text:
Sec. 27-19. Adjutant General. Appointment and qualifications. The Military
Department shall be comprised of (1) the armed forces of the state, as defined in section
27-2, which shall be under the military command and control of the Adjutant General,
and (2) any civilian employee appointed by the Adjutant General pursuant to section
27-31. The Military Department shall be under the charge of the Adjutant General. On
or before July 1, 1980, the Governor shall appoint an Adjutant General with the rank
of major general to serve for a term of two years from July 1, 1980. Quadrennially
thereafter, the Governor shall appoint an Adjutant General with the rank of lieutenant
general to serve for a term of four years, from such first day of July and until a successor
is appointed and qualified. The Adjutant General shall have had at least fifteen years'
commissioned service in the armed forces of the United States and shall have obtained
the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher in the Army, Marine Corps or Air Force, or the
rank of commander or higher in the Navy or Coast Guard. No person shall be appointed
or continue to serve as Adjutant General after reaching the age of sixty-four years. The
Adjutant General may be suspended or removed by the Governor in accordance with
the provisions of sections 4-11, 4-12 and 4-13.
(1949 Rev., S. 1235; 1957, P.A. 365, S. 10; 1959, P.A. 496; P.A. 75-333, S. 3; P.A. 01-123, S. 2; P.A. 03-19, S. 67; P.A. 11-41, S. 1.)
History: 1959 act changed appointment date from July 1, 1963, to July 1, 1964, and changed experience requirement to at least 10 years in the armed forces of the United States; P.A. 75-333 provided for appointment of adjutant general for a 2-year term from July 1, 1980, and quadrennially thereafter, to serve a term of 4 rather than 8 years; P.A. 01-123 replaced "in charge" with "under the charge", changed rank of Adjutant General from major general to lieutenant general and made technical changes for purposes of gender neutrality; P.A. 03-19 made technical changes, effective May 12, 2003; P.A. 11-41 added Subdivs. (1) and (2) re composition of Military Department, changed years of required commissioned service from ten to fifteen and added provision requiring Adjutant General to have obtained the rank of lieutenant colonel or commander or higher, effective June 3, 2011.
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Sec. 27-39. Care and control of military property. Lease of military facilities.
Use of military facilities without charge. Annual report. (a) As used in this section
"military facility" means any state-owned military building.
(b) The Adjutant General is charged with the responsibility for the use and maintenance of all armories, rifle ranges, reservations and other military property under the provisions for such use imposed by the statutes. Each military facility shall be under the charge of a commissioned officer, designated by the Adjutant General, and may be leased by him as herein prescribed. Each application for the lease of such facility shall be made to the officer in charge of such facility, who shall forward such application to the Adjutant General, who shall approve or disapprove such application and so advise the applicant. The Adjutant General shall limit the lease of military facilities to military and nonprofit organizations, organizations receiving state aid and governmental agencies. Proceeds from the lease of military facilities shall be paid to the Adjutant General, who shall promptly pay such proceeds into the Treasury of the state. The Adjutant General shall, in military facilities where space is available, assign space to veterans' service organizations for their joint uses, subject to the regulations concerning military facilities. Units of the armed forces of the state and veterans' organizations jointly utilizing military facilities shall be allowed the use of the drill shed and such other portions of the building as are usually included when military facilities are leased, upon proper application through regular channels and subject to the following conditions and terms: When no admissions are charged, the lease shall be free up to midnight on the regular meeting night of the organization making application. If the use of the military facility is required after midnight, the regular military rate shall be charged. At all other times and for entertainments when admissions are charged, the military rate shall be charged veterans' organizations jointly using the military facility. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as allowing the lease of any military facility (1) on the drill night of any active military organization stationed in the facility or in a manner that conflicts with the military usage of the facility, or (2) at a reduced rate by any veterans' organization for the purpose of conducting any athletic contest or other entertainment for which full nonmilitary rate is charged military organizations. In no case shall any veterans' organization be allowed use of any military facility for the purpose of subleasing.
(c) Agricultural and other associations that receive state aid and military organizations may be allowed the use of military facilities at a cost not exceeding the actual maintenance cost of such facilities during the period of such use. Applications for such use may be made to the Adjutant General through the officer in charge of the military facility desired to be used. In all cases when admission is charged, a certificate of insurance, approved by the Adjutant General, indemnifying the state against injuries to person and damage to property shall be furnished, the cost of the certificate to be in addition to the leasing or maintenance charge. The Adjutant General may allow the use of any military facility, without charge, by (1) any public or private nonprofit elementary or secondary school or any public institution of higher education for purposes of athletic events with respect to which no admission is charged, (2) the American Red Cross for purposes of blood supply programs, and (3) any local, state or federal governmental agency, provided any such use does not conflict with the use of such facility for military purposes. The Adjutant General shall allow the use of the military facilities associated with the first and second companies of the Governor's Horse Guards in the towns of Avon and Newtown, without charge, by nonprofit organizations receiving contributions to support such Horse Guards for purposes of fundraising, provided such use does not conflict with the use of such facilities for military purposes.
(d) Not later than August 1, 2007, and annually thereafter, the Adjutant General shall submit a report of the amount of proceeds received from leasing each military facility and the expenses of each such facility, for the twelve-month period ending on June thirtieth of the same year, to the Military Department, the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public safety and the select committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to veterans' affairs, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a.
(1949 Rev., S. 1265; 1957, P.A. 365, S. 38; P.A. 81-270; P.A. 87-185; P.A. 89-260, S. 37, 41; P.A. 92-126, S. 30, 48; P.A. 06-46, S. 1; P.A. 11-48, S. 16.)
History: P.A. 81-270 divided the section into subsections and added provision allowing the use of state armories without rental for school or community college athletic events and Red Cross blood programs; P.A. 87-185 amended Subsec. (b), requiring the furnishing of a certificate of insurance, in lieu of a surety bond, in cases when admission is charged; P.A. 89-260 in Subsec. (b) deleted reference to state system of community colleges; P.A. 92-126 amended Subsec. (b) to change the reference to community college to community-technical college; P.A. 06-46 substituted "military facility" for "armory" and substituted "lease" for "rental" throughout, defined "military facility" in new Subsec. (a) and redesignated existing Subsecs. (a) and (b) as Subsecs. (b) and (c), respectively, in newly designated Subsec. (b) deleted references to "quarters", limited leasing to certain organizations, made technical changes and added requirement that lease not conflict with military usage, in newly designated Subsec. (c) added "military organizations", substituted "public institution of higher education" for "regional community technical college" and added Subdiv. (3) re governmental agency, and added Subsec. (d) re annual report; P.A. 11-48 amended Subsec. (c) by adding provision re use of facilities for fundraising by nonprofit organizations supporting the Governor's Horse Guards, effective July 1, 2011.
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Sec. 27-100f. Internet informational page listing benefits, services or programs. On or before July 1, 2012, the Department of Veterans' Affairs shall publish
on the department's Internet web site an informational page listing any benefits, services
or programs offered to veterans or their families by any state or federal agency, department or institution. The department shall maintain the informational page after said date
and shall update the informational page annually. The department shall publish on the
informational page any information concerning the eligibility requirements and application process for such benefits, services or programs, the name and contact information
of any entity offering such benefits, services or programs, and a link to the Internet web
site for such entity.
History: P.A. 11-3 effective May 9, 2011.
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Our Loft Villa
Located just minutes away from the hustle and bustle of Downtown Wisconsin Dells, enjoy the peace and tranquility of the 100 ft. Norway Pines right on the Wisconsin River. This unit is located right on the Coldwater Canyon Golf Course at Chula Vista Resort. It is the perfect solution for families looking for the accommodations of home-away-from-home.
Contact us for great rates - always below Chula Vista posted rates!
Rent this condo for your next vacation. Book your vacation now and see the beautiful scenery of Cold Water Canyon Golf Course and the Wisconsin River! We will provide rates lower than Chula Vista Resort Website published rates. Rates fluctuate daily. For this reason, we typically will only accept reservations up to 6 weeks in advance of your stay. Check our calendar for available dates. Discounted rates are subject to availability*.
Here is how you can secure your reservation for this unit:
- Contact us and provide us with the following information:
- Your First and Last Name
- Your email address
- The date you will be checking in
- The date you will be checking out
- Age of guests under 21
- You will receive a response with our quoted rate**
- If you would like to reserve the room at the quoted rate - respond within 24 hours of the quote and let us know would like to make the reservation for the dates and rate agreed upon.
- We will contact Chula Vista Resort and secure a reservation number with the agreed upon dates and quoted rate (we need to do this in order for you to receive a rate lower than what Chula Vista Resort is offering).
- You will receive an email with your reservation number with instructions on how to confirm your reservation with Chula Vista Resort.
This unit is the perfect solution for families looking for the accommodations of home-away-from-home.
*Discounted rates may not be available during peak season. Peak season includes but is not restricted to holidays, school break times, weekends, and June-August. Please contact us with your request and we will provide you with the best available rate.
**Quoted rates expire 24 hours from the time the quote is sent and are subject to availability

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Forums → Games → [Invite] Bush Whacker 2 Friending
Come over here to add friends to the game Bush Whacker 2
please add me, thanks
pls ADD ME, thank you.
i am a activ bush whacker, if someone needs help, add me
You can add me
Please add me...
Add me, please.
add me
Add me as well plz
add me plz - thx!
Add me
Still here, still active.
add me please too
Add me plz! ^_^
Hey peoples I would also like to be added as a friend '@;
You must be logged in to post a reply!
We strive to deliver the best gaming experiences on the internet and on your mobile phone. Play thousands of free online games, get access to free mmorpg games, online rpg games, fun online flash games, and more.
We offer free flash games in many different genres: online shooting games, online puzzle games, online war games, free online car games, free online hidden object games and dozens more.
This is the best place on the web to play online games for free! No matter what game style you prefer, we've got it here.
Want to advertise on Armor Games? Send us a note!
Gaming websites, passionate bloggers, and quirky streamers are welcome to share or review our games. If you need game keys, art, trailers, screenshots or more check out our press kit website.
Game developer? Visit developers.armorgames.com to request AG developer status, find documentation on our APIs, and get access to our development environment. Let's make sweet, sweet games together.
Looking for a publishing partner that can help your app rocket to success? Contact the mobile team to learn more about how we can help!


text:
Chicago Blackhawks vs Colorado Avalanche Betting Preview
Colorado Avalanche
Chicago Blackhawks
|December 27, 2013, 08:00 PM | United Center
Colorado pays a visit to Chicago on Friday, hoping to shut down the Blackhawks snipers in hockey action at United Center.
Supporters of the Avalanche have seen them go 23-10-3 so far this season, while the Blackhawks are at 26-7-6. In totals betting, the Blackhawks are 22-17, while the Avalanche are 15-19-2.
View Colorado Avalanche vs Chicago Blackhawks Odds and Stats.
If you're going with the Blackhawks in this one, they were listed as moneyline Favorite of -190 on most hockey betting menus early today for Friday's contest. The over-under was at 5.5 earlier at BetOnline.
This game matches up the No. 2 (Blackhawks) and the No. 23 (Avalanche) teams according to our current NHL Power Rankings.
Colorado was a 5-4 loser in its last match on the road against the Sharks. They lost as +166 underdogs, while the total score of 9 made winners of OVER bettors.
Chicago won its last outing, a 5-2 result against the Devils on December 23. Bettors who backed the Blackhawks at -210 on the moneyline won on the day, and the total score (7) sent OVER bettors to the payout window.
How They Match Up:
The game also pits Chicago's No. 1-ranked offense, averaging 3.72 goals per game, against a Avalanche defense that ranks No. 8 at 2.44 goals allowed. The Blackhawks power play is averaging 23.88% while the Avalanche defense kills off 80.36% of their penalties.
A few Avalanche at Blackhawks trends to consider:
Colorado is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
Colorado is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Colorado is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Colorado's last 5 games when playing Chicago
Chicago is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 16 of Chicago's last 23 games
Chicago is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Chicago's last 10 games at home
Next up:
Colorado home to Atlanta, Sunday, December 29th
Chicago at St. Louis, Saturday, December 28th


text:
What does LEA mean in State & Local?
This page is about the meanings of the acronym/abbreviation/shorthand LEA in the Governmental field in general and in the State & Local terminology in particular.
Local Enforcement Agencies
Find a translation for LEA in other languages:
Select another language:
What does LEA mean?
- lea(noun)
- a unit of length of thread or yarn
Discuss this LEA abbreviation with the community:
Use the citation below to add this abbreviation to your bibliography:
"LEA." Abbreviations.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2018. Web. 21 Mar. 2018. <https://www.abbreviations.com/term/195604>.


text:
Sir Henry Hoyle Howorth(1842-1923), Historian, archaeologist, barrister and Conservative politician; MP for Salford South
Sitter in 5 portraits
by Harry Furniss
pen and ink, 1880s-1900s
by Benjamin Stone
platinum print, 1897
NPG x20419
by Walter Stoneman
bromide print, 1921
NPG x168451
Sir Henry Hoyle Howorth ('Statesmen. No. 656.')
by Sir Leslie Ward
chromolithograph, published in Vanity Fair 11 July 1895
by Unknown artist
pen and ink, early 20th century
Tell us more back to top
Can you tell us more about this person? Spotted an error, information that is missing (a sitter's life dates, occupation or family relationships, or a date of portrait for example) or do you know anything that we don't know? If you have information to share please complete the form below.
If you require information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service. If you wish to license an image, please use our Rights and Images service.
Please note that we cannot provide valuations.
We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.


text:
The Achieving Independence System"> The Achieving Independence System
The Achieving Independence System
Special Needs Trust 4 Step System
The Achieving Independence System is a process developed by the Dale Law Firm, PC to educate our clients on the issues and decisions that they must deal with in providing for their loved ones with disabilities, where reliable asset management and public benefits are essential. Explore our materials and videos to learn more.
Would you like to own your own copy of the Achieving Independence Book? This resource is invaluable in helping you to understand the process of creating a Special Needs Trust, as well as helping you to define the individual needs that your Special Needs Trust must serve.
The Achieving Independence Approach for Special Needs Estate Planning Book, authored by Stephen W. Dale, Esq., LL.M, is now available in print version. It will serve as a guide for persons with disabilities and their families, providing information on how to design a plan for a person with a disability. The Achieving Independence Approach focuses on more than just preservation of public benefits, it includes advocacy and quality of life.
Chapters Include:
Telling My Story
The Half Kept Promise
Public Benefits
SNT Basics
Types of SNTs
The Ideal Trustee
Funding the Trust
Keeping Your SNT Up To Date
Click To Visit
Steve Dale's Independence Journal
An online magazine for the support of
individuals with disabilities, their families,
and the Professionals that serve them
from independencejournal
from independencejournal


text:
As many of you know we are right in the middle of graduation season, and Father's Day is just around the corner. Instead of the annual tie or cliche' socks from aunt Margaret, why not treat your beloved dads and grads to something they can really use. An app! Or a game!
Introduce them to this handpicked collection of 20 noteworthy apps that are guaranteed to make life after school, college, or a dad's fatherly duties easier than ever.
Weber Grills
From the guys behind the familiar backyard cooking tool themselves comes the official app for Weber Grills. Features include nearly 100 recipes, dozens of guides, techniques, and grilling tips; pictures and videos make it a breeze. Headed to the store to prep for a big barbecue?
This app also includes grocery lists that pull together all of your recipes into one handy buying list. Pull off a killer meal? Share it via email and let the world know how awesome that rack of ribs tastes.
[pb-app-box pname='com.weberstephen.android.weberapp' name='Weber® Grills' theme='discover' lang='en']
MLB.com Home Run Derby
Scratch that baseball itch with MLB.com Home Run Derby, the only official Home Run Derby game from Major League Baseball. Play with 8 Allstars from 2010 to 2013 and try to win it all.
The game has great graphics and 2 modes. Arcade Mode puts you in a race to beat the clock as you have to hit as many home runs as you can before time runs out. In Derby Mode, you can battle your Facebook friends or the world in an authentic derby. Play and see if you can beat your friends and become a champion.
[pb-app-box pname='com.mlb.HomeRunDerby' name='MLB.com Home Run Derby' theme='discover' lang='en']
The Cars.com app is designed to make it easy to find new and used cars in your area or around the nation. With the app, you can conduct car comparisons, research car models, and get dealership info so that you are better equipped during your auto hunt.
Leery about purchasing a particular vehicle, the app also has consumer and experts reviews on automobiles. The app even has dealership reviews by customers so you know the car dealers to avoid. Use this app to buy the perfect college car for you grad or to buy the vintage roadster of your dad's dreams.
[pb-app-box pname='com.cars.android' name='Cars.com – New & Used Cars' theme='discover' lang='en']
You like sports? Well, then you want to keep up with the latest scores, statistics, rankings, etc. You can do all that with SofaScore. Football, Basketball, Tennis, Hockey, Volleyball, Handball and even Water polo and Darts for example, you can track all that via SofaScore. There's a huge array of sports within the app itself so just set it to keep you up to date with whatever you want and enjoy.
[pb-app-box pname='com.sofascore.android' name='SofaScore World Cup 2014′ theme='discover' lang='en']
Just Helping My Dad
From Oceanhouse Media comes another solid read-along book for fathers of younger children. Have your wee one (ages 2-5) follow along as the book reads the Little Critter story or let them take things at their own pace.
Words light up as they are read, pictures pan and zoom, and images associate with words; background audio brings pages to life.
[pb-app-box pname='com.oceanhouse_media.booklcjusthelpingmydad_app' name='Just Helping My Dad' theme='discover' lang='en']
Monster Job Search
Put that diploma to work and get yourself started on a new career! Monster is one of the more trusted names in the job searching space and the Android app can help make the hunt less tedious. Details include the ability to create and edit cover letters, save searches, create job alerts, and push notifications. Thanks to GPS integration you can find jobs available near you.
[pb-app-box pname='com.monster.android.Views' name='Monster Job Search' theme='discover' lang='en']
Gathering up money for rent, utilities, pizza, and beer has never been easier. This app lets users securely transfer money to their bank account, collect money from others, and pay with your debit card without pesky fees. Perfect for those of you moving in with a handful of roomies this fall; you'll have no problem getting everyone to chip in on that keg. Just tell mom you're using the money for books and stuff.
[pb-app-box pname='com.venmo' name='Venmo' theme='discover' lang='en']
You might have wanted this one during the school year as it helps prepare you for some of those big, stress-inducing tests like the MCAT, LSAT, SAT, and ACT. Nevertheless, we suggest you add this one to your Android phones and tablets as it could prove invaluable down the road.
With more than 200 courses to choose from, you'll have access to videos, books, and other resources to help increase your scores. Award-winning stuff praised by multiple news outlets, it reportedly raises scores by an average of 15%.
[pb-app-box pname='com.wmxconnect' name='BenchPrep-GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT' theme='discover' lang='en']
An app for dads that I find useful is called Life360. Its essentially a location sharing app but its a bit different than the rest and its great for keeping track of my kids when they're out and about which is the main reason I use it.
Life360 is a kind of a closed user group family location sharing app which you can keep personal to your family members only and share info between a trusted circle. It has some great features for keeping in touch with your children, like auto checking-in so your kids don't have to send that " I got here OK" text message, group messaging to all the or one of your family members in the circle so that your child can always get a message to one of the parents or older siblings.
Another really nice function that we particularly like is the built-in Panic Feature. This feature will automatically send a phone call, email, text message, and your GPS tracking coordinates to everyone in your trusted family circle, this is real handy knowing that your kids can call for help at the touch of a button.
[pb-app-box pname='com.life360.android.safetymapd' name='Life360 – Family Locator +more' theme='discover' lang='en']
Get a handle on your finances before things spiral out of control. Mint ties in nicely with its website and services and lets users keep a close eye on where money comes from. More importantly, it can help you understand where it's going.
Colorful and easy on the eyes, charts and graphs really put things into perspective. The sooner you do this one, the better.
[pb-app-box pname='com.mint' name='Mint.com Personal Finance' theme='discover' lang='en']


text:
Win FREE stuff and be famous by posting a picture of yourself wearing your purchase to Instagram and tag it with #rwelife to appear here instantly for fellow fans to admire. We select photos every week to win FREE stuff!
AC/DC T-Shirt - About To Rock Bolt
AC/DC T-Shirt - Back In Black 1980 US Tour
AC/DC T-Shirt - N American Tour 80
Aerosmith T-Shirt - Faded Wings
Aerosmith T-Shirt - Red Logo Distressed
Aerosmith T-Shirt - White Wings
Airborne T-Shirt - Eureka Star
Alice In Chains T-Shirt - Classic Logo
Alice In Chains T-Shirt - Classic Logo Grunge Orange
Beastie Boys T-Shirt - Sabotage
Black Sabbath T-Shirt - Live 2014 Germany
Black Sabbath T-Shirt - Never Say Die
David Bowie T-Shirt - Monte Carlo
David Bowie T-Shirt - Portrait
Deep Purple T-Shirt - Band Photo
Depeche Mode T-Shirt - Music For The Masses
Down With Webster T-Shirt - Album Cover
Elvis Presley T-Shirt - Kicked My Ass
Foo Fighters T-Shirt - Reel To Reel
Frank Zappa T-Shirt - Titties N Beer
Genesis T-Shirt - Vintage Bird
Grateful Dead T-Shirt - '73 Bear
Grateful Dead T-Shirt - Gold Skull & Roses
Grateful Dead T-Shirt - Listen
Grateful Dead T-Shirt - Live At Gizah
Guns N Roses Raglan Long Sleeve T-Shirt - Logo
Guns N Roses T-Shirt - Appetite For Destruction
Guns N Roses T-Shirt - Appetite For Destruction Bullet Circle
Guns N Roses T-Shirt - Axl Rose Scream
Guns N Roses T-Shirt - Classic Bullet Logo
Guns N Roses T-Shirt - Faded Cross
Guns N Roses T-Shirt - Flourish Cross
Guns N Roses T-Shirt - LA Coliseum
Guns N Roses T-Shirt - Tongue Skull
Jimi Hendrix T-Shirt - Afro Speech
Jimi Hendrix T-Shirt - Are You Experienced 1967
Jimi Hendrix T-Shirt - Experienced
Jimi Hendrix T-Shirt - Fillmore
Jimi Hendrix T-Shirt - Voodoo Child
John Lennon T-Shirt - New York City
John Lennon T-Shirt - Working Class Hero
Johnny Cash Shirt - Giving The Finger
Johnny Cash Shirt - Middle Finger
Johnny Cash T-Shirt - Best Show On Earth
Rock T-shirts are often characterized by the appearance of the bands logo on the front chest or torso area of the garment. Another common theme rock shirts depict is a stylized image of the group or artist. Also, it is common to find album artwork on t shirts as well. Rock band shirts are typically crafted from high quality cotton that has been preshrunk for a comfortable, long term fit.
Another factor rock t-shirts usually share is a prominent image of the group's logo found atop or below a large front graphic. It is typically larger in size than logos found on band shirts in other genres. An excellent example of famous band logos on rock tees can be found on many AC/DC shirts, Guns N Roses Shirts & Beatles Shirts among others.
Girls rock t-shirts are a highly popular gift item for ladies who enjoy a good band shirt. It wasn't long ago that ladies could find band shirts to fit them because they were only available in the standard men's sizes. These days, bands are designing rock tees for both their male and female fans.
Win FREE stuff and be famous by posting a picture of yourself wearing your purchase to Instagram and tag it with #rwelife to appear here instantly for fellow fans to admire. We select photos every week to win FREE stuff!


text:
|Think about Loose Coupling
Re^5: Writing a better Modern::Perlby moritz (Cardinal)
|on Oct 07, 2010 at 18:06 UTC ( #864054=note: print w/replies, xml )
|Need Help??
It isn't an argument against nextgen, it is an argument against defaults.
Not at all. It was only an argument against modules that change defaults, but don't do anything else. (Which is not a default at all, because you have to do something to enable it. So it's just a policy, not a default).
Perl 6 - links to (nearly) everything that is Perl 6.
In Section Meditations


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Matt McKay has scooped the 2011 Male Footballer of the Year as well as the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Player of the Year awards.
The former Brisbane Roar captain, now with Scottish giants Rangers, had an outstanding season in the A-League and with the Australian national team and has been rewarded for his brilliance and consistency.
McKay received the Australian Male Player of the Year before collecting the PFA Footballer of the Year receiving 329 votes from his fellow professionals, ahead of Qantas Socceroos teammate and AZ Alkmaar attacking midfielder Brett Holman (194), Tim Cahill (185) and 2010/11 Johnny Warren Medallist, Marcos Flores (109).
In other awards, former Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory striker Robbie Kruse, now with Fortuna Dusseldorf, grabbed the PFA Harry Kewell Medal for Australia's best young player under the age of 23, beating FC Utrecht's Tommy Oar and Brisbane Roar's Kosta Barbarouses, whilst Central Coast Mariners keeper Mathew Ryan was named Football Federation Australia's Under 20 Footballer of the Year.
The game is about opinions. Make yours heard! Join the tribalfootball.com nation on Facebook today: Facebook.com/tribalfootball


text:
Available ebook formats: epub mobi pdf rtf lrf pdb txt html
Sean Triner occasionally lives in rural New South Wales in Australia. He loves a yarn. With some encouragement from a writers group and an understanding girlfriend, he managed to get some time away from writing charity appeals and fundraising articles and write a bit of fiction instead.
Review by:
Peter Thomas
on May 01, 2013 :
The author, S Triner, is a great story teller. He also has a heart, donating the funds to the great cause Amnesty International.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Airdre Grant
on Aug. 05, 2011 :
I found this to be a very elegantly written tale. It works as a fable for me as it tells an egaging story and also invites us to think about the relationship between violence and beauty, and the collision between old words and new, greed and sacrifice. I recommend it.
(reviewed 21 days after purchase)
Review by:
Sharon Dopson
on July 28, 2011 :
What a beautiful fable, a sad very realistic view of our greedy changing world. I will recommend to all my friends.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Christiana Stergiou
on July 27, 2011 :
This is a wonderful, meaningful and easy to read book. It's simple language conveys a deep story that is a fable for our times. It is beautifully illustrated, too. It's sad to think that there have been many Harukis whose simple and sustainable existence have been sacrificed for our modern, convenient and consumerist lifestyle. I would love a set of Haruki's knives!
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
on July 17, 2011 :
This modern fable is beautifully illustrated and is a fascinating read. It really makes you think about the beauty of simplicity, and what can happen when both greedy capitalism and monolithic communism combine to destroy an ancient way of life.
(reviewed 21 days after purchase)


text:
'Death is hot right now': An advocate for palliative care scored big with 'Extremis'
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Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, 36, is just three years into her career as a hospitalist at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, but she is already drawing attention in the palliative care community. Two years ago, Ungerleider turned a family inheritance into a philanthropy aimed at improving palliative care, in which keeping a patient emotionally and…
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|Reviews for Storm
| anonymous chapter 1 . 2/5/2007
YAY!...it was so vivid...I truly felt your inner turmoil!
| D i v i n i t a t e chapter 1 . 1/18/2007
Simply elegant. Word flee my mind as I try to tell you how this poem has made me feel. I think that if you get this published in a book of poems or even in a newspaper many people would read it and be amazed with its simple elegance. It really leaves me wondering whether or not the person inside my troubled mind is winning or losing in their fight for peace. This is really well written.


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|Rediff India Abroad Home | All the sections
Delhi gangrape: 1 detained
May 13, 2005 13:38 IST
The Delhi police on Friday nabbed the 'prime suspect' Ajit (30) in the gangrape of a Delhi University student, official sources said.
Ajit was detained in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and was being brought to Delhi for interrogation, police sources said.
He would be produced in an identification parade before the 22-year-old victim before a formal arrest was announced, they added.
Police had earlier said that Ajit, wanted in many cases of burglary and auto-theft, was 'positively identified' by the woman from his photograph in a dossier.
The student was abducted near her house in south-west Delhi and raped in a moving car on Sunday.
Three of his accomplices are still missing, they added.
On Thursday, the police had released sketches of the accused based on the girl's descriptions.
In a fallout, the National Commission for Women summoned Police Commissioner K K Paul to discuss the security of women in the city.
Earlier report:


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"It was Stephen Hawking and five other Nobel laureates," Krauss recalled.
Some of Dr. Stephen T. Colbert D.F.A.'s best moments behind the desk.
Stephen Colbert, Amy Poehler, Steve Carell, and a host of others got their start with the improv troupe.
I made sure to have James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim involved throughout the whole process.
In the end, Stephen did not kill young William, which the knight would claim was due to his charm.
"We would not stay here if you paid us for it," returned Stephen.
And oh, sir," added Stephen, "may we crave a drop of water for our dog?
Stephen caught the bridle, and Ambrose helped the burgess into the saddle.
"Master Headley will give us work, mayhap," said Stephen, turning to Tibble.
"Ay, sure, both of us; but Ambrose is the best scribe," said Stephen.
masc. proper name, from Latin Stephanus, from Greek Stephanos, from stephanos "crown, garland." Exclusively a monk's name in Old English, it became common after the Conquest.
Related Terms


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TarsonTheRedguard's Journal
My journal is going to be pretty random. I'll most likely just talk about my day/week, any good/bad things that have happened, what I've been up to, etc... I don't have a very exciting life, so this will show in my journal entries.
User Comments: [1]
User Comments: [1]


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Starting off New Orleans' music stylings for 2013…
7th January 2013 · 0 Comments
By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer
Hot 8 Brass Band
The Life & Times Of…(Tru Thoughts)
The Hot 8 Brass Band riffs on the streets as one of the most popular and most called on groups for the weekly social aid and pleasure clubs' anniversary parades. The ensemble, formed in 1995, gets things goin' with their loyal followers second lining to the rollin' beats.
Recorded in a studio setting, The Life & Times Of…, offers the opportunity to get to know the Hot 8 a little better; to understand the big heart that beyond leader Bennie Pete's tuba drives the group. The losses that the band has endured, including the senseless shooting of trombonist Joseph "Shot Gun Joe" Williams by New Orleans police and the equally senseless death by the gunfire of thugs who took the life of snare drummer Dinerral Shavers, remain deeply entrenched in the consciousness of the band's music. Meanwhile, like we tend to do in New Orleans, the Hot 8 celebrates life and carries on.
The disc opens with Williams' composition, "Steamin' Blues" that stylistically is reminiscent of the Dirty Dozen's approach with lots of jazz improvisation delivered by the horns and a sophisticated, warm groove.
The Latin tinge of "Bingo Bango," a cover of the Basement Jaxx tune, suits the band and New Orleans well. Guest Shamarr Allen spices this number up with some piercing trumpet. The other non-original on the album and another good choice is The Specials' "Ghost Town," a rather exotic number that rocks and sways.
More typical of Hot 8's sound on the streets is "New Orleans (After the City)," that includes the chant "We represent 504…" that always results in a response — "504" — echoing from any local crowd. Before Katrina who could have imagined that a telephone area code could mean so much to a community? It remains in the shared psyche even now and the song has become an anthem in remembrance of that time.
The album second lines out in a finger snappin' mode with Dinerral Shavers' and Jerome Jones' "War Time." Guest John "Prince" Gilbert offers a fine saxophone solo on this nicely understated, soulful, well-executed melody. It hits with a soft punch.
Strikingly, photographs of graffiti artist and political activist Banksy's drawings and paintings that turned up on buildings post-Katrina fill the disc's pull-out. His images and the Hot 8's music make a good marriage.
The Life & Times Of… The Hot 8 Brass Band is full of heart and a social consciousness that makes the music both fun and meaningful.
Neal Caine Leads an All-Star Band
At times, the description "all-star" can be an exaggeration of a reality. When it comes to the musicians that bassist Neal Caine hand-picked for his Tuesday night gig, January 8, at Snug Harbor, it's not stretching the truth.
Caine, a native of St. Louis who played heavily on the New Orleans jazz scene when he arrived here in 2001 to study at Tulane and the University of New Orleans, didn't fool around. He enlisted saxophonist Ed Peterson—a heavyweight to be sure—who is a professor at UNO and blows folks away as a member of Irvin Mayfield's New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. He's teamed on the front line with fellow reedman Derek Douget, an outstanding musician often heard with pianist Ellis Marsalis. Pianist Victor Atkins also teaches at UNO and honed his Latin chops with the group Los Hombres Calientes while digging hard into the finer aspects of jazz improvisation. It's difficult to say enough about the creative juices surging in drummer Herlin Riley a native New Orleanian from the great Lastie family who makes every appearance special.
Caine, who regularly travels between New York and his adopted city of New Orleans, is in town to record with pianist/vocalist Harry Connick Jr. with whom he's been playing and recording for some dozen years. Having been recently working on Broadway productions, Caine has again put his jazz hat on teaming with Big Apple-based musicians such as trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, guitarist Mark Whitfield and our own pianist Jonathan Batiste.
"I like to keep it (the music) very loose and open with in-the-moment choices," says Caine of his approach when fronting a band. For Tuesday's sets the exceptionally able group will work primarily on Caine's free-spirited, self-penned tunes much like those he displayed on his 2005 CD, Backstabbers Ball.
The gig, he says is "full of great high-level, sophisticated musicians who listen to each other performing on original material. We'll walk on the musical high wire."
Heritage School Auditions
Auditions to participate in the Don Jamison Heritage School of Music are being held for students ages 11 through 17 on at 10 am on Saturday, January 12, 2013 at Dillard University. There are three levels of classes offered for beginner, intermediate and advanced young musicians. Beginners must have had completed one year of prior music instruction and except for pianists and drummers are required to bring their own instruments. Complete details for other levels and further information about the auditions are available at www.jazzandheritage.org.
The Heritage School of Music, founded by saxophonist/educator Edward "Kidd" Jordan in 1998, holds classes each Saturday from 10 am until 1 pm and is open to young musicians from throughout the greater New Orleans area. For answers to other questions call (504) 558-6100.
This article was originally published in the January 7, 2013 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper
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Healthy Employees, Healthy Business
Easy, Affordable Ways to Promote Workplace Wellness
Healthy Employees, Healthy Business
Easy, Affordable Ways to Promote Workplace Wellness
Small business solutions
Ilona Bray
February 2012, 2nd Edition
Product Details
Money-saving steps to improve employee health and productivity -- and your bottom line
As health care costs skyrocket, small business owners are increasingly concerned about the impact they're likely to have on company profits. Employee illness, chronic poor health, low job satisfaction, and high turnover lead to lower productivity and contribute heavily to lost company earnings.
Healthy Employees, Healthy Business draws on the expertise of an advisory board of doctors, lawyers, benefits specialists, workplace wellness planners and other experts to offer struggling small business owners and managers like you the essential advice you need to implement a low-cost or even free wellness program for your employees.
Clear, concise and filled with success stories from other workplaces, you'll get the tools you need to start your wellness program immediately, resulting in increased productivity and potentially lower health insurance costs. Find out how to:
- evaluate and target your workplace's main health concerns
- develop fun, effective activities to improve employee health
- boost morale through mutual support and competition
- lower workplace stress
- leverage community resources for minimal financial investment
From simply changing the snacks in the vending machines to ensuring that ill employees have access to treatment, you'll get practical advice in Healthy Employees, Healthy Business that will help even the smallest business save money and enjoy a dynamic, energized and productive workforce. Plus, you'll get helpful forms and interviews with expert advisers.
- Wellness Plan Worksheet
- Wellness Program Waiver and Release of Liability
- Successful Wellness Program Checklist
- Wellness Program Interest Survey
- Sample Wellness Program Announcement Letter
- Sample Wellness Program Newsletter Announcement
- Your Wellness Program's Baseline Data
- Treatment Center Evaluation Form
- Food and Exercise Diary.
*Audio files are not available with the ebook
Table of Contents
Your Workplace Wellness Companion
1. Why You Need a Healthy Workplace
- Health Concerns: What Do They Cost Your Business?
- How Can a Wellness Program Help Your Bottom Line?
- How Much Will It Cost?
- Will Your Investment Pay Off?
2. Strategies for a Successful Wellness Program
- Deciding Who Your Program Is For
- Deciding What Health Issues and Behaviors Your Program Will Address
- Creating a Program for Total Health
- Ingredient #1: Health Screenings
- Ingredient #2: Health Education, Information, and Self-Help Tools
- Ingredient #3: Organized Activities
- Ingredient #4: Individual Follow-Up and Treatment
- Ingredient #5: Incentives and Rewards
- Ingredient #6: Supportive Workplace Environment
- Avoiding Legal Troubles
- Should You Invite the Employee's Family to Join?
3. Making It Real: Worksite Evaluation and Program Launch
- Step 1: Assess Your Employees' Interests
- Step 2: Assemble Your Team
- Step 3: Market the Program to Your Employees
- Step 4: Health Screenings
- Step 5: Chart Your Program's Progress
4. Prevention and Early Detection
- How Early Detection Measures Keep Workers Healthy
- Colds and Flu: How Common Illnesses Impact the Workplace
- How to Help Employees Stay Well
- It's Not Nice to Share Germs: Behind-the-Scenes Measures
5. Healthy Eating and Nutrition
- The Connection: Poor Nutrition Equals Poor Health
- Promoting Good Nutrition in Your Workplace
6 Fitness and Exercise
- The Connection: Inactivity and Poor Health
- Promoting Fitness and Exercise in Your Workplace
7. Lowering Stress Levels
- The Connection: How Stress Impacts Worker
- Health and Productivity
- Reducing Stress in Your Workplace
8. Working Without Tobacco
- The Connection: Smoking Equals Worse Health and Lower Productivity
- Is That Ash in My Coffee? Smoking and Customer Relations
- How a Workplace Wellness Program Can Help
9. Helping the Addicted Worker
- Addiction and Substance Abuse at Work: What You Need to Know
- Education: Getting the Facts About Addiction
- Individual Treatment: Helping Addicts Get Help
- Creating a Supportive Workplace Environment for Recovery
10. Reducing Obesity
- The Connection: Obesity and Health Problems
- Combating Obesity With Your Workplace Wellness Program
11. Dealing With Chronic Illnesses
- The Connection: How Chronic Illness Lowers Worker Productivity
- What You Should Know Before Getting Involved
- Promoting Healthy Responses to Chronic Conditions
12. Choosing Health Benefits
- The Menu, Please: Health Coverage Options
- One Size Doesn't Fit All: Choosing Health Plans
- Helping Employees Get the Most From Their Coverage
- Setting Up Flexible Spending or Health Savings Accounts
13. Drafting Workplace Policies That Promote Health
- The Purpose of Written Policies
- Drafting a Basic Wellness Policy
- Policies Relating to Smoking
- Policies Relating to Drugs and Alcohol
- Telecommuting and Flexible Schedules
- Time-Off Policies
- A How to Use the CD-ROM
- Installing the Files Onto Your Computer
- Using the Word Processing Files to Create Documents
- Using Print-Only Files
- Listening to the Audio Files
- Files on the CD-ROM
Files on the CD-ROM
- Wellness Plan Worksheet
- Wellness Program Waiver and Release of Liability
- Checklist for a Successful Wellness Program
- Wellness Program Interest Survey
- Wellness Program Announcement Letter
- Wellness Program Newsletter Announcement
- Your Wellness Program's Baseline Data
- Treatment Center Evaluation Form
- Food and Exercise Diary
- Why Create a Wellness Program?
- Wellness Program Incentives
- Wellness Program—Walking
Sample Chapter
Chapter 1
Why You Need a Healthy Workplace
Health Concerns: What Do They Cost Your Business?.................. 5
The Rising Costs of Health Care Coverage.................................... 6
Behind the Scenes Costs: Absences and Lost Productivity........... 7
Four Reasons Why a Wellness Program Can Help Your Bottom Line 11
Fewer Absences............................................................................ 12
Improved Productivity on the Job................................................. 13
Worker Satisfaction and Retention................................................ 14
Reduced Health Insurance Costs.................................................. 15
Keeping Your Wellness Program Affordable................................ 16
Will Your Investment Pay Off?...................................................... 19
Meet Your Advisor
Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier, clinical professor of medicine at the University of Arizona as well as at the University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco (UCSF), in the Departments of Medicine, Family and Community Medicine, and Psychiatry. Dr. Pelletier is also director of the Corporate Health Improvement Program (CHIP) and chairman of the American Health Association.
What he does: In addition to teaching, Dr. Pelletier is a prolific author, whose books include the international bestseller Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer (Delacorte and Delta) as well as Holistic Medicine: From Stress to Optimum Health (Delacorte and Delta); Healthy People in Unhealthy Places: Stress and Fitness at Work (Delacorte, Delta, and Doubleday); Sound Mind, Sound Body: A New Model for Lifelong Health (Simon & Schuster); The Best Alternative Medicine: What Works? What Does Not? (Simon & Schuster); Stress Free for Good: 10 Scientifically Proven Life Skills for Health and Happiness (Harper Collins); and New Medicine: Integrating Complementary, Alternative, and Conventional Medicine for the Safest and Most Effective Treatment (Penguin/Dorling Kindersley). At CHIP, Dr. Pelletier conducts research with Fortune 500 companies to develop and evaluate innovative health and medical programs and cost outcomes in the workplace, with an emphasis on integrative health, combining traditional and alternative medical approaches.
Favorite healthy food: "Virtually every fruit and vegetable (even broccoli), as well as salmon, cod, and Dungeness crab."
Top tip for staying fit and healthy: "My daily exercise varies between running, swimming, and an elliptical trainer, since I honestly find the same physical workouts to be just boring. Also, I do have a daily meditation which I developed in my undergraduate years and have sustained and deepened every year since—wonderful for stress management and food for my soul."
As a small business owner or manager, you've got a lot on your plate. It's tough to keep profits up and costs down, especially when so many factors are beyond your control, like consumer preferences, the national or regional economy, reductions in employee productivity due to illness or medical problems, and the rising costs of health insurance benefits.
But wait: Is there something you can do about those last two costs? Many employers are discovering that, by actively promoting employee wellness, they can improve employee productivity and keep their health insurance expenditures stable—for a net profit on every dollar they spend.
To gain these advantages, you don't have to be a giant corporation that can build its own gym, serve fancy salads in the employee lunchroom, and create an on-site employee clinic complete with nurses, acupuncturists, and massage therapists. Comprehensive programs like these do attract the media spotlight. But your business, whatever its size, can make health-related changes that deliver significant results.
In this book, we'll show you how a small business can, with creativity and smart planning, create a workplace wellness program that achieves both better health for its employees and an improved bottom line. This chapter gets started by:
laying out the trends in health-related costs for employers
exploring the potential benefits of employer-sponsored wellness programs
examining how much a good program costs, and
summarizing the potential for a positive return on your health dollar investment.
Health Concerns: What Do They Cost Your Business?
Your employees' health impacts your business's bottom line in two important ways:
You're probably paying to provide employees with health insurance benefits.
Your business may be losing productivity due to employee health problems.
We'll focus on each of these separately.
The Rising Costs of Health Care Coverage
Employers provide health coverage to the majority of U.S. workers below retirement age—over 60% at last count. Although no current law requires them to do it—and employers are more frequently shifting some of the costs to employees—these employers form the backbone of the American health care system. And for many workers, provision of health benefits is a central concern when looking for a job. (Note that in 2014, federal health reform legislation will kick in, requiring larger employers to provide coverage).
If you provide health coverage, however, you know how expensive it is. In 2011, annual average U.S. health care premium costs per employee were at $5,429 and family coverage cost $15,073. You may already be paying even more. No wonder about one fifth of all small businesses have decided they can't provide health insurance.
Why do these costs keep going up? While part of the cause is the ever-increasing cost of medical care, another part may be a direct result of your own employees' health care usage levels, health conditions, and inevitable aging. In other words, when your company's health insurance policies are up for renewal, the insurer may look at how much each employee is costing it to cover, and then adjust the overall rates accordingly. (Insurers are not allowed, under federal law, to create separate rates for each employee, but this doesn't prevent them from taking individual health factors into account when setting an aggregate rate.)
For example, if Bob had a heart attack last year and Jan's soda addiction launched a case of diabetes, these alone may, in a small shop, be enough to raise your rates. Chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, allergies, kidney disease, multiple sclerosis, and cancer are the most likely culprits, accounting for more than 85% of U.S. health care costs.
Employee health may also factor into the amount you pay for workers' compensation insurance. Although state regulators typically set the base premium rate, insurers can adjust this based on what's called an "experience modifier," or your workplace's claims history. The more claims submitted by your employees every year, the more you'll likely have to pay at renewal time. And while some on-the-job injuries are random, many can be traced back to underlying health troubles. For example, Karen's alcohol addiction may account for her slip-up with machinery, while Raymond's lack of physical conditioning and poor posture may contribute to his developing carpal tunnel syndrome.
It's even possible that the amount you pay for life insurance benefits could be affected by employee health. Depending on your insurer and how much coverage you offer, your employees may be required to undergo a health exam as a condition to coverage. More often, however, you'll offer a simple group life policy in which individual medical conditions are not taken into account when setting your premiums. But larger employers—those with roughly 1,000 or more employees—may face an extra hurdle. Even with a group life policy, an unusually high rate of claims coming out of one workplace may drive premiums higher.
Behind the Scenes Costs: Absences and Lost Productivity
In tough economic times, when you may have already cut your staffing to its leanest possible levels, every employee is crucial and needs to be working at maximum efficiency. Both absenteeism and "presenteeism"—that is, showing up to work despite feeling under the weather, stressed, or distracted—can hurt your bottom line. And it can damage your relationship with customers—for example, if a supervisor or lead chef is absent, or the receptionist or cashier is sneezing and unfriendly.
Your workforce may also be aging, especially because so many baby boomers who thought they'd be retiring soon are discovering—with their investment portfolios hit hard or in tatters—that they can no longer afford to do so. You may have employees working well into their 70s. Advanced years don't inevitably mean serious medical troubles, but the importance of screening and preventive care certainly goes up. And for those who have spent a lifetime ignoring their body's health, nutrition, and fitness needs, the outlook could be troublesome.
To some extent, worker illness is just a cost of doing business. Between genetics, bad luck, and the occasional flu bug so virulent that not even the vaccine creators predicted it, getting sick is, in some ways, a natural part of life. Health problems cause the average employee to miss three to six days of work each year. And the "average" person doesn't really exist. While some of your employees may almost never take sick days, others will probably be away for more than five days—many more, if they have serious or chronic illnesses.
The table below shows many of the chronic conditions that cause people to miss work—all of which can be either reduced in severity, cured, or forestalled with the right prevention, early diagnosis, or behavioral changes.
Absenteeism may affect your business's profitability in more ways than losing the value of a worker's activity for a period of time. Depending on your business, you may lose revenue that can't be earned back—for example, if you have to turn away walk-in or one-time customers during the absence. The resulting delay may also interrupt team members' progress on a larger task, or you might need to pay a replacement worker who doesn't perform as efficiently. The smaller your company, the more dramatic the impact—if two out of your eight employees are out sick, that's 25% of your workforce.
Workdays Lost to Chronic Conditions
Depression/sadness/mental illness
Cancer (any kind)
Respiratory disorders
Heart disease
Source: Ron Goetzel, et. al., "Health, Absence, Disability, and Presenteeism Cost Estimates of Certain Physical and Mental Health Conditions Affecting U.S. Employers."
Who Takes the Most Sick Leave?
Overall, the biggest users of sick leave are young, less-skilled employees.
Women take more sick leave than men.
Elder employees use more sick leave than middle-aged employees.
People with minor health problems are more likely to be out on cold and rainy days.
People with drinking problems tend to be out on Mondays and Fridays.
Source: "Planning Wellness; Getting Off to a Good Start," Absolute Advantage; The Workplace Wellness Magazine, Volume 5, Number 6.
What about those employees who show up for work every day? Are they really giving their all or are some just struggling through despite an emotional or physical health problem? (These troubles could include anything from the common cold to worry about a sick child or spouse to chronic depression or back pain.) Studies show that three out of ten working people admit that health problems lower their productivity at work. The problem tends to get worse in a down economy, when people are concerned that if they don't show up every day, they may be among the first laid off.
It's hard to measure the exact productivity difference caused by working while under the weather, but we all know how, on a good day, we may feel sharp, quick, creative, or responsive, while on a bad day, we may feel like we're moving through molasses, grumpily waiting for the day to end. It's easy to see that more can be achieved, and more mistakes can be avoided, by workers who have more good days.
More than one study has concluded that companies would be far better off if sick workers just stayed home. For one thing, the strategy of coming to work while feeling sick tends to backfire, as workers who do so take more sick days than other workers in the long run (or infect other workers). Productivity has been shown to drop only 28% when employees stayed home sick compared to a 72% drop when they tried to gut it out and keep working.
Of course, the exact numbers depend partly on what type of business you're running and what you expect of your workers. But the effects of working while sick cut across many types of jobs. Managers and data entry workers need to be able to think clearly; air traffic controllers and bus drivers need to stay alert; cashiers need to remain patient and friendly; and construction workers need to be strong and coordinated. All of these can be affected by illness or poor health.
Hiring only healthy workers isn't the answer. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) forbids making inquiries into a job applicant's health. When making a job offer, you can ask only about how the applicant would perform the essential functions of the job—those duties that are fundamental to the position. Once you extend a job offer, you can require applicants to take a medical examination, but only if you require all applicants to do so. Chapter 3 explains how to avoid legal trouble with laws like the ADA.
Four Reasons Why a Wellness Program Can Help Your Bottom Line
You can't wave a magic wand and make all your employees healthy, nor can you force them to change their behaviors overnight. If you already provide health benefits, that's a good start; it will help make sure your employees don't ignore health problems until they've turned life threatening.
But you've probably observed the limits of what doctors can do to promote overall wellness. (Believe us, the doctors are frustrated, too.) Your workers most likely visit their doctors when they've got big or obvious problems, but soon forget the doctors' advice for ongoing lifestyle or behavioral changes. In fact, some people may use the very availability of treatments like high blood pressure medication as a way to avoid making fundamental lifestyle changes.
Yet you've got an advantage in this game: As an employer—especially a small- to mid-size employer—you have communication channels to your employees that almost no one else shares. Your employees may throw out their newspapers, tune out their mothers, and see their doctors only when they can't ignore problems any longer. But you're harder to tune out. Whether it's via company emails, memos, or meetings, you can use your unique access to convey health information and create a health-minded company culture—and bring about meaningful change.
For all these reasons, many employers—nearly 80% of them, at last count—are turning to new initiatives for promoting employee health and well-being. Numerous examples of employee wellness programs have appeared in the media, with companies offering on-site health screenings, exercise equipment, and meditation classes; switching from junk food to healthy food in their employee cafeterias; giving bonuses to workers who lose weight or reduce their cholesterol; paying for smoking-cessation and other treatment programs; and much more.
You don't have to do all these things, especially if you're a small business. The basic idea is to respond to your employees' most pressing health needs by providing a select menu of fitness and behavioral activities, plus some education and guidance toward more specialized health treatments or programs. We'll get into the details in subsequent chapters.
But first, let's fast forward to the potential results. A good, comprehensive workplace wellness program can, over time, produce the following benefits:
fewer absences
greater on-the-job productivity
improved worker satisfaction and retention, and
fewer dollars spent on health insurance.
Here's why all four advantages are possible and worth aiming for.
Fewer Absences
The science is clear on one thing: People who are physically healthy miss fewer days of work. With workplace wellness programs, employers have been able to greatly reduce absenteeism. Just getting people to exercise can make a big difference: Those who exercise regularly miss far fewer workdays. Johnson & Johnson, for example, reduced its rate of absenteeism by 15%, just two years after introducing its wellness program.
Skimping on allotted sick leave isn't the answer. Sure, workers who aren't allowed much sick leave are more likely to show up at work no matter how they feel—but that just leads to presenteeism, the risks of which we described earlier in this chapter.
Of course, if your office policy is to lump sick time and vacation time into general paid time off or PTO (as is increasingly common among U.S. employers), you probably won't see a difference—your employees will take all their days off, regardless. But at least they will be having a better time on their days away from the office, and hopefully come back relaxed, refreshed, and ready to get back to work.
Improved Productivity on the Job
All the research suggests that employee productivity is where workplace wellness programs yield the greatest returns. This makes sense when you consider that almost every worker, whether or not prone to serious medical conditions, can improve in overall health and fitness to some degree. And with better health comes greater energy and productivity.
Imagine what a functional, maybe even fun, workplace you could have if your employees were more fit and healthy. An Australian study found that healthy workers are 3.1 times more productive than others. Healthy employees not only function better at work, but bounce back faster if they do get sick or injured. You might save yourself having to hire more staff in order to make up for the less healthy and productive ones.
Numbers alone can never tell the whole story. Your employees probably don't work in isolation, but either cooperate as teams, advise each other on work, or hold the classic watercooler conversations. The value of each worker extends far beyond any immediate day's outcome. An employee with a positive attitude, vital physical state, and optimal physical and mental effort can boost the morale, drive, and productivity of the entire office.
Worker Satisfaction and Retention
Ask any CEO to name the keys to business success, and retention of the best employees will come up high, if not tops, on the list. Given the cost of recruiting and training a new employee, the benefits of keeping someone who has years of knowledge and experience may be incalculable. Unfortunately, the very employees you most want to keep will inevitably have the most opportunities to find a job elsewhere—perhaps one that offers better health benefits or a lower-stress, more functional office environment.
You might feel that your best employees already take good care of their health, without your help. But that would miss part of the point. Will a top employee be happy (to take an extreme example) carrying the extra load for an unhealthy workforce and dealing with the germs, depressed state, or slowness of their less healthy coworkers? Probably not.
On the other side of the coin, workplace wellness programs have been shown to bring employees together in important ways. Your employees are probably already forming office friendships or mutual support networks. It's only a small step for them to start influencing each other's health behavior, perhaps by exercising at the same time or competing toward a goal like regular consumption of five daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
As Loren Barker, a former middle school principal in the Windsor School District and now primary consultant to its wellness program observes, "Our teachers in particular see mostly young people all day. When they go to our wellness classes, they have a chance to relate to other adults while getting exercise. And they get to see other employees—from bus drivers to food service workers to administrators—in a different light."
Employees at small or medium-size businesses with wellness programs consistently report that they're working harder, performing better, and are motivated to stay with the company. Managers report that wellness programs improve workplace morale, possibly stemming from the fact that their employees are feeling better all around and sense that their employer is interested in them as individuals.
Reduced Health Insurance Costs
Many employers that have instituted workplace health promotion and wellness programs have been able to significantly reduce their costs of health insurance as well as workers' compensation insurance, with some studies reporting reductions of up to 30%.
Most experts agree, however, that not every employer should expect to see dramatic results and that reductions in health care costs shouldn't be your number one motivator for instituting a workplace wellness program. Your health insurance carrier, for example, isn't simply going to say, "Oh, they've started a wellness program, let's lower their rates." The rate determination process (called underwriting) involves looking at numerous variables, such as the average age of your workforce and the cost of delivery of health care. Still, in the long run, a healthier group of employees may successfully drive down both insurance rates and workers' compensation claims for your business.
The trend may be toward even greater possible savings—or at least minimized rate increases—based on wellness programs. Adviser Matt Sears predicts:
Based on my conversations with insurance company executives, health plans may start pushing employers to adopt some more wellness components in their workplace. Some of the insurers are starting to agree with the notion that, if they set up a standard five or six things that employers must do in order to either be allowed to purchase a different or better health plan, or get a rate discount—perhaps a smoking cessation or exercise program, or having employees do screenings or health risk assessments—it will be worth their while.
Dr. Doug Metz (an adviser whom you'll meet in Chapter 5) echoes the possibility of savings, stating that wellness programs may also help lower workers' comp costs:
There are workers' compensation carriers that are looking at the question of how wellness programs will improve workers' physical conditioning, stress management skills, and levels of presenteeism—improvements which may all potentially reduce workplace injuries. Someone who is fit is less likely to have a back injury. Someone who manages their stress well is less likely to be distracted and cut a finger or otherwise get hurt. So, intuitively, there are very good reasons why a wellness program, beyond traditional safety programs, could work to reduce workers' comp claims.
You can create an effective wellness program without offering health insurance. We recommend offering health benefits to your employees—good medical care is fundamental to their health. (We'll discuss choosing the right plans in Chapter 14, including a focus on how certain health insurance organizations, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in particular, can provide resources and assistance to augment your wellness program.) Nevertheless, if providing health benefits is way out of your reach, you can still take important steps to promote employee wellness. In fact, if your employees are paying for their own medical coverage, they've got a vested interest in maintaining their health in order to keep their premiums down. Read on for suggestions about what you can do and how much it will cost.
Keeping Your Wellness Program Affordable
An effective wellness program will require investment of both time and money, but it doesn't have to break the bank. Nor should you feel like it's something that only the large, corporate employers can afford. Small to mid-size businesses, which typically aren't burdened by organizational layers and have more familiar communication among employees, have actually been shown to be more efficient at creating a culture of wellness than the big guys.
There's a lot you can do that's absolutely free, such as holding regular stretch breaks, organizing a walking program (often named by employees as their favorite workplace wellness activity), instituting policies against smoking at work, putting healthy snack choices in your vending machines, and organizing potluck lunches featuring healthy foods. (We'll expand on all of these possibilities—and more—in later chapters.)
Take a look at what on-site assets and advantages your workplace already offers, such as a nearby walking trail or a large conference room suitable for classes, and plan to make the most of those. Beyond what you have on-site, allowing employees to telecommute or use flex-time schedules to participate in wellness activities is also free and a positive way to support employees' efforts.
If you want to bring in guest speakers (discussed in Chapter 2), some might not cost you anything at all. Your health insurance broker may offer free wellness advice and planning assistance. And your Employee Assistance Program (EAP), if you have one, may be able to supply speakers. Adviser Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier also suggests:
Hospitals and universities are terrific sources of speakers available at no or low cost. Check their speaker registries, which may list staff, faculty, or graduate students. And if your employees would be interested in hearing from providers of alternative care like acupuncture, naturopathy, or Chinese medicine, those experts may not get many invitations to speak to workplaces—they'd probably be happy to accept.
Of course, for anyone offering their services in hopes of referrals, you'll need to be clear in advance that you don't expect them to spend much time on business promotion.
As much as you can do for free, some crucial elements of a workplace wellness program will inevitably cost money. It's recommended, for example, that you begin your program by asking all employees to fill out a health risk assessment (HRA), with the help of an outside provider. HRAs usually cost between $5 and $25 per person. (Chapter 5 contains further discussion of administering HRAs.)
For additional—in many cases, small—cash outlays, you can add other useful elements to your program. Subscribing to a printed health newsletter to be distributed (usually quarterly) to your employees should cost between $.35 and $2 per copy, per employee.
Some companies give participating employees cash incentives or purchase incentive gifts, like pedometers or walking shoes, as encouragement to count their steps toward a regular walking goal. Others install a refrigerator on-site so that people can bring healthy lunches instead of relying on local fast food joints. And some stock up on fruit for the break room to head off less healthy snacking. "We've created 'casual dress day' passes as wellness incentives," says Janet McClain, HR Director at Athens Administrators. "Friday is usually our casual dress day, but employees can use the pass to come to work in jeans any day of the week. It costs us nothing, and is hugely popular."
Not surprisingly, the sky's the limit on how much you could spend. Estimates of what's "normal" range from $0 to $450 per employee per year (including internal staffing costs), but it will depend partly on the size of your office and the program elements and incentives you choose. The biggest costs tend to be for incentives, equipment, or outside service providers like consultants, counselors, and gyms. And some speakers do charge a bundle, in the range of $150 to $300 per hour.
Decide on a budget amount in advance, and then see what you can do within that budget. Sharing certain costs with employees is a popular strategy among small businesses, particularly for things like classes and memberships. You can also protect yourself, where appropriate, by requiring your employees to prove that they actually used the service in question, and then to repay part of the fee if they didn't.
Vitek Mortgage Group Starts Wellness Program for $1,500
Philip Duncan, executive vice president of Sacramento-based Vitek, says, "Our first steps included creating a 'healthy habit wellness kit,' with wipes to sanitize doorknobs and so forth (this was around the time of the H1N1 flu); then starting a walking group for exercise and stress reduction; then eliminating the vending machine and making room for a second refrigerator, with enough space that everyone could bring their own healthy lunches. We also provide complimentary fruit snacks.
"Even one year into the program, it has already taken on a life of its own, and for less effort than we expected to put in. We've watched our absenteeism go down significantly, and had employees lose weight, develop new friendships, and more. The benefits have been huge."
You aren't alone. Nonprofit or government health agencies, colleges, and even your own health insurers can be great sources of free health information, low-cost supplies, or screening services. For example, your insurer or a health-focused nonprofit might offer regular health newsletters that you can pass on to your employees. In California, some cities have set up wellness committees; see www.healcitiescampaign.org. Sharing ideas and resources with other small businesses in your area—including holding joint classes or seminars—can also keep costs down. You can start at www.healthfinder.gov (click "Find Services & Information").
On-Site Gyms: The Ultimate Benefit or a Waste of Money?
On-site gyms come up a lot in discussions of workplace wellness, making many small employers feel instantly guilty that they can't afford to provide one.
But that guilt may be misplaced. In a survey of 509 employees conducted by BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, the surveyors were surprised to find that little more than a third of them used an on-site gym even when it was offered.
If your employees are really clamoring for a gym—for example, if your business is located in an area with freezing winters and the nearest gym is 25 miles away—another option is to share the costs. If the employees agree to foot part of the bill, and perhaps have their family members pay a fee to use the equipment, everyone might win. (And they'll appreciate how expensive this stuff really is.) But talk to your lawyers and insurance carrier about liability issues first.
Will Your Investment Pay Off?
No matter how much it costs to institute a wellness program, it will be worthwhile if the returns are high enough. Good news: Based on other employers' experience, your chances of coming out ahead look good. Numerous studies have found a positive return on investment (ROI) for employers instituting wellness programs—anywhere from $1 to $13 gained (in improved productivity and reduced insurance costs) for every $1 spent. The median return is currently said to be $3.14. Only a small minority of companies fail to break even—and that's often because their initial investment of time and money was too low.
Still, some experts caution against overoptimism. They note that you're not likely to see high results within the first year, and that many of the studies were based on large companies or measured results only for participating employees, not for the entire workforce. They also note that certain types of industries get better results than others—those with high employee turnover, for example, have less of a shot at changing their employees' behaviors or of reaping long-term rewards from any changes.
Nevertheless, says Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier, "Having reviewed many of the recent studies in this area, I'd say the evidence that workplace wellness programs are both clinically and cost effective is getting more and more compelling." And even if your wellness program merely breaks even—with a $1 return for each $1 spent—you'll come out ahead. You'll have offered your employees a workplace benefit that was essentially free. Along the way, you'll probably have boosted morale, reduced the odds of unpleasant interactions between sick or unhappy employees, and given your employees a chance to make changes that will benefit them for their entire life. And who knows what fresh ideas or initiatives will come out of a healthy, energized workforce? All in all, it's a low-cost way to do the right thing for your employees and your business.
Another bit of good news: You don't have to turn all your employees into super-athletes addicted only to blueberry smoothies in order for your investment to pay off. Studies have found that a small reduction in your workforce's health risks—even as little as 1.7%—will let you break even within ten years.
The important thing is that, once you start your program, you follow through for a year or more. Results won't happen overnight and, if you don't make a real commitment, your employees won't either. They also won't believe your efforts are genuine if you try to restart them later.
Ready to run some numbers? A variety of calculators have been developed to help you estimate the likely ROI at your actual workplace, letting you input actual facts about your company's health care costs, how many of your employees are obese or smoke, and more. None of these calculators are perfect predictors, but trying them out and comparing results can be instructive. See, for example, www.ncqacalculator.com and www.wellsteps.com.


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Property Law
Ask an Property Solicitor. Get an Answer ASAP.
My name is XXXXX XXXXX I will try to help with this. In order to give you an answer tailored to your circumstances, I will just need to ask you some preliminary questions so that I can consider your position from all angles.Did you retain title to the goods?
the goods were a factor in an unpaid bill and as such we retain title to same
the police alleged trespass took place (which is denied) they then took our keys to premises where the goods were stored and returned them without our agreement to the client,w e were not present when these events took place and were informed only after the act by the officer at the front desk in the police station where we were being detained. we complained heatedly that they (the police)had no right to do this when we were told - after the event!


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Breadcrumbs AdvancedHome :: Product Catalog :: Legacy Products :: Audio Interconnects :: Oracle V3.3 Balanced Interconnect
Oracle V3.3 Balanced Interconnect
Oracle V3.3 Balanced Interconnect
Past Product: No Longer AvailableAn improvement to Oracle V3.2, Oracle V3.3 interconnects feature the same compact design with much more performance.Wwitchable impedance networks allow the end-user to tune the cable to maximize performance for each component's specific input impedance, changing between low (5-50kΩ), medium (40-100kΩ), or high (over 90kΩ) impedance with a simple flick of a switch. Perfect for use with Oracle V3.3 Speaker Cable. Single ended or balanced. 22 poles of articulation.
Sold in pairs.


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If you have lower back pain and you notice an imbalance in your hips, you could be experiencing a "lateral shift," in which the one of the spine's vertebra moves to one side in response to movement of another vertebra. This can sometimes cause the body to "list" to one side in response to pain. If you stand in front of a mirror and can see one shoulder dropped lower than the other, it may be due to a lateral shift. It's always best to seek the help of a medical professional to deal with spinal issues. In terms of exercise, a few lateral shift exercises can help you strengthen the muscles of the trunk and obliques -- but if you're in pain, don't try them until you talk to your doctor.
Sitting on Ball
Sit on an exercise ball and place both feet firmly on the floor, keeping the feet a few inches apart. Clasp your hands together and hold them in front of your chest with your elbows bent to provide you stability throughout the exercise.
Engage your core muscles and sit up straight, and then shift your hips to one side, allowing the ball to roll slightly in that direction while working to keep the knees in the starting position.
Shift toward the right and then to the left, moving in each direction a total of 10 times.
Lying on Ball
Sit on the exercise ball and place your feet about hip-width apart. When your feet are stable, sit back and walk your feet outward until your upper back is resting on the top of the ball. Throughout the exercise, keep your trunk parallel to the floor.
Position your arms out to the sides with your palms facing upward. Keep your feet on the floor as you shift your weight to the left side, rolling the ball under the left shoulder. As you do this, you'll notice a shifting motion in your hips.
Pause for a moment with the ball under the left shoulder, and then shift your weight to the right side and move the ball under the right shoulder.
Shift back and forth until the ball has rolled under each shoulder 10 times.
Items you will need
- Exercise ball
Photo Credits
- George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images


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Time: 10:00 am til 3:00 pm
Location: Rocky Bayou State Park, 4281 FL-20, Niceville, FL 32578
Description: Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park will hold their Fall Pioneer Day event on November 18, 2017. This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Emerald Coast State Parks. Family activities will include candle-dipping, rag doll making, butter churning, shingle making and campfire cooking demonstration. Displays will also include local history and archaeology with the Florida Public Archaeology Network, early folk toys, and a 19th-century chuck wagon.
This event is FREE and open to the public!
Related link: Click Here!
FPAN is participating in this event.


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Skycasters satellite Internet Facebook and Twitter sweepstakes winners, Wendi Bishop and Lori Salinas have selected the Amazon Kindle as their respective prizes.
Were Wendi and Lori proud owners of a Skycasters Mobile Satellite Trailer, they'd be able to download their books on the 1000-foot radius WiFi hotspot every MST owner enjoys.
Indeed, Skycasters offers fixed and mobile broadband satellite Internet solutions for individuals and businesses who need help from above for primary connectivity disaster response, remote business, communities or telemedicine, or redundant Internet business continuity connections.
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An international Greenpeace contingent attended yesterday's high level UN meeting on climate change. Athena was there and felt compelled to put down her thoughts on the meeting. Here they are:
My name is Athena and I have been called a climate "policy wonk," having followed the climate negotiating process for almost 15 years. Today though I write as a mother...
While waiting for the opening of the UN High Level Summit on Climate Change here in New York, the cheerful faces of my three children Gab, Gio and Gavin keep flashing into my mind.
They have been my inspiration, my driving force...ensuring their safe future and a healthy environment for them to grow into have been at the core of my work with the environmental movement and with Greenpeace in particular. And Dr. Pachauri (head of the UN's scientific body) once again outlined why we all, especially those parents, need to stay involved on this issue.
He reminded us that the recent scientific findings on the impacts of climate change to humankind and ecosystems have become even more daunting: Huge percentages of plant and animal life disappearing, an entire continent - Africa - under serious threat from water scarcity; Arctic and Greenland ice disappearing, food shortages in other places and the most vulnerable countries like the Philippines at even greater risk.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon opened the meeting with a passionate plea: "I am convinced that climate change, and what we do about it, will define us, our era, and ultimately the global legacy we leave for future generations."
He then told world leaders and top officials from over 150 nations... "We hold the future in our hands. Together, we must ensure that our grandchildren will not have to ask why we failed to do the right thing, and let them suffer the consequences".
Coming to New York for this has been a reunion of sorts. Having seen long-time friends from Climate Action Network and seasoned negotiators from various countries, I felt a certain sense of excitement... (yes we do get excited over boring UN meetings).
For one this is the first and biggest gathering of world leaders on climate change in a long time. And it is happening just before an incredibly important meeting on climate - in Bali this December 2007. It is a much needed impetus. Everyone (perhaps with the exception of two rogue states) seems to be wanting to do more, to do better. I had high hopes.
When Greenpeace met with Ban Ki-moon last week, he told us that we all have played a major role in raising public awareness and mobilizing citizens of the world to take action. This is why many of us remain unwavering in our commitment to put the urgency of climate change on top of the international agenda. As many world leaders today said: What we do not have is time. There is danger in inaction. The cost of inaction is too high.
For the sake of future generations, for the sake of my children, please let the world not waste any more time.
am happy to hear about it.i will pray that this problem will be acted upon by u.n. nations. yes it is very urgent. thanks that we still had people lik...
am happy to hear about it.i will pray that this problem will be acted upon by u.n. nations. yes it is very urgent. thanks that we still had people like you greenpeace who care for all. really thanks .... hope i could help in my little on way which is thru praying. am a animal lovers ...had adopt stray cats and dogs...
God Bless keep up the good work for whole earth...
26 September, 2007 at 9:19
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Peace used to be a dream. and DREAMS CAN COME TRUE Now Peace is more like a Soultion and that is a dream that came true.
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German police arrest three men believed to be Isil 'sleeper cell'
Three Isil suspects arrested in Germany yesterday had a "link" to the Paris jihadist attackers, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said, adding that they may have been a "sleeper cell".
The three men, aged 17 to 26, apparently used the same migrant trafficking network to travel from Syria into Europe and had fake Syrian passports that were made in the "same workshop" as those of the Isil attackers in the French capital, he said.
"Concrete missions or orders have not so far been found in the course of investigations carried out," the prosecutors said after the trio was arrested by special forces with support from 200 federal and local police.
Authorities also searched the flats of the three suspects but had no further details on what they might have found.
"Based on the information that the Federal Crime Office has so far been able to obtain, the three are strongly suspected of coming to Germany in November 2015 on orders from Islamic State," the federal prosecutors' office said.
It said a suspect identified as Mahir Al-H. became a member of Isil in September 2015 and received weapons and explosives training in Raqqa, the militant group's de facto capital in Syria. In October, he and the two other suspects, Mohamed A. and Ibrahim M., signed up with an Isil official responsible for operations and attacks outside Isil territory and travelled to Europe, the prosecutors said.
Isil allegedly provided them with passports, more than €1,000 in cash and cell phones with a special communications programme. The suspects travelled through Turkey and Greece before arriving in Germany in mid-November 2015, at the height of the migrant crisis.
Federal prosecutors said police special forces arrested the three in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein on suspicion of being sent by Isil "either to carry out a mission that they had been informed about or to wait for further instructions" for an attack.
Around a million migrants arrived in Germany last year, and concern about their presence has grown after a series of violent attacks, three of which were carried out by asylum seekers.
Those attacks in July put the country on edge and led to pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel to introduce an upper limit of 200,000 refugees per year, as her Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union, are demanding. She refuses any cap.
Mr de Maiziere said the three men arrived in late 2015, probably with the help of the same network that funnelled Isil militants into Paris to carry out shootings and bombings that killed 130 people on November 13 last year.
"Everything points to the fact that the same smuggler organisation behind the Paris attacks also brought the three men to Germany who were arrested," de Maiziere told a news conference. "Indications are that their travel documents all came from the same workshop in that region."
ARD television said they were held after raids at refugee housing in towns north of Hamburg. German authorities searched the flats of the three suspects but did not reveal what they might have found.
De Maiziere noted that two of the Paris attackers last year had registered as refugees. "That suggests that IS was determined to send these kinds of people to blend in with refugees in order to cause uncertainty in Europe and Germany."
He added: "The French connection ... is what makes this case so special. We have to find out if these are individual links or if there is a larger network. It shows IS is not only targeting France or Germany or Italy or Belgium or Britain - but the entire West."
Irish Independent


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ASHLAND — A woman who was cornered and attacked by a deer, resulting in multiple cuts and bruises, is asking the City Council to launch a program to sterilize deer or put them on contraceptives "before someone gets killed."
ASHLAND — A woman who was cornered and attacked by a deer, resulting in multiple cuts and bruises, is asking the City Council to launch a program to sterilize deer or put them on contraceptives "before someone gets killed."
The attack occurred at 5:30 a.m. June 7, when Amy Felmley, 52, let her dog Buddy out into a small fenced area in the backyard of her house, a block from the city library. A doe attacked the dog and had him crouched between her front legs, prompting Felmley to dash out, waving her arms.
"The deer ran at me and pinned me against the house, behind a big bush. She was much bigger than me, and it was all hooves for about a minute," says Felmley, showing scabbed-over cuts on her legs, arms and head.
"I screamed bloody murder for help, but no one came. Buddy jumped in and tried to scare her off, which he did. He saved my life. I was in shock, hyperventilating and shaking uncontrollably. I'm still rather traumatized."
After Felmley — who is five feet tall and 100 pounds — calmed down, she drove to the emergency room and got X-rays. Doctors told her it was best to let the cuts heal naturally, rather than stitching them up and possibly trapping infection inside.
When Felmley told her story to others, she found little support for herself but lots for the wildlife.
"Their first response was not, 'are you OK?' but that I should have known better and the deer must have fawns nearby," says Felmley. "They blamed the victim, me, and this helps them ignore the problem. ... Bears and cougars were here but got relocated or euthanized. We're not willing to accept that deer are just as dangerous."
Ellen Campbell of the Chanticleer Bed & Breakfast, located a block from where the attack occurred, expressed horror at the incident and noted that the last deer census (in which she takes part) counted 16 deer in the neighborhood.
"That felt like a lot," Campbell said. "They're fawning right now and are very aggressive, especially if they see a dog. They consider dogs predators and will proactively defend fawns."
Felmley got busy researching the efforts of Ashland and other towns, learning that sterilization and contraception have been tried elsewhere with some success. In Ashland, she found records of aggressive encounters against humans and dogs, but no actual attacks on a person.
She will meet this week with City Councilor Carol Voisin, who sits on the unofficial Wildlife Committee and takes part in the twice-yearly deer census.
"That area (above the library) is known for very young deer, and this is their birthing time. They have birthed right in the Chanticleer yard before," says Voisin. "They are terribly protective. You do not go near a deer at this time of year."
Voisin emphasized she is very upset about the attack.
"I do not try to pooh-pooh what she said. I have lots in my yard, and I've learned how to deal with them over the years."
Proposals for sterilization, contraception and removal of deer have been discussed at special town meetings in the past, says Voisin, and have not been proven to work in peer-reviewed studies. In addition, they are all very expensive.
Most residents with heavy deer populations, she says, have put up tall deer fences. It proves effective and is affordable, but it forces the deer into wildlife corridors, such as streams and surrounding areas, says Voisin. The city ban on deer feeding has also "made a big difference" in deer numbers.
"Still, a lot of families still feed deer, and where that happens, you see a lot of deer," she notes. "When we get complaints, officers will contact the people."
In addition, Voisin adds, nature has her ways, mainly via disease, hunger and the elements. With the spread of fencing, deer are not getting enough food, thus lowering their resistance and making them susceptible to diseases, especially skin problems. These cause fur shedding, leaving them without protection against winter freezes.
"Once deer are vulnerable, anything can wipe them out. I can see their ribs. They're starving. This is not a big herd, and it's likely it will be wiped out — and with much less expense."
John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. Email him at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Guangzhou (China), Aug 6: India's top shuttler Saina Nehwal will start her World Championship campaign on Wednesday when she takes on Olga Golovanova at the Tianhe Indoor Stadium here.
The third seed had received a first round bye and will take on the World No.66 Russian for the first time in a second round women's singles match.
P.V. Sindhu, seeded 10th, also got a first round bye and faces an easy task against Japan's Kaori Imabeppu. The Hyderabadi had beaten Kaori in her own backyard in their only encounter yet at the Japan Open last year.
After upsetting Hong Kong's 12th seed Wing Ki Wong Monday, Ajay Jayaram will be up against Spaniard Pablo Abian in their second round men's singles match. The Mumbai lad has a 1-1 record against the World No.88 Spain international.
Meanwhile, India's 13th seed Parupalli Kashyap will be taking on Czech shuttler Petr Koukal for a place in the pre-quarters. This will be the first ever meet between the two.
After the disappointment in women's and mixed doubles Monday, India will start their men's doubles campaign when Tarun Kona and Arun Vishnu take on Indonesian 15th seeds Alvent Yulianto Chandra and Markis Kido.
They are the last Indian doubles pair left in the tourney after Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar withdrew because the former is nursing an injury.
No Indian shuttler was in action Tuesday.