published page with the text of a song) published in Enniscorthy most likely dating from the 19th century. The song itself, of course, could be a good deal older in origin.
3 DING DONG MERRILY ON HIGH: A modern 16th century French carol well known today.
4 BELFAST HORNPIPE: This well known hornpipe was arranged by Janet for flautist James Galway with the Belfast Harp Orchestra for BBC's "Songs of Praise" in 1996. Here it is performed with our own fluter Martin.
5 ELEANOR PLUNKETT: This must be one of the favourite airs of Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738) who composed it in honour of the tragic lady of the title whose family of 30 members were killed in a fire which ravaged her home in Castlecome Castle near Kells in County Meath.
6 IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER: The text of this beautiful carol was composed by the famous poetess Christina Rossetti in 1872. It was set to music by the equally famous English composer Gustav Hoist in 1906. Holst is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets.
7 GLASGOW POLICE PIPERS MARCH: A well known piper's march associated with the Glasgow police, we guess!
8 BUACHAIL ON EIRNE: This song is the love appeal of the boy from the shores of Lough Erne in north western Ireland. He is proposing himself for marriage....
9 REMEMBERING 1690 (The Boyne Water - Limerick's Lament): This is a combination of two emotive tunes from Irish history. The tune of the Boyne Water has an origin of at least 80 years before 1690 when it is the melody of a tune praising King James the 1st. It was played by King William's fifers as they marched into the Battle of the Boyne in 1689 where King James II and his hopes of wresting the crown of England from King William were thwarted. The war did not end here however as the battles continued at Aughrim and finally at Limerick in 1690. The Lament was composed by the harper Miles of Reilly of Killincarra of County Cavan in the wake of that final siege ending the hopes of easing English rule in Ireland.
10 THE GRAVEL WALKS & THE HUMOURS OF BALLYCONNELL: The Gravel Walks was inspired by the stony road between Maghera and Granny Glen in south west Donegal — which has now been tarred! The tune was always attributed to the famous fiddler John Doherty — who's modesty prevented him from claiming its composition! There are many 'Ballyconnell's in Ireland — George suspects that it is the Ballyconnell in Leitrim...
11 PLANXTY IRWIN - FANNY POWER: These are two of O'Carolan's best known tunes composed in the 1710s or 20s. They were dedicated to Colonel John Irwin of Tanrego House on Ballysodare Bay, County Sligo and Lady Frances Power of Coorheen in Loughrea, County Galway.
12 THE POLKA SET: These polkas originate from east Limerick, on the edge of the famous Sliabh Luachra region so famous for their polka dancing and composing. Their names are John Egan's, Peg Ryan's and the Murroe Polkas.
13 PORT NA BPUCAI: This beautiful and haunting slow air on the Uilleann Pipes is said to have been inspired by the 'Pucai' or mischievous spirits that sing in the night in the remote places of Ireland.
14 DE DO BHEATHA: This is an Irish carol that Janet has known from early childhood. She learned it at school in Colaiste na Rinne in Waterford in 1966 and here it is performed one verse in Irish and the others in Janet's English text loosely translated from the Irish.
15 THE LARK IN MORNING & THE CLUMSY LOVER: A combination of a jig and a reel, uilleann and highland pipes. This tune is said to have been composed by an Uilleann piper after a long night's session and a lot of ale — inspired by the dawn chorus of larks on his way home... The Clumsy Lover was not his wife's response, rather a piping tune reputedly from Nova Scotia.
NIGHT: The German carol Stills Nacht is the universal
Christmas song sung here in Irish and English as we know and
love it well. Its significance as an anthem for peace at Christmas
time makes it a special addition to any Christmas music collection.
The performers on this CD are:
Harpers: Janet Harbison (and vocals); Annalee Foster (and vocals), Elmear Coughian (current under 12 yrs All Ireland Champion Harper, and whistle), Gerard Coughian (and whistle), Deirdre Murphy, Fiana O Connell, Aoife O Dowd.
Uilleann Pipes: Ryan
Murphy (current 15-18 yrs All Ireland Champion)
Produced by Janet Harbison
The Irish Harp Centre
Janet Harbison
in Dublin on August 1st, 1955, Janet Harbison is acknowledged
as one of Ireland's most prominent traditional harpers and
pioneering personalities in the Irish harp music scene. She
is an authoritative resource on the history and music of the
Irish harp and ethnic music.
To describe Janet as an influential teacher would be to tell only half of the story. She is also a prolific composer, a talented performer, writer and producer.
She established the Harp Orchestras in order to provide her students with the opportunity to perform in public and to develop careers as professional harpers.
As a composer she realized that there was little 'new' music being written for the Irish harp and set about correcting the imbalance. Her arrangements are widely used and harpers worldwide await her new publications with bated breath.
With more than 20 years of performance, composition, teaching and promoting the tradition of harping she has a staggering number accolades to her name.
attractive, professional, faultless, highly delightful and
charming, Janet Harbison's performances are technically
impeccable, and always most subtle, musical and expressive."
The Irish Harp Orchestra and The National Harp Orchestra.
Irish Harp Orchestra is a professional touring company while
The National Harp Orchestra is a junior stage production company
with membership from 11 years upward. The Irish Harp Orchestra
grew out of the junior orchestra and featured on a Grammy Award
winning album with the Chieftains. This is an internationally
touring company which features up to 16 harpers and 8 other musicians,
singers and a team of up to 32 dancers in large scales concert
|Contact Details
Irish Harp Centre The Old School House Chapel Hill Castleconnell Co. Limerick IRELAND
|+353 (0)61 372777
|+353 (0)61 372712
|Booking & Courses
|Please visit the Irish Harp Centre web site for full details of courses, stage school and bookings for Corporate Entertainment & Weddings.
|Artists web site

subset: commoncrawl


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We are launching a new series on dataviz.love called DataVizards!
It will consist of short introductions of data visualisation experts and their work. The order in which they will be featured has no relevance.
Also, we don't plan to be too technical in the descriptions, so hopefully everyone can enjoy.
Our team started looking for people around our base country – Hungary – who work in data visualisation. I scanned through hundreds of Behance pages and did a bunch of Google searches. We then selected a few based on the professional and aesthetic quality of their work. I decided to call them DataVizards (puns are life). The first few entries of the series will be about them.
Now, since this is all very much based on the research and opinion of a single person, I must have missed plenty of people. If you know of someone around Hungary whose dataviz work you adore, please let me know NOW in the comments. Otherwise, just enjoy the posts 🙂
So the first team is going to be…
SHARE LAB – Research & Data Investigation Lab
This Serbia-based team does amazing, detailed analyses paired with stunning visuals. What do I mean by stunning? This:
According to their Twitter bio, they seek to explore the intersections between technology and society which the works featured on their (also beautiful) website prove. I really love that they not only provide the (often grandiose) visualisations but also detailed explanations and interpretations that walk the reader through the data.
Most of their articles employ the same visual style: more-or-less minimalistic, with black and white marks and background. Sometimes you'll see some colour popping up, but it's really the exception from the rule. This uniformity gives a very professional impression overall.
Another big plus is their choice of tools both in terms of the software that they employ and the types of vizes.
They aren't very explicit about which software they use, but I recognised Gephi and Tableau for their basic network and non-network charts. The more advanced visualisations I'd expect were created using d3.js (in some cases probably simply Adobe Illustrator).
Given the complex nature of the topics that they cover, they work with fairly complex charts. You want to read Sankeys, network diagrams and Gantt charts galore? They are your people.
And this brings me to my only point of criticism. I think I'm a seasoned consumer of data insights, but the size and the complexity of the visualizations intimated even me. I like visualisations because they tell me something that is hard to understand when written down in words. With SHARE LAB's work, however, I wish the charts were printed out on A0 sizes of paper in high-def so I could really understand what is going on. I do believe that this is somewhat intentional but makes the content very hard to consume over a web page.
So what do you think, is this new series something you will enjoy? Let us know in the comments!


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Region 2 News Release: 11-1596-NEW/BOS 2011-385
Nov. 30, 2011
Contact: Ted Fitzgerald
Phone: 617-565-2074
Email: email@example.com
US Department of Labor reaches settlement with
The Renaissance Project regarding OSHA workplace violence citation
Ellenville, NY, treatment facility agrees to enhance employee safety
NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement agreement with The Renaissance Project Inc. that resolves litigation stemming from citations and penalties issued to the Ellenville, N.Y., substance abuse treatment facility by the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The settlement affirms the citations and also commits the facility to taking steps to better safeguard its employees against workplace violence.
"Workplace violence is a serious, recognized occupational hazard, ranking among the top four causes of death in workplaces during the past 15 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. "Violent incidents can be avoided or decreased if employers take appropriate precautions to protect their workers."
In April, OSHA's Albany Area Office cited The Renaissance Project for a serious violation of the agency's "general duty clause" for failing to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause serious injury or death because the employer had not developed and implemented adequate safeguards against workplace violence for its employees. This followed an October 2010 incident in which an untrained security guard, working alone, was fatally stabbed by a client.
Under the settlement, in addition to correcting the conditions cited as a result of OSHA's inspection, The Renaissance Project has agreed to institute a number of measures that OSHA believes will eliminate or materially reduce similar incidents of workplace violence from occurring in the future.
"The Renaissance Project pledges to enact effective safeguards to prevent and minimize the possibility of its employees being killed or injured in the performance of their duties," said Edward Jerome, OSHA's area director in Albany. "We fully expect this employer to follow through on this vital commitment."
The additional steps agreed to by The Renaissance Project include:
- Creating a written workplace violence prevention program similar to those in place at comparable state-run facilities that includes implementation of workplace controls and prevention strategies, hazard/threat/security assessments, incident reporting and investigation, and periodic review of the prevention program.
- Establishing a system to identify clients with assaultive behavior problems and train all staff to understand the system used.
- Ensuring adequate staffing levels at the facility at all times.
- Conducting more extensive training so that all employees are aware of the facility's workplace violence policy, as well as how to respond during a workplace violence incident, recognize when individuals are exhibiting aggressive behavior and de-escalate the behavior.
- Conducting regular site-specific workplace violence hazard analyses to identify and address any workplace violence hazards identified.
Earlier this year, OSHA launched a new Web page on Preventing Workplace Violence, and has published several guidance documents including "Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Health Care and Social Service Workers" and "Recommendations for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs in Late-Night Retail Establishments." The Web page is available at https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/index.html.
As part of the settlement agreement, The Renaissance Project also has agreed to correct other conditions relating to hazard communication and bloodborne pathogens that were cited as a result of OSHA's inspection, and to pay fines of $17,290 for all of the violations. The case was litigated for OSHA by Attorney Andrew Karonis of the department's Office of the Regional Solicitor in New York.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Albany office at 518-464-4338.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille, audio tape or disc from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.


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Rigger Shackle Bracelet
Define yourself with relaxed and rugged wrist wear, equally apropos adornment when donning a suit, board shorts, or jeans and a tee. Each fully adjustable, hand-spliced, double-whipped bracelet is crafted of braided rigger's line (nylon) with a marine-grade stainless-steel shackle. Made in in Newport, Rhode Island. 8"L; one size fits most. Red, Navy or Marine Blue.


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The third meeting of the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons took place in Monrovia between all members of the HLP and seventy CSO representatives. The meeting took the format of a "town hall" event, where CSO members together with grassroots representatives shared evidence, perspectives, and recommendations on the topic of National Building Blocks for Sustained Prosperity and its sub-themes. This served as a framing conversation, also giving critical clarity to the vision and aspirations of ordinary citizens for the future.
This meeting has happened against backdrop of several youth consultations round the world since the second high level panel meeting in London. Two fundamental principles that underpinned the Youth Outreach HLP meeting in London was Inclusion of Young people who have the agency to be the banner carriers of the new agenda and Innovation that brings nuanced perspectives, fresh solutions and insights to persistent national and global challenges. There have been Country Youth Consultations, Online Engagement, National Dialogues, Beyond2015 Children and Youth Working Group, Online discussion on addressing inequalities faced by children and young people on worldwewant2015.org as well as regional youth declarations.
As noted by Prof. Gita Sen during the CSO pre consultative forum post 2015 HLP meeting , the post 2015 agenda should give special attention to the most vulnerable people in particular children, the youth and adolescents. The need for an inclusive framework where social inclusion and zero discrimination re key words can't be overemphasized. But even focusing on vulnerabilities is crucially unfair. We need to look at people's ability more than their disability if the post 2015 framework is to make a difference. People must be considered in the light of their potential more than seeing them as a burden.
The HLP have to not only hear the voices of the voiceless but clearly articulate them in their recommendations to be presented in April to the UN Secretary General.
As the largest demographic bar none ,young people will be the difference between success and failure of any global commitments made and it is incumbent upon the HLP to gather evidence from grassroots youth, frame, articulate and deliberate on a clear vision for the future that is informed by our needs and aspirations, articulate and agree on key pillars of economic transformation, highlighting national building blocks for sustained wealth that provide the us with capacity to function, create a specific platform to voice our perspectives, and engage with us with a particular view to deliberate on an emerging youth Narrative that will inform the Monrovia HLP Consensus position.
Children and Youths visioning of post 2015
The HLP needs to consider developing a framework that addresses structural child poverty in various contexts and enables good governance and accountability around child rights and protection. In order for children to participate in the economic transformation the new framework must prioritize initiatives that promote quality education, health care, reproductive health, information, adequate nutrition, appropriate services for children living with disabilities and must ensure that national governments provide budgetary allocations and are held accountable for the protection of children from all forms of violation and exploitation.post 2015 agenda should consider access to safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as basic human rights that underpin health, education and livelihoods. The problems associated with lack of access to WASH impact on virtually all aspects of human development, disproportionately affecting the life chances of young people.
Youth unemployment considerably exacerbates the danger of major structural unemployment for many years to come. Unemployment is a huge inefficiency to both young people and to international society looked t in light of costs to governments, non state actors and lost potential wages. Youth as dispossessed constituency is a threat to sustainable economy leading to trigger for rising crime and social malfunction. There exists massive disparity of access between young women and adolescent girls for productive resources and prosperity enabler indicators.
A holistic international youth policies with national focus must therefore be founded on:
The provision of more and better education, including formal education, informal education and vocational trainings; active and dignified insertion of youth in the workplace ensuring them a good wage and jobs as part of a career path, as well as liberty, gender equality, and security; the provision of career centers, knowledge exchanging facilities among youth nationally and internationally by the establishment of youth workers union and social dialogue to facilitate a successful matching of labor demand and supply, to ensure successful programming and to foster youth hiring.
"Without young people's ideas we the Panel would be missing the best hope for a successful set of goals. Bring us your ideas." Graca Machel HLP November 2012.
Post MDGS should give power to children and youth to become Agents of Change
The post 2015 agenda must address the causes of structural and cyclical poverty among children in various contexts; good governance and accountability around child rights and protection; and enabling children to participate in economic transformation through initiatives that promote quality education for girls and boys, health care, sexual health, information, adequate nutrition, and services for children including those with disabilities or HIV, and protection of children from all forms of violence and exploitation including early and forced marriage.
In conclusion, the formwork must realize the potential of the demographic dividends through comprehensive youth policies that include provision of more and better education, support for young people to obtain decent and well/paid jobs, access to finance and knowledge to become innovators and entrepreneurs, as well as the ability of all young people, especially adolescents to obtain comprehensive sexuality education, and sexual and reproductive services, and to empower and resource girls to prevent teenage pregnancies and violence, and provide sensitization and training for boys to promote
gender equality and prevent violence.
If every voice truly counts and we're to surely count every voice then the voice of children and youth have to be fashion the next set of global goals.
Willice Onyango is Chairperson of the International Youth Council Chapter in Kenya, a Children and Youth Working Group nominee to the Beyond 2015 Drafting Committee and Africa Youth Ambassador for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
She can be contacted via email@example.com


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Andrea Arnold, OBE (born 5 April 1961) is an English filmmaker and former actress, who made her feature film directorial debut in 2006 with Red Road.
- 2 Early TV work
- 3 Directing
- 4 Work with film festivals
- 5 Filmography
- 6 Awards
- 7 Further reading
- 8 References
- 9 External links
Personal life[edit]Edit
Arnold was born on 5 April 1961 in Dartford, Kent, where she was the eldest of four children. She was born when her mother was only 16 years old and her father was 17, and they separated when she was very young. Her mother had to bring up all four children alone, which is reminiscent of Arnold's own directorial debuted short, Wasp. When people are asked if the story is in any way biographical, Arnold replies "I grew up in a working class family, so I guess you could say I write from what I know."[3] Even as a young girl, she was writing dark stories about human experience. In an interview, Arnold speaks about how when she was a mere 10 years old, she wrote her first play that expressed her "horror" of the slave trade, and a few years later while studying for a dance GCSE, she made a performance piece; "I took quotes from the Diary of Anne Frank and read them aloud as I moved around the room. All the other kids would just bung on some pop music and dance. I remember the examiners sitting there looking at me, perplexed."[4] Arnold left high school when she was 16, when she was drawn to becoming an actress.[3] When Arnold was 18 years old she left Kent for London where she began working as a host and actress for a children's TV show called "No. 73". She worked in TV for the next 10 years, while continually writing on the side. She began scripting her youth oriented environmental series titled "A Beetle Called Derek" in the mid-1990s, where she began to yearn to direct.[3] Arnold realised she could turn her stories into films, so she studied at the American Film Institute of Los Angeles where she gained experience in the film industry. After finishing school and returning to Britain she had daughter, Coral, with her long-time boyfriend, Alex,[3] who is a software engineer, and began making short films for TV.[5]
Early TV work[edit]Edit
After leaving school in the late 1970s, Arnold got her first TV jobs as a dancer on shows that included Top of the Pops.[6] She first came to prominence as an actress and television presenter alongside Sandi Toksvig, Nick Staverson and Neil Buchanan in the 1980s children's television show No. 73. This Saturday morning show onITV, in which she played Dawn Lodge, had a similar premise to that of The Kumars at No. 42 in the way that the show was part sitcom, part chat show and based at a domestic residence. In addition to these parts, the show had the usual mix of music, competitions and cartoons (such as Roger Ramjet) that was in keeping to the formula of British Saturday morning children's TV of the 1980s. After a couple of years of experience in front of the camera, Arnold realised, "Television was great fun and I went along for the ride, but I never felt that comfortable in front of the camera".[4]
In 1988 No. 73 had morphed into 7T3, with the set being moved from the Maidstone house (in fact in TVS studios in Kent) to that of a theme park. This revamp would only last the season, but Arnold would be seen for another two years in the same timeslot as part of the Motormouth presenting team. In 1990 she presented and wrote for the environmental awareness show for teens, A Beetle Called Derek. This also featured Benjamin Zephaniah and gave exposure to The Yes/No People of Stompfame.
After retiring from her career as a television presenter, Arnold studied directing at the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles and trained in screenwriting at the PAL Labs inKent.[7][8][9] Her early short films included Milk (1998) and Dog (2001). She won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for Wasp, in 2003.[10] She was also named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow.
Red Road is the first instalment of Advance Party, a planned set of three conceptually-related films by different first-time directors. Set on a housing estate in Glasgow, the revenge-themed story centres on a CCTV (security TV cameras) operator who develops an obsession with someone she observes, for reasons that become clear through the progress of the film. The picture has won the British director comparisons with established names such as Michael Haneke and Lars von Trier. Screen International critic Allan Hunter said the film was "likely to emerge as one of the discoveries of this year's Cannes Film Festival (2006)."[11] It went on to win the Jury Prize at Cannes that year.[12]
Arnold won the 2007 BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for directing Red Road.
Her 2009 film Fish Tank premiered at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival,[13] where she once again won the Jury Prize. The film also went on to win the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film in 2010.
In 2011 Arnold completed shooting an adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, produced by London's Ecosse Films. The film was shown in competition at the68th Venice International Film Festival in September[14] where it won the Golden Osella for Best Cinematography.
She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to the film industry.[15]
In all of her film's there are some common themes that Arnold chooses to use to propel the narrative. Since childhood, Arnold has been interested in human psychology and the human experience. She says, "I am obsessed with why people turn out the way they are.[4]
Initially released in 2003, Wasp was a short (26 minutes) written and directed by Arnold. Released in 2003, it stars Natalie Press as a struggling single mother determined not to let her four young children prove an obstacle in the pursuit of rekindling a relationship with an old ex-boyfriend (Danny Dyer). Dartford (Arnold's hometown) is the setting. The film was commissioned by the UK Film Council and the Britain's Channel 4. It won the Sundance Short Film Prize in 2005, and won Arnold an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film[16]
Red Road[edit]Edit
Red Road was a 2006 film that is a part of a creative series proposed by the Advance Party of Filmmakers to create three films using the same characters, all directed by different new directors. It tells the story of a CCTV security operator who observes through her monitors a man from her past. It is named after, and partly set at, theRed Road flats in Barmulloch, Glasgow, Scotland which were the tallest residential buildings in Europe at the time they were built.[17] It is shot largely in a Dogme 95style, using handheld cameras and natural light.
One rule was that if any of the directors decide to incorporate a new main character, then all of the other films must incorporate that character as well. All 3 directors cast together so they could all see who they believe would fit their film as well as the others. Arnold mainly used first time actors, stating that "I always want the world that I create to be its own universe. When you have really famous people, I find that it is very hard to transcend that awareness. I am always aware of who they are. When you see someone for the first time, that universe feels even more real. I like the idea of working with either unknowns or people that haven't even acted before."[18] Red Road cost 1 million dollars to make[19] and was shot digitally on a schedule of 6 weeks. The film was accepted into competition for the Palme d'Or inCannes and received the Jury Prize. [19]
Fish Tank[edit]Edit
Fish Tank premiered in 2009 and was accepted into competition for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and received the Jury Prize.[19] In its initial production, distributor Artificial Eye had acquired the UK theatrical rights, while ContentFilm International handled the worldwide sales. The film was backed by the Limelight Fund,BBC Films and the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund.[20] The film was shot entirely on location in the UK.[21] Arnold was adamant about shooting the film in chronological order, so that the journey of the film would make sense to new coming actor Katie Jarvis. She would only give her a day's worth of script to study so that she could take it day by day.[22] The film originally premiered on around 45–50 screens in Britain, making them less accessible to the general public. In regards to this, Arnold said, "I definitely feel sorry more people don't get to see my films. They aren't inaccessible, and if people got the chance to see them, I know they'd like them. I wish cinema [owners] could be braver, or had more money to help them show films like mine." The film cost around $2 million to make, which is still a relatively low budget for a feature length film.[19] Fish Tank won many awards including the best film award at the Evening Standard Film Awards.[23] Fish Tank was released on 11 September 2009.[3] The film and Arnold were honoured at the 20th Annual Women in Film and TV Awards in 2010.[24]
Wuthering Heights[edit]Edit
Arnold's recent film based on Emily Brontë's novel from 1847 stars Kaya Scodelario and James Howson. This is the first film that Arnold has directed that she did not write herself, though she did co-write the screenplay. Originally, the film adaptation was set to be directed by Peter Webber, who directed Girl with a Pearl Earring, but Arnold was asked to take over and gladly accepted.[23] The film was made in 18 months, which is half the amount of time Arnold used to make Red Road and Fish Tank.[4] Oscilloscope Laboratories picked up the North American distribution rights to the adaptation, which won Best Cinematography at the Venice Film Festival in 2011, being praised for its visuals.[25]
American Honey[edit]Edit
In 2014 Arnold announced she would be shooting her first movie in the U.S. entitled American Honey.[26] Written by Arnold, the movie is rumoured to deal with a group of teenage runaways who sell magazine subscriptions.
Work with film festivals[edit]Edit
Arnold has been very active in working with film festivals around the world. She has been described as a "film festival regular even between films."[27] In 2012 she was a member of the Jury for the Main Competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.[28] In 2013 she was named as a member of the jury at the 70th Venice International Film Festival.[29] In 2014 Arnold was announced as the chair of the jury for International Critics' Week at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.[30]
In September 2013, Arnold was named the New York Film Festival's inaugural "Filmmaker in Residence." As the first "Filmmaker in Residence," Arnold was responsible for "creating a template for the programme."[31] The programme is designed to "further the goals of filmmakers at an earlier stage in the creative process." Through the programme, Arnold was given the "opportunity to focus on developing or refining new work, and participate in master classes, mentorships or cultural exchange and enrichment film programmes with the Film Society of Lincoln Center members, the film community and the public."[32]
|Red Road
|Fish Tank
|Wuthering Heights
- 2005 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film – Wasp
- 2006 Jury Prize at Cannes – Red Road
- 2007 BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer – Red Road
- 2009 British Independent Film Award for Best Director of a British Independent Film – Fish Tank
- 2009 Jury Prize at Cannes – Fish Tank
- 2010 BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film – Fish Tank
- 2011 Golden Osella for Best Cinematography at the 68th Venice International Film Festival – Wuthering Heights[33]


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Providence Transportation is a family owned business operated by David and Susan Stevens. It was founded in 2010 and incorporated in 2013 after David left a 20+ year career with a worldwide transportation corporation in a desire to spend more time with his family. David and Susan have three children and reside in the Triad area. They are active in the community and their local church, serving in various capacities.
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You should hire a term paper writers for money if you are in a bad situation
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Read, review and edit 40 essays on the same topic – this is familiar to language teachers. These steps are essential for a good piece of writing, but it sure is a lot of work. What if the students are the ones doing it – and enjoying it?
Classmates as Peer Reviewers
Imagine an English classroom where the students take on the role of the teacher and assess each other's work.
For every piece of writing they do, they receive four to five reviews from their classmates. Each piece of constructive feedback is anonymous. With the feedback, they revise and then rewrite a second draft.
At the same time, they also provide feedback for an article they are assigned to read. And they don't know who the author is.
This is made possible by a Web-based peer review system, called SWoRD (Scaffolded Writing and Rewriting in the Discipline), which allows students to upload and review articles anonymously.
The key to this is the anonymity of it all. It gives students the opportunity to think and write both as a writer and a reviewer. And it sure makes the writing process a lot of fun.
"Students write from the perspective of a writer," explains Research Scientist and Principal Investigator Dr Cho Young Hoan. "But by reviewing other people's papers, they can also get the perspectives of the reviewers and use it on their own paper."
Benefits of Peer Assessments
With four other researchers, Young tested SWoRD in a few classes at NIE with the intent to introduce it to secondary schools in 2013. They found that this new method of assessment reaps several benefits, mainly in promoting critical thinking and constructive learning among students.
While a typical peer assessment process may see students writing feedback just because they have to, students using SWoRD were seen to be more motivated to give quality feedback.
– Daphnee Lee, Office of Education Research
Centred around the idea of anonymity, the peer review procedure turns into a constructive process that takes away the element of "mutual gratitude" where friends tend to give each other good reviews without much thought.
"It is not just an 'I pat your back, you pat mine' kind of thing," says Dr Mary Ellis, one of the Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs). This is because of the anonymity of the whole process.
Where previously students were more concerned about not hurting their friend's feelings, the anonymity in SWoRD allows students to give and receive more open and constructive feedback.
The students who authored the paper are also able to score the feedback they receive based on its quality. Known as back-review, this encourages students to put a lot more thought and effort into constructing their feedback.
As students consider how to respond to the reviews they receive – what to use, what not to use, and why – they also learn to think critically and to be flexible in their writing and thinking.
"Students find it useful because they may not notice the gaps in their own writings so they learn through reviewing others' work," notes Co-PI Dr Anitha Devi Pillai.
"Students have greater autonomy in terms of what they learn through peer assessment," adds Co-PI Dr Daphnee Lee.
Perceptions of Peer Assessments
For SWoRD to succeed, "The perceptions of peer assessment are crucial," says Young.
– Cho Young Hoan, Office of Education Research
They found that students who perceive the concept of peer assessment positively showed active participation in giving and receiving peer feedback. Likewise for teachers, they have to welcome the concept in order to confidently facilitate the entire peer assessment process.
Am I competent enough to facilitate peer assessment? Will the students be able to handle it? These are some doubts that teachers who are new to this idea tend to have.
To help teachers ease into the new pedagogy, Young and his team will conduct training sessions in schools. Teachers will be trained in how to identify key features of a quality review and to help students integrate the feedback into their final articles.
At the end of the day, it's really about the students. "We want to see the improvements in the writing quality, not so much the scores of the feedback," says Young.


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I'd heard about Zachary Levi's Nerd Machine and seen references to NERD HQ online, but I was never exactly sure what it was. Is it a place? A website? A movement?
As it turns out, it's all of these things. It's also everything geek culture should be.
The Nerd Machine is a multimedia company spearheaded by Zachary Levi, conceived as a hub for all things geeky and nerdy. A community has built around their content, apparel, and accessories at their website, and NERD HQ is its part lounge/part event venue physical presence at San Diego Comic-Con, taking over a local bar/performance spot where Nerd Machine hosts a full slate of panels about tech and gaming; there's a gaming lounge outfitted with 40 playing stations, a plethora of new gadgets to demo, a fun (and free) photo station where you and your friends can take pictures and send them to your social networks, and panels with the stars and creators of hot geek properties in a popular series called "Conversations For a Cause."
What cause is that? Levi's charity of choice is Operation Smile, a children's charity that provides "safe, effective reconstructive surgery for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate." Proceeds from the lively, intimate panels at NERD HQ, as well as from sales of fun apparel and accessories in their online store go to the organization, and as the company grows, they hope to expand their efforts on behalf of other charities as well.
The best part of The Nerd Machine and NERD HQ—in addition to XBox giveaways and the charitable donations—is the warm, friendly vibe. Despite being held at one of the most hectic events on the geek calendar, when you stepped inside NERD HQ you felt calm and like you belonged. The entire experience was like that, from the top down. From Zachary Levi to the NERD volunteers, everyone was incredibly kind and helpful, and they knew how to put together an efficient, relaxed event that put the fan first. Their panels only held around five hundred people in order to keep them intimate and maintain a high-quality event, rather than cramming in as many people as possible for a buck while diluting the fan experience.
A big part of that warm, friendly vibe was due to Levi. I've never watched Chuck (though I plan on remedying that immediately), so I wasn't really familiar with him before seeing him host a panel at NERD HQ, and I was impressed by how genuine and humble he is. He engages with fans as equals, and seems honored to be in a position to both deliver a unique experience and bring those fans together. The staff follows Levi's lead, and that sense of community is reflected in everything they do. The fans give the love right back, taking pride in things like their latest Nerd Machine purchases, or their NERD number (the earlier you joined the Nerdvolution, the lower your number. Levi's is 1), fostering a welcoming, friendly environment for each other.
It's a great time to be a geek, as there are so many different platforms that cater to us. Nerdist Industries excels at attracting our favorite big names to their projects. Geek and Sundry is great at providing quirky, unique content one can't find anywhere else. The Nerd Machine's strength is in its people, in the community it nurtures, the environment it provides, and in what it seeks to do for others. If you're looking for a place to hang your Geek Hat, check out The Nerd Machine and make it your NERD HQ.
Teresa Jusino's NERD number is 17497, but she really needs to update her profile. Her Feminist Brown Person take on pop culture has been featured on websites like ChinaShopMag.com, PinkRaygun.com, Newsarama, and PopMatters.com. 2012 will see Teresa's work in two upcoming non-fiction anthologies, and her "Moffat's Women" panel will be featured at Geek Girl Con on August 11th! For more on her writing, Get Twitterpated with Teresa, "like" her on Facebook, or visit her at The Teresa Jusino Experience.


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The search found 552 results in 0.03 seconds.
Each year, 311 — New York City's main hub for government information and non-emergency services — receives millions of requests and complaints, including New Yorkers' gripes about their neighbors.
Actresses need to be pickier than men about with whom they work if they want to survive in the movie industry, suggests a new study.
"My research indicates that women in the film industry suffer a lack of access to future career opportunities when they tend to work with people who have collaborated frequently in the past," said Mark Lutter, lead author of the study and head of the "Transnational Diffusion of Innovation" Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG) in Germany.
Encouraging adversaries to have more interpersonal contact to find common ground may work on occasion, but not necessarily in the U.S. Senate, according to new research.
People whose sexual identities changed toward same-sex attraction in early adulthood reported more symptoms of depression in a nationwide survey than those whose sexual orientations did not change or changed in the opposite direction, according to a new study by a University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) sociologist.
Skin color is a significant factor in the probability of employment for male immigrants to the United States, according to a new study by two University of Kansas (KU) researchers.
Women are more likely than men to initiate divorces, but women and men are just as likely to end non-marital relationships, according to a new study that will be presented at the 110th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).
This study examines whether working with a broker increases or reduces the payment received for the last client among female sex workers. Building on research on the informal economy and sex work, we formulate a positive embeddedness hypothesis, expecting a positive association, and an exploitation hypothesis, expecting a negative association. We analyze a large survey combined with intensive interview data on female sex workers in Andhra Pradesh, India. These data uniquely distinguish between the amount the sex worker actually received and the amount the client paid.
Research documents that lenders discriminate between loan applicants in traditional and peer-to-peer lending markets, yet we lack knowledge about the mechanisms driving lenders' behavior. I offer one possible mechanism: When lenders assess borrowers, they are implicitly guided by cultural stereotypes about the borrowers' status. This systematically steers lenders toward funding higher status groups even when applicants have the same financial histories.
Social capital theorists claim that belonging to a densely knit social network creates a shared identity, mutually beneficial exchange, trust, and a sense of belonging in that group. Taken together with the empirical research on the importance of social support and social integration for individuals' well-being, there is reason to expect that the density of one's personal social network should be positively related to well-being.
Although sequence analysis has now become a widespread approach in the social sciences, several strategies have been developed to handle the specific issue of multidimensional sequences. These strategies have distinct characteristics related to the way they explicitly emphasize multidimensionality, interdependence, and parsimony.


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Leading a new wave of "sunshine" reggae music from the South Pacific is Sweet & Irie, who will be performing at Raggamuffin, Australasia's biggest reggae festival.
The creation of singersongwriter Edward Ru. Sweet & Irie puts out an "irie sound". Irie, of course, being Jamaican parlance for nice, or a positive feeling following a blazing spliff of collie weed, although Ru claims "we never really thought of it that way." Whatever!
Born in South Auckland and raised in Otara, Ru was witness to a tough upbringing that later fuelled his song writing. "We grew up the hard way, and I thought I didn't want the same things for my kids," explains Ed.
Sweet & Irie first gained attention in 2006 after releasing "Ban the Burn", an anti methamphetamine song "for my people", which was picked up by the Maori Party. Soon afterwards Ru bumped into Dawn Raid's Brotha D who invited them into the studio. The result of that effort is an album called Localize It – a play on Peter Tosh's landmark recording Legalize It – that debuted at No 16 on the NZ album charts. "I was shocked!"
At Raggamuffin in Rotorua on January 23rd they will share the stage with reggae legends Sly & Robbie, Wyclef Jean and Shaggy, but he's most looking forward to seeing Lauryn Hill and Julian Marley.
"I still can't believe it. I haven't been in music for that long, and I look at the poster and see me on it! Last year I went to Raggamuffin with Ali Campbell [of UB40] and now I'm playing there!"
NORML will also be there, with this year's stall aimed especially at encouraging Maori to participate in the Law Commission's review of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
It's an issue Ed is keen to discuss. "I think it's crazy, but I'm not the government or the law, I'm just Sweet and Irie. That's the way I live my life and everyone else lives their lives they way they want to live," he says. "What's happening out in the world is a bit sad. I just come back to the Bible which says no man should judge no man. "
Amen to that!
Sweet & irie's new album 'Localize It' is available now, and catch them at Raggamuffin in Rototua on Sat 23 January 2010. Look out for NORML's stall there too!
[Originally published in NORML News Summer 2010]


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Resistance, durability and ease of maintenance
Because they are available in many shapes, colors and textures, fibreglass floors offer great value. The surface of fibreglass floors requires minimal maintenance: simply spray it with water and your floor is restored to its original appearance. No more scraping and painting means you have more time to relax.


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For two Wells High School wrestlers the long season is not quite complete. There is still work to do after the pair won their weight class titles at the Maine Class B championships, qualifying for the upcoming New England Championships.
For two Wells High School wrestlers the long season is not quite complete. There is still work to do after the pair won their weight class titles at the Maine Class B championships, qualifying for the upcoming New England Championships.
Jimmy Cryer and Vonya Tomaszewski will be taking to the mat for one more tournament, only on this occasion it will be the biggest meet of their lives as the best from throughout the region will converge in Lowell, Mass., for the 44th New England championships beginning Friday.
Cryer, at 125 pounds, and Tomaszewski, at 112, won three straight matches at the Class B tournament, claiming their respective weight class titles. The Maine state champions in each of the three classes qualified for the New Englands.
Cryer enters the New Englands at 42-3 on the season and has topped the 100 career win mark. He had two pins to advance to the finals where he claimed a 5-0 decision over Belfast's Josh Robbins
Tomaszewski is 36-2 on the season, including a pin over Brian Vrieze in the finals of the Class B state championships.
"Both of these kids are hard workers," Wells coach Scott Lewia said. "We want them to go down there (New Englands) and do their best. We (Wells High) have never had a wrestler win two matches at the New Englands. We'd love to see that. Anything above that would be great."
Cryer, a senior, is making his first trip to compete in the New Englands. He finished second in the state as a sophomore, competing at 119. He was fourth last year at 125, and this year, returning to 119 he carved himself a spot in the New Englands.
"Cryer just went over 100 career wins at the league tournament," Lewia said. "He's been to the New Englands to watch, but this will be the first time for him competing. It will be a good experience. He is good on his feet. His strength is takedowns."
Cryer, an honor roll student, is looking to attend the Naval Academy.
"This will be a great experience," Cryer said. "I will have the chance to measure myself against the best in New England and to test myself against the best. Making it to the New Englands was in the back of my mind (during the states). But I've had a lot of support from teammates, friends and family who reminded me to stay focused on what I had to do now and not think about what was coming up.
"People see me as a wild card to place," Cryer continued. "I'd like to win three matches and hopefully place."
Tomaszewski, 17, is a freshman who arrived in the states from Russia when he was 6 and had to learn the language. He was not allowed to wrestle due to his age, but has made the most of his freshman season.
Tomaszewski took first in his weight at the Atlantic Invitational in Wells and won the Class B state title with a pin in his first match, a 13-1 decision in his second, and a pin in the finals.
"He's real strong," Lewia said Lewia. "He doesn't know anybody he's wrestling and that's helped him. He's explosive and real athletic and he's only a freshman, so this is his first time at the New Englands. Hopefully, there could be more trips. He's excited about this."
Tomaszewski is also hoping to make some noise at the New Englands.
"It's awesome to be able to go to the New Englands," Tomaszewski said. "It's big for me to see what competition I have and what it will be like down the road. Being the first freshman from Wells to go to the New Englands, I just hope now that I can place and that would be even better.
For Cryer and Tomaszewski it has been a matter of staying sharp, and much of that is in thanks to teammates who continue to work out even though their season is over.
"But both of them have great workout partners in practice," Lewia said. "Vanya works with Shane Daly who has 100 career wins and was second in the state at 103. Shane is a junior who pushed Vanya to the next level. Jimmy works with his brother Scott Cryer (130) and Chris Neumann (125, fourth in Class B)."
Wells nearly had five representatives in the New Englands, as three additional wrestlers finished second in Class B. Daly (103), Ryan Vartanian (140) and Steve Johnson (285) all advanced to the finals but fell in the title match.