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Caswell Beach NC DOT & Dangerous Roads Injuries Attorney
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is one of the state's largest agencies and its responsibilities include building, repairing, and operating all kinds of transportation within the state of North Carolina – i.e. highways, railroads, aviation, ferries, public transit, bike paths, and pedestrian walkways.
The department is led by the secretary of transportation who is a member of the governor's cabinet.
N.C.G.S. § 143B-346 defines the purpose and functions of the NC DOT as follows:
The general purpose of the Department of Transportation is to provide for the necessary planning, construction, maintenance, and operation of an integrated statewide transportation system for the economical and safe transportation of people and goods as provided for by law. The Department shall also provide and maintain an accurate register of transportation vehicles as provided by statutes, and the Department shall enforce the laws of this State relating to transportation safety assigned to the Department. The Department of Transportation shall be responsible for all of the transportation functions of the executive branch of the State as provided by law except those functions delegated to the Utilities Commission and the Commissioners of Navigation and Pilotage as provided for by Chapter 76. The major transportation functions include aeronautics, highways, mass transportation, motor vehicles, and transportation safety as provided for by State law. The Department of Transportation shall succeed to all functions vested in the Board of Transportation and the Department of Motor Vehicles on July 1, 1977.
While the state and local governments are generally protected from all kinds of lawsuits based on both sovereign and governmental immunity which derived from the English concept that the "king can do no wrong," the state has waived its immunity against tort claims as provided by N.C.G.S. § 143-291, which reads as follows:
(a) The North Carolina Industrial Commission is hereby constituted a court for the purpose of hearing and passing upon tort claims against the State Board of Education, the Board of Transportation, and all other departments, institutions and agencies of the State. The Industrial Commission shall determine whether or not each individual claim arose as a result of the negligence of any officer, employee, involuntary servant or agent of the State while acting within the scope of his office, employment, service, agency or authority, under circumstances where the State of North Carolina, if a private person, would be liable to the claimant in accordance with the laws of North Carolina. If the Commission finds that there was negligence on the part of an officer, employee, involuntary servant or agent of the State while acting within the scope of his office, employment, service, agency or authority that was the proximate cause of the injury and that there was no contributory negligence on the part of the claimant or the person in whose behalf the claim is asserted, the Commission shall determine the amount of damages that the claimant is entitled to be paid, including medical and other expenses, and by appropriate order direct the payment of damages as provided in subsection (a1) of this section, but in no event shall the amount of damages awarded exceed the amounts authorized in G.S. 143-299.2 cumulatively to all claimants on account of injury and damage to any one person arising out of a single occurrence. Community colleges and technical colleges shall be deemed State agencies for purposes of this Article. The fact that a claim may be brought under more than one Article under this Chapter shall not increase the foregoing maximum liability of the State.
(a1) The unit of State government that employed the employee at the time the cause of action arose shall pay the first one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) of liability, and the balance of any payment owed shall be paid in accordance with G.S. 143-299.4.
(b) If a State agency, otherwise authorized to purchase insurance, purchases a policy of commercial liability insurance providing coverage in an amount at least equal to the limits of the State Tort Claims Act, such insurance coverage shall be in lieu of the State's obligation for payment under this Article.
(c) The North Carolina High School Athletic Association, Inc., is a State agency for purposes of this Article, and its liability in tort shall be only under this Article. This subsection does not extend to any independent contractor of the Association. The Association shall be obligated for payments under this Article, through the purchase of commercial insurance or otherwise, in lieu of any responsibility of the State or The University of North Carolina for this payment. The Association shall be similarly obligated to reimburse or have reimbursed the Department of Justice for any expenses in defending any claim against the Association under this Article.
(d) Liability in tort of the State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees for noncertifications as defined under G.S. 58-50-61 shall be only under this Article.
The Industrial Commission has exclusive, original jurisdiction over claims covered by the Tort Claims Act. Payments by the state under the Tort Claims Act are limited to one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) as provided by N.C.G.S. § 143-299.2:
(a) The maximum amount that the State may pay cumulatively to all claimants on account of injury and damage to any one person arising out of any one occurrence, whether the NC General Statutes – Chapter 143 Article 31 7 claim or claims are brought under this Article, or Article 31A or Article 31B of this Chapter, shall be one million dollars ($1,000,000), less any commercial liability insurance purchased by the State and applicable to the claim or claims under G.S. 143-291(b), 143-300.6(c), or 143-300.16(c).
(b) The fact that a claim or claims may be brought under more than one Article under this Chapter shall not increase the above maximum liability of the State.
Collins Law Firm along with H. Mitchell Baker, III, have experience in bringing action under the Tort Claims Act based on the NCDOT's failure to have adequate signage or warnings in place to notify and warn motorists of upcoming intersections, or based on the NC DOT's breach of its duty to keep the public streets open for travel and free from unnecessary obstructions.
If you or someone you know and care about has been injured, or killed, due to negligence by NCDOT, please call Collins Law Firm at 910-793-9000 for a free confidential consultation.
Caswell Beach, North Carolina is a beach town located in the southeastern corner of Brunswick County near Southport. It is on Oak Island and is adjacent to the U.S. Coast Guard station.
If you receive a traffic citation such as a speeding ticket or if you are charged with a crime in Caswell Beach, NC your court date will be in the Brunswick County courthouse located in Bolivia, North Carolina. The Brunswick County courthouse is about 20 minutes from the New Hanover County courthouse in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Collins Law Firm, while located in Wilmington, North Carolina, does not have an office in Caswell Beach, NC. However, we regularly represent people charged with crimes or traffic citations in Caswell Beach, NC at their court appearances in Bolivia, NC.
The Brunswick County Courthouse is located at 310 Government Center Drive, NE, Bolivia, NC 28422.


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Since 1961, the World Meteorological Organization has been celebrating World Meteorological Day with a different theme selected for each year.
Meteoworld : April 2020
WMO marked its 70th anniversary on 23 March, World Meteorological Day. Members selected "Climate Change and Water" as the theme for this landmark year's celebration to underline the impacts of climate change on water and raise the profile of water in the climate debate. One of the biggest impacts of climate change is on water, which in turn affects sustainable development and security.
The ever-growing global population faces a wide range of hazards such as tropical cyclone storm surges, heavy rains, heatwaves, droughts and many more. Long-term climate change is increasing the intensity...
Publish Date: 22 March 2017
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released its new, long-awaited, digitized International Cloud Atlas – the global reference for observing and identifying clouds, which are an essential part of weather, the climate system and the water cycle. It was released for World Meteorological Day on 23rd March.
Publish Date: 23 March 2018
Weather-ready climate-smart is the theme of this year's World Meteorological Day on 23 March. It highlights the need for informed planning for day-to-day weather and hazards like floods as well as for naturally occurring climate variability and long-term climate change.
Clouds play a pivotal role in weather forecasts and warnings. They help to drive the water cycle and the entire climate system. Throughout history, they have inspired artists, poets, musicians, photographers and countless other enthusiasts.
The World Meteorological Organization, as the successor of the International Meteorological Organization, created in 1873, has its fundamental mission to support the countries of the world in providing meteorological and hydrological services to protect life and property from natural disasters related to weather, climate and water, to safeguard the environment, and to contribute to sustainable development.
Recognizing the strong stake that young people have in the future, WMO has chosen "Weather and climate: engaging youth" as the theme for this year's World Meteorological Day
Read the World Met Day 2018 message from the Secretary-General in ARABIC | CHINESE | FRENCH | SPANISH | RUSSIAN . Watch the WMD 2018 Secretary-General's message in ENGLISH ,...
Climate change and urbanization are leading to more water-stress and increasing the exposure of communities and assets to extreme hydrological events, such as floods and droughts. It is crucial to...

subset: commoncrawl


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The First Ultrasound Company to Provide Free iPhone App Offering 45 Instructional Videos For Point-of-Care Ultrasound
BOTHELL, WA, June 24, 2009 - Sonosite, Inc. (Nasdaq:SONO), the world leader and specialist in hand-carried ultrasound for point-of-care medicine, announced today the launch of the SonoAccess™ application, the first medical iPhone app from an ultrasound company that provides a multimedia library of ultrasound resource materials for medical professionals to access when and where they need it.
The SonoAccess application is an iPhone or iPod touch® interactive mobile learning application that addresses the continuing educational needs of point-of-care ultrasound users. Sonosite partnered with leading physicians to gather and create clinical education materials for emergency medicine, critical care and anesthesia with other specialties to be added soon. Users can access high quality instructional videos, case studies and reimbursement guides, as well as reference nearly 100 clinical images and news feeds on Sonosite. In addition, users can customize their user profiles to generate recommended lists of videos specific to their practice, as well as share videos, case studies and images with their colleagues and friends.
The SonoAccess application is available for free download at www.sonosite.com/products/sonoaccess. "Physicians need practical tutorials on ultrasound procedures," said Dr. David Auyong, Anesthesiologist, Seattle, WA. "There are not a lot of resources that give simple, practical tips on how to optimize the position of the probe or position the patient. Having a resource for continuing education available 24/7 like this will be helpful." Dr. Phillips Perera, MD, FACEP, RDMS, Emergency Ultrasound Program Director at Columbia University Medical Center, New York Presbyterian Hospital, NY, estimates that at his hospital a large proportion of the faculty and residents have either an iPhone or iPod touch and thinks many will find the SonoAccess application to be helpful. Dr. Perera has already found the application to be a useful tool when teaching residents.
"We have learned that using video works very well for teaching ultrasound€"you don't get the same impact from textbooks. I can use SonoAccess even while teaching a resident to perform an ultrasound exam at the bedside by propping up the iPhone next to the bed and pointing out on an image €˜this is the heart chamber you are looking for,' for example," Dr. Perera said. "The portability of SonoAccess matched with the short, bullet point education modules make this a great fit for the busy lifestyle of emergency physicians and residents," Dr Perera said. With 28 instructional ultrasound videos, and 17 video case studies, the SonoAccess application is one of the largest free resources of instructional videos for point-of-care ultrasound and demonstrates Sonosite's continued commitment to education. To view a demo video of SonoAccess visit www.sonosite.com/products/sonoaccess.
Slalom Consulting, a national management consulting and technology solutions firm with mobility expertise, worked with Sonosite on the design and development of SonoAccess to deliver the industry's first interactive mobile learning application from an ultrasound company. This is Sonosite's second education initiative with Apple®. In 2006 Sonosite introduced video refresher courses for the iPod to give physicians an easy to access source of information to use in their practice.
About Sonosite Sonosite, Inc. (www.sonosite.com) is the innovator and world leader in hand-carried ultrasound. Headquartered near Seattle, the company is represented by ten subsidiaries and a global distribution network in over 100 countries. Sonosite's small, lightweight systems are expanding the use of ultrasound across the clinical spectrum by cost-effectively bringing high performance ultrasound to the point of patient care. The company employs approximately 700 people worldwide.
iPhone and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.


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Taking illicit drugs is like playing Russian Roulette, says an Interior health official.
Unlike Vancouver, where television reports on the opioid crisis almost daily, the B.C. Interior does not get much play. But opioids are very much a problem in this region as well.
A BC Coroner's Report that provides confirmed and suspected illicit overdose deaths, indicates that between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, 2018, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority had the highest rate of illicit drug overdose deaths (37 deaths per 100,000 individuals) followed by Interior Health Authority (31 deaths per 100,000 individuals) for the same period.
In Interior Health, the rates were highest in Thompson Cariboo and Okanagan health service delivery areas.
"Overdose deaths, followed by loss for family and friends is a result of the Russian Roulette users of illicit drugs engage in," says Megan DeSimone, IHA Mental Health and Substance Use North Okanagan community manager.
She says that in the past, illicit drug users were fairly confident they were getting what they ordered when they made their illicit drug purchases.
No longer.
"The drugs are now high-risk; there's poison in the drugs and we're not just talking about heroin," she says, reminding that illicit drug makers do not create their drugs in meticulously clean labs, and even marijuana sold on the street can be contaminated with fentanyl. "By the very nature of fentanyl, if it's in the building, heroin, cocaine, any of the drugs you would think of, including Ecstasy, it could be in there too."
Retired Salmon Arm nurse Wendy Piccini is well aware of the local crisis. Two of her sons have lost dear friends to overdoses.
"Our oldest son's best friend died from an overdose in Revelstoke and our second-oldest son went to the funeral of a very good friend in Salmon Arm about two months ago," she says, noting she and her husband know of several other deaths due to overdose in the Shuswap although not all have been revealed as such. "I think sometimes the families don't want to say it's an overdose."
Piccini says most of the deaths she and her family are aware of were individuals between the ages of 30 and 40.
"The one in Revelstoke had a child; they're in that age group where they often have a wife, or a girlfriend or a live-in, and they're in the prime work age," she says, noting she has recently heard that the opioid crisis is now affecting youths between the ages of 10 and 20. "It's heartbreaking for our two older sons who have lost two best friends and one very good friend."
DeSimone concurs, noting substance use crosses "all socio-economic barriers, every facet of life, the whole spectrum."
But help is available.
"If people are ready for treatment and harm-reduction approaches, services are always better in larger centres, but Salmon Arm does have options," she adds.
Opioid Agonist Treatment or OAT, is the first line of treatment, with entry into the program available by going to the second floor of the Canadian Mental Health office in Salmon Arm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 to 3 p.m.
"OAT is a long-term treatment that helps control cravings and withdrawals from opioids," says DeSimone, noting specialized substance-use clinicians are available. "When people are in the throes of opioid addiction, it's almost impossible to move to the next stage – all people can think of is their next fix. "We need to keep them alive long enough to get them out of that."
Once they're stabilized and with the help of a therapist, DeSimone says people can start on a recovery plan to improve their quality of life.
She explains the OAT therapy is safe and cautions people against going through withdrawal without the therapy.
"Tolerance to opioids reduces substantially, even as much as a couple of days without it," she says. "If you go back to using (fentanyl) at the same level, there's a very high risk of overdosing."
There is evidence, she says, that people who have been on OAT therapy for a year have a "substantial likelihood" of remaining opioid free.
Between 150 and 175 people have accessed the OAT program in the Salmon Arm office where Naloxone kits and training are also available and encouraged.
"The training only takes a couple of minutes; my 14-year-old knows how to do this and carries a kit in a knapsack," DeSimone says, pointing out people should not feel embarrassed to seek help for opioid addiction. "The least judgmental people you will ever come across are substance-use clinicians. They start where the person's at, they walk with you and are part of your recovery."
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What we know:
There will be a 10man and a 25man version, but no heroic modes.
The Ony Mount has an equal chance to drop from 10man and 25man.
The chance for the mount to drop is about as big as the chance of "being struck by lighting on a sunny day and attacked by a shark, all while in the presumed comfort of your own living quarters" .
Loot items will be of the same item level as stuff in the Colliseum.
Loot will look like the orginal stuff that dropped of old version Ony.
About the fight:
Phase 1: point her to the back wall and get her down to 65%.
Phase 2: kill first wave of whelps, ranged dps kill Lair Guard, don't stand where you can get hit by deep breath (frontal attack). Phase ends at Ony health 40%.
Phase 3: she lands, and belts out Bellowing Roar. Make sure to finish adds, threat is wiped from phase 1, keep tremor totem and fear wards up. DPS her down.
General: DON'T STAND IN FIRE YOU NUMBWIT!
Loot Table on MMO-Champion


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Story highlights
NEW: About 600 homes lose power in Bermuda
NEW: Winds reached 51 mph at the airport, weather service says
In the Pacific, Paul loses strength, turns without making landfall
As Hurricane Rafael sped away from Bermuda, taking with it heavy rain and wind, the government discontinued storm watches for the island.
There appeared to be minimal disruption to life on Bermuda as the fast-moving storm roared by to the east, keeping the strongest winds well away from land.
About 600 homes lost power, the Bermuda Electric Light Company said on its Facebook page.
Glenn Jones, a business development and marketing manager for a Bermudian media company, said earlier that the wind was stronger than some locals expected. According to the Bermuda Weather Service, wind speeds reached 51 mph at the airport Tuesday night.
The outer bands of the Category 1 hurricane had swirled over the 21-square-mile island as the storm raced north-northeast during the afternoon, bringing tropical storm-force winds and downpours.
Late Tuesday, Rafael was about 135 miles (215 kilometers) east of the island, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Meteorologists said the storm, with 85 mph sustained wind, was moving at 29 mph.
Rafael becomes hurricane as it churns towards Bermuda
Forecasters said Rafael will break up late Wednesday or early Thursday after a turn to the northeast.
Bermuda might see 2 to 4 inches of rain from the storm, and some beaches in the Bahamas and the eastern United States will see swells caused by Rafael.
Meanwhile, along the Pacific coast of Mexico, Paul turned into a tropical storm and turned away from the Mexican coast without the center of the storm ever making landfall.
CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet, Nigel Walwyn and Greg Seaby contributed to this report.


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In addition to the University's Core Curriculum, which may include Theater History (DRA 3310), Drama majors must take three of the following credits:
Drama majors must also select one upper-level three-hour elective course from Drama department offerings or in related courses from other departments, such as:
The Comprehensive Examination is given early in the Spring semester of senior year. Drama majors must pass this examination to fulfill requirements for graduation. The exam may be taken a second time or a separate section may be repeated if necessary. The exam covers the following topics:
Students must complete the following course requirements with a minimum of 15 earned hours.
DRA 3310 Theater History
Students must also take either:
DRA 3335 Theater Literature I
DRA 3336 Theater Literature II
Two courses selected from the following:
DRA 3301 Acting
DRA 3312 Stage Craft
DRA 3313 Stage Design
DRA 3332 Basic Staging
These four (4) courses represent the 3000 level courses taught in the Drama major that teach core practical competencies in the various disciplines in Drama. A student concentrating in Drama should select two (2), determined by a student's individual interest and in consultation with their concentration advisor.
Students must participate in at least three (3) productions produced by University Theater for credit as indicated below:
DRA 1101 Theater Arts Workshop – must be taken at least twice (2x). (DRA 3357 Special Topic/Mainstage may be substituted for DRA 1101.)
DRA 4142 Studio Rehearsal/Production must be taken at least once (1).


text: BoroughCouncilMinutes03042013 Written by nucitrus on September 30, 2015. Posted in Version1.0.0 Download642 Stock∞ Total Files1 File Size246.80 KB Create DateSeptember 30, 2015 Last UpdatedSeptember 30, 2015 Download Fileboroughcouncilminutes03042013.pdf Download nucitrus This information box about the author only appears if the author has biographical information. Otherwise there is not author box shown. Follow YOOtheme on Twitter or read the blog.


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Car forums should be about lending a helping hand to fellow car enthusiasts as well as the uninitiated. Jalopnik readers found that they're sometimes just about the most mindless places on the Internet.
Welcome back to Answers of the Day — our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
If you think we forgot about any particular legendary trolls, or if you've been burned by any genuinely moronic advice, let us know in Kinja below. Don't forget to link to the original thread so we know you're not trolling us, too.
Photo Credit: Jalopnik
10.) Weld Your Diff, Bro. It Gives You Extra Traction
Here we have another classic forum troll. You can see the original thread where a guy claims to have been advised to weld his diff for extra traction, only to pretzel his driveline. There's no way this one is real, we hope.
Suggested By: Biased_Waffles, Photo Credit: Pirate4x4
9.) Bro, Just Run Water Through The Engine To Clean It
Among the worst advice on car forums is forum trolling. It only gets worse when trolling leads to counter-trolling, in the famous example of the water Mustang. At first a newb thread ends with the sagely advice "haha awsome, make sure wen u drain ur oil u flush it out with about 20-30 gallons of water threw there and crank it over a few times, it will really help u out." Four days later we get this gem.
My car was idling like crap the other day so I figured since I just got it, it may have been awhile since anyone changed the oil out. I decided to go ahead and change the oil. I used Mobile 1 synthentic oil like I was reccomended on here. Anyways, I drain out the oil and noticed it was extremely dark and even after 10 minutes of draining, it was still coming out. I decided to go ahead and flush it to make sure all the bad stuff got out. I hooked up the hose, ran water through the engine, started it up and was waiting for the water to come out clean (The engine never went above idle so I was told this would be ok). Anyways, About 3 minutes into this, then engine starts shaking and shuts off. I figured it was all cleaned out so I plugged it up, added the oil and figured I was ready to go. WRONG! The car won't freaking start now. This car has been nothing but trouble for me, I think I am done with it.
Suggested By: Jooniflan, Photo Credit: Ford
8.) Chip That Diesel For Extra Power, Bro
A common line on diesel forums is that OEM parts should be able to handle 200-500% of stock power with a simple chip. These forum posts are typically followed a few weeks later with complaints about blown head gaskets and/or wrecked bottom ends. Big surprise.
Suggested By: autojim, Photo Credit: Ham Hock
7.) Stiffen Up Your Car, You'll Go Hella Fast, Bro
As we speak, there are thousands of teenagers stiffening the living crap out of their cars, turning them into bone-rattling torture boxes. There is more to life than swaybars.
Suggested By: SU_Maverick, Photo Credit: TwentyFourZero
6.) Bro, Homemade Turbos Are Hella Easy
People still think that you can just throw a turbocharger at an engine and BAM! Instantly double your power. There's actually a lot of work that goes into any turbocharger build, and it's not for the faint of heart. Still, forum-dwellers recommend the operation all the time, no matter what the skill level.
Suggested By: Chairman Kaga, Photo Credit: Neil McIntyre
5.) Look, Bro, Just Stretch The Tires
If you want to look trendy and only let your car go slow, sure, tire stretching is a fun thing to do. Just don't be surprised when the whole tire tears apart one day.
Suggested By: Trunk Impaired 318, Photo Credit: Ben Harrington
4.) Just Throw An HID Kit On It, Bro
HID kits almost universally look dumb, they shine light like crazy if your car isn't set up for them, and the bulbs wear out all the time. Of course forum dudes recommend them like crazy.
Suggested By: dobisbadob, Photo Credit: Jorge Quinteros
3.) Bro, Getting Your Economy Car Into The 14s Is No Problem, Bro
The dumbest question asked on forums is 'how do I make my POS to run 14s and be super fast?' The worst advice is to say that it's anywhere near possible. In a classic forum-shared article Sport Compact Car showed just what it does take to get a Sentra to that kind of speed, and they had to cut the car down to the frame.
Suggested By: JD's Wagoneer, Photo Credit: Marvin Kuo
2.) I Know, Bro, Just Run The Exhaust Into The Engine
Ah, Direct Exhaust Injection, the greatest internet car troll of all time. Read the thread right here and laugh until you cry.
Suggested By: SweetZombieJesus, Photo Credit: GM Modern Muscle
1.) Just Cut The Springs, Bro
Thanks to forums, we live in a world full of heated springs, poorly cut springs, and totally ruined cars. Lower the car they said. It'll be fun they said.
Suggested By: SennaMP4, Photo Credit: Michael Evans


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May 17, 2015
Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in collaboration with Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited (CDC) has organized investor education and awareness seminars, in the various cities of the country. Experience officers of SECP will be participating in these investor awareness sessions as speakers on "Pakistan's Capital Market Structure & Role of SECP as Regulator". Similarly, CDC official will explain various services launched by them as investor protection measures.
PC Peshawar


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SAVE YOUR NAME. SAVE THE WORLD. Prepare yourself for a cinematic thrill-ride as only Call of Duty can deliver. Engage enemy forces in New York, Paris, Berlin and other attack sites across the globe. The world stands on the brink, and Makarov is intent on bringing civilization to its knees. In this darkest hour, are you willing to do what is necessary?
Our Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 servers are setup Instantly! Order now and start gaming immediately.Configure & Order


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The Promise, a powerful and beautiful film by Terry George is now available to watch on DirectTV NOW (Showtime on demand). This is a MUST SEE!
At Cinema Without Borders we had the opportunity of talking to the Academy Award winner director of The Promise, Terry George about the process of making it.
The Promise happens in 1914. As the Great War looms, the mighty Ottoman Empire is crumbling. Constantinople, the once vibrant, multicultural capital on the shores of the Bosporus, is about to be consumed by chaos.
Michael Boghosian (Oscar Isaac), arrives in the cosmopolitan hub as a medical student determined to bring modern medicine back to Siroun, his ancestral village in Southern Turkey where Turkish Muslims and Armenian Christians have lived side by side for centuries.
Photo-journalist Chris Myers (Christian Bale), has come here only partly to cover geo-politics. He is mesmerized by his love for Ana (Charlotte le Bon), an Armenian artist he has accompanied from Paris after the sudden death of her father.
When Michael meets Ana, their shared Armenian heritage sparks an attraction that explodes into a romantic rivalry between the two men. As the Turks form an alliance with Germany and the Empire turns violently against its own ethnic minorities, their conflicting passions must be deferred while they join forces to survive even as events threaten to overwhelm them.
Promises are made and promises are broken.


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|I work in a field of art that can be described as still in the throes of evolution -- to the extent that no definitive name has emerged to define it. At various times I have heard terms ranging from digital photography and digital painting through to electronic art, computer art, digital art, or digital fine art used to define the process, and digital photographer used to define me.
Put simply, I use a computer to produce fine art - occasionally from an electronic stylus, but mainly from photographic origins. As such, I prefer to simply call myself a digital artist who uses electronic (digital) means to produce fine art.
No matter what you call it, I hope you will take the time to view my art work and appreciate it for what it is.
|Go to: Art Work | Past Work (1996) (1997) (1999) | Contact Information


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BRUNET, dit L'Estang (L'Étang), VÉRONIQUE, named Sainte-Rose (she signed Verronique Létant), sister of the Congregation of Notre-Dame and superior (superior general); b. 13 Jan. 1726 in Pointe-Claire (Que.), daughter of Jean Brunet, dit L'Estang, and Marguerite Dubois; d. 12 June 1810 in Montreal, Lower Canada.
Véronique Brunet, dit L'Estang, came from one of the eight families named Brunet that immigrated to Canada during the second half of the 17th century; three of these added the names L'Estang, Bourbonnais, and Bellehumeur. Véronique entered the noviciate of the Congregation of Notre-Dame in Montreal in 1744 and made her profession two years later under the name of Sister Sainte-Rose. She then went as a missionary in turn to the Lower Town in Quebec, Pointe-aux-Trembles (Neuville), and Sainte-Famille on Île d'Orléans. She was back in Quebec when the town was captured by the British in 1759; at that time, it is reported, she was advised "to remain hidden as far as possible because of her great beauty and . . . other visible charms," lest in walking about town as usual she attract the attention of the strangers, in whose presence people did not always feel safe.
In 1771 Sister Sainte-Rose was called back to the house in Montreal to assume the office of assistant to the superior, Sister de l'Assomption [Marie-Josèphe Maugue-Garreau*]. The following year she became superior. The community was then facing numerous financial difficulties, largely because of the political events of the previous two decades and a fire in 1768. The new superior strove to increase the community's resources by assigning more sisters to such moneymaking projects as church repairs, laundering, and embroidery. In 1773 the sisters were able to take advantage of the housing of the Collège Saint-Raphaël in the Château de Vaudreuil [see Jean-Baptiste Curatteau*] to acquire supplementary income: they puttied most of the casement windows and made the bulk of the aiguillettes worn by the schoolboys.
The missions also were feeling the effects of the difficult times. The Lac-des-Deux-Montagnes (Oka) mission, where the sisters' work had been supported until the conquest through a royal gratuity of 3,000 livres annually, was maintained after 1760 solely through private grants, particularly those from the generous missionary François-Auguste Magon* de Terlaye. Sister Sainte-Rose solved the financial problem by signing an agreement with the Sulpician seminary on 14 July 1772. In return for performing specific tasks, the foremost being teaching in the mission's schools for girls, the sisters were to receive from the seminary 200 piastres a year and certain goods in kind: the pure wheaten flour and the bran from 45 bushels of wheat, 12 cords of sound wood, hay for feeding 2 cows over the winter, and free pasture during the summer. However, the community's poverty prevented the mother house from offering direct financial assistance to the missions, even in the most difficult situations. Thus, when in 1776 the sisters at the Pointe-aux-Trembles mission had to rebuild their convent, which had been destroyed by the American troops under Benedict Arnold after the attack on Quebec, they admitted to Bishop Briand* of Quebec that they were undergoing many privations in order not to ask for anything from the community, "which was itself very hard up."
In 1778, when her term as superior came to an end and Marie Raizenne, named Saint-Ignace, took office, Sister Sainte-Rose was elected mistress of novices; she held this post until 1784, when she again became superior. By then the colony as a whole was benefiting from the state of peace. Boarding pupils were returning to Montreal in numbers and, following a decision of the council on 20 Sept. 1786, the superior sent away the day-boarders whom the community had resigned itself to taking in 1771. Relieved of the heavy financial worries that had marked her first term as superior, Sister Sainte-Rose gave her attention to clarifying certain points in the rule that concerned, among other things, the vow of permanence and the status of the sisters who did the rough work. Few changes were instituted in the missions. The one in Lachine, where the convent was falling into ruin and had few pupils, moved to Pointe-Claire in 1784. The Champlain mission near Trois-Rivières, which had been forced to suspend work three times since its founding in 1676 and which was experiencing problems similar to those in Lachine, closed down permanently in 1788.
After leaving the superiorship in 1790 Sister Sainte-Rose became assistant mistress of novices and for two years served as first counsellor. As well, she turned to giving religious instruction to Montreal girls who lacked the time and means to attend regular classes; in this way she took part in the congregation's efforts to offer "adult education," a service for which modern democratized education would like to claim the credit. Towards the end of her life she devoted her energies to washing and mending the clothes of the servant girls whom the community employed for meagre wages and supplied with their keep. Sister Sainte-Rose, who had twice been superior general of the community, attended to these tasks until her long life came to an end in 1810, after 66 years in the Congregation of Notre-Dame.
ANQ-M, CE1-37, 14 janv. 1726. Arch. de la Congrégation de Notre-Dame (Montréal), Fichier général; Personnel, V; Reg. général. Archange Godbout, "Nos ancêtres au
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Cite This Article
Andrée Désilets, "BRUNET, L'Estang, VÉRONIQUE, Sainte-Rose," in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed October 4, 2023, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/brunet_veronique_5E.html.
The citation above shows the format for footnotes and endnotes according to the Chicago manual of style (16th edition). Information to be used in other citation formats:
|Author of Article:
|Andrée Désilets
|Title of Article:
|BRUNET, L'Estang, VÉRONIQUE, Sainte-Rose
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|Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5
|University of Toronto/Université Laval
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|Year of revision:
|Access Date:
|October 4, 2023


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FASB Extends Invitation to Comment on Private Company Decision-Making Framework Staff Paper to November 9Norwalk, CT, November 1, 2012—The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) today announced that it would extend the deadline for comment on a staff paper that outlines an approach for deciding whether and when to modify U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for private companies. Stakeholders now can provide written comments on the staff paper, Private Company Decision-Making Framework: A Framework for Evaluating Financial Accounting and Reporting Guidance for Private Companies, until November 9, 2012.
FASB Chairman Leslie F. Seidman stated:
"We realize that a substantial number of our private company stakeholders were affected by Hurricane Sandy and may have been prevented from meeting the original deadline. These stakeholders are encouraged to submit their written comments as soon as possible, but no later than November 9, 2012. This will give everyone an opportunity to communicate their views, while providing the staff sufficient time to present its findings for deliberation by the Private Company Council (PCC) and the FASB at the PCC's first public meeting on December 6."
Written comments may be submitted using the FASB's convenient electronic feedback form. Stakeholders can also provide their comments in the form of a written letter by submitting their comments via email to email@example.com, File Reference No. 2012-230. Those without email should send their written comments to "Technical Director, File Reference No. 2012-230, FASB, 401 Merritt 7, PO Box 5116, Norwalk, CT 06856-5116.
The Invitation to Comment, and additional project information, is available at www.fasb.org.
About the Financial Accounting Standards Board
Since 1973, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has been the designated organization in the private sector for establishing standards of financial accounting and reporting. Those standards govern the preparation of financial reports and are officially recognized as authoritative by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Such standards are essential to the efficient functioning of the economy because investors, creditors, auditors, and others rely on credible, transparent, and comparable financial information. For more information about the FASB, visit our website at www.fasb.org.


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A zero-day software vulnerability in the firmware of older Apple computers could be used to slip hard-to-remove malware onto a computer, according to a security researcher.
Pedro Vilaca, who studies Mac security, wrote on his blog that the flaw he found builds on previous ones but this one could be far more dangerous. Apple officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Vilaca found it was possible to tamper with an Apple computer's UEFI (unified extensible firmware interface). UEFI is firmware designed to improve upon BIOS, which is low-level code that bridges a computer's hardware and operating system at startup.
The UEFI code is typically sealed off from users. But Vilaca wrote that he found the code is unlocked after a computer goes to sleep and reawakens, allowing it to be modified. Apple computers made before mid-2014 appear to be vulnerable.
Vilaca wrote it is then possible to install a rootkit, a type of malware that is hard to remove and nearly undetectable by security products. The only defense is to not let the computer sleep and always shut it down, Vilaca wrote.
Apple released patches earlier this year for a similar type of attack called Thunderstrike, which allowed modification of the UEFI by accessing a Mac's Thunderbolt interface. Thunderstrike was presented by researcher Trammell Hudson at the Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg last December.
But Thunderstrike required an attacker to have physical access to the computer. Vilaca thinks it may be possible to remotely exploit the bug he found, making it potentially a whole lot more dangerous.
He tested the attack on a MacBook Pro Retina, a MacBook Pro 8.2 and a MacBook Air, all running the latest EFI firmware available. Newer machines, however, were not vulnerable, which Vilaca wrote led him to suspect that Apple fixed the problem in later models but didn't patch older computers.
It appears that Vilaca did not notify Apple before disclosing the bug, something that causes many technology companies to bristle. Most companies advocate that independent researchers notify them before going public so attackers cannot take advantage of software problems before a patch is ready.
Vilaca wrote, however, that he has no beef with Apple. "My goal is to make OS X better and more secure," he wrote.
Vilaca isn't the only researcher looking closely at Apple's firmware. Hudson, who found the Thunderstrike bug, is scheduled to give a talk with Xeno Kovah and Corey Kallenberg at the Defcon security conference in August.
The presentation will show that Apple computers are vulnerable to many firmware attacks that affect PCs and demonstrate Mac malware in firmware, according to a description on the conference website.


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Nutcracker 12/9/14
This is the first of four performances that I shot this year. I'm sorry it's taking me so long to get them uploaded but the show is SO beautiful and amazing that I can't help but shoot a lot of photos which means that it takes me quite awhile to get them edited and looking perfect. I want to do my best to make sure the photos accurately portray the beauty of the show so I appreciate your patience. Thank you again for the privilege of photographing the Nutcracker!Read More


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The legendary Jake E Lee was recently a featured guest on VH1 Classic's That Metal Show, and the former Ozzy Osbourne and Badlands guitarist discussed his hiatus from music and his return with a new band – Jake E Lee's Red Dragon Cartel.
In addition, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen joined the panel to discuss his storied career.
Check out the full episode after the jump.
Get More:
Jake E. Lee, That Metal Show


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Rhino™ Armored Storage Trunk in Silver - Made in the USA
Add Snap and Go Trunk Wheels for $24.95
Why You Need This
Take it from past students, the Rhino Trunk is the MVP of your room (Most Valuable Product). It serves as secure storage, a coffee table, end of bed accessory, ottoman, bench and stepstool all in one. It's also the place you put stuff during parents' weekend that you don't want them seeing. Made in the USA by Rhino, it's the most rugged trunk for college. Its constructed from steel hardware, 3/8" Baltic Birch plywood and an Armor nylon canvas exterior that deflects liquids, dents and scratches. It features a specially designed soft-close safety lid stay to keep the lid from slamming shut on fingers. Rhino Trunks exude quality and are strong enough to jump on! The Large is the most popular size for dorm rooms. You'll take it with you to your first apartment too. This item is not eligible for discounts Specifications: External dimensions – 32"L x 18"W x 14"H Internal dimensions – 31.25"L x 17.25"W x 13.25"H Product Weight – 29 pounds Quality Construction Features: • 3/8" Baltic Birch hardwood plywood frame with durable Armor nylon canvas exterior • Soft-close safety lid stay specially designed to keep the lid from slamming shut • Tight fitting steel tongue and groove lid to base closure keeps out moisture, dirt, insects and odors • Stylish lockable nickel-plated steel trunk lock featuring Rhino's exclusive magnetic closure • Heavy duty proprietary nickel-plated steel hardware • Smooth natural Birch interior • Genuine leather handles • Lifetime Rhino warranty • Rhino Trunks meet California Prop 65 codes for health and safety and are carb 2 compliant • Rhino Trunks have passed Bureau Veritas safety testing • Made in the USA with American craftsmanship and will hold hundreds of pounds


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Aliens: Colonial Marines is a bad game, by most accounts. Reviewers have almost all trashed it, fans don't seem to like it, and the final product looks nothing like the impressive demo that developer Gearbox showed last year.
So how did it happen? Although the full picture isn't quite clear yet, over the past few days we've heard that the six-year development process for Aliens: Colonial Marines was tumultuous and divisive, a product of multiple studios with conflicting visions. And it shows in the resulting game.
According to one person familiar with the project who spoke to Kotaku under condition of anonymity, Gearbox outsourced the bulk of Colonial Marines (codenamed Pecan) to a studio called TimeGate, most recently responsible for the shooter Section 8 and its sequel.
This comes on the heels of a massive Reddit post that's been making the rounds today from someone claiming to work at Gearbox. Although we can't confirm that the Reddit post is credible, everything we've heard from our source matches up.
The Redditor said TimeGate left the single-player campaign in "a pretty horrid state," and that last September after Borderlands 2 shipped, Gearbox was unhappy with what TimeGate had left them. Sega was already upset with Gearbox for asking for multiple extensions since the project launched in 2006, so Gearbox had to buckle down and release a game they knew wasn't going to be very good, the Redditor said.
The post on Reddit matches what our source has told us, but there's more. When TimeGate took over the project, our source said, they threw out most of what Gearbox had done beforehand. All of the art and design that Gearbox had produced during the previous four years was gone.
So from 2010 until late last year, while Gearbox was working on Borderlands 2 (internally codenamed "Willow 2"), TimeGate handled the bulk of development on Aliens. A small team at Gearbox helped out with multiplayer work, as explained by both our source and the Redditor, but TimeGate built the single-player campaign.
In late 2012, when Gearbox saw what TimeGate had done, most of their developers weren't interested in taking the game back, our source said. Gearbox's team was upset that their work had been thrown out, and they didn't want this to be a repeat of Duke Nukem Forever, a game that took over a decade to develop until it was finally finished by Gearbox and released in mid-2011 to tepid response.
But Gearbox had to finish the game, and according to our source, they had to throw out much of TimeGate's work and start from scratch. This lines up with what the Redditor claims:
Campaign didn't make much sense, the boss fights weren't implemented, PS3 was way over memory, etcetcetc. GBX was pretty unhappy with TG's work, and some of Campaign maps were just completely redesigned from scratch. There were some last minute feature requests, most notably female marines, and the general consensus among GBX devs was that there was no way this game was going to be good by ship. There just wasn't enough time.
Considering that SEGA was pretty close to taking legal action against GBX, asking for an extension wasn't an option, and so Pecan crash-landed through certification and shipping. Features that were planned were oversimplified, or shoved in (a good example of this are challenges, which are in an incredibly illogical order). Issues that didn't cause 100% blockers were generally ignored, with the exception of absolutely horrible problems. This isn't because GBX didn't care, mind you. At a certain point, they couldn't risk changing ANYTHING that might cause them to fail certification or break some other system. And so, the product you see is what you get.
People at Gearbox knew the bad reviews were coming, our source said. They knew that the game wasn't good.
We've reached out to Gearbox, but they would not comment on the record. However, in a recent interview with IGN, Gearbox head Randy Pitchford said that TimeGate handled development "probably about 20 or 25 percent of the total time," and that "if you take preproduction out of it, their effort's probably equivalent to ours. Now, it's not fair to take preproduction out of it, but that says a lot about how much horsepower those guys put into it."
Pitchford's statements also seem to match up with what we've heard.
We reached out to TimeGate this afternoon, but they have yet to get back to us. We'll continue to update as we hear more.
Photo via Liz Tells Frank


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My opponent attacks, and I have a Baby Ninja and a Twisp in hand. I play the Baby Ninja, and she attacks again. Can I play Twisp to duplicate the Baby Ninja? It seems like you should be able to, but there is an explicit list in the rule book, that doesn't cover PVP Defense.
Edit for clarity: This question relates to Penny Arcade: Gamers Vs Evil and NOT to the Penny Arcade Card Game.


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Atlas of Curaçao
Jump to navigation Jump to search
|Wikimedia Commons Atlas of the World
The Wikimedia Atlas of the World is an organized and commented collection of geographical, political and historical maps available at Wikimedia Commons.
Discussion • Update the atlas • Index of the Atlas • Atlas in categories • Other atlases on line
The introductions of the country, dependency and region entries are in the native languages and in English. The other introductions are in English.
General maps
|Map of Curaçao
Kaart van Curaçao
|Map of the former Netherlands Antilles with Curaçao
Kaart van de Nederlandse Antillen met Curaçao
Notes and references
General remarks:


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Statement by NCBA President Scott George on Possible FSIS FurloughStatement by NCBA President Scott George on Possible FSIS Furlough
NCBA responds to Secretary Vilsack's remarks about a possible furlough of meat inspectors as a result of budget disagreements.
February 13, 2013
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association's (NCBA) membership is highly concerned by statements from United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack regarding the sequestration process and a possible fifteen day furlough of all Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) employees, including food safety inspectors. NCBA President and Wyoming cattle producer Scott George made the following comments in response to the situation:
"Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and other related legislation, Congress has charged the USDA with providing federal inspection of meat, poultry and egg products at government expense. This places a legal duty on the USDA and the administration to carry out this service, a duty which the USDA has recognized as 'essential' in the past. And while we understand the hardships placed on the agencies through the possibility of sequestration, we are severely disappointed Secretary Vilsack has chosen to take this path of threatening to halt FSIS inspections."
"Secretary Vilsack is using America's cattlemen and women as pawns in the agency's political wrangling with Congress. While we are certain the USDA contains other 'non-essential' employees, the Secretary has chosen to announce the consequences of sequestration in terms of a furlough of FSIS inspectors, essentially threating to close down all production, processing and interstate distribution of meat. This action has already cost cattle producers significant amounts of money with the downward slide in the futures markets caused by rampant speculation, with untold effect on producers through further regulatory uncertainty."
Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act and the Egg Products Inspection Act the production, processing or interstate distribution of meat, poultry and egg products is prohibited absent federal inspection. Such a move would impact approximately 6,290 establishments nationwide and the agency estimates the move would cost over $10 billion in production losses. Industry workers they estimate would experience over $400 million in lost wages, consumers would experience limited meat and poultry supplies and potentially higher prices and food safety could be compromised.
"NCBA will not stand by while the administration threatens this kind of action against the industry. We are calling on producers to contact their Senators and Congressional Representatives to send a clear signal to the USDA that this is not an acceptable exercise of executive authority."
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Google just conjured up its platonic ideal of an Android tablet: killer specs, the most pristine possible software, and a $200 price. Wil this be the Android tablet that finally makes Android tablets exciting? Is Amazon going to lose?
The Nexus, a slim, trim piece of gear packed with the latest Jelly Bean release of Android, falls mostly in line with what we were expecting: built by Asus, the Nexus holds a 1.3Ghz quad-core CPU, 12-core Tegra 3 processor, NFC, and 1 GB of RAM, a 1.2MP front-facing camera, and 8 hours of battery life—all with two different storage variants: 8 GB and 16 GB. That's a damn good level of muscle behind a 7-inch, 1280x800 screen, measuring 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm.
It's also clear from the price—$200 for the 8 GB model and $250 for 16 GB—that this thing is aiming squarely to extinguish the Fire, as is the big push Google is pressing on sucking up your favorite media. So far, it's the only tablet that isn't an iPad that's managed to make large groups of people care in the real world, owing, yes, largely to the fact that it's cheap. If Google can manage to not only sell a cheap, powerful Android tablet, but a powerful Android tablet that doesn't scare off moms and non-geeks, the Nexus will hit the ground with serious momentum—it's sure as hell kicking the Fire's ass in about every other category.
What it's lacking, however? Amazon Prime, and all the super myriad goodies that come with that. We'll see if Google can give you as compelling a list of things to do on your tablet as Amazon has. Google is gunning for Prime, too, now that Google Play offers pretty much every medium short of signal flare. This, not crazy specs and wobbly tablet gaming, is how many are going to be persuaded (or not) to buy a Nexus over a fire. Watch and listen to whatever you want, as easily as you can—that's the draw. Magazines, books, and TV shows all admittedly look great in Google's demo—it's done a terrific job with the interface—but so far Play doesn't provide the unlimited pipe of Prime. Maybe the beefy guts inside will make up for that. [Google]


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Traditional Czech brewery Budweiser Budvar has commissioned SSI SCHAEFER as a general contractor to create and equip a new distribution center at its production site in České Budějovice (Budweis).
The contract was awarded as a follow-up project. Back in 2009, SSI SCHAEFER implemented a three-aisle automated high bay warehouse (HBW) for Budweiser with a direct link to production. At the time, the system layout was designed as a growing, future-proof solution that would accommodate the upcoming expansion.
The new project will see SSI SCHAEFER establish a second site at the brewery's headquarters, where the intralogistics specialists are creating a seven-aisle HBW with more than 19,000 pallet storage locations. Storage-retrieval machines (SRMs) from SSI SCHAEFER's latest Exyz generation will ensure quick, energy-efficient processes with more than 160 pallet stock additions and 280 pallet retrievals per hour. Furthermore, the existing installation constructed in 2009 is being incorporated into coordinated material flows with a nonreactive product transport. The production building and the new distribution center will be linked via a bridge over the street with an electric monorail system (EMS). In the new distribution center, an additional EMS with 21 vehicles will transport pallets between the HBW pre-zone and the dispatch area. The systems in the existing buildings will also be connected via a conveying system. In addition to roughly 730 conveying system components, SSI SCHAEFER is also installing a pallet checking station and empties checking function, a pallet changer, and a new material flow system. The in-house developed WAMAS® logistics software with WAMAS® Lighthouse will ensure transparent processes and user-friendly visualization of the system, while the configurable dashboards will make it possible to optimize material flows at any time.


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Home-based Business Insurance
If you run a business out of your home, you have unique needs that home-based business insurance can address. It can be difficult to know where your homeowner's policy ends and where you need business insurance to pick up. Whether you store inventory in your home, drive your personal auto for business or have leased property that you need to insure, you have special considerations to think about when insuring your home-based business. Your agent can help navigate the distinctions between coverage options, discuss liability concerns and help you verify that you have the right level of small business insurance.
Business Liability Coverage
Business liability claims can be unpredictable and potentially devastating to your business. Our liability coverage can protect your business from medical costs, bodily injury and property damage for which you are legally liable. This important coverage can also help with legal defense costs in the event of a lawsuit against you.
Business Property Coverage
Business property coverage is crucial if you have customers visiting your home. Business property insurance offers financial protection for your buildings, business personal property, loss of business income and other exposures.
Hired and Non-Owned Auto Coverage
If you drive your personal vehicle for business use, this benefit adds an extra layer of protection to your auto policy. This coverage extends some automobile liability coverage for autos not owned or leased by your business but used for business purposes.
Your business is our business – your local Farm Bureau agent can look at the unique needs of your business and recommend custom coverage to help ensure you are protected, no matter where the business is located.
It's your future. Let's protect it.®


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With over 51,000 connections, N3 connects more than 1.3 million staff and every GP, hospital and clinic in England and Scotland
For almost a decade N3, the secure national broadband network built and managed for the National Health Service (NHS) by BT, has been delivering fast broadband network services that provide healthcare professionals with quick, easy access to information, anywhere, anytime, ensuring that patients get the best possible care whenever and wherever they need it.
N3 underpins many of the services the NHS relies on today. From transmitting medical images and speeding up response times in emergencies, to ensuring the NHS has internet access even in times of unprecedented demand such as during London 2012. And it is environmentally-friendly too. Its sustainability initiatives have reduced NHS carbon emission by more than 50,000 tonnes.
N3 provides the infrastructure which underpins key national services the National Health Service (NHS) relies on. Without it 39,000 hospital appointments couldn't be booked electronically each day; 675,000 prescriptions couldn't be sent; clinicians wouldn't be able to view medical images or log on to their computers to access vital patient information, and there would be no email access for NHS staff.
But N3 is much more than just a broadband network. It enables clinicians and healthcare professionals to deliver high-quality, cost effective care against a back drop of ever–increasing demand for healthcare. Offering a range of value-added services such as voice, videoconferencing, fast internet access, and mobility solutions, it is helping create a world where patients receive better, more convenient treatment, diagnosis is faster, emergency services can respond quicker, hospital stays are shorter, and discharges faster.
The scale of the N3 is impressive. With more than 51,000 connections it links every GP, hospital and clinic in England and Scotland. It is one of the largest private broadband networks in Europe, serving more than 1.3 million NHS employees, through 62 points of presence connected by 12,000 miles of fibre – enough to stretch from London to San Francisco and back.
N3 has become as important to the NHS as the road and the rail networks are to our everyday lives and it has saved the NHS an estimated £926 million. Constantly moving with the times and undergoing technological refreshes every two years, it provides the essential technical infrastructure without which the modern NHS couldn't function properly today.
When BT first began to roll-out N3 in 2004, broadband was still in its relative infancy. There was a national network, NHSnet, but it was based on old, inflexible technology which was significantly more expensive to run. It was slow in comparison and unable to cope with the increasing demands of the many new bandwidth-hungry services that were beginning to emerge.
It was not uncommon for large NHS organisations to be connected by 2mbps links and GPs with just 64kbps, tiny compared with today's connections which can be anything up to 100mbps.
N3 is ground-breaking in many ways. When BT was awarded the contract it was to act as a service provider, known as N3 Service Provider (N3SP). Under this arrangement, BT was to source broadband connections on the open market from a variety of different telecommunications companies and manage these on behalf of the NHS. Each supplier competes on price and quality, so the NHS gets the best value for money.
The challenge in building the network was not insignificant. Not only did the existing 10,000 connections of NHSnet have to be replaced, but an additional 8,000 sites which weren't on the network also had to be connected by the end of March 2007.
N3SP was quick off the block. 6,000 connections were reached by the end of March 2005 and in November that year it passed 12,000. By the beginning of 2007 the roll-out to 18,000 sites was completed – nearly two months ahead of schedule – enabling NHSnet to be switched off in March that same year. The resulting efficiencies in switching from NHSnet to N3 led to estimated NHS savings of more than £163 million.
But reaching 18,000 connections was far from job done. Every two years N3SP delivers a technology refresh using the latest network technology which is more cost effective and kinder to the environment. This ensures that, in a rapidly evolving market, the NHS is underpinned by a world-class network and can take advantage of the latest innovations to drive efficiencies and cost savings.
Today, N3's capacity, network coverage, and capabilities make it unrecognisable from the network first launched more than nine years ago. What started as a data network rapidly evolved into a network capable of supporting a number of cost saving, value-added services including, voice, data, mobility, video and web-conferencing, and remote access. This has helped to transform the way the NHS works, and introduced new, more cost efficient ways of working.
N3 has earned an enviable reputation for delivering excellent customer service with customer satisfaction constantly improving over the past five years.
One of the first value-added services to be introduced was N3 Voice, an IP-based voice service which enables the NHS to take advantage of lower call charges to mobiles – as much as 30 percent – and free calls to other voice equipped NHS organisations.
The use of N3 Voice Services continues to grow, reaching 10.5 million calls in 2011/12, a 70 per cent increase on the previous year. Today, more than 150 organisations use N3 Voice every second of every day, reducing the NHS's telephone bill by £4 million since the service was launched.
North Essex NHS Foundation Trust is one such example. It replaced its outdated voice network with N3's hosted voice service, making savings of £81,000 a year in running costs.
N3 also ushered in a new era where clinicians are able to access vital patient information at the touch of a button. Today, clinicians have instant access to the one million scans or x-rays that are stored electronically whether it is at a GP surgery or in a hospital environment – a major leap forward in terms of speed and security from the days when images were delivered by couriers.
Across England, the majority of cancer networks, telemedicine and cardiovascular networks are now using N3 to save time on travelling and enable faster diagnosis and treatment. N3 audio and web conferencing is encouraging more collaborative working, enabling teams to talk and share their experiences and work on documents, presentations and other materials such as patients notes or x-rays or scans.
And N3 Mobile Health Worker, which supports a number of mobile devices from laptop and tablet computers to smartphones, is enabling community health professionals to work more flexibly. It provides clinicians with instant access to patient records whether they are in the office, on the move or in a patient's home, allowing them to spend more time with patients.
Another service that has transformed the way clinicians work and improved patient care is N3 Managed Videoconferencing. Previously, videoconferencing services were set up on a local basis, often for use inside a specific Trust which was then responsible for booking and scheduling calls and managing the bandwidth and infrastructure.
With N3 Managed Videoconferencing all that is taken care of, with the necessary infrastructure built into the N3 network. Trusts are able to easily set up videoconferencing calls with each other using an online booking system. Since the service was launched, clinicians and healthcare professionals had, as at the end of April 2013, taken part in 48,700 video meetings, resulting in savings of £11.7 million. Not only that, by reducing unnecessary travel it has saved 2,100 tonnes of carbon emissions. If extended across the whole of the NHS, N3 Videoconferencing has the potential to save up to £100 million a year.
N3 Videoconferencing is also encouraging greater innovation and more efficient ways of working. The West London Cancer Network and Peterborough and Stamford Hospital, among other trusts, are using it to enable multi-disciplinary teams of doctors, nurses and administrative staff from across all the hospitals to discuss individual patients by simultaneously reviewing x-rays from one place and pathology from another.
Recognising N3 Videoconferencing's contribution, the service has collected two prestigious national awards for innovation, bringing N3's tally of awards to an impressive nine for quality, innovation, efficiency, and team working and collaboration. This includes winning e-Government awards for an unprecedented three years in succession.
When you're dealing with something as close to the heart of the nation as the NHS and those people who work for it, customer satisfaction is the number one priority.
The inexorable rise of traffic over the internet meant that it was not long before it was necessary to increase the capacity of the internet gateway – the part of the infrastructure that carries traffic to and from the internet. The gateway, which carries more than 600 terabytes of data each month – equivalent to 600 billion printed A4 pages every 4 seconds – has now been upgraded twice to cope with ever-increasing demand.
Most recently capacity was more than doubled to 5Gbps to provide faster access and new enhanced functionality to prioritise traffic according to clinical and business need. This was really put to the test during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games when, despite unprecedented demand, the N3 Gateway ensured that the NHS had continuous access to clinical and business critical websites supporting essential front line services.
Trusts connected to N3 can also join together to form Community of Interest Networks (COINs), enabling them to network their services together more efficiently, converge voice, data, and video communications, and create bespoke solutions to meet their needs.
There are now 69 COINs joining up clinical care in sparsely populated areas such as Cornwall, and bringing together specialisms such as The Kent Cardiovascular Network, which uses the N3 to link local facilities with main centres of expertise in London, so patients get faster diagnosis and treatment.
Since COINs were first introduced they have generated savings of £205 million, and connect more than 30 percent of trusts in England and 40 percent of trusts in Scotland. With many COINs now being retendered, N3SP is having considerable success in retaining most of the contracts, winning the majority of them. This is in large part due to the technological refreshes the N3 network undergoes.
With the NHS reforms now in effect, and GP-led consortia known as clinical commissioning groups now responsible for a large part of the NHS budget, N3SP is currently upgrading connections to GPs.
The GP Next Generation Access programme will ensure that all surgeries in England are equipped with the latest super-fast broadband technology to help improve access to clinical applications and services and is the second upgrade to GPs' technology. It will see more than 7,100 GP sites, as well as clinics, ambulance stations and other small sites, upgraded to speeds of up to 20mbps – 40mbps. Since the launch of N3, upgrades to GP connections have saved the NHS £13 million.
N3 is also playing an important role in the Government's Public Services Network – an initiative to create a joined-up "network of networks" to substantially reduce the cost of communications services across UK government. In many ways N3 can be seen as a blueprint for the PSN, having already demonstrated the benefits of a multi-vendor interoperable network. A pioneer of PSN, N3 has recently been awarded PSN certification for its Direct Network Service Provider connectivity service, linking it with the wider PSN via the Government Conveyance Network.
Connectivity to the PSN means that N3 can now provide secure, resilient access to the core of the PSN, further enhancing the ability of the 1.3 million users of the N3 network to collaborate and share information with other organisations such as local authorities and social care providers.
As well as innovation, customer satisfaction is central to N3's ethos. Nick Earl, Chief Executive of N3SP, says: "When you're dealing with something as close to the heart of the nation as the NHS and those people who work for it, customer satisfaction is the number one priority.
Despite some challenges in the early days of the contract, N3 has earned an enviable reputation for delivering excellent customer service with customer satisfaction constantly improving over the past five years. We can now boast that we have one of the best customer satisfaction ratings across the whole of the industry.
N3 has a dedicated 24/7 contact centre and customer relationship management system where users can place orders, track faults, and confirm current services. The contact centre target is for all calls to be answered within 60 seconds. Currently 99.5 percent of calls are being handled within this timeframe.
The N3 network has also had a significant knock-on effect in helping the NHS – the largest UK public sector climate change contributor – reduce its carbon emissions. Working closely with the NHS Sustainable Development Unit and NHS trusts, N3SP has been looking to find ways of lowering emissions.
As well as videoconferencing, N3's remote access service, which currently supports more than 20,000 virtual private network tokens in the NHS, is calculated to be saving 150,000 days of commuting a year. If extended to all non-clinical staff this figure could increase to 3.8 million days.
Many of N3 services are inherently environmentally-friendly. Flexible working with N3 Mobile Health Worker can help cut down on unnecessary journeys to and from the office, meaning healthcare professionals can spend more time with patients. Likewise, N3 audio and web-conferencing cuts down on unproductive travel, while N3 On Demand Compute – a data centre service hosted in the cloud – reduces carbon emission because it uses less space and power than conventional data centres.
N3 is also there in times of trouble. With the UK experiencing more severe weather events in recent years, such as heavy snow and flooding, N3 has helped ensure business continuity across the NHS.
For example, Sheffield received a month's rain in just one day during summer floods in 2012, forcing schools to close, nursing homes to be evacuated and affecting 30,000 homes and 7,000 businesses. As the communities pulled together to recover from the damage, behind the scenes N3's reliable, secure network helped the NHS to carry on.
With clinical data held safely at a secure data centre and accessed remotely via the N3 network, surgeries avoided the potentially life-threatening situation of cancelled appointments, lost patient records, and unavailable prescriptions. The 13 Sheffield surgeries which suffered damage were able relocate to neighbouring practices, access information remotely, and continue surgery as normal.
And thanks to N3, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance has cut its emergency response time after linking its computers to N3, meaning its helicopter can now be airborne in two minutes compared to the average eight minutes it used to take.
The year 2014 represents a real landmark for N3 as it celebrates a decade of success. Innovative, constantly evolving and with an excellent record in customer satisfaction, N3 continues to deliver world-class networking services.
The beauty of N3 is that it allows us to move intelligence and information around the system, which is a critical part of high quality healthcare. That benefits the public, the patient, it benefits the professionals, and it benefits the planet.
Nick Earl comments: "N3's contribution to modern healthcare should not be underestimated. It has been a quiet revolution behind the scenes and made a lasting difference to the NHS. N3 is transforming the way people work, increasing efficiency, saving the NHS money and, most importantly, helping improve patient care."
Looking forwards, James Hawkins, Director of Programme Delivery at The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), observes: "Everyone who has worked on N3 should be incredibly proud of these achievements and the continuing difference we make to the everyday running of the NHS. We are committed to building upon the success of N3 to support the needs of the NHS as it evolves."


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The US President might be locked in a neck and neck battle at home with his challenger Mitt Romney, but across the world, including in India, people still overwhelmingly want to see Barack Obama re-elected.
According to an international survey by BBC World Service, Obama is preferred to Romney in 20 of the 21 countries with Pakistan the only country where more people favoured the Republican for an election.
The poll comes just two weeks ahead of the US presidential election and while Americans appear to be sharply divided in their choice, the people across the world give a thumping endorsement to the incumbent.
Overall, an average of 50 per cent would prefer to see Obama elected, compared to only 9 per cent who prefer Romney. The rest said they had no preference between the two.
A total of 21,797 people were polled for the survey conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA between July 3 and September 3.
France, where 72 per cent of those surveyed favoured the President against 2 per cent for Romney, emerged as the most pro-Obama nation.
On the other hand, Pakistan where 14 per cent wanted to see Romney elected compared to 11 per cent for Obama was the only country polled that preferred the Republican.
The poll indicates that Obama's foreign policy is seen favourably by most countries of the world over that of the previous Republican dispensations.
In case of Pakistan, Obama's tenure has coincided with one of the worst phases seen by US-Pak ties and the poll clearly reflects the situation. Issues like US drone strikes on Pakistani territory, a NATO raid that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year as well as the Abbottabad raid that killed Osama bin Laden have seen the ties between the two countries plunge to an all time low.
In India, 36 per cent of people polled preferred Obama against 12 per cent for Romney.
Compared to four years ago, support for Obama went up in seven of the 15 countries, including India, that were polled this time as well as in 2008.
France, Brazil, the UK, Panama, Indonesia, India, and Turkey, saw a rise in support for Obama after his presidency while four countries -- Kenya, Mexico, Poland, and China saw a drop.
"While the presidential race in America looks like going down to the wire, global public opinion appears to be firmly behind Barack Obama's re-election—even if two in five express no preference between the two candidates," said GlobeScan Director of Global Insights Sam Mountford.
The other countries that were heavily in Obama's favour were Australia (67 per cent), Canada (66 per cent), Nigeria (66 per cent), and the UK (65 per cent).


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With all due respect, I think you've been putting cheese on the wrong side of your grilled cheese sandwiches. Or, at the least, neglecting the better ones, the exteriors. Wait, hear me out. It's basic food math that while cold cheese is good, warm cheese is better. But if you take that a step further — and if you're new here, let me tell you: we will always take it a step further — you will agree that melted cheese is better than warm cheese, and the melted cheese that rolls off a piece of sandwich bread and sizzles on a skillet, browning and crisping, is the top of the cheese tower… A place I'd very much like to live. Do you think a cheese tower might exist somewhere? Might it be France? Now I'm picturing an Eiffel Tower made out of cheese and what were we talking about? Oh right: melted and browned cheese wins, really for the same reason that browned butter trumps regular butter: the fats melt away from the dairy solids and toast them until they're caramelized and achingly delicious and you forget why you'd ever eat it any other way. Don't fight it.
Frico is the official name for it. It's usually invoked in the realm of Parmesan-Reggiano, or at least in almost every restaurant since the wildly fric-wild heyday of the 80s and 90s, usually in lacy crisps that garnish soups, salads and the like to remind you that they're fancy. They're not actually fancy, though. They're just a pinch of grated cheese, melted in a skillet or on a baking sheet until they bubble, crisp and can be lifted in one lacy disc with a spatula. And I see no reason they should they should be limited in flavor to Parmesan, or at least not when I'm craving grilled cheese and tomato soup, really the perfect early fall meal.
Here, we frico un-fancily, almost hideously, intentionally instead of accidentally between buttered bread and a hot skillet. It's one of these tiny cooking things that you can do to what you were already making, using the same exact ingredients, that makes it infinitely better. These are my favorite tiny things.
I've missed you. I had realized once September hit that it was going to be chaos city in my orbit for a while, but I'd still gotten a bit of cooking done and hoped to find windows to update the site in the midst of it. You'd think by my third book tour, I'd know better. Nevertheless, London, which I returned from late Monday night (only to be fully awake again at 3:30 a.m. because hello, jet lag, and then under the weather since, bah) was otherwise such a treat, in part because it included so many sub-adventures, such as a half weekend in Abergavenny, Wales, an overnight stay at, yes, an Air Force base, a visit to Bath, Ely and Cambridge and oh, I also cooked on an Aga stove on a houseboat (link to come). It was hardly short on adventure, capped by a weekend visit from Alex, who told our son that he "was going away bring Mommy home," which totally made my lip quiver.
12 days is a very long trip. I was there long enough that the cars no longer looked funny to me, or gave me the panic-of-imminent-death that they were on the wrong side of the road. It was long enough that I came home and asked my son if he wanted porridge for breakfast, but I meant oatmeal. I've lost sight of why we whip cream for desserts, when a fruit crumble is so much better thickly drizzled with it cold and fresh. I may have called something "brilliant" yesterday, when it really wasn't. I've always thought that the feeling of being away is increased by the number of times when you're so caught up in the details of being there (maybe for good stuff like whee, I'm on a boat! or stuff that's more amusing in hindsight like being consumed with why you're stuck on a jammed train or a fully-booked hotel you're trying to check into at 1 a.m. can't find your reservation or have no idea where to transfer rails because what do you have against clear signage, London, what?) and by that standard, the trip felt even longer. This is wonderful when you're on a family summer vacation but a little sadder when you're away from them, and I'm feeling the need to excessively dote on my people now that I'm back, which likely means more home cooking, more soaking up of weekend inspiration, and more new fun ideas to share here. Everyone wins.
[I may have gotten a little carried away with the phone photos in London? Many of these were original posted to Instagram, and you can follow me there.]
Tomato Soup: Can't have grilled cheese without tomato soup, yes? Here's a classic, homemade riff on a smooth creamy tomato soup (coughCampbellsstylecough). And here's a chunkier base from fresh tomatoes that can be made with or without that thematic crouton on top.
Parade Magazine: I have five recipes for fall on the cover of the October issue Parade Magazine's food monthly, Dash. Three are brand new (Roasted Bacon and Butternut Squash Pizza, Skillet Spirals with Cheese and Broccoli — a weeknight stovetop-then-broil mac-and-cheese — and Carrot Soup with Tiny Turkey Meatballs and Spinach) and two are possibly new-to-you, riffs on Smitten Kitchen Cookbook recipes (Baked Wild Rice with Kale, Caramelized Onions and Soft-Cooked Eggs and Harvest Roast Chicken with Olives and Grapes). All are things I absolutely love to make as the weather cools off and I hope will make it into your rotation too.
One year ago: Homemade Wheat Thins and Crackly Banana Bread
Two years ago: Apple and Honey Challah and Apple Pie Cookies
Three years ago: Skirt Steak Salad with Arugula and Blue Cheese, Monkey Cake and Beef Chili with Sour Cream and Cheddar Biscuits
Four years ago: Roasted Tomatoes and Cipollini, Cheesecake Marbled Brownies and Grilled Lamb Kebabs + Tzatziki
Five years ago: Bourbon Peach Hand Pies, Raspberry Breakfast Bars and The Baked Brownie, Spiced Up
Six years ago: Tortilla de Patatas (recently updated and streamlined; still a favorite!) and Apple and Yogurt Cake
Seven years ago: Penne a la Vodka + Belgian Brownies and 44-Clove Garlic Soup (so good with all of the newly-dried garlic at the markets now!)
Frico Grilled Cheese Sandwich
A more tone-aware food writer would ask you to forgive them for the simplicity of this recipe. Grilled cheese? You think we need a recipe for cheese + bread + butter in a frying pan? But I won't to because making it this way changes everything. You can't be convinced by the aroma of buttery, toasting, crisping cheese in a hot skillet because you haven't made it yet, but I think that once you experience it — I mean, take a deep drag off the kitchen air and be so happy that you're home again — it will be what keeps you from making grilled cheese any other way again.
I like a hearty country wheat bread here, not too thickly sliced or it's hard for the cheese inside to melt. You may more or less cheese depending on the size of your bread slices, and your tastes.
Yield: 1 sandwich. Scale up to share.
2 slices bread of your choice
2 teaspoons butter, salted or unsalted
1/2 cup (2 ounces) coarsely grated cheddar
Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread, the one that will be on the outside of the sandwich. Scatter all but 2 tablespoons cheese unbuttered side of one slice. Top with second slice, so that the buttered side faces out. Heat skillet over low-to-moderate heat. (I like to use a well-seasoned cast iron frying pan here.) Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cheese roughly in center of skillet. Place sandwich on top. Cook sandwich until golden underneath and cheese browns and crisps, about 2 to 4 minutes. Carefully lift melted (frico-ed) cheese and bread onto spatula, sprinkle remaining spoonful of cheese back in skillet, then flip sandwich over on top of it. Cook on second side until golden and crisp as well, pressing down on it with the spatula to encourage it to all come together.
Transfer to a plate, cut in half if desired, and dig in.
Alternate riffs on the classic: Are you a purist or do you like to put other things on your grilled cheese? I'm a sucker for sweet and sour red onions with a baby Swiss or gruyere cheese (this recipe in the book). But when I'm using classic cheddar, I either like a thin slice of tomato inside my sandwich, or sometimes, like the day I made these, the thinnest schmear of smooth Dijon and a dash of onion powder.


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The importance of working with legal and financial professionals that really do their homework is more important than ever before as Americans are taking estate planning seriously, reviewing the economic effieicney and being "pitched" a variety of options. Insurance expert Ed Hinerman shared some great tips and caveats with us below.
– Ike Devji
I've always been an advocate of buying a term life insurance length, or multiple term insurance policies that reflect your actual life insurance needs with different term lengths. Due to some recent changes in conversion options I am considering an amendment to my recommendation.
It all started last in the summer of 2009 with West Coast Life changing their term conversion to only include a 10 year guarantee universal life option. At the time this was isolated and I jumped all over them for mistreating their faithful long term customers by taking away a lifetime guarantee option. They claimed they had no choice, that their reinsurance company holds all of the converted policies and they dictated what West Coast could offer. They didn't seem to get the logic of offering a more expensive version of the fully guaranteed product if the old product didn't produce enough premium. After several blows being exchanged they decided even though everything I posted about the situation was absolutely true, they would rather I not represent them any more. Martyred! Darn the luck.
More recently it came to light that American General, AIG, had changed their conversion option so that during the first 5 years a client could convert to any of their permanent products. After the 5th year the only product available is a UL with a 10 year guarantee. They didn't blame it on reinsurance, but rather claimed that they were victims of adverse selection when people converted after the 5th year. Their claim. If you convert after the 5th year you are only doing so because your health is going down hill, which could lead to a claim. I'm crying foul because that is exactly what a conversion option is for, to lock in your insurability. They say they have actuarial data showing this adverse selection but they won't share it.
Another issue is that their policy says it will convert to a permanent policy. Their words, not mine. The truth is that a universal life policy with a 10 year guarantee is only permanent in the imagination of the company offering it. One financial hiccup during the life of that policy will cut it short and you're without insurance.
Now Banner Life is following suit with an announcement recently that they will change to the same stance as AIG, five years and you're out of options. It kills me to see these companies taking out their own shortcomings on the backs of faithful customers. If, and I've been assured by a trusted source at Prudential, this adverse selection is true, why not raise the price on all of your products and spread the pain? The answer is obvious. It's easier to mess with policies already on the books. It doesn't hurt new sales and worst case is that people get mad and cancel their policies. Companies love it when you've paid in 5 or 10 or 15 years and cancel. All that cash flow and no death benefit paid!!!
So, my advice to those looking for life insurance? I still maintain that staggering or layering different term length policies is a prudent way to handle 98% of all life insurance needs. The change I would make is to make sure that clients consider their possible permanent needs from day one. It would appear, legal? or not, that policy owners may not be able to depend on conversion options any longer for "permanent" life insurance. That may mean buying that small final expense UL at the same time as the term or making sure your agent stays on top of any conversion option in place and any changes that come along. Hopefully companies will do a better job than American General in notifying the affected parties.
For those couples that are carrying term policies with companies that allow couple conversion to second to die estate preservation insurance, contact the company and insist that they let you know of any changes in that option while they still have access to the option they bought and believed would be there as long as they needed it.
Bottom line. Contact your agent and ask for a company statement on what their conversion option intentions are. If you can't find your agent, and most of you can't, call me and I'll look into it.
For more Info Contact:Ed Hinerman, Hinerman Group 6399 Loggie Gulch Circle, Salida, CO 81201 Toll free 866-539-7914 Website: http://hinermangroup.com/blog/home/